#they transform. so Danny should be able to remember transforming *at least* once before now. and yet.

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Pt. 5

Hey guys, it's been really busy for me at university so I have no idea when I'll have free time to write this month. Chapter 5 is actually still unfinished, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging, so here's the first half of chapter 5.

In Which: Another deal is struck upon the ice

AO3 | Prologue | 4 | [ 5 ] | 6

THE PIT SINGS. A low, groaning thing. Muffled like how sounds distort underwater. It reminded Danny of the sounds of Jupiter he would listen to when he really needed to study; the sounds heavily mixed to be more ambient yet still echoing traces of the original, haunting melody of the universe.

The Pit calls for him. No, not the pit—the ectoplasm in the pit is what calls him. Pulls the waves toward him as if he were the moon, bright and full, whispering with garbled voices hello-hello-hello. His core whispers back the same words every time he is near it. Hello-hello-hello. The Pit lingers in the back of his mind and sings in familiar words he does not understand.

Talia calls it a fascination. Ra’s calls it a connection.

A visceral link. Like calls to like. Strange ectoplasmic middle fingers to the laws of the universe—to the great equalizer that is death.

(Danny thinks Ra’s is wrong. Not completely wrong, but not right either.)

When his ghost form is no longer trying to cannibalize his human self, Talia dials up his training. Before, she was merely an observer. Now, she fights him in the ring, teaching him how to dodge with bruised ribs and broken bones. Brutally correcting his stances with harsh jabs and quick strikes. Sweeps him off the floor with a twist of her leg when he forgets how to use his feet. Each day left him with such bone-deep fatigue that mor more once he fell asleep during his sixty minutes in front of the monitor.

They know, now, that the Pit has no adverse effect on him. That he can use the pit more than once.

Bruises and fractures, cuts and scrapes; injuries mean nothing when a dip in green waters will wash everything away.

Even the possibility of insanity starts to feel far-fetched.

Danny should hate this. He should really hate this.

He loved it.

Phantom had always been a fighter. A protector. An underdog matched up against bigger and stronger foes but always somehow coming up on top. He was popular. Liked by the citizens of Amity Park despite his dumpster fire of a reputation near the beginning. Somehow in the year and a half since Phantom’s conception, he went from town menace to this larger-than-life figure. (Ha!) The hero of Amity Park with all of the expectations and responsibilities that came with it.

But Danny—plain, ol’ Danny Fenton—wasn’t any of that. Wasn’t allowed to be any of that. Because Danny Fenton was a wimpy kid who tripped over air and regularly got shoved inside lockers. He was the ghost hunters’ son who was deathly afraid of the paranormal. A C-average student in a family of geniuses.

A persona unwillingly crafted and carefully maintained, because at least this way no one other than Jazz or Wes will be able to connect Fenton to Phantom. Who would believe it?

But here, in Nanda Parbat, he was neither Fenton nor Phantom— he was something more. He had no secret identity to keep from the people who have vigorously researched him. He had no need to hold back.

Here, Danny was free to be Danny.

“Daniel.”

Even if he was called by the wrong-right name.*

Danny floated up from the pit, his transformation seamless as he stepped onto the edge on quiet feet. Tahlia threw him a knapsack. “Ready yourself, we have places to be.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I get my sixty-minutes after the Pit, remember?”

“I did not forget.” She smiled, resting her hand on her hip. “I simply thought that by beloved child might relish a change in scenery.”

Danny perked up, hands tightening around the straps of the knapsack. “We’re going outside?” Tahlia nodded. “Like—outside-outside. With the sky and trees and—and the stars?”

Amusement softened her sharp features, jade eyes sparkling with mirth. “The very same. Though the place we are going to is quite fickle in nature, and I am unsure if we will get another chance to go. But if you really insist on it then—”

“Wait!” He snapped his mouth shut, clutching the bag closer to his chest.

(Family, his core whispered. Family-safe-safe-protect-need-see-confirm-family-home)

The sixty minutes he gets to see his family was…precious. One of the few times the restlessness in his core would draw back; melt away like frost in the spring, leaving some sense of contentment behind. It was his refuge. Sanctuary. Physical proof that what he was doing here—(staying away-away-why-go back-back-return-home-family-home-protect)—meant something.

But.

Outside.

The Pit might have increased his training regiment, but it also allowed him to leave (escorted) the walls of his rooms. And this—

Danny could go outside.

He could go outside.

If he didn’t accept this now, then who knows when the opportunity would arise again? His family wouldn’t mind, right? Jazz did say something about how spending time outdoors is good for one’s health.

He swallowed a lump in his throat. “My…my family will be alright, yes?”

Tahlia cocked her head. “Why wouldn’t they be? You have done nothing wrong that goes against our agreement, and you have progressed wonderfully in your training. I am quite proud.” At Danny’s disquieted expression, she sighed. She raised her hand. “I swear on the blood of the demon—on our blood—that I will honor our agreement and do no harm to the Fentons and your friends during our trip.”

She lowered her hand. “Are you satisfied, habeebi?”

Reluctantly, Danny nods. An agreement from Tahlia is probably the best he could do at this point. “How much time do I have to prepare?” “Everything you will need is in that back. Though, it might do you good to dress very warmly.”

----------

Danny’s first breath of fresh air was biting. It filled the lungs crisp and clean, chilled him to the bones though he could feel no cold. Each warm exhale expressed itself in swirling mists, disappearing into the slate gray clouds above. A facsimile of his own ghost sense.

Fenton did not think much of breathing; Phantom did not need it.

Danny had never realized how wonderous it was to breathe.

“We head northeast,” Tahlia called out. Like him, she is bundled in thick black layers with long leather gauntlets strapped at the end of the sleeves. Her bag secured tightly, and a sword strapped to her back. Her long black hair is bound in a tight braid beneath her fur-lined hood.

The path is covered with snow, deep enough that his first few steps past Nanda Parbat’s gates sinks his leg midway up his calf with a loud crunch. It was hardly as deep as some parts in the Far Frozen, but over there Danny had the choice to simple float over. Tahlia trudged through the snow with a preternatural grace. The path ahead was marked only by the faint traces of footprints almost—but not quite—covered with fresh snow.

Among the many things the League had taught him, this was one: the devil is in the details.

They speak little on their trek. Not that Danny particularly minds, absorbed that he was with world around him. Nanda Parbat, he learned, was built high in the mountains. Cocooned from the rest of the world by the snow-capped mountain ranges that surrounded it. A fortress of wood and stone that seemed distinct yet so carefully hidden. The high walls protected the buildings within from view. Its roofs—elongated and curved—and tall towers modelled after east Asian architecture. Though which country, Danny does not know.

Their destination—past a large protrusion of stone that covered the fortress from view once crossed—was a lake. Frozen a pale blue with ice, surrounded by more mountain walls and the opening of a cave off to the side.

Perplexed, he said “What, are we gonna go ice fishing? Just so you kno, I’m not that big of a fan. The last time I went with my dad I was nearly eaten by a sea monster.”

“We should have enough food for this exercise, Daniel. And you need have no fear of sea monsters, this lake is devoid of any such creatures.” Once they reached the mouth of the cave, she unstrapped her bag, setting it against the stone wall. Danny mimicked the motion. “We are here to train.”

“With…?”

She gestures to the katana strapped to his back.

“With swords.”

A nod.

“On the ice?”

She smiled, leading him to the edge of the frozen lake. “It has become something of a family tradition of the al Ghuls, to cross blades upon the ice.” She plants a steady foot on the lake, walking towards the center with long strides.

Danny followed behind her with some trepidation. He wouldn’t die from frostbite, he was sure, and if he fell he could always fly himself out. But that didn’t stop him from flinching at the rumbling sounds the ice made beneath his feet.

“My father trained both your father and I on this lake.” Tahlia unsheathed her sword as she took her place across from Danny. “And as your father no doubt trained Damian on his own lake, I have the pleasure of training you.” She slipped into a stance. “On your mark.”

Danny slipped into his own stance, feet apart, both hands on the hilt. Then, something nudged at the back of his mind. “Who’s Damian?”

Tahlia tilted her blade, the polished sword gleaming and sharp. “Your brother. Now—begin!”

“Wait, wha—” Danny barely managed to parry the blow.

Sparks flew as blades crossed and Danny twisted off to the side.

He slipped. Head meeting the ice, the deep crackling sound of the lake making him tense.

Tahlia points the tip of her blade against his chest. A single elegant brow arched high in dissatisfaction. Danny glared at her, brushing the fringes of his hair away from his face. “To be fair, you shouldn’t say stuff like that right before a fight. You caught me off guard.”

“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you have failed to prepare enough.” She sheathed her sword before extending an arm to help Danny to his feet. “The goal of a fight is to end it—no matter the cost. Now, take you place.”

Danny picked up his sword, then, hesitates. He looked up at Tahlia. “Did you mean what you said?” Do I have a brother?

Tahlia smiled, drawing her blade once more. “Impress me and you’ll find out.”

Danny narrowed his eyes.

“Now—”

He adjusted his stance. You’re on.

“Begin!”

Danny lunged.

#danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batman crossover #dp fic #phantom children.txt

[bookworm-dork-fish]

Wesley Wisp

On ao3 and ffn (sorry, idk how to add the links) under user FireBreathingKoiFish

As much as he hated to admit it, Wes had begun to have a healthy fear of the times when his captor’s voice would take on a sickeningly parental tone. It was twisted and wrong, made to sound all the more so because he was caged and being subjected to tests for what must have been weeks at the hands of none other than his father’s boss.

“Wesley Weston! Rise and shine!” Vlad’s sickeningly chipper voice called from the lab stairway. Wes raised his head halfway, wrists and back aching from being chained to the wall of the cage all night. He shrunk back farther against the bars.

“What’s the occasion?” he asked tiredly, voice tinted with resignation. No doubt it would have something to do with ectoplasm. The first week, Vlad had periodically flooded his cage with the neon green liquid. He still had half-healed burns on his legs and abdomen from the chemical. The second and third weeks had been hell by comparison. Small injections of ectoplasm from the first week had gradually grown in amount and potency until the itch under his skin had become nothing short of burning. By week four, he had given up on hoping for rescue. Eyeing the half-open tanks across the lab, Wes had begun to fear the worst. Nobody was coming. Not Phantom, not Red Huntress, not even the GIW would be likely to find him.

Danny Phantom. Wow. Wes wondered what Danny’s reaction to his disappearance had been. A small, cynical part of him wondered if he had been relieved after so many months of Wes carelessly trying to expose his secret to the world.

Maybe, JUST MAYBE, this was some kind of twisted karma. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten so annoyed when half of the school had started theorizing that Wes himself was Phantom. Maybe he shouldn’t have obsessively searched for the truth until he found it. Shouldn’t have tried to expose him. Danny’s pranks and taunting hadn’t been enough to even the odds, and now Wes was paying the price.

“The occasion, my dear boy?” Vlad’s smile grew near-maniacal, fangs and red eyes showing just for a second even in human form. “Today is the day you become a halfa.”

Wes stills, his blood taking on an unnatural chill. Halfa. He’d heard that word. He’d USED that word… to describe Danny. Half a human, half a ghost. ...no… No…! He thrashed, rattling the chains that bound his arms and legs. “You’re NOT going to kill me! You won’t turn me into a halfa! LET ME GO! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” Wes screamed.

Vlad only smirked, walking over to a control panel next to Wes’ cage. He pulled a lever and something behind Wes slid open with a hiss. Wes risked a glance over his shoulder. Panels had opened up in the floor, revealing tracks that led from his cage to the dark empty arch of… a portal. “What do I want from you?” Vlad’s grin stretched to freakishly inhuman proportions. The cage jolted and creaked along the tracks toward the mouth of the portal. “What I couldn’t get from Daniel. A half-ghost son.”

“WHAT?!” Wes pulled against the chains, ignoring the way the metal bit into his wrists. “YOU’RE INSANE! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU EXPECT THIS TO WORK?!” He flinched when Vlad suddenly phased through the bars to appear right in front of Wes’ face.

“You think I don’t have my ways?” Vlad hissed in a tauntingly joyous tone that had Wes pressing even harder against the cage bars at his back. He raised a hand to tap Wes nonchalantly on the forehead and Wes grimaced at the touch. “Just wait. In no time, you will be a halfa with no memories of the time spent in this lab. Perhaps no memories of the past few years of your life if I so choose.”

“NEVER.” Wes lunged forward, smacking his forehead squarely into Vlad’s nose. The halfa flew back out of the cage with a growl and Wes felt a brief moment of satisfaction at the neon pinkish red liquid spilling down his face.

Another jolt. Wes’ heart leapt into his throat. The cage had stopped and was now just inside the mouth of the portal. Vlad smirked, stalking over to the control panel once again. He slammed his fist down on the keyboard. The mouth of the portal lit up with vibrant green light. Electricity and the familiar acidic sting of ectoplasm burned his skin, his flesh, his bones like a flood of fire. His throat was raw from screaming within seconds. Green flashed and swirled around him, choking him and completely obscuring his vision. Was this what Fenton had gone through to become Phantom? Distantly, Wes felt himself crumple to the floor as the burning started to give way to an unnatural chill that flared in his chest and spread with a wave of indigo light. His hands, still twitching, clenched against the floor as the sound of Vlad’s laughter rang through the open portal. He should have tried to expose Vlad, not Danny. The pain dimmed, replaced by another wave of numbing chill. That was all Wes remembered before everything went black.

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

When Wes came to, he was six feet under. Literally. He woke completely encased in the earth and stone underneath Vlad’s lab, just barely able to hear the footsteps and praise of the man who believed that he was still caged inside the portal. A clattering sound jarred Wes out of his stupor. He must have phased through the floor. The cage was being drawn out of the portal. The EMPTY cage was being drawn out of the portal. He had to get away. Desperately hoping that the intangibility would hold, Wes flipped onto his stomach, trying to claw his way through the dirt.

He shot forward through the dark for what he hoped was just long enough to get past the walls of the mansion, diving upward and bursting into the midday light. He collapsed onto the grass, looking over his shoulder. The mansion’s rooftop was visible above the treeline. Shaky legs carried him a couple more meters before giving out. It was then that he realized with a start that he wasn’t breathing. BREATHE YOU IDIOT! Wes thought, struggling to his hands and knees. He gasped for breath, the action doing little to nothing to calm his nerves. He knelt there, staring in horror at the pasty white-blue skin of his hands. No… no no no no... One hand trampled, fingers digging into the dirt and grass as if it were the only thing keeping him in that world, the other reaching up to pull at his hair when it fell in front of his eyes. It was an iridescent indigo. He pulled at his shirt, feeling his face pale further. The green and black basketball jersey glared up at him, glowing with a pale blue aura that solidified all of Wes’ fears.

I’m a ghost.

Something caught his eye above the treeline. A white and magenta shape that he had long since been able to identify as Vlad’s ghost half rose above the mansion roof, split into four copies, and flew in all different directions. One was heading straight for him. Wes leapt to his feet, half stumbling half running through the trees. Vlad (the copy of Vlad?) was gaining fast. Wes’ unnecessary breath came short and fast, hitching every time a branch whipped past his face. The cold spot in his chest was his core, the source of his new powers; he knew that much at least. He focused on it, trying to will his feet to come off the ground. All at once, the ground fell a full meter from his feet and he was left scrambling for purchase on empty air. A tree branch to his right caught his eye. On a whim, he grabbed it and launched himself forward from branch to branch, the act of flying gradually coming to him. His vision blurred, breath catching in a sob. One arm against his face to dry the glowing blue tears, Wes flew as fast as he could to the only person he could think to go to. Danny Phantom.

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

It had been days and the town was speculating about Wes’ disappearance with just as much zeal as Wes had about Danny’s secret. Danny sighed, phasing through the wall of his bedroom to fall face first into his bed. He had scoured the town, the city, and the surrounding woods for any sign of his classmate for days. Nothing had turned up. Even the ghosts who he had asked to keep an eye out for the boy had reported nothing. It was as if Wes had just disappeared into thin air. Danny would never admit it, but he had started to miss Wes’ annoying theories. He was just about to trigger his transformation when something rapped on his second story bedroom window. His breath frosted on the sheets.

An unfamiliar ghost floated just outside the window, eyes puffy and ringed in blue as if he had been crying. The ghost’s glow was stark against the night sky. Something about this new ghost’s appearance unnerved him. He approached the window and, one hand lit with a half-charged ectoblast, opened it.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Danny asked, too exhausted to greet the ghost with one of his usual snarky quips.

“I… I need your help, Danny,” the ghost’s voice wavered.

Danny’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know-?”

“It’s me! Wes. Wes Weston.” The ghost trailed off, staring uncertainly at something just under the windowsill as he floated there.

“W-?!” Danny dove out the window to hover in front of the ghost. “WES?! What happened to you?” The words left his mouth before he could really think about it. This new ghost was, now that he was looking for a resemblance, obviously Wes. But Wes… a ghost… that would mean-

“It was Vlad,” Wes said, wavering in midair as if he wasn’t entirely sure how flying worked yet. “He… he put me through a ghost portal.” Danny’s eyes widened as Wes continued, voice increasingly weakening until it was barely discernible from the underlying static echo. “I don’t know… if I’m a half ghost or…” Danny waved a hand to cut him off, leading him through the open window. He knew firsthand that it wasn’t good to dwell on those thoughts.

“I know this isn’t easy, but I need you to tell me what happened.”

“He -Plasmius- showed up after my basketball game a few weeks ago. I woke up in the lab under his mansion. The first few weeks… I think he might have been conditioning me to ectoplasm. He would give me injections of it and flood my cage with it. And then… today… he wheeled my cage into the portal.”

Danny growled, spectral tail lashing. “That FROOTLOOP.”

Wes laughed weakly. “You can curse y’know, Fenton.”

“F-ING CRAZED UP FROOTLOOP!” he yelled. Then, softer, “He gave up on cloning me, didn’t he? He decided to try to create another halfa?” Wes nodded. Danny growled again, pulling at his white hair. He took a deep breath, letting his hands fall to his sides. “Okay, okay. You said he tried to condition you to ectoplasm. That means it’s likely that you successfully turned into a halfa.”

Wes made a strangled noise.

“I know, believe me, it takes some getting used to.”

“H-help me turn human. Please.”

“Oh. That’s easy enough once you know how to access your core. I don’t really know how to explain it, but there should be a small warm spark at the center of your core. Focus on that and try to draw it out. Like this.” Danny triggered his transformation, letting the rings hover for a second before reverting back to human form. Wes’ brows scrunched up in concentration and, for a minute, nothing happened. Indigo rings flashed into existence around his waist, returning him to human form as well.

“YES! I’m human again!” Wes pumped his fists into the air, yelping out a curse as his entire lower half whent translucent blue and phased through the floor.

Danny chuckled, extending a hand. “Need some help with that?”

Wes paused mid reach, eyeing the hand skeptically. “What’s the catch?”

“Nothing! But you do need a ghost name…” Danny paused thoughtfully.

“I suppose I can live with that,” Wes grumbled, taking Danny’s hand and letting the other halfa pull him out of the floor. Wes’ feet returned to tangibility. “How am I going to hide from Vlad though?”

“You shouldn’t need to. I can give you a Specter Deflector and some other tech,” he frowned. “For both of our safety through, please don’t go posting any more halfa theories on your blog.”

“Don’t worry,” Wes snickered. “That blog is going to be used for good from now on.”

“Oh?”

“Have any ideas for how to get back at Vlad?”

Danny’s face lit up with a devilish smirk. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Wes smiled, extending his hand. “Team?”

Danny took it immediately. “Welcome to Team Phantom, Wes!” Not even a second had passed before Danny gasped, grinning widely. “I’ve got it!”

Wes groaned. By that point, he knew that face all too well. “I should have just stayed in the floor, huh?”

“WESLEY WISP!”

Wes paled, whipping his hand out of Danny’s grasp. “No. Noooo!” Danny doubled over from laughter, clutching his stomach.

“C’mon, Wes! It’s genius!”

“I… suppose I’ll have to live with it,” Wes groaned, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

Though tentative, Danny’s voice took on the typical little-shit tone it always had when he was about to make a really bad joke. “If you wanna be technical-”

“Shut the fuck up, Fenton!”

#danny phantom #fanfic #my fanfic :) #Wesley Wisp

[kinglazrus]

No Such Thing as a Fresh Start

Phic phight 2020

Submitted by @q-gorgeous: dash finds out danny is phantom. what does he do to help danny? does danny know dash knows?

Summary: Of all the people that could have found out. Out of everyone, in all of Amity Park, it has to be Dash Baxter. It has to be the one human Danny is truly afraid of.

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 8123

Danny's halfway into the locker when Dash freezes. He doesn't actually mean to stop. He got another bad grade in English class this morning and Lancer's disappointed face pissed him off so much that he needs to hit something. Stuffing Fenton into a locker is close enough. But as Dash shoves Danny's head down, as Danny flails pathetically and tries to push him off, Danny's shirt hikes up a little bit, exposing his hip.

Stretching from the waistband of Danny's jeans to up under his shirt is a patch of rough, ugly skin. It's wrinkled and bumpy, tinged red and pink. Dash doesn't know much about scars, but he knows enough to see whatever injury this was from, it couldn't have happened more than a year ago.

Dash grabs Danny's shirt and pulls it up, revealing more damaged skin.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Danny grabs Dash's hand and shoves it off with surprising force, enough that it makes Dash stumble back. Danny teeters on the edge of the locker. Arms shooting out, he manages to catch the door and brace himself against the inside wall. It doesn't look comfortable, one arm squished against his side, one leg tucked under him while the other sticks out, head ducked to avoid smacking it against the top of the locker.

Dash barely pays it any mind, though. His eyes are glued to Danny's hip. He was able to get Danny's shirt almost halfway up before he was stopped, but he didn’t even see the edge of the scar. It must be huge.

A hundred questions run through Dash's head. When did Danny get it? How did it happen? Is it serious? It looks serious. That bothers Dash, for some reason. It nags at him.

"Okay, you're actually starting to freak me out," Danny says.

Dash raises his gaze, meeting Danny's eyes. Other people in the hall are staring at them, Dash can feel it, but he can't look away. He can't stop picturing the marred skin stretching across Danny's torso.

Danny leans back, drawing his other leg into the locker with him. "So, I'm just gonna... yeah..." he trails off. Sticking his finger in the locker door grates, he pulls it closed. The hinges squeak all the way, a grating whine that echoes down the hall.

As soon as the door shuts, Dash snaps out of his daze. He shakes his head, blinking, and glares at the students that stopped to watch. "What the hell are you looking at?" he says.

The students scurry away, heads low.

Dash lingers a moment, staring at the locker, then shakes his head again. Turning on his heels, he marches down the hall, heading to the gym rather than the cafeteria. He needs to think for a while.

—

Danny doesn't know who's locker this is, but it reeks. He's sitting on a pair of old shoes and a canvas bag, probably someone's gym clothes. It takes all he has not to gag. Climbing all the way into the locker rather than out of it wasn't his greatest idea. But he couldn't stand Dash's staring, and he figured the only way to get Dash to leave was to finish the job.

Wiggling, he shimmies around until he's turned sideways—thank god Casper High has such big lockers—and peers through the grate in the door. He knows Dash can't seem him, but the sight of him staring makes Danny shiver. He waits, holding his breath until Dash finally leaves. And then he wants a minute more, just in case.

Once he's sure the coast is clear, Danny turns intangible and tumbles out of the locker. He rolls forward, almost smacking his face on the floor, and comes up dizzy. He grabs his head until the world stops swaying.

"I can't deal with this," he says out loud. There's no one else in the hall with him, so he's talking to himself, but that's not the craziest thing he's ever done. Besides, Jazz has assured him multiple times that voicing your thoughts out loud is a common practice for lots of people. It helps them sort through their thoughts better than they could if everything just swirled around their head for hours, thoughts tripping over one another left and right, struggling to take their place at the front of your mind.

Like the mall on Black Friday morning, except the doors never open and the thoughts just keep shoving, and shoving, and shoving, trying to get to the front even though there's nowhere to go.

"Maybe I should talk to Jazz again," Danny says. He stands up and brushes his jeans off, hoping he doesn't smell too much like someone else's dirty laundry. He's just lucky it wasn't one of the rusty lockers. Those ones always make his eyes and nose itch and leave red flakes all over his clothes and hair.

Danny's about to head to the cafeteria for lunch when his chest goes cold. The feeling travels up his throat, chilling his tongue, and a puff of blue air seeps out of his mouth.

"Oh, come on." Danny groans. At least it's during lunch and not class time. If he's lucky, it'll be someone easy. Maybe then he can wrap up the fight quickly and actually have time to eat, rather than sneaking bites of his sandwich during art class.

Looking up and down the hall, he double-checks to make sure he's alone and transforms. Turning intangible, he shoots into the air. It's cloudy outside, the sky dull and grey, and drizzling steadily. If Danny remembers right, it's supposed to thunder later, which makes him sigh in disappointment. He doesn't mind thunderstorms. They can actually be kind of cool. But thunderstorms usually mean it's going to be cloudy all night, which means he won't be able to stargaze while he's out for his midnight flight.

But he shouldn't be worrying about that right now. He has to find whatever ghost set off his ghost sense. Danny swoops over the school, scanning the grounds. No one's outside today, because of the rain, and the football field is soaked. He sees nothing but growing puddles.

Looping around, he heads toward the city instead. He's gotten better at sensing ghosts, especially in a wider area, which sounds like a good thing, at first. Except that his ghost sense has never been good at actually pinpointing where the ghost is. So for Danny, a wider range means more places he has to look before he actually finds the damn thing, and he doesn't have all day.

He spends half an hour flying around, looking for the culprit, and comes up with nothing. Not even a speck of ectoplasm. It could be a friendly ghost just hanging around, but Danny doesn't feel right taking that chance. Not after what happened the last time he brushed off something strange and ghostly.

Technus turned Danny into one giant bruise that day. Let it be known that while bruises are usually a small thing, they are still a sign of internal bleeding, and a massive one that takes up half your back shouldn't be brushed off so easily. Danny found that out the hard way.

Frustrated and hungry, he circles back to Casper High and touches down on the roof, right next to the hatch that leads down into the gym.

For the longest time, Danny didn't even know there was a way onto the roof. He never actually uses it, choosing to fly up, but ever since he's found it, it's been one of his favourite spots at school. The hatch only exists for maintenance purposes and students aren't even allowed to touch the ladder that leads up to it.

Danny gives the grounds around the school another furtive glance. It doesn't feel right to give up on the ghost so soon. He knows they're close by. He can feel it. If he heads inside now, he'll just draw them into the school and endanger some of his classmates.

At least that's the excuse Danny tells himself as he lowers himself to the ground, crossing his legs. Better to wait a bit, rather than tempt fate.

Laying back, Danny folds his arms behind his head and stares up at the clouds. They aren't much to look at, but he's sure they're darker than before. A squat antenna tower cuts through the top of his view. It's a relic from a bygone era, back when Casper High had an AV club that tinkered with radios all day. It's ugly to look at, but the school never took it down.

Danny rolls onto his side so the tower is out of view, closing his eyes and letting the rain soak him. He's always more comfortable when it's cold. He might regret it later, when he changes back and finds his clothes damp, but for right now, it's nice. The warning bell hasn't gone off yet, so he has a few minutes to spare out here before he really has to go back inside.

Just as Danny's getting comfortable, his chest goes cold again, and a shadow falls over him. He opens his eyes to the smooth, gleaming skull of Walker. With a startled shout, Danny scrambles upright, scurrying toward the radio tower, and faces Walker. He raises his fists, lighting them up with ectoplasm.

"What are you doing here?" he asks. "I did all your stupid community service stuff, remember? My sentence is paid."

"Ten thousand years is a long time to shave off for a little bit of community cleanup," Walker drawls.

"Oh? That's what you call it?" Danny asks. Funny way to describe Walker siccing him on every ghostly with an overdue warrant. Danny can't remember the last time he got in so many fights in one week.

"You just can't seem to stay out of trouble, punk. Damaging another ghost's lair? That's a thousand years." Walker pulls an envelope out of his pocket and throws it at Danny. It only flutters a few feet, but Danny snatches it out of the air with his telekinesis and pulls it toward him.

Side-eyeing Walker, he tears the envelope open and pulls out the folded piece of paper inside. It's a formal police report, filed by Skulker three days ago, citing charges against Danny for property damage and endangering his afterlife.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Danny says. He floats forward and waves the report in Walker's face. "You mean all this time you've actually had a formal police system? And I could have filed criminal charges? That's so unfair."

Walker loses some of his composure, staring at Danny in bafflement. "That's what you care about?"

Danny tosses the report in the air. It stays floating by his shoulder, surrounded by a soft green glow. "Is there some kind of lair registry thing? Could I register Amity Park as my lair? You guys always tell me it is, but you keep attacking it! Doesn't that endanger my afterlife? Attack my lair too many times and I might just snap, right?"

Danny paces through the air, fretting. There are so many fights he could have avoided. Skulker is so going to get it the next time Danny sees him. This is such a cheap shot. He won't stand for it. It probably breaks so many unspoken ghost codes. They're all brothers in ghost crime, aren't they?

"Skulker's a fucking snitch," Danny says.

"Bad luck for you, punk. You've got another sentence to fill out." Walker grows bigger, looming over Danny, reaching out for him with a massive gloved hand.

"Wait!" Danny shouts, shooting out of Walker's reach. He really doesn't want to get in a fight right now. "This is all official, right? That means I can give my side, and it actually matters. It was purely self-defence!"

Walker doesn't have any lips to speak of, but his teeth clack together and his aura flares, expressing his interest. "Go on."

"It happened last week. I was heading to the medieval kingdom when Skulker came out of nowhere and attacked me. Gave me this." Danny zips down his jumpsuit and pulls it open, showing Walker his newest scar, the same one Dash saw. Skulker managed to hit Danny with a new flamethrower of his, scorching him from his chest down to his hip.

Thank the Infinite Realms for ghostly healing. Danny was only out of it for a few days rather than the months he could have been. A few sniffles to his mom, plus a concerned pout from Jazz, and he was home "sick" until he healed.

"I shot him back to defend myself. We were pretty close to his lair. A few stray shots must have hit it," Danny explains.

Walker gives Danny's scar a considering look, shrinking back down to his normal size. Taking the police report out of the air, Walker scans its contents again. After a moment, he tucks it back into the envelope, which he returns to his suit pocket.

"Don't think you're off the hook yet, punk. I'll be back," Walker says. Just like that, he's gone.

Danny sags in relief, dropping back to the ground. "I can't believe that actually worked," he says. Tipping his head back, he laughs, grinning up at the cloudy sky.

Something scuffs the ground behind him. Danny groans. "Come on, Walker, I told you it was self-defence. Don't you have to investigate that or something?"

He turns around, ready to give Walker a piece of his mind. Except it's not Walker. Across the roof stands Dash Baxter. And he's looking down at Danny's exposed chest, at the scar he saw on Fenton not even an hour earlier.

"Would you believe me if I said it's a birthmark?" Danny asks. Judging by the stricken expression on Dash's face, that's a no.

—

As soon as Dash enters the gym, he heads up the bleachers, toward the back wall. There's a ladder in the far corner of the gym that leads up onto the roof. Kwan once dared him to sneak up there during their free period. It's been Dash's favourite place at school ever since. Besides the football field, that is, but that's currently flooded. He doesn't want to get soaked up to his ankles in muddy water.

Dash climbs the ladder with ease, stopping once his head brushes the hatch. He bends over, going up one more rung, and jerks upward, slamming his shoulder against the hatch. The day Kwan gave him the dare, Dash discovered there wasn't actually a proper lock keeping the hatch shut. All it has is a simple latch on the other side. To get it open, you need a special tool to stick into the seam between the hatch and the frame, and you have to jimmy it around a little bit to get it open.

Or, you can do what Dash does, and bash into the hatch over and over again until the latch jiggles open on its own. It makes his shoulder sore, but it's easier than sneaking down into the boiler room and finding the stupid stick.

Dash squeezes through the hatch, closing it gently behind him so it doesn't make too much noise, and starts across the roof. His destination is a vent sticking out of the room, held up by metal supports. It curls out of the ground like a worm, bent in an S shape. The end extends out, pointing toward the edge of the roof. It's just high enough for Dash to sit comfortably beneath it and wide enough that it provides some cover from the drizzle.

Dash settles there, stretching his legs out, and leans back against the vent. He might have to check his jacket for grime later, probably give his hair a quick wash in the bathroom, but this is alright for now. It's a great place to think. Nobody ever comes here, so there's no one to interrupt him.

His hand falls to his chest. He presses against his ribs, trailing his fingers down, tracing the path of Danny's scar. He tries to imagine what it feels like. It would be rough, he thinks. And maybe a little dry. It would feel foreign against his fingertips.

It must be from Danny's accident. No one but his friends and family knows the full story, at least as far as Dash is aware. They know Danny was there the first week of school freshman year. He didn't make much of a lasting impression, and almost nobody knew his name except those he'd gone to middle school with. Then, over the weekend, something happened. One kid who was passing on the street said he saw flashing lights and heard Danny scream.

He was gone for two weeks, the peculiarity of his absence and the mystery of his accident spreading his name to the furthest corners of Casper High. The rumours cycled through the school five times over, getting a little more bizarre each time. He spilled some dangerous chemicals, he messed with his parent's weapons, his parents shot him on accident, his friends shot him on purpose.

By the time Danny returned to school, everyone was waiting with bated breath to find out the truth. Danny refused to tell. Neither Sam nor Tucker gave even a hint of what had happened that weekend. Jazz said she didn't even know the full story herself.

Everybody lost interest after that. Danny was back, he was fine, and he wasn't telling the story. Collectively, the school decided to move on. No one thought about who the accident might have affected Danny, physically or mentally. Dash is thinking about it now.

His older sister, a nurse, has told him a few things about what big scars like that do to a person, even years after they've healed. They can be painful and stiff, impeding movement. Sensitive to touch. Easy to hurt. He thinks about how many times he's given Danny a good punch to the stomach over the last few months.

Guilt swirls in his gut, for a moment. It's quickly replaced by anger. Dash scowled, punching his fist against the rooftop. It's so stupid. So what if Fenton got hurt over a year ago? He's obviously fine now. Dash has nothing to feel sorry for. Everything Danny gets is his own fault, anyway. He's the only one who ever fights back.

Danny doesn't seem to get it that Dash would let him go if he just stayed down for once. One good wailing to set him straight, to make sure he knows not to mess with Dash, and then they can dust their hands of each other and be done with it. But Danny's one of those people that keep getting back up no matter how many times he gets beaten down.

Can't he see he's only making things worse for himself? Can't he see that if he just stops and does what Dash wants, he won't get hurt anymore? Everyone sees it.

It pisses Dash off. If Danny's going to keep doing infuriating things like defending himself, then he deserves it. He can't just go around pissing people off and expect them not to do something about it, that's ridiculous. It's not Dash's fault. It's not.

Dash curls his hand into a fist, clenching it tightly. Bringing it up to his face, he rubs his eyes and lets out a tired sigh. He doesn't want to think about stuff like this. All he does is go round and round without making any progress.

Resting an arm on his knee, he lowers his forehead to his elbow and stares at his hand. When he curls his fingers, his skin pulls taut across his knuckles. They're still red from when he socked Danny in the jaw a couple days ago. Sticking his hand out, he holds it under the rain. The minuscule drops barely dampen his skin, but it's cold and refreshing. He rubs his thumb across his knuckles, as if that can wipe away the bruises.

When it doesn't work, he lets his hand drop and resigns himself to sombre silence. It's a good day for silence. Fewer people are out because of the rain, even though it's the middle of the day. The drops, more like a fine mist than actual rain, make no sound.

Something whooshes overhead, drawing Dash's gaze toward the sky. Noise from above typically means an impending ghost attack, but he only sees Phantom. The resident ghost hero is a bright spot against the dull sky. He hovers for a moment, a white sun, then flies in Dash's direction.

Dash opens his mouth, about to call out, but stops at the last second. Phantom looks tense, mouth set in a grim line. Dash doesn't want to interrupt whatever he's doing. He tips his head back, watching Phantom fly over the school, fully expecting the ghost to pass them by.

To Dash's surprise, Phantom touches down on the other side of the roof. Dash scrambles to his feet, searching for the threat he should be running from, but it's just him and Phantom out here. When Phantom lays down, Dash hesitates, dumbfounded.

Creeping forward, staying flush against the vent, Dash grips the supports holding it up. The metal bites into his fingers and sucks the heat from his palms, but he holds it like a lifeline. Phantom's whole deal is beating people until they stay down. Maybe Dash can talk to him about it. Sliding his feet forward, Dash takes a step out from his cover, ready to talk to his hero.

The ground behind Phantom ripples, a tall white figure rising up out of the room. Dash scrambles back out of view, peeking around the vent to see.

He's never seen this ghost before. They're dressed completely in white, barring a black fedora, and have a skull for a head. Dash's first thought is that this is one of Phantom's allies. Those hopes are dashed away when Phantom sees the ghost and leaps away, immediately poising to attack.

It looks like Dash is getting a front-row seat to a ghost fight. Which is all kinds of cool, but also dangerous.

The only way off the roof is the hatch, which sits between Phantom and his opponent. There used to be a ladder crawling up the back wall, but it got damaged during a ghost attack a couple months ago and hasn't been fixed. With no escape route, Dash is forced to hunker down and watch.

It doesn't go how he thought it would. Phantom and the other ghost's—Walker's—voices carry easily across the roof. Dash hears everything they say, although none of it makes sense to him. Who knew dead people had a formal police network and criminal system? Who knew Phantom was a criminal?

Actually, that idea isn't so far-fetched. The more Dash thinks about it, the more sense it makes. Phantom doesn't act like other ghosts. He probably breaks a whole bunch of laws. The ghosts that attack the city are probably bounty hunters! That weird metal ghost is always shouting about capturing and hunting Phantom. Dash is willing to bet his football career on there being a bounty on Phantom's head.

He can't wait to tell Kwan all about this new, fascinating revelation.

Dash watches, rapt, absorbing every word. Paulina's going to be so jealous when she hears Dash got so close to Phantom. Especially with the few harmless embellishments he's going to add. She will be livid to know Dash spent the whole lunch hour hanging out with Phantom on the roof.

"It was purely self-defence!" Phantom shouts.

Dash frowns. There goes his criminal theory. This Walker guy reminds him a little of Tetslaff. Strict, no-nonsense, all about authority. Which means if you do something wrong, you don't get to defend yourself, you take your punishment and do better next time.

Walker also has that stern, "I want to execute you," look. Although that might just be the skull for a head.

Walker doesn't hang around for much longer after that. Phantom shows him an injury as evidence of his innocence, Walker threatens Phantom one last time, and pretty soon Dash and Phantom are alone again.

Seeing his chance, Dash moves out of hiding. As he steps forward, his belt loop catches on an exposed screw on the vent supports. Dash's feet nearly slip out from under him. He throws out his arms, quickly regaining his balance, and looks back to Phantom, hoping he hasn't scared the hero off.

Phantom turns, an exasperated expression on his face, and glares in Dash's direction. The glare slips away almost instantly. Phantom pales, his eyes going wide. Dash doesn't pay attention to any of that. All his focus is on Phantom's chest and the familiar scar that cuts across it.

—

Danny and Dash stare at each other for a long, long moment. Distantly, they can hear the warning bell ring, marking the end of the lunch hour, but neither of them reacts. Danny watches Dash warily, afraid of how he's going to react. Dash looks back with increasing dread, afraid of what he believes is true.

"Fenton?" Dash asks.

Danny stiffens. "Fenton?" He laughs weakly. "You mean that loser kid in your year? Is he here? I don't see him."

Danny makes a show of looking around the roof, pulling his jumpsuit zipper back up as he does. His gaze flicks down to the front of the school, the warning bell finally registering in his ears. Lifting into the air, Danny backs away.

"Sounds like you need to get back to class, citizen," he declares in a deep voice.

"Fenton, wait!" Dash says. He lurches forward a few steps, reaching out, then pulls back. Danny doesn't move. They're at a standstill. Neither of them really wants to be there, but neither of them wants to leave, either. They can't leave.

Danny needs to know Dash won't spread his secret. And if he will, then Danny needs to be prepared. As much as he wants to flee and pretend this never happened, he can't let Dash out of his sight until he knows what's going to happen next. Danny's mind is in overdrive trying to come up with every possible scenario.

Before Danny can stop him, Dash lunges for the rooftop hatch. Defying all logic, he makes it back to the cafeteria first. Dash clambers up on a table, drawing everyone's attention and shouts for all to hear, "Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom!" It doesn't take long for word to get back to the G.I.W. Wasting no time, they rush over to Casper High and detain Danny for being a class five ecto-entity in breach of the American Ecto Act and take him away. They experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Or, Dash recognizes Danny for the freak he is. His fear quickly turns to anger, and he lunges. Dash may be human, but Danny can only do so much to stop him without actively hurting him. Dash beats him to a pulp, calls the G.I.W., and leaves Danny on the steps of Casper High for them to find. They take Danny away for being an inhuman abomination and experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Or, Dash laughs it off. He claps Danny on the shoulder and agrees that Fenton is such a loser. They part ways amicably, an unspoken agreement to never speak of this again. Until Dash spills the secret to Kwan, who tells Star, who tells Paulina, who tells everyone. Eventually, word gets back to the G.I.W. They lock Danny up in evil ghost jail. And experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Logically, not every possible outcome ends with Danny being taken prisoner by the G.I.W., becoming an unwilling participant in their sick experiments. But human brains really suck at being logical when you're two seconds from panicking.

Dash's mind, on the other hand, is completely blank. Rather than running a mile a minute, his thoughts have come to a screeching halt. They laugh at him from afar, dangling just out of reach, and leave him to flounder in silently. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know how to move. Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom and he isn't prepared to handle that information. Fenton can't be Phantom. Fenton is infuriating. Fenton is a flea, a temporary nuisance in the grand scene of Dash's life. Fenton is a weak nobody who's only good at getting under Dash's skin.

Phantom, on the other hand, is Dash's idol. He's everything Fenton isn't and then some. Dash stares at Phantom right now and feels lost

Their staring contest drags on with no clear winner in sight. Thunder rumbles in the distance. The sky is a little darker now, and it won't be long before the clouds open up and drown Amity in a torrent of rainfall. It won't matter much for the two boys on the roof, though. They've been out here too long, standing silence, and are already soaked. It makes no difference to them as the rain grows from a drizzle, to a light shower, to a downpour in a matter of minutes.

Lightning flashes, followed a few seconds later by a great crash of thunder. Dash flinches, startled by the sound, and breaks eye contact first.

"Fenton," Dash says, advancing.

"Don't."

"Come on, I just–"

"I said leave it."

"Why are you being so–"

"Dash!" Danny bellows. His voice cracks like thunder, a trace of his ghostly wail rattling the rooftop, and is lost in the storm. Eyes flaring, he flies forward. Halfway to Dash, he jerks to a stop. He doesn't know what he will do once Dash is right in front of him. There's a burning feeling building in his chest that tells him it whatever it is, it won't be good.

Crying out in frustration, Danny turns away. He drops to the roof, curling over, and presses his hands against his ears so he can't hear Dash calling out to him. Of all the people that could have found out. Out of everyone, in all of Amity Park, it has to be Dash Baxter. It has to be the one human Danny is truly afraid of.

Dash Baxter is nothing like the G.I.W. They're a faceless mass of interchangeable bodies hiding behind the same suits and sunglasses. The G.I.W., as a whole, are threatening. Dash, to Danny, is downright terrifying on his own.

Danny aches just thinking about him. As a halfa, his body heals fast, but his mind was never granted such luxuries. If you keep hitting someone in the same place over and over, one day the bruise will sink so much deeper than skin. Danny is more bruise than boy, at this point. Pressing his head against his knees, he drags his hands through his hair, trying to stay calm.

Lightning flashes in the corner of his eyes. Rolling thunder booms through the air a second later. In the silence that follows, filled only by the staccato beat of the rain, he hears Dash's approaching footsteps.

"Go away, Dash," Danny croaks. He doesn't even care anymore. Let Dash do whatever he wants, tell the whole world who he is.

Dash stops a couple feet behind Danny. He looks down at his hero, huddled on the roof, and a strange feeling fills him. He refuses to regret anything he's ever done to Fenton, but... he wants to help. Because that's what Phantom does.

"No," Dash says.

Danny raises his head, hands dropping, and sneers over his shoulder. "No?"

Dash lifts his chin and nods, refusing to budge. "No."

Danny rakes his gaze over Dash, looking him up and down, and scoffs.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about," Dash continues.

Danny laughs, cold and derisive. "That's what you think this is about? I can't believe this."

Dash crosses his arms, hiding his confusion behind his scowl. "You're not worried about that?"

"I was," Danny amends. "For about two seconds. Look, Dash, I don't want to... I don't know. I just don't want to."

"That's kind of stupid, Fenton. I could always just beat it out of you."

"You don't even know what it is!" Danny stands up and spins to face Dash. He reaches out, hands curled together, and throttles the open air. "Just leave me alone!"

"No." Dash takes a step forward, pushing Danny's hands down.

"Stop saying that!"

Dash steps forward again, peering down at Danny. They're practically nose to nose. "No," he hisses.

"I swear to god, the Infinite Realms, and the fucking Box Ghost, if you don't back. Off–"

Danny's hair stands on end, static shocks jump through it. Faster than Dash can react, Danny lunges forward, tackling him onto the roof hatch. An eardrum-shattering bang bursts through the air as lightning strikes the old radio tower. The excess electricity, searching for the nearest conductor, shoots toward the metal hatch currently acting as Dash's backrest.

Dash has a second to panic before the world goes cold around him. He drops through the roof into the gym, back slamming against the top row of bleachers, and rolls off the step.

Danny falls through the ceiling a second later, and the electricity comes with him. It stretches between Danny's back and the metal hatch, crackling and sizzling. Danny screams, curling in, aura turning blue. A burst of cold air pushes outward and suddenly everything around Danny is coated in ice. The electricity surges across the ice, springing into a fuse box on the wall behind Danny.

Every light in the gym bursts, sparks raining down, plunging the vast, empty room into darkness. Dash pulls himself up, rising onto trembling legs, and looks around. A few final sparks fall from the ceiling, fizzling out before they reach the floor. He can't see a single shred of light, not even under the doors on the other side of the gym.

The whole school is blacked out.

"Fenton," Dash whispers. He turns, too fast, and trips on the bench behind him. Careening forward,  his arms windmill as he tries to catch himself. He hits something cold, smacking his chin against it, and narrowly misses biting his tongue in half.

Dash groans, rubbing his jaw, and carefully pulls himself up. His hands and knees slip on the ice. Now that his eyes are adjusting, he can see it gives off a slight light. Not enough to truly see by, but enough that he can find Danny's silhouette, slumped and human, at the ice's epicentre. He crawls forward and reaches out. A small static jump jumps from Danny's hair to Dash, making him flinch back.

Rubbing his finger, Dash shifts so that he's sitting. Carefully, he reaches out and taps Danny's head with his foot.

"Yo, Fenton," Dash whispers. It feels criminal to break the silence. "You dead? More dead?"

Danny mumbles something. His shoulders shift. His arm wiggles out from under him and grabs Dash's foot, shoving it away. He raises his head and glares at Dash, not that Dash can actually see it in this light.

"'M fine," Danny mutters.

Dash scoots back, giving Danny space, and strains his eyes, trying to see what Danny is doing. But it's too dark, so he gives up and settles against the wall.

Danny, coming to the same realization as Dash, pushes himself up with slow, painstaking movements. He huffs, thumps his back against the wall, and gets comfortable.

"You just got struck by lightning," Dash says.

"I got struck by indirect lightning," Danny corrects. His voice rough and his throat burns when he swallows. There's no blood on his tongue, though, so that's a bonus.

"And you're fine?"

"It shorts out my powers for a little bit, but it doesn't hurt much."

"You're lying."

"You don't know that!"

"Your voice does this wobbly thing when you lie. You're such a bad liar, Fenton."

Danny grumbles under his breath. "Why were you even on the roof in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter," Dash snaps defensively.

"Whatever."

They fall silent again. The school is supposed to have emergency lights for this kind of situation, but they don't appear to be working. Dash hopes the come on soon. He doesn't want to be stuck in here with Fenton. If he were really determined, he could try and feel his way down the bleachers, but he doesn't want to risk a fall.

Danny, caught on a similar vein of thinking, doesn't move either.

The silence is suffocating. It stretches between them, a vast chasm filled to the brim with repressed aggression. Dash can only take it for so long.

"How do you do it?" he blurts the question out after only a minute of silence.

"What?"

"The ghosts. They keep coming back, no matter how much you beat them down. How do you do it?"

Danny considers the question. Despite how stupid Dash is, he's not totally an idiot, and Danny can tell there's some hidden meaning in what he's asking. Danny's answer should be obvious. He does it because he needs to. Somebody has to keep Amity Park safe. Considering this whole mess is technically Danny's fault in the first place, he feels a little responsible for it and takes it into his own hands.

The wording throws Danny off. He doesn't beat his enemies down, he stops them. Dash makes it sound brutal, like a schoolyard fistfight.

"Dash." Danny's voice is strained. "Do you think you're like me? Phantom me, I mean."

He gets no answer.

"I swear, if you just nodded or something, I'm gonna punch you in the face."

"Why do you care?" Dash sounds defensive again.

Danny breathes in through his nose, a calming action, and exhales. "Do you think you're some kind of hero or something for beating people up?"

"You're the one who's always begging for it."

"I don't–" Danny shakes his head. He takes another deep breath. "You're serious? One hundred percent?"

Dash's silence is all the answer Danny needs.

"Oh my– wow. Dash. Just, wow. You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"Hey, you don't get to say that. You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"I know you get your kicks out of beating the hell out of me. Because that's so damn heroic of you, isn't it? You are not a hero, okay? You're the worst."

"Screw you, Fenton! You don't get to talk shit about me like that. You're the one who's always getting in my way. Maybe if you just shut your mouth next time, I wouldn't have to shut it for you!"

"You know what, Dash? No. Fuck you!" Danny reaches into the darkness, searching, and latches on to the first piece of Dash he finds. He yanks Dash forward. "You know what the worst part about going to this school is? It's you. I'm afraid to come to school because I know you'll be here, waiting for me, ready to knock another took out. And I fight ghosts. Every day. I beat the ghost king. I've bent freaking reality. I've been electrocuted, shot, turned to goo, and you are still the worst thing that's ever happened to me! You're the villain, Dash!"

Dash grabs Danny's wrists. Rising to his feet, he drags them both upright. "You've got a big mouth for someone who's such a wuss."

The emergency lights finally snap on. They both wince, the sudden light blinding them, but Danny recovers faster. He swings his fist and punches Dash square in the face, breaking his nose. Dash's head snaps back with a spurt of blood. He stumbles back, feet sleeping on the ice, and clutches his face.

"What the hell!" he shouts, staring at the blood on his hand.

"Can't take a punch, Dash?" Danny sneers. He only has a second to prepare himself before Dash lunges. Confidence abandoning him, a primal fear rising up instead, Danny turns and sprints.

"I'm gonna kill you, Fenton!"

Danny believes him. On instinct, he leaps into the air, the fastest route of escape, and remembers too late that he can't fly right now. "Shit!" he shouts, flailing as he falls over the bleachers, the ground rapidly approaching. Panic shoots through him. He's going to land wrong and break his leg and then he won't be able to run, and catch will catch him, and he's definitely going to kill Danny this time.

The thought swells up in his head, suffocating any logical notions.

"Fenton!" Dash's voice, squeaky and panicked, rings out through the gym. It snaps Danny out of his spiralling thoughts long enough to remember he's a superhero, damn it, he knows how to talk a fall.

Just before he hits the bleachers, Danny kicks out, pushing himself off one of the benches. It jolts his leg and sends painful shivers radiating up the limb, but does the job well. He starts falling forward instead, rather than right down, barely missing the rest of the stairs. Leaning into the fall, he hits the ground shoulder first and rolls, letting the momentum bleed out. It's not his best recovery, and his shoulder and leg throb painfully, but nothing's broken.

Danny lays splayed out in the middle of the gym floor, panting. Distantly, he hears Dash's thundering steps as he books it down the stairs. He should get up and run while he can. But Danny's shaking all over and he thinks, if he were to stand up right now, he would just fall over. His body still aches from the brief electrocution.

"Fenton!" Dash says, his head popping into view above Danny. He looks conflicted, face red and angry, but honest worry in his eyes, like he can't decide if he should be glad Danny didn't become a pile of broken limbs on the bleacher, or if he should go ahead and break Danny himself.

And he can't decide. Dash is livid. Danny broke his damn nose! Dash wants to throttle him for that. But when he saw Danny falling over the stairs, one thought screamed in his head: he didn't want to watch Fenton die. For a moment, it overrode his anger with genuine concern. Now that he knows Danny is okay, though, that anger is quickly taking over again.

Danny, seeing Dash's shaking fists, thinks he knows an inkling of what's going through Dash's head right now. He pushes himself back, just in case Dash decides to stop on him. He's still too shaky to stand up right now.

Dash clenches his fists, then releases them, eyes closing. "What the hell is your problem, Fenton?" His voice is hollow.

Danny doesn't even dare to breathe.

Dash grits his teeth. "Fine, whatever, I don't care. I'm going to the nurse." He turns and heads for the doors.

Danny holds his breath until Dash leaves.

—

Tetslaff finds Danny in the gym. "Fenton?" she says, frowning in confusion. "What are you doing here? The students were all sent home."

Danny blinks at her slowly. "What?"

"You gonna learn in the dark?" Tetslaff holds the door open wider and jerks her thumb toward the hall. "Get out of here. No wonder Lancer was getting his panties in a twist, had no idea where you were."

"Oh. Sorry." Danny pushes himself up, wobbling a little, and shuffles toward Tetslaff. "No one was looking for me?"

"Your friends said you went home. Stomach bug." Tetslaff's eyes narrow. "Your sister vouched for you."

Danny freezes, hugging himself tightly. "Really? That's weird." He gives Tetslaff a shaky smile.

"You look like hell, Fenton. Go home. I won't give you detention, this time."

"Thanks," Danny mumbles. Once he's out of the gym, the urge to get out of there as fast as possible seizes him. He sprints down the hall, ignoring Tetslaff's half-hearted shout of, "No running!" and doesn't stop until he reaches the front doors, throwing them open.

Lightning flashes over the city, blinding him. He winces, ducking his head, raising an arm against the rain. He almost forgot about the thunderstorm. Glancing left, he scans the student parking lot.  All he sees is an obnoxious yellow Humvee, no sign of Jazz's little Prius. She must have gone home with everyone else, thinking Danny was already long gone taking care of a ghost. He wishes he had been.

With no other option, Danny starts the walk home. The rain drenches him immediately, plastering his hair against his forehead. His shirt clings to his chest and jeans feel heavy and uncomfortable. Halfway down the block, he realizes he left his backpack at school. There's a history paper he needs to work on. Danny shakes his head and keeps walking. He can sneak back in later tonight when his powers are working again. His sleep schedule this week is already pretty much non-existent. What does one more all-night matter?

At the corner of the block, as Danny's waiting for the crosswalk light to come on, a vehicle pulls up on his left and honks. It's the Humvee from the school parking lot. Confused, Danny stares, unmoving. The window rolls down.

Dash glares at him from the driver's seat. "Are you getting in or not?" he asks.

"I– what?"

"I swear you're deaf sometimes. Are. You. Getting. In. Or would you rather walk home in this?" Dash drums his fingers on the steering wheel. "Hurry up, the rain's getting in!"

Danny scrambles forward, throwing the door open and slipping inside. The seat's a little wet, but it's infinitely better than being outside. Almost, Danny thinks, side-eyeing Dash. Neither of them says anything as he pulls up to the lights, which are red now.

Danny pushes his hair out of his face, slicking it back. The style's not half-bad. At least, he likes how it looks in Dash's side mirror. The light ahead of them turns green.

"Seatbelt," Dash says.

"Oh, yeah." Danny hurries to pull it on, clicking it in place. It rests a bit too high against his neck, rubbing uncomfortably below his jaw. "Dash–" he starts.

"Look–" Dash says at the same time. They both cut themselves off, sharing a glance. Danny motions for Dash to continues. "Look. I don't like you, Fenton. I guess I got issues and stuff, whatever, that's none of your business. But you're also a hero, and it'd be pretty stupid of me to beat up a hero."

"It's stupid of you to beat up anyone."

"Can you just, ugh." Dash groans. "I'm trying to apologize to you, moron."

"Well, you suck at it."

Dash seethes, banging his head against the steering wheel.

"Hey, watch the road!" Danny yelps, reaching out to grab the wheel.

Dash slaps his hand away. "Shut up, I know how to drive. Just, I'm sorry, okay?"

Danny frowns. A half-hearted apology doesn't make anything okay. But, at the moment, it's more than anything he's ever expected from Dash, so he'll take it. For now. "Fine."

"Good."

They don't say anything for the rest of the ride, suffering each other's presence until Dash pulls up in front of Fenton Works. Danny has the door open before the car reaches a complete stop, practically throwing himself to the sidewalk. He runs up the front path and slips inside without looking back.

"Danny!" Jazz calls from the living room. She stands up, approaching. "You're soaking wet. Where were you? What happened?"

Danny throws himself into Jazz's arms and cries.

—

Dash sits on the Fenton's curb for a minute before driving off. His house is in the completely opposite direction and now he has to head back toward the school. After going to the nurse, who had thankfully still been in the building, and getting his nose fixed up, Dash's only desire was to head home and immerse himself in video games.

Picking Danny up was a total fluke. He just looked so pathetic, trudging through the rain, and Dash couldn't leave him like that. The apology had been unexpected. Dash didn't realize he meant it until the words left his lips. He's still pissed at Danny for breaking his nose, but he didn't hit back, so that was a step up.

Dash sinks into his seat, staring at how the city lights glitter in the rain. Fenton still sucks. In fact, he sucks even worse now for actually making Dash feel bad about all the bullying. He's got a lot of thinking to do. Nothing he says or does will always what he's already said and done, but apologizing was a good way to start.

#phic phight #phic phight 2020 #danny phantom #dash baxter #danny fenton #danny phantom fanfiction #phanfic #phic #tumblroneshots #Danny needs a hug #he gets one don't worry #Dash needs a punch to the face #he gets that too #I hope you like it gorgi #I said I was gonna pay you back but I don't think this was angsty enough #it's more hurt/comfort #AT LEAST DANNY LIVED IN MINE

[darks-ink]

Darkness - Ectoberweek 2020

Yes I wrote this one because I just really wanted to write Vlad and Danny meeting in Antonym-verse, shh. Don’t say anything.

[first part]

Rating: Gen Warnings: - Genre: Supernatural Words: 2,147 Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Sequel

[AO3] [FFN]

---

“Well,” Danny said, humming thoughtfully.

“Well,” the other person agreed, his bright red eyes absurdly visible in the dark room they were in.

Since the man didn’t seem inclined to talk, Danny didn’t bother to, either. Instead he started peering around, blinking his own vivid green eyes. Even though his retained night vision usually did him little good, he was glad to have it, now. He highly doubted ordinary humans would’ve been able to see in the pitch black they were in.

Unfortunately, the room did not include any hints as to where he was, nor why he was here.

“You’re Danny, aren’t you?” the man suddenly asked, his red eyes narrowed. “The Fenton’s adopted son?”

Danny hummed. He wasn’t sure if he was legally adopted, the human world had so much complicated paperwork, but they certainly seemed intent on counting him as their son. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, figuring he should vocalize. “But I don’t think I know you. Do I?”

The man visibly considered that, weighing options against each other. Finally he offered a hand to Danny. “Vlad.”

“Well, you already know my name, obviously.” Danny shot him a grin as he took the hand and shook it. “But I’m Danny.”

“And you’re half-ghost,” Vlad said, a strange emphasis on the ‘half-ghost’. “Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, so are you,” Danny pointed out with a shrug. “I think that the more pressing questions are “where are we?” and “how did we get here?”, don’t you?”

Vlad hummed at that, expression somewhere between pleased and aggravated. Someone was digging for information, huh? “Yes, I suppose you’re right. You don’t know either, then?”

“Nope,” he agreed easily, taking his eyes off of Vlad to look around again. The room was empty and featureless, absolutely non-distinct in how bland it was. “But! I don’t think we’re in the Ghost Zone.”

“How can you tell?”

“Not nearly enough ectoplasm in the atmosphere.” Danny leaned over to knock on the wall. “And these are solid. Humans can go through walls in the Ghost Zone.”

“You seem to know a lot about the Ghost Zone.” Vlad’s eyes narrowed once more.

“Yeah, well.” Danny paused, reconsidered. Vlad didn’t seem like a ghost, not like him. Vlad seemed like a human. If Danny could become part human as a ghost, why couldn’t a human become part ghost? “I guess I spent a good bit of time there.”

“And your parents?” Vlad pressed, cold disinterest in his voice.

Danny snorted, dismissive. “You mean my biological parents? Dunno. Can’t remember them. That’s why the Fentons took me in, y’know? Now can we please focus on getting out of wherever this is before we continue the interrogation?”

“Yes, of course,” Vlad said, graciously. Like this was anything to be gracious about. Danny bet that if he’d been in full control of his powers he could’ve beaten the other half-ghost easy. But, alas. He was still fighting to control his core, never mind use his powers properly. He would have to settle for civilized human behavior.

“Good.” Danny turned away from Vlad, walking along the wall, one hand trailing over it. The whole thing felt solid in a uniquely human way. Definitely no ghosts involved here.

The door, when Danny reached it, was no less solid. He grabbed onto the rounded doorknob and jangled it, but there was no give. Definitely locked. “Yeah, we’re not getting out this way.”

Vlad, who still hadn’t moved, the ass, hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose we will have to use our powers to leave, then. I see no cameras of any sort, do you?”

“No,” Danny admitted, releasing the door and looking around just to be sure. “I suppose you’re right. Some intangibility and invisibility should get us out.”

“Yes, indeed.” Vlad crossed his arms, waiting for a moment before arching his brow at Danny. “Well, go on then.”

“Me?” He scoffed. “It was your idea. You go first.”

The man stared at him for a moment longer, his red eyes boring straight into Danny’s, before he sighed. “Fine, then. But only because I suspect I cannot hope to out-stubborn a teenager, let alone one raised by Jack Fenton.”

Danny quirked an eyebrow at that unexpected hostility. Sure, he’d only known Jack for a month or two, but still. He seemed like a good man.

Vlad’s transformation was similar to Danny’s own. A spark of light from the chest, from the core, forming into rings which passed over the body, and shifted it from one state to the other. Admittedly Vlad’s were bizarrely black, while still giving off light, but it didn’t really matter. Not now, at least.

No, Danny was far more interested in Vlad’s ghost form. He looked rather like a typical ghost, up to and including a thematic appearance. And what an appearance. Vlad had gone full vampire on his looks, with pale blue skin, empty red eyes, pointed ears and sharp fangs. His hair, black in ghost form, was swept up into gravity-defying points, and his clothing did not match the suit he’d been wearing at all.

Hell, the guy even wore a cape. What kinda person did that?

But… Vlad had gone and shifted to his ghost form, so Danny supposed he’d better follow suit. Mentally crossing his fingers that his powers would hold—his core was still settling back into proper stability after his accident—he called his core to the forefront of his existence. Light flashed as he, too, transformed into a ghost.

Vlad quirked an eyebrow at him, judgment heavy in the air. “A jumpsuit, boy, really? You are certainly a Fenton, aren’t you?”

“It’s Phantom, actually,” Danny correctly idly. “The jumpsuit is just a coincidence.” He lifted up from the floor, trying to judge how well his core was doing that day. “Now come on, I don’t have all day.”

“And you think I do?” Vlad scoffed, but started floating as well. “I will go first. I expect I will be more likely to recognize where we are than you.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t have to be so haughty about it. “Sure, knock yourself out.” Danny swept out an arm in a wide arc to underline the statement, throwing in a sarcastic bow as well.

The gesture clearly wasn’t lost on Vlad, but he apparently made the choice to ignore it, flying towards one of the walls and flickering invisible before he hit it. With a roll of his eyes, Danny followed, focusing his senses on the feel of Vlad’s core so he could track the man while invisible.

Outside it was… also dark, admittedly, but not as hopelessly pitch-black as inside. A glance upwards confirmed that it was a regular dark—stars barely visible due to a nearby city, and the new moon that was supposed to come that night.

Vlad was still nearby, although invisible, so Danny let himself drift over. “Well,” he said when he was close enough, keeping his voice low since they were still invisible. “I don’t think we missed much time. The moon phase is correct.”

“Hm. And what do you know of where we are?” Vlad asked, a tone of curiosity layered under the smarminess of his voice. “Or have you spent all your time looking up?”

“I thought you were going to focus on our location?” Danny shook his head, realized Vlad couldn’t see, then decided to look around anyway.

And, huh.

“Well, at least we’re not far from home,” he said, feebly.

They were on the outskirts of Amity Park.

“You aren’t, no.” Vlad huffed, a sound of displeasure. “Unlike you, however, I live in Wisconsin.”

Cool. That meant very little to Danny. He was pretty sure that it was a state in the country he was living in, but where, or how far away it was? Absolutely meaningless.

“Okay, well… If you know the Fentons you can probably stay over?” He let his invisibility drop, since the strain on his core was rather unnecessary. The people of Amity Park didn’t look up enough to care about ghosts in the sky. “And if you didn’t… Well, they probably would let you stay over anyway. They’d love to talk more about your half-ghost-ness.”

“Joy,” Vlad muttered, and he could not possibly have put more distaste in the word. “And you do not care to stay invisible, then?”

“I can’t keep it up forever, dude.” Danny shrugged, letting his legs blend away into a tail as he drifted in the direction towards home. “Besides, I know Amity Park. It’s a safe place to fly without invisibility, trust me.”

Vlad scoffed, but dropped his invisibility as well. “Very well, then. Lead on.”

Danny nodded back, then shifted into proper flight, making sure to keep his speed fairly low. As annoying as it was to have to hold back, he knew he couldn’t make full use of his powers, not while his core was still recovering from the transition. One day, hopefully, he’d get back to his prior strength.

Still, that did make him wonder. It definitely seemed like Vlad was a human who’d become half-ghost. How did that work, compared to Danny himself? How strong was Vlad? Did he need to wait for his core to mature the usual way? That almost seemed easier to Danny than what he was going through. A slow progressive growth, rather than having all these powers and not having the power to use them.

And Vlad had conveniently skipped around explaining how he knew the Fentons, too. Honestly, he was kind of giving Danny the creeps. Something about his behavior was just… off. Weird.

Or maybe that was just how slimy he was, how haughty, how superior. Yugh.

Vlad didn’t try talking to him while they were flying to FentonWorks, although he did raise a questioning eyebrow at the neon sign when they landed behind it.

“The glow of the sign will hide our light,” Danny explained with a shrug. He’d been told by Jazz that the sign was an oddity among humans, but he didn’t think it was that weird. “We can enter the house through the door up here.”

“Why not phase inside?” Vlad asked, crossing his arms. “That way no one will see us.”

“True. But it’s also rude to go inside without announcing yourself.” Danny grinned at Vlad, displaying his own sharp teeth, before releasing his core to shift back to human form. The flashing light was barely visible beyond the glow of the sign. “Coming, Vlad?”

The other half-ghost sighed, making a motion like rolling his eyes—despite the fact that they were empty in his ghost form—but transformed back into human form as well. “I would’ve thought that using ghost powers meant we were no longer following human sensibilities, but it’s your house.”

Human sensibilities? What, has no one ever told this guy the rules of lairs in the Ghost Zone? Yikes. “You do realize that it’s a thing in the Ghost Zone too, right? Not randomly wandering into people’s lairs?”

“And how would you know?” Vlad sneered back, his eyes dark for the first time since Danny had met him. “You’re what, fourteen? And clearly new to being half-ghost, too.”

“Yeah!” Danny snapped, feeling his core kick up a notch. He was so tired of this asshole. “Yeah, I’m new to being half-ghost! Because I was a full ghost before this!”

He leaned in closer to Vlad, seeing the reflection of his glowing eyes in Vlad’s. “Just because you think you’re a big deal doesn’t mean you are. You don’t know shit, Vlad.”

Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Danny whirled around, pulling open the door and climbing down the stairs. After a moment, he heard Vlad follow.

“You are… a ghost turned half-human?” Vlad asked, quietly. “Not the reverse?”

“Not like you, no,” Danny confirmed, opening the door to the upper floor hallway. “But the Fentons will still want to talk to you.”

“No.” Vlad stopped before crossing the door. Danny, too, stopped, turning around to face Vlad again. “No, I don’t think that that’s going to happen.”

“What?”

“I thought I had found someone like me. For that, I was willing to put up with Jack Fenton, at least for the moment. But now?” Vlad scoffed, a derisive sound. “For a poor ghostly imitation? No, certainly not. Goodbye, Phantom.”

With that, Vlad whirled around, vanishing from sight. Danny could still track his core—apparently Vlad had shifted forms almost immediately—but he was, in fact, leaving.

“Well. That just happened,” Danny muttered to himself as Vlad left the premises entirely. “Wonder what the chances are that the Fentons know more than one guy named Vlad.”

He shrugged to himself, continuing down to the living room, where his family waited. Guess he had some more mysteries to solve now.

Like that room. What the fuck was up with that?

#danny phantom #ectoberweek2020 #ectoberweek 2020 #dp fanfic #phanfic #danny fenton #vlad masters #whoo i finished 6 out of 7 fics for this event! #they're all kinda short but hush that's good #i wanted to stop writing monstrous one-shots that never ended #dark writes

[dannymayevent]

@coffeecakecafe Great work on completing the full Dannymay daily calendar! Your art is amazing, thank you for all your hard work for this event! It wouldn’t have been the same without you!

This fic was written by @phandom-phriend based on your day 15 work: Favorite AU, with some of your day 11 Doctor sprinkled in at the end

*Spoilers for season 1 episodes 5&6 of MHA

Mentions of blood and injury

--------

A pale teen with white hair and green eyes stands just outside of the UA gates. Only a few inches from where the sidewalk turns into the bricks of the school's entrance way. This isn’t a rare sight, seeing as almost all new students come to gawk at the large building where pro heroes are made. Where futures are built. Where dreams become reality.

But the boy standing there now isn’t silent from admiration. He doesn't appear to be concerned with the building at all, as if it were just like every other one on the street. No, this particular student seems to be thinking about leaving. As if weighing the option in his mind of whether or not continuing would be worth the effort. After all the work it took to even get to this point and with hundreds of other students willing to do anything to take his spot, you would think the choice to be easy. That the only logical thing to do would be to step forward and embrace the future that awaits inside the walls of UA.

But instead the thin, pale teen takes a step back. And then another. But it seems that fate has other plans as another boy, who seems to be around his age, crashes into his back and sends him forward the few steps he needed to cross into the official boundary of the school. He turns around, not angry at the push or sudden intrusion of his… escape. Merely curious. There are all sorts of people, you never know who you will run into. Or, well, who will run into you.

“I-I-I’m sorry!” the boy with green hair stutters apologetically, arms flailing about with nervous energy. “I wasn’t looking where I was going and I should have been and I’m-”

The boy with hair as white as the clouds above them catches the others hand gently and shakes it, as if that was what the other was intending all along. “I’m Danny, nice to meet you.”

“Oh! Uh- nice to meet you too! My name is Midoriya Izuku!” he seems shocked at the american name of the other, but doesn't comment on it and Danny doesn't explain. That would be a story for another day.

“Yes, you are quite a legend with your entrance exam. I’m excited to be learning with you.” Danny smiled “What class are you in?”

“Oh! Uh, t-thank you!” the shorter of the two blushed from the praise, not seeming to know how to take the compliment and quickly moving on to the next part of the conversation “I’m in class 1-A. What...what about you?”

Danny smiled kindly and began walking towards the steps of the school building with a confidence and purpose he didn’t have mere moments ago. “Me too, let’s go together.”

--

Once the two of them reached the large door of the 1-A classroom, Danny let himself fade into the background of all the chatter. It appears that Izuku is trying to warn him about some of the other students in class, but he pays that no mind, simply staying beside him and nodding along. Not that he doesn't trust the other, more along the lines that he knows he can handle whoever they are if push comes to shove. So for now he simply nods as if the information is helpful and interesting. That is, until a figure with awkward footsteps makes his way over to them and begins to introduce himself. Iida, it seems, with Izuku responding in kind. When the blue haired teen turns his gaze to him, Danny realizes he is the one in the spotlight now.

“I’m Danny.” he smiled politely to the other.

The taller seemed thoughtful for a moment, as if trying to remember something. But he eventually gives up that train of thought and turns his attention to the girl now standing next to Izuku. The nice and warm atmosphere doesn't last much longer however, as a man in a yellow sleeping bag in the middle of the hall speaks up to gather their attention before standing upright and removing himself from the confines of the sleeping bag. The older man pulls a gym uniform from inside the bag and announces to the class to get dressed and to meet in the playing field.

It seems that this will be an interesting first day after all.

--

Now changed and ready to go, the entirety of class 1-A now stands in the center of the UA’s physical education field as Aizawa, their homeroom teacher, begins to explain what will be happening today. A Quirk Apprehension Test. Something that seems to not have been allowed in middle schools across the country, making students use their own strength without the help of a quirk in order to even out the playing field.

But of course, because this is the hero course at the hero school, there’s a catch. Whoever scores the lowest in all eight sections is to be expelled… not that Danny is really worried about that, per say. Where he lacks in physical strength he makes up with the power flowing in his veins. Just applying them to these tests should be enough to at least score somewhere towards the middle.

However…

Looking at all the faces of the students around him Danny can’t help but to feel… bad. One of them would be going home tonight, expelled from a course many can only dream about and chances are Danny wouldn’t ever get the chance to properly meet them. It isn’t fair to be crushed while so young. But there’s nothing Danny can do aside from losing these tests on purpose, but that just isn’t an option right now. So instead he offers a steady hand on the shoulder of Izuku. The green haired teen seems more worried than determined, but when he looks back over his shoulder with a smile, Danny couldn’t help but to return it and put his confidence into the boy. Everything would work out fine.

--

Everything is, decidedly, not fine. While Danny himself was able to do well in the dash and long jump while lacking on the strength grip and side steps, it seems his new… friend? Izuku has been struggling in all categories. He had seen the others exam, knew that there was power hidden within him. But for whatever reason the other didn’t seem to be able to use it.

As the class made their way back out to the P.E fields for the official ball toss, Danny stepped close to his curly haired classmate. “Bad day?”

The other teen sighed “It’s… complicated.”

Danny nodded “I understand that. It’s hard enough being a teenager with power at your fingertips, and this is certainly a stressful first day.”

“Yeah…”

“I saw the video of your entrance exam. And no matter what happens today, you are already a true hero. If nothing else, you can believe that.”

The shorter one looked up at him with wide, dark green eyes “Really…?”

“Of course!” Danny grinned “A real hero can’t be solely defined by tests like this. It’s the actions that matter. This place,” he said gesturing to all of UA with his arms “Is just a stepping stone to getting that “pro” title. In my eyes, you’ve already earned the title of hero when you went after that machine.”

Aizawa spoke up before Izuku could say anything in return, calling Danny to the field for his turn at the ball throw. Without hesitation the white haired teen took the ball and made his way to the painted circle. He had been thinking on what to do for this ever since the demonstration with Katsuki, but standing there now, he felt that the answer wasn't as complicated as he thought it was before.

“You might want to cover your ears!” he called back with a wink, only a few students took his advice. Their loss...

Danny throws the ball upwards into the air and takes a deep breath. Before it even has the chance to begin its descent back down, the halfa releases his ghostly wail, the shock waves sending the ball flying outwards while, thankfully, not destroying it. Leave it to UA to make sturdy products for their students.

Eventually the ball lands and Aizawa holds up his phone, broadcasting the number of 650.4 meters. Not bad, considering it is the first time he has even tried to use his power like this. The other students' faces seem to be overly shocked as he steps back to his place next to his green haired friend, but this is fine. He’s used to attention one way or another by this point, so the eyes that follow him don’t mean much.

“That was awesome!” the boy next to him cheered. “What kind of quirk do you have?! How have I not asked you before?! You have such a range of skills! I saw you flying earlier! How-”

Danny just smirks, eyes flashing a brighter green for just a moment. “Hmmm… who knows?” he says playfully, bumping his shoulder into the other teens in a friendly manner.

--

That night all the students begin to head home with light hearts and tired bodies after finding out the expulsion rule was all a ruse to bring out the best in everyone. Danny can’t help but to be glad, seeing as that means his new companion is safe to continue learning for another day. He can see it in the others eyes, the dazzlement and determination of just being within the walls of UA. Seeing that light go out… isn’t something Danny wants to see if he can help it.

Some students head off to the dorms, others to their homes. Danny himself goes to an apartment building not far from the school and enters using his key. It’s quiet, but not silent when he enters. The hum of the TV and the footsteps in the kitchen bring a homey feel rather than the quiet emptiness of what this place once was.

Sam appears in the doorway as Danny takes off his jacket and tie. Wearing a uniform is still new to him, and not a change he can really say he likes, but he’ll get used to it. It’s just clothes after all. The goth smiles teasingly “So how was your first day of school? Learn anything interesting?”

“Har har.” Danny replied with a roll of his eyes. “Everything went fine, mom.” he takes off his shoes before transforming back into Fenton, into his human half. He is getting used to being his ghostly self mostly full-time now. At first even a whole day was too much to handle, making him feel nauseous and off balance. But after some training it became easier and easier to be changed for longer and longer. Still, it is nice to be reunited with his back hair and blue eyes. Sam keeps saying he’s just as pale in both forms, but Danny likes to think he has more life to him this way.

“Well, mister. It’s about time to get that wound of yours cleaned.”

Before he can say anything, Sam is already making her way down the hall. With a sigh, Danny makes his way into the bathroom instead of his to his bedroom. He’d love to change, maybe get a shower, but his friends are pretty insistent on this whole “cleaning your wound everyday” business. Crazy.

Tucker comes in a moment later in his sleepwear and pulls out the first aid kit. His sleeping schedule has been all over the place since the trio arrived here. Creating fake ID’s and documentation as well as keeping up to date online to make sure that no one had found them or figured them out became a full time job for the other, only getting sleep what seemed to be every once in a while. 

“I’m sorry, Tuck. I didn’t know you were asleep. I would have done it myself.”

Tucker laughs as he sits next to his friend on the side of the tub, motioning for Danny to take off his shirt. He complies. “Oh, please. We both know you wouldn’t do anything about it if left on your own.”

It was Danny’s turn to laugh as Tucker began to remove the gauze. “Well, you got me there.”

Underneath all the bandaging and gauze, the wound is still as bad as when he first got it all those months ago. A ghost had come with a cursed weapon, planning to take over Amity as all new ghosts usually do. While Team Phantom had been able to apprehend the ghost and gave them to Walker to deal with, it wasn’t without injury. Danny had been stabbed with the cursed spear in the shoulder right before the weapon could be destroyed.

The wound itself wasn’t too bad, in a sense. The pain is now dull as long as he is careful, and it had stopped bleeding after that first day. But the marks that almost look like a lichtenberg scar, criss crossing over the skin of his shoulder in a jagged maze-like pattern, started to spread. After some research and talking with Pandora, it was said that there would be a ghost here in Japan that could help. Hence the whole hiding in plain sight shtick. UA seemed to have some of the most powerful heroes and gained a lot of attention on both sides, so it was only a matter of time before he was enrolled with his “Death Mirage quirk”.

“Any luck in finding them? The ghost that can help?” Tucker asked as he rubbed disinfectant on his shoulder to keep germs and bacteria at bay.

“No, my ghost sense never went off. But it is a big building and I was outside most of today.”

Tucker nodded as he began to wrap new, clean gauze over his shoulder. Really, Danny was lucky the gym uniform covered it all. But he would most likely have to look into heavy duty make-up soon if the scars continue to spread.

Especially considering that while he’s a ghost it glows.

And yet, as Tucker packs his things away Danny can’t help but to look at the sunset out of the small bathroom window. All the colors are so bright and vibrant, illuminating the sky before night settles in. It really is no different from the ones he’s seen back home, but it brings a smile to his face either way. He can’t help but to think that he will enjoy his time here, even in these circumstances. He can picture himself now, flying above the tall buildings, looking at the stars. Maybe he could even bring his new UA friends along, show them a view from the clouds. He may not be here long, so it’s best to make the most of his time spent here, right?

There are good things coming on the horizon. He can feel it.

#dannymay2020 #dannymay prize #slight blood #AU

[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

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x Secrets of The Lake: The Company of Misery and Pain

{ Chapter 6 }

Summary: Vladimir Masters’ family tree has always been tainted by secrets swept under the rug. From generation to generation there have been countless reasons the Masters’ family had seemed to keep private from the public. Even to this day, Vladimir was no exception. But what was one to do when a restless spirit from the settlement years finally breaks free from restraints and demands you answer for your ancestor’s crimes? Vladimir doesn’t know. However, Clockworks does.

Notes: We just having fun, rewriting some of the canon, new adventure new characters. I will apologize now for any grammar, spelling, weird sentence structuring in advance. My brain writes faster than my fingers and even when I go back through to reread it I still miss things. Sorry about that!

Word Count: 2681

Maybe Danny should have stayed for dinner, gone home late and stayed long enough to defuse Dani’s anger towards Vlad. She was still mad at Danny but at least she would talk to him. This wasn’t the first time he has upset his daughter and had a silent dinner with her, that was bound to happen in the life of a parent who didn’t necessarily raise their kid. But this silent death had an added bonus of Dani staring at Vlad with a hint of confusion. Vlad tried his best to ignore it and pick at his food but the way her eyes seemed to dig further and further into his being it was impossible to ignore her.

“Danielle, I’m sure you are aware that staring is rude, no matter how much the other person upset you.” Vlad tried to sound as calm as possible as he spoke and for the most part it worked. Dani's eyes shot down towards her food and she quickly took a bite off her plate. Vlad sighed and decided he was done for the night, he wasn’t that hungry anyway, he snapped his fingers for the maid to come and clean. 

“Ya’know you could just get up and take it to the kitchen like a human.” Dani mockingly stated dragging out the word human just to emphasize her point. Vlad rose a brow and looked at her a bit bewildered but accepting the remark.

“As should you use the stairs to get to your room or anywhere else in the house. I know it's rather large but humans do it all the time.” Vlad couldn’t hide his amusement as Dani gave him a look of ‘shut up old man’. That spitfire attitude was all Danny’s and only 2% Vlad. Had Vlad had it his way a very long time ago, Danny would be his son doing the same thing and maybe Dani would have been there as well. Vlad hummed to himself then shook his head, one Danny of any sorts at a time. Two of them at once, Vlad was sure he would actually age past what he was physically. 

“I would like to apologize, Vlad took hold of his drink and took a sip to clear his throat. Apologies were still rather new to him and even if he truly meant it, it almost pained him to get it out. “Both Daniel and I know you only want to help. You are a natural born hero and we know it. But you have to understand that we are not trying to stop you because we think you can’t handle it. We are stopping you because what happened while we were in the Ghost Zone was even out of our hands. The last thing either of us wants is for you to be hurt trying to save us. Danny already had to drag me back home.” Vlad mutters the last bit, still embarrassed how easily he was defeated.

Dani untense her shoulders and lets out a sigh as she avoids making eye contact with Vlad. She gets it, she does, but she hasn't fought any bad guys in a while. Danny has been going out still on patrols while she was stuck at home because ‘you have school tomorrow’ was the excuse thrown at her. Even when she went home with Vlad she was still off limits from patrolling. If she wasn’t allowed to fight any ghost then at the very least she wanted to do was transform and fly around.

“I just wanna do something,” Dani plopped her face in her hands and sadly played with her food. Vlad nodded and gave her a sweet smile.

“Well, I can think of something that you can help with.” He said.

“Oh yeah?”

“And you can do it while in your ghost form.” Dani shot off the table and sat up straight in her chair. Vlad shook his head pleased to see her excitement once again. “I have a banquet coming this Wednesday and I haven’t gotten anything ready. I will give you full control to not only pick out the decoration, but also the theme and the staff that will entertain the guest. If you just so happen to make it ghost related I wouldn’t mind you putting on a show.”

Dani smiled but rolled her eyes and fell back into her chair.

“You put me on hosting duties but I’m not complaining. I get to go ghost!” Dani shrugged and picked up her fork to finish her plate. Vlad was actually impressed that she didn’t complain more. Had he ever said that to Danny, the boy would have complained the whole way through learning how to tie a tie.

“I will handle the menu, of course, but you have to tell me everything you want by tomorrow so we can prepare.” Vlad held up a finger and wagged it back and forth.

“Yeah yeah I gotcha, one fancy dancy fun party for fancy dancy people. But add a little bit of spice.” Dani did a very bad British accent and Vlad blinked a couple of times. She held up her hand and told him not to worry about it. Vlad will never understand this new generation and he wasn’t really sure he wanted to. When Dani finished her plate he was about to call for the maids but Dani stopped him. “Don’t worry I got this.” Dani pulled back her chair and picked up her mess and started towards the kitchen. When she passed Vlad she gave him a small smile, “Thanks dad.” 

Vlad would be lying if he said hearing her say that didn’t make his heart flutter. That was another tack on the board of good things Vlad has either done or heard. Vlad smiled and continued to sit at the table until he was done with his drink. When he looked towards the grandfather clock he realized it was rather late into the night. He still had work in the morning along with making sure Dani was ready to go when he was. With that he grabbed his glass and headed towards the kitchen to put it in the sink. Then he made his way towards the grand staircase to get to his room. He enjoyed the simplicity of being human sometimes, he took it for granted for 20 years so now being able to count the stairs up was fun. But Vlad also knew that being able to slip in and out of walls and floors was a childish thrill he would never let go.

  He led her from the wagon park on the dirt trail down through the trees to a hidden garden path that led to a cottage. Along the path was a stream of water that gently passed them by as the couple made their way towards their new home. Tayonna pulled away from him as she watched the water sparkle in the faint rays of the sun. It had been so long since they’ve been back here, four long years filled with nothing but trouble after trouble. The water looked so calm, not a care in the world as it continued to flow along the rocks on an unknown adventure. She wanted that, so badly. Born into unfortunate situations and only blessed by the benefit of service. She should be grateful but it seemed like the world was not made for people like her- for none of her people. She didn’t budge when she felt thick fingers slip between hers, nor did she look towards him when he stood beside her. 

“No one can find us here, it’s far enough from the town square and just far from any prying eyes. You are free to do as you please when you are here in my company.” Vladan took Tayonna’s hand in his and led her to the stream. The poor girl could tell he meant every word he promised her but something still haunted the depths of her mind. What they had together had changed dramatically from the time she was brought into the family to now. There was love, hidden scared fragile love that they both clung to in hope of forever.

“Here is home?” Tayonna asked as she reached down to dip her fingers in the cool water then used her powers to change its direction. The water started to rush upward towards the cottage before she lifted some of it into the air to swirl around them. Vladan smiled and pulled her in close and placed a kiss on her temple. The swirls of water broke apart in small drops and hung around them in crystals before dropping to the ground.

“And home is safe, I promise.” Vladan whispered to her, snaking a hand through her tight curls and pulling her in against his chest. They were safe, nothing bad could happen to them and he was sure of it. There was nothing left to take from him.

Vlad didn’t know what to make of this dream, but he was glad it wasn’t a nightmare nor a misleading sex dream. It was just bittersweet, as if he could tell the words that came out of his mouth- er the person he was in the dream’s voice was all a lie. Every time Vlad woke up from his dreams he couldn’t remember who he was supposed to be nor where he was. Everything played out like cloudy memories until Tayonna showed up. She always looked so unhappy and tensed like she also knew he was lying. Whenever they touched in these dreams, Vlad felt his heart flutter but always by the end it broke over and over again. He couldn’t even sit up in bed and simply rolled to his side to look out his window. He looked towards his bedside table and read the digital clock, it was 1am. He had only had the peace of slumber for two hours. As he stared out the window his mind drifted back towards the issues at hand.

From what Danny had told him about the ghost in the Ghost Zone, it seemed that Tayonna played on people’s emotions. ‘So she’s heartbroken?’ Vlad thought to himself then cringed at the thought of having to deal with another heartbroken ghost. What was it about the ladies in the ghost world all suffering from bad relationships? As if someone made it out to be that was the only thing they could truly suffer from. Vlad knew what heartbreak was, or rather what it could be when the one gets away from you. And yes he did spend a few years trying to win her over with shitty plots and tricks. But now he learned to let go, or in a way learning to do so, this was a cruel joke Clockwork placed him in. Tayonna would not be getting the upper hand on him.

When his position became uncomfortable he tossed himself onto his back once more. Staring up at the decorative ceiling Vlad found it hard to close his eyes. He was very tired but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle another dream. If he tried to think of something else to take his mind off the dreams it would find its way back around. Vlad ran a hand through his hair and pulled the dark patch in front of his eyes. He still couldn’t believe this, he was glad Danny and Dani hadn’t brought it up when he was standing in front of them. He had caught them looking since he woke from his small coma but they never asked. He sighed in a tired defeat and pushed his hair back behind him. He wanted to sleep and he would be damned if some ghost girl would be the reason he became an insomniac again. Vlad closed his eyes and tried to will his mind to nothingness so he could get comfortable. Within a few minutes he did start to feel himself slipping away, even when a cold hand caressed his cheek and tucked his hair behind his ear, he was completely drifting away.

The next morning Vlad for once in the past few months felt completely energized. When he opened his eyes he felt his power fire to life and felt like he could take on the world. He even had a little pep in his step as he hummed through getting ready and heading downstairs. Dani noticed his good mood as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. He hadn’t done any of this since he secretly bankrupt a competing company in California completely halting silicon valley.

“What’s got you all uppity?” Dani asked with a mouth full of cereal trying to shove as much as possible before being shooed out the door. Vlad stopped in his tracks halfway through making coffee and knotted his brows then shrugged. 

“I finally got a good night's rest, I suppose it put me in a good mood.” He hummed and continued his task.

“Well that's cool, also I have an idea for your thing tomorrow.” Dani pulled out her phone and swiped through it before opening her notes. “Four seasons, since it’s almost summer I think summer should be the main event while other parts of the party make up the other seasons. We could get some ghosts to dress up and be the spirits of the seasons and impress people with “magic tricks” .” Dani was proud of her idea, she had even drawn out costumes and shown Vlad.

“When did you have time to draw up all of these?” Vlad silently asked her for her phone and when she handed it over he flipped through the notes and the designs. They weren’t masterpieces but he could envision her idea. 

“Last night before bed, duh, but I figured out almost everything for each season. I'll be handling winter of course, but I couldn’t come up with anything for autumn because of the storm last night.” Vlad handed Dani her phone back and gave her a questionable look.

“What storm?” Vlad asked, taking a sip of his now cooling coffee. Rats. He wouldn’t have time to make another one, so he shrugged and used his powers to heat it up. They are there for a reason.

“You didn’t hear it? It was like so bad, I almost thought my window was gonna cave in from the winds. Eventually, it calmed down a bit and I went to sleep. You must have slept through it.” Vlad was sure that if there was a storm he would have heard it. Especially since he was woken up just a bit past midnight. Even when he looked out his window he didn’t see any traces of raindrops. Before Vlad could ask her more about the storm his phone sounded telling him it was time to go. With that he clapped his hands to gather Dani’s attention and told her to grab her stuff. He silenced his phone and stuck it in his pocket then transferred his coffee to his travel cup.

“Ugh I can’t wait till school is out.” Dani huffed and headed out the door heading towards the car.

“Two and half more weeks and you’re a free little woman. But until then get in the car so neither of us are late.”  Vlad shut the door and locked it and headed towards the driver's seat.

“Are you dragging us back to Wisconsin this summer? I kinda wanna stay here.” Dani rubbed her neck and Vlad secretly cursed Danny for giving her bad habits.

“I planned on at least staying there a week or so, but if you wish to stay in Minnesota that’s fine. Or I can compromise with you by staying with the Fentons’ while I’m gone.” Vlad felt proud of himself, he was on a roll of giving himself dad points. This unironically must be what Jack feels like. Wow… he didn’t want to compare himself to Jack at all.

“Deal.” Dani beamed and threw in her headphones for the rather lengthy car ride. 

#📖Ghost Stories👻 #vlad masters #Danny Phantom #my writing #self ship community #dp fanfic

[inventors-fair]

Free Sample Group Commentary

Open doors only for today!

@scavenger98 I didn’t do runner ups this time but this entitled boy had serious potential, though I don’t understand the when cast part of the card. Anyway, great overall flavor, 0 actual impact like its cost, which is a good thing for this challenge. It can have serious uses in monarch matters environments, in decks that skip their draw phase for one reason or another (mad pair with Solitary Confinement ) and there can be interesting kitchen table politics since you get to decide who’s the next monarch!

@machine-elf-paladin Pretty smart flavor text and a deceptively innocent 0 drop which could warp the game around it, especially in limited formats, where it would feast on every blocker or removal target until it becomes a threat in its own right. Considering this, maybe haste is a bit too much.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path making a statement for the peculiar times we live in right now with their design! The cards reads fun, but I’m concerned about the impact it will have on the game it’s played. The back and forth of the Plaguebearer might feel too much in the long run. I would like it more if it had limited uses like in the peculiar case of Leech Bonder.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes one can’t go wrong with egg designs! Unlike other egg cards, this one has to “hatch” and not just break/die to get your birb, which is a neat flavor win!

@kavinika Not gonna lie, this lil robo put a smile on my face. It has the essential amount of usefulness for a 0 drop and later on, be it equipment or counters, you can make combat difficult for the opponents. I can’t wait to see more of Soscarus’ creations!

@askkrenko One major concern when designing 0 drops is what if the player gets to have two of them in the first hand? Will it be too much? The all-wise goblin lord of Ravnica tackled this problem with the introduction of the “basic creature” concept and I dig it. Yes, this goblin is stronger than the standard 0 drop, memnite, but at least you can play only one on your first turn. People with experience with affinity decks will know this matters quite a lot.

@aethernalstars Before the commentary, I’m pretty sure this hydra can enter the battlefield without counters but I don’t remember the method. Everyone please comment below to remind me of the card, it really bothers me that I can’t remember it XD Now on to the commentary, I like you used the trend in the flavor texts where Vivien describes animals from different planes! On the battlefield, a 0/1 will do what 0/1s do, but the “printed power” is the selling point of the card, be it revealing on exiling with Varolz.

@dimestoretajic This this the first of the three o drop gods we received! The art chosen for this is great, mighty yet hilarious XD The fury of Om rains down on infidels that mess with your creatures, and that damage can really make a difference. The threat of damage also “protects” your creatures so its a tad easier to actually flip Om’s switch!

@morbidlyqueerious The second god design comes in the form of a land creature. Technically lands aren’t qualified for this challenge since they don’t have costs at all but the problem of the design is that it’s very easy for Anagatha to start counting as a creature, and a 5/5 creature that is. If this was a regular god design for like 2 to 4 mana, it would be great, it has both a good straightforward condition and payoff.

@naban-dean-of-irritation Atropos has a very subtle impact on the game at any time, and its power level is lower than other graveyard hate cards, so I think it being a God creature evens things out. The creature awakening condition feels fair too. I believe it could see play in decks with some artifacts and/or morph shenanigans!

@emmypupcake If you frequent to mythic spoiler, you might have come across the ongoing meme of “Looks like dredge got a new toy”. I feel this can be said the wisps but for Arcades decks or defender heavy theme in general. However it being defender isn’t that much of a drawback for it to have more toughness than ornithopter, and I feel it would be really frustrating if your opponents could wall you with a 3 toughness flyer with 0 effort.

@evscfa1 Zuthfangg is a really interesting design in regards of using a drawback to justify the 0 cost of the card. And in our case the drawback/ the spice of the card is that the opponents have a say on what it can or can’t do. With that in mind, I think being a 1/1 would be okay. Yes, it would surpass memnite for sure, but it’s a legendary creatures so it makes sense!

@nine-effing-hells First of all, I got to praise your effort for writing two flavor texts, and the second in the broken message form! On to the actual card, I think it would look better if the specimen had counters and it loses them in order to transform. That would save some text and complexity. As for the power level, I think by the time you get this to transform, your opponent will be able to handle a 4/4 menace creature.

@whackycrack It’s so cute!!! And while innocent it plays pretty well especially with combined blocks and/or more tiny screamers!

@hypexion I really dig the design idea and the overall flavor but being either a 0/1 or a 4/4 flyer for 0 mana feels overwhelming. The optimal stats are debatable but my call would be either 2/1 or 3/1. I feels its ok to hit harder if you are the monarch, but the high toughness gives it more longevity than other more expensive creatures. What do you guys think?

@starch255 This design is meant for edh, where life totals and creatures are usually larger but gifting a 5/5 0 drop to an opponent so they kill all the other plays is surely undercosted, plus EDH has a lot of tutors so the threat is very real, even in a 99 card deck. A smaller body with some slight evasion would feel less oppressive?

@thedirtside Leyline of Anticipation’s best friend!! Buy yours while supplies last XD It also works well with blink effects. So this little kitty is either an innocent creature or an demon straight out of the Hellvault. Are cats allowed to have such power?

@snugz Fleeting Flame is strictly more fair than the spirit guides cards, and that says a lot. The elemental tag might also come in handy! What’s not to like?

@Danny Death triggers fit 0 cost designs because even if they do have an impact, it happens later in the game, so in this regard, Exploited Muse gets a passing grade! There’s like a lot of room in the card, so I kinda expected some sort of flavor text to explain the muse’s hardships etc

@whuh-oh a 0 mana sliver? You sir, like to play with fire! The average sliver deck appreciates all the ramp it can get but at some point the enters tapped clause will be a hindrance. Ι doubt this passes the 0 cost test, but I’m curious to see how different a Sliver deck would be with a playset of this in it.

@shootingstarhunter Another good strategy for designs with stats higher than the average of the mana cost is the group hug way! The design is also a nice throwback to the recent Generous Gift.

@misterstingyjack and @antediluvian-microchip​ With the innovation of Lithoform Engine, we can now have copies of creature spells, and two people jumped on the hype train to explore this design space. Ludevic’s Reject provides semi-useful bodies with a steep life cost, and Motes of dust, being true to their name, do.. a lot of etb and death triggers. However, there’s a reason MaRo named the storm scale after this wild mechanic, so for once, maybe we should trust Ludevic XD

@shakesZX Typical humans, they cry about being oppressed while they can enter the battlefield as a 3/3 for 0 mana and minimum effort. May Avacyn purge them! Also, it can somehow count the opponent creatures that enter the battlefield on your turn with flash or deathtriggers.

@wolkemesser​ Not gonna lie, didn’t expect to see a germ in a not-token card! The ability is really sweet, it obviously synergizes with living weapon and one scry every couple turns feels ok for a 0 cost card! Glory to Phyrexia!

@deafeningsandwichpeach​ I like that this card uses a condition to justify its power and cost but getting to ten Scute Swarms is a small miracle in itself, even with the built-in replication ability.

@milkandraspberry​ Symmetric effects are fair game in any mana cost, but the scale of this goblin is extreme. 5 damage swings can close the game very abruptly and sudden ends usually don’t provide fun or closure.

@teaxch​ The suicide recipe is never off the menu no matter the mana cost! I think this works well as a 2/1 0 drop. But I can’t help but wonder what evil acts a leech must do to return as a spirit horror XD

@ignorantturtlegaming​ Closing with a very interesting design that cares about multicolored cards. It would be bold to say this is a “build around me card” but I can see it being prime target for auras and other buffs while being supported by multicolored instants for protection. Also pearlescent dragon is all colors, which elevate it to high draft pick in environments like shadowmoor/eventide with their color matters theme.

#Free Sample #group commentary #mtg #custom Magic card #inventors-fair

[srsly-messed-up-fruitloop]

Tug of War (Ch 2)

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Word Count: 1,756

A month has passed since Danny and Wes had served their detentions (unfortunately Mr. Lancer’s favouritism didn’t extend to Casper’s basketball players). However, like always in the past, the chowder incident didn’t deter Wes from trying to expose him. And like before, Danny just ignored the lunatic’s attempts. At least he hasn’t tried taking any more of his stuff from their shared locker since.

Read on AO3 or under the cut

Slamming his locker shut, Danny made his way to find Tucker. It was Tucker’s suggestion to go on patrol right after school since he had something planned later in the evening. However, no matter how many times Danny asked, he wouldn’t say what that something was. Too bad Sam was on vacation now. For sure she would’ve been able to squeeze the truth out of him.

When Danny approached his friend, he was kneeling, with his entire upper body swallowed up his locker.

“Uh, Tuck?”

Without budging from his position, Tucker responded, “Yo Danny, just give me a sec. I just need to finish with this wiring.”

Danny just stood there, observing in the various tools surrounding his friend before his eyes finally settled on an empty box for a George Foreman grill.

“Tuck...you didn’t...”

“Aha!” Tucker exclaimed enthusiastically. He backed out of the locker and admired his work. “Now let’s test this baby out.”

Danny watched wordlessly as he plugged something in a makeshift AC outlet inside the locker. A light beaconed from the top shelf, and there he spotted the grill.

Meanwhile, Tucker jumped up in glee. “Yeah baby! Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!”

“But…” Danny paused as he noticed the stack of textbooks on the floor by his feet. “What about your textbooks?

Tucker motioned to the empty space at the bottom of the locker. “Thank god Sam took home her shoes, I’m just gonna dump ‘em all there.”

“And Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“She’s going to be furious.”

“Let her, I’m doing her a favour. I’m pretty sure you can grill vegetables too,” Tucker said as he began cleaning up. 

Danny stooped down to help him. “How did you even get the time to do this?”

He shrugged. “Just did it all in my spare.”

“Wait, you have a spare?”

“Yeah, last period. You didn’t know?”

Danny struggled to recall if Tucker ever told him this. His mind has been a whirl since school started. “I guess I forgot. Hold up, why don’t you go straight home then? You don’t have to wait for us.”

“Nah dude it’s okay, I actually get a lot more done studying at the library here than the entire evening at home,” Tucker assured as he placed the last tool in his backpack. He stood up and fished out his PDA from his pocket, checking off ‘Install grill’ from his to-do list.

“I see what you mean,” Danny understood, remembering how much of a distraction his parents were at home. Now that Jazz had left for Stanford, it seems that his parents have doubled their efforts to spend time with him. He gets it, they missed Jazz a lot. And in less than a year he’ll be gone off to college too (hopefully). Still, they were pretty distracting, especially when they had a new invention or discovery to show off. Thankfully he had a spare next semester.

“So Tuck, before we start, are you gonna tell me your ‘special plans’ later?” he inquired for the last time, trying to inject as much ‘Sam’ into his voice.

“Nope,” he replied, popping the ‘p’.

Danny pouted. Before he could say anything else, he gasped when an icy fog escaped his mouth.

“Guess we’re starting patrol at the school today,” Tucker stated nonchalantly as he activated the ghost radar on his PDA. 

Looking both ways down the hall and confirming no one else was around, Danny transformed. 

Meanwhile, peering around the corner of the hallway in his basketball uniform, Wes seethed as he witnessed Fenton’s transformation for the seventeenth time! And like always, he didn’t have his camera with him. Why did basketball tryouts have to be today?

“Dammit!” he exclaimed, angrily stomping back to the gym.

How many times does he have to watch Fenton expose himself before the school finally takes a hint? Why are they so damn oblivious? Three years have passed and he still has yet to open anyone’s eyes to the truth! And Fenton has been masquerading as the town’s hero the entire time!

He doesn’t have much time left. Once he leaves for college, he’ll lose his chance. Sure, he could continue posting on his blog, but the seven visitors he gets every month either think it’s a joke or never heard of Danny Phantom. And who knows where Fenton’s heading after high school. He’d probably be stuck relying on his old evidence. Which isn’t even that effective, considering all the convincing it’s done so far. 

Time is running out. He refuses to let all these years go to waste. He’s dedicated his whole being to this. He cannot fail, he needs them to believe him. Otherwise, what has been his purpose all this time?

He can’t—they have to eventually believe him, right? He cannot go down that path again; the world needs him to prove this. 

He’s the only person who can. 

But what else he could do? He’s come to realize that Mr. Lancer gifted him the perfect opportunity to get close without faking being friends. Yet, except for the thermos that one day, Fenton hasn’t stored anything suspicious in their locker. Fenton must be keeping his weapons in his stupid sidekicks’ locker. That doesn’t help him at all!

There must some advantage to this sharing lockers thing. Some way...the memory of Fenton’s furious green eyes flashed through his mind. 

That’s right! Fenton’s temper brings out the ghost in him. And Wes has the perfect opportunity to get under his skin. Once the ghost loses control in front of everyone…

Then he’ll finally fulfill his purpose.

~

A yawn escaped from Danny as he trudged into school the next day. On autopilot, he grabbed his supplies from his bag and went to phase it into his locker. Except, when he leaned closer and his arm was halfway through the door, he stopped and sniffed. Something reeked.

Scrunching up his nose, he cautiously opened the door and cringed as the stench hit him full force. His eyes darted around the locker until they settled on the source of the offensive smell.

Wes’ basketball uniform. It was innocently lying crumpled at the bottom of the locker, but the stink it was emanating was criminal. He suddenly felt the urge to hurl. 

Didn’t Wes ever hear of deodorant? He didn’t know whether to feel disgusted or concerned. 

He was tempted to toss it into the trash bin in the hallway, but that would mean touching the smelly jersey and shorts.

Unable to stand it any longer, he kicked his locker shut and quickly retreated to his homeroom, backpack still on him. 

~

“Yo, Danny, you okay?” Tucker asked worriedly, noticing the sick look on his face when he sat down beside him.

Danny shook his head as he placed his books on the desk. “No. I…” he began, pausing when he saw his locker partner enter the classroom. “I need to talk to Wes,” he finished before abruptly standing up and striding towards him.

“What do you want, Fenton?” Wes coldly demanded. 

“You left your gym clothes in the locker.”

“Yeah, so? I’ll need them again for practice tomorrow.”

“Wes, they stink.”

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “It’s not that bad. You should feel lucky you’re not sharing with any of the other jocks.”

“You’re hardly a jock.”

“At least I’m something. Something real. You—you parade around this false loser facade, but I know who you really are Phantom,” he declared, poking him right in the chest. “And one day I’ll expose your true colours to the whole world.”

Danny really wasn’t in the mood this morning. Batting away Wes’ accusing finger, he cut straight to the chase, “Look, please just don’t keep your bas—”

“No.”

The two boys met each other’s eyes in a glaring contest. Neither side wanted to back down. After a moment, Danny continued, “Why not?”

“I’m just as entitled to keep whatever I want in there as you are. You don’t hear me complaining about your ghost hunting equipment.”

He was truly starting to lose his patience now. “No. Instead, you take my lunch and get us detention for spraying it on everyone.”

“Any other day I could’ve exp—”

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

The two boys jolted as the bell rang.

“We’re not finished here,” Danny grunted before heading back to his seat. Why didn’t he just get rid of that horrible stench right then and there? One ectoblast would’ve surely turned those clothes to ashes.

~

“Sausage?” Tucker offered when Danny sat at their lunch table.

Danny eyed the smoke swirling from the meat. “Did you just make those?”

“Yup, here, try one,” he said while picking up one with a pair of tongs.

Before accepting it, Danny muttered, “Sam is going to be so mad.”

“I know. Anyways, what went down between you and Wes this morning?”

Danny swallowed a mouthful of sausage before he started, “He left his clothes from basketball practice in our locker.”

“And...?”

“Tuck, they stink.”

“My dude...” He pulled out a can of Foley and pushed it across the table. “You’re lucky that we’re friends. I’ll let you borrow it, free of charge.”

Danny scrunched up his nose from an overly musky smell coming from the so-called cologne. “Tuck, this will just make it worse.”

Smirking, he smoothly replied, “Precisely. How do you figure I got Sam to take her shoes home?”

“Oh,” he realized, matching Tucker’s smirk with his own.

~

“FENTON, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CLOTHES?” Wes shrieked when he stomped over to his desk the next morning.

Feigning innocence, Danny raised an eyebrow and responded, “What are you talking about?”

“My uniform, you—YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN’T TOUCH MY STUFF!”

“And I didn’t.”

“Liar.”

Technically, he wasn’t lying. He just sprayed a little Foley at a certain spot in their locker. Okay, maybe not a little.

“I didn’t touch anything. It’s not my fault you’re just realizing how much your clothes stink,” he shrugged indifferently.

“I’ll...I’ll get you back for this Fenton!” Wes promised before stomping back to his seat.

Danny turned to an amused-looking Tucker and they both began to snigger.

#i MUST finish this before classes start #i have just over a week #i can do this #next chappie's a christmas one #hush ik it's august #fic #tucker #wes #grooveactuallywrites #tug of war

[archaeopter-ace]

Fic Writer Tag Gam

Tagged by @eurazba​ and @im-the-king-of-the-ocean​, thanks!

Fandoms: (I’m going to name all the ones that were ever Major Fandoms to me, past and present. As in, have I sought out at least one 40k+ fanfic for it? Usually these sorts of tag games will ask for my top ten or something, and I never get to lay them all out. Or at least as many as I can remember. Bolded my current interests)

Danny Phantom, Detective Conan, Doctor Who, Smallville, BBC Merlin, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, Good Omens, White Collar, The Dresden Files, Stargate SG-1, Rurouni Kenshin, Spider-Man, MCU, Marvel 616, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Supernatural, Young Justice, Blue Exorcist, Star Wars, Avatar the Last Airbender, Rise of the Guardians, The Flash, Welcome to Night Vale, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Gravity Falls, Lucifer, Detroit: Become Human, Sherlock, Tales of Arcadia

* Once upon a time I read a lot of Buffy crossovers, and then moved on to straight Buffy fics, without ever having seen any of the show. I did eventually see some episodes, but the vast bulk of my knowledge comes purely from fanfic

Where you post: Sometimes here on tumblr, though I don’t think I have it all unified under one tag, since my-writing is also used for meta talking about my writing...

AO3 is the best place to find the most up-to-date versions of my stuff. It’s a pain to correct typos on ffnet so I generally don’t, though there’s a couple of older fics there that I haven’t crossposted because they are incomplete.

Most popular multi-chapter fic: Internal Affairs with 7593 hits. It is the most-bookmarked Barry Allen & David Singh fic on AO3, whoot! It’s niche, but it’s a good niche

Favorite story you’ve written so far: Hard to say between Autoeponym and Metamorphosis. They’re both part of the same AU, and I’m just really excited about it :D

Fic you were nervous to post: Relative Truth. It was the first work I ever posted that was meant to be taken seriously (as opposed to cracky 100 word crossover drabbles), and it was my first plotty, multichaptered fic. Who knows, some day I might even finish it! ;P It’s only been eight years...

How you choose your titles: If the show has a particular pattern of naming, I try to match that if I can. So since White Collar has double-meaning titles, I went with Relative Truth, playing on the fact that truths are revealed about Neal’s family tree. 

Otherwise, I gravitate towards one-word titles (perhaps a result of the fact that I first started really paying attention to episode titles with Smallville). I further have a fondness for somewhat obscure and/or sciency terms, so Keraunopathy, Inertia, Philae, Autoeponym, Metamorphosis - but in the case of chapter titles in a one-shot collection, it might just be the topic or central thing that inspired it (Ice Cream, Chickenpox, Awake, Slumber, Cockroaches). 

More rarely, I’ll use a longer phrase or pull from an idiom - Cisco Answers the Phone, Henry Allen Has Never Been Rick-Rolled, The Girl in the Mirror, Where There’s a Will.

Do you outline: Yes, to varying degrees. Sometimes I treat it like writing an essay and just lay out my ‘topic sentences’ in order, so I know what happens in each paragraph, and then I have a place to ‘file’ whatever bits of writing I do. Sometimes for something more plotty I’ll have it organized more like a typical outline with different levels, although what usually ends up happening is I’ll start and stop several different outline attempts, and then stitch together what bits I can into a Frankenstein outline that may or may not actually be followed.

Right now, for Don’t Listen to Kafka, I’m attempting my most ambitious, color-coded storyboard to date

Complete: Inertia, my Flash one-shot collection, has finally been marked complete since the odds are quite low that I’ll ever return to that fandom, but the whims of my attentions have surprised me before, so who’s to say. Internal Affairs, the Singh spin-off of that one, has likewise been marked completed. The Haunting of Harrison Wells was successfully written on a deadline, for an event.

More recently, The Girl in the Mirror, Autoeponym, Metamorphosis, Mohs Scale, and I Was a Teenage Troll are call complete, though all but the first are part of in-progress series, so...

In progress: The aforementioned Relative Truth, though at some point I should probably just admit it’s a dead!fic. It’s just really hard to let go completely. 

As-yet-untitled next work in Don’t Listen to Kafka. While Claire might know about trolls, there’s still a gaping baby-brother-shaped hole in her knowledge. Somebody should do something about that...

The bit-after-the-next-bit-which-might-be-its-own-bit-or-might-be-a-separate-fic: Jim’s transformation continues! Barbara knows krav maga! Plans are made! Haemerythrin, the oxygen-binding pigment of marine worms, becomes a relevant analogy!

Some more one-shots in I Was A Teenage Troll AU, because I have a lot of backstory that I haven’t used yet. 

Coming soon/not yet started:

As long was we understand ‘soon’ to be highly subjective and subject to change:

A Gravity Falls x Trollhunters crossover. Man, I love reading crossovers but I haven’t written that many...

The Garage. Told from a Changeling’s POV, who was able to keep working as a mechanic at his garage even after he lost his human form when the Familiars were rescued (because he’d already been outed as a troll years before). The story begins when Jim shows up at the garage with a message for Craig Dunlin.

Hey Brother. What I call the Vermont Half-Brother AU. Written entirely in epistolary form, because I’ve never used a groupchatting app in my life and I don’t think I could write a chatfic between two people convincingly. On the other hand, it’s hard to justify writing letters back and forth when both of them have cell phones...

Do you accept prompts: I like the idea of prompts but I know for a fact that I would not be able to fill them. I’m not a very prolific writer at the best of times, imagining I could fill a prompt in any sort of timely manner is sheer fantasy.

Upcoming story you are most excited to write: Don’t Listen to Kafka. My outline is almost solid enough that I feel like I have enough of a framework to start working on details, and I love working on details.

I tag:

 @rockymountainvixen​ @luvtheheaven​ @kalajorn​

#tag game #my writing #arch not archie

[bluedaviau]

「 cherry. rachel hilson. cis female. she/her. 」 are you ready for the time of your life, BLUE DAVIAU? the TWENTY ONE year old FINE ART graduate from tulane is ready to HOT AIR BALLOON  in DUBAI this semester. close friends would describe them as IDEALISTIC and CREATIVE, but there’s really only one way to find out. get ready for what august has in store for you, BLUE ! 「 pepper. twenty one. est. she/her. 」

ABOUT THE MUN.  the 2000 claymation film chicken run radicalized me

what up, i’m pepper, i’m twenty four, and not to flex but i’ve had writer’s block for two str8 months !! but i’m hoping to change that right here right now with one ms. blue daviau so thank you for coming on this journey with me friends it’s gonna be wild. a bit about me is i’ve gone to the mall literally every day this week and honestly, i am Exhausted from it so i apologize for the mess this intro is about to be. i’m a taurus with a libra moon and libra rising so do with that information what you will. my favourite pokemon is mewtwo. growing up i had a massive crush on danny phanton and ben 10, like i loved those lanky boys that could transform to fight crime for some reason?? i can’t tell you why. also when i was a child i thought god looked like king triton from the little mermaid. alright that is enough about me, moving on to blue. 

BIO.  if you use my coloured pencils you better put them back in rainbow order

this is going to be the short version of her bio but if you want to see the long rambly messy version you can find my google doc/app here ! which i recommend you looking at for no other reason than to see how cute the little cherry doodle i inserted in there is. it took me so long to get that in there and looking cute. it’s baby’s first fancy google doc 😌 anyways sdjhdsjh 

blue was born and raised in hawaii! her mother, stormi, was miss hawaii state at one point and her father, reggie, was a pro surfer! however before blue was born her father had a surfing accident that left him in a wheelchair. he turned to art to try to cope with the trauma of this accident and the reality of never being able to surf again, and he even opened up his own gallery! his gallery became a tourist attraction in hawaii and pretty well known in the art community and after passing down her crown blue’s mother became a news anchor. so the fact was blue was the daughter of two local legends in hawaii and the expectations were high!

not to mention the fact that all of blue’s elder siblings were amazing too. blue has five older siblings and all of them are successful in their own right and in their own niche. they’re also all named after colours funnily enough. the daviau parents had big hippy energy in case you were wondering. 

so growing up blue was always just kind of the ‘other’ sibling. all her older siblings had showed their talents at a young age and grew into them pretty quickly, while blue was just kind of... there. she was an artist, but she wasn’t a groundbreaking artist. she could sing, but her voice was simply pretty, not lifechanging. she could surf, but she was average at best. to put it simply, blue was the daviau sibling who wasn’t at all special. which ironically, made her stand out like a sore thumb. 

blue didn’t mind too much though, at least not when she was younger. she kept to herself anyways. all blue wanted do when she was younger was read, draw, and explore hawaii’s wild life, so she had everything she could possibly need to be happy right at her fingertips. life was good for her despite her inadequacy, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of it (and wouldn’t develop a complex about it later).

when blue was six though her parents decided that they needed to have sweet, sweet, baby number seven to save their marriage. they named that sweet boy gray. he did not save a damn thing, but he sure was cute. blue was eleven when her parents finally divorced and that pretty much marked the end of blue having any kind of parental guidance. 

long story short, both of blue’s parents went kinda buckwild the moment they were single and most of the responsibility to take care of five year old gray fell on blue. blue was the one to make gray’s meals. blue was the one to give gray a bath. blue was the one to tuck gray in at night and get him into his school clothes in the morning. blue was the one to help him with his homework and hold his hand as he crossed the street and honestly pretty much do everything for him until she was about seventeen. both her parents simply checked out on that front, and it the end blue was more of a mother to gray than either of their parents were. 

the pressure of having to not only take care of herself but also gray when she wasn’t even legally an adult yet, was honestly way too much for blue. her anxiety skyrocketed, and the pressure she put on herself only grew. the only way blue could really cope with it and calm herself down was by 1. losing herself in nature, 2. drawing, or 3. reading, or rather most likely, doing all of the above at once. using art of an escape pretty much guaranteed that blue’s love and passion for it grew, and with that her talent for it. by that time blue was seventeen she had a full portfolio ready to send off to any university outside of hawaii that would take her. because you bet your bottom dollar your girl was getting the hell outta there!

as we all know blue got accepted to tulane. it was hard to leave gray and her family behind, but blue set her mother and father straight before she left, ensuring that gray would be well taken care of in her stead and hoping that some distance between herself and her family that was so dependent on her (her mother never new how to cook so blue made all the meals, her father never knew how to handle gray so he was always coming to blue to advice, gray was absolutely lost without her, etc) would lift that pressure off her shoulders. 

it didn’t at first. the first few months were tough with all the calls blue got from home. that plus the schoolwork she had on her plate almost left her more stressed than before. however, slowly the calls began to fade and slowly blue was able to put her full focus in her art program, and later, her animation programs. 

sorry folks my brain is fried, we’re gonna stop here!

HEADCANNONS. on all levels except physical i am sitting on top of the moon with my legs swinging back and forth

Blue’s father is in a wheelchair from the surfing accident that made him take up art. His past as a professional surfer is actually part of the reason why his gallery is so popular though honestly, because the accident was televised and after that tragedy many of his fans and the public wanted to support him. He just also so happened to be really talented. But yeah, Blue’s father was really talented at surfing, he was even invited to the summer olympics in the nineties! But he was also the type to refuse to go because ‘surfing should be freeing, the olympics have so many restrictions, it takes away from what surfing is!!’ dkjsd he was that type yk? I also imagine Blue’s parents were the type to be on the front lines at protests. As it is, Blue is the same, very passionate, definitely has made some bomb ass posters and t-shirts for every women's march she’s attended.

Blue can play the ukulele really well and she honestly has a really pretty singing voice. However she can’t dance even a little bit. Honestly, she could literally break a bone. Really wants to throw it back though 😔

Loves to bake and cook because they’re relaxing activities with built in rewards. Learned to bake and cook because of having to take care of herself and her brother's meals when she was younger, that is if she didn’t want them both to literally get diabetes. As it is though, now that she doesn’t have to worry about her baby brother’s diet as well as her own, she will make a whole chocolate cake just cause she’s a little stressed and proceed to actually eat it. But she will share though. Catch Blue coming to your hotel room with sweets.

All of Blue’s elder siblings are adults now, but Gray is still about sixteen. They exchanged letters from Hawaii to Tulane and Blue always spends hours decorating hers and including little snacks and cute little knick knacks in them, despite the fact that Gray is now an angsty teenager and does not find these things as entertaining as he used to. Despite that, they are definitely the closest out of their siblings for the most part.

Blue’s siblings' names are Sage, Jett, Jade, Ruby, Rose and of course Gray. Jade and Jett, and Ruby and Rose are both twins.

The type to cry easily honestly. Also the type to carry other people’s problems with her. Like if you tell Blue that someone hurt your feelings last week she will remember and she will check on you the next time she sees you. Very empathetic, almost to a fault though because she’s constantly being careful of everyone else’s feelings rather than her own. The type who’s a good listener though. Also the type to give either really good advice or really odd advice.  

Art still tends to be her happy place, something she got from her father. Trying to find her own place outside of her father's shadow. She wants to get into the world of animation and cartoons but the whole task is a bit daunting. Is planning to work her ass off for it though! Spends a lot of time in coffee shops storyboarding and making animations. I think she may have a contract going on with a cartoon network of some sort, like they may have picked up a show of hers? Because I imagine her putting out some of her first shorts on Youtube and that might have gotten a bit of attention and led to her getting a deal for a show, so. She’s probably working her ass off towards that, and is honestly probably 1.doubting if they really picked up her show because of her talent or her father’s name, and 2.wondering if she can really do this.

Loves water in all shapes and forms. Since she can’t go to the beach everyday, the small bath in her tiny ass apartment??? Suddenly heaven. That said, Blue is either terrified of the ocean or loves it and I can’t decide which. Standby on that.

Makes a great coffee cake. Like it’s to die for.

Is VERY passionate about the environment. Is a pescatarian. Goes to the farmers market to pick out fresh produce. Loves to hike.

Always has the urge to sketch or paint after she reads poetry or novels. Highlights her favourite bits and has the tendency to read them over when she’s sad. The parts she loves are usually the parts that leave her wanting something.

Draws when she’s sad too. Claire Saffitz energy when she’s cooking but also just through life. Very friendly, but an introvert when it comes to gathering her energy.

Lives for libraries and bookstores, and has stacks on stacks of books in her old apartment. Loves old children's books honestly, like The Secret Garden, and poetry. Like whimsical and fantastical fiction with flowery words that just brings you to another place? Blue’s freaking jam. Falls in love with someone in fiction every five days, and desperately wants to be in love in real life, hence all the tinder dates and blind dates. I don’t think Blue ever has fallen in love though, like not really.

An absolute baby when it comes to the cold. Literally there could be a slight breeze and Blue will be acting like she’s suddenly in the arctic.  Any cold destinations will be greeted by a bundled up Blue’s Clues.

Made her first painting out of her own feces at six months old. Her parents proudly framed it. It’s probably still up in the attic in their Hawaii home.

Won her first art show at six but was unsure whether it was because her art really was something worth awarding or because of her father’s name. The award got her on the front page of the Honolulu Tribune but with her father proudly at her back and the title ‘Following in her father’s footsteps’ above her head. Blue just wants to find her own footing in the art world, and be her own person.

Keeps a journal and has since she was a teenager.

WANTED CONNECTIONS. i’m the friend that needs help opening water bottles. 

coming to theatres near you soon!

#august.intro #i am too tired to write any more for now but tomorrow ??? it's over for you hoes

[ciestessde]

SOSW Halloween: Lyoko Portal

SUMMARY

In an attempt by the evil A.I. “X.A.N.A.” to destroy humanity, it brings several beings from other dimensions to a certain junkyard-of-a-college. Chaos ensues.

This is a "Special One-Shot Wednesday" for Halloween 2019 and includes requests from: "ghostboy1225″ @liam21134 on twitter, "GirlFish" on fanfiction.net, and several anonymous requests given through the OSW polls. (Vaguely connected to the OSW "Behind the Curtain")

Aelita and Jeremie, the two transfer students, were setting up the finishing touches on the project they'd come all this way to complete. Aelita only needed to finish entering the coordinates, and then…

Aelita paused in her typing. She turned to Jeremie. "Do you really think this is going to work?"

Jeremie only had eyes for the screen in front of him. "You want to get back to Lyoko, right?"

"Of course I do-" "Then it'll work." Jeremie reached his hand out toward the activation button.

"Jeremie, NO! Don't activate it yet!" Aelita screamed.

… But it was too late.

Before either of them could react, the portal on the wall of the university's lab whirred to life, screaming a terrible high-pitched whine and filling with unfamiliar energy.

The room was drenched in a blinding white light.

~~~ * ~~~

Harley and Bat froze, turning to look down the stairs to their left.

After a few moments, Bat looked at Harley, who was still staring. "... Don't even think about it."

Harley didn't move, still focused down the stairs. "Bat, someone could be hurt." "And if they are, it's their own fault. You know which lab that is, right?"

"... You don't." "Should I? Since when is there-?"

"Why must you gain courage at the most inopportune times?!" Bat sighed and explained, "It was designated a private lab last month. Transfer students. That's all I know. I thought maybe we could recruit them to get more funding for the club, but it… didn't work out," Bat turned and continued walking, "Whatever they're doing down there isn't any of our busi-"

He heard heavy footsteps and turned. Harley had run down the stairs.

"DAMMIT, HARLEY!"

Against his better judgement, Bat ran after him.

~~~ * ~~~

"Oooh… What happened?" Beetlejuice rubbed his head, floating up off of the ground. Wherever he was, the entire room was full of smoke. "Where's Lyds?" He cupped his hands around his mouth, "LYDIA?! YOU OK?!"

A strange moan came from his left, and further inside the room he heard a girl call out, "Jeremie! Are you alright?" "Yeah… Yeah, I'm ok."

Then… it processed: "This is the World of the Living. I'm… I'm free!" And with a shout of "WAHOO!" Beetlejuice was released upon the school.

But there was a far more pressing issue the students would have to deal with before the poltergeist.

'So… Hungry… There was… light… pulling, and then- '-Wait. This smell… 'Smells… smells like… human, but… Me?'

Danny opened his eyes- -And saw himself.

Except, something was wrong. It… it wasn't him. It couldn't be, because… The face he was looking at - was the face of a corpse.

And it… He… 'I'm just so… so… HUNGRY.'

The other Danny, having regained consciousness, stopped moaning. It smelled like Livings here… Not good. And even worse, was that… himself?

Suddenly, other-him lunged mouth-first at him! And the guy was strong. WAY too strong!

He grabbed the clone(?) by the shoulders. He was managing, just barely, to hold him back - but it was hard to focus with the two Livings on the other side of the room-!

"Ugh…" There was a Living boy - teenager? - lying not five feet from them. Great. Just… Just PERFECT!

But then, somehow, it got worse. Other Him - grew tentacles?!

They grabbed Zombie Danny around the middle, lifting him into the air and SLAMMING him against the floor! They dragged him across the linoleum, leaving deep gouges as they went - miraculously not hitting the Living Boy.

Planting his feet, Zombie Danny used all the inhuman strength in his decaying flesh to TEAR the kagune off of him.

At that, Ghoul Danny apparently decided to go after the easier prey: the Living Boy.

Who finally woke up. Will was grateful, at first, to not be in the Upside Down anymore- -But that gratefulness didn't last long.

Zombie Danny blocked Ghoul Danny's kagune just in time. But that brought him very close to Will. And Ghoul Danny wasn't the only one who was hungry.

It was like he could smell the contents of the boy's head all the way through his skull. Maybe he could - it wasn't like there was a guidebook to his situation!

Zombie Danny's options were running out. If he didn't eat a brain soon, his body really would die this time! He'd become a full ghost, not just half.

And he… He couldn't let that happen. But… And he didn't know these Livings. He didn't know what was going on. But…

But.

He couldn't just let them die, either!

So. Danny forfeited his secret - and transformed.

By the time Bat and Harley made it to the lab, they froze. What else were they supposed to do when faced with such pure chaos?

Some of it was expected - like the two transfer students huddled and madly pressing buttons in the back of a room filled with smoke. Some of it wasn't too unusual - like the teenager panicking on the floor. Maybe he was just here to study, or was someone's younger brother, or… something.

But then there was a glowing teenager holding back another guy who had TENTACLES COMING OUT OF HIS BACK, WHAT THE HELL?!

Zombie-now-Ghost Danny screamed at the typing students, "Look, I don't know exactly what's going on, but you two seem to be the cause, and I just want you to know - I can't hold this guy back forever!" "I'm working on it!"

"Jeremie!" Aelita, her face terrified, pointed at a screen where a weird, almost target- or eye-looking symbol was glowing a bright, ominous red. Jeremie froze. "Oh no…"

Snapping out of it, he looked around the room - panicked for a moment - then started barking orders. "I don't know any of you, and you don't know me, but we don't have much time. If we don't fix this, the entire world - multiple worlds - will be doomed! So, like it or not, we need your help-!"

"Yeah whatever!" interrupted Ghost Danny. Ghoul Danny growled and, stabbing his kagune into the ground, pulled them both forward a couple feet toward the still frozen-in-shock Will. "Just tell me what to do before I lose my grip!" "Aelita! They'll need to go inside Lyoko!" "Right!"

The pink-haired girl pulled out a handful of… buttons? "Not the ghost - OR the kid!" said Jeremie, setting up a complicated-looking laptop display. "Got it."

Aelita placed one of the buttons on her head, then threw one onto Ghoul Danny's stomach. Before they could snap out of it enough to protest, she'd already thrown one onto both Bat's and Harley's heads, as well. "Transferring scan data!" Jeremie said, and the buttons glowed. The light spread through each of their bodies. "Virtualization!"

And like that, Jeremie, Ghost Danny, and Will were the only people left in the room. Danny just floating, Will looking around confused, and Jeremie still furiously typing.

"..."

"... Ok… That was different," Danny said in his echoey voice.

Jeremie seemed to finish, or at least paused to look at him and say, "There was another… guy- that flew off earlier. It's not really my place to ask, but-"

"-Hey, um…" Will stood up, trembling. Danny and Jeremie turned to look at him. "Where… am I?"

"That's…" 'Why didn't I think to ask that?'

"..." Something beeped, and Jeremie looked down at one of the screens in front of him. Typing again, he responded, "It's hard to explain, but you're basically in an alternate reality. The portal we were building- … Glitched." He paused to look Will (and Danny) in the eyes. "We'll get you back home. I promise." Looking back at the screens and typing again, he added, "But I'd really appreciate your help in the meantime."

Danny looked at Jeremie, then down at the shivering Will. "..." He floated down so his feet touched the ground. "Hey, uh. My name's Danny."

He held out his hand. At first, Will just stared at it. But after a couple moments… he took it. "... I'm… Will."

Danny put on his best smile. "Nice to meet you Will. Hey, um… How do you feel about helping me catch a ghost?"

To Danny's surprise- -Will's face lit up!

~~~ * ~~~

It had to be the oddest sense of déjà vu Bat and Harley had ever experienced. There was yet another flash of light, and they were… in a desert?

He and Harley looked… Like themselves, but… 'What the heck?!'

Bat looked like a vampire with bat wings. Harley was… a centaur? Aelita - well, she'd already had that weird pink hair before, but now she kinda looked like an elf. Danny, though, looked pretty much the same.

But… his head was clear. He wasn't hungry anymore?

Groaning, he opened his eyes. He could remember what happened, of course, but that just made him more confused. Why wasn't he hungry anymore…?

Before he got a chance to ask, Aelita grabbed everyone's attention, all business. "You see that tower?" She pointed into the distance. A few miles away was a simple, cylindrical tower. "I need to get inside it. Once I do, I can fix the portal and stop XANA."

"Zana?" asked Harley.

Bat was trembling with rage, refusing to look at Harley. Harley noticed, but… Well, they didn't really have time to talk right now, did they? Lives were at stake here!

"It's what's causing all this. It's an AI that wants to destroy humanity. We thought we had defeated it, but we must have reawakened it when activating the portal somehow. But- It's so far away. And we don't have any vehicles…" "Maybe Bat can help." "Huh?" Bat looked around, searching for the source of Jeremie's voice. "It says here you should be able to turn everyone into bats. That should help you all move more quickly."

"And how, exactly, do I do that?" Bat glared at the sky. "C'mon, just try." Bat turned his head. Harley was giving him a pleading look. "..." Bat turned his face away…

… But a couple seconds later, and everyone was flying above the desert.

~~~ * ~~~

Beetlejuice was flying around the school, at a loss for where to even start spreading mayhem! As he passed by, at just below the speed of sound, someone slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him inside a closet.

He struggled, and the hands released him. "What gives?!"

"Shhh!" Danny held a finger up to his mouth.

But Beetlejuice didn't listen. "Woah. Dude, what's with the glowing? You get bit by a radio-GHOST-ive spider or something? Ha!"

Danny facepalmed, and groaned, "Look, I don't have a thermos on me at the moment. So can we just skip to the part where you give up and agree to go back to the Ghost Zone and torment me later?"

Beetlejuice just laughed, "'Ghost Zone'? Is that a new theme park or somethin'?"

"Huh?" 'Theme Park? Wait… He's not glowing…

'Oh, crud! 'Is… Is he NOT a ghost?!'

"Look, kid, I like your sense of style and all, black and white is always in, but when it comes to tormenting people… The Ghost with the Most is always PENctual!" From out of nowhere, a giant pen appeared in Beetlejuice's hand and sprayed ink all over Danny, blinding him. "But I INK you get the idea! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Before Danny could think to turn intangible to get the stuff off of him, Beetlejuice flew out of the closet- -and met with a face-full of Fenton Wrist Ray.

"I got him!" Will was practically jumping with excitement.

Danny phased out of the wall (and the ink). "Awesome!" He tackled BJ, pinning his arms to his sides much like he had with Ghoul Danny.

BJ struggled, but Danny's grip was too strong to break. "Hey! I don't appreciate being HUG tied!"

"Dude. What's with the puns?" Danny asked, surprisingly casual.

Suspiciously, the struggling stopped. "Oh, nothing really. I just need a breath of FLESH air!" There was nothing Danny could do, then, to stop him.

BJ turned into gas - and slipped straight through his arms!

~~~ * ~~~

"Look out!" Aelita transformed back into her base form, activating her own wings, and tried to shove Bat out of the way of a laser. But she was too late.

Bat fell, everyone else losing their bat forms and landing with, thankfully, only minor damage.

They had only made it about halfway to the tower, but they were surrounded: From the air came five wasp-like hornets and three stingray-looking mantas. Then, bocking their ground-route, were several large, black, ball-like megatanks, the giant cubes-with-eyes bloks, and a few tall, spindly krabs.

There was no time for a complicated strategy. Aelita yelled, "They can't kill you, but they can send you back to the real world. Cover me while I head for the tower!" and flew off.

Bat pulled himself up. He was thoroughly pissed off now. 'First, Harley runs straight into danger - AGAIN. Then these strangers rope us into helping them. And now I get shot from behind by some BUG?!' He glared at the hornet that shot him, the one in the lead, and, acting on instinct, blasted it with a wave of wind.

Harley shot a fire ball at the same moment, and at the same hornet. The attacks combined, becoming more powerful, and all three of the monsters exploded.

Meanwhile, Danny was focused on the ground enemies, dodging their lasers with ease and slashing at them with his kagune. Hunter that he was, it didn't take him long to figure out that their eyes and the eye-symbols were their weak spots.

After that, it took him no time at all to demolish the entire swarm.

The only ones left after only two minutes were the mantas - as, after seeing what happened to the hornets, they had moved too high for any of them to reach without flying.

"Bat-" "-yeah yeah, I know," he grumbled at Harley. He was still pissed, but the only way out of here was to do as Aelita told them. He was backed into a corner.

Which just pissed him off more.

Flying up with remarkable speed, Bat got above the three mantas and blew them downwards into Harley's fire. A few seconds passed, but the monsters didn't die.

Cursing, Bat stopped his wind attack and manifested some knives. He threw them at the eyes on the mantas' backs, but it still wasn't enough.

Cursing even more, he dodged the mantas' lasers, swooped down, and grabbed Danny. "Hey!" "Shut up and just attack," Bat snarled - and dropped him right on top of the lead manta.

Striking and using the momentum to jump to the next one, Danny took them out in less than ten seconds.

And so, before Aelita even made it to the tower, all the monsters were defeated- -only for even more to show up right in front of the girl.

~~~ * ~~~

"Jeez this kid is tough!" Beetlejuice muttered, hiding behind the door of the Principal's office. Danny had flown by a few times, and a few of those times had almost caught the poltergeist again!

But BJ's plan was working out, so far. Soon, he'd truly be free! Free to explore the Living World without ever having to return to the Netherworld! … Free to spend his life with his best friend.

"All I have to do is get rid of that stupid portal, find Lyds, and I'll be set for my afterlife! And speaking of the poor fool…"

The Principal walked into his office, closed the door - and Beetlejuice possessed him. "Time to go fire some transfer students!"

Unfortunately for BJ, Danny knew an overshadowed person when he saw one. Grabbing Will and shushing him, he followed BJ back to the lab - right where Danny wanted him.

Mission complete and XANA defeated once again, the Lyoko group devirtualized RIGHT before the "Principal" walked in.

Ghoul Danny's hunger returned with a vengeance - but he held himself back. He only needed to last long enough to get back home…

"What's going on here?!" Principal Beetlejuice said.

Jeremie froze. "Um…" "It's not him," said Danny, turning visible behind BJ and setting Will down. "How long before the portal's ready?"

Aelita hit a few buttons, "It's ready whenever you are."

Danny reached an intangible hand inside the Principal, "Then NOW!" and pulled out the poltergeist. The portal came on with a soft whirr - Beetlejuice made one desperate last attempt, "UnHAND m-!" - and Danny LAUNCHED Beetlejuice through it.

The Principal was swaying back and forth, Ghoul Danny chewing on his own hand and his kagune twisting. Ghost Danny flew over and turned him and Ghoul Danny invisible. The Principal, slowly, blinked back to consciousness.

"Wh-what…?" He looked around at the burn and scratch marks all over the walls and floor. "Oh my-!" "Sir," Harley said, walking up to him, "You came down to investigate the explosion, right?" "Explosion?!" "There's no need to worry. No students were hurt. It was just a…" Harley stopped, at a loss for how to get out of this. The Principal's expression was turning into a glare, and Harley started to get nervous.

"-A slight miscalculation with the startup charge," interrupted Bat, "Turns out it didn't require as much energy as expected to open the portal, and that excess energy is what caused the explosion. Thankfully, no one got hurt. And, more than that, as you can see…" He raised an arm to wave at the glowing gate behind him, grinning, "The experiment was a success."

The Principal stood there, staring wide-eyed at the portal to another dimension in his university's lab, for a solid minute. Of course, Bat being down here was extremely suspicious, given his reputation, but… Grinning like a cheshire cat, the Principal went around shaking everyone's hand and congratulating them.

This probably would've continued if Jeremie hadn't expressed the desire to "continue perfecting the experiment that night." "Yes, yes, of course, carry on," the Principal said, "The pursuit of knowledge takes precedence…!"

After he'd left, the Dannys turned visible. Ghoul Danny's kagune were starting to scratch at the floor again. "Alright! Hurry up and open the portal to HIS dimension!" Jeremie did so, and Ghost Danny threw Ghoul Danny into it.

And, for a moment, there was peace.

"Well…" said Harley, "... I guess that all worked out." Bat stomped up the stairs without a word.

"..." Harley ran up after him. "Hey-"

Bat, halfway up the steps, spun around. "WHAT were you thinking!?" Harley froze. "You-... You just-..."

"..." Glaring, Harley walked up the steps between them- -grabbed Bat by the collar- -held him there for a few seconds: "I was saving people. But-" -and hugged him.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

"... "No you're not. You liar."

Reluctantly - and, he'd stress, only because they were alone - Bat hugged him back.

~~~ * ~~~

Back in the lab, Will addressed Jeremie and Aelita, "So, uh… That's an interdimensional portal."

Jeremie grinned. "Sure is!" Aelita noticed Will was shaking again. She tried to reassure him, "We can send you right back to where you were, don't wor-" "Actually," Will stammered, "I, um… Can you send me- back home?" "Huh?" Jeremie said, "I mean, that's what we were planning on- wait. You mean, you weren't-?!"

Will was shaking even more now. Danny rested a hand on the kid's shoulder. He looked to Aelita. "How hard would it be to send him home?"

The two students thought for a few moments.

Jeremie answered. "In theory, we can get his dimension's coordinates from his body's frequency, but… If we get it wrong," he shook his head, "We won't be able to fix it."

Will's shaking got worse for a second. Then stopped. He looked up. "Then…" He swallowed. "... Just send me… back where you found me."

"Are you sure?" Danny asked him. Will trembled a little, but smiled. "I know I'll get home. Someone will come for me. I'm sure of it."

"..." Aelita and Jeremy recalibrated the portal. And, with a small wave, Will walked through. Then, with one final adjustment, Danny went home, as well.

Now alone again, there were a few moments of silence.

… Aelita started giggling. Jeremie looked at her, confused, for a second.

She was looking at the portal- -the fully-functioning, interdimensional portal- -that they had built.

… He starting giggling himself.

Before long, they were hanging off each other and laughing hysterically. Aelita gasped for air. She turned to Jeremie, grinning. "We did it."

He sat up, grinned back, and just said, "Yeah. "We can finally go back."

~~~~~

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{This is part of my “OneShot Wednesday” project - I’m trying to write a one-shot every week that other people have requested! Original Requests one week, and Fanfic Requests the next.

While I will try to keep track of all the requests I receive regardless of how they’re sent, the best ways to send them are: A. Through the current poll. B. If it’s a Fanfic Request, through the pinned tweet on my Twitter C. If it’s an Original Request, through either my email ([email protected]), my Patreon (if you’re a patron), or my Ko-fi.

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#oneshotwednesday #specialoneshotwednesday #Halloween #crossover #challenge #Danny Phantom #code lyoko #beetlejuice #tokyo ghoul #stranger things #shin megami tensei #digital devil saga

[dp-pastandpresent]

Past and Present: Chapter 18

Danny blinked, thinking maybe this was all some sick dream.

'This isn't you. Not anymore. But somehow…'

He tried to piece things together from the last few days. True he had been feeling hungry, tired, even more emotional than he should have, but reverting back? Was that even possible?

'One who lives on both realms...'

The dragon girl's message came back to him, and he found himself regretting the times he had wanted to do more research and hadn't actually done it.

'Could this be what she meant? Am I somehow both a ghost AND a human?'

The idea was too much for Danny to bear, as was looking in the mirror too much longer. Taking a few steps back, he collided with the bed.

Or at least he should have; instead he found himself on the floor, having phased right through the clearly solid bed.

It took him landing on the ground with a small thud to get Sam's attention once again.

"Danny!" She ran to him, dropping to the ground .

"Are you ok?"

'Question of the hour, Sam.'

Danny rubbed his head, trying to make sense of what was happening.

'Clearly I LOOK human, but I just fell THROUGH the bed…'

He turned to Sam, his blue eyes looking directly into hers.

"Sam, I… I… I'm not sure. Something is happening and I can't control it."

He could see the confusion in her face, and quickly looked away, not wanting her to see the tears that were forming in his eyes.

--

Sam sat on the ground, hand on Danny's shoulder, wishing she had a way to help.

'Somehow, I feel like this is my fault. Like maybe I'm the one that did this.'

It was a thought that had occurred to her as she watched Danny examine himself in the mirror minutes before. Could it really be something she had caused?

'I let him fall in love, and somehow that must have triggered something in him. Something that's been buried until now...'

She softened her grip on his shoulder, wishing he'd turn around and look at her. Even if he was crying, she wanted to see his face.

"Danny, I… I…"

Danny turned around, quickly wiping his eyes so that he could look into hers.

As he did, she watched in astonishment as the brilliant blue slowly faded back the neon green she was used to.

Her jaw dropped and she found herself on her feet, and this time she was the one to turn away.

"I need to go."

'I can't do this. I'm not strong enough.'

She moved to leave, but was stopped by a cold hand on her wrist.

"Sam, please, let's figure this out together."

His voice brought her back. The same voice that had saved her on that rooftop.

He had saved her then, and now she needed to save him.

Sitting back down she looked long and hard into Danny's now green eyes, wishing there was an answer to the mystery in front of her, yet afraid that she'd freak out again if his eyes turned blue.

Something about the black hair and blue eyes just bothered Sam. She had known, of course, that he had once lived life as a human and with further research she had learned that most ghosts never took on the appearance of their original selves, often coming back with different eye colors, hair colors, clothes etc. But the Danny she had come to know – and love - was the one with white hair and green eyes. A ghost.

After brief contemplation, she was able to break the silence with the only response she could muster.

"Did Clockwork explain this to you? Did he tell you this would happen? That you'd returnand take on the form of your original self? Sam asked, only to remember the conversation they had started earlier

Danny's look turned to one of confusion as Sam answered her own question.

"No, he didn't! It was all about 'Opening the portal' and 'becoming Amity's hero', he couldn't even mention he side effects of resurrection? Flickering and phasing. The changing eyes, the warmth. I swear, if I ever meet that ghost I'm going to…I'm going to….Grrrrr!"

Sam couldn't control her emotions at this point, and while she wasn't sure what she could actually do to Clockwork, she knew that there was something very suspicious about him that she didn't like.

Danny stopped her, his blue eyes becoming intense as he interrupted.

"Hold on Sam. I'm mad at him too, in fact, it's hard not to be. But remember what I said earlier about Clockwork not knowing himself? I'm sure that even if he saw this coming he didn't think it would actually happen. And did I not emphasize the whole 'first ghost to be resurrected' thing? Even Clockwork may not know the repercussions of his decision."

Danny was more than mad though, he was furious. If someone as powerful as the Master of Time couldn't predict this, they why had he even bothered to meddle in the first place? Why had he brought Danny back?

"I just don't get it though! You're obviously becoming more human, so he had to have seen this coming! Why couldn't he just TELL YOU!"

It was Sarah who interrupted this time.

"Sammy, please stop. Think about how Danny must be feeling right now. What he's going through. Yes, I agree it's a bit shady to bring someone back and not tell them the whole story, but I also agree that maybe his powers were limited. Maybe he couldn't see this coming. We all have restrictions after all." At this she motioned to her wheel chair and looked her granddaughter sternly in the eyes, implying that the conversation was done.

--

They sat in silence for a bit longer, all trying to figure out what exactly could be happening.

"There is one thing…" Danny said after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

Both women turned to look at Danny, whose eyes had again turned blue.

"There was this prophecy, told to me by a ghost I saved recently. When I saved her, she told me about the 'one who lives on two realms' and seemed to think I must be him. I didn't believe her at first, and thought maybe it was just because I had chosen to live out here instead of in there. But now… maybe there's something more to those words."

The ladies' expressions went blank, as they both tryed to comprehend what Danny had just said. Danny began to fidget with his back pocket.

"I found this," he said, pulling out the ghostly green amulet.

Both of his companions looked down at hands in awe, waiting for an explanation.

"The ghost, when I first met her, was a dragon, more powerful than the other ghosts I've fought so far. I managed to remove this from her neck and she transformed back into a human. That's when she told me the story. The one about how I must be of both realms, as only I could remove it from her. "

"And you've just been carrying it around since?" Sam asked.

"Well, it's not like we've had much chance to talk…" Danny answered under his breath.

"Whose fault is that?" Sam snapped.

"ENOUGH!" Sarah interrupted yet again. "Danny, please continue the story."

"I think that's it Sarah. I don't know much else about this prophecy. But it has got me thinking: maybe, just maybe it was my destiny to come back. Maybe that's why Clockwork resurrected me. Maybe I was supposed to help that ghost, find this amulet. Maybe I am supposed to revert back to human, for good."

Danny was standing at this point, looking back and forth between the other two, his hands out in frustration, grasping the amulet's chain tightly.

"But why? Why you? Why now? There must be a REASON," Sam chimed in.

"I think we just had this talk was the best answer Danny had at this point, although he made a mental reminder to ask about this if he ever saw the time-master again.

"There has got to be someone with more answers than this! Someone who knows something," Sarah concluded, a bit of hopelessness in her voice.

They all thought for a second. Finally, Sam spoke, a bit of worry in her voice.

"I think I know who we can ask, but neither of you is going to like my answer."

#danny phantom #sam manson #dpau #danny phantom fanfiction #phanfiction #danny phantom fanfic

[megamanx1994]

Danny Phantom Chapter 7

Chapter 8: Battle at GhostCorp (Disclaimer!)

Danny woke up around clouds.

A figure was watching him.

The figure revealed herself.

“Mom?” He asked.

“Look how big you’ve gotten,” she said.

Danny hugged her.

“Its been years,” he said, “I haven’t seen you in so long.”

She held his face.

“I’ve been watching you all this time in heaven, and I am so proud of the man you’ve become,” she said, “My son, a superhero.”

Danny looked down to the floor.

“But I couldn’t save someone from Technus,” said Danny, “I’m sure she’s still alive, but people think I caused it.”

“I know how it feels to want to do more than we can, but throughout time, I realized an important face,” Danny’s mom said, “You can’t always do everything at once. You can only do what you can do.”

She made him face her.

“This city is counting on you to stop that professor,” she said, “You must go back.”

Someone was calling his name.

“Will I ever see you again?” He asked.

“I’ll watch over you Danny,” she said, “Always.”

Danny then woke up in a hospital bed.

Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam and Tucker were all by his side.

“Seems like you took quite a beating son,” Jack said, “Are you alright?”

“I think so,” Danny said.

“I was almost certain that new Phantom character did this, but I was proven wrong,” said Jack, “It was Nicolai.”

“You mean that professor?” Jazz asked surprised.

“It seems like he got into some kind of accident and went through a transformation,” said Jack, “Looks like he wants revenge on GhostCorp for ridiculing him.”

He turned to the others.

“Could you step outside for a minute?” He asked, “I need a moment with my son.”

They all left.

“Dad?” Asked Danny.

“Son, I know thing’s haven’t been so easy without your mother around,” Jack said, “And I know I haven’t been able to do what you want me to, and I apologize for that.”

“Its ok dad,” he said, “You’re only human, and you did what you could.”

“Also, I know I can be tough on you at times, but there’s a reason behind it; There’s a spark I see inside of you,” Jack said, “But at least I have the respect to know that its your spark, and whatever you decide to do with it I know you’ll do great.”

Danny smiled.

“But I want you to know something; I love you son. No matter what you are, what you do, or who you hang out with.”

They hugged.

After Jack left, Danny texted Sam and Tucker to meet him at the usual spot.

“I’ve taken the liberty of making some gear for you to take on Technus,” Tucker said, “Your gloves are now rubber and you can land some hits on him.”

Danny tried them.

“Nice,” he said.

Danny remembered the words in his head.

“I know I can be tough on you at times, but there’s a reason behind it; There’s a spark I see inside of you,”

Danny went to the top of a building.

“Strong focus on what I want.”

He jumped off and started to fly.

Jack busted down the doors to Ghostcorp.

“You’re too late Jack. I designed this technology, and now its time for me to take back what is rightfully mine.”

Technus reappeared with a new design.

“Once I harness its power, I will control everything made of electricity, and everyone will know me for who I truly am.”

“And who might that be?” Maddie asked.

“Technus, the mastermind of science and technology!”

Things made of technology were leaving Ghostcorp to attack innocent people.

“All hail Technus!” They said.

“I will rule this city and all who oppose me!”

Maddie saw Emily in the same experiment Technus tried on someone else.

“She is mine, and mine alone!”

He summoned a group of electric minions to stop them from foiling his plan.

Danny made it to Ghostcorp.

As he made his way inside he went invisible to keep from getting caught.

Technus started the experiment.

“Please don’t do this to me!” Emily pleaded.

“You always told me to learn from my mistakes, and so I have. This time I can do it right with you as my test subject.”

“Please, this isn’t what I want!”

“You care about me Emily don’t you?”

He turned to Joe and his friends who were taken hostage.

“Unlike these people who turned me into this.”

“Nichoal wait, some people were just talking about you and how smart you were… I mean are!”

“What he means is you were spoken fondly of, so why ruin your reputation.”

“Nicolai I swear, that thing that happened…. that was an accident….”

“NO!”

Technus got into his face.

“You knew this would happen, and now because of you I can never live a normal life!”

He turned back to Emily.

“Emily, this hurts me more than it does you.”

He started to continue with the expiriment.

“You’re right, it will hurt me more than it does you!”

Danny appeared.

“The ghost boy?” Jack asked surprised.

Danny started to dash at Technus. “Let her go Nicolai!”

“I told you she’s mine!”

He forced him back.

Danny saw a hose and used it to dose him down, but Technus knew how to avoid it.

Jack and Maddie were holding back the minions Technus summoned.

“These guys are tough!”

Technus made an electric barrier to protect himself from the water.

“Not this time! Is that all you got!?”

Sam and Tucker made it to Ghostcorp on Sam’s morotcycle.

“I hope this stuff works,” Tucker said getting down.

Danny was continuing to fight Technus.

He shot dozens of lightning bolts at Danny but he kept dodging until he could get close enough.

Technus grabbed him by the neck.

“I’m stronger than before in my 2.0 form, and you never even saw it coming.

Danny grabbed him on the arm and didn’t get electrocuted.

“Ahh, thank you Tucker!”

He punched him hard and got free.

Tucker and Sam came inside.

“Phantom, we came to help!” Sam said.

Tucker had the poltergeist and an upgraded ghost trap.

“Hasta La Vista Ghosty!”

Technus electrocuted the trap and it was stuck to the floor.

“I did not see that coming.”

“Now how can we stop him?”

“Wait, I think I got it,” Danny said, “He’s electric and he’s like a battery.”

“And so we can use his power against him.”

Jack was looking at 4 spots.

“Phantom, do you think you can lure him to that specific spot?”

“No problem Mr. Fenton, and Sam, I’ll need you to activate the machine to trap him, and wait for my signal.”

“Got it,” Everyone said.

“Alright go!”

Everyone went to their position.

Danny turned around and saw his mother giving him a thumbs up.

“Good luck son.”

Technus came charging at him and Danny escaped.

“Come back here boy.”

Maddie went to free Emily and the others.

Technus kept fighting Danny until he saw Emily escape.

“YOU!!!”

He lunged at Maddie pinning her down.

“You disrupted my experiment.”

Danny saw him and lunged at him.

He brought him high up and then forced him back down while punching him in the face.

“You think. You can threaten. My mother!?!

He landed in the trap spot while holding him down.

“Now Sam, NOW!!!!”

Sam pressed the button trapping Technus.

Tucker grabbed the Poltergust and used it to capture him while Jack activated the trap.

They brought him down into the trap and an explosion emerged forcing everyone back.

When the dust settled, the trap was unharmed.

Technus wasn’t trapped but was knocked unconscious and starting to turn back to normal.

“Nicolai… is he gonna be ok?” Emily asked.

“He’ll be fine.”

Later the paramedics came and brought him into a truck.

“Awesome job man,” Tucker said giving Danny a high five.

Sam hugged Danny.

“You were awesome out there.”

Maddie gave Danny a hug.

“My son, a hero,” she said.

Jack approached them.

“I didn’t think I’d see the day where I work with a ghost to save the city. I guess not all ghosts are bad to be honest.”

Danny hugged him.

“Um… sorry, you just look very similar to my father who I lost in an accident. But I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“So do I mr……”

Danny pointed to the logo on his uniform. “Just call me Danny Phantom.”

“Well what do you know, you and my son share the same name.”

“Well, I should get going,” Danny said before he turned back around, “Mr. Fenton, I love you.”

Jack chuckled, “Wait, what?”

Danny flew away.

The next day there were news reports about Danny Phantom and how he saved the city from a major catastrophe.

“He sounds like a great guy,” Danny said.

Dash was walking by with some Danny Phantom merchandise. “Believe me, he is.”

Danny was walking by school and saw the big impact he made becoming a superhero.

The day came for the wedding between his dad and his new stepmother.

Everyone was at the party congratulating them on being married.

Sam was with Danny.

“Do you ever miss your old mother?”

“Sometimes I do, but then I remember she’s up there watching me grow up into who I am. And I know how proud she is of me.”

Danny looked to Maddie who waved to him.

“Now I got two moms looking after me now.”

He smiled but then saw something in the city.

“Looks like trouble,” he said.

He ran to the top of the building.

He then transformed into Danny Phantom. “Going Ghost!”

Little did he know that his step sister saw the whole thing.

“WHAT THE FU……..”

The End

Danny Phantom Theme Song

*He's a Phantom

*Danny Phantom, Phantom, Pahantom*

Young Danny Fenton He Was Just 14

When his parents built a very strange machine

It was designed to view a world unseen

(He's gonna catch em all cause he's Danny Phantom)

When it didn't quite work, his folks they just quit

then Danny took a look inside of it

there was a great big flash

every thing just changed

his molecules got all rearranged

(Phantom Phantom),

When he first woke up he realized he had snow white hair

and glowin' green eyes

he could walk through walls, disappear, and fly

he was much more unique than the other guys

It was then Danny knew what he had to do

he had to stop all the ghosts who were coming through

he's here to fight

for me and you

(He's gonna catch em all cause he's Danny Phantom

gonna catch em all cause he's Danny Phantom

gonna catch em all cause he's DANNY PHANTOM)

Someone was watching the news about Danny Phantom.

“So he’s finally arrived.”

He turned to someone who was training.

“It seems the ghost boy has finally come out of his hiding spot,” said the man in the shadows.

He was holding a special kind of whip.

“Can I count on you, to capture this specimen?”

The girl turned around.

“In honor of the Belmont Clan, you can count on me.”

She took the whip.

Look Through My Eyes by Everlife

There are things in life you'll learn

And, oh, in time you'll see

'Cause out there somewhere, it's all waiting

If you keep believing

So don't run, don't hide

It will be alright

You'll see, trust me

I'll be there watching over you

Just take a look through my eyes

There's a better place somewhere out there

Take a look through my eyes

Everything changes, you'll be amazed what you'll find

If you look through my eyes

There will be times on this journey

All you'll see is darkness

Out there somewhere daylight finds you

If you keep believing

So don't run, don't hide

It will be alright

You'll see, trust me

I'll be there, I'll be watching over you

Just take a look through my eyes

There's a better place somewhere out there

Take a look through my eyes

Everything changes, you'll be amazed what you'll find

If you look through my eyes, oh, oh yeah

All the things that you can change

There's a meaning in everything

And you will find all you need

There's so much to understand

Take a look through my eyes

There's a better place somewhere out there

Take a look through my eyes

Everything changes, you'll be amazed what you'll find, yeah

If you look through my eyes

Be amazed what you'll find

If you look through my eyes

Arachnid-Girl and her partner Mega Man x were looking at blueprints for a super villain’s lair.

“It looks like these areas might be out best bet getting in,” Mega Man said, “But those places are triple guarded.”

“I could get in there but my invisibility belt was damaged in the last battle.”

Mega Man sighed. “Well then it looks like we’re screwed, unless someone knows somebody else than can turn invisible in the blink of an eye.”

Arachnid-Girl thought of someone.

“I know a guy.”

Danny Phantom Will Return………

#Danny Phantom #castlevania #vlad danny phantom #smash bros #FFEU Phase 3 #fan fiction extended universe #sam danny phantom #tucker foley #jazz fenton #technus #Nicolai Technus #Mega Man

[darks-ink]

Disinterred CH.13

Chapter 13: For The Ones Who Need A Hand

“Oh no, sorry my dear. Not the Phantom.” He turned the monitor on his desk around. On the screen was a photo of a ghost which clearly resembled Danny in his ghost form, but that wasn’t him. “I want you to hunt this Phantom.”

(Tumblr hates links and I want this to appear in the tags so… for author notes/full fic summary/links to the other chapters/mirror links to AO3 and FFnet, click here)

In her short life, Dani had seen a lot of crummy alleys. All things considered, the one she was currently in certainly wasn’t one of the worst. The boxes she was hiding behind covered her well, and her glow was dim enough that no bystanders would spot her.

Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she pushed herself out of her hiding place with a groan. She was feeling more and more tired lately, and had noticed herself getting weaker as well.

It was for this reason that she had cut off her explorations of the world. She was trying to get back to Amity Park, to Danny, but she hadn’t quite gotten there yet. The dirty alley she was in only confirmed this.

Elmerton wasn’t Amity Park, but it was close. She only had to get a little further. And then Danny would help her, she was sure of it. He wasn’t like Vlad, he refused to drop her just because she wasn’t useful to him.

She shifted, getting ready to launch herself into the air. A movement caught her eye, and she stilled immediately. She started turning around, trying figure out what she had seen, and if it was a threat.

A pair of glowing green eyes blinked back, wide open.

Dani huffed out a laugh, realizing that she had been spooked by her own reflection. “Whoa, that is one scary ghost.” She shook her head, amused at her own foolishness. But she was quick to focus again.

She pushed herself off of the ground. “I got to get to Danny fast!” Angled herself in the direction of Amity, pushing her speed to its absolute limit.

Her flight was slow and faltering, however, and she was soon drooping in exhaustion. “Or slow. Slow is good.”

Another wave of fatigue hit her, and she dropped back onto the floor. Rather than the sound of her boots softly hitting the concrete, Dani was greeted by a hissing sound.

A sound which was all too familiar to her. One she dreaded, that she had nightmares about.

One she heard more and more often, these days.

She grimaced, looking down to see her feet dissolving into ectoplasm. “I just hope that Danny can help me…”

Dani tried to keep her hopes up, really, she did! But her ‘cousin’ was just a 16 year old half-ghost. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she was hoping he could do for her that Vlad hadn’t been able to do. Because, sure, her ‘creator’ hadn’t tried to save her. But if he had been able to stabilize clones, he would’ve done so already. She would never have met Danny if Vlad had been able to stabilize her, or any of her brothers.

Scrunching her nose in concentration, she managed to re-stabilize her body. But she knew it wouldn’t last. And as much as she wanted to make haste, it would be better to take it slow.

Walking to Amity Park might take a lot longer, but it would be safer. Especially since she could shift back into her human form, which was a lot less inclined to melt into ectoplasm.

She allowed her transformation to wash over her, turning her back into a perfectly normal human being. A pretty scruffy human being, but not very noteworthy otherwise.

Sticking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, Dani sunk deeper into the loose fabric. As she left the alley, she softly muttered to herself. “At least Vlad is all the way in Colorado. There’s no way he knows I’m here.”

A vaguely familiar buzzing noise sounded in the back of Valerie’s head. She shoved her schoolwork away by reflex before stopping to consider the situation. She recognized the jingle, even if she hadn’t heard it in a long time.

Last time must’ve been before her suit got upgraded. Because she definitely didn’t remember hearing it like this, whirring in the back of her mind.

Vlad Masters, her employer, was calling for her. He rarely did so, but when he asked her, he usually offered further compensation. Hunt down some random ghost, get better weapons, or sometimes even straight-up money. There was no doubt in her mind about going to his mansion to hear him out.

She swept into the mansion soon enough. Hovered in front of the desk behind which Vlad Masters sat. He quirked an eyebrow at her sudden appearance.

“Well, that certainly was fast.” His eyes trailed over her body, and she felt herself stiffen slightly under his scrutiny. “My, don’t you look fancy.”

“Got a few upgrades,” she acknowledged, allowing herself to relax again. It was okay, he wasn’t being weird. He was just curious about her new suit. Which, she had to admit, no one had ever seen up-close before.

Well, except for Danny. But that didn’t count.

“Well, perhaps you’d be willing to upgrade your life as well.” Vlad leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and weaving his fingers together. “Wouldn’t you like to finally move out of that rundown apartment?”

Well, that was certainly an offer she wouldn’t refuse. She allowed her hoverboard to retract back into the soles of her boots. “Absolutely. What do you need, Mr. Masters?”

“A little bounty hunting,” he purred, obliging.

Of course. He always asked her to hunt down ghosts. She resisted the urge to sigh at his obvious answer, instead imploring for more information. “Of course. What, or who, is the target?”

And now he smiled at her. She stamped down her instinctual shivers, her body telling her not to trust the man in front of her. Her alarm bells were ringing, but… Surely whatever he was going to ask for would be worth the reward?

“Phantom,” Masters finally answered. And, oh. Of course he didn’t know that she had made up with Phantom, with Danny. She couldn’t hunt him, but… maybe she should play along a little further. Find out more about why Masters suddenly wanted her to hunt down Danny, even though he had resided in the town for so long already.

“The Phantom?” she queried, cocking an eyebrow. Then she decided to play it up a little, falling back into her former behavior. “That guy has been an intangible pain in my ass for a long time.”

Masters untangled his hands again, raising them up in a motion clearly meant to pacify her. “Oh no, sorry my dear. Not the Phantom.” He turned the monitor on his desk around.

On the screen was a photo of a ghost which clearly resembled Danny in his ghost form, but that wasn’t him. The ghost depicted was female, and appeared slightly younger than him too. Her jumpsuit was also somewhat different, but it carried the same colors and even the logo.

Her employer had waited for her to finish studying the picture before he continued speaking. “I want you to capture this Phantom.”

Valerie was sure that there was a story behind this picture, and one that Danny could tell her. But she didn’t know it, not yet, and thus didn’t know if this ghost was of any importance to Danny. It was better to accept Vlad’s mission, anyway. If she didn’t, he would likely send different ghost hunters after the ghost girl. This way she could stall him until she knew more about the situation.

She scoffed, incredulously. “You’re kidding, there’s a girl ghost named Phantom as well? These ghosts need to come up with more original names.”

“Yes, well, this Phantom is an incredibly dangerous ghost out to destroy me.” Vlad must think himself a great actor, but Valerie knew better now. She could tell that his fear was faked. She didn’t know why he would send her after this ghost, this doppelganger, but she was sure that it wasn’t good.

On the other hand, she was aided by his clear underestimation of her. He was clearly falling for her act.

“There’s no way I’m letting that ghost girl get you, Mr. Masters.” She shot him a reassuring smile. “She is as good as caught.”

“I knew I could count on you, Valerie,” the man purred, and Valerie barely stifled her grimace. How had she never noticed how slimy he was?

Regardless, she summoned her board and flew off. First and foremost, she had to talk to Danny.

Tracking down Danny was a lot easier these days. She just had to search for Phantom’s ecto-signature and raise the sensitivity of her tracker way up. That way it could pick him up even in human form.

Not that it was necessary, because he was in ghost form. Apparently in the middle of a fight as well, since the tracker picked up a second ghost near him. Valerie turned to his direction and zipped off, hoping to catch him before he left.

She saw him suck up the ghost (an animalistic ghost of some sort) and called to him before he got a chance to leave. “Phantom!”

He stopped, whirling around to greet her. “Hey Val, what’s up?”

She came to a halt right in front of him, glancing down to make sure they were high enough that no one could overhear their conversation. Danny didn’t greet her by name if they weren’t, but better safe than sorry. She was sure that this wouldn’t be a light conversation.

“Hey Danny, I have to talk to you. Do you… know who my benefactor is?”

He frowned at her, but nodded. “Yeah, it’s Vlad, right? Well, not for your current suit, Technus made that. Why?”

She wasn’t sure how he knew, but, well. It wasn’t as surprising as it should’ve been.

“Well, he called me in today. Sometimes he asks me to hunt down specific ghosts in return for a reward, you know? But something was weird about this one. He was lying about why he wanted me to catch her, I know it.”

Danny nodded again. “Yeah, Vlad does that a lot. Can you describe the ghost to me? Maybe I know why he’s after her.”

“Yeah, that’s why I was suspicious of him in the first place.”  She kept her tone dry as she spoke. “He asked me to hunt down Phantom, but not you Phantom. He showed me a picture, some female ghost who looks just like you?”

“Dani,” Danny muttered, frown deepening. “Shit. That’s not good.”

Valerie quirked a brow at the unexpected swear. Danny didn’t make a habit out of swearing, and usually only did it in serious situations. “Who is she, then?”

He wavered for a moment, hesitating. Then he sighed. “She’s… my clone.” He clearly sensed her incredulous expression even without seeing it, because he continued his explanation. “Vlad is kind of obsessed with me, with having me as his half-ghost son. I turned him down time after time and eventually he snapped and decided to try and clone me instead.” Danny shrugged. “They were all unstable though. Danielle was the only one who survived, and she left to explore the world.”

“That’s...” Valerie didn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t think of a word that was strong enough to describe how she felt. She settled on, “messed up. That’s really fucking messed up, Danny.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” he huffed, before combing his fingers through his hair. “Shit. Who knows what Vlad is gonna do to her if he catches her.”

“He’s not gonna catch her,” she reassured, making sure to sound as soothing as she could. “Because he send me to get her. I’ll track her down and bring her to you, no problem.”

Danny blinked at her, stunned. “You’ll do that for me?” And then he snapped back into focus. “Right, okay. I’ll… go talk to my parents about this. If she came to Amity, she’s probably destabilizing.” His voice gradually quietened as he spoke, and Valerie was pretty sure he wasn’t talking to her anymore.

She turned around to fly off, before Danny suddenly spoke again.

“And Valerie?”

When she looked over her shoulder, he shot her a wide grin. “Thanks,” he said, before disappearing. She huffed out a fond laugh in return.

“Yeah, no problem. Dork.”

Danny phased through the door of FentonWorks. He glanced around the living room, but didn’t see his parents. They were probably in the lab, then. Should’ve known, really.

“Mom, dad?” he called out, just to be sure. “I kind of have something I need to talk about!”

He didn’t have to wait long for the thunderous footsteps of his parents as they came out of the lab. His dad was, of course, storming ahead, but his mom wasn’t far behind.

“What’s wrong sweetie? What did you want to talk about?”

Danny grimaced, considering his words. He transformed back to his human form to stall, but it didn’t give him nearly as much time as he needed.

“It’s… Vlad.” More explanation, Fenton, he chided himself. “He’s… kind of my arch enemy? And for a good reason.”

His dad frowned and looked like he was going to defend his old friend, but he faltered when he saw Danny’s expression.

“Danny, I know that the two of you don’t get along, but… there’s something more, isn’t there?” Ah, his mom was so perceptive. Well, sometimes.

He nodded. “Yeah, he’s… like me. He became half-ghost during the accident with the Proto-Portal. It’s a long story and it’s… not really important right now.”

“Oh,” his dad said, looking rather downtrodden. “Then… why did you bring it up?”

“Well...” Danny hissed between his teeth, increasingly uncomfortable with describing Vlad’s misdeeds. “Vlad kind of… has been obsessed with me since he found out that I’m half-ghost. Wants me as his son slash evil apprentice and everything. But I turned him down every time, because… Well, because of a lot of reasons, really.”

He flapped his hands. “Eventually he kind of… snapped, I guess? And decided that if he couldn’t get me to join him, he would just make his own half-ghost son.” Danny licked his lips, uncertain. “So he… Well, he cloned me. Or tried to, at least.”

“Oh, Vladdie,” Jack whispered, hurt clearly audible in his voice. “I can’t- Why would he-”

“Sorry.” And he was, truly. He couldn’t imagine discovering that someone who you considered to be your best friend was… Well, was Vlad, pretty much.

“Don’t be,” his mom comforted him, also laying a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m glad you told us, Danny. But…” she trailed off, not finishing her sentence. Danny could guess what she was going to say, though.

“The clones were unstable.” He grimaced at the memory of seeing them melt. “They… Whenever they used too much energy, they would melt into ectoplasm. Vlad kept forcing them to overextend themselves. Only one… Only one survived, she realized that Vlad was using them.”

“’She’?” Maddie asked, before waving her own question off. “Never mind, not relevant right now. What happened to her?”

“Well, she came along with me back to Amity Park. But with Vlad, she had never gotten a chance to explore. To be… free.” He shrugged, a sheepish expression on his face. “She wanted to explore the world. So she left. Dramatically flew off into the sunset, and stuff.”

His mom sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I guess I can’t blame either of you for it. But if you’re telling us now… I’m guessing that she’s back?”

“Uh, yeah,” Danny admitted. “The, uh, Red Huntress is looking for her now. Apparently Vlad tried to hire her to hunt down Danielle, but he didn’t know that we have a truce now.”

“Well,” Jack tried, his voice wavering a little but regaining some of its usual bluster. “I wouldn’t mind another kid, especially one as wonderful as you, Danny-boy.”

Danny blushed, shoulders creeping up a little in embarrassment. “I… I don’t know if that’s what she’s looking for, dad. I think she might be… I think she might be destabilizing again.”

“And she’s hoping that you know how to help her?” his mom queried, but she was already nodding to herself. “Do you know a way to help her?”

“No.” Danny combed his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “I’ve never had such a thing happen. And if Vlad couldn’t figure it out… I’m not sure what else I could try.”

His dad snapped his fingers, a grin forming on his face. “Maddie, do you remember what me newest project was?”

“Yes...” His mom frowned as she turned to look at Jack. “You were working on a chemical which weakens ghosts, right?”

“Exactly!” Jack nodded, his smile growing wider. “But I just couldn’t get it to work. Every time I tried it on a weak ghost, it would get stronger.”

Hope bloomed in Danny’s chest, and he looked at his dad. “Do you think…?”

The man nodded again in response. “Probably! I’ll go get some Ecto-Dejecto right now, of the strongest batch I have.”

“Thanks Dad!” Danny grinned as his dad ruffled his hair. His mom remained seated, a thoughtful but warm smile on her face. Things were looking up for once.

Danny heard the hum of Valerie’s hoverboard approaching the house and made his way to the backyard. He had hoped that she would’ve taken the less noticeable route and just walked with Dani, but apparently not.

The hoverboard swept into the backyard, Valerie in full armor. Standing behind her, with her arms wrapped around Valerie’s waist, was Danielle. Her clothes were dirty and ragged, and she looked dead tired. The bags under her eyes were worse than his usually were, and that was saying something.

He extended a hand to help her off of the hoverboard, shooting her an encouraging smile. “Hey Dani, long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Dani agreed, voice tinged with exhaustion. She accepted his help and slumped off of the board, almost falling into his arms.

Danny wrapped an arm around her, supporting her weight against his own body. He nodded at Valerie. “Thanks for bringing her Val. I’ll tell you the full story behind Vlad later, okay?”

“You better,” she declared with a nod of her head. And then she was gone again.

Danny quirked a brow at the dramatic display, but then shook his head to clear the thoughts. Valerie might think him overdramatic, but she had quite a penchant for it as well.

“Come on Dani, let’s get you inside. Are you… destabilizing again?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, voice soft and almost impossible to hear. She was sagging against him, barely capable of carrying her own weight.

Danny was glad that she had had the forethought to shift back to human form. He was sure that she would’ve been melting into ectoplasm already if she had been a ghost.

He wrestled himself through the backdoor with Danielle still hanging off of him, and his mom spotted the two of them. She nodded towards the dinner table, a silent command to settle Dani there. Then she raced off down the stairs, going to retrieve his dad from the lab.

Danny had barely gotten Dani situated when his dad came up. She stiffened slightly at the sight of the burly man. Or maybe at the sight of the glowing green vial in his hand.

Really, he couldn’t blame her for either of those reasons. He felt the same way about his dad and potentially dangerous inventions, even if the man had gotten a lot better about it.

He moved to step in, but his mom had appeared from the lab as well and laid a hand on Jack’s arm. Then she shot Dani a warm smile, full of motherly warmth.

“Hey sweetie, you’re Danielle, right?”

Dani nodded a little sluggishly. She was still eyeing Jack with clearly visible wariness.

“Good.” Maddie took the vial from Jack’s hand, holding it out in her open palm to show it to Danielle. “Danny told us you were destabilizing. This should help, but we will have to inject it. Is that okay?”

Dani blinked for a moment before turning to look at Danny. He nodded at her, encouraging. “It’s okay, they know. About me, about you, and… about Vlad.”

“Oh,” she said, a little stunned. Then she shrugged at Maddie. “I guess… that it’s okay.” Then, more quietly, she mumbled, “Don’t have anything to lose anyway.”

His mom made a pained expression but covered it up quickly. Then she produced a syringe from one of the pockets of her belt, making sure to show it to Dani. Maddie uncorked the vial and sucked its contents into the needle. Then she eyed Dani speculatively.

“It might be better if you’re in your… ghost… form.” She held up the filled needle, the Ecto-Dejecto in it still glowing a vibrant green. “We don’t know how it might react to your human physiology.”

The clone scrunched her eyes closed. Familiar rings formed and passed over her, but they were faint. It clearly took great effort on Dani’s part to make it happen.

“Danny, can you hold her arm for me?” his mom asked, and he nodded.

He reached out to Dani, and she offered him an arm. He quickly removed one of the gloves, watching with dread as it melted into ectoplasm the moment it lost contact with her body. Then he carefully rolled up the sleeve of her jumpsuit.

Maddie came closer, crouching next to the chair Dani was seated on. Danny stabilized Dani’s arm. Jack hovered nearby, clearly wanting to help but knowing that there was nothing he could do.

The needle slipped into Dani’s arm with no resistance. Maddie pressed down on the plunger, and the Ecto-Dejecto flowed into the system of Danny’s clone. Its spread could easily be tracked, veins shortly lighting up green as the chemical made its way through Dani’s system.

And then the needle was removed again, and Danny rolled down the sleeve again.

Dani blinked, then blinked again. Then she rubbed her eyes, blinking rapidly.

It was like she was re-energizing before their eyes. The bags under her eyes seemed lighter, her skin seemed healthier. Her aura brightened significantly, although it still fluctuated a little.

“It… worked?” she whispered, looking at her hands as she clenched and unclenched them.

“Of course it did!” Jack boomed, grinning widely. “Only the best for my kids!”

Dani whipped her head around to look at the man, eyes blown wide. “Your kids?” Her voice was quiet still, but Danny couldn’t tell with what emotion.

His mom laid a hand on the shoulder of the girl ghost. “Of course, honey. It might be a little unconventional, but you’re our flesh and blood.” Then she hesitated a little, adding, “If you want, of course.”

“Really?” Dani gasped, looking between all three of them. “Even though I’m… just a clone?”

“You’re not ‘just a clone’ Dani,” Danny chided, frowning. “You’re family. To all of us. And you’re your own person, no matter what Vlad has told you before.”

Both of his parents nodded. Then Maddie spoke up again. “That man is sick, Danielle. He has done bad things. But… none of that is your fault.”

“And I’ve always wanted another daughter,” Jack added with an over-the-top wink.

Dani giggled at him, then nodded. “I would… really like that. Thanks.”

“Of course kiddo! Now, who wants some fudge?” Jack turned to walk to the fridge.

Danny grimaced, then leaned in a little closer to Dani. “Fair warning, there is about a 50% chance that food in this house spontaneously comes to life.”

Dani quirked a brow at him. “For re-”

She never got to finish her sentence, as loud growls suddenly came from the open fridge. Green hot dogs with teeth burst out of the appliance.

“Oh,” she ended up saying, stunned. “I guess I see your point.”

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #phanfiction #dp fanfiction #danny fenton #valerie gray #dani fenton #dani phantom #dark writes #disinterred #dani deserves good things and i'll give them to her goshdarnit #the title for next week's chapter is real good btw so i'll post it as a teaser: #I'm Done Being Your Slave

[triggeringthehealing]

alpha meet (ch1)

Teen Wolf || Stiles/Derek || E || ~2k || AO3

Summary:  Born a werefox with a magical spark that gives him the ability of a full fox transformation, Stiles’s life is decidedly not simple. Now that he’s in college though, it’s bound to be easier, right? There’s less prejudice, fewer reasons to feel like he’s so different from everyone else... and he gets to spend time figuring out all the aspects of people, supernatural or not.  Now if he only remembered that proper spelling, capitalization of words, and the right alphabet matter when he’s texting. 

Tags/warnings: ABO dynamics, pack dynamics, fraternities, college AU A/N (content): Alpha/Beta/Omega - pack status, alpha/omega - biological disposition.  A/N (personal): Look, once upon a time @bleep0bleep tweeted a thing and my brain latched on. Ever since then I’ve been in a muddy puddle of Alphas, alphas and then some Greek alphabet alphas. Since today is “Previously Unpublished WiP” day at @wipweek , I figured it was about time I set this one free. Or well, the first part of it, at least. *hides*

-=-=-

It's not until college and the courses on gender, sexuality, pack hierarchy, and disposition that Stiles learns more about who he is. The information that he had before, as he was growing up, never really sated his curiosity about it. Not that college gives him all the answers, but it's more than he found out before—from school, from his family and friends, from the research online that sometimes ended up more confusing than helpful.

The world has changed since shapeshifters became known. He can't imagine living in secrecy, hiding that he's different than the average human. Even though he's never been too open about his own ability to shift into a fox—even with shapeshifting being normal, full animal transformation is still rare enough to raise eyebrows—it's at least something he knows he can mention, something that isn't going to shun him from the rest of the world.

Being upfront about being a were is not the norm, not yet, and since the magic that's involved doesn't carry a scent, it's not something that can be discovered without either an accident or a deliberate reveal from the person.

In his hometown, it wasn't easy to keep his ability hidden. Beacon Hills is small, everyone knows everyone. Since his Mom was a werefox, people knew that Stiles was likely to be one too, even though his Dad doesn't have the genes. Stiles knows, he asked his Babcia when he was little, and that was how he found out that on top of his shifting ability, he also had a spark of a different kind of magic. The kind that, had he not been a were, would've probably led him down the path of Druids and spells. As it is, he has a few extra features, as he likes to say—like handling mountain ash that's normally something shifters can't touch.

But his best friend Scott is a werewolf—bitten by a rogue Alpha passing through the territory when they were sixteen—and his girlfriend Kira is a kitsune. Deaton, Scott's old boss from the vet clinic he used to work at is a Druid, the very one who helped Stiles reign in his spark when it messed with Stiles's shift for a while.

Even so, Stiles didn't shift fully until his Mom got sick just before he finished middle school. He later found out that it was the spark he inherited from his dad's side that allowed him to transform into an actual fox. At the time, Stiles did everything on instinct—when he was told about his mom's illness, he spent days in his fox form for the first time ever, refusing to change until she begged him to. Her own ability to change was impeded by her illness, a rare strain of a virus that attacked the were part of a brain, one that to Stiles's dad's relief was not contagious—Stiles couldn't even begin to think what would've happened had his dad lost both of them back then. As it was, after Claudia passed away, Stiles and John found it hard to cope—Stiles spent long periods of time as a fox and curled up on a pile of her old clothes, John became way too close to his bottle of whiskey.

They got through it eventually, with the help of Scott and his mom Melissa, who eventually grew closer to John and is now about to officially become Stiles's step-mom.

Scott and Stiles ended up in the same college, both of them wanting to stay close to home since their parents were the only family left nearby—Stiles's grandparents retired and moved back to Poland, Scott's father never bothered returning after Melissa kicked him out years ago and her own family was living in Florida.

It's during the first year of classes that Stiles dives deep into studying the various aspects of people, along with the history of them all. He learns about the bigotry that still exists but nowhere near as strong as it used to, all discrimination based on inherent traits of a person banned and punishable by law. With were packs being less secretive about their existence, there are a lot fewer hidden sides to dynamics between people, along with a lot fewer feral Omegas like the one who bit Scott roaming the world.

As much as pack status tends to be kept under wraps to outsiders, so does a person's disposition and sexuality. Stiles is of the opinion that unless it matters to his relationship with someone else, there's no need to wave whatever flag it is he should be carrying.

Scott's a were, but outside of their small social circle, he hasn't told anyone other than his first girlfriend, Allison. It was only by luck that the anti-discrimination laws were passed by then because Allison was an Argent, the future leader of a family of hunters who—before weres became a regular part of society—used to hunt magical creatures, good or bad. She ended up being the one to change the family's credo to we protect those who cannot protect themselves. Stiles approved, the new motto a lot less terrifying than their old one which was so easily twisted into unprovoked attacks against anyone who wasn't strictly human. As if humans were never dangerous to others—a few members of Allison's family were proof of the opposite—and having the ability to shift into a wolf, any other animal, or have abilities that were considered supernatural somehow made one inherently a threat.

Growing up, he watched as the world kept changing towards inclusion on several levels, not only when it came to shapeshifters and magic, but also when it came to sexualities, gender, wealth, skin color... anything that once upon a time used to be a reason to marginalize some people and elevate others. By the time Stiles left for college, there was still residual bigotry in the world, but at least in educational areas that sort of discrimination was rare.

It's something that Stiles takes comfort in because he knows how lucky he is to be able to be in college in the first place. Had he been born a few decades earlier, he would've likely been mated the moment he graduated high school, if he'd even be able to do that. He presented as an omega early, in freshman year. The first heat was the wake-up call that his dad needed to sober up and get back on the straight and narrow, back to being a father instead of a mourning husband. For a fleeting moment, Stiles worried that his dad's lack of experience with shifters would mean that he'd fall into old traditions, that he would get bad advice and Stiles would end up in the care of a pack and not allowed to work for the goals he'd had. But instead, John embraced Stiles's eagerness to go into law enforcement and supported him in any way he could.

Here, in college, no one besides Scott—who's on track to step into Deaton's shoes at the vet clinic when he graduates—knows that Stiles is a werefox. Since there's no scent to give it away, he hasn't felt the need to share that information. Unlike werewolves who are still guided by the pull of the moon and need to work on their control once a month, as a fox Stiles has the freedom to choose when he shifts. The same way that he doesn't have to share the fact that he's an omega unless it's relevant to the relationship he's in.

Which he didn’t need to so far, since he's never been in one. Sure, he kissed people, he lost his virginity—not that it was that big a deal to him—in his senior year and had sex a handful of times since. There was never a need to tell anyone about his disposition though because he hasn't thought about the future with anyone. The only exception was a long-standing crush on Lydia—a banshee whom he had an ongoing rivalry with academically and who was now a good friend from across the country, since she was working on conquering the world all the way from MIT. He's never had feelings for anyone that would make him want to try for a steady relationship for anyone else.

Well, maybe one person. Not that he thinks he stands a chance.

From the orientation week onwards, Stiles has been making friends outside of his usual small circle, which was now reduced to only Scott, what with his dad being back home and Lydia on the east coast. He didn't dive right into rush week when he came here, but he still managed to meet people in his classes and in the dorms. That's how he started looking more into fraternities on campus and why he's considering joining one now that spring rush is coming up.

"Come on, Stiles, at least come to the meet," Danny tells him as they walk from the class they have together.

"Look, I don't know," Stiles says, knowing that it's obvious that he's stalling. "I'm not sure if frats are my thing."

"Well, what better way to find out than to check one out?"

Danny's dimples tend to be disarming and Stiles is no exception to that effect. So he shrugs and nods.

"You can bring Scott or anyone else you can think of who isn't already in either Alpha Xi or any other frat," Danny tells him like he hasn't already won the argument. "The meet is on Friday, we'll be in the house over on Willow, you know the one, right?"

"You mean the biggest one on Greek Row?" Stiles asks, grinning. "No, I absolutely do not know the house, not like I've been dragged to it several times last semester for parties or anything."

Danny chuckles.

"Just making sure," he tells Stiles and nudges his side. "Can't ever be completely sure if people have the mental capacity to remember things."

"Oh I remember," Stiles replies, still grinning.

Not only has he never been one for drinking much, not after dealing with his dad's alcohol abuse in the past and also seeing what it did to Scott's family, but the Alpha Xi parties were memorable for several reasons. One of them is walking down the hallway right next to Stiles, dimples still in full force like he remembers exactly what Stiles does. The night they spent together at one of the parties was a good one, even if they never managed to repeat it, not once Danny met Ethan, his current and probably forever partner.

"Right, so, Friday. I'll see you then," Danny says as they come to the front door where they usually part ways. "And seriously, bring friends."

"Oh yeah, will do, the whole one of them," Stiles snorts.

He's not friendless, he's just not really sure who would be up for a pre-rush party like this. Most of the people he's become close to are not freshmen or they're already in frats or sororities after the initial autumn rush. Back then it almost felt like he and Scott were the only holdouts who didn't bother with that aspect of college life.

In the end, he only thinks of one person to ask to tag along and he sends the text message before he can overthink and talk himself out of it.

this weekend is an alpha meet up, do u wanna meet my friends?

#sterek #sterek fic #wipweek #wip week #eternalsterek #bleep0bleep