#Danny has a lot stuff from getting electrocuted

[clockwayswrites]

A Broken Sort of Normal Part 8

WC:1175 Masterpost

Wherever they stopped was completely dark and definitely outside. As a cool breeze blew past, Danny was very glad he listened and had brought a jacket.

“You know,” Danny said as he climbed off Flash’s back. “It’s a good thing that you’re a hero, because this has mild serial killer vibes.”

“What?! No no,” Flash stammered before he dashed around the area.

Lights bloomed behind him as he ran, illuminating the space. They were in a field of some sort, standing on the foundation of a long gone building. The prairie grasses caught and sparkled in the light of the various lanterns that Flash had turned on. A cozy looking pile of blankets and a few pillows sat in the center of the foundation. Flash stopped next to it, shifting nervously on his feet.

“I, um. So there’s a meteor shower tonight!” Flash rushed to explain, the words almost garbled with how he was practically vibrating in place. “And I thought we’d come somewhere really dark where we could watch it? Since you like space? And I packed a little picnic for us too and…”

“That sounds really, really nice,” Danny said with a soft smile, talking over Flash’s almost panicked explanation. “I didn’t think I’d get to see the meteor shower this year, so this is really awesome.”

“Yeah? Okay, good,” Flash said, almost slumping as the nervous energy drained out of him. “I hope it’s a good night for them.”

“Even if not, this is… great, really great Flash,” Danny said. He made his way to the blanket, slipping his shoes off before he sat. “It’s been… it’s been a really long time since anyone has done something like this for me. Thank you.”

“Yeah? Wow, I keep saying that. I mean you’re welcome,” Flash said as he took off his peculiar boots and sat down next to Danny. “I’m glad you said yes.”

“You made me curious,” Danny said honestly. He picked up Flash’s boot, studying it as the other unpacked the backpack. “What are these made of to not just disintegrate when you run? I mean, obviously a polymer of some sort, but the friction it has to withstand…”

“Oh, we use a lot of the same stuff that you see in factories where machines produce high friction and some science from the automotive industry and even the aerospace,” Flash explained when he paused to see what Danny was talking about. “The shoes were pretty easy. The suit was the real problem.”

“Weave issues,” Danny said with a little nod. “Makes sense.”

“And chaffing,” Flash said with a grimace. “I have used so much baby powder.”

Danny couldn’t help but laugh at Flash’s expression. “I bet.”

“Yeah. Luckily Un—um, the other Flash had a lot of things worked out before I put on the suit.”

“That’s cool. Chemistry was never my thing, but material engineering can be really inventive.”

“There you are being smart again.”

“Me? Nah, my parents are just inventors. I used to do some work in their lab when I was a kid,” Danny said, setting the shoe down.

“And you didn’t want to follow in their footsteps?” Flash asked, his tone oddly soft.

Danny snorted. “Their type of science? No way. And besides, I never would have gotten into a good program. I, ah… didn’t do too well in high school.”

“No?”

“Nope. There was an accident in my parent’s lab with one of their inventions…” Danny closed his eyes. It was still hard to talk about the accident, especially when he couldn’t really talk about it. “Got electrocuted pretty badly by it. My heart stopped. Anyways, it threw me off pretty badly for a time and then I just never really got my feet under me. And there was this stupid bully and some other shit… sorry, excuses, I know.”

“Hey, no, reasons. People who think every reason is an excuse really don’t want you to explain yourself, they just want you to feel bad,” Flash said and bumped their shoulders together lightly. “Besides, look where you are now! You’re doing so much good and already a team lead. That’s amazing. Who cares about how you did in high school anymore?”

“My sister, for one,” Danny said. He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Wow, sorry, I really brought the mood down, huh? Show me what you brought for this picnic. After your pizza choices I’m curious what else you like.”

“Dude, you ate the pizza!” Flash defended, though his grin gave away his amusement.

“I wasn’t insulting your tastes, curious can be a good thing. It got me to agree to tonight, remember?" Danny asked. He was smiling again, despite the serious conversations a few moments ago. It was almost startling how easy it was to smile around Flash.

(Danny wasn’t complaining about that either.)

“Mmhummm, sure,” Flash said, ducking his head to hide his grin.

"Come on, unpack the snacks,” Danny said, nudging their shoulders together.

“Okay, okay, demanding,” Flash said with with a smile. “It’s a picnic, yeah? So have to have watermelon, but even better than normal watermelon, I have pickled watermelon!”

“Pickled watermelon?” Danny asked, taking the presented container curiously.

“Salty, sweet, tangy— the best,” Flash said. “And some little bread bite things to go with them.”

“How specific.”

“Shut it. Oh! Right, wasabi peas, a must have, and cupcakes for dessert!” Flash said, pulling out frankly extravagant looking cupcakes.

“You’re spoiling me.”

“Well,” Flash said. Danny could just barely see the blush coating his cheeks. “Maybe I think you deserve to be spoiled.”

Danny froze for a moment. Oh. Oh. This was a date. He felt foolish for not cluing in earlier. Suddenly feeling bashful himself, he glanced at Flash. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, like, okay, I’m getting that you don’t seem to think it, which is really like, so wrong, but you’re really amazing and nice and I mean, I’m just saying that I’m glad you said yes to tonight and since you said yes I’m going to spoil you, because, um, you deserve it,” Flash said in a blur of words.

It was charming that Flash thought that highly of him. Misguided, maybe, but charming. It bloomed a warmth in Danny’s chest that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Before he lost his nerves, Danny leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Flash’s cheek, right above the corner of his lips. “Thank you.”

Flash blushed red enough to match his mask. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed and leaned against Flash. “Oh, look! A meteor!”

“Where? I see it! Wait, I’ll turn out most of the lights!” Flash said, gone and back before Danny even had a chance to tilt over. There was just enough light left to see the food without losing the overwhelming wonder that was the night sky and streaking meteors. “Make a wish.”

“Naw,” Danny said. He’d never do that again. Besides… “don’t need to. This is already perfect.”

“Yeah,” Flash softly agreed as he twined their fingers together.

-----

AN: The boooooooys. My, I just enjoy writing these two being all soft and cute so much. And hey! Danny clued in! What do we think of Wally's food choices? (Can you tell I've been craving pickled watermelon?)

Stay delightful, my darlings!

I no longer tag people, but you can subscribe to be notified on the masterpost!

[magimerlyn]

Butch Hartman (initial creator of Danny Phantom) is a pretty vocal transphobe. I think he's got some other stuff too, but i mostly just know about the transphobia.

Here's the thing.

The very nature of Danny as a character makes him ripe for trans people to latch onto him. The most obvious thing is that his secret identity isn't a secret to his enemies, it's a secret to his parents, and not to protect them, but because they actively try to capture him as Phantom. Danny keeps it a secret from his parents in order to protect himself, not them. There's also some jokes about him being girly and not being a man coming from the bullies at his school. When he and his friends go to the pool, he wears a shirt. Also, his only stable clone was female.

So you can imagine how a lot of queer people found this story and show and latched onto it.

There's also the fact that the canon lore doesn't really make a ton of sense. Danny dies from turning on the portal, presumably being electrocuted. And yet when he develops elemental powers beyond the plasma-based powers that seem pretty standard for ghosts, he has cryokinesis instead of electrokinesis. Some ghosts are pretty clearly dead people or animals, but then there are ghosts that are concepts or forces of nature. Some ghosts get power boosts from humans, others don't. What the fuck does it mean for someone to be the ghost king, and if Danny defeated him, what does that make Danny? What the hell are the observants?

None of this is really given an explanation in the plot. So we filled in the gaps, fueled by love for the world and hatred towards the creator.

there’s death of the author and then there’s whatever the fuck is up with danny phantom

[vala-dreams]

Your wish is my command.

.

SO HERE WE GO AGAIN

As a continuation of this delightful hc (https://vala-dreams.tumblr.com/post/689604946742689792/dp-headcannon-the-half-ghost-thing-danny-has) in which Danny literally rots from the inside as everyone desperately tries to save him, I would like to add another terrific lil detail: Danny doesn't know he's a ghost. Yes, he goes through the portal and gets electrocuted and killed, but he doesnt know that! (Not yet anyway)

He tries to fix the portal by himself to cheer up his parents, gets shocked instead and dies. But he never realises he does. From his point of view, he just gets electrocuted and passes out. His parents find him later like that and immediately rush him to the hospital, where they do the hospital-y things (I have no idea what goes on in a hospital can someone please tell me whats the usual procedure thing they do for victims of electrocution) and they run some tests which come out VeryWrong™. So by now the Fentons put two and two together and realise that their baby boii might be ecto contaminated. Severely. Like a lot.

So they keep a close eye on him. After a while, Danny's finally discharged from the hospital and free to go home. Which is where the fun really starts.

They keep running periodic tests on Danny without telling him that they're worried about him being ecto contaminated cause how do you even tell your child stuff like that. They saw what happened to Vlad in college. They saw him die with their own eyes. It's gotta be the equivalent to telling your kid that he has a terminal disease. They are going to tell him eventually, but they're working up the mental fortitude to do so.

Cue parental angst montage.

In the meanwhile, jazz is trying to help Danny cope with getting burnt alive (hah lol alive) by his parents own contraption when she stars noticing weird things in his behavior (more weird than the expected ig) AND their parents. At first she chalks it up to trauma and guilt and tries to help but as time passes things keep adding up and one day she finally gets jack to crack and tell her what's really going on.

Cue elder sister "oh my god my brothers rotting from the inside and i never even noticed I am such a horrible sister I'm going to lose him I can't lose him" angst montage.

And they all try to frantically find a cure.

(Vain, vain, it's all in vain)

.

.

.

Hmm?

What's that?

Oh how's Danny doing?

.... Well

He's getting gaps in his memory lately. He can't remember what he was doing at luch break. Coincidentally also when some lunch lady ghost apparently came to take over the cafeteria.

Pssh what nonsense. Ghosts don't exist.

He's also feeling really nauseous now tho. Huh. Hope he's not coming down with anything major.

....

;)))

[uniasus]

what’s your thoughts on the concept of a tua danny phantom au with viktor (or klaus) as danny?

So my first thought is yes, Klaus is Danny. Essentially immortal teen, yeah? With the power to talk to ghosts? Easy. But then I had to think about who Viktor would be, and then from there it sorta spiraled.

So!

TUA X DP AU

Klaus and Luther are brothers, and Luther takes the role of big brother Very Seriously to the point where Klaus shakes him at school and on weekends to hang out with the besties - Ben (who takes Sam's role, and is just as into the goth stuff just with a more Cthulu bent) and Five (who takes Tucker's role as a tech genius and strong fascination with anything that bleeds red. Tucker can identify meet by smell, Five can take one look at a cut and tell you more about where it came from than you ever want to know)

Klaus's accident is less the results of a dare and more of Five being sure that he can fix what Grace and Pogo (Human in this AU) did wrong. Five thinks it's something with a hook-up in the portal and as Ben is too distracted by an ectoplasm lava lamp he's sure is trying to send a message from beyond, Klaus suits up, walks inside, and bam! Electrocuted because that lava lamp was somehow hooked up to the energy flow of the portal and Ben touched it.

No, harm, no foul, until Klaus starts to develop powers.

There's no real reason to not tell his parents, Grace and Pogo only have an academic interest in ghosts, but he doesn't want to worry them. He tries, a few times, but it always goes...weird.

Who does know is Diego. Ahem. Mr. Pitts, the English teacher. He's got a strange eye for kids. He isn't the most popular with students but has a strong sense of their needs. Extra time to think. A supportive ear. Someone to point CPS in the right direction. He's been eyeing Ben for a while - any kid that interested in the macabre has a reason - so he notices the shift in Klaus and how Ben and Five act around him. Diego thinks Klaus is hiding bruises, but it's powers.

With the portal open, ghosts come through and Klaus does fight them off, but his obsession isn't a hero complex, it's just wanting to help. Wanting to be useful. It means Ben and Five had to get more involved because if a ghost pushes the right buttons Klaus helps them instead of the town.

This is a problem when he meets a ghost going by The Monocle aka Reggie. Reggie in this AU is an old mentor of Grace and Pogo, overseeing their college career, and he'd become family of a sort. Grace and Pogo used to have Thanksgiving at his house for years, knowing his wife Abigail and adopted daughter Allison. Thing is, a failed experiment turned Reggie into a halfa and he's extremely upset that the change caused Grace and Pogo to abandon him. A fear Reggie puts in Klaus, and he wonders if that's the unknown reason why he'd been unable to tell his parents.

Grace and Pogo flip out at The Monocle, as they'd believed that Reggie had 100% died, not 50%. So a lot of the conflict would be Reggie trying to get Klaus to turn against his parents, and Klaus struggling to do that while Grace and Pogo are deeply invested in proving out the afterlife.

Viktor, in this world, OP short king that I love, I'm making Clockwork. He's a little more overbearing in this AU than canon but still mainly hands off because Klaus's susceptibility is a risk. There's a genuine concern that his obsession might make him let his parents go too far in their research to understand ghosts, so Viktor's been getting in the way of that.

[nastyburger]

its mourner time

before the accident, sam, tucker, and danny were in a band called “Dead Cat and the Haunted”! tucker played bass, danny played drums, and sam was vocalist and guitar (tucker could also play piano on the side and did sound mixing). the band had been officially around for about a year and a half, but the dream of starting one has certainly existed between the trio for years beforehand.

the band’s genre was basically alt rock. sam and tucker adopted the punk goth look for the band but ended up liking the image enough to go full time with it! danny himself never quite adopted this, but still gets their own lighter makeover for shows (usually just the simple black shirt and paint on his cheeks really). the band wasnt popular per say, but they definitely had a couple of hits in niche circles.

danny usually provided a lot of fenton tech for performances (a failed “ghost smoker” that makes a pretty good fog machine, some homemade laser lights made from spare parts, ect), so the ghost portal was a project of interest when it was completed (but unable to work). similar to canon, sam persuades danny to check the portal out. with danny being the robotics nerd that he was and growing up with this sort of ghost tech all around them, having danny go in to find the problem seemed like the natural thing to do, sam though nothing of it when she made the suggestion.

danny was a bit nervous to venture in alone though, so they ask sam to go in with them which she agrees to do. tucker decides to stay behind during all this. they both put on their hazmat suits and went into the portal. danny accidentally hits the switch as usual and........fully dies from the electrocution.

for one reason or another, the variables were just not lined up for danny this time around and he doesnt make it out of the portal in any form of consciousness. not alive, not a ghost, not half, just dead. sam, on the other hand, did gain ghost powers but the guilt of what happened to danny eats her alive.

she adopts this “i couldnt save my friend so i save everyone else” philosophy and begins to have a somewhat strained relationship with tucker. she starts to push him away both out of guilt and a “its safer this way” mentality. the first couple months following danny’s death was a difficult time for everyone and sam left herself to figure out most of this ghost stuff on her own.

tucker was relentless though and did everything he could to support sam and stick by her side despite her efforts to keep him away. after a particularly nasty scourge with a ghost that leads to tucker saving sam, she finally relents and allows tucker back into her life. things are still a little difficult between them, but they’re slowly getting better.

the fentons believe that danny went into the portal alone. the little fact that sam was in there with them was quietly left out of the story and thats all jack and maddie really knew about the incident. they never pried anymore information from the kids still mourning (haha funny joke) and traumatized. jazz, on the other hand, was furious. she knew they were with danny was right to suspect some sort of persuasion happened to get him to go into the portal. sam admits that she was the one to tell them to go in out of guilt, she and jazz don’t talk to each other for a long time.

the ember “episode” plays out differently with mourner and far later in her ghost career, it was a rather important point in her healing process. the fight against ember ends up taking place as a “battle of the bands” type deal, the idea was to essentially steal the spotlight and attention off of her. the idea of playing as a band was obviously a sore spot for sam and tucker, and the lack of a drummer was a problem on its own. there was someone they could ask, but neither of them really liked the idea.

stuff happens, tensions rise, until finally sam and tucker do what they need to do: they ask jazz to play drums for them. jazz was able to play drums as well, and often subbed in for danny while he was alive from time to time. after the incident, the idea of jazz replacing danny permanently popped up but was quickly shut down. it was just too soon at the time, so asking jazz to play now was a significant gesture of moving on. they play as a band, beat the ghost, and sam and jazz also mend their relationship.

after the ember incident, this was also the point where sam tells jazz about her ghost powers and the full story of what happened that day, she later does the same for jack and maddie. she felt she owed them the truth, and while jazz has finally forgiven sam, jack and mads have a harder time. they dont hate or hold the incident against her, they just find it hard to grapple with. sam does her best to stay distant from the parents for their sake.

as of now, sam, tucker, and jazz play together as “The Mourners”. jazz is now also part of the team and helps with sam’s ghost fighting, the three become more close knit with both the band and the hunting.

are sam and tucker dating in this au? the answer to that is.........its complicated. they definitely do like each other, even before the incident, but its hard to think about dating when your best friend died. they’ll get there eventually, but itll be a long while until then.

[adoptable-fanfic-prompts]

Came up with a revision. Instead of Tim getting ghost powers right away (post close proximity to a Lazarus Pit), he gets the Dani Phantom treatment: he’s unstable unless he’s near a Lazarus Pit.

So he doesn’t get his powers until stabilized and he can’t get stabilized unless he has pure ectoplasm (which the Lazarus Pit does NOT have (it’s contaminated with other chemicals)). And the only way to get the pure ectoplasm is to build a ghost portal (which will take time). And the only reason Tim realizes this is because he got a note labeled CW stating this (and also includes that ghosts cannot enter the DC world due to the contaminated ectoplasm. Can only get in once the ghost portal is made, as to have a ‘purified’ entrance. Side note: only reason it got through was because ghosts from the Infinity Realm can only act minimally in this world due to the ectoplasm. So minor haunting stuff like misplaced objects, etc.).

The idea continues that Tam is trying to help Tim with building the Ghost Portal but since it’s never been made in the DC reality and it’s been years since Tim as Danny been even close to seeing the schematics, he doesn’t recall how to build one other except through vague memories.

Jason eventually gets pulled into this because Tim becomes unstable during patrol and Jason finds him almost melting/vomiting up blood and ectoplasm. Tim barely managed to get out that Jason needs to call Tam. After a bit of Tam uncertain of the caller (aka Jason) being trustworthy and actually knowing Tim in and out of costume, they manage to get to the Lazarus Pit that underneath Gotham to get Tim stabilized. So now Jason is part of the ‘stabilizing Tim’ team (although he is feeling very conflicted about it, partially because of his close proximity to a Lazarus Pit makes him emotionally unstable).

They get close (able to turn on a small ghost portal but unable to extract the ectoplasm) when Tim takes a turn for the worse. Tim is falling down (and partially melting (like Dani)), Jason is running towards him to catch him, and the next thing Jason knows, everything is frozen except him and Tam and they are sporting some weird necklaces. They meet Clockwork who reveals a little bit about Tim’s past life (but not a lot, just that he knew him in another life) and has made it so that time will remain frozen until Tam and Jason figure out a way to extract ectoplasm from the small portal.

Not sure of what else but they manage to figure it out and once Tim’s stabilized (via getting an electrocuted shock of ectoplasm as well as using an ecto-dejecto that actually weakens the contaminated ectoplasm instead of strengthening it), he gets his powers back.

Still needs to relearn because he has no muscle memory for them anymore. Which Tam and Jason both have to deal with.

Oh, and maybe the purified ectoplasm can help Jason (no ghost powers though, maybe liminal fanon ideas?)

Danny Phantom + Dc

Random thought but I was thinking of reincarnation fanfics and thought ‘What if Danny was reincarnated as one of the Robins?’ Why he died? Who knows. Maybe it’s angsty, maybe he just died of old age, doesn’t really matter.

If someone writes this, it could literally be any of them but I keep imagining it as a Danny-reincarnated-into-Tim. Part of the reason for this is because Barbara would kind of remind him of Jazz and considering both Jason and Dick have been been romantically in love with Barbara at one point or another… (ew). And Damian as Danny just doesn’t fit in my mind but eh, it doesn’t really matter.

So if it’s the Tim route, Tim doesn’t remember he was Danny until after witnessing the death of Flying Graysons (his past experience of him hiding his identity also helped him with figuring out other heroes identities). Also, he’s a bit smarter because he isn’t being distracted by ghosts or his family (although this leaves him feeling extremely lonely since he went from having people at home almost 24/7 to maybe once every three months on the night of a blue moon). He doesn’t get his powers back until he’s stabbed (when the League tries to remove the spleen by the Lazarus Pit, the Pit actually activates his ghost abilities (it’s the Lazarus is ectoplasm theory) and results in him not needing his spleen removed (and Tim needing ectoplasm to be ‘whole’ again might be why Jason reacted so harshly to him despite his age: because Tim was missing something vital that the remnants of the Pit in Jason recognized as abnormal (if that makes any sense)).

Side note: I forgot to include that now the ghost side is back, Tim has struggles with regaining control of his powers while trying to get Batman back.

That’s it for this idea. Also, I wanted to know if people would be interested in other ‘powered Tim’ fanfic ideas, even if it’s not dc x dp related.

[coffeecakecafe]

god, all of ur danny phantom ideas are AMAZING like it’s so impressive how you managed to expand on canon and make it so much more interesting and fun!! could you just like, post a complete block of text of all your favorite fanon ideas? from the freckles to the obsession to the electric core and whatever else, I’d love to read it!! <3

thank you!! ooh okay so um hm. where to start.

so for several years i’ve wandered the edges of the phandom, but i didn’t get real involved until a little over a year ago, i think? anyway everyone here is a genius and they’re all full of wonderful concepts. it’s a very creatively rich environment.

i got very attached to What If It Was Scarier and More Supernatural ‘cause that’s what I like to write anyway, some, and there’s just a unique brand of situational horror that can come from dp. also Ghost Cores as a universal trait that all ghosts have with like, pokemon typing, is great. i made a chart when I was writing my first phic. it’s a bad chart but I had a great time. Cores expanded into like, what about if Danny had an Electric Core?? which I love. if u get electrocuted into half death you deserve to shoot lightning. i also just have a soft spot for lightning powers in general so this is the one i’m the most strongly attached to lol. also! the phandom has great general rules for Obsessions, and I love when people take a crack at figuring out one for Danny. I am personally v attached to space obsession, since he wanted to be an astronaut. also it gives me good design vibes to work with. the freckles I saw on a few different folks’ art and They Were Right, They Were So So Right.

i think some of the stuff i do that’s like, more self indulgent I guess is like, age the kids up a little to like 16 (i wanted them to have a car, and also that’s just.. slightly less baby) and i make Danny p tall, bc at 16 I think he’d have started inheriting Jack’s height. i was initially trying to keep him pretty gangly to make up for it but honestly i forgot that was the plan so it’s not v consistent lol. when I was writing Lightning & Comets (it has a tag I’ll tag it perhaps I’ll return to writing it some day but if u wanna know the Outline literally just ask and I’ll post it somewhere OTL) I know I wanted to linger a little while in like, Vlad actually getting to mentor Danny for a bit? like, Vlad knew Danny was a halfa but Danny didn’t know Vlad was, and just thought Plasmius was a helpful ghost mentor. And I was gonna do Deep Lore for Pariah Dark, like a castle made of fallen castles and fortresses and a long forgotten army of the damned or smth. was gonna be cool. was gonna have Ghost King Danny do something funky in the Dan storyline, bc shouldn’t Dan also be the ghost king?? can i get a ghost king fight? i dunno i didn’t get that far. i lifted a lot of power mechanics from L&C for the crossover stuff which is probably going to be confusing later but I might change my mind about things if/when I get around to writing for it properly

[dp-marvel94]

For the "40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers" thing

1, 11, and 40.

1) Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

It's gotta have a hefty dose of angst but end with comfort. There's lots of crying and hugging as Danny (normally) is comforted and supported by (most of the time) his family and (less often) his friends. There's also probably clones or split Danny.

11) Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

My passion. A lot of the time, I feel like this, writing, is what I was born to do. I love getting to connect to people through my writing. And I hope that the stories I create encourage people and give them a little hope. I don't generally like unhappy ending. I believe love and forgiveness, all things good, will prevail so I write about that. Maybe that makes me sounds kinda sappy and I'm probably pretty optimistic for a DP writer. But I think life coming from death, overcoming death, and resurrection are mind-blowing concepts which I can ramble out in the context of DP forever. So I'm going to do that.

40) Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

@only-in-december I don't know if you had a fic in mind or if you just wanted me to pick one. Let me know if you do but I'll just ramble about my pick for now.

So, an alternative ending to "Hope can be a Heavy Thing to Hold" Spoilers under cut

In this version, the clone does not destabilize in the end. Instead, he turns human and is powerless because of the chip. The chip electrocutes him and he hits his head so he passes out and stops breathing. After capturing Vlad in the thermos, Danny goes to check on him and gives him CPR. He's very relieved when his clone's heart restarts.

Danny takes the other boy upstairs, finds his room, and treats his injuries. He puts the clone in his bed and goes off to figure out what's happening. He finds the packed supplies and the notebook down in the lab. He flies back up to the mansion and if flipping through the pages when he hears a clatter in the bedroom and then the sound of throwing up.

He phases into the bedroom to find his clone heaving over the toilet and the bandages on his head red tinted. Danny tries to talk to the other boy. There's angry yelling and denial. (You're not real. This isn't happening. This isn't real.) The clone ends up throwing stuff at Danny and yelling at him until he puts his hands up and walks away.

Danny's very annoyed now, after that reaction. He's fuming and angry himself. He finds the kitchen and realizes he's hungry. Danny starts boiling water for mac and cheese. While he's waiting, he looks at the notebook and.... he immediately feels bad, realizing what that reaction was. Part of him is disgusted and disturbed by the clone things he was the real Danny. But another part of Danny feels pity; the poor kid just found out everything he thought about himself was lie.

Danny's still standing and reading when he hears the sound of the kitchen door opening. He looks up and he and the other boy meet eyes. A look of shock and fear crosses his face and the clone bolts. Danny runs after him. He ends up cornering the clone, who's trying and failing to activate his powers, in the hallway. The clone sinks to the floor, backed up against the wall.

"It wasn't....that wasn't a dream. I'm really... I'm really a cl-. I'm...I'm not real. I'm not real." He's crying. "No. It has to be a dream. This isn't real. It's not happening."

The other boy is spiraling, becoming more and more distraught and unfocused. Danny grabs his hand and... "You feel that? Your hand in mine. That's real. You're real. I'm real. We're both real. And we're here together."

"I'm not...I'm not real."

"Yes, you are." Danny squeezes the hand, reassuring. "You're okay. You're safe now. Just breathe with me, okay?"

Danny manages to talk his clone down until the other boy is coherent and relatively calm. He pulls the other boy to his feet and offers him some of the food he just made. The clone accepts cautiously.

The two talk in the kitchen. It's a very somber conversation, figuring out exactly what's happened, that the clone isn't the real Danny, the boy he'd woken up earlier was. The clone isn't in denial. He understands the truth but he's very clearly unhappy. He's grumpy and barely able to look at Danny.

There's a debate about what to do now. The clone tries to just leave but he's powerless and the chip shocks him if he tries to use his powers. Danny argues with him to stop and the clone insists they get the chip out.

The two go back down to the lab. They try everything they can think of to remove the chip but Danny can't even pull it out with his intangibly. The clone is ready to give up, feeling hopeless. And then Danny gets the idea that his parents might be able to get the chip out. There's another argument.

"Are you crazy?! How are we supposed to explain me" The clone motions to himself. "to Mom and Dad? They don't know about me...us...I mean you being Phantom!"

Danny insists they'd understand. And the other boy not getting hurt every time he tries to use his own powers would be worth it.

Eventually, the clone is convinced. He leaves with Danny, taking the car he'd picked out earlier. They're planning to go to Jazz's college where she's doing a summer program she can help explain. Cue the start of a sibling bonding road trip.

It starts out tensely. Danny and the still unnamed clone don't talk much. Both are clearly uncomfortable but Danny is trying to be nice. They go to a dinner for food and the clone tries a burger and a milkshake for the first time which actually makes him smile for the first time in front of Danny. The waitress thinks they're identical twins, which leads to a conversation latter in the car about how that's technically true.

The clone warms up a little after that. He points out interesting sighs and attractions as they pass them. He takes over navigating with the map they got at the rest area. Soon it's night and the clone falls asleep in his chair.

Later, he wakes up as the flashing of police lights. They're in the middle of no where. Danny's whipping around corners and look for a way to get away. He pulls off, hiding between some trees. He turns the whole car invisible and they wait for the police to pass. The sirens disappear but...

"We need to ditch this car." Danny insists.

His clone agrees. With Danny being the only one with powers, he has to carry his counterpart which is awkward. They stop to rest in an abandoned building and get some sleep.

Both boys end up at Jazz's school the next morning. With no phone and not knowing where she is, both teens end up asking around for the red-head. Jazz is worried and a little annoyed. She finds the clone first and hurriedly shoves him into her dorm room. Danny pops into visibility and the pair have to explain.

The clone goes to the restroom and Danny reassures his sister that the other teen's a good guy. He ends up mentioning the 'having Danny's memories' thing which the clone isn't really happy about.

Continued sibling road trip! But with Jazz bonding and reassuring the clone that he's a real person and can be his own person. She encourages him to pick out his own name and he goes with Jamie, from Danny's middle name.

They end up in Amity Park. Danny tells his parents about his powers and about his clone. With the successful reveal, he goes out to the car to get Jamie. The other boy is unsure and awkward at seeing Jack and Maddie. But Maddie smiles at him, calling him sweetie. Jack gives him a bear hug. Jamie finally breaks down crying, calling them Mom and Dad.

So yes, Jack and Maddie agree to help their new son. There's a lot of angst, dealing with being powerless, with being a clone with fake memories. But Danny and Jazz are good siblings and help Jamie find himself. The Fenton parents learn about Danielle and adopt her into the family. And eventually Jack and Maddie manage to remove the inhibitors so Jamie can finally fly again.

[galaxyghostart]

like looking in a mirror - ao3 link

an au fic in which phantom isn’t what he seems. aka, i take my “what if danny isn’t actually phantom” idea and make it angsty. it got very out of hand, very fast. 

Danny Fenton couldn’t tear his eyes away from the TV. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. It couldn’t. 

Phantom, they were calling him. Amity Park’s new hero, menace, monster. Whatever you wanted to call him. He wasn’t any of those things to Danny.

Sam couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “...Is no one going to say it?” 

Tucker shot her a warning look. “Don’t, Sam.”

“What? Isn’t it freaky? That ghost looks just like Danny.” 

“I know,” Danny said, too quietly. Sam had a hundred theories lined up already, but Danny was already standing up before she’d even gotten a chance to speak. 

“...Danny? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got someone to find.” 

The door shut. 

Sam looked to Tucker, incredulous. “Did I strike a nerve? It wasn’t an insult, it’s just- Look at him.” She gestured wildly at the news, still broadcasting footage of Phantom flying across the sky. “It’s not like Danny’s dead. Who the hell is that, and how does he look so similar?”

Tucker hesitated. The idea was almost too awful to contemplate, but Danny had clearly thought the same thing he had when that familiar figure made his way across the screen. He stood up, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing- It happened before you moved to town. C’mon, I’ll tell you on the way. We should find Danny before he does something stupid.” 

---

For once, his parents’ ghosthunting technology was coming in handy. Danny never believed in this stuff before- honestly, part of him still didn’t,- but somehow, it seemed to work. The machine detected ectoplasm, and Phantom may as well have been a beacon for all the power he gave off. 

This is bullshit, Danny thought, even as he followed it like a compass. 

It led him to- of course it lead him here. The observatory. The project had been abandoned a while back, but the skeleton of the structure remained intact. The metaphor didn’t escape him. On the contrary, it was pretty much punching him in the face. Abandoned telescope, abandoned dreams, abandoned life. 

It wasn’t hard to hop the fence. Okay, it was- It took like, 15 minutes, a few falls and a whole lot of swearing, but he finally made it to the other side. The machine in his hands was beeping faster, like a frantic heartbeat. 

Shut up, he silently willed it. It didn’t.

Making his way carefully through the rusted doors of the place, he couldn’t help but feel a chill. Somehow, he didn’t think it was from the temperature. He turned the machine off and stuffed it into his back pocket- At this point, he didn’t need it to feel the energy radiating off of the place. It was everywhere. Wrapping his arms around himself, he stepped to the middle of the circular room. 

“I know you’re here,” he called. 

No response. 

He gazed up at the unfinished ceiling, narrowing his eyes. “It’s me.” 

Still nothing. 

He couldn’t take it anymore. “James. I know it’s you.” 

Just like that, he felt the energy in the room shift. He still couldn’t see him, but he knew he was there. A quiet voice echoed out from the shadows. 

“...how?” 

“You’ve been all over the news, man. Amity Park’s newest hero, I’m hearing.” 

“not that. how did you know it was me? i’m not exactly... normal looking.”

Danny let out a halfhearted chuckle. “You know we have the same face? Can’t exactly change that with a fancy new hair color.” 

“...”

“...Besides, it’s not like I’d forget my own brother.” 

“...you got me.” 

There he was, finally. A dark shadow right in the corner of Danny’s eye. No- There he was again. More solid, more... real. 

Not by much, but enough. 

“...Hey.”

“...hey.” 

Danny had been thinking this over the whole way here, but everything he’d planned to say seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. What was there to say? It had been years since it had happened, and part of him still couldn’t accept it had happened at all, even now. It didn’t seem... real. 

Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. It was supposed to be nothing but the made-up fantasy that got his brother killed. That stupid portal. It was less of a portal and more of an electrocution hazard, which Jazz had pointed out, not that either of them had listened. Not until it was too late, that is. It hadn’t worked. Why his parents had tried again after that, he had no idea, but they had, and now he was here. Against all odds, he was here. 

Meaning he��d been there all this time.

And Danny had left him behind. 

“You look...”

“older?”

“...Yeah.”

“so do you. guess that’s how this works.” 

“Maybe.”

They’d always joked about some psychic twin connection. Danny might’ve made some quip about it now, but the humor he often used to cope was starting to feel hollow. James was here. Not alive, but here. What the hell was he supposed to say?

“I... missed you.” 

“i know. i missed you too.” 

“Why didn’t you come home? I had to see you beating up ghosts on the news to realize you were back. Could’ve said hello.” 

There was humor in those glowing green eyes, but not much. “think i didn’t try? mom and dad had a nice hello waiting for me in the form of big ol’ ectoguns.” 

“...Oh.”

“yeah.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“it’s not your fault.” 

“Not just about this, about- About everything. That stupid dare. Not... Not looking for you out there.” 

The phantom’s form solidified a little more, just enough to see that familiar smirk on his face. 

“what, you think you should’ve summoned the dead just to bring me back? doesn’t work like that, buddy. you probably would’ve just gotten a demon.”

“It’s just...” Danny’s voice wavered a little, and he took a deep breath. “It’s just not fair. Why you? Why’d this have to happen to you? You’re back now, but you’re still...” He swallowed, trying to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill the entire time. “You’re still...”

Denial was the only thing standing between Danny and a full-on mental breakdown. He’d figured it was an impostor. If not that, a coincidence. If not that, some weird dream. A hallucination. Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. James was gone. 

And yet, here he was. 

“Why aren’t you angry? It was my dumbass idea, and you’re the one that kicked the bucket. You should be pissed as hell. You should hate me.” 

“...”

Danny’s voice was shaking. His shoulders, too. James drifted a little closer, concern making its way onto his ethereal face.

“Why don’t you hate me?” 

Everything went cold. For a moment, Danny thought he’d been dunked in cold water, until he noticed the gloved arms wrapped around his shoulders. James had made it the rest of the way across the room, and was hugging him as tight as one could when they weren’t fully tangible. Danny froze, then slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. James seemed to be getting more solid by the moment, and now that there was a shoulder there to cry on, Danny did. He let it all out- The repressed guilt, the self-hatred, the sadness, the loss. He cried until he couldn’t anymore. James stayed there, solid as a ghost could be. 

“...maybe i was a little pissed at first,” he spoke softly, after what seemed like forever. “okay, a lot pissed. it was a dumb idea, and a dumb portal. but i had a lot of time to think about it while i was gone. lots of ghosts get so pissed and so sad that they just lose themselves completely. go nuts. turn into a big ol’ murder monster or whatever. i didn’t want to be... that, especially not when i knew you were out there probably hating yourself enough for both of us. besides... you’re my twin, dude. i don’t think there’s anything you could do to make me hate you. so i learned to live with it, y’know? well... not live with it, but you get what i’m saying.” 

“...Kind of,” Danny sniffled.

Phantom pulled away from the hug and grinned. “what i’m saying is that i’m okay, danny. it’s okay. i’m back. and besides- you know what i can do now? check it out.” He raised a hand, which immediately began to glow. In his palm, tiny, glowing green stars began to form. It seemed to be taking a little bit of effort, but after a while, he clapped his hands together and then raised them, letting the stars loose. Throughout the observatory an ectoplasmic galaxy soared around them, and James’ face was full of light. He looked... happy. 

“see? isn’t it sick?” 

“Y-Yeah, I guess so,” Danny chuckled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Guess being a ghost has a few perks, huh?” 

“yeah.” Phantom smiled, then gave a small sigh. “listen. don’t tell mom and dad, okay...? they won’t... get it.” 

“Are you sure...?”

“big ol’ ectoguns, danny.” 

“Fair point. I’m... sorry.” 

“holy shit, danny.” James smacked him lightly in the shoulder. “stop apologizing!”

“Sorry!” Another smack. “Ow! Okay, okay, I get the point!”

“good.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but a sudden chill came over the room, even worse than before. James looked suddenly agitated, and soared quickly to the window. The stars vanished. “listen, i really wanna catch up more. like, you have no idea, i missed you so bad. but i wasn’t the only ghost the portal let out. there’s lots more, and they’re mean, and i’m pretty sure there’s a new one out there right now. i better go make sure they don’t kill anybody else.” 

“You don’t have to do it all by yourself.”

“i’m the only one of us who doesn’t have to worry about getting killed. i’ll see you later, okay?” 

“Wait-”

“i won’t disappear, promise. show me all the pokemon games i missed when i get back.” 

And with that, he was gone. The room was suddenly several degrees warmer, but emptier, too. Danny wasn’t sure how long he was standing there before a voice from behind him made him jump.

“DANNY!”

“Ack! Sam?”

Upon leaving the observatory, there they were- Sam, pacing around and calling. Tucker, lying facedown in front of the fence, clearly having messed up his footing.

“Danny! There you are,” she exclaimed, jogging over as Tucker managed to get to his feet. “We were worried you were going to get possessed.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry about before, by the way. I didn’t know.”

“Are you alright?” Tucker asked, finally having made his way over. 

“Not really,” Danny replied.

He’d spent the last few years feeling like half of a pair. It had always been Danny and James, Danny and James, Danny and James, until one day it was suddenly just Danny. But now... now? 

His missing half wasn’t missing anymore. Different, yes. Weird, for sure. Probably just as annoying as he’d ever been. But not missing. 

Danny glanced over his shoulder, back at the empty observatory. It didn’t seem so foreboding now. 

“...But I think it’s gonna be okay. Eventually.” 

[phantomphangphucker]

Phango - Gifted? Or Dead?

(Crossover + Identity Reveal + Daul Obsession (Space) AU + Dissection)

Mutants around a ghost are sorely outmatched and Danny’s one of the strongest there is, even if he’s a slightly broken kid.

Katherine, also now to those around her as Kitty, nods as she drives past the Amity sign, she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to find this mutant Xavier suspected was here. Or more specifically how she was going to get a hold of him. Phantom was more than just often spotted but was notoriously impossible to capture. She’s honestly a little glad for that, who knows what would be done to him. Even more so as it seems this town was notorious for having ghosts hunters and they all believed Phantom was simply a ghost and thus ‘evil’. Xavier seemed to think that wasn’t the case, that the boy was a mutant of some kind. The way he had frowned slightly leads her to think Phantom might be an experiment. The fact that the town was very well hidden and blacklisted was definitely not a good sign. It took a lot to find any information apparently.

Checking in with the hotel and quirking an eyebrow over the waver the receptionist gives her. Said receptionist answering her expression with clearly practiced ease, “to stay here overnight requires wavers, if you really do decide to stay for your full weeks' reservation, you’ll have to acquire ghost insurance down at the station. This is due to the unusual dangers present in town and you, as an outsider, don’t know how to deal with them”.

Katherine shakes her head slightly, “so this whole ghost thing is quite real”.

“Yup. Here’s your key card”, Katherine takes it with a nod and heads to her room.

She doesn’t waste much time setting up before wandering around the town, hoping to either spot Phantom or find some kind of clues. Finding herself chuckling a little at the mall, the kids' symbol was everywhere, some things even having the ‘inviso-bill’ code name on them. Which was honestly horrible, even her first code name ‘Sprite’ would have made more sense. Shaking her head, if Phantom was a mutant, he was already pretty well established in the world of heroics. He even had tons of detractors already, whether that was because of what everyone thought he was or not.

Ending up at the library, hoping to learn anything about what’s being labelled as ‘ghosts’. Leaning over to the receptionist, “so what're the best option for me to look into on this whole ghost deal?”.

Getting a soft laugh in return before the lady shakes her head with a small smile, “if you’re genuinely curious dearie, FentonWorks, but those two could talk anyone’s ears off for days about ghosts. We have a few books if you just want more generalised or fictional reading”.

“Are ‘those two’ experts on ghosts?”.

The lady nods immediately, “top of the field they say. Built an inter-dimensional portal into the Ghost Zone they say. Are the best makers of ecto-weapons they say. People say a lot, they say even more. They’ve got kids too. One’s probably the smartest person on Earth and the others basically an enigma. All four are strange. Head down the road and to the right. Look for the house with a giant FentonWorks sign that should be a light pollution threat and with a ufo, that can turn into a blimp and a jet, on top”.

Katherine blinks and nods at that, certainly won’t be the strangest thing she’s seen but that’s pretty up there. Turning to head out after thanking the lady.

It really doesn’t take long to find the house, muttering to herself, “that is one obnoxious sign”, before knocking on the door. She can’t help but think that these two would look right at home with all the mutants, jumpsuits were a pretty common sight with them.

Maddie asking, “hello? Can we help you?”.

Katherine nods with a smile, “yes, I’m visiting town and I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the whole ‘ghosts’ thing?”. She makes a point not to react on instinct to the rather massive Jack practically dragging her inside with an almost disturbing level of excitement.

Jack pushes her at the kitchen table, “wait here! We have awesome inventions!”, before running off down stairs.

Maddie smiles at her and points to a kettle, “would you like some tea?”. At Katherine’s nod Maddie starts up the kettle before sitting down, “so what is it you want to know? Outside of the basics of course”.

Katherine nods with a slight smile, “that for sure”, laughing slightly, “anything important for safety and why there seems to be one that’s just...fighting the others”.

Maddie sighs and shakes her head, “ah yes, Phantom. That one’s strange and an anomaly”, smiling a bit, “what we wouldn’t give to get our hands on It and see how It really works!”. Katherine makes it a point to not react visibly to that. While Jack bounds up the stairs, “talking ‘bout Phantom? If we could only get this baby-”, holding up some weird looking Bazooka with a claw hand on it, “-on It, then we could open that ghostie up! Get right down to the molecules!”.

It’s then that the son walks in the front doors, looking honestly skittish, “I’m home!”. Katherine watches him look her over with extreme caution, he was clearly very mistrustful. While he looks to his mom, “mom, who’s this?”.

“Oh jut a curious traveller sweetie”.

Katherine notes how the kid flinches when Jack swings around the weapon thing, “she wants us to blabber about ghosts! And look! We finished the Fenton Ectoplasm Crusher!”.

The kid looks slightly like a deer in headlights, “that’s great dad. I’m just gonna not stay here. I’ll be in my room if you need me!”, the last bit comes out rushed as the weapon goes off and shoots off at Danny, slamming into the wall where he was standing as he bolts up the stairs; the invention electrocuting the wall.

Katherine looking to Jack, “do inventions often go after him like that? Is that safe?”.

Maddie waves her off, “it’s fine. Ecto-weapons can’t hurt humans. It can just be a little startling”, Katherine watch’s as the women shoots her own hand to prove a point. Only thing, for the kid to have any kind of ingrained fear response to said weapons, means they must affect him. At least a little.

Jack picks up, utterly unaware of Katherine’s slight mistrust of them, “so we’ve been in the field for years! And one thing we know is that ghosts are evil ectoplasmic manifestations of post-human consciousness! They’re dangerous creatures!”.

Maddie nods, “we try to catalogue and record as many of them as we can, their powers too. And how best to contain or defeat them. See, they’re not capable of human emotions or being good. Even that Phantom one”, she shakes her head, “just feeding off the attention people give It. Why so many feel the need to see It as anything but a monster we’ll never know”.

Katherine feels like she’s heard this all before. Deciding to ask something more basic, “are they actually dead though? Or just abnormal people?”.

Jack chuckles, “oh they’re dead all right! No bones, no blood, no organs. Entirely made of ectoplasm! Which is a great energy source actually! We fuel our weapons with it!”.

Maddie looks from her husband to Katherine, “yes it sure is. Some ghosts were once human, or dogs, others we aren’t quite sure what they used to be. There’s plenty of work to be done in the field. One thing we can all agree on, those of us in the profession, is that ghosts are simply the negative and obsessive remnants of their living self. Rarely remembering so much as their name. They come to our world to wreak havoc and hurt those that dare still have what they lost. Or they seek power”.

Jack lifts up a few different weapons, and a fishing pole? While he speaks, “most of our inventions are to counteract their powers! All ectoplasm has certain abilities, but the really tricky ghosts are the ones with unique powers!“.

Maddie nods with a sigh, “which is the problem with Phantom. It’s unlike any other ghost. Able to get past anti-ghost things somehow and get into our world so frequently”.

Katherine tilts her head, “our world?”.

Jack beams and nods, “yup! Ghosts come from and exist in an alternately dimension! The Ghost Zone! Our work started really picking up when we figured out how to access the place!”.

Maddie smiles and gets up to pour the tea, speaking as she does, “it’s a very dangerous place, filled with ecto-filth and their lairs. They plot and heal there, before coming here to cause issues”.

Katherine smiles and takes the offered tea, while the conversation continues.

She listens to them, not really sure what to make of it all other than that the two really hate ghosts and wanted to both harm and control them. But she finds herself paying more attention to the coming and goings of the two kids. The daughter eyes held intelligence that likely surpassed nearly everyone’s and something tells Katherine that the daughter is far more watchful and suspicious than she lets on. The boy, on the other hand, only seemed relaxed when his parents were not looking at or near him. Other wise he was jumpy, skittish. But he was making a point to still be around his parents, though clearly avoiding them as quickly as he can. She also notes how the two seem to be able to look after themselves entirely, how the sister puts herself between the parents and the boy, how the parents are absorbed in their work, and how there are anti-ghost things everywhere...even the toaster is anti-ghost.

She smiles at them as she leaves but frowns when she’s out of sight, if she wasn’t curious about the two kids before, she was now. Pausing as she sees the daughter sitting on a bench, just out of sight of the Fenton house, reading an advanced psychology text.

Katherine walking up and asking, “you’re the daughter, what do you think of all this ghost stuff”.

She giggles slightly and snaps the book shut, “it’s Jasmine or Jazz for short. And it’s very real, even if my parents are extreme about it...and wrong in many ways”, Katherine watches as Jazz squints at her slightly before nodding, “you see the bigotry in it. The human mind is a flawed thing, impressive but flawed. It’s far easier to take what we do not know, do not understand, what is different; and label it less than us. Whether to fight against them, research them, or simply hold onto the ideal that humans are some great alpha species. It’s silly, isn’t it?”.

Katherine blinks and nods with a slight smile, “yes, people can be silly like that. I’m guessing you don’t share their opinions?”.

Jazz shakes her head, “very few teens do. But they’re the adults, the experts. So certainly, they must be right. Funny how that works”.

Katherine smiles slightly and nods, “people with power, sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad. You’re a smart girl, you’ll do some good things I’m sure”, the two nod and Katherine keeps walking.

The next thing she does is send a message to Xavier for anyone he wants her focusing more on. And it doesn’t take long to get back said list on who to check out. Sighing a bit over all six being teens. Sam Manson, Elliot Revon, Tucker Foley, Todd Brentex, Valerie Gray, and Danny Fenton. She’s going to leave the Fenton child till last, for a lot of reasons.

Using the library to track down the different residencies and to figure out the kids social circles. Promptly moving Elliot and Todd near the bottom of the list at noticing that Sam, Tucker, and Danny were basically best friends and Valerie was also their friend, just seemingly less close. But she can see why Xavier focused in on these six. Everything about Jasmine was very public even if she was odd. She probably was a mutant to a level but only receiving heightened intellect. Hardly what they were looking for and not who needed their help.

Sam was extremely rich, which wasn’t odd really but she also seems to raise pet plants that bite people, eats exclusively plant matter including soil, and frequently disappeared just before or during ‘ghost attacks’

Elliot has impossibly natural white hair and there was video proof of him being chased and attacked by the government. He also changed personas every few weeks, she’s pretty sure he doesn’t know who he actually is anymore.

Tucker was another’s case of extreme intellect but also seemed to hit on everything with legs, had something dubbed a ‘meat sense’ and was romantically involved with his PDA. He also frequently disappeared just before or during ‘ghost attacks’.

Todd seems like a run of the mill asshole, if you exclude the fact that he snarls, bites and all around acts a bit inhuman and creepy. There is a lot of comments about him having abnormal shows of strength.

Valerie likely carries ecto-weapons with her due to the staggering amount of comments about her having them at some point or another. Has a serious and extreme hatred for ghosts that could very likely be intentional as a cover up. She also disappeared when ‘ghost attacks’ happened.

Daniel was notable because of how little there was to note. He loved space, a lot, his Facebook was near nothing but space facts. He was chronically skipping or leaving classes, sometimes lining up with ‘ghost attacks’ sometimes not. Was so severely clumsy he was banned from handling fragiles. Was severely terrified of ghosts, this could be a cover. And that’s it, nothing else.  

Nodding and closing her little notes and deciding she’ll approach the techno-geek first.

Promptly running into an issue. Sam, Tucker and Danny were basically never alone. Either they were together, at home or with family. It was certainly strange. But this gives her time to observe them and Sam and Tucker are extremely protective of Danny. Even seeming so towards his parents. Which is a bit worrying. She also writes Todd off during this time as a guy who wants to be seen as weird and is quite literally acting a part. Valerie also seems like the overworked teen type, and she’s not all that involved with anyone else. Plus the ghost hating is not faked, catching her ranting about ghosts was honestly a bit disturbing.

Leaning against a wall in the mall and watching the three from afar when a floating Mecha bursts through a wall and sends tables and people flying, everyone else fleeing. Deciding to duck down and watch, maybe Phantom will come along and she’ll get lucky.

But the expressions on the trio catch her attention, sure they were running off but their eyes were hard and there was slight smiles playing on their faces. Danny even seemed to roll his eyes. Certainly different from everyone else.

Flickering her camouflage and intangibility on to sneak around and follow the trio enough to keep them in her sights. Maybe they had contact with Phantom. Blinking and smirking to herself of watching Danny’s -rather bright if she’s honest- little transformation sequence and catch phase. Ah teens, and yup, definitely a mutant of some kind. Somehow she doubts he’s a ghost that just can look human. Watching as the Mecha hits him with some hook thing and sends both of them intangibly through a wall.

Her jobs basically half done now so she’s content to just check in with Xavier before approaching the mutant.

Leaning back in a chair and speaking over the protected phones, “found your kid. But he might be a more sensitive case than normal”.

“Oh?”.

“His parents definitely do not know and they point blank said they wanted to very explicitly dissect him, Phantom anyway. The house is basically filled with things that hurt him if he actually is somehow a ghost”.

“Very well, I’ll fly down there”.

Nodding to herself and hanging up. It’s not like he’ll take long and she has to go fill out those insurance papers.

A few days later finds Katherine, Xavier, Scott Summer, and Jean Grey in-front of the Fenton house, waiting for an answer after they knew the Fenton parents would be gone for a while. If it took a bit longer simply to ensure the safety of a mutant then so be it.

Jazz is the one to open the door, Xavier smiles slightly at her not even looking surprised. “Hello Jasmine, I’m Charles Xavier”, gesturing to Scott, “this is Scott Summer”, gesturing to Jean, “this is Jean Grey”, gesturing to Katherine with a slight smile, “and I believe you’ve already met Katherine Pryde. Is Daniel around by chance?”.

Jazz steps to the side and lets the four in, hardly blinking at Jean telekinetically levitating Xavier’s wheelchair inside. Jazz commenting as she goes to make tea, “you’d think they’d create things more useful for everyday people, like stairs that can transform into ramps. Rather than hover cars and wormholes”.

Jean raises an eyebrow, “your parents have created such things?”. Jazz smiles and nods, Katherine nodding as well.

Jazz frowns slightly as she speaks, “now what do you want with my little brother?”.

Xavier holds up a hand, “relax, nothing bad, I can assure you. We merely want to talk, privately if that is possible”. None of them exactly want to assume who knows and who doesn’t about Danny. While Jazz squints slightly at them. Xavier speaks up again, reading that she was simply protective of her brother and very much knew, “I am better know to some as Professor Xavier or Professor X, I help people who are a bit different from the rest of humanity. Give them guidance, teach them”.

Jazz nods slightly, “so you are mutants then? I figured as much”, smirking slightly, “and I’m not one to be wrong”.

Scott frowns a bit more noticeably at that, “and you assumed why?”.

Jazz smirks as she pours teas and goes to walk up the stairs, “often those that see the bigotry towards people and creatures as being such, do so because they see and experience it themselves. Much the same has been said about mutants as ghosts”, turning to look at them with one foot up the stairs, “but make no mistake. Ghosts aren’t the same”.

Scott huffs as the girl walks up the stairs, not really believing this whole ghost nonsense. Much more likely were an unusual set of mutants, mutants with similar powers wasn’t unheard of and maybe this place simply resulted in such an occurrence.

All four turn to the stairs as a cautious looking Danny enters the kitchen, Scott and Jean honestly a bit surprised he’s actually alone. Katherine smiles at him, “hello again. Don’t worry, we’re the good guys”. Something about that makes the skittish boy chuckle as he sits down.

Danny mutters as he plays with the teacup, “everyone always thinks they’re the good guys”.

Xavier nods with a slight smile, “true. I have an old friend who always believed he was doing what was right, what was best. For those like us, for the world, for the future. He did not care who he had to hurt to achieve his idea of the perfect future”.

Danny squints a little, “‘people like us’? Are you including me in that ‘us’ thing?”.

Scott scoffs and crosses his arms, “we know you’re Phantom, kid. We’re mutants”. Scott groans slightly as Danny curls in on himself a little, clearly paranoid and skittish. Jean levitates a tea cup to herself and smiles softly, looking to make the kid feel more comfortable.

Danny watches them for a bit, “you're not with the government...are you?”.

All four shake their heads instantly. Xavier speaking, “we’re not looking to report you or hurt you or anything of the kind. I’m here to offer my help. You see, I run a school for gifted youngsters. Young mutants like yourself”, he steers his chair around the table to put himself in more full view of the skittish Daniel, “it’s a safe place, protected from any who would want to harm us. Where you could develop your gifts around others like you. And be free from the dangers posed to you”, Xavier nods towards one of the strange guns on the counter. “Mutants have been regarded with fear, hatred; as you’ve experienced yourself. There are some even who see us as a new species, but humanity has never been one to share. Our school has plenty to offer, the top classes in everything as well as training facilities that can be specialised to every mutants needs”.

Danny raises his hands and chuckles a bit awkwardly, “I’m, um, not a mutant. I mean, I guess that depends on whatever makes a mutant or whatever. But um, you really can’t tell anyone about me. I’d really rather not get dissected”.

Scott sighs, “kid, did you miss the protected part? The school’s a safe place and from what I’ve heard you can at least float and shoot energy rays, you’re a mutant”, Jean levitates up a pen and Scott lowers his visors quickly to shoot a little beam at it, destroying it. While Xavier explains, “mutants are people with a special gene, the X-gene, resulting in the mutant developing their gift around puberty. And I can assure you, no one is going to be experimenting on you”.

Danny scoffs and rolls his eyes, looking rather tired, “don’t promise things you can’t deliver. And I’m not a mutant then. I wasn’t born with some gene. Just got into an accident”, looking to and squinting at Scott, “um, what do you think ghosts are?”.

Scott shrugs, “collection of mutants probably”.

Xavier nods, Daniel wasn’t lying, “well sometimes traumatic events or emotional distress can cause the surfacing of a mutants gift. But even if you might not be a mutant, my school would and will accept you regardless. We are not ones to discriminate or turn away any gifted youths”.

Danny rubs his neck and shrugs a little, “could it awaken these genes or whatever in late twenties? Because if not, then I’m definitely not a mutant. But I guess thanks for not being discriminatory or whatever, nice change I guess”.

Jean frowns, goes to rub his shoulder reassuringly but pauses when he flinched away. He’s clearly been through a lot and doesn’t trust easily, “you have a place if you want it, and you will be accepted. Clearly this place isn’t safe for you”.

Danny scoffs and rolls his eyes again, fiddling with and looking down at his cup, “no place is really. And my folks don’t know, they don’t mean to hurt me. Even if they do shoot at me a lot, dad’s not that good of an aim though”, he smirks but it’s a little hallow. Looking to Scott, “ghosts are exactly what they sound like. The dead. I guess since you guys went and revealed yourselves, I’m a hybrid. Half dead”, chuckling and drinking the tea a little, “let me tell you, electrocution is a very painful way to go. Four billion volts, people don’t survive that. But hey, also having a ghost portal open up on me fixed the whole dying problem...partly anyway”.

Katherine breathes out, “well damn”, that was pretty awful. Looking to change the subject, “so what can you do? I can walk through things. Intangibility. And camouflage, it’s almost invisibility”, pointing at Scott, “laser eyes over here”, pointing at Jean, “empath, telekineses”, pointing at Xavier, “telepath in basically every-way”.

Danny jerks a little bit from hearing Xavier’s voice in his head saying ‘hello’ while Xavier smiles a bit playfully. Xavier speaking while Danny watches all of them, “I’m one of the strongest there is, I can manipulate any part of someone’s mind, shutting down their body functions even. But I don’t of course, won’t. I like to think humanity has good to them, at their core. That we can exist peacefully. I know you’re good, and that you fight the ghosts to protect people”, gesturing to the three mutants, “we do much the same, fighting less reputable mutants who want to harm”.

Danny eyeballs them and chuckles, “that’s pretty intense. Mind control really. I’ve been mind-controlled before, I broke it though. Kinda funny you came here with a bunch of people with similar abilities”, Danny levitates over the ectogun and pokes it to spin around in the air, “telekinesis, I don’t use it much though”, shooting a little ecto-beam at it, making the ecto-gun explode, “more laser fingers than eyes, can do that to though”, phasing his hand through the table before flickering invisible, “literally every. Single. Ghost. Can use intangibility, invisibility, and gravity nullification”.

Danny sighs and gets up, putting away his cup; three of the mutants a little surprised at the numerous powers. Xavier nods slightly, “you have more powers, don’t you”.

Danny scoffs and laughs a bit, “many. I don’t know if your school could make a training room actually able to handle me honestly. And I would bring danger with me. I’m wanted by the government, many ghosts want my hide -one very literally-, and there are the ghost hunters. Plus,” Danny sits on the counter and fiddles with the sink a little, letting the tap turn on but making ice shapes with the water, “I protect Amity, I guess some friends of mine could cover for me though”.

Scott scoffs, “don’t underestimate us kid, mutants always bring danger around with them; dealing with that is half the point of the school”.

Xavier nods, “we've seen everything from intolerant parents, to government-funded mad scientists. We’re well equipped”.

“Could I leave at any point to come back here in case?”.

Xavier nods, “of course, it’s not a prison. Though it is a school all the same, you will have classes you’re expected to attend”.

Danny mumbles, “course”, before getting up for some food. Opening the fridge and promptly getting spattered by green stuff, the fridge saying ‘anti-ghost fudge theft mode activated, eat hot ectoplasm Spook!’. While Danny yelps and shakes off his face and hands, Jean moves to help him wash off in the sink; everyone able to see him wincing and the nasty burns where the stuff had contacted him. Danny rubs at his face and looks a little beaten down, “yeah, okay, I’ll try your school thing out”. Jean and Katherine asking, “are you okay?”.

Danny shrugs and mumbles, “I heal fast”.

Jean shakes her head, “you shouldn’t have to be worrying about your own house attacking you”. Danny just shrugs again as he sits back at the table, throwing a slight glare at the fridge.

Xavier smiles anyway, this was certainly an environment he shouldn’t be in. If anything, it seemed Daniel was in more danger than most of the youngsters they collected, “how likely do you believe it is that your parents would allow you to go without any of us having to divulge too much about the school or the reasons behind your attendance?”.  

Danny shakes his head, “none. They’ll want to know everything they can. They care, they’re just...not that good at it. But if you have, say, a space program of some sort then that would work for cover”. None of them miss how his eyes sparkle a little, clearly he was fond of space.

Xavier smiles, “we certainly could. Are you interested in space?”.

Danny grins and leans forward a bit, “I landed a spaceship once, been to space a few times. I could build an exact to-scale replica of the Mars rover, pretty well every model of spaceship, and any of the satellites, right now. My goal was NASA before the whole dying thing trashed my grades and being Phantom became more important”.

Jean smiles softly, “well, part of what we teach is managing lifestyles. I’m sure you could do both”.

Katherine giggles a little, “and at least you already have a code name, no one trying to give you unfortunate ones. Have your own designed suit too”, smiling slightly, “you’ve put a lot into this already. Most your age just play with their powers, show off. I was hardly better”.

Danny frowns a little and pats at is chest, “I didn’t design anything. That suit is what I died in but colour inverted, like my hair. It’s part of my body. Phantom though,” Danny smiles slightly, “that’s my fun little pun on Fenton”, sighing and frowning again, “and these mutant kids, they just have powers, I’m part of another dimension and species. So it’s different”.

Xavier nods, “all the same I’m sure we can accommodate you. Accommodating niches is one of our goals. Now the school is a boarding school, located in my mansion, our classes are small but they are specialised to needs. The dorms are comfortable and anything you need you can ask for, no matter how strange or hard to get. Power usage is both accepted and encouraged so long as you avoid intentional damages. The danger rooms are where you can really use any powers”.

Jean smiles and nods, the danger rooms were often what really got any teens exited, “they can be set up for any situation and unique to work against or towards your own skills. There’s no worry about really hurting anyone or thing, so it’s wonderful for testing limits. They get used most often by those looking to become X-Men”.

Scott looks Danny over, the kid was already doing the whole superhero thing, “no doubt you’ll be an X-Man, you’re nearly already doing the job”.

Xavier tilts his head, “with working in the space field as well of course”.

Danny shrugs, “with my vitals I highly doubt they’ll actually let me”.

Xavier grins at that, “oh we have our ways, that sort of thing can be waved”.

Danny goes a little wide-eyed and whispers, “really?”, everyone else nods and Danny grins like an idiot, “okay you are totally allowed to adopt me!”.

Xavier laughs, “not literally of course. But you are free to stay at the mansion as you please, so long as you enrol”.

Danny nods, clearly either more comfortable in their presence or more focused on space, than safety.

They leave after giving Danny the more nitty-gritty details of the school and its programs, giving him one of the schools hoodies, and after explaining what they can to his parents; they were more than a little excited about Danny going to a more specialised school where he will hopefully do better and get to be an astronaut like he always wanted.

Half a week later finds Katherine back at the Fenton door, waiting to pick up Danny. Smiling at him as he opens the door with his bags in tow, obviously already having had the whole farewell talk and hug fest with his family. “You good to go?”.

Danny nods, looking a little sad and nervous but otherwise just a fourteen-year-old kid, “yeah”. Both jumping when Jack sticks his head out the door and shoves a container of fudge at Danny before giving him a thumbs up and disappearing.

Katherine shakes her head, “you’re parents sure are something”.

“Heh heh, yeah”, Danny turns and eyeballs the sleek little car, “well, at least you didn’t show in something overly fancy”.

Katherine smiles as she gets in, speaking as Danny closes the door behind him, “discretion is part of how we maintain safety. We’ll be getting to the jet later”.

“I flew a jet once”.

Katherine shakes her head a little as she drives off, Danny really had clearly been through a lot of weird situations.

Danny looks around a little as they enter the mansion, he didn’t seem all that impressed but more so simply cautious and paranoid. Watching him eyeball possible exits, areas where someone could hide, anything that even slightly seemed like a threat. Katherine watches him eyeball a kid floating paper airplanes around above his hands, “huh, guess that is pretty normal here”.

Katherine nods, “yup, you have to do something very flashing, please don’t, to really get anyone to care. You seem pretty unfazed by the mansion itself. Most gawk more, I know I did”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “my archenemies is bigger, a lot bigger”.

“You really have an ‘archenemy’”.

Danny shrugs, “not much else to call the guy, other than a crazed up frootloop. He’s one of the richest people in the world, wealth acquired by control and manipulating other people. Wants to kill my dad, marry my mom, force me to be his son. He’s got a power and possession Obsession”.

Katherine is definitely a bit concerned by that, sounded like a mutant who was using their powers unethically. Not to mention rather creepy. The two walking into Xavier’s office while Danny grumbles about this archenemy more, “spy's on me with cameras, puts bounties on my head, the whole cloning incident, attempts to take over other times, made me fully dead in another timeline, more attempted murders than I can count”.

Xavier raises an eyebrow, “hello again. Who is this person we’re going to have to keep an eye out for?”.

Danny sighs and sits down in one of the armchairs, scanning his eyes cautiously around the room quickly before speaking, “one of the only others like me. The first Halfa. Vlad Masters, yes that Masters”, Danny shrugs and fiddles with he chairs fabric, “he went to college with my parents. They built a mini-ghost portal, half-killed him. Same as they built a full ghost portal and half-killed me”.

Both mutants blink at him, Katherine shaking her head, “your parents are hazards”. Danny just smirks slightly in response, still looking around the room a little.

Xavier nods, “so not a mutant either. And what of the others like you? Better company I would hope”.

Danny snaps his eyes to Xavier and bares his teeth a little, “touch her and I’ll cut you”, softening a little and seeming to be thinking a bit while Katherine blinks a bit caught off guard. This kid was quiet and skittish not aggressive. Whoever this ‘her’ is she must be special.

Xavier smiles slightly, hearing that Danny is considering bringing another Danny -the identical names was slightly confusing- here, if he felt it safe. Though Xavier’s not pleased she sounds to be on the run, “she’ll be quite safe here, though I’m sure you’ll decide that for yourself”.

Danny glares slightly but nods, “it would be nice for her to have a home. But if I have to blow up an entire mansion to protect her, I will. I’ve done it”.

Xavier nods, “of anyone, I can certainly understand protecting the gifted; mutants or otherwise. Many of the students here are runaways themselves, many more come to consider this place home. Even upon graduating, they tend to stay and become X-men and teachers. Always having a permanent place here, found family, and protection”, driving his chair around the desk and smiling kindly at Danny, “I can only hope you can come to feel fond of this place yourself, and of the gifted around you”.

Danny nods a little stiffly, Xavier doesn’t even have to read him to know he’s slightly overwhelmed. Changing to a topic more well-loved by teens and of some level of importance, “now follow me, I’ll take you to your room. Kitty has responsibilities to attend to”, starting to drive out of the room and looking back at Danny as he gets up, carrying/dragging his things, “feel free to levitate those, I encourage it actually”, speaking again as Danny smiles slightly and does just that before they start walking down the halls, “now one thing that is something of a right of passage, as I’ve heard many of the students say, is choosing code names. Of course yours is already set in stone for you I imagine. So the question will more be, what do you want to be called here? Do you wish to go by Danny still, or Phantom? Both perhaps”.

“The ghosts officially call me Danny Fenton Phantom, but most just say Phantom...or something insulting. But um, Phantom, Phantom’s what I’d like”.

Xavier smiles to himself at that, unlike the mutants that faced persecution Phantom did not hate his abilities, didn’t even dislike them truly. He merely seemed to dislike when they acted up and had learned a policy of absolute secrecy about them, over all he was proud. “What you would like is all that matters, Phantom”.

Phantom pauses in his walking for a beat before shaking his head with a slight smile and following again, “just like that huh? Guess that’s normal here”.

Xavier only nods slightly as they come to a stop before the room that’s meant for Phantom, “here’s where you’ll be staying. If you set up quickly, you’ll have time to make it for lunch. I quite recommend you do”.

Phantom raises an eyebrow but watches Xavier go for only a little while before heading into his room.

Anna is curious, she’s heard mutterings of there being a new student. Like always, that kind of news made everyone excited and buzz about. Curious what the newcomer could do, what their backstory was, if they looked unique. Certain people, glaring slightly towards Monique and her little gang, certainly were more interested on the looks than anything else. Todd, of course, was only going to care how strong the new kid was and if there’s be some kind of challenge to his place as ‘top bitch’. Sure, he said ‘alpha king’ but everyone else just said ‘top bitch’; largely to annoy the overpowered fire-starter. Fire-starter not just because of his power but also ‘cause he’s a prick that fights everything. Sighing as she walks through the lunchroom doors, though peeking up when she sees her good friend Lily and walks over. “So you heard the gossip too I guess?”.

They chuckle, “oh definitely, hard to miss that kind of gossip. Hopefully, they’re not a dick”.

Anna groans, “tell me about it, all five of the recent newbies have been total jerks. I’m almost tempted to think powers only come to the cocky and hotheaded”. The two snicker and eyeball Todd slightly, the unspoken joke needing no further context. Before both of them turn their heads to the side after sitting down with their food, hearing people start to whisper

“Look, it’s the new face”.

“Awww he looks so boring and plain”.

“Think he’s seen some shit? Looks kinda skittish”.

Anna sighs and shakes her head seeing a skinny slightly twitchy black-haired boy with intense crystal blue eyes. Muttering to Lily, “he’s going to get eaten alive”. Apparently he heard though and smirks at them slightly, before waking off to inspect the food. Promptly stuffing his face and clearly trying to ignore the staring, he seems used to it and that pings a little sad place in her.

Anna pokes Lily, “well, wanna see if the newbies an asshole? Seems tolerable so far”.

Lily looks around and shrugs, waving over their two other friends Jackson and Reverent.

Jackson asking, “what we doing?”.

Anna just smirks and points at the newbie. The three following after her as they approach. The kid is clearly eyeballing them cautiously as they sit down in front of him.

Reverent sticking his hand out and beaming a poster-worthy smile, “hiya! I’m Reverent, you’re new. Hopefully, your day’s not sucking. Moving here can be shit, so far away and all that. You seem nice though, I think I approve. I’m a photokenetic”.

Jackson shrugs, “I’m Jackson, ice boy. Please don’t say that’s cool”.

Lily waves slightly, “invisibility and levitation, I know two powers, lucky me. Name’s Lily”.  

Everyone looks to Anna, who smiles slightly, “Anna, and my power’s pretty shit, so don’t worry if yours sucks. I can steal people’s life force”.

Lily rolls her eyes and elbows Anna, “and extend your own. That’s practically immortality girl”. Anna just shrugs before everyone looks to the new kid, who swallows harshly.

The kid eyes them a little then shakes his head slightly, “just out with it like that huh? Pretty different from what I’m used to”.

Reverent nods dramatically, “yeah people can be awful. But here’s better! Everyone can be themselves, I intend on being a teacher here one day. Help other kiddos you know?”.

Lily nods but snickers at Reverent a little, “you’re too nice not to get steamrolled by literally every student”, turning to the new kid, “so what’s your name”.

The kid clearly thinks for a bit before smiling a bit sheepishly, the other four deciding this kid's one of the decent types, while he speaks up, “it’s Phantom. And I’m a bag of confusing bullshit”, Phantom holds up a hand and creates a ball of green light, then forms a ice crystal floating above his hand, then turns said hand invisible and floats off his seat a little, “technically I can force a soul out of a body, but that’s not really stealing their life force. Plus, I’ve never done that to someone who was actually in their own body and not someone else’s”.

Anna blinks, Todd was going to hate this kid, even if Phantom’s control sucked or he had some kind of limit, tons of different powers could kick the ass of one. “Well, you hit the Jackpot, damn”.

Phantom rubs his neck, “oh I hit something that’s all right-”. Phantom gets cut off by Todd predictably slamming a hand on the table and saying with a sneer, “look at that, twig boys got himself a little arsenal. Well it’s nothing to this”, Todd dances flames off his fingertips into the kid's face.

Phantom just sighs, “um, good for you?”, he lifts up a palm and creates a ball of green fire floating above it.

Anna slaps the table and laughs, this was great. While Todd glares and covers his own hand in flames, clearly trying to be menacing.

Phantom sighs, seemingly more comfortable with confrontation than friendly interaction, “yes yes, you’re very fancy firebug. But don’t make moves to threaten me unless you’re going to follow through”.

Todd growls, “oh I’ll follow through”, before going to punch Phantom with his flaming fist. Phantom smirks a little to himself when the guy hits a green shield. Trying again results in him going through the intangible kid and flailing to the floor.

Phantom spins around on the bench and looks down at him, “I’m used to fighting actual villains. So I’m not going to actually hit you or something”.

That gets Maxi’s attention, as he walks over and looks down at Phantom, “wait, you’ve actually fought villains?”.

Phantom groans, “only every day of the week and weekend for that matter”, Phantom fiddles with his food, “I’m kind of already an established superhero. Xavier brought me here more so to help with schooling than powers I think. Other things too”, sighing and glancing down at Todd, “I’m going to give you a warning I guess, to be nice and all that. My perfectly normal friends back home could kick your ass. My enemies are all more or less indestructible, I don’t fight the breakable”.

Todd scoffs and walks off, glaring at everyone, while Reverent claps his hands together, “well alright then! On to something less dark! What're your favourite movies...”.

Phantom walks awkwardly into the medi-bay, grumbling something almost unintelligible under his breath about not knowing he signed up for scientific examinations. Xavier is instantly tipped off by the way he says that, and the images flickering through his mind are more than just unpleasant and concerning. The Fenton’s are very strange and aggressive about how they ‘treat’ things as simple as just a cold. The Manson parents seem pretty bad too. Speaking to him after sending a nod of greeting to Jean, “relax. The danger room can be rather stressful and it is always best to be cautious. Wouldn’t want you to get inadvertently hurt or traumatised. But I assure you, it’s nothing weird or extreme, certainly nothing with strange dream catchers or whatever that green bath was supposed to be”.

Phantom glances at him and chuckles a little, seeming both less and more on edge. Which is expected, many people would far prefer for him to stay out of their minds. Jean smiles at Phantom and gestures at the bench, “hello again. I hear you’ve chosen to go by Phantom officially. Good, you’re pretty fond of the way you are huh? Most of us are, when we’re older anyway. Now please have a seat, I’m just going to be doing basic things. Temperature, pulse, heart rate, lung capacity. It’s not to see if you fall in line with ‘normal’ though”, she ends with a slight wink.

Phantom sits down as some other guy also enters, raising an eyebrow at him. The guy grunting, “Logan. Or wolverine. Don’t care. So you’re the different mutant who’s already got some kind of culture following huh?”.

Phantom scoffs and rolls his eyes, but Xavier’s the one to speak up, “actually it would seem this one isn’t a mutant. But rather much more unique. He’s different even among those who are different, yet he’s a proud one. Don’t go causing him issues Logan”.

Logan scoffs and leans against a wall, “don’t intend to”, nodding his head a little at the kid, “I’m pretty out of the norm around the others too. Still a mutant though. But hey, I’m up for something interesting”.

Jean shakes her head and looks at the curious-looking Phantom, “he likes to stir up trouble, maybe he wants to see if you’ll choke me like he did”, Logan rolls his eyes, Jean points at Phantom‘s shirt before setting up everything she’ll need, “shirt off”.

Phantom looks down, seeming more than a little nervous, “uhh, rather not”.

Xavier smiles, “no need to worry, different appearances are rather normal around here. Even scars”.

Logan scoffs, “understatement for some of us, adds to the look if you ask me”.

Phantom fiddles with his sweater some and eyeballs the examination supplies, awkwardly muttering, “at least nothing’s green”, before sighing and pulling the sweater over his head. Everyone’s silent for a bit, he was seriously scarred up and no one needs to even guess what the Y shaped one came from. Logan mutters, “Jesus fuck. Alright then. Colour me surprised he doesn’t hate humans”.

While Jean studiously draws no attention to the marks as she busies herself with her tasks. Explaining medical jargon as she goes. Xavier, meanwhile, can’t help but frown over Phantom‘s memories. Frozen, unable to move, and under scalpels and bone-saws. With nothing but his own lab basement and his parents' goggle covered faces to look at. The fact that he’s not truly traumatised is impressive, Phantom‘s mental fortitude is more than a little impressive. If he hadn’t already decided that Phantom needed out of that house, his mind would be made up now.

Phantom, clearly catching the way Xavier’s looking at him, speaks while tracing the Y shape, “they're good people, just good scientists first. They wouldn’t have done it if they knew though. They’ve known about me a few times, but um, I undid that. I’d rather this”, poking at the centre of the Y, “than them getting hurt in the crosshairs because they wanted to ‘help’ or ‘protect’ me”.

Logan groans and walks in a little circle, looking up at the ceiling, “the self-sacrificial kind, lovely. Don’t go pulling that on us kid, we can look after ourselves. And I sure as shit wouldn’t be so okay with anyone involved with experimenting on me”.

Phantom raises an eyebrow while Jean works around him, “you were experimented on?”.

Logan unsheathes his claws and waves a fist around a little, “understatement kid”.

Phantom tilts his head but smiles, “at least you got something out of it”, Phantom pokes his chest, clearly ignoring the too slow beeping of the heart monitor, “I just got to find out my organs are green”, Phantom shakes his head and looks off to the distance.

Everyone deciding not to interrupt his mental musings, Xavier giving him some privacy with that.

By the end Phantom‘s revealed to have vitals that are definitely not something someone can actually live with, but that it’s his normal.

Xavier nods to him as they leave, “you’ve seen a lot in a small time, you’re a strong person. An old friend of mine was much the same, but he let it make him bitter, restful, full of hate. You’ve become more protective instead, the amount of caring I see in you is remarkable”.

Phantom shrugs as they head to the danger rooms, “it’s what’s right. It’s my Obsession too, one of them anyway”.

Xavier nods, a student having unusual needs was not actually unusual, “Kitty explained Obsessions as your parents told them. Are their theories accurate?”.

Phantom nods as they come to stand before a door, “yeah, it’s, um, less for me. Halfa means only half the things”.

Entering the room, which Phantom gaps around at, the place looked like a sprawling city in chaos devoid of any people or life. Phantom mutters, “well damn”. While Xavier chuckles lightly, “impressive, isn’t it? Don’t worry about damaging things. I’ll be watching”.

Phantom muttering, “ominous much” as Xavier leaves the room.

Logan and Katherine join Xavier in watching. Logan asking more or less rhetorically, “he’s strong, isn’t he? But if he’s not a mutant then what? And who the Hell beat him up?”.

Katherine smiles and elbows him, “you and your soft spot for damaged kids”.

Xavier smiles, giving Phantom a signal to go ahead, “if I recall Kitty, you were one such kid. And he exists on the cusp of life and death. Alive and dead. His existence is nearly unique, how it’s even possible I can’t even fathom. His mind seems to view himself as a glitch in the matrix so to speak. Created by accident and purpose. To say he has a hero complex would be a ridiculous understatement. He seeks and needs to protect others, holding himself to an ideal that only he can do it. He has deep-seeded fears and mental blocks around the idea that he could fail at that. And he has seen a world, the land of the dead, we could barely begin to imagine”.

Logan scoffs, “sounds like a bit of a god complex too”.

Katherine rolls her eyes, “oh and like you’re any better. Mr. Lone wolf”.

Xavier shakes his head, “those with god complexes do not hold a fear of themselves. He fears what his gifts could do, should they be used to harm or destroy. He fears anyone being hurt or him hurting someone. It’s not the shameful kind of fear as it is for most students, it’s more resolute and concrete. His fear of that, reinforces him to not be that, with pride and something like reckless abandon”.

Katherine smiles, he was clearly a good kid who had been through far too much.

The three watch as Phantom looks around awkwardly before seemingly steeling himself. Then a bright ring of light appears around his waist and suddenly it’s the Phantom seen in what little footage they could find floating in the air.

Logan grunts, “transformation huh? Guessing there’s more”.

Xavier grins, “oh yes”, not missing how Phantom instantly likes more bold and cocky. Phantom was a hero and he knew the role well, lived it. Watching him fly off and zip around. Blasting things to smithereens with a wide range of blasts/rays.

After a while of him phasing through stuff, blowing things up, flickering out of visibility, teleporting, tossing things around with his mind, and one point where Logan jerked slightly from the entire place getting coated in ice and forming hundreds of little ice weapons.

Katherine gapes slightly when there’s suddenly three Phantom’s though it’s clear this is a bit harder for him to do or maintain, “I think he’s just running through a list at this point”.

Xavier nods, “precisely”.

Logan shakes his head a bit as Phantom starts electrocuting things, “alright, so the kids overpowered. The others are going to love him...or hate him”.

Katherine tilts her head when Phantom turns and asks, “you sure this is all indestructible? Cause I’m not going to hold back then”.

Xavier raises an eyebrow, responding, “that’s its purpose. So please do”.

Phantom shrugs, “if I blow out your wall, it’s not my fault”. They watch as he sucks in a breath and releases a sonic wailing sound, massive blasts of green energy resonating from his mouth.

Logan covers his ears and snaps, “fucking Hell. Remind me not to pick a fight with this one for no reason”. Xavier’s eyebrows raise as the place shakes, before Phantom does indeed blow out the wall. Phantom points to them as he steps out, “you lied”.

Xavier waves off the damage, “everything can be repaired. The whole mansion and various compounds have been rebuilt many times over the years”.

Phantom shrugs and lands his feet on the ground, rubbing his neck, “still sorry though, and to think I only got up to thirty percent there”.

Logan blinks, “seriously glowstick?”.

Phantom chuckles with a wily smirk, making it very obvious he was more confident and brazen in this form, “yeah and that’s a new one. Usually, it’s ‘whelp’ or ‘dipstick’ or ‘babypop’ or ‘ghost child’ or ‘punk’ or ‘ectoplasmic scum’ or ‘ectoplasmic filth’ or ‘spook’ or ‘half creature’ or ‘bastardisation’ or most annoyingly, ‘little badger’. Though I guess there are positives to, like ‘great one’ and ‘saviour’. But if you call me ‘inviso-bill’ or ‘billy’ I will shot you”.

Logan snorts, “saviour? Really? And how is ‘litttle badger’ worse than ‘bastardisation’?”.

Phantom glares a little, “‘cause it comes out of the mouth of a pompous creepy cruel piece of shit prick. Nailed a dead badger to my door once for emphasis. And how many times have you saved the world, Claws?”.

Logan rolls his eyes, “original. Three or four”.

Phantom chuckles and starts floating off, “it’s been seven for me in the past year”.

Xavier nods to the two mutants as Phantom floats off back to his room, confirming that he’s being honest. Again, the things this kid has been through.

Anna, curious, sticks her head into Phantom’s room and looks around. Gapping a little at the strange glowing green star constellations on the roof. Phantom promptly dropping the pieces to a model spaceship from floating in the air, “oh it’s you”. She looks him up and down, it was still the same kid but glowy and white-haired and green-eyed and...in a spandex jumpsuit? Well alright then. “Hey, was wondering if you wanted to go hang out with me and the gang? Also, something tells me you’re going to keep being surprising”.

Phantom smirks, “oh you don’t even know the half of it”, floating over and landing his feet on the ground, “sure, why not. So long as it ain’t a dissection party or something”.

“Man are you ever morbid”.

“Well, I am dead. Life and death took a piss on me so I’ve earned the right”.

Anna coughs and is pretty sure the only reason he’s walking is not being used to others seeing his powers, “you're what now?”.

Phantom blinks and laughs with a loud echo, “oh yeah, guess I never mentioned that. See I’m the idiot who got himself offed in a portal and now...”

He ends up explaining some of his story as they walk, going to meet up with their friends outside the mansion.

End.

[cosmonaughtt]

how I'd rewrite Danny Phantom

forever salty that elmer glue ruined such a good concept so it’s my territory now

Ghosts are dead, 100%. The science behind it is very paranormal investigation-y but the Fenton family is ten thousand times better than the other “ghost hunters” of their time.

Also, there are some ghosts that come from metaphorical deaths. I.E. Pandora, she technically didn’t exist but when the Ancient Greek culture died out, so did the gods and goddesses. They’re not technically ghosts but they are ectoplasm-based, so they get lumped in with them.  

The Fenton family has been a bit dysfunctional for the past four years (10-14 for Danny, 12-16 for Jazz) because it took four years for Jack and Maddie to build the ghost portal. Jazz took over and learned how to really clean the house, while Danny learned how to cook. He’s not the best, but Danny can definitely make some good Ramen from scratch.

Maddie and Jack realized a bit later that the portal had overtaken their life and feel really bad for abandoning their kids, and when it didn’t work they tried to rekindle those relationships. Even with it working, they still do.

We all know what happened when the portal finished; it didn’t work. Because Jack put a switch on the inside that should’ve been on the outside, not the “on-off” button. The switch was loose and when Danny knocked into it, the portal turned on, because it was just waiting for a little spark-- like how when a cord is not totally plugged in. 

This was the beginning of summer, around the end of May, and a month after it was technically done. Danny (no stranger to the hospital, he’d been in a few times when he was younger because he was born two weeks premature) was in the hospital until August, a few weeks before school started. He was exempt from his eighth-grade exams and passed all of his classes, so the district let him slide.

Danny doesn’t have an ice core. As cool as it is (pun intended) it makes no sense in the narrative. Like, he was electrocuted, and he’s got the “ghost-stinger” ability, why would he have ICE POWERS? He’s got an electricity core instead (slightly inspired by the electric undead oops). 

His ghost sense is less of a mist and more of a gut feeling, and he literally becomes a static electricity magnet.

Danny’s character is a bit closer to the show.

He's quiet around strangers, but open with his friends. Trust thing.

Still made fun of for being the kid of two weird parents, but he’s honestly used to it by high school. He’s also bullied for his autism and ADHD, but he’s been bullied for them for about ten years so he’s used to it.

Still wants to be an astronaut-- science is his best subject, second to math. History is his third-best, he hates English and Gym class.

He’s tiny and scrawny, like a toothpick. It comes from being a sick child, though after the accident he’s able to lean out and gain a bit of “muscle”. 

After the accident, he gets a bit paler than he was before and doesn’t tan. There’s also a Lichtenberg scar covering about half of the right side of his body from the accident, going from his fingertips, up his arm and over his chest, neck, about down to his knee. 

He’s incredibly self-conscious about it but it doesn’t hurt, weirdly enough. For the “first season” he covers up and wears a lot of sweaters and long-sleeves. 

His pulse and body temperature are much below normal. The hospital was concerned with this after the accident, but after a few days of him seeming fine, they had to drop it. Danny can also hold his breath about five times longer than a normal human.

Is he half-dead? Yes, technically. Does he not try and think about his mortality? Yes.

He enjoys puns and jokes still, though he makes them more as Phantom.

Speaking of Phantom, no, he doesn’t go by “Danny Phantom”. Just Phantom. He is trying to avoid dissection from his parents, you know. 

Phantom has no scars from the accident, the only thing that he has in common with his human half is the mole on his cheek, but it’s green now (because yes, both halves have freckles!) because of his ectoplasm. He’s much more floaty, and if you don’t focus on him  he looks like he’s made of television static. He also has little fangs.

You can see his details better up close, and the longer you spend with Phantom, the more details you can see. All ghosts are like that, their energy is on the fritz all the time and human eyes need to adjust to it to understand certain features. The only reason Sam  and Tucker know him right away is because they watched him, y’know...

Danny is asexual, only realizing the identity in the middle of freshman year when Sam literally had to explain that yes, Danny, sexual attraction is a thing and not made up. (Based on my own experience.)

Sam and Tucker are both different in this story, but they still remain Danny’s only friends. They have other friends, though.

Sam is still goth.

She wears all black and even dyed her ginger hair black. There aren’t many surviving photos of Sam with her natural hair, she made sure of it. 

Sam is like... punk-goth? Punk-goth-grunge? She identifies as goth, but her clothes can fit all three categories, really. 

100% bisexual, has bi pins all over her bag. Out to her parents, who are slowly trying to understand. She doesn’t mind they/them pronouns, either, and her gender identity is just a shrug with middle fingers.

She knows a lot of the LGBT students at school and is the vice-president of the GSA she helped found. 

Both Sam and Danny had a mutual crush on each other through half of freshman year and all of eighth grade, Sam decided that she’d rather be friends and Danny realized it was mostly him wanting to be friends. 

Sam is vegan. She isn’t as pushy about it as she is in the show (I feel like it was extreme and really made fun of vegans/vegetarians, I know it’s a kids show but still) and all of her family is vegan, too. She’s big on animal rights, but recognizes the line to not cross.

Her family is also Jewish, like in canon.

Though she did campaign and successfully get the school  cafeteria to have a “Tofu Tuesday” every other week, so that’s something, at least!  (And where Mystery Meat would start)

Still mourns My Chemical Romance, into all music like that. 

Tucker is still a “nerd”, but he doesn’t get picked on by the jocks for being a nerd. 

He’s pretty hipster, too. His red beret is now a red beanie, and he has naturally curly hair poking out. He loves his natural hair, he just  loves the beanie.

His “nerd”  seems from his technological abilities. He has the latest smartphone a month after it comes out, and always has a “tablet”/iPad knockoff in his bag. He knows how to take things apart and sell them for money, and is also pretty good at programming.

Tucker DEFINITELY has a gaming channel. He only has about 3,000 subscribers, but that’s still pretty good. His most-popular video is him talking about the Indie game industry. He might try and program some of his own games (ahemPhantomfangameahem)

He loves meat, just like in the show. He jokes about it a lot with Sam, and Sam jokes back. Sometimes they can lead into fights if neither are in the mood, but both of them are pretty good-natured about it.

Tucker is a ladies-man, and a man’s-man, and a nonbinary’s-man-- he’s pansexual. Doesn’t figure out that’s a thing until he stays behind school one day to help Sam with the GSA, but once he does he’s out and proud. Still flirts terribly, though, but now no one is immune from his terrible flirts.

Scared of doctors and needles-- had a bad experience as a child, projects it on everything medicine-related. Tries to avoid taking medicine at all cost, unless it’s really severe. Hates flu season, can be a bit of a hypochondriac/germaphobe. Has one of those Bath and Body Works  hand sanitizer things on his bag.

Out of the trio, he’s more terrified of the ghosts, though after a while he gets used to them.

The A-Listers and school remain mostly the same.

Wes Weston is 100% a thing.

The A-Listers are more preppy than before, and definitely try and get away with what they can with modern fashion-- at least, Paulina and Star will. Dash and Kwan are a bit fashion-deaf (Kwan. Owns. Crocs.)

They’re still jerks and Dash still picks on Danny a lot, but the teachers are more competent and he can’t get away with more physical stuff unless no one is looking. Dash is probably a victim of his own domestic abuse at home and takes it out on people-- totally wrong and not moral, but he doesn’t think there’s much of an option. Only Kwan and Paulina know about his situation.

Kwan is pretty smart and strong, but he dresses like a disaster. He mostly sticks to wearing his letterman jacket and a black t-shirt and jeans, but if he ever has to “dress-up” or wears something else, it’s awful. Cargo shorts galore. Crocs. Someone get the Fab 5 to help  him, please.

Paulina is pretty prissy, and doesn’t like getting dirty often. She’s a cheerleader and she’s good at it, but she’s only second-in-command of the squad, or however that works. She doesn’t mind, less work for her to do, and the person in charge enjoys it a lot. Paulina tends to make fun of Sam and Tucker’s clothes often, and like the rest of the A-Listers, everything listed above for Danny (sans the Phantom thing). Once Phantom becomes big, she gets a huge celebrity crush on him, probably has ten different Stan accounts for him.

Star is the head cheerleader, and enjoys every moment of it. She also enjoys math, and she’s really good at  that too. Of the canon characters, only Danny can keep up. She isn’t good at much else academia-wise, though she does enjoy a bit of biology and forensics. Much smarter than most people think-- it will astound you.  

Valerie is a part of their squad at first, only because she, Paulina and Star live in the same neighborhood. After Valerie moves to an apartment, their friendship falls apart after a big fight-- this is entirely not ghost-related, by the way. Vlad only contacts her after learning that her dad was hurt in a ghost attack and Phantom wasn’t there to help, and emotionally manipulates her. She becomes the Red Huntress and hunts Danny, and they do date for a few months before calling it quits. I’m not big on shipping, per say, but if there has to be a canon endgame, it’ll be these two.  

Wes Weston. He’s technically canon? I guess? But also fanon? Either way, having a character like Wesley Weston trying to expose Danny as Phantom and always failing is hilarious, but can also introduce other things into the series as well. How does Wes know? Is he like, psychic, or something...? 

 Oh, and Vlad.

He’s much more emotionally manipulative. Danny was really considering having him train him in ghost-powers and stuff until Vlad made an off-comment about Jack, and Danny saw through the act.

They’re very much enemies. Not frenemies, but enemies. Danny is terrified of Vlad, but doesn’t want him to hurt his family.

Vlad, above all, wants a family. He missed out on those years being in and out of the hospital because of his own, botched accident, and he has scars all over his face from the “ecto-acne” that he hides with makeup.

He’s equivalent to Elon Musk, but less of a weeabo. DALV Corporations has a lot more stock in experimental sciences, though, including paranormal investigation. When he learns that Jack and Maddie had successfully created the Ghost Portal, he puts a lot more funding into their projects and reconnects. 

Still got the creepy Maddie-crush. Does get a cat named Matti, though (no connection or correlation, shut up, Daniel). Hates Jack because of his own accident, and begins to despise him even more for not noticing the scars left on Danny’s accident, too.

Less of a vampire in ghost form. He has a fire core, which makes a lot of his ectoplasm heat-based. Probably has laser eyes that Danny desperately tries to emulate but alas, cannot. The only reason he has a leg up on Danny is experience, not strength. He was only blasted in the face, not the whole body, after all.

At some point there’s probably an argument with Vlad and the Fentons and he decides “screw it” and makes an offset of DALV that focuses on ghost-hunting.

No Mayor thing, but he does move away from Wisconsin to live  in Amity Park.

Amity Park is... Well, it’s something.

It was already a pretty creepy town before the ghosts get involved.

It was already a pretty creepy town before the ghosts get involved. 

There’s always been unexplained murders, disappearances, and strange lights in the sky that no one could identify—a lot of hints towards something other-than-ghosts existing, which makes sense. 

Amity Park is much weirder after the ghost portal opens. Not because of the ghost attacks and their ghostly superhero, but because the veil was torn a bit, and it was felt throughout the town. 

On the moment of Danny’s accident, there was a massive power outage, and they become a bit more frequent to everyone’s dismay.  Much of the older residents of the town are against ghosts—if excepting Phantom, on occasion. The younger residents are more open to the undead spectres, though, and are much less afraid of them. 

Phantom becomes a youth icon, and his twitter account that started off small and as a joke gets him national popularity. 

Tucker, naturally, rides this wave and gets a giant boost in YouTube subscribers, especially after he posted a few videos with Phantom. No one questions this except the A-Listers, who just want to know howhe did this. 

Okay that’s enough of an info-dump I don’t want to spoil everything. I’ll probably post this stuff on my ao3—calling this story “Hero Complex” for now, still working on the title.

[epickendall]

The Birth of the Ghost King part 4

On the last weekend of Summer vacation, Wendy is in her room, flipping through the channels on her TV. She has nothing to do for the day or even tomorrow. Wendy stopped changing channels to crime show network that is showing a documentary of an infamous serial killer in New Orleans. Finn comes phasing out of the closest and flies onto Wendy's bed and sits next to her.

"So what are you watching Wendy?" said Finn

"The Saint killer from New Orleans," said Wendy

Finn walks in front of Wendy and turns his head a bit, "you bored aren't?"

"You can see it huh,"

"Yes seeing how you been changes channels for almost an hour and you keep looking at your phone every five minutes,"

"Your very observant,"

"Well, I am a ghost cat, so it's part of my nature,"

"Finn I got nothing to do this weekend instead of waiting for the day I go to my new school, and I have to get through being the new kid in town,"

"How about your old friends from your hometown? I have to talk to them?"

"They are busy at the moment, and other suggestions or I wish either fight a serial killer,"

"How about going outside and look around at least get the surrounding area,"

Wendy smile "that's not a bad idea Finn,"

"See now you got something to do,"

Wendy gets up from her bed, and she put on her usual boots, "anything I should know about before I go, Finn?"

"Yes if you hear screaming run the other way,"

"I know that,"

"By the way can you get some fresh fish,"

"Fresh fish? I thought ghosts eat dead and rotten stuff,"

"Some ghosts do, or others don't I so happen the one still eats the living food,"

"Fine, I'll go get your fish,"

"Can you get tuna?"

"I make no promises," Wendy leaves her room

Finn looked at the TV at the moment to see the Saint Killer getting electrocuted "boy they sure show a lot of violence on television now of days," 

Wendy goes downstairs she sees her mom cleaning up a mess on the kitchen counter using paper towels, and she sees Wendy heading toward the front door.

"So you heading I see," said Rhonda

"Yep I'm taking a look of the town," said Wendy

"That's good, and you might walk across the school you're going to," 

"Oh boy I'm so excited for that," Wendy sarcastically thought "what's the name of the school,"

"Casper High,"

"Really, that the name of the school?"

"Yes I know it's ironic, but hey I didn't choose the name,"

"Well, I'm heading out,"

"If you want to stay later you have to call me before it gets dark outside Wendy,"

"I will mom goodbye," Wendy left the house

Wendy POV

I've been walking around Amity Park for a good while so far; this town is pretty okay; it has the same things as Gravity Falls like a mall, movie theater, and a park. I have to get used to not seeing a forest next to a town seeing how I'm in more of a city than a small town. Managed to find the school Casper High I'm not looking forward to it at all with homework, some lousy teacher I might get assigned to, and worse state exam. I walk away from the school before some flashbacks from my previous school year. I started to get hungry, and I look to see a burger joint called "Nasty Burger," I hope the food tasty, and they are not as bad as the sign name.

I went inside the place; it is packed with a bunch of teenagers my age, and it's kind of got 1950s retro vibe to it except for the employ red and white uniform I went up to the cash register. I order myself a cheeseburger, orange soda, and large fries, and I sat down at an empty table. As I was waiting for my food, I overheard two people two rows in front of me one of them was a Hispanic girl, and the other one sitting next to her was a blonde girl they were complaining about the food.

"I swear this place can't even get something low in calories for once," said the Hispanic girl 

"Totally know where you're coming from Paulina this had the most calories in the whole town,"

"C'mon Star let's get out of here and get something healthy,"

The two of them left the place god I can't stand stuck up and snobby people I hope to god I don't go to school with them. My food came. I get it and start to eat my food men; it tastes pretty damn good and not at all nasty from the sign outside while I was eating I head. 

"Excuse me" I looked up to see one of the employs she was African American had green eyes holding a bag that had a sandwich "can I sit here this place is packed,"

"I don't see why not," I said

The girl sat down right in front of me and unwrapped her sandwich, "never see you around, are you new?"

"Yeah, I just move her a couple of days ago,"

"Really, where from?"

"A small town called Gravity Falls,"

"Never heard of it,"

"It's in Oregon,"

"Oregon, that's a long way from here. Why did you move here?"

"I don't want talk about kinda personal,"

"Oh sorry,"

"No big deal," I shake my head and ate a couple of my fries "so what your name since we're sitting here together,"

"Valerie Grey yours," she took a bite out of her sandwich

"Wendy Corduroy,"

"Nice to meet you, Wendy,"

"You too Valerie,"

Valerie and I talk as much we can since she told me that she on her break the time we talk I like Valerie she seems pretty cool and that we're going to the same school for this year by the time I finish eating I gave her phone number if she wanted to talk some more.

"Well, my break over Wendy nice chatting with you," said Valerie

"Same, oh boy, the way do you know where I can find any fish?" I said remembering about Finn and him wanting fish

"There's plenty of fish at the grocery store, why you ask?"

"I got myself a pet cat,"

"I see later Wendy,"

"Later,"

Third POV

At the same time, as Valerie and Wendy were talking over at the Fenton works, Danny is hanging out with his two friends Tucker and Sam in the dining room playing a fighting video game.

"Sam how could be so good at this game?" said Tucker

"It's not that I'm good it's just that you two suck," said Sam making a combo moves on Tucker character

"Oh yeah, about this," said Danny move his character, try to punch Sam's, but she counters him and causing him to collide with Tucker "seriously?!"

Then it was game over no surprising Sam beat Danny and Tucker flawlessly.

 "You guys should practice more because this is getting more and more boring beating you guys at this," said Sam

"Whatever," said Tucker putting his controller down

"Sam how are you handling going back to school?" said Danny

"Fine expect my parents gave me a whole wardrobe of pink and white clothes they thought I would wear different for this year," 

"That sucks,"

"I'm probably going to donate them to charity my parents don't notice,"

"For me, I'm thinking of lifting weights to get some more muscles," said Tucker flexing his arm

"Is it for health reason or girls?" said Danny

"Danny it's for the ladies of course,"

"I don't want to hear boy talk," said Sam

"Fine anyway Danny you notice about the increase ghost this past month right,"

"Yes, Tucker I notice that's why I'm paying Clockwork a visit and see what's up tomorrow," said Danny

"Do you want us to come with you?" said Sam

"No, I'm good Sam,"

"Danny, Sam, and Tucker do any of you guys want cookies," said Danny mom from the kitchen

"That my cue to eat," said Tucker getting up

"Didn't you say you wanted to do lift weights that involve no junk food,"

[ouchmaster6000]

RE that zim/anpanman post - while Anpanman doesn't get as dark in tone, Baikinman regularly tries to kill people and has done things like tear pages out of an anthropomorphic book and make food-based characters spoil and rot. Not as gruesome as doing it to "real people" characters but that's not the point really; the idea behind it is still there, so Japanese kids are just very accustomed to an alien being that sadistic within the context of their series

First of all, I should point out I agree that Japanese kids are probably used to seeing more intense stuff on TV than american ones. Alot of shows like Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Digimon and even Pokemon occasionally are known for having stuff edited out of the english dub. A pretty decent number of shonen series just flat out get marketed to an older audience in the states (stuff for kids in japan being aimed at middle schoolers here, stuff for teens being aimed at adults etc.)

Hell, I’m fairly certain Dragon Ball Z and Tenchi Muyo probably would have been marketed to adults in the US if it came out today too (Former for the violence, latter for the sexual stuff) and only got away with as much they did because they were on cable, and the idea that kids anime could appeal to adults simply hadn’t occurred to most western producers at that point.

I just…. Dont really think Anpanman is a good example of this? I also dont agree with the original poster’s Zim comparison. Granted, I suppose I probably should watch the show, but from everything I have seen of it, such as discussions on Bogleech’s website, it doesn’t seem that much edgier than standard kids show? Definitely a bit weirder and more violent than most preschool shows in the states, but overall, I doesn’t sound like Baikinman is much worse the your average kids cartoon villain.

I mean for starters, its pretty standard in kids media for killing and mutilating for non-human characters to be allowed, especially if said characters don’t have blood or flesh.

The obvious example is robots. Star Wars, Transformers, Doctor Who, Superman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Age of Ultron,  - There are way too many shows, comics and movies to list that eithor aimed at kids or families, that have robots and cyborgs being torn apart in ways that would be pretty graphic if it happened to humans or animals.

Digimon is a related example - The only reason the franchise is allowed to have as much death as it does is because 99% of the fatalities happen to digital lifeforms that dissolve into pixels upon death.

Hell one of my favorite movies as a child was the original Toy Story, and all the scenes where Sid was mutilating and blowing up his toys would have gotten a hard R rating if he was doing it to people. I’ve heard a lot of people compare Sid to Dr. Frankenstein, but with toys, but at least Dr. Frankenstein used parts that were already dead (as opposed to tearing/cutting apart still living people) and put them together in a shape roughly resembling a human. Really, Sid’s toys are less Frankenstein and more human centipede.

I also remember Fosters Home for Imaginary friends having a similar reoccuring theme of “food friends” meeting a worse fate than Anpanman. This included half eaten, traumatized anthropomorphic food dreamed up by kids in stuck in fat camp, or a talking pizza dreamed up by the bully character and eaten and killed just seconds after being “born”

So, although obviously dark comedy, Baikinman doing those things isn’t really anything new for childrens media. Neither, is trying to kill someone, since a lot of cartoon villains have made serious attempts to kill people, they just never succeed.

But Zim successfully mutilating and removing the organs and body parts of human children is definitely not normal for a kids show.

Another issue I took with Revretch’s post was that she wasn’t just talking about Zim the character, she seemed to me to be claiming that “Invader Zim” the TV series wouldn’t be seen as edgy just because the main character is similar to Baikenman… but thats not really how it works? You can’t necessarily tell the tone of a show, just from the nature of its protagnist.

Like, by that logic, Courage the Cowardly Dog should be one of the most light hearted and kid friendly shows out there, but in actuality the world he inhabits is much, much darker, scarier and more surreal than Courage himself is.

Its true that, though the writers/network let Zim do much worse stuff on screen, there are plenty of other childrens cartoon characters whose personality is pretty similar to Zim, or whom are a lot creepier and more threatening. Mojo Jojo and HIM from the powerpuff girls are good examples of both of these, respectively. 

In fact, Powerpuff Girls, Xiaolin Showdown, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom and plenty of other childrens cartoons all have both villains that are similar to Zim, and villains that are considerably more evil, creepy or serious than Zim ever was, but the tone of these shows, overall, is a relatively more optimistic one, where the main protagonists have more or less happy lives and good always triumphs over evil in the end.

Hell, even Gravity Falls, with its use of creepy horror imagery, occasional forays into adult humor, and having one of the most infamous big bads in childrens animation (and easily my favorite from the last 10 years) remains a fairly optimistic show at its core, about family and summer adventures.

This is not the case with Invader Zim, which is a show where humans as a species are portrayed as so comically stupid and mean spirited that, even if Zim somehow successfully killed or enslaved them all, it probably wouldn’t come across as a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

A show where the Irkens are depicted both commiting genocide, and electrocuting a disobedient slave on screen, and whose society is such a dystopia they are forced to udergo intense military training from birth and generally assigned roles for life based on genetics.

A show where the elementary skool is portrayed as a collection of all the absolute worst aspects of public school, both in terms of how its run, and how the kids treat each other, exaggerated to an absurd degree.

A show where a reoccurring joke character is a homeless man, who got taken advantage by a fast food chain, paid in free pizza and a room in the back of a resturant, became morbidly obese (Yes, this is Bloaty’s canon origin story) and was last seen in the original show sobbing uncontrollably because he hates his life.

Also, although this was obviously changed significantly in the comics and the Enter the Florpus special, in regards to what was portrayed in the original show, its really not difficult to make the argument Dib’s own dad and sister don’t give a shit whether or not he lives or dies.

Of course, this was all done for very dark laughs, as well as to create a setting that was just the right balance of humor and nihilism that the viewer could choose to either root for, laugh at or sympathize with either Zim or Dib without really worrying about the actual moral implications of either sides goals.

I’m not saying Zim is the edgiest show out there, comedic or otherwise. With stuff like Warhammer, Berserk, Venture Bros, Metalocalypse and all manner of gritty 90s anihero comics, Zims pretty light hearted and goofy in comparison.

But for childrens animation? Aside from some of the 90’s “grossout” cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Cow & Chicken (which varied a lot in quality, imo) I can’t really think of any others that come close (Maaaaybe Billy & Mandy, but I think its too tonally inconsistant, with a lot of episodes being pretty standard cartoon slapstick.)

Wow, I sure did type a lot. Sorry about that. But Invader Zim is one of my all time favorite shows, and fictional villains one of my favorite topics, so I feel like I have a lot to say about them.

[heyheyitsstillgay]

Ghost Weed - Unbe-leaf-able

Phandom Phic Phight Entry #3 based on a prompt by @bouhoue - Maddie decides to plant some new flowers in the garden...

#TeamGhost team leader @ibelieveinahappilyeverafter

Previous Entry ; Also available on FFN ; Next Entry

Words: 1,933; Status: Complete

TW: Blood mention, Ectoplasmic gore

Physics, specifically about space? Danny loved it. He wasn't sure any other kid smiles over homework like he is right now but who cares? Sure, his English was due sooner, but he was enjoying himself for once. A rare moment of actual happiness, he was going to savour it.

Ah, that's that ruined, he thinks to himself as a familiar bubbling suddenly presses against the back of his eyes. He gasps as his throat cracks. Grasping shaking hands against his desk, he jumps out of his chair and darts out the door. A viscous liquid drips down his oesophagus as his feet slam against the steps of the staircase. He doubles over as he swings the front door open. Choking against the water in his mouth (Blood? Ectoplasm?), he forces his feet forward and past the threshold of FentonWorks.

Twitching fingers clench around the phone in his pocket as the halfa gasps for air. Stumbling down the street to get further away from the stinging that's encompassing his skin, shaking fingers tap against the buttons of his device.

"What blossoms?" Jazz exclaims, voice laced with concern. A quaint straw hat adorns her head, it's rim is decorated with a sweet floral ribbon. The sun is comfortingly warm on her arms and legs, a light breeze brushes her skin like a soft blanket. It was a beautiful summers day, she'd be happy to be spending it in the garden if her mind wasn't swirling with worry over her little brother.

"Blood Blossoms." Sam replies, reaching down to pick another flower head.

She brushes the petals softly with fingertips that are free of her black lace gloves. The jostle of the plant disturbs the pollen, it shifts upwards in the breeze, seeming to hum and almost glow a soft mesmerising gold.

"They're not harmful to humans at all so you don't need to worry about that. It's just called that because of its deep red colour and the pattern of black droplets near the base." The goth girl raises the black netted veil of her hat so it no longer covers her face, she takes a pinch of petals from the flower and places them into her mouth. Jazz's eyes widen at the sight but she doesn't comment as Sam chews and deposits the rest of the flower into the basket she's holding by her elbow. Swallowing, Sam continues "that and they're known for repelling ghosts. In times of disaster or plague people used to throw Blood Blossoms or their seeds onto the bodies of the dead. It was supposed to deter spirits from coming to the area and making things worse. They grow quite well in corpses," The Fenton girl grimaces while Sams tone continues as though they're simply discussing the weather rather than quite gruesome suffering and the image of death. "Obviously. Like Poppies, blood makes for a good fertiliser, y'know?" "Why are you eating it then?" The ginger interrupts, preferring not to be any more disturbed than she currently is.

"It's the best way to get rid of them." Sam responds, plucking more of the plants from their stems. "They were good in times of famine too, they're fibrous and nutritious and totally vegan. Wanna try?"

Jazz was presented the flower as though it wasn't something her brother described as 'Horrible, makes my blood simmer and expand as a super heated gas while my skin tries to peel away from my body. Like being electrocuted to death. Again.'

"I'm good." She forces a smile and gestures for the offending plant to stay away from her, Sam simply shrugs and places it in the basket with the others. "The pollen's quite pretty." Jazz quietly concedes. Sam smiles with gritted teeth.

"The pollen's the bad part." The goth laughs emptily, "It can phase through a ghost's skin, it reacts with the ectoplasm and gets in the way of their powers and, well, any function actually. It makes them seize up and saps at their energy. It's like ectoplasmic hay-fever but instead of making your nose run it'll destabilise ya." She grasps at the plant stems again, harsher, significantly less care than before.

"Thanks so much for your help guys, I never thought mom would choose to spend a summer's day gardening, but of course, if she did it'd be to bite me in the ass specifically." Danny laughs as he enters the back garden later on. It's perimeter is a state, black stems poking out of the soil. Tucker smirks, just glad that he got to hang out with Danny all day rather than deal with a flower that continues to haunt his nightmares. That says a lot considering he hunts ghosts with his friends on the daily.

"Stand back Ghost Boy." Sam smirks, hoisting two overflowing baskets of plant life into the air and edging her way around the house. "Your parents had planted enough for several months worth of salads, or, enough to eject your soul from your body." She makes finger guns as she backs out of the gate to head back to her house.

"You okay Danny?" Jazz asks, brushing her damp palms against her shorts and keeping her distance from the halfa, just in case.

"Yeah, it's barely noticeable at this point. Currently, the most threatening thing about being here is being found at the scene of a pretty horrendous ghost-plant-crime by our parents." He turned to head into their house, "When they notice, do you think we can convince them it was attacked by a local pro-ghost dog?"

Vines slunk towards him from every angle. The once comforting glow of the ghost zone around him became tinted red. Thorns pierced his ankle as a heavy stench of rot assaulted his nose. Vines pulled against him. Thick air surrounded him, weighing down his limbs. A scream tore from his throat while ectoplasm squirted from him. Breath taken away, Phantom looked down his wispy distorted form to see the curled, spiked, black vine protruding out from hi-

Danny's eyelids snap open. Chest heaving ragged gasps as he moves his hand to hover over his heart and core in an attempt to calm himself. Tongue heavy in his mouth, he shakes off the frost that has crystallised in his dark hair and sits up in his bed.

A nightmare? Not uncommon, and considering the relevant theme he doesn't suspect that one of his enemies is behind it. The ghost boy is still freaked from yesterday, part of him can still feel the itch echoing on his skin.

Wait. Oh, you're kidding. Danny rises from his bed on unsteady legs from the adrenaline dying down. He pads over to his window and raises the blinds. Yeah, not kidding. Anxiety surfaces again and he swears stress is going to kill him before any ghost hunter has the chance. Pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes, he stops when he begins to see stars. Quickly phasing his pyjamas off, Danny throws on underwear, a t-shirt and some jeans. He doesn't bother with socks. Grabbing a backpack he keeps phased into the floor under his bed, he turns invisible and creeps out of his bedroom. The stinging wasn't as bad as last time and it was stupid o'clock in the morning, so the ghost boy focuses more on stealth than speed when he slips out of his home. This time leaving the garden isn't nearly as difficult, the sprouting spectral weeds, for the most part, haven't bloomed yet. His skin itches a slight but it's not incapacitating, either way it's better for him to leave now. Checking his phone and texting his sister to let her know what's going on, Danny decides that 5am is a perfectly reasonable time for a patrol. Sleep is for the weak.

"So, what happened to eating them being the best way to get rid of them?" Jazz asked.

"Well, during our last encounter they weren't planted, they were just kinda scattered. Pass me the stuff?" Tucker reaches his hand towards the canister that the older teen is clutching closely to her abdomen. She hands it over with reluctance clearly written on her face.

"And this is the best plan B that you guys have?" Scepticism is clear in her voice as the Fenton backs away. Tucker responds with a smile like there was nothing out of the ordinary about the situation, he moves towards the flower beds and uncaps the hefty container that Jazz had managed to get a hold of that morning.

"Well, the issue must be with the roots, either that or they're able to reproduce ridiculously quickly," he shakes the liquid onto the flower bed and begins to walk around. Keeping to the edge of the garden, he leaves through the fence on one side, a minute or so passes as he re-emerges at the other side of the house, resuming his dousing of the soil. "We could always try weed killer but, Danny's supposed to be able to live here. Weed killer can take a while and even then you have to top it up sometimes. Your parents might be a bit clueless but surely they're going to get suspicious about why he's never home after one week."

"So you thought about chemicals and after careful consideration decided that this was the best bet?" She wrings her hands together as the boy caps the near empty canister and offers it back to her.

"Yeah, basically." Tucker shifts a small cardboard box out of his pocket, Jazz can't help the hands flying to her face in dismay as the boy removes a small match and attempts to light it.

He succeeds, his smile bursts with pride as he looks back towards his best friend's sister and drops the lit match onto the trail of petrol.

The warm days recently mean the soil is reasonably dry, so the flames catch surprisingly quickly. Wind not strong enough to put out the blaze, ends up carrying it across the plant life as a hazy red smoke begins to plume into the air.

"See?" The techno-geek backs away from the fire, "I told you it'd be fine."

"Yah-huh, and what's your plan for when our wooden fence catches fire?"

"When what now?" His head snaps back to where he had been stood a moment ago. Sure enough, the previously white fence is developing a black char at the base. "Uhhhh, fancy a barbecue?" He shrugs his shoulders and smiles in a way that looks terribly similar to a grimace.

"Okay, you head inside and find a bucket, I'll double check that the whole plot is definitely alight." Tucker giggles to himself as the blood red smoke rises from around the corner of the house, clearly the fire has successfully spread to the front garden too. "Ha! Lets see them grow back from that!" He crosses his arms before reaching for his phone as Jazz rolls her eyes and heads into her kitchen.

The teen clicks on Danny's contact info to tell him they've sorted the situation for real this time. It rings twice before the halfa answers him.

"Hey Tuck, how's it going?" The voice sounds from over the line. Before the teen can answer, a sudden angry screech comes from behind him.

"What! On! Earth! Has happened! To my garden!?" Tuckers eyes bulge in his head and his speech into his phone comes out like a spluttering cough.

"So the good news is the flowers aren't gonna kill you. The bad news is," He takes in a choked breath, "your mom's about to kill me now instead."

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

Danny somehow ends up in Central City. After winning a pun-off with Captain Cold, he becomes Rogue’s Galery unofficial son, alongside Kid Flash. (Why is it always Batman that adopts him. The Flash Rogues are similar to his villains and look how well he gets along with them!)

valid! i’m flashing back to idea of Danny being a intangible piggyback rider so that flash can go faster by just going in a straight line strait through stuff instead of taking the microseconds to move around stuff.

there’s also the very relatable ‘WE’RE BOTH LAB ACCIDENTS!’ thing. the electrocution jokes are a weird coping mechanism that makes everyone else uncomfortable. they’ve had serious heart to hearts but the puns are a staple of any relationship.

part of me wonders about the care-taking in this relationship. like who tells the other to go to bed. i know barry is presumable older but part of me also says, big brother more than ‘dad’. the responsibility of parenting danny is a lot to put on someone who already has a lot on his plate with his own daddy issues. he’d probably try to do right by danny, but i’m not sure danny would respect him the way he would respect someone like batman. flash is more the cool, dorky dad, than the dad you listen to. which could be a problem but could also be fleshed out in fanfiction.

i’d also like to see the direction the science takes. because, presumably ecto-science and speed force phisics are two very different things and might lead to some weird points of contention. i think danny would have a pretty solid understanding of ectobiology and ecto-engineering just by being around his parents for so long. but i feel like a lot of that is gonna just straight up ignore forensic science. can you imagine, danny just building some ecto-weopons in rogues gallery having something come alive and the ensuing panic because *PIZZA ISN’T SUPPOSED TO COME ALIVE! PIZZA IS PURE!”

like if the reason the food in danny’s home comes alive sometimes is that it was formally alive and came back from exposure to ectoplasm, than imagining introducing that to a place where there is forensic evidence hanging out.

i feel like i’m missing a lot of the finer details of the flash because i haven’t watched it as much (i really should, i know) but there’s a lot of potential in the idea ^u^ - Hestia

[nastyburger]

Okay but how did the first meeting tm go between all of the dannyverse tm. Did danny b just show up at danny’s school and go ‘hey im the new sub’? Did dex try and go home for a hot sec? Did SAM try and go home/ to tucker’s place? Did tucker try and go to his house/ danny’s place?? I have questions

the initial meeting period, which i like to call “the search” takes place over like two days, each character having having a different amount of time they spent in the canon universe in reference to “the portal surge” as we’ll call it

(this ended up being really long so im putting it under a read more for everyones sake lol)

dex pops in at the same time as the surge, so hes really been in the canon dimension for like 30? 40 minutes tops? until he finds the trio. he knows immediately hes not in his home (his amity is a lot more advanced with tech) and distinctly remembers being sucked into some sort of portal, so being the smart cookie he is reasonably infers parallel universe and sets out to find answers. he flies around in his mech (invisibly) until he hones in on an ecto signature clearly reading halfa in a crowd. whether its vlad or someone else, dex figures that a halfa was probably his best bet for help so he puts on his hoodie with hood up and slips into the crowd. (the mech is close behind but remains hidden and follows dex around until its needed)

he actually initially bumps into danny by mistake while searching (”oops sorry” / ”sorry, its fine i wasnt looking”) before taking a double take and going “wait that dude has my face??? hold on is he the halfa signature im tracking???” and runs after them. he catches up after they leave the crowd and are in a less populated area and grabs danny’s arm, startling everyone, and essentially going “wait, you’re a halfa right? possibly named danny fenton??” which effectively sends everyone into panic mode until dex pulls his hood down to show he has danny’s exact face and says “can you please help me???”. this panic morphs into full blown freak out.

they eventually calm down though, and set to sort this out. this was around late afternoon.

danny b was launched into a few days before the surge, and was actually dropped a little outside of amity. at first he thought he had been sent into the past, but seeing a news story in a tv store display and seeing a 14 year old danny phantom with white hair and green eyes effectively shuts down his idea. basically has a john mulaney “adult life as a half ghost is already so weird, this might as well happen” moment in a parking lot and moves on trying to find this alt version of himself for help on how to get home.

it was a little tough for him in those few days, he doesnt carry cash and his bank account for his debit wouldnt exist, so he went hungry for a bit (probably used his ghost powers to steal some food when he got desperate) and slept on a couple park benches and all that. its a little sad really.

eventually, after days of wandering around, his ghost sense goes off as he passes a park and sees a group of 4 kids huddled together. its starting to get a little dark out by this point. danny b approaches the gang movie peter b style: from behind, somewhat ominously with his hand outstretch, with the declaration of “hey, kids....” and dex stranger danger panics and electrocutes him with his robot arm. he passes out.

the kids assess the situation, dex being able to read that danny b is a halfa (”how many of you guys is there supposed to be in this universe?” / ”only vlad and me as far as i know.”) and tucker pointing out that he kinda looks like danny if you imagine the hair black (”great, its ANOTHER version of danny like we dont have enough of those”). afterwards, they take everyone to fenton works, canon trio through the door and dex easily sneaking in with unconscious DB.

once danny b wakes up (in his childhood room nonetheless which is a little disorienting), he immediately takes refuge in canon danny’s shower, also taking the time to shave and eat whatevers in the fridge. the trio are a bit weirded out by this older danny, especially when hes on his 4th pudding cup and eating it like a rabid animal (”do NOT judge me its been a hard few days”). but they more or less get used to him, especially when he proves to be a pretty cool guy. once DB’s basic necessities were taken care of, they start to form a plan of action.

the first step they decide on is finding any other stranded interdimensional people. lucky for them, dex locks in on 2 other halfa signatures in the general area. they set out to search the next day.

mourner and ghouly are found almost simultaneously. dex tracks them down immediately and determines that one is flying through the air as a ghost and the other is in human form on the ground. the group splits up with danny looking for the full ghost, db partnered with sam to sniff out the human form one, and tucker staying with dex in the mech (everyone communicating through fenton phones).

danny finds mourner (”i think i found.....a sam? as a ghost?”) and needless to say that first encounter doesnt go well. mourner popped up a couple hours after the surge while it was nighttime, so she spent most of the night flying around trying to figure stuff out but not garnering a lot of information with the world asleep. seeing danny just makes her instantly hostile thinking its another weird ghost trick so she starts blasting and they duke it out for a bit. she really only stops until dex and tucker show up in the mech and reveal themselves does she realize “okay different versions of people i know, this is weird but its not a ghost manipulating me by puppeteering my dead friend around i guess”. she calms down and joins the group.

ghouly is easily the smoothest encounter, the gang has gone through this enough already to not freak out over it. most reaction would probably be mild amazement and typical confusion (”oh wow its a goth sam and........an older danny? with red hair?” / “we found a different version of tucker, i guess he’s a halfa”) ghouly just doesnt have as much reason to panic as much here. he got launched into this dimension at the same time as dex (the moment the surge happen) but was more or less lost and wandering around since his gps and technology didnt seem to have signal. he didnt sleep overnight so he’s running a bit on empty but bought an energy drink and sandwich earlier that morning (he carries cash) so he hasnt gone full homeless mode like danny b did.

while his initial reaction/meet up with the others were definitely the least weird and confusing, ghouly probably does stare at canon danny a little too much to the point where its a bit awkward. (”sorry its just so weird not seeing you wear black and also i still find you really cute and grappling with whether or not this is considered cheating if youre like the same person”)