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five-rivers · 4 years

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Scarecrow/Grave Robber

I feel like I told whole bunch of people I wouldn't continue Unearthed. Here I am, continuing Unearthed, like a liar. But not finishing it. Because I can't decide how I want this scenario to end.

All y'all'll have to wait 'til the next event for another continuation, because for the last two Ectober prompts I'm doing completely different things.

Sorry.

Scarecrow/Grave Robber

Detective Collins looked down at the body on the autopsy table. He'd looked at bodies before. Corpses, rather. He and Patterson were APPD's homicide team, and did a lot of death investigations, even if Amity Park hadn't had an actual murder for years. A single casre of involuntary manslaughter, yes, several instances of assault, yes, a good number of accidental deaths, yes, murder, no.

Apparently, the knowledge that a so-called permanent solution to a problem might not be all that permanent, and that the problem might come back with superpowers was enough to put a damper on that kind of thing.

The corpse wasn't exactly a normal one, and it hadn't come to police attention in the normal way. Still, Collins was just doing his job.

So why the hell did he feel like a damn graverobber?

"Got anything for us, Molly?" he asked the ME.

"If you mean a cause of death, that's a hard no," said the red-haired woman. "If you mean a whole bunch of weird stuff, then yes. This is the strangest body I've ever seen. I think I'm going to have to call out for a second opinion."

Collins and Patterson exchanged looks.

"I think you'd better not," said Patterson. "This is the kind of thing that should stay in Amity Park."

Molly eyed the other woman shrewdly. "The rumors are true, then?"

Collins cleared his throat. "What rumors?"

"This is Phantom's body."

"Where did you hear that?" asked Collins.

At the same time Patterson said, "So he claims."

"The paramedics told me," said Molly. "It's been all over the hospital."

Great. As if this case wasn't 'interesting' enough. "What's so weird about the body?" he asked, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

"Well, first off, half of it's missing."

Collins looked down at the body. As far as he could tell, all of it was there, even if it was far from adult-sized.

"I know what you're thinking," said Molly. "I get it. I didn't notice at first, either, not until I took the x-rays. His bones are half as dense at they should be. At first I thought that he just had some kind of bone disease- that would make identification easier, right?- but then I started weighing other parts of him, and his everything only weighs about half as much as it should for a teenager of his height."

"Are you sure that's not just because of decay? Or because he was burned?" asked Patterson.

"Yes, I'm sure. He's pretty well preserved actually."

"Is he?" asked Collins, dubiously, looking at the blackened and whithered corpse.

"Yeah. What you're seeing here," she gestured at one of the corpse's arms, "it isn't skin. I know he looks burnt, but he's actually got all his layers. This is something he was wearing. I've sent a sample out for analysis, but I think it's mostly plastic and cloth."

Patterson sighed. "Guess that rules out burning to death, or someone trying to burn the body afterwards. What could have caused the, uh, halving?"

Molly shrugged. "Might have to do with how he died, or becoming a ghost. I don't know. I only deal with the bodies of the dead, not their spirits. You'll have to ask the Fenton, or the GIW."

"Anything else?" asked Collins.

Molly shrugged. "I found a lot of ectoplasm residue on him, and something that might be lichtenberg figures, but I won't know for sure until I can get his clothing off, and I'm not sure we want to do that until we figure out what happened to them and what they're made of."

"Right," said Collins. "Good call."

"Everything else is in here," said Molly, handing the file to Patterson. "But, just so you know, he does have the proper height, age, and body type to be Phantom."

"Any que-" the phone in the back office rang, cutting Molly off. She groaned. "Hold that thought." She ran off into the other room and shut the door.

"Sooooo," said Patterson, playing with the end of her braid. "Who gets to interview the Fentons?"

"Both of us," said Collins, looking at Molly's report. She hadn't written anything about how long the kid had been dead.

"Aw, you're no fu-"

The temperature of the already-cold room dropped, and all of Collins' hairs stood on end, indicators of an agitated and very close ghost. Both Collins and Patterson had their ectoguns (standard issue for APPD) out in second.

A ghost shimmered into view on the other side of the examination table.

"You need to stop this," he said, green eyes boring first into Collins', then Patterson's. "People are going to get hurt."

"Is that a threat?" asked Collins.

Phantom recoiled as if slapped. The shock faded, and his face settled into a more standard offended scowl.

"No, of course not. It doesn't make it any less true. So stop."

"We can't."

"Why not?" asked Phantom, aggrieved. "It isn't like this is about justice. I don't need justice. It was an accident."

"Because we don't know who this is, and we don't know who you are," said Collins. He did not add that, even if the body on the table had belonged to Phantom, they could not take his word that his death had been an accident.

Phantom threw up his hands. "I'm the guy who's been protecting Amity Park from ghost attacks for the last two years! And that's my..." he faltered. "My, um. My c- My body," he finished quietly. He took a deep breath, and some of his earlier fire came back. "Why would I lie?"

Collins could think of dozens of reasons, up to and including Phantom being the killer, though he doubted the young ghost had a murderous bone in his body. Either of them.

"It would really help," said Patterson, "if you could come down to the station to be interviewed."

Phantom's expression softened. "If it would help-" he broke off and shook himself. "I'll think about it." He frowned down at the body, looking rather ill.

"Is there any proof you have that this is your body?" asked Collins, slowly, more cautious than Patterson. He remembered hearing somewhere that ghosts didn't like being reminded of their deaths.

Phantom shifted slightly, and his gaze slid away from the corpse. "Other than knowing you had found... it, and being able to feel it? Not..." He trailed off, rubbing a circle into the palm of his left hand. Jerkily, he tugged off the glove. He kept his hand curled tight, and half hidden, as he stared down at the ground. Then he spread out his fingers, and thrust his hand at Collins. "This," he said. "It'll be the same on... it... as me."

In the center of Phantom's palm was a burnt-in star. It had seven points that faded out to lightning bolts as they twined up his arm, disappearing under his jumpsuit.

"Is that from when you died?" asked Patterson.

All the lights in the room flickered, and the the ghost hissed before vanishing. A light bulb near the door burst in a spray of glass.

The temperature returned to normal levels.

"What the hell, Patterson? You don't ask a ghost about their death. And what was the whole 'it'll really help' thing?"

"Sorry," said Patterson. "I know, I know, but how often do you get to interview the victim of one of these things?"

"Literally all the time. We do assault cases ninety percent of the time."

"When you put it that way..." Patterson grimaced. "The 'help' thing... Well, ghosts are supposed to be governed by their Obsessions, right? I took a class on that, a couple of months ago. Anyway, there's big speculation that Phantom's Obsession is heroism, or helping people. I thought maybe I could use it. It almost worked. You saw how he considered it."

"Yeah," said Collins. He rubbed his face, thinking.

Phantom said he could feel the body. How much could he feel? If he could just tell what was happening to it, that wouldn't be so bad. But if he could feel it like it was still his body? That sounded like torture.

Molly walked back into the room. She frowned. "What happened?"

"Phantom decided to pay us a visit. Say, Molly, I know you don't want to strip off his clothes, yet, but if you could just clean off his left hand..."

"So," said Collins, drumming his hands on the steering wheel. "Let's recap. What do we know?"

"The body is the right age, sex, and size to be Phantom, and has the same scars as Phantom," said Patterson. "The body is really weird and has a lot of ectoplasmic residue on it. Molly can't tell how long it's been dead. Forensics thinks it's been there two years, based on soil settling and a picture search. The cairn only started showing up around then, at the end of summer."

"Which is before the ghosts started to be a big thing," added Collins.

"Which makes the ectoplasm even weirder."

"And now, we're consulting with the only ghost experts in town who aren't the GIW to find out what could have caused that."

"But, unfortunately, said ghost experts are also the only people in town who had access to ectoplasm before the ghosts showed up."

"Which means they're suspects," finished Collins, moving from knowledge into theory. He sighed. "Of course, since Phantom claims to have buried his own body, he could have left the ectoplasmic residue."

"It's also possible some other ghost hunter did it," said Patterson. "The GIW did exist before the ghosts became a problem. Or it could just be a natural result of turning into a ghost."

"Right," said Collins. "So, who's going to ring the doorbell?"

The two detectives looked up at the front door of Fentonworks. Everybody knew what happened to people who rang the Fentons' doorbell.

Patterson sighed. As the more junior of the pair, she knew how this was going to pan out. "I'll do it."

She got out of the car, and went up the stair. Collins followed, but stayed a safe distance back.

With an air of resignation, Patterson pressed the doorbell.

Surprisingly, the door opening did not herald a flood of green goo. One of the Fenton children had opened the door. The boy. An unidentifiable expression passed over his face before he turned and shouted, "Mom! Dad! The police are here to see you!"

Odd. How did he know Collins and Patterson were detectives? They didn't have their badges displayed.

He scampered off as Jack Fenton bounded to the door. "Hi there!" boomed the big man. "Are you here to talk about ghosts?"

"Yes, actually."

The Fentons, once you got past the goo, were actually very hospitable. Maddie brought out tea and cookies, and sat the detectives down in the living room.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

Collins and Patterson exchanged a glance.

"We were wondering," said Collins, "if there is any way to tell if someone has become a ghost by looking at their corpse."

Maddie clicked her tongue. "That's a common misconception. People don't become ghosts. They leave ghosts. Ghosts are impressions on ectoplasm, not people."

There was a very faint, unamused scoff from above, and Collins looked up to see the Fentons' son crouched behind the banister of the stairs. He noticed Collins' gaze and fled.

Interesting.

Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie's explanation was winding down. "But to answer your question, no. There's no way to tell if a person's death produced a ghost unless you encounter the ghost. The body would be completely normal. Is this about the body you found in William Park?"

Collins frowned. It was easy to forget how sharp the Fentons were.

"Yes," he said, deciding it wouldn't do any good to hide the fact.

"And you think it's ghost related somehow?" pressed Maddie.

"A ghost claimed the body was theirs."

"Hm," said Maddie, thoughtful.

"Well, it isn't impossible for a ghost to form with the Obsession of finding the person that murdered the human they are modeled on," said Jack. "I'm actually surprised you didn't encounter one sooner."

"The ghost in question wanted us to stop investigating," said Collins, watching their reactions. He wondered if he was revealing too much, but he really did need more information about ghosts and he refused to go to the GIW unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd talk to the cults (there were many in Amity Park, several of which were dedicated primarily to Phantom) first.

Maddie frowned. "That can't be right. What ghost was it?"

"Phantom," said Collins.

Jack and Maddie were already shaking their heads.

"That's impossible," said Jack.

"There are record of Phantom going back to the beginning of human history. Farther, even." Maddie got up and walked to a bookshelf, where she pulled out a large heavy book. She thumped it down on the coffee table, and began to thumb through the pages. "Here, look. This town in China even used effigies of him as a kind of 'spirit scarecrow.' Apparently he would show up periodically to fight 'evil spirits.' Ghosts. Just like now."

The dolls on the page did bear a shocking resemblance to Phantom. Maddie turned the page, and another. Each one had pictures of Phantom, though all in different styles, and clearly all from different cultures.

"There aren't a lot of these, true," said Maddie, "and when we were in college, a lot of it was dismissed as a hoax. But they existed when we were in college."

"So either our Phantom is the same, or he's imitating the legend," said Jack, "and the legend was never well known."

"We prefer the former theory, obviously." She sat down and leaned back in her chair. "Now, as for the body, normally, if this was any other ghost, I would say that they caused the death, but..." She pursed her lips, then shrugged. "As dangerous and inhuman as Phantom is, I doubt it. We are fairly confident his Obsession falls in the lines of 'protecting people,' and that wouldn't allow murder."

"He's definitely involved somehow, though," said Jack. "It's possible he's protecting the killer."

"I feel like we know less now than we did before," complained Patterson.

"Yeah..." said Collins. "Did you notice their kid? Did he seem a little off to you?"

"Maybe a bit," said Patterson, playing with the end of her braid. She paused, looking back at the Fenton house. "You know, I saw this theory on a website once," she said, slowly.

"What kind of website?"

"Conspiracy, I think, but it could have been a cult one. You know how it is. The theory was that the Fenton's son was secretly Phantom. The kid who posted it got laughed off, of course, but... Y'know, I think it was picked up by a cult or two. They're hard to keep track of. They keep having those schisms, and merging, and, you know."

"The Fenton kid would have had access to ectoplasm before the ghosts showed up," said Collins. Could his theory about Phantom masquerading as one of the living be correct?

"I guess anyone slimed by the Fentons would have, too, though," said Patterson.

"Right. Wonderful. You want to talk to the Cult Division first, or start interviewing kids?"

"Is the 'Cult Division' still Cameron Daily and his computer?"

"You know it is."

"Let's get started on those kids."

"Well," said Danny talking to Sam and Tucker over the Fenton Phones, "they're getting clues, but they're buried in so much junk that they're useless, or they're completely inconclusive."

"That's good, right?" said Tucker.

"Not if they think I killed someone!"

"It doesn't quite sound like that's what they think," said Sam. "Even your parents don't think that."

Which had been really nice, actually. Which was sad. But, hey, odd manifestation of post-human consciousness was a step up from evil manifestation of post-human consciousness. Right?

"They think I'm covering up a murder, then, Sam. That's just as bad." His tail twitched and flicked as he rode invisibly on top of the detectives' car. Ever since his... that... had been dug up, he had felt uneasy. Anxious.

Restless.

Basically, what was dead people were supposed to feel like when their remains were disturbed.

"I can't just go on letting them think that," said Danny.

"Don't. You're just going to get yourself into more trouble," cautioned Sam.

Danny bit his lip. "It's just an interview," he said, eyeing the police station. "It isn't like they can arrest me."

He flew in.

#danny phantom #ectoberweek19 #ectober #ectober 2019 #phanfic #my writing

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dp-marvel94 · 5 years

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Folklore

For Ectober Week 2

This is based at least in part on my experiences going to the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia this summer. I also thought that Danny not believing in cryptids despite being a cryptid himself would be hilarious.

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"Come on Danny! Get in the picture!" Sam and Tucker stood in front of a metallic figure - clawed hands and feet, large insectoid eyes, and holey moth-like wings. Sam waved Danny over. "Don't you want a picture in front of the statue?!"

Danny rolled his eyes but decided to humor his friends. In all honesty, he really didn't get the hype. The mothman was just a myth, folklore. Something made up to draw in tourism. And it definitely worked. When Sam had seen the billboard on the highway for the World's Only Mothman Museum, she had immediately argued they should go. And since it was her car and she was driving, here they were.

Danny walked over and crammed in between his two best friends. Holding out his hand, he took her phone. "I can take the selfie, I have the longest arms."

After several rather hilarious selfies, which failed to capture all three teenagers and the statue, another tourist, a woman in her mid-twenties in a shirt for some rock band, offered to take a picture of all the three friends.

"Here you go." The woman handed Sam's phone back to her with a smile and walked away, towards the riverfront.

After checking the pictures, Sam pointed across the street. "And there's the museum. We have to check it out!"

"Really?" Danny asked sheepishly. He turned to Tucker who just shrugged.

"Come on!" Sam then grabbed Danny's hand and pulled him across the street, trailed by a chuckling Tucker.

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"Three tickets please." Sam inquired

"At four dollars a piece, that will be 12 dollars total." The person behind the counter, a teenage boy with blond hair in a mothman museum t shirt checked them out.

"Here you go." He smiled while handing them their tickets.

Once they actually went inside the museum, Danny found it was much more mundane than he had thought. The museum was really just a back room full of old newspapers clippings, artifacts from Point Pleasant in the 60s, props from some movie about the mothman, and displays with people's first hand accounts.

Sam enthusiastically walked towards the display, eyes quickly scanning the written words. She grinned. "According to this, the creature was first spotted by two couples in 1966, near something called the TNT area. And then dozens of people saw it after."

Danny stopped beside her. "Seriously, Sam. You can't actually believe all this. They just were high and saw an owl or something. And everyone else got caught in the craziness. Cryptid, like the Mothman, definitely don't exist."

Sam turned to him, mouth open. She replied flatly. "Danny. You're a cryptid."

Danny cringed, looking around. Luckily no one else was there. He relaxed, smiling. "No I'm not. My existence is very well documented." He pulled out his wallet with a grin. "See. I have a driver's licenses. I can even show you my birth certificate when we get home."

Sam elbowed him. "That's not what I mean, dumby."

He shrugged. "I mean, Phantom is also well documented. There's pictures and video. So see not a cryptid."

Sam shook her head. "Can you at least try to keep an open mind? Who knows? You might even find this interesting."

Danny sighed. "Alright. I'll try but no promises."

He walked off, letting Sam read the display.

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By the end of their visit, Danny was surprised. It actually had been kinda interesting. The documentary they'd watched in the little theater had been informative. And there was a lot of information about Silver Bridge Collapse (which was actually documented unlike, sightings of the mothman).

And he enjoyed seeing his friends so excited. He walked up to Tucker who was looking at a display about the Men in Black.

Danny tilted his head. "What is this? Off brand Guys in White? Yeah right."

Tucker turned, waving his hands excitingly. "Nah, man. This was an actual thing. These guys showed up, trying to keep people from talking about all the weird stuff they were seeing." His grin widened as he started talking faster. "There were all these UFO sightings, even before the mothman showed up. So people thought he was an alien! Or maybe a government experiment since the first time the thing was seen it was near a government facility where they were making explosives and doing secret experiments! Or.. .maybe it was both! The government was experimenting on aliens! And the Men in Black were government agents using alien tech to get people to shut up about the escaped alien!"

Danny chuckled. "Really Tuck? That's crazy. You sound like Wes from school."

Tucker shrugged. "I don't know man. He is actually right about you."

Danny stopped laughing, sputtering. "That… he's...that's all he's right about." His bottom lip jutted out in a pout. " He's wrong about the fruit vampires...and well there was a Kelpie in the pond in the park but it was actually a ghost and I caught it so he was wrong last week when he was ranting about it."

Tucker just laughed. "But he's still right about Phantom."

Danny pouted with his arms crossed as Tucker continued laughing. After a few moments, Danny managed to crack a smile at his friend's outburst. He shook his head. "Fine, he is right about….that." Tucker's eyes lit up but Danny raised a finger to stop his response. "But… that doesn't mean he's right about anything else. Or that the mothman exists!"

It was now Tucker's turn to shake his head. "Fine dude. Whatever you say. You wanna see if Sam is done? The museum closes soon, then we can check out that Mexican restaurant we passed while parking earlier." Tucker rubbed his hands together at the end, obviously pleased with the thought of food.

After spending about 15 minutes browsing the museum gift shop which yielded a rather adorable mothman plushie for Sam, a t shirt for Tucker, and a postcard and magnet for Danny (hey, he might not think the mothman was really but it wouldn't stop him from getting some cool looking souvenirs), the three friends found themselves in the Mexican restaurant Tucker had spotted earlier.

All three were surprisingly pleased with the restaurant; they had a good variety of vegetarian options for Sam, the carnitas were amazing to Tucker's delight, and Danny very much enjoyed the Chori pollo (nothing beats chicken and Mexican sausage covered in cheese sauce). The teens finished their meals happily discussing their museum visit.

"It was a death omen!" Sam argued. "It first showed up 13 months to the day before the silver bridge collapsed and all those people died. There's records of creatures like that showing up before disasters in cultures all around the world."

"But what about the UFO sightings, even before the mothman showed up?" Tucker countered. "And that guy, Woodrow.. something...who said he meet that alien, Indrid Cold, who talked telepathically to him. He even saw the alien's ship!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "He was just crazy, Tucker. Seeing and hearing things. And any lights in the sky were supernatural omens! Everyone knows aliens don't exist!"

"But someone reported seeing Woodrow talking to a guy on the side of the road who matched Mr. Cold's description! So he did see an alien."

"So what? That still doesn't mean he wasn't crazy!" Sam motioned to Danny who was sitting beside her. "What do you think? What was the mothman? an alien, a government experiment, supernatural death omen."

Danny scoffed. "It was an owl." Sam gave him a deadpan, 'are you serious' look. He continued, talking with his hands. "That's what a bunch of the newspapers articles said. A huge owl or maybe a crane flew in front of the couples' car late at night and everything got blown out of proportions because they called the police and then the bridge tragedy happened. Heck even the pictures the witnesses drew look like an owl, with its wings hunched up and eyes reflecting the headlights."

"Come on Danny. Don't you think there's at least a possibility that it wasn't something so...Ordinary?" Sam asked.

"Nope" Danny replied popping the P.

Sam raised her eyebrow and playfully elbowed him. "Why are you so opposed to it not being something you can easily explain? Are you just that scared that there might be more out there than you thought?"

Danny's face turned surprisingly serious at what had been a playful accusation. "So what if I am? Learning the ghosts and the ghost zone and all that was real was enough of a shock. What if I don't want to aliens or other supernatural creatures to be real too? I…I don't need the complication. I attract enough problems as it is."

Sam took his hand comfortingly. "No you don't attract trouble." She then bit her lip, continuing tentatively. "And if those things are real, don't you think you need to face them, not run away?"

Tucker nodded from across the table. "Yeah. And if aliens...or other things exist, Sam and I will be right with you to face whatever."

Danny smiled at his friends comforting words. "Thanks guys." His smile widened into a grin. "Though I still don't think either of you are right. The mothman doesn't exist."

Tucker face palmed. "Uggg seriously man." While Sam playfully punched Danny on the shoulder.

Then her grin turned wicked. "I think we can test it though. If the mothman does exist, I bet he would show up for Danny Phantom."

Danny paled. "What! No! That's a horrible idea."

Sam narrowed her eyes, mockingly. "What? Are you scared? It's not like the mothman actually exists, right?"

Tucker laughed. "We should totally do it! Danny Phantom versus the mothman."

Danny turned beet red. Seeing no alternative, he caved. "Alright. Fine. I'll do it." He really hoped he wouldn't regret this.

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And that was how Danny found himself floating above Sam's car in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. The three of them had followed the map from the museum showing

where the mothman was supposed first sighted, in something called the TNT area. They parked on the side of the road and waited with the lights off under the full moon.

It was nearly midnight now and Danny was getting bored. "Alright mothman." He punched one fist to the open palm of his other hand and continued, voice an odd mix of false bravo and boredom. " I, Danny Phantom, challenge you, a fight to see who is the superior cryptid. Even though I keep telling Sam I'm not a cryptid!"

"Yes you are!" Sam yelled out the open window.

Danny just rolled his eyes and ignored the statement. "If you could show up soon, that would be great. Get this over with, maybe actually get some sleep tonight."

Danny sighed, turning around. This was obviously a bust. He was right after all and this was pointless. He was just about to ask Sam and Tucker if they could go back to the hotel they were staying at when a quiet voice hissed right behind him. "You were looking for me."

Danny whipped around and came face to face with a dark, red eyed figure and he did what anyone would. He screamed(Luckily it didn't turn into a ghostly wail). He lit his hands with neon green ectoenergy and shot the thing as hard as he could. The figure slammed into a tree about ten feet away. In the blink of an eye, Danny flew in front of it, hands still lit. His heart pounded in his chest and his hands shook but he bared his teeth threateningly anyway; he needed to protect his friends.

Meanwhile the figure rubbed its head and groaned. It sat up and muttered. "I had hoped you didn't seriously want to fight."

Danny paused at the statement. Just then Sam and Tucker ran up behind him armed with ghost hunting weapons and a flashlight. In the beam, the creature looked surprisingly less monstrous than Danny had expected. It was a little taller than Danny himself, maybe 6 feet at the most. The body looked mostly like that of a human man except covered in dark grey and brown feathers. In the place of arms were two large bird-like wings. The head was round and human shaped though it possessed large owlish glowing red eyes, and feathered ear tuffs on top of the head.

Danny stuttered. "You're...you're the mothman."

It...no he slowly stood up, holding his wings in front of him in a gesture that would be placating in a human. "I thought that was obvious." He sounded sort of...amused?

Danny continued. "O my god. You exist! You actually exist! What...who….o my god I shot the mothman! Please don't hurt us!"

The creature...rolled his eyes? "I'm not going to hurt you or your friends. Why does everyone think that?"

Danny's jawed dropped at the statement. Then he noticed the cold feeling in his lungs that normally indicated a ghost. Normally it would flow up through his throat and exit his mouth as his ghost sense. But now it stayed in his chest. His eyes widened. "You're a ghost."

The figure shrugged. "Yeah. So are you."

Danny's mind stuttered as he tried to process what just happened. But the mothman continued to look at Danny and his two armed friends warily. "Could you please disarm yourselves? I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"You promise?" Danny's voice wavered.

The mothman grinned, his teeth surprisingly white and glowing. "From one cryptid to another, I swear it."

Danny huffed. "I'm not a cryptid!"

"Yes, you are." Sam, Tucker, and the mothman all answered in unison and then all three started laughing.

The mothman's laugh was hearty, authentic and surprisingly human. That final display caused Danny to relax, the energy in his hands dissipating. Sam and Tucker also put down their weapons, though a thermos remained in easy reach just in case. The flash light also clicked off, leaving only Danny's glow and the full moon to illuminate the scene. With the ghostly green glow gone, the faint glow of the mothman's feathers were also visible.

The laughter quieted down as the four stared at each other not knowing what to say. Tucker finally spoke up first. "Man. You've got to tell us what actually happened back then. With all the UFO sightings and the men in black and people seeing you."

The mothman shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Tucker argued.

"I wasn't there. So I don't know."

"But you're the mothman." Sam stated, interjecting for the first time since the mothman appeared.

"No. I'm the ghost of the mothman. I only formed about 15 years ago."

The three friends looked at each other in confusion until Danny's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! Pandora told me about this! Collective ideas and emotions, like myths, legends, and even folklore can cause ghosts to form. Pandora told me that's how she formed." He turned towards the winged figure. "And that's how you formed too! Everyone's collective ideas about who and what the mothman was created you."

The mothman nodded. "That sounds right."

Danny continued. "And that probably means ...that I was right! The original 'mothman' from the sixties wasn't an alien or some omen but just an owl!"

Sam stuttered. "What! You can't know that!"

The mothman shrugged. "He's probably right through. If the original mothman was a supernatural being or an alien, he'd still be around and I wouldn't have formed. There's no point in forming the ghost of a folktale, if the tale is real. Plus it would explain why I look so owlish. A lot of people thought the mothman was just an owl."

Tucker crossed his arms. "Well. Danny was still wrong. He thought the mothman wouldn't show up because he wasn't real but obviously he is because he's right there."

Danny glared at his friend and then turned back to the winged figure, his eyes softening. "I guess he's right though. You are real. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot." Danny stuck out his hand for a handshake and then realized his mistake. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm Danny Phantom and that's Sam and Tucker."

The mothman returned Danny's smile. " I'm the mothman but you can call me Athene."

Danny tilted his head and Sam laughed. Danny looked at her questioning until she explained. "His name. It's the male version of the name Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and her symbol was the owl."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Athene." Danny replied.

Athene nodded. "It's nice to meet you all too. I've never met another ghost before. Though you'll have to tell me how a ghost ended up friends with two humans."

"Oh. I'm a halfa. Half human and half ghost."

"I did not know that was possible. Were you born like that or did something happen to make you this way?"

"I was in an accident. It's actually a kinda long story."

"I have time to talk if you do."

Danny turned to his friends. "Are you okay staying to talk?"

Sam answered first. "Of course we're fine. Right, Tucker?"

Tucker nodded furiously. "Of course. I'd love to hang out! I can't believe the mothman is a teenager!"

"Yeah. And you said you hadn't met any ghosts before now. You must have been lonely." Her eyes filled with compassion.

Athene nodded. "I have been. Thank you very much guys. Shall we sit?"

The four sat on the grass together, spending the night sharing stories and watching the stars. Danny smiled watching Sam and Tucker excitedly chatting with the other ghost, who smiled brightly clearly happy to have someone to talk to. When they exited the highway to go to the mothman museum, none of them could have anticipated that decision leading them here: to not only meeting but becoming friends with this lonely cryptid. Danny definitely did not regret agreeing to go in that museum or trying to find the mothman with his friends. This had definitely proved to be an interesting night indeed.

#danny phantom #mothman #ectober 2019 #ectober #folklore #sam manson #tucker foley #mothman museum #point pleasant #my fic

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sailor-toni · 4 years

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"Valerie. Think about what you’re doing!" "I did think about it. I spent days thinking about it and I've never been more sure than I am now." "Val-" "You killed my father. You killed him in cold blood, leaving his body in the gutter for the rats. It's only fair that I return the favor Vampire." -A very late ectober submission. Day 1 Fangs Dark Grey vampire Au: Valerie Gray is a vampire hunter looking to avenge her fathers death. Dan is a rich English aristocrat and Vampire Lord. | Fangs | Tarot | Electricity | Artifact | Grave Robber | Candlelight | Masquerade

#Danny phantom #vampires #Dan phantom #red huntress #Valerie Gray #valerie Grey #Vampire Au #flames #digital painting #digital art #artist on tumblr #ectober #ectober 2019 #dark grey

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ecto-american · 5 years

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Ayo, October is approaching quickly. Meaning Ectober Week is approaching quickly! Hosted by @babypop-phantom, @lexosaurus and I, but we'd like some input to see what kind of themes y'all are interested in. So please feel free to let us know by filling this out!

#ectober 2019 #danny phantom #ectober #the pumpkin king (me) will be here to haunt ectober hehehe

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q-gorgeous · 4 years

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Routine

fanfiction

i jwhdvghasjugvdw

It was a bright sunny day as Wes walked down the street. He had just gotten out of school and his day had actually gone pretty well. Nobody called him Phantom or made fun of him. It was good.

He was planning on just relaxing as soon as he got home. Kicking his shoes off and playing video games. Maybe he’ll even go to sleep early.

He passed a bench and stopped in his tracks as he saw something shiny on the ground.

“Oh, wow! A quarter!”

Wes bent down to pick it up, studying the quarter. Year 1961.

Pocketing the coin, he continued on his way home.

It was a bright sunny day as Wes walked down the street. He had just gotten out of school and his day had actually gone pretty well. Nobody called him Phantom or made fun of him. It was good.

Wes squinted, deja vu hitting him. What was that about?

Something on the ground caught his attention and he bent down next to a bench to pick it up.

“Cool! A quarter!”

He tossed it into the air and pocketed it.

It was a bright sunny day as Wes walked down the... street... He had just gotten out of school and his day had actually gone pretty well. Nobody called him Phantom or made fun of him. It was good.

Wes’s eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at the bench that approached him. Shouldn’t he have been home by now?

He saw a coin on the ground and something in him was telling him not to pick it up, to leave and head home. But who would pass up on free money?

He picked it up, listened as the metal scraped against the concrete, and held it in his hand.

It was a bright sunny day-

That bench… Hasn’t he passed it already?

There’s a quarter on the ground.

Wes went to pocket the quarter he already held in his hand, but when he opened his grip inside his pocket there was nothing there.

He ripped his hand out and looked at it, eyes wide.

“What the hell?” He whispered.

He picked up the second quarter off the ground and held it as he walked. Watching it. A bird flew over his head, causing him to duck and break his gaze with the quarter. When he looked back, it was gone and the bench was to the right of the sidewalk again.

Slowly, Wes approached the quarter and picked it up, studying it. 1961.

Anger burned through his veins and he chucked the quarter off in the distance. Bringing his hands up to his mouth, Wes began shouting into the sky.

“Fenton! I know this is your fault! Knock it off, I’m trying to get home!”

Unaware to Wes, he was being watched from a cloud of ectoplasm deep in the ghost zone.

“Uh, Clockwork?” Danny stammered. “Not that this isn’t hilarious, but don’t you think we should stop?”

“I supposed.” Clockwork chuckled. “One more time?”

Danny grinned mischievously. “Why not.”

The sound of incoherent shouting could be heard for miles.

#gorgi writes #danny phantom #ectober 2019 #fruity ectober #phic #fanfic #wes weston #danny fenton #clockwork #routine

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phantomphangphucker · 5 years

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Ectober Day 16: Locks - This Is A Little Bit Much Chap. 1 - My Ghost Just Got Squared

What does the ghost of a half-ghost look like?

Danny sighs at the board, philosophy mixed with ghosts and his parents' tech was honestly more concerning than it had any right to be. Watching as his teacher slaps a hand on the whiteboard, “everyone's ghost is locked away inside them. Existing in its base undefined state. Waiting for deaths key to imprint on it it’s true form”. Before pointing at the guest, who’s wearing a white lab doctor's coat, “Dr. Lewis here, lovingly provided to us by the Fenton’s, will be demonstrating this in a way I’m sure you’ll find riveting”.

Anyone who wasn’t paying attention, which wasn’t very many since nearly everyone always did when something was about ghosts, is acutely interested now. As Dr. Lewis stands up, waving around what looked like a neon green mirror on a red sliver handle, “this device, the Ghost Mirroring Key, will allow us to glimpse inside the keyhole. See what your ghosts look like at their base form at your current age”, Danny groans internally as the guy keeps talking, “now because ghosts often retain the clothing they died in, none of your clothing will change or glow. All we’ll see here is your basic ghosts ghostly attributes. Skin colour, hair colour, ear shape, if you have claws, if you have fangs, eye colour, and any other more unique traits. Such as equipment, flames, permanent ghostly tail, or even a cape or cloak”.

Needless to say, Danny’s a bit freaked out by this. Just how much like Phantom will he look? What about Dan? It’s always haunted him wondering just how much of Dan was Danny and how much was Vlad. Because physically? The only Vlad attributes he had was the cape and red eyes. The rest was all stuff either both of them had or just Danny.

Watching his parents' doctor friend, Dr. Lewis, pass around the little mirror-like palm-sized plates; and tentatively taking his own. Danny’s not exactly surprised that everyone else is eager, they really don’t have any reason not to be. And honestly? Danny was curious too. Just way less curious and far more nervous. If anything Danny’s more curious about what his friends will look like. Man he wishes they were in the same class. But pretty well everyone in grade twelve was doing this, okay, it was probably everyone. Something tells Danny that this was going to become something of a senior year tradition. Getting to glimpse your ghost for a day.

Dr. Lewis clears his throat, sitting on the corner of the desk, “now that that’s all sorted, simply place your hand on the device for ten seconds. You’ll turn invisible for a few seconds before gracing us all with your ghostly selves”.

Danny only stares down at it, watching his reflection and mentally making black hair white and blue eyes green; while the rest of his class instantly uses it. Glancing his eyes around, Danny can’t help but snort at Dash looking like a green wingless gargoyle. Expected, but still funny. Kwan literally looks the same but purple-skinned and red-eyed. Paulina, who’s fingers are just a little too long with pink skin and long lazily flaming red hair, is fawning over Star's white hair and green eyes. While Star goes on about how every ghost and human wouldn’t be able to look away from Paulina’s hair. Which just descends into them complimenting each other back and forth.

Looking around the rest of the room, no one really looks scary. Dale’s fangs stick over his lips, Todd’s claws are closer to blades, and Mikey didn’t have lips at all; but no one really looked non-human. Well okay, Lily has a second set of arms.

Danny bites his lip and looks back down to his ‘mirror’ before getting slightly started by Dash, “what? You afraid of your own ghost Fentit? Or are you just afraid it’ll be as weak and loserish as you”.

Dale laughs, “of course! Poor little freak won’t be able to look at himself without screaming!”.

Jasper sighs and shakes his head, “guys be nice, this is probably horrifying for the guy. Today will be like an exercise in not running away for him”.

Danny grumbles as he side-eyes the jocks, “that’s honestly more insulting than helpful”, before looking back to the mirror. Getting startled again by someone kicking his foot.

Turning around to see Valerie, he’d honestly forgotten she was in this class too, seeing as neither often showed up or showed up on the same days. Danny has to restrain a smirk at her red skin as she points a clawed hand at Danny’s mirror. Speaking while rolling her purple eyes, “just do it. I mean I can deal and you know how I hate ghosts”.

Danny grunts but turns back around, biting his lip again before tentatively putting his hand on the ‘glass’. Of course, putting this off meant everyone was staring at him.

Danny flips over his clawed whitish-green hand a few times, it also glowed far more vibrantly than was normal. While Paulina cries out, “what?! Why’d that loser freak have to get white hair too!”. While Dash huffs, “yeah, Fentina is nowhere near cool enough to share colours with Phantom”.

Danny looks down into the mirrored surface in time to spot Valerie’s red hand pat at Danny’s flaming hair. How funny that looked is the only thing really stopping Danny from cringing at his reflection. White flaming hair was very very Dan. Least he still had his green eyes, which like everything else, were glowing strangely bright. Danny’s just chalking that up to him already being partway ghost. He’s got no clue why there’s a tip of green flames to his hair though.

Most of the class goes back to talking in their little groups while Danny checks out his, fuck those are bigger than Dan’s what the fuck?, fangs; and sticking out his, pointed and elongated but thankfully not forked, tongue.

Danny tilts his head back as Valerie taps on his shoulder, resulting in her snorting at his face, “green eyes too? You better make sure you don’t get offed wearing monochromes”, squinting at him, “what’s up with your glow though?”.

Danny shrugs, he had no damn clue, “well I am around my folks' stuff and frequently get accidentally shot by it. Probably been accidentally consuming ectoplasm for years”. Valerie hums in agreement.

Dr. Lewis claps his hands, “remember this only lasts for a few hours. So enjoy your unlocked states while you can. And please, try not to get unlocked permanently through natural means anytime soon. Ghosts may have powers and you may all look very cool, but they’re still dead”.

Danny can’t help but chuckle, he was never going to see this look again. Since he couldn’t actually fully die anymore.

Putting his chin in his palm as Dr. Lewis walks around to look people over, causing Danny to notice there are white flames where they logically shouldn’t be if it was his hair. Looking down at his chest and going wide-eyed at the white and not weirdly brightly glowing flames of what he damn well recognises as his cape. The sides pinned together via two green skulls and a smoking shadowy black chain. Sticking his left hand behind him to scrunch up the familiar plush-lined velvet fabric, with a mental groan. Of course, that was here! Before near panickedly groping through his hair flames for the crown. His hand stilling as his fingers push against the flaming metal, that’s why there’s green tipping! His crown is literally hiding inside his hair, since it wasn’t actually meant for someone with fucking flaming hair. Danny can’t help but laugh over the image of the crown just floating above the flames, like two feet above his head. Like a damn sims icon. Ancients that would look silly!

Danny leans back in his chair and stares down at his Ring Of Suffering, of course, something like this would be imprinted on the very base of his ghost.

Overhearing Dr. Lewis speaking to Valerie, “I’m not surprised at least one of you has a cape”, making Danny look behind him, this time actually noticing that Valerie’s got a cape. Red and thin with black lining. From the looks of it, Danny guesses it’s about knee length, unlike his which drags across the ground for about a foot. Dr. Lewis continues but is addressing the whole class this time, “having things like artifacts or tools. Such as a guitar or maybe a ring. Means that something is a source of power for your ghost, that other ghosts don’t naturally have”.

Todd laughs as he smacks the whip on his hip, “so we’re basically better ghosts”.

Dr. Lewis tilts his hand in the air, “you could put it that way, yes, but it’s more so that you have a niche and special skill. This could be a bad thing in some situations”, while Danny mentally grumbles about how being High Ghost King did indeed suck sometimes, Dr. Lewis clears his throat, “as for capes or cloaks. They’re simply signs of power, skill and leadership in some form. Ghosts with capes or cloaks are always a cut above the rest. The apex ghosts so to speak. More fanciful capes and cloaks, means more powerful or important. Things like length, number of colours, accessories, details, etcetera. A ghost with a simple brown cloak would be below, so to speak, a ghost with a simple brown cloak that had clasps”.

Danny easily hears Valerie mutter, “damn fucking right. Even my ghost is better than ghosts”. Making Danny chuckle, before tensing up over Dr. Lewis looking him over. Mentally chanting, ‘don’t notice the crown, don’t notice the crown, don’t notice the crown’. While the rest of the class comment about how ‘of course little miss gymnastics would be a powerful ghost’.

Dr. Lewis pokes at one of the large green skull clasps with a raised eyebrow, chucking, “I’m not sure if Maddie and Jack would be proud or bothered. You’re going to be something impressive”, he laughs, “well here’s hoping you don’t retain you skittishness of ghosts in the afterlife”.

Danny’s about to thank his lucky stars before Dr. Lewis parts away some of Danny’s hair flames and raises both eyebrows at Danny, “well then. I’m not going to claim to understand how or even why. Just do me a favour and don’t be a human-hating ghost”.

Danny gives the guy an awkward nod and just decides to be glad that Dr. Lewis’s body blocked him from the rest of his classmates' sight. Valerie of course, heard everything, being the only person sitting near Danny. Whispering at him, “so that green isn’t part of your hair”. Danny just shrugs awkwardly.

When the bell rings, Danny doesn’t really want to stand up but he’s also brutally curious about his other friends now. He already knows they’ll look at Valerie and smirk. Then look at him and cringe. Well, it’ll probably be in reverse order but still.

Valerie whacks him on the arm, “well get up you lucky, or unlucky I don’t really know, asshole. Also fuck that cape’s soft”. Danny chuckles and rubs his neck, “tell me about it. Pretty sure the inside is damn plush, I could sleep in it”.

Valerie snorts as she gets up and starts walking, looking back at him, “you got a damn napping cape. Figures”. Danny can’t help but blink and start laughing, before shaking his head and getting up; cape tail flopping onto the ground.

Resulting in whom ever’s still in the classroom to stop talking, as now that Danny’s not slouching or hidden by the chair the capes collar flames are extremely noticeable. Danny walking out to whispers over the cape and how it’s ‘highly decorated’ and ‘really fancy’.

Shouldering his way past Dash and his merry band of pricks, while Dash sneers, green fangs on full display, “wow I’m surprised Fentaco hasn’t run screaming yet. What? Am I not scary enough?”, making a point to attempt at snarling.

Danny, kind of done with Dash’s shit and having the confidence and pride boost of his kings wear, rolls his eyes, “hardly”, smirking and baring his own fangs a little, “and Dash, this is how you snarl”, before giving Dash a more proper and threatening snarl. Starting the jocks.

Valerie bumps shoulders with Danny as they walk past, “the hell Danny?”.

Danny rubs his neck before pointing at her, “oh don’t tell me your cape isn’t a bit of a confidence booster. And Dash looks like a knock off gargoyle. A one in a million ghost. And it’s Dash, still human. No powers. Working heartbeat”.

“Point”.

Both turning their heads as Dash shouts at them, seeing him pointing at Danny, “hey! What are you doing with a cape!?!”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “doing better than you apparently”, before running his hand through his hair, easily revealing the flaming crown, and speed walking away. Danny

Valerie pokes him as they’re approaching Sam and Tucker, pretty well everyone staring at them, “you are going to trip someone with that thing. And I know you’re used to getting odd looks but this is a bit much”. Danny shrugs, looking around a little, he hardly noticed. Basically everyone stared at him as Phantom. Fenton got it less often and it was usually more mocking.

Danny smiles seeing his two other friends also with capes. Was it surprising? Not to any of them. Tucker’s got nearly black skin tinted green, with a near floor-length off white cape lined with gold and etched with hieroglyphs.

Danny pats him on the shoulder while his two friends stare at his hair, “how very Egyptian Tuck. Red eyes kinda suck though”.

Sam pokes his hair with a pale nearly white green clawed hand, “says Mr. Fire hair”.

Danny pokes her horned helmet right back, “least I have hair”. Her green eyes and purple cape covered in green vines, was one hell of a reminder of Overgrowth. It honestly made sense that the ghostly bullshit they’ve all gone through has affected their base ghosts.

Sam and Tucker look Valerie over then, both chuckling slightly. Tucker stretching out some, “wow, the whole quartet got capes. Nice”.

Danny nods and looks around, “not the only ones”, jerking his head at Mia in a black cape with a red grid pattern and Hanna in a purple cloak. Danny couldn’t really help looking to see if she had some kind of time-related clasp or something. She didn’t, but it would honestly be weird if she did.

Valerie shoulders him, “well yours is still the most excessive thing I’ve ever seen”. Danny just rubs his neck and shrugs.

Eventually, the bell goes off and they’re stuck going their separate ways, largely because Danny’s stuck running off outside. Ghost sense making him groan. Though blinking and wondering just what the hell going ghost is going to look like right now. So he zips into a bathroom instead of out in the open. He transforms and stares in mild shock. The whites of his jumpsuit glowed slightly green, same with his hair; which was oddly not flaming. His skin was black and all the black on him seemed to suck in the light. His glow, normally white, was green. To say Danny was confused would be an understatement. Muttering down at his hands, “what the fuck? How the heck is my ghosts base ghost different from my humans base ghost. My ghost from and human form have different base ghosts...What the absolute fresh hell?”. Well, at least his Kings get up was easy enough to turn invisible.

Shaking his head and phasing through the ceiling and promptly kicking Technus in the face.

“You look strange ghost child! Perhaps you are trying out some new styles yourself!”.

Danny laughs, “I unlocked Phantom 2.0, and I must say, it’s made me one hell of a glow bug!”, before blasting Technus in the face. Blinking at his hand over how absurdly bright the blast had been.

Technus springs up, “you are stronger whelp! 2.0 indeed!”.

Danny shrugs, “don’t know what to tell ya dude. Wait! Hey! Get back here!”, rushing off to fly after the fleeing villain. Who cries, “I must regroup!”.

“Oh I don’t think so!”, Danny slams him over the head with the thermos and sucks him in. Wiping his forehead and looking around. Shaking his head at some people taking photos. His weird look was going to be the talk of the town for days.

Turning invisible and flying off into the bathroom. Locking the bathroom door to really stare at himself in the mirror. Waving his hand around to see he’s leaving light tracers, pale green ones. “Sam and Tuck are going to lose their shit”.

Shaking his head as he transforms back, before leaving the bathroom. Only to bump into a red-skinned Wes. The bathroom door getting stuck slightly open when it caught on the end of Danny’s cape.

Wes looks him up and down with Halloween orange eyes, “why the hell don’t you look just like Phantom. How do you always manage to pull something off? And what’s with the cape?”.

Danny smirks, “oh? I thought everyone knew Phantom was a King. Since you seem to think he’s me, then, of course, you’d see me with a cape”.

Wes glares down at the ajar door, “I ain’t seeing shit Phantom”.

“But I thought you just said you could see a cape?”.

“I hate you”, crossing his arms and looking around, seeing they’re alone, speaking more seriously, “seriously though. What’s up with the look?”.

Danny shrugs, “dude you know I’m a weirdo. And everyone knows Phantom’s fucking weird. Wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t entirely dead or some shit”, shrugging and pulling out his phone, “oh and apparently Phantom looks weird today too”.

Wes deadpans, “yeah, I bet you do”.

Danny holds up his phone, showing a pretty decent photo of Phantom 2.0 he’d already found on twitter. Wes snatches the phone and stares before gesturing wildly at the screen, “what the hell is this!”, looking up at Danny, “how?!? HOW!?!”.

Danny shrugs and takes back his phone, “for once, your guess is as good as mine. I don’t even think ghosts are supposed to glow that brightly. Wish I was there”, smirking and looking back at the bathroom, “an up-close look would be really neat”.

Wes just glares and kicks in the door, nearly tripping over Danny’s cape as he goes.

Danny throws his arms over Sam and Tucker as the wave bye to Valerie. Tucker chuckling, “so are you actually going to go home like this?”. Danny shrugs, “folks know what’s happening today and literally insisted on seeing my ‘ghost unlocked’. Not surprised but first...”. Danny looks around and points to an alleyway, “have y’all checked out Phantom on twitter lately?”.

Sam rolls her eyes, “giant tech companies are slowly crushing the middle class and destroying the youth through mindless distractions”.

Tucker shakes his head as Danny steers them into the alley, “so that’s a no then. And Danny dude, I don’t think anyone has. Too interested in being ghosts, sorta, for a day”, poking him, “you’re the only one that this isn’t a novelty for”.

Danny lets go of his friends and spins around to be in front of them, looking excited, “oh that’s where you’re wrong. I’m about to slightly blind you”. Before transforming, rings brighter than usual, and floating in the air. His green glow making the alleyway look eerie, like it was part of the Ghost Zone. Tucker and Sam both gaping at him.

Tucker eventually snorting, “dude, when you’re literally a half living paradox I thought I’d seen the most impossible thing ever. But now you’ve literally got two base ghost selves”.

Sam nods, “that seems more impossible actually”.

Danny sticks his hands out to the side, “I know right! I know I like to joke about being a glow bug but this is excessive”, dropping one arm and charging a painfully bright ecto-blast, “and I’m stronger. I think I may have actually startled Techy”.

Both Sam and Tucker are shielding their eyes, Tucker giving him a thumbs up anyway, “dude you could actually blind someone with that”.

Sam shakes her head and pats Danny’s arm as he extinguishes the blast, “so a ten-second mirror-touch gives you a multi-hour power boost”.

Danny smirks, “video game power-up mode unlocked”.

Tucker snorts, “what bonus achievements do you think this unlocked?”.

“Mass confusion, pissing off Wes level three, one confused call from Vlad, and at least twenty new FentonWorks inventions”, Danny taps his chin, “oh and one mild existential crisis because I have TWO BASE GHOSTS JUST WHAT THE HELL?”.

Tucker snaps his fingers, “Pokemon dude”.

Both Sam and Danny look at him, “what?”.

Tucker rolls his eyes, “come on dude. All the best Pokemon have three evolutions, and a mega-evolution”, Tucker counts off his fingers, “there’s your first, human. Second, ghost. Third, halfa. ‘Cause let’s be honest, halfas are stronger than y’all would be if you had just skipped straight to death. Besides, you were probably full ghost for a bit before getting half your life back. And now this”, gesturing at Danny, “your stronger, got a flashy appearance upgrade, and it has a time limit. It’s fucking megaPhantom. Your mega-evolution, the Ghost Mirroring Key your Phantomite”.

Danny borderline squeals like a little girl and Sam sighs but smiles, “you two are dorks”.

Danny waves goodbye to his friends with a little amused pep in his step, pushing open his houses front door only a little while later.

Speaking with mirth, “I’m home! Please come and check me out so I can escape the poking to flee into my humble lair”.

Jack laughs at his sons' humour as the two parents indeed come to look Danny over in the living room. Danny’s not even surprised they start poking at him and lifting up the cape. His dad running his hands through both sets of flames before pointing at his hair, “that one’s colder, and flames are pretty fearsome”.

Danny tilts his head at the approving tone his dad used, “you seem... happy? about that?”.

While Maddie brushes imaginary dirt off his capes shoulders, “the capes impressive too. You’ll be strong”.

Now Danny’s really confused, because that sounded approving too; even a bit proud. But promptly internally cringes as his mom goes to ruffle his hair, nearly stabbing herself with his crown. Jerking her hand away only to motion for him to bend forward for her to get a better look.

Danny’s practically holding his breath waiting form them to say something. His dad speaking up, “of course a Fenton would wind up ruling ghosts! Teach them how to behave and keep them in line!”.

Standing back upright, “okay seriously, why are you guys happy about this? I figured you’d be, you know, not. ‘Cause ghosts”.

Maddie successful ruffles his flaming hair around this time, “think nothing of that sweetie. We fully expect you’ll be a ghost someday. You’re already so ghostly as a living human”.

Jack nods, “and with you being obviously destined for strength those other filthy ghosts won’t be able to bother you over being a Fenton! Not that any Fenton would ever let a ghost harass them freely!”.

Danny’s flat out stunned and gapes a little, before shaking his head, “so wait, you guys want me to become a powerful leader ghost? That could potentially be a threat?”.

Jack grabs both of Danny’s shoulders, “better you to be a strong ghost than a weak one, when around them. And Danny-boy, you could never be a threat. If any ghost could resist a ghosts nature to be evil, it would be a Fenton’s ghost! Besides! If we needed to catch you I’m sure I could just coax you to join me for some fudge!”.

Maddie nods and smiles at Jack, before turning to look at Danny, smiling softly, “now, of course, we don’t want you to become a ghost. To die but not rest”, shaking her head, “but you’re already so much like one that it’s obvious you’ll become one. Setting off detectors, being affected by anti-ghost weapons, bloodblossom allergy, you snarl and purr, baring your teeth and curling your hands like claws”, while Danny’s realising he acts way more ghost than he though, Maddie shakes her head again, before continuing to speak, “with all of that how could you not become a ghost”, glancing at Jack, “and though it would be funny watching your father coax you with food, I’d rather us be long gone by the time you join the Ghost Zone”.

Danny rubs his neck, cape bunching up a bit and still feeling a bit thrown, “uh, thanks”.

Jack nods with a smirk and puts his fists on his hips, “of course Danny-boy! And this way we’ll now know what you look like as a ghost! So will your friends!”.

Maddie smiles and motions for her two boys to follow her into the kitchen, “and when things eventually come to pass, everyone will know not to shoot at you or hurt you”.

It takes a beat for Danny to follow, far too stunned. His folks wanted to see him, not to examine him, but to be able to recognise him as a ghost? So they wouldn’t harm him? By the time he gets into the kitchen, he’s barely keeping tears from flowing down his face. Promptly hugging his mom from behind and nearly whispering, “thank you. You-you don’t know how much that means to me”.

Maddie grabs and rubs her thumb over one of Danny’s green arms. Leaning her head against his head resting on her shoulder, “always sweetie. Ghost or human, and regardless how tall, you’ll always be my little boy”.

Danny squeezes her a little tighter before promptly hugging his dad, who was somewhat awkwardly standing behind them. “Thanks too, dad. I promise I’ll always come for family fudge. Maybe when things happen, and if you guys wind up ghosts too, I’ll come find you. Bring you some”.

Jack squeezes back hard, “I could think of no better thing you could do”, patting Danny on the back firmly, “who knows! Maybe you’ll have to keep us in line!”. Making both of them laugh and Danny wipes his eyes quickly before sitting down.

Danny can’t help but smile throughout dinner, which doesn’t go unnoticed by his parents.

Maddie asking, “you really were worried how we’d react to you as a ghost, huh?”.

Danny rubs his neck and looks around, “how could I not? You guys hate ghosts and chased after Phantom even though he was pretty good”. Not to mention the fact that Danny was Phantom and his third biggest fear was that they’d still shoot at him even if they knew. The second being anyone dying and the first being becoming Dan.

Jack chuckles a bit awkwardly, “yeah we were a bit quick to the trigger back then. But everyone learns! You’ll have to learn to be a leader even! Judging by the crown”.

Maddie smiles and giggles slightly, “though I don’t think you’ll be doing much learning”.

Danny tilts his head, “what do you mean by that?”, before eating some more of his mash potatoes.

Maddie points at his spoon, “that. Your eating around your fangs-”.

Jack cuts in, “which are really impressive!”.

“-with ease. Like you just know how. And I don’t think you’re even noticing when your ears swivel, like you’re used to it. You easily move around your cape to keep it out of your way and you’re not fiddling with the ring. Like it’s always been there”.

While Danny’s internally freaking out a little bit about that all being apparently a little too obvious. Maddie continues, “so even your body knows what’ll be. All you’ll have to learn, I think, is how to go about being a leader. I’m sure you’ll do well though”.

Jack nods and pushes away his cleaned off plate, “you’ll be respected and looked up to! Good! Like, well, like Phantom!”.

Danny blinks, he knew his parents' opinion of Phantom had changed some. But to hear that so bluntly was stunning. Threatened to make him tear up again. Clearing his throat to distract himself, “I guess my bodies already got things figured out”, rubbing his neck before blinking and going wide-eyed at his parents, “wait, are you guys thinking of calling a truce? With Phantom?”.

Maddie nods, “we’ve been thinking it over for a while now. And we really have heard everything you kids have said about him”, ruffling Danny’s flames, “and you look a lot like him. And thinking of that, you as a ghost. You’d probably be a lot like him. Quick wit and...and defending others. Being helpful”.

Jack laughs, “honestly! You look more ghostly than he does!”.

Danny can’t help but chuckle, that’s because Phantom was only half-ghost and Danny currently looked full ghost. “I bet he’d get a good laugh out of that. And I’m glad, for the truce thing. He’s a good ghost”.

Maddie nods with a smile while Jack speaks up, “I imagine he’s pretty confused today! A bunch of teens running around looking like ghosts!”.

Danny snorts and pulls out his phone, looking down at the picture of, snort, megaPhantom, before looking back to his parents, “yeah about that. You know how he frequents the school?”.

Maddie raises an eyebrow, “yeah?”.

“Well, what’s supposed to happen if a ghost uses the Ghost Mirroring Key?”.

The two parents exchange a glance.

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astridianmayfly · 4 years

Text

ectoplasm is thicker than blood

Ectober Day #3: Electricity

Danny phases through the window, hovering a few inches off of his bedroom floor before allowing gravity to command him. His eyes widen slightly as his weight causes the hardwood to creak. Jazz looks to the floor and remembers that being a Fenton means every settlement of the house is a GHOST! and her heart breaks for him. What’s it like to live with that constant fear? she imagines herself asking him across a desk, like a psychiatrist to a patient. Dr. Jasmine Fenton. Accomplished and worthy.

But today she was just Jazz, Danny’s older sister.

“What happened?”

Danny startled. “Jazz. I didn’t see you there.”

Her little brother looked burnt around the edges. His silver-white hair was dirty, white gloves covered in soot. A joke about sweeping chimneys bubbles in her throat before Jazz notices his line of eyesight.

“Danny!”

“‘m fine, Jazz” he mumbles, but Jazz can’t help but stare, horrified.

Danny was covered in what Jazz assumes is ectoplasm. She’s been covered the substance before and had seen it mold the forms of various amorphous ghosts as much as the next daughter of ghost hunters, but this pulsed and looked like radioactive, green blood.

“Is--is that yours?” As she asks the question, she realizes that it is. The ectoplasm runs from a large cut on Danny’s forearm. Jazz notices bits of green in his hair and a graze on his cheek. She’s fascinated, curious, horrified, and confused: She has seen him bleed red since the accident. But in human form, Jazz reminds herself.

She has a lot to learn. She always has.

Danny sighed. “Nasty run-in with Skulker on patrol. I hate when he uses a blade.”

“Ghost X? He used a knife on you?!?”

“Hey, he’s got to get my pelt somehow! And it’s Skulker, Jazz. ‘The Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter.’” He drew quotation marks with his soot-covered fingers.

Danny was completely casual about almost being stabbed. He was fourteen years old!

For once, Jazz has no words. “Are… are you okay, at least?”

“This’ll need stitches, but I’m still half-alive, aren’t I?” Danny smiles at his joke.

Coping mechanism, notes Dr. Jasmine. He’s disassociating

Jazz’s mouth moves without her consent. “I can do it.”

Danny stares. “You? Stitches? Blood? I can do it myself, don’t worry about it.”

This time, she is firm. “No. I’m doing it. Sit down.”

Danny plops on his bed in a huff, the ectoplasm covering his jumpsuit smears on his space-themed duvet. Using it a canvas, he draws a green lightning bolt with the plasma. Jazz looks for a needle and a thread. He’s got to have something somewhere, or he wouldn’t have made it this long.

“Where’s--”

“--Under the bed.”

She retrieves a deluxe first aid kit from under his swinging legs. It is covered in green and red stains, a Christmas parody. It’s huge. She wondered who bought it for him, as she doubts that Danny would be willing to admit that he wasn’t invincible. (It should have been her.)

“So are you going to tell me about why you look like you’ve been electrocuted?” Jazz probes carefully.

A sheepish smile from Danny. “I met Vortex on the way back home?”

She stares at him incredulously. “You have a death wish.”

“Can’t die twice.”

At that, Jazz finds her facade dropping. Her approach to Danny’s secrets was hands-off: she wanted to be completely sure that her brother trusted her. But it slips out before she can think twice. “What was it like?”

Jazz mentally slaps herself for saying that, because it is at this that Danny’s smile drops. It disappears too fast, and that’s how she knows that Danny’s been posturing the whole time.

Dr. Jasmine scrawls ‘Danny laughs because otherwise, he will cry’ on a clipboard. She wants Danny to take an MBTI test and the Enneagram so she can understand him better.

The reason Danny whispers, the reason he tiptoes, the reason his phone is always off so his location can’t be tracked, the reason he hides his ghost files, the reason he deletes his texts. It all ties back to the Fenton gene for wanting to understand him better. Dr. Jasmine stands next to their parents, looking down at their son under the scalpel and white light. She studies the way he screams while Maddie and Jack harvest his organs. As Danny’s green/blue eyes widen in fear, betrayal, blood-ectoplasm smeared on his torso from where they made the first incision, Dr. Jasmine whispers: We’re scientists. We want to understand.

“It hurt.”

Jazz hears Danny let in a sharp intake of breath. When he looks up at her for a brief second before averting his eyes, his eyes shine with something other than paranormal wrath.

Jazz wraps her arms around her little brother and in the weight of the moment, he begins to cry quietly.

Green ectoplasm stains her clothes and hair. She hopes that if Danny clings to her tight enough she can take the weight of the world off his back.

Two white rings of light separate and reveal the child behind the hero.

“It hurt s-so much, Jazz.”

She runs her fingers through his hair, hushing him (god forbid their parents hear him and stumble upon the scene.) Her shoulder is wet.

Jazz is aware of his enemies. One lived in Wisconsin, most in the Ghost Zone. One wears his face. Two were a floor below them.

As she muffles the sound of his cries to avoid waking the sleeping dragons, she thinks of how she would kill anyone who dared cross Danny. Even if…

...even if they were family.

After all, she thinks darkly, looking at Danny’s mangled arm and the residue on her own hands, Ectoplasm is thicker than blood.

#ectober 2019 #ectober #ectober week 19 #ectoberweek19 #writober #so sad lol #danny phantom #poor danny #LET DANNY CRY #making the deadline by 5 minutes skskskks #it's almost midnight lolll #october #angst #phandom

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