Chapter Text
I really do need to get more sleep.
Danny rubbed at his closed eyelids, green starbursts blooming over his vision. He tried once again to focus on the whiteboard.
The nagging buzzing was still there in the back of his head. He’d woken up with it, but hadn’t thought much of the sensation. Especially not when it was accompanied by a mild headache and general tetchiness.
He was, quite frankly, exhausted. Between studying for upcoming finals and the constant barrage of ghost attacks at school, he was surprised he hadn’t snapped yet. He barely knew what day of the week it was, relying on Tucker and Sam to drag him to the right classes.
They were taking pity on him, considering he was doing the bulk of the fighting and it really wasn’t letting up lately. They helped where they could, but they were just as swamped with schoolwork as him, and not necessarily doing much better when it came to getting enough sleep.
And Lancer really wasn’t helping things today.
Danny had gotten so much better in the last year of school. He’d built enough of a reputation as Phantom to discourage most attacks, and those he couldn’t discourage he generally dealt with very quickly and efficiently. It was to the point where he could duck out of class and have an attack sorted in under ten minutes, easily able to excuse it as a REAL bathroom break and then ACTUALLY get classwork done.
He’d gone from a C- to a B+ average, something his parents had been very visibly relieved about.
At least, that’s how it had been for MOST of the school year. Until now; when every single asshole in the ghost zone seemed to KNOW he was more stressed, and decided it was the PERFECT time to dog-pile him.
ALL I have to do is get to graduation and then I can look at distance learning degrees. NO MORE having to deal with this bullshit schedule and bullshit ghost fights interrupting classes that I can’t just pause and come back to later. God it’s going to be SO much easier, I just have to make it three more months.
Danny concentrated on his breathing, taking long, deep inhales, and slow, measured exhales. He tried again to focus on the board. Frustratingly it was like the buzzing in his head was getting worse.
Lancer was covering the upcoming essay and what he expected from them. He wanted some kind of analysis on the American Dream, and they had to pull from the texts and films they’d been assigned. Not something Danny was terribly interested in, but not really all that difficult. He could probably bullshit most of it. Two or three hours in the library should be enough to hash it out.
Maybe he could drag Sam and Tucker there after school and get it out of the way before more ghosts decided to show up. Unless they’d rather do it on the weekend, it wouldn’t take a HUGE chunk out of their day if they went early.
Danny rubbed at his temples, trying not to furrow his brow. The tension in his shoulders was still causing stabs of pain to pulse randomly behind his eyes. Scowling only tensed more muscles uncomfortably in his face, he needed to relax.
GOD why did he feel so shit… was it Friday yet? Was that why he felt ready to crash? What if it WASN’T Friday, how much longer did he have to stay awake? What period was he in again? They’d had lunch right? He was pretty sure he’d shoved something in his mouth hastily between dealing with Johnny and Skulker.
He frowned in thought. They gave me such WEIRD looks today. And WHY were they trying to get me to chase them away from the school? Actually… EVERY ghost that’s bothered me today has tried to pull me away from the school… is there some kind of plan going between them? Do they want me out of the way for something-
“Alright people, now I don’t have to tell you that your final exams are just around the corner. But I know teenagers like to pretend time doesn’t exist, so here’s a brief reminder of your current timetable from now through to the end of the school year.” Lancer drawled as he wrote dates on the board.
Something about today’s date caught Danny’s eye. That date was important. TODAY was important. WHY was today important? What had he forgotten-
“Shit!”
He blinked over at Sam’s urgent hiss. She looked between the board, the clock above it and him. Her eyes were wide with panic.
He looked around, not spotting any ghosts. His sense hadn’t been triggered, so what-
“Danny you need to go, we forgot the anniversary!” She whispered, leaning closer as she glanced at Lancer’s back.
From his other side, he heard Tucker swear softly. “Oh fuck, dude, it’s… how the hell did we forget, there’s only like two minutes! You need to get to the bleachers Danny-“
There was ringing in his ears. He gave Tucker an odd look. Anniversary? What Anniversary-
Danny felt a distinctive prickle in his left palm.
Something clicked into place in his head.
And then it felt like his stomach had dissolved.
Oh.
OH.
THAT Anniversary.
Danny’s mouth went dry.
The ringing in his ears was getting louder.
The clock in this room… it was fast, wasn’t it? They always thought class was over but then the bell wouldn’t ring for another three minutes…
He was vaguely aware of Tucker and Sam trying to urge him to go, but he knew with a sick lurch in his gut that it was already too late. The twitching in his left arm had already started. The pain and buzzing in his head turned into a fuzzy haze.
Danny didn’t hear Mr. Lancer frustratedly barking at Sam and Tucker to keep it down. He didn’t hear Lancer addressing him as he rose out of his seat like a sleepwalker.
He didn’t see the horror etched on his friend’s faces as they realised it was too late. Didn’t see the eyes of everyone in the class turning to watch him as he swayed slightly where he stood.
He wasn’t in class anymore.
~
“Mr. Fenton?... Daniel? Are you alright?”
“He can’t hear you,” Sam whispered, eyes still fixed on Danny. She was frozen to her seat, overwhelmed with the shock of everything going so wrong, so fast. How could they forget something so important?
The lighting in the room had shifted subtly, the fluorescents taking on a cooler tone. The air became crisper and more sterile tasting.
Danny phased through his desk, and then Lancer and Mikey, moving to some point unseen by anyone except him.
Everyone else in the class had been staring and snickering and murmuring until that point. Now the room was shocked into tense silence.
Tucker’s horrified whisper carried clearly through the room. “Noooo, no no no not this, not here…”
Danny picked something invisible up off the floor. It shimmered into existence in his hands, his eyes glazed over as he turned around, holding up the white and black hazmat suit. He looked to the back wall of the classroom and grimaced.
“Okay, I showed you guys the portal, can we get out of here now? My parents could be back at any minute. Besides, they say it doesn’t work anyway.”
Danny’s voice was a relaxed drawl. But there was a faint, disturbing echo to it… as if he was speaking from a different plane of reality. Sam tensed. She knew he was talking to her… she’d heard him say those words before, exactly the same way, every year since they were 14.
She felt her eyes begin to prickle.
Lancer moved towards Danny where he stood between the rows of desks, the students nearest him staring warily and leaning away from the lanky, pale boy. “Daniel, What-“
Danny frowned thoughtfully and turned towards the front of the classroom, still looking at something none of the rest of them could see. “You know what, you’re right. Who KNOWS what kind of awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal…”
“Daniel?” Lancer reached out for him, sure that his hand should land on his shoulder. It went THROUGH it instead.
Lancer glanced between his chilled fingers and Danny’s back as the boy moved away from him, passing through a few more students who gasped and made small exclamations of shock.
Lancer couldn’t find his voice. But he could hear Tucker Foley muttering urgent, panicked curses. Sam Manson was standing at her desk now, her hands shaking. Whatever was happening, they knew… they knew and it was terrifying them and that did NOT give him confidence.
Near the front of the class, Danny was continuing on, oblivious. Lancer did a double take. Not only was Danny now putting on the semi-transparent suit that had shimmered out of thin air into his hands (and why was it so eerily familiar?)… there was now the ghost image of some monstrous device solidifying at the front of the room.
His desk was missing, the whiteboard gone, both swallowed up by some massive metal contraption with a gaping hole in it. Wires snaked out as he watched, shimmering into existence the same way the suit had.
Danny paused at the mouth of the giant hole, watching something… someone? Invisible… no, NOT invisible. A hand reached for Danny’s chest out of mid-air. When it retracted, taking something with it, the rest of the person it belonged to formed.
“Ms…Ms. Manson?” Lancer’s voice was weak and confused. He looked between the ghostly image of Samantha, and the taller, much more solid version standing at her desk… she was crying. He NEVER saw Samantha Manson cry…
Danny murmured something he couldn’t hear as the ghost Sam put something else on his chest, as if asking the apparition a question.
He couldn’t hear the ghost Sam reply at all, only see her mouth move.
Tucker was now standing at his desk too, a look of grim resolution on his face. His eyes bore into Danny’s back with an intensity Lancer didn’t understand.
Danny walked into the hole in the wall.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, and Lancer was about to move forward and see where Danny had gone.
Then the hole erupted with bright, raging green light.
And screaming.
It was blood-curdling.
Lancer felt light-headed, feet frozen where he stood as fight or flight warred within him. The sound stretched on, and on and ON.
His brain stalled. There was no explanation for this. There was no protocol for this, what the HELL was HAPPENING?
His ears were ringing with the screams, they were so loud. It sounded like someone- like Daniel was being burned alive. God, was that what was happening? Was that green light some kind of fire? Was this some kind of ghost attack? Was he standing here doing NOTHING while ghosts KILLED one of his students???
Numbness seemed to spread through him as he vaguely registered Sam and Tucker finally moving. They rushed forward as the screaming finally, blessedly stopped.
Lancer’s brain was still stalling on what to do.
The swirling green light died away, and with it went the illusion of the wall, and left standing at the front of the class was…
…No… no that couldn’t be right.
Phantom?
Where was Danny?
What had just happened?
The spell seemed to break the moment Phantom collapsed, Tucker catching him and Sam helping lower him to the floor a second later.
Lancer moved in a daze, walking as if approaching a wild animal caught in a snare. Tucker and Sam were murmuring something. As he got closer, he realised they were soothing Phantom.
The ghost lay on his side, back to the rest of the classroom, head and shoulders in Tucker’s lap. Sam was apologising, voice thick with tears. Phantom was shaking like mad and clutching his left arm, breathing ragged.
Wait, breathing? Why was he breathing, Phantom was a ghost-
Lancer froze, barely close enough to hear what Sam was saying as she ran her hands gently through the white shock of hair. It was so messy, so familiar, and the hazmat suit... hadn’t it been white with black gloves and boots? Hadn’t Danny…
Realisation slammed into him.
The pieces weren’t fitting together in any way that made sense, but up close, he could see… he could SEE Danny. He hadn’t gone anywhere, he was right there. Danny Phantom… Fenton… god, it was so OBVIOUS.
And he’d just…
He’d just…
“Is he alright?”
The softness of his own voice surprised him. Lancer still felt as if he were approaching a cornered, wild animal. As he moved to crouch by Sam, she threw him a wary, tear-filled glance. She didn’t answer.
“He needs some time.” Tucker murmured, and Lancer didn’t miss the way the teen’s eyes shifted nervously between Phantom… Danny… and the rest of the class.
Other students had started moving now, sliding out of their chairs and creeping forward in the same cautious way Lancer had.
“No way…”
Lancer glanced up at Dash Baxter, who had come the closest, standing almost beside him. He was staring down at Phantom, eyes blown wide like he was seeing him for the first time.
Phantom let out a soft, pained groan. His eyes cracked open a sliver, electric green light shining from them as he glanced around dazedly. They landed on Lancer, and Phantom stiffened.
Dawning realisation morphed into horror, Phantom’s face pulled taught with shock as his eyes widened and darted around, taking in the other students starting to crowd closer.
“…Daniel?”
The overbright green flicked back to him, and there was no doubt in his mind now… confusion and plenty of questions, yes, but not doubt.
This was Daniel Fenton.
Daniel Fenton was Phantom.
And he’d just…
“Are you alright?”
Daniel stared at him for a moment before his head jerked in a nod.
“Liar,” Tucker breathed, hunching over his best friend and glaring at the people crowding them as if he could intimidate them into backing off. Sam’s posture shifted to match, and she scowled over her shoulder at Dash, face streaked black.
“Yo, what the actual fuck.” Dash breathed.
“Language, Mr. Baxter.” Lancer’s voice was sharp, but his expression was gentle. Danny was still staring at him, breath shallow. Now he’d turned his head, torso twisting slightly with it, Lancer could see his left arm twitching as he cradled it to his chest.
“Are you actually alright Daniel?”
“What do you fucking think! You just watched him DIE again, of COURSE he’s not alright!”
It was Sam who’d answered, voice choked and clearly louder and harsher than she’d meant as she hunched her shoulders and tried to shield Danny from the rest of the class with her body, ducking her head as if expecting an onslaught.
Danny’s eyes switched to hers and his whole face immediately crumpled from the deer-in-headlights shock to something much more pained and guilty. “It’s not your fault Sam-“
Danny’s voice was so quiet, and hoarse, as if he’d… oh, of course… the screaming…
And then Sam’s words caught up to him.
“What… what do you mean, died again?”
Sam shook her head.
Danny’s eyes switched between her hidden face and Lancer’s questioning gaze, his face still pulled into a look that suggested he wanted to disappear. It occurred to Lancer suddenly that he probably COULD do EXACTLY that… but he wasn’t. He was swallowing as if trying to figure out what to say.
Before he could open his mouth to answer, there was a bright flash of light that made Lancer flinch back, along with several of the students around them. After a second, he blinked away the spots in his vision to find that Phantom had been replaced with Fenton. The look on Daniel’s face told him the transformation hadn’t been voluntary.
“No FUCKING WAY!”
“Mr. Baxter,” Lancer growled.
“What!? You let MANSON swear-“
“Ms. Manson is suffering acute emotional distress-“
“Yeah so are WE! We just watched Fenton fucking DIE!”
Lancer took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose, closing his eyes for a moment and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Someone started laughing weakly.
It was Danny.
He opened his eyes and stared at the figure still half in Tucker’s lap. Danny had his right hand on his face, and he wasn’t sure if the laughing was going to turn into sobs or not. Instead it petered into quiet, bitter words.
“Four years… four fucking years and THIS is how I fuck up…”
“We should have helped you remember dude-“
“Tucker if I forgot, I’m not gonna blame you guys for it-“
“We should have marked it down, we should have set an alarm, why didn’t we set a goddamn alarm?” Sam moaned weakly, now trying desperately to wipe the tears off her face.
“You knew this was going to happen?” Lancer said weakly.
Danny’s hand dropped from his face and his eyes refused to meet the older man’s. Lancer didn’t fail to notice the way his face twitched in pain in time with his left arm. When he spoke, his voice was flat and strained.
“Yeah… same day, same time, every year.”
“…For how many years?”
Danny swallowed, still not looking at him. “…This is the fourth.”
“Technically the fifth time it’s happened though, if we count that thing with Desiree.” Tucker mumbled.
Danny grunted in agreement, frowning as his face twitched in pain again. “Yeah… that wasn’t the anniversary though.”
“Daniel, are you… are you telling me you’re…”
“Dead?... Yes and no. More like… Schrödinger’s ghost boy.”
Blue eyes flicked to his with the faintest hint of a smile. It was gone in another wince, eyes darting away.
Lancer took another deep, steadying breath.
“I’m surprised you even know Schrödinger’s name.”
That drew a weak, nervous chuckle from Danny. He shifted as if to sit up, Tucker putting a hand on his chest and frowning, shaking his head.
“Stay down, dude. Remember what happened last time?”
“Yeah but this is awkward as hell Tuck-“ Danny mumbled.
“We don’t care about awkward we care about you not passing the fuck out. Or phasing through the floor and THEN passing the fuck out.” Sam grumbled, shifting as Danny moved to lay on his back.
He failed to stifle a grunt of pain as his arm gave a more violent twitch and he clutched it harder to his chest.
That’s when Lancer noticed the marks.
“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Daniel, is that… you were electrocuted?”
Danny looked at him uncomfortably before diverting his eyes again. “It’ll fade in an hour or two.”
“That’s not what I asked, Danny,” Lancer’s voice was soft again.
Danny’s face pulled into a grimace as his arm gave another violent twitch. “You saw it… everyone saw it. You already know the answer.”
“Quite frankly Daniel, I have no IDEA what I just saw.”
The boy’s face pulled into that nervous grimace again, but a different voice spoke up, surprising them all.
“Ghosts have death anniversaries. Today is… it’s Phantom’s death anniversary, right? That was Phantom re-living his death…”
Paulina’s voice was breathless, as if she couldn’t decide if she was awestruck or horrified.
Lancer looked between her and Danny, who seemed disturbed and a little confused.
“How do you even KNOW about that?” Danny muttered.
Paulina huffed, moving to stand by Dash, giving the boy on the floor a far more intense look than he seemed comfortable with.
“I’m Phantom’s biggest fan, I know LOTS of ghost stuff, duh.”
“You didn’t know Fenton WAS Phantom, though,” Dash snorted, crossing his arms.
“Still a bigger fan than you Baxter, there’s a REASON I’m the club president and not you. Oh man, people are going to FREAK about this-”
“You can’t!”
The teens and Lancer looked back down at Danny, his eyes wide and voice thin and reedy with fear.
“You can’t tell anyone, please…”
“Daniel… who KNOWS about this?” Lancer tried to keep his voice as calming as possible, seeing the beginnings of a panic attack in the boy’s body language. Intense blue eyes locked onto his again.
“Sam, Tuck, and Jazz.”
Lancer blinked, waiting for more names. None seemed to be coming.
“Are you saying… your parents don’t know?”
Danny let out a slightly hysterical laugh.
“Oh yeah! Of course, why WOULDN’T I tell the two people who talk daily about ripping Phantom and any other ghost in sight apart, molecule by molecule!”
Lancer winced, grimacing as the horror of the situation really dawned on him. He did some quick maths in his head.
“You’ve been hiding this from them since you were fourteen?”
Danny stayed silent.
The atmosphere of the room seemed to shift as the rest of the class began to churn over the facts before them.
Danny Fenton had died (half died?) from electrocution at age fourteen.
He’d become Danny Phantom.
He’d been hiding it for four years, and no one had noticed until he’d accidentally re-enacted his own death in front of them, involuntarily.
And his parents had been threatening his existence for the entirety of those four years.
Whispered conversations back and forth brought all these facts together, none of the teens realising that Danny could hear everything they were saying.
“They wouldn’t… they wouldn’t actually DO IT though, right? If… if they knew…” Dash’s conviction sounded weak.
Danny’s breathing remained shallow, eyes falling on the blonde. “You think I want to take that chance?”
Lancer shivered, realising suddenly that the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees. He didn’t fail to notice the way Manson and Foley put their hands protectively on Danny’s shoulders. Was he really doing that? Could he do that this whole time?
Sam turned her face slightly to address him and the others, keeping her eyes as hidden by her hair as she could.
“He’s right, you can’t tell anyone. You have no idea how dangerous… you might as well just throw him straight to the GiW.”
“Also, I will doxx the hell out of any of you if you even THINK about posting anything to the internet.”
Lancer was taken aback slightly by Tucker’s uncharacteristically dark tone and the scowl he was fixing on everyone in sight.
“Dude, you don’t have to tell me twice. If any of you other losers blab, I’ll bring the whole damn football team down on you.” Dash glared around at the rest of the class as he spoke.
Lancer gave Dash a disapproving look, about to chastise the threats of violence, when Danny spoke again.
“You’d… you’d do that?”
The quiet confusion made something in Lancer’s chest squeeze. There was an edge of hope under the disbelief.
“Of COURSE I’d do that! You just SAID if we tell anyone then your parents and the government will try to kill you! I’m not gonna be responsible for killing Danny Phantom! And I’m not letting any of these losers do it either! Shit, Fenton… you stopped a biker ghost running me over like forty-five MINUTES ago!”
“I get not telling your parents. But why didn’t you tell me.”
Danny stiffened at the dark, quiet voice that came from somewhere behind Tucker. He stopped breathing without thinking. He closed his eyes.
“Val, I’m sorry-“
“Sorry? You’re SORRY? Danny I could have KILLED YOU THE REST OF THE WAY! SO MANY TIMES!”
Sam turned and stood, Lancer straightening slowly in response, ready to break up a fight. Manson was already squaring off with Gray, and Lancer was shocked to see tear streaks on Valerie’s furious face.
This was just getting more and more confusing. Why on EARTH would Valerie Gray be a threat to Danny when he was Phantom?
“Back the FUCK OFF Valerie, this ISN’T your business-“
“I just watched Danny fucking DIE and turn into the ghost I’ve had a goddamn vendetta against for four years! It’s VERY MUCH my business-“
“I HAD TO WATCH IT FIRST! Who do you think pushed him into doing it? Who’s FAULT do you THINK it is that he… That he’s…“
Sam’s voice cracked and wavered.
Lancer moved, but not as fast as someone else.
There was a collective intake of breath as Danny shifted to stand in one fluid movement, arms wrapping around Sam, face burying in her shoulder. Lancer realised belatedly that he was floating.
Sam gave a great, shuddering breath and sunk to the floor, Danny sinking with her, not letting go.
“It’s not your fault… it wasn’t your fault, Sam…”
Tucker moved far slower than Danny had, wrapping both of them in a hug and keeping his back to Valerie. Sam was in full on breakdown mode now, and Lancer was at a complete loss.
He looked over their heads at Valerie, who was staring, shell shocked, at the trio.
No one spoke. No one had any words for this.
‘I showed you guys the portal’
Danny’s odd words echoed through Lancer’s head, realisation dawning on him.
They’d both been there… they’d BOTH seen Danny die the first time…
They’d been living with that, re-living that nightmare scenario for four years.
And Sam thought it was her fault.
Lancer doubted they’d gotten any kind of therapy beyond what Jazz could do for them-
Oh… Jazz…
She knew, but had she seen?...
“Daniel?”
The messy black hair shifted as Danny turned his head slightly to acknowledge him, not looking up. His arm was still twitching where it was wrapped around Sam’s shoulders. The red-green Lichtenberg figures were a horrific looking brand against his skin.
“Would you like me to call your sister?”
There was a moment before Danny nodded. Then he spoke as an afterthought. “She might be in class… what day of the week is it?”
“It’s… it’s Thursday.” Lancer frowned slightly. Did he really not know… oh, of course not, that’s why he was there, and presumably not skipping school to keep this whole scenario from happening.
“She should be free.” Danny croaked, head leaning against Sam’s again. His tone was so odd…
Lancer realised it was because he sounded calm. Moments ago he’d been on the verge of a panic attack. Something about Sam’s breakdown had made him change.
Of course… he’s Phantom, Phantom deals with everyone else’s problems before his own. He’s switching off his own emotions and ignoring them in favour of comforting her.
Something in Lancer’s chest clenched as he pulled out his phone, not taking his eyes off the red-green lightning on Danny’s too-pale arm. This can’t be healthy… god, so many things are making sense now…
Valerie had backed off, sitting on a desk in the front row. It wasn’t hers, but the girl who’d been in it didn’t seem to care. There was a definite tension in the room, the only sound now Sam’s sobs as she tried to muffle them in Tucker’s shirt.
Jazz picked up on the third ring.
“Mr. Lancer? Is Danny okay?”
How often is he really in danger, if that’s her first question and we haven’t spoken in a year?
“Hello Jasmine. Danny is… alright… but he’s um… he’s dead.”
Lancer winced the moment the words left his mouth. That was the worst possible way to put that, good job Will.
Silence met him on the other side of the line.
“Did you just tell my sister I’m dead?” Danny’s voice was incredulous.
There was another moment of silence before Jazz groaned over the line.
“He forgot the anniversary didn’t he?... God I KNEW I should have sent him a text but he gets so TETCHY about it, how many people saw-“
“He was in the middle of my English class when it happened.”
“So the whole class saw him… oh, god, Mr. Lancer you CAN’T let them say anything-“
“I know, Jasmine, it’s alright… Danny and his friends made it clear why we all need to keep the secret. Mr. Foley and Mr. Baxter have both given… incentives, for the rest of the class to remain mum on the subject.”
“Can I talk to Danny?”
“Of course.”
Lancer knelt on one knee by the huddle on the floor and tapped Danny’s shoulder. He flinched more violently than expected, eyes green when his head whipped around, but quickly fading back to their usual blue.
He looked at the phone being held out to him and leaned back from Sam a little to take it with his right hand, looking sheepish.
“Hey, Jazz.”
“Are you okay?”
“I mean… I just died in front of my whole class, but relatively speaking, it was the same as any other anniversary,” He mumbled, Tucker making a noise and shaking his head. At least Sam’s sobs had quieted to hitched breaths and sniffles, her face still buried against Tucker.
“…Is someone crying? I can ask that counsellor friend I told you about last week to pay you guys a visit, I already talked to her about-“
“It’s Sam.” His voice was so quiet Lancer nearly missed it, only just able to hear Jazz on the other side of the conversation at close range. Danny leant his head forward against Sam’s, drawing another hitched sounding sniffle from her.
“Oh… oh, I… right, okay, um… tell her to call me when she gets the chance, okay?”
“Yeah… she can hear you right now though, she’s nodding.”
“Oh, okay, good… Well, I guess we better dig up one of the old damage control plans. We had one for this scenario, right?”
“We had one for someone walking in on us while it happened, not for us forgetting. I didn’t… I didn’t think I could forget it… fuck, even the other ghosts knew, they’ve been trying to pull me away without mentioning it directly all day,” Danny murmured, ducking his head as his shoulder’s slumped.
Tucker frowned slightly and murmured something to Sam that Lancer didn’t catch. Sam shifted, her and Tucker bracketing Danny so he was being supported on both sides as he slumped tiredly. Sam wound an arm around Danny’s twitching left and rubbed at his palm in an effort to ease the spasms.
“We’ll figure something out Danny, don’t worry.”
Danny gave a hollow laugh. “Jazz I just traumatised a whole quarter of my year group, I can’t NOT worry about that.”
“Well… you may have a point there, but what I mean is, you’re not alone in figuring out what to do here. I’m going to help you. I’ll talk strategies with William, he cares about you. We can trust him, okay?”
There was a quiet pause before Danny responded with no small hint of incredulity in his tired voice. “You’re on a first name basis with Mr. Lancer?”
Jazz snorted. “College really does things to how you view teachers. They actually turn into people, go figure.”
Lancer couldn’t help the small snicker at that, sobering when it made Danny flinch.
“Guess I’ll only find out if I don’t fail finals. You want me to give him back his phone?”
“Yes, but I’ll call you on your cell when I’ve sorted something out with him, okay?”
Tucker shook his head slightly, even though Jazz couldn’t see it. “Not much point Jazz, he’s not gonna stay conscious much longer.”
Danny made a noise like he was going to protest, then just sighed. “Yeah, okay, probably not.”
“It’s fine, I’m free today, just call me when you wake up. And take it easy, Danny, please… don’t be hard on yourself. Something like this was bound to happen eventually, it could be a lot worse.”
“Could be a lot better too… I’ll call you later. Thanks, Jazz.”
Lancer shifted to take the phone when Danny held it out to him, catching sight of his face even though he tried to hide behind his hair. He did look tired on a level beyond his usual weariness. Considering he’d just… well… he had every right to be exhausted.
“One moment Jasmine,” he spoke into the phone, fishing in his pocket and producing a set of keys that he held out to Tucker. “You two can take him to my office, he should be able to rest there without being disturbed. When this period is over, I’ll drop by with some water and something to eat. I don’t suppose I need to tell you to stay with him?”
Tucker took the keys with an odd expression, nodding. He wordlessly extricated himself from Danny and Sam, not making eye contact with anyone as they parted to let him slip to the back of the room and collect their bags.
Lancer resumed his conversation with Jazz while Sam stood up slowly, somehow easily able to support Danny as he wavered on his feet.
She accepted her bag from Tucker, slinging it on her left shoulder as he put his own on and carried Danny’s. He slung Danny’s right arm over his shoulder, the slightly taller boy slouching gratefully into him. Again, the weight of him didn’t seem to faze Tucker at all, and Lancer could have smacked himself in the forehead.
Of course. Fenton was Phantom. Ghosts didn’t obey gravity the way humans did.
“So you’re not, like… DEAD dead, right?”
Danny blinked up at Paulina’s question. “Uh, no… I guess you didn’t get the Schrödinger reference?”
“No, is that another ghost?”
Mikey snickered. Dash gave her a cool look.
“Thought you knew all ABOUT ghosts, miss club president?”
“Well, did you know there was a ghost called Schrödinger?”
“I don’t need to, I’M not the one claiming all the ghost knowledge.”
Paulina threw Dash a filthy look. Mikey failed to stifle an awkward laugh, clearly amused that neither A-lister had understood Danny’s reference. Many of the other students seemed to be coming out of their shocked trances and looked like they were gearing up to talk.
Paulina’s gaze was on him again, intense in a way that made Danny visibly uncomfortable. “Well, I knew it was the anniversary of Phantom’s death. That was a ‘memorial illusion’, right Danny? No one outside the room can hear or see what’s happening in the middle of one of those, that’s why no one came knocking on the door, only people inside the illusion can hear or see anything, and people rarely ever see them cause they’re like, SUPER personal-“
“Paulina, stop.”
Tucker’s voice shocked her into silence, and her eyes finally flickered off of Danny and onto him. She seemed too surprised by the forcefulness of his tone to argue with it.
“This isn’t a game, this is serious shit. And it IS personal, it’s extremely personal for ghosts. It’s not cool to talk about it, especially not in front of the ghost in question.”
Paulina looked far more shocked and regretful about her social faux-pas than Danny expected her to. All the same, he really wasn’t up for more conversation when his core was already writhing in his chest, urging him to hide. It felt more and more like getting cornered after a fight while bleeding.
Danny went into ‘Phantom needs to leave the scene’ mode.
“Guys, look… I’ll… I know you all have questions, but… I’m seriously dead on my feet here-“
Several people baulked at him, making the corner of his mouth twitch. Tucker rolled his eyes.
“Oh, here we go, now you’ve done it. NONE of you are going to escape the puns.”
“Shut-up, you love them. Anyway, I promise I’ll answer what I can, but… not right now.”
Danny peered around from beneath his mess of hair, that edge of wariness still there, pleading with them to keep their silence.
“Don’t sweat it Fenton. I’ll make sure your secret stays on lock.” Dash spoke with such conviction that Danny couldn’t help staring at him, his surprise still clear.
“Thanks Dash... That means more than you know.”
“C’mon man, I don’t want you passing out before we get to Lancer’s office. How the hell are me and Sam going to explain dragging your unconscious body through the hallways in the middle of class? Again?” Tucker murmured, urging him and Sam towards the door.
They missed Lancer frowning and mouthing the word ‘again?’ as Jazz continued to explain mental trauma triage methods to him over the phone.
Chapter 2
Summary:
Everyone is reeling from Danny's Death. They slowly start to put the puzzle pieces together, helped by Valerie coming clean. Meanwhile, the trio struggles with the same grief they deal with every year, even if in a new setting.
Notes:
Very short chapter, this one is mostly a bridge. The next part of the story is far more meaty, I've already got it written for the most part but it still needs edits, so it might take a bit before I can post it.
Just know that there's plenty of angst on the way. And some funnies. But mostly hurt/comfort.
Also I channel a little bit of my cousin into how I write Lancer, since she's a highschool teacher so I now have a far more intimate view of the other side of THAT coin than I used to.
Also quick note, Paulina is not stupid in this fic, she just doesn't have much emotional intelligence. Mainly because she doesn't care that much about hurting people's feelings, but she's definitely not stupid.
Dash is a lil stupid. As a treat. He grew out of most of the bullying, but still reverts to intimidation tactics even if he doesn't often follow up.
Chapter Text
Danny was tired enough that by the time they got to Lancer’s office, Tucker didn’t even get a chance to unlock the door. Danny turned the three of them intangible and pulled them into the room to save time.
Tucker dropped the keys on the desk and tugged Danny over to the wall beside the door, ignoring the chairs and dropping onto the floor. He didn’t want them visible if anyone looked through the window in the door.
Danny didn’t protest as he was pulled to sit between Tucker’s legs, back to his friend’s chest as Tucker slid his right arm around his torso and wound their left arms together.
The familiar, dextrous fingers rubbed against his scarred palm the way Sam had before. It didn’t stop the twitching or pain, but it was enough of a comfort to make him better able to ignore it.
Danny leant back into Tucker exhaustedly, fighting the urge to sleep as Sam sunk down next to them on his left. He turned his head to her, resting it back on Tucker’s shoulder.
“NOT your fault.”
Lilac eyes snapped to his before she ducked her head again, sniffing.
“Sam… C’mon, look at me.”
She did so, reluctantly, eyes brimming with tears again. Seeing her cry hurt him much more than the spasms in his arm.
“It was MY decision. If I hadn’t wanted to, you know I wouldn’t have done it. You know I’m a stubborn asshole when I want to be.”
“But I put the idea in your head in the first place…. I nagged you about showing us, I egged you on-“
“So did I, Sam. We BOTH wanted to see it. If there’s going to be blame, it’s gonna be on all three of us. We were ALL stupid, equally.” Tucker murmured, letting go of Danny’s left hand and reaching out for Sam’s right. He pulled it over and placed it on Danny’s arm before putting his own around her shoulder and pulling her to lean against his side.
They’d had this conversation. Every year they had some version of it, and it never really got easier, but Danny was determined to wear Sam down. Tucker had processed it better than she had over the years, but he knew that was because Sam had been the one to really get him interested in checking out the portal in the first place.
All the same, he never blamed her. He’d been curious the whole time really, and it was better that he’d gone inside while they were around, rather than done it later when they weren’t. He’d said as much LAST year.
Danny had hoped she’d take it a little better this time around… he hadn’t counted on losing track of the date and accidentally re-living everything in front of so many people. It wouldn’t have helped her guilt in the slightest. It sure wasn’t doing HIM any favours either, but in the face of Sam’s tears, he ruthlessly suppressed his anxiety.
Sam sniffed again, taking over where Tucker left off trying to sooth the aching scars on Danny’s hand.
“I know… I know we were all dumb idiot kids, but… but Danny’s the one who still has to deal with dying over and over again…”
“You have to deal with seeing it. That’s pretty much just as bad.” Danny mumbled.
Sam choked out a quiet sob and shook her head. “No, it’s not. You can’t lie to us, Danny, not with your arm like this… not when you… not when we hear you scream like that…”
Danny felt his core shudder, throat tightening, and he shifted his hand to lace his twitching fingers into hers.
“But you’re here for me. Every time it happens, you’ve been here for me, even though I know it hurts you to go through it again. That’s why it’s not so bad for me… I just, I hate how it hurts you… both of you.”
Tucker’s arm tightened slightly around his chest. “It’s not YOU that’s hurting us though, Danny. Don’t you dare feel guilty, if I have to say it every year I will. Don’t hate yourself, don’t go into another depression spiral. It’s gonna be okay, we’ll be fine.” Tucker spoke with far more strength and conviction than Danny expected, and he relaxed a little further into him.
“…I’ll try not to.”
“Good. Now shut-up and sleep, the longer you fight it the longer it’ll take you to feel better.”
Danny nodded and closed his eyes, almost immediately slipping unconscious.
Talking a bunch of teenagers into covering up a ghostly incident and the secret identity of another student was not something Lancer had ever foreseen himself having to do.
Considering that, he thought he’d done quite well. Jasmine might have a different opinion, but since she wasn’t there, he could only assess his performance himself.
It did help that half the class were Phantom ‘Phans’ as they called themselves. He could see them processing the fact that Phantom and Fenton were one and the same in real time. He was struggling about as much as they were.
After he’d gone through the points Jazz had given him regarding the do’s and don’ts of interacting with a half-ghost, the conversation had slowly devolved into a series of anecdotes; everyone recalling incident after incident where they should have KNOWN. Where they’d been saved by Danny, where he’d disappeared mysteriously only for Phantom to appear and vice-versa, where they’d thought Phantom couldn’t have survived but somehow managed…
And they started to try and puzzle out what it all meant for the kid they knew on a personal level.
The picture they pieced together was not a comforting one. Especially not when they went through a second revelation.
“Guys, I… If Danny’s going to get outed like this, I guess… it’s only fair I come clean too.”
“Ms. Gray?... Does this have to do with what you said to him earlier?” Lancer was careful to keep his voice neutral and gentle.
All eyes were on Valerie now, where before they’d been avoiding her uncomfortably. Any side conversations quieted expectantly. She took a deep, steadying breath, expression hard as she steeled herself. She locked eyes with Lancer when she spoke again.
“I’m the Red Huntress.”
Lancer blinked, brow furrowing slightly. It took a moment for the name to spark recognition, but not for others in the class. Certainly not for Paulina, who gasped and swore under her breath in Spanish.
“You? YOU have been terrorising Phantom for years!? You shot him more times than the Fentons! How DARE you hurt him like that-“
Valerie scowled at Paulina, face flushing angrily, guilt clear in her eyes all the same. “You think I would have if I’d KNOWN? I fucking DATED him Paulina! And he… he knew about it back then, he’s ALWAYS known it was me… that’s why I’m so ANGRY at him, he let me hunt him! I would never… not if I’d known…”
The heat left her voice until it looked like she might start crying again. Paulina seemed shocked enough to stop her tirade, looking at Valerie with no small amount of confusion.
Lancer sighed softly.
I am so not qualified for any of this.
“Valerie, I’m sure he doesn’t hold it against you. I understand your frustration, but it sounds like Danny trusted you not to do him serious harm.”
“Well, no, not NOW… not for the last two years, we’ve… I’ve had a sort of… a kind of truce with Phantom… with him. But before then, I could have… no, I DID seriously hurt him, more than once, and I don’t know why he couldn’t tell me. I thought he knew me well enough not to think I’d hand him over to Mr. Masters, or the GiW, and I’d never out him to his parents the way he did to me.” She mumbled, scowling at the floor now and rubbing at one of her bracelets.
“Wait, he outed you to your father? When?” Lancer frowned slightly.
Valerie didn’t look up when she spoke. “When that whole thing happened with the Ghost King, and I tried to take his Dad’s Ecto-skeleton suit to fight… oh… oh GOD…” Her eyes had widened as she spoke, frown turning into a grimace of horror. “…Danny almost died fighting the Ghost King…”
The atmosphere in the room shifted. EVERYONE remembered the Pariah Dark incident. They’d thought Phantom had been destroyed saving them, no one saw him for over a week after the Ghost King was defeated. And then he’d popped up, acting like his old self, and the town had breathed a sigh of relief.
But Danny… Danny hadn’t been out of school for that time, he’d been back in three days. Danny had limped between classes, mocked for getting ‘stuck outside the ghost shield’. Ridiculed by Dash incessantly for getting beaten up by ghosts. Teased mercilessly for being the one Fenton totally useless in a ghost invasion.
The blonde jock leant forward onto his desk, running his hands through his hair, face riddled with guilt. “God I was such an asshole to him about that… fuck, he saved the whole town from the Ghost King and we treated him like shit.”
Lancer was about to remind Dash that he still wasn’t okay with them swearing in class, but Paulina spoke up, her voice sharp and confused.
“Wait, wait… This means I can FINALLY ask why Phantom doesn’t have the Crown!”
“Ms. Sanchez?” Lancer arched an eyebrow at her, prompting her for an explanation.
She scoffed, as if her point should be obvious. “Geez, doesn’t anyone else know ANYTHING about Ghosts? If someone defeats the Ghost King, they’re supposed to become the NEW Ghost King. They get the Crown and the Ring thingie, even though the creepy books never say how. Which means Phantom should be the Ghost King… but I’ve never seen him with the Crown OR the Ring. But now I can ask him! I wonder if he just hides them…”
“Paulina, are you sure about that? Where did you READ this stuff?” Kwan frowned at her.
“What, you think because I’m a cheerleader I don’t know how to check out a library book?”
“I mean… you did always say reading was for looser nerds.” Kwan mumbled.
Paulina scoffed again. “Well, yeah, I meant reading loser nerd story books. Everyone has to read NORMAL stuff, like ghost grimoires, duh.”
Lancer did not comment on Paulina’s opinions about reading, running a hand tiredly over his face instead. He checked his watch. Class would be over in five minutes, he needed to make sure they were all on the same page before they left, for Danny’s sake.
“Alright class, settle down. Whatever questions you have for Daniel, write them down somewhere inconspicuous like I said before. Run them by me before you ask them, I’m sure none of you want to accidentally offend him. And make sure you don’t mention his name… EITHER of his names together, wherever possible.”
He was met with far more rapt attention than he was used to, the irony not lost on him. All students nodded or made affirmative noises. “Good. I also want you to remember to be VERY careful about what you say on social media. You’re already well versed on internet safety and privacy by now, but you must assume that any communication over your phone or computer is insecure, and could be viewed by a third party. Keep any chatter about this to in-person conversations, keep it QUIET, and be MINDFUL. You all know what’s at stake.”
“Yeah and if I find out any of you have blabbed you’re dead meat.” Dash glared around the class again, Lancer not holding back on rolling his eyes.
“Yes, thankyou Mr. Baxter, I don’t think threats are necessary at this point.”
“Oh SNAP…”
Everyone’s attention was brought to a boy sitting halfway down the middle isle. He was the first one Danny had walked through after passing through Lancer, and hadn’t spoken up until now. His face was suddenly alight with an impish kind of glee that didn’t bode well to Lancer.
“Guys… My brother… NO ONE tell him, okay? We can gaslight the HELL out of him, this is gonna be so much fun.”
Lancer groaned and rubbed at his temples.
Right. Of course.
Wesley Weston was not in this class, but his twin brother Kyle was… the twin brother who didn’t believe in ghosts… until today it seemed.
They’d already briefly touched on the fact Wes had actually been RIGHT about the Phantom-Fenton connection, and no one had believed him.
Before he could discourage any horseplay around their local conspiracy theorist, the bell rang.
When he dropped by his office, he was a little surprised to find the trio huddled on the floor in a pile.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen them basically piled on top of each other before, the three of them didn’t seem to have any kind of concept of personal space when it came to each other at the best of times. But there was something much more… meaningful, to the way they’d arranged themselves.
Lancer realised he’d never seen Tucker’s protective streak quite so exposed. Sam was usually the one front-and-centre on defence, but right now, Tucker seemed to be the pillar of the group. He had Danny propped against his chest, completely passed out. He’d slid his legs in a loose criss-cross under Danny’s knees so he wouldn’t slide down. His left arm was slung around Sam’s shoulders, her right wrapped around and hand intertwined with Danny’s left.
The raw Lichtenberg figures had already begun to fade, but Lancer noticed the whole limb still twitching weakly even as Daniel slept.
Sam had wiped away most of her makeup, eyes still smudged with mascara and liner as she sheepishly looked up at him. This was NOT the Sam Manson that Lancer was used to.
This was the Sam Manson that blamed herself for her best friend’s death.
He gave her what he hoped was a comforting smile, offering her the granola bars and water bottles he’d managed to swipe from the teacher’s lounge.
“I can’t really stay right now, but… How are the three of you? Are you alright?”
“We will be.” Tucker murmured, sighing heavily. “Thanks, Mr. Lancer.”
All he could do was nod and give them a slightly curious look before he had to leave again. “Alright… I’ll be back after last period. Please don’t go anywhere… I really need to talk with the three of you more about this.”
Tucker just nodded.
He was glad at least that he had two sets of keys to his office, so he could lock it behind him and not worry about anyone walking in on them while he was gone. At the same time, they could leave if they needed to. But he hoped they wouldn’t.
The rest of his day passed by in some kind of surreal haze.
His last period, advanced Mathematics, had a few students who were now part of the ‘in-the-know’ group. He noted them behaving themselves better than expected.
He didn’t say anything about the way they all seemed a little too distracted to do their work efficiently. He was hardly going to blame them, he knew he was working on auto-pilot himself, and the rest of the class seemed to sense it.
He didn’t really care. He could afford a lack-lustre lesson or two in the face of Daniel Fenton’s…
He still didn’t like to think the word. He didn’t want to acknowledge it like that.
Even if he’d seen it play out horribly in real time.
The bell really couldn’t come fast enough.
He’s not dead though, he reminded himself.
…But he still DIED. Even if it didn’t stick.
‘Schrödinger’s ghost boy’? How does one even figure out that they’re both alive and dead at the same time? How is it even possible?
He shook his head at himself as he gathered up his papers and arranged them back into his briefcase. He let his thoughts swirl as he slowly packed his things, before a throat being cleared caught his attention and he looked up.
Some students had lingered, grouping loosely by his desk and looking sheepish. It only took a moment to realise they were all from his English class. Ah.
Mikey was the one front and centre, and seemed to have been the one to get his attention. “Sorry, Mr. Lancer… we just wanted to check that Danny and his friends were okay.”
Lancer sighed, giving them a kind look. “They’re… alright. They did say they have experience with this… phenomenon. Daniel was resting, when I checked on them.”
“Are you going to go talk to them now?” Kwan piped up, shuffling forward a little.
Lancer nodded, closing his briefcase. “Yes. But I don’t think they’re in any state to take questions just yet-“
Mikey waved his hands. “Oh, nono, we know. We just, we already have a private discord group for the class. Tucker, Danny and Sam are already in it, we just wanted to see if, uh… do you know what discord is?”
Lancer gave them a slightly confused frown. “Isn’t that some form of social media? Didn’t I tell you kids you need to be careful-“
“It’s not, no! I mean, it sort of is, but, we’d never risk- please, Mr. Lancer, trust us! We ran it all by Tucker first, he actually set up the security on it, it’s perfectly safe. It’s a closed group, totally private, only Tucker, Sam and Danny can approve invites. We wanted to get you in on it, but we weren’t sure you even knew what it was…”
Lancer gave them all an appraising look. He sighed and pulled out his phone. “Is it anything like WhatsApp?”
Chapter 3
Summary:
Lancer thinks he is prepared for his talk with Danny.
He is not. But he does okay anyway.
Notes:
Time for Lancer find out just how fucked up Danny's life has been since he died lol. For Danny at least it's actually sort of a relief to be able to come clean with a bunch of shit. But also incredibly anxiety inducing because he never EXPECTED to be explaining any of this stuff to Lancer face-to-face.
FYI, I did not ruin my knees on Netball in MY youth, but several of my cousins did, and I'm sure it's the kind of sport Lancer would play in college. And yes I know it's probably not nearly as popular a sport in America as it is in Australia but idgaf lol.
Again, this story is un-Beta'd because it's primarily concept based, not plot based, it's just a bit of fun. Having said that, I do have some plot ideas, but right now I'm just rolling in the fun of character interactions post-reveal.
Oh but also I opened a copy of the core document in OpenOffice to work on from my Surface Tab, accidentally saved as word 6.0 doc not a word 2000/xp doc, opened the file on my normal word2010, and it's fucked the document. I cannot save any version of it through word, it will not stop erroring out. I tried to strip the formatting without erasing my italics and stuff, but didn't work (did this several ways) so I am doomed to working on it in google docs and DLing the file as a read only archive version now, FML.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Fifteen minutes later, he was walking back to his office, frowning slightly at his phone. It was NOT like WhatsApp.
He’d had a hard enough time adjusting to the school using the chat client as a way for teachers to communicate formally between each other (and of course, informally, because naturally they’d made side chats between themselves during various school events). This new app was more complex, but once he realised it was an evolution of message boards, it started to click a little better.
He got a notification sound as he was approved and his role assigned. Channels were now open to him. A tiny red dot appeared by the ‘welcome’ channel, and he poked it. Tucker (he assumed it was Tucker) had sent him a hello and a little smiley face.
Maybe if his chat with them went well, he’d be able to ask Tucker some more questions about how the app worked. Mikey, Kwan and Spencer had done their best, but they explained things with a lot of assumed knowledge he just didn’t have. Tucker was used to really dumbing things down for people.
Lancer pocketed his phone after posting a smiley face himself, and got his keys out. He opened his office door and looked around for the trio, only to freeze.
There were four people in the room.
One of them was entirely monochrome .
…What?
“Oh, uh… guess that’s my cue to leave… if you’re SURE you’re alright-“
“It’s fine, Sidney, really… but thank you.”
“Hey, no problemo, chum! I’ll make sure the others go home and no one else comes around for a while. They’ll respect it though, y’know? You always do for them.”
After that brief exchange, the monochrome boy flew off through the ceiling, taking some kind of soup container with him.
Lancer closed the door behind him and blinked at the trio of familiar teens left behind. They were still sitting on the floor, but now Danny was awake, Sam and Tucker sitting either side of him. They still leant against the wall nearest the door to keep out of sight. He noticed empty water bottles and granola bar wrappers in his waste bin and gave a nod of approval as he set his briefcase on his desk.
“Sorry about that, Mr. Lancer… Sidney was just checking in on me. He’s harmless.” Danny murmured, voice still sounding tired and croaky.
“May I ask who Sidney IS?”
“Former student from the 1950’s. He haunts locker 724, Or… he did, he kinda just drops by and checks in on the school every now and then. Helps to keep bullying in check. He’s usually pretty friendly, so long as you’re not… y’know… bullying someone.” Danny still sounded tired, and Lancer frowned slightly as he noticed Tucker shoving water and a granola bar at him. Apparently they’d eaten, but he hadn’t.
Lancer looked between the trio and one of his chairs before deciding he would weather the pain in his knees, moving to sit on the floor in front of them.
“Dude, just eat it, I know you’re not hungry but you barely had any lunch.” Tucker murmured, frowning slightly.
Danny gave him a look of mild confusion, fiddling with the water bottle cap. “I ate, I’m sure I did-“
“You got like three bites of your sandwich between Skulker and Johnny, that really doesn’t count.” Sam murmured.
“…Oh.” Danny seemed genuinely surprised, taking a swig from the water before fiddling with the wrapper of the bar. It took more effort to open than Lancer would have expected, but then he realised Danny was fighting against the twitching of his left hand.
“Did getting some rest help at all? Are you in pain?”
Danny glanced up at Lancer, as if surprised to see him on the floor with them. “I’m okay. It helped enough, doesn’t hurt so much, just kinda annoying now.”
Lancer pressed his lips together, but nodded. He noticed Tucker and Sam relax slightly when Danny finally began eating.
He didn’t look any less tired than he had right after the… event. But then, Lancer couldn’t remember a time he’d seen Danny WITHOUT the bags under his eyes, or the weariness in his shoulders, for the past few years.
Lancer’s eyes skimmed over the faded Lichtenberg figures, feeling something in his gut twist. He had SO many questions, but… it felt like an invasion to ask any of them, especially when Danny still seemed so worn out, even a few hours later.
“Are you sure you don’t want any pain killers? I have some ibuprofen in my desk.”
Danny chewed slowly, glancing up at him.
“Yes please. This idiot is not good at recognising when he needs pain management.” Sam deadpanned, Danny throwing her a half-hearted glare. It quickly deflated and he nodded.
Lancer deliberately swallowed the grunt of effort from getting up off the floor (wishing for the millionth time that someone had TOLD him netball would ruin his knees by his mid-twenties) and fished some pills from his desk, dropping them into Danny’s hand and getting a quiet ’thanks’ in return.
Lancer thought better of the floor this time, pulling a chair over and sitting in it backwards instead, resting his arms on top of the seat back. “You really should make sure you take better care of yourself, Daniel. You don’t want your joints giving out on you early, like mine.”
Danny set aside the water he’d used to wash the pills down and gave him a slightly curious look. “Not sure it applies. Ghost healing kinda negates the joint damage.”
Lancer blinked at that. “Ghost healing?… Is that why the, uh, inflammation has already started to fade?” He nodded to Danny’s arm.
Danny shrugged, looking down at his arm and inspecting the marks critically. “Not sure that counts. The scar’s old, the fact it flares up when… it’s one of those weird ghost things, it’s more uuuuh… psychomatic?-“
“Psychosomatic,” Sam supplied, Danny nodding.
“-Yeah, that, can never remember that word. It’s got to do with the core-brain-body interaction. It’s not really an injury, it’s just my core remembering the injury and making it flare up again for a while. Kinda gets better at the same rate as a cut or dislocation or whatever though.”
Lancer blanched slightly. “How… how often do you get injured to know that?”
Danny looked up at him again, seemingly too weary to hold back his answers now. “I mean, how often do ghosts attack the school? How often do they attack Amity Park? I’m in at least one fight a day on average, and I get pretty banged up every third or fourth fight. Bruises go in like two or three hours, but anything worse tends to take six to eight. Broken bones take a little longer, a day or two… keeping them splinted with ectoplasm is what really takes it out of me though. It’s faster if I’m in ghost form, faster again if I can sleep it off.”
Lancer stared at him, wheels turning in his head, a horrific picture being painted by Daniel’s explanation.
All those times he’d fallen asleep in class… did they correlate to fights? Injuries? How often had Daniel sat in the back of his class with cracked ribs and shattered arms or legs, trying quietly to heal while he was hounded by teachers and peers?
How many of those teachers and peers had he broken those bones saving?
“Daniel, I’m so sorry-“
“ Please don’t. You didn’t know, you couldn’t have known.”
His voice was so quiet. Danny wasn’t looking at him again, staring instead at his shoes.
“That’s besides the point, Daniel. I may not have known, but I certainly didn’t try hard enough to understand why you were struggling so much. I could have done more than just write you off as one of those kids without the discipline to keep a decent sleep schedule.”
Danny gave a hollow laugh. “I mean, you’re not really wrong on that.”
“Dude, stop doing the self-deprecation thing. And eat , don’t think we haven’t noticed you haven’t finished the granola.” Tucker sighed, elbowing Danny lightly.
The blue eyes sent a half-hearted glare Tucker’s way as he took another bite of the bar and chewed slowly.
“It’s not that Danny has a bad sleep schedule, it’s that ghosts don’t care if they interrupt it. Sometimes we’re stuck on a late patrol chasing one down, sometimes they wake him up super early, it’s random,” Sam explained for him. “And y’know… the need to sleep off some of the injuries doesn’t help.”
“Wait, patrols? What patrols?” Lancer frowned slightly, Tucker and Sam giving him raised eyebrows while Danny continued finishing off the granola.
“Ghost patrols. We don’t just wait for them to show up, we actively go out to catch them and throw them back in the Ghost Zone so they aren’t always popping up randomly.” Tucker’s tone suggested he thought it was obvious.
And once Lancer realised how Phantom sightings were so often just him flying across the city at night, he realised it probably should have been. His brow furrowed thoughtfully.
“How often do you patrol? And for how long?”
“Weekday evenings, sometimes weekends, depends on the ghost activity during the week. It’s usually anything from three to five hours. That’s not counting random attacks though, and those can take any amount of time depending on the ghost.” Tucker continued, the tone of his voice suggesting they’d done the maths on all of this a long time ago.
Sam nodded along with his explanation before picking up where he left off. “All up we worked out it comes to about thirty to thirty-five hours a week. Give or take the major attacks. I mean, ghosts like Technus or Desiree can launch attacks that take DAYS before we manage to catch them.”
“It’s not as bad as it used to be,” Danny piped up, scrunching up the wrapper as he finished his bar. “I’m better at handling the small attacks nowadays. Mind you, Skulker and Johnny weren’t really TRYING today, they weren’t here to attack. They were just trying to get me away from the school ‘cause they knew what was coming.”
Lancer’s brow furrowed. “How did they know, but you forgot?”
Danny arched an eyebrow slightly, looking up at him again. He seemed to have thought Lancer was having a dig at him, realising belatedly that he wasn’t. “Ghosts can sense each other’s aura. You can just… FEEL it, when another ghost is close to their anniversary. I mean, assuming you get close enough to them. Most of them retreat to their lairs for a few days around that time. Skulker and Johnny were probably wondering why I wasn’t in mine.”
“You… have a lair?”
“Yeah, it’s called my house.” Danny’s mouth curled into a slight smile. “Sorry to disappoint, it’s not a very impressive lair. I already get judged pretty hard by some of the other ghosts for that. Anyway, I don’t usually stay there for my anniversary, I go to Sam or Tucker’s house… depends on family schedules and where we’re less likely to have people around. I guess they figured it was weird for me to be stuck in the middle of a bunch of other people on the day, when it’s usually a private thing…”
Lancer digested all of that information, wishing the other ghosts had managed to draw Danny and his friends away in time. “If other ghosts can feel it coming, how did you miss it?”
An uncomfortable look crossed Danny’s face, and he shifted a little, rubbing at his left hand. “I don’t know, I guess… I mean it comes on kinda slow, one or two days beforehand. It’s just this lousy feeling, low lying dread, I get irritable and headachey… I felt it all like normal, but I wrote it off as the effects of the up-tick in ghost attacks, lack of sleep, and stressing over finals. Plus, I kinda lost track of the date.”
“We did too,” Sam mumbled. Tucker gave her a look, and Danny reached out his twitching hand to hold hers. The look he gave her very clearly said ‘not your fault’. She sighed and nodded, conceding defeat.
“Considering it only comes around once a year, I can see how you might misinterpret the signs that way. I suppose you’ll be setting yourself reminders from now on?”
Danny nodded, grimacing. “For all the good it’ll do… assuming I’m still around this time next year and not stuck in a GiW bunker somewhere-“
“Don’t even think it, Danny, we’re NOT letting that happen.” Sam’s voice was sharp, her hand shifting to clutch his. He gave her a slightly apologetic look, opening his mouth to respond, but Tucker beat him to it.
“Danny, we are NOT letting any of the class leak your secret. I wasn’t kidding about the doxxing, and I’ve already started working on a wiper program in case someone spreads something, even if it’s an accident.”
“I know , Tuck, but there’s still always a chance … twenty more people knowing who I am makes the risk factor go WAY up. It’s only going to take a small slip up, and I could have the GiW breathing down my neck, or WORSE, someone says something where my parents hear-“
Lancer recognised the signs of an oncoming panic attack building and knew he needed to do something to help negate it. But Daniel had every right to be worried, which made soothing his fears difficult.
“Daniel… I know your parents have been very outspoken against Phantom, and I know they’ve threatened your ghost half many times… but is there really no way to break it to them gently? Are you sure they would react… violently, against you?”
He tried to word the question as delicately as he could, but the aching weariness in Daniel’s eyes told him there was no soft way to come at the subject. The boy hung his head with a deep sigh, running his right hand over his face.
“…I know they love me. But it’s just… it’s not that simple, not anymore. I’ve already kept it from them this long. I’m not afraid of them being mad, I’m… god , this is complicated…” Danny raised his head and locked eyes with Lancer, seemingly calculating how best to explain. Lancer waited patiently for him to speak again.
“They found out once. EVERYONE found out once. And my parents accepted me then, under those very specific conditions, but… that was erased. I erased that, with the reality gauntlet, because I wasn’t ready… And I can’t be sure, with everything that’s happened since, that they would accept me this time around. So much more has happened, they’ve had time to build different opinions about Phantom... They might get stuck on the idea of my ghost half being a separate entity possessing me, and if they try and separate me…”
Danny shuddered, a shadow passing over his face as if he knew exactly what that was like, and he did not want to relive it. Wait, HAD that happened to him?
“I still think they’d be the same as before, but it’s up to you dude.” Tucker said quietly, arm shifting to encircle Danny’s shoulders. They slumped under the weight, tension draining out of him slightly at the comforting gesture.
“What if it’s NOT up to me now? I just wanted to at LEAST graduate before deciding what to do about telling them.”
“Would it help if I was there? As support?” Lancer offered automatically. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d offered to physically support a student coming out to their parents. But THAT kind of coming out wasn’t something that got you landed on the government’s detain-on-sight list.
Danny took a moment to respond, too many emotions passing over his face for Lancer to really read him. He shook his head slightly. “Thanks, but… I’m just not ready. I don’t think it’s safe yet… Jazz did offer for me to go live with her, if they…” he swallowed, scowling at his shoes. “I can’t . I can’t leave Amity Park, not now.”
“What was your plan, after graduation? Before today?” Lancer asked curiously, hoping to offer a distraction to lessen Daniel’s anxiety. He was also genuinely curious. They were meant to do student interviews next week to help seniors plan for their post-graduation pathways.
“I have a couple of distance learning courses picked out. I’m pretty sure I’ll have the marks for them… I was going to try and get a part time job as well, maybe food delivery, y’know… I could make pretty good tips considering traffic isn’t a problem for me.” He gave Lancer a wan half-smile, the expression quickly sliding back into an anxious grimace.
“Were you still looking at becoming an astronaut?”
Danny looked up at him with naked surprise. “You remembered that?”
Lancer couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out of him. “It’s not every year I get a student with goals set THAT high, Daniel, it leaves an impression. I admit, I thought you might have given up on it, back when you first started struggling with your work.”
Something painful seemed to pass over Danny’s eyes, and he noticed Tucker’s grip tighten slightly around his shoulders. “…I did. After the accident, when I realised my grades were screwed by all the ghost stuff, I knew there was no way I could have both. I chose ‘Phantom’ over ‘Astronaut Fenton’. There was no point pining over a career choice I couldn’t achieve, when I could be doing something more important in the here and now.”
Lancer felt an ache in his chest at the hollow finality in the boy’s tone. He could tell that giving up on the dream was still a blow. “So what kind of course were you looking at now? What career path did you determine you could work around your full-time ghost hunting?”
“I mean, it’s not really full-time-“
“Daniel, 35 hours a week is full-time. It’s a full time job. That’s almost as much time as I spend working here AND doing marking and curriculum planning at home.” Lancer raised an eyebrow at him, when he looked up with a stunned expression. “So, what were you planning to do as your SECOND full-time job?”
Danny blinked at him, seemingly taking a moment to re-group. “Um… theoretical physics.”
It was Lancers turn to blink, stunned at the unexpected answer. Danny continued unprompted, interpreting his silence as a need for more explanation.
“I figured it was a good way to get into a career at NASA, even without becoming an astronaut. Or at least to stay within the space science community, since I can go into astro-physics from there and combine the knowledge from both. Plus whatever I can learn from it might help me figure out more about the Ghost Zone. It’s a lot like space, even though you can breathe, and it’s not a vacuum, and gravity doesn’t work the way it does here… And I KNOW theoretical physics is a lot of work, but I think if I can focus all my energy on that when I’m not doing ghost fighting stuff… I mean, I have to TRY, right? I have to do SOMETHING, and my parents liked the idea…”
He trailed off, looking as if he thought Lancer would disagree.
“Danny, I think that’s a fantastic choice for you, if you’re willing to pursue it.”
The surprise in Danny’s eyes should not be that intense, he thought.
“Really?... I thought you might tell me I was still aiming too high.”
Lancer shook his head, huffing out a laugh. “Daniel, while I may have been hard on you about your marks all these years, it’s not because I think you’re stupid. Quite the opposite, I could see the moment you got here that you had the smarts for your chosen field. Heck, my MAIN concern used to be your lack of physical suitability which… not really an issue now. Honestly? I STILL think you could qualify for the astronaut program if you applied yourself, but entering the field through theoretical physics doesn’t exactly rule it out further down the line. I think your plan is solid, there’s really no rush given your age. You do have time to redirect if you find it suits you, a few years down the line.”
Danny stared at him, stunned. There was something in his eyes, as if some part of him that had been pushed deep down was resurfacing, and for a moment Lancer thought he might actually cry.
A moment later the look sobered, as if he remembered why he gave up on the whole thing in the first place. “I… thanks… it means a lot hearing that from you. I guess maybe I could… I dunno, maybe I can still go for it one day. But I still can’t… abandon Amity, not when ghosts like Technus and Undergrowth and Nocturne are a serious threat.”
Lancer gave him a slightly perplexed look. “Surely there are other ghost hunters that could take up that work in your stead? You can’t be holding everything in Amity together yourself, I mean, I know your parents may not be the most competent hunters but I’ve seen them manage captures. They at least move ghost attacks away from populated areas fairly well. And there’s the team the mayor keeps on payroll-“
Tucker and Sam both gave him identical annoyed looks, but Danny just gave a rueful laugh, looking down at his shoes again. “Mr. Lancer… I don’t really WANT to be the only thing here between the Ghost Zone and keeping everyone safe, but unfortunately, neither my parents or the ghost hunters Vlad keeps on payroll are capable of handling half the shit that comes out of the portal, if you’ll excuse my French.”
Danny looked up again, eyes back to being tired, a definite edge of bitterness in his voice. “There’s threats no one even knows about that I have to stick around to keep an eye on. I’m a little deep in this stuff now to just be packing up and heading off to college, it’s the whole reason I looked into distance degrees. Tucker and Sam are the only ones other than Jazz anywhere NEAR capable of picking up my slack, and they have their own lives and plans, I’m not expecting them to do that. Besides, ghost hunting is twice as hard for them, they don’t have the benefits of flying, or fast healing, or intangibility. It’s too much to ask of anyone else.”
“You know we’d do it though. It’s not like we hate it.” Sam murmured, Danny frowning slightly.
“I know, but you guys have so much potential, you can’t waste that hanging around here-“
“But it’s okay if you waste yours -“
“Tucker, we’ve been over this, I am already half-dead , my options are limited , but you guys can do so much more-“
“You’re not the only one who can do a distance degree though, I found plenty of social science options.” Sam gave him a long-suffering look.
He returned it. “But is that what you WANT to do?”
“God, you’re really so fucking thick sometimes.” Tucker growled, rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses. “Danny we’re not ‘missing out’ on college by trying to figure out ways to stick around here. As far as I see it, being on campus at a college is overrated; why the HELL would we WANT to fuck around with fraternities and having to figure out new, stupid social hierarchies? We like what we have HERE. And you know damn well I can ace a comp-sci degree at a distance. STOP acting like you’re dragging us down, this is our choice too.”
“Danny… is it so hard to believe that your friends genuinely want to stay with you?” Lancer’s voice was gentle, and he saw a flash of surprise in Danny’s eyes before he ran a hand over his face. He pulled a leg up, resting his elbow on it so he could keep his face shielded by his hand as he drew a deep, steadying breath.
“I know, I know it’s your choice, I just… I feel like I’m holding you back. I feel like… like my obsession is holding you back, and that’s making it...”
Danny shivered, the room suddenly dropping two or three degrees. Lancer’s eyes widened slightly, but he kept his breathing steady. Jazz had mentioned this. She’d been VERY clear that if Danny mentioned the ‘O’ word, he definitely shouldn’t ask about it. He couldn’t address it. Only Sam and Tucker could really, safely, talk about it.
Where he’d been looking at a tired, conflicted teenager a moment before, he was suddenly sharply reminded that Danny was most definitely so much more… Had been for years now. Something with a whole different set of rules for engagement.
“Oh, Danny … shit, I’m sorry, we didn’t… trust us, please , we would have come to this decision even if you hadn’t given us the idea. You are NOT hurting us by being our reason to want to stay.” Sam’s voice was gentle, pained in a way he couldn’t really fathom. As if she’d just realised something was silently wounding him. What was it Jazz had said?
If a ghost does something that goes against their own obsession, it can be damaging to them.
She hadn’t mentioned what Phantom’s obsession was. Clearly, the idea that he was influencing his friends in a way that negatively impacted their futures was something that hurt Danny. What kind of obsession would drive that?
Sam wrapped her arms around Danny, leaning her head against his as he took deep, steadying breaths.
Lancer felt suddenly like he was intruding on something he shouldn’t see. Tucker spared him a sympathetic glance, apparently very aware of his sudden discomfort.
“Sorry Mr. Lancer… ghost stuff; gets complicated sometimes. I can explain it later.”
“That’s alright, Tucker… Jazz did explain some of this to me. I’m, ah… versed in the basic do’s and don’ts.”
Tucker seemed far more relieved by that than he’d expected, Danny and Sam taking a less tense posture as well.
“Sam’s right though dude, you’re not hurting us by wanting us to stay. We WANT to stay. I know we used to talk about the kind of colleges we’d go to, and what we’d do about dorming together, but honestly? It’s kind of a relief NOT to worry about all that stuff now.” Tucker murmured.
Lancer watched more tension leak from Danny’s posture, his hand leaving his face and flopping into his lap. His voice was barely audible when he spoke now.
“Are you sure?”
Sam nodded vigorously, easing back so she only had one arm layered over Tucker’s, encircling Danny’s shoulders. “One hundred percent. Besides, how much of a waste would all our ghost hunting experience be outside of Amity? I’d end up coming back every weekend just to get a fix, think of the carbon footprint I’d be making doing that. It’s just not an eco-friendly option.”
That drew a snort from Danny, the temperature in the room easing back to normal levels. “Gotta keep the ghost fighting carbon neutral.”
Tucker snickered. “Exactly. Plus, we both know that if we’re not here to help out, you’re gonna get your ass kicked by one of the big bads. Everyone else might think Phantom works alone, but you know damn well we’re the REAL powerhouses of the team.”
Danny gave a weak chuckle, nodding, and the temperature returned to normal. Lancer breathed a quiet sigh of relief, glad that the two of them seemed to know how to handle the ‘ghost stuff’.
Danny seemed to realise, sheepishly, what Lancer had just witnessed. Colour had risen to his cheeks, and his eyes darted up and away again. “Sorry, sir… how much uuuuh… how much did Jazz actually explain to you, about ghost stuff?”
“Well… I got the feeling it was a very basic crash course. She told me what topics to steer away from, explained some generalised things about those topics. She didn’t go into any great detail, mainly she stressed to me that you were not dangerous. I mean, I already knew that, but the fact she pushed the point makes me think it was something you were worried about.”
Danny’s expression remained uncomfortable as he peered up through his hair. “So… no one in the class talked about… y’know, not wanting to be around me? They weren’t worried about getting hurt?”
“None of them said as much, no, and I certainly didn’t get a sense of fear from any of them. Well… no, I DID, but, it was fear FOR you, not OF you. There was something of a… round-table discussion. It involved recalling many of the incidents during the past four years where you’ve been in danger as Phantom.”
Danny shifted uncomfortably. Tucker shook his shoulders a little. “See, dude? I told you, they’re already in the discord making memes about this, none of them are scared of you. Why the hell would they be?”
“I know most of them probably don’t see me as dangerous, but… what about Valerie? And Dash, god, he’s going to figure out at some point that I used to overshadow him sometimes.” Danny murmured, frowning.
Sam snorted. “He’s such a fanboy he’ll probably ask you to do it again when he realises. IF he realises. I think you give his two brain cells a little too much credit.”
“Daniel… what exactly does overshadowing entail?”
Those blue eyes were on him like headlights now, which was all the confirmation Lancer really needed for the realisation that had been building in the back of his head. “…You’ve overshadowed me before, haven’t you?”
Even though he’d tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible, Danny flinched as if expecting a blow. His eyes darted down to his shoes again, his whole posture screaming shame.
“…Yes… not for at least two years, and the last time was to save you but… yeah, I have… I’m sorry.”
Lancer could tell he meant it. Part of him was definitely disturbed by the revelation that Danny could just… take control of his body whenever he wanted, and he couldn’t do anything about it or even REMEMBER it. But could he say he was surprised, that a 14 to 15 year old would use that power on a teacher, given the chance?
Could he honestly say he, as a 39 year old, wouldn’t use it too, given the same chance?
Lancer sighed. “I hope it’s not something you’ve done TOO frequently.”
Danny shook his head. “I used it more when I was younger and didn’t really THINK before… I mean, I realised about a year and half into being part ghost that it was pretty invasive. I have rules for myself about that stuff now, no overshadowing unless it’s an emergency, or life or death situation.”
Lancer gave him a critical look before nodding. “I assume getting out of trouble and detention doesn’t count as emergency OR life or death?”
“No, unless being stuck in detention means I’m prevented from going after a ghost that’s dangerous. But I can usually skip out other ways.” He mumbled, shrugging.
“Are there any other abilities I should know about that might be… alarming, to the other students?”
Danny frowned slightly, thinking seriously about that. “I… I mean, there’s passive stuff that doesn’t HURT people, but it messes with me sometimes. It might freak them out a bit.” His right hand rubbed at his left again as he stared at his shoes. “I can… sense human emotions, and when they’re really strong, my ghost half kinda… draws energy from them, it’s not something I can control, and I don’t LIKE it because if I’m not careful, other people’s emotions affect mine.”
“Does it work with your own human side?”
Danny’s head tilted slightly. “Nnnnnot really? But also, yes? I mean, my emotions are already tied to my core… they always affected my powers, but that’s a bit different. Most of the time the temperature drop thing gets shrugged off as weird weather, or broken AC.”
“You really never noticed the ‘scary eyes’?” Tucker gave Lancer a small grin, making Danny roll his eyes.
“I hate when you call them that.”
“They’re adorable though,” Sam snickered, earning her a half-hearted glare.
“The scary eyes?...” Lancer frowned, blinking at them.
Danny sighed and glanced up at him from under his hair again. His eyes suddenly flared a bright, toxic green.
Oh… he HAD seen that.
He’d always brushed off the flashes of green in Danny’s eyes, blaming it on odd lighting or ghost presence or… whatever other circumstance.
“Yes, actually… I think I have seen the scary eyes. I’m more inclined to call them ‘did I actually see that or am I going nuts’ eyes.” He chuckled.
Danny seemed to appreciate the humour, eye colour quickly going back to normal. “Yeah, I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard. Most people will do the mental gymnastics to explain away my weirdness all on their own. Wes has been the only person who made the logic leap that actually hit the nail on the head. Don’t ask me how, by the way, the idea of a halfa is so wild to anyone outside the Ghost Zone that even my parents have never entertained it.”
“A halfa? Is that the scientific term?”
Danny snorted. “No, it’s more of a slang term. It’s what the rest of the Ghost Zone calls my kind. Half a ghost, half a human. Not terribly creative, but accurate enough.” he shrugged.
Lancer didn’t fail to pick up on his wording. “Your kind?... You mean you’re not the only one?”
The look that passed over Danny’s face was mirrored by Sam and Tucker, and immediately he realised he’d stumbled onto a topic he shouldn’t have.
“Um… I uh… no comment?”
Lancer raised a hand placatingly. “Daniel, it’s fine, you don’t have to tell me. This isn’t a police investigation, I’m just… trying to understand as much as I can to help you, that’s all. Just… tell me that there isn’t another ‘halfa’ in the school? Because if there is, I still have a duty of care-”
“ No , not in the school, no.” Daniel sounded relieved, running his hand over his face again. “God, I’m an idiot… I can’t tell you who they are, but they definitely don’t go here.”
“Alright… can I ask…” Lancer paused, remembering Jazz’s warning about digging for details of Danny’s death. Danny was looking at him expectantly, and he chose his next words very carefully. “Did the other halfas come about the same way you did?”
Danny’s tense posture relaxed again. “No, not really. I mean…” He seemed to have an internal debate about what was safe to share, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. “There’s only three of us, so far as I know. Besides that, I’m pretty sure that not just anyone can become one by walking into a ghost portal and turning it on. Having prior exposure to ectoplasm might be a prerequisite, but still doesn’t guarantee anything. Two of us became like this in different ways...”
Danny paused, biting his lip as he teetered on the edge of sharing more. He glanced at Tucker and Sam, who seemed to know what he was thinking, their expressions shifting in a silent conversation. Eventually they both nodded at him encouragingly. He breathed out slowly, steeling himself, and continued.
“The third is, uh… this is going to sound fucked up, and it is , but please don’t freak out… she’s my clone.”
Lancer blinked at him, expression blank. Of all the answers he’d expected, that was never one of them. The science enthusiast in him was already saying that wasn’t possible, COULDN’T be possible… but then, he was talking to a boy who was half alive and half dead. Next to that, cloning seemed perfectly achievable.
“Your clone? Who… how… did the government… wait, you said ‘she’?”
“Not the government, can’t say who, don’t know why she’s a she, her name is Danielle and she lives in the Ghost Zone most of the time. But we’ve been sending her money from the proceeds of Sam’s online merch shop. Y’know, the one I officially endorse as Phantom. No one KNOWS Sam runs it, but I mean, she designed my logo, she’s legally the most official source. All the money goes to Ellie.”
Lancer’s jaw was slack at the influx of information. He knew Daniel tended to info-dump when nervous, but this … It took a moment to process, and once it had, he frowned slightly, mouth closing. New questions popped up, and he wondered how many he was allowed to ask… how many he SHOULD ask… Alice In Wonderland, I’ve really fallen down a rabbit hole here.
“If you’re worried about her not going to school, we’ve been passing along our old assignments and worksheets to her. She does pretty good, we have study sessions with her pretty frequently to make sure she’s learning enough useful stuff.” Tucker explained, apparently able to read some of the basis of his concerns just from his expression.
“How old is she?”
Sam made a vague gesture, humming. “We THINK she’s like, two years younger than Danny. She seemed like a twelve year old when she first popped up. And she acts like she’s kinda sixteen, seventeen now? We guess the quick maturity had more to do with the life she leads than the possibility that she ages at a faster rate. At least we hope that’s what it is.”
“Technically speaking though, she’s like… 4 and a bit years old. Clones can be physically and mentally speed-matured in tanks before they’re turned out.” Tucker supplied.
Lancer blanched at that. “You were cloned when you were only fourteen?”
Danny sighed, looking much older than his own 18 years. “Yyyyup. The guy who did it is pretty much insane. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Ellie, she’s basically like a second sister, but the whole situation was kinda fucked up from the start and we know it. We don’t let it mess us up though, you learn to roll with this kind of stuff eventually when you’re half dead.” He shrugged weakly under the combined weight of his friend’s arms on his shoulders.
Neither Tucker nor Sam looked at all convinced by his casual tone. Lancer decided to bite back the urge to suggest he seek therapy, no doubt Jazz had already tried and failed on that point.
Which reminded him…
“Well… perhaps we can arrange something like private tutoring sessions for her, if she’d like them. If she’s like you and your sister, I daresay she’d be eager for some academic feedback on her efforts. And speaking of your sister, have you called her back yet?”
Danny perked up slightly. “Oh, right, no. I was asleep until Sidney showed up, and then you were here, so…” He fished his phone out of his pocket, looking relieved that she hadn’t messaged him to bug him about it yet. He looked back up at Lancer, not yet dialing her number.
“I think Ellie would love that, by the way… getting your help I mean. We usually just give her a guestimate of what grade she’d get based on what we got for the same assignments. It’d feel a lot more official and useful if she got grades from you.”
Lancer gave him a genuine smile. “We’ll work something out over the discord chat later. Speaking of which… Tucker, I don’t suppose you could help me get a better handle on the app while Danny is on the phone? I didn’t really grasp everything Mikey showed me.”
Notes:
P.S. I thought about writing the scene with Sidney and the Trio, but it's not super necessary. Basically he just checks in to see if Danny is okay, sympathises over what happened and offers to empty the thermos into the ghost zone and ask the usual rogues to give him some space. Also before Sidney gets there, Sam and Tucker are talking about the discord and figuring out how to protect Danny from the inevitable awkward and rude questions/comments they know he's going to get. Danny is out of it for that, his ghost sense wakes him up when Sid gets there.
Chapter 4
Summary:
Lancer finds out one last secret, and it might be the worst.
And then everyone has an enlightening discord chat.
Notes:
I was too hype about this chapter to not post it as soon as I could. I did a LOT of work on the discord convo part of it. Not just making the phantom emotes, but also sourcing the other emotes, reaction images, etc and linking them all in. Plus going through and bolding all the usernames happened in post.
Disclaimer: It's not 1 for 1 accurate to how discord chats ACTUALLY work or look cause that's... way too much effort tbh, it's meant to EVOKE discord okay. Let's pretend the app works a little different in this universe. Also casual reminder that I am Australian, so some Americanisms escape me (like apparently yall dont really use WhatsApp lol). Some things may stick out to you for this reason and i will not know what they are unless you tell me 'lolwut no one here says that'.
If you get confused by some of the usernames and who they belong to, I added the key in notes at the end of the chapter. Most of them are made evident in the chat itself, any that aren't are side chars so not terribly important to know.
But yeah, this was ridiculously fun to write. it's a lot of humour and some fluff mixed in with some super dark and angsty shit so have fun with that :)
WARNING: There are gifs included in the body of the text. None are flashing but letting you know just in case you wanna use a disabler.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lancer told them to wait by the back entrance while he got his things together and locked up. He was going to drive them to Danny’s house, unwilling to let Danny walk the several blocks, even with Sam and Tucker with him.
He had the feeling the boy was far too good at hiding just how tired he was. He had to assume the fatigue ran twice as deep as it looked on the surface.
Plus, as much as Danny had tried to brush it off, the fact still remained that he’d died today. Only a few hours ago. Regardless of how alive he was now, driving him home was the very LEAST Lancer felt he could do for him.
As he locked his office, he thought he heard something echo down the halls. He paused, wondering if he’d imagined it. But then, there it was again… the sound of something solid hitting metal…. Like a body colliding with lockers. Then voices… echoing voices, unnatural , sending a chill down his spine.
Lancer fought his instincts and ran towards the sound. The closer he came, the more he could make out. The sound of ecto-blasts nearly made him stop, but now he knew what it meant, he had to go towards it.
Danny was in trouble. Danny was in a fight. He was in no condition to fight.
His progress was brought to an abrupt stop as a pink ecto-blast shot across his path from the corridor to his right, just before he turned the corner. Cold dread rooted him to the spot for a moment.
“FUCK you Plasmius!”
That was Danny’s voice, unmistakable even with an echo (HOW had he never noticed?).
Lancer swallowed the fear and peered around the corner carefully. There was another loud thud, and he winced as he saw Danny slammed into a bank of lockers. He was Phantom again, and the ghost pinning him by the throat was…
The Wisconsin ghost?
No, Danny had called him something else-
“What was your PLAN here, Daniel, hmm? Are you TIRING of your double life, now of all times? Was this a cry for help? Or just an incredibly stupid STUNT? If you want to expose me, surely you could have come up with a better idea than-”
“I FORGOT, okay asshole? I fucking forgot . You REALLY think I wanted to be HERE for that? Of all places?”
Daniel hissed through clenched teeth, green blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and splattering on the black glove still holding him by the throat. Lancer felt sick to his stomach to see his left arm twitching violently as he clawed at the unmoved hand.
The other ghost… Plasmius? Looked stunned. His blank expression quickly morphed into a sneer of disgust.
“You’re not even lying, are you? You forgot your own death day… I should have known the stupidest answer was the most likely-“
“Hands OFF him, Vlad-“
Sam Manson’s voice rang out from the other end of the corridor as she and Tucker came skidding around the corner. Almost immediately, the ghost swept a hand carelessly in their direction. They were thrown back, held down by a pink barrier.
“Oh will you two STOP, I’m trying to have a conversation here.”
There was a snarl and a green flash, and suddenly Plasmius was the one thrown back and onto the floor. Daniel’s hands glowed with a dangerous green light. Lancer noticed that even though he was floating, he was shaking.
“I told you to fuck off Plasmius! I’m not in the mood for your shit.”
Danny’s voice was under-laid with tones Lancer hadn’t heard from him before. They made the sparse hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Plasmius lifted himself up off the floor and laughed, straightening his odd suit.
Lancer already hated this ghost with a passion.
“Daniel, how in the hell did you manage to miss all the signs? I knew you were distractible, but this is a new low for you. How deep has your exposure run? How many people do I potentially have to kill to lock this down?”
Lancer could feel Daniel’s reaction even this far away, the temperature plummeting and a static crackle filling the air. The urge to run was almost too much to resist, but he stood his ground.
“You’re not killing anyone . They won’t talk, they’re not a danger to you, they don’t know there’s anyone else like me.”
Daniel’s voice was eerily calm, but even Lancer could feel the fear in his aura. Is that normal? Could I always feel his emotions from a distance like this? Was I brushing them off as my own?
Plasmius surged forward into Daniel’s space again, bringing his face inches from the boy’s and staring with blood-red, unblinking eyes.
“You better hope it stays that way, little badger . I don’t suppose your obsession would fare very well, if you failed to protect so many people who trust you so blindly, hmm?”
The wave of emotions that hit him when the ‘O’ word was mentioned suddenly brought home just how dangerous the word could be when uttered by the wrong person. Lancer felt as if his chest was constricting from the strength of fury-fear- protect that washed over him.
When Danny spoke, his voice was like ice.
“I’m the only one at risk of exposure here. Don’t. Fucking. Touch them .”
Plasmius straightened again, looking down at Danny with clear disdain, and no small amount of condescension. He seemed wholly unmoved by the bombardment of emotion.
“Such language . If I get so much as a WHIFF of a threat to my identity, I won’t hesitate. I hope you realise the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Daniel. Perhaps you ought to start practicing memory tampering, if you want them to live. I don’t have high hopes for the ability of a bunch of teenagers to keep a secret like ours.”
Danny glared daggers at the other ghost as he sneered and disappeared backwards through the wall opposite him.
There was a scrambling sound at the other end of the corridor, Sam and Tucker getting to their feet and rushing towards Danny the moment they’d been freed from the barrier. Danny landed on his feet, rings of light flashing and sliding over his form, leaving him human again. He wavered dangerously where he stood.
“Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine, but you’re bleeding,” Tucker’s voice was laced with anxiety as he wasted no time sliding an arm under Danny’s and taking his weight.
“It’s just a split lip, I’ll be alright.” Danny murmured, letting Sam tilt his head up into the light to inspect the wound. She made an unhappy sound and pulled some tissues out of her bag, mopping up the trail of (now red) blood on his chin.
“Should have guessed that asshole had this place bugged again,” She growled, scowling.
Lancer suddenly realised he should really be doing something. The shock of what he’d seen was wearing thin enough that his senses were returning (and maybe it was also the softening of Danny’s aura making his brain less clouded with fear). He stepped around the corner, making enough noise that they had warning he was there.
Sam and Tucker’s heads whipped in his direction, both stiffening before they realised it was him.
Danny acted completely unaffected, as if he’d known all along he was there. Blue eyes seemed to send him a warning before he could speak. Not here.
It clicked suddenly for Lancer, brain catching up to what Sam had just said. The school was bugged .
If he asked out loud who that ghost had been, he might be in danger from him.
“Are you kids ready to go?”
Danny nodded, Sam and Tucker exchanging a look.
They made their way slowly and silently out to Lancer’s car. Lancer tried not to look around for Plasmius, worried that he might have waited to ambush them and kill him just in CASE he’d seen anything.
The lot was, as far as he could tell, empty of other ghosts.
His mind churned even as he opened the boot for the kids to throw their bags in. It didn’t take a huge leap of logic now to figure out what Plasmius was, given his words and his threats.
The third ‘halfa’.
Lancer frowned, unable to figure out anyone he might know who looked even remotely like that ghost. Even if he reversed the colours of his outfit, the hair was insane… he’d DEFINITELY know if he had seen a human with hair like that. This other halfa was older, though, and Daniel had said they’d come about differently. Maybe that affected how they looked when transformed…
As he got into the driver’s seat, his thoughts ground to a halt.
I shouldn’t be thinking about this. I shouldn’t KNOW about this. That other halfa would murder me just for knowing of his existence, let alone who he is…
“Are you okay, Mr. Lancer?”
Danny’s quiet voice broke him out of his head, and he twisted to look back at the teen squashed between his friends in the back seat.
“I should be asking you that, Daniel.”
“I’ll be fine. That was practically civil for him,” Danny murmured, grimacing. “Tucker’s turned on his blocker, we won’t be overheard in here. The bugs in the school are probably in the corridors.”
Lancer nodded, but turned back to the steering wheel and started the car. He didn’t speak until they’d pulled into traffic.
“I just want to get some distance from the school first, in case he hasn’t actually left.” He murmured, making his way down the block, deciding on the long route.
“Don’t worry, he’s gone. I’d know if he was following, even invisibly.” Danny sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “You heard more than you should have… I’m sorry, Mr. Lancer, I can’t… you’re in danger now and I can’t-“
“He’s the other halfa, I take it?” Lancer kept his voice gentle, but the defeat in Danny’s voice made his heart ache. This is far too much pressure for him, he feels directly responsible for our lives…
He glanced in the rear-view mirror, seeing Danny nod and hang his head. Tucker and Sam had steely looks on their faces.
“Do I know him?”
“…You’ve met. You’re not close.” Danny mumbled.
“It’s Vlad Masters.”
“Sam!”
“Fuck it Danny, there’s no point protecting his identity if Lancer already knows he’s out there. He might as well have all the information at this point!”
Lancer pulled up at a red light, a sense of dread washing over him, making his hands clammy on the wheel. “…Mayor Masters? The MAYOR is…”
“A crazy half-ghost with practically no morals, who overshadowed his way to wealth and power? It’s more likely than you’d think.” Tucker supplied flatly.
“…Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“… I voted for him.”
“Yeah he made you do that.”
Lancer pulled through the intersection as the light changed. There was silence for a few moments as he digested the new information. This was by far one of the more disturbing revelations of the day.
“Is… is there any way to know how many times I’ve been overshadowed by different ghosts?”
Danny sighed tiredly. “Not really, sorry. You get left with a mild ectoplasmic trace after the fact, but it doesn’t stick around. If I possessed you right after another ghost, and I knew that ghost, I could tell you who it was. Otherwise, there’s no way to know. Plasmius is crazy powerful, he practically overshadowed the whole town on his own to take that election, so you’re not alone at least.”
“… Considering his death threats against your classmates, that really doesn’t make me feel better.”
Danny let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah, that’s… we’re going to have to discourage any talk of other halfas in the discord. Knowing about me is one thing, but we REALLY can’t risk them finding out about Vlad.”
“I had no idea your life was THIS complicated, Danny.” His tone was apologetic, and he glanced in the rear-view mirror. Danny had slumped in his seat-belt, head resting back against the top of the seat.
“Not that it’s going to make you feel any better, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. And you really don’t wanna put your head under the water to see the rest, trust me.”
“I do trust you, Daniel.”
The boy’s head jerked up to look at him, something in his tone clearly surprising him. He continued on.
“The more I find out about what kind of life you’ve had to lead for the last four years, the more I realise just what kind of weight you’ve been carrying on your shoulders. Your choice, from day one, was to do the right thing. You’ve kept us all safe so far… so I do trust you. Implicitly . And I want you to know you can trust me, with this. I want to help you as much as I can… even if that means I know things that put me at risk. You’ve not had any adults in your corner for four years… I’d like you to be able to trust me to be there for you.”
There was silence following his softly spoken statement. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he looked in the rear-view mirror again after a few moments, but it wasn’t the silent tears streaking Danny’s face, or the relieved looks on Tucker and Sam’s faces.
Danny’s voice cracked with emotion when he finally responded.
“…Thankyou.”
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > General
BallIsLife: Wait, can ghosts even sleep though?
FriarTuck: Guys keep the questions in the questions channel pls how is this hard
DoYouEvenLift: ffs Kwan they told you like twice already
YourClericCouldNever: Hey when is Danny actually going to be online?
GhostBoi: Now. Keep your pants on Spencer
YourClericCouldNever: I mean… kinda rich coming from you
GhostBoi: That was what, twice? Three years ago? You try keeping your pants on when they go intangible
TheSteez: That’s twice more than anyone else here
DoYouEvenLift: You want me to change that at school tomorrow Justin?
TheSteez: He’s not gonna fuck you Dash
GhostBoi: 
xXCHAOSXx: Guys you know Mr. Lancer is in this discord right
YourClericCouldNever: F
BallIsLife: F
MagicMike: F
StarsNSluts: Guess I should change my nickname then
StarsNSluts has changed their nickname to Stargays
OutOfYourLeague: Danny did you see my question?
GhostBoi: I haven’t had a chance to look through that channel yet I just got on and there's like 200 messages in there already
FriarTuck: Can yall pls chill we still have to vet your questions anyway
OutOfYourLeague: Why?
MagicMike: That counts as a question Paulina
xXCHAOSXx: because yall are animals and we don't trust you not to be rude or stick your foot in your mouth
TheSteez: Tell it like it is why don't you Manson
MagicMike: I mean she’s not wrong
GhostBoi: Who put together that ‘Phantom Spotting’ playlist in the music channel?
BallIsLife: Yooooooo it me :D
GhostBoi: NGL it’s fire, might have to blast that in the Specter Speeder next time I’m in the Ghost Zone passing Ember's lair, she’ll appreciate it
TheSteez: A) that was a question Danny and B) you are absolutely bullshitting us, you do NOT cruise through the ghost zone in something called the specter speeder and c) you DO NOT know where Ember lives
GhostBoi: :)
OutOfYourLeague: ????
GhostBoi: :))))
xXCHAOSXx: why wouldn’t he know where Ember lives he has to kick her ass back there all the time
FriarTuck: Danny is allowed to ask questions, he's a mod
xXCHAOSXx: Also why wouldn't you believe Danny's dad invented a vehicle to cruise through the Ghost Zone and call it the specter speeder? It's literally so on brand
MagicMike: Are you telling me you LET him do that ALONE?
GhostBoi: As if I wouldn't take them with me
GhostBoi: Besides Sam drives it better than me or Tuck. She can make it power-slide and that shouldn’t even be possible with anti-gravs
DoYouEvenLift: DEADASS????
GhostBoi: :)))
Stargays: Dash did you really just fucking make a death pun at Danny
DoYouEvenLift: OH GOD I DIDNT MEAN IT IM SORRY
GhostBoi: No it was good I encourage the death puns
GhostBoi: Good coping mechanism
FriarTuck: Speaking of which
CatchTheseJazzHands has joined the server
BallIsLife: Oh damn is that Jazz?
CatchTheseJazzHands: Hi guys, yes it's me :)
BallIsLife: hi Jazz :D
MagicMike: Yooo hi Jazz!
Stargays: Hi Jazz!
OutOfYourLeague: Hi Jazz :)
DoYouEvenLift: Hey Jazz
TheSteez: Yo Jazz!
WeebNation: hey Jazz :)
YourClericCouldNever: hi Jazz
DoAKickFlip: Heyyy Jazz!
PoPxRockz: hi Jazz :D
RedArtemis: Hi Jazz
GhostBoi: Since when is my sister this popular
xXCHAOSXx: Hi Jazz :)
GhostBoi: Et tu, Brutus?
KeyMaster: A+ reference Daniel
CatchTheseJazzHands: Hi Mr. Lancer :)
KeyMaster: Hello Jasmine :)
RedArtemis: Okay can we rewind for a second and go back to the part where the three ghostketeers cruise through the ghost zone on the reg?
WeebNation: lol three ghostketeers
GhostBoi: 'On the reg' isn't what I'd call it. We only go in if we have to, it's not exactly super safe in there as you know
WeebNation: Wait Valerie’s been to the ghost zone?
KeyMaster: If it's dangerous, do you really NEED to go in?
GhostBoi: Yes, for various reasons
MagicMike: Such as?
GhostBoi: I'm half ghost and I need the ghost soup sometimes
BallIsLife: wtf is the ghost soup???
CatchTheseJazzHands: It's what he calls ambient ectoplasm
BallIsLife: is it actually soup?
xXCHAOSXx: No
FriarTuck: Yes
GhostBoi: :))))
TheSteez: That was a question Kwan
WeebNation: Yeah mods should be banning anyone asking questions
FriarTuck: Guys the question rule applies to questions that need convoluted answers can yall PLS chill and actually read the channel descriptions
GhostBoi: To be fair Kwan’s question about ghosts needing sleep is a pretty simple one
FriarTuck: not if you answer it properly
BallIsLife: So do they?
GhostBoi: They CAN but they don’t NEED to
CatchTheseJazzhands: That’s a lie, you need to sleep Danny
GhostBoi: I’ll sleep when I’m dead :)
YourClericCouldNever: DJNSIFNIFBFB
WeebNation: ajsnjsnfdjsisa
DoAKickFlip: 
TheSteez:
GhostBoi: just kidding I get less sleep since dying than I ever did before
Stargays: omgggggg
xXCHOASXx: buckle up kids, the humour only gets darker from here on out
OutOfYourLeague: Of course the goth girl would say that
CatchTheseJazzHands: She’s right, it really is only going to get darker. If you’re not comfortable with that you might want to say so now
PoPxRockz: I don’t think anyone’s going to get turned off by dark humour at this point considering why we’re all here
Stargays: Mia is right but also everyone here watches the dead teacher movies so yall can’t say you don’t like dark humour
DoAKickFlip: I haven’t seen any of those movies actually but I like the death puns
YourClericCouldNever: BRO WHAT??? Okay we need to organise a movie marathon weekend for Kyle now
TheSteez: So we're just not going to talk about how Danny has discord emotes of himself
GhostBoi: Sam made them and they're amazing
GhostBoi: off topic but Kwan, for real, ‘Hellbent’ on that playlist is high key making me wanna steal Johnny’s bike and go for a joy ride
xXCHAOSXx: DO NOT
GhostBoi: :)))
FriarTuck: C’mon Sam he’s obviously joking
RedArtemis: You sure about that
GhostBoi: :))))))))
EightFootVerticalLeap: I love that I can SEE Fenton’s shit eating grin whenever he types that smiley face
Stargays: lol who’s Johnny
CatchTheseJazzhands: A creep
OutOfYourLeague: Johnny 13 the biker ghost. It’s the guy who tried to run Dash over today
Stargays: Oh HIM (derogatory)
GhostBoi: Guys Sam just sat on me to stop me leaving :(
CatchTheseJazzHands: good
WeebNation: Not very poggers of you Sam
DoYouEvenLift: Wait how is she sitting on you???
GhostBoi: Sam and Tuck are at my house
MagicMike: Why are the three of you talking to each other in the chat then if you can just talk in real life?
FriarTuck: because we’re being inclusive, some of us have manners Mikey
GhostBoi: Tucker is also now sitting on me
DoYouEvenLift: You good dude?
GhostBoi: I am so long as they don’t fart
FriarTuck: you’re lucky I didn’t eat the bean burrito at lunch
FriarTuck: stg i’ll manage to do it anyway if you even TRY to go intangible
Stargays: gross
DoAKickFlip: Do ghosts fart?
EightFootverticalLeap: Thought you didn’t believe in ghosts Kyle?
DoAKickFlip: I didn’t until Danny walked through me, gotta admit it’s hard to fake that
GhostBoi: Ghosts can kind of fart? I mean I can but I’m built different
YourClericCouldNever: lollll
KeyMaster: I don’t know what I was expecting from this conversation but this is even more low-brow than I could have imagined.
MagicMike: I thought you liked us being curious sir, this is important scientific knowledge we’re pursuing here
MagicMike: Danny when you say ghosts can ‘sort of’ fart, what do you mean?
GhostBoi: They can expel gas, but they don’t have organs, so they don’t necessarily need to expel it the same way we do. And it doesn’t make the noise unless they want it to.
DoAKickFlip: Does it stink?
GhostBoi: Depends on the gas. If it’s ectoplasmic fumes then it smells like mouldy lemons. Sometimes it’s just normal air that gets trapped in their body
MagicMike: Wait do YOU have organs as a ghost?
GhostBoi: Yes. Unless i'm shapeshifting
BallIsLife: how do you know?
GhostBoi: seen them
FriarTuck: DO NOT ASK HIM HOW.
*message has been removed by moderator*
*message has been removed by moderator*
FriarTuck: STOP ASKING
GhostBoi: I wasn’t going to tell them Tucker
GhostBoi: And we are moving away from this topic because the look Sam is giving me is scary
OutOfYourLeague: Are you the Ghost King?
xXCHAOSXx: well there’s a non-sequitur if ever i've seen one
GhostBoi: No???? What????
TheSteez: Not to overuse the joke but I feel like that’s a question that should be in the questions channel
MagicMike: idk man that seemed like a short answer one lol
GhostBoi: Paulina what makes you think I’m the ghost king???
OutOfYourLeague: because you beat the last ghost king and that’s how you become the new one. You’re a ghost, I thought you’d know that!
xXCHAOSXx: Where did you hear that?
OutOfYourLeague: I read it in the ghost grimoire
xXCHAOSXx: YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CHECKED OUT THAT BOOK AND NEVER RETURNED IT?
OutOfYourLeague: Yeah but like no one else was using it so why does that matter???
xXCHAOSXx: Paulina that’s a rare book and the only copy the city library owns, and that’s not how libraries work! No one is using it because YOU WON’T RETURN IT. WE VERY MUCH NEED TO USE IT. I CAN’T JUST BUY IT, IT’S OUT OF PRINT AND NO ONE IS SELLING
OutOfYourLeague: okay geez don’t get your panties in a twist I’ll bring it to school tomorrow
FriarTuck: guys I think you broke Danny he’s just staring at his ceiling and frowning
DoYouEvenLift: @GhostBoi Bro you good?
Stargays: What if it turns out he IS ghost royalty? Do we get to give him a makeover princess diaries style?
EightFootVerticalLeap: NGL surprise royalty is one of my favourite tropes, I’ll help you with the makeover Danny
DoYouEvenLift: Seriously though is he okay?
FriarTuck: okay no he’s fine we’re sitting on him again so he doesn’t run off into the ghost zone to ask Frostbite how the ghost king stuff works
CatchTheseJazzHands: Why did you even stop sitting on him
xXCHAOSXx: he was making ice and throwing it at us
CatchTheseJazzHands: If he does it again just tickle him
FriarTuck: Can’t, he’ll fall through his bed on reflex
WeebNation: lol wtf
YourClericCouldNever: Who the hell is Frostbite
FriarTuck: Yeti
YourClericCouldNever: wut
FriarTuck: Sorry was hitting Danny with a pillow, let me clarify. Giant ice Yeti who leads the other giant ice yetis that live in the ghost zone. Hope that clears it up.
xXCHAOSXx: He’s a nice dude actually.
DoAKickFlip: bro this is too much for me first you make me believe in ghosts and now you want me to believe in yetis
PoPxRockz: 
GhostBoi: mood
MagicMike: Why would Danny need to ask a giant ice yeti about whether or not he’s the ghost king???
GhostBoi: long story. Might wanna put any more yeti related questions in the other channel
GhostBoi: But Frostbite is the one who taught me how to use my ice powers. He’s awesome :)
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: bruh comin into this convo late is a wild ride
DoYouEvenLift: Yo but what if it turns out that you ARE the ghost king?
GhostBoi: Then I will probably swear a lot
KeyMaster: please don’t do it where I can hear you
GhostBoi: it’s fine I’ll swear in ghost
MagicMike: Wut
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: wut
YourClericCouldNever: what
WeebNation: for real???
BallIsLife: wait do ghosts have different swears? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a ghost swear
OutOfYourLeague: Phantom would never swear
xXCHAOSXx: 😂😂😂
FriarTuck:
GhostBoi: Sorry to disappoint you Paulina but I probably swear more as Phantom than I do as Fenton. Just not where people can hear me, got an image to uphold and all that
OutOfYourLeague: Does he swear in English or in ghost?
GhostBoi: Both. Depends on the situation.
DoYouEvenLift: yo can you teach us ghost swears?
GhostBoi: Sorry, human voice boxes can’t speak ghost :C
PoPxRockz: bruh wutttttt
YourClericCouldNever: How TF you speak it if not with your voice box???
GhostBoi: Comes from the core not the throat, that's why it's got a weird echo
MagicMike: Core?
GhostBoi: Yeah you’ll need to ask questions about ghost core stuff in Q channel it’s a whole thing
BallIsLife: can you speak ghost for us tomorrow?
KeyMaster: Daniel if you are still not feeling well, you do not have to attend school tomorrow. I can write you a note.
GhostBoi: Thanks Mr. Lancer but I’m good, I’ll be in. I have a chemistry test I can’t miss.
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: OH SHIT THAT’S TOMORROW???
MagicMike: lol did you not study Jason? Maslow literally talked about it today
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: :CCC
FriarTuck: Jason you have free period with us in the morning we’re studying for it then just come to the library
EightFootVerticalLeap: So Danny when you’re done swearing, you want that makeover?
GhostBoi: Why would I need a makeover??
OutOfYourLeague: Danny don’t take this the wrong way but you’ve needed a makeover for like two years. Have you never thought of updating your suit? Or ANY of your wardrobe?
GhostBoi: what’s wrong with my suit?
xXCHAOSXx: There’s nothing wrong with the suit. We’ve already thought about making some small changes but we never settled on anything, and Danny doesn’t have the energy to spare on changing his appearance as a ghost right now. You don’t just mess with an iconic brand on a whim you know
DoYouEvenLift: How DO you change your appearance as a ghost? You did it a bunch that time we got shrunk down?
TheSteez: Im sorry the time you what???
GhostBoi: OH LOL forgot about that. I wasn’t controlling that I was slowly turning back into a human that whole time and hoped you didn’t notice that was what was happening
DoYouEvenLift: Ooooh so you said casual Friday like a joke right?
GhostBoi: I was mostly hoping at the time that you wouldn’t think too hard about it. Also as you know I’m not great with tracking the days of the week T_T;
DoYouEvenLift: LOL
TheSteez: ????????
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: I am so lost right now
BallIsLife: bro same
DoYouEvenLift: It was a Tuesday lol
WeebNation: Every question answered brings up like 10 new questions. It’s ghostception
GhostBoi: nah the only ghostception is Nocturne
FriarTuck: so true bestie
GhostBoi: changing how you look as a ghost is mostly a mental thing btw. Like you can just add clothes, but changing the outfit you default to is different. There’s a lot of concentration involved unless you unconsciously want a particular change really badly, then it just kinda happens.
xXCHAOSXx: Or you can royally fuck up by wishing for timeline altering shenanigans around Desiree but I do not recommend that AT ALL.
GhostBoi: Yeah please refrain from using the word ‘wish’ whenever possible I hate dealing with Desiree’s nonsense
OutOfYourLeague: okay but that doesn’t mean we can’t update your human wardrobe
GhostBoi: the only thing wrong with my human clothes is that I don’t have enough space themed shirts
MagicMike: dude half your shirts are space themed
GhostBoi: Exactly, only half, could do better
xXCHAOSXx: If I haven’t managed to make him change his look in all these years I don’t know why you think you guys can
OutOfYourLeague: You just keep trying to turn him goth, that’s not an improvement
GhostBoi: IDK man I liked the eyeliner when I tried it but makeup gets ruined during ghost fights
BallisLife: You tried makeup???
GhostBoi: I mean I’ve been using foundation to hide bruises for years, but adding anything more than that ended up pointless. I only tried for like a week but that was enough for me. Mad respect to girls who can wear mascara in summer and not have it run into their eyes after five minutes sweating
GhostBoi: also its REALLY hard to find a foundation the right colour, most of them end up looking weird when I go ghost
PoPxRockz: again
OutOfYourLeague: Danny did no one ever introduce you to setting spray? Manson why have you failed him so badly
xXCHAOSXx: he was already having issues with the makeup irritating his eyes, we figured it wasn’t worth the hassle of trying to put setting spray on them as well
FriarTuck: yall seem to not get the art of dressing down so that when you dress up for special occasions you get the extra impact
Stargays: Tucker that’s not an art that’s just being lazy
FriarTuck: You say that but wait til Danny and I smoke your asses at prom, get the pillar men theme ready for our entrance
WeebNation: 🤣
GhostBoi has changed FriarTuck’s nickname to TooFine
DoYouEvenLift: That a challenge Foley? Dress off bro, you and me, my look is gonna obliterate yours
TheSteez: Uh Oh Foley, Dash is about to make a move for your man
TooFine: 
GhostBoi: lol sorry Dash I’m spoken for but also I’ll outdress both of you
DoYouEvenLift: wait what???
BallIsLife: yeah what?
GhostBoi: You think I can’t dress to impress?
DoYouEvenLift: Not THAT part, the spoken for part
Stargays: are yall for real
OutOfYourLeague: don’t tell me you and Manson ACTUALLY got together and didn’t make a whole thing about it???
GhostBoi: I thought you guys all knew I was Bi???
DoYouEvenLift: I THOUGHT THAT WAS A JOKE?
GhostBoi: lol guess i’m coming out of several closets today
TooFine: Closetception
xXCHAOSXx: XD
DoAKickFlip: YOOOOOO
PopxRockz: On god bro????
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: this mans is like a daytime soap opera
WeebNation: 
WeebNation: holy shit Foley you were always flirting with him for REAL I thought it was just an in joke???
MagicMike: 
YourClericCouldNever: 
TheSteez: 
TheSteez: JK wanted to feel included, Danny is a disaster Bi even I knew this
EightFootVerticalLeap: 
BallIsLife: Congrats???
Stargays: OMFG how did so many of you not know
OutOfYourLeague: How did YOU know?
Stargays: Same way Mr. Lancer does :)
KeyMaster: 
GhostBoi: A+ meme reference Sir :)
DoYouEvenLift: so wait you’re with Tucker and not Sam?
GhostBoi: oh right yeah I’m poly too
DoYouEvenLift: ???
Stargays: Dash It means he’s with Tucker AND Sam
DoYouEvenLift: You can do that???
GhostBoi: 
xXCHAOSXx: 
Stargays: Again, HOW did so many of you not know when they are literally not even subtle about it
TooFine: So yeah anyway, we’ll definitely be smoking your ass at prom
MagicMike: Yo hold up, you’re gay Mr. Lancer?
KeyMaster: Yes.
MagicMike: You never talk about it though???
KeyMaster: Talking about being gay is not a requirement of being gay Michael.
Stargays: Just because I never shut up about how hot girls are, doesn’t mean every queer person is like that
GhostBoi: you are so valid tho
Stargays: Thx :)
TheSteez: Phantom said gay rights
GhostBoi: 💗🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤 
EightFootVerticalLeap: Guys PLEASE you NEED to put those emotes in this server already
xXCHAOSXx: I'll get on it tomorrow
OutOfYourLeague: Wait but what about Phantom?
GhostBoi: ?
OutOfYourLeague: Does that mean Phantom is Bi too? Is he dating both of them too?
TheSteez: ?
GhostBoi: Wait
MagicMike: 
GhostBoi: Paulina
CatchTheseJazzHands: Oh boy
GhostBoi: Do you think I am somehow still two different people?
OutOfYourLeague: You always acted like you’re two different people, I figured you had some kind of split personality thing going on
TooFine: hhhhhhh
xXCHAOSXx: 
GhostBoi: No. Not how it works. Danny and Phantom are one person, I only have one personality, I just got very good at code switching
OutOfYourLeague: So I can never date Phantom????
GhostBoi: 
EightFootVerticalLeap: F
TheSteez: F
YourClericCouldNever: F
WeebNation: F
DoAKickFlip: F
PoPxRockz: F
RedArtemis: F
xXCHAOSXx: What can I say Paulina, you had your chance and you blew it :)
TooFine: Not complaining
TooFine: 
GhostBoi: <3<3<3
CatchTheseJazzhands: Awwww :D
EightFootVerticalLeap: !!!!! 
BallIsLife: bro that’s so fucking cute tho
PoPxRockz: I ship it
MagicMike: @OutOfYourLeague lol you seriously thought he was like Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde or some shit?
RedArtemis: To be fair Danny’s code switching is pretty insane, I mean I never picked it. I was fuckin handcuffed to Phantom in the ghost zone once and never even suspected it could be him
GhostBoi: yeah well y’know kinda important to get that skill right to keep my secret identity
OutOfYourLeague: @MagicMike is that some nerd book crap
KeyMaster: None of the emoticons here do my disappointment justice, have I really failed you that badly Paulina? 😔
OutOfYourLeague: What? Was that something from class?
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: @RedArtemis hold up you what? When was this???
RedArtemis: Back in eighth grade
KeyMaster: @OutOfYourLeague It was referenced but it wasn’t part of the required reading.
xXCHAOSXx: Honestly wish the musical was part of the syllabus, the music is so good
KeyMaster: I did try to slip it in, but the education board doesn’t like musicals. 😒
GhostBoi: Oh right the Skulker thing and the flour sack
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: WTF does Skulker have to do with a flour sack? I’m getting so lost with these cross-convos going on :(
GhostBoi: That’s a long story, I’ll post it in the Answers channel to keep this chat less cluttered
RedArtemis: The short version is that Skulker cuffed me and Phantom together and hunted us for sport in the ghost zone. And ruined our flour sack baby, which is why we got a C on that assignment
MagicMike: Oh you mean the assignment where Tucker tanked everyone’s fucking grade for that class?
TooFine: It was 3 years ago ffs
xXCHAOSXx: Still glad I took custody of Lilith when I did
GhostBoi: lol she should be starting to talk in full sentences now right?
TooFine: Her first words were still dada
xXCHAOSXx: yes, she just loves absurdist nihilistic anti-establishment art so much :)
TooFine: oh ha ha
OutOfYourLeague: So are you gonna have both their babies Manson?
xXCHAOSXx: Cause THAT’S not a SUPER personal question out of literally nowhere, holy shit Paulina
OutOfYourLeague: Wait can Danny even have kids if he’s half ghost?
Stargays: Lina that is NOT COOL 😡
TooFine: Paulina I am like two seconds from rate limiting you into next week
CatchTheseJazzHands: That really is crossing a line Paulina
DoYouEvenLift: sorry for her Danny you don’t have to answer her
GhostBoi: I don’t know. I never actually thought about that
Stargays: Danny are you okay?
GhostBoi: I don’t think i can check
Stargays: Planned parenthood do those kinds of tests, there’s one near northside mall
GhostBoi: No I mean I can’t go to a doctor or the hospital or anything
MagicMike: Oh fuck
TheSteez: Wait you haven’t seen a doctor since the accident?
GhostBoi: No I can’t risk anyone finding out about my weird ghost shit my blood is full of ectoplasm
KeyMaster: How do you know that?
GhostBoi: Used my parent’s lab equipment to look at it and ran some basic tests. I have ectoplasm in all my cells, my core generates it according to Frostbite.
MagicMike: Wait so if you can’t go to the hospital what do you do if you get really fucked up in a fight?
GhostBoi: Drink a couple shots of purified ectoplasm and sleep it off usually
xXCHAOSXx: We learnt first aid too so we treat major injuries before he drinks the ectoplasm. Tucker is better at stitches than me though
YourClericCouldNever: TUCKER??? SCARED OF HOSPITALS AND NEEDLES TUCKER???
TooFine: I’m not scared of the needle if I’M the one using it
YourClericCouldNever: But the blood tho????
TooFine: I got over it. Didn’t really have much choice I’m not leaving my boy to bleed out. If it’s my own blood tho I still pass out
PoPxRockz: we went from dark humour to just plain dark wow
RedArtemis: It’s ghost hunting, were you expecting everything to be happiness and rainbows?
PoPxRockz: hey I’m not saying that i’m just trying to keep the mood light
KeyMaster: Daniel is there really no medical professionals you can go to if something serious happens to you?
GhostBoi: There’s the medical facility in the far frozen in the ghost zone.
GhostBoi: They can only really treat my ghost half. But that’s the half that gets messed up the most so it’s not all bad
RedArtemis: 
GhostBoi: What?
RedArtemis: Injuries on your ghost half show up on your human half, this is still a problem you cannot handwave
GhostBoi: Like you can talk miss ‘I’m going to try and take on Pariah Dark in a suit that will 100% kill me’
RedArtemis: AND THEN YOU JUMPED IN THE SUIT YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE!
GhostBoi: YES BECAUSE IT WASN’T GOING TO KILL ME THE REST OF THE WAY! IT WASN’T SAFE FOR HUMANS AND I SAID AS MUCH
DoYouEvenLift: But you’re human too tho
GhostBoi: debateable
TooFine: I’m cutting that conversation off now we are not getting into that
RedArtemis: Wait Danny why do you not think you’re human?
TooFine: Valerie I am warning you
TooFine: Danny I see you typing I will steal your phone
TheSteez: Why don’t you want him to answer?
xXCHAOSXx: Geez Justin i don’t know maybe it’s because its fucking personal and he doesn’t owe you answers even if he thinks he does?
MagicMike: I mean he basically said he was half ghost half human right? So he’s technically still human
GhostBoi: Ghost hunters do not make that distinction
Stargays: ohhhhhhh fuck guys why did you go there
CatchTheseJazzHands: Danny pick up my call or I’ll ring the house phone
KeyMaster: This is clearly not a subject for public discussion, we need to move on.
TooFine: Yeah I’m calling a close on this convo for tonight. You guys can keep talking amoungst yourselves but don’t be rude. Me and Sam will start going through the questions channel and Danny will get to them when he can, might not be til later tomorrow so don’t bug him about it at school.
KeyMaster: If I hear anyone HAS bugged him about it at school, you will get a lunchtime detention.
TheSteez: Manson was right about us being animals i guess :C
Notes:
GhostBoi - Danny
FriarTuck/TooFine - Tucker
xXCHAOSXx - Sam
CatchTheseJazzHands - Jazz
KeyMaster - Lancer
BallIsLife – Kwan
DoYouEvenLift – Dash
YourClericCouldNever – Spencer
MagicMike – Mikey
TheSteez – Justin (basketballer)
WeebNation - Lester
StarsnSluts/Stargays – Star
OutOfYourLeague – Paulina
DoAKickFlip – Kyle
PoPxRockz – Mia
RedArtemis – Valerie
ToYeetOrNotToYeet – Jason (footballer)
EightFootVerticalLeap – Rebecca (cheerleader)Not in this chapter but will come up later:
HemiDemiSemiRemi - Remilio (band - Flautist)
BardMain - Nathan
RococoLoco - Amy (band - Violinist)
BigMcLargeHuge - Brad (footballer)
IAskedYouSecond - Ashley
Tranquili-T - Tiffanie
NoNotLikeTheMusical - Annie
Chapter 5
Summary:
In which the reality of the situation starts to sink in for Danny, and it's not great.
But it's also not all bad.
Notes:
All of this was written after posting the last chapter, and I'm quite happy with it. This fic is rambling along without more than a very slap-dash structure, but since it's mostly for my own amusement, i don't feel like that matters much.
I have a lot more plans for future plot stuff than I thought I would, this fic has really grown legs and run away with me tbh.
It's only going to get angstier I'm afraid, but I do like happy endings, so I'm not going to stick you guys in a hole and leave you there. it is not my way.
Anywho, this chap covers the night and the morning after. A little more insight into Danny's thoughts and feelings, and then into Valerie's. It got longer than anticipated too.
Next chap will be more discord stuff! Danny finally answers some questions :V
Chapter Text
“Danny, you’re not in a good headspace for something like that, and you DON’T owe them an explanation.”
“They need to understand why they can’t tell anyone, it’s not that I think I owe them an explanation, it’s that I don’t think they take the risk of outing me seriously enough. They clearly don’t get the problem with seeing me as just a human-with-ghost-powers.”
“There ISN’T a problem with them seeing you as a human-with-ghost-powers, that’s what you ARE-”
“Jazz, I know you think me considering myself as not human is ‘damaging to my psyche’ but I keep telling you, I’ve come to terms with being human adjacent. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you guys.”
“Danny that’s besides the point, you can’t just drop this on people who only found out you’re Phantom less than 24 hours ago. They don’t understand the history here, if you give them permission to dehumanise you, that’s only going to hurt you.”
“They’re going to dehumanise me whether I give them permission or not, I might as well beat them to the punch.” His tone was dry, sharp and hollow.
Jazz sighed.
“I wish I was there for you right now.”
His tone softened immediately, all the heat going out of him. “You ARE.”
“Not the way you need me to be for something like this. This is a BIG thing, you need all the support you can get. I know you have Sam and Tucker, but I want you to have someone with professional experience, and I KNOW what you’re going to say-“
Danny had opened his mouth, but shut it quickly and sighed through his nose, letting her continue.
“- I’m not going to try and organise a therapist. I don’t know anyone in this field well enough yet to think we could trust them with this. But know that I’m looking, Danny, you know there’s no shame in needing that kind of help.”
Danny ran a hand over his face, still pacing in front of his wardrobe. He didn’t look over at Sam and Tucker, sitting on his bed, but he felt their sympathy and anxiety for him clearly enough to know what their expressions were. “I still don’t know that I’ll ever be able to go through with seeing someone… not after Spectra.”
“We would have to let whoever you saw know about that before you even started, there are ways to work through that kind of trauma. The right person could work through it with you.”
“How would you even know who the right person was?” He tried not to sound too frustrated, already tired of this conversation since they’d had some version of it more than once.
“You get a feel for their personality, it’s not like you have to start hashing out your experiences the moment you meet a therapist, Danny. You get to know them first to see if you click. Most people ‘shop around’ before they find the right one.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t really have that option-“
“I KNOW, that’s why I’m trying to do some window shopping FOR you. In the meantime, if something comes up with the people in your class, just… don’t hesitate to call me, okay? Or text me at least, my workload isn’t bad right now, so don’t think you’re distracting me from anything important. You’re my priority right now. I know you want to take all this in your stride, but it’s NOT easy, and you don’t have to be okay all the time. You’re ALLOWED to be freaked out and upset.”
“So long as I’m not freaked out or upset in front of the people who could decide I’m a threat at any moment and spill my secret.”
“See this is what I’m TALKING about. That’s a legitimate fear for you, you don’t have to deflect that stuff and pretend you can handle it if you don’t feel you can. You need to be able to vent about that stuff and get tools for working through it.”
“Which sounds great, but on top of all the work I have for finals? And then add in the ghost-of-the-day? And NOW managing my personality on ALL fronts, because a bunch of people suddenly know who I AM? I don’t think I have the brain space to be spending on this.” He was back to sounding tired and defeated and miserable.
Jazz just wanted to reach through the phone and give him a hug and not let go. Her voice ached with it when she spoke.
“I know, Danny. I don’t want this to be another thing to pile on your plate, I don’t want you to feel like getting help is more of a chore than it’s worth… I’ll try sending you what I can, I’ll look for some simple stuff you can use to help you at least handle some of the anxiety.”
“Thanks, Jazz… I do appreciate your help, I know I’m being shitty about it-“
“It’s fine, little bro. I’d be shitty in your position too.”
“Glad you’re not in my position to be honest. Wouldn’t wish this on anyone… except maybe Vlad. The fucker.”
“He DOES deserve it. The fucker. Maybe as an exercise, to make yourself feel a bit better when you’re down, just imagine the satisfaction you’ll get when you can finally tell mom who he is. Think about how cathartic it will be to shoot at him with her and Dad. I know I’ve used that scenario more than once to make ME feel better.”
Danny actually huffed a laugh at that. “That DOES sound pretty good, as far as daydream scenarios go. Don’t think I’m missing the part where you want me to fantasise about telling Mom and Dad. Still not convinced now is a good time. If anything, I’m kinda convinced now would be the WORST time.”
“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to imagine the best sometimes.”
“…I guess.”
“Look at it this way, you got a win out of this. You have Mr. Lancer in your corner now, and that’s HUGE, Danny… it’s a really good thing.”
“Yeah but… I’m still worried about Vlad.”
“William’s a smart guy, he’s going to be proactive about keeping himself safe. Don’t stress too much over it, okay?”
“Yeah… you’re right. At least I don’t have to worry about him spilling anything. Just… everyone else.”
“I’ll write up a list of reminders in the discord for them. Between me, William, Tucker, and Sam, we’ll keep them in line. And I know it’s not going to be easy, but try to get a decent amount of sleep tonight, it’ll help.”
“I know, I’ll try… thanks Jazz… love you.”
“Love you too, Danny.”
Sleep eluded him as he’d expected it to.
He’d managed to drop off earlier than normal, still entirely exhausted, but around 4am he’d jolted awake and couldn’t quiet his mind enough to slip back under.
He let the press of Sam and Tucker’s bodies sooth his disquiet. They bracketed him, all three of them squashed comfortably onto his not-quite-big-enough double bed. Their warmth and steady breathing and beating hearts acted like a soothing balm to his core.
The pressure of them was the only thing keeping him grounded, their arms and legs tangled over him with a weight and warmth more comfortable than a blanket. These days he hated to sleep alone, too used to this, too addicted to it.
He stared over Sam’s head with half-lidded eyes, trying not to think too hard about the conversations with his classmates.
It was impossible.
What if I can’t have kids? Does it matter?... DO I care about that?
At the time it hadn’t felt as offensive of a question as everyone seemed to find it. But the more he dwelled on it, the more it made him uneasy.
It’s Paulina, she just blurts shit out without really thinking it through. She didn’t mean anything by it, except maybe to piss off Sam. God I wish she wouldn’t…
Regardless, he was still dwelling on the throw-away words. Even if he could have kids… it was far too early to be asking Sam if she wanted them. He got the feeling she did, but… that didn’t mean she wouldn’t change her mind. Didn’t mean she was prepared to have them herself.
It wasn’t worth wondering if maybe she had thought about having kids with both of them, it was such a far-off possibility that it seemed silly to think about now.
… But maybe she wanted to adopt? Would Tucker be okay with that? Did either of them really want to stick it out with him long enough for them to consider kids at all, or would they tire of the strain of being with him before then?
He knew he was the main source of stress between the three of them at all times. He didn’t WANT to be, but it came with the territory of what he was.
Not who, WHAT.
He screwed his eyes shut and sighed softly.
Jazz would be mad at you for thinking like that. You aren’t a what, you’re still a person, even if you’re not entirely human.
Tucker shifted behind him, shivering slightly in his sleep, and Danny reined in his emotions quickly. He was always cool to the touch at the best of times, something neither of them complained about, but he didn’t want to disturb them by dropping the temperature further with his mood.
What would Jazz tell me now… stop being dramatic? Ha, yeah, probably… then she’d tell me they’ve stuck with me this long, we’ve come this far, I should know better…
He opened his eyes and looked at the top of Sam’s head where it tucked against his chest. He could smell the herbs of the vegan conditioner she used, the traces of sandalwood perfume she favoured. He could smell Tucker as well, the minty aftershave he preferred, the saltiness of his sweat under the tang of overpriced deodorant.
A wave of rightness purred through his core, and he let himself bask in their presence.
They still love you, even after everything. They love you enough that they WANT to shape their futures to match yours.
An ache crept into his chest at the thought. But it wasn’t his obsession worrying over their decisions now. It was a creeping sort of fear that he wrestled with, not wanting to let his emotions spill into his aura and disturb the other two.
What if we don’t have a future… what if someone talks, and I’m exposed, and I get taken…
He clamped down on the sickening dread, lump forming in his throat. His eyes screwed shut again.
Pull it together Fenton, you’ve always had to worry about this, it’s not even new. Step one, don’t fucking lay here worrying when you can be proactive and plan for that shit.
He took a few slow, deep, steadying breaths. Once the tightness in his throat eased, he opened his eyes and stared across his room at one of his Hubble image posters. Reminding himself of the vastness of space and the endlessness of the universe usually helped calm him down.
His problems always felt so dwarfed and simple when he compared them to the phenomenal forces of gravity and all it had created.
See? It’s not so bad. Gravity is a force to be reckoned with, and you manage to flout it all the time, so this is definitely a problem you can deal with. You just have to make plans and hope to never, ever have to use them. Easy.
He closed his eyes again, breaking down the hypothetical problems and trying to strategize counter-measures.
There would definitely not be any more sleep for him tonight.
The morning was sluggish and passed in something of a haze.
Danny’s parents didn’t bat an eye at the three of them swapping in and out of the bathroom, well-used-to their impromptu sleep-overs.
Tucker and Sam had drawers to themselves in his dresser, full of spare clothes and toiletries (although with Jazz at college, the main bathroom was practically all his, so their toiletries basically lived in there now).
Danny let himself be soothed by the familiarity of their blended routines, relieved at least by the knowledge that most ghosts would leave him alone today. The only real risk was from animal ghosts, who didn’t care much about manners or cultural ghost taboos. Even then, they could at least read auras, and his might still be jagged enough to run them off without conflict.
Eating seemed to help, and after breakfast he was even starting to feel good about the upcoming chemistry test, as he lead the way out the front door.
And then he spotted Valerie.
Danny blinked, stopping short at the bottom of the stoop. Behind him he heard Tucker’s sharp intake of breath, the tension palpably rising in a matter of seconds.
Valerie, leaning against the light pole, was looking at him like a deer in headlights.
Tucker and Sam’s apprehension didn’t really affect Danny’s tired brain the way it normally would, and he still hadn’t woken up enough to turn on his filter. His tone was jarringly casual when he spoke.
“Oh, Hey Val. What’s up?”
It didn’t strike him as an odd thing to say until he felt her confusion waft over him like a slap in the face. He wilted slightly. “Are uh… are you still mad at me?”
“What? I mean… kinda? No, wait, that’s… I came to say sorry, Danny-“
“Fuckin weird way to do it.” Sam snorted, moving down the steps and angling herself to act as a physical barrier between Danny and Valerie. She gave the other girl a suspicious glare. “What do you want?”
Valerie’s hackles were up instantly, but then… then she seemed to deflate, her posture shifting to become as non-threatening as possible. Something about it had Danny reacting unconsciously, flaring his aura in a calming gesture, the way he would around another ghost who-
Danny’s eyes widened. Valerie’s did the same.
“This is possibly the most awkward staring contest I have ever seen.” Tucker murmured, adjusting his backpack as he glanced nervously between Danny and Valerie.
“Val…” Danny spoke slowly, hoping he wasn’t overstepping some unknown line. “… Did you just… deliberately control your aura?”
“So you have felt it this whole time?” Her voice was small now, barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, since Technus made you that suit, but… I never felt you controlling it, it was just reactive before…” Danny’s surprise was quickly growing into concern. “…Val, has the suit been changing you this whole time?”
She shook her head vigorously, and suddenly Sam and Tucker had drawn in closer, their irritation morphing into wary concern.
“No, Masters said he altered it so it wouldn’t… he said he stopped the ecto-contamination before it could hurt me, but… I’ve still… it changed me. And when you talked last night about… about how you didn’t think you were…” She bit at her lip, trying to tell him with her eyes what she didn’t seem to want to say out loud. “…I don’t think I am anymore either.”
Her meaning slammed into his sluggish brain, and Danny blinked wide, shocked eyes at her.
Something about the situation clicked.
He laughed, loudly.
The tension broke immediately, and Valerie’s aura flared with shock-confusion-anger.
“You’re gonna fucking LAUGH at me after I say THAT?”
“Oh, god… Val, I’m sorry, I just… I don’t mean to, but… you GOTTA see how this is kinda funny, right?” Danny tried not to chuckle, failing miserably.
“NO?”
Sam whacked his arm, hard. “Danny, it’s really NOT funny.”
He tried to sober, stifling himself under Sam and Tucker’s chastising glares.
“Okay okay, look, Val… really, I’m sorry, I know you must feel pretty upset. But TRUST me, being able to control your aura and having a little control over ectoplasm does not make you not human anymore. The irony here is what’s getting me…”
“Irony? Motherfucker how do you even KNOW I’m still human, huh?” She hissed, scowling.
Danny took a deep, steadying breath, finally sobering up for real as he gave her a sincere look. “You don’t have a core, Val.”
She blinked at him, still confused, but her anger was at least diffusing now. “What difference does that make?”
“A big one. Trust me,” Danny still held her gaze unwaveringly. “You really do just have a case of long term ecto-contamination. The suit probably helps you control it… Vlad knows his way around that stuff, so if he says he made it safe, then he probably did. He might be a dick, but I don’t think he ever wanted you to get really fucked up, he likes you too much.”
Something passed over her eyes at the mention of Vlad, anger flaring back into her aura. Danny tilted his head at her, eyes narrowing slightly.
Valerie glanced around them briefly before shuffling closer. “I know about Masters. I know… I know he’s the same as you.”
Danny’s eyes went wide.
“I have my blocker engaged, he can’t hear us. Explain.” Tucker’s voice was curt, far more business-like than usual. Danny felt a wave of affection towards him at the protective gesture. Valerie seemed to sense it, giving him a slightly confused look before she spoke.
“I found out about two years ago… after that whole thing with Danielle, Phantom’s… your… ghost cousin? I went back into the mansion when you and her took off, and I saw him… change. Heard him talking about the ruse he’d pulled. After I found out he was… well, I didn’t let him know that I knew. I tried to keep him at arm’s length. Pretended I was super busy, couldn’t help him as much. But I kept an eye on him.”
Sam gave a low whistle. “And yet, you somehow managed to never make a connection between Phantom and Danny. I’m honestly surprised.”
Valerie gave her a slightly annoyed look. “I wasn’t LOOKING for a connection, I figured Masters was the only one.”
“Wait, HOW did you not make that connection when you can do the aura thing? You HAD to of sensed me in school this whole time, I don’t exactly reel it in around people since… y’know… they can’t actually sense it for the most part.” Danny frowned slightly.
Valerie looked sheepish. “I did, but… I never connected it to YOU. And there’s always so many ghosts at school, I figured I was just sensing more than one, and I couldn’t’ tell how close they were. This shit doesn’t exactly come with a manual.”
Danny laughed again at that, the sound hollow. “Oh, trust me, I know. BUT… having said that, I could probably teach you how to hone it down a bit more.”
“Really? But, you said I don’t have a core, doesn’t that mean I would have less control over it, or something?”
Danny shrugged. “Maybe, but it can’t hurt to try. You can probably develop it enough to at least tell different ecto-signatures apart, even if you can’t get a feel for how far they are from you. And at least you don’t have to hide a ghost sense.”
“A what?”
Danny gave her a sly grin, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his fake inhaler. He depressed it, nothing coming out. “Yeah, I’m not asthmatic. This is a prop, It’s just better than people thinking I vape in class.”
Her eyes widened. “That misty breath thing? THAT’S a ghost power?”
“Will you keep it down! In case you haven’t forgotten we’re still out the front of fucking FentonWorks!” Sam hissed, glancing up at the red-brick building as if expecting it to attack them.
“Oh, right, sorry… should we uh… walk and talk?” Valerie mumbled.
Danny nodded, slipping the inhaler away and leading them off in the direction of the school.
“To answer your question, yes. The mist thing is a ghost power, it’s an early warning system for me getting my ass kicked basically. But also, handily, it’s the other reason I know you’re still human. You don’t set it off.”
“Technically neither do cryptids.” Tucker supplied bluntly.
“Well, true, but being a cryptid isn’t so bad.” Danny shot Valerie a cheeky grin.
“Hang on, how many cryptids have you met to know that?” Valerie frowned.
“A few. Mothman is really not as scary as people make him out to be, he just gets really overwhelmed by city lights.” Sam supplied casually.
Valerie bit her lip, wringing her hands around her backpack straps. “Danny, I know you said… well, Tucker said, in the chat last night, that you’d get to the questions stuff later today. I don’t want to jump the queue or anything-“
“Val, please, with our history? Obviously you get a pass. Though I’m trusting you not to cross any lines, topic wise. What did you want to know?” He threw her a pointed look.
“Okay, well… what exactly is the deal with the core thing?”
“That’s a lot more vague than I was hoping for, but I can work with that.” Danny nodded absently, staring off ahead. “All ghosts have a core. So far as anyone can tell, ghosts included, it’s the closest thing to the physical manifestation of a soul that exists. But I use the term physical in the loosest sense.”
Val sputtered, staring at him with wide eyes for several moments, jerking slightly when Tucker put a hand on her shoulder to stop her walking into a street light.
She muttered a thanks and focussed back on the sidewalk, frowning slightly. “Are you serious? A… a soul? Ghosts have souls?”
Danny just nodded serenely. “Pretty much. It’s like the only actual organ most ghosts have, they’re not just vaguely sentient collections of ectoplasm, or, well… blob ghosts are but I’m not talking about them. Defined ghost are definitely sentient collections of ectoplasm, held together by their core. Except me and Danielle. And I guess Vlad. We’re a lot more than ectoplasm.”
“I’m guessing normally a… a core doesn’t form if you’re still alive?”
He gave a half shrug. “Frostbite’s best guess is that the manifestation of a core in someone who doesn’t die is what makes a halfa. But it’s not an easy thing to achieve, hence the rarity.”
Val went quiet, seemingly digesting that. They continued to walk in silence for a while before she spoke again.
“Where does it… sit, I guess? Is it a physical thing?”
Danny shrugged. “Kinda? But not? Again, the only things I know come from Frostbite and his medics. It exists on a plane of reality that’s slightly underneath ours, so it’s there, physically, in a sense. But it’s basically clipped through my heart like I’m a video game glitch.” He snickered, Tucker snorting.
“Is that why no one has ever talked about finding them in other ghosts? It’s not really there in a way they can see it?” Valerie watched him carefully, hoping she wasn’t over-stepping.
An odd look passed over his face as he shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “You don’t find a core by cutting a ghost open, if that’s what you mean. Ghosts have self-defences to protect their core from threats like that. The GiW and my parents don’t know anything about cores, and I intend to keep it that way.”
A shiver ran down her spine as he spoke, and she could feel something laced under his words… a promise and a threat, not directed at her, but definitely re-enforced by his ghost half.
Something in the back of her mind whispered to her, not really words, but an overall sense of a concept. Protect. Protect? HE wanted to protect, that was what it was.
“… If you want to protect other ghosts, why do you fight them?”
She stiffened as toxic green eyes were suddenly fixed on hers, Danny’s step faltering. A second later he’d looked away and walked on like nothing had happened, but she noticed the ripple of discomfort in his aura now that she was feeling for it.
“That’s… it’s… personal.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Tucker’s hand was on her shoulder again, and he gave her a flat look, shaking his head.
Valerie bit the inside of her lip and tried to think of something else to ask that wasn’t crossing some invisible line. Since when had Danny become such a minefield? Had he always been like this, behind closed doors?
She did have plenty of other questions for him at least, the main issue was picking the ones she wanted answers to the most.
“Do you hate me?”
Danny’s head whipped around, an odd look on his face. “What? No, of course I don’t hate you, why would I hate you?... Do… you hate me?”
“No! I mean I’m still a bit mad at you, but I don’t HATE you.”
“What about Phantom?”
“Danny, I just said I DON’T hate you.”
That had his eyebrows rising, a grin slowly slipping onto his face. All of a sudden, Val could SEE him. That was a look of hope she’d seen Phantom flash at her far too many times, when she’d agreed to a truce. But now it was with blue eyes and black hair.
“I’m glad SOMEONE doesn’t think I have a split personality.”
“I would have believed you if you told me you did though.”
Danny snickered at that. “I mean, it’s happened once or twice, but I try not to make a habit of it.”
Valerie gave him a slightly confused look at that.
Sam shook her head. “Ease up on the in-jokes Danny, you might have history, but she’s not going to know about ALL the dumb shit you’ve done.”
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Valerie’s known Danny long enough to realise that if he’s got access to weird Fenton Tech, he’s gonna get into some dumbass shenanigans with it.”
“Well, I’m not surprised, but how often exactly does that happen?” Valerie asked, curious.
“Enough that I should probably make a channel in the discord dedicated to explaining the instances where I made questionable choices about using it.” Danny grinned.
“Yeah that sounds like you.” She drawled, earning a snicker from Sam. “So, uh… about Vlad…“
She looked up and noticed Danny’s grin immediately slip off his face, his aura hiccupping slightly before it smoothed out. He threw her a wary, expectant look.
“…What exactly IS he to you?”
“Worst godfather ever.”
“He’s your godfather?”
“Yeah, he likes to put an emphasis on the ‘god’ part, because he thinks he is one.” Danny mumbled, Sam and Tucker nodding sagely either side of him. “Listen, Vlad is a whole thing. I can explain it to you, but I need to tell you something else first, before we get to school.”
Valerie frowned slightly, worried by just how serious his expression had become. And there was something else… something in his aura she couldn’t quite place. Was that hesitance?... wait, was that fear?
Danny took a deep breath, not looking at her as he continued in a low tone. “Vlad came to the school yesterday afternoon, before we left. He came as Plasmius, we did our usual dance, and then the threats started. Vlad’s a creepy motherfucker who likes to stalk me and my family, and I’ll get into the why later, but the thing you need to know is that he has the school bugged.”
Valerie drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, Danny glancing up at her as her aura flared angrily.
“Yeah, right? We used to find them and trash them, but in the end it was easier for Tucker to develop a blocker on his phone. If you’re within five meters of him, the bugs can’t pick up anything you say. But that’s not all of it-“ his face twisted now, and Valerie got a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“-He was there because he must have heard some of the others in class talking amongst themselves in the corridor, about seeing me… about my anniversary. It wouldn’t have taken him long to figure out what happened. He thought I did it on purpose, that it was some kind of ploy to expose both of us. He does NOT wanna be exposed, and he will KILL anyone he sees as a risk to his identity.”
Blue eyes were suddenly on hers. They’d stopped walking. When had they stopped walking?
Valerie shook her head slightly, eyes widening as his words began to sink in.
“He threatened to kill us just for finding out about you?”
“No, he threatened to kill anyone who might start looking too hard at him and suspecting that he’s LIKE me. Which is why we can’t talk about him around any of the others… except Mr. Lancer. He overheard our… conversation. He knows about Vlad now too.”
Danny sighed, suddenly looking tired as if he’d been up for hours. Maybe he had.
“Vlad doesn’t really care about me being exposed, but he knows that anything people find out about me, they can use against HIM. Which is why I can rely on him to do things like keep the GiW leashed, exert some control over the research my parents do, restrict certain forms of ghost control in the city… they effect him as much as me.”
Valerie blinked, shoulders slumping slightly. “…Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“So… why does he stalk you, is it just about you being the same as him?”
Danny barked out a bitter laugh and moved to keep walking. “Ha! No, it’s WAY more than that unfortunately. The thing with Vlad is that he and my parents have history. It’s not good history, he got turned by a lab accident with the proto-portal. It was the proof-of-concept he and my parents built in college. They used to be friends, emphasis on used to.”
“I knew that much, though I always wondered why your Dad seemed completely oblivious to the death stares.”
“Because Dad’s not the most socially adept person. As far as he’s concerned, he and Vlad are still buddies. Meanwhile, Vlad blames him for the accident that turned him, and he’s also creepily obsessed with my Mom and thinks Dad ‘stole’ her from him.”
Valerie pulled a face that made him laugh.
“Yeah. Mood.” Tucker snorted.
“I knew he was a creepy motherfucker but THAT is a WHOOOOLE other level.”
“The man is the fruitiest of loops. But also insanely powerful, which, not a great combination. Thankfully he’s not very good at assassination, since my Dad is still around. And my Mom is also well aware of his weird obsession with her and keeps him at arm’s length wherever possible. So that just leaves me dealing with his bullshit schemes and weird desire to adopt me.”
“He wants to what? But I’ve SEEN you guys fight, he beats the shit out of you ON SIGHT for FUN.”
“Hey, give me some credit, I beat the shit out of him too! And this is my point, he’s a nutjob. In HIS warped mind, it’s totally fine to beat up the kid who he wants to adopt. He thinks it’s ‘training’ for his ‘perfect half-ghost son’ or some shit, I don’t know.”
“God, I knew he was bad but it’s way worse than I imagined.” Valerie murmured, scowling in concern. “And he wants to fucking murder your Dad?”
“Yeah, and then swoop in on my Mom, which is fucking ridiculous. He’s a classic incel, he sees her as a trophy instead of a person with a personality that doesn’t even like him.”
“She doesn’t?”
“She used to, as a friend. And then when he started openly hitting on her and TOLD her to her FACE that he wanted her to leave my Dad for him, well… You know what my Mom is like, she doesn’t take that kind of shit lying down.”
Danny was grinning as he spoke, and Valerie gave him a curious, if not slightly pained look.
“You don’t… hate your parents at all, do you?”
Danny shot her a look of blank surprise. “No, of course not, why would I?”
Valerie gave him a blank stare, watching as his brain caught up. He frowned, looking away again. “Listen, I’m not… I don’t… they’re just doing their job. Hunting ghosts is their life’s work, and yeah, I wish it wasn’t, I wish they’d open their eyes a bit to the stuff they overlook or misinterpret, but… I don’t hate them for it, the same way I don’t hate you.”
She winced slightly at that, not failing to notice the arched look Sam threw her way. Valerie decided to push her luck, knowing Danny wasn’t being entirely truthful. Knowing he would always deflect when he thought he might hurt someone’s feelings.
“Danny… I’m glad you don’t hate me or your parents, but… I find it hard to believe you don’t at least resent us to SOME degree. It’s okay if you do, I get it, I’d rather you not pretend like everything is hunky-dory just to try and spare my feelings. I can handle you being kinda angry at me y’know.”
“God you sound like Jazz,” he sighed, running a hand over his face. “Yeah, okay, sure, I’m never exactly thrilled when you or my parents put ecto-weapons to my head. It sucks, but since there’s not a lot I can do about it other than get good at dodging and try to upkeep truces, there’s not a lot of point in me wasting energy angsting over it. I have enough bigger problems to worry about, like just graduating for starters.”
“Oh come on, you’ll graduate, you managed not to get held back for any years-“
“I mean with marks that will actually get me into a degree course. Have you SEEN what four years of ghost fighting has done to my GPA? It practically bottomed out in eight grade, I almost DID have to repeat, I’ve been working my ass off to claw it back ever since.”
Valerie winced. Her own GPA hadn’t done well in eight grade either, but her father’s intervention in her activities (thanks to Danny, she realised) had seen to it that her grades came back up fairly quickly.
Danny had no such parental intervention, and far more ghosts to deal with than her, since he lived on top of the damn portal.
Right… the portal. Which killed him. And brought him back, causing the whole mess in the first place.
“Do you… does the portal not freak you out? At all?”
Danny gave her a weird look, and she realised her thought process hadn’t exactly been transparent, and the subject change probably made no sense. He answered her readily anyway.
“No? I mean it’s not like it’s going to randomly zap me again, the circumstances were pretty specific. Besides, it’s the best way into the Ghost Zone, and I don’t… being too far away from it doesn’t feel right, to me. I know it’s just the influence of the Zone on my ghost half, I don’t have some weird link to that SPECIFIC portal because it’s what made me like this… honestly I don’t even think about it, I just know I need access to the Ghost Zone, and it’s actually more stressful to not be near it.”
She nodded slowly, slightly surprised by the answer. It was common knowledge that most ghosts had a whole THING about the place they’d died, and the WAY they’d died. Maybe he didn’t because he was still technically alive? Maybe he had more of a connection than he was letting on, and was lying because it was too personal.
Either way, she took his answer and moved on to the other questions that were burning in the back of her mind.
“What about Vlad? You said he got turned by a proto-portal?”
“Oh, right, yeah, it was different though. Like, REALLY different.” He nodded, pausing at a set of lights and poking the pedestrian button a few times. “The ecto-filtration unit was filled with soda instead of denatured ectoplasm. My Dad turned on the mini portal while Vlad was looking at it, and Vlad got blasted in the face with a stream of unfiltered ecto-radiation. It gave him ecto-contamination badly enough that he had ecto-acne for years after. Really painful according to him.”
“I’m not going to pretend that half of that made any sense to me, but okay. So, on HIS anniversary, he gets blasted in the face and suffers ecto-acne for a couple hours?”
Danny’s face was more solemn than she expected as he shook his head, stepping off the curb as their light went green. “He didn’t die at the time of the accident. He died later when the contamination reached a critical point and it stopped his heart. He spends his anniversary waking up to heart failure in his bed. He does get the ecto-acne back for a little bit though.”
Valerie’s eyes went wide. “Wait… wait , what? He just straight up died? How is he still-“
“Oh, right, no, he restarted his own heart using ectoplasmic energy with his hands. Said it was like instinctive or something.”
“He told you how he died?”
Danny heaved a sigh, pulling an odd face. “Yeah, it… the relationship gets complicated sometimes. Like, I hate his guts, and he’s not super fond of me, but we’re still the only halfas other than Ellie… And that’s a whole different thing again. He has these moments where he plays the role of ‘older halfa who feels the need to pass on vital knowledge’, It’s just he usually does it as condescendingly as possible to assert his dominance. The guy’s a mess, thinks he wants to be a mentor but fucking SUCKS at it,” he snorted.
She noticed as he spoke that they were walking down a street that took them away from the fastest route to school, and it distracted her momentarily. “Hey, uuuh, where are we-“
“Breakfast,” Tucker pointed to a café not far ahead of them, “Danny’s house isn’t the best place for more than some shitty cereal and bad coffee, and the milk was glowing again this morning. We usually stop by here for proper food.”
“You want anything? My shout,” Danny looked over his shoulder at her as he pushed open the door.
“You don’t need to, I have money-“
“Val don’t fight him, he’s just doing his chivalry thing. But also it’s his turn to pay,” Sam snickered.
Valerie arched an eyebrow at Danny as he grinned innocently at her (and there was Phantom again, shining through so obviously she was mentally smacking a hand to her forehead). “In that case, let me check for the most expensive thing on the menu.”
Tucker laughed at that, bringing up the rear as they got in line in a close huddle. “I’ll just have my usual thanks.”
“’Kay. You too, Sam?”
“Mmm. Might just go the cream cheese bagel today, usual coffee though.”
Valerie blinked at her. “Wait, you eat cheese?”
“I’m Vegetarian, not vegan, there’s a difference. Also milk doesn’t have a face, and neither do eggs.” Sam snickered.
Danny snorted. “Except for that time we drew them all over your food.”
Valerie rolled her eyes, “Sounds pretty on brand for you two.”
Danny grinned at her, “We respect her dietary choices, doesn’t mean we can’t make fun of them a little. As a treat. Anyway, decided what you want yet? You said expensive, they do salmon bagels-“
“Oh, ew, no, I was joking. Who eats salmon in the morning?”
“Hey, sometimes you just gotta get that salty hit without the grease of bacon. It’s good on workout days.” Tucker piped up, not looking up as he tapped away on his phone.
Valerie gave him a surprised look. “You work out?”
“I couldn’t change their fashion sense, but I managed to whip them into some kind of shape at least,” Sam grinned, reaching out to lightly punch Tucker on the arm. “And then THIS one won’t even show off his guns, ‘cause he’s SHY.”
Tucker mock-pouted at her. “It feels WEIRD wearing tight shirts, I’m not used to getting the comments I get when I do, it’s awkward.”
“Aw, leave him alone Sam, not all of us are comfortable in form-fitting rubber. Let him save the tight fitting shirts for behind closed doors.” Danny murmured.
Valerie let out a laugh at the cheeky wink Danny sent her way. “Oh god, you three really are made for each other huh.”
She didn’t fail to notice all three of them blushing and avoiding her eyes, making her snort again.
“Heyooooo, Danny booooooy, what can I get you and the dream team today?”
They shuffled forward together as the guy at the register held out a hand and Danny gave it a shake and a fist bump.
“Hey Jake, how’s it going?”
“Good man, good, no complaints. What can I fix you guys up with today?”
“Tuck’s having the usual, Sam’s having her normal coffee and a cream cheese bagel, Val uuuh, what did you want?” Danny turned to Valerie, and she realised she hadn’t even looked at the board.
She gave the pastry case a cursive glance. “Oh, right, just a large black coffee and a banana muffin thanks.”
“Nooo problem, nice and easy. How bout you?” Jake gave Danny an expectant look, hand hovering over the register.
“I’m gonna need the heart-starter today.”
Jake whistled, tapping a few buttons… more than Valerie thought was normal for a single coffee order. “Got a test today huh? Pull an all-nighter?”
“Yes and no. Pulling an all-morning-er.”
“Yikes my dude, but I can respect the cram.” Jake nodded to the card machine and Danny paid.
As they all shuffled off to the side of the bench where people waited, bleary eyed, to pick up their orders, Valerie gave Danny a curious look.
“So what the hell is in a heart-starter?”
“Six-shot vanilla latte with two energy packets and a pump of hazelnut. And a bacon and egg roll.” Danny explained casually, pulling his phone out to check it idly.
He looked up when he felt her aura practically flick his. “What?”
“PLEASE tell me you weren’t drinking that death concoction BEFORE the accident.”
Danny laughed, putting his phone away. “No, I hated coffee when I was fourteen. Night patrols changed that REAL quick.”
Valerie groaned, remembering when she first took up patrolling at night. “Ugh, same. Also, question… why does the guy working here call you three the dream team?”
“Oh Jake? We volunteer at the queer youth centre sometimes, and we helped him come out to his parents. We also saved him from the Box Ghost one time, although… saved is a strong word for shoving a thermos in Boxy’s face. Still, he’s a chill guy, he always gets our orders just right.”
Behind them, Tucker snorted and held his phone out for them to look at. It was the memes channel in the new discord, and Jason had posted a blurry photo of them walking into the café. Underneath he’d written ‘CRYPTID SPOTTED: RED HUNTRESS IS IN PURSUIT’.
Danny grinned. Valerie snorted.
“I’m pretty sure that before last night, half the class thought you two were going to get back together at some point.” Sam chuckled, looking between Danny and Valerie.
“Like hell she’s stealing my man, I already have to fight off Dash AND Paulina, don’t think I won’t fight you too Val.” Tucker mumbled, grinning.
Valerie laughed. “Well, see, I was fine just being friends, but if you’re going to turn it into a challenge-“
“I will wear THE tightest shirt to school if it means I can keep Danny from straying, don’t you test me.”
Danny giggled. “Oooo okay, I might just let Val woo me if it means you’ll wear a tight shirt for me at school. Would you try make-up again too?”
“Don’t push it. I love you a tight shirt amount, not a wearing eye-liner amount.”
Danny laughed again, and Valerie was suddenly aware that every time he did, the atmosphere in the whole café seemed to perk up. His aura was practically flooding the place. How the fuck did I not NOTICE this before?
They bantered back and forth until Danny’s name was called, and they collected their orders. They bid Jake goodbye and headed off towards school again, eating and sipping as they walked.
“So Val, you have Chem with us, wanna come cram in the library?”
She gave Tucker a look of mild surprise. He’d been so stand-offish, and then reluctantly civil, and now he was inviting her along? Well, she wasn’t going to slap the olive branch away.
“I mean I already studied, but sure, I can help mock quiz you guys if you want.”
“Uuuugh yes PLEASE. I remember stuff so much better if I’m doing Q and A, reading dry information makes me go to sleep.” Danny grumbled around a bite of his egg and bacon roll.
“Don’t know how you could sleep after drinking THAT coffee… Anyway, figure I owe you that much, you’ve been dealing with the majority of the ghost attacks lately. I was kinda leaving them to you on purpose cause I was trying to study more.” She murmured sheepishly, feeling genuinely guilty.
Danny just shrugged at her, chewing his too-large bite and chasing it with a swig of coffee. “Yeah I know, you didn’t know it was me though so it’s not like I blame you. For all you knew I was just a ghost with nothing better to do.”
“Well now I know better, we should probably work out some kind of schedule. Both for dealing with ghosts AND for fixing your GPA.”
Danny turned a full-mouthed look of surprise on her, tilting his head questioningly since he was still chewing too much to talk.
“Wait, you want to put him on a study schedule? You think we haven’t tried that?” Sam laughed, raising her coffee slightly at Valerie. “I won’t stop you trying, but good luck with that.”
“Oh I won’t be alone. The rest of the class was having a talk last night, and we’ve come up with a new channel we’re going to ask Lancer to add called ‘O.F.M.G’.”
“Offmug?” Sam gave her a look somewhere between confused and amused. Danny was still staring at her as he chewed his mouthful.
Valerie smirked slightly. “Operation: Fenton Must Graduate.”
Danny made a noise in the back of his throat as Sam broke out laughing, Tucker snickering with a knowing look in his eye. Clearly HE had caught up on the discord chat already.
Danny finally swallowed his mouthful and grimaced. “You have GOT to be kidding me? I have to deal with a whole class full of people who are gonna help Lancer ride my ass about schoolwork now?”
“Hey, be grateful! With everyone’s help you might ACTUALLY scrape through with a DECENT mark!” Valerie snickered, unaffected by Danny’s withering look. There was no real heat to it anyway.
“Why does this feel like something Jazz would do?”
“She was the one to suggest it.” Tucker said brightly.
Danny sighed resignedly. “Of COURSE she was.”
Chapter 6
Summary:
The first rule of Mr Lancer's English Study Group chat is you don't talk about Mr Lancer's English Study Group chat.
Notes:
So the rough plan was to have normal story alongside Discord chat sections in the chapters, but this lot of discord chat stuff got really long, so I decided that would just be this chapter.
Next chapter will be back to normal story telling.Here we have a few channels being used throughout the day, mostly from Lunchtime to early afternoon. Some of the convos overlap time-wise, so people are talking in the Meme channel or general channel about stuff that Danny has posted in the Answers channel as it happens, but also later.
I'm not fucking around adding fake timestamps though it's too much hassle and doing chat-log style chapters is already enough work just sticking in images and gifs tbh.
Plus I had to make the artworks for the pictures Sam posted, and I drew them during some free time in my sketchbook, decided I didn't want to redo the lineart, set the sketches to overlay and slapped some colour under them in photoshop. Which is why the colours are a little funky but pretend they were taken on a shit camera lol. (this is also why the art looks so different to the one from the last discord chapter which was all digital only).Also I'm going to be lazy, if you want the key for the usernames, just open the end notes of the previous chapter in a new tab for reference lol.
Also some acknowledgements!
The idea for Phantom Civvies that are colour inverted came directly from ArtistFingers (This post specifically from their Undercover AU which I LOVE https://artistfingers.tumblr.com/post/663717969629675520/wait-since-danny-was-wearing-the-hazmat-suit-over )
And of course, RANCH 2 https://semlramis.tumblr.com/post/637047294094655488/danny-phantom-au-where-his-eyes-glow-or-at-least Credit to Eggwraith for that golden nugget that a good chunk of Phandom has been dining out on ever since.Anyway yeah enjoy maybe, I will try make more Phantom discord emotes (there's none in this chap sorry), but I'm very busy atm with my work offering me a full time position so that's going to be a whole thing. That will involve normal office hours. And a shitload of commuting.
I am going to be in hell soon :')
Chapter Text
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > Answers
!Pinned! This channel has been set to mod posting only. To respond to answers, please copy and paste the answer into a thread in the general or breakout room channels.
GhostBoi: @ToYeetorNotToYeet - In regards to the whole thing with the flour sack baby and Skulker and Val being hand-cuffed to me:
So basically, I found out pretty early on that Valerie was the Red Huntress, so I knew when we got paired up for the flour sack baby project that she had to ditch the baby onto me to go fight ghosts. Except she didn’t know that I ALSO needed to ditch the baby to go fight ghosts. It made stuff pretty awkward and strained, we ended up fighting cause she saw me as Phantom with the flour sack, and then Skulker was stalking us both and decided to steal the flour sack to lure us both into getting kidnapped.
So both of us wake up in the ghost zone, in Skulker’s lair, handcuffed together. The asshole tells us he doesn’t know which of us is the better prey, so he’s going to hunt us both at once, something like that.
And he had the flour sack as incentive to make us co-operate. So we both spent a while running around on Skulker’s weird jungle island, trying not to get shot or disgorged, something something teamwork.
Anyway we both basically kicked Skulker’s shit in, took the flour sack back (worse for wear) and I found out Val was ALSO working another job on top of school and ghost hunting, and I realised I’d been a huge ass jerk to her, so I tried to not be such a jerk anymore.
So yeah that was a rough week for both of us.
GhostBoi: @EightFootVerticalleap This kinda answers your question about whether I knew Val was Red Huntress when we dated. Yes I did. Yes it made things awkward and Sam and Tucker did not miss any opportunity to tell me I was insane. No Val and I didn’t DO anything, dude we were FOURTEEN, we just made schmoopy eyes at each other and hung out. It was very nice until Technus made her suit try to kill me and she broke up with me because she thought she was putting me in danger. Yes the irony of the situation was almost enough to double kill me.
GhostBoi: @MagicMike – Do you need to go to the toilet when you’re a ghost? CAN you do that?
Yes I can, don’t need to as much cause my ghost half doesn’t really metabolise things like food very fast. Don’t really like to if I can help it but like, if you gotta go, you gotta go, y’know? The jumpsuit makes it a pain tbh.
Also yes, bathrooms DO EXIST in the Ghost Zone. They are few and far between, and I do not know how the plumbing works (and i am not going to ask or question it because I probably don't want to know).
GhostBoi: @BigMcLargeHuge – Can you eat as a ghost? I know I’ve seen Phantom eating but was it just ghost food? It LOOKED like Nasty Burger but you were like, on the roof of a building so I couldn’t tell
Yes, I can, but I don’t like to if I can help it. Again, slow metabolism as a ghost means anything I eat just kinda sits in my stomach until I turn human again. Unless I’m doing a lot of fighting, but that’s still not a great feeling. Ghost food does taste better in ghost mode, but I still don’t really like eating as a ghost. I have been known to grab some nasty burger while I’m Phantom though, usually only when it’s been a long ass patrol or I’m stuck as a ghost for whatever reason.
GhostBoi: @YourClericCouldNever – Is there any special ghost food? You said you’ve drunk ectoplasm but do you like it? Do you need to eat it?
I do need to ingest ectoplasm on a regular basis, just so I don’t have to eat so much normal food. The taste is… something. It sure is taste. Hard to describe, the closest thing is Ranch 2. It’s less bad if it’s fused into normal food, but then the food kinda fights back which is not very appetising. I do not want to have to kill a roast turkey a second time to eat it.
Also someone else asked if I eat other ghosts and that’s a hard NO.
According to Frostbite I am a ‘vegetarian’ ghost, MOST ghosts are. I only eat naturally occurring, non-sentient ectoplasm that has not been part of anything with a core. But yes, that does mean there are ghosts out there which are not vegetarian.
And yes they are usually scary AF.
GhostBoi: @BallIsLife – Do you ever get sick? I don’t remember the last time I saw you with like a cold or flu
I can, but they don’t last long. If I go ghost, it kinda freezes most bugs in my system. I can get ghost flu, but that’s very different, and the heat of my human side similarly seems to fend off ectoplasm based bugs. It’s pretty good to be honest, but I’m aware of other infectious stuff I can still catch that I don’t want to. Both as a human and a ghost, I still have to be careful.
GhostBoi: @IAskedYouSecond – Was Dr. Spectra really a ghost? What was her whole deal?
YES. She’s one of the WORST ones. It took us a while to figure it out, but once we did, getting her the fuck out of the school was a pain in the ass. She feeds on human misery, so she was deliberately making everyone as depressed as possible to make herself stronger. And then she tried to kill my sister, so she gets ass kickings with EXTREME PREJUDICE.
KeyMaster: That explains so much about how she behaved in the staff room, the few times she was there. Also I really didn’t like her catty assistant.
GhostBoi: GOD Bertrand really is THE cattiest ghost I’ve ever met, he could do with turning it down, like dude this isn’t Ru Paul’s Drag Race. He’s so extra.
GhostBoi: @Stargays – What was the deal with that time we all got sick with ghost shit and got quarantined in the creepy abandoned hospital?
That whole thing was ALSO Spectra trying to engineer herself a new body, since we wrecked her old one. When she’s not in a humanoid body she looks like a shadow spectre (hence her name I guess), she’s obsessed with being young and beautiful.
DO NOT ask me where she gets her fucking flesh suit things because I don’t think I can handle knowing, I kinda just hope someone is growing them in tubes from DNA or something. Possible ghost black market in flesh suits, I have never found any evidence of it but I mean I’m not looking very hard because I just don’t know how much fucked up shit I can handle at any given time.
Anyway, off track, she got a bunch of you guys sick using a swarm of literal ghost bugs so she could quarantine you all away from your parents. Her plan was to extract different traits from everyone and infuse them in the new body, including me (I wasn’t infected because I was already half ghost and COULDN’T be infected, I snuck into the hospital to figure out what was going on). I fucked up her sample by sneaking my Dad’s handkerchief into the machine, so she fused his DNA into her body and it got messed up.
She was EXTREMELY pissed by that, obviously. While I fought her off, Tucker was the MVP, he used his now banned by the Geneva convention body spray to get the ghost bugs to evacuate your bodies. If he hadn’t, the ghost powers would have burnt you all out, so y’know… be nice to Tucker.
TooFine: Not to mention I was fighting off a panic attack the whole time because FUCKING HOSPITALS
xXCHAOSXx: Me and Danny are the Geneva convention in this case btw.
GhostBoi: P.S @BallIsLife I am still salty about the fact you duplicated like it was nothing, I am STILL struggling with that power. SO not fair.
GhostBoi: @BardMain – So your whole pants falling down thing was ghost related? Figured you just hadn’t found a belt small enough, you are way too skinny for how much nasty burger you eat lol.
Listen, back on the Spectra ghost bug thing, I seem to remember you phasing endlessly through the building that whole time. You got an idea of how uncontrollable ghost powers can be, I was new at them, it was not a fun time. My pants going intangible was almost as bad as all the dropped beakers in science and sinking into the floor every few hours. ALMOST. At least my boxers stayed tangible.
Also ecto-blasts don’t charge from some magical endless source. Basic thermodynamics still apply, need to put energy in to put energy out. If I don’t eat enough, my core starts in on my human body. Laying down fat is hard when I’m in a lot of fights.
GhostBoi: @TheSteez – You said something about ghost cores but what the heck are they?
Okay strap in, this one gets philosophical and I already know yall are going to have opinions. Also warning you guys now, do NOT talk about ghost cores anywhere IRL. I DO NOT want my parents or anyone else hearing and asking questions about it. Also I’m going to pin this answer.
So all ghosts have cores, and cores as far as we can tell are semi-physical manifestations of a soul. I am not going to debate any of you about the existence of souls, I am just going to say that you really can’t understand what a core is if you don’t have one.
I call it a soul because it’s basically the concentrated essence of the person it forms from. NOT having one doesn’t mean you don’t have a soul, it just means yours hasn’t manifested into a core. Which is good, because if it did, you’d probably be dead. As we’ve established, the reason I have one but am still technically alive is a fluke, because I’m built different. (But seriously don’t fucking try and become a half ghost you are more likely to just straight up die, there are many factors that influenced me turning into this and not just becoming Fenton Toast).
Ghost cores can’t really be found because they sort of exist between realities. Sam, Tuck and I have done a lot of theorising on this, and we’ve asked some other ghosts, but it’s still just speculation whether or not cores existing in a space between realities is why ghosts have powers at all. Scientifically speaking it’s actually fascinating, but that’s why I don’t want the GIW or my parents catching wind about cores existing.
There is only one likely method they are going to take to find one, and I would rather stay in one piece.
If I had to describe a core, it would just be energy I guess? Compacted into a point, maybe like how stars are formed, but you can’t SEE them really, so I have no idea. I just kinda like the idea that cores are a self-sustaining fusion reaction of ectoplasm and possibly some other unknown matter.
Much like stars though, cores can produce different kinds of radiation. Only ecto-radiation for cores though, which is mostly harmless to humans since it exists a little to the left of reality. For example I can produce regular ectoplasm, but also ice. Not sure if I’m producing cold, or sinking so much heat that all that’s left is the cold. Either way, other ghosts can produce fire and electricity and stuff.
TooFine: First rule about ghost cores is you don’t talk about ghost cores
GhostBoi: YES. 
GhostBoi: @ToYeetOrNotToYeet – What’s your favourite bands?
Hell of a subject change here but I’m really digging Wolfmother and The Faint right now. And Mystery Skulls thanks to Kwan. Standard faves are always Dumpty Humpty, Linkin Park and Muse though.
xXCHAOSXx: I’ve been trying to get him into Heilung but he says it sounds too much like some of the weird ghost cult chants in the zone.
GhostBoi: Yeah I didn’t say they were bad I just don’t want to listen to them
TooFine: He listens to Vapourwave and Chillstep a lot too don’t let him fool you with his trendy dude bullshit
GhostBoi: You shut your up.
GhostBoi: But okay yeah I do like Saint Pepsi.
GhostBoi: @OutOfYourLeague – So if you’re the ghost king, does that mean you need to find a ghost queen?
Listen. It has taken all my restraint, and some of Tucker’s and Sam’s as well, to not ditch school today to go ask Frostbite what the hell is up with this. I do not know. I don’t think Ghost King requires a queen, Pariah didn’t have one.
At least not as far as I know.
I’ll ask Frostbite tomorrow.
And if he doesn't know, Dorothea might.
KeyMaster: Despite offering to let you stay home I appreciate that you’ve resisted the temptation
GhostBoi: The Far Frozen isn’t very close to the portal which helps, it takes like 40 minutes to fly there, so it’s partially restraint borne of laziness TuT;;;
KeyMaster: Still appreciate it 🙂
GhostBoi: @MagicMike – So Ghost Cores don’t exist in this reality? But they do? Whut? Are you saying reality is layered like a photoshop image?
I know it’s kinda rude to answer this when it just got posted and there’s stuff from last night I’m still getting to, but I have a good answer to this so it’s science lesson time.
I know half of you didn’t pay attention to Falluca when he was doing Light and it’s properties, so here’s a refresher: Colours are bullshit. Colours are mostly made up in our meat computers. You have cones in your eyes that can see Red, Blue, and Green, everything else in between those wavelengths is a colour your brain is making up using its best guess by blending them together.
Before you say ‘but those aren’t the primary colours’ or ‘what the hell does this have to do with ghost cores’ just bear with me ok. Red-Blue-Yellow are ART primary colours, light is different, and ink is different, and we’re talking science here. As far as science is concerned, primary colours to humans are Red-Blue-Green. BUT, that’s just humans, because animals all have different cones and different colour vision, right? So the REALITY that THEY are seeing is different to what WE are seeing. We all still live in the same timeline, but we’re all experiencing it totally differently. Even humans don’t see the same thing as each other, because of colour-blindness or just general chemical differences in our brains.
This is a great example of how reality can have layers, kinda like a photoshop document, but more like a bunch of single-sided textures in a game that you can only see from certain angles. Ghosts can see different stuff as well, because they’re existing on WAY more than one layer at once. So are humans, but not in the same way, because ectoplasm can do some weird shit to reality like tear holes in it (and I am the prime example of why you don’t want to stand in it while it does that).
I know this all sounds really wild, and probably most of you don’t know that pink as a colour doesn’t actually exist (it doesn’t have a corresponding wavelength of light, it’s just what our brains assign everything that falls outside the visible colour spectrum), but this is my best metaphor for how layers of reality work. Yall already know I’m a massive nerd, I’m probably going to write an essay about this if I get into the course I’m looking at.
CatchTheseJazzHands: You’re going to drop all that on them and still maintain you didn’t get the Fenton genius genes? You should use this as your application essay, they’ll be fighting over you.
KeyMaster: ☝☝☝
GhostBoi: Guys PLS 😳
KeyMaster: As a side note, I want to tell Mr. Falluca your method for explaining light and it's properties, I think he might get a kick out of 'colours are bullshit made up by our meat computers', if you'll pardon my french.
GhostBoi: Oh no tell him after I graduate, I'm not sure I could look him in the eye if he ever knew I thought of it like that 😬
KeyMaster: 😆
GhostBoi: @RedArtemis – What actually happened after you took the ecto-skeleton and went off to fight Pariah?
At least seven of you have asked a variation of this so I’m going to pin this answer as well, this is the short version too by the way because I know you’re all going to ask me more questions once you have an answer to this one.
What you need to know about the ecto-skeleton is that once it was fully integrated with me (it had a neural interface to drive it, most advanced thing my Dad's ever built and honestly the coolest), it amplified my powers 100 fold. But it was kinda like how bigger guns have bigger kickbacks, the kickback on the suit was pretty massive.
Basically once I synced up with the suit, I went to Pariah’s keep and started laying into his army. Tucker and Sam showed up in the spectre speeder and dropped off a bunch of the other ghosts that had been hiding in Amity. They’d all decided to come help me out (I’d asked them to earlier and they’d all pretty much said get fucked, which, understandable, we’re not all friends).
So they handled the army while I went into the castle and fought Pariah.
There’s not a lot to say about the fight, the suit let me use powers I’m not usually good with, which helped a lot. But the more energy I used, the bigger the kickback. I managed to force Pariah back into the sarcophagus of forever sleep after knocking his crown off, suit nearly drained the life out of me in the process. Another ghost had the key to lock it and did (took his sweet-ass time about it though cause he’s a jerk). Then I passed out. Someone got me out of the suit, don’t know who, and then they just dumped me outside the ghost shield I guess, where Vlad said he found me.
And no, I WAS NOT very thrilled about having to show up to school three days later. That was the week from hell for me.
GhostBoi: @OutOfYourLeague if you remembered to bring the grimoire can we take a look at it please and see if there’s any details about Ghost King ascension that might mean I didn’t defeat him the right way because that’s what I’m hoping for.
GhostBoi: @BardMain I didn’t use the wail on him because I didn’t know about that power yet, which might be for the best since the wail magnified 100 times could have destroyed me as well possibly, idk, it’s not a power I can just use whenever.
GhostBoi: @DoAKickFlip – So Wes did not shut up about that block of time everyone lost like 3 years ago where plants like, fucked everything up. Was that a ghost thing? I kept telling him it was a government test thing gone wrong. Partially because I didn’t believe it could be ghosts, but also because it really pissed him off lol.
While I fully appreciate fucking with your sibling just for the sake of it, that was 100% a ghost thing. An elder ghost called Undergrowth managed to amass a huge amount of power and take over the city. He was using this mind-vine thing to control everyone and use your life force like batteries.
That was around the same time as my ice powers started to manifest, but I didn’t know that’s what was happening. I had to make a tactical retreat to the ghost zone to get help with them before I could come back and fight undergrowth off properly.
It was really good timing tbh, I would have struggled to beat him if I didn’t have the ice powers. They’ve become extremely handy in a lot of ways, but I do end up as Sam and Tucker’s personal air-con unit in summer.
GhostBoi: @YourClericCouldNever – Okay no for real I need more on the yeti thing, what the fuck???
Related to the answer above and also answering a couple other people who want to know about the yetis. So Sam, Tuck, and I were doing some Ghost Zone mapping/exploration at some point before the Undergrowth event, and came across an area we’d never been to before. Turns out it was the Far Frozen, it’s this vast expanse of icy landmass where Frostbite’s people live. When I first met him, he was going kinda feral. Noticed he had this big, jagged icicle stuck in his back. Soon as I got it out, Frostbite turned into the nicest dude. Invited us in, told us all about his realm, gave us a tour.
And I need to impress upon everyone how not normal that is in the ghost zone, most ghosts do NOT like you randomly showing up in their territory. But it also probably helped that Frostbite and his people already sort of knew me, because they heard about how I ‘defeated’ Pariah.
So yeah, when Undergrowth attacked, I was already getting messed up by my ice powers manifesting out of control. I went to Frostbite because he was the only ghost ally I knew with ice powers who’s not insane. He fixed me up and trained me to use my ice powers, which was extremely nice of him considering how terrible I was with them at first.
He's also really knowledgeable in ghost zone history, so I usually ask him when we want to know anything about elder ghosts or customs and stuff.
GhostBoi: @NoNotLikeTheMusical – Does using your ghost powers hurt? Does any part of being half ghost hurt?
Not really. The accident hurt, but changing between forms and using my powers doesn’t hurt. Except the wail, that can fuck me up sometimes.
The part that hurts the most is just getting my shit kicked in by other ghosts, but fast healing means it doesn’t hurt for long. It’s like banging my shins on tables a lot tbh. I do really hate getting electric shocks though, they’re not fun 😕
GhostBoi: @EightFootVerticalLeap – What does it feel like when you change your legs into that snakey thing?
It feels like legs-not-legs-tail-weird-limb. Sorry I really don’t know how to describe it, it’s kind of instinctive? Same with a lot of other shapeshifting things I do, but that’s one of the only ones I can control well. Sometimes when I’m getting shot at I’ll extend my body to avoid it or like… make a hole in myself to dodge something, but I couldn’t tell you HOW.
I’ve only done any of that stuff deliberately a handful of times.
GhostBoi: @DoYouEvenLift – Do you hate me for all the shit I did to you the first couple years of high school? 😟
Listen dude I was pretty pissed at you for the majority of the last 4 years, not gonna lie, but you DID make an effort to be less of a dick the last 2 years, which I appreciate. I don’t hate you though, I just hate the choices you used to make (And sometimes still make. Seriously, please stop threatening people with physical violence, even if it’s to protect my secret). Also I really can’t forgive that incident with the underwear after the haunted house thing, you’re lucky I was able to purge every scrap of those out of me with intangibility right after. I could never purge the fucking taste or smell though. And I really hope you learnt how to use fabric softener since then because damn. Those things had to of been chafing in the worst way.
KeyMaster: Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?
GhostBoi: It’s best you don’t.
GhostBoi: @WeebNation – Is flying the best thing ever? Have you ever tested how high and how fast you can go?
Yes. Yes it is. Also yeah we haven’t tested my top speed in a while. Last time we did I topped out at 140 mph. Height wise, uuuuuuh… no limit technically, not as a ghost. I could just fuck off to space if I wanted, but having said that, the danger of me changing back to human outside of earth’s atmosphere is PHENOMENALLY BAD so I do not do that. Not without some form of airtight helmet with an oxygen supply anyway, which was only once, and technically I only went to the lower Exosphere. I didn’t even get to enjoy it really cause I was busy dodging Val and trying to blow up a satellite which Technus had infected. It was still cool and kinda fun though ngl.
GhostBoi: @RococoLoco – Do you ever get vertigo from flipping around in the air? Does floating upside-down and stuff just feel natural to you?
It was pretty disorientating at first, and I struggled to stay upright when floating in the beginning, but now it feels so normal I have to be careful not to do it when I’m human sometimes.
Like sometimes I just gotta hang upside down in front of my computer to read stuff properly, I couldn’t tell you why. I wasn’t ever prone to vertigo before (would never of planned to be an astronaut if I did, that would immediately rule it out), so flipping around a lot has never bothered me much. Sometimes I’ll do a flip for style when I transform just cause it’s fun. But yeah, there is a downside, and that is I have to make sure I don’t float TOO much, because my muscles will go woobie if I don’t work them out enough. Gotta stay grounded sometimes, much as it sucks.
GhostBoi: @OutOfYourLeague – Does the jumpsuit come off?
Okay, this question sounds kinda creepy, you have to know that right? I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re just asking if it dissolves when I remove it or something.
The answer is yes, it can come off, no, it doesn’t dissolve, and there’s other clothes under it. I mean you guys SAW me put it on over my clothes. Not my shoes, I took those off (You probably missed that bit), they don’t fit inside the HAZMAT boots. But yeah I was wearing an outfit under the jumpsuit, and it also got colour inverted. the colours are... not good. It is my secret shame u_u.
Also, spectral clothing is… a whole thing. Most ghosts can take their clothes off and they are pretty much like normal clothes except they have some ghostly properties. SOME ghosts can use their clothing like an extension of themselves. Like Kitty (Johnny’s girlfriend) she can possess someone through her clothes if you wear enough of them at once. Other ghosts can transfer some of their powers if you wear their stuff, some can transfer their curses or other effects. It’s a bit random. Tucker and Sam have both tried my suit on to see if there’s any power links between me and my clothes but there doesn’t seem to be.
Other than the suit giving them some resistance to ecto-blasts but that’s just what custom FentonWorks jumpsuits are like normally.
xXCHAOSXx: Who wants to see a picture of Phantom in his civvies?
xXCHAOSXx: Trick question you’re getting it anyway
xXCHAOSXx: Also bonus round
GhostBoi: Okay that seems like a good place to stop for a bit, I’ve got History in like ten minutes. I’ll answer more after school at some point.
CatchTheseJazzHands: How come you never let ME try on the suit :C
GhostBoi: You literally have your own??? You could just wear that, Mom and Dad would be ecstatic.
CatchTheseJazzHands: Not the same and you know it.
GhostBoi: When you come home for Summer break I’ll let you try it on, but I’m not washing it first. You can deal with the ectoplasmic sweat >:)
CatchTheseJazzHands: Why are you like this
GhostBoi: Younger sibling obligation
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > InTheMemeTime
GhostBoi: PLEASE STOP JOKING ABOUT PEELED PHANTOM
GhostBoi: THE FENTON PEELER EXISTS AND I DO NOT WANT TO EXPERIENCE IT
HemiDemiSemiRemi: hhhhhhhhhholy shit wtf it do tho
GhostBoi: It peels ghosts :C
DoAKickFlip: Fuckin YIKES bro
TooFine: Danny calm down, freshly peeled Phantom is fucking hilarious
GhostBoi: Bet you wouldn’t like memes about freshly peeled Foley >:C
DoAKickFlip: Sounds like you wanna freshly peel that Foley bro 
GhostBoi: >:)
TooFine: Okay fine yeah it’s a bit creepy when you put it that way
KeyMaster: 
GhostBoi:
DoAKickFlip:
BardMain: Mr. Lancer whatttt
YourClericCouldNever: Either he knows exactly what he’s doing or he accidentally made comedy gold
TheSteez: skjfbdkubfr
xXCHAOSXx: 😂
WeebNation: Mr. Lancer do you really not understand memes?
KeyMaster: 
TooFine: Of course he understands memes he’s a platinum level competitive Doomed player lol
BardMain: HE’S WHAT
KeyMaster: 
GhostBoi: 
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > General
TheSteez: YO what the FUCK Foley you been holding out on us bro???
TooFine: ???
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: The muscles dude you’re fukin BUILT. You fill out the jumpsuit better than Danny does 😂
GhostBoi: He do 
TooFine: gdi Sam that picture was meant to be PRIVATE
RedArtemis: okay yeah I see what you were saying Tucker
RedArtemis: Maybe Danny has to watch out now I was looking to steal the wrong man
Stargays: WUT LOL
xXCHAOSXx:
TooFine: 
GhostBoi: It’s fine I’ll just hide him and his beautiful biceps away where you’ll never find him
RedArtemis: Oh yeah, where’s that?
GhostBoi: In the timeline where you realised Phantom was me all by yourself 🙃
DoAKickFlip: 
BardMain: 
RedArtemis: Kind of a low blow but I’ll take it
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: Seriously though Danny we need to get you on a bulking diet, you’re too skinny man
GhostBoi: I already am, I put ectoplasm in the shakes to help and I still burn most of it off
DoYouEvenLift: have you actually done an assessment to see what your calorie intake is?
GhostBoi: Yea Sam did, she’s good at all this stuff. I go through about 15,000cal a day if there’s a ghost fight. 10,000 if there isn’t
ToYeetOrNotToYeet: BRUH
BallIsLife: HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD
BallIsLife: WAIT
GhostBoi: 😂
GhostBoi: Funnily enough that’s the whole problem lol
DoYouEvenLift: How do you even get that many calories a day without eating constantly???
GhostBoi: Lotta snacks and slipping ectoplasm into as many meals as possible
EightFootVerticalLeap: What I want to know is how you even burn that many calories in a day
GhostBoi: Keep in mind that expending energy through ectoplasm counts towards calorie usage. Like I said in the answers channel, Thermodynamics still affect ghosts, even if gravity doesn’t. But some of it is accounted for by ambient ectoplasm, which I just passively absorb.
DoYouEvenLift: so how many calories are in ectoplasm?
GhostBoi: I don’t remember the math
xXCHAOSXx: It’s roughly 2500 per 100ml of purified ectoplasm. Raw ectoplasm has more, but it’s also full of impurities and tends to give him stomach problems
GhostBoi: the raw ectoplasm runs are not a fun time
BallIsLife: Oh so you could really get quite a lot of your intake from just the ectoplasm? Damn I wish we could drink it, that’d make things way easier
GhostBoi: Please do not though it isn’t safe for humans in more than trace amounts
GhostBoi: Like if you eat ecto-contaminated food you might just get an upset stomach but if you eat/drink it outright you might die
KeyMaster: As interesting as this conversation is, there’s only ten more minutes until class with me, can you all please pay attention to your other classes until then
DoYouEvenLift: Can we talk about all this stuff in class?
KeyMaster: I would like to TRY and go over the material we missed yesterday but I get the feeling you’re all still too distracted. I will let you know what we’re doing when you get here.
Chapter 7
Summary:
The last class of the day, and Danny finally has to face up to all the people now in on his secret. And talking to people in real life is a lot harder than talking over discord.
Notes:
Not much to talk about with this chapter. Danno has to test the waters of being around people who know who and what he is, and it's simultaneously a lot of fun and no fun at all. But at least a good ice-breaker shows up.
I probably did have some stuff to say about this chap but my brain is drawing a blank so eh.
Chapter Text
Danny shuffled in, not really meeting anyone’s eyes, terribly aware that they were all on him as he moved to his usual seat. Sam and Tucker were walking ahead and behind as a buffer, giving everyone looks that said very clearly not to say anything stupid.
Once Danny had sat down, he caught Lancer’s eye, and tried to return the kind look he gave him. His own smile was a little tight.
As casual as everyone had been in the discord, it had been very different having to actually face them in person all day. Especially after the awkward turn of the conversations in the discord the night before.
ALL of them had been giving him furtive glances, obviously still marvelling over what they now knew. Some had attempted to be normal with him, but all of them failed to some degree. It was painfully awkward having them stumble over normal interactions, where 48 hours ago half of them wouldn’t even have spared him a glance.
Sam and Tucker had been dropping hissed comments all day at people to stop being so obvious. It had helped, for sure, but now they were in a room where everyone knew, and there was no risk of someone out of the loop finding out…
The atmosphere was palpably more charged.
As soon as everyone was in and the door was closed, Lancer clapped his hands together to get their attention.
The buzz of chatter died down, and all eyes turned forward, giving Danny at least a small measure of relief.
“Alright everyone, I’m well aware after the events of yesterday that none of you are going to be able to concentrate on anything else. So, what I’m going to do is write a run-down on the board of what I need from you in the next three weeks, and I’d like you all to copy it into your notes so you have no excuse to forget. THEN we can get into a POLITE and MEASURED conversation with Mr. Fenton. Understood?”
Heads bobbed in agreement, people pulling out their notebooks. Lancer gave a satisfied nod of his own and turned to the whiteboard to begin writing down the unit requirements.
“You’re okay though, right dude?”
Danny’s head jerked around at the loud whisper from Kyle, finding genuinely concerned brown eyes looking him over. He nodded, flashing another strained grin the other boy’s way before turning his attention back to his notebook.
Was that why they’d all been staring, really? They were just worried about him? Not because they all thought he was a freak, and wanted to catch him out using his powers?
Danny actively reached out across the room with his aura, finding that the predominant emotion seemed to be concern, with a strong undertone of curiosity.
Oh. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting.
He relaxed slightly, noticing Valerie looking his way questioningly. Oh, right, she could feel him doing stuff with his aura now she was aware of it. He sent her a pulse of reassurance, which caused a myriad of emotions across her face before she shook her head, grinning, and looked back down at her notes.
He ignored his left hand as it spasmed slightly, flipping open to a clean page in his own notebook. It had been doing that all day, which was normal post-anniversary. It was more annoying than painful, but he supposed no one else knew that. They’d probably been noticing too, so of course they were wondering if he was really okay.
He was aware of more glances his way as everyone got down to copying Lancer’s outline, but no one tried to talk to him again. At least, not yet. He forced his nerves to settle, the note-taking at least a useful distraction.
It had been all day, and he’d been glad to have school work to occupy his mind, not wanting to dwell on what his last period was going to be like. Truthfully, he’d been dreading it. He couldn’t deny that he still sort of was.
Lunch had been stressful enough with half the current class trying to sit near him, Sam and Tucker, before they’d pointed out how suspiciously weird that was. Danny agreeing to answer some of the questions in the discord had placated them, and they’d given him space.
There would be no space now, though he doubted Lancer would let everyone hassle him. Still, he remembered with a pang that there was no sneaking out of this class. Not now everyone knew how and why he did it.
Danny frowned absently to himself. He REALLY didn’t like that part of people knowing. While there hadn’t been any ghost attacks today, (thankfully Poindexter had been right about the others giving him a break), and he’d been lucky that no lower level ghosts had shown up, he still knew there was going to be mayhem the next time a ghost attacked.
It was either going to be better or worse now others were in on the secret. Sure, he had more people to hide behind to transform if needed, but they might try to help him fight. And while he appreciated the sentiment, he had enough experience from training Jazz to know that help from novices was often more of a hindrance.
He was NOT looking forward to trying to convince everyone to stay out of the ghost fights.
Danny focussed on writing everything down for now, remembering that he’d meant to talk to Sam and Tucker about hashing out the upcoming essay in the library on the weekend. Right before everything had gone to shit…
He ran his twitching hand through his hair as he looked up and took in the next line of text, before writing it down. He really wasn’t absorbing the words at this point, simply copying them. Lancer probably knew his mind would be too all-over-the-place to actually take in any of it.
His brain had decided now was the time to actually think about what had happened in this room the day before. Up until now, he’d done a very good job of pretending it was just a dream… or, well, nightmare.
What must it have looked like to everyone?
Tucker had recorded his last anniversary, at his request, so he could see what it was like from an outside perspective. Something about the energy he gave off when in the memorial illusion had affected the recording, making it glitchy, but he’d seen enough… he knew how bizarre and disturbing the whole thing was. It was the closest he came to looking like a zombie, rather than a ghost.
And the screaming… his screaming, was the worst.
There was no way most of them weren’t affected to SOME degree, no matter how cool they might have played it off so far. He ought to know, he was an expert at repressing trauma by now.
Danny felt something deep in his core twist at the knowledge he’d harmed anyone just by being careless enough to let them witness his death. His obsession was already set off badly enough by how much it hurt Sam every year, and now it was insisting he make things right, that he explain himself, that he soothe the frazzled emotions of those around him.
Except… they didn’t seem nearly as frazzled now as they had yesterday. Not in the way he’d expected. Not the way Valerie had been this morning... The way she probably would be now if he wasn’t trying to rein in his aura so she wouldn’t feel what was going on with him. Yet another part of his secret being out he wasn’t happy with.
But she’s closer to this than any of them, she has more reason to be disturbed. And even then, she’s taking it pretty damn well. Maybe if-
Danny’s entire train of thought ground to a halt as his breath hitched, blue mist slipping between his teeth.
Already way too tuned into him, several people looked over, eyes wide.
Danny groaned and thunked his head down on the table.
“Daniel?”
“Sorry Mr. Lancer… “ Danny raised his head again, huffing more blue mist out and giving him an apologetic look.
“Are you serious? I thought Poindexter said they’d give you at least a DAY.” Tucker grumbled, already fishing a thermos out of his bag.
“Dude what-“
“Ghost sense,” Danny groaned, flicking a look over to Justin, who was sitting in front of Sam.
“Can you tell who?” Sam mumbled, already strapping a wrist ray on.
He frowned slightly, eyes flashing green as he concentrated. “Not close enough yet, just know they’re strong.”
“Well dude, come on, do the thing!”
Mikey was giving him a look that was far more excited than he felt the situation warranted. Glancing around, Danny realised almost EVERYONE seemed as keen to watch him transform. For some reason it had him tensing nervously.
He looked to Mr. Lancer again. “I’m really sorry-“
“Daniel, do what you need to do, just be careful, please.”
The genuine concern in the older man’s voice had his core pulsing with gratitude.
Feeling extremely exposed and uncomfortable, he reached for his ghost half. People flinched at the bright flash instinctively, something that made his core shudder and contract in a way he didn’t like. To avoid more scrutiny, he went invisible and intangible, slipping off towards the source of the ghostly aura.
He tried to ignore the excited chatter that he was leaving behind.
It took him all of five seconds to hone-in on the other ghost, his anxiety immediately shifting into relief and delight as he touched down on the roof.
He became visible again, smiling as he held his arms wide open.
A moment later, he was bowled over by a small, extremely green, and very energetic Cujo. Danny laughed and sputtered as he was covered in ghostly dog slobber.
“YOU, are the world’s worst therapy dog. But hey, better late than never.”
Cujo’s response was to yip at him and lick his nose. Danny snorted and wrapped his arms around the squirming mass of ectoplasmic fur. This might actually make things much easier than he’d anticipated.
Not wanting to worry Sam and Tucker, he wasted no time turning both of them intangible and invisible, floating back down through two ceilings and a few walls, coming to rest outside the classroom door. He entered the door normally, but still invisible, grinning as Cujo stilled and tensed with interest. The rest of his class had also stilled, staring at the door that had moved on it’s own.
“Hey guys, false alarm,” he saw Jason, Mia and Remilio startle, the three being closest to the door. Their eyes, and most of the rest of the classes, went wide when he became visible. “It’s just Cujo.”
Tucker snorted loudly, his and Sam’s shoulders visibly slumping.
“Is that… a ghost dog?... Is he YOUR ghost dog?”
Danny looked over at Lancer, who was blinking at Cujo in surprise. Danny gave a half shrug, sputtering slightly when Cujo decided to whip his head up and lick at his jaw.
“Ack! Um, sorta… not really… pthhbbbt Cujo STOP.”
Danny heard Tucker snickering again, and he transformed to drop back to his feet. He wandered back to their desks with the squirming green puppy and unceremoniously dumped him on Tucker’s.
His friend’s notebook was immediately covered in ectoplasmic dog slobber.
“Aw man REALLY?”
“Is it really SAFE to have him in here, Danny?”
He looked up and met Valerie’s stern face. She was sat on Tucker’s other side today, not her usual spot, but no one had argued with her. Danny gave her a slightly sheepish look as he sat back at his own desk on Tucker’s other side.
“Listen, I know you don’t like him, I get why, but I worked on his training. He’s a lot better than he was, I know how to keep him small. Plus, we have the thermos if he gets out of hand.”
“Dude you better finish taking those notes, because I’m gonna need to swipe them later,” Tucker mumbled, hands either side of Cujo’s face as he massaged his pudgy puppy cheeks. Cujo licked at his own lips, tail wagging like mad, enjoying the weird pets.
“Sorry again Mr. Lancer. He shows up kinda randomly,” Danny sent him an apologetic smile, Lancer just blinking between him and the dog.
“Daniel… what do you mean ‘keep him small’?”
Danny had just picked up his pen to continue copying from the board where he’d left off, but tensed up slightly, looking between Lancer and Cujo.
“Uuuh… he gets big sometimes? Only if he feels threatened, or feels like something important to him is threatened. Everyone in here is chill with dogs though, right? Except Val?”
Valerie snorted. “I’m chill with dogs, I just have issues with that particular dog.”
Sam’s voice was surprisingly gentle as she spoke up from Danny’s other side. “Yeah but he’s just a dog, Val, you know none of it was malicious. It was just obsession driven.”
Val let out a long sigh as she watched Tucker baby talk at Cujo under his breath. “Yeah. I know,” her tone was somewhere between defeated and apologetic.
“Dude this is so fucking cool.” Spencer whispered where he was twisted in his seat to watch Tucker turn Cujo into a pile of happy dog goo on his desk… almost literally.
“Are you SURE he’s safe?” Lancer’s tone was a little more insistent this time.
“Yeah, of course, I mean… did you want to pet him?” Danny gestured at the green puppy.
Looking as though he thought he was mad for doing so, Mr. Lancer wandered down the isle and stopped between their desks, a hand hovering tentatively above the green fur.
Danny gave him an encouraging nod. The older man steeled himself, running his hand carefully over the puppy’s back.
“…Oh… it’s soft.”
Cujo wriggled his head from Tucker’s hands and turned to sniff Lancer’s hand, which stilled. After a moment, Cujo licked at it enthusiastically, pushing his head under the palm.
Lancer laughed, the sound surprised and delighted, as he scratched behind the soft, cold ears.
Danny grinned. “See? He’s the goodest of boys.”
“I respectfully disagree,” Val snickered from Tucker’s other side.
“Lies, he’s the best boy and he’s never done anything wrong ever. DANNY on the other hand-“
“Tuck, you want my notes or not?”
And just like that, all of the awkward tension in the room seemed to vanish into nothing.
“So IS he your dog?” Kyle piped up.
Danny answered while still taking down the rest of what was written on the board. “I mean, everyone thinks he is. I guess he thinks he is? I did train him a bit, he already knew commands when I met him the first time. He technically belonged to Axion labs though, when he was alive. It’s on his collar.”
Lancer made a noise of surprise as Tucker picked Cujo up and deposited him in the teacher’s arms. Cujo licked at the arm holding him, tail still wagging like mad. Lancer continued to scratch behind his ears until he calmed down and hung there enjoying himself.
“Daniel, it seems a little irresponsible to just let him roam around wherever he pleases. You ought to know what pet ownership entails at your age, surely.” Lancer gave him a slight look of disapproval.
Valerie cackled at that, surprising Lancer and making Danny pause his writing to give him a pained sort of look.
“I don’t think I could contain him if I WANTED to… but I mean, considering where I live, Cujo is safer roaming around. Trying to keep him at home isn’t really an option, he’d either trash my room, or I’d find him in pieces in the lab. Probably one and then the other, neither of those things are ideal.”
Lancer winced, smoothing his hand down Cujo’s back with a frown. “I see.”
“So Val, why do you hate Cujo?”
Dash was gesturing at the dog, having turned in his seat, note taking abandoned.
“Because he ruined my life.”
“HE didn’t ruin your life, the douche who runs Axion labs-“
“Language, please, Ms. Manson. I can’t do anything about it in the discord, but I’m not going to let it slide in my classroom outside of exceptional circumstances.” Lancer levelled Sam with a look, and she hunched her shoulders slightly in apology.
“Sorry sir… but Cujo really didn’t do anything wrong, and Danny was trying to HELP-“
“He trashed the lab, Sam!” Val huffed.
“I was kinda careless, but to be fair, I was fourteen, an idiot, and you KNOW from experience how hard it is to catch him when he doesn’t want to be caught,” Danny pointed at Cujo with his pen while levelling Val with a tired look.
Valerie let out an expansive sigh. “I know you have a point, but it doesn’t change the fact that you chasing him around royally screwed my life over.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, and if you let me I will try and make up for it-“
Valerie waved a hand at Danny and laughed. “Danny, you HAVE made up for it in your own way. Besides, Dad ended up getting a payout on the downlow for that unfair termination. My ah, ghost hunting patron might be crazy, but he’s got a wicked legal team and they did right by us.”
“I have NO idea what’s going on here, but it is somehow MORE confusing than any of the conversations in the discord.” Brad huffed, looking between the two from his desk in the back.
“Is that why you still haven’t said anything in the chat bro? Can’t keep up?” Dash snickered.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s ancient history. All you need to know is, I forgive you, and I forgive the mutt, and my vendetta is now against Plasmius, not Phantom.” Valerie shot Danny a tentative smile, finding him beaming back.
“Why do you have a vendetta against Plasmius? Also who the heck IS Plasmius?” Justin regarded Valerie with an odd expression. She crossed her arms and levelled him with a cool look. Neither of them seemed to notice how Lancer and Danny had both tensed. Cujo’s ears perked, tail stilling.
“Danny might think he owes you explanations, but I don’t. That’s my business.”
Danny snorted, some of his tension releasing and Cujo’s ears going back down. “Doesn’t take much explanation, Plasmius is just a massive di- uuuuh dipstick.” He glanced up at Lancer, who levelled him with a slightly amused look.
Lancer quietly agreed with Daniel’s first intended words, even if he was glad he’d censored himself. He wandered back to his desk with Cujo, sitting down and petting the puppy as if it were his own Mop, Daisy.
“I mean, he’s basically the perfect dog then right? He doesn’t need feeding, he walks himself, he’s trained, and I bet he doesn’t leave poop all over your lawn right?” Mia was listing off on her fingers, also turned in her seat to talk to Danny, who made a face.
“No, he absolutely leaves me unwanted presents, thankfully just on the lawn since he’s house trained. I think it’s a ghost animal thing, because ghosts normally don’t need to pass anything, but they still use it to mark territory. Not the same way alive animals do though, It’s just like… piles of stinky raw ectoplasm.”
“Oh ew, that’s gross,” Mia laughed. “Still, he’s got a lot of plusses besides that though.”
Dash made a thoughtful noise. “Yeah, and you don’t have to worry about the heartbreak from him dying or anything, because he’s already dead.”
That had Danny’s expression shifting to something a little more wary, and a second later it became evident why, as Lester spoke up.
“Wait, does that mean Cujo is effectively immortal?”
“Wait…” Spencer had caught on now, frowning, and Danny looked even more uncomfortable as they both turned to him. “Does that mean YOU’RE effectively immortal?”
A hand slipped to the back of Danny’s neck in his all-too-familiar nervous gesture, and he gave them a very unconvincing casual grin. “Couldn’t tell you, to be honest. I mean I can still die the rest of the way, and ghosts can be destroyed, but… assuming I end up as a full ghost at some point… maybe?”
“Can we not jump right to the extremely heavy topics guys, come on,” Star huffed from the other side of Valerie. “Topic change time, Danny, Why the HELL have you, Sam, and Tucker never been to Amity Pride?”
“What? We’ve been, we were there last year!” Sam gave her a confused look.
“I mean in the PARADE, not just watching it! At the very LEAST Phantom should have showed up!”
Danny laughed ruefully, glad for the blunt escape route she’d given him. “Oh, I did. But I was stopping Spectra from trying to ruin the whole thing. Despite being queer herself, she was more interested in trying to misgender as many people as possible to feed off their misery. Bertrand just wanted to ruin the floats to make everyone sad, also because he’s a catty little… yeah, anyway. I was too busy stopping them to really participate, but we got to see some really nice floats at least. And I got covered in holographic glitter at some point during the fight, it looked kinda cool, Sam took a picture.”
“Oh right, I forgot about that, I’ll throw it in the discord when I find it.” She snorted, pulling out her phone.
“Dude, are you just fighting ghosts off during ALL the major stuff that goes on in Amity?” Nathan frowned slightly.
Danny just shrugged. “They’re drawn to crowds, there’s usually at least one ghost to deal with when there’s an event on. Sometimes they just come to check things out and don’t cause trouble. More often than not, it’s a ghost I know and they’re trying to take advantage.”
“Damn dude, don’t you ever get tired of it?” Kyle gave him a sympathetic look.
He received a genuine smile and a shrug in return. “Only as much as anyone gets tired with their job sometimes. Still my job, still gotta do it, it’s not all bad though. Sometimes it’s even fun.”
“You don’t get paid though.” Kwan’s voice sounded sad, as if he was only just realising that, and found it unfair. “Shouldn’t the council have decided by now to give you something for doing it all the time?”
Tucker snorted. “Dude, what is a ghost going to do with money?”
“Buy Nasty Burger, duh,” Justin snickered.
“Actually yeah, I’d probably end up spending most of it on food,” Danny snickered. “It’s fine though, I don’t expect them to pay me when I COST them so much already in damages. Even if I’m not doing the damage on purpose or directly… at least not anymore. Being a ghost means they can’t send me a bill either.”
“Oof, hadn’t thought of that. Wait, how much does it cost the school to fix ghost damage?” Rebecca, sitting closest to Lancer, looked to their teacher curiously. She missed the guilty look on Danny’s face and the way he slid down in his chair.
Lancer didn’t. He waved the hand not lulling Cujo to sleep dismissively. “Ghost related damages are covered by the GiW, and they’re federally funded. Compared to military spending, it’s a microscopic drop in the bucket. And if I’m honest, Daniel earns that money more than twice over in terms of preservation of life. Property is insignificant compared to that.”
Danny felt heat creep up his face, and tried to ignore the grins he received from Tucker and Sam.
“Oh my gosh, Mr. Lancer you’re embarrassing him! Can you blush that hard as Phantom?” Rebecca giggled.
“Yes, he can.” It was Paulina who answered, sounding slightly aloof. Which was normal for her, but there was something else to it that had Danny’s eyes flicking to her.
He was fixed with that weirdly intense stare she’d been giving him the previous day as well.
Dash made a noise and rolled his eyes. “Don’t be creepy again Paulina.”
“What? I’m not being creepy! Unless, y’know, Danny LIKES that kinda thing.”
“Did you bring the grimoire?” Sam cut across her sharply, folding her arms.
Paulina huffed and rolled her eyes, reaching down and pulling it from her bag. She dropped it on her table with a heavy thunk, and started to flip carelessly through the old, yellowed pages.
“Ms. Sanchez, I’d appreciate it if you treated library property with a little more care.” Lancer sighed, getting up to walk over and peer at the book, Cujo still flopped happily in his arms. Sam, Danny, and Tucker were already out of their seats and crowding behind her.
It was clear she’d consulted the book a lot, since she flipped deftly to the chapter about the Ghost King. Danny noticed belatedly that she’d put a bunch of heart-shaped post-it notes throughout the pages, apparently for quick access, though they had nothing written on them.
The disturbed feeling in his gut only intensified.
“Here! It says that the one to defeat the Ghost King shall ascend the throne in their place. To defeat the King of Ghosts, one must relieve them of the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage. Then they must vanquish the old King, in order to take up the throne.”
Danny slumped where he stood, running a hand over his face and through his hair. “Oh thank fuck, I can’t be the Ghost King.”
“Daniel.”
“Sorry, sorry, no swearing anymore.”
“Why not? You said you knocked the Crown of Fire off his head!” Paulina turned in her seat, staring up at him with wide, teal eyes.
He backed up slightly, giving her an odd look. “Yeah, but then I just shoved him back in his prison, I didn’t ‘vanquish’ him, and I didn’t get the Ring off him either. I’m not even the one who locked the sarcophagus, so I CAN’T be the Ghost King. Pariah probably still is, technically… why do you WANT me to be Ghost King so bad?”
“No reason!” her pouty demeanour shifted to a sweet, carefree smile, but there was still that weird look in her eyes that had Danny diverting his gaze. He quickly retreated back to his desk.
“So, if you don’t mind, I’ll be borrowing that-“
“Hey! No! I’m not done with it!”
Sam scowled as the other girl snatched the book against her chest when she’d reached for it. “What do you STILL need it for, you’ve had it for ages!”
“I haven’t finished making notes! Besides, you’ll ruin my bookmarks!”
Sam threw up her hands and stalked away after Tucker, who was frowning. “Fine! But hurry up and finish your notes, I’ve got a backlog of Ghost Zone research to do with that thing.”
“What kind of research?” Mikey piped up curiously.
Sam shrugged as she flopped back down in her chair, picking up her pen and doodling in the back of her book. “We have a few more points of interest from mapping the zone, we want to check if there’s entries about them yet or not. We usually make our own notes if they’re not already in the grimoire, might make them into a book one day.”
“That’s so cool! How much stuff have you discovered in the Ghost Zone so far that wasn’t in the book?” Lester was practically bouncing in his seat, lightening Danny’s mood a little as he answered.
“Quite a bit, but most of the stuff not in there we ask Frostbite about. He knows almost everything about the history of the Ghost Zone, it’s kind of a hobby to him. There’s also other ghosts who know plenty about the Zone, but we can’t exactly ask them. Most aren’t friendly, or they’re just cryptic and allergic to giving straight answers,” He snickered, sharing a look with Tucker.
“Dude you talk about Frostbite a LOT, you really like the guy huh?” Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “Is he like… your Ghost Dad or something?”
Danny wheezed out a laugh, Tucker and Sam snorting along with him.
“OH my god, aha, um… no but I kinda wish he was. Ahaha, I’m sure if I mentioned that, he would probably volunteer, but no, he’s more like a mentor. I mean he REALLY saved my butt with the ice powers thing, I was legitimately catatonic when I made it to his realm that day, they had to stick me in a vat of anti-freeze.”
“You don’t have ANY pictures of him? I wanna see your Yeti Dad!” Kyle chuckled, making Danny dissolve into giggles again as he pulled his phone out.
“Actually, I think I took a selfie with him last time I was in the Far Frozen, let me have a look.”
“While you’re at it, do you have proof of that ‘Spectre Speeder’ thing? I still don’t believe you about that.” Justin snorted.
“I have one from like last month.” Tucker snickered, pulling his own phone out. It only took about two minutes before he’d thrown it into the discord images channel.
“And here I thought we’d finally be able to converse without the need to be terminally online.” Lancer sighed, still petting Cujo, who seemed to have fallen asleep.
“If you want I can make it more inclusive, give me a sec,” Tucker grinned, tapping away at his phone. A few moments later, the overhead projector system turned on, and Tucker got up to flip the whiteboard over to the blank side.
“I’m both impressed, disturbed, and unsurprised that you are so competent at hijacking school equipment.” Lancer murmured, receiving an impish smile from Tucker.
When he sat back down, he poked his phone screen with a flourish, and the discord images channel popped up on the whiteboard. The photo of them in the cockpit of the spectre speeder gave a view of Sam and Danny, both seemingly arguing about how to handle the blockade of Walker’s prison guards visible through the windshield.
Justin made a noise of disbelief. “What the actual fu- uuuh fudge, Foley? That CAN’T be real! That thing looks like a space shuttle inside, you guys CAN’T drive that, and what the HECK is going on in the background-“
Danny ended up laughing again, “Oh, no, it is WAY easier than the space shuttle.”
There was a pause before anyone reacted to that, Danny settling into his famous shit-eating grin. Justin glared at him.
“…You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“When? HOW? You’re pulling our legs here there is NO way-“
“Summer after eight grade, Freakshow got a hold of something called the Reality Gauntlet.” Danny leant back in his chair, balancing it on its back legs as he gestured with his hands. “Everyone found out my secret at the Dumpty Humpty concert, we got chased halfway across the country by the GiW while retrieving the gems that made the Gauntlet work, because Freakshow was holding our families hostage. One of the gems we had to retrieve was at the NASA Space Convention, the space shuttle got brought to life, I had to retrieve the gem that did it, then it went inanimate while in the air and I had to land it.”
Silence met the end of his story, and he blinked owlishly around at the dumbfounded faces. “What? I’d done it a thousand times in a flight simulator on my computer, it wasn’t that much different.”
“Fenton, what even is your life?” Jason breathed.
“A half one?”
Several people groaned as he grinned again. “But seriously, that summer was not great and landing THE space shuttle was terrifying. That thing is so expensive.”
“Wait wait wait, rewind, pause… what do you MEAN everyone found out your secret at the Dumpty Humpty concert? I remember that concert, NOTHING happened!” Remilio frowned, looking confused.
Danny just nodded. “Yeah, because I got the Gauntlet off Freakshow, put everything back the way it was, and then destroyed the thing. I don’t know who made it in the first place, but honestly, something THAT O.P is too dangerous to exist. No one remembers what happened except me, Tucker, and Sam.”
There was another bout of silence as everyone digested the story.
“Seriously though, what even is your half-life.” Kyle shook his head, prompting Danny to shrug and lean back further in his chair, the angle seemingly dangerous, though no one remarked.
“Hey, so… can I ask, WHAT is going on in the background there? Are those ghost police?” Tiffanie spoke up for the first time, sounding shy and anxious as she pointed at the projected picture.
Tucker chuckled. “Oh, right, yeah. Walker was trying to pull us over again. He has a standing warrant out for Danny, and us too kinda. Sam and Danny were arguing about whether we should outrun them back to the portal, or just try and run them all over. We did the latter, then the former.”
“You sound far less concerned about being in trouble with the ghost police than I think is appropriate.” Mr. Lancer piped up, tone disapproving.
Danny snorted. “Yeah, I’d be more concerned with it if the charges weren’t bogus. Walker’s police force doesn’t follow any ‘government’ appointed laws, since there’s no Ghost Zone government really, he just makes up his own crazy laws and then tries to enforce them. I got a one-thousand-year sentence from him for having a real world object in the Ghost Zone with me one day.”
“…Oh. That does sound somewhat unreasonable,” Lancer gave him a surprised look. “How many times has he actually arrested you?”
“Uuuuh twice. He’s tried more times than I can count, but he only actually got me in his prison twice. First time I staged a riot and caused a jailbreak, second time I just walked out because he forgot humans have ghost physics in the Ghost Zone,” He snickered, scrolling through his photos and making a sound of triumph. “Aha, found it!”
The image on the projector changed as the picture uploaded to the discord, and there were several exclamations around the room. They ranged from horrified to delighted, making Danny grin broadly again.
The picture was of him as Phantom, standing ground level, angling the camera up at himself. He’d made sure to get as much of Frostbite in frame behind him as he could, the leader of the Far Frozen smiling quizzically down at his camera.
Danny had snuck his other hand into frame in a peace sign, and one of Frostbite’s massive paws could be seen over his shoulder trying to imitate the gesture.
“Dude he’s MASSIVE-“
“Yo is he seriously not feral because he looks FERAL-“
“That’s WAY too many teeth-“
“You sure that’s a Yeti and not some kind of polar bear-“
“He looks friend shaped-“
“BRO he looks like he gives the BEST hugs, does he give the best hugs?”
“Not gonna lie, he’s kinda hot-“
“Oh my god Brad don’t tell me Foley’s Furry thing is rubbing off on you-“
Danny ended up laughing so hard he accidentally knocked his chair over. Rather than fall with it, he just remained in the position he’d been sitting, floating.
Annie made a noise behind him that pulled him out of his giggling fit, and he looked down.
“Aha, woops. My bad.”
He reached down for his chair and sat in it properly again. Then realised most of the class was staring at him again. Tucker snickered.
“How the hell did you even keep your secret for FOUR YEARS Danny?” Star huffed, sounding both amused and bewildered.
He grinned and glanced around at her. “I mean, I was TRYING to before. I still made plenty of slip ups, but none of you noticed because you weren’t LOOKING for them like you are now.”
“What kind of slip-ups?” Dash asked curiously.
“You have no idea how many times of a morning he’d walk in, sans caffeine, and just reach a hand through his locker door to get his books out. And none of you noticed.” Sam chuckled, still intent on whatever she was doodling in the back of her notebook.
“Mmmm. Yeah that’s the major one they’re usually on my case about,” Danny pointed between Sam and Tucker. “But there’s been plenty of other stuff, like having my intangibility mess up and make me drop things, or fall through things. I’ve used ecto-lasers a couple times in class and no one noticed, I’m CONSTANTLY re-chilling my drinks in summer. Oh, and you all bought the asthma thing, which was just a cover for my ghost sense. But to be fair to me, I can’t predict when it goes off, and there’s not a lot I can do to hide it. I thought the inhaler thing was kinda clever to be honest.”
“So, have you ever used your powers to cheat at school? Cause like, considering you’re constantly having schoolwork interrupted by ghosts, that’s gotta be the only way you didn’t repeat a year right?” Rebecca asked innocently. Her grin fell as all the laughter left Danny’s face.
He stilled, Sam and Tucker both tensing visibly and looking at him.
Danny was more calm than anything else, and his eyes found Lancer’s almost immediately.
“No. There was one time… just once, with the C.A.T, where I nearly… no. Cheating doesn’t work out well for me. I don’t cheat.”
As if sensing some sort of need, Cujo sprang awake from where he’d been flopped in Lancer’s lap, and scurried across the floor to jump on Danny. He let out a quiet ‘oof’ before squirming at the sudden bombardment of face licking.
“Ack! CUJO c’mon what- stop!”
The tension in the room diffused almost as quickly as it had come, but the unsettled feeling didn’t really leave.
Some of the class shared curious looks, but there was something unspoken telling them not to pry. Valerie decided she would ask them privately, later. Something about what Danny had said stirred something in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t really pin it down.
Lancer continued to watch Danny carefully, fully aware of why Cujo had decided Danny needed him more at that moment.
“Hey, who wants to watch one of our Ghost Zone exploration recordings?” Tucker grinned as he poked at his phone.
Danny managed to hold Cujo off long enough to throw him a look. “Wait, which one-“
“The Bees.”
Danny slumped in his chair and let Cujo slobber all over his neck. “Oh god, not the bees.”
Here's the Selfie with Yeti Dad that I happened to sketch out lol
Chapter 8
Summary:
Danny is used to the universe conspiring against him.
But every now and then, the stars align just so...
And literally no one has enough impulse control to stop the parade of chaos that ensues.
Notes:
Okay so, the art and the chapter kinda fed off one another after the idea came to me from the first discord convo a few chapters back.
Once I started making the art and it was written into the story, I realised I had to FINISH the art in order to actually post the update. Which was the worst, because the art took ages, and I had the chapter ready to go, and I have been DYING to post it oh my god.
Technically I still need to do some final polish on the art but FUCK IT. It's MOSTLY done, and certainly done ENOUGH for me to go ahead and post.
ANYWAY, I will turn it into a print you can buy once I polish it, cause I do like it a lot even if my colouring and background skills are less than stellar lol. I'm also happy to provide the lineart to anyone who wants to have a go at colouring it. That seems to be a trend happening in the fandom atm, idk man.Anyway this chapter was a lot of fun to write, the next one should be as well, I only have a partial bit of it done, but there's some gold discord convo stuff coming up. I will try to make more Phantom emotes in the new year. This is your combined Christmas/New Year present I guess so uuuuuuh enjoy?
P.S. I shouldn't post in a rush late at night lol, forgot to mention the chase playlist:
Mystery Skulls - Hellbent, Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief, Focus - Hocus Pocus, Yes - Roundabout.
Chapter Text
“So like, wait… you don’t even remember DOING that?”
Danny shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Sam and Tucker had to tell me what happened. It was all a complete blank for me for the most part.”
“Holy shit, that’s terrifying.”
Danny just nodded, not meeting Star’s eyes.
“But you broke the staff, right? And the guy’s in jail, he can’t do that again can he?” Kwan’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Sam was the one to answer, noticing Danny’s discomfort. “Yes he is, and no he can’t.”
“Unless he gets out again and has another ghost controlling artefact of some sort.” Danny mumbled, still carefully watching the pavement and not meeting anyone’s eyes.
“Which isn’t going to happen.” Tucker asserted, bumping shoulders with him.
“Hopefully,” Danny sighed, bumping back. “Anyway, after the reality gauntlet thing, the GiW aren’t allowed access to him. They fucked up too bad the one time they had him out for questioning. Personally, I hope he’s having fun rotting in minimum security. It’d be maximum if they actually knew the true extent of his criminal activity.”
“Same. Fuck, what a creep.” Star shuddered, and Danny couldn’t help but feel grateful for the waves of sympathy coming off her. She clearly understood the unspoken violation of the whole thing he didn’t want to talk about, since she changed the subject.
“So, what about you and Ember? You don’t really fight her anymore, do you?”
He latched onto the topic, mood lifting immediately. “Oh, no, me and her have a kinda truce thing. Started when we cruised past her lair blasting Linkin Park one time. She liked it so much, she promised to not cause trouble so long as I provided her with good music to listen to, which was EASY.”
“Swear to god I saw you and her hanging out once late at night, WERE you?” Rebecca piped up from behind Star, walking faster to get involved in the conversation.
The class was wandering in a loose group towards the Nasty Burger. They’d all wanted to carry on the conversations they’d been having with Danny in class, and it had been decided that they could probably get away with being in a big group if they were all getting food.
It wasn’t too weird for a huge swathe of Casper High students to descend on the Nasty Burger at this time of day, especially on a Friday. Though Danny still wondered if anyone would question the fact so many of his classmates were suddenly talking to him.
He glanced over his shoulder at Rebecca, noticing Paulina hanging back and hoping she was actually clued in enough to give him space for a while. It still unnerved him every time he caught her eye.
“Probably, we’ve hung out a few times. She keeps bugging me to let her teach me to sing. I can hold a tune, but I’m not THAT good, I think she just wants me to let her do more mind-control concerts under the guise of ‘making me cooler’.” He laughed.
“BRO!? LET HER!? Singing with Ember would be SO COOL!” Kwan gestured emphatically.
Danny snorted. “You realise if I’m not wearing Fenton Fones her music affects me too, right?”
“It does? How?” Dash gave him a confused look, getting a quizzical one in return.
“Did you not know she can brainwash people into doing a bunch of different things? She has settings on her guitar for different stuff, don’t tell me you don’t remember the whole thing where she brainwashed our parents with that chillwave shit she put out?”
Dash’s eyes went wide, as if he was having an epiphany. His hand flew up to his forehead and he drew in a long, deep gasp of air.
“That whole thing with the pirate ship! And that kid ghost! And YOU… oh my god you DIDN’T abandon us, holy SHIT! And I was such an ASSHOLE-“
Danny waved a hand at him. “Yeah yeah, we’ve established that you were a major dick, but yes, she used her mind control powers on our parents. Also, that was the one time I REALLY put on the ‘Phantom’ persona while I was still Fenton, and you guys STILL didn’t figure it out,” he smirked.
“But if Ember can brainwash anyone, including other ghosts, doesn’t that make her MORE dangerous than freakshow?” Rebecca frowned.
Danny tilted his head back and forth, “I mean, technically, yes? But in practice, she’s nowhere near as malicious. Her whole driving force is way less creepy, she just wants people to listen to her music and chant her name. Her whole deal is just… ‘be famous’. And sometimes she’ll get in on other shenanigans for a laugh, because she gets bored. But she’s not evil, y’know? Not like him.”
“So you’re like…. Friends with your enemies? They’re frenemies now?” Kwan laughed.
Danny shrugged. “Some of them, yeah, I guess. I mean it’s still fight-on-sight for most of them, but there’s less serious fights than there used to be. It’s hard to explain… kind of a ghost culture thing. If they come because they want to feed off emotions or cause panic and damage, I have to do something. But if they’re just chilling because they’re bored, I usually leave them alone. Unless I think they’ll cause problems, then it’s almost a ritual fight to get them back into the Zone. I get token resistance more often than not these days.”
“So they treat it like a game, huh? See how long they can hang out in Amity before you find them and kick them back into the Ghost Zone?” Dash punched a fist into his palm for emphasis.
Danny shrugged again. “Sometimes. With Youngblood it used to be that he actually just wanted to play make-believe games. I can only see him when I’m Phantom now though, he has to goad me in very special, very ANNOYING ways when he wants to play.”
Tucker groaned at that, “Yeah, but at least you can see him SOMEHOW. When he wants to play with me or Sam, there’s NO warning, NO ghost sense, we just start getting tossed around by something we CAN’T SEE out of FUCKING NOWHERE.”
“I told him not to try playing with you guys when I’m not around, but you KNOW what he’s like! He’s an eternal seven year old, he does whatever he wants, he doesn’t listen to me!”
“God, seven forever… that sounds like a special kind of hell,” Star grimaced.
Sam snorted “Yeah, him being seven is a special hell for everyone else. Youngblood doesn’t seem to mind.”
“So, which other ghosts are you frenemies with now?” Star asked curiously, arching an eyebrow.
“Uuuuuh well… Despite Skulker being more civil than he used to be, I would still call him an ‘enemy’. He hunts me for fun, HIS fun, not mine. I think he just likes to keep me on my toes, but if he thinks I’m dealing with some important Ghost Zone shit, he cuts it out,” Danny ran a hand through his hair, thinking.
“Technus is way more chill than he used to be. He hasn’t really been antagonistic since we got him a secure internet connection and set up cell reception in the Ghost Zone with his help.”
“Bro you WHAT?” Jason spun to walk backwards ahead of them, eyes wide.
“It was mostly ME and Technus that set it up, Danny was the errand boy placing the signal boosters.” Tucker snickered, smirking.
Danny just nodded. “Yeah that’s true. Anyway, Technus is too busy being a gamer these days to cause trouble. Oh, Dorothea became an ally a long while back, and the Fright Knight is also more chill these days. Except on Halloween, obviously, but he gets a pass for that.”
“What about the Box Ghost?” Dash piped up, Sam and Tucker snorting loudly as Danny scowled.
“The Box Ghost was never an enemy, and he’s also not a friend, he’s just a massive fucking pain in the ass.”
Several people laughed at that.
“What about the Wisconsin ghost?” Rebecca piped up.
Danny tried to hide the way his scowl deepened. “Definitely an enemy. And he’s probably the most dangerous one, so don’t get near him.”
“So, what IS your beef with him? Like, what’s his DEAL, because he seems different to the other ghosts.” Jason asked as he continued to walk backwards, Mia holding his sleeve and steering him so he wouldn’t hit anything.
Danny tried to school his features, tamping down on the squirm of fear in his gut at their interest in the most dangerous topic they could have picked. He reminded himself that they were all within Tucker’s blocking field, so unless Vlad was overshadowing one of them right now, he wouldn’t even know they were talking about him.
But there was still that possibility, so he had to be careful.
He opened his mouth to respond just as they rounded the block and came within sight of the Nasty Burger. His words were drowned in a puff of blue mist and he stiffened, stopping dead.
The classmates closest to him did the same, their eyes going wide in surprise before they all started looking around.
Sam facepalmed and groaned. “Could all of you maybe work on being LESS obvious with your reactions to that?”
Danny was grateful for her chastising them, but his focus had already narrowed down to the vehicle he’d spotted ahead, and then it’s owner a few feet away. He swore vehemently in ghost tongue, making the few classmates closest jump in alarm.
“Eeeeasy boy. It’s just Johnny.” Tucker pat his shoulder with a relieved smirk, getting an annoyed glance from Danny.
“So much for being given a fucking break,” Danny grumbled. He slipped around Jason and Mia, striding ahead past the other people in the class who’d been leading the way.
“Should I go deal with Johnny for him, so he ACTUALLY gets a break?” Valerie murmured, having caught up from further back in the group to stand beside Tucker and Sam.
Sam shook her head. “Nah, they’re probably just gonna talk it out. If Johnny kicks off he’d probably appreciate an assist, but I don’t think he will.”
She and Tucker started to trot after Danny, Valerie and the rest of the class following at a more hesitant pace.
“Yo, how can he just walk up to the guy while he’s still… y’know… Fenton? Kind of weird isn’t it?” Dash mumbled, giving Valerie a sideways look as he reluctantly followed. He still had the memory of Johnny’s attack from the previous day fresh in his mind.
Valerie snorted. “You don’t remember Danny talking about how Johnny tried to date his sister back when he first showed up? Johnny passes for human pretty well, it’s why he likes hanging out here so much. That and he gets bored driving in the Ghost Zone apparently. But Danny’s interacted with him as Fenton plenty of times, no one’s gonna think it’s weird.”
“Guys c’mon, I wanna hear what they’re saying! This is so cool!” The two of them were urged forward by Kwan, who was still playing some music out loud for them all the walk to. He seemed far more excited by the prospect of watching Danny Fenton deal with a ghost than seeing a Phantom fight.
The class ended up congregating in a loose cluster of groups in the outdoor eating area, trying and failing to watch Danny without looking like that’s what they were doing.
Johnny had been leaning on a table talking to two college age girls, but was now backing up towards the wall of the restaurant as Danny got up in his face. Anyone paying attention would have seen the dangerous green flash in his eyes, but most people weren’t.
Sam and Tucker stood a little behind Danny, arms crossed, looking more amused than anything else.
The only ones brave enough to accompany Valerie when she decided to wander closer and listen in were Kwan and Justin. Kwan turned his music way down so they could catch what was being said.
“-help yourself, can you? Seriously dude? ONE DAY! That’s ALL I wanted, one fucking day!”
Johnny’s hands were up placatingly, even though his eyes sparkled with the hint of a smirk. “Hey, chill out! I’m not even doing anything! Besides, you know how hard it is to tell how much time has passed on this side when you’re in the Zone.”
“No, I don’t, because I have a watch, and there’s a clock on that portal generator you swiped that is synced to THIS side. Which I saw was still attached to your bike YESTERDAY.”
“What’s the big deal, man? I’m not hurtin’ nothing, I’m just hanging out, we can do that without having to fight, right? Besides, I was TRYING to do you a solid yesterday, and you didn’t even say thankyou-“
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise trying to run over my classmates was you trying to do me a solid-“
“I picked the one I know you don’t like! I thought you’d appreciate it-“
“What I would appreciate is having at least one twenty-four-hour span where I can relax without having to worry about other ghosts stirring shit. I have ENOUGH to deal with now a bunch of people know about me, Johnny.”
The strain in Danny’s voice and the way he forced his volume down wiped the smirks off Sam and Tucker’s faces. Valerie frowned, sharing an uncomfortable look with Justin and Kwan, but none of them moved.
There was a beat before Johnny spoke, voice much less antagonistic now. “Look, I get it okay, I’m sorry… don’t tell anyone, but I came because Kitty ASKED me to, she’s around as well, she wanted to find you and make sure you’re doin’ okay.”
Danny’s posture shifted, making it clear he was backing down even though his feet stayed planted. “She actually cares?”
“Of course she does! Hell kid, I do too. We know how long you’ve worked to keep your halfa shit under wraps on this side. Not to mention, NO ONE wants to have an audience for their anniversary. Besides, you getting found out might mess with what we’ve got going on over this side, we don’t want that,” Johnny’s tone suggested he was trying to play off the concern as purely selfish, but it wasn’t really fooling anyone.
Danny seemed to sag slightly, crossing his arms. “I’m working on making sure it doesn’t. That’s why I could really do with NOT having to deal with other ghosts around, this is difficult enough as it is. They all have a million questions… I do appreciate that you were trying to help me. Even if it was in your own weird, fucked up way-“
“Not more fucked up than Skulker! I wasn’t trying to shove you in a cage and kidnap you!”
“True, but that’s legitimately a regular Tuesday night with him, not exactly out of character.”
“Well… point.”
“Anyway… listen, I- Oh for the love of-“
Valerie noticed another puff of blue mist, and a moment later a scream rang out down the road.
But it wasn’t a human scream. Johnny’s eyes went wide, and he scrambled away from the wall and looked down the road. “Kitty!”
“Get your damn hands OFF me, bacon breath!”
Valerie had moved forward, finding herself standing beside Danny, Sam and Tucker as they peered down the road after Johnny. She noticed the shiver in Danny’s aura as their eyes fell on a new group of ghosts.
“Shadow! Pig punching time!”
The black spectre broke away from Johnny to fly towards the two green goons in riot gear trying to manhandle Kitty to the pavement.
“Well-well, adding assault against an officer to your rap sheet, Thirteen? And here I was just gonna give you a ticket for parking illegally.”
Danny shuddered physically next to her this time, and suddenly a hand was grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her back around the side of the Nasty Burger.
“Danny, what-“
“Don’t draw his attention.”
His voice was so very Phantom, it made her blink just to check that he was actually still Fenton.
Walker had appeared between Johnny and Kitty, facing their way. Danny’s eyes flashed green again as he noticed Kwan and Justin hadn’t followed his lead to hide. He had really hoped they were situationally aware enough to move with him, Sam, and Tucker.
Apparently not, because Walker had spotted them, and started advancing. And Johnny was more interested in getting to Kitty than facing off against the warden to protect any humans.
“Looks like we have a congregation of punk teens getting ready to cause trouble. Shame the local law enforcement are too busy slacking off, stuffing their greasy human faces. What has this town’s law enforcement come to…”
The dry crackle of Walker’s voice was like nails down a chalkboard, and Valerie’s skin crawled with the urge to call her suit up.
She turned to tell Danny she would take care of it, but he was already gone. Only Tucker and Sam were next to her, pulling various gadgets from pockets or bags.
There were twin sounds of surprise as Kwan and Justin disappeared before Walker could reach them.
They reappeared with the rest of the class group, Danny- no, Phantom- appearing with them.
“Shit, how did I not see him change?” Valerie whispered, getting a chuckle in response from Tucker.
“He worked out he could go intangible and change while in the ground like two years ago. He was SO MAD it took him that long to realise he could do that. I mean he still has to find a shadowy spot or some bushes to hide in when he phases down, but yeah… makes things a little easier.”
Valerie snorted, realising she was far too exposed to safely change into her own suit and pulling an ecto-gun from her bag instead.
The seriousness of the situation was starting to dawn on her as more ghost police appeared, surrounding the Nasty Burger. There were still the sounds of a fight around the corner between some of Walker’s goons as they tried to subdue Johnny and Kitty.
Valerie, Sam, and Tucker moved in front of the class like an advance guard, as everyone was backed up towards the front of the building. People who weren’t part of the class were making a lot of upset, worried noises, but no one was screaming. Most just retreated into the building.
Probably, Valerie realised, because Phantom was already there. He threw up a green barrier that encased the Nasty Burger like a bubble, the goons beating it furiously with their batons as Walker yelled at them to break it and arrest everyone inside.
When Danny landed between Sam and Tucker, he threw them a worried look. “There’s a LOT of these guys, and I’m still not at a hundred percent after yesterday. There’s also too many people, we need to take any fight away from here.”
“He’s always going after you first and foremost, right? So if you just fly off, he’ll chase you won’t he?” Valerie offered, gun trained on the nearest police ghost as they started to make cracks in the barrier.
“If I was in any condition to do that, I would have already. He’d catch up to me too fast.” he snapped, drawing her attention to the way his body tensed and strained. She realised he was pouring all of his energy into the barrier right now, and it wasn’t usually this difficult for him. “Should have guessed this asshole would come around when he KNOWS I’m weaker after… whatever, we need a different way to draw him away-“
“What about that!”
Danny glanced around at Kwan as he pointed to the left. Looking over, it was evident he was pointing at Johnny’s motorcycle, which was parked on the curb outside of the shield.
Danny frowned slightly, giving Kwan a curious look. Kwan grinned wide, tapping at his phone.
A song started blasting from his portable speaker that had Danny’s eyes shining a dangerous kind of green. His face split into a wicked smile, over-sharp eye-teeth glinting.
“Kwan, you’re a fucking genius. Val, think you can hold the line for five seconds?”
“What the hell are you planning?” She glared at him, no real heat to it given she could see he was still shaking with the effort of holding the barrier up. She hadn’t followed Kwan’s pointing, too preoccupied with the ghosts.
“Something that’s going to piss off every ghost here and make me look rad as hell.”
“You aren’t going without us.” Sam warned him.
“Well DUH, you gotta shoot for me. Plus I’d look less rad without you.”
She and Tucker both snorted.
With that, Danny grabbed both of his friend’s arms and vanished.
Valerie frowned up at the ghosts above, ecto-gun whining with charge as the cracks got deeper.
Walker was still yelling at them to put their backs into it, so engrossed in the task of reaching his quarry that he didn’t notice Phantom appear on Johnny Thirteen’s bike.
“Shit, Johnny took the keys.”
“Well fuck, there goes that cool ass plan,” Sam huffed in a whisper.
“Wait, no, you can make it go, you’re a ghost too! Just do the thing Lewis does in the animation to that truck! You’ve done it to a bunch of other smaller stuff before,” Tucker hissed excitedly, locking his arms around Danny’s middle as Sam settled behind him.
“Oh yeah, good idea…” Danny muttered, biting his lip with concentration as he tried to maintain the shield while juicing up the bike.
It roared to life right as the shield shattered.
Walker and his goons were distracted enough by the sound of it to be frozen in place even as the shield failed. They all stared in his direction.
Danny grinned like a maniac as he poured all his energy into the bike. White rings slid over its length, the number thirteen decal shifting to his symbol, green spectral flames erupting from the tail pipes and engulfing the wheels as it responded to his energy.
Kwan shouted something, holding his speaker up, blasting ‘Hellbent’ across the crowd.
Danny cackled like a madman, revving up the engine and peeling onto the road, circling the Nasty Burger to taunt Walker.
The warden’s eyes were practically bugging out of his head with rage.
“AFTER THAT MISCREANT!”
“HEY! MY BIKE!”
Danny was still laughing as he peeled off down the road, Tucker clutching his midriff with one arm, while the other held onto his beret. Sam was also laughing from behind him, holding tight to the back of the seat as she flipped Walker off.
Green fire trailed from the wheels, smouldering away slowly in their wake.
The students on the lawn cheered.
A moment later, the police car in the parking lot erupted with its own red fire, decals shifting from APPD to GZPD. It went roaring off after the trio, Johnny yelling obscenities as he trailed after, carried by his shadow in order to fly fast enough to keep up.
“I think that might be the coolest fucking thing he’s ever done,” Dash said breathlessly, eyes wide and starstruck.
Valerie snorted and dropped her gun. She didn’t really need it now Walker had set all of his officers after Danny, Sam, and Tucker. “I think you mean one of the dumbest. Fucking seriously. I better tail them to make sure he doesn’t crash or something.”
“Oh, OH, does your suit have a camera? You can TOTALLY stream it in the discord!” Kwan babbled after her excitedly.
“Uh, sure, I’ll give it a shot,” She slipped through the middle of the crowd to head around the back of the Nasty Burger, unnoticed by anyone who wasn’t part of the class group.
A moment later, she was flying over their heads on her jet-sled, fully kitted out in her Red Huntress suit, following the sound of eerily wailing police sirens.
“Holy shit, Valerie is SO much cooler than I realised.” Kwan whispered, still holding up his speaker.
Valerie, as it turned out, was not just cool. She was also apparently a fucking amazing cameraman.
It took her all of a minute to figure out how to link her helmet’s video feed into the discord for streaming, and another thirty seconds to set up Kwan’s playlist to blast from the speakers built into her rocket sled (at the pleading insistence of half the class in the voice channel, before she told them to mute themselves so she could concentrate).
The speakers were there to use for broadcasting emergency warnings over crowds, but she’d used them more than once to softly play her music while out on dull patrols. Now though, the volume was cranked to be audible over the echoing wails of the now ghostly police cruiser.
She wasn’t sure what was possessing her, figuratively OR physically… maybe Danny’s aura was more infectious than she had realised (or maybe he could sort of overshadow people from a distance? Yeah, no, she tried not to think about that).
Despite knowing they were doing something VERY stupid, she found herself smiling at the thrill of the music blasting and the roaring of the motorcycle as she kept pace, camera in her helmet trained on the action like it was a movie.
Walker was in pursuit alone now, since she’d managed to pick off the rest of his goons that Tucker and Sam had missed as she’d caught up. Johnny and his shadow were flying low, just ahead of the police cruiser. It looked like the biker ghost was hurling obscenities, but she couldn’t hear him. There was a good chance it was all in ghost speak anyway.
SOMEHOW, she could still hear Danny’s occasional whooping as he weaved and dodged along the road. Tucker was clinging to his waist for dear life, while Sam twisted to point her wrist-ray alternatingly between Johnny and Walker.
Her aim was made poor by Danny’s erratic driving, but there wasn’t much to be done about that, since he was dodging the occasional blast from both pursuers. Green fire still clung to the wheels and poured from the exhaust pipes, really exacerbating the whole ghost-rider image Danny had managed to conjure up.
She guessed Tucker had done SOMETHING to make sure every light they came up on turned green in their favour, because it was too much of a coincidence otherwise.
It did help that Walker had the cruiser’s sirens blaring, most of the traffic moving out of the way long before the chase reached them. All the same, Valerie knew they should really be heading out of the city if they didn’t want to cause an accident.
She really didn’t know how to get that message to Danny, but then he seemed to be thinking the same thing as he took a hard turn off the main drag and towards the road leading out to the north border bridge.
Walker did SOMETHING to the way gravity was working on the police cruiser, preventing it from rolling as he took the corner sharply to follow. Johnny was slowly gaining on the bike, Shadow being far more manoeuvrable than either vehicle.
Valerie was just wondering if she could turn any of her jet-sled lights into a spotlight to hit the spectre with, when a new obstacle presented itself.
Further up the road, the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle (and boy did she hate that she remembered the thing’s full name) came screeching into view, driving directly towards the motorcycle and pursuing possessed police cruiser.
Shit, he’d really hoped his parents weren’t around to ruin their fun.
“Looks like we’re getting the hell out of dodge then. Just when it was getting interesting.” Tucker yelled behind him, Danny nodding to show he’d heard and agreed.
He sighed, thumbing the controls of the portal generator. He flicked the switch while he still had the distance to get himself and Walker into the Zone and close it behind them before his parents could barrel on into the Zone after them.
The generator’s function light flicked from green to red and… nothing happened. The light flashed in the ‘non-operational’ signal.
Well fuck.
Danny had to think fast, he’d been relying on that as their quick getaway. And now it wasn’t an option, and his parents were still driving straight for them, the top hatch on the GAV swinging open.
He gripped the handlebars harder, twisting his head to call back to Sam and Tucker, “Guys, Portal generator’s busted, hold on tight, we’re gonna Knievel this!”
Valerie pushed her sled to keep up, worrying now about Danny’s parents attacking him.
Danny seemed far LESS worried about that than she thought he should, if him speeding on towards the GAV was any indication.
He yelled something over his shoulder to Tucker and Sam, eyes glowing brightly as helmets appeared on both their heads, seemingly formed from ectoplasm. Since when could he do THAT?
“What the FUCK is he doing…”
She glanced back at the GAV and noticed Danny’s mother half standing out of a hatch on the roof with something aimed squarely at Danny.
Valerie’s eyes blew wide as Danny pushed the throttle and sped straight at the charging RV, using his whole body to yank the front handlebars and wrangle the front wheel up as if about to do a wheelie.
He then did SOMETHING with his aura that she felt sweep over her, and green fire shot from the tailpipes, launching the whole bike up into the air.
It soared right over the GAV, twisting in the air as Danny manipulated it with his whole body. The Motorcycle eventually landed… sideways. And began driving along the fronts of the buildings lining the side of the road.
The three of them seemed completely unaffected by gravity, and she had no idea if that was a power linked to the bike, or to Danny.
Tucker and Sam were both whooping with joy, Tucker clinging tight to Danny’s back with Sam plastered against his, keeping as low as possible. Either to decrease drag or hide their faces from the Fentons, she wasn’t sure, but the GAV came to a skidding halt right before it could crash into Walker and his appropriated cruiser… which passed straight through the RV in a plume of red flames as Walker made it intangible to keep going full throttle after Danny.
And… wait, where had Johnny and Shadow gone-
An indignant screech and several ghostly sounding noises she assumed were swears drew her gaze down to the GAV, and the glowing green net full of ghost on the road in front of it.
Maddie must have fired the ghost catcher right as Danny jumped the bike, missing him and hitting Johnny.
Well, that was one problem taken care of.
Valerie turned back to the pursuit that was still going on. As she watched, trying to catch up, Danny drove the bike up until it dropped upwards (and wasn’t that just a brain breaking middle finger to gravity) and crested in a graceful arc onto the roof of another building.
Danny drove across the rooftops of several businesses with Walker still following on the road. Either he couldn’t do the same sorts of physics tricks with vehicles that Danny could, or something about his vehicle being a possessed real-world object rather than a ghostly one was stopping him.
Either way, the closer they came to the open highway towards the north gate of the town, the less buildings Danny would be able to drive on. He’d be forced back onto the road at some point.
He seemed to have some kind of plan though, ramping off a rooftop stairwell cover and soaring off the edge of a building to land (far more gracefully than she thought he had any right to be capable of) back on the road in front of Walker.
He then made a wide left turn, heading away from the highway and the bridge.
Where the HELL was he going?
Valerie followed curiously, still blasting whatever playlist Kwan had fed into the discord. She had a feeling he was updating it on the fly, and honestly she was impressed with his choices.
She would have to review this footage later to really appreciate the effect, because right now she was far too occupied with trying to work out where Danny was leading them.
She glanced up ahead constantly just to make sure she wasn’t going to hit any telephone wires or light poles, and noticed the illustrious houses of Poulter Heights getting closer.
Oh he is NOT…
He was.
Danny was heading directly for Vlad’s mansion.
“Dude are you SURE this is the best idea we’ve got right now?”
Danny knew if he didn’t have augmented hearing, he wouldn’t have been able to understand Tucker over the frankly obscene roar of the engine beneath him.
As it was, he gave a light shrug, knowing Tucker would feel it, even if he couldn’t hear him yelling back with his head half turned. “Can’t lead him back into the Zone through MY house!”
“What if Vlad thinks you’re starting another prank war?”
“I’ll call this payback for yesterday.”
Danny dodged another pink fireball as he caught sight of it in one of the side mirrors, mounting the curb slightly and swerving back off it before he came close to a couple that had been walking along it.
They looked utterly scandalised by the fact there was a police chase in THEIR neighbourhood. The fact it was a ghostly police chase was probably an afterthought.
He knew what people in Poulter Heights were like.
He could hear Sam cackling wickedly behind Tucker. Clearly she was enjoying the fact they were disturbing the affluent peace.
Vlad’s mansion came into view as they crested the hill, (Danny getting the bike to do a small stunt jump, just because he could) and he made a B-line for it.
If Vlad was home, there was no way he wouldn’t have already heard them coming. Danny couldn’t see or sense him waiting for them, so if they were lucky, he was out.
While he wasn’t above causing property damage just because he knew Vlad had the money to fix it and it would annoy him, he was more interested in keeping Sam and Tucker safe. He turned them all intangible to ride through the fence, tearing up the gravel drive towards the double doors on the obscenely large and grandiose porch.
“You gonna smash them?” Sam yelled, and he could feel the glee pouring off her.
Okay well, he would keep the damage MINIMAL, but if they were going to ASK…
“I mean it’s rude not to knock, right?”
He felt Tucker laughing against his back as he wrangled the bike with his body again, popping a wheely to let the front wheel smash the solid oak like it was cardboard.
He hadn’t heard any wrenching metal or crashing brick anywhere behind him, so he knew Walker was phasing his car through things as much as he could.
But he also knew the hallways in Vlad’s mayoral mansion were wide enough to accommodate the cruiser, and he sincerely hoped Walker didn’t give enough fucks to stay intangible once he followed them inside.
Danny definitely didn’t, making sure to skid the tyres on every corner and really mark up the floor and ruin the rugs. He could hear Walker crunch a few walls and smash a few ostentatious decorations as he cornered clumsily after him.
When they reached the corridor with the ugly painting that currently hid Vlad’s portal, Danny didn’t bother hitting the button to slide it out of the way.
He pushed more energy into the bike, gritting his teeth at the effort of making it turn and launch upwards in such a small space. The front wheel smashed the painting to pieces, sending pieces ahead of them and exploding out into the Zone.
The cool sensation of diving into the event horizon of the portal was like a balm to his core, and Danny kicked the engine back into high gear. Green fire propelled them at speed out into the Zone, a giant purple football lazily rolling away from the force of their explosive entrance.
The wail of police sirens soon followed, and Danny wondered briefly how Walker had managed to manoeuvre the car into the portal. He’d ask Tucker to hack the footage from Vlad’s place later.
For now, he still had a cop to lose.
“How many stars do you think we have right now?” Tucker yelled, one hand finally unwrapping from Danny’s waist to pull an ecto-gun from his belt and shoot backwards at Walker with Sam.
Danny laughed, dodging a few more ecto-bolts sent their way. “At least three. Gotta find somewhere to hide and ditch the bike, I have a place in mind.”
“Hope it’s not too far, I’d actually like to get back to the Nasty Burger for some fries, sticking it to the man makes me hungry!” Sam called over Tucker, her tone suggesting she was enjoying herself far too much to actually care about food.
When Danny had swerved the bike towards the Mayoral Mansion, Valerie had realised just in time that she needed to cut the stream.
Hadn’t Danny and the others warned her THAT MORNING that they couldn’t risk the rest of the class finding out about Vlad? And now the idiot was about to go ahead and ANTAGONISE him, on PURPOSE?
Well, to be fair I guess he doesn’t know I’ve been streaming this. AND Masters deserves it.
A chorus of voices piped up in her head on the voice chat, protesting the loss of the video feed.
“Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose, it just fritzed! I’m still following them, I’ll keep you posted, now shut up, I’m still concentrating.”
The real question now was whether she felt brave enough to follow Danny and the others into the Zone.
… Who was she kidding, of COURSE she was going to follow them into the fucking Zone.
Skulker was having a nice, relaxing soak in his ectoplasmic pool.
All had been quiet in his corner of the Zone since he’d been dumped back in by the Ghost Child.
Well… Ghost-Young-Adult now, but that just didn’t have the same ring to it. ‘Whelp’ still worked though.
Yes, the ungrateful whelp, completely oblivious, hadn’t even THANKED him for his efforts to spare him the complications of going through his anniversary in front of a bunch of humans.
Well, that was on his head now. None of Skulker’s concern. Or Johnny’s, even if Kitty HAD convinced him they needed to check on Phantom.
Skulker didn’t care enough for that. Nope. He’d done what he could, the rest was on the kid’s head now.
Speaking of Johnny, though…
Skulker squinted up at the swirling green expanse of the Zone above him, audial receivers in his suit picking up the faint rumble of a familiar bike.
Huh. They were back quickly. Either Phantom had given them marching orders, or the whelp was fine. Either way, he didn’t CARE, so why was Johnny coming to his lair?
Skulker sighed. He was COMFORTABLE right now, he wasn’t about to get out of the pool just for that layabout. Whatever he wanted, he could come and find him to talk about it.
The hunter frowned, cocking his head slightly. There was a new noise growing to match the sound of the bike. Was that… was that a police siren?
Skulker’s face scrunched into a deeper scowl.
No. Nope. NO. he was NOT getting out of his pool! If Johnny wanted to piss off Walker and get chased about, he would have nothing to do with-
“Hey Skulker what’s up, don’t mind us! Just laying low to lose the fuzz!”
His eyes went wide as the bike engine sound swelled and cut out, the whole contraption appearing out of nowhere as it dropped beside his pool with a thunk. That voice… that wasn’t Johnny…
“WHAT in the name of the OBSERVANTS are you-“
“SHHHHHUT, DUDE! Be COOL! Just act natural, we were never here!”
Skulker gawked at Phantom and his two human passengers… his mates, of COURSE it was his mates… as they carefully backed the bike up into the shrubs and trees of his jungle. They soon became lost in dappled shadow, illuminated only by a last flash of light as Phantom changed to his human form.
It was then that Skulker realised the wailing police siren had ceased.
A car door slammed not far off.
Oh, great… Walker was here.
The hunter growled low, glaring into the trees where he could only barely make out his unwanted guests.
A clearing throat that sounded like a sawmill drew his eyes back to the path that led to his pool. He didn’t stop glaring as the glowing, bleached-bone-white form of Walker stalked towards him.
“Where are they?”
Skulker’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t recall inviting you into my Lair, Warden.”
“The law is ALWAYS welcome wherever miscreants abide, poacher.”
Metallic teeth glinted as Skulker sneered. He made a show of leaning back against the wall of his pool, arms stretching languidly to rest along the edge.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
Walker’s look matched his own for contempt as he tried to loom from the edge of the pool. “So you’re saying you DIDN’T see three wanted criminals land on your island on a stolen motorcycle?”
“I’m saying I don’t know what wanted criminals you’re referring to.”
Walker snarled.
Skulker smirked.
“You better start playing ball, or I’m gonna-“
“What? Violate the sanctity of my lair? I doubt the council will be lenient with you for trying that again.”
Skulker was sure that if Walker grit his teeth any harder he’d crack his entire, brittle looking face.
“Next time I see you, I’m taking you in on a charge of conspiring with known, wanted criminals.”
“You have absolutely zero proof that I have conspired with anyone. Do you see any other ghosts on this island?”
Skulker held his arms wide, expression challenging.
Walker snarled again. “No. But I know they’re here. Mark my words, I’ll have them, AND you, miscreant.”
“Get out of my lair, before I invoke my right to violently eject you without consequence.”
Walker’s eyes were practically slits as he stalked away. There was the sound of a car door slamming again, and the echo of an engine roaring to life before it faded into the distance.
His attention turned back to the trees, where movement caught his eye. He scowled.
“That’s TWO you owe me, whelp.”
“I’d say more like still ONE. I appreciate in hindsight that you were trying to get me away from the school, but you really could have just SAID something. You ended up contributing to me being too out of it to realise what was going on.” Danny grumbled as he walked out of the trees towards the pool.
Skulker’s orbital ridges shot up, the look mirrored by the whelp’s companions, as Danny dropped into the pool fully clothed without hesitation. He sank almost immediately, and when he came back to the surface, he was Phantom.
“Dude, are you okay?” his male companion asked with a chuckle.
“Uuuugh I am NOW. Man, I used up more energy than I should have.”
Sam snorted. “You don’t say? I mean, I get that we needed the extra propulsion from the exhaust, but were the wheel flames REALLY necessary?”
“Of COURSE they were! You don’t supercharge a ghost bike and NOT have the wheels on fire!”
“Are you saying…” Skulker interjected, glaring at the ghost boy as he floated in his pool, “that you STOLE Johnny’s bike, used your own energy to power it, and had Walker chase you all the way into the Zone?”
“AND we got in through Plasmius’ portal, leaving a nice little trail of destruction in our wake,” Sam added with a pleased grin, arms folded.
“To be fair, stealing the bike was also to distract Walker from trying to arrest Johnny and Kitty. And the rest of my class,” Danny added, lazily propelling himself to the opposite side of the pool before taking up a pose much like Skulker’s.
“… Perhaps I can let this little trespass on my territory go if I am provided with footage of the event.”
Danny grinned, looking up at Tucker, who smirked. “If you’re willing to wait a little bit, I can get you multiple angles in high def, WITH a soundtrack.”
Skulker gave them a toothy grin. “You know a hunter’s patience is legendary.”
Chapter 9
Summary:
As the adrenalin dies down and Valerie finds herself with some room to think, everything starts to catch up with her. Meanwhile, Danny gets snuggly when he comes down from his own adrenalin high, reminding the rest of the class that no, the trio really never were being subtle.
Notes:
The Valerie part of this chapter (and it's a fair bit Valerie-centric) was relatively easy to write.
The follow up scenes, not so much. Brain is too focussed on the future shit it wants to do with this fic and refuses to co-operate properly on any of the fun filler stuff I have planned.Well, the next chapter has some cute fun shit that's been fairly easy to write, but I'm still super keen to get to the next big plot points. Still kinda funny to me I even HAVE major plot point to even GET to, considering this story started as no more than a one shot idea.
Anyway, its kiiiind of a filler? IDK. But I mean, if you're noticing trio/Valeria flirting going on, you're not imagining it. I may have to add a tag or two, cause it's goin poly places and I'm vibing with it.
Anyway enjoy hopefully maybe idk lol. Following up that last chapter, literally nothing I write could live up to it, lets be real lol.
Chapter Text
Valerie was already regretting her decision.
The moment she made it into the Ghost Zone, she realised she had no idea where she was.
She followed the sound of the wailing sirens and what she thought was the police cruiser, but it pulled away into the swirling green on the horizon much faster than it had been able to in the real world.
She knew well enough not to go chasing off into the nebulous expanse around her when she had no idea if she was going the right way, and opted instead to stop and take stock of her surroundings.
The portal was still in sight (if barely), and as far as landmarks went, there wasn’t much beyond a giant purple football slowly rolling off to one side and a smattering of bare floating rock islands. Oh, and the doors, but she remembered from her few brushes with the Ghost Zone that those were everywhere, and not particularly helpful for navigation.
Unless they were fixed like stars? Maybe Danny, Tucker, and Sam had actually mapped them? Of course, if they WEREN’T fixed, they’d be utterly useless, and she just didn’t know.
No, it wouldn’t be safe to rely on the doors for navigation. But what she COULD rely on, she realised with an odd twist to her gut, was Danny’s ability to rescue her from shitty situations.
She sighed, crouching to sit on her board as she hovered in place. How had she let Danny drag her into this situation?… Although, was it fair to say he had, really? He hadn’t asked her to follow, she’d done it because it just… seemed like she should.
But maybe there was an infectious quality to his manic enthusiasm. The look on his face when he’d realised what Kwan was suggesting… she rarely ever saw him light up like that. It COULD be that his aura made his moods infectious, she’d noticed something like that in the café this morning.
But something in her gut told her she would have followed even if she couldn’t feel his flare of excitement. Even if she still didn’t know it was him, she would have tailed them…
Except she probably would have been shooting at Danny as well as Walker and his goons.
Valerie shuddered at the thought. Hell, she remembered the last time she’d shot at him too. It was only last month, when she’d jumped into a fight he’d already been involved in, and had just been careless with her shots. He’d given her an annoyed look, sorted out the ghost, and vanished.
Valerie ran her hand over the back of her neck, feeling shame pool in her gut. He’d gotten so USED to her shooting at him that he didn’t even kick up a fuss about it.
She’d been trying to put off thinking about all this until she got home, but now…
Looking around at the alien landscape of the Ghost Zone, alone with her thoughts for the first time since that morning, she couldn’t help her mind wandering back to all the uncomfortable realisations simmering just under the surface.
She’d been an idiot. A big, massive, stupid, blind idiot.
And Danny refused to treat her like one.
And it only made her feel MORE stupid.
He’d been defending her, protecting her, and backing her up, all these years… and it had taken her forever to even agree to anything like a truce. Which she had BROKEN. More than once, the moment she’d thought she might be betrayed by Phantom. He’d ALWAYS been the one extending the olive branch, and she’d practically taken it from his hands and smacked him about the head with it.
She sighed, one leg dangling off the side of the board, the other foot still on the surface. Left arm resting on her knee, she hung her head slightly.
Hindsight was all well and good… now that she KNEW, well, of COURSE she felt stupid for not trusting Phantom for so long. Because she knew Danny, and she knew he would never have hurt or betrayed her on purpose, not without a hell of a reason.
Pariah Dark was a good example of that. One that made her wince. God, he’d stopped her from going on what would definitely have turned into a useless suicide mission.
And that hadn’t even been the only time he’d saved her life.
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she stared out across the quiet swirling tunnels of ectoplasm and debris. Even without hindsight, there hadn’t really been any excuse for her behaviour towards Phantom.
He made out like it wasn’t a big deal… maybe it wasn’t, to him. Not when he fought ghosts daily, protected people constantly (did he have a choice? Was that his obsession? Dare she ask, or would it upset him?). Maybe saving lives was just a knee-jerk reaction to him, and not something profoundly heroic?
It wouldn’t be so odd to think so, she supposed. After all, wasn’t that what paramedics and firefighters and emergency responders did all the time? Did he view it as just a job he’d taken on, even though it involved so much risk to his own wellbeing?
And like Kwan had said, it wasn’t like he was getting paid for it. She doubted the fuzzy warm feeling of congratulations really counted as payment, even for ghosts.
But, well, isn’t that what she’d done too, in the end? Sure, when she started it had been about a personal vendetta… but it hadn’t REALLY been about that for a long time now. It was more about the responsibility that came with having the skills to help, and filling a gap the Fenton parents failed to cover.
She winced at the thought.
Yeah, maybe Vlad’s little snipes and subtle criticisms of them around her had rubbed off more than she thought…
But then, they WERE the reason Danny had...
She scowled, fists balling as righteous anger was quick to burn in her throat at the mere thought of it.
It was their portal, their lack of safety, their failure to secure their dangerous inventions.
Yeah, Sam really SHOULDN’T feel so guilty. They’d all been kids. The responsibility had never lain with her.
Valerie shook her head, dragging herself out of that line of thinking. She really didn’t want to dwell on Danny’s… on the accident, more than she already had.
Because the more she thought about it, thought about the green light burnt into her memory, heard his scream play over in her head… the more her eyes prickled and her insides twisted.
There was an ache somewhere in her mind, that translated to somewhere in her chest, when she thought too hard about Danny’s… death.
Because that’s what it was. For all the joking and dancing around what had happened yesterday that everyone had been doing, that’s what they’d seen.
They’d seen him die.
And it was fucked up. It was so, so, SO fucked up.
He’d been fourteen. They’d all been fourteen. She hadn’t even met him at that point, not really. He was already half dead when she became aware of his existence at all.
They’d already been enemies when she decided he was the nicest boy she knew, and worth getting to know better. Of course he hadn’t started out that way, but it was the fact he’d CHANGED and tried HARDER to be nice to her after the whole flour sack fiasco. That’s what she’d appreciated the most about him.
She was yet to have a relationship with anyone else who’d been as considerate as he had.
Hindsight, once again, was a hell of a drug. What if she’d found out at the time? No doubt she would have torn him a new one for ‘deceiving’ her, for ‘manipulating’ her, trying to get one over on her, humiliate her…
But she’d known him long enough by now to take his words at face value. He really HADN’T ever meant to hurt her. He really HAD enjoyed spending time with her.
And he really HAD been hurt when she broke it off.
Valerie rubbed the heel of her palm against the top of her helm, as if she might be able to apply pressure through the hardened nanites against her forehead.
He’s just been living with all this extra knowledge and perspective the whole time, juggling two identities. Guess he’s already gone through all this mental gymnastics shit, no wonder he’s so casual about all of it… But the rest of us are starting from the beginning… maybe that’s why he’s so stressed out, he’s having to go through it all again vicariously through us, I guess…
She gazed out into the void again, frowning slightly as the thoughts continued to percolate, her brain trying to consolidate all these new facts. But something just wasn’t gelling about all of it. She turned over the bits and pieces she’d seen all day, the things she’d noticed yesterday, and a different picture began to form.
No… that tone in his voice when he spoke to Johnny, the casualness is a front… it’s always been a front. Maybe he’s not dealing as well as he wants us to think… maybe he’s still hiding something. But WHY, we all know now, what would he need to…
Valerie closed her eyes and very nearly slapped a hand to her forehead again as she groaned.
Of course!
He’s afraid of us seeing Phantom the way I always saw him before.
He’s worried we’ll be afraid of him if he lets us see the side of him that’s crazy powerful…
It felt like lead dropped into her stomach, and she dragged a hand across her visor.
He thinks if we’ re afraid of him we’ll call the GIW on him or out him to his parents…
God, he’s SCARED of us.
The moment she realised it, she wanted to kick herself.
Of COURSE he was scared of them, it was why he’d kept it a secret in the first place. He had every right to be scared of them.
But that didn’t make the lead weight in her stomach go away.
Something buzzed suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts, and she poked at her phone where it was held magnetically on her arm.
Oh. Right. The discord. People were bugging her to turn her camera back on.
Wait, how was she even getting signal in the- Ooooh right, Tucker, Danny, and Technus set up signal boosters. Well, she could see why they’d gone to the effort now. The prospect of being stranded in the Zone with no communication out was… actually somewhat terrifying.
Valerie decided to keep up the ruse that her camera wasn’t working properly so she didn’t have to explain away the break in her broadcast, getting onto the voice chat instead.
“Hey guys, I’m fine, I lost track of Danny and the others once they got in the Zone. I’m just hanging out near the portal we came in through so… shit”
Several voices piped up worriedly, asking what was wrong.
Valerie had looked around to find the portal again, deciding she’d leave… except she couldn’t see it. In fact, nothing looked familiar anymore at all.
“Well fuck… gonna hafta ping one of the ghostketeers, I think I was drifting without realising. I have no idea where I am.”
Danny hadn’t taken overly long to find her, carrying Sam and Tucker weightlessly at his sides through the green ether. It struck her just how comfortable they were in such an alien environment, but then she remembered that they must have been in here more times than they could count by now.
Now she was flying with Tucker and Sam perched on either side of the board, Danny floating lazily ahead of her, guiding them towards the Fenton portal. He’d explained briefly that he needed to go let Johnny and Shadow free from whatever containment his parents would have put them in.
Plus, he wasn’t keen on running into Vlad if he’d gotten home.
She watched his hair flow like he was underwater, arms dragging behind him, slightly out from his body as if he were some kind of fish riding a current.
Maybe he COULD feel currents in the ectoplasm, she thought she could now and then… but maybe she was just imagining it. The air in the ghost zone didn’t seem to offer the same kind of resistance as the air in the real world, in any case, it was weird to fly through.
Not for Danny though, not by his posture, he looked completely at home of course. His spectral tail brushed against the side of her board now and then, and she wondered if he was using it to keep tabs on whether he was pulling too far ahead or not.
Valerie tried very hard not to think of the time she’d driven her board into him and activated the tazer function while they were up in the exosphere.
Despite that history, and many other near misses besides, he was still so damn at ease around her.
…But then, did he have any reason not to be? Would she really attack him again, now she knew?
Of course she wouldn’t. Not unless he was being controlled, not unless he was a danger to others and couldn’t stop himself.
…And something told her he’d WANT her to do it in those cases.
Because he trusted her. It was all because he TRUSTED her, and GOD did she not feel like she deserved it.
She’d disconnected from the voice chat on discord once they’d assured everyone she was safe, and had been half listening to Sam and Tucker idly talking about the current text conversation.
Danny had been conspicuously silent, and without being able to see his face, she couldn’t be sure why. Was he annoyed she’d followed them in? Was he just tired? Was he embarrassed by the insane spur of the moment motorcycle chase?
Tentatively, she decided to see if she could feel for herself just what kind of mood he was in. She concentrated on the fuzzy sensation that was her aura, surrounding her like an odd kind of extra layer to her suit. It was much easier to control when she was suited up (she probably shouldn’t have been surprised at that, she thought).
She reached out to try and brush it against the aura that surrounded him, and immediately he reacted.
It was like she’d tapped him hard on the shoulder, making him jerk slightly and turn his head to look over his shoulder at her quizzically.
“Hey… you okay?”
“Was gonna ask you the same thing. You’ve been pretty quiet.”
Sam and Tucker’s attention had immediately switched from their phones to her and Danny, looking curious.
Danny gave her a lazy grin and flipped to fly on his back, arms stretched to rest casually behind his head. “Yeah, I’m fine, just tired. Might’ve pushed it a bit far, but I’m good, I’ve done more on less.”
She arched an eyebrow, head cocking slightly to the side. “Done more on less what?”
“Energy? I mean, I might not be at my best right now, but I’m definitely not at my worst.”
Valerie glanced down at Tucker and Sam. “He telling me the truth, or is he being his usual full of shit self?”
Danny sputtered as Sam and Tucker grinned.
“Nah, he’s not lying. He’ll be fine once we get some Nasty Burger into him, assuming he gets there before he falls asleep,” Tucker grinned over at Danny, who sent him a pout.
“Oh ye of little faith in my ability to defy my own circadian rhythms.”
Sam snorted, “WHAT circadian Rhythms?”
Danny dropped the pout and grinned. “Touché”.
Danny didn’t want to admit it, but Tucker had been half right.
By the time they reached the Fenton portal, it was taking everything he had to keep his eyes open.
After cautiously poking their heads out of the portal to find the lab empty, they had freed Johnny and Shadow from containment. Danny had given him the equivalent of a ‘sorry, not sorry’ before telling him where he’d left his motorcycle.
Johnny had seemed ready to deck him before he realised that Danny was barely staying upright. He grudgingly promised retribution, no heat to the threat as he and Shadow backed through the swirling vortex.
Danny had then phased them all out of the house and onto the Ops centre. From there, Tucker and Sam took up their positions on Valerie's Board again. Danny suggested just holding onto the back of the board to let Valerie tow him along, but Sam and Tucker had each grabbed one of his hands instead.
He was liable to pass out halfway and let go if they weren’t holding him, a thought that both amused and concerned Valerie.
They reached the Nasty Burger as the sun sat low on the horizon, setting down in one of Danny and Valerie’s preferred alleys nearby, changing back and strolling up to the building as nonchalantly as possible.
When they entered, several heads turned their way, all of them belonging to their English classmates. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many other patrons now. Those who weren’t students were avoiding the large group to get some peace and quiet on the other side of the dining area. Those who were seemed too engrossed in their own cliques to even notice them.
Danny did a double take when he spotted a green head among the throng of their classmates. His expression only grew more confused as they wandered over to their regular booth (left conspicuously free for them) in the middle of the throng. Except for the one ghost sitting there.
“Kitty?”
“Hey kid, see you gave the boss-hog the slip again.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief, expression reminiscent of her namesake.
Danny slipped into the seat across from her, Sam sitting next to her while Tucker wandered up to the counter with Valerie to order them food.
“Yeah, wasn’t too hard once we got in the Zone. Johnny and Shadow are fine, by the way, we just let them out. He’s gone to pick up the bike from Skulker’s place… you’re not mad?”
She threw her head back and laughed as if he’d just told a hilarious joke. “Are you KIDDING doll? That was WILD! I know my Johnny is tetchy about people touching his baby, but honestly, you get a pass for making it look cooler than he does.”
Sam snorted at the pleased blush that rose to Danny’s face as he sank down in the seat a little. A few people around them made noises of enthusiastic agreement.
“Yo Fenton, she’s been telling us some crazy stories about you while you were gone!” Rebecca giggled from the booth at Danny’s back.
Danny’s blush deepened, and he slid further down in the seat, a hand sliding over his face. “Oh, no, do I WANT to know what stories those are…”
Kitty laughed again, but this time the sound was much gentler. “Don’t worry sugar, nothing too embarrassing. Well, I guess that depends… I thought it was cute when your fangs came in, but maybe you didn’t think so-“
“I always thought your teeth looked kinda odd, but I could never put my finger on why. Can we see?” Mia piped up from beside Rebecca, the two of them kneeling on their bench seat to lean over the back and peer down at Danny.
He looked up at their upside-down faces and seemed to consider before relenting with a sigh.
He gave them an awkward looking smile, the two of them making noises of awe as they saw the slightly elongated eye-teeth glint under the fluorescents.
“See, nothing embarrassing!” Kitty smirked.
Danny gave her a deadpanned look, trying to stifle a yawn and not-so-subtly covering his mouth with a hand to stop others from staring at his teeth.
“Mmm. It was more annoying than embarrassing. Kept splitting my lips open on the damn things,” he murmured.
“Oh, are we talking about your fangs? Still jealous, still wanna know how I get me a set like that,” Tucker grinned as he dropped down into the seat beside Danny.
Immediately, Danny flopped sideways and snuggled his head on Tucker’s shoulder to get comfy.
“Yeah, I know, you furry. I’d be happy to trade them off to you if I could.”
“And I appreciate the sentiment.” Tucker pat his head, dropping their receipt on the table so Sam could grab the food when it was called. It was clear that he would now be stuck on pillow duty.
“Bro… is he okay?”
Tucker arched an eyebrow at Dash, who was in the booth behind Sam and leaning on the divider. He looked mildly concerned at the way Danny was acting.
“I mean, yeah? What, you’ve never let your bros sleep on you? Not very manly of you Dash.”
Danny grinned sleepily, eyes already closed as he nuzzled against Tucker’s shoulder more deliberately. “Yeah Dash, so not manly.”
Several people snickered at the way Dash’s face went slightly pink.
Valerie was one of them, passing the booth with a receipt in hand. Sam twisted in her seat when she didn’t stop. “Uh, WHERE do you think YOU’RE going?”
Valerie gave her a look of wary surprise. “…To find a seat?”
“You’ve already got one, duh.” Sam gestured to the space beside her on the end of the bench, looking at the other girl expectantly.
Valerie blinked, turning slowly and slipping into the seat as though wondering if it was some kind of trap.
“I thought you were on food-getting duty?”
“Yeah, but you ordered right after Tucker, we can both go get our food at the same time. Besides, I need all the intelligent conversation I can get over here.”
There was a chorus of ‘Heys’ at that from both Tucker, Kitty, and the neighbouring booths. Danny snickered quietly, not needing to open his eyes to know that Sam was wearing a wicked grin.
He wore a much dopier grin as he felt Tucker’s head lean against the top of his, and he let himself slip into a comfortable haze of semi-consciousness. He was only half aware of the conversations going on around him, feeling far more at ease than he expected.
“So, you gonna give up the hunt now Red?”
Valerie turned an appraising look on Kitty, expression neutral.
“You kidding me? I can work WITH Danny now, you guys are all totally screwed,” she let a grin as wicked as Sam’s slip onto her face as she spoke.
Kitty, for her part, couldn’t quite hide the nervous flash in her eyes. “Oh yeah? Gonna join his little team huh? I guess things did get a little too easy for us when his sister went off to college. How is my favourite almost-host doing these days?”
“Aceing her tests so well she might as well be a professor already,” Sam chuckled.
“Atta girl, there’s a reason Johnny picked her out for me y’know. He’s got good taste, her brain woulda been a lot of fun to have. Woulda liked to be smart for once in my after-life” Kitty laughed.
Some of the others from the class looked unsettled, but Sam, Tucker and even Danny seemed unfazed (although in Danny’s case, many assumed he’d already passed out and that was why he didn’t react).
“Guys, it’s ghost humour. We talked about this, if you can’t handle how dark it gets, you might wanna tap out,” Sam snorted, looking over the blanching faces around them.
Kitty laughed again. “Awww, the kids really weren’t ready for this huh? Go easy on them Sammy, it’s a lot to take in. I bet most of ‘em haven’t even seen the Ghost Zone outside of the Pariah incident.”
Even in his half-asleep daze, Danny tensed automatically at the name. Almost immediately, he felt Tucker shift, a hand gently covering his exposed ear. It didn’t actually stop him from hearing anything, but he knew it wasn’t really meant to.
“Nope. No. We’re not going into that subject. Don’t even mention the name.”
Danny half grinned, nuzzling Tucker again in thanks even as Kitty huffed.
“Geez, okay, touchy much?”
“Not you Kitty, he means the rest of the class. And as we’ve already TOLD everyone, we’re going to ask Frostbite tomorrow, so you can all WAIT,” Sam’s tone was final, and nobody piped up to argue.
Tucker pet Danny’s hair soothingly before letting his hand drop and nuzzling his head back subtly.
A quiet chorus of ‘awws’ from behind them told Danny that Rebecca and Mia had noticed.
“Wait, what’s the deal? Why are all these kids so interested in- Oooooh, you’re gonna go ask Fur-face if he’s the Ghost King, aren’t you?”
“Kitty,” Tucker’s tone was set in a rare, low warning growl.
Danny tried not to let the pleased feeling he got from the show of protectiveness bleed into his aura too much. It was easy enough to hide under the genuine nervousness the subject instilled in him.
“I mean… listen, it’s a good question. It’s not like the rest of us haven’t wondered, but we’re not exactly gonna go ask the Observants, and the rest of us aren’t on speaking terms with ancients the way HE is. Like seriously, I don’t know ANYONE else who’s just allowed to waltz into Long Now for a casual chat.”
“Clockwork isn’t an ancient. We asked, he said no,” Sam’s tone was casual, but Danny could sense the underlying doubt to her conviction.
Kitty snorted. “Of COURSE he did, because you didn’t ask the question directly enough. Ghosts like him, you gotta use real fancy language to get the answers you ACTUALLY want. They’re tricky, so you gotta phrase it like ‘are you currently considered an ancient by the majority of ghosts’ or somethin’. Also, he’s the frickin’ Master of TIME doll, it doesn’t GET much more ancient than that.”
“Wait… hold the fuck up, HE knows some ghost that’s the MASTER of TIME?” Dash was still leaning on the back of Sam’s bench, Kwan beside him and still playing music (quietly enough to not get them all kicked out). Dash was pointing at Danny, who continued pretending to sleep so he didn’t have to engage.
“Yeah, don’t ask me how, the guy practically adopted him,” Kitty laughed, not ignorant to the odd reaction that garnered among the rest of the surrounding humans, choosing to ignore it.
Danny, for his part, could feel in her aura that she knew exactly what kind of mess she was dumping him in revealing these things. He supposed it was payback for the bike stealing and not directly helping her fight off Walker’s goons.
He continued the pretence of sleep to avoid the fallout for as long as possible.
“So, he’s gotta ask the Yeti guy about this stuff because his adoptive ancient timelord guy won’t give him a straight answer?” Justin piped up from a table across the isle.
“Pretty much,” Tucker mumbled, trying not to raise his voice too much even though he knew Danny wasn’t really asleep yet. “Oh, Sam, I think they just called our number.”
“On it. Also, can you guys maybe not talk SO loud about this shit? We are in a public place, remember,” Sam drawled with a pointed look at Dash and Justin, who both had the grace to look abashed.
“No offense, but you’re a buncha teens hangin’ out in a burger joint, no one wants to pay attention to you, they just hope you don’t get rowdy,” Kitty snickered, moving out of the booth once Sam and Valerie had gotten up. The two of them gave her a slightly curious look for bothering to pretend to be human and not just phase out if she wanted to leave.
Despite what she’d said, it seemed she was also trying not to draw too much attention to them or Danny.
“Anyway, good chat, I’ll catch you all later. And don’t forget what I taught y’all,” Kitty looked around at the gaggle of students expectantly.
When several of them nodded and murmured ‘ACAB’, Sam and Valerie both snorted.
Danny settled back into comfortable half-awareness after flaring his aura in a goodbye gesture at Kitty. The conversations went back to murmured discussions at each table, and after a few moments he heard the sound of plastic trays sliding onto the table.
The smell of food pulled him out of his daze, and his eyes cracked open when his nose was poked with something slightly scratchy.
He grinned and tilted his head to take the fry Tucker was holding in front of his face. He made a pleased humming noise and nuzzled Tucker again, who made his own, quiet pleased hum.
Much like his mother, Tucker had developed a love language based heavily around food. Danny often wondered how he’d actually been surviving before Tucker had discovered his delight in feeding them.
No one got on his case more about making sure he was eating enough of the right things than Tucker. Danny wasn’t about to complain about being fed fries in public, even if he did notice several of their classmates throwing them looks and making amused noises.
Eventually though, the chips woke him up enough to realise just how hungry he was, and he straightened up to take his burger and start devouring it. Even if he did shuffle over so that his arm was brushing Tucker’s as much as possible, no one was going to comment.
Once he was full of food and his favourite flavour of shake, he felt much more awake again.
“Hey, You guys can like, Skate, right?”
Danny blinked up at Kyle with the same expression as Tucker, both of them halfway to stuffing chips in their mouths. A noise across the table told Danny that Sam had been taking pictures, and he flashed her a raised eyebrow.
He got nothing but a broad grin in return. He didn’t even have to hear her say it to know several of the shots she’d just taken were going in the album. He swallowed his mouthful quickly in order to answer.
“Uh, yeah? We used to… why?”
“Why’d you guys stop?” Kyle continued, Danny giving him an odd look since he couldn’t figure out where this conversation was leading.
“We got scooters when we were like, twelve, man. Skating was fun, but an electric scooter is always going to win out when it’s low effort for maximum speed,” Tucker answered with a shrug, shoving the rest of his chips in his mouth and chasing it with the rest of his soda.
“Did either of you ever do tricks and stuff?” The other boy’s expression was more excited than Danny had ever seen him, and it suddenly occurred to him that maybe he was just hoping to find more skate buddies or something.
Tucker snorted. “I could BARELY do an Ollie, Danny managed to kickflip a few times, but Sam was the one who could do REAL tricks.”
Kyle’s wide eyes turned to her, and Danny was struck by how much he looked like Cujo when someone would say the word ‘play’.
Sam grinned. “I could probably still pull off a dolphin, if you give me a couple tries. Why are you so interested in whether we can skate all of a sudden?”
“I mean… you said we should be careful talking about… y’know… STUFF, in public places. The Skate Park is usually pretty deserted around this time ‘cause all the little kids have gone home. I thought maybe we could all go hang there to talk. And it’s a better excuse if there’s more than just me and Justin Skating, y’know?”
“If you want to keep up a pretence, my suit has built in roller-blades. Don’t ask me why, by the way, it just does.” Valerie shrugged nonchalantly, getting a gleeful look from Kyle.
“Well, what are we sitting around in here for, let’s go!”
Chapter 10
Summary:
Time for ghost shenanigans in the park
Notes:
So I'd like to thank @FloralFlowerPower for the headcannon regarding the elder Fentons both being country kids who grew up, moved to the city and never heeded the fact they don't live in the country anymore/ still act like they do.
So yeah sometimes a scene just ends up going for 8k words and there's not much to do but roll with it. The ending is... a bit more awkward than I anticipated but oh well. I chopped like 1300 words and resolved it better in 300 or so tbh. I'm probably not going to post the outtake even though I'm saving it. it's just... awkwardly out of tone and political and I realised it had no real place or need.
But yeah, Danny is acclimatizing them to him being weird and ghostly so they stop being so obvious about it when he slips up at school. Does he know CONSCIOUSLY that he's doing that? only sort of lol.Anyway, hopefully enjoy, I got to shove a bunch of little conversation and interaction ideas into this chapter. There will be more discord stuff in the next one.
Chapter Text
Danny was still tired, but not enough now that he couldn’t stay awake. He’d given in to Kyle’s pestering and was trying to remember how to do a kick flip. It wasn’t going too well, considering he kept almost falling over, which meant he kept accidentally floating instead.
Luckily, just like Kyle had said, the skate park was deserted. And also luckily, everyone seemed extremely amused by him floating instead of stacking it.
“This is the other reason I don’t really skate much. Me and gravity don’t really see eye-to-eye anymore, which ruins the whole challenge of it.” Danny sighed and handed the board back to Kyle, who was grinning like a loon.
“RIP Bro, but think about the aerial tricks you could do on a vert ramp! I’ll link you some vids of these guys I like to watch, it might give you some ideas.”
“Here, let me try. Danny, you’ll protect my precious coding hands, right? Because I am GOING to fall over.”
Danny snickered and took up a loose stance beside Tucker as Kyle handed him his board.
“Don’t worry, your hands are in safe… hands.”
“Booooo, that wasn’t even a pun.” Sam deadpanned from the bench where she was lounging as if she owned the skate park. It occurred to Danny briefly that she actually technically might. He’d ask later.
“Give me a break, I expended the rest of my quota of the shared braincell figuring out how to lose Walker.”
Danny barely even paid attention as he jerked to the side and caught Tucker before he could hit the ground. He righted his friend, who sighed and got back on the board.
“I don’t even know if I still have my balance for this, an ollie might be too ambitious.”
“I’ve seen you jump your electric scooter up curbs, Tuck, how hard can it be?” Sam heckled.
“Scooters have HANDLES though, it’s made me LAZY.”
“You work out more than me, how can you be lazy?” Danny snorted, taking up the same loose stance as Tucker shifted his footing on the board to try again.
“I don’t work out MORE than you, I work out more traditionally than you… you do a bunch of zero-g shit and throwing your weight around sparring with ghosts that I sure as shit don’t do.”
“And throwing his weight around with ghost motorcycles,” Valerie interjected as she roller-skated lazy circles around them backwards.
Danny lunged instinctively again as the board went flying out from under Tucker. He ended up catching him under the arms, leaning over him.
Tucker huffed, face flushed, and Danny grinned down at him. “Third time’s the charm, right?”
“More like third times’ gonna be the one time you don’t catch me and I get a concussion.” Tucker grumbled, not really able to get up from the awkwardly low fall he’d been caught in without Danny hefting him. Danny didn’t make a move to do anything of the sort.
“Awww, so little faith in me? Do you want some more motivation?”
Tucker gave him a suspicious squint. ‘What KIND of motiva-mmm!”
Sam wolf whistled as Danny upside-down kissed Tucker, who’s hands flailed a moment before one grabbed a sleeve and the other found the back of Danny’s neck.
Rather than release Tucker and help him up, Danny floated up and forward, pulling Tucker to his feet while still maintaining their (really very chaste) kiss.
It wasn’t until Tucker was upright and Danny was upside-down and half curled over his head that they broke apart. Danny wore a shit eating grin, while Tucker looked dazed, a deep blush blooming over his cheeks.
Danny straightened his boyfriend’s glasses before twisting, letting gravity take hold as he fell out of the air to land gracefully on his feet. “Like I said, motivation. Third time’s the charm, right?”
Tucker suddenly seemed to realise there were other people there, and they were STARING.
Valerie sailed past casually and pat him on the shoulder. “If you fall over again, maybe he’ll slip you some tongue next time.”
Danny was the one now blushing as he spluttered. “VAL! I don’t FRENCH, geez!” Tucker grinned like an idiot as he caught the ‘not in public anyway’ muttered under his breath.
“Well then you need to up your game, ghost boy! You’ve got competition now!” She smirked, holding her arms out and turning to head into the bowl, dropping in casually and skating around like she’d been doing it all her life.
Sam, for her part, was doubled over wheezing on the bench.
“This is the gayest shit I have EVER seen, and it is AMAZING.”
Danny turned his head to look at Kyle, who seemed to be basking in whatever was going on. Beside him, Justin shook his head, looking slightly shell shocked.
“Damn, Fenton, I never picked you for the suave type. Were you always… y’know... like this? And you just hid it with the ghost stuff for some reason?”
Danny’s hand went to the back of his neck unconsciously and he gave a nervous laugh. “If by ‘like this’ you mean impulsive as hell? Yeah… I was just… trying not to draw attention to myself so it was easier to disappear when I needed to. S’kinda nice being able to just… relax about it sometimes.”
“And if you mean, ‘has he always been a good kisser,’ the answer is NO, he hasn’t, but I made sure they both learnt REAL fast.” Sam piped up in a sly voice from the bench.
Justin made a choked off sound in the back of his throat, and Danny blushed as hard as Tucker.
For his part, Tucker decided to avoid his awkwardness over public displays of affection by getting back on the board and somehow pulling off a perfect ollie. He then rolled the board into Sam’s feet. “Okay, I’m done, time to let the kissing instructor show off her moves.”
Sam stood up, raising an eyebrow at him. Tucker put his face in his hands as Danny giggled.
“I didn’t mean… uuuuuuuuuugh Danny is it too late for me to jump in the portal and join you?”
“Yes. There was only one death train and I took the only ticket, no more tickets, sorry, you have to stay alive and face the consequences for the words that come out of your mouth.” He snickered, patting Tucker on the shoulder.
“Implying that because you’re half dead, you DON’T have to face the words that come out of YOURS?” Justin snorted.
Danny just gave him a shit eating grin. “No consequences to anything when I can do this.”
He threw a peace sign and faded into invisibility.
Sam shook her head and rolled by him on the board, hand out. There was a smacking sound and he reappeared, rubbing at his forehead. “How the FUCK do you ALWAYS know EXACTLY how to hit me in the face when I’m invisible?”
Sam gave him her own shit eating grin. “Trade secret.” She then pulled off a kick-flip casually before dropping into the bowl where Valerie was still rolling along, cackling at them. She high-fived Sam on the way past.
“Wow, your girlfriend is so mean to you guys,” Justin mumbled. “She didn’t even show off the kissing moves.”
Danny snorted. “Tuck and I could keep giving you a show if that’s what you’re here for-“
Danny broke out in giggles again as Tucker shoved his shoulder and shook his head, moving to flop on the bench and pretend his face wasn’t still burning at the prospect. His little display of embarrassed modesty was very much ruined by the huge grin on his face.
“So Fenton, where’d you learn to ride a motorcycle anyway?”
Danny turned to the new voice as Dash wandered over with Kwan and Brad in tow, the three apparently bored with throwing their football around in the nearby field.
“Oh, I got taught how to ride and drive all kinds of stuff by Mom and Dad when I was younger. They built a bunch of small-scale vehicles for various ghost-hunting scenarios. That’s why I didn’t need lessons to fly the Spectre Speeder or the Ops Blimp, they only use a few different control setups between vehicles. Motorcycles are one of the easier things to drive.”
“Is that where they actually get money from? Cause I always figured they must have like… patented some really weird weapon and all their money comes from like, a secret military contract.” Brad piped up, looking curious.
“Most of their money comes from their fishing and camping gadgets actually. A lot of it uses compacting tech Mom perfected and Dad applied in a more practical way. It was all hobby stuff to them, but it rakes in the most cash. Ghost hunting stuff only really sells well in Amity and a handful of other liminal places.”
The three jocks blinked at him, along with Justin and the few others standing around nearby.
Danny gave them a bemused look. “What? Why is that such a surprise?”
“Because your Dad never talks about anything but Ghosts, and your Mom never struck me as the fishing and camping type. They seriously make most of their money that way?” Dash gave him a slight tilt of the head.
“My parents love camping, they just… also like to ghost hunt while camping. And they don’t do it a lot because they get really wrapped up in their inventing and R and D.” Danny shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and giving them a mild grin. “They’re honestly not as wacky as people think, it’s just that they both grew up in the country and they still act like that’s where they live.”
“So… you’re not, like… angry at them for hunting you? As Phantom?” Dash’s expression seemed to be inching into something Danny couldn’t quite read, and the grin slipped off his face.
He had really hoped people wouldn’t be asking that question.
“Uh, no? Annoyed, yes, but… dude they’re my parents, and they don’t know it’s me, they’re just treating Phantom the way they treat any ghost. I’m just lucky I can move faster than they can aim.”
That seemed to make Dash upset, and Danny rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Dash squared his shoulders a little, as if steeling himself, before he took a deep breath and held Danny’s (honestly perplexed) gaze. “And you’re not… you aren’t mad at me? Because, y’know… y-you should be. I would be, if it were me, I mean.. if I was you… about the whole… being a dick to you and everything-“
“Dash, I already said it’s fi-“
“It’s NOT though, Fenton… Danny, it’s not.” Dash huffed, cutting him off, eyes darting away and back again as if he was actually nervous about the conversation. It struck Danny suddenly that maybe he legitimately WAS nervous… after all, Dash still idolised Phantom.
And even if he wasn’t Phantom right now, maybe Dash would only ever see him as his other persona from now on. The thought made him frown slightly, but before he could try reassuring Dash he didn’t despise him, the jock continued.
“Look, man, I’m sorry. I’m REALLY sorry, for all these years of being a total tool to you, and wailing on you, and… I’m not just saying that because you’re Phantom, I’ve been… thinking about a lot of shit, since yesterday. About the shit I’ve been doing. And like, okay, I DID only start thinking about it because of finding out about you, but I mean I KNOW it’s not cool. I always… ever since you started showing up as Phantom, I started trying to be like you, but not in the RIGHT way. You don’t beat people up for no reason, you only beat up dangerous ghosts. You never even wailed back on me! And you could, the whole time!”
Danny winced bodily. “That’s… not entirely true Dash.”
Dash, who had opened his mouth to continue, paused, blinking at him. “Wait, what?”
Danny let out a long exhale, looking guilty. “I DID kinda get back at you… sometimes. But… you wouldn’t have remembered, because I… kinda… sort of… possessed you a few times. I’m sorry, it was before I realised how fucked up and invasive it was, and I stopped as soon as I-“
“Wait, hold up, you possessed me? Really?”
Danny blinked at how… NOT angry, he sounded. “Yyyyeah? I just… made you run into lockers or say dumb shit sometimes. Once or twice I mighta made you pour a drink on yourself. Nothing dangerous, but still not okay-“
“You can still do that though, right?”
Danny frowned in concern at how Dash DEFINITELY sounded excited now. “Yyyyeeeeaaah I can, but I have a rule against it because it’s-“
Dash waved his hands in front of himself, “Yeah yeah, I get that it’s, like, not cool if someone isn’t expecting it, but that’s a consent thing, right? Like if I consent, it’s okay, right?”
Danny stared at him, eyebrows knitting in consternation. “Dash… are you trying to say that you… WANT me to overshadow you? Because first of all… WHY, and second of all… are you feeling okay?”
“Why? Because it’s fucking COOL, why else? I get to say I’ve been overshadowed by THE Phantom! I want to know what it’s like, cause I like, y’know, don’t remember when you did it before.”
Danny stared at Dash’s excited puppy expression, jaw slack, brain coming up short on what exactly to say to that.
“Y’know, Dash, TECHNICALLY, you were his first.”
Danny’s head whipped around to throw Tucker the scary eyes, which only made his boyfriend grin like a Cheshire cat.
Dash looked between them, puzzled. “What do you mean, his first? His first what?”
Danny groaned and dragged a hand down his face, shoulders slumping.
“Go on Danny, tell him. I don’t explain it as well as you do.”
“Tell me what?”
Danny looked at Dash’s innocently perplexed face and screwed up the ball of shame in his gut. “You were the first person I ever overshadowed… and it was an accident.”
“Dude, how do you accidentally overshadow someone?” Brad gave him a suspicious look, as if he thought he was lying.
Danny’s mouth pulled into an annoyed grimace, “Remember how I said ghost powers don’t come with a manual? How do you think I discovered most of my powers? Ninety percent of the time it’s an accident.”
He turned his attention back to Dash as he continued, the blonde looking even more perplexed. “In the case of overshadowing, you’d just body slammed me into a locker, and when I phased out and went to push you while I was invisible, I didn’t realise I was also still intangible. I practically fell into you, and then I just… WAS you. Sort of.”
Dash’s eyes grew so wide Danny thought they might pop out of his head. “Broooo. That’s so wild… and I was REALLY your first?”
“Please don’t say it like that,” Danny buried his face in his hand, hoping it would hide the blush. He could hear Tucker snickering like mad off to his left.
“Oh, woah, right, no, I don’t mean… No, dude, I’m not gay!”
“Okay but Danny WAS technically inside-“
Danny was suddenly hovering next to Tucker with a hand over his mouth, no longer hiding his bright red face. It matched Dash’s own, which just made Tucker giggle madly under his hand.
“Dude, you might be a LITTLE gay. I don’t know why you’re so worried about that.” Sam deadpanned as she skated her way out of the bowl and did another kick-flip before handing Kyle his board back.
“She’s right dude, I don’t know why you’re so uptight about it. I mean, you wouldn’t even be the first in the team. You remember that senior from last year, Makowski? I think he came out like, beginning of that season,” Kwan nodded sagely as he casually tried spinning the football on his index finger.
Dash seemed to pull himself together, drawing himself up, pointedly ignoring his own blushing. “Dudes, I KNOW. I’m NOT a homophobe, but I just don’t want Fenton to think I’m, like… trying to hit on him! That’s not what this is about! I just think it would be cool to be overshadowed when I know it’s happening!”
“It’s cool, Dash, I totally get why you’d want my boyfriend inside of you again.” Sam grinned wickedly as several other people around them finally lost their shit.
Danny groaned and threw his head back dramatically. “Alright, for fucks sake… look, Dash, if you REALLY want me to, then sure, why not, anything for me to not have to listen to these two traitors making more innuendo.” He jerked his thumbs at Sam and Tucker, neither of which looked in any way apologetic.
Dash lit up like someone told him Christmas had come early, seemingly unfazed by the serious look that came over Danny’s face. “Broooo-“
“Before I do though, I want absolute verbal consent. You need to know that you’re probably not even gonna be aware of what’s happening. And you’re probably not going to remember anything either. And I’m using this as a teaching moment, so that EVERYONE here knows why overshadowing is not actually cool.” Danny looked around as he spoke, locking eyes with everyone nearby.
His tone seemed to draw in the other classmates who had wandered to the other side of the skate park, everyone sensing something interesting going on.
Dash squared his shoulders and put on his game face. “Bro, if that’s a challenge, I accept. I am absolutely going to remember this, it’s gonna be awesome. Totally consenting to this bro, hit me!”
Danny gave him an odd look, sighing. “Guess that’s the best I’m going to get. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He disappeared.
A moment later, Dash relaxed his posture. Then he narrowed his eyes.
He did a little sort of wiggle in place.
“Huh. Feels different from the last time. Did he stop skipping leg day?”
As if to answer his own question, Dash bounced on the balls of his feet a little before grinning.
“Yo, Fenton?” Kwan breathed the name, as if he couldn’t really believe what he was seeing.
Dash grinned widely and started patting down his own pockets. “Hey, he doesn’t keep anything on him besides a phone and wallet that’s, like, not waterproof, right?”
Kwan gave him a completely baffled look. Then took Dash’s Phone, wallet and keys as they were handed to him. “Dude… what?”
Dash just pat down his jacket without answering, still grinning widely. He shrugged and took the letterman off, slinging it over the bench next to Tucker.
“That thing is probably not gonna get wrecked if you keep wearing it, at least not if you’re doing what I think you’re doing.” Tucker quipped lazily.
“Yeah, but he loves that thing, I don’t wanna take the chance.”
“Yo, for real, either Dash suddenly got real good at acting, or this is the wildest shit I have ever seen. He sounds EXACTLY like Dash,” Justin’s eyes were wide as he followed the blonde jock’s movements.
Sam snorted. “He’s controlling Dash’s body, which means it’s still Dash’s vocal chords, of course it still sounds like him.”
“Yeah but… I’ve seen people possessed who had a weird echo, like, that’s how you know someone’s possessed, isn’t it? And the eye colour being wrong?” Tiffanie piped up meekly where she’d come up to stand behind the bench Tucker was on.
“Yo, yeah, Dash’s eyes are still blue!” Kwan gasped.
The smile Dash wore became slightly unhinged looking. “Oh yeah, you can tell when a weak or sloppy ghost is overshadowing. But higher level ghosts, ones with practice, well… almost impossible to tell. Which is the FIRST lesson in this teaching moment. And HERE is the second.”
Dash suddenly turned and sprinted off across the grass. As a quarterback, he was already pretty damn fast, but this burst of speed seemed very much unnatural.
The other, sportier members of the class tore off after him with shouts of alarm. The less sporty ones followed behind at a jog. No one was quite sure if they were expected to follow, or if this was part of the ‘lesson,’ or if Danny had somehow become unhinged. Either way, they didn’t want to lose him.
Even Valerie came flying out of the skate bowl, quite literally, having changed into her suit the moment she sensed potentially dangerous ghost shenanigans.
As it turned out, Dash didn’t get very far, so it wasn’t hard to catch up. He also slowed to a jog, almost SKIPPING along the grass… wait, no, he WAS skipping… and twirling… and… was that a pirouette? Oh, and he wasn’t really touching the ground anymore…
The class members who had followed all gathered around as Dash did a weird little gravity-less interpretive dance by the edge of the big pond. Valerie even dropped out of the sky, putting her board away, and watched with her head tilted, slightly perplexed.
Dash backed away from the pond, did a little twirl, dropped back onto his feet and then ran straight at it and jumped. His arms and legs snapped together in a planking pose, and he dropped into the water as ungracefully as possible.
Everyone on the edge of the pond laughed except for Valerie, who moved to stand on the concrete edge. Her posture was tense, and the others slowly took notice as seconds ticket by with Dash not re-appearing.
“…Okay Danny, I think they get it.”
Her voice carried loudly over the surface of the water, something about it sobering everyone else much faster. The ripples settled, but there was no sign of splashing, or bubbles… or Dash.
The seconds seemed to drag.
“DANNY!”
Valerie stepped forward into the shallow water, her voice sounding both firm and anxious, before a figure finally broke the surface like a dolphin.
Everyone’s shoulders slumped in relief, watching Dash do his dolphin act out in the middle of the pond before he suddenly flailed and sputtered.
“What… what the FUCK am I… what just HAPPENED?”
“Tried to warn you.” Danny’s voice echoed impishly as he appeared, floating on his back in a lounging pose, skimming along the surface of the water, but not IN it.
Dash blinked and spluttered some more, face morphing through a wealth of emotions before settling on resignation.
“Dude, did you HAVE to dunk me though?”
“Hey, at least it’s a pond and not a toilet bowl,” Danny shrugged, holding out a hand. The blonde took it, letting himself be towed lazily through the water back to the edge, where he climbed out.
Danny got back to his feet and let gravity settle as he crossed his arms. “I trust everyone got the point I was making?”
Several heads nodded, and Danny arched an eyebrow at Valerie. “Oh, come on, you didn’t think I was actually going to HURT him or something?”
Valerie retracted her gear, revealing an expression somewhere between sheepish and defensive. “I mean, gotta make sure your ghostly urges don’t get the better of you.”
Danny’s face fell. “Val, c’mon. With his lung capacity, I could have stayed under another like, twenty seconds, and he’d STILL be fine. Just because I don’t overshadow often, doesn’t mean I’m BAD at it. Also, ghostly urges? Really?” he couldn’t keep the hurt from his aura, even if he kept it from his voice.
She flinched, pulling her own in close, chastised. “Okay, bad choice of words, but it’s not like I know what overshadowing does to the overshadower.”
“No, true… but you know ME. And I mean, I still had to get a point across. There’s a VERY GOOD REASON you don’t want ghosts possessing you.”
Dash, who had been grumbling as he tried to wring out his shirt, gave him a confused look. “Uuuuh… it’s cause they’ll make you look dumb, right?”
Danny gave him a long, slightly incredulous look. “Dash… I could have just held you underwater until you drowned. That was the point. But I mean… I can ALSO frame you for illegal shit by making you do stuff you’re not even aware of and then leave you to the fallout.”
Dash’s eyes got wide, and he drew in a deep, dramatic gasp. “It’s like the Imperio curse!”
Danny and the rest of the class collectively stared at him as they digested his thought processes. Danny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Dash… it’s like the Imperio curse. It’s BAD.”
“YOU read Harry Potter?” The question came from Brad, directed at Dash, who immediately became defensive.
“Yeah? What of it? So’s Danny, and if PHANTOM read it, then it’s COOL.”
“It’s not cool. I read the first five, got annoyed at how stupid Harry was, and never finished it. And I mean, with that WOMAN turning out the way she did, I think I dodged a bullet to be honest.” Danny deadpanned, immediately regretting the harshness of his tone as he watched Dash deflate. “Listen… no hate if people really liked it, but the moment the characters complained about astronomy classes I just lost interest.”
In a gesture of apology as he spoke, Danny put a hand on Dash’s shoulder and turned him intangible.
The jock shivered, but seemed to perk up when he realised all the water had fazed off him.
“Yoooo that’s fucking siiiiick!”
“Also, where did you learn to dance, Fenton? Those ballet moves looked pretty legit.” Ashley piped up, an eyebrow raised.
Danny laughed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he made his way back to the skate park with the rest of them. “Man, when I was a lot younger, my Mom put me in all kinds of classes. Jazz too, it was mostly so we had somewhere to be after school and on weekends while they worked on the ghost portal. I only did ballet for like, a year, and then they shoved me into gymnastics because I kept getting bored and not doing the dances properly.”
“Wait, you did gymnastics?” Mia gave him an incredulous look. “But you sucked so MUCH in gym?”
“Yeah, I only did it for like, 3 months in fifth grade before I broke my arm and they decided I was too un-coordinated. I also did colour guard for like two months, and got kicked-out because I accidentally gave my instructor a concussion when I was practicing martial arts with the baton. Actually, martial arts was the thing I did the longest, but that was just something Mom insisted me and Jazz learn.”
“You and Jazz can do Karate?” Emilio sounded slightly in awe.
“Yep. And some Kempo. And some Jiu-Jitsu, little bit of Judo and bō staff training, it was mixed. You guys know my Mom is a ninth dan black belt right? She was a state champion in Wisconsin when she was in college.”
The wide eyed looks he got told him that, no, they hadn’t known.
“Duuuude why didn’t you ever use martial arts on me when I was bullying you? You coulda been the coolest fucking kid in school,” Dash murmured, eyebrows creased a little in confusion.
“Because Mom was very insistent about us not using it on classmates, we were only supposed to use it if a strange adult was attacking us… or a ghost,” His lip pulled up at the corner at the last part, “And would you believe, it really DID come in handy for punching ghosts.”
“Wondered how the fuck you knew how to hit worth a damn as Phantom,” Valerie murmured, drawing a good-natured eyeroll from him.
“You know what I DIDN’T learn until I was a ghost, that I really wished I’d known sooner? Fucking sword-fighting. You have no idea how often sword-fighting comes up with other ghosts. It’s weird.” Danny shook his head with a laugh.
“Are you saying you’ve learnt sword fighting now?” Rebecca’s eyes were wide and incredulous.
“Yeah, I didn’t get a choice. Pandora kinda… kidnapped me at some point and forced me to learn. Let me tell you, you gotta learn FAST when your instructor has four arms.”
The discussion about the existence of actual mythological Greek figures existing in the Ghost Zone carried them the rest of the way to the Skate Park. Tucker and Sam were sitting on the bench together, Sam with an arm slung around Tucker’s shoulders. Nathan, Spencer, Mikey and Lester were stood around, listening to Tucker talking as the main group wandered back over.
“TELL me he’s shitting us, Fenton? You do NOT get to inhabit your own Doomed avatar whenever you want to play immersively, that’s gotta be bullshit. You’re not the same as Technus, you can’t control electronics!”
Danny raised an eyebrow at Nathan, noticing Tucker and Sam giving him impish, gleeful looks.
“I can’t control electronics like he does, no. But I CAN possess inanimate objects if they’re… y’know… enough of an avatar. If the object doesn’t have human enough qualities, I can just… make it do slightly unsettling things. But if it’s like, say, a character made up of a polygonal mesh, or a more tangible thing like a store mannequin, I can basically puppet it around like a body.”
He got a lot of horrified looks from that, and frowned. “What? It’s not even anywhere NEAR as bad as overshadowing an ACTUAL person, why am I getting the stink-eye for possessing OBJECTS?”
“It’s probably to do with the uncanny valley quality of a mannequin coming to life,” Sam supplied with a smirk. “But we were only talking about you being a video-game glitch made real.”
Danny’s face smoothed at that. “Oh, yeah, hah. You guys think possessing a mannequin is creepy, watch this-“
With zero prompting, Danny ran back at the grassy hill that obscured the skate park from the road on one side and sports field, and jumped into the air. The moment he did, his body snapped into a T-pose. He didn’t change his pose as he let gravity take him, falling onto the grass and crumpling like some kind of boneless ragdoll.
Several people screamed. Tucker howled with laughter.
Danny laid in his odd, spaghetti limbed pile before popping back up like nothing had happened, grinning like an idiot.
“I…I forgot.. how fucking FUNNY that shit is... ahahah fuck,” Tucker wheezed, Sam snickering at the still horrified faces around them.
“Shit dude, doesn’t that HURT?” Spencer half squeaked, looking Danny up and down as if expecting to find bones poking out.
Danny dusted himself off and wandered over to sprawl across Sam and Tucker’s laps. “Not really, I just have to activate all my ectoplasm to go like… blob-ghost style, and then just relax into it and absorb all the impact. It hurt when I first tried doing it, because I wasn’t relaxing into it, but I was still fine. Also, it never fails to make Tucker lose his shit, which is always worth it.”
“I don’t know WHY it’s so funny, but it gets me EVERY time,” Tucker giggled, letting Danny pluck his glasses off his face so he could wipe the mirthful tears from his eyes.
“I mean… I guess you kinda ARE a video game glitch, huh?” Mikey murmured, looking at Danny thoughtfully. “You can fly, no clip, become objects, god-mode other player characters… fuck, this is some matrix shit when you really get into it, huh?”
“Ha, If ONLY I could dodge bullets like Neo. I mean, I can phase them out, if they’re normal bullets, but that doesn’t stop me getting shot in the first place. Also, I’m not seeing source code everywhere. Just Ghosts,” Danny explained as he stretched, squeaking and curling up a bit when Sam poked his stomach.
Tucker plucked his glasses out of Danny’s hand before they could get accidentally damaged, snickering. “Yeah, he just sees dead people.”
Danny grinned while several people around them groaned.
Justin, however, had paled. “Wait, you’ve been shot with real bullets?”
“ONE bullet, once, I was stopping a robbery over at the gas station on the highway near the edge of Elmerton. The guy with the gun had no idea how to use it right. It wasn’t pleasant, but I’ve definitely had worse.”
“What did it FEEL like, though?” Jason all but whispered.
“Like getting punched really hard. That’s what I thought had happened, at first. Then there was lots of blood and I realised the loud as fuck noise had been the gun going off in a small space. The guy freaked out that a ghost could get hurt by a bullet.”
“But still, you can go god-mode in real life, which begs the question… what are your FAVOURITE powers? Like, if you had to get rid of all but one of them, which would it be?” Spencer pressed excitedly, seemingly unfazed by the whole shooting thing.
Danny barely had to contemplate on that before answering. “Flying. Definitely flying. After that? Uuuuh probably intangibility… if I couldn’t fly, at least I’d still be able to not die from a major fall… plus I could keep no-clipping through all my responsibilities.”
“You can’t even do that NOW, what are you talking about,” Sam snorted, poking him in the stomach again and making him squirm.
He stuck his tongue out at her as he went intangible and fell through them into the ground, popping up again behind the bench to drape himself over her and Tucker’s shoulders, head resting between theirs. “Lies. I can sure as shit try.”
Somewhere off to the left, he heard Annie whispering something about how adorable the three of them were together, and blushed slightly. He wasn’t being any more or less affectionate than usual, but he hadn’t really thought about what it would be like if people actually paid attention to them.
“So… you really wouldn’t mind if you lost the ability to like, shoot lasers out of your hands?” Lester tilted his head slightly, looking dubious. “Wouldn’t you feel really vulnerable if you couldn’t shoot at other ghosts?”
Danny laughed lightly, not noticing his legs shift into a tail as he hung lazily over Sam and Tucker’s shoulders. “Dude, I live in a house full of ghost hunting equipment, and I know how to use all of it. I don’t strictly NEED my own ghost rays, not so long as I have at least one ecto-gun on me at all times. I do carry two or three with me pretty much all the time, just in case.”
That had a lot of eyebrows raised.
“Wait, just in case of… what?” Mia asked slowly, as if dreading the answer.
Danny shrugged lightly, “Sometimes I can’t use my powers, or someone else needs an ecto-weapon, or I’m stuck as a human for whatever reason. There’s been plenty of scenarios where I’ve needed them, I can’t just rely on my ghost powers all the time.”
“How many times has that actually happened?”
Danny turned his attention to the subdued sounding Star, and her worried look had him quirking a slightly confused look around at the rest of them.
“A couple times… why do you all look so worried about it? It’s not like it happens constantly.”
“Well, I mean… y’know, you’re kinda the one thing standing between the whole town and all these ghosts-“
A throat was cleared loudly, and Star’s head whipped around before she winced. “Oh, um, except for Val… of course.”
Sudden realisation lit up Danny’s face and he straightened up. “Oh… OH you guys are worried about me not being able to… well, yeah, that’s why I keep the ecto-weapons on me, so I’m never in a position where I can’t DO something. And I’m not the ONLY thing between the town and the ghosts, Sam and Tucker do a shitload of work, I’m practically sharing the aerial workload with Val a lot of the time, and my parents-“
“Danny, seriously, we CAN’T count them-“
“Yes, we can.” His tone brooked no argument as he gave Val a slightly miffed look. “They might not have your level of tech, and their aim isn’t fantastic, but they still get the job done. None of my rogues want to hang around and deal with them when they show up, it’s more trouble than it’s worth because they ARE competent enough to be a threat.”
“I thought you said they weren’t even fast enough to aim at you properly?” Justin quipped, arms crossed with a superior looking smirk.
“Just because I can evade them, doesn’t mean other ghosts can worth a damn.” Danny crossed his own arms, still not aware of his tail lashing beneath him in agitation. “Plus, I grew up learning all their moves, I KNOW how they operate, it makes it a lot easier to dodge them.”
“Do you even hear yourself dude? That’s so fucked up. They’re your PARENTS, you shouldn’t have to EVADE them SHOOTING AT YOU.”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Justin.” Sam’s tone was warning, eyes sharp as she crossed her arms in a mirror of Danny and glared.
“But dude, why don’t you just tell them? Like, okay, we get they hate ghosts, but there’s no way they’d actually… y’know… not to YOU, right?” Mikey’s tone was deliberately light as he tried to diffuse the tension, but the air around them grew colder with every word.
Danny’s expression was closed off, and he’d gone very still, not looking at any of them.
“…It’s not your choice to make. And I don’t want anyone telling them.”
“But WHY dude, don’t you want them to stop-“ Lester’s voice trailed off as bright green eyes fixed on him, and the air became even more frigid.
“I have my reasons. It isn’t your call to make. So you’re not going to say anything to them, right?”
The slight, ghostly static under his words had shivers running down their spines. Unnaturally intense blue eyes roamed over them as they all nodded numbly. Valerie watched him carefully, knowing none of them could feel what she was feeling from his aura.
His posture wasn’t defensive. It was his fear response.
The possibility of anyone breaking his secret to his parents terrified him.
Valerie made a mental note to discourage any of them from blabbing any time Danny wasn’t around to encourage their discretion.
Seemingly reassured that their reactions were genuine, Danny relaxed slightly, the air around them warning again.
Valerie shook her head slightly. He really was too damn trusting.
“…I do want to tell them. And I will… eventually… but it’s not the right time. They’re not ready yet.”
Despite how quiet his voice was, they all heard Danny perfectly, even as he went back to not looking at anyone.
The tense atmosphere was suddenly broken by muffled, jaunty music playing from the middle of the group. Danny’s face morphed into a look of surprise as his tail turned back to legs and he fished his phone out of his pocket, frowning at the number on the screen.
Answering, he held the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Hello Daniel.”
“…Mr. Lancer? I didn’t know you had my number.”
“I didn’t, but your sister was kind enough to give it to me.”
“Oh, cool, okay… you sound um… upset, is something wrong?”
Danny’s brow furrowed, mind immediately jumping to the possibility that Vlad was at Lancer’s house and about to pipe up over the line making demands and holding him to ransom.
Instead, he flinched as Lancer dropped into The Teacher Voice™.
“Daniel, would you mind telling me what exactly it is I saw you doing on the news this evening?”
“Uuuuuh… what… exactly, would that be? That you saw on the news?”
There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone.
“Apparently, Phantom was seen taking a couple of kids on a joy-ride while running from the police on a stolen motorcycle.”
The disapproval dripping from his voice felt almost acidic. Danny winced away from the phone as Lancer spoke.
“Uh, right, okay… well, in my defence, it was Kwan’s idea.”
“HI MR. LANCER!”
“I… was that Kwan? Is he there with you?”
“Yeah, hang on-“
Danny poked his phone, holding it away from him. “You’re on speaker.”
There was a loud chorus of ‘HI MR. LANCER!’s from almost everyone in the class, snickers and giggles barely contained.
“Is the entire CLASS there with you? Where are you?”
“We’re hanging out in the skate park, straight chillin’ bro, vibes here are immaculate.” Kyle piped up, Danny covering his face with his hand to hide a snort.
“…Right. I’m sure they are. Kwan… is he telling the Truth? Did you seriously suggest he steal a motorcycle and go on a wild and dangerous police chase through the city?”
“I mean, I sent him the music that gave him the idea of stealing Johnny Thirteen’s bike, and then I reminded him of the idea ‘cause I thought it would work?”
There was a pause as Lancer seemingly digested that. When he spoke, it was slowly, as if unsure whether Kwan would understand the question.
“What exactly was he working against that necessitated stealing a ghost bike?”
“That ‘wears white after labour day’ ghost was at the Nasty Burger terrorising everyone, Danny had to lure him away. The bike really WAS the best option.” Paulina piped up, putting on her most saccharine tone.
Danny did a double take, since it was the first she’d spoken in a while. She shot him a smile and wink. He had no idea how to take that.
“Also, it was sick as fuck!” Brad piped up, making Danny cover his mouth again.
A long-suffering sigh could be heard from the phone over the noise of the other people laughing and snickering.
“Thank you, for that inciteful addition, Mr. Mathers. But doing something because it is ‘sick A F’ doesn’t excuse the danger Mr. Fenton put himself, Ms. Manson, and Mr. Foley in. Not to mention the other road users, and any pedestrians unfortunate enough to be nearby. That’s not even getting into how poorly it reflects on Phantom’s image to be hooning around and running from the law-“
“Sir, it wasn’t the REAL police, it was Walker. He possessed a Police cruiser to chase us, the whole point was to draw him away from all the people and minimise danger.” Sam piped up, trying to sober her voice as much as possible, grin still plastered on her face.
“Yeah, and I was hacking the traffic lights so we got all the greens. We didn’t blow through a single stoplight!” Tucker added proudly, as if tampering with traffic controls wasn’t some kind of federal offence.
“I don’t mean to tell you kids how to ghost hunt, but I’m FAIRLY certain it’s not supposed to involve police chases through the middle of Amity Park. Daniel, your parents nearly-“
“They only aimed a net gun at me, I can break out of those things no problem-“
“It’s not about whether you can break out of them, if they hit you, you might have crashed! And then yourself, Tucker, and Samantha could have been seriously injured-“
“I would have just turned us intangible so they didn’t though!”
“And what if the ghost caught up in that time? What would you have done?”
“Well if my parents didn’t recognise him and blast him, I would have.”
“And what if your parents started shooting at you instead?”
“I would have used a shield or something, I don’t know, I would have handled it! It’s not like it was the worst situation we’ve ever been in-“
“Daniel that’s part of the point I’m trying to impress on you here! Just because you’ve handled worse, that doesn’t mean you can afford to keep putting yourself and your friends in danger you perceive to be ‘not as bad’ in comparison-“
Valerie cleared her throat, talking over Danny before he could carry on the argument any further. “Mr. Lancer, I get that you’re trying to teach Danny a lesson about impulsiveness, and the inherent risk of dragging friends along while doing crazy stunts… but this is Danny we’re talking about. I think it’s pretty clear by this point that he’s not gonna learn. Not to mention, Sam and Tucker are totally capable of throwing themselves into danger without his help.”
She ignored the indignant ‘Hey!’ from Danny and the snickering from Sam and Tucker, continuing on, “Besides, he DID have backup, I was tailing them the whole time to cover their asses.”
“Yeah, she also caught it all on camera, it’s gonna be the coolest video EVER once Tucker cuts it together!” Nathan piped up, making Valerie roll her eyes.
“Ms. Gray, even in light of your… extra-curriculars, I still never expected you to get sucked into this sort of behaviour-“
Danny sent her a shit-eating grin as her face went red and she crossed her arms. “I wasn’t sucked in! I was trying to be the responsible one!”
Danny’s whole body shook with silent laughter, the rest of the class not bothering to suppress their own.
Whatever Lancer was trying to say to either Danny or Valerie was drowned out by the sudden loud chirp and whoop of sirens. The entire class quickly sobered and stood to attention, looking around.
A police cruiser had pulled up on the road, which was on the other side of the basketball courts from the skate park. Everyone shared slightly nervous looks, most eyes flicking between the cops and Danny, as if waiting to see whether he sensed a possession.
Danny, for his part, was more alarmed by the fact his ghost sense was dormant. Which meant the cops were just regular cops.
Wild ideas about them somehow tracing the loss of a police cruiser back to him had him tensing like a rabbit, ready to go to ground.
“Uh… Mr. Lancer, I’m gonna hafta call you back.”
“Daniel, was that police sirens? Are you doing something illegal again?”
“Shhhh no! We’re just hanging out! I’ll call you back and you can tell me off more later, I promise, okay, bye!”
Danny ended the call before the police officers that had got out of the cruiser were in hearing distance, stuffing his phone back in his pocket.
“Dude, stop looking guilty, Danny FENTON didn’t do anything illegal. WE didn’t do anything illegal, we’re just hanging out in a park, that’s not a crime!” Sam huffed, half amused and half annoyed as she remained in her casual lounging position, arm still around Tucker’s shoulders.
“I might’ve done some things that are illegal, but they shouldn’t know that,” Tucker muttered, just loud enough for Danny to hear.
“Why’d you hang up on Lancer? He could have given us an alibi or credibility or something!” Justin huffed.
“Listen, I panicked okay? The Police are okay with Phantom but not so much with Fenton, they’d probably just think my phone was loaded with some tech from my parents I’m using to fool them.”
Everyone shuffled nervously as the cops approached, no one quite sure WHY they were there, or what to do about it.
Danny was just starting to wonder if it was possible for him to sneak out of sight and invisibly slip away with Sam and Tucker, when he heard a noise behind him.
He turned away from the cops that were almost upon them, startling when he saw that Kyle had climbed up to balance on the back of the bench Sam and Tucker were sat on. He had a feral sort of look on his face that reminded Danny of Wes whenever he thought he’d found exactly the right piece of evidence to ‘expose’ Phantom.
Danny noticed the sudden tension among the entire group as Kyle raised his board and threw it down on the pavement. It bounced, spinning to land on its wheels, and Kyle took a huge breath, eyes gleaming with a particular brand of anarchy Danny had seen in Sam’s more than once.
“KITTY SAID ACAB! FUCKING SCATTER!”
There was a solid second of shock before the tension broke into manic chaos.
Kyle jumped down on his board and tore away across the skate bowl, Justin following a second later on his own board.
Everyone else went haring off in random directions away from the two officers that stood stunned not ten paces away.
Danny hadn’t wasted any time vaulting the bench and going invisible behind Sam and Tucker. He yanked them down into the ground with him, transferring invisibility and intangibility in a blink, hoping the chaos was enough of a distraction that the police didn’t notice them straight up disappearing.
Once he got a proper, comfortable hold on them, he drew the three of them upwards again and hovered high enough to see where everyone was scattering to.
He heard Sam snorting to his left at the way everyone ran like their asses were on fire, while the cops stood stunned and scratching their heads at the reaction. Danny distinctly heard one of them say something about ‘Never seen a buncha kids act so guilty about a nuisance report. But at least we don’t have to ask them to move along I guess?’
Chapter 11
Summary:
Everyone got like one star and had to hide until it wore off, and then they just went home and jumped on discord again. As you do.
Notes:
This one was fun to write, if not slightly tedious because of formatting. And also Chrome crashing halfway through my first links and emotes edit :'))))
Anyway it's almost pure discord chat. There is a liiiiiittle bit of normal fic. And it hints at the trio getting frisky, but I'm not putting smut in this fic.
I will post it as an excerpt in it's own little fic lol, and probably make a collection to shove everything into.
Anywho, I did a lot of art for this chapter ahead of time lol. Enjoyyyyy and please leave a comment if you have the urge, I could use some pick-me-ups, I've had a shit 6 day week and I'm back at work tomorrowww ;u;
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > InTheMemeTime
TooFine: 
DoYouEvenLift: Bro wtf lol
GhostBoi: HHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGHHHHH SOUP
xXCHAOSXx: When we hid on Skulker’s island to lose Walker, he just walked straight into Skulker’s pool
NoNotLikeTheMusical: Skulker has a pool? Why is it green?
TooFine: It’s an ectoplasm pool, ghosts with bigger lairs tend to have them
xXCHAOSXx: Yeah the big lairs are the McMansions of the Ghost Zone, Skulker actually has more than one pool, it’s just that this was the one he was hanging out in when we got there
BardMain: He was IN IT???
xXCHAOSXx:
YourClericCouldNever: DANNY WHY
NoNotLikeTheMusical: DANNY NO
DoAKickFlip: DANNY YES
RococoLoco: Doesn’t he always like try to kill you??? What the fuckkkkkkk
GhostBoi: Yeah but he’s not gonna do anything if I just show up, he’s all about the hunt. There’s no hunt if I come to him
GhostBoi: Also ectoplasm pools are super relaxing so he wasn’t really in the mood to gut me
GhostBoi: Well they’re super relaxing for ghosts anyway, not good for humans, please don’t get in one
DoAKickFlip: TWO BROOOOS
Tranquili-T: CHILLIN IN A HOT TUUUUUB
BallIsLife: FIVE FEET APART
StarGays: BUT THEY’RE BOTH GAY
GhostBoi: 
NoNotLikeTheMusical: That single braincell coordination was beautiful congrats all
HemiDemiSemiRemi: Hey you’re going back in there tomorrow right? Do you reckon you’d be able to like livestream that to the chat?
Tranquili-T: Yeah you guys said you set up internet in there didn’t you?
PoPxRockz: YAAAAASSSSSS A LIVE TOUR OF THE GHOST ZONE!!! THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!!!
GhostBoi: We could probably do it a little bit? If Tucker can get the Fenton Fones headcam linked up to discord
TooFine: What’s this ‘IF’ business?
GhostBoi: My bad. WHEN Tucker gets it set up.
DoYouEvenLift: YOOOO GHOST ZONE LIVESTREAM!!!
GhostBoi: I can only stream on the way there and the way back, I don’t want to stream too much in the Far Frozen, the connection there is spotty, but also I don’t want to intrude on their privacy, that would be a dick move
xXCHAOSXx: Plus you don’t want them hearing what Frostbite calls you
PoPxRockz: What does he call him???
TheSteez: Pls tell me it’s not Daddy
GhsotBoi: FUCK NO
TooFine: Ew no
IAskedYouSecond: Is it like a baby name? Like something cutesy?
xXCHAOSXx: lol no
GhostBoi: It’s nothing special guys seriously
TheSteez: See now you’ve said that we’re not going to stop until we know
EightFootVerticalLeap: yeah that’s too much intrigue we gotta know now
RedArtemis: I’m betting it’s some kind of weird ghost title thing
TooFine: Mmmmm kinda, but it’s totally understandable when you get the context
GhostBoi: Do not
xXCHAOSXx: Why be so embarrassed Danny, no need to be humble about it >:)
StarGays: Oooo do they already call him like ‘My King’ even though he keeps saying he’s not?
GhostBoi: BECAUSE IM NOT
OutOfYourLeague: Isn’t that what you’re going there to ask them about?
GhostBoi: Yes but I am 99% sure Frostbite is going to confirm it’s a NO
TooFine: You’re pretty close Star
BallIsLife: OH! Do they call him ‘master’ like fancy English butlers?
xXCHAOSXx: No but still close
BardMain: Guys PLEASE just tell us this is too much suspense
GhostBoi: stg guys
xXCHAOSXx: :))))
TooFine: :))))))
TooFine has changed GhostBoi’s nickname to GreatOne
GreatOne: Thanks now I’m going to get them fucking using this around me at school like I need the fucking attention or extra weirdness 
PoPxRockz: God those emotes really are too fucking cute
TheSteez: Really, that’s it? Kinda disappointing
BardMain: You said there was like, context? What IS the context?
DoYouEvenLift: FR they call you ‘Great One’? A great one what?
xXCHAOSXx: It’s because he kicked Pariah’s ass and they heard about it and were super impressed. I’ll take a picture of the wall carvings they did about it, they’re pretty cool
GreatOne has changed their nickname to GhostBoi
TooFine: He’s THE great One
GhostBoi: it’s so awkwarddddd
xXCHAOSXx: You used to lean into it, it was fun
GhostBoi: It was fun for five minutes until it became cringe
StarGays: Lies, cringe culture is dead. Dress in drag and use it as your stage name, own it
TooFine: OOOOO yes, Drag persona!
xXCHAOSXx: It fits since you dragged Pariah’s ass and you were all dolled up doing it
GhostBoi: using a neuro-integrated suit that nearly double killed me is not what I’d consider ‘being dolled up’. I’m more likely to put the sailor suit back on
TooFine: You won’t hear me complaining if you do
StarGays: HOLD THE FUCK UP. SAILOR SUIT???
xXCHAOSXx: Permission to show them the video Danny?
GhostBoi: Oh you’re asking my PERMISSION now? That’s a thing you do now?
xXCHAOSXx: Is it a yes or a no?
TheSteez: Do we WANT to see it? You should be asking our permission instead
GhostBoi: Yes you can post it. And Tucker is it possible to force it to play just for Justin?
TheSteez: I can just shut my laptop you know
TooFine: Nah man you are going to want to see this it’s fucking amazing
BigMcLargeHuge: What exactly is it you’re forcing us to watch?
xXCHAOSXx: Okay so there was this whole inside joke we had about Danny going ghost TECHNICALLY being the same as a magical girl transformation
IAskedYouSecond: 🤣
PoPxRockz: Holy fuck it IS THOUGH
DoAKickFlip: What’s a magical girl transformation?
BardMain: Oh right you don’t really watch anime or anything do you
DoAKickFlip: Oh it’s weeb stuff?
EightFootVerticalLeap: Kyle you ignorant slut it’s an ART FORM
DoAKickFlip: yeah, weeb stuff 🙂
xXCHAOSXx: Kyle you’ve at least heard of Sailor Moon right? That’s gotta be far enough into meme culture that you’re at least AWARE of it
DoAKickFlip: Oh SEXY Weeb stuff, got it
GhostBoi: I feel less good about this now
TooFine: too late
TooFine: dropped it in the #Links channel
xXCHAOSXx: I got him the outfit and he practiced the sequence and we sent it to Tucker with no context and he lost his mind. Here's a still we took for those who can't watch the video yet
CatchTheseJazzHands: I also thought it was very good when they showed me, I still think the four of us should do a group sailor cosplay
EightFootVerticalleap: That would be so cool!!!!!!!
xXCHAOSXx: And that’s also how Tucker figured out he had the hots for Danny
TooFine: They didn’t need THAT MUCH DETAIL
Stargays: No no, I can see it, this is pure seduction right here
Stargays: I mean I might be a lezzbean, but even I can appreciate what that outfit does for Danny. Fighting ghosts has made you THICC boi
GhostBoi: Excuse me while I go find an open grave to lie in
IAskedYouSecond: Any time you compliment Danny he’s just
BallIsLife: Gotta appreciate the way he worked the transformation in though. Also can you make ANY clothes swap colours when you wear them and change???
GhostBoi: Yes. They change back if I take them off though.
Tranquili-T: The Ballet training really does show here. But I guess going en-pointe is a lot easier when you can float
BallIsLife: What did you guys use to do all those special effects? Was it Final Cut?
xXCHAOSXx: There’s barely any post processing, he did most of that with ectoplasm
WeebNation: FUCK DUDE THAT’S SO COOL
BallIsLife: Holy SHIT!!! You can do all that cool stuff with ectoplasm but you can’t duplicate still?
GhostBoi: Wow thanks for rubbing that in there Kwan
BallIsLife: Is it seriously that hard for you though? I was kinda doing it accidentally when I was sick
GhostBoi: STILL not helping
BallIsLife: I mean I could try to help?
GhostBoi: Actually if you remember what you did to make it happen, that might be useful. PM me?
BallIsLife: Sure!
xXCHAOSXx: we should probably move to general
Stargays: oops, yea u rite, didn’t realise we were still in Memes
GhostBoi: I’m Jared 19 the channel names mean nothing
Stargays: 😂
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > General
TheSteez: So Brad, you still thirsting after some YILF tail?
BigMcLargeHuge: Shut the FUCK your UP
TooFine has changed BigMcLargeHuge’s nickname to YILFsimp
YILFsimp: Do I look like the one with a FurAffinity account to you? What the fuck Foley
TooFine: Okay but you already know what FurAffinity is. You might as well get an account at that point.
GhostBoi: I feel bad for how hard I laughed at this. Frostbite must never know the word YILF or what it means
TooFine has changed GhostBoi’s nickname to YourPhaveIsProblematic
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Well idk about you but this is an improvement I unironically love it
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed TooFine’s nickname to PhantomsBiggestSimp
xXCHAOSXx: I sense a nickname war is brewing
PhantomsBiggestSimp has changed xXCHAOSXx’s nickname to PhantomsLittleMeowMeow
PhantomsLittleMeowMeow: Hey what the fuck did I do to you???
YourPhaveIsProblematic: I have to agree Tucker that one’s a bit much lol
YILFsimp: If anyone is Phantom’s little meow meow it’s you Foley
PhantomsBiggestSimp: Excuse you my fursona is a wolf, not a cat, I’d be Phantom’s little howl howl.
PhantomsLittleMeowMeow: Really doesn’t have the same ring to it, I think Simp works fine
CatchTheseJazzHands has changed PhantomsLittleMeowMeow’s nickname to InvisoBillDidNothingWrong
YourPhaveIsProblematic: -______-
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong: I unironically love it 🙂
PhantomsBiggestSimp: XD
DoAKickFlip: Oh we’re fuckin with nicknames now hell yeah
DoAKickFlip has changed their nickname to IThinkGhostsShouldVote
YourPhaveIsProblematic: The reference is immaculate, but in reality I do not agree with that statement
IThinkGhostsShouldVote: Bro that’s pretty monarchy of you
YourPhaveIsProblematic: AJNIUFNIDFSNIJK
Tranquili-T:
HemiDemiSemiRemi: 
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong: God could you imagine Technus, Skulker and Fright Knight voting? Holy shit they’d probably burn the ballot boxes and declare themselves the leader, then duke it out between each other
RedArtemis:
DoYouEvenLift: oh man I wish you guys would set it so it’s not just mods who can change other people’s names I have so many good ideas
PhantomsBiggestSimp has changed DoYouEvenLift’s nickname to PhantomSimpinErrDay
PhantomSimpinErrDay: I don't SIMP Foley >:C
TheSteez: You 100% do lol
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed TheSteez’s nickname to BoxGhostSimp
PhantomSimpinErrDay: HA
BoxGhostSimp: What did I do to you.
YourPhaveIsProblematic: :))))))))
PhantomsBiggestSimp: You insert yourself into the conversation, you get your name changed bro
BoxGhostSimp: You didn’t do it to Tiff or Remi???
YourPhaveIsProblematic: This is why I’m problematic, feel free to make a callout post about it
CatchTheseJazzHands has changed their nickname to IStanDanTheMan
Stargays: AWWWW
OutOfYourLeague: Do me next!!!
YourPhaveIsProblematic: IDK whether to be really touched by that or to be appalled by the cheesiness
IStanDanTheMan: I could always change yours to KlemperSimp
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Jazz have I ever told you how much I appreciate you as my favourite sibling
BallIsLife: Who’s Klemper?
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong: One of Danny’s beeeeeeest friends 🙂
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Listen I don’t hate the guy, but he’s one of those ghosts who is both VERY powerfully and VERY emotionally sensitive. He usually stays in the Zone, but the few times he’s come out, he’s been an absolute PAIN to deal with.
YourPhaveIsProblematic: But also he’s one of the few other ghosts I know with an ice core. Gotta have SOME solidarity with the guy.
PhantomsBiggestSimp has changed BallIsLife’s nickname to UJellyPhantom
UJellyPhantom: I don’t get it
UJellyPhantom: Oh right cause of the duplicating thing lol
YourPhaveIsProblematic:
PhantomSimpinErrDay: Ok but seriously can I get a different nickname?
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong has changed PhantomSimpinErrDay’s nickname to ItsNotGayIfHesDead
BoxGhostSimp:
ItsNotGayIfHesDead: WHAT THE FUCK MANSON
Stargays: 
YourClericCouldNever:
EightFootVerticalLeap: HAHAHAHAH
IThinkGhostsShouldVote: BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Well, as funny as that is, it’s just not true
ItsNotGayIfHesDead: YEAH NO SHIT MAN I SWEAR IM NOT GAY FOR YOU
YourPhaveIsProblematic: No I mean ghosts are pretty much queer by default
YILFsimp: Bro you can’t just SAY this shit
BoxGhostSimp: We have literally zero way to prove him wrong, he’s fucking with us
YourPhaveIsProblematic: I mean I could just fuck with you yeah, but in this case I’m not. Ghosts really don’t care about gender, once you’re dead that kinda stuff becomes not important. I mean you can ask any ghost if they have a preference and they’ll probably just shrug at you and try to get the topic back to stuff they actually care about
BardMain: Wait does that mean you were straight until the accident?
YourPhaveIsProblematic: No, I was just really fucking clueless
PhantomsBiggestSimp: Kept telling you that
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong: You didn’t stop being clueless after the accident let’s be real
YourPhaveIsProblematic: True, but Tucker you didn’t even realise we were crushing on each other until I kissed you last year, you can’t talk
PhantomsBiggestSimp: point
ItsNotGayIfHesDead: Can I please go back to the Simp name
IStanDanTheMan has changed ItsNotGayIfHesDead’s nickname to No.1InvisoBillSimp
No.1InvisoBillSimp: I feel bullied
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Oh do you Dash? Really? Geez that must suck
No.1InvisoBillSimp: Okay point taken
OutOfYourLeague: Do meeeeee
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong has changed OutOfYourLeague’s nickname to PhantomsNO.1Stalker
PhantomsNO.1Stalker: Um, you spelt ‘fan’ wrong Manson
PhantomsBiggestSimp: No she spelt it right
PhantomsNO.1Stalker: You guys ARE bullies >:C
Stargays: Lina you literally have like a shrine in your locker still and you camp out ghost fights to try and get Danny to sign shit for you. They aren’t wrong.
PhantomsNO.1Stalker: No one else who does that gets called out and labelled a stalker! THEY all get called fans!
IStanDanTheMan: Guys this really isn’t the way to be starting THIS particular conversation.
IStanDanTheMan: Paulina, it’s more about the other stuff you do on top of that, like the really over-personal questions and not-so-subtle coming onto Danny as Phantom that you were doing before. I mean, you don’t like it when boys ask you super personal questions or try to touch you without your permission, right?
PhantomsNO.1Stalker: That’s different! Boys only ever want one thing!
PhantomsBiggestSimp: The latest phone?
UJellyPhantom: A lifetime membership and box-seat for their favourite team’s games?
BardMain: The ability to shoot fire out of their hands on command?
No.1InvisoBillSimp: Free tacos every Tuesday?
IThinkGhostsShouldVote: Invincibility so there’s no downtime when you fuck up a skate trick and eat shit?
YourPhaveIsProblematic: A predictable sleep schedule?
Stargays: 🤣🤣🤣
EightFootVerticalLeap: You really did walk into this one Paulie
PhantomsNO.1Stalker: Fucking traitors. YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I MEAN DON’T PLAY DUMB.
KeyMaster: I think we might need to simmer down with the nickname change choices. This conversation could very quickly go south and I don’t think anyone wants a fight breaking out.
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed PhantomsNO.1Stalker’s nickname to InToMySinglePlayer
InToMySinglePlayer: Danny… what? What does this MEAN?
YourPhaveIsProblematic: I was going for a flip of your original nickname but I guess it doesn’t work very well
KeyMaster: That’s a better direction at least
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed KeyMaster’s nickname to TheGreatestOfGatsbys
TheGreatestofGatsbys: I’m not sure if you made the choice based on a whim or because you’re actually making a statement based on the content of that text
YourPhaveIsProblematic: I’m sure it won’t shock you to know I never got time to read the actual book, I just read the spark notes to scrape through the tests. Got the gist of the overall message at least
YourPhaveIsProblematic: But no there’s no deep meaning the name just sounded funny to me
TheGreatestOfGatsbys: So long as it’s not meant as some kind of veiled insult, I can live with it
IStanDanTheMan: You can always change the nickname yourself if you dislike it
TheGreatestOfGatsbys: I’ll have Danny change it to something a bit cleverer based on the text we’re analysing this week :) it’ll be a test to see just how much he absorbs of this one
YourPhaveIsProblematic: :’)
IAskedYouSecond: RIP in peace bro
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Didn’t you see my earlier comment about sleep there is no RIP for me that’s my whole deal
IAskedYouSecond: F
InvisoBillDidNothingWrong has changed IAskedYouSecond’s nickname to IThinkDannyShouldSleep
IThinkDannyShouldSleep: X’D
BardMain has changed their nickname to IDoToo
EightFootVerticalLeap has changed their nickname to IllSecondThat
YourClericCouldNever has changed their nickname to IllThirdThat
YourPhaveIsProblematic: Didn’t Lancer JUST say we needed to cut out the bullying?
Stargays has changed their nickname to ShutEyeForTheQueerGuy
YourPhaveIsProblematic: …Okay well that one’s clever I’ll allow it
DoYouEvenLift has started a private conversation with you
DoYouEvenLift: Hey
GhostBoi: Hey
GhostBoi: Sorry about the gay jokes we’re not really trying to bully you we’re just messing around
DoYouEvenLift: it’s cool I get it
DoYouEvenLift: But I think
DoYouEvenLift: I think it’s kinda getting to me cause like
DoYouEvenLift: How did you know? Like, that you liked dudes too?
GhostBoi: Um
GhostBoi: I talked to Jazz when I wasn’t sure if how I felt about Tucker was normal
GhostBoi: I kinda just thought all my life that everyone crushed on the same sex all the time and it was normal but no one talked about it
GhostBoi: Turns out it’s not something everyone does and it pretty much means you’re queer
DoYouEvenLift: Fuck
DoYouEvenLift: shit dude I think I might be gay
GhostBoi: Okay. Do you feel the same way about guys and girls?
DoYouEvenLift: I don’t know??? Girls are cute but like
DoYouEvenLift: I don’t know if I like them the same??? I’ve kissed girls and its nice and ive never kissed guys and I think I might want to?????
GhostBoi: You might be Bi. That’s cool too you know, you don’t have to have it all figured out immediately.
DoYouEvenLift: What do you mean?
GhostBoi: You can just try some stuff out and figure out what you prefer and change what you are as you go
GhostBoi: so you can say you’re Bi if you think you like both, and if you figure out later that you actually only like guys, or only like girls, then you say whatever you think you are at the time.
DoYouEvenLift: You can do that???
GhostBoi: yeah dude, I thought I was Bi for a while and then I kinda leaned towards pansexual. I usually just say I’m Bi cause most people don’t know what Pansexual is so it’s just kinda easier
DoYouEvenLift: What’s the difference? I’ve never heard of Pansexual
GhostBoi: it’s like… okay so there’s different opinions on this in the queer community, but my personal interpretation is this
GhostBoi: People who are Bi tend to have like preferences for a couple different gender presentations. Like they like butch girls and femme boys and maybe also andro people, or some other mix of genders. Sometimes all of them.
GhostBoi: Pan people don’t really care about gender at all, they’re attracted primarily to personalities and the way they present is secondary or not a factor in attraction
GhostBoi: That’s not to say that Bi people are shallow or anything obviously it’s just that they have attractions to presentation that Pan people don’t really feel
GhostBoi: I mean if you get into it, there’s a tonne of overlap and a whole lot of arguments about why they’re two separate labels and shit
GhostBoi: But again that’s just my interpretation of it
DoYouEenLift: Im going to be real with you Danny
DoYouEvenLift: I only understood like half of that
DoYouEvenLift: But if you say I can figure it out and change my decision later, then I’ll trust you
GhostBoi: It’s cool, this stuff can get kinda complicated. You should definitely look up some stuff online, hangon I’ll find the links to some helpful websites Jazz put me onto
DoYouEvenLift: You’re not gonna tell anyone about this tho right?
GhostBoi: I mean if you’re okay with me mentioning it to Sam and Tuck, they can probably also help out with advice. But I’m not gonna go talking about it with anyone else
DoYouEvenLift: Im okay with that but only if they promise not to tease me about it
GhostBoi: They won’t, they know when to take this stuff seriously. I’m gonna link you to the website for the queer youth centre we’ve been volunteering at too, they have counsellors, you should definitely go talk to them they’re a huge help for this kinda stuff
DoYouEvenLift: Bro
DoYouEvenLift: I know I said im not gay for you but you’re makin me like, feel weird shit that I kinda like and I’m sorry if that’s super awkward and shit
DoYouEvenLift: But you’re seriously the best
GhostBoi: it’s okay
GhostBoi: Shit can feel super weird when you first figure it out
“Dash just PM’d me.”
Tucker shifted his gaze from the movie and raised an eyebrow at Danny where he was sprawled on his back across his bed. He couldn’t really see Danny’s face since his head was hanging up-side down over the side.
“Was he bitching about the bullying thing?” Sam snorted, munching on some more popcorn as she kept watching the fake blood splattering everywhere on Tucker's computer screen. Kill Bill was one of their favoured wind-down movies, so they were only half paying attention while chatting with the rest of the class on their phones.
“Uh… not really. I think…” Danny sat up without effort, clearly not obeying gravity at the moment. His face was pinched into a look of bemused concern. “…I think I might have accidentally been his gay awakening.”
“If I had a nickel for every person who’s gayness I could confirm you had awakened, I’d have two. But it’s weird that it happened twice.” Sam murmured, staring at Tucker with a shit-eating grin.
Tucker huffed. “Tell him you’re taken and I’ll fight him the same way I’d fight Val.”
Danny snorted, expression clearing slightly. “I don’t think he’s gay for ME necessarily. But the outfit might’ve made him realise some stuff.”
“In the name of the moon, you’re furthering the gay agenda,” Sam snickered. “But I mean you’d probably turn even MORE people if you hadn’t been using a dancer’s belt.”
Sam laughed outright as colour flushed up Danny’s neck.
“I mean, you still HAVE the outfit, right Sam? And you know, my birthday is coming up,” Tucker waggled his eyebrows with a broadening grin.
Danny snorted, but grinned right back, curling forwards and letting gravity take him so that his weight depressed the mattress as he put his hands either side of Tucker’s hips. He tilted his head and brought his lips teasingly close to his boyfriend’s.
“I take it you want to see me in it without the belt?”
Tucker leaned up to brush their lips and noses together, closing his eyes. “Better than having to jump out of a cake, right?”
“You don’t wanna see me jump outta da cake? You insult me,” Danny could barely keep himself from laughing as he affected possibly the worst Boston accent ever.
Tucker cracked up and thunked his head back against the wall while Danny giggled, head flopping down to rest on Tucker’s collarbone.
“You two are just so romantic,” Sam deadpanned with a strong undercurrent of amusement.
Danny looked up and scoffed in mock offense, clutching at non-existent pearls. “Sounds like SOMEONE is just jealous they didn’t get a spider-man kiss in front of the class today.”
“I don’t give a shit if the class sees it or not.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms expectantly.
Danny grinned, gravity sliding off him like water off a duck’s back, and he was quickly hanging in the air over Sam and holding her cheeks gently as he gave her a slow, tender kiss.
He made a little noise of surprise when she nipped him as he pulled away. The look she gave him had blood rushing to his face even without gravity’s help.
“So when it’s MY birthday, do I get to see you in the Phantom suit with no underwear?”
Danny giggled. “I mean, if you want. You could also just have that NOW if you REALLY wanted…”
“Considering I’ve been sat here re-watching your sailor moon video and not the movie for the last five minutes, I’d say that’s a want, yes,” Tucker grinned, setting his phone off to the side.
Danny couldn’t really make himself care about what people in the chat would speculate about the three of them suddenly dropping out of any conversations they’d been in.
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > General
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed No.1InvisoBillSimp’s nickname to DoYouEvenLiftTho
YourPhaveIsProblematic has changed their nickname to DoYouEvenGhostTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed PhantomsBiggestSimp’s nickname to DoYouEvenComputerTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed InvisoBillDidNothingWrong’s nickname to DoYouEvenDarknessTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IStanDanTheMan’s nickname to DoYouEvenSmartTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed UJellyPhantom’s nickname to DoYouEvenFootballsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed InToMySinglePlayer’s nickname to DoYouEvenCheerleaderTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IThinkDannyShouldSleep’s nickname to DoYouEvenWatchTheDoorTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IDoToo’s nickname to DoYouEvenBardTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IllSecondThat’s nickname to DoYouEvenVerticalTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IllThirdThat’s nickname to DoYouEvenClericTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed ShutEyeForTheQueerGuy’s nickname to DoYouEvenGirlsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed RedArtemis’s nickname to DoYouEvenRedTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed GreatestOfGatsby’s nickname to DoYouEvenBooksTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed BoxGhostSimp’s nickname to DoYouEvenSteezTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed IThinkGhostsShouldVote’s nickname to DoYouEvenSkatingTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed YILFsimp’s nickname to DoYouEvenTacklesTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed Tranquili-T’s nickname to DoYouEvenAcrobaticsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed HemiDemiSemiRemi’s nickname to DoYouEvenReedsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed RococoLoco’s nickname to DoYouEvenStringsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed MagicMike’s nickname to DoYouEvenDungeonsTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed WeebNation’s nickname to DoYouEvenKawaiiTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed PoPxRockz’s nickname to DoYouEvenPowerBalladTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed ToYeetOrNotToYeet’s nickname to DoYouEvenYoteTho
DoYouEvenGhostTho has changed NoNotLikeTheMusical’s nickname to DoYouEvenThespianTho
MrLancerEnglishStudyGroup > General
DoYouEvenRedTho: Danny what the actual FUCK were you up at 4am doing THIS for?
DoYouEvenGhostTho:
DoYouEvenYoteTho: absolute king shit
DoYouEvenGhostTho: Also Cujo came by and woke me up and I couldn’t sleep again so I thought I’d do something productive
DoYouEvenReedsTho: Legends only
DoYouEvenWatchTheDoorTho: OMG YOU ACTUALLY GET THE REFERENCE
DoYouEvenGhostTho: What kind of fake memelord would I be if I didn’t lol
Notes:
The reference in Ashley's name is, of course, 'Ashley Katchadorian, you were supposed to be watching the door' from The Most Popular Girls In School. Which you should watch. but be mindful of it's age and therefore some of the less than appropriate jokes.
There was also a 'You dont wanna see me jump outta da cake?' reference, and if you don't get that, here: https://64.media.tumblr.com/ab67f7c712ab8d5130dce0bcb30c3ae9/tumblr_inline_p7l03yBLzI1qged2u_500.png
Chapter 12
Summary:
Danny gets some answers, whether he likes them or not. The problem then becomes how everyone else finds out.
Notes:
Soooooo this fic is definitely not dead! I just had to put it on the backburner last April because Phic Phight. THEN I had to backburner it for Invisobang. Then my IB ran really long (it is still technically running oops) but the deadline pressure is off, so I have been able to return to some of my other fics!
This one took a little longer because I had to get into the headspace for it, but boy when I did... half of this (technically more than half? maybe?) was written today. The art at the end was ALSO made today.
I am cramming creative shit before I have to go back to work lol ;u;
My instinct was to sit on this and perfect it a bit, but honestly? FUck it. Yolo. Wanted to post something on the first day of the year and this is it babeyyyyyy.Please note two things: I am now using ~ before page breaks to mark those page breaks for screen readers, because apparently page breaks aren't acknowledged by screen readers? So the tilde is being thrown in to help those people out.
Also the image at the bottom IS NOT A REAL VIDEO, sorry to bait you lol, it's a fake video thumbnail. Bruh if I had TIME to animate this shit, trust me, I would have. Animating my beloved, if only I had time. You would get so many DP shitpost gifs out of me.
ANYWAY, fair bit of sads in this chapter! Hope you're ready to cry! :D
Chapter Text
The flight to the Far Frozen had gone well.
The stream had actually been far more fun than they anticipated, with Danny giving a very hammed up tour of the Zone on the way.
Sam had broken up the commentary with some lazy manoeuvres in the spectre speeder that Danny caught with his head-cam, since he was flying outside of it.
Once there, with Frostbite’s permission, they’d done a little bit of Q and A with him. Danny selected the more interesting and least offensive of the questions posed in chat, and Frostbite had answered them in good humour, until the connection got bad enough that Danny decided to end the stream.
There was really only so long he could stall the inevitable, after all.
“I sense you had a more pressing matter to discuss with me, unrelated to the questions of your classmates.”
Danny gave him a wry smile. “Actually… it’s a little bit related to them. As in, they asked the question, and I realised I didn’t know the answer.”
Frostbite wore a kind look, though there was a wary curiosity in his eyes. “I see. And I take it the question was rather important, since you do not wish them to hear you ask it?”
Danny ducked his head slightly, sighing. Sam and Tucker stood either side of him, nudging him with their shoulders.
“C’mon Danny. It’s one question. Just get it out and get it over with, rip that band-aid off,” Sam murmured, slipping her hand into his. Tucker took up his other hand, and he worried at his lip with his teeth slightly before looking back up at Frostbite.
The leader of the Far Frozen watched him patiently. Danny steeled his resolve.
“Okay, well… This is gonna sound like it came out of nowhere, but… how does royalty work in the Ghost Zone?”
Frostbite’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. “Well, there are many kingdoms governed by separate parties. No one really controls the creation of monarchs, if a realm forms and happens to develop into a monarchy, then it simply-“
“Wait, no, sorry… that’s not… really what I was asking.”
Frostbite blinked at him, a spark of realisation brightening his features. “Oh! You mean THE monarchy? The title of Ghost King?”
Danny nodded, shoulders tensing. “Yeah. That. How does someone… I mean… how does that work?”
Frostbite gave him a calculating look, tone very gentle when he spoke. “Great One… you do not have to act so cagey about this subject. It is the entire reason my people look up to you. Why does asking about it trouble you so?”
Danny worried at his lip again, squeezing Sam and Tucker’s hands slightly. “I wanted to…. I need to know… if the information in the grimoire is true, and if… the way that I fought him… does it mean I’M the… the Ghost King, now?”
Danny wasn’t particularly reassured by the beaming look on Frostbite’s face that suggested he’d been hoping to hear him ask that for a long time.
“The short answer?... Yes-“ Danny tensed, eyes going wide, but before the shock could settle in, Frostbite continued, “- The LONG answer… not yet, no.”
Danny’s brow knitted, and he licked his suddenly very dry lips. “I… what? Yes AND No?”
Frostbite’s smile was extremely kind, and he took pity on him, “While you technically dethroned him, you are not YET the new Ghost King. The main reason for this is that you are still very young, by ghostly standards… and, I suspect, by human standards as well.”
“I dunno,” Sam murmured, “Human monarchies have been known to crown very young kids more than once throughout history.”
Tucker nodded, “Yeah, we wouldn’t exactly have been surprised if the Ghost Zone didn’t care much about age.”
Frostbite nodded sagely. “Indeed, human age is not really a factor in this. However, core maturity very much is. You see, a core that is not fully realised is not able to carry the Crown of Fire or Ring of Rage. Therefore, it isn’t possible to put a set timeframe on when you will take up the mantle of The King.”
Danny nodded, letting out a long, slow breath. “I remember you telling me about core formation and the whole… settling, thing. Is it… possible I won’t actually be able to be the Ghost King until I’m… y’know, FULL ghost?”
Frostbite’s expression turned thoughtful at that. “Hmmm. It is possible. However, I do not believe, personally, that it will take your core that long to reach full maturity. You have developed so quickly for such a young ghost, and your human half makes you that much stronger. But do not let the prospect frighten you, it should be cause for celebration! You will make a FINE King, Great One!”
Danny pulled a slight face, as if in pain. “Thanks, Frostbite… I just… I STILL don’t get how my fight counted when I didn’t get the Ring from him, and I wasn’t the one to lock the sarcophagus. By the rules in the grimoire, I didn’t really do it right-“
Frostbite chuckled and waved a massive paw, “Oh, I wouldn’t put too much stock in what you read in a book, the rules of combat over the Ghost King’s throne are not so set in stone. The Crown and Ring are the ones that decide who is worthy to wield them! Neither have remained in Pariah’s possession. They have moved themselves to the coronation dais, awaiting you.”
Danny blinked at that, “The… O-oh… okay. I uh… I take it someone will show me where that is when it becomes important?”
“Do not fret, Great One. You will be well prepared before that time comes, I will help you, as will other leaders of the Realms. After all, it is in our best interests to make a good impression on the new King, and what better way to do so than to help you establish your reign?”
Still reeling, Danny nodded absently. He squeezed Sam and Tucker’s hands, mind setting aside the huge implications surrounding his title as the next king and zeroing in on the other question he needed to ask.
He took a deep breath through his nose and looked Frostbite in the eyes.
“Does being the Ghost King mean my ghost half is functionally immortal?”
~
Danny lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling of his room, blind to the familiar, pale shapes of the glow-in-the-dark stars he’d stuck there forever ago.
“Okay, think I managed to beat back the metaphorical horde trying to digitally break down your door. Geez, these guys are so feral over this stuff sometimes,” Tucker sighed, putting his phone down and flopping back dramatically on the beanbag he’d claimed.
Danny made a non-committal noise. He hadn’t touched his phone since they’d left the Far Frozen. Hadn’t wanted to stream, hadn’t wanted to deal with the questions he knew he’d be bombarded with.
It was all he could do just to concentrate on the journey and small talk and not think about it all…
This was hard enough to take in without the knowledge that a bunch of other people were itching to know.
“C’mon, Danny, no spiralling. You gotta let us in on what those cogs in your head are churning over,” Sam sat on the edge of his bed and tapped a knuckle against his temple to distract him.
His brow creased slightly, mouth pulling into a frown, “I don’t… I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know how TO feel. It’s… I’m… there’s so MUCH… a-and I don’t want it, I didn’t ASK for it, I was just… I just wanted to keep everyone safe-“
“We know, Danny, it’s okay…” Sam twined a hand into his, sharing a look with Tucker, who immediately flailed his way off the beanbag and sat on Danny’s other side.
“It’s not… it’s not, though, I’m going to… I’ll… I don’t want to spend eternity without you… either of you… or Jazz, or Mom and Dad and I… I knew it was a possibility but having it confirmed just…”
Danny felt the tears pouring down his face before he even realised he was having a breakdown. Sam and Tucker wasted no time lying down and sandwiching him tightly between them.
Unable to hold back, Danny keened and clutched at the hands that laced into his.
“It’s okay, Danny, we’ve still got a long time. You’re not losing us yet,” Sam murmured, her free hand brushing his hair out of his face.
“Yeah dude, we’re not going anywhere. And don’t forget, Frostbite thinks we’re both super likely to turn into ghosts just from exposure to you,” Tucker tried to reassure him, pressing his head against Danny’s.
Rather than soothe him, this only made his core clench painfully in his chest, “Y-You didn’t… it’s not right… its not FAIR to you… you don’t… get a choice then either, I’m just… just dragging you down… what if y-you don’t… what if we d-don’t work out, and I’ve ruined your lives…your afterlives… I don’t… want to damn you to this, it’s not right-“
Tucker nudged him with his forehead, “C’mon, Danny, don’t talk like that-“
“We wouldn’t even know if we’d be stuck as ghosts from hanging with you or just growing up in Amity anyway-“ Sam piped up reasonably, resting her head against his shoulder.
“Besides, if you ever get sick of us, we’d all have an eternity to try dating other people... or ghosts… or whatever,” Tucker waved his free hand in a ‘whatever’ kind of gesture, before flopping it down across Danny’s chest again.
“Why do you think it wouldn’t work out between us anyway? We’ve been together THIS long, even if we weren’t actually dating the whole time. Do you… do you not think it’s working out?” Sam murmured, and her tone had Danny’s core clenching again.
“No, nonono I love you guys so much… I just… I know I’m a lot… everything with me is a lot, and I won’t… I understand if it gets to be too much, eventually… especially if I’m supposed to become the fucking… goddamn Ghost King…”
“Danny, listen to me… if we didn’t get driven away by your ‘a-lot-ness’ by now, it’s not going to be a problem later,” Tucker nuzzled the side of his head, kissing the corner of his mouth.
Sam mirrored him on the other side, and Danny closed his eyes, trying to get a hold of himself. “I just… I don’t want to be selfish, but I… I can’t, I can’t stand the thought of having to live forever without either of you.”
~
Danny didn’t sleep well.
He didn’t expect to sleep well.
The break-down had left him exhausted, and while Sam and Tucker had soothed him into taking a long nap, it was fitful.
When he’d woken up, it was dark, and Sam and Tucker were both asleep either side of him. It was only 8:30, and he doubted they’d eaten dinner, probably electing to stay with him and catch up on sleep themselves.
He would wake them in a bit, but he needed to refresh himself first. Falling asleep crying had left his nose stuffy and eyes crusty, and the first step to pulling himself together (after repressing as much as he could as hard as he could) was a nice, long, hot shower.
Phasing off the bed, Danny floated his way to the bathroom and let his clothes drop through him once he was there. If nothing else, at least he had an eternity of convenience ahead of him when it came to hygiene.
Jazz always said the first step to acceptance of a bad situation was to find all the positives. He would have to call her tonight and let her know about all this… hopefully she would be able to find more positives, because he was struggling for meaningful ones right now.
Danny got in the shower and turned it on, making it as hot as he could stand, and leaning his head against the tiles. He let the warmth infuse through his muscles, shoulders slowly sagging until he had to check he wasn’t turning to actual goo under the spray.
Another positive, he might be able to face eternity okay so long as he could always make sure he had the means to a hot shower.
Tucker had always teased him for how long he took in the shower, but it was hardly his fault that warm water was one of the few nice things he could enjoy for himself on a daily basis. NOW of course, he got teased about it because he had an ice core, and what was he doing liking warm things when he was the ‘cool guy’.
That had him snickering slightly to himself. He knew they teased him out of love, knew they only protested him snuggling up against them to leech body heat because he would do it when they least expected.
He also knew they would never actually deny him that body heat when it was one of the few things that solidly proved he was still human to some degree. Frostbite had confirmed a long time ago that ice cores didn’t usually like being too warm, preferring mild to low temperature environments.
Danny still solidly loved warmth, finding sunny places to sit in the winter, bundling up in blankets, draping himself over Sam and Tucker, and taking deliciously hot showers that lasted anywhere between twenty to thirty minutes.
It wasn’t like his family could complain, his parents had built a hot water system that never ran out back when they first moved in. It was another of their more commercially viable systems they sold as a bread and butter income staple.
And it was one of the few inventions they had which actively benefited him, rather than hurt him.
Danny sighed, moving to tilt his face up into the water and scrub the icky feeling from his eyes.
Once he’d dried his lashes with some selective intangibility, he reached for the soap-
And froze.
He blinked.
His whole body tensed, and for a moment, he wondered why.
Then he felt something in his core. A tugging, pulsing feeling. It came and went two or three times before it turned into a solid, wrenching PULL.
Danny gasped, shuddering, trying to figure out what the HELL was going on.
Resisting the pull was like holding onto a door-frame while someone tried to force you through it. Someone who got stronger the more you resisted.
Before Danny could force any sound out of his seized-up lungs, the feeling turned into a WRENCH, and he lost his metaphorical hold on the doorframe.
It felt like his body was being forced through a space the size of a keyhole, not necessarily an unfamiliar sensation thanks to the thermos, but not quite the same either. It was especially uncomfortable since he wasn’t in ghost form, and the sudden thought that his parents had created a thermos that worked on him when he was human had panic blossoming across his brain and core.
Had his parents finally figured it out? Had they set a trap for him? Was it already too late to escape? Would Sam and Tucker find him in time?
All of this passed through his mind in a second or so, and then suddenly the pressure was abating, and he staggered on his feet, solid ground appearing beneath him as if he hadn’t moved at all.
Except it wasn’t the tile of the shower under his feet, it was… concrete? It was cold and slightly gritty, and now it was also wet thanks to him.
Whatever had happened, it hadn’t dried him off, just brought the water on his body along with him.
Danny blinked through soaking hair at the ground, registering glowing lines of… was that chalk or paint? Did it matter? (something in the back of his brain told him it did, told him one was much worse than the other).
The light in the room was flickering, and it registered as candlelight, which was odd since it was green.
A gasp drew his attention, and Danny’s head shot up. He locked eyes with Paulina.
Wait.
Paulina!?
Wait…
Danny glanced down and immediately shifted his hands to cover himself as his mind worked overtime to figure out what the hell was going on.
How the HELL had he gotten from his shower to wherever the hell this was, and why was PAULINA here?
Danny belatedly realised that no one was around except her, which meant he could fix the naked part very easily.
Transforming brought the relief of his ghostly clothing, he also went intangible long enough to dump the water still on his body onto the floor instead. That ended up ruining something with the lines on the floor, because they dimmed to almost nothing, the candles changing back to a normal yellow colour at the same time.
Oh.
OH.
THAT was why it mattered.
Danny was moving rapidly out of shock and straight into anger.
“What the FUCK Paulina?”
“How was I supposed to know you were gonna be naked! WHY were you naked?!”
Danny realised suddenly that her face was extremely red, but he was far less concerned with her embarrassment than her original intentions.
“I was having a fucking shower! I didn’t expect someone to use a SUMMONING circle on me! How the hell did you even FIND a summoning circle that works on me? No one’s ever managed that-“
“Well, it wasn’t for you SPECIFICALLY, obviously! I would have found and used one of those years ago if they existed!“
“Oh, well, that makes it SO much better. Do you not realise that ghosts don’t LIKE being summoned? You have no idea how uncomfortable that feels, and when you don’t know what the hell is happening-“
“It wasn’t… I didn’t… it was a Ghost King summons, okay!? I wasn’t even sure it would work!”
Danny felt the words like a punch to the gut, and he stared at her, open mouthed.
She shivered as the candles shifted hue again, burning blue as the temperature in the room dropped and ice formed over the ruined summoning circle.
Her eyes seemed to grow even wider, a trickle of fear seeping out of her aura under the mess of other emotions she was already projecting.
Danny crossed his arms, closing his mouth and clenching his jaw, trying not to let the anger get the better of him. It was an automatic response. He couldn’t afford for his powers to get out of control in his anger, even when fighting ghosts, otherwise he might hurt people.
And he was angry enough to want to hurt Paulina right now, which would be incredibly bad.
“I… I’m sorry, I just wanted to… you weren’t talking on chat about what you found out-“
“There was a REASON for that.”
Paulina flinched back at the ice in his voice, and it was literal ice. He’d slipped a little into ghost speak, voice quivering with how furious he was. The undertones of cracking ice-sheets could rattle bones in a space as small as the one they were in.
Danny closed his eyes and clutched at his arms, trying to get a hold of himself. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally cause structural damage to the… garage? Basement? Whatever building they were in.
He took deep breaths and made a conscious effort to stop floating. Ducking his head, he opened his eyes and looked down at the smudged, water-splattered chalk beneath him. The water had already frozen against the floor, and with a few more deep breaths, he managed to dissipate it.
“Danny?”
He couldn’t remember ever hearing Paulina’s voice so small and meek. She sounded like a different person.
She sounded scared.
Paulina had never sounded scared of him specifically.
He didn’t feel as remorseful about that as he thought he should, still too angry to give her any reassurance.
His eyes flicked over the circle she’d drawn as he scowled, “Where the fuck did you even… Oh, it was the Grimoire, wasn’t it? THIS is why you didn’t want to hand it over to Sam.”
Sure enough, when he looked at her feet, he could see the book open with all its little heart-shaped post-it notes sticking out around the edges. Danny ran a hand over his face and gave a long, world-weary sigh before dropping both hands to his sides. He looked up at her, still scowling, and she flinched again.
“Your circle is shit, by the way, I honestly don’t know how the hell it even worked. I’m NOT the Ghost King yet.”
Paulina stiffened as he walked out of the circle towards her, scuffing his feet as he went to wreck the sketchy chalk markings even more.
He picked up the grimoire to look at the pages she’d been referencing… the ones he had begged Sam to let him deface. NO ONE wanted the Ghost King summoned back to the mortal plane… at least, that had been his thinking at the time.
Sam had refused to allow the defacing of a book (let alone one that was public property), arguing that the summoning had been around for thousands of years, and they’d never heard reports of it working to free Pariah from the Sarcophagus.
Danny had checked with Frostbite whether the Sarcophagus had some inherent anti-summoning properties to stop exactly that, and once it had been confirmed, he’d left the pages alone.
Now he was seriously considering just ripping them out.
“What… what do you mean ‘yet’?”
Paulina’s voice was still far more timid than he was used to hearing it, but he still wasn’t feeling charitable enough to change that. Danny gave her a sideways glare and snapped the Grimoire shut.
“It means exactly that, I’m not the Ghost King yet. But it’s not really your business. It’s not anyone else’s damn business what the hell the stupid laws of ascension are, apparently. Not even when you’re fifteen and about to go full Gundam LARPer on Pariah Dark without knowing what a right of conquest is.”
Confusion wafted from her under the waves of shock-embarrassment-fear-want. Danny did not like the fact there was a ‘want’ in there. He’d prefer not to know what the ‘want’ was, exactly.
He also wasn’t about to explain the bitterness in his voice, or the details she was probably hoping for. Instead, he distracted himself with taking better stock of his surroundings as he shoved the grimoire into his ghostly subspace where he kept his thermos.
He squinted in the dim (once again yellow) candlelight at the various shelves full of random chemical containers, the rack of tools shrouded in darkness against the back wall, and the tarp covered machinery that looked like it might be a quad-bike or very small tractor.
“Where the hell even are we, this can’t be your basement… and I wouldn’t have picked your parents for the DIY green thumb type-”
“Detached garage. It’s where the gardeners keep all their stuff, and my parents never come out here,” she responded meekly.
Danny snorted, giving her another unkind look, “Doesn’t sound like a particularly good environment to light a bunch of candles… Please tell me you haven’t done this to OTHER ghosts before?”
“Of course not, why the hell would I care about any OTHER ghosts?”
THERE was the Paulina he was used to, face scrunched up in disgust at the thought, “I just figured this was the best way to find out if you were the Ghost King or not, I didn’t mean to…”
Her embarrassment came back strong, face clearly going red even as she turned it away from him and fiddled with the hem of her shirt, “I’m sorry I interrupted your shower. I thought it would be fun, I didn’t mean to embarrass you and make you angry.”
Danny stared at her incredulously.
“Wait… you think I’m angry because you summoned me while I was naked? I’m not exactly thrilled about that bit but that’s the LEAST infuriating part of it. You really… you really DON’T get people’s personal boundaries at all, do you? You don’t get ANYTHING about crossing lines?”
“Are you saying you’re NOT mad that I saw you naked?”
The tiny tinge of hope in her voice had Danny taking a step back physically, unable to keep his own face from scrunching in disgust.
“This is what I’m talking about! It is SO creepy that you are focussing on the naked part and not the, I don’t know, FORCING me to get physically sucked through ghostly subspace to reveal if I’m the fucking Ghost King part!”
She flinched, but he didn’t acknowledge it, having been pushed a bit too far past his credulity limits by now, “How do you not get how creepy that is? How do you not get that finding that stuff out is none of your business? Let alone that it’s wrong and EXTREMELY rude to feel so entitled to that information that you would use a summoning to try and trap me and make me tell you!”
“Trap you? I didn’t trap you! I just thought if it worked, it meant I was right!”
Danny ran his hands through his hair and turned away from her, taking deep breaths and swearing through his teeth as he walked back to the middle of the ruined markings.
When he turned to look at her, he gestured emphatically at the floor beneath him, “HOW could you go through the ENTIRE ritual, draw ALL these markings just right enough to work, and NOT understand jack-shit about what exactly you were drawing? Do you know what summonings are even actually FOR? Do you know what you would have done if this wasn’t chalk and I hadn’t dripped water all over it the moment I got here?”
She was staring at him with wide, blank eyes, confusion the main component of her aura once more. “They’re just weird symbols though, it’s like chemistry, it’s a formula, you just use it to transport a ghost to you.”
Danny huffed out a frustrated breath through his nose and glared at her, “Summoning circles aren’t just forced public transport for ectoplasmic entities, they are meant to TRAP ghosts. And usually if the markings are accurate and unbroken, it WORKS. It’s NOT the same as chemistry, this shit works more on ectoplasmic logic than earth science.”
He paced angrily as he continued to try and work off the frustration, gesturing emphatically and willing her to actually understand the gravity of what she’d done.
“The summoned ghost can’t affect the markings, but passive forces CAN. So, thanks to me arriving both human and wet, and you using chalk and not paint, you didn’t manage to trap me. Which is great! Because CLEARLY you have no idea how to UN-trap a summoned ghost, if you didn’t even know you were trying to trap one in the first place!”
She frowned at that, “But… you’re PHANTOM, like any shitty little lines on the ground can trap you! That’s bullshit-“
Danny clapped his hands together in front of his face, pushing his fingers against his mouth to hold back all the uncharitable things he wanted to say to her right now. He knew his eyes were burning with light in his frustration, but he tried to keep it together.
“This summoning circle is made for THE Ghost King. Which could have been ANY of them. And the Ghost King is, typically, one of, if not THE most powerful ghost in the Infinite Realms at any given time. Jury is out in my case, but that’s not the point. The CIRCLE is made with that power level in mind, OF COURSE it’s going to trap me too if I’m in ghost form! I’m made up of at least fifty percent ectoplasm, and ectoplasmic laws can still apply to me even when I’m human sometimes. Like I said, summoning sigils follow ectoplasmic laws, this shit falls outside of conventional science by SEVERAL metaphorical miles.”
When she just stared at him in blank confusion, Danny sighed and rubbed his hands over his face again, “You know what, Paulina, whatever. No more occult arts for you, just… give me your phone.”
“My… why? You’re not going to destroy it are you-“
“No, I’m going to call Sam and Tucker and ask them to turn off the shower, and also let them know where I am so they don’t freak out.”
Her embarrassment came back strongly as she fished her phone out of her back pocket, Danny making a face at his own bedazzled logo on the back of her case. There were still glittery love-heart stickers all around it, and his discomfort with the entire situation only deepened.
He dialled Tucker’s phone by memory, knowing he usually answered faster than Sam. He didn’t ask Paulina why Tucker turned up as a contact already in her phone when he was halfway through the number, that was a question for his boyfriend later. He actually sighed in relief when it picked up on the third ring.
‘Paulina, I already told you in chat, we are NOT-‘
“It’s me, Tuck. She didn’t fucking give a shit about whatever you told her in the chat,” Danny deadpanned, staring Paulina down as she frowned at him a little petulantly.
‘Danny! What… aren’t you in the shower?’
He could hear Tucker shifting and the creak of bedsprings. He also heard a slurred questioning sound in the background that was Sam.
“Well I WAS, yeah, and I need you to go turn it off please, ‘cause I’m not in it any more. On a related note, I found out what the fuck Paulina was doing holding onto the grimoire.”
Danny was still staring her down, Paulina’s face going red again as Tucker sucked in a breath through his teeth over the phone.
‘What did she do?’
It took Danny a moment to supress his anger again before he grit out “Summoned the Ghost King.”
‘She fucking WHAT?’
Danny couldn’t help the little pleased curl of validation at the enraged hiss to Tucker’s tone. He could hear him getting into the bathroom (he hadn’t actually locked the door), and the sound of running water not shutting off as Tucker used it to cover his next furiously hissed words.
‘Are you telling me that stupid bitch summoned you out of the damn shower? How the fuck did she even draw a circle well enough- scratch that, how did she not cut corners and fuck it up the way she does with most of her assignments?’
“I don’t know man, but she used chalk, so the water fucked up the lines immediately.”
‘Well thank fuck for small miracles,’ he drawled, turning off the water, letting out a harsh breath before he spoke with a much softer tone, ‘Are you okay? Do you need us to come and get you?’
“No, I’m alright, I’ll just fly back. Also, I know you’re going to want to post-block her in the discord immediately, but wait until I get back. Oh, and let Sam know I have the grimoire back and NO, I still haven’t destroyed those fucking pages despite the very VERY strong urge to.”
‘Alright dude. Will you be long? We can get you something to eat while you’re on your way.’
“Yes please. Not sure how long, probably not very, I just need to make a PSA first,” Danny turned away from paulina as he spoke, floating and letting his legs dissolve into his spectral tail, which thrashed aggravatedly.
Tucker snorted, ‘Ah, I see. We’ll have some mac’n’cheese ready when you get here, and it sounds like we’ll have time to add some bacon for you and me.’
“Should be some mushrooms in the fridge for Sam to put in hers.”
‘Good, mushrooms calm her down, she’s already aware something bad has gone down and her face is telling me Paulina will need to hide on Monday.’
~
Mr.LancerEnglishStudyGroup > Videos and Links:
DoYouEvenCheerleaderTho has changed their nickname to Overshadowed
Overshadowed: HEY YEAH SO THIS IS DANNY
Overshadowed: PAULINA IS ON A TEMPORARY POST BAN. DETAILS IN THE VIDEO ON WHY.
Overshadowed: IM GOING TO MAKE A MOD POST ABOUT THIS SHIT WHEN I GET HOME BUT FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T WATCH THE VIDEO, QUICK PSA: DON’T FUCKING SUMMON GHOSTS. DON’T DO IT. JUST FUCKING DON’T.
Overshadowed: Jazz don’t call me I’ll call you I’m hungry and I want to eat first.
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