#Danny Phantom has a phone for hero stuff

[strangelysimian]

DPxDC Prompt: Ghostly News Update

One day John Constantine finds a letter on the table in the House of Mystery addressed to Deadman. He calls for the ghost, and they open it together and are shocked to read the following message.

"Dear Mr. Deadman,

Since you reside primarily on Earth you most likely haven't heard the news. Pariah Dark has been defeated in one on one combat, and his title of king has been passed on. Long may reign the new King Phantom, Ruler of the Infinite Realms.

Unlike his predecessor, Phantom has no interest in conquest nor does he aim for more power. He is also quite fond of humans, and is even known to protect a small town in the United States of America, despite with the Anti-Ecto Laws the local government has passed (Claiming any being containing ectoplasm to be non-sentient thus has no rights. It is recommended you stay out of Illinois for this reason).

Keep up the good work in the Justice League Dark, and if you have any further questions feel free to call us at 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx."

The message is typed out, except for a hand written addition at the bottom.

"P.S. If you could get the JL to do something about those laws that would be great :)

-Phantom"

#dc x dp #fanfic concept #Danny Phantom has a phone for hero stuff #tucker and technus made it impossible to hack or trace #this was Jazz's idea #all of team Phantom helped #Ghost King Danny #danny phantom #DC deadman #dp x dc fanfic #fan fic ideas #john Constantine

[halfagone]

Ooh, that’s a good point, maybe I won’t add Dc to this AU then. So disregarding the Dc stuff, I think you’ll like this prompt. What if Ladybug and Chat Noir meet Dan after he escapes the thermos, with Danny having to come in and save them? I’d imagine this would be a few months after he’s started mentoring them, and I think it would be interesting to see their reactions to seeing their seemingly infallible mentor’s greatest fear. What do you think?

Oof, Danny would have to come in quick, because while Marinette and Adrien are plenty capable against foes like Hawkmoth or the akumas... Dan kills. He does not seek anything other than destruction. He doesn't really choose his victims, because everyone is his target. It's part of the reason he's so damn terrifying. Which... is a really fun idea to explore. ;3

---

Marinette watches on as the man- who looks so much like Phantom, but not- floats above the burning Paris and watches on with glee. Phantom doesn't like to talk about his past battles unless they ask, or it's relevant to a lesson he's trying to teach, and Marinette can't remember Phantom once mentioning someone like this. She knows that he has family, in a general sense, so is this a relative of his? They do look a lot alike, but... could any relative of Phantom's ever do this?

She and Chat Noir don't even try to fight him. It's obvious he's far too powerful for them, so instead they try to save as many people as they can, spamming Phantom's phone as they go along. Marinette knows it's bad when even Chat Noir isn't making any of his usual jokes. He's broken limbs, ribs, and even then he's always managed to crack a pun or something. But not today.

Today, they are terrified.

Marinette just about sinks with relief when she sees the familiar flash of light that signals Phantom has teleported onto the scene. She doesn't know when seeing the more experienced hero had become a constant and grounding presence, but right now it's like a life raft in the middle of the storming sea. Phantom's done a lot for them these past few months, but right now, he is the only thing standing in between this stranger and Paris' total destruction.

Except instead of the steady confidence she's used to seeing from him, he looks half terrified out of his mind, eyes enormously wide as he stares down the opponent. So maybe they do know each other? The stranger certainly looks happy to see Phantom, even though Marinette is pretty sure that's not a good thing at all.

Phantom doesn't back down- he never does- but it's obvious he's not prepared and ready to face this foe, even though he's the only one who can.

"Aw, look at you, you're practically breathless," the stranger sneers with a cruel grin. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Get out." Marinette blinks in surprise when she hears the quiet intensity in Phantom's voice. The air quivers around him as Phantom shouts, "Get out! There's no reason for you to be here-"

"You're here. Isn't that reason enough?" The stranger remarks and then swipes out a hand. The Eiffel Tower sparks up with flames. Chat Noir makes a strangled noise over their communicators. That's right, he had been closer to the- She goes running off in that direction, hopelessly trying to help him and save everyone she can.

And for once, Marinette has to come to terms with the possibility that this time... There may be no miraculous rewind to fix what little is left behind.

#halfagone replies #dp x mlb #i don't know if you wanted the whole battle #but i definitely wanted to show the confrontation

[snackleggg]

Been thinking about a Young Justice x Danny Phantom crossover AU.

Maddie and Jack build a device that repels anything that has an ecto-signatures (I.e. ghosts) that is within a certain radius of it (the radius is conveniently about as big as Amity Park). Vlad of course sneaks in and modifies it so it doesn't affect his ecto-signature and when it is turned on Danny (and all the other ghosts but they can just go back into the ghost zone) gets like ejected out of Amity Park.

So Vlad is being all smug and is like "I'll get them to turn it off if you become my apprentice and son" and of course Danny is like "fuck that". Jack and Maddie aren't good parents in this so Danny doesn't mind not being able to be around them, he bets they haven't even noticed he was gone.

Instead Danny decides "screw it, I'm going all nomad hero on this since I can't even enter my haunt anymore!". Tucker is of course his tech guy and they frequently chat over modified Fenton phones that have a much bigger range. Sam is the brain cell and helps Danny with planning and stuff and Jazz is Danny's human side’s backbone.

This happens 2 years after the accident so Jazz is off in college and she let's Danny crash at her place frequently.

Anyway so Danny gets a cool new hero look (tho he has a cloak that covers like everything and the hood falls a little over his eyes so he can’t be recognized) and basically he flies around to different cities invisibly and only becomes visible to help out when there is s crime happening. Starts out with smaller things like muggings or theft but eventually escalates to stopping more serious crimes as the team gets more accustomed to working on actual crimes done by living people (it's kinda ridiculously easy for Danny cause he has such an op power set when removed from the villains that specifically match his power set and since no one outside of Amity believes in ghosts, no one has anti ghost tech)

Eventually the public and the media take notice of this new mysterious hero popping up everywhere and when he is finally asked Danny says to call him Mirage (obviously if he didn't want to be recognized as Phantom he would pick another name and he came up with it on the spot since he hadn't really though about a new name before).

So the media is hungry and everyone is taking about who this new hero can be and how he gets from place to place so quickly. How can he fly and seemingly disappear into thin air and how do things just seem to go straight through him? He has to be a meta right? But what if he's an alien or magic user? They don't even know what his full face looks like cause of that hood and people have only gotten glimpses of his suit beneath the cloak. Needless to say it garners some attention. Eventually the attention of the Justice League.

Constantine can already tell it's a ghost he just can’t tell why a ghost would go through the trouble, it's not like he doesn't think a ghost would go through the trouble but usually ghosts stay out of living affairs unless it benefits them in some way.

The Justice League tasks Young Justice with investigating it and when Mirage is spotted a few cities over YJ immediately goes there and manages to catch up to Mirage before he disappears. They talk and Mirage is surprisingly laid back and funny instead of the serious mysterious character they thought he would be. Him and KF are joking around and Robin and Him get along great but then they start asking questions he isn't comfortable with answering and he disappears with a "see ya around".

au can go a few different ways but I definitely see Danny eventually joining YJ and also Constantine instantly knows Danny is a halfa when they meet but he doesn't get payed enough for this so after making sure the kid isn't up to anything he is just like "Don't break anything" before leaving Danny to his own devices.

#danny phantom #young justice #crossover #crossover au #danny phantom au #justice league #john constantine #he is tired

[quirkless-accident]

Danny and hawks are HPSC buddies

aka they grew up together

bonus: passive agressive duo @ HPSC

It was no secret to the public that Phantom and Hawks were thick as thieves. It's been done before, but it's still incredibly rare for heroes to co-own an agency, but to the number 2 and 13 heroes, it just made sense.

When Hawks had been a kid, he had been saved by Endeavour and had been taken in by the HPSC. It's a lot more cut-and-dry than Danny's experience. The short version? Danny was around six when he got into his accident, and the HPSC had snatched him up so fast he's surprised the kid didn't have permanent whiplash. Was that even a thing?

Not important.

What's important is the giant fist coming straight for him.

Hawks, with no time to dodge, braces himself for a punch that never makes impact. Instead, a there's a firm grip around his ankle and a yank and suddenly the fist is going over his head.

"Maybe space out after we beat up the guy with a gigantification quirk, yeah?" Phantom asks, jerking a gloved thumb to the villain. Hawks blinks owlishly at him before giving him a trademark smirk.

"You gotta chill out, man," Hawks said as he flew higher, gaining a bit of distance between him and the villain.

"Oh, like this?"

Hawks barely has time to dodge as ice shoots out, encasing the giant villain. Phantom looks a little to smug for his liking.

"Your aim is getting worse," Hawks tells him. Phantom just throws his head back and laughs. It's cut short though when they both get the same notification on their phones.

"It's the Commission," Phantom says, his face pulling down into a frown. Hawks really couldn't blame him. Sure, the training he had gone through had been hell, and he had definitely been treated as a weapon from the start, but Danny? They had done some bad shit to him. He had no idea what it could be, his brother in everything but blood was always so closed off about that aspect of his life. But he knew it was bad.

He send a feather to Danny in hopes of a quiet reassurance.

-------

Danny clasps his hands behind his back as casually as he can to hide how they shake. He's not afraid of anything. He hasn't been afraid of anything since he was six and died. And not even the thought of death got in his way-he knew where he was going, after all.

But Handler had always had a way of bringing out the fear in him. He's not sure if it's because she's the one who stood over him while he was strapped to the table or because she put the fear of the gods in him during training, but the trembling in his hands refused to go away when in her presence. Even now, at twenty-three, his chest clenched with anxiety.

Her sharp eyes met his, and for a second, he thought she'd figured out his secret. It was hard to keep one when he was constantly being monitored by them, and when he shared a house and an agency with Hawks, but he made it work. He couldn't tell them he's been making secret trips to the Ghost Zone to try and figure out what the fuck he is and how he's essentially been brainwashed his whole life.

"Hawks," she starts, and the feather that's been hiding with Phantom curls itself in his palms in a comforting motion. Leave it to Hawks to make him feel better when he was the one under the microscope. "We have a special mission for you. Go up and get the details. And speak of this to nobody. Not even Phantom."

"Aye aye, Captain," Hawks gave a two-fingered salute before waltzing out of the debriefing room. She turned her gaze to him, and his shoulders involuntarily tensed.

"Have you found out anything more about this Ghost Zone we found?"

"No," he lies. His hands have always been his tell, so he's glad that they're behind his back. "Nothing but ectoplasm and endless space."

"Hmf," she says, eyeing him up and down. Danny keeps his a calm, collected mask that refuses to break under her gaze. His hands are clenching and unclenching. "Do better. That place made you. It's got to have some other stuff we can use. Dismissed."

--------

"Keigo," Danny says, not looking at him. It's supposed to be a lazy Thursday, away from missions and the agency and the watchful eyes of the Commission. "I have to show you something. But you have to promise not to tell anybody else."

Keigo sits up, fully alert. He's be a liar if he said his blood pressure didn't spike with worry at Danny's words, but he was a hero. He was good under pressure.

"Alright," he says. "What is it? A secret surprise birthday party?"

--------

It is, in fact, not a secret surprise birthday party.

It's a pocket dimension.

"Welcome to the Ghost Zone, Hawks," Danny says. He knows Danny had been taking the occasional field trip in here for the Commission, but it's nothing like the descriptions he's given the Handler.

Danny had once described it as a green abyss with no end, and no life. And while the 'no life' part had technically been true, it was still very lively.

Doors were scattered as far as the eye could see, and other multi-colored beings were flying back and forth. They all had that same unearthly glow that Danny did. And Danny must have made an impression here, because a few of them even waved at him.

"So..." Hawks said, looking from Danny to everywhere else. Something finally clicked in his brain as he shot the other hero a small smirk. "Secret field trips?"

"Secret field trips," Danny confirmed with a nod. "You can't tell them, though. They'll just want to use this place as a resource. But these ghosts-these people...They don't deserve to be run dry and used as a power source. Not like we were."

Hawks had a distinct feeling that Danny really meant I and not we but he kept his mouth shut because holy hell...This was big information.

"I've...Is this place secure?" He asked.

Danny shrugged. "For the most part. I know a more closed off space we can head to, though."

And head to they did. It was on a slab of purple rock that floated around a dark castle. Everybody seemed to be avoiding this area. It was perfect for Hawks to spill his secrets as well.

"I got a new mission," he said. "Well, two, actually. One deals with infiltrating the League of Villains," he paused for dramatic effect as Phantom raised an eyebrow, a prompt to go on. "The other is to spy on you. Handler doesn't believe you've been telling her the truth about this place."

"You won't tell them, will you?" Danny asked, genuinely worried. "This is-Kei, I'm finally getting some straight answers as to what I am. I'm a halfa. A half ghost. And I'm half dead. And it's so nice to to talk to people who understand what it's like to learn how to not breath and Kei-my powers. I've made so much progress since finding this place. And I feel so much energized! It's like-"

"-You belong here?" Hawks asked, amused. Danny predictably sputtered.

"What? Well-no-yes? I don't know," he said, defeated. "I know my place is back home where I can help people. But I know that a part of me needs to keep coming back here, too. It's like this is the last puzzle piece that I didn't even know was missing."

"Maybe it's instinctual," Hawks said with a shrug. "Maybe you're drawn to this place because you're apparently Casper."

He got a punch in the arm for his troubles.

Worth it.

"I won't say a word about this," he says after a few minutes of silence between them. He can see why Danny likes it so much. Overstimulation is often a problem he has to deal with. Here though, floating on this rock in an endless, green abyss it was quiet. Peaceful, even. Hawks was never one to stop and smell the roses like Danny was, but even he could appreciate the feeling of tranquility standing still for once gave him. "Besides...I think after the League mission I'm going defective."

Danny whirled around, eyes wide and bright, pinning him with those toxic green eyes.

"Defective? Kei, are you sure?" Hawks nods, and, to his great relief, Danny's face splits into a massive grin.

"That's great! When you do, I'm coming with you. Thick and thin, remember?" Danny held out his pinky. Hawks smiled as he linked his pinky with Danny's, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Thick and thin."

#hawks #keigo takami #danny fenton #danny phantom #hspc #hero commission #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no academia #pro hero danny phantom

[lanuvolanera]

Sept 19th - Cofession

Chapter 1

My first ever fanfic, lads, be nice and enjoy.

---------

Coming out of Casper High mid afternoon, Danny and Tucker made their way down the school steps. Students trickled out the front doors in small groups and split their own ways as the duo began their trek to Fenton works.

"Man, I'm glad Sam didn't come today." Danny said, grasping his backpack strap slung over his shoulder.

"I know, right? She would've been miserable." Tucker replied, pocketing his PDA with a light frown on his face.

The day went well. Steady, in fact. They seemed to have kept off of Dash's radar and stayed on Mr Lancer's good side with the English assignment. Not to mention that it was pizza day at the cafeteria, the only good thing that the cooks knew how to make. Yeah, today wasn't so bad, it just felt empty without Sam by their side.

"She should be feeling better by tomorrow, right?"

"Honestly, I think she'll take the rest of the week off. If it wasn't for that ghost..."

"Oh god, don't remind me, I still feel awful." Danny said with a look of mild horror, still traumatised from the night before.

A pause in their conversation prompted more memories from last night.

Phantom, two feet above the ground, felt paralysed as he looked on and watched as Tucker ducked undercover from the ectoblasts firing in all directions from what looked like a regular bedsheet type ghost, only this one was different, this one screeched and wailed and gnawed it's black teeth, blood dripping from its mouth, staining its torso.

"We'll give her a call tonight, see how she's doing." Tucker said, dragging Danny out of his thoughts.

"Or we could head over, see how she's doing in person?"

"Or we could leave her be and let her rest."

Danny didn't like that idea, he was worried and felt guilty and ashamed that he couldn't prevent her injury. As minor as it was, she couldn't find the strength to come to school the next day, when he'd hoped to apologise again and ask how she's doing again and to offer her anything she needs again. He made his mind up right then.

"I'll fly over tonight then, when everyone's gone to bed."

"Sure, don't forget to bring her homework and tell her you love her."

"What?" Danny gasped in shock, a deep red blush covering his cheeks.

"Nothing." Tucker looked away with a sheepish grin and quickly changed the topic.

"We still need to do some research about last night's ghost, I've downloaded some pdf's which I'll send to you and Sam to see if there are other ways to dispell it if the thermos didn't work."

They turn the corner and can see the large Fenton works sign in the distance, two blocks away.

"Race you." Danny smirked, and sprinted off before Tucker had a chance to realise what was happening.

With a loud "hey!" from Tucker in the background, Danny slowed as he neared the steps to his front door and tried the handle, locked. Hmm, his parents are out, Jazz would still be at school studying in the library, looks like he and Tucker have the house to themselves. Danny pulls out his keys and unlocks the door just as Tucker catches up out of breath.

"That's cheating, you had a head start." He pants.

"Come on, the computer in the lab is free, go down and fire it up while I get some coffee brewing."

"Sounds like a plan."

-------------‐-------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Danny flew Tucker back to his house.

They soared through the night sky, clear and full of stars, street lamps illuminating the buildings below them, his best friends arm slung over phantoms shoulders.

"Look, all I'm saying is if we go back tomorrow, what if we make things worse, pissed it off even more. If its trapped there like we think, what harm will it do if we leave it alone?"

"It's different though, what if when we found it there, we let it loose?"

"If we did then don't you think we would've seen it again by now?"

"I don't want to chance it, we need to find a way to deal with it permanently."

"Don't tell me you're going back there by yourself."

"No, I'm going to Sam's, like I said."

"You'd better."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Once he'd said his goodbyes to Tucker, and reassured him he wasn't going to do something wreckless, Danny took off into the air once more and set course for Sam's House.

With a backpack full with his thermos, his laptop, his phone, both his and Sam's maths homework, a couple of pens, pencils, markers and 2 cans of Sam's favorite soda, Danny sped across the rooftops when a blue puff of cold air burst it's way past his lips.

"Of course, I thought it was too quiet tonight."

Taking a quick glance of his surroundings, there was nothing to be seen in the empty streets. A brief pause, his breath held in his lungs, then glass crashing from a shop window a few blocks down caught Danny's attention.

Cackling laughter and bursts of light flashed from the window, Danny wasted no time reaching the building, turning himself intangible and flew through the ceiling.

"Oh, come on! What the hell are you doing here? In a pet store of all places?"

....

----------------------------------------------------------------

Danny finally arrived at his destination. Peaking through the window to find Sam laying on her bed, light from her laptop illuminating her face, in her black pyjamas and a cast on her leg.

He knocked on the glass, and smiled as Sam startled.

Waving him in, he floated through the glass and landed with a soft thump on the plush carpet, and settled on the edge of her bed.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Danny said with concern in his voice.

"Fine. Hey, you need to sign my cast." Sam says with a playful smirk. Danny half expected her to be more upset about being injured, or at least, as upset as he is.

After the escape from the warehouse the night before, with Sam cradled in his arms and Tucker following not too far behind, all Danny could think was this was all his fault. Sam got injured because of him, because he was too late, too late to swoop in and protect her from the falling scaffolding from the ghost fight, that cost her her ability to run to safety. He's the hero, isn't he? And he couldn't save her from something as simple as falling debris? What kind of hero-

"Danny-"

Sam could see the distraught look on Danny's face and he caught himself looking down at her cast. It could've been a lot worse, but still.

Danny looks up at her, he needs to confess.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I'm sorry you got hurt, I should've been more careful-"

"Hey, don't worry about it, these things happen, right? It could've been a lot worse."

"I know, I keep telling myself that, but still-"

"But still, we need to figure out a way to get rid of that ghost, I've been doing some research on this specific type of ghost and I've read through the files Tucker sent me, and I think I have a good idea on what we're working with."

Sam brings the laptop closer and turns it around for Danny to see pages upon the screen filled with information from different historic and religious sites.

"Does it say anything about why the thermos didn't work?" He asked playfully. Of course, the Fenton thermos only being a recent invention, there wouldn't be any information that hasn't been put online by the Fentons themselves indicating its presence in the ghost hunting community across the globe. Sure, there have been other containment methods but for this particular ghost, the best method would be to remove it from this plane entirely instead of just bottling it up.

Other pages on the screen suggest cleansing treatments of the haunted area using a mixture of herbs, minerals and rituals, witchcraft. If that could work, maybe the Fentons have other means of ghost study to pursue, if they believed in that sort of thing, of course.

"Hoestly, this stuff is giving me a headache, I need a break."

"Good thing I have just what you need." Danny says, reaching for his backpack.

He pulls out his own laptop, the 2 cans of soda and their homework, which Sam gives a mild look of disgust.

"Great."

"You don't look at all enthused." Danny says with a cheeky smile, and pops open his can, passing the other one over to Sam who takes it gratefully.

A small awkward pause later and Sam has to snap Danny back to reality again.

"Look, I know you think this is your fault, so here's my obligatory I'm-not-a-damsel-in-distress talk, we're a team, we'll sort this out, and we can forget about it."

"It's not just that, I don't know, it's just that- I don't think I'll be able to forget about it. There's something about this ghost, it's terrifying." Danny says, setting his can aside.

"I know, ugly too." Sam smiles as Danny looks up, he remembers what Tucker said to him earlier.

Tell her you love her.

"I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if something happened to you, I couldn't imagine my life without you."

At this, Sam sits up and puts her can on her bedside table. They're face to face with each other now.

"I couldn't imagine my life without you either, and you're right, that ghost is terrifying, even more of a reason to fight it."

Tell her.

"This ghost fight seems to be putting things into perspective."

You love her.

"I know what you mean."

They don't know when they got closer, or when they started leaning in.

Danny lightly brushes his fingers across her cheek, tilting her head just so, and presses his lips to hers.

It's a little awkward at first, spending a few seconds in that position. Then someone, or maybe both, adjust their lips, and oh.

Oh wow.

The sensation is amazing, sparks running down their spines and they readjust again, and again.

Their arms begin to wrap around each other and oh god, they're actually making out, kissing. They don't even realise they've fallen onto their sides on the bed, eyes squeezed shut applying and reapplying firm presses of their lips together.

They stay that way for a few moments, or is it lifetimes, when a tune came from the bedside table.

They pull apart, dazed red faces inches from each other, before Sam sits up and grabs her phone.

"It's Tucker."

She answers.

"Hey, Sam, I know you're busy recovering and all and I know it's late but I think I have a lead."

"That's great, what've you got?"

"I've found a review online about a book at the town hall library, if we can get it checked out tomorrow we might be able to find a way to exorcise this ghost."

Sam and Danny look at each other with hope.

"What's the title?"

"Ghost hunting for dummies."

"Be serious."

"I'll make you laugh one day, I swear."

"Tucker."

"It's called 'witchcraft untold', there are only 2 copies in town, the other is at the 'Skulk and Lurke'. The review made it sound like a work of fiction, and maybe it is, who knows? But I think it's worth checking out."

Sam makes a mental note of the title. There are a few books she's planning on checking out, some including cultural and religious beliefs on the undead, magic and pagan rituals, and scientific findings surrounding ghosts. If this book Tucker mentioned is as promising as it sounds, things could be looking up.

"I've been meaning to go to the 'Skulk and Lurke' tomorrow anyway, so I'll keep an eye out for it."

"Thats great, we'll talk more later, get some rest."

" I will do, see you later, Tuck."

"See you, and say hi to Danny for me!"

Click.

They glance at each other, and Danny moves to stand up.

"I should get going, um..."

"Yeah, you're gonna need some rest too if we're gonna face this ghost tomorrow night."

"We?"

"Yeah?"

"No."

"What?"

Danny couldn't believe he had to say this.

"Sam, you're injured, there's no way I'm letting you come along..."

"You're not 'letting' me do anything, I'm going. We still need to figure out a plan before then anyway, when I get a chance to check out that book."

The air surrounding them starts to tense.

"How am I supposed to fight this ghost and protect you at the same time? Or have you already forgotten about last night?"

"Excuse me? Have you forgotten what I said only ten minutes ago? I'm not letting you go off and play hero all by yourself!"

"That is not-"

"Save it. I can take care of myself."

"Fine, I'll call you in the morning."

"Fine."

And with that, Danny turns towards the window and lifts off, phases through, and rises into the night sky.

#dp shiptember 2021 #danny phantom #sam manson #tucker foley #amethyst ocean

[kinglazrus]

Not Your Danny – Ch 4. Who Understands

Previous | First | Next | FFN | AO3

Word count: 3739

The memorial notebook sits open on Jazz's desk. For the twenty minutes, Jazz has sat here with her rule and pencil carefully tracing out a template for the event schedule. The hour of the event, pencilled in as one to two p.m., is broken into fifteen-minute increments which have three bullet points each. The bullet points, along with the fifteen-minute boxes, are colour coded and measured out to perfect, equal distance.

At the top of the page, the words "Memorial Schedule" are written in a loose, flowing script and dark ink. Eraser smudges behind the ink are the only indication of how much time and care Jazz put into making those letters.

Now, the blank schedule stares up at her, waiting only for Jazz to finalize the plans. The memorial itself is still three weeks out, but it is still too soon. Even though they buried Danny a fortnight ago, the memorial feels more final. Jazz doesn't want to say it, but she already knows why she feels this way.

Danny was a halfa. He was her sweet, human brother, but he was the town hero, too. There's a chance, no matter how slim, that he might still be out there as a full ghost. There has to be a chance. It doesn't matter that he died as Phantom. It doesn't matter that Sam and Tucker themselves were there to see his ghost half fizzle out, see the human body it left behind. There has to be a chance.

The funeral was for Danny Fenton, but the memorial is for Danny Phantom, for the whole city to mourn the loss of their hero. For Jazz to acknowledge that her brother, in his entirety, is gone forever.

Suddenly, looking at the notebook makes her feel nauseous. She closes it and shoves it aside. It's late enough now that she could go to bed, but she doesn't feel tired, not physically. After the fiasco at dinner, Jazz wants to shut everything out for a little bit. Pretend she lives in her own bubble where everything is fine.

How could she have forgotten? Seeing Dani's human face certainly took her by surprise, but she was not unprepared for it. Unlike their parents, Jazz didn't have trouble separating Fenton from Phantom. They were the same to her and looking at Dani's ghostly face was already close enough to seeing her little brother. Instead of the face itself, Jazz was stunned to see Dani in human form at all. At the same time, it brought her comfort. Dani and Danny, no matter how similar, are not the same. But having her here, seeing her do the things Danny used to do...

It's so easy. Having Dani fill her little brother's place on the couch when the watch TV. Having her by Jazz's side when they cook. She can't help it. It's almost like having Danny back, so soon after they lost him. And every time Dani doesn't fill that hole, it hurts in a way Jazz never expected.

She rubs her eyes and leans back in her chair. Maybe she should go to sleep after all.

—

"You want us to host... a memorial?" her mother asked. It was obvious Maddie had been crying that day, her eyes red and puffy. Perhaps not too long before Jazz came to talk to her parents.

Jazz herself had been in tears not too long ago when Sam phoned her with the idea. She nodded. "Yes. I know it's only been a few days, but this is Sam's idea and I think it's a good one. Mom, Dad..." she took a deep breath, bracing herself. "I knew. All along, I knew about Danny being Phantom. And it was so important to him. A memorial to Phantom could help you come to terms with not knowing about this side of Danny."

Maddie's hand, flat on the table, curled into a fist. "Jazz, we haven't even... the funeral is tomorrow. I've been on the phone with Alicia all day because she can't make it down in time. Chartering a plane costs too much and there isn't a flight out for weeks. I know this is important, but—"

"I think it's a good idea," Jack said. Stretching forward, he reached across the table and patted Jazz's shoulder. "But I think what you mother means is that we need time to consider it. It's hard adjusting to all this."

"I know. But promise me you really will think about it? It would mean a lot to him." Jazz waited until her father nodded. "Okay. I'll just... yeah. Think about it."

She left the kitchen in silence. That went okay. A shorter conversation than Jazz would have liked, but small steps are still steps. She needed to text Sam later and let her know the verdict, as tentative as it was. For now, she will leave her parents to think, hoping they eventually agree.

Halfway to her bedroom, a noise from Danny's room made her pause. She couldn't be certain, but it sounded like the squeak of his bed springs. Tip-toeing closer, Jazz stared at the crack under his door. A faint white light shone through.

"Danny?" Jazz whispered.

There came another creak.

Jazz's breath stopped, caught in her throat. She crept closer, pressing her hand against the door, and eased it open. In the dark of Danny's room, the figured outline in glowing light leapt from the shadows, impossible to miss. The aura, far brighter than the dim light of hall, nearly blinded Jazz, but its colour was unmistakable.

She pushed the door open. "Danny!"

The figure flinched and threw themselves into the air, twisting around to face Jazz. She slapped her hand against the switch on the wall, flooding the room with orange light. No longer blinded, she found herself now face-to-face with a Phantom. Not Danny, though, but Dani-with-an-I.

She looked horrible, her white hair caked with mud, dirt smeared along half her face. Suit wrinkled and damp.

"Oh, my God, Danielle." Jazz gasped.

"It's true?" Tears welled in Dani's eyes. "It's true? He's gone?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even think..."

That was all Dani needed to hear. She spun away and bolted, flying through the wall.

"Dani, wait!" Jazz called after her, but the young halfa was already gone. Jazz threw the window open, leaning out over the alley to a dangerous degree. Searching the sky, she tried to find and trace of Danny's clone, but everything around her was dark. Not a single glimpse of silver light to be seen.

Jazz pulled herself back inside and dropped to the floor, hands pressed over her mouth. She had forgotten, completely, that there was another person out there important to Danny, someone who wouldn't know about his death right away. In the days since Danny's death, Danielle's existence hadn't crossed Jazz's mind. It made her feel rotten. Dani had been important to Danny, but she slipped so easily from Jazz's memory.

However, through the wave of guilt, Jazz could not forget that single moment before she turned on the light. No more than a second, but still the happiest she felt in days, when she saw the aura of a Phantom and believed that her brother had not died after all.

—

The star shirt fits well, better than Dani expected it to. She drapes her hoodie across the back of Danny's desk chair before sliding in front of the mirror. It fits and it looks good. Looking herself up and down, Dani blushes. She has never thought of herself as a self-conscious person but seeing herself in something other than her regular hoodie fills her with warmth. She likes wearing something that doesn't look two times too big for her, showing off more of her form.

Although she has never said it out loud, that is part of the reason why she likes being in her ghost form so much more. The pants, the crop top, she likes them so much better than her human clothes. Until now, they were her only option, since she didn't want to cart around a backpack full of clothes, but now she has a room. She has a place to keep things, her things.

She could actually have things. The temptation to own stuff has always eluded her, but the longer she stays at Fenton Works surrounded by things that are not hers, the more she understands.

Dani rarely stays in one place for so long. Only a week and one day, but it feels so much longer. Looking at herself in the mirror, she's struck by the realization that this is home now. She has a home. Her mind still struggles to wrap around the idea, but the word does not feel so foreign anymore. After Vlad, all she wanted was freedom, and she got it. But while roaming the world was fun and exciting, it was also incredibly lonely.

She had always had Danny, though. Their relationship wasn't perfect, and they never acknowledged how they were related beyond the loose label of cousins, but she had him. And then he was gone without her even realizing.

Dani didn't know what to expect when Jazz extended her the offer of moving into Fenton Works. And, to be honest, she still doesn't know. Things are strange, and still lonely sometimes, but not bad. That has to count for something, right?

She toys with the buttons of the shirt, wondering if she could somehow tie the bottom, wear it shorter than it is. As she considers the style, her hands drop to the waist of her shorts, bright red and loose. They don't go with the shirt very well. Unfortunately for Dani, she has already been through all of Danny's clothes, and she does not like any of his pants, even if there were some smaller, older pairs that might have fit her.

There is a hint of promise, though. Dani has seen how much junk fills the Fenton garage. They are the kind of people who hold on to things until they absolutely do not need it anymore. Judging by Danny's drawers and closet, clothes get the same treatment as any other junk.

Jazz must have a few old pants lying about. A skirt sounds nice. Dani has never worn one of those, but girls always look so pretty in them.

Her door is open when Dani makes the trek down the hall. Jazz herself is slumped over at her desk, arms folded under her head.

Dani walks into the room and pokes Jazz's shoulder. "Did you sleep at your desk last night?"

Jazz wakes with a start, flinching at Dani's touch. She rubs her eyes, then the side of her face. A thick red mark overtakes her cheek where it had been laying on her arm.

"Dani?" Jazz's voice is thick with sleep. She sits up, stretching her arms and arching her back until it pops. Her neck cracks a few times as she roles her head. "What are you doing?"

"Do you have any old clothes?"

Jazz blinks. "It's rude to walk into someone's room without warning them."

"You were asleep, though. Clothes?"

Blinking a few more times, Jazz clears her eyes and looks Dani up and down. Her gaze lingers on the shirt. "That’s..."

"Found it in Danny's closet. I can't believe he actually wore something like this."

Jazz shook her head. "No, he didn't like it. Sam got it for him as a joke, because of the stars. I don't think he ever wore it."

"Really?" A smile breaks out across Dani's face. If Danny didn't wear this shirt, then technically that makes it hers. She owns something now.

"Yeah. Did nothing else of his fit? It's okay if you want to wear it. I think that would feel better than packing it all up," Jazz says. "You don't have any clothes besides the pyjamas Mom bought, right?"

Dani actually forgot that she has those. "I went through his clothes already. Didn't really like them much. Do you have a skirt?"

Jazz's eyes go wide. "A skirt?" For reasons' Dani can't fathom, Jazz says it like it is the strangest thing in a world. Dani wanting a skirt? Preposterous. "Danny never liked skirts."

There it is. "Duh, Danny was a dude."

"I know, but I mean. He wasn't comfortable in that kind of clothing before he transitioned. Your hoodie and cargo shorts aren't so different from what he used to wear, so I thought..." Jazz trails off, but her point is already made.

"Jazz, I'm comfortable being a girl. I like being a girl. Being made from his DNA doesn't make me his clone."

Jazz opens her mouth to correct Dani.

"You know what I meant." Dani wraps her arms around herself, feeling small like she did her first day here. "I don't know why I need to keep saying this, but I'm not Danny, okay?"

Jazz grimaces. "I know, Dani. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you were."

That isn't what Dani meant, but she doesn't press further. "So, about that skirt?"

—

Later that day, when Jazz asks Dani if she wants to watch a show, Dani says no.

—

"What did you do when you weren't in Amity Park?" Jack asks. The question comes out of nowhere, as they always do. In the few days since he took Dani's samples, she has seen him outside the lab far more often. Joining them at mealtimes, coming upstairs in the evening. Sometimes she hears the heavy beats of his approach moments before he pops into the room with a question on his tongue, like now.

Dani holds a moment, her gaze lingering on the models surrounding Danny's desk, before spinning in the chair to face Jack. "I travelled."

Jack, rightfully so, takes her answer as an invitation and comes further into the room. "Oh, yeah?" He sits down on the bed facing her. "Where did you go?"

"All over. I mostly stayed in the United States, at first, but there's so much stuff to see out there. The pyramids were awesome."

Just as Dani found her rhythm with Maddie and Jazz in her first days at Fenton Works, she and Jack seem to be finding what works for them. She likes the time they spend together. His questions feel genuine. Sometimes, he asks her about what being a ghost is like, what abilities she has. His eyes glow with fascination every time she answers. Dani has never seen anyone so engrossed by a single topic before.

But her favourite times are when he asks about her. What does she like? Does she have any hobbies? She gets the feeling that this is how Jack shows interest in people, by asking about themselves, and she returns the favour whenever she can.

"Have you ever been to Egypt?" Nudging the desk, Dani pushes herself back and forth on the chair, turning slowly in place. Her eyes keep catching on the models she had been examining when Jack entered.

Danny had a lot of models, all of them related to space, apparently. Planets, spaceships, little astronaut figures. Much like the posters on his wall, Dani sees no use for them, but Danny obviously liked them. He has two spaceships that look identical. One sits on his desk, safely kept behind a glass box. The other stands tall on the shelf above the desk.

"No." Jack's voice pulls Dani back to the conversation. "Mads wants to go, though. What was your favourite place that you saw?"

Dani has to pause and think about this. The pyramids are high contenders. She went to Japan for a few weeks last year and explored the natural landscape. There was so much beauty there. She has been to a lot of beautiful places, but none of them are her favourite.

"I don't know where it was. It was back when I could barely hold myself together, when I was destabilizing, remember?"

Jack nods. Dani told him that story only yesterday.

"Flying was really hard then, and it made me tired. I got lost a lot between cities if I wasn't following a highway. When I was heading back to Amity Park, I passed out once when flying." Dani hugs her knees. That was one of the scariest moments of her life, second only to melting in Vlad's lab. Before passing out, she could barely see, the sky and the ground blurring together. Her very core ached and, when the darkness started creeping in, she thought she was done fore.

"I woke up in this woman's home. She found me out in the forest and took me in. Didn't care that I was a ghost. I stayed with her for a few days. She actually... she offered to let me stay forever." Dani said no, of course. She had to get to Amity Park, to Danny, to get fixed. "She didn't even know me, but when I told her I didn't have any family beyond a cousin, she just... said I could stay. I left as soon as I could fly again. Haven't been able to find my way back."

Jack's heavy hand settles on her head. He ruffles her hair, the small act of comfort filling her with warmth. "Sorry you didn't get to take that chance, kiddo."

Dani ducks her head and rubs her eyes. There are no tears, but she needs the excuse to look away. There is a weight behind Jack's words, one Dani can feel, but not decipher. She thinks, perhaps, that Jack's words aren't entirely for her.

"So, what were you doing just now?"

Grateful for the distraction, Dani slides the chair over so Jack can see the desk. "Looking at stuff."

Her endeavour of going through of Danny's things has proved harder than she originally thought. It's so easy to get distracted by some small trinket, and she often finds herself wondering what Danny did with it, why he kept it all. Cheap toys from fast food restaurants. Paper airplanes stuck between book pages. A ball of rubber bands bigger than Dani's fist.

At first, she only wanted to look, commit these items to memory. Jazz said it took time before people put away a lost loved one's things, and even though Dani didn't understand, she would respect it. But Jazz's comment about the clothes has been lingering in her mind all day.

Despite Dani's own assurance of her personhood, was there anything she could like only because Danny did? She thought she might find the answer if she pondered long enough, but so far all its done is made her question why people collect things.

She touches the box encasing spaceship.

"That was his favourite."

Dani starts, jerking her hand away from the glass. For a moment, she forgot he was there. His face is turned toward her, but his eyes fixate on a point to her left. Dani doesn't need to turn back around to know what he's looking at.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Space Shuttle Columbia, the first of the Space Shuttle program. At least that's what Danny said it was. I can never tell the difference."

Dani looks from the Columbia to the second model on the shelf, this one smaller and lacking a protective case.

"Are you sure they aren't the same shuttle?" she asks.

Jack chuckles. "Absolutely. Danny never let it go if anyone mixed the two up."

"What's so special about this one?" Dani taps the Columbia's box.

"It was maybe the third model that he got? The first two were pretty cheap. He saved up for them himself. Took a while. I didn't even realize he had them until he mentioned wanting a third. Didn't even realize he liked space so much... I bought this for him a week later and gave it to him after school."

Dani nods along as Jack speaks, although she doesn't see the point yet. Lots of people have expensive things; that doesn't automatically make them special.

"We built it together. I wasn't interested in stars and astronomy, but Danny asked me to help him with it, so I did. I never got why it was his favourite, though. He had better ones, models he saved up for penny by penny. He made that one"—Jack nods to the model on the shelf—"with Sam and Tucker. But sometimes, I think..."

Jack falls silent.

Dani catches his reflection in the glass display case. He has one hand pressed over his eyes, the other fisted at his side. Dani has yet to see either Maddie or Jack cry since coming to Fenton Works, and she thinks that streak is about to end.

"I know we weren't the best parents. There've been times when we've... neglected our duties to focus on ghosts instead. I never thought about it before, but it couldn't have been easy on a couple of young kids. All I ever wanted was for Danny to follow the Fenton family footsteps. But space was his. And sometimes I think he liked this model the best because it was the first time I showed any interest in something he liked."

Jack shudders as he exhales.

Dani resists the urge to go invisible. This heart-to-heart stuff really isn't her thing. Their little question and answer sessions have been fun, but talking about the woman in the forest was already deep enough for Dani. Now things are getting a little too intense.

If Jack does start to cry, she might flee out of sheer awkwardness. He doesn't—thank God—but when he pulls his hand away from his face, he looks old and tired.

Dani racks her brain for something to say. "I think... maybe... he liked it the most because it showed that you loved him, not just because it was about space. Or something."

Jack meets Dani's eye through his reflection and cracks a smile. "I guess if anyone could say what Danny might think, it would be you."

The words cut through her.

"Right," Dani says, her voice empty. "Sure."

Jack nods, as if Dani has revealed some great truth to him, and turns away. His footsteps are louder as he heads for the door, more like his regular self. Dani has no doubt that Jack is leaving this room feeling brighter than before.

All Dani feels is an uncomfortable twist in her gut.

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#phic phight #phic phight 2021 #notyourdanny #phanfic #phicc #dp fanfiction #danny phantom #dani phantom #danielle phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #trans danny fenton #trans danny #nyd chapter four

[lexosaurus]

Everything Was White: Part 10

Part [1] / [9]

Read on [ffn] [ao3]

---

Click.

“Danny Fenton Phantom was spotted today exiting from the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle at the Kaufman Health Center, a recovery center specializing in adolescent mental health and trauma—”

Click.

“—what I want to know is what the hell happened here? Okay? Because in this video I see a kid who can’t walk, who’s looking around like he’s terrified someone’s going to come get him, and you’re sitting here telling me that this is Danny Phantom? This kid? So what happened inside—”

Click.

“—was released from his inpatient stay at the Amity Park Psychiatric Center just this week. Though it is unclear at this time if we’ll see him soaring through the skies again anytime soon, sources say he is recovering quickly—”

Click.

“—no, Dave, I agree that something’s not right here. If you ask me, he’s gotta be a ticking time bomb—”

Click.

“—a ghost or a human? That’s the question we’ll be discussing tonight—”

Click.

“—while what happened during his time within the government’s hold is still unknown, one thing is for certain: Danny Phantom has a long way to go if he wants to get back to his former glory.”

Click.

The screen went black.

“You shouldn’t be watching stuff like that,” Jazz said from behind him.

Danny stared blankly at his lap, not even bothering to turn around and face Jazz’s disappointed gaze. His therapist had told him—had told his parents—that Danny should avoid the news for a while. In her office, Danny found it too easy to comply because he was only just beginning to jigsaw together the broken pieces of his life, so why the hell should he care about the news?

But now it was different. It was unavoidable. The media had been tipped off that Danny Phantom had returned to modern society—somewhat—and that he was attending a PHP program, and now any brief semblance of anonymity he had was gone.

Just like that.

“Twitter’s worse,” he muttered.

Jazz sighed and came around the sofa, sinking into the cushions next to Danny. Her hair was up in a messy bun with strands sticking out like gravity didn’t exist. She pulled the sleeves down on her oversized hoodie and wrapped her arms around her legs.

There was a long pause, and for a moment, Danny prepared himself for a Jazz-style lecture about teenage psychology and how he needed to listen to his therapist because she was the expert here, not him, but instead all she gave was a small “I know.”

His stomach turned, and in a moment of vulnerability, he uttered, “I think the worst part is...they’re right.”

“Danny—”

“No. They...I...I used to get this stuff all the time. When I was just Phantom.” He paused, waiting for Jazz to butt in, but she didn’t. “It was so much—so much easier to ignore. Back then. Because they were wrong. I—I knew they were wrong. I wasn’t...a ghost. I was a halfa. They were...they were looking at me like a full ghost, you know? And...the theories were wrong. They didn’t know…”

“Some of the things they said were pretty ridiculous, I remember that.”

“Right?” Danny twisted around to face Jazz. “It was obvious to us, but they didn’t know! They sounded crazy!”

Jazz looked at him with an uncertain gaze. “You realize that they still sound crazy, right? All the people talking about you?”

“No...you don’t get it. The theories are updated, and they know—they know I’m Phantom. Don’t you get it? Everything they’re saying...it’s all based in truth.”

Her expression turned pained. “Danny, stop.”

“But I’m right.” 

“Danny just—come on, think about it for a second! The public hasn’t seen you in months, everything they’re going off of is based on rumors!”

“They saw me this morning, didn’t they?” Danny gestured at the television.

Jazz scoffed. “And you’re really going to take their word over mine? Because of a five-second video of you going into a building?”

A headache was building in his skull. Jazz was trying to guilt him, wasn’t she? But he knew the truth.

The public didn’t need much more than the short video of him going from the GAV to the building, because there wasn’t much else to the legendary Danny Phantom anymore. Everything in that video...that’s all he was now.

Just a traumatized teen going to a health center.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Danny—”

“No, I’m—I’m...” He pressed his hand to his forehead. “I’m tired.”

“Me too.”

Her voice was so quiet, so defeated . Danny couldn’t remember a time where Jazz ever sounded like this.

He was selfish, wasn’t he? He had spent all this time so caught up in his problems and his anxieties that he never thought about what Jazz was going through. They had talked, but not really. 

A wave of guilt swept through Danny because he was such a selfish and awful brother who didn’t ever think to check in with his sister despite everything she had done for him and she deserved so much better than him.

His throat felt tight. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, cut it out,” she said, slapping his arm playfully.

He tensed and immediately felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He kept his eyes trained down to his lap, not wanting to see if Jazz noticed his reaction.

“It’s not your fault, Danny.”

Danny didn’t know what she was referring to. Even so, she was probably wrong. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“With what, spending quality time with my little brother?” 

“Sure.”

“Well...” She yawned. “See? I’m too tired to do any more homework. Guess I’m forced to chill here on the couch with you. Woe is me and all.”

He rolled his eyes. “The horror.”

“I know, you should pity me.”

“Maybe you should take a nap.”

“Why do that when they’re showing reruns of ‘The Bachelor’ on TV right now?” Jazz plucked the remote from Danny’s fingers.

“Oh god.” A grin began to creep on Danny’s lips. “I get back from—from being abducted by the government...and you want to torture me with trash television?”

“Yup!”

“Unbelievable.” 

Jazz shot him a playful smile. “Well, your options are either ‘The Bachelor’ or you could always find Dad and let him blather on about ghosts for three hours. Choice is yours!”

“And become the victim of his—his latest invention? You drive a hard bargain.”

The depressive fog was beginning to lift in the room, and it was as if Danny could see clearly for the first time. Here he was, joking around on the couch with Jazz, just like before. There was nothing holding him down. He didn’t need to stand up and walk anywhere, his chest was surprisingly calm for once, and his brain felt clear and calm.

This was what he’d always wanted, right? To sit here with his sister, watching mindless television and joking about whatever was on their minds.

This was what he’d dreamt of nearly every night in the Guys in White compound.

He was safe.

Right?

“Ugh, I don’t know why she got so far into the season,” Jazz said, her eyes glued onto the screen. “She was awful.”

Danny watched as a brunette on the screen threw her purse at another girl and stormed out of the scene cursing. “The producers probably...they made her stay.”

“Oh yeah, no doubt. She was crazy. There’s no way Kevin actually liked her.”

“I mean, it is reality TV. It’s not—not actually real.” 

Kind of like how this isn’t real, huh, Fentino? 

Danny gripped his shirt. No, his brain needed to shut up right now. This was real. He was safe and the government was nowhere near him and they couldn’t touch him because the courts had made sure of it. 

“Well, she was annoying either way. I know they like to keep someone on there every season to make drama but ugh, she was just the worst. Like, look!”

“This whole show is the worst though. I can’t...believe you’re make—making me watch this.”

“Well, there’s always those packets Lancer left you!” Jazz said in a singsong voice.

Danny couldn’t hide his disgust. He flopped back against the cushions. “Ugh, don’t even joke about that.”

She took one look at him and laughed, her voice light like a stone skipping over a pond. It was a bright and cheerful sound, one that reminded him of the time he tried to attempt duplication in front of Jazz, resulting in an extra arm sticking out of his torso. 

Danny stared mesmerized at his sister, watching as her smile widened across her face and her eyes squeezed shut, crinkling at the corners. He tried to recall if she’d laughed like this at all since his release from the government, but came up blank.

Sure, they’d had moments of sibling bonding since his release, but they were all held back by something. Whether it be the watchful eyes of nurses or Danny’s body perpetually in recovery mode, there was never a moment where they could truly relax and enjoy each other’s company.

But now he was safe.

Well…

His brain drifted back to the leaked video, and his mood instantly soured. His phone felt heavy in his pocket, and he resisted the temptation to take it out and scroll through Twitter.

He couldn’t even imagine what people were saying.

He was probably a joke to them now, wasn’t he? Amity Park’s hero, reduced to nothing more than a shell of his former self. To go from a confident teen who would soar through the skies, protecting citizens from all sorts of unsavory characters to a traumatized, disabled teen who couldn’t get through a day without hours of therapy and needed his mom’s help to get inside of a building was...well, if that didn’t make him a joke, what would?

Jazz’s attention was now back on the TV screen, and Danny tried to emulate her. After all, he was safe and comfortable and with his sister and there was nothing else to this moment, that was all there was to think about. 

But then something flashed in the corner of his vision, and for a moment he hoped that his eyes betrayed him because it looked like a white van but that was...it couldn’t be…

No…

But it was.

He glanced over to Jazz, but she was too transfixed on the screen to notice him, and he wouldn’t know how to get her attention anyway because his voice wasn’t working and he couldn’t even breathe now and he was going to die, wasn’t he? He was going to die.

They were coming back for him.

He was going to die.

The van slowed to a crawl, and he desperately tried to see inside of the tinted windows but he couldn’t and they wouldn’t roll down their windows either so who was in the van? Was it...was it…

But it had to be him, right? Who else would come back for him?

He tried to suck in a breath but couldn’t. His chest wasn’t working anymore. 

He blinked and the backs of his eyelids were green. Just like his cell floor and the splatters along his wall and his rib when he awoke to it in front of his face and oh god he was going to die, he was going to die, they were coming back for the rest of his core and his ectoplasm and he wasn’t going to survive another round of the compound he knew it he would rather die than do that but his core wouldn’t let him because it needed to protect him his stupid Obsession was going to force him to endure whatever they threw at him in order to protect him.

Unless they ended him first.

Which they were probably here to do.

He was shaking. He was distinctly aware that he was shaking and he hoped that Jazz hadn’t noticed him but she probably would have said something, wouldn’t she?

Oh god. She was going to have to go through it all again too. No...he couldn’t let her...he couldn’t let that happen.

He needed a plan.

But...there was no plan. He couldn’t do anything. The only thing he was capable of was sitting here like some helpless dog watching the van slowly drive by his house. All he could do was wait for it to stop at his driveway, for the agents to jump out of the doors and surround his house, for Operative O to step out with that signature smirk on his face as he held up the inhibitors in one hand and the fucking red bag in the other hand and say with his deep, arrogant tone, “You ready for round two, dog?”

But then, just when the van looked like it would stop, it sped up and turned the corner of their block.

Danny blinked, staring at the empty spot where the van was just seconds ago. 

Had it really...left?

He let out a shaky breath. And then another.

It left.

But it had been so close to stopping.

Oh god. Oh no. Oh no no no.

“Danny?”

The room was spinning. He needed air. The lights were so bright. When he looked up, the ceiling was white and he kept trying to tell himself that it was a wooden ceiling but the room was spinning and he couldn’t see correctly and the lights were too bright.

It was too late. His cover was blown. His hands flew up to his hair and he felt a comforting tug on his scalp.

Get a grip, get a grip…

“Oh my god, Danny! Hey, look at me!”

Danny shook his head. Or, he tried to. He didn’t know if he was able to or not, because he definitely couldn’t look at Jazz right now because he was going to be sick—

“Danny, what do you need?”

“I—”

What?

He squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t think. Everything was frozen. He felt something wet on his face but he didn’t know what it was or where it came from and his chest was sparking to life and his ears were ringing and he didn’t know what to do. 

“Try to breathe.”

Right, he needed air.

He tried to push himself up but only succeeded in falling back onto the couch. 

“Hey, what are you—”

Hands invaded his vision, touching his arm, and he swatted them away.

He needed to get out. Escape.

Something grabbed his wrist, and he yanked his arm back to his chest, his eyes snapping onto Jazz’s face.

“Danny—”

“Van!” he gasped.

Jazz stilled. “Huh?”

“There was…” Danny looked back out the window, half expecting to see the white van back outside their house.

But there was nothing.

“...a van.”

Why had it left? What did they come here for in the first place if not to take him back to the compound?

It didn’t make sense.

“What are you talking about?”

“I…” He hugged his chest, looking desperately at Jazz’s confused face for even an ounce of understanding.

Why did the van leave?

“Do you need me to get Mom?”

“No!” He was breathless. He couldn’t explain what was going on because he didn’t even know what was happening. Why the Guys in White decided to patrol around their street. Why they decided to slow down in front of their house. 

Jazz tracked his gaze to the window where a black APC News van was stopping to park across the street.  “Danny, I know there are lots of news vans around here now, and I know it’s really stressful. But Mom and Dad tinted all the windows so they can’t see inside of the house, okay?”

Danny gritted his teeth. He wanted to yell out that it wasn’t the news, it was the Guys in White, but his voice wasn’t working and even if it was, Jazz would just call him paranoid and insist that the government wasn’t there to get him again, that he was safe, even though he knew that was a lie.

So instead, all he could force out was a tense “sorry.”

“I know this is hard, but we can get through this together, alright?”

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see her bright, trusting eyes. And, with a final shuddering breath, he felt the last of his adrenaline rush out of him.

Because maybe Jazz was right. After all, this was Jazz. She was always the smart sibling, the one who everyone could trust. She must have been right. It had to have been just a news van.

Maybe he really was unstable.

“Sorry. I’m fine.”

He was suddenly hyper aware of where he was, sitting on the living room couch with his sister, who was looking at him like he was a ticking time bomb—and maybe he was. Maybe that was all he was destined to be from now on.

Either way, it was embarrassing. 

“Sorry, I—I’m gonna go lie down for a bit.”

Jazz’s face almost looked relieved. Danny couldn’t blame her. 

“Sure, Danny. Do you need help getting upstairs?”

“No.” Danny glanced over to the stairlift, grimacing. He really couldn’t get his core back quick enough.

He began the arduous task of getting up to his bedroom, trying to remember the stupid grounding techniques that the PHP therapists were making them practice. “When you feel your brain trying to pull you into your trauma, remember your senses. Try to think of one thing for each of your five senses to bring you back to the present.”

It was stupid. He didn’t need grounding techniques because he wouldn’t even be in this situation if not for the Guys in White trying to ruin his life again.

One, touch. He could feel the loose ectoplasm beneath his fingers, the way his hands were sticky against the damp tile, the burning electricity they would use to punish him, the cold metal straps chaining him down to the examination table, the ecto-inhibitors weighing down on his neck, the way Operative O’s fingers trailed his chest just before the scalpel sliced through his skin, his flesh tearing off of his body all while he lay there, silently screaming, waiting for the pain to take him because he couldn’t do it anymore.

No, that’s wrong. You’re doing this wrong. 

But how could he come back to the present when the past refused to leave him alone?

Think, Fenturd. 

He closed his eyes and felt...his sweatpants. And…

Two, hearing. He could hear Operative O’s deep voice—

No.

—and the way it would echo around the tiled rooms, the sounds of nice black shoes hitting the pristine floors, the squeaking of Phantom’s damp hero suit as the operatives dragged him across the floor, the—

Stop. 

—machines whirring to life as they prepared to drain him of more ectoplasm every day, the scraping of tools against a metal table, the metal straps clicking into place each day, the slight squeak of the IV drop they would have to wheel into the experimentation room after Danny stopped being able to eat—

STOP.

His hand slammed the emergency brake, and the stairlift lurched to a halt. A wave of nausea swept over him, and he sat there at the top of the stairs, focusing on breathing if only to prevent hurling all over his dad’s stairlift. 

He needed to calm down. Ground himself. Be present in the moment. Do what the therapist told him to do.

He could hear his heartbeat. The TV Jazz was watching. The crickets outside.

He flipped the stairlift back on and continued forward.

Three, sight. He could see the controls for the lift. The red emergency brake. His hands. His human skin.

He ascended the last few stairs and, like a robot, rolled off the platform and pushed himself to his bedroom.

He could see his door. It was a wooden door, not like the metal door in the Guys in White facility. The metal door smeared with green ectoplasm—he got punished for that one—with a sickening pool of ectoplasm right in front of it from Danny’s attempts at eating the meals they would bring to him every evening. He could see the cameras in the corners of his cell, always pointing down towards him as a constant reminder that he was always being watched. He could see the granola bars on the other side of his cell mocking him, the tube Operative O would show off before he would shove it down Danny’s throat—for being an insolent, disrespectful creature, of course—the scalpel glistening under the bright lights, ectoplasm speckled on it like jewels.

He could see his bed. His window. His rug.

His nightstand, which he knew if he opened the drawers he would see pens, batteries, his phone charger, and a bottle of oxycodone.

Danny pulled himself onto his bed, pointedly turning his head to face his wall. He could see all the cracks in the wall. When he first got out of the hospital, he used to spend hours tracing the cracks. It was the only thing that would help distract him from all the pain.

He ran a hand along the rough surface, but to his disappointment, the magical distracting aura of the wall had vanished, leaving behind nothing but a broken surface.

Four, smell. Ectoplasm. Nothing but ectoplasm. Burnt battery acid with a hint of lime. Disgusting, revolting, inhuman. On his skin, in his hair, under his nails, everywhere. 

The smell of Clorox in the hallway, the distinct rotting of his cell, the red bag…

He covered his face with his hands. He was doing this exercise all wrong, he knew he was, but for some reason he needed to do it this way. He wanted to forget, but there was another part of him that almost needed to relive what happened as if to punish him for existing. It was an ugly, revolting part of him that he loathed right down to his core but it just wouldn’t shut up.  

He glanced over to his nightstand.

He needed to make a decision, didn’t he?

Five, taste.

---

“So, Danny. Your mom’s been worried about you,” the therapist said, scanning her clipboard. 

Danny prodded at the stress ball in his lap. The one in the hospital had been blue, but this one was green. It could have looked like a ball of ectoplasm if it weren’t so dull. 

“Oh?” He feigned surprise.

“She said you’ve been having trouble eating again.”

He hummed, neither confirming nor denying her statement. There was no point in really responding anyway. This was his personal therapist, the nice blonde lady he saw three times a week. She knew him better than anyone at this point. If he even thought about lying, she would call him out.

She tapped her clipboard with her pen. “She told me your father made hot dogs last night. Do you remember?”

Danny stared down at the white carpet. It was so clean, so fresh. If it weren’t for the small grey diamonds patterning the material, it would have looked nearly identical to the government floors.

This office was much brighter than the one she used in inpatient. Much cleaner, and the sofa was more comfortable too. Yet Danny couldn’t help but have a sudden urge to walk straight out the door.

If only he could.

“Danny?” she asked, her voice softening. 

He sighed, jabbing a finger into the stress ball. “My dad made hot dogs.”

“Right, and do you remember what happened after he made hot dogs?”

He wanted to forget. 

It was bad enough before, with the nurses and his parents constantly going over his meal plan and the stupid protein shakes. But now that everyone was at least vaguely aware that Danny may have had some stupid experience around food and that he may have accidentally brought that home with him and he might be failing to hide it from everyone close to him?

He did not want to get put on a meal plan again.

Maybe he could convince Tucker to pick up some Nasty Burger for them. If he ate it in front of his parents, surely that would get them off his back. That was a normal teen thing, right? He did that before everything changed. That sounded like a good plan.

Danny glanced up at the therapist, the suggestion ready to leave his lips, but faltered. She was looking at him expectantly. She’d asked him a question about dinner, hadn’t she?

“Uh…” Danny squinted at the stress ball, trying to remember the question. 

A part of his mind tried to recall what the Nasty Burger tasted like, but he couldn’t remember. It was good, he knew that much. He used to eat there all the time, but now he couldn’t remember.

What if he didn’t like their food anymore? What if it smelled wrong and he couldn’t eat it? The Nasty Burger was a normal teen thing, so if he couldn’t eat it then that would make him abnormal which was the exact thing he was trying to avoid with this plan.

This was a disaster. He knew he was going to fail at eating the Nasty Burger. Why did he think he could do this? He was too much of a mess of a person to even think of eating a burger.

Not a person, remember? You’re just a—

“I’m not,” Danny whispered. “Shut up.”

“Yeah?”

Danny dropped the stress ball into his lap. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, trying to fight off whatever game his brain was about to play, before groaning and burying his head into his hands.

“Take your time, Danny. Deep breaths.”

Right, he needed to breathe.

In...and out…

In...and out…

He was fine.

“Are you alright?”

Danny nodded, rocking back and forth in his chair ever so slightly. He was fine. He was fine. 

He allowed the silence in the therapist’s office to stretch a bit further, focusing on calming his racing heart and embracing the dark, silent parts of his mind. They were his safe havens, the parts of his brain that he could lock himself into to escape the ugly memories of the government facility.

His brain felt like swimming in a hurricane with no land in sight. But every once in a while, he managed to spot the eye in the storm, and sometimes he could even fight the riptides just long enough to swim to safety.

He was fine.

“It’s stupid anyway.”

“What is?”

“This. Me. Everything...dinner.”

“Why do you think it’s stupid?”

He shook his head. “The whole thing...it’s so dumb. I don’t…”

The therapist didn’t say anything. Vaguely, Danny could hear the click of her pen, but he couldn’t hear the familiar scratching of the pen on the clipboard. 

She must have been waiting for something, Danny realized. 

This was the perfect opportunity. Dinner last night had been a complete and utter disaster. He had already been on edge courtesy of the white van—which now he was almost positive he was such a paranoid idiot because it was probably just a news van—and then the next thing he knew he was curled up in the bathroom trying to fight off the smell of processed meat that was attacking his home. 

He could have told the therapist right then and there. She knew about the dissection, about the night he tried to escape, about the nights he’d spent locked in his dark, damp cell, shivering, desperately trying to cling to the memories of his family and friends because he knew—or he thought—that those memories were all he’d have left of them.

And suddenly, he wanted so badly to tell her because what was worse than being ripped open and torn apart? What could possibly be worse than being electrocuted and dragged away from his family? What could be worse than hearing gunshots and not knowing for weeks after if the Guys in White had actually shot and killed his family?

It was all so screwed up. He was so tired of the panic, of the pain, of the lapses in his memory and the freaking therapies and the chest pain that never seemed to go away. This was his life now and he was exhausted.

This was the only part of his captivity that he hadn’t told her. He could end all this secrecy right now. She could help him.

He looked up at her, and there she sat with her blonde, curly hair clipped back, revealing a patient smile paired with her signature soft, grey eyes. Her legs were crossed, and in her hands, she held her clipboard and pen. She was here, radiating kindness and a judgment-free environment where Danny was sure he could reveal exactly what the hell was going on without worrying about seeing that horrified face he saw from his mother or Jazz during family therapy.

She could help him. He just had to say it.

“I…” He took a shuddering breath, dropping his eyes back to his lap where the green stress ball still rested. “Um…”

Say it.

“I…”

Say it.

“In the...in the…”

SAY IT.

“...”

Why couldn’t he say it?

He glanced up again and she was still sitting as patient as before. She was waiting for him, because she trusted him to tell her what was wrong, and he wouldn’t say it.

Because he couldn’t.

Because he was weak. 

Because Operative O did train him, just like he had promised he would.

And worst of all, Danny had let him. He knew exactly what Operative O was trying to do, and he’d let it happen. He hadn’t tried to fight him off at all, and he hadn’t eaten the granola bars when asked. He could have easily avoided all of this, but he didn’t. Because he knew, and Operative O knew, that Danny deserved it.

“I don’t know.”

The therapist hummed in response. “Food can be just as powerful of a weapon as a knife. It can be used against us as a means for control. And then sometimes, we may take that trauma home with us. Do you feel like the Guys in White used food to control you?”

“Of course they did,” Danny snapped. What did she think the entire meal plan was for?

“Can you think of a time where they did this? It can be any time that jumps out to you.”

Danny frowned, rolling the stress ball around in his lap. If he outright refused to answer, then she would tell his parents and they would start crying again and would threaten to send him back to inpatient. And after yesterday, he was already on thin ice. 

So he would have to give an answer, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

“They were mad that I had to use IVs,” he started. “So they tried to force feed me.”

“That must have been really scary.”

“Yeah…” His throat tightened, and his eyes started to burn.

“Can you tell me about it a little?”

No.

“Uhh…” He squeezed his eyes shut. “By that point, everything just hurt so much. I don’t really...I can’t…”

“What was hurting?”

He hugged his torso. “My back, mostly. My arm too. Ribs. That was before...before when they—with my chest, you know. I didn’t have that then. There was time in between my back and that.”

“Right.”

“Yeah.” He was starting to feel hazy. Things were blurring together, and he didn’t know if the tingles in his chest were a sign of his pain medication wearing off or if they were just a part of a distant memory.

“Did the smell of the hot dogs bring you back to that place?”

“Kinda. I don’t know. It shouldn’t have.”

“Why do you think that?”

Danny pressed a hand to his chest. The tingles were starting to get worse, and Danny tried to remember if he had taken his medication that morning. 

He had to have taken it. His mother controlled his medication, per doctor orders, and she always made him take it with breakfast.

But the tingles in his chest were starting to feel like fire licking at his skin, and even when he tried to smother the fire with his fingers, it only seemed to grow worse. 

It didn’t matter, he would get more medication soon. He just had to grit his teeth and bear it until then.

He was fine.

“Danny, what’s on your mind?”

Danny flinched, and once again, he was made aware that he was still sitting across from his therapist who seemed to have an unlimited supply of patience for his bullshit. 

He glanced up at the clock. They still had a half hour left of this session.

“Yeah.”

What were they talking about again?

---

The phone lit up, illuminating the dark room.

Danny wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting on his bed, staring out the window at the stars speckled against the sky. It was a clear night, a full moon. It would have been perfect for a flight if he could. If he didn’t have this chip in his neck.

He ignored the phone. Whoever was trying to contact him would have to wait. The night was too perfect, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gazed out at the stars.

It was so serene. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine he was outside, floating face up towards the Milky Way. But he wasn’t going to close his eyes and imagine that, because it wasn’t real. And he didn’t know when he would even get that opportunity again, if ever.

And besides, if he closed his eyes, how would he look up at the stars?

His phone went dim, leaving him once again submerged in the darkness of the night.

The stars were too far away. Maybe if he tried, he might be able to at least drag himself onto his roof.

But what if he couldn’t? Did he even want to try, knowing he was likely to fail? Would he be able to handle that kind of defeat?

It was no use. He would just have to ask his parents to take the chip out in the morning. Surely they had safety-proofed the lab by now, hadn’t they? If they were so worried about Danny being hurt? It must have been a top priority for them.

But then why hadn’t they done that during the two months Danny had been in and out of the hospitals? Why wait?

Unless…

Stop it. 

It was preposterous to think that his parents would lie to him about this. After all, what was the point of keeping Phantom locked up? They knew it was hurting him to be separated from his ghost core for so long. Surely they were going to take the chip out as soon as possible.

Right?

The phone lit up again, snapping Danny out of his thoughts. Whoever was trying to contact him this late could certainly wait till morning. If Danny hadn’t picked up the first time, then what made them think he was going to answer now?  

He snatched the stupid device off his nightstand, fully intending on shutting the damn thing off, but froze. There, displayed perfectly on the caller ID, was the name of someone he hadn’t thought about in months:

Vlad Masters

His blood ran cold. Vlad? Why him? Why now? As far as Danny knew, he’d kept his distance since the court case. Of course, Danny had known that he was the one financing the entire lawsuit—Danny wasn’t an idiot—but he assumed it was either Vlad’s attempt at either reconciling his own stupid guilt or, the more likely scenario, that it was Vlad’s way of making sure the Guys in White couldn’t keep their grimy little hands on Danny’s halfa biology. 

Either way, Danny assumed that Vlad would have enough tact to know to stay the hell away from him.

But Vlad was never one to uphold unspoken boundaries, now was he?

Danny’s finger lingered over the end call button just a moment too long.

Although his stay with the government had changed him, his poor decision-making skills and teenage impulsiveness had unfortunately survived these past few months.

Danny jabbed the answer button and whipped the phone up to his ear.

“What do you want, Plasmius?”

---

As always thank you so much to @imekitty for beta-ing this fic. If you like this fic, check out her fics on ffn, they are very angsty and brilliantly written!

Thanks for reading!

---

<previous / next>

#danny phantom #phandom #phicc #my writing #everything was white #chapter 10

[5millioncatipilars]

Ok y’all I need

anime recommendations

(Non anime recommendations also encouraged)

Why?

I’m between hyperfixations and starting to Feel it

But I’m a picky bitch so here are my requirements

Fantasy world bc I deal with enough real life as it is. Modern day fantasy is fine too.

I need the angst. Either tragic backstory or future angst or ongoing I need it.

But not all angst of course bc it hits different when the person with all the angst is also the entire shows source of sunlight.

Preferably no annoying uwu damsel in distress with the overly high pitched voice. Strong women only bc I am a proud simp and need a woman to step on my neck, but I prefer male characters anyway.

Angst please. I have an aching void in my soul that craves to be filled with nothing but sadness and will continue to keep me up at night until I am crying over someone’s pain other than my own.

At the same time I will accept shows where nothing ever changes and everything is just fine and the mc is so op that nothing can bring harm to them or their world bc my life is currently in turmoil and I would love to see one that isn’t.

Nothing too long bc I’m not ready for that kind of commitment. Also those 12-24 episode anime are some of the best out there.

The art style has to be good bc I’m not going to stare at something for multiple hours a day that isn’t pretty.

Subbed or dubbed does not matter to me.

If the manga is better I will not be reading it bc books are expensive and I don’t like reading on my phone or computer.

Not in movie form bc I don’t have the attention span for that.

When I say angst I mean the kind of stuff you can’t find in American tv shows. Have any of y’all watched Saiyuki? I’m talking watch the fist season then go watch Gaiden kind of angst. I’m talking worse than any ghibli movie kind of angst. I’m talking needs a CW but there’s not even that much violence or blood type angst. I’m talking will make me rethink my life choices and better me as a person type of angst. I’m talking you’re surprised that mc didn’t turn into a villain type angst.

Speaking of Saiyuki, that’s a perfect example. All happy go lucky, basically the same story every episode, everyone’s having a good time, then Boom! Gaiden! Angst! Then back to our regularly scheduled program, then Boom! Reminder of angst!

No romance bc I am asexual and that shit is icky

Anime I’ve watched that I liked to give you a reference

Saiyuki

Chrono Crusade

Cashern Sins

Durarara

Trigun

Legend of legendary heroes

Blue exorcist

Inuyasha

Wolf’s Rain

Dramatical Murder (don’t watch the OVAs trust me)

Castlevania

Saiki K

Anime I didn’t like

Sword art online

7 deadly sins

Bleach

One peice

Naruto

Fairy tale

FMA (past a certain point)

Soul eater (liked it then, not so much now)

Non anime previous hyperfixations include, but not limited to:

DSMP

Bucky Barnes (specifically)

Danny Phantom

Rangers apprentice

D&D

Detroit Become Human

Renaissance faire

Six of crows (the book)

The last airbender (but not legend of Kora)

Invader Zim (much angst potential there if you look)

Merlin (BBC)

Good Omens

I have drained these fandoms of all of their content and the void demands something new to feast upon.

Tldr: I need angsty shows to watch pls.

#pls help #I’m so bored #the void demands something new to feast upon #this is kinda cringe #but that’s ok bc this is tumblr dot com #long post #kinda #anime recommendation #thank you #anime boy #ignore that I’m trying to get this to the right people #show recommendations #no books please I’m dyslexic #reading takes too much effort #kinda went on a tangent there for a sec but it’s ok I got back on track

[ladylynse]

Whirlwind (SQ fic): Jake should be used to ominous predictions by now. Randy should know better than to blindly follow McFist. Adrien should think twice before sneaking away. And Danny should’ve expected something like this when he got that phone call.

Chapter 10 [FF | AO3]

Previous | Timeline post

-|-

7:36 PM

“Um, guys?” Danny said as he looked up. He might not be a dragon expert by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d spent enough time with Dora—and Jake, really—to be able to pick out the sound of giant wingbeats above the general noise of the city.

“Not now,” Jake hissed at him, pointing with his free hand to his cell phone. “I’m still on with Trixie.”

“No, Danny’s right,” Nino said, and he must have followed Danny’s gaze. “We need to move. Now.”

There was a squeak from beside him that was probably Haley. Randy had already seen the dragon, after all. Both of them were looking up, too, and must have seen Susan fly past quickly enough that she was hardly more than a flash of deeper darkness against the cloudy sky. Nightfall worked in Jake’s favour, at least. It was hard to see much of anything up there from street level.

“Here’s the plan,” Nino said, and Danny turned to him. “Get in the air. Follow her. Stay invisible, and keep us posted via these things.” He tapped his Fenton Phone. “Randy and I will transform. We’ll be distractions, since I’m assuming we’ll still be easy targets in the dark.” Haley nodded, and he continued, “Once you’re invisible, you can get close to her and grab her necklace. Just take it and get out of there, as far as you can. Don’t break it until Jake hears back from his contact about something to contain the akuma.”

Danny hadn’t exactly tested how well being invisible at night helped combat a dragon’s magical sight, but he didn’t have to heart to say that right now. He still had a better chance than the other two. In theory, at least.

“What about me?” Haley asked.

“Dragon,” Danny reminded Nino. It was easy to forget. Jake might argue it, but Danny didn’t think Haley pulled off fierce very well.

“You’d be too much of a target.”

“Just because I’m younger than you, it doesn’t mean I’m useless! You said you wanted distractions.”

“Distractions, not bait.” Nino pulled a face. “Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t want you to get hurt, and—”

“You don’t even know what I can do!”

“Let her do what she does best,” Danny suggested. “The cute little girl schtick. Sic her on McFist and Rotwood. If Trixie and Spud don’t end up fetching something from the shop, they can help her when they get here.”

Nino frowned down at Haley. “Does Rotwood know who you are?”

She shrugged. “He’s met me. He mostly focuses on Jake so he might not remember me. I might just be like any other cute little girl he’s seen.” She flashed a smile.

“I’ll give her some weapons,” Randy said. “Just a sec.” No doubt still wary of cameras, he ducked behind the dumpster and reappeared a few seconds later as the Ninja, holding out some throwing stars and different coloured balls. “These should help you keep them distracted without giving that Rotwood guy evidence of dragons.” He glanced in the direction Susan had flown and then amended, “More evidence of dragons, anyway.”

“I don’t have my backpack,” Haley said, eyeing the weapons that were overflowing from Randy’s hands.

“Here, you can take my sweater,” Nino said. He shot a worried glance at the mouth of the alley and then pulled off his hoodie, making sure to keep his back to the street. “I won’t need it as Chat Noir, anyway.”

The hooded sweatshirt swam on Haley, but it did the trick, and Randy made sure her pockets were full. “Aren’t you worried about McFist realizing that’s all Ninja stuff?” Danny asked as Nino crouched behind the dumpster to change.

“He’s bound to already know the Ninja’s in town. Or at least that a Ninja’s in town. If I’m lucky, he doesn’t realize it’s me and not, like, the Ninja of New York City.”

Danny wasn’t entirely convinced, but it was Randy’s neck, not his. Besides, his enemies all knew his real identity, and they hadn’t all used it against him. Just…most of them. He would almost swear that Technus had hacked into the school’s mainframe last time he’d attacked and figured out when Danny had major exams scheduled, as he or Skulker would invariably show up, and—

“Here, take one of these, too,” Randy said, handing one last ball to Haley. “Just be extra careful with that one. It’s a Ninja Bee Ball.”

She looked at it warily. “McFist’s not allergic, is he?”

“I have no idea. But he’d have health insurance. He’ll be fine.”

She didn’t look convinced, so Danny added, “The paramedics working the venue tonight would still be on site. Too many people are hanging around for them to have packed up and gone home. I don’t think they’d be able to just leave mid shift anyway.”

“Why is she even worried about that?” Randy asked in a loud whisper as Haley tucked away the Ninja Bee Ball and trotted to the edge of the alley, looking both ways before darting off to join the thinning crowd and find Rotwood and his new Ninja-destroying friend. “I never worry about that, and it’s always worked out for me!”

Danny shrugged. “I personally have more of a thing against ghost mosquitoes and giant hornets. If she doesn’t use it, she doesn’t use it. The important thing is that she buys us time to deal with the dragon.”

“Do you think Jake’s mom’ll even pay attention to me? She didn’t before.”

“You weren’t with me before,” Nino said, and Danny jumped. Geez, that guy could sneak up on people. Danny was far more used to sneaking up on people and scaring them than having it happen to him—mostly because of his ghost sense, but also because Tucker—

Someone shouted something made incomprehensible by distance. They all glanced in the direction it had come from, despite not being able to see anything, and waited for the screaming to start.

It didn’t.

Had no one spotted the dragon coming back? Someone must have been looking. Had she flown high enough? Or simply cleverly enough, avoiding the majority of the sightlines? Did she have some power that most dragons didn’t, something they hadn’t seen her use yet? Danny wouldn’t put anything past someone who could use magic like that, not after his experiences with Desiree.

Nino was the first to look away and call their attention back to him. “She’s clever, even more so since she has all this existing knowledge of dragons. We need to be careful, and need to take her out fast.”

“So we just, what, come out swinging?” Randy asked. “Or, ooh, how about I use my scarf to get on her back and ride her? That would be so bruce, being a dragon rider.”

Nino stared at Randy for a few seconds. His ears twitched. (Danny was pretty sure he hadn’t just imagined that. Magic would surely make it possible for the cat ears to move on their own.) After a beat, Nino said, “Well, it would be a distraction, I guess. But she’ll try to protect her necklace at any cost. She might’ve been ignoring you earlier, but she won’t if you’re that close it. And you can’t fly.”

Randy laughed; Danny wasn’t even sure if he’d been paying attention to Chat Noir’s warnings. “This will be the cheese! The Nomicon’s bound to teach me how to do the Ninja Dragon Fist after that.”

“Wait,” Danny said, remembering the term from earlier. “The Nomicon. That’s that thing that gave you that advice, right?”

Danny didn’t need to see Randy’s face to know that he was frowning. “The super unhelpful advice? Yeah. I mean, c’mon. To cleanse the soul, one must first clear the mind. I’ve figured it out now. It’s telling me to focus. As if I’m not focusing already. I mean, dragon. Super bruce. Definitely focusing on that. And trying to stop the whole panic and chaos thing from happening.”

“It’s not telling you that you need to focus,” Nino said slowly. “It’s telling you that we can get through to her.”

“What?”

Danny wasn’t entirely sure what Nino meant, either.

“Hawk Moth’s magic is a corruption of what it should be,” Nino said, as if that explained anything. “To free her of it, we need to help her clear her head. Snap her out of it.”

“By breaking the necklace and releasing the butterfly?” Randy prompted. “Isn’t that how it works?”

“But we might not need to,” insisted Nino. “You already said she’s different.” He hesitated, then amended, “At least, even if we do have to break it and free the akuma, if we can get through to her, she might be strong enough not to fight us. That would make your job a lot easier, Phantom.”

Danny wasn’t going to bet that anything would be easy, but he’d take easier if it wouldn’t blow up in their faces. Which it almost certainly would. His luck was terrible, Jake’s was obviously no better, Randy’s couldn’t be great if this McFist guy had shown up, and Nino, well…. Bad luck was following him around right now, even if it didn’t usually back in Paris—although the fact that he was a masked hero no doubt meant it did, even though this Hawk Moth guy not having what he wanted yet was definitely a point in cat boy’s favour.

Maybe a whole bunch of awful luck mixed with effort, skill, and desperation would let them come out on top.

“Might as well try it. Worst that happens is that it doesn’t work,” Danny said. “You guys head out; I’ll fill in Jake and catch up.”

They both nodded before jumping into action, Nino extending his staff and immediately disappearing to the rooftops and Randy darting across the street before swinging up to climb a fire escape on the other side. Danny drifted over to Jake, who didn’t look particularly happy. He held up one finger and kept talking to Trixie.

He finished, flipped the phone closed with a groaned, “Aw, maaaan,” and Danny didn’t need to ask.

Instead, Danny said, “Nino thinks Randy’s Nomicon thing might be saying we can get through this without freeing the akuma. He’s not sure and was hoping you’d have something to deal with it, but I’m guessing not.”

“Yeah, not. It’s not like I have Pandora’s Box just lying around.”

“It’s in the Ghost Zone,” Danny reminded him.

“So you say.” Jake sighed. “G can’t think of anything we have that won’t eventually be affected by the corrupted magic.”

“How soon of an eventually? Could Nino get back to Paris with it?”

“It would be more likely to get out while he was still on the plane, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone. Fu’s got Marty on guard duty at the shop, at least, but he can only pull so many strings, and I don’t know if he can get something to us in time.” He hesitated. “Do you think we could use your Infi-Map? That’s how you got here, isn’t it?”

“It’s not exactly my map,” Danny said slowly. “I can’t really control it. It takes you where you need to be more often than where you want to go.”

“But wouldn’t you and Nino need to be in Paris to get Ladybug’s help?”

“Probably,” Danny allowed, “but we’re just as likely to wind up somewhere else. If it were that reliable, we could use it to find this Hawk Moth guy and fight him instead of your mom. Besides, Nino and I wouldn’t both need to be back in the NYC, and how’s Nino going to explain how he got home if he disappears here? Or if the map takes us somewhere else entirely? I can fly, but he would not be comfortable piggybacking that way for a long trip, even if I went intangible.”

Jake frowned. “Fine. What about one of your parent’s ghost-catching thermoses?”

“It contains ghostly magic. It might work. I dunno. It’s not like I’ve ever tried it. Does Spud still have the one he made?”

Jake nodded and flipped his phone back open, already typing as he said, “He should. I’ll text him. He can grab it, just in case.” He met Danny’s gaze for a second, adding, “I’m assuming we need to be fighting now, since the others are gone.”

“Nino might be right, you know. If Rotwood’s here and you show up, he’ll have a field day.”

“As if he’s not going to already?”

“Haley’s going to try to distract him and this McFist guy. Did you put Trixie and Spud on that, too?”

“She’s going to do a quick scout of the shop in case Fu or Gramps forgot anything, but Spud’s going to come and do that, yeah. Well, I guess he’ll head home for the thermos and then come do that. They’ll both come, anyway. Just not right away. And Haley said Sun’s going to start doing damage control for us instead of being another set of eyes. She figures that’ll be of more use. Which I guess it is, since Mom—” Jake’s voice broke “—I mean, the dragon came back. I know G was talking about spreading rumours of this being something it’s not, but honestly Sun will be better at that kind of thing than he is.”

Danny bit his lip. “You’re not going to sit this out, are you?”

“I’m the American Dragon. You know I can’t.” He waved a hand in the general direction of the ruined gala and added, “The fire was my fault, Mom getting akumatized was my fault, and the fact that this Hawk Moth guy has been active in Paris is basically our fault, too. Dragons are supposed to protect the magical world, and the French Dragon hasn’t been replaced since the Strigoi got him.”

“Too few in number, huh?”

Jake just grunted. He probably didn’t care about the politics of it all. He would just care that people were getting hurt. And that Hawk Moth was giving magic and magical creatures a bad name at the same time as convincing a lot of people they existed.

“You dragon up. I’ll stick with you and keep you invisible for as long as I can. When I get an opening, I’ll grab the necklace—and hopefully your appearance will be enough of a distraction if Randy and Nino aren’t.”

“Remember that dragons can touch ghosts,” Jake said, as if Danny didn’t remember all the inconvenient things about dealing with living dragons. Still, truth was, they needed to surprise Hawk Moth more than Susan. She might know a lot about dragons, but it was highly unlikely he did. “And even when you’re invisible, if I’m really looking, I can see you. Sorta. In the right light.”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “I remember.”

This wasn’t the first time he’d worked with Jake. If they pulled this off, it likely wouldn’t be the last. It was nice, knowing he’d have a magical ally he could call upon if things ever got a particular type of tricky, and…. And it would be nice if the others decided they felt that way, too, when this was all over, however it ended up.

7:41 PM

Haley wasn’t sure she looked as cute as she possibly could while wearing Nino’s oversized hoodie with its pockets stuffed to bursting, but she still had a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. The plaza was easily well lit enough for people to see it, too, which helped. Showing her smile instead of her fear meant most people didn’t give her a second glance.

The first task was getting through the crowd without being stopped, so she employed the usual tactic of attaching herself to the nearest adult whenever someone noticed her. It was easy enough to pretend to be part of someone else’s group for a few seconds, either as a daughter or a family friend. People didn’t question it; they didn’t expect someone her age to be alone, so they saw what they wanted to see, especially when she kept the worry off her face.

When she needed to keep moving, she’d look for someone going in the direction she wanted to go and follow them, just closely enough that it looked natural but not so closely that they’d get that sense of being followed unless they were really good. In her experience, most people weren’t, especially old white men like Rotwood and McFist—and there were enough of those around a place like this, often accompanied with women wearing dresses that could amount to her mom’s yearly salary.

Haley never specifically called out for any parents, of course—it wouldn’t do for heads to turn and no one’s face to light up with recognition or relief—but she did occasionally raise her hand to wave to someone who wasn’t there, banking on the fact that anyone who noticed would think she was waving at someone else. She never answered anyone else’s call for someone with coming, but she would make a show of perking up and moving in that direction if it were where she wanted to go.

It was the little things. Young children on their own in a place like this? Suspicious. Curious youngsters exploring rumours of a dragon sighting who accidentally got separated from their parents, but not straying far enough that they couldn’t be found again? Much more likely.

Nino’s hoodie might actually help her in that respect. It just screamed having a big brother, even though it still smelled new and the forgotten tail of a plastic tag sometimes poked the back of her neck.

Haley stopped where she thought Rotwood wouldn’t notice her. He and McFist had stopped themselves and were talking; she couldn’t make out their words without resorting to ear of the dragon, but that was risky if Rotwood recognized her despite having her hood up.

Her job was to distract them while the others found and fought—saved—her mom.

She could do that.

If her usual cuteness failed her—that is, if Rotwood recognized her—then she’d simply lead them away and keep them busy with everything Randy had given her.

Haley glanced skyward one last time, took a deep breath, and then walked over and tugged on McFist’s arm. “Excuse me, mister?”

He glanced down at her, annoyance melting into confusion. “I’m, ah, not whoever you’re looking for. I’m in the middle of a business meeting. Maybe you could talk to someone else.”

It was a politer version of ‘get lost, kid’ than she’d expected, but she stuck out her bottom lip and let it quiver. “I’m scared.”

He frowned at her. “Of the dragon? I don’t know if it’s coming back.”

They hadn’t noticed Susan’s return. Haley tried not to let her relief show on her face. “I hope it doesn’t,” she whimpered, edging closer to McFist as Rotwood dropped into a crouch.

“You saw this dragon?” he asked, and she saw him blink in startled recognition even as she turned her face away. “Wait. I have seen you before. You are Jake Long’s sister!”

She cowered behind McFist’s leg, burying her face in his jacket, but Rotwood didn’t buy it. He grabbed her arm and pulled, ignoring McFist’s surprised shout. “You see this girl?” Rotwood said to McFist, brandishing the arm he still held and shaking her enough that her hood slipped down. She guarded the full pockets with her free hand, trying not to lose any of the ammunition she’d need to use sooner rather than later at this rate. “She is a dragon!”

“Right,” McFist said, and Haley knew from Rotwood’s souring expression that she wasn’t the only one who’d caught McFist’s quick glances to the side.

“I am telling you the truth!” insisted Rotwood. “She is a dragon, just like her brother!”

Rotwood had nothing on him to force a change on her—he would have pulled it out already if he had—so Haley let out another whimper of fear. Whatever she might tell the others later, it wasn’t faked. She had to put on a brave face, especially around Jake or he’d have sent her home with loud complaints about regretting asking for her help, but she knew exactly how scary this was and exactly how much was at risk if the situation got much worse.

She didn’t know for sure that McFist had been in the crowd earlier, but she didn’t think Rotwood would still be talking to him if he hadn’t been, which meant McFist had seen her mother. He’d seen the dragon. If Rotwood couldn’t convince him that dragons were real after that—

“They hide,” Rotwood hissed, shaking her again. Haley looked around, but no one else was looking their way. If anyone saw anything, they were ignoring it. She swallowed back the bitterness in her throat. She hadn’t wanted to be seen, but it still hurt. How could people just ignore this?

“Hide.” McFist’s voice was flat. Good. Maybe he didn’t believe Rotwood after all. That would work in her favour. That would—

“They wear human skin. This is just how she looks as a human!”

Rotwood gave her another violent shake, and Haley felt one of the throwing balls Randy had given her slip out of the hoodie’s pocket and past her fingers.

It hit the ground, bounced once, and rolled to a stop between them.

Rotwood stopped shaking her, staring with McFist at the little blue ball that now rested on the cobbles at their feet.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then McFist said, “Wait, is that—?”

Ice erupted, frosting the street within a five foot radius, and Haley jerked free of Rotwood’s arm. She clamped one arm around her waist to contain the rest of her weapons as she bent down and shot a small flicker of fire towards her shoes, thawing it enough to wrench her feet free.

She only took two steps before another hand caught her arm, strong metal fingers digging into her through the thick fabric of the hoodie.

“Where, exactly,” McFist said, in a low growl that told her he’d be shouting if it wouldn’t have drawn more attention to them, as if the ice at their feet weren’t suspicious enough, “did you get a Ninja Cold Ball?”

7:41 PM

“That’s Chat Noir.” Hawk Moth’s voice rang in her head. “I need his ring.”

Susan could see the ring in question as easily as she could see Chat Noir himself. He was surefooted, running with ease where others would hesitate and wobble and balance precariously, and he used his staff as an extension of himself, vaulting through the air without needing to think about where he positioned it before he leapt. That spoke of talent, skill, and oh so much practice.

This was far from Chat Noir’s first fight, which meant Hawk Moth hadn’t yet managed to best him.

Hawk Moth’s search for power had brought him here, to find a way to conquer his enemies. It was laughable that his enemy—one of his enemies?—had found him. Even if it were mere coincidence, it hardly boded well for his venture.

“Focus,” Hawk Moth hissed. “If you cannot focus, perhaps I’ll need to find a way to draw out your son.”

“A trade, then.” It was not something she should be contemplating. “My son for this Chat Noir.”

“We have already struck our bargain, Dracona.” The name sent a shudder through her, and she lost a bit of height as she spasmed. “You’ve already agreed to fetch me Chat Noir’s ring, just as you agreed to tell me about this city’s heroes.”

Tell, but not sacrifice. Tell, but not necessarily turn against.

She could fulfill their bargain to the letter, but she didn’t need to fulfill the spirit of it if she could find a way around it. She could still save her son. She could still keep Haley from being involved. She could still—

She couldn’t save Chat Noir without endangering Jake and the others.

Not if Chat Noir crossed her path.

She’d only agreed to fetch his ring if he crossed her path.

She banked abruptly to her right, hearing a surprised, “What the juice?” from the Ninja as he pulled up short.

There was more shouting behind her, no doubt as Chat Noir joined the Ninja, but she didn’t look back.

“Dracona.”

She could feel his threat reverberating in her bones.

“You cannot break our agreement. Now turn around and fight them!”

The heat was rising in her belly. Each wingbeat was becoming more strained, weighted by her foolish promise. How could she have sacrificed anyone’s freedom for her own? And yet— How could she give this up, now that she’d tasted it? If Chat Noir had fought people like her before, he’d know exactly how to take all of this away from her.

She didn’t want to let him do that.

She didn’t want to give Hawk Moth any reason to try to use Jake against her. She was sure he still didn’t quite know, didn’t quite understand, but he knew and understood enough. He knew she considered Jake a hero, knew he’d fought against people much like Hawk Moth before, and he— He might even know that Jake was special—magical—even if he didn’t know why.

But Jake would be here soon enough whether or not Hawk Moth tried to deliberately draw him out.

She was circling back before she realized what she was doing. She dodged a fireball shot at her by the Ninja and sent one at him in return. She could deal with him easily enough if he became a problem, but ultimately, he wasn’t her concern. He wasn’t one of this town’s heroes. He wasn’t Chat Noir. She didn’t have to…. She could spare him.

Chat Noir darted in front of her, joining the Ninja. She could hear his frantic whispers, about Hawk Moth, about what he thought he knew about her. He was a fool, just as she’d been a fool.

She couldn’t protect Chat Noir. Certainly, she couldn’t protect him if she wanted to protect Jake. She’d have to get this ring. She could feel how much Hawk Moth wanted it. It was real, tangible, so much more useful than information he couldn’t easily apply. If she succeeded in this, he might be satisfied.

Chat Noir and the Ninja split up. She focused on her target, whose acrobatics were better than some of the Huntsclan initiates she’d met—about as good as Huntsgirl’s had been before she’d only become Rose and never one of the Huntsclan.

Behind her, the Ninja’s latest fireball rolled harmlessly off her scales. She adjusted her wings and weight and whipped her tail in his general direction, spinning into a roll with the additional momentum. Even though she didn’t hit anything, she heard a yelp behind her. She shot forward at an angle to Chat Noir, keeping him in her sights. He danced away from her, staying just past what he must think was the reach of her flame.

Pity he’d misjudged the distance.

The plume of fire she sent at him was still short of how far she could send it, if necessary, but it was long enough for what she wanted. Her goal was to cut him off and force him to his left; nothing more. He flipped away from the fire, and she started to follow his movements, but a hand-shaped wave closed around her flame and turned to steam, neatly providing a screen for Chat Noir’s escape.

Seems she hadn’t done enough to knock the Ninja off his game after all.

She hadn’t wanted to involve him, but she wouldn’t have a choice if he insisted on involving himself. She needed to finish this quickly, before Jake tried to get involved. She wasn’t sure she could protect him if he came.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she intended to hurt Chat Noir or the Ninja. She didn’t. She simply wanted Chat Noir’s ring. Now, if they got hurt trying to stop her, well, she could hardly pull all her punches and expect to finish this soon enough to avoid Jake’s interference.

A few heavy wingbeats brought her higher and forced the Ninja and Chat Noir to brace themselves. Chat Noir had planted his staff against the rooftop, and both he and the Ninja were hanging onto it, heads together. Indistinct murmuring reached her ears, but rather than focus to figure out what they were saying, she sent a blast of fire at them and drove them apart.

They spiralled in opposite directions. The Ninja reached into his pocket to pull out another one of those ice bombs of his. He lobbed it in her direction, and it caught the tip of her foot as she moved away. She shrieked as not ice but electricity erupted from it, racing through her body and causing her to drop. She hit the roof, something snapping beneath her weight, and the Ninja conjured another fist of water and threw it at her. Before she had time to blink all the water from her eyes, he’d tossed more of those Ninja Electro-Balls at her.

Chat Noir vaulted back into view before she’d found her feet, no doubt hoping the Ninja’s attack had incapacitated her. She waited and caught her breath, more than happy to pretend that all those Ninja Rings and Ninja Throwing Stars the Ninja was hurling her way hurt more than they did. He clearly had no idea how much her scales protected her, and she felt no need to correct his assumption right now.

Now that the electricity had dispersed, Chat Noir was coming at her in a zigzagging run. He split his staff into two as he went and then threw one half. She twisted her head out of the way—it had been aimed for her eye—and sent a stream of flame at his other hand, intending to heat the metal before he could throw it.

She saw the Ninja’s scarf wrap around his torso and jerk him backwards before her fire could reach him. The Ninja gave Chat Noir a handful of coloured balls and then sprinted behind her and out of sight, considering she wasn’t about to take her eyes off Chat Noir. She thrashed her tail, hoping to knock the Ninja off his feet even as Chat Noir took aim and began to throw.

To say that the first explosion stung was an understatement, and she gave up her pretence of helplessness as two more followed in quick succession. She was recovered enough now, and she didn’t like being made the fool.

Her first step forward proved to be a mistake, as her foot slipped out from under her in a pile of marbles. She sent her full force of flame at Chat Noir then, but the Ninja was back with his staff, and he’d rejoined the halves and was spinning it to dissipate her fire.

They were talking again.

She was getting so tired of them talking. Planning. Plotting. She just needed Chat Noir’s ring. She simply—

The Ninja’s suit burned red with magic, her split-second warning that another fireball was coming her way. She met it with her own, raising herself up with a roar and using the wind from her wingbeats to try to knock them off their feet again. This time, the Ninja toppled, unprepared, though Chat Noir crouched and managed to keep his feet.

“You must get his ring,” whispered Hawk Moth in her head, “but do not let him touch your necklace.”

They were fighting her from a distance.

For them, that made it a fairer fight.

But she didn’t have to fight fair.

She could get close to them without letting them get too close to her.

She sent another blast of fire towards them as cover before flying over the flames and diving toward them, talons outstretched.

(see more fics | next)

#secret quartet #adjl #miraculous ladybug #danny phantom #rc9gn #american dragon #jake long #danny fenton #adrien agreste #randy cunningham #susan long #my writing #ladylynse #snippets #crossover snippet #ml snippet #dp snippet #adjl snippet #rc9gn snippet

[mischiefandspirits]

Doppelgänger (13/19)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Memory Blank, Part 1}

“It said Sam?” Tucker asked as Danny finished explaining what happened in the earlier ghost fight.

“Actually, it was more like,” Danny raised his hands and wiggled his fingers, his voice falling into a slow rasp, “Sam.” His voice went back to normal and he dropped his hands. “But you get the point.”

“You can’t really blame me for this, can you?” Sam asked, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

“Well, it’s got something to do with you, but don’t worry. I saved Paulina, so you don’t have to apologize.”

“Good. ‘Cause I’m not gonna,” she huffed, her hands on her hips.

“You just have to -”

“Hey, Danny.”

The trio looked up to see Valerie walking up to their picnic table.

Sam narrowed her eyes at the girl. “What do you want?”

“I heard about the attack on your guys’ class,” she said, ignoring the girl and staring at Danny. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” he said slowly, glancing at his friends. “I got out as soon as the ghost showed up.”

“That’s good.” She glanced over the three and ducked her head. “I guess I’ll go then.”

The three watched her walk away with frowns.

“What was that about?” Tucker asked.

“No clue,” Danny said. “Maybe she wanted info on the ghost?”

“Maybe,” Sam agreed. “She was definitely up to something.”

“Speaking of the ghost,” Danny said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a Specter Deflector and snapped it around Sam’s waist before she could object. “You have to wear this and stay out of the way.”

“What?”

“Sam, something weird is going on and you’re clearly the cause of it. It’s probably better for all of us if you just lay low.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Star was frowning when Valerie met back up with her. “What were you doing over there with Fenton?”

“Just asking him about the ghost attack.”

Star rolled her eyes and turned to her phone. “Of course you were.”

“So anything new?” Valerie asked, gazing around the park as they walked.

“Not really. The only thing that’s happened is the ghost attack. Paulina’s kind of miffed right now, though. She tried to invite the ghost boy to her party, but he didn’t seem to hear her.”

“Ghost boy?” Valerie asked, turning back to her friend. “What ghost boy?”

“Uh, the ghost boy, duh. You know, the one you hate.”

“I hate a lot of ghosts, you’ll need to be more specific.”

Star looked up at her with a frown. “The ghost boy. The one who Paulina’s been in love with since he rescued her. The one you’ve been rioting against since he got your dad fired.”

“You mean Doppelgänger?”

“Who?”

Valerie met Star’s confused look with one of her own. “Doppelgänger. The ghost kid. Androgynous ghost with green skin. They’re the one who got my dad fired by leading that stupid dog into Axion.”

“I thought you said the ghost boy did that.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Star gave her a worried look and tapped at her phone. She handed it to Valerie to show her the picture she’d brought up.

Valerie looked it over. “I have no idea who this ghost is.”

“Are you serious? Are you feeling okay?” Star said, taking back her phone.

Valerie didn’t get a chance to respond because suddenly the park was filled with screams. They turned to see a ghost that looked just like Terminatra chasing Paulina. Star went running so Valerie ducked behind a tree and called up her suit. She came around the tree just as the ghost Star had shown her came up from the ground next to Paulina.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t change that a little,” he said, his voice cheerful and confident.

“And now it’s not,” the popular girl chirped, a look on her face Valerie had only ever seen her give Doppelgänger.

He tried to blast Terminatra, but she formed a hole in her body to evade the attack.

Valerie used the distraction to pull out her rifle and shoot the cyborg into a tree. It collapsed and dissolved into red mist.

She turned to the ghost boy as he turned to her. He gave her an awkward smile and wave.

“H-hey, long time no see,” he chuckled before diving into the ground.

Ignoring Paulina’s cries for the ghost boy to come back, Valerie took to the air and swapped her rifle for her phone. She had some research to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny scowled at the ground as he walked up the stairs to his house. “I’m just saying, the ghost knew your name, and now this other one shows up attacking Paulina too. It might be connected. I’m just w-”

“Save it. I’m not in the mood. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay fine. Bye, Sam.”

“Bye.”

He ended the call with a sigh. He hadn’t meant to tick her off, he was just frustrated and worried. Maybe… maybe they shouldn’t go to the party on Friday after all.

“Danny.”

He turned to see Valerie running up. “Uh, hey?”

“I know now might not be the best time, but I need to talk to you. Please. Something crazy is going on.”

She certainly looked freaked out, but Danny wasn’t sure what she meant by the best time. He wasn’t feeling up to dealing with his ghost hunting rival, but she couldn’t know that. “Why are you coming to me?”

She gave him a confused look. “Because you’re my friend?” she said hesitantly. “I know what happened last night with our confessions was… But I thought we’d still at least be friends, right?”

Danny’s jaw dropped. Confessions, what confessions? Oh god, she didn’t know about him, did she? “Last night? What are you talking about? I didn’t see you last night.”

She took a step back. “What? But… Oh no, did that change to?”

“Change?”

She shook her head. “Please, can we go somewhere private?”

He nodded, still shocked, and let her inside. Once they were in his room and the door was shut she collapsed onto his bed.

“Alright, talk.”

She ran a hand over her face. “Does the name Doppelgänger ring a bell?”

“No, should it.”

“But you know the ghost boy?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” he said, shifting awkwardly before sitting down on his desk chair.

When she looked up at him, she looked more scared than he’d ever seen her. It sent a shiver down his spine.

“Until an hour ago, I’d never heard of him.”

“What?” She… didn’t know who Phantom was? He didn’t know if he should be happy or worried. “How is that possible? How do you just forget a person -- er, ghost -- out of nowhere?”

She shook her head and took out her phone. “It’s more than that. I looked him up and… nothing makes sense. Like, like…” She held up her phone to show him the picture of him kidnapping the mayor, “This never happened!”

I wish it didn’t happen. “What do you mean?”

“This says the ghost boy kidnapped the mayor, but there wasn’t a ghost like this involved. Walker was overshadowing the mayor and he grabbed Doppelgänger to try and frame them. Everyone knows that!”

Danny’s brain short-circuited. He scrambled through all the questions that raised and landed on, “You know who Walker is?”

“Of course I do. You told me about him,” she huffed.

“I did? Why would I do that?”

“Because you were helping me with my ghost hunting?”

Danny couldn’t help himself, he laughed. A ghost he may be, but he’s not suicidal. Why on earth would he help the girl trying to kill him? Well, he supposed that might give him a good look at her arsenal, let him know what she’s capable of. It’d be risky though.

She was giving him a horrified look. “We… You do help me, right? Oh god, that’s how we became friends! If you aren’t helping me, then… How much has changed? I thought it was just Doppelgänger stuff, but clearly it isn’t.”

Danny pushed down his hysteria in the face of hers. He rolled over to the bed and grabbed her shoulders. “Valerie, calm down. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Exactly!”

“Look, we’re not going to get anywhere acting like this. You need to explain. Start from the beginning.”

She stared at him for a moment as she calmed her breathing, then gave him a smile. “Just like the cage, huh? It’s good to know you aren’t too different.”

“Cage?”

She shook her head and pulled back. “Alright, the beginning. You… Do you know I hunt ghosts?”

He nodded. “But you never told me. Sam heard you talk in the suit once and figured it out.”

“That’s actually how you knew before. Okay, so I became a hunter when this ghost kid, Doppelgänger, chased a stupid ghost dog into the labs where my dad works. Someone heard about the incident and sent me ghost hunting gear to get revenge.”

“Sounds familiar, but the ghost boy -- I think he calls himself Phantom, by the way -- was the one who did it as far as I know. Also, I didn’t know where you got your gear from.”

“Okay, so nothing too different. After that… I think the next thing that happened was when Walker led his goons in an invasion. I didn’t really know what was happening, but then I rescued you from the school after you got caught spying on a meeting the ghosts were having. That’s how we knew about Walker.”

Danny’s eyes widened. He remembered the meeting, but, “You didn’t save me from the school.”

“I didn’t?” she said and she gave him a glance over. “How’d you get out?”

“Phantom saved me,” he fudged.

“Then you never told me why they were there,” she said, staring at nothing. “So I never reached out to Doppelgänger -- or Phantom, I guess -- and we never teamed up to rescue everyone that had been overshadowed. If I wasn’t there, Mrs. Fenton wouldn’t have known about the mayor because she’d never have listened to a ghost like she did me, which is why everyone thinks Phantom is guilty.”

“Butterfly effect,” Danny said, processing. “You actually teamed up with a ghost?”

“Temporarily. I didn’t have anything to stop possession so I needed their help to get the ghosts out of people.”

That made more sense. It’s not like Danny and Valerie hadn’t had a temporary truce before. Maybe he should have tried to bring Valerie into the fold when Walker attacked. Things would be a lot easier if everyone didn’t think he’d kidnapped the mayor.

“Wait, if we didn’t become friends after that, does that mean Kitty didn’t overshadow me to get back at her boyfriend?”

“Ki-Kitty overshadowed you?” Danny gasped.

“I guess that’s a no,” she chuckled. “Yeah, she somehow thought we were dating so she overshadowed me and tried to date you to make Johnny jealous.”

“Oh, no, Kitty overshadowed Paulina.”

“That makes sense. You used to have a crush on her, didn’t you?”

“Used to?” Danny blushed, he had not meant to say that.

Valerie was blushing as well and she looked away. “Right. Anyways. After that would have been…” She scowled. “Ugh! It would have been Skulker.”

“Skulker?”

She thought for a moment. “You know the flour baby assignment thing.”

“Yeah, we got paired up.”

She nodded. “Right. Well, Skulker -- this collector/hunter ghost -- saw me out as Red Huntress and wanted me for his stupid collection, but when he saw the two of us joking about our child he thought we were mates so he decided to capture us both. We were locked in a cage together for eight days before Doppelgänger tracked us down.”

Danny made a choking sound. He’d been locked in a cage with Valerie for eight days? By Skulker? Presumably in the zone? “That is all sorts of yikes.”

“It actually wasn’t that bad,” she admitted in a soft voice. “It was a week’s vacation from all my responsibilities and you pretty much annoyed Skulker into giving us anything we wanted.”

He smirked. “Okay, that sounds like me, and annoying a ghost that much does sound fun. That definitely didn’t happen here though. We, uh, kind of hated each other. I was actually a bit of a jerk. I didn’t believe you about having a job so I was pretty ticked that you’d basically shoved the entire project in my lap.”

“Sounds like I was a bit of a jerk too,” Valerie said and he shrugged.

“I was a bigger one, trust me. Anyways, I wasn’t grabbed, but I think you might have been. I, uh, heard a rumor that your hunter persona and Phantom got kidnapped into the Ghost Zone so a ghost could hunt you both to the death. I think you were gone for less than a day though. It would explain how trashed the flour sack was when I came to pick it up.”

“Trashed?”

“Completely. The only reason we got a C instead of an F is that everyone else’s got baked into cookies by Tucker’s mom.”

She snickered. “I heard about that. For the record, we got an A. It was a pity A since we were kidnapped and the baby was left behind with your sister or something, but it was still an A.”

“Lucky.”

She laughed and shook her head. “So if Phantom is Doppelgänger’s replacement in whatever’s going on, does that mean Plasmius placed a bounty on him too?”

Danny froze. “I know about the bounty, but Plasmius? My dad said some Wisconsin ghost placed the bounty in order to distract everyone so he could steal our portal.”

“Let me guess: blue skin, red eyes, kinda vampire-y?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Plasmius. He did show up in your parents’ lab so he might have been trying to steal your portal, but you, Jazz, and I kicked his butt all the way back into the Ghost Zone.”

“I would have paid to see that,” he muttered, imagining himself taking down Vlad as easily as Valerie described. “So that was pretty recent. The only thing that’s happened since then was…”

“Phantom robbing a bunch of places?” Valerie said. “For the record, it wasn’t his fault.”

“I don’t know if I believe that,” Danny muttered. Oh sure, he knew Freakshow had been controlling him, but he’d still done a lot of horrible things, and hadn’t he proven he had the strength to break free. Why hadn’t he done it much sooner? Why had Sam nearly had to die for him to break free?

“It’s true.” Valerie shook her phone at him. “I’ve seen the videos. Phantom’s eyes are normally green, but during his crime spree, his eyes are red. He was being controlled by that ringmaster. The one they say he was supposedly working with. I know it. I’ve held the staff he was using to control the ghosts.”

Danny jerked back. “You have?”

“Yes! Doppelgänger came to me for help after they realized what was going on. I stole the staff so they could take out the ghosts and the police could arrest Freakshow. I even u-I mean, I destroyed it so no one else could use it.”

Danny frowned as her voice caught, picking up that there was something she was hiding, but decided to let it go for now. “How come this Doppelgänger wasn’t brainwashed?”

“They got lucky there’s more than one of them. Phantom seems to be a solo act so I’m not surprised he was taken.”

“Doppelgänger’s a team?” he asked and he suddenly realized she’d been referring to the ghost as they.

“Not exactly. You know how ghosts all have a weird quirk. Like the Box Ghost and boxes? Doppelgänger’s thing is duplication. There’s usually two or three of them running around and even when there isn’t they talk about themself in plural. It’s always we and us with them. So when one of them would fall under the spell, another would snap them out of it. But that’s why they came to me, they couldn’t take on the ghosts Freakshow was controlling without falling under.”

Not too different than what Sam and Tucker had done for him, then. Just a lot less dangerous because Valerie had all her ghost hunting gear and Sam and Tucker hadn’t brought anything. See, this was why he’d wanted Sam to wear a deflector! Maybe if she’d been wearing it -

He shoved the thoughts out of his head and focused on Valerie. “That all sounds incredible. One problem, none of that happened and Doppelgänger doesn’t exist as far as I know.”

She growled and punched his mattress. “But it did! I lived it! Everything you’ve said, none of that makes sense! I’ve never heard of Phantom! He doesn’t exist as far as I know! Except he does because I saw him in the park earlier! I don’t understand!”

“Are you sure someone or something isn’t messing with your head?” he suggested.

“NO! I know what’s real and what isn’t! I… I can prove it!” she gasped, jumping to her feet and pulling off her backpack.

“You can?”

“Hold on, I know I stuck it in-Yes!” She turned around and held out a Specter Deflector. “You gave me this last night. Said it would protect me. I didn’t take it off until I got to school this morning.”

Danny carefully took it from her and looked it over. To his surprise, it was an actual Fenton Specter Deflector. But that wasn’t possible! His parents didn’t sell the Specter Deflectors. They were too difficult to make in bulk. It couldn’t have been stolen either because he’d gotten into the family stash before he’d met Sam and Tucker at the park so he could grab one for Sam and they’d all been there. This wasn’t the same proto-design as the one he’d used on Vlad, so she couldn’t have gotten that one.

“I don’t understand, this shouldn’t exist.”

“But it does! And so do my memories. I just don’t understand how.”

Danny ran his thumb along the belt. “You remember the ghost fight in school today, right?”

“Yeah, I didn’t see it, but I heard all the screaming.”

Something sunk into Danny’s stomach as the pieces started coming together. “And you were wearing this all night, up until school?”

“Yes, why? Do you know what’s wrong with me?”

“Not you, us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episode summary: "Valerie meets canon Danny and is confused by his life choices"

#danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #tucker foley #sam manson #Doppelgänger au

[al-n-cartoons]

The Multiverse in a Blender, Chapter 2 Part 1

      The room was of a fairly large size, looking to have been designed with formal business meetings in mind. In the center of the room was a large, empty space, although the difference of faint dirt on the ground seemed to indicate that a large table had been recently moved for what might have been the first time since the building was first opened.

      Beside the wall nearest to the door was the table, long enough for a family of twenty to sit comfortably and with an oval top, on which various food items had been set precariously, every item seemed to be store bought. In place of the table at the room's center was a karaoke set, although it was currently unoccupied.

"Wow", said a boy with snow-white hair and murky, greenish skin, having just phased through the unlocked door, "Is this a meeting of heroes, or some eight year-old's birthday party?" He looked around, eyeing each person.

"We thought it would be best to break the ice and have some fun before anything crazy happened." Remarked a slightly older teen with olive skin, black sleek-back hair, and dark brown eyes. He wore a red biker jacket and orange-lensed goggles. He offered out a hand, "Hi, my name's Rex. This building is part of, well, what was my reality. Kind of glad to see the change, but moving that thing was a pain." He gestured towards the snack table with his other hand, internally cringing at how cold the undead boy's hand felt in his own, even through the gloves.

The white-haired teen smiled. A ringlet of light passed over him, leaving behind a lean-built, slightly slender person in its wake. His hair changed to black and eyes, once a chemical green, were now a light blue. His skin was light and lively. "I'm Danny, pleased to meet you."

"Oh, Phantom!" Called a voice Danny somewhat recognized. Both turned to see Ben, who'd been conversing with a bronze-skinned, aquamarine haired girl who looked older and more toned than even Rex. She eyed both of them, smiling a few seconds too late for it to have been her default. "That leaves Steven, Dexter, and the girls..." Ben muttered, more to himself then to anyone else.

"My sisters are carrying Dexter, they shouldn't be too long now." The virile-bodied girl assured.

The boy with goggles gave a hearty laugh, "The first non-charity party you've thrown, and only three guests show. Wow, Ben, you're worse then Six."

Ben gapped like an earthbound fish, "You did not just say that!" The mock-offense in Ben's voice only made Rex laugh harder, pleased with himself.

"Preeeetty sure I did."

The door opened, gently, politely, as though the newcomer were slightly bashful. "Sorry if I'm late." A teen as old as Rex and almost as tall voiced, "Lion was having some difficulty teleporting, considering..."

"Yeah, I'd imagine teleporting would be a bit difficult after the 'retcon'." Ben remarked, assuringly. He noticed the box the other person held, "Whatcha got there?" He queried. "Oh, guys, this is Steven." A pause, filled with a curious glance by each person. "...You can let go of the door now." Ben eventually said after Steven remained attached to the entrance.

Steven cleared his throat, "I know you said to come alone, but that wouldn't be fair...I wasn't the only one to remember." He explained, widening the doorway. "This is my girlfriend, Connie, and my best bud, Lion."

"Oh." Came Ben's clever response. Danny stiffened, feeling exposed; Rex waved uncaringly; and the eldest simply stared. Lion, unaffected by anything or one, brushed passed the couple and made a beeline for the snacks, before flopping gracelessly into a sleeping pile by the end of the table. 

"Welcome to the party." Rex said boldly, "Just know that no one'll believe you if you go and spout stuff about the 'retcon'."

Connie furrowed her brow, "You're calling it the 'retcon'?" She asked, almost in disbelief.

"Not my idea." Rex answered with a casual shrug.

Ben passed his gaze around the room, "Well, it's not like we didn't consider the possibility of someone bringing an extra. I just thought it would be Rex or Buttercup."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Connie asked, slightly annoyed at their reactions.

"It's just that some of us are still trying to keep our identities on the down-low." Rex assured, nodding to the youngest currently present, "Namely ghost-boy over here."

"Ah." She locked eyes with Danny, "Alright. I swear on my grandma's grave that I won't tell."

"Oh, my god!" Groaned a voice from behind the door, making the duo jump. "Are we just going to stare at each other, or are we going to DO something?!" Her voice was boisterous and utterly impatient.

"Buttercup!" Chided another voice. Connie and Steven moved aside, allowing for four others to enter the room. The tallest was the second speaker, with silky ribbons of hair extending to her waist and a definite theme of pink and red in her attire. The first speaker was a boyish girl, nearly as tall, with short black hair and uncanny green eyes. She was dressed with green and black, punk-like in style. The last girl had bright blond hair in pigtails, blue eyes with matching clothes, and a definite spring to her step. The fourth person, shorter then the rest and quietly fuming to himself, was a teen boy with rather normal ginger hair-contrasting the other three by a lack of unnatural vibrancy-purple gloves and boots, black turtle neck and pants, and a lab coat which reached his thighs. He either hadn't gotten word that the event would be of a more laid back nature, or he simply didn't care.

      "Don't be so rude! We're trying to make a good impression, for once." The redhead exasperated.

"Hey, Dexter, did you enjoy your trip? I hear you took the scenic route." Ben teased to the far shorter teen, whose scowl only deepened and cheeks tinged a slight pink.

"Your question, Mr. Tennyson, is unappreciated. Likewise with my sister, Buttercup, in that SHE KEPT SWINGING ME!!" Dexter monotoned, before ascending into an accusatory shout.

The blond and redhead laughed at their brother's expense, Rex giving a guffaw. Ben, on his part, was at least trying to stifle his amusement.

"So, that makes everyone." The first girl noted.

"Not everyone." Ben interjected, "But Zak met a...complication. I don't think he'll be coming."

"I made a cake." Steven commented, holding up the box.

"Sweet! Buttercup cried, ecstatic, "Finally a desert that actually tastes good for a change." She cast a disproving look to the party dish the second sister held.

Blossom gave a huff, "I'll have you know that my confections are a healthful delight, unlike the cavity-inducing blobs of sugar you scarf down!"

"Alright, alright, settle down." The eldest sister remarked. "Oh, by the way, my name is Bliss, and those are my siblings Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles,–and Dexter."

       "One of these things aren't like the other." Rex whispered to Ben.

      "Neither are you compared to Six or Holiday." Ben returned, giving the taller teen an amused look. Rex raised a brow, taking a moment before finally comprehending, making an 'O' shape with his mouth.

      "Did someone say 'karaoke machine'?" Steven suddenly asked.

      "Literally no one said that."  Connie responded. Undeterred, the stout gem neared the microphone, making quick work of the music selections.

      "Hm, I'm not really seeing any songs I like here." Steven hummed while scrolling.

      "Have you tried sorting by genre?" Blossom asked, setting up her powdery cookies among the other snacks, her sisters cringing behind her but Dexter simply taking up a plate and various food-items.

      "It doesn't come with that option."

      "How about some music roulette?" Ben offered. Upon receiving little more than bemusement flash across their collective countenance, he gave a quick description, "We set the music to randomize, turn on an auto-reset timer, then take turns singing the songs. If a person drops the beat on their turn, they lose."

      "Is it like multiple songs, multiple bits of different songs, or just one song?" Steven asked, liking the idea of the game.

      "That's the beauty of it; we don't know. This thing has whole songs, mixed vocals, and more! Zak and I play it sometimes, but my cousin, Lucy, came up with it."

      Steven beamed, giving an excited little clap, "Ah! Cool, sign me up, then."

      "Just so we're clear..." Connie said, slowly, "All we have to do is keep the beat up, not necessarily follow the lyrics, right?"

      Ben frowned thoughtfully, "Well, we've always tried to keep to the original, but there's nothing saying that we can't mess around with the words." He mused.

      Ben moved swiftly, setting up a timer on his phone before taping the screen of the karaoke machine, allowing it to play at random. The beat that came was pop, easily, and slightly formulaic in its repetition. Ben waved a hand to an empty bottle, spun it, then pointed to Connie upon its landing neck-wards at her.

      "Hey, so, we're off to flee,

      so, come 'n take me,

      so, it could be fun.~" She sang, the music quick and disallowing for much breath.

#ben 10 omniverse #ben 10 #rex x ben #Rex Salazar #Steven Universe #Danny Phantom #Zak Saturday #Dipper and Mabel #Mabel Pines #Dipper Pines #singing #Connie #The Multiverse in a Blender

[sporesgalaxy]

You know what? Fuck it. Here's the whole ass WIP script for the Danny Phantom/Ben 10/Deadpool crossover nightmare, which is called #follow ur crossover dreams, by the way. I think copy-pasting on my phone is gonna delete some italics but whatever.

Reminder that it's still a really early draft with a lot I plan on changing (wade Motormouth wilson doesnt say nearly enough bullshit, for starters), but hopefully u will enjoy it. happy birthday to me, my gift is letting myself share ideas without maximum effort

[BEN is running through a crowd of high school students, excitedly. He is on his phone] BEN: C'mon, Gwen, just tell me where to go! I wanna fight some bad guys today! It's been weeks! [GWEN is on a computer] GWEN: Ben, for the last time, you are NOT going into this alone! We aren't even sure what's causing this yet! Seismic activity at this scale is totally unheard of around here, and whatever's causing it-- BEN: Is gonna get it's butt whooped by the one and only Benn Tennyson! BEN: Don't worry, I can totally handle this! GWEN: Yeah, cause things always work out perfectly  when you say that. BEN: Just give me the location, and you can catch up with me there! GWEN: No, Ben. I'll fill you in when we know more, but.until then, don't run off. [BEN is dejectedy watching TV at home, when suddenly, there is another earthquake. Soon after, a newswoman reveals the epicenter just outside of town, and Ben gets an idea] [BEN gets off a public bus at a bus stop far outside of town. He looks out into a dry hilly wilderness, and down to his phone gps to confirm he is going in the right direction.] BEN: all right...I didn't wanna risk timing out before I got there, but I think I'm close enough now... [BEN places his phone gps at his feet, closes his eyes, and slaps the Omnitrix] [BEN transforms into Stinkfly] BEN: Well, I was hoping for XLR8, but I guess I can work with this? [BEN picks up his phonr and flies off] [when he reaches the epicenter BEN finds, embedded into a large hill, an abandoned lab of some sort.] BEN: ooOh [BEN enters the lab, and shortly times out, becoming human again. He sort of tries to sneak, but is clearly too excited/curious to be very effective] [The lab is full of rusting, inscruitable equiptment. Finally, Ben enters a natural cave turned testing area deep inside the lab, a cavernous room machinery littering the floor. There seems to be a fixation on machinery that we would recognize as Danny's parents' portal, but not embedded into a wall, so like a door attatched to a tube. Spare parts and dissasembled prototypes rest along the edges of the room, and a few assembled peices rest towards one end.] [Ben stands on the far south end of the cave, looking around at all of the strange wiring and such.] BEN: I wonder if this is Plumber tech... [BEN kicks a bundle of cords on the floor, and the sound echoes through the room.] [Then, a stranger sound eminates from somewhere just outside of the cavern. And another, similar, closer sound is accompanied by a visible flash. And then-- in a green streak, DANNY bursts into the air in the cavernous space, and then hits the floor and skids. When he stops, he turns human as he falls unconscious] [BEN has no fucking idea what is going on] BEN: uh...h...HEY. ARE YOU...OKAY? DANNY: ... BEN: HELLO? HELO-O? DP: ya think he's dead? BEN: AUGH!!!! [BEN jumps violently, very surprised by Deadpool's presence, and takes a step back] BEN: Who the heck are you?! DP: Call me Deadpool! [BEN gives him a look of utter disbelief. That is the stupidest superhero name he's ever heard. He's about to say that, but then,] DANNY: [groans] DP: [hops down. Puts a hand out, signalling for Ben to stay] Stay here, kid. [Ben is offended to be belittled even if it's reasonable. He stands with an angry look on his face for a moment before following just a few steps behind deadpool, hand at the ready above his watch.] [DP veeery cautiosly walks over to Danny and then....abruptly switches gears, standing up straight and gently bumping the boy's shoulder with his foot] DP: hey. hey. get up. DANNY: five more minutess.... DP: ...7Your mom made pancakes? [DANNY's eyebrows furrow. He groans again. He props himself up, and rubs his head. He's covered in dirt and some blood. He opens his eyes and his expression is full of exhaustion and dread as he processes his unfamiliar surroundings. He looks up at Deadpool] DANNY: ...........I don't smell any pancakes. [DEADPOOL and DANNY stare at eachother for a moment. DANNY seems to be waiting for something. He suddenly looks at BEN, incredulous] DANNY: So are either of you going to attack me, or are we having a staring contest? BEN: I dunno, are YOU going to attack? [DANNY is so tired. He's had a long day] DANNY: I'd prefer not to, but it tends to happen a lot. DP: Well that's depressing! BEN: Well if none of us are fighting, I have a question. BEN: Where'd you two come from? DANNY: Ghost portal. DP: Time travel. BEN: ... BEN: You're not giving me much to work with, here. [BEN points to DANNY] BEN: Especially you. I get time travel, I can live with that-- DP: Thank god. BEN: --But, "ghost portal?" Like a portal for ghosts? Are you dead?? [DP slowly prods Danny with his foot again. Danny is too busy suddenly realizing that he's in human form to be concerned with that] DANNY: I--uh-- BEN: Was that what was up with the green energy? DANNY: Maybe I just went through the ghost portal, ok? I--where are we? BEN: Somewhere on the outskirts of Bellwood, Nevada. DANNY: Nevada? BEN: Nevada DANNY: Huh. DANNY: And why are you here? BEN: [excited to sound smart] There was some unnatural seismic activity around here, and I came to check it out, see if it was anything nefarious. BEN: [cocky] You know, usual superhero stuff. [Danny is a little shocked. He's never really met another superhero before, who wasn't a clone, or accusing Danny of being evil or something] DANNY: oh. BEN: What? DANNY: You're...you're really a superhero? DP: You're like 12 is that safe? [What is the deal with all these young superheroes but say it funnier] BEN: I'm 16!!! DP: Children trying to be superheroes never works out well, trust me kid. BEN: I'm not a child!! Why do you care, huh? DP: Cause I hang out with a lot of superheroes and the heroism business has never done anyone's mental health ANY favors. [DANNY puts his hed in his hands] DANNY: Ugh, tell me about it. BEN: Ha! You AREN'T a normal kid! DANNY: oops. BEN: What can you do?? Do you have GHOST POWERS? [DANNY bites his lip] DANNY: What about you? Do you have powers? BEN: I can turn into any of hundreds of aliens! DANNY: ...care to show me? [BEN looks at the Omnitrix. It's still timed out] BEN: ...in theory... [Danny raises an eyebrow] [meanwhile, Deadpool loses interest. He starts climbing on stuff, looking at the scattered tech.] BEN: Uhhh...can it wait a minute? I just flew here. DANNY: What?? BEN: [gestures to watch, grinning sheepishly] Alien tech! BEN: I swear I'll show you later. What about you! Show me yours! [Deadpool arches an eyebrow at them in the distance] DANNY: ...I guess, since you already guessed it... BEN: What are you so worried about? Ha, haven't you ever met another superhero before? [Ben was sort of kidding, but...] DANNY: BEN: DANNY: Uh, no. Not really. BEN: ...So do you fight bad guys all on your own? DANNY: Uh, yeah? I'm kinda the only person who can. [Reconsiders, and adds with bitterness] Well, the only one who can and will. [Ben thinks about that for a second. He knows how it feels to think you're the only person who can save the world, but Ben is usually wrong when he assumes that's the case. He doesn't like imagining how he'd feel without all the support he's gotten in his hero-ing career. He's genuinely concerned for Danny.] [Danny notices the concern in Ben's expression. Ben seems to be about to say something, but Danny suddenly feels insecure about being pitied. He finally stands up, brushing himself off] DANNY: But like, I have friends, and plenty of tech they can use to help me out. I'm just the only...I guess I'm the only superpowered person willing to deal with fighting ghosts all the time, okay? Whatever! I've been at it for 2 years, I'm used to it. [Ben then adds something together in his head] BEN: Wait, have you never heard of me? Ben 10? DP: Wow! Humble! BEN: No, seriously! Never? Have you ever seen any aliens? DANNY: Uh, no? BEN: Where are you from? DANNY: Colorado. BEN: I've saved the world, like, several times. [DANNY and DP raise an eyebrow each] BEN: Publicly!! People know about me! I'm a big deal!! This is--You guys aren't from here. I need to take you to the Plumbers, so we can-- [A portal powers up again. DANNY seems to suddenly remember something. He goes stiff] DANNY: Oh no. BEN: What? Is that the Ghost Portal? DANNY: Yeah. And you're about to meet the guy who punched me through it. [DP rejoins them to look at the threat] DP: Oh, now that you two have your shit figured out, I should mention I'm from another universe. BEN: WHAT! You said time travel! DP: Yeah, time travel gone horribly, horribly wrong. BEN: How??? I've time travelled a few times and never seen anyine mess it up that bad. DANNY: Yeah since when does time travel take you to other universes? DP: OH SO WE'RE ALL TIME TRAVEL EXPERTS HERE ARE WE??? I'm not telling you two how to live YOUR lives! DP: How about I start bragging about being a superhero expert! Neither of you even know what an X-man *IS!* BEN: Like from the comics? [DP looks at Ben. He won't say it out loud but his expression says "WHAT THE FUCK DUDE"] [BEN shrugs]

[time to get DISJOINTED!!! Here's 2 comic transcripts]

...[some fighting I havent written yet]...

DP: DANNY WHY IS YOUR GHOST DAD SO HOT?? DANNY: HE'S NOT MY DAD. PLEASE DON'T CALL HIM THAT, IT'S A WHOLE *THING* WITH HIM-- [VLAD beams] VLAD: Now, Daniel, is that any way to speak to your father?? DANNY: SEE?! Now he'll never shut up about it! VLAD: I've had enough of your sass, young man! You're GROUNDED. [VLAD spikes Danny into the ground HARD.] [DP is pissed off now. He reaches for his katanas.] DP: Ok I get the picture.

...[more unwritten fighting]...

VLAD: Well, now that I have your undivided attention-- [DANNY has just been punched into the ground. He's sitting up, now] DANNY: --You can start the evil monologue. Joy. VLAD: Evil is such a reductive word. Don't you ever get tired of being beaten half to death to protect people that couldn't care less if you lived or died? [DANNY stands up, with some difficulty] DANNY: You *would* think having a conscience is exhausting. [VLAD is taking a lazy step towards Danny every few moments] VLAD: ...Have you noticed where we are, Daniel? VLAD: Because it isn't Amity Park. It's not even in the same universe as Amity Park. VLAD: And it's not anywhere your idiot father will ever bother finding, seeing as it has nothing whatsoever to do with ghosts. [VLAD is standing over Danny, now] VLAD: Do you know what that means, my boy? VLAD: Nothing I do here can spoil my reputation. VLAD: And none of your little friends are coming to save you. [VLAD places a hand on Danny's shoulder, gripping too tight] VLAD: So VLAD: I'm going to make you the same offer I made you the night of the reunion VLAD: One. Last. Time. VLAD: Either abandon Jack and let me teach you how to really use your powers, [VLAD summons some ghostly energy between his hand and Danny's shoulder] VLAD: Or force me to make poor, dear Maddie file a missing person's report that will never be resolved.

[wow direct segue into comic!]

..[just a tad more unwritten fighting]...

[Vlad has Ben by the neck very far up in the air, and Ben is frantically pressing his Omnitrix] VLAD: [cackles] Goodness, I think your powers might be even more tempermental than Daniel's! It's a little sad, honestly. I was looking forward to a real challenge for once. DP: [on the ground, a distance away] Superpowers shmuperpowers [cocks gun, and fires a couple of shots at Vlad] [Vlad was watching DP talk, unimpressed. He becomes intangible, clearly no longer interested in Ben, allowing him to plummet to his death] [After becoming tangible again, and without breaking eye contact, in a flash of pink energy, Vlad is right in front of Deadpool, and violently pins him to a wall] DP: AWH, you can teleport?! That's not even fair!! VLAD: [close to Deadpools face, crushing his neck harder] No. It isn't. And that's just how I like it. DP: [choking] [thinking] don't say harder daddy don't say harder daddy don't say harder daddy [cut to Ben falling through the air, desperately, repeatedly smacking the Omnitrix] BEN: PLEASE WORK PLEASE WORK PL-- [Danny swoops in and catches him] BEN: [clinging to Danny, obviously spooked but trying to be cool] Thanks! DANNY: [amused] Don't mention it. [Danny puts Ben down on the ground] BEN: Um..where are your legs? DANNY: Oh, they uh...they just do that sometimes. DANNY: Is something wrong with your watch? BEN: [glares at the Omnitrix] It just does this, sometimes. [Danny sees something coming] DANNY: Well you'd better fix it fast! [Ben looks up just as Danny turns them both intangible, seconds before Deadpool is sent hurtling through them and into the ground] [BEN is grinning, watching his hands as they turn re-tangible] BEN: That is SO COOL! I've only ever gotten to do that to myself! Y'know, as an alien! [DANNY was looking at DP's crater, but turns to BEN, surprised at the genuine enthusiasm] DANNY: [maybe blushing a little?] Uh, thanks! [BEN grins at him, and Danny smiles back. They're cute.] [Deadpool's hand pops out of the crater, waving (flailing)...reassuringly?] DP: Don't worry about me, all he did was break [groans] most of my bones. [Danny grabs Ben and pulls him out of the way before Vlad fires an energy blast at Deadpool] VLAD: Still think you can manage without superpowers? [DP sits up painfully and slowly, and coughs] DP: Ac-- [Vlad hits him with a copious amount of energy blasts for an unnecessarily long time as he slowly lowers to the ground] [When Vlad lands and stops firing, he turns around to face Danny and Ben] VLAD: Where were we, Daniel? [Danny is horrified. He's gripping a fistful of Ben's shirt like his life depends on it, expecting to have to save him a third time. Ben is a bit shaken but still determined, and holds his hand at the ready over the Omnitrix] VLAD: ...That was rhetorical, my boy. I had just asked you a very simple question. VLAD: [turning his gaze to Ben] And I don't want to repeat myself. [Ben is not quite picking up on Vlad's thinly veiled threat. Danny, bug-eyed, follows Vlad's gaze to Ben, and is clearly absolutely terrified to be responsible for the deaths of two people he just met. Danny tightens his grip on Ben's shirt.] DANNY: ...I-- [a gunshot hits Vlad from behind. Vlad is completely shocked] [behind him, DEADPOOL is sitting up in the crater, charred to all hell but somehow still alive. He appears to only have one (barely) functioning arm left, which is holding the smoking gun] DP: I never said I didn't have any superpowers, jackass. [DP narrows his eyes] DP: I just like guns. [DP tries to shoot VLAD a few more times, but VLAD has turned intangible, and flies to a safer distance] Vlads gonna say some shit and run off Im not done yet but hoo boy. Oh man.

#void screaming #follow ur crossover dreams

[quirkless-accident]

Nobody knows that Danny is Aizawa and Mic's child (except for the selected few) and its been very amusing listening to his friends talk about his parents but now the teachers need to visit all of their parents to talk about moving into school. That's gonna be fun :)

Teacher: so the last on our list is Danny's house

Aizawa or Mic about to drop the news: oh, haven't you heard?

"What do you think your parents will say about moving into the dorms?" Kirishima asks him over the phone. Danny shrugs, though his friend can't see it.

"I think they'll be okay with it. Probably more so than others."

"Big hero fans?" Kirishima asked. Danny didn't need to see him to know he had a huge grin on his face.

"Oh sure," Danny said with a grunt as he lifted on of the last boxes to move it to the living room. "They even asked me if I could give them my autograph so that they could be the ones with the very first Phantom signature."

"Man that's so cool. My moms said that they would wait until I debuted because it 'makes it more special' or something."

"My dads hold no such qualms," he laughed. "Anyway are you still on to play tonight? This is the last night I can until we move because I'm packing my computer tomorrow."

"Oh you're so on."

--------

Shouta and Hizashi had told Danny about moving into the dorms the second the staff meeting with Nezu ended. They had a week to pack all of his stuff, and then some. They were thankful they didn't have to worry about Jazz, as she had already moved out a few months ago after landing a pretty good therapist gig.

Shouta and Hizashi, because they were private people, only told two other people that Danny was their kid. That was Nemuri, who had been there since day one of adopting him, and Nezu, because Shouta and Hizashi were his emergency contacts. Hw would have found out either way.

So when there was a curt knock at the door, Shouta realized he had forgotten to tell them Danny had the o-k from his parents.

Since Shouta was in the kitchen and Hizashi was off visiting other parents for the gen ed courses, Danny was the one to open the door.

"All Might, Cementoss, come in," he heard hi say. Shouta resisted the urge to groan. "Hey, dad! We have guests!" Danny called to him. Shouta thumped his head against the counter and took a quick, deep breathe before grabbing his and Danny's newly brewed coffee and padding into the living room.

The shock on their faces was hilarious, though Shouta didn't show it. He just handed Danny his mug and waved the boy away to go finish packing.

"He's going," Shouta said as he sat down across from the teachers. Though Cementoss had gotten over his initial shock, All Might's jaw was still on the floor.

"I didn't realize Danny was your son," Cementoss said. "No wonder he has a good head on his shoulders."

"You can thank his sister for that," Shouta said, taking a sip. It was true. Danny had the accident when he was twelve. Shouta had been on their building, hopping from roof to roof during his patrol. He wasted no time in busting in. In terms of child neglect and quirkless discrimination against their son, it was an open and closed case against the Fenton parents. It had left Jazz and Danny with nowhere to go, however, so Shouta brought them home with him. Less than a year later they were both officially adopted.

"How is Jasmine doing? I know Snipe was sad to see her graduate," Cementoss said conversationally. Shouta shrugged.

"She's good. Just landed a new job as a therapist across town. Somehow she still finds the time to badger me about my sleeping habits."

Cementoss laughs and shakes his head fondly. Jasmine Fenton had been a force to be reckoned with when she was at U.A. All the teachers loved her, and also simultaneously didn't want her in their classes because she was smarter than them.

Before Cementoss or All Might could continue the conversation, Hizashi walked in. He was in a suit, and his hair had been braided back. He took his coat off and hung it on the back of Shouta's chair as he leaned down and kissed him.

"Hey guys," he said with a yawn. "I didn't realize you'd be coming. Did Sho not tell you?"

"I didn't realize you two were married," All Might said, looking between the husbands. Cementoss snorted.

"They're sickeningly in love outside of U.A." he said with a fond smile. Before Hizashi or Shouta could respond, though, Danny stuck his head through the wall that separated his room and the living room.

"Hey Pops," he said. "Do you have any bubble wrap left? I need it for my models."

"Yeah, in my sound booth," Hizashi replied. Danny nodded and phased the rest of his body through the wall and into the other room. A second later he came out with armfuls of bubble wrap, and he phased through back to his room.

This was normal in their household. Shouta and Hizashi had decided that it would be more detrimental for Danny to continue hiding his new powers, and it was a nice way to practice with little things like that, so they had allowed small uses of his quirk in the home. He's progressed exponentially.

"I have so many questions," All Might said. He was finally getting over his initial shock.

"Hey guys, I'm home."

The four heroes turned to Jazz, who was hanging her coat up and taking her shoes off. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

"Hey, Jazz," Hizashi said, wrapping her up in a tight hug. At his confused look, Jazz rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Danny wanted help packing his model rockets. Said he didn't trust either of you."

"Pops broke one last time!" Danny yelled as he stuck his head through the wall again.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Shouta asked. He was aware that their dynamic was sickeningly domestic. He was loving every second of it.

"Yeah, though depending on how long this takes I might not be able to help much. He's got so many."

"Oh speaking of," Shouta said, twisting around to face Danny. He grinned at the chance to embarrass his son. "Do you need more glow in the dark star stickers for your room?"

As expected, Danny's face turned bright red. he glared at Shouta, who was having a little too much fun messing with him. Hizashi was chuckling next to him. Danny glanced at the teachers on the couch, then back at Shouta.

"Yes, please," he finally said. he sounded fully serious. Then, without another comment, he stuck his head back in his room. Jazz rolled his eyes and with a wave of her hand left the room to go help Danny.

"How long...?" All Might asked.

"We adopted them three years ago," Hizashi answered. His shoulders were still shaking with laughter. "Are you guys staying for dinner as well?"

"I'm afraid not," Cementoss said. "We have a few more houses to get to." He met Shouta's gaze for a moment. "We'll keep this visit under the rug," he finally said. Shouta nodded his thanks, ushered the two heroes out, and curled up on the couch with a soft blanket.

"Come on, Sho, we need to make dinner," Hizashi said with a grin. Shouta grumbled and buried himself further. Hizashi opened his mouth to say something, but Shouta pressed his finger to his lips before he could speak.

"I'm getting up," he said. "Just five minutes."

Hizashi just laughed and rolled his eyes. With a sigh, he shook his head and shrugged. "Introverts, amiright?"

#danny fenton #danny phantom #jazz fenton #shouta aizawa #hizashi yamada #all might #yagi toshinori #eraserhead #present mic #cementoss #oh havent you heard?

[q-gorgeous]

Danny Phanturd?

fanfiction

Prompt by @phandom-phriend​ false hope

Words: 1591

this is a more light hearted false hope but i hope its still fun sdvfygah

Dash was walking home from school. No football practice today, no Nasty Burger hangout. So he had to walk all the way home and start working on his dreaded homework right away. He wished that everyone wasn’t so busy. 

Just as he was about to cross the street, Dash saw a figure gliding through the sky. Looking up, Phantom was flying through the air, looking this way and that. Probably looking for some ghosts to take care of. What a guy, protecting the city like he does.

Suddenly an idea crossed his mind and a grin spread across Dash’s face as he started waving Phantom down from where he stood on the sidewalk.

“Phantom! Phantom! Hey!”

Phantom looked down at Dash, an indescribable expression on his face, and flew down to meet him.

“Uh, hello! Citizen… What can I do for you today?” Dash squinted at him. “Did you forget my name?”

“Huh, what? No, of course not.”

“When we got chased by that hunter robot you knew my name. Why would you not be using it if you didn't forget it, hmm?”

Phantom scratched the back of his neck. “Uh… Professionalism?”

Dash nodded vigorously, his mouth the shape of an O. “Ohhh okay, that makes sense. Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later? At the park or something?”

Phantom looked away. “I don’t know… I’m sort of busy, and I have a lot of stuff I have to do…”

Dash clasps his hands together. “Please, Phantom! All my friends are busy and there’s no football practice right now. Please? Can’t we hang out for just a little bit?”

“I guess…” Phantom sighed. “Did you have anything in mind that we’d be doing or would we be chilling?”

“You like stars, right?” Dash asked. “I thought we could meet at the picnic table near the big tree around nine and stargaze or something.”

Phantom smiled and his freckles lit up a soft green. “Yeah. Stargazing does sound kinda nice, actually. See you later?”

“Yeah! See you later!”

Phantom waved goodbye and shot back into the sky. 

Dash turned back to face the crosswalk again, smiling. Finally, something to look forward to today. He just had to get his homework done first. 

QQQQQQQQQQQ

On his way to the park, Dash was smiling big and bright. He got all his homework done for once, he had a nice dinner, and now he was on his way to hang out with Phantom! Danny Phantom! He couldn’t believe he got the ghost boy to agree! When he got to the park he was prepared to point out the big dipper to Phantom in display of his constellation skills. 

As he walked up to their meeting spot though, Phantom was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t sitting on the bench or floating in the air nearby. 

Ok, ok. Maybe he's just running late. Phantom’s a busy guy, always disappearing to who knows where all the time. He probably just got caught up in something. 

Dash sat down on the bench and started picking at splitters in the table. And waited. 

After he had gathered a hefty pile of splinters, Dash checked his phone to see the time. 

10 pm.

Where was Phantom? Did he have to go fight a ghost or something? He hoped he’d be alright. 

Dash moved to lay on top of the picnic table and looked up at the sky. His eyes traced the constellations that dotted the black abyss until he finally found the big dipper. He looked around more, taking in the other stars. Perhaps he should have looked up more than one constellation. 

Another half hour later, Dash lay on his stomach, reaching down towards the grass and plucking it up and whistling with it. Phantom still wasn’t here. What if he forgot? Yeah that could be it. Maybe he’d remember soon and they could finally hang out. 

11 pm.

Dash sat on top of the picnic table, feet resting on the bench below him looking somberly at his phone. Shoulders hunched, his grip tightened on his phone before he sighed and tucked it in his pocket. 

Maybe Phantom really didn’t want to hang out.

Slowly, Dash stood up and started his trek home. What a waste of a good couple of hours. He could have been at home playing video games but instead he was here chasing some false hope he had. Why would the town hero wanna hang out with him? There’s nothing special about Dash Baxter. He’s just a normal civilian. 

He trudged the rest of the way home, where he promptly flopped directly on top of his bed. 

QQQQQQQQQQQ

The next morning Dash woke up, blearily blinking until he could see. He didn’t get much sleep last night and his face hurt in tired. 

He throws back his blankets and stomps his way downstairs. Once in the kitchen, he pours himself a hefty bowl of cereal and grumpily chomps it down. 

Why’d he have to get his hopes up? This is the problem with that whole “dream big” phrase. This dream wasn’t even that big of one! What’s the point of dreaming big if it goes nowhere?

Maybe today would be better once he got to school, if you could imagine that. Today’ll be some prime nerd wailing. He could get a few rounds in with Fenton, that’d be nice. 

Finishing his cereal, he plops the bowl down in the sink and gets ready for school. After gelling his hair back and brushing his teeth, Dash smiles in the mirror at himself before running down the stairs and out the door, pulling it closed behind him. 

QQQQQQQQQQQ

Slamming the door shut, Dash fumed and threw his backpack on the ground before falling onto the couch in front of the tv. Fenton wasn’t even at school today! His favorite nerd to wail on! It wasn’t the same as beating up the other kids, they didn’t make it interesting. Now he’s been building up steam all day, with nowhere to let it go to. Angrily, he hits the power button on the remote and watches as the news flickers on. 

Dash leaned his head back onto the couch. Did life just hate him? Why was it making him suffer?

He glanced back at the tv and furrows his brows when he saw the tree he had been waiting by in the park last night. Did somebody get mugged? That’d be tragic. He turned the volume up. 

“-Fenton boy was found passed out in this tree all the way at the top. A passing couple found him this morning and called the fire department when the boy did not wake up to their calls. When helped down and asked what he was doing up there, he simply replied ‘tired’ and went on his way home.”

Huh. What a coincidence. When did Fenton get into the tree last night? The exact tree that he was supposed to meet Phantom at. Fenton surely couldn’t have known Phantom was going to be there. So why was he… 

Slowly, the cogs in Dash’s brain began to turn and he held his chin in his hand. 

“Phantom… Danny Phantom. Danny… Fenton?”

His eyes blew wide open. 

“Danny Fenturd is Danny Phanturd?!”

How the hell would that even be possible?! It would explain how Fenton got to the top of the tree, coincidentally in that exact spot. Ghosts are supposed to be dead! Not still alive and going to school and getting the breath knocked out of them when they got punched in the stomach. 

“How the FUCK!” Dash yelled, ignoring the call of his name from his mom upstairs. How’s the dude even still alive…? He’s fighting ghosts all the time and getting knocked into the pavement and through walls! 

Hurriedly, Dash pulls his phone out of his pocket and brings up a contact with a picture of a black haired boy giving him the bird and pressed the call button. 

It rang a few times until a voice spoke.

“Hello?”

“What the fuck, Fenton!” Dash yelled. “You, Phantom. Tree! The park!”

“Dash?” Danny sounded confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You were supposed to meet me in the park yesterday! Well, Phantom was. But then they found you in that tree this morning! How the fuck did that happen?”

Dash heard an intake of breath over the line and a nervous chuckle followed. “What do you mean, Phantom? I’m not Phantom.”

“No, you can’t deny it now! You guys have the same name and everything! Why else would you have been in that tree?”

“Didn’t you hear? The fire department had to get me down. Phantom wouldn’t have needed that help, no siree! Haven’t you seen how brave he is? I’m sure not brave!”

Dash groaned. “Why can’t you just admit it? It’s not like I don’t already know now. Heh, maybe I’ll go easier on you when I’m… When I’m-” Dash’s face falls and he stops talking. 

He’s been wailing on his hero. All this time. All this time! Dash has been beating up the guy he’s looked up to since freshman year!

“Uh, Dash?” Danny’s voice called. Dash didn’t respond. “Well, uh, I’m gonna go. I, Danny Fenton, not Phantom, have lots of homework to get done. I’m a very busy man, so I gotta go.”

Just before Danny hung up, he could hear a yell and the cackle of that… techno ghost? Over the line and then the call was over. 

Dash gaped at the phone and just sat there.

#gorgi writes #danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2020 #team ghost #danny fenton #dash baxter #fanfic #fanfiction

[kibfpatiyxparagpsiqa]

right. added that, and it’s literally just completely done now.

enjoy.

Danny has to admit, it's fun to hang around as Phantom. Even if it gives people opportunity to shoot at him, walking places just doesn't have the same feel as flying. And it doesn't get everyone to shoot at him. A lot of citizens, young ones especially, just think he's pretty cool. When he isn't invisible, they're the ones most likely to try to talk to him. And unlike, say, the ones who yell, Danny's willing to have a conversation. "Yo, Danny Phantom!" And Danny's over there in seconds, his legs quickly reforming as he stands before them. "Hey."

The person who'd called seems suddenly less willing to talk. Danny's used to people being afraid by now, though it's still weird, but even weirder is the times like now when they aren't afraid but starstruck. Someone else wearing a bandanna around their neck picks up. "Hi. Our friend's in the hospital right now." "Sorry." "Nah, you take more hits than all of us combined. But like, she drew you this thing, to thank you, but she didn't think you'd see it. However, Luke here was gonna show you. Luke, phone." Luke, still tongue-tied, unlocks and hands over his phone. The kid scrolls through the photos on the phone. Recently, the people in town are trying to really show their appreciation for Danny. He thinks it might be because of some recent visitors, one of which Danny found out was a ghost, nonhostile guy who still travelled with is friends. The whole group talked about what it's like for ghosts, how recognition and generosity matter. Danny still has their phone number. The kid finds what they're looking for. Danny holds the phone carefully as he looks at the picture. They're admonishing Luke for his terrible folder structures. It's a really sick picture. If Danny were at all willing to risk his cell number getting out, he'd ask them to text it to him. He really likes the particular pose and lighting, and they got his face exactly right, just like a mirror. Well, mirrors half of the time. But the shapes are the same! He grins at Luke while he hands the phone back. "Dude, that's so sweet! Do you like, think she'd let me see the actual physical one?" Luke has found his voice! "Yeah! Terry would actually love that. It's in her art folder, we brought it to the hospital room... not sure when or if you can visit." "Dude, just tell me when. Flag me down sometime, just, yeah. I'll bring my phone, get my own picture." "Awesome." The two other kids with them, at this point, are still messing around, but noticeably less than they were before he came over. When one notices he might leave, they walk over, and the last friend follows. "Uh, Phantom?" "Yeah?" "Can I get a picture of your logo?" "Sure. Why?" The kid swipes open their phone and he stands on the ground in front of them while they snap a photo. "D, P, oh. Never seen it this close before. Right, I'm making a collage of superheroes, and I thought, wait. I should add a real superhero who lives here! Any preference on who you're next to?" "Depends. Marvel or DC?" "More obscure heroes from both." Danny thinks about it. It's been a while since he's thought about this much. Real superheroics have kind of monopolized his focus for a while now. "Hmm. You got Captain Marvel on there?" "Yeah I do! I mean, she shouldn't be obscure. That's kind of the theme here. Too underrated." Danny nods. "These poor unfortunate souls. But yeah, I love the space origins." "Ha, what planet are you from?" "Not a planet... Aliens are cool, but there's a portal to an actual other dimension in your hometown, which is equally cool and also real." The kid can't refute that. His friend, bored, tries to throw an orange slice at him. He misses, but Danny catches it in his mouth. The formerly-bored friend turns out to be a vicious meanie. "You just can't dodge anything, can you. Are you always trying to eat what your enemies throw at you?" Danny is hurt, truly. He puts his hand over his heart and makes his best wide-eyed expression of sorrow. "Gasp. After all I do for you specifically, eating all those explosive blasts before you can, this is the thanks I get. Throw an orange at yourself, why don't you. Maybe you should practice dodging." The kid throws a whole orange this time, which Danny catches in his hand before peeling. "Oh, delicious inciendiary pain." He debates trying to hit himself in the chest and just grow another mouth there, before realizing that's horrifying. He just eats more orange slices. "So like. Ghosts can eat?" The kid with the bandanna seems curious. Danny shrugs. "I don't know. Ghosts can at least taste." He really doesn't know. Danny isn't quite a ghost. "Do you like to?" "Don't get the chance much. But sure, rather taste sweeter stuff than active plasma." He shoots a look at the orange kid, who has an orange in each hand now. Is that why their pockets are so full? They throw the oranges fast enough he reflexively goes intangible. He hears them hit the road behind him, then salutes the other kids and takes his leave. -----(can anybody tell me how to add lines proper?) It's gotten out really quickly that ghosts can eat. Not a lot of incidents involving that have happened, so Danny blames the sudden awareness everybody has of that on the internet. And a couple people are spreading the word that offerings to spirits are appreciated greatly, Danny's pretty sure those people also follow the web log of those paranormal investigators with the ghost. People have started asking if he'd like to share food they have on hand. Danny feels awkward, because he does already eat food at his own house, because he is alive. But then, the people might do that anyways if they knew that? They're trying to show their appreciation. And it's not like he couldn't just avoid their offers if he wanted, easily! Nobody's exactly chasing him down for this, just asking, when they have opportunities. He really does appreciate it too. Most everything tastes better when it's from someone whose life you've saved, or their wellbeing or family member or just their car. So Danny does usually accept whenever people offer to buy him things, or share what they have. Sure, he eats at home, but then sometimes he's pulled away before he can eat breakfast, or dinner, or anything. When people approach him at those times, he really doesn't even want to argue. So he doesn't.

Some of his older fans make similar offerings, but from meals they made through their own efforts. Those ones are also sweet. He's heard of the taste of victory, but the taste of gratitude is great. Danny likes knowing that people appreciate what he does, however they show it, and this is more convenient than all the cards he has in a locked box in his mattress, along with the other gifts, which he finds harder and harder to hide. He vastly appreciates the art, but his parents wouldn't really get this interest as anything other than suspicious. So the food is a welcome gift, even if returning containers to the right people can be difficult. He likes the sweets, but he actually likes salty things better, and after someone asks him about preferences a lot of people get interested. It's not a large percentage of the population, more those who especially like him and who are interested in cooking and baking, but a lot more people are starting conversations with him as Phantom than ever did before. He feels more appreciated. Some people yell at him because they dislike him, but gifts like these feel more tangible, like they outweigh that, even if people already cheered for him. And again, really convenient if he misses his planned meals. Danny's a fan. ------- Rhys is popping gum across the table while Jill continues talking about the annoyance of spices. Blah blah why does everyone use like no spices blah. Benjamin's late again, but as he dashes in and skids into the booth, the mess that is his clothes says it was probably under extenuating circumstances. "Did you forget your backpack?" Rhys swirls their drink with their straw. "Oh, oh crud it's probably still under there." He puts his head in his hands, and Jill pats his head in sympathy for whatever happened. "It must not have phased with me..." Jill shifts her legs like the restless shark she is. "Phased? There was an attack?" "Seems reasonable. Sure, it wasn't on the news, but at this point that's no surprise. There's barely a consensus on how many there are in a week, but too many to fit with regular news." Rhys sticks their gum to an empty wrapper. "But yeah. Why were you getting phased through anything, Benj?" "Um. Phantom. He saved me, I was caught in a collapse, a building was just. Fell." "Shit Benj, are you okay?" Jill's holding onto Benjamin now, like to keep him safe. "You didn't have to come here, do you need medical attention?" Benjamin shakes his head. "It wasn't dangerous! Just, dusty, and I couldn't get out. I'm glad Phantom heard me, though, my mobile wasn't working." "You sure you're okay Benny?" "Yeah. I think my clothes have it worse than I do. And my poor backpack." "F." Rhys leans against the wall, stretching their feet across the booth's bench. "This probably doesn't do you much of a favor in the long run, though. I mean, you thought that crush was bad before? Phantom just carried you out of a building. Tell me, Benj, did he take you by the hand, was it bridal-style?" "Hey Rhys? Shut up in those blue jeans." "Shut up in those blue jorts." Jill cracks a grin. "Shut up 'cause it's blue Jill." They do a mock-bow toward Jill, before Benjamin keeps talking. "All jokes aside, I really wanna thank him somehow. Uh, Phantom. Do you guys have any ideas? Because I don't think my skills in the area of writing are gonna be much help." "Au contraire Benj, I'm sure it'll be excellent help impressing your new boyfriend." "Shut up, I mean it." Jill looks at Rhys, and Rhys shuts up. "Uh, a bunch of people are like giving him food... Do you think he'd appreciate that? I could help, I kind of want to, you're my friend and I'm glad he saved you." She goes very quiet, like she already thinks it was stupid to even suggest. Rhys shrugs, but is smiling. "Sure, if you think he'll have your taste in extra-spicy." "Okay, I am NOT saying that everything needs to fucking BURN, but SOME PEOPLE are WEAK, and spices are meant to be USED and not in INFINITESIMALS," "Come on Rhys he's a ghost, we could probably put tylotoxin in it and he'd thank us. He'd thank us anyway, because Jill is fantastic at this and her idea was excellent." "Oh, cool. Thanks." Rhys shoots up, their face lighting up. "Oh my god, dudes, we should so totally actually do that though." "UH, it was just an example," "I'm not sure where we would get tylo," Rhys hits their hands on the table. "No, guys. He loves jokes, he loves MORBID jokes, he IS a ghost and he'd totally survive it! And again, he'd think it was so funny. All Benji's idea, of course. I'm so proud of you I could die." "Are you sure it won't do anything?" "I mean, he gets tossed around all the time and heals up quick. And this is *poison*, the type that works on *humans*. And if you're so unsure we can add a non-fatal amount, just in case he wants a kiss after." Benjamin nods slowly. Jill is already on board. "Alright but really, where are we going to get tylotoxin?"

---------- Danny had been liking the recent trend of tangible appreciation, but. Damn it all. He didn't have much right to feel betrayed, since he'd let his guard down. Nobody could have done this before anyway. He'd practically enabled them. He was still feeling pretty freaking angry at whoever had poisoned him. He doesn't know exactly who that was, though, since he's not sure when exactly they did it. -- The night he noticed it, he was just going home in the evening. It had a good chance to be one of those nights with no attacks to present issues, especially given that it was summer. He was walking instead of flying home, mainly out of preference, but started feeling tired enough to change his mind. After getting home and landing in his room, he was all prepared to wait another hour or so for ghostly latecomers, and yet so very, very ready to go to sleep. As soon as he turned human, though, he abruptly doubled over. It was a very abrupt, intense pain, and although he managed to get up when the shock wore off, it showed no signs of lessening. He pushed his shoes off and lied on his bed, grabbing for his phone. He couldn't tell where it was coming from. As he dialed for Tucker, he tried to think about the most recent attack, or the one before that. He didn't remember any wounds. Could it have been poison? "Danny, what's up." "Tucker, hey, uh." Tucker was already sighing over the phone. "You have a problem then?" "Don't know what would give you that idea..." "You always do this, man." His tone made it sound like Danny should know what exactly "this" was. "Besides, I'd hope you aren't calling about anything that could wait at this hour." "Okay fine. ...This hurts, like, a lot." Danny felt very tired, now, and his attempts to sit up weren't doing so hot. "Shit, man. What happened?" "I don't know. I think it's poison, some kind. Started hurting when I got home... When I was human." "What? That's not... Hmmm." Tucker sets his phone down. Probably checking something-or-other. Danny was feeling worse by the second. It hurt a lot, and it hit him that he might want to leave his house. He didn't think he could make it through an interaction with anyone here. Of course, he also felt like he didn't have the energy to get up and leave. Man, at least he wasn't throwing up. But now his head was hurting, and he curled up trying not to make a sound. He noticed he was clutching his phone now, hard, and lightened up before it could crack. Did Tucker say something? Shit, could poison do that? Concussions did that, was it a headache thing? "Uhhhh I wanna go. Your place? Sam's place, going there cool." Danny flipped his phone shut in and instant and slipped into a ghostly form before he even checked the door. Remembering that one second later, he zipped his head around to find it was fortunately shut, with no sign that anyone else at home had seen him. His thoughts already felt clearer, and the pain felt much more muted. Now, being Phantom dulled most of the pain, though there was still an ache in his stomach. Did that mean it was poison he ingested? Who'd have done that? He's still not sure. After flying to Sam's place, he discovered that she was on a video call with Tucker. He's really glad he can count on them. "Sam. Tucker. Sorry Tucker, actually. I don't think I was thinking clearly." He sat on the bed, which appeared to be different than the last he saw. Change of scenery, he guessed. "It doesn't hurt so much now, and I can think. It's mostly hurting my stomach now, actually. Did I eat poison?" Sam got him to lie down on her bed, which felt pretty weird considering he was still wearing boots. But he sat up to look at Tucker on the screen, who was talking about what they knew. "Most of your enemies don't use poison. And yeah, Skulker shows up a lot, but he's an outlier, and it's been a while since he was here anyway." "Yeah, 'cause we /totaled/ his suit last time." Danny grinned, and for a brief second so did Tucker. Then he got back to it. "Most poisons wouldn't take that long to affect someone, without /some/ sign. Nothing?" Sam nodded as Tucker spoke, probably out of further poison knowledge. Danny didn't think so. Skulker was about a week or two ago, by now? "No. I mean, I felt tired before flying home, but that was still only today." Sam jumped on his words. "Like, abnormally tired? Is this another symptom?" "It could be. I think it also stopped when I went ghost, too, so there's another point." They listened to Tucker adding that detail to his notes, before Sam looked out the window, furrowing her brow. "The thing is, it's obviously a human poison, if that's true. Which could still be a ghostly enemy, but if you can get out of it so easily then what's the point? Especially since other stuff, like sickness, leaves quicker, when your temperature doesn't already repel them." Danny frowned. "Did someone try to poison me? Human me? Why would someone do that?" "I don't know! Who'd hate you enough for that, most people just don't really care! The only person who comes to mind is Vlad, which seems unlikely." "Yeah, pretty sure he still needs me alive for some reason or another." Even with the cloning efforts, Danny 1.0 wasn't obsolete yet. Sam walked to the other side of the room, to a table. It was a very small table, but as Sam lifted the edge of the long tablecloth, she grabbed a large bag from beneath. She returned with this in hand, her first-aid kit showing from within. "We're hoping it will help if we can tell what kind of poison it is. Might at least give us an idea of where to look." Danny grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah okay, alright, should probably switch back for that? Yeah." Before his friends could protest, he flipped forms to his human self. Danny immediately was forced to lie completely down, without the energy to continue sitting. "Urrrrrr." The pain hit once more at the same time. Was it worse than before? He closed his eyes tightly. "Danny! Damn it. Okay, his breathing is really fast." As she turned toward him, her voice sounded louder. He tried to focus on what she said. "We'll try to get through this quickly, but just turn back if you need to, alright?" He didn't respond. "Alright, temperature. Tucker, you're recording all this, yeah?" After Tucker presumably confirmed, Danny felt something press across his forehead. "Oh, man. Feels way too warm. I'm not liking this..." Tucker's voice from behind Sam said something Danny couldn't make out. It was probably bad. "Okay," Sam said, and Danny couldn't hear the rest. Then something poked his arm, right on the wrist. He opened his eyes, to find he was in Sam's room. She was holding his hand, and he wanted to ask about that, but he couldn't seem to. She seemed to be getting upset about something. He closed his eyes again. It felt like only a second before he managed to open them again. He tilted his head to the side to see what was up, but there was a curtain in the way. Apparently Sam's new bed had curtains on it. He moved to shift them out of the way, and found Sam sitting at her computer, frowning. "Hey, I think the poison went away. It doesn't hurt anymore." She turned around in her chair with wide eyes, before remembering he was weird and partially relaxing. "Are you sure, Danny? That was fast." "I'm thinking pretty clearly, so yeah. Not sure I remember all of that, but yeah." Sam seemed skeptical. "How did you just get the poison out of your body?" Danny shrugged. "Ghost stuff? I dunno, I'm willing to blame it on my good old fighting /spirit/." He smiled at her, but she didn't seem convinced. "Let me try something." Sam got up and walked to stand by where he was lying. "I'm not so sure it's over, but this should test whether it's done." Before Danny could say a word, she'd grabbed his arm and given it a scratch with her nails. "Hey!" he had to shout, touching where she'd clawed. Looking at it, it wasn't bleeding, but some skin was torn. Then Danny realized it didn't hurt. Sam looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? Probably not quite over, then. Besides, you were only out for a few minutes after your heart stopped, and I doubt all of the poison left your system in that time." "Guess it hasn't given up the ghost, then. But I won't either. I must be thinking with my core right now, which explains why I'm not feeling it. I hope it gets out soon, or else it's going to suck when my brain comes back online. Or worse, my nerves." It did get worse. Even despite the fact he didn't feel the tiredness as a ghost, he couldn't manage to get anything done, since at any point another function, with its associated pain sensors, could come back. He had to stay at Sam's the whole week, and as his human form started working with the rest again, even getting to a different room of the house was an effort. Worse still was when his brain activity did return, and he wished it didn't, because this time it didn't stop his heart. He just had to stay that way, in extreme pain, waiting for it to be over and getting annoyed by how hard it was to focus on anything. By the end of it, he was outright wishing for another illness or poison he could just vomit out. ------- He still doesn't know who did it. Not exactly. But he's figured it out. It must have been someone who gave him food. It must have been someone who doesn't know human poison doesn't work on ghosts, because anyone who knows he's a halfa is unlikely to be involved. And now he's just cursing himself for trusting anybody like that. The worst week of his life, that must have been. After all, the second worst week featured a /fast/ and painful death. ------- Luke's been trying to get Phantom's attention again for ages now, with Terry out of the hospital. After disappearing, the hero has been more reclusive, less willing to talk to people. He hasn't been accepting gifts, anymore, but he'd said he'd like to see Terry's work! His friends eventually convince him to give it up. Phantom doesn't want to talk, right now. ------- What happened to Phantom? He's shown a definite change in behaviour, talking less to civilians. He's declined all offerings since his disappearance. The first time he was seen in a week, he moved differently, almost as if he hadn't moved in a while. Hypothesis: He's been trapped within some place in the Ghost Zone, immobile, and interdimensional time dilation made it a longer stay than we've experienced. He's having trouble acclimating back to Amity. ------- They haven't talked about what they did. Not while Phantom stayed out of commission, the whole week. And not for another week, as the fallout of whatever happened became clear. As it became clear the blame was on them. But Benjamin's guilty conscience wouldn't let him keep silent forever, even if he was afraid to say it very loud. "I wish I hadn't gone to that stupid first-person workshop. Wish we hadn't gotten attacked, and I wish he never freaking pulled me out." He glares into his cup. "Benny, it's not your fault." Jill says, probably about to say something 'helpful'. But Benjamin starts first, and it might not /help/ but it feels just a bit better to blame someone else. "Of course not, I'm not the one who thought it was a /good/ idea to poison a hero." Rhys, previously silent, meets every challenge at equal measure. "Oh, yeah, because it was so stupid. I was totally right, if any one of us /bothered/ to check whether poison affects stupid ghosts. Or said something! You could have /told/ your little boyfriend the secret ingredient wasn't exactly love. Bet he'd know if this could be excused under 'love & war'." "Like you know one thing about love, you black widow. Do /you/ poison everyone you date? It wasn't my /idea/ to make him sick, I was grateful!" "So was I Benj! I'm so glad you're here with me it hurts, and I just thought surely, someone as dead as I am inside would appreciate a joke, but the joke fell flat. It fucked him up. I fucked up, yeah!" And everything's quiet a minute. Benjamin drinks his odd choice in summer beverage, and finds that it's cooled down some. Jill speaks up, quietly. "I poisoned somebody." Sitting sideways in the booth, she curls in on herself, upset. "Jill, no, it wasn't your idea, it was mine. Rhys lifts their sunglasses off. "I'm the one who actually seriously meant that." "I cook and I poisoned somebody. What am I gonna do?" Benjamin tries to offer her a back pat, but her legs are in the way. He pats her knees instead. "You didn't know it would poison him. You had every reason to think it would be fine." "Isn't there a rule or something that says you're not allowed to cook anymore if you poison somebody?" "That's a negligence thing though. Or incompetence. Definitely doesn't count if we gave you wrong information." Jill sips her drink through the straw, ignoring the whipped cream on top. A bad sign. "I never want to do that again." "What- Jill, you love to cook! You passionately rant about spices and-" "I mean the poisoning." "Oh, yeah, totally. Don't do that." -------- Danny Fenton doesn't know every person in this city, but he feels like he's at least seen most of them. Even if he's never talked to them, he's probably indirectly saved their life at some point. The ones he's least directly saved tend to hate him the most. Yet sometimes, even people he doesn't recognize will show him kindness. Danny likes feeling appreciated, more than even as much shouting as his detractors do can take from him. He'll talk to people again, and not just to save them. He'll trust people again, even if it's hard right now. And maybe, years later, he'll be able to hear the true story and laugh. But for now, Danny needs to think.

#danny phantom #my writing #yo danny fenton he was barely any years old by the time he'd died thrice #it was fucked #go ahead and criticize but i doubt it will help

[dpjustified]

Bingo #2

(disclaimer: fanfic only, not a headcanon)

(#2 themes: Mer AU with a twist [I made sure twists were okay first], Swagger Bishie platonic version don’t hate me, It’s not gay if it’s dead mention)

Danny sighed.

He and Tuck were just as surprised that their first year of high school would end with Dash, their number one bully, becoming Danny’s good friend. Somehow Jazz let his secret slip, and it was all downhill from there. Dash started actually being nice, and not shoving them into lockers. Then Dash actually asked to hang out with him after school sometimes, him, the school loser! Once Danny and Tucker got to know another side of Dash, it wasn’t so bad hanging as a group sometimes. Dash even said hi to them at school. He still insulted them with nicknames though, but they insulted him back, and it was all good.

Of course, sometimes Tucker and Dash just couldn’t get along, so Danny was forced to mediate.

Today, his dad decided to drag all three of them on a fishing trip to lecture them about puberty and dating. At least he wasn’t alone with his dad, but then again, now his friends would hear the embarrassing things his dad liked to say. Either way, he was at a loss.

Nah, I have to stay positive. It could be fun this time!

Nope, he knew he was fooling himself.

“Now, boys,” his dad started, in the tone he used when trying to sound like he was imparting some great wisdom. “When you start dating, and I don’t care who it is, you have to treat them well.”

“No duh,” Dash said, only to get a glare from his dad. “I mean, yes, I agree.”

“In this day and age, if the other person wants to pay for some of the dates, or all of them, just let them. This does not make you any less of a man! In fact, when I was dating your mother, Danny, she had a side job at the lab while I, sadly, could only afford peanuts.”

“You mean you mooched off mom, Dad?” Danny said, not surprised. His mom must have really been in love to date and marry the man-child that was his dad. He still loved him though.

“Wow, goals man.” Dash said. He would be impressed by that. Danny would not have been surprised if Dash mooched off of all his friends, including Paulina. He was already mooching off Danny and Tucker for soda at the Nasty Burger, not that it was that pricey. And he was rich so he really had no excuse.

“I’d totally be down if a girl wanted to treat me,” said Tucker, who had pulled out his PDA to take notes.

“Don’t take my dad seriously guys,” Danny whispered.

“No, no, this is good stuff,” said Dash.

“And if you do get a date,” his dad continued, probably pleased at the undivided attention he was getting, “please encourage them to join the Ghost-keteers. You can get date night and fight night in one night!”

All three groaned.

Danny put his hand on his dad’s shoulder. “Dad, are you still trying to sell that? No one’s going to join.”

“Really?” His dad looked like a sad five year old.

“I’m sorry I have to break it to you.”

He looked like he was going to cry.

“Dude, you can’t be so mean to your dad, man,” Dash lectured. “I’m sure you can do some advertising, and maybe make it into a Phantom fan club. I’m sure lots of people will join then!”

You mean, you’ll join, Dash.

“But it’s an exclusive club, only for the most dedicated ghost fighting heroes!” his dad said passionately, raising his fist. “Not just anyone can join.”

Tucker chimed in. “So, that’s very simple. On the first day, we’ll have them take a survey. They have to agree to one week of intensive Fenton training. And put uniform sizes of course and preferred ghost fighting gadget. Once they pass, they become official members! With official uniforms. Of course, anyone that fails can try again next year.”

“That’s...” His dad took a moment to think. “That’s brilliant! Great idea, Tucker.”

“Anytime.”

He did not want a bunch of fangirls - and fanboys - at his house, even if they didn’t know he was Phantom. Oh, he got an idea. “Dad, Jazz would make a great club president.” If Jazz was in charge, he could rely on her to reign in the fans and keep him and his secret relatively safe. As it was, people kept flirting with his ghost half with the mantra, “It’s not gay if it’s dead,” when he kept telling them he wasn’t dead!

Heck, even the Box Ghost says he’s not dead, and Plasmius has fans but doesn’t get any of the harassment I get! I told them I’m into girls but they don’t care...

He had to quickly abandon the idea of a ghost phone when all his voice messages were of the inappropriate sort. Good thing Jazz screened his phone for him; she was scarred for days even after burning the phone and canceling the subscription.

“Great idea! Jazz is the responsible type. The ghost-keteers will be in safe hands!”

Danny sighed. “What about fishing?”

“Oh, sorry son. I’ve kept you all waiting.” He opened the case that contained the fishing rods and passed them out, then instructed them on how to put on the bait, let out the reel, and reel in once something bit.

An hour later:

“How’s it going, kids?” Jack asked next to a bucket full of junk. “I’ve got all sorts of treasures so far. An old boot, a rare gold watch, and some kind of message in a bottle.”

“So you’re a treasure hunter now, Dad?” Danny replied sarcastically.

“You are, Mr. Fenton?” Dash replied, excited. “Cool!”

“I am, aren’t I?” His dad rubbed his nose with pride.

Danny felt a few drops fall on his nose. He looked up. The weather was starting to get bad. But if it was just sprinkling, there was no real reason to stop early, was it.

“So far,” Tucker said, peering into their buckets. “It’s Dash 1 guppy, Danny 0, me 3 catfish. So far, I’m on top!”

Dash attached another bait onto his hook then threw it back in. “Just you wait, nerds, I’m not about to throw the towel on this race.”

Danny sighed again. “Now why’d you have to rile him up, Tuck?”

“Because competitions are fun? And besides, you’re dead last. Ch-ch-chicken?”

“I am not a chicken.” He shoved a worm onto his hook and accidentally pricked himself. At least it didn’t go in. His dad sucked at first aid, and Tucker wasn’t any better. He quickly put a waterproof band-aid on his bleeding finger then threw the hook in the water. As long as the wound wasn’t infected it would heal quickly enough.

After a few minutes, the line grew taut.

“I think I caught something,” he said, growing excited. At this point, he would even be happy if he caught a boot.

“Well, reel it in,” Dash said. “I’ll even help you pull if you need it.”

“I’m fine,” Danny said. Even though Dash knew his secret, he still insisted on treating him like he was weak. Well, he was actually pretty weak if he wasn’t using his ghost energy as a boost.

He was unprepared when the line pulled suddenly, and because he held on so tightly to the rod, he was yanked off the boat. He let go of the rod. The rain grew fiercer and the waves started to move, pushing him to and fro.

“Danny!” his Dad yelled. “It’s okay, I’ll come save you.”

“No, need, I’ll do it!” yelled Dash.

Tucker held them both back. “You guys will just make it worse. Danny can handle it, right...Danny?!”

Something grabbed his head tightly, covering his eyes, and pulled him under the water rapidly. The cries of his friends and dad faded, and it was too dark to see. Something gripped his neck and he let out a gasp, unfortunately inhaling water. He kicked out madly and panicked, struggling to calm himself.

I can handle this. A water ghost? If it’s too dark to see...

He activated his ghost powers and elbowed out, hitting a soft form. The grip loosened and he turned around with glowing eyes.

In front of him was a girl with black hair coiling around her like seaweed, and glowing purple eyes. Seaweed was wrapped around her form, and the hook from his rod was clearly stuck in the side of her neck.

At least he knew why she was trying to kill him now.

He didn’t have time to think. He had to get away and get some air.

He shot out an ecto blast at her, but a black scaled tail shot out from behind her and knocked it away.

...Tail?

Just great, and just when he had enough with ghosts. The question was, was she a mermaid or a ghost mermaid?

While he was in thought, she gripped his neck again, and he felt like his powers were getting sucked away. In moments, he lost his ghost form. He could barely maintain his glowing eyes, and he could feel his consciousness fading.

If I fall asleep here, I’m a goner!

He couldn’t panic. What was the best way of startling a girl? He grabbed her face and kissed her, then received a punch in his gut.

I should have seen that coming...

Well, at least he died trying.

...

He woke up in a cavern who knows where with a purple eyed girl staring down at him.

He quickly backed up and looked back from a safe distance. He ascertained that he had his energy back, so if needed he could fight against the mer-lady...

For some reason, she had legs. That, and the only thing censoring her was her hair.

“Um,” he started. “Thanks for not killing me?”

She blinked, then crawled over to him.

“What do you want?” Then again, if she had the ability to absorb his powers, he didn’t know if he had a chance. “Are you a ghost or a mermaid? Or both? What are you?”

“First...” Her voice was so striking that he couldn’t help but stare. “Can you get this thing out of my neck? It hurts.”

“R-right.” He reached over and made the hook intangible, pulling it out easily. The line had long snapped, but he had no time to worry about the fate of his dad’s rod right now. He then reached in his pocket for a band-aid. He was glad this vest had waterproof pockets.

She reeled back at the band-aid.

“Relax, it just seals the wound. It might not last too long underwater, but for now, right? I won’t hurt you.”

She narrowed her eyes,  but tilted her neck to allow him access.

He stuck it on then sat in front of her, staring. “Why were you trying to kill me earlier?”

“You were clearly trying to kill me earlier, were you not?”

“I was just...fishing? Not for you, of course. Whatever you are.”

“Mermaid.” She looked down at her knees. “Not sure what a ghost is.”

“Eh. Someone with my powers”- He harnessed energy in his hands, then let it disperse-” and bleeds green, can float, disappear, and fly, all the time. Me, I’m just half ghost. Kinda like you, half fish.”

“Half fish? Never heard that before, but I see what you mean.”

“Well, personal question really...Do mermaids, can they transform like that? I mean, your tail to legs on land. That’s really nifty.”

She looked away. “Only after they’re married. It’s a survival thing.”

“Married?” He didn’t know why but he kept thinking she was pretty. It wasn’t a surprise; even though she looked his age, mermaid culture was probably different, and it would only be natural that she was taken-

Why am I thinking about hitting on a mermaid I just met! Weirdo, stop being weird!

“It’s your fault I can’t go back now,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“Wait...what?” He was confused. “Was it the hook thing? I’m-I’m really sorry...” Yep, he would ruin someone’s life without trying. Even though the Cujo thing wasn’t entirely his fault, he still cost Valerie’s dad his job and ruined her life. Was he just a loser?

“Not that, the kiss! You mean you don’t know?” She hobbled over to him and slapped him. “You have to take care of me. I can’t even use these things.” She pointed to her legs. “The blend-in-with-humans class isn’t even taught till 17! I’m not ready for this.”

He wasn’t ready for this.

“Uh...” He took off his jacket and handed it to her. “For now, tie this around your waist. And we can see about getting out of here. You know. Like so.”

He indicated where and she tied it. Then he picked her up and flew her back to the boat. It was empty.

He later found his dad, Dash and Tucker enjoying snacks at the hotel they were staying the night at. It took him forever to explain the girl as someone he saved from drowning, and even then no one believed him except good old Dad. After giving her some clothes to wear that he had purchased from the souvenir shop, he had to spill the beans to his friends once his dad was asleep.

“You’re a mermaid?” Dash said, then shook the girl’s hand. “It’s like a storybook! What’s your name.”

“Hey, I wanted to hit on her first,” Tucker whined.

“Sam,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And you all?” She was clearly not excited to be there. Apologizing clearly wouldn’t help at this point.

As usual, Tucker spoke for them all. “I’m Tucker, the cool kid.” He wiggled his glasses. “Dash here is our star athlete, and Danny is the superhero with ghost powers. I...assume he’s already told you that.”

“Right. Danny.” She glanced quickly at Danny then focused on Tucker again. “And what are you eating?”

“A meat pizza.”

“Meat...how cruel.” She looked at him with pity.

“Hey, I’m a carnivore. Guess you’re not one of those man-eating mermaids?”

“That’s what you humans think of us? Disgusting.”

Dash waved a hand. “Hey, don’t worry, you only see those mermaids in horror movies. You know movies right?”

She gave a blank stare.

Dash and Tucker gave each other a knowing glance. “We have a lot to teach you.”

Danny pulled her back to him. “Hey you two, don’t corrupt the innocent!”

Tucker silently opened a laptop and loaded the “Undersea Monster” movie.

It’s only on these things that these two agree.

What was he going to do with this mermaid girl?

#danny phantom #phango19