#I don’t know how Danny looked like a baby when he joined the Fentons

[mkarchin713]

Talia did not like her eldest brother. She did not like how her father acted when he was around.

All her life Talia had been told stories of the great Danyal al Ghul, his first born, heir and favorite child. No one could ever compare to Danyal, he was spoken of by the league the same way others would speak of a demigod, something to aspire too but impossibly to achieve.

Talia had often wondered what Danyal would be like in person. She imagined he would be just like their father, cold, stoic, powerful, a true heir of the demons head. She was sorely disappointed when she finally met her brother.

…

If Talia hadn’t known any better she would have thought an American in his late twenties had wandered into the leagues stronghold, he was wearing old jeans for fathers sake. The man held himself like an average civilian, his looks, his build, his presence was all average.

Perhaps that should have clued her in.

….

When her siblings had told her Danyal could become invisible Talia had assumed it was his stealth skills they where referring too, she was wrong.

Danyal was a face in the crowd. Good looking enough to gain some attention, not good looking enough to keep it. His facial features seemed to fit nearly every race, with the right clothing or make up he could pass for caucasian, mongoloid, and even negroid. His presence was non threatening but not weak. He was no one special, remembered but not recognizable, he blended in with the background.

He was invisible.

….

The man obviously did not belong here. Even if one disregarded his manner of dress the way he held himself was all wrong. His stance was at ease, calm, as though he was in no danger, and yet his posture didn’t scream misplaced arrogance or even rightly placed confidence. It was as though he had no idea how much danger he was in, casually leaning against the wall of the League of Assassins inner chambers, attempting to make small talk with one of fathers guards.

Talia’s fingers itched to punish this interloper for his disregarded of his station. He should be honored to be standing in these halls. He should be honored to be in the presence of her fathers elite guards. He should be honored to be breathing the same air. He should not be acting so casually

Unfortunately there was nothing she could do, not yet at least. Her father obviously wanted to see this man or he would not have gotten so close to her fathers chambers. Talia would simply wait for her father to be finished with the man and then punish him for his insolence. Perhaps he would remember to show proper respect when he was missing a few toes.

…

Talia’s siblings had told her Danyal was a man with two faces.

To those he deemed not a threat, he was just another person, he treated people with respect and fought honorable. Warm, open and calm.

But to those who threatened his mission, he was a monster. Unstoppable, cold, like the creeping dread of winter personified.

….

Talia could not believe what she was seeing. This stranger, this interloper was HUGGING her father, and father wasn’t even trying to stab him.

Was her father smiling? At something other than his enemies suffering?

Was father laughing? A genuine highly laugh?

Was this a hallucination? Was she dreaming?

And then she heard the words that threw her world into disarray

“Welcome home my son”

….

Talia did not like her eldest brother.

Father was never happy to see her.

Father never smiled in her presence.

Father never loved her like he loved Danyal.

Danyal al Ghul was the heir

And Talia was just the spare.

I've recently been in the dpxdc fandom, it's awesome af and I just had an idea, a weird prompt.

We usually see Danny is or ends up as part of the batfam: Damian's twin, the new adoptee, something like that.

So how about Danny being Talia's older brother? Ra's favorite and the one who set all the standards that Talia, and later Damian, have to reach?

The original idea was: Danny left the LoA when he was young enough to never get to meet Bruce, so he never knew his sister had a son and thus that he was an uncle, he never knew his nephew was a hero nor that his nephew's father and his family were heroes.

So when an adult Danny, Phantom since 14 and High King of the Infinite Realms since 18 (or whatever age you feel like, I feel like that experience makes him very indifferent to a lot, and his morals are more similar to those of ectoentities than living things), met the JL and more specifically the batfamily, he felt the pits in RH and more slightly in Robin, and knew they were on some level involved with the LoA, so he just asked

"So… How did you get dad to let you use the pits?"

To which the batfam responds with "YOUR DAD!"

Then a second idea, derived from the og, was:

JL and JLD found out that the Ra's al Ghul was trying to summon the King of the Infinite Realms, so they go to stop him but fail to do it in time, then Danny in ghost king form appears.

He sees the scene, sees that his father is the one summoning him, and goes

"Oh hey dad!" as he transforms from his eldritch form to human form "You know you can call me right? I have a phone, no need for all this crap" .

Everyone, even Ra's, is shocked.

Idk sounds funny in my head

Feel free to make a fic out of this and sorry if I sound too formal or if there are mistakes, English is not my first language and I'm learning it

It is also my second time publishing something and I don't know how to use tags

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Savage by blood (dp x dc)

As Maddie stared at the letter in her right hand, she brought a slightly unsteady left hand to her mouth and pressed hard. The words were blurring even as she stared at the paper, as if Maddie could extract more information than what was on the page.

“Mom?” 

Maddie turned her head to find herself face to face with her son. Hurriedly she wiped at her eyes

“Mom, are you okay?” Her sweet boy asked again as he hurried closer.

Maddie took a fortifying breath and forced a smile she did not feel. “All good baby, just got some surprising news.”

“Mom you were crying.” Danny was still standing around gingerly, as if cautious not to upset her more.

Maddie opened her arms and her boy slotted in them for a hug. She sighed into his hair, even as she savored the embrace that was becoming rarer and rarer since he’d turned fourteen and decided he was too old for such thing. She sniffed again and did her best to blink away the moisture in her eyes. She heard the floorboard creak and when she looked up, she saw her eldest standing there, her eyes going from Danny to her. 

“You’ve been crying,” her daughter stated, her eyes watchful, and worried.

“Sweetheart-“ Maddie started but her smart girl interrupted the comforting words she was preparing.

“I’m getting dad,” Jazz said and left before Maddie could say anything.

Danny looked up, his big blue eyes just like his father’s. “What happened?”

“I’m ok, honey, it’s-“ nothing she wanted to say but stopped herself, well-aware that now that the whole family was getting in on this there would be no deflecting. Not that she would’ve tried to hide it from her family anyways. “It’s nothing bad, baby, it really only took me by surprise.”

Danny’s eyes narrowed but before he could say anything, her fool of a husband burst into the room. 

“I’ve brought tissues, my love!” He announced in a subdued version of his normal boisterous speech. “And the Fenton water-bottle to keep you hydrated!”

“Thank you, honey,” Maddie said as an irrepressible smile took over her face. Her husband had a way of making everything seem better to her just by walking in a room.

“Anything for you, Maddie,” he said as he stepped towards her and sat down next to her, with a soft kiss to her temple. He gestured to their daughter who had been standing in the doorway to come join their little dogpile and there was further readjusting as everyone wiggled into the most comfortable position.

Once they all fell still, Danny one again looked to her with narrowed eyes. “Now, what happened?”

Maddie sighed as she distractedly started to stroke her daughter’s hair. “Let me just say that this is an overreaction, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Mom,” said daughter intoned as her father gently intertwined their fingers and Maddie resigned herself.

“You remember how I’ve told you I’m adopted?” Maddie started, and she felt her son nod against her. “I received a letter.” Maddie took a deep breath. “It was from my birth mother.”

She could feel her husband gently pressing her hand.

“How did she get your contact?” Her son asked.

She pressed back before answering. “I don’t know. My file from before I was three years-old and entered the legal system is very spotty, so I would have had no way to even begin to look into my records of where I came from. I don’t think the records were sealed, for exactly that reason.”

“Ok,” Jazz started. “What did she want?”

“She-“ Maddie stuttered at that before pushing past it, “she wants to meet. Me. Or well I guess, us.”

“Us,” Jack said.

“The whole family,” Maddie confirmed. “And she wants to introduce me to her wives, if I’m ok with that.”

There was a pause as Jazz and Danny locked eyes. “Does that mean we could potentially get at least three grandmas out of this?”

Maddie couldn’t help a snort. “We’ll have to see how it goes, but yes it does.”

Danny pumped his fist in victory. “Three times the Chrismas presents!”

“Now, now, son,” Jack chided. “Let’s not think of extorting your grandmothers before we’ve even met them.”

“Yeah,” Jazz added. “Especially since I’m going to be the favorite.”

“No you won’t!” Danny jumped up to glare at her sister, who drew herself up.

“Yes I will, I’m already Aunt Alicia’s favorite!”

“Exactly, so it’s my turn!”

Jack put his hand on their interlaced hands and Maddie turned towards him.

“What’s her name?” He asked as softly as he did when he was trying to be subtle and unobtrusive.

“My biological mother’s name is Kay,” Maddie started, “and her wives names’ are Liana and Scandal Savage.”

“You bet your ass I’m going to be the favorite grandchild!” Her son exclaimed loudly.

“Danny!” Maddie reprimanded. “Language!”

“Sorry, mom,” her son muttered as he looked down.

Jazz sent him a smirk which had him sticking his tongue out in retaliation and her daughter turned towards Jack with big eyes.

“Da-ad, he’s sticking his tongue at me!”

Jack turned back towards the kids, to manage the fight that had started while Maddie grabbed the letter again, letting her eyes scan the contents again.

She would have to write back immediately.

[kaezerdoodles]

How do Valerie & Elle fit into the True Rivals AU? I honestly think that Val would still be a problem in that Vlad didn't really have anything to do with having the dogs at the kennel euthanized.

So, Cujo would still look for his squeaky, Danny would still try to stop him, Cujo would still mess up Damien's job & get him fired, Valerie would still blame Danny & try to get revenge. The question is will she end up being a self-made ghost hunter (maybe she could go more Supernatural-esque old school about it)? Will Vlad still approach her? (I doubt it because he doesn't actually wanna make things difficult for Danny here.) Will it be Marc instead (could be interesting if she develops a small crush on him, but he isn't interested)? Or will she train under the Fentons as a permanent Ghost-kateer & subsequently outshine them both entirely?

I'm honestly unsure how Ellie could fit in because I don't see this version of Vlad or Marcus trying to do the cloning Danny thing.

I feel like for this to happen, it'd literally need to be an accident. Except, I don't know how that could happen.

Maybe they were trying to clone, but more in a scientific discovery type of way & Danny's DNA somehow is used instead of, like, an animal?

That's the only way I can see it happening & the outcome would be very different. Like, yeah, maybe Danny thinks that it's part of some scheme, but it isn't & the whole family really does care.

I can still see Vlad trying to somewhat use her to convince Danny to join him in a similar way to how he uses Marc, but he does ultimately love them both here.

I also see him putting more effort into her name here because of this, so she's likely named Eleanor, Elle or Ellie for short, from the very beginning.

Either way, the attempt to obtain the mid-morph whatever is a very real attempt to save her, so hopefully Danny wouldn't be quite so obstinate here.

So, she wouldn't go traveling unless something super bad happened.

For Cal I like the idea that Vlad DOES approach her and give her ghost hunting gear but not to cause problems for Danny- to ease the pressure of protecting the whole of Amity. She would still be a little bit of a problem because to her there are no differences in ghosts- all ghosts bad- so Vlad would eventually have to tell her to leave Phantom alone. I think it’d be funny if he tacked on the Plasmiuses and Val is all confused like “theres more than one?” “Yes, there’s three. Oh- and avoid the red dragon at all costs.” “Why?” “She can and will eat you.” “She?” “ANYWAY-“

I’ve actually played with the idea of Val liking Marcus and I like it a lot! Buuut I gotta admit I like Val and Danny more. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Hunter falling for the Hunted dynamic- so maybe her little crush would be a brief thing, something that stirs up Danny to take action. There’s not much he can do about his sister but he can turn up his game with Val. Or maybe it’s not Marc she has a crush on but his ghost half, Alucard? That could be interesting? I mean he’s a flirt in both his forms.

As for Elle, you’re right, Vlad would have no reason to make her intentionally so on accident would be the best way. Maybe he and Marc are trying to clone ghosts- perhaps as a food source? So they don’t have to hunt for ectoplasm, they’d just have a little coop of blob ghosts. And while they were conducting the experiments to clone a blob ghost a vial of Danny’s ectoplasm was used instead. The experiment was left to germinate over night but come next morning there is a whole child that’s Gwen’s age. And I like the name Eleanor- it fits with Guinevere and Marcus so she would def be named that. I too feel that Vlad would still use her to convince Danny to join him but it’d be in the same way he’s using Marc, and he’d be far less degrading when she eventually fails. That’s his lab accident baby and he loves her. (Thinking about it- Elle and Gwen would just be MENACES to their father and brother, they know better than to mess with mom)

[kinglazrus]

Not Your Danny – Ch 1. Moving Day

Phic Phight | Next | FFN | AO3

Submitted by @ecto-american: After Danny’s untimely death, his family and friends turn to Dani for comfort. She was so much like him in every single way. And she never felt more like a clone. A replacement for the “real” thing.

Summary: Maddie and Jack learn a lot of things about their son after his death: his powers, his secret life as the local hero, the truth behind his accident three years ago. And his clone who is so much like their boy. When Dani gets the offer to join their home, she thinks it's too good to be true. And she just might be right.

Word count: 2761

Two weeks after Danny dies, Danielle moves into his bedroom. It's a lacklustre affair. Dani has no belongings to bring with her, except the few trinkets stuffed in the pockets of her shorts. She only owns one pair of clothes, two of you want to be technically and count her ghost form. But that's tenuous at best when you consider the circumstances of her creation, and that her clothes were created withher, not given to her. She doesn't like to think about that too much, though.

Neither of Danny's parents are home for the occasion. Dani doesn't blame them. Her face time with Maddie and Jack Fenton over the past three years equals an hour at most—hour and a half if she really pushes it. And most of that time was with an ectogun between them. If she counts the times where she hasn't been staring down a glowing green barrel, then it's probably only five minutes, maybe less. And that only happened a few days ago.

Suffice to say, Dani and the Fentons don't have a good relationship, or a relationship of any kind. So she doesn't blame them for being out of the house when their dead son's clone, who they only recently found out about, takes over his bedroom. Although take over might be too strong of a phrase.

Dani floats next to Jazz, hovering in front of Danny's open bedroom door.

"Is it... okay?" Jazz asks.

Dani drifts inside, turning her head from side to side as she looks around. She likes the blue walls, and the open brick on the outer wall is kind of cool. The bed, covered in a purple bead spread, topped with a fluffy pillow, looks softer than anything she's ever slept on. The room is nice, if a bit messy with Danny's stuff still inside. Posters decorate the wall, some about space, others from some band called Dumpty Humpy. The shelves are stuffed full of books and model spaceships. His dirty clothes lie next to an open hamper in the corner of the room.

The sight surprises Dani more than anything.

"What are you gonna do with his stuff?" she asks. "Do people usually just," she gestures toward the room, "leave it like this?"

"What? No." Jazz shakes her head and quickly wipe her hand across her eyes. "When someone dies, their family or friends eventually pack their stuff away. Not always right away, though."

"Two weeks isn't long enough?"

Jazz's breath hitches. "Don't– don't say that. It's inconsiderate."

Dani's cheeks go hot at Jazz's admonishing tone. "Oh. Sorry." She floats further into the room, if only to escape the awkward air settling between them.

If Dani didn't know any better, she would guess that Danny had just stepped outside for a second and would be back any moment. Lowering herself to the floor, Dani settles on the carpet and walks toward the desk. A controller of some kind sits on the desk chair, its cord tangled with a headset. Dani picks the controller up and turns it over in her hand. She only vaguely recognizes the X logo in the middle of it; her travels over the past couple of years haven't exactly involved a lot of gaming. Or any.

There was a small handheld system she picked up at a garage sale once. She carried it for a few months but lost it somewhere along the way.

Dani tosses the controller onto the chair and turns back to Jazz. "So, now what?"

"Well, if you're not comfortable with Danny's things still being in here, we can get some boxes and start packing. I think we have some in the basement. If you want." Jazz tacks on the last three words with a soft voice.

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, course." It's just stuff, after all. Dani doesn't quite get it, which also means she doesn't care. If the Fentons don't want to move Danny's stuff yet, then it can stay. He was their son before he was Dani's cousin/DNA source.

"Okay. I guess I'll just... let you get settled, then. I have to work on some plans for the memorial, but Mom and Dad should be home in a couple hours. They said they wouldn't be gone long," Jazz says.

Dani nods. A few seconds of silence pass, and once it's obvious that neither of them is going to say anything more, Jazz turns and walks down the hall. Finally alone, Dani lets her ghost form fall away. The transformation rings prickle as their bright light ghosts over her skin, and when it fades, she's left in her typical shorts and hoodie. Dani rubs her arms until the prickling fades, then flops onto the bed.

Damn. It really is the softest thing she's ever lain on. And the blankets are warm. They smell like Danny, too. That's something Dani never thought she would think. She didn't even realize Danny had a smell, but it's hard to ignore now. It's not the most tangible smell. The best word Dani can find to describe it is crisp, like a cold day. She would bet her beanie that it was because of his ice powers, an ability they had never shared.

Dani shakes her head. Everything is weird enough right now. The last thing she needs to be contemplating is how Danny used to smell. It's also, like, a super creepy line of thought, yeah? Yeah.

As she stares up at the ceiling, a blur of movement catches her eye. Her gaze jumps toward it, in the corner of the bedroom closest to the door. A small brown lump clings to the ceiling. A bug, no doubt. Dani can't tell what kind, and she doesn’t care enough to find out. It's not too surprising, considering how messy Danny's room is. There's probably some old pizza hiding under his bed or something.

Dani rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. A little bug doesn't bother her, not after the places she's slept. And if the Fentons won't be home for a while, and Jazz is busy, she might as well take advantage of her new bed and the next few hours to get some shuteye. God knows she needs it.

—

Maddie feels sorry for Vlad's receptionist. She bears a striking resemblance to Maddie herself, with short auburn hair just a touch redder than Maddie's own, a curvy frame, and a sharp, pointed chin. She's even wearing blue, bless her heart. The girl is pretty, and young, and kind. Can't be too far out of high school, and hoping a job at the mayor's office will look good on her resume. Maddie hopes it pays off. The girl deserves it for putting up with Vlad daily. Working for him seems to be taking a toll on her, judging by the distressed look in her eyes when she looks up from Vlad's appointment book.

"I'm sorry, there's no appointment for you. I don't know if I can let you in," she says.

Maddie sighs. "Mr. Masters left me a message"—or several—"asking me to come in."

"I'm really sorry, but he didn't mention expecting you... oh no." The receptionist's eyes widen and she starts digging through papers on her desk. "Did I forget to write it down again? He got so upset last time."

Maddie reaches out and touches her shoulder, stopping the frantic search. "It's all right, dear. It's not your fault."

She suspected, when Vlad left numerous messages on her cellphone rather than calling the house, that something more was up. How Vlad even got her cellphone number she doesn't want to know. She will also be changing it very soon thanks to this incident.

"He's particular about his meetings," the receptionist says. "I really can't let you in."

"Just let him know I'm here, and I'll take care of the rest."

The receptionist nods. While she goes for the phone, Maddie steps away from the desk and turns back to the waiting area. It's empty besides her and the receptionist—not surprising this early on a Monday, and all the better for Maddie. She pulls her cellphone from her purse and checks the time; It's just after eight. Dani is due at Fenton Works soon, but Maddie and Jack won't be back until noon, at least. The reminder makes her wince.

Missing half of Dani's first day at home isn't ideal, but Maddie wants to get this meeting over with as fast as possible. They had other plans in the city, anyway, made before they invited Dani into their home. Better to get everything done at once.

Maddie eyes plush waiting room armchairs, wondering if there's any point in sitting down, when the receptionist calls out, "Mrs. Fenton?"

Maddie opens her mouth to answer, but her phone—still in her hand—buzzes at that moment. Jack's name stretches across the screen. "Excuse me." She steps toward the elevators on the far side of the room and turns her back to the receptionist, the closest semblance of privacy she can get, before answering her phone. "Hey, Jack. Is your meeting done already?"

"Not even close! How goes the shopping?"

"Fine so far. I forgot we didn't ask...." She tenses, feeling the receptionist's stare at her back. "We didn't ask what she might need, so I'm just grabbing the basics. Do you want me to pick something up for you? Are you waiting on the park board?"

"About that... I'm with them now, and—what day did we settle on for the memorial, again?"

Maddie shakes her head, but not out of annoyance. Jack forgetting the day hardly surprises her. He tends to forget the little details. If anything, it makes her feel grounded. The past two weeks have been a lot, to put it lightly. A lot of changes. A lot of revelations. But she can always rely on Jack to be his usual self.

"A month from today," she says.

"Thanks, baby! You're the best! See you later." The phone beeps as Jack hangs up. Maddie sighs while the corner of her lip twitches upwards. It's the closest she's come to smiling since Danny died. She holds like that for a moment, caught between the ache choking her heart and the desire for things to get better. They won't, not for a long time. She won't fool herself into thinking otherwise. But it's nice, for a moment, to pretend things might be okay.

"Leaving Jack alone with the DPR? I feel sorry for them." Vlad's slimy voice ruins the moment after the first syllable.

Maddie tenses, clutching her phone tighter, and turns to face him. "Vlad. It's bad business to ask for a meeting, then make your guest wait."

When Vlad smiles, his whitened teeth cut a bright slash across his cheeks. It's too wide, too sharp. Never reaches his eyes. Maddie remembers, long ago, when Vlad had a soft smile. He used it sparingly, doling it out to only the most deserved. She can't imagine him smiling like that now.

"Well, I don't mean to be presumptive, but when I phone a friend hoping for a visit, I expect them to stop by my house, not my work."

"Your mistake, then."

The receptionist's typing falters. Her have yet to stray from her screen, but Maddie already knows she's listening in. Vlad probably does, too.

"Natalie!" he snaps.

The receptionist jerks upright. "Yes, sir?"

Vlad rests a hand on Maddie's back and pushes her forward. She moves, if only to step out of his reach, and heads toward his office. Vlad reaches into his suit jacket as he walks. He pulls out his wallet and pinches a few random bills, tugging them out without looking. "Take a break. I'm sure you could use a coffee to perk you up."

He leans in front of Maddie to drop the bills on Natalie's desk. The contact makes Maddie grimace, and she hurries ahead into his office. When she turns, Vlad is already closing the door. The last thing Maddie sees of the waiting room is Natalie's frown as she glances at a paper cup sitting in plain view on her desk.

"Now, Maddie." Vlad turns. Rather than heading to his desk, he steps toward Maddie and touches her arm. "How are you doing?"

"You left me seven messages just so you could ask that?" Maddie brushes Vlad's hand off. In three long strides, she cuts across his office and takes one of the visitor's chairs. While the waiting room had plush armchairs, these are made of dark wood, armless, with firm leather cushions and straight backs. A deliberate choice, no doubt.

Vlad comes up beside her, his hand on the second chair. Before he can sit, Maddie swings her purse off her shoulder and drops it on the empty cushion. Vlad pauses, glances between her and the bag, but relents and takes his seat at the desk instead.

His chair sits considerably higher than Maddie's.

"I can imagine the pain you're going through right now," he says.

Maddie's fists clench. "Can you really?"

"Believe it or not, yes, I can." He pauses, giving her a chance to respond. But whatever question he wants her to ask, whatever game he wants to play, Maddie refuses to give in. She might have put up with him once, but after what he's done, he will be lucky if she willingly suffers his presence ever again after today.

She waits for Vlad to elaborate.

"I'm sure you've wondered, all this time, where Danny went whenever he disappeared for hours. Being our city's young hero explains a lot of it, yes, but to be honest, that wasn't everything." Vlad stops to take a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment. It's quite the performance. "To tell you the truth, he was often with me."

Bullshit! Maddie wants to shout, but she bites it back. Her jaw aches from how hard she clenches her teeth.

"I discovered his secret a long time ago and gave him a safe place away from home. You know, when conversation at the dinner table got to be too much." Vlad pauses again, letting his words sink in.

Maddie hates that she knows exactly what he means. All those times she and Jack discussed their inventions, their plans for when they finally captured the ghost boy. Most of what Vlad is saying might be a lie, but the truth within it cuts her deeply. "Really?"

Vlad might think himself a great actor, but he's apparently ignorant to Maddie's own deception. He nods at her questioning tone, eyes low and mouth pressed into a grim line. "I understand this is hard to hear. I did my best to make him feel safe, and we actually became close. Over the years, I came to think of him as something of a son. And his death has affected me deeply."

He stands, trailing his hand along his desk as he walks around toward Maddie. His shoulders droop, as if Danny's absence weighs on him. It really is a good performance. Peering closer, Maddie sees that he even looks pallid, and purple bags rest under his eyes. A look easily accomplished with some pale foundation and smudged eyeshadow.

"It's like a piece of me is missing without him. I'm sure you feel the same. We need each other, Maddie. To make us whole again."

Vlad reaches toward her, but she ducks away from him, slipping out of her chair. His hand falls through the empty air and he stumbles, nearly falling into the chair.

Now he's being ridiculous, Maddie thinks. She could have fallen for the makeup and the sob story if she didn't know better, but the off balance act? The distressed look in his eye when she pulls away? She's insulted that he thinks she would fall for it.

"You're right Vlad. I'm in pain. Danny is gone and it feels like he took a piece of me with him when he died. But I have my family to help me through it." She grabs her purse off the other chair and heads for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"Madeline, please—"

"Vladimir!" Her shout tears at her throat. She turns on him, blinking to fight back the burn in her eyes. He stands frozen where she left him, crumpled pathetically against her empty chair, one hand still outstretched. Maddie swallows the lump in her throat. "Enough."

She leaves without another word.

Next

[mr-lancers-english-class]

Second and last part of Phic Phight 2021!

Full text below the cut. Warnings for swearing and some drinking mentions.

Mary Baker had a list. She kept it in the back of her calculus notebook. It had started as a joke, something to amuse herself with any time differential equations or taylor series got to be a bit too much. In her three years at uni, it had evolved into a full-on conspiracy theory.

Somehow, despite the multiple thousands of people who went to her school, Mary had had a class with one Daniel Fenton every semester of her college experience. They weren’t even in the same major, but there was quite a lot of overlap between astrophysics and biochemical engineering, weirdly enough, and so every September and every January, Mary found herself walking into at least one class to find Fenton already there.

The list at the back of her calculus notebook was, in theory, very simple. In practice, it was the bane of her existence, and she was sure if she could figure out what it all meant, she’d be the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history.

THAT FENTON KID: WTF IS HIS DEAL???

Doesn’t sleep??? Ever???

Frosh roomie Jake says he always went to bed first and by the time he woke up, Fenton would already be awake

Jake is an avid partyer, joined the frat with the highest DUI rate

Jake goes to bed at 2am on a good day

Got an on-campus single soph + junior year

RA 1 Beth, says he never caused any issues

RA 2 Mac, Fenton brought them fudge a lot but only late at night

Espresso dealer knows Fenton by name and order

I have never once seen Fenton in that coffee shop when the sun is shining

LIBRARY!!!

Al says Fenton is in the library studying until like 4am when they close

Al also doesn’t sleep, testimony should be taken with caution

Climber/Boulderer/Parkour

Once twice thrice Came to class through 3rd+ story window

Calc 1: 12

History of Ghanian Art: 6

Intro bagpiping: 1 (carrying bagpipes in one arm and bag on back)

Chem 1: 4

Calc 3: 10

Phys 1: 8

Espresso dealer says Fenton chills on the roof of Smith Hall

No roof access to Smith Hall per janitors + admin

Smith Hall is in the middle of a field w/ no trees

Captain of Parkour Club

Also, founded Parkour Club

There’s like two other members and they’re both from the same tiny town in the middle-of-bumfuck-nowhere Illinois

Where tf is Fenton from???

Only does work in Spooky von Haunted Library

Racist pos can go die in a hole, I will only ever refer to that hellscape by the actual fun shit that happens there

But yeah Fenton never works anywhere else

Per Al, who works the night shift there three days a week

Checked with Greg @ SP Lib and Wren @ 28th St Lib, they’ve never seen him at their libraries

Talks to ghosts?

Per Al, has convos w/ legit nothing

Finally broke down? Wish it were me

Seems to get inspired by said convos w/ nothing

No sense of danger? There’s a better way to word that but idk man

Took 20 cr first semester, 3.8 gpa

SEE?!?!? DOESN’T SLEEP!!!

Took calc 3 with Smith

Which is the dumbest move possible, Smith grades way too hard

Also, somehow pulled an A

Parkour club

Dude ends up on top of tallest buildings on campus every week

And then fucking leans over the side to figure out how to get down wtf???

HazMat

I wrote this down like a year ago and then forgot fuck

I REMEMBERED!!!

Hazmat spill in chem lab, Fenton legit didn’t realize

Finished the lab, turned it in, walked out none the wiser

Might have drank hydrochloric acid once????

Nani says so

Normally I’d trust her, but there’s no fucking way

Def downed a whole bottle of ammonia

What, cocaine not enough for you???

But yeah chem 1

So yeah actually I believe Nani he totally drank hydrochloric acid

Bear

Oh lol yeah a bear got on quad

Fucking Fenton chased it away allll bu self

Also some jakcass had paintted it fucking brught green

lol frat boys amiright?

i’m too fucking drunk for thsi rn later mary can deal wtih the bear

Walked through a wall

Okay what the unmitigated fucking hell????

Fenton just fucking walked through a wall in the middle of the math building I swear to god

I am dead sober right now, it’s fucking noon on a fucking tuesday and he just walked through a fucking wall

Dude flies

I don’t think i was suppsed to see tihs one boys

Its kinda late lol like 4am but not toooooooo late

And i mean yeah mayeb i’m a teeny weeny bit itnoxcaded

But i stg fenton jst fckng flew

Jumped oof the top of Smtih Haal

And then jst knda hovred for a hot mnt or 2

then f*cking uh flew away

look i derw a baby star

No curses in ym bok, nope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im gona go to slep now

he fcuking flies i cant deal rn

[anthropwashere]

deadfic: Bang Babies got nothin’ on the Ghost Kid

More deadfic for @goodintentionswipfest! There was a post circulating on here once upon a time riffing on how OP Danny is compared to regular superheroes, so here’s about 4k of a Static Shock/Danny Phantom crossover that didn’t end up going anywhere.

=

The first time they see him, he’s just a black and white streak that nearly knocks them both out of the sky.

“Who—what was that?” Static gapes once he’s regained his balance. Green data splashes across Gear’s visor, obscuring his own incredulous expression.

“No idea, but they just clocked 154 miles per hour.”

“Well the speed limit here is only 45. Wanna pull ‘em over?”

Gear snorts. “If we can catch ‘em, sure.”

But whoever or whatever it was is long gone. After a week with no other sightings of ‘Flash Noir’ as they call the stranger, they let it go. Whatever it is will turn up, or it won’t. So long as no one’s getting hurt by it, it’s not really their problem, right?

=

The second time they see him is a week after that, and he’s hovering over the school roof just… watching. Other people see him too, and they all point and stare at the figure all in stark black and white, a teenage boy from the waist up and a ribbon of black from the waist down. 

Virgil and Richie share a mutual look of relief. They’d started to think they’d imagined him, never mind what Backpack had recorded. But when they look up at the roof again the kid is gone.

=

The third time they see him, he’s just a black speck barely glimpsed in the streaky post-rain evening sky. They only realize it’s him—and that he’s there at all—because Backpack catches him on the edge of its radar. He’s too high up, way too high up. The air’s just too thin for normal people—or normal bang babies, for what that’s worth. They try to get as close as they can anyway, but he blinks out of existence long before they can make out any details.

=

The fourth time they see him, he’s got a minivan and a corolla balanced in each hand like gravity’s got better things to do than pay him any mind. He’s holding them by the bumpers. Gear promptly loses his mind trying to figure out the physics behind such a feat, so it’s only Static that sees the guy toss a grin their way as he sets the two vehicles down on a stretch of road aways away from the car accident he’d apparently saved them from joining.

The strange kid waves at the families he’d saved, then takes off before Static and Gear can get near him. Backpack helpfully informs Gear that this mysterious guy encroaching on their hero turf clocked 60 miles in two seconds flat.

=

The fifth time they see him, he’s waiting for them in the junkyard looking infuriatingly smug. Static and Gear gape, then jump for him. It’s been starting to feel like chasing a mirage, but this time the guy stays put.

“Relax,” he tells them with a laugh and a lazy grin. “I’m not a bad guy.”

This close they can see he’s not any older than they are. He’d look like any normal kid, except for the glowing green eyes and shock of white hair fluttering in a breeze that isn’t there. 

“Then why are you stalkin’ us?” Static challenges.

“I wouldn’t say ‘stalk,’” the guy replies, defensive. “I’ve just never seen any other superheroes before. I was curious, that’s all.”

“I guess you don’t watch the news much,” Gear says, unimpressed. “You can go a day without hearing about a super making headlines somewhere.”

The kid’s grin turns uneasy. “I’m, uh, not actually from around here. Superheroes are a bit thin on the ground, where I’m from.”

“And where’s that, the North Pole?” Static asks.

The kid rolls his eyes. “Through an interdimensional rift in space four blocks from here. Hang a right past the Lovecraft reference and straight on ‘til morning.”

Static and Gear share an exasperated look.

“Look, kid,” Gear begins heatedly, only to be cut off.

“Oh no, no fair. You guys look like you’re still in high school too, so cut it out with the ‘kid’ stuff. The name is Phantom.”

Gear huffs. “Fine, Phantom. Point is we appreciate the help. You’re doing good work. But the superhero thing’s dangerous. You can’t just, y’know, jump into it.”

As if the two of them hadn’t done just that. But, y’know. It felt right to warn the guy, at least.

“It’s not a matter of ‘if’ you’ll get hurt if you stick with it,” Static adds. “And, okay, you might be new in town, so maybe you don’t know, but the two of us have got Dakota covered just fine.”

Phantom rolls his eyes, bouncing into the air. Gravity really doesn’t pay him any mind at all. How does he fly? Telekinesis? He does it like he’s so used to it the switch from standing to hovering is as natural as breathing. “Trust me, this city’s a walk in the park compared to what I deal with. Forgive me for seeing a chance to lend a hand to a couple of kids who clearly needed the help.”

“Now wait a minute—”

He drifts higher. “Oh, and by the way, there’s a guy calling himself Hotstreak waiting for you on ice by the community center. You’re welcome.”

“Wait—!”

But he blinks out of sight just like his name would suggest he could. There’s a pause as they both stare stupidly at thin air, then Gear swears. “‘On ice?’ Don’t tell me he’s got ice powers too.”

Phantom does, in fact, have ice powers too. Talk about overkill.

=

The sixth time Phantom makes an appearance, Virgil Hawkins is eating dinner with his dad and sister. He happens to glance out the window only to see a pair of neon green eyes staring back at him. Virgil drops his glass, yelping when milk splashes his mostly empty plate and spills into his lap.

“What’s the matter with you?” His sister asks.

“Uh. I—nothing! Nothing at all! I just—remembered that I, uh. Book report! I left my book report at Richie’s and I need to go get it!”

“Can’t it wait until school tomorrow?” His dad asks.

“No—no, it can’t, because I, uh, I still need to type it up and—and it’s due first period!” 

He runs out of the kitchen and out the front door before either of them can yell at him to clean up the mess he’d made. He stands on the stoop, panting and trying not to panic, and Phantom swoops into view upside down with that smug grin on his face again.

“Well hey there, sparky,” he says.

Virgil thinks he maybe has a heart attack, a little bit, before he finds the strength to speak. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” He yells in a furious stage whisper, grabbing the kid out of the air to drag him closer. “The first rule of superheroes is minding the secret identity thing, especially around family, and you just blew that right out of the water!”

Virgil’s hand goes briefly numb and Phantom slips out of his grasp. “I wouldn’t say ‘just,’” he replies, looking guilty.

Virgil’s gonna strangle him, he really is. “How long have you known who I am?”

“Wwwwwell, a couple weeks back I saw local heroes Static and Gear walk into an abandoned gas station and two normal teenagers walk out. I don’t know your real names and I didn’t know you lived here, I swear. I was just flying by and recognized your hair out of the corner of my eye. I swear,” he repeats hastily at Virgil’s murderous expression.

Virgil counts to five, then back down again, and is still just as pissed. “Fine. Okay. C’mon.”

He starts walking towards Richie’s house, because no way is he doing this on his own. Behind him Phantom asks, “Uh, where are you going?”

“We are going to R—Gear’s place. The three of us are gonna sort this out, and don’t you even think of pulling another one of your disappearing acts to get out of it!”

Phantom scoffs. “Oh yeah, because I’m so inconspicuous otherwise. Here, hold still.” He grabs Virgil’s shoulder and a chill washes over him. He startles, trying to pull away, but Phantom may as well have steel rebar for bones. Virgil looks down and yelps even louder than when he’d spilled milk all over himself; the ground has fallen away without even a rusty, trusty trash can lid underfoot. And speaking of feet, where are his feet?

“Augh, what? Whoa, no, let me go!”

“Quit squirming.”

Oh, no. He’s not getting the evil grunt orders fifty feet in the air. He grabs the hand he can’t see and sends a warning bolt. Phantom grunts, twitching. 

“Augh, easy sparky! Which way is Gear’s house?”

“How is this less inconspicuous you maniac? Put me down—and don’t drop me!”

“Oh, for—you’re invisible right now.” He looks up and there’s nobody above him, but he can hear Phantom all the same. “I pulled a disappearing act and brought you along. Seriously, man, I know I’ve been goofing off and setting you on edge, but I really didn’t mean to spy. You wanna talk to Gear about the blown cover thing—I really don’t know your names still, by the way—and I wanna come to an agreement.”

Virgil sighs. These bang babies all gotta stop being so crazy. But hey, at least this one doesn’t seem like he’s about to rob any banks. “Hang a right at this light.”

=

It is officially too weird to watch your own body reappear before your own eyes. Virgil shudders.

“First time with invisibility?” Phantom waggles his eyebrows. “How do you feel?”

“...Tingly. Warn me before you do that again, alright?”

“You just gave me blanket permission to do it again basically whenever, you realize that, right?” 

“Wh—I did not!”

Phantom rolls his eyes and phases through the roof. Seriously, there’s got to be a limit to how many spooky ooky poltergeist powers a guy can have, right? A moment later Virgil hears Richie yowling, and Phantom reappears with Richie in tow. He sets Richie down, gentle as you please, then promptly explodes.

Virgil recoils, blinking white light out of his vision. When he can see clearly again, Phantom is gone and there’s a regular teenager standing in his place, black-haired and fresh out of glowing green eyes. One forearm is bandaged from wrist to elbow.

“Wh-what?” Richie asks for the both of them.

The kid smiles, waving his uninjured hand. “Danny Fenton. It’s nice to see you without the visor.”

=

Turns out, Danny wasn’t kidding about being from a different dimension. He shows them the door he pops in and out of and everything. It’s an emergency exit of an old theater downtown, perfectly normal to Virgil’s eyes. Richie opens it. Rusty hinges squeal and Virgil can glimpse the vague suggestion of chairs in the dark.

“It only works if you’re focusing on the Ghost Zone,” Danny says.

“The what now?”

Richie shakes his head. “Oh no, no way. Please don’t tell me I’m talking to a dead guy.”

Danny laughs. “Nah, I’m basically as normal as either of you when I’m like this.”

Considering Virgil can do exactly as much damage as he can wearing his superhero gear, that’s not exactly comforting.

Danny nudges Richie aside, shuts the door and opens it up again. Just like that the theater’s interior is gone. There’s a hole in the world instead, bleeding radioactive green into the alleyway. There are hundreds—no, thousands—of violet doors floating in a green void that twists in dizzying shapes before his eyes. There’s no ground, no sky, it goes on forever in all directions.

“That—” Richie swallows. “That’s where you’re from?”

Danny shuts the door. Virgil tries to ignore the relief that makes jelly out of his knees, but dang, that really needed a better warning. “No, of course not. I’m from Earth, same as you. Just a, well, a slightly different one, I guess. A parallel one. That place is where ghosts come from. I only ended up here by mistake.”

“Take a left at the Lovecraft reference?” Virgil asks, rubbing his eyes. 

“Ha, pretty much. I was trying to escape the Lovecraft reference. That’s, uh, not what it’s name probably is? My friend Sam called it that and I can’t understand it, so, that’s kind of stuck. It’s got enough teeth to deserve being called ‘Lovecraft reference,’ anyway.”

“Sam?” Richie asks. “Is that someone else, uh, on your team?”

“It’s not really a team. She doesn’t have super powers or anything, if that’s what you mean.”

“That’s right, you said superheroes are thin on the ground where you’re from,” Virgil says. “So I guess it’s just you dealing with the big and toothy?” 

“Basically, yeah. Not a lot of opportunity to do what I did to get my powers.”

“What’d you—”

Danny holds up both hands. “Nope, nuh-uh. You’ve got your secrets, I’ve got mine.”

=

The seventh time they see Phantom, they finally see him in proper action. Ebon’s gang has struck a bank—Virgil’s big mouth and bad luck strikes a home run, as usual—and by the time Static and Gear arrive on the scene they’ve stolen a truck and are two blocks from the bank. Talon is flying overhead, keeping an eye out for cops or goody-good superheroes, while the rest of the gang’s inside.

They don’t stop to see who’s hurt. They’d passed an ambulance on the way, and it’s not like either of them are good for more than getting the injured to emergency care. They take chase, and the armored truck doesn’t make it another block before Gear’s knocked Talon out of the sky and Static has netted the truck in a web of electricity. It’s heavy though, too heavy for him to do more than keep its tires squealing in place and hoping Gear can gimmick up something to slow it down a little more. Ebon’s smart though. He’s not gonna pick a fight here, and Static will burn himself out long before the tires do.

“Gear!” He yells desperately.

“Working on it!”

But it’s Phantom that swoops in from nowhere, soaring down in front of the truck. He, impossibly, lifts the wheels off the street one-handed. It’s enough help to let Static focus his attention on popping the wheels off before releasing his net. He sinks to his knees, disc wobbling dangerously beneath him, catching his breath.

“I—hate—armored trucks,” he wheezes.

“Static!” Phantom calls out, startled, which means breaktime is over. He stretches his hand out and ties Shiv up with a nearby stop sign before he gets to his feet again. Phantom’s rushed off to help Gear with Talon who’s back in the air, which just leaves Ebon to Static.

Ebon slides out of the truck, an inky, glowering smear. “Who’s the new guy?”

“Friend from out of town. Why, you feelin’ like we’re not bondin’ like we used to?”

Ebon doesn’t reply, just slaps Static away. The air gets knocked out of him and he lands in a sprawl halfway down the street. Before he can recover he hears Talon scream. He slams his hands to his ears reflexively, but luckily she wasn’t aiming at him. Not so luckily, Gear and Phantom hit asphalt a few yards away.

“You okay?” Static calls out.

“I hate when she does that,” Gear complains too loudly, shaking his head like a dog and looking nauseous. Yeah, Static hates it too. He’d take getting slapped around by Ebon over having his hearing scrambled any day. 

Phantom springs up quicker than either of them, grinning madly. “She wants a screaming match, huh?” 

Gear looks as aggrieved as Static feels. “Do not tell me you can do that too.”

Phantom’s grin widens, eyes blazing, as Talon rejoins Ebon and Shiv at the armored truck. Shiv must’ve cut himself free of the stop sign at some point. Static makes a mental note to use two stop signs next time. The three of them are hauling bags out of the back, clearly planning on Ebon’s easy getaway trick to get at least some of the cash they’d stolen.

Static gets to his feet, zapping his disc underfoot again as he considers a half dozen strategies to take them out and not liking any of them. Ebon’s always been too slippery; it’s likely he’ll get away no matter what—

A hand claps down on his shoulder. 

“Stay behind me,” Phantom says.

“What are you—”

But there’s no time to finish asking what because Phantom takes a deep breath and wails. There’s waves of concentric neon green energy bursting from his mouth, radiating out and down to Ebon’s gang. The armored car, down two tires, goes shrieking and sparking down the street. Two parked cars follow after, their windows shattering, their frames buckling. Ebon, Talon, and Shiv don’t even have time to grab at their ears; they go down like bowling pins, and don’t get up again.

The click of Phantom’s teeth when he finally stops wailing seems awfully loud. Static feels like he just walked out of a concert he’d been too near the speakers at for; his ears are ringing, his hands and feet are tingling, and his chest hurts vaguely. He swallows, looks back at Gear who’s just shaking his head a little. He looks at Phantom; the kid’s got beads of green on his forehead and he’s breathing hard.

“Sorry,” his voice cracks a little, “That one’s kinda hard to put a lid on.”

=

After sorting out things with the police—which Phantom vanished for, literally—they invite him back to the gas station for what is, in essence, dinner and an interrogation. Richie declares he’s had enough surprises and Virgil agrees. So they stop to grab a couple of pizzas and manhandle Danny to the gas station. Danny lets himself be manhandled with no shortage of eye rolling.

“Sit,” Richie orders, shoving a paper plate laden with three slices of pepperoni into Danny’s hands. “Explain.”

Danny sits obediently, raising his eyebrows like he’s trying not to grin. “Uh, explain what?”

“You! Your ridiculous collection of powers, where you come from, why you’re not strutting around your weird parallel Earth or whatever as Grand High Emperor of—of everything!”

Danny can’t help the grin. Virgil’s hiding one behind a can of soda too though, so he can’t judge. “Grand High—what? Do you have one of those here?”

“Danny.”

“C’mon. We agreed on no details, didn’t we? This wouldn’t even be a conversation we’d have if you were the ones coming to my city.”

“We agreed to that when it seemed like you were just another souped up Bang Baby,” Virgil cuts in, “but this is getting ridiculous. I’m not sure I like the idea of Superman’s ghost charging through Dakota any time he feels like it, especially since supers tend to bring their problems along with ‘em.”

“If you want me gone, I’ll leave. I was just trying to give you guys a hand when things were slow in Am—my city.”

“We never asked your overpowered butt for help in the first place!” Richie snaps.

Danny opens his mouth to snap something back but his phone goes off instead. He glares at them both as he pulls it out of his jeans pocket, flipping it open. His eyes widen at whatever the text reads, he fires off a quick reply, then drops his uneaten pizza on the table. “Look, here I am, going. All right?”

“Trouble in paradise?” Virgil quips.

Danny ignores it, but stops halfway to the door to look back over his shoulder. His eyes are bright green, which Virgil’s learning means more trouble than it’s worth. “You know what? How about you come visit Amity Park with me?”

=

The Ghost Zone is just as dizzying as Static thought it would be, and in no time at all he’s hopelessly lost and he has a monster of a headache. It’s like he’d put his face right up against a neon sign no matter where he looks; just bright green smears and the odd clutter of purple doors. “Man, you sure you’re not lost?”

Phantom throws a grin over his shoulder. “Relax, I’ve done this plenty of times.”

“Is it even safe for, uh, regular people to be here?” Richie asks nervously. “I’m getting some bizarre readings here that Backpack can’t make heads or tails of. I feel like I should have nabbed a HAZMAT suit too.”

“My parents and friends have been in and out of the Ghost Zone dozens of times, and they’re totally fine.”

“Radiation poisoning can take decades to affect people,” Gear points out.

“Eh, so maybe they’ll glow in the dark or something twenty years from now. Ectology is kind of in its infancy. Anyway, we’re here.”

There’s a circular hole of swirling green, lighter than the fog around them and suspended in a solid looking riveted steel frame. Phantom holds up one hand to stop them, sticking his head through. “We’re good,” he says when he’s popped back out. “C’mon.”

Gear and Static share one last nervous look before following after.

They find themselves in some kind of high-tech basement done all out in sleek chrome, like a mad scientist’s lab out of a Saturday morning cartoon. There are beakers and flasks bubbling with syrupy neon green stuff, barrels with CAUTION stamped on the sides, and the kind of tables that wouldn’t look out of place in a flashy investigation show morgue. Static breaks out in goosebumps and can’t even pretend to play it off on it being a little chilly in here. 

“My parents built the Ghost Portal,” Phantom says, pointing back at the circle of green light still swirling behind them. “But I’m the one who made it work.”

Seeing the Portal on this side makes Gear’s breath hitch, and Static breathes out a stunned, “Whoa.” It’s an octagon framed by fat black and yellow caution stripes, easily fifteen feet in diameter. The Portal itself is identical to how it appeared on the Ghost Zone’s side, a constant dizzying swirl of toxic greens staining the enormous lab like some kind of mutant aquarium.

“Is this thing open all the time?” Gear stutters. “How is your family not dead? Heck, the whole city? This thing’s pouring out energy on a—I need to invent a new scale to quantify these readings just so I can make sense of them!”

Phantom laughs, grabbing a chrome cylinder glittering with green designs. “Don’t worry about it, seriously. My mom would know if it was, like, properly dangerous. Now c’mon, I want you to meet a regular of mine.”

=

Two more teenagers are waiting for them outside an evacuated post office. The girl, white with a distinctly Goth taste in clothes, gives Phantom a look that plainly states she thinks he’s nuts. “You didn’t mention you’d be bringing them through,” she says flatly.

The guy, black with thick-rimmed glasses and dressed like he can’t decide if he’s going for ‘frequents Starbucks’ or ‘military surplus’, rolls his eyes and waves. “Hi, I’m Tucker. That’s Sam. Don’t mind her, she’s just pissed the Box Ghost got the jump on her.”

“The one time I leave the house without a Thermos,” she huffs, crossing her arms.

“Sorry about the wait.” Phantom says. “Guys, this is Static and Gear.”

“Charmed,” Static says automatically. Gear just grunts.

“Don’t need three guesses to guess who,” Tucker grins. “We can catch up later. You wanna do the honors, Danny?”

“Nah.” Phantom looks at Static and Gear, looking worryingly pleased. “I helped you out with the, what’s it, Ebon and Friends. Why don’t you take a crack at one of mine?”

[mischiefandspirits]

Doppelgänger (5/?)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

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

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Fright Night}

“So a trio of ghosts need to create a haunted house room,” Danny said, smirking at his partners as he dropped down on his bed.

“Think we could just stick Audrey II in there and call it a day?” Tucker asked and sat backwards on the desk chair.

Sam shrugged and sat next to Danny so she could put his head in her lap. “If I stopped pruning her, she should be big enough to give someone a scare by then. I don’t think just one thing will cut it though.”

“We could bring in some more plants for you to move around and have it be a haunted jungle,” Tucker said.

“Oh, so Danny makes a stupid bet and I have to do all the work.”

“Hey, I’m the one who gave Twoey sentience and unless you force her with your powers, she only listens to me. I think that counts for something,” Danny pointed out.

“You know, what is it with you and the non-sapient ghosts and ecto-beings?” Tucker asked. “Twoey, Cujo, those will-o'-wisp blob things that follow you around when we’re in the zone. You’d think Sam would be the one they're attracted to with her nature thing.”

Danny hummed and pressed into Sam’s hand so she’d start carding her fingers through his hair. “Well, like I said, I brought Twoey to life, so maybe she imprinted on me. And Cujo might just be able to sense that you guys hate dogs.”

“We don’t hate dogs. They're just loud and annoying,” Sam said.

“And Cujo is literally as demonic as his namesake,” Tucker added.

“He’s a good boy and this is why he doesn’t like you.”

“He trashed a lab for a toy!” Tucker said.

“And they put him down. Fair's fair.”

“Can’t disagree with you there,” Sam said with narrowed eyes. She’d launched quite the internet scandal when she’d dug up why, exactly, the old kennels she’d found the toy in were abandoned. “Back to the matter at hand though, you still haven’t explained the blobs.”

Danny blushed. “I, uh, might feed them chips sometimes when they show up while I’m cleaning the lab.”

There was a moment of silence before both his partners started snickering.

“Don’t feed the wildlife, Danny,” Sam said mockingly.

“All this time, they’ve been the ghost equivalent of pigeons.”

“Not pigeons! They're actually really sweet. Like… hummingbirds!”

“Sure, dude.”

“Whatever you say, Danny.”

“Can we just get back on topic? Sam, you’re goth, shouldn’t that make you our resident creepy person. What would go good with a living jungle and a literal man-eating plant?”

Sam patted his cheek condescendingly, but leaned back to plot. “I had something else planned, but if you guys insist on the jungle idea…”

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

“This has to beat whatever Dash has,” Danny said as the trio looked over the room.

Audrey II’s pot had been attached to the ceiling so her stalks could hang down, dripping -- thankfully only harmful to ectoplasm -- acid. Once the haunted house was open, she’d been instructed to snap at anyone who came near. She luckily didn’t like the taste of humans so there wasn’t any worry about her going overboard.

Sam had brought in some crawling vines and tropical plants to cover the walls and floor so she could have them tug at or trip people as they moved through the room and make it harder for people to find their way through.

Danny’s herd of blobs were drifting around the makeshift jungle, making soft lights flicker through the semi-darkness.

Tucker had set up electric field generators to give the room an eerie feeling.

The pièce de résistance, however…

“Did you get it set up?” Sam asked.

“Try it out,” Danny said.

The boys watched as she walked over to an archway on one side of the room. She walked through it, only to come out an archway on the opposite side a second later.

“Yes!” Tucker cheered, high-fiving Danny. “Thank you, Space Fold!”

Sam tested out all the other archways to be sure they had a similar effect then came over to join the boys. “Congratulations, you’ve built a cartoon hallway.”

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it,” Danny said and she ruffled his hair.

“Well, my work here is done. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tucker grabbed the empty pumpkin-shaped candy bucket waiting by the door, “I’m a little late to start scamming some free candy.”

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

Danny flinched when Sam pinched him for squirming.

“I’m almost done, you big baby.”

“Sorry if I’m a little creeped out by you sticking sharp things very close to my eyes.”

“Just be glad you don’t need contacts. There, perfect.”

Danny smiled when Sam held up a mirror. His hair was covered by a long, braided black wig that a crown of thorns sat atop. His face had been given a slight green tint while his lips were a deep forest. His smile showed off fangs that were just as long and sharp as their ghost form’s and prosthetic ears gave him the same points. Dark makeup made his eyes look sunken, which highlighted his eyes when he let the red of his ghost form glow through. His hands had been given claw-like fake nails before being dipped into blood-red paint while he’d been dressed in black and dark green princely clothes. It all came together to make him look like a ghastly elfin prince.

He stood up and turned to Sam. “Thanks, Sam. This is great.”

She frowned and shook her head. “No, more brooding.”

“I really don-”

She pointed a finger in his face. “You wanted my help. This is me helping. More brooding. Imagine all the light draining from your soul.”

Danny pushed her hand away. “You’re just using this as an excuse to make me goth for a night.”

“Only for a night, but yeah. It’s a good look on you. Now brood or I’ll leave and you can do without my plants.”

Danny rolled his eyes, then tried to channel his angstiest self.

Christmas Danny.

Sam blinked at his scowl. “Wow, I didn’t think you could even get that dark. You’re usually our resident prep.”

Jingle Bells. Gingerbread. SANTA.

Danny shoved it all down, but the scowl only lessened slightly. “That’s because your family always goes away for the holidays.”

Sam looked confused, but didn’t get a chance to ask before they heard footsteps approaching. She transformed, saying, “Showtime. Maybe lose the anger a little.”

“I’ll try.”

She disappeared and all the plants except Audrey II started to sway and glow slightly. They seemed to thicken, making it impossible to see more than a few feet into the room.

Danny shooed the flytrap’s stalks up towards the roof. “Alright, Twoey, just like we practiced. Remember, be a good girl and you get a nice big bottle of ectoplasm as a treat.”

One of the lobes nuzzled him then they all retreated into the darkness Tucker had carefully maneuvered the lights to create on the ceiling.

“This is why she likes us. We spoil her,” a voice whispered in his ear.

“I don’t… I only spoil her a little.”

Sam chuckled and he felt her drift off.

“Mr. Fenton, it’s time,” William Lancer said as he arrived at the door to the room Daniel had taken. It was painted with toxic green glowing runes and vines as well as the words, The Kingdom of Thorns.

The door creaked open slowly to reveal Daniel standing a few feet away.

Automatic door, nice touch, William noted. The boy was also in a more elaborate costume than Dashiell’s. His contacts were actually a bit disconcerting with how the light made them appear to glow. It wasn’t helped either that the normally cheerful, if downtrodden, boy had on a scowl that looked rather resentful and fell.

The boy gave a graceful bow. In an empty voice, he announced, “Welcome. May your stay be eternal.”

A shiver went up William’s spine. The boy’s voice sounded off. Echoey-perhaps, except it didn’t sound like Daniel’s voice echoing back. More like multiple someones were whispering his words alongside him. Some sort of speaker setup, maybe? But the teacher swore the voices were coming from Daniel.

Pushing down the emotions, William pointed to the door. “I hope that’s not permanent.”

“What?” The eerie expression and voice were gone in a blink. “Oh, yes. I mean no, it’s not permanent. It’s just a little ectoplasm from my parent’s lab. I have the dissolving agent.”

That… was not as comforting as Daniel seemed to think it should be. “Is that safe?”

“Yeah, sure. Pure ectoplasm is harmless to humans in small doses. You could eat the amount on there and still be perfectly fine. It’s the charged stuff that’s dangerous.”

Still not as comforting as the boy’s smile made it out to be. “Right. Shall we begin?”

Daniel gave a toothy -- fangy? -- grin and stepped to the side, gesturing William forward.

The door slammed closed once the teacher started walking, not close enough to hit, but enough that he could feel the breeze of it passing on the back of his neck. He glanced back and was surprised to see vines covering the door. He made note of it.

“You’re free to roam, but I would stick to the path,” Daniel said as William passed him, his show voice back on and just as creepy as the first time. “And I wouldn’t recommend eating anything. Or being eaten.”

William glanced back, only to see the boy was gone. But he had just heard him right behind him.

He shook his head and continued forward.

So far the room itself didn’t look particularly scary. It mostly looked like a poorly lit and abandoned greenhouse without the glass walls and ceiling. Though there was the odd lights flying about, like fireflies the size of softballs. The plants almost seemed to be moving as well, like in the wind though William couldn’t feel anything, and he swore they were glowing a bit. Some sort of paint?

“You didn’t put anything harmful on these plants, right?”

“Of course not,” whispered something in his ear and he jerked away. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything.

“No, they’re Sam’s. She’d kill me if I hurt her plants,” came Daniel’s normal voice from somewhere across the room.

“G-Good.”

“Are you alright, Mr. Lancer? You’re not lost are you?”

“No, Mr. Fenton.” He shook himself. He must have been hearing things. He took a step forward and immediately felt like he’d stepped into something, or through something. He rubbed his arms as goosebumps began to crawl up them. He made a note and quickly moved on.

After a few moments more of the random goosebumps and the feeling of vines or leaves brushing him despite being sure he wasn’t getting close to any of the plants, he reached an archway. The teacher frowned and he pulled aside the curtain to look in. He swore the passage was supposed to lead directly into the next room, but instead he found a short hallway. It appeared to be a pitch-black void littered in stars that went on forever, but directly ahead, perhaps two feet in, was another doorway with a curtain. Some sort of mirror trick?

He made another note and walked carefully through the hall. Perhaps it was the star pattern, but he almost felt weightless as he passed through. He pulled the curtain aside… and found himself in the room he’d started in? But that was impossible! And yet, the windows were on the archway’s left, just as they had been for the arch he’d come from. The chandelier hanging above, original to the house though Daniel had wrapped it in vines, was also the same one that had been in the previous room. He must have curved around, except he was sure he’d gone in a straight line.

“Something wrong, Mr. Lancer?”

The teacher jumped and spun around to find Daniel standing right next to him, staring up at him through half-lidded eyes. His head was tilted almost unnaturally to the side and he was giving his usual smile, though the sharp fangs made it feel like he was baring his teeth instead. Some of the flying lights were perched on his crown, but their shapes were indistinct which made it appear the crown was alight with swirling green flames.

“Just-just taking in your creativity, Mr. Fenton. I wish you would put such effort into your schoolwork.”

His grin grew and his eyes glowed brighter. “What can I say, I guess I have an affinity for all things ghostly and dead.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the foliage. “I’ll leave you to it.”

If William was shaking as he moved through the room, there was no one around to tell. He kept a careful eye out, but even still it felt like more plants were brushing against him and he was in a constant state of goosebumps. Then, just as he reached the center of the room, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He shrieked and spun around, dropping his clipboard in the process. There was no one there. He looked all around him, but couldn’t find any sign of a person.

Something creaked above him.

He slowly looked up and saw something moving in the shadows, multiple long necks and wide heads with gaping maws.

“Mr. Lancer?”

“The Iliad and the Odyssey!” William shouted, looking down to see Daniel standing right in front of him, looking worried.

Aside from his glowing crown, none of his showman’s grace was on him anymore. Not even in his voice as he glanced down and said, “Oh, you dropped your stuff.”

William’s eyes widened as he spotted the three long stalks that had lowered down from the ceiling, each carrying the heads of a horror-movie approximation of a venus flytrap. The flat lobes were all around a foot long and would have looked normal, if not huge, except for the toxic green acid dripping from their centers.

At the same time that Daniel leaned down, one of them shot forward to strike like a snake, its jaws closing around the space his head had been not a moment before. They all darted back to the ceiling as Daniel stood up, appearing his normal awkward and helpful self.

He held out William’s pen and clipboard. “Here you go.”

The teacher’s hands were shaking as he took his things from his student.

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, I guess we might have gone a little overboard. Was it the halls? I can take those out.”

Something grabbed William’s ankle. “No! No, it was wonderful. Leave it as is. I just remembered I have somewhere to be.”

“So… does that mean…”

“Yes, Mr. Fenton. You win. Now how do I get out of here?”

Daniel pointed to the side.

There was a straight path to the door that most definitely had not been there before.

William shook the vine off his leg and walked quickly out of the open door.

Danny threw his hands up and cheered as soon as the door shut behind Lancer. He turned and gave Sam a high-five. “That was great! He didn’t even stay long enough to see Twoey in action.”

“We’re an oblivious idiot,” she said as she turned visible.

“What do you mean?”

She plucked off one of the blob ghosts nuzzling his head and shook her own. “Nevermind. Come on, we’ve got a few new ideas from that test run.”

“Cool.”

“By the way, that line about eating ectoplasm. We haven’t actually done that, right?”

“Well, not on purpose, but you’ve seen my house. Sometimes a bit of ectoplasm ends up in the food.”

“We’re never eating at our house again.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I never let you guys stay for dinner when my parents or I cook and Jazz sterilizes everything so she never gets ectoplasm in anything.”

“Never again.”

“And besides, we’re ghosts now. Ghost food is made of ecto-”

Sam put her hand over his mouth. “Never.”

He nodded. Once she’d removed her hand and floated off, he muttered, “It’s not even bad as long as the food doesn’t come to life. Just kind of citrusy.”

“We’re going to throw up!”

[cjsmalley]

Telling the School about Damian:

There was a low buzz of voices as the students sat in the auditorium, waiting to be addressed by the Ghost King.

It wasn’t often Danny Fenton threw his title around so it must have been important.

Something big.

Even the stage, with curtains, had been set up, a microphone waiting so all could hear. Even though, as Phantom, Danny had perfected projecting his voice so a crowd could hear directions in an emergency.

Speaking of Phantom, there Danny was now, floating from backstage; he was in his traveling regalia so only a circlet of ice and bone and the Ring of Rage.

He also looked exhausted and depressed.

His fellow students, and the faculty, quieted down.

What followed was an explanation of the human soul and ghostly cores.

Then Danny inhaled roughly, “Humans can sell souls and there’re…beings…people that will take them.”

He raked a hand down his face and floated to sit down on the stage, “The Ghost King is one of them. The takers I mean. I didn’t know until I was Summoned and offered a newborn for the Summoner’s own life to be extended.”

Danny hunched over slightly as Sam walked from backstage.

Holding a baby.

Sam Manson was holding a baby close to her chest.

“Danny took the Baby—Damian. He wasn’t going to leave a baby in danger with someone who’d Summon the Ghost King for Immortality,” Tucker appeared next, standing between his friends and with a hand on a shoulder each.

“So we have a baby now,” Sam finished, “we wanted to get in front of the rumors. I wasn’t pregnant. Damian’s not like Danielle. He’s ours now but he’s not our biologically, though,” she glared out to the audience, a fierce thing, “we don’t care. He’s ours.”

The auditorium erupted into chaos. People shouting and swearing and promises of help. Even the staff had joined in; Mister Lancer’s deep voice being heard in the commotion reciting book titles.

The baby—Damian started crying.

“Enough!” Danny bellowed, bringing everyone but Damian and Sam to a silent, shocked, standstill; the goth was gently swaying with her son, murmuring a soft lullaby.

Damian’s cries petered off slowly in the silence.

“If you guys behave,” Tucker spoke firmly, “we’ll take questions.”

Valerie stood up, “So that’s what’s been up with you guys,” she said, arching an eyebrow, “how old is he? Two—three weeks, right?”

“Yeah; he was two days old when I took him,” Danny nodded, “that was three weeks ago. He’s why we’ve missed the last three weeks of school.”

“And Sam’s breastfeeding?” Valerie pressed, motioning to her own chest.

Sam flushed, “There’s this…potion Danny’s doctors have for their people. It causes milk production…”

There were murmurings but Damian stayed quiet.

“We haven’t put it all on Sam,” Danny assured, “she pumps so Tucker and me can take over feedings. We get up at night with Dami too. Change his diapers, everything. I’m an equal partner and Tucker’s a good uncle.”

“What about Danielle?” Paulina called out.

“She’s fine,” Sam nodded, “over the moon to have a living brother. We don’t ask her to do much more than hold him for a minute or two. She’s always ecstatic to help. She hasn’t been around babies before. Not up close anyways. We always make it clear she’s welcome to voice complaints and we’ll figure things out together.”

“We semi-soundproofed her FentonWorks room too,” Tucker said, “she can retreat there at any time.”

“She’s also making friends her own age, finally,” Danny grinned tiredly, “living friends, from school. She has some ghost friends, of course, but it gets tricky with her being the Heir to the Throne and half-alive besides.”

“Her grades are good,” Sam added proudly, “especially for someone who never been in school properly before…Yes, Wes?”

“How did your parents react?”

“Fentons took him in immediately; Mansons demanded a DNA test. I can say with one hundred percent certainty he’s not related to me, Sam, or Tucker in any way. He barely counts as Liminal so far but that will probably change,” Danny replied.

It went on in that vein for an hour or two, the trio answering questions (yes, they were all coming back to school, yes they were bringing Damian, no they weren’t just gonna hand him off to a nanny, yes they could afford one but still…) until the students had worn themselves out of questions.

Valerie stood up again, “Just…keep me in the loop, okay? I’ll pick up the slack on patrols and stuff outside the Zone.”

“Thank you, Val,” the trio chorused.

And the assembly was over.

Wished Away 9

Tylers meet Phantoms:

“Christ, Mum,” Rose said as she took in how Jackie, Pete, and Tony were dressed, “we’re just meetin’—”

“Royalty!” Jackie squeaked. They were all done up like they were meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace itself!

“Honestly, Mum, they don’t care,” Rose rolled her eyes, grabbing her mother’s wrist and tugging her through the console room and to the wardrobe room, “I told ya ta dress casually. Let’s just hope the Ol’ Girl has clothes fer ya.”

It took about an hour to get everyone redressed, in things much more casual but still nice, before Rose led them back to the console room.

Jackie was clearly anxious, “Are ya—”

“’m sure, Mum. Danny an’ Sam don’t do formal unless they have ta. Unless you’re an annoying subject or someone threatenin’ war, ya don’t even have ta call ‘em by their titles. They’re just Danny an’ Sam ta family.”

“Lookie what I found,” Jenny bounded from the innards of the TARDIS, holding a tiny bike helmet.

She went to her toddler uncle and put it on him, making sure it fit right, “Landings in the Realms are worse than normal ones. The TARDIS does Her best but the Realms give her…nausea? A headache? She just doesn’t do good.”

“Oh, goody,” Jackie said lowly, hugging a strut for dear life already.

“Let me protect Anthony,” Bad Wolf came out, holding out her arms; without hesitation, Pete handed his son over.

Bad Wolf settled Tony in her arms, against her chest and shoulder, and then spread her feet and crouched slightly, clearly bracing for impact; she stayed steady even as the TARDIS began Her flight.

Everyone else was thrown about the console room, the Doctor and Jenny barely holding on to work the console, but Bad Wolf and Tony did not move an inch.

The landing was rough, just as Jenny said it would be, throwing even the Time Lords to the grated floor before the TARDIS stopped quaking.

Jenny recovered first and stood up, rubbing her shoulder, to peek out the doors, “We’re in the Palace. Uncle Danny and Aunt Sam are waiting…”

Slowly, everyone picked themselves up and Rose reemerged, straightening with some popping from her knees.

Jenny led the procession out, racing to hug a man and a woman, “Uncle Danny, Aunt Sam! How’re you?”

Danny and Sam chuckled and hugged her as one, “Good, doing good. You?”

“Perfect!”

She let go of them to drag Jackie, who was hesitant, forward, “This’s my Gran, Jackie. Mum’s side, duh. Completely human. He’s my step-granddad, Pete, and Mum’s holding my uncle, Tony.”

“Yer Majesties,” Jackie tried to curtsy even though she was in trousers, “an honor ta—”

“Oh, enough,” Sam chuckled, “didn’t they tell you? We don’t do formalities with family.”

“Family?” Jackie’s eyes were wide, “I know Rose said—but—”

“We count Clockwork as family,” Danny explained, “and he’s claimed the Doctor as family. The Doctor and Jenny. Rose’s basically married in by this point. Common-law, you understand. That makes her family our family. Welcome to the Palace, your home in the Infinite Realms.”

“My god,” Pete muttered, somewhat disbelieving.

“Not a god, not yet anyways,” Danny winked.

“Where’s Dani?” Jenny burst out, “Is she still in school?”

Sam grinned, “With Anakin, in the nursery. We let her stay home today.”

“Oh, Gran! Can I introduce Tony to Anakin? Please!” Jenny nearly begged.

“Anakin’s our youngest,” Danny explained kindly, “around Tony’s age, actually. We also have a nanny looking after them, Nanny Clara. He’d be perfectly safe.”

“Well…” Jackie looked to her husband, who nodded, “if you’re sure.”

Jenny cheered and took Tony from Rose, dashing off with him deeper into the Palace.

“Jenny knows the Palace as well as anyone,” Sam assured, “and if she gets lost, she can flag down a servant for help. She’s heading directly for the nursery. It’s the most defensible part of the Palace.

Danny stood up, helping Sam, “C’mon, we can talk over food; stay close, Tylers. Doctor?”

“Rose and I can bring up the rear,” the Doctor agreed, taking Rose’s hand as they began walking.

The Palace was a gothic masterpiece, in a very literal sense, though even Sam had wearied of all the gloom and had sought artists and artwork to fill the halls, soft, plush carpets and tapestries to keep the warmth, glassworks to fill the once barred windows. Statues and busts dotted the hallways, some classical, some avant garde

Masters had given their masterpieces, their magnum opuses; they were paid handsomely of course, in either coin or material.

Oils, watercolors, acrylics, textiles, glass, all created for Her Majesty the Ghost Queen. For His Majesty the Ghost King.

It wasn’t yet a riot of color, nor would it ever be, but it was more alive.

Jackie gasped and the group stopped, turning as one to see what had captured her attention.

“When they said the family was huge…”

Ah, it was the most recent family portrait; all the children were gathered around Danny and Sam, all in formal wear.

“We…sometimes people sell the souls of children to me,” Danny started, causing her and Pete to whip around to him in horror, “I know, it’s horrible, isn’t it? But anyways, we adopt the kids. Only Dani—Danielle—isn’t adopted.”

He pointed out each child and gave their backstory.

“Good Lord, you were young!” Pete said at Damian’s story.

“Old enough to be king,” Danny shrugged helplessly, “it…it wasn’t easy, we had help, so much help, and we made mistakes…”

“All parents do,” Jackie told him softly.

“So we’ve been told,” Sam smiled just as softly, “and we’ve learned and made new ones with each kid.”

Danny coughed and continued to point out kids and tell stories, until all had been covered and then they moved on.

As they neared the dining room, Danielle and Jenny joined them with each holding a toddler.

“Oh my,” Jackie said, taking in the Anakin Skywalker; she knew who he grew up to be, or would have if he had not been adopted.

“We’re hungry, Dad,” Danielle said.

Danny waved them into the dining room where the smaller table was already set for a meal; there were two chairs with booster seats and Jenny and Danielle put Tony and Anakin in them before sitting beside them and helping them get food.

The group chatted over the meal, Jackie and Pete slowly relaxing at how easy going the Royals were, and generally had good cheer.

After the meal was done, Jenny asked, “Do we put their photo up on the family wall now? I know you’ve got me, Dad, and Mum…”

Danny chuckled, “We can, if they’re okay with it.”

“Family wall?” Pete questioned.

“We keep walls of pictures of the extended family,” Sam explained easily, “you know, like Rose, the Doctor, and Jenny. Harry’s and Neville’s parents. Damian’s paternal birth-family. The Royal Portrait is just the immediate royal family. The walls are for everyone and everything else.”

Danny and Sam led the group out of the dining room and down another hallway; the walls were plastered with photographs. Some were professional, most were candid and amateur.

A common camera sat on a small round table; a high-end camera but nothing too expensive or professional.

Danny picked it up, saying, “If Jackie, Pete, and Tony don’t mind—”

Jackie decided it would be a family photograph and dragged the Doctor in; Rose and Jenny came without complaint.

Danny took a set of pictures.

After that was done, it was decided it was time for the Tylers to leave, taking pity on the still disgruntled TARDIS.

They were, however, invited to the next family gathering.

[nocturna-starr]

Troublesome Nephew

Prompter: @voidetrap

Prompt: Aunt Alicia notices something strange about her nephew

Length: 1090

Warnings: None

Aunt Alicia sighed as she opened her eyes. Despite how dark the go the guest room was, the woman knew she wasn't going to be falling back asleep anytime soon. Normally it would be time to feed the animals. Then she would bake herself some omelets from the eggs she had just collected.

Unfortunately, she wasn't home. The hard mattress and thin blankets reminded her that she was sleeping in her sister's guest room. How she wished she was back at home! She had to wait another week, then she would be able to head back home.

Alicia flicked on a light then squinted. Judging by what her tired eyes could see, she looked sort of decent. In the unlikely case that her niece or nephew appeared, she wouldn't frighten them away.  She then shuffled down the hallway.

She noticed that both teenagers’ doors were shut. Jazmine store was a plain white, while Daniel had decided to decorate his with stars and planets. A large “Keep Out!” sign was haphazardly taped across the younger Fenton’s door. From the glimpses she could see inside their rooms, the siblings were as different from each other as their doors were.  The girl was a neat freak, while the boy was as messy as their mother had been when she was a teen.

The woman slowly and quietly walked down the hall to the stairs. When she got to the stairs, she looked at both of the rooms. Neither room lit up. Satisfied with the results of her care period Alicia tiptoed down the stairs. When she turned the corner, she noticed the kitchen light was on.

Had someone broken into the house? Alicia growled. Not on her watch! In the dark she couldn't see anything useful. Yet she did not want to alert the robbers of her presence. Alicia steeled herself, ready to come face to face with a gun toting burglar.

What she didn't expect to see was her troublesome nephew and his two friends sleeping at the kitchen table. Scattered across the table was dismantled machinery and green goo. The green goo covered only Daniel’s face. His friends did not escape unscathed. They had bright red marks on their cheek. Alicia knew that in the morning they were going to blister. Daniel had chosen a blueprint as his pillow while his friends’ heads rested among the clutter.

Alicia stood in shock for minute or two. What in heaven's name had he done? The door for sister’s lap was wide open. The government had expressly informed that it was a bad idea for anyone to go down there. When the government said something, you do it! She didn't feel like joining her sister in prison for her nephew's stupidity!

Barely containing her anger, Alicia shook the boy awake. The fifteen-year-old slept like the dead, Maddie had often sighed. She was both infuriated and resigned when the teen did not wake up. She grabbed one of the water bottles on the table and emptied it on his head.

She barely had time to take a step back before her nephew jolted awake. He moved quickly as if expecting to be attacked. Alicia noted the way he seemed to be ready to launch himself in his seat. She would have to be careful the next time she needed to wake him.

Once he saw her he visibly relaxed, “Hey, Aunt Alicia whatcha doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing Daniel,” Alicia told him. He looked tired, like he had only just fallen asleep. Black stains covered his once white shirt, while fresh bruises covered his arms. When she looked closer at his friends, they didn't seem to fare much better.

“Taking apart the dangerous wea-“  Daniel was cut off by his own yawn. Despite the severity of the crime, there was no regret in the youngest Fenton's eyes. Instead it seemed like he found the whole thing hilarious!

Alicia frowned. In her conversations with her younger sister, Maddie had told her that her son had two different reactions to being sleep deprived. The first was that he would be extremely irritable. The second was that he found everything hilarious. Alicia could deal with the first, but for someone to be constantly giggling... It was going to get on her nerves very quickly.

Trying to stay calm Alicia said, “No one is supposed to be touching anything! The GiW are going to notice if all the guns and inventions are missing! Then what?”

A smirk akin to her sister's haughty smile crossed her nephew's lips, “I never said I was destroying all the weapons. Just my parents’ world ending inventions are being used for scrap parts. Then we are going to burn the blueprints! The GiW will never miss something they didn’t know was ever there!”

The gleam in his eyes didn't belong to a teenager. She shivered and looked away. When she faced him again, he was back to being thinking the entire world was a joke.

It was at that point she knew there was something wrong with the team. Was the goth girl’s influence taking over her sweet nephew’s personality? Or was something more sinister at play?  Alicia mentally cursed her sister for managing to get herself arrested. She shouldn't have to deal with her creepy nephew!

She wondered if it was a good idea to get custody of her sister’s kids. That Masters guy seemed to know them a whole lot better. Maybe he was used to Daniel's weird personality quirks. How could she live with someone who seemed to have two different personalities?

Maddie's pleading voice echoed across her mind. “Please Alicia, take them in. Danny and Jazz are not much trouble and they’re really helpful. Don't let Vlad get my babies!”

It was starting to become clear that Daniel was going to be a whole heap of trouble.

Alicia pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Don't do anything too stupid! Make sure this is all cleaned up by the time I come down again. And make your friends go home!”

“Yes Aunt Alicia!”  The teen saluted. The boy said it loud enough to wake up his best friends. The girl managed to stay on her seat. The geek boy? He shrieked and toppled to the floor. Daniel and the goth burst out laughing at their friend’s misfortune.

Alicia shook her head then began her journey back to her room.  It was too early for this. Maybe a little more sleep could help clear her head...

[lexosaurus]

EctoberWeek19: Electricity

(yes i know this is super late rip)

Read on [AO3] / [FFN]

---

“Come on, Fenton. Don’t be a chicken,” Dash said, leaning across the aisle to Danny’s desk.

Danny scowled. “I’m not being a chicken. I just don’t wanna do it.” 

“Why? Scared of a little electricity?” Dash asked, his voice mocking. “Ooh, baby Fentina’s scared of a little sparky sparks!”

“Cut it out! No I’m not!”

Danny heard the sound of books dropping on a desk behind him, and he turned around to see Kwan settling into his seat.

“What’s this about Fenton?” Kwan asked.

“Nothing!” Danny said.

Dash elbowed Danny. “Little Fentatron-Three-Thousand here is afraid of today’s physics lab.”

“Shut up!”

“But today’s lab seems so exciting!” Paulina chimed in, twirling her perfectly conditioned hair in her fingers. “Trisha was telling me about it at lunch. She said Mr. Adams has a power-thingy—I think it’s that thing over there—and we all have to hold hands like a human chain! Then the person at the front of the chain touches the power-thingy, and we all get to feel the electrical current or whatever it’s called!”

Kwan’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re right! That does sound cool!”

“Yes, very!” Paulina said. “Well, it’s cool as long as you don’t have to touch any losers. Which, by the way, Danny, no I’m not gonna hold your hand.”

“I never asked!” Danny protested. He grabbed his notebook from his bag and flipped through it until he found a clean page. Maybe if he pretended to be busy, the A-Listers would leave him alone.

More than once throughout the year, he’d found himself wishing for Sam and Tucker’s company during physics class. Unfortunately for him, both of them were placed into the honors physics program, leaving him behind in the regular course. And to make matters worse, when Mr. Adams read that year’s assigned seating, he’d managed to get sandwiched between several of the A-List students.

“So then what’s the deal with Fenton?” Kwan asked. He turned to Danny. “Are you really afraid of today’s lab?”

Danny felt his face heat up. “No! I just...I—I don’t wanna participate. That’s all. Mr. Adams said we don’t have to do it if we don’t want to.”

“Oh wow! He really is scared of electricity,” Kwan said, poking Danny’s back.

“See? I told you Fentino was being a baby!”

Danny crossed his arms. “No, I’m not.”

“Then why won’t you do it?” Dash pushed.

“Because! I don’t—I just...ugh, leave me alone!” 

All Danny had heard about today in the hallways were whispers of today’s physics lab. The nervous excitement from the student body was palpable, and there was no escaping the discussions about who was scared and who charged into the experiment with an unflinching confidence worthy of Alexander the Great’s praise.

So, when Danny walked into class and quietly asked Mr. Adams if he could sit the experiment out, of course the other students weren’t going to let it go.

“It’s just a little shock, Danny!” Paulina said. “There’s no reason to be dramatic about it! It’s not like you’re actually getting electrocuted!”

Danny groaned. He couldn’t exactly fault his classmates for not knowing the details of The Accident. After all, never spoke about it to anyone. 

Although ghosts existed with the knowledge that they had died—provided they weren’t Ghost Zone natives—death was still a sensitive subject to them. And Danny, though not a fully formed ghost, was still ‘born’ into certain intuitive cultural norms.

No one had to tell him this was a sensitive subject for ghosts, he just knew it instinctively. Even if he never quite understood why his brain was wired this way, he knew better than to try to change it.

Fortunately, the bell signaling the start of class saved him from more harassment by his peers.

“Alright, class! Everyone in your seats,” Mr. Adams shouted, standing from his desk. He walked to the front of the room and picked up a whiteboard marker. “So I’m sure you may have heard some rumors about what we’re doing in today’s class.”

The students nodded, exchanging excited glances between each other.

“Can anyone tell me what we’re doing today?” he asked.

Paulina waved her hand in the air. “Ooh! I know! We’re making a human electric wire thingy!”

“Close! The experiment is called the Human Conduction Experiment. Now, it’s a very simple experiment, but it tells us a whole lot about electricity, how it travels, and what goes on when it’s active. Before we start the experiment, I’m gonna tell you all a little about this Tesla coil sitting on the front table so you all get the full experience. So if you’ll just take out your notebooks and look to the board…”

Danny glanced down at his already opened notebook. Human Conduction Experiment, he wrote down. 

He looked over to the wall clock. How long until it would be acceptable for him to use the restroom? He didn’t really need to be in class for this experiment.

After all, he’d already done it last October when he stepped into his parents’ ghost portal and turned it on from the inside, unleashing thousands of volts of ecto-electricity that killed him and revived his heart at the same time while injecting his DNA with ghostly properties.

Not that The Accident was relevant at all to his current situation.

Because he was fine. He just didn’t want to be in class right now. But he was fine if he stayed in class. It didn’t matter.

“Hey, Fen-ton-tonight,” Dash whispered next to him. “Are you really gonna wuss out? Give me another reason about how much of a dweeb you are?”

“That’s none of your business, Dash,” Danny hissed.

“Yeah, I knew you were weak. Can’t even do a stupid science experiment without babying out.”

Danny glared at his desk. “Lay off.”

“Does it have anything to do with that shit that happened to you last fall? When you went to the hospital? Oh my god, are you seriously still hung up about that? Wow, you really are a loser.”

Danny felt his pencil snap in his hand. “You know what, Dash? Whatever. I’ll do it. I didn’t want to because I was tired, but if you’re really gonna miss me that much, then I’ll do the stupid human electrical conductor—whatever!”

“Hah, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Alright, class!” Mr. Adams called out. “I want everyone to stand up and come to the front of the room. If the people in the front rows can just push their desks back too, that would be great.”

Danny froze. His heart picked up in his chest.

Why was he nervous about this? Dash was right, it was just a stupid science experiment. There was nothing to be afraid of. So many other students had done this lab today and gushed about it to their peers. Hell, even Sam and Tucker were grinning about it at lunch.

Danny was the only one who didn’t want to do this. How was that possible? Surely there was at least one other student in the class that would be sitting this out. 

But when he looked around, he saw that he was the only person still sitting.

“What?” Dash leaned over, smirking at Danny. “Scared of a little current?”

“No,” Danny said.

“It’s okay, Danny!” Kwan held his hand out to Danny. “You can stand next to me if you want!”

“Ugh, no way am I allowing him to get his loser germs on you,” Paulina said. “Danny can go with the other losers in the chain.”

“Don’t worry, Paulina. He’s not even gonna do it. Watch,” Dash said.

Danny slammed his fractured pencil down on his desk and stood. “Shut up. Leave me alone.”

Dash laughed. “Hah! What a freak.”

Danny made his way to the front of the room where the other students were gathered, glancing anxiously at the Tesla coil. They hovered around Mr. Adams, who was pushing a desk off to the side of the room.

“Alright, that should do it,” Mr. Adams said. He brushed his hands against his white lab coat. “Okay, class! Let’s get in a line! I’m going to be at the end over here, so whoever’s on the opposite side of me is going to be the starting point for the electrical current. Anyone wanna take on that task?”

Wes’s hand shot up. “I got it!”

“Excellent! Mr. Weston, go stand next to the table over there. Alright, everyone else, let’s link up! Mr. Weston, please do not touch anything until I tell you to. All clear?”

“Crystal!” he said.

“Cool, let’s get move—oh, Danny. Are you…?”

“I’m fine,” Danny said quickly. “I’m—uh, I’m good to join.”

Mr. Adams raised his eyebrows. “Oh! Um...are you sure? You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to!”

“Don’t worry, Fenton can stand next to me.” Dash grabbed Danny’s hand. “See? I got him!”

“Yeah, he can stand next to us!” Kwan said.

“Well, that’s very kind of you both.” Mr Adams smiled. His brown scraggly moustache mirrored the movement. “And, by the way, that goes for anyone. If you don’t want to do today’s experiment, that’s totally fine! Your grade won’t suffer if you take your seat before we begin.”

Danny glanced around, but no one moved. His heart sank, and suddenly the pressure from Dash’s hand in his own was too tight, too much. The lights beaming down from overhead were too bright. Kwan and Dash were too tall, and everyone seemed to be looking at him. Whispering. Laughing.

His throat felt tight. Normally, the physics classroom was cool and comfortable for Danny, but now it felt like someone had turned on all the burners in the room.

Surely he couldn’t be the only person who felt this way. Surely there were others in the room who wanted to sit down as well, who would sit down before the experiment started.

But as Danny was pulled into the line and felt Kwan grasp his other hand, he knew that there was no getting out of this. That no one was going to sit down.

That he was doomed.

Maybe he could just go intangible. But then the experiment would be ruined, and everyone would know it was his fault because he was the only person who didn’t want to do it originally. Danny would always be known as the freak who couldn’t handle a little shock.

The teacher said something, but Danny couldn’t hear what it was. Dash’s hand was crushing his. He couldn’t breathe. Was someone sucking the oxygen out of the room?

Then, without warning, Danny felt it. The current. 

He was back there in the portal. The lights beaming down on him weren’t classroom lights, but the glowing green lights from the portal charging up. And there was this odd vibrating in his bones. It was a sensation he had never felt before, and while it didn’t hurt, it carried an ominous warning throughout the metal tube. 

He looked up, locking eyes with Sam and Tucker one last time. He remembered Sam opening her mouth to say something, but he never heard what that was.

Because, in that split second, the portal activated. And his body became a garden of electricity.

He remembered it distinctly. The burning pain, like his skin was on fire, and the buzzing in his bones. Everything felt wrong. It was like someone was pouring fire onto his arm, and it was dripping through his torso and spilling out to the rest of his body like a waterfall. 

The buzzing, the burning, the fire got hotter and hotter, more and more until the only thing he was aware of was his own screams. He couldn’t see anything other than green and white and fire oh god was his body on fire? 

And then it stopped. And his body collapsed on the ground. 

“Fenton?”

He curled in on himself, ducking his head into his arms and trying to ignore the tingling that had violated his bones.

Oh god, he felt so hot. It was too warm in here.

“Whoa!”

“Uh, I think something’s wrong with him.”

Maybe it was all over. Maybe this time, the portal really did get him. Maybe he was fully dead this time.

“Is he alright?”

“Mr. Adams, something’s wrong with Fenton!”

“Danny? Danny, are you alright?”

His throat was too tight. He tried to take in a breath, but it was too hard. It felt like he was inhaling through a coffee straw. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t. 

He felt something touch his back, and he flinched. 

“Danny? Can you look at me?”

No.

He couldn’t.

“Danny?”

His body was shaking, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the electricity or not. Was it safe for someone to be this warm? 

Maybe he was just dehydrated. Maybe he needed water. Could he even drink water anymore if he was dead?

He felt something squeeze his shoulder.

“Dash, grab the school nurse. Danny, can you look at me?”

Danny tried to open his eyes, but he saw only darkness. 

Oh no, he was blind. Had the portal made him blind?

He felt someone guide his body down, and light poured through his arms. His legs collapsed, and suddenly he was sitting on the ground with his legs splayed out before him. 

He looked up to see the concerned face of his teacher. His bushy eyebrows were drawn together, and the corners of his mouth turned downwards.

“Danny, hey. It’s okay. Do you feel my hand right now?” Mr. Adams asked.

Danny nodded, then shook his head. 

“Okay,” Mr. Adams said. “I’m going to need you to breathe with me. Is that okay? Do you think you can do that?”

Danny stared at him. Breathe? Danny just died and this man wanted him to breathe? 

“Just try for me. In...and out...in...and out…”

Danny tried to follow. Even though the room was suffocating and the lights were so bright and that fluorescent color and—

Wait. Fluorescent lights. Not green.

Danny froze, and glanced around the room. Dozens of faces stared apprehensively back at him. Some faces whispered to each other and others looked at him as if he had grown a second head. He searched the sea of faces for Sam and Tucker—the two who had been there during The Accident—but he couldn’t find them. Only these other students and his physics teacher were in the room.

His physics teacher.

Oh no.

Danny stood, ignoring the protests from Mr. Adams, and turned to see the giant “Human Conduction Lab” written in fresh black ink on the whiteboard.

The Tesla coil. The physics lab.

The letters on the board blurred together, and Danny staggered on his feet. He whirled back around, and the hazy figure of his physics teacher took up his field of vision.

Mr. Adams was saying something. Danny was sure of it. But he couldn’t hear what the man was saying and all the people in the room were still there and they saw him they were there watching when he broke down and no, oh no…

Danny took one step forward. Then another. 

He had to get out of there. He crashed into something—a desk—but he didn’t stop moving. He needed to get out of the room.

He jerked open the door and bolted down the hallway. It didn’t matter where he was going, just so long as he was out of there.

Everyone had seen him. Dash, Kwan, Paulina, Wes—all of them. They all saw him freak out because of the science lab and they knew they knew how much of a freak he was. What highschooler has a breakdown over a stupid physics lab, anyway?

He phased through a door just in time for his legs to give out. He fell to his knees and hugged his chest.

Everyone had seen him.

The room was small and dark, and Danny recognized it as one of the underused janitor’s closets he frequently transformed in. But now the connection to Phantom only served to remind him how much of an outcast he was because of The Accident and the ghost portal and all the electricity and all of it. 

He crawled to a corner of the closet and sat there, hugging his knees close to his body, staring into the nothingness that was this dark closet. 

Everyone saw him. Everyone knew.

Hours could have passed, or it could have been only minutes before he got his breathing under control. Danny didn’t know which. He only knew it was time to move when he heard his name called on the loudspeaker for a second time.

“Daniel Fenton, please report to the nurse’s office.”

He dragged himself up and faced the door. He would most certainly be in trouble, and he likely would be facing detention for running out of class, so if he left the janitor’s closet he would be walking into his certain doom.

On the other hand, the longer he hid, the worse his punishment would be.

He took a deep breath. It would be best to get it over with now, if only to prevent a worse punishment later.

It was time to rip off the band-aid.

---

The remaining hour of school was nothing short of torture. Between the worried school nurse, the message to see Mr. Lancer after school that always seemed to fill his stomach with dread, and the whispers from his classmates that started the minute he stepped foot back into the hallway, Danny wanted nothing more than to go home and never leave his room again. And although the school day was finally over and everyone was free to go home and sleep until tomorrow, Danny wasn’t given that luxury.

He still had detention with Lancer.

The walk to Lancer’s office was too quick from his locker, and no matter how many times he’d made this trek throughout the year, he always felt unprepared whenever he was confronted with the familiar wooden door.

He would have stayed out in the hallway forever, but he knew Mr. Lancer could see his shadow through the fogged glass. So he raised his hand in a fist and knocked.

“You can come in,” came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. 

Danny took one last deep breath before opening the door. He lowered his head, keeping his eyes glued to the floor, as he entered the office and sat down.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Danny focused on the off-white tile with its speckles of gray, the way the slight dent in the metal desk warped the sunlight that poured in through the windows, the sound the wall clock made as it ticked each second.

Finally, Mr. Lancer broke the silence. “Danny? You realize you’re not in trouble, right?”

Danny shifted. He hadn’t known this. “Yeah.”

“Okay…” Mr. Lancer said slowly. “Then do you understand why I’ve asked you to stay after school?”

Danny wrung the sleeves of his sweatshirt around his fingers and shrugged.

“I’ve asked you to stay after school because of what happened in your physics class today.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard about what happened from Mr. Adams, but I feel as though I’m still ignorant about a few of the details. I was wondering if you might like to clue me in?”

Danny let his eyes flick up for a moment to see Mr. Lancer sitting at the desk with his fingers steepled in front of his face. He looked tired, worn, just like he always did when Danny acted up in school.

He let his gaze drop down to the floor again. “I don’t know.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t…” Danny leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know. I wasn’t gonna—and then Dash, uh—you know, I—I don’t...I don’t know! It just went. And I...I don’t know.”

Mr. Lancer was silent for a moment. 

“Maybe let’s start at the beginning, then? And work through this together?” He suggested.

Danny shrugged.

He wanted to avoid this conversation altogether and go home. Take a nap. Not be forced to relive his past trauma with the vice principal.

But then he would wake up tomorrow and go to school and have to be faced with a reality in which all of his classmates and teachers thought he was insane and he would have no one on his side, no one to look at him and say, “You’re okay.”

Sometimes he would fantasize about this moment. The moment where he could finally be honest with someone about what really happened in the portal. But he knew he could never have that, no matter how heavenly it sounded right now.

“Okay, so today you had a physics lab where your class performed the human conduction experiment. And I’m aware that before class started, you had asked Mr. Adams if you could sit the experiment out. Is this correct?” 

“Yeah.” Danny nodded.

“So may I ask then why you decided to partake in the experiment if you had previously requested to opt out of it?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and shrugged.

“May I inquire if it had something to do with Mr. Baxter and Mr. Lee?” Mr. Lancer asked softly.

Danny shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it doesn’t matter. I still did it. I thought I could handle it, but I fucked up.” 

“So then why did you decide to join?” 

Danny glared at the metal desk. “How should I know? I’m just a dumb teenager.”

Mr. Lancer sighed. “Daniel, you’re not dumb.”

“Yeah? Because geniuses really walk into situations when they know they’re gonna mess up everything, don’t they?”

“You didn’t mess anything up.”

Danny snapped. “I ruined the whole thing! Everyone was looking at me! God, they all probably think I’m crazy now. Great. Now I’m even more of a freak than before.”

“Mr. Fenton...Danny…”

“Whatever,” Danny huffed. “I don’t even care.”

“Daniel, please listen to me,” Mr. Lancer said, his blue eyes softening. “You’re not a freak. You didn’t mess up anything. I called you down because I was confused as to why you put yourself in that situation, especially after what happened to you last fall, and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“It’s fine. I’m over it.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Can I go home now? Or are you gonna hold me hostage forever?”

“Mr. Fenton, I’m not holding you hostage in my office! You may leave whenever you wish. This isn’t a detention.”

“Okay, cool—”

“But I will ask you kindly to please stay. You are my student, and as your teacher I do care about you. And right now, you don’t seem like you’re alright.” 

Danny squirmed in his seat. On one hand, he understood why he was being so sensitive about the topic. This was about his death. The time he was electrocuted with thousands of volts of ecto-energy in his parents’ lab. Like all ghosts, it was pre-programmed into him to be sensitive about the issue.

But on the other hand, he was tired. 

He looked back up at Mr. Lancer. “Fine.” 

Mr. Lancer nodded, offering him a soft smile.  “Thank you, Mr. Fenton. Can we start over?”

“Okay.”

“Last fall, you joined my class. You were bright-eyed and excited to learn, and I was excited to be your teacher. But then about a month into school, you were absent for quite some time. Your mother contacted me directly, saying you had been hospitalized due to a lab accident and wouldn’t be returning until you had recovered. I had very little detail about your health until you did return those weeks later, and our school nurse received your health file stating you had received an extreme electrical shock with toxic equipment in the accident. ”

Danny flinched. “So? Who cares, anyway. It’s not like I died.”

Mr. Lancer’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. “So? Mr. Fenton, that’s quite a big deal. You were absent for a significant period of time.”

“Yeah, and then I got better. I got over it.”

“Did you, though?” Mr. Lancer pressed. “Because if my memory serves me right, immediately after your return to school, that’s when the issues began. The dropped glass beakers, the reports of you tripping in gym class, the missing homework assignments, falling asleep in class—all of it. You never had these issues before then.”

“Okay? And?”

“And it shows how much that accident affected you. And still continues to affect you.”

“So why…” Danny glanced up to the ceiling. His throat felt tight. “Why didn’t you do anything then?”

“Mr. Fenton?”

“If you knew. If it was so obvious to you and everyone else, why didn’t you do anything?”

“Daniel…”

“No,” Danny stood, snatching his backpack from the floor and slinging it over his shoulders. “I’m done with this. You knew the whole time that there was something wrong, and you didn’t do anything. You just kept handing me detentions and failing me.”

“Mr. Fenton, please sit down.”

Danny didn’t move.

Mr. Lancer sighed again. “As your teacher, I try to balance what the public school administration orders me to do in instances of, say, missing homework assignments and incomplete exams with what I think will benefit the student the most in those situations. No two students are alike, and sometimes what works with one student isn’t going to work with another student.”

“Okay?”

“I gave you detentions when you had missing work because that is what’s protocol, but also it gave you an opportunity to do your homework in a quiet space that’s supervised by me for an hour after school. And although I may not agree with the curriculum’s practices of calling them detentions, I do think you need to be in the presence of a teacher or tutor when you’re doing your homework. Not because I think you’re dumb, but because I know that you perform better when you do your homework in those situations rather than by yourself. You know, most students I’ve worked with are just like you, they do better with a teacher helping them. Some students just need a little more help than others do.”

Danny looked out the window to the cars driving on the street. To the right was the football field where they were currently holding both football and cheer practice. If Danny squinted, he could almost make out the individual players.

Paulina was probably there. And Dash. And Kwan. All three of them had a normal day where they didn’t spend lunch picking at their food because they were anxiously planning having to ask their physics teacher to let them sit out that day’s experiment. They all showed up to class, did the experiment as normal, and then left. No stress, no worries.

Now they were outside, like normal students, doing extracurriculars that weren’t ghost-related. They were surrounded by human peers who also all did today’s physics experiment like it was just another average school day.

Danny dropped his backpack on the ground and sat back down in the chair.

“Thank you,” Mr. Lancer said.  

Danny didn’t respond.

“So may I ask, once again, why you decided to join in today’s physics lab?”

“I guess…” Danny glanced back out the window. “I guess I just wanted to be normal. Or try to be.”

“But it didn’t work,” Mr. Lancer said gently.

“No,I screwed up. And now everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

Mr. Lancer twirled a pen on his desk. “May I ask another question?”

“Why not.”

“May I inquire about why you haven’t told your classmates about what happened? Why you’ve kept it so quiet?”

“I don’t know. I really...I don’t know.” Danny’s throat tightened again, and he tried to ignore the sudden stinging in his eyes. “I guess I didn’t think it was worth saying.”

“Surely you received questions, though?”

“Yeah…”

“And? How did you respond to them?”

“I mean...I didn’t lie. I said I was in an accident. I wasn’t—I’m not...you know...I’m not ashamed about it or anything.”

“But they don’t know the details.”

“No, they don’t.”

Mr. Lancer nodded. “That’s perfectly alright. They don’t have to know what happened. But, it might help them to understand more about what happened in your physics class today if they did know. You don’t have to tell them everything, but even a little piece of knowledge can be extremely powerful.”

“I mean…” Danny started. He fidgeted with his sweatshirt sleeve, pulling at a loose string. “It’s not like...anyone really knows. About the portal.”

“The...you mean, when you were shocked?”

“Yeah. I didn’t say anything to anyone. I mean, Sam and Tucker told my parents who told the doctors. But I didn’t...they didn’t know how it happened. Or what it felt like.”

Mr. Lancer leaned forward. “Would you mind telling me then?”

Danny’s face felt hot. No, the whole room felt hot. 

He glanced outside. The sun was beating down on the glass window with no mercy. 

“I, uh…” he began. “I never told my parents this because I didn’t want them to worry. But I didn’t get shocked by the portal. I mean, I did. I...that’s how I landed in the hospital. But it was more than that. Oh god.” His head fell into his hand. “Yeah. It was way worse.”

“Daniel, your health file is...severe, as it is.”

“I know,” Danny said. “But I wasn’t...I mean, the file doesn’t tell the whole story.”

“So then what is the whole story?” Mr. Lancer asked, folding his hands on his desk. He stared at Danny with an unwavering gaze. “If you don’t want to tell them, then tell me.”

Danny peered at Mr. Lancer from under his bangs. 

This was it. The opportunity he had been waiting for for months. The chance to finally talk about what really happened in the lab that day.

He could finally be free from these self-made chains. Ever since The Accident, it had been like he was drowning under the pressures of being Phantom and those duties while also trying to maintain a stable human life as Fenton with school and friends and bullies and he knew he was going to crack under the pressure soon. He knew it was irresponsible for him to be holding everything in for so long.

But…

“I can’t,” Danny said.

“Hmm?” 

Danny bent down to collect his backpack. “I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

“Daniel—”

“No,” Danny cut him off. He stood and began backing out of the room. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I just can’t do this right now. I need to go home, I’m sorry.”

Mr. Lancer held his hands out. “Please, Daniel, I implore you to take a seat. I think you would really benefit from talking about this with someone. If not me, I can get the guidance counselor if you would—”

“I don’t want to talk about this!” Danny yelled. “I don’t! I’m so sick of everyone trying to make me talk about my feelings all the damn time! I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

He whipped around, not caring to wait for a response, and flung open the office door. 

He couldn’t do this. For as much as the human side of him begged him to scream about what truly happened in the portal to someone, just anyone, the ghost side of him wouldn’t allow it.

He sped through the hallway and flew out the front door.

He was free. He was done with the school day.

As soon as he rounded the corner to the back of the building, he transformed, phased out of the visible spectrum, and took to the skies. 

Tomorrow, there would be whispers. People would gawk at him, tease him, prod him with questions and treat him like a freak. Tomorrow he would have to face Lancer and Mr. Adams and likely the guidance counselor who would all pepper him with questions and email his parents and try to therapy the answer out of him.

But for now he was free. He didn’t have to worry about the questions. 

He could just go home and take a nap.

---

HUGE shoutout to @imekitty for helping me with this! She’s amazing she’s a writing god everyone please read her stuff.

(read more of my fics here!)

[ecto-american]

History

DannyMay 2019 themed story, I’m not late I’m just going my own pace pls be nice to me

Ectoplasm | Broken | Glass | Theory | Community | Eavesdropping | Worldbuilding | Accident | Or Read on AO3. | Shoutout to bibliophilea for betareading

Day 12: History

The truth was more painful than any injury. Agent G himself had already seen his fair share of injuries. While fairly new to the Guys in White, he already had suffered burns from ecto-blasts and a sprained ankle. It wasn't an easy job, but it was the nature of it.

But reading all these records...He couldn't help but let out of low whistle of awe. Another warrant had given them the ability to seize the medical records on Danny Phantom from an annoyed Ohmer. Warrants, forms and documentation. So much pointless paperwork.

They had only been reading through these for a few moments, but Agent G was already wincing at the details of the injuries and the self-reported incident.

"Damn, he got fucked up," Agent G said aloud. Agent K shot him a Look.

"Don't say it like that, it's unprofessional," Agent K scolded him. His coworker continued flipping through the files.

"Dude got skinned!" Agent G exclaimed. "How else am I supposed to describe it?"

"Just say it like it is," Agent K told him. "According to this report, Phantom claimed that he was captured and that another ghost attempted to skin him. How hard is it to say that?"

"But it's fucked up," Agent G blurted out. Another disapproving look from his coworker. "It is!"

"Not saying it isn't, but you need to be more professional than that," he replied.

"Kinda like how you blindly shot rockets at me a few years ago?" Agent G questioned.

"Shut up, rookie."

Agent G rolled his eyes, and he stared at the documents before him. He hated how right his coworker was. The Guys in White really felt like it was seventy percent paperwork, twenty-five percent waiting and five percent something exciting. Though he was so fast and good with doing the paperwork, he was already on the same episode of Game of Thrones as Agent K. This was so boring.

He really had expected there to be a lot more action.

"Officer Snowden will be here tomorrow, right?" Agent G asked hopefully. Agent K nodded.

"Yeah, she'll come with us tomorrow to question Phantom," he replied. "She's trained to work with youth."

"Cool, cool," Agent G said with a soft sigh. He drummed his fingers boredly on the table. "So what can I pack for tomorrow?" Please let it be ecto-guns and smoke bombs.

"Uh, here." Agent K handed the rookie a piece of paper. "Make copies of this. It's going to be the key to victory."

"What is it?" Agent G asked curiously, scanning the page.

"Forms we can fill out to get the IRS to audit taxes. You have no idea how far just threatening this form goes in terms of getting information."

"Really? No bad cop good cop?" Agent G stared in disappointment at the paper before glancing to his coworker.

"We're good cops; the IRS is bad cop," he explained. Agent K put down the files he was reading. "Look, rookie. I know you were expecting more, but this is kinda most of the job. Learn to enjoy it. It's a sweet gig."

"How do you mean?" Agent G blurted out. "Aren't you bored?" Agent K shrugged.

"Yeah, it's a little boring, but because everybody wants to join the Men in Black, and basically only Amity Park believes in ghosts and has ghost activity, there's basically no requirements to join, good insurance and decent pay. I haven't actually had to do any real work until Danny Phantom showed up. And I did the same deal as you, graduated high school, police academy then here. So it's been almost twenty years of maybe three years worth of work? At most." Agent K began to collect the files to put in a white briefcase.

"That's so...unproductive," Agent G said. He passed the files he was reading over. Agent K shuffled them and put them into the briefcase as Agent G stood with the IRS form to head to the copy room.

"Welcome to working for the government and seeing your tax dollars at work up close and personal. Now make the copies and bring me them and the warrants so we can go home and prepare for tomorrow."

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Phantom, no-Danny's eyes kept glued to them as they came back into his room. Jazz shot them a warm smile despite her fingers nervously playing with loose threads of Phant-Danny's sheets. Neither could bring themselves to return any kind of smile, instead just watching them with such an overwhelming mix of emotions, it was hard to tell what was most present. Fear for their son, the ghost, and his safety. Betrayal that they had to find out this way, when he was so hurt he needed a hospital visit. Relief that they finally had Phantom in their, that they finally knew exactly where their son was after hours of mystery. A strange indescribable feeling as the years of puzzle pieces began to click together in the wake of what was going on.

Maddie couldn't bring herself to look at him as she shuffled to her seat, but Jack stared back at him. His eyes were wide and watching. He fidgeted with the marker in trembling fingers. The gho-his son was afraid.

Jack settled into one of the chairs meant for visitors, next to Maddie near the foot of the hospital bed. His fingers drummed on his knee anxiously as he glanced between his kids. Jazz had taken her seat to sit right next to Phant-next to Danny. Danny, with bright white hair and glowing eyes. White hair that used to be such an identifiable marker for their ghostly enemy. How did Danny change-that light. It had to be.

His hands felt sweaty, remembering how much Phantom was struggling to breath and how much pain he was in, the garbled ectoplasm and the amount of effort he had seemingly did to prevent that light from coming. Because of that look in his eyes as he and Jack stared at each other. The gho-his son didn't want him to see what would happen.

"How are you doing, Danny?" he questioned.

Danny kept his eyes on them, despite uncapping the marker and beginning to write. He only broke eye contact to glance to see where Maddie was and to check his writing as he scribbled very quickly on the whiteboard. Danny was afraid of them.

OK.

Jack simply nodded. He looked over at Maddie. She had begun staring blankly at Danny, and he leaned over to nudge her.

"What's his condition?" he asked. Maddie straightened in her seat.

"Seven fractures, seven missing teeth, five more badly damaged and tongue's almost gone. Plus the skinning, and a few other small cuts. They've already given him a few stitches, and there were." Maddie glanced to her son as he continued to watch them. Jazz mirrored his actions, both silent as they listened in. "Several other injuries. Old ones. They did what they could for some of them. Such as this really bad burn on his back."

A really bad burn on his back. From the Fenton Bazooka Jack had aimed at Phant-that Jack had shot at his own son as he had tried to desperately fly away from him. Only earlier that day. A shot he had taken so much pride in, a shot that had finally landed against a difficult target. He shot his own son. And this wasn't even the first time. They had such bad history as FentonWorks and Phantom.

"I'm going to be doing surgery with them, since they're going to need," Maddie trailed off. She didn't want to say it. Her ghost expertise was needed under the knife.

"I'll do it if you can't," Jack offered immediately. He glanced at his son. He looked pale with worry, and Jack had to look away. Never in his life did he expect that he'd be reluctant to take a chance to study a ghost under the knife.

"No, I can do it," Maddie insisted, but she didn't sound convinced. To have to operate on your own child…

Jack heard a marker squeaking, and he turned to watch the bedridden teen scribbling something down on the whiteboard. He soon held it up to them.

Are you mad? I'm sorry.

"Of course not!" Maddie sprung to her feet to rush to him. Jack followed her. She immediately put her hands gently on his cheeks, kissing his forehead lovingly. "Danny, I'm so, so sorry." Her voice cracked painfully. Danny exhaled softly, and he visibly relaxed. Even Jazz seemed a little more relieved. "Oh, my baby must be in so much pain."

"I've been worried about you all day," Jack added, and he moved to lean in as close as he could to Danny, wiggling an arm behind his back to gently hug him. He felt Danny grab his arm and squeeze instead of a hug.

Maddie straightened, and she let go of Danny's face in favor of taking his hand to squeeze tightly. Jack held on a bit more before finally letting go, but he kept a hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny's hand wiped at his eyes before he accepted a tissue from the box Jazz offered.

"We're in a bad situation," Maddie spoke bluntly. Jazz raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The Guys in White are already here," she explained. "And they have a warrant. When Danny gets discharged, they want to take him in." Danny paled, and he sunk down in the bed. He pulled his hand away from his mom to write. Jazz glanced worriedly at Danny. "And the hospital was able to prevent them from taking him for now. Something about a legal loophole. We need to figure out a way to make sure Danny gets released to us."

"Danny, no," Jazz said sharply. Jack peered to see what Danny had written.

I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have come here. They're going to arrest me.

"Jazz is right," Maddie agreed. "We couldn't have helped you. Your jaw is bad. We would have had to take you here anyway."

"That doesn't matter now," Jack said. "What matters is that you're going to be fine. And we'll figure this out."

"We should talk to the lawyer," Jazz spoke up. "Maybe she can tell us more. Or tell us who to talk to?"

"Danny has surgery in an hour," Maddie mused, glancing at the clock. It was nearly nine at night. "And I don't know if that lawyer is still even here. It's so late."

"Jazzypants and I will go check, or leave her a message, just see what we can do," Jack promised her. "We'll get through this."

Maddie just nodded. Jack motioned for Jazz to come with him. She nodded, and she gave Danny a final smile before getting up to follow their dad.

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Jack was surprised to see the light still on in the office of Elizabeth Ohmer. The lawyer was here way past any normal hour he'd expect a lawyer to be open. But he was glad she stuck around, and he stopped outside of the door, sighing heavily.

"You okay?" Jazz's voice snapped him out of a stupor. Jack shook his head no.

"I can't believe Danny didn't tell us," he said quietly. "And he only told us because…" Well, he didn't even really tell him. He found out. Everything just clicked too well, and he hated it. He hated that this was even a situation. How could Danny hide this from him?

"Worry about that later," Jazz urged him, and she raised her knuckles to the door. She paused, letting her hand hover. "It's just really complicated," she tried to explain. Jack's stomach felt empty, and he didn't want to hear what he knew she was going to say. He quickly raised his own hand, lightly knocking and cutting her off.

"Come in!" a voice called out. Jack opened the door, revealing the lawyer at her desk. She looked tired, hair pulled back and looking a bit frazzled. He couldn't help but notice that she had taken her heels off and was letting them sit next to her desk, along with her suit jacket hung carelessly on a coat rack. "Oh, hello! How can I help you?"

"Hello, I wanted to ask about Phantom?" Jack questioned. Ohmer motioned for him and Jazz to claim seats in front of her desk as a yawn slipped out.

"What can I help you with?" she inquired. Ohmer stretched a bit, her back cracking as she sat straight, letting her hands rest on her desk.

"My wife told me that the Guys in White want to take Phantom when he's discharged," Jack explained. Jack leaned forward onto the desk. "It's very important to us that Phantom doesn't go with the Guys in White."

"I'm glad you agree," Ohmer nodded. She sighed, leaning back in her chair once more. "They came by with a warrant not too long ago. We had to surrender the new medical record we made for him. And I know they'll be back, and they'll have more warrants and documents. I'll have no choice but to let him be discharged to them. I've been trying to find something, but…" Ohmer trailed off.

"But?" Jazz pressed curiously.

"I'm not an expert in this kind of law," Ohmer explained. "I'm a lawyer for a hospital, I don't know the criminal law or anything that well. I tried to get in contact with some people who may help, but it's." She looked at her watch with a frustrated sigh. "Almost nine-thirty on a Friday night. Nobody's going to be in their office or likely even call back until Monday. So we're kind of on our own."

"We want to help," Jazz replied.

"Yes," Jack jumped in. "Please. Where should we start?"

Ohmer stared between the two of them for a moment, looking thoughtfully at them.

"I think the best and first action is to locate Phantom's family," Ohmer said slowly. The lawyer slightly swayed back and forth in her chair as she thought. Jack and Jazz exchanged a nervous glance with each other. "If we can find out who he was, his history, it'd really help us in that he'll have adults who can represent him. His parents, or maybe an aunt or grandparent. Older cousin. Somebody."

"And what if we can't?" Jazz wondered. She leaned onto the desk. Jack knew she had the exact same worries as him. This newly discovered secret being exposed when it would eventually be uncovered that the closest thing to an alive identity Phantom had was Fenton. "It'd be...it'd be really hard to track such a thing down. Wouldn't it?"

"It would be," Ohmer admitted with a sigh. "We could eventually. But we just simply don't have that kind of time. We may just have to see if we can assign him a legal guardian, through some kind of loophole maybe? He's likely classified as a runaway of sorts by now, emancipated given that he's living independently of his parents. Or he could be placed into a foster family for now."

"What about me?" Jack wondered. Ohmer cocked her head curiously at him. "Mads and I would do it. We'll be his legal guardians." That felt so odd to say.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ohmer mused thoughtfully.

"Why not? It'd help us get Phantom home where he can recover safely," Jack pointed out. Ohmer had a skeptical look as she studied him.

"Mr. Fenton, given your long and detailed history with him, I think it's a very terrible idea, and it'd be irresponsible of me to allow him to be discharged into your care. The very public campaign against him, the interview statements about your desires to study him, dissecting him molecule by molecule," Ohmer explained. Jack's stomach dropped as he was forced to remember all the things he had said. "You're a ghost hunter. He's a ghost. To be very frank, Mr. Fenton, Dr. Carrington and I both have already agreed that you are not somebody that we trust to handle Phantom's long term care after he's discharged. No more than than we trust the Guys in White with his care. I apologize, but you have to understand. I'm also very certain that the Guys in White would use your interest in taking Phantom into your care as merely a ruse, and that there would be child abuse happening within the home. I have nothing against you, or the work that you do. But right now, Phantom is my patient, and he's also a minor. I'm doing what I believe is best for him."

Jack wringed his hands a bit to try and overcome how numb he felt at the words. He had no arguments or counter-points or...really anything. She was right. She was so many levels of right, and he never felt like a worse father. His own child hadn't been safe in their home for years. Hadn't been safe from him or his mom. Danny didn't even...didn't even tell him. He probably never felt safe enough to confide in them. Even before this, Danny had to have doubts that Jack loved him more than anything. And who could blame him. He was no safer at home than he was...with the Guys in White.

Jack dry swallowed. He could only imagine the amount of daily fear Danny had of him, and he hated that he knew exactly why Danny never told him or Maddie.

"So what then?" Jack wondered. "Phantom's just going to go into foster care? And there's nothing I can do?" Ohmer shrugged. Panic flushed through him. No, no, no. His son had to come home with him.

"He's in our legal hands right now," she explained. She sat up to look through her book, flipping a few pages. The lawyer glanced up at them to give them a reassuring smile. "I'll figure something out."

"How can I help? I can read fast, and I take good notes," Jazz offered. Ohmer didn't glance up from her work, and Jack could tell she was debating internally.

"It'd be difficult to read through everything by yourself," Jack tried to persuade her. Please. Please just let me do anything to make sure Danny comes home.

Ohmer bookmarked her page, but she didn't close it. Instead, scooting her chair to a bookshelf, she began to scan the titles. She plucked a few from the shelves.

"Um, look through here for anything related to orphaned children," she replied. "Or a minor without a legal guardian, emancipated teens, anything that could go along with that." She handed Jazz a book, and she eagerly took it, flipping it open. Ohmer flipped a book to double check the name before giving it to Jack. "And Jack, can you look through this one for anything related to police procedures for a patient who's in custody?"

Jack accepted the book, setting it on the desk. He stared at the title of it, a long law-based title that he couldn't even begin to truly understand. He opened it curiously, flipping through a few pages. Tiny text, many big words. Zero pictures.

"I'm going to get us some coffee," Jack offered as he stood up. His knees felt a bit weak, but he didn't quite buckle. "It's going to be a long night."

[lonely-bored-writer]

Casper High Ch. 2

Danny Fenton hadn't expected to make a friend that day. He wasn't having the best of days- he had spent the early hours of the morning taking down any straying ghosts, trying to make sure that less ghosts would interrupt him during school. The less he missed school, the better his grades would be, and the more people would get off of his back.

That's how it's been since Sam and Tucker moved away. He didn't have his friends helping keep his secret just that. He remembered when it had happened; Sam was the first one to go. It was after a particular brutal battle between Technus, Skulker, and him. The Manson's couldn't take it anymore. They were tired of the damages and danger, so they packed up their belongings and their daughter and moved. Sam was the first domino to fall, and just like that more families had moved away. Tucker had moved after the house next to their's collapsed after Danny had been thrown into it. Luckily the house wasn't occupied by it scared the Foley's enough past the tipping point.

Casper High School was still the bustling school it was to start, but now so many familiar faces had been replaced by strangers, those whose families either didn't care about the danger or were interested in the town's so called ghosts. However Amity Park wasn't as lively as it once was. The town had an unspoken curfew, and not many were out after ten at night, the town's park the first to be deserted at night.

The constant ghosts attacks had not only taken a toll on Danny, but on the town as well. Danny's body oftentimes mirrored his town nowadays.

Danny was happy to just make a friend who didn't think he was a freak, or know of his parent's reputation. The day was nice, even if all he and Sam did was stay in the motel room and just hang out after school. Danny and Sam had spent hours just talking about anything and everything, Danny even helping Sam catch up on the few lessons he showed up in the middle of. Dean popped in two hours later with Nasty Burger, which had led to a long discussion between all of them about the merits of such a name correlating to food.

It was safe to say that Danny had the best day of his life since his friends left. He wasn't used to sitting and talking for hours in person with people who he barely knew about topics so diverse. It was nice to unwind for a few hours and just let himself be. He didn't have to worry about what the others were thinking or having to broach topics that needed to be covered. It was nice and Danny could get used to it- that's why going home was like a slam of reality to him.

"Hold up. This, this is where you live?" Sam's stuttered out response came out once the impala pulled to a stop in front of the monstrosity that was Fenton Works. Danny gave a sheepish smile before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh yea. Weird, I know." Danny slipped out of the car, only for Dean to speak before he could walk up his steps.

"It's fucking cool." Dean grinned, looking up at the odd UFO sitting on the roof. "You've got to give us a tour one of these days."

"Really?" Danny looked up shock, blinking rapidly, surprised that the older man actually seemed to like his house. Dean nodded enthusiastically in response to the question. Glancing back, Danny noted the glowing neon sign was on signaling his parents were home. "Yea, maybe we can do that sometime soon if you want."

"That'll be fun." Sam smiled from the other side of the car, leaning closer to the driver-side window. "Maybe you could show us some of the stuff you've built." It wasn't much if Danny was being honest, just some small functioning robots and edits to his parents weapons to protect himself, but Sam's interest created a warm feeling in him.

"Sure. Anyways, I hope you guys have a good night, drive safe." Danny traded goodbyes with the duo, waiting until Dean drove off in the Impala before jogging up to his door. The moment the front door opened, Danny knew where his parents were based on the dim lighting and the noises coming from the basement. With a sigh, the teen made his way into the kitchen and glanced around. Surprised to see it clean, Danny concluded that his parents probably forgot to eat anything. Pulling out four slices of leftover pizza, ignoring the soft growls and glow emitting from the bottom drawer, and shoved the food into the microwave.

When he entered the lab, he found both his parents bent over a table. A trembling ectopus sat in a small cage, his mother extracting samples from him. Danny bit his lip and the uncomfortable feeling that swelled through him at the thought of the experiments, his chipper mood dampening a bit.

"Mom, dad." Danny called over the sound of his dad soldering away, pulling his parents away from their work. "I brought you some pizza."

"Oh Danny, when did you get home?" Maddie asked, pulling her hood down to expose short auburn hair. "That's sweet of you, thank you baby." Maddie smiled politely, hugging her son softly as she took the plate and placed it nearby. Her husband was the exact opposite of his mother's gentle approach.

"Danny boy!" Jack greeted loudly, pulling his son into his infamous 'Jack Fenton Bear Hugs' once the food was safely out of the way. "You should see what we're working on! Your mother and I were about to figure out a way to cause ghost energy to-"

"I just got in." Danny cut his dad off as nice as he could- he didn't really want to hear this. "I would love to sit and chat, but I really should look over an essay due tomorrow." Danny explained, dislodging himself from his dad.

"Education is important." Maddie smiled, waving him off before turning to her husband and joining him in the conversation about their new device. Danny almost turned away when he caught eyes with the ectopus and guilt filled him. Quietly, he reached a hand out and pressed the release button before turning and speed walking out of the lab. Luckily Danny always seemed to be invisible, even before his powers came to be. Even in his own house Danny was often overlooked; Danny just learned to use this to his advantage. Releasing ghosts was just one way he could use his inherent constant invisibility to his own benefit.

The moment he stepped out the door, he could hear the chaos ensue- his father's yelling and his mother's quick orders bounced of metal walls, echoing up the stairs and up into the normal house. A soft smile took over his features, his parents were really were something else. Humming softly as he made his way to his room, passing by the empty room that once occupied his sister, who was currently off to college. He sent a quick text message to his best friends to be online in two minutes.

"Hey guys." Danny greeted when the two faces appeared on his screen.

"Danny!" Sam called, her black headboard behind her.

"Dude!"

Danny laughed at the different greetings he got, before taking in the appearances before him. Tucker hadn't changed all that much from when he was in Amity Park, aside from his hair now being grown out and his attraction to hoodies. Sam had actually cut her hair, shaving one side in protest of the move. The buzz cut had actually grown on her, the teen keeping it, determined to not grow it back out. Sam's style was still gothic, not changing one bit as the years passed since she has made the decision to delve into this genre.

"How was your day?" Sam's voice crackled through the headset, "Mine was boring, I spent all day with my mom going over everything for the gala." Danny smiled at the reminder of that, he knew Sam was going to pull a fast one on her parents and wear a dark red and black lace dress to the event over the shy blue one her parents picked out.

"I spent my day with the robotics team. Perry almost has all the programming done for the medic bot, while Becca and I are almost done with the framing. Now all we need is to figure out the best tracks to use and it'll be fully functional." Tucker beamed from his screen, a grin on his face before his expression soured a tad. "Chris was being a douche and almost broke an arm off because we refuse to let him work on it."

"Smart choice." Sam and Danny both responded at the same time, pulling a laugh from all teens present.

"My day was actually pretty good." Danny smiled at his friends who seemed glad to hear that. Danny hadn't been the same since they left. While Danny was probably the kindest of the three of them, after the accident, Danny was reluctant to make new relationships with others. That and Danny was the nerd of the school, on the lowest rung, and he was invisible. The only time anyone paid attention to him was to either bully him or to call him out for not doing something. "A new kid, Sam, he invited me over and I had a great time talking with him and his older brother."

"A great time." Tucker mused, wiggling his eyebrows. Sam laughed while Danny shook his head and sighed.

"Not like that you perv." Danny chuckled. "I helped him catch up on lessons and we talked. He let me out of the locker Dash stuck me in after he got lost on his way to class seeing as he witnessed it. We had the same class so I led him to the right class."

"That's great Danny, it's great to see you making new friends." Sam smiled. "I'm surprised Amity Park has a new Sam in town."

"Yea, he's only in town for a few days. Today was his first day." Danny nodded, letting his smile slip a little.

"Hey if you become a loner again, I'm sure Poindexter won't mind eating lunch with you." The trio laughed at Tucker's joke, lightening the mood once again.

"Okay, enough about me." Danny shook his head, gesturing a hand to Tucker's side of the screen. "Tell us more about this feud between your Robotic club and Chris, and why you guys don't just kick him." A groan left the techno-geek before he launched into a long and passionate speech about Chris and just how much he's out to ruin competition for everyone else.

As always, Danny was content when he finished the video call. For once the looming sadness didn't come, armed with the knowledge that he had another friend he'll be meeting up with tomorrow. A sigh did leave him though when his eyes landed upon the stack of papers and textbooks sitting on his bed. 12:03 am the blinking red numbers of his alarm clock read, giving him about four and a half hours before he had to go on patrol before school.

Once he finished his numerous math worksheets, Danny knew that finishing his homework wasn't going to happen. Sure, he really wanted to not have to hear a lecture tomorrow from basically all his teachers but he needed to go to bed. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to go on patrol and if he isn't able to go on patrol he'll have to skip classes. And that is just another lecture waiting to happen. It's quite the vicious cycle and it's not like he can be in two places at once...

Wow, sometimes he was just downright stupid.

Danny focused on his ghost core, grinning when three copies came out full and corporeal. Danny silently ordered the clones to get to work. One taking on each subject- English, Math, and History. With a loud yawn, the teen fell face first into his pillows before he was out like a light, comforted with the knowledge of where his clones were and that once he woke up, all of their memories would flood back into his mind.

He was able to sleep three hours and fifteen minutes before his ghost sense woke him up, at least he stocked his room with monster, red bull, five hour energy, and espresso shots. He'll make it through, just like any other day.

[phantomphangphucker]

He’s Shifting The Shape Of Possibility - DannyMay - Day 11 ShapeShift

Summary: Awareness of change is the most powerful change of all.

(Continuation of my fic Fenton Is That Broken Character)

“Phantom! Hey!...Phantom!”, Jack shouts and waves at what he’s just assuming to be the long black and white silhouette of Phantom, as he flies against the backdrop of the night sky. Waving his hands a bit more as the form loops around and stills in the air, floating in place for a bit before slowly flying down.

Jack watches with an eager grin as Phantom lazily wraps his ghostly tail on and around a tree branch. Resting his torso on the branch as he puts his chin on his hand, “please tell me there is not some other small fry ghost running around? And could you even tell that was me up there?”. Jack can feel the humour in the ghost's words even if Phantom looks a bit annoyed, “not a lot of ghosts are black and white you know! Besides! If it was some other ghost then I’d get to shoot it!”. Jack laughs a bit and Phantom laughs along but much quieter, “true, you are a Fenton after all. Not some groupie”. Jack nods strongly, “yup! Us Fenton’s are a tough bunch”. Digging in his pocket as he continues speaking, “developed some new tech actually! It’s not a harmful one or anything so was wondering if you’d feel up to playing test subject? Help advance the field of ghost hunting and all that”.

Jack can clearly see Phantom’s chuckling as he waves the, officially named, Fenton SpookSense in his direction. Phantom rests his cheek on the branch and replies with a smirk, “and now what does this one do? And just what sort of advancement could you mean? Pretty sure you hunters are advanced enough”.

“Nonsense! There are always improvements to be made! But this ones more for cataloging, you guys can be a bit tricky to keep track of and figure out how to deal with”, Jack taps on the device, “so this little baby just reads a ghosties ecto-field and tells us how strong you are. How much of a potential threat, not that you’re really a threat though”.

“Many of us are not, strength doesn’t determine if someone’s dangerous”, Jack can tell Phantom’s a bit unimpressed. Shrugging at the ghost, “honestly, Phantom. You really are the only friendly I know I’ve met. I’m sure there must be others but something tells me they don’t come out of the Ghost Zone to play, much. You really are an anomaly”. Phantom smirks down, words laced with sarcasm, “wow, you’re just great at convincing me to offer up my glow for testing aren’t you?”.

Jack grins goofily and rubs the back of his head, “well, you haven’t ran off so I must be doing something right! Plus, this is really more for knowing what kind of action to take if there actually is an issue. Needs touch ups of course”.

Tilting his head at the Spook as he realises Phantom really shouldn’t know that Jack pretty much needs permission to test this, “though, how’d you know I needed you to let me near your ecto-field to test it?”. Jack just barely catches Phantom looking a bit nervous before that emotion flickers away. Phantom rolls his eyes, “because the only way Jack Fenton would ask before testing something on me, is if it was either, harmful or needed a willing participant”. Jack would feel insulted if it wasn’t for the rather affectionate tone Phantom used. Jack sits down on the bench beneath the tree, leaning back to look up at Phantom, “you’re not wrong, Phantom. But you’re also not exactly the easiest to get a hold of to even ask. This little guy needs to actually be touching your ecto-field to scan you”. Phantom laughs loudly at this, “well that makes it pretty useless for any non-friendlies then! Sounds like it needs more than just some touch ups!”. Jack joins Phantom in laughing lightly, “well that’s only for the full strength one, still need to rebuild the little one. But I’m sure I’d need the full strength one to get a result off you. No point blowing up another mini!”.

Phantom snickers as he lowers himself down a bit, “what can’t handle all this raw power?”. Jack shakes his head amusedly, Phantom always has quite the sense of humour about him. Even at the expense of himself or in frighteningly dangerous situations, it’s admirable really, “no clue really, I know you were a seven years ago but no way you haven’t grown stronger. Besides this one’s already made and we get along now, right? So it’s feasible enough that you’d agree”. Jack’s not exactly sure why Phantom stares at him funny for a few seconds before responding, “I always got along with you and the rest of Amity. You just needed to get along with me back. Which, if I’m honest, took longer than it should have”.

Jack can’t help but feel a bit guilty, Phantom, from nearly day one, seemed to be making a point that he was the good guy. But it took him saving the entire town for anyone, well any adults at least, to see him as anything other than a menace. And Jack knew he and his wife were the worst for that, having only stopped hunting him in the past two years. Nodding up at Phantom, “yeah, yeah it did. You really were a case of the kids knowing better, my son especially. Just like you, he always seems to just know things. Both of you are little anomalies, maybe the “Danny” name is cursed or something”. Jack can’t help but laugh at the mixture of embarrassment, amusement, and out of place paranoia, on Phantoms’ face. Phantom rolls his eyes, crosses his arms and slides his tail out of the tree; before changing to his legs. Floating slightly above the seat of the bench, “you have no idea”. Phantom flicks a finger at the device, “so what in all does that thing tell you, exactly?”.

Jack turns the screen on and points out the fields, leaning a bit towards Phantom but making it clear he has no intention of getting the SpookSense in range to test him without permission. “PL for power level, which us hunter’s rank from one to thirty. Technically there’s a zero level but that’s just for plain ol’ ectoplasm. Though I doubt you don’t already know about power levels”, chuckling at Phantoms’ knowing smirk as he continues his explanation, “class is more something Fenton made. Tells me how much of a potential threat or danger you could be. It’s based on a bunch of things from power level to powers and age. The title section really only applies to ghosts given some specific duty by the Zone. Like being a Ghost Zone cop or the highest knight of some ghost kingdom”.

Phantom laughs and leans back, letting himself stop floating to come into proper contact with the bench, “well, for telling you only three things, that little guy will give you more information than you think”. Jack has no idea what to make of that, because how could this give any further information? And he fully expects Phantom to be strong so, “can’t say I know what you mean, ghost. I expect your PL to be high and since my son says he wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a class six, then neither would I. And even with the title section, you’re well known and who knows just how powerful of things you’ve faced and won. You also clearly have a sense of justice and protection, so I fully expect you’d be a cop or maybe even a knight”. Tapping at his chin, “maybe even a title related to Amity. Like Amity’s keeper or protector”.

“Wow, you’re opinion of me sure has changed. I’m pretty sure I’d have had a heart attack years ago if you even implied I was Amity’s protector”. Jack can’t help but smirk at that unusual Phantom humour poking its head up, though he can tell Phantom’s not really joking around here. He means what he said and Jack does feel a bit guilty at that, “yes well, I was wrong”, chuckling a bit, “though if you have a heart attack, none the less a heart, that is a flat out scientific marvel. An utter impossibility, since you’re a ghost”. Jack can’t help but feel more amused as Phantom tilts his head back and laughs heartily, “I am a totally impossible enigma!”. Jack is always impressed at how Phantoms’ smirks and smiles seem to fill his face, that’s ultimately what disproved the Fenton idea that ghost didn’t feel. No way anyone or thing could fake a smirk as playful and shit eating, as what Phantom was currently displaying, “and that is precisely why that little machine will give you answers you never expected. Even if they’re not the kind of answers that show up on screen”. Jack only grows more confused as Phantom says through a laugh, “you could say it might just shapeshift you perspective. Transform your known reality. Really change exactly how much of a little anomaly the local town enigma is”.

“Phantom...I'm not really sure you could be any more unusual”, Phantoms further laughter is both confusing and mood lifting to Jack. Jack can take being a bit confused, especially if he gets to see just how much of a powerhouse this Spook really is. “Oh I wouldn’t go writing me off just yet, Jack”, Jack’s a little startled as Phantom seems to instantly become more serious and looks him straight in the eyes. Jack’s glad Phantoms’ toxic green eyes carry friendliness at all times, otherwise it might be hard not to flinch back from his intense ghostly gaze, “but who needs all the answers, and you might find that some secrets are better left untold. A shift in the shape of your reality may not be ideal to you, in the end. I’d hope otherwise, but I make no claim to what the future holds”.

Jack clues in that what Phantom is getting at here is that somehow, the reading this machine gives him is going to reveal some mystery about this anomaly of a ghost. Which honestly excites him more than anything else, “when it comes to ghosts there’s nothing I don’t want to know!”. Poking at Phantom, “especially about you! You’ve been a constant anomaly, the odd one out in every piece of research, and somehow do things that ghosts shouldn’t be able to do. Heck! I’m pretty well positive that you somehow don’t even need to be in the Ghost Zone at all! And that doesn’t even get us started on how you become randomly immune to sensors and shields?!” Jack knows full well he’s rambling a bit but how could he not be excited at finding out even one little mystery of Phantom?

Grinning wide at Phantom, who’s eyeing him both amused and with something like pity, “even your ectoplasm samples mysteriously disappear. I’m a scientist Phantom, I want to know”.

“And what would you do? With this new found knowledge? Whether it’s something that only mildly shifts the shape of some theory; or utterly obliterates every idea, belief, and thing you thought you knew. Reinvents your world view”, Jack admits he’s close to worried now, just how massive of an oddity is Phantom? Or is Phantom just riling him up, like he so clearly loves to do to pretty well everyone. Even if it’s always good-naturedly, as Phantom continues speaking but in a more soft tone, “I know you carry some guilt over our past...interactions, which you understandably should; though you really don’t need to. I worry that, should you understand, truly understand, that guilt might elevate crushingly”.

Jack blinks a bit, thrown off by the genuine concern and worry. The kind he’d often steal away for only family, especially his strange son. Seeing this from Phantom is incredibly odd but somehow understandable, “you really do care for everyone in this town don’t you? But I’m certain, whatever your little, or more likely big, secret is; this Fenton can handle it”. Jack adjusts himself to face the, slightly taller than him, ghost. Even Jack gets that secrets often need to be kept, “I’m not going to tell though. Excluding us Fenton’s”.

Jack’s not sure why that makes Phantom smirk, “Oh I know you won’t. No, you might just protect what you know more fiercely than I do”. Jack has no clue what that means, but can tell there’s some deeper meaning as Phantom looks up to the starry sky, “protection of others is always stronger kept than self-preservation”.

“Pretty sure you’re talking mostly about yourself there, Phantom. But you’re also not wrong. I’d give anything to protect my family”, Jack follows Phantoms’ gaze, “and I guess I would protect you too. I think you’ve more than earned it. Starting to think you never even needed to earn it, that if something happened I’d help you, truce or not”.

Phantom nods and offers his hand/arm to Jack, “you’re right, I would know. It’s happened, after all, you just don’t remember”. Jack is blatantly shocked but decides not to question the strange ghost, who’s clearly thought of something rather funny in his sky focused musings.

As Jack is lifting up the device, Phantom chuckles, “ah ah ah, we’re doing this my way”. Phantom covers up the screen with his other hand as Jack is just plain confused, “you’ll get your results”, Phantom shrugs with a playful smirk, “just one at a time”. Jack’s confusion is cleared and he can’t help but laugh as Phantom makes his fingers invisible one at a time, revealing each section one by one.

“If that’s the game I have to play, then I’ll play it for science! And Fenton curiosity!”, now both of them are laughing, though Jack does notice that Phantom is slightly nervous; as he puts the device inside Phantoms’ glowing ecto-field.

Jack has to restrain himself from nagging at Phantom to reveal the first section, which Phantom is clearly snicking about baiting him with.

Laughing, “Fine Fine, behold and marvel at my stupidly over-powered butt”.

Jack definitely is marvelling, because holy cow, as he reads the screen.

PL: 25

“Wow! That is way over-powered! You would have busted the mini for sure!”, smirking at Phantom, because holy hell was he glad this ghost was a good guy. And thinking of all the ghost craziness in town, “Amity is pretty well lucky you’re so strong though! Who knows just what sort of nightmares you’ve protected us from! And consider me very glad that the old theory of ghost all being evil, being wrong. Especially about you”. Jack’s not sure what about that makes Phantom frown, “yes, well, you do not know how true that is. An evil Phantom would be your, and everyone else’s, worst nightmare”. Jack is not about to question the knowing and almost haunted look in Phantoms’ eyes, not wanting to sour the previous happy mood. Smiling at Phantom, “I’m doubting you even have a bad bone in you. If you had bones that is”.

“Pfft, that you know of”, while that makes no sense to Jack he’ll take it. Poking at Phantoms’ fingers, even if he’s positive on what his class reading will be. Because honestly, if his son, a human being, with a subdued rating of twenty-three, classed as a six, there’s no way a full-blown ghost with a level of twenty-five wouldn’t. Jack damn well knows Phantoms’ got some kind of super-powerful power, but whatever it is, he rarely or just doesn’t, use it.

Phantom chuckles, “well I doubt there’s any surprise here but...”. Phantom trails off as his finger becomes invisible, revealing, to no one surprise, his class.

⚠️ Class: 6

“Yup. Class six alright. Now the question is what crazy strong power you hiding. Cause you’re not exactly old, are you? Heck! You used to look like a teenager! Which really is another oddity about you. Ghosts don’t change so gradually”, that really is something that’s confused Jack for a while. It’s not like ghosts who look young are actually young or “grow up”. Heck, just look at that Youngblood ghost!

“Well, I was a teen! I just grew up”, Jack shakes his head at Phantoms’ smirk, clearly giving away that Phantom is not going to enlighten Jack as to how that’s even possible. “Like I said, Jack. I’m an enigma, an impossible enigma”.

Both of them are looking down at Phantoms’ fingers, covering the last section, “and know this is where things get interesting. So let me just say that however unusual, powerful and important; to you, Amity or the Ghost Zone; you think I am. I am drastically more so. If you do not understand what this means right now and wish to think on it, then feel free to seek me out when you do understand. If you really understand, you will know where to find me”.

As Jack is wondering just what kind of title Phantom could hold to be so enigmatic, Phantom removes his hands entirely; revealing the screen in its entirety.

Title: ghost king

Jack stares down at the screen dumbfounded and utterly confused. Here’s Phantom showing not only the, arguably, most powerful title a ghost should be able to hold but also the same one as his son? Jack was pretty much sure that his sons’ title must have been meaning that he’d become the ghost king upon his death, but this clearly proved that wasn’t the case.

Looking up from the screen to squint at Phantom, before looking back at the screen to make sure it still reads the same thing, “ghost king? How? Can...can there be more than one? Or place holders?... I’m confused”. He feels Phantom pat him on the back, “told you I was much more of a mystery. But to answer your questions. I gained the title by defeating the previous Ghost King, and there can only be one. I am the only one who bears that title unless someone defeats me as well”. While Jack’s pondering how that’s possible, because he has blatantly had two different people show up with that title, Phantom laughs lightly, “but since I’m no lair destroying power crazed madman, it’s doubtful any would try to usurp me from power. I’m pretty well liked, even by those who met me in fights”.

“So you, you think fondly of even those who are clearly a danger, an enemy? And they, of you?”

Jack listens and watches Phantom, a bit stunned as he hears the same words come from Phantoms’ echoy voice as have come from his son many times, “why wouldn’t I? Ghosts, like humans, are not wholly one thing or another. Every bad quality has a good to follow suit. Besides, fighting is just part of how ghosts socialise and come to understand each other”. Jack turns his head to look out across the park as Phantom watches the night sky. Jack’s not sure what he’s thinking but even the grass looks like it’s shifted under the weight of some profound world shifting secret.

“I think...I need to head home and talk to my son, Phantom”

Jack barely hears Phantoms’ reply as he walks off, noting how everything has a slight out of focus blur as he thinks, “yes, I think you do. Something tells me he’ll be up”.

Walking into his home, Jack easily spots his son shoving an overfilled fork of sauceless spaghetti into his mouth. Hearing the clink of his sons' teeth on the fork as he approaches, still a bit dazed.

Standing in the kitchen doorway, with Danny’s back to him, he glances down at the SpookSense’s screen, rereading Phantoms’ results before look back up to his sons’ sitting form. Something tells him, his son knows he’s there but is just waiting for him to speak, so he does, “you were right son, about Phantom”.

Jack can’t help but feel lighter and a bit amused as his son tilts his head backwards and speaks with the fork and noddles stuffed in his mouth, “hmm?”. Jack sits, places the SpookSense on the table and knits his fingers together as Danny’s face follows him with a raised eyebrow. Jack speaks as he taps the screen and looks to his son, “you...and Phantom. You read almost identical”. Images and words filter though Jack’s head, unfiltered, of all the behaviours and things said that are oh so similar of the two Danny’s. Blinking a bit as the lines between who said or did what blur and shift their shapes, “it’s not just that, it’s all identical”. Shaking his head a bit, “no, that’s not quite true. One reserved, one bold. One gentle, one strong. One fades to the background, one stands in front. Like...” Jack trails off not quite sure where his own mind is going, “like...”. Jack blinks and slowly goes wide-eyed as he speaks, while images of shift-shaping and blending blues and greens swirl in his mind, “like to sides of the same thing. The same...”, looking up and whispering at his son, “person”.

Jack’s mind has pretty well completely stalled as he watches a wide smile inch its way across his sons’ face. He can’t help but place the image of Phantoms’ face, from the tree, over top of the mirroring playfully bold smile now plastered on his sons’ face. Not a line of his face, hair or even the slight twinklings of amusement and embarrassment in his eyes; is out of place. Danny chuckles and rubs his neck, glancing away, “and so everything transforms now”.

“How?”, Jack’s not sure why his question earns him a smirk. “Everything transforms or shifts its shape in some way. Sometimes it’s just a bit more...literal”, Danny’s tone is soft, though Jack can sense there’s some nervousness there.

His heads still a fair bit muddled so he repeats himself, “how?”. Scrunching up his face, “you?... and Phantom?”, but then shaking his head a little, “are Phantom?”. Jack watches as Danny nods and rests his chin on his palm, again like Phantom in the tree. Mentally changing out black hair for white, Danny’s doesn’t move with gravity-defying floating but otherwise, “not two but one. One person...how?”. Now Danny looks a bit concerned and Jack realises he must have missed something here, as Danny sort of repeats himself softly, “think werewolves. Shapeshifting. But with ghosts”.

“So you can change into Phantom? How? You’re not a ghost?”, Jack mutters at the table, “is Phantom not ghost? What?”. He feels Danny poke him in the arm so he looks up at Danny’s equal parts amused and slightly worried face, “what are werewolves dad?”.

“Not real?”, Danny bursts out laughing at this. Jack’s glad to hear the laughing though far too confused as Danny wipes at his eyes a bit, “dad, obviously. What I mean is, what are they? What makes someone a werewolf in mythology”.

Jack’s not entirely sure where his son is going with this, “a person being half wolf?”. After a couple seconds though, something dawns on him as he repeats himself rather excitedly, “half ghost? Half ghost!”. Jack watches as his son struggles to hold in a laugh while nodding. While gears are turning in Jack’s head, no wonder his son sets off everything! It all senses ghosts! And he’s one! Sort of one? Part one? Exactly half? Or is it like all ghost and all human but able to switch? Somehow? Whispering at him both confused and excited but with some affection, “what are you?”.

Jack instantly regrets that though, as his son looks rather paranoid and cringes a little, “Danny, your son?”. Jack’s, again, confused by this response and not sure why Danny looks to be boring holes of worry and pleading? into Jack’s face. “Well, of course?”.

Danny facepalming was not the reaction Jack was expecting. Jack’s pretty sure his answer was an obvious one, of course his son is his son. Watching Danny rub his face and noticing that he’s actually blushing a bit, “um yeah, of course. The word’s halfa. Half human and...half ghost”. Jack can practically feel the caution in those last two words, but he’s a bit too excited to really dwell on that. Being a scientist faced with a brand new discovery, not only that but one that solves nearly every mystery he’s ever had about Phantom or, and?, his son. “Are there others?! Like a unique species?! Fusion?! Hybrid?! Could it be genetic?! Or...”, Jack trails off, losing his steam, as his son looks progressively more and more paranoid and stiff.

The two just stare at each other for a bit before Danny looks down and plays with what’s left of his food, with a frown, “I’m not an experiment and I’m not going to be”.

“What? Of course not! You’re family not a... oh.. OH”, Jack can see Danny cringe as Jack remembers how Danny is always avoidant of and off-put by the inventions. How Jack’s been suspicious that some hurt him. And...how he talks about ghosts around his son. Feeling extraordinarily guilty over all the very excitable times he’s gushed over experimenting on them, realising his son probably felt like that included him.

Judging by how his son is clearly looking around at exits and trying to make himself smaller, less of a...target. Jack’s positive he used the wrong words again, putting his hands on the table to hopefully ease his son up some, “you’re family, Danny. And if you’re Phantom then Phantom’s family all the same. Ghost or not”. Jack’s not sure why that makes Danny look more awkward that comforted, as Danny rubs his neck a bit, “yeah, I know. Always did. Glad to hear it though”. Jack decides to wait for his son to talk, but his son apparently has the same idea. As Danny finishes up his food while Jack runs his fingers across the SpookSense, he’s honestly a bit amazed at how right Phantom, his son, was. This little thing had pretty well solved two of the biggest mysteries in his entire life. The oddness of the Danny’s, which turned out to be just one Danny. He’s feeling a bit guilty again, having not noticed. How could he, one of the most ecto-knowledgable people in the world, not realise his own son was one? Half of one? And he hunted him, tried to kill his own son. Jack jerks his head up at Danny, as Danny interrupts his mental self-berating, “I don’t want you to feel bad about the past. It’s ok, it was expected. You never would have or could have done me real harm”. Jack frowns a bit knowing full well that he really had been trying to destroy Phantom, but he doesn’t get a chance to comment on that, as Danny keeps talking, “like I said, I know I’m family. And I know because you’ve found out before. You just don’t remember”.

Jack blinks at that, reminded of his conversation with his son, as Phantom, before, “you said that, earlier. Still confusing, how could I not remember? Heck! How are you even half ghost? you're not...dead?”. Jack’s not sure why that’s funny but he’s glad to have successfully fixed the mood. Even if he still feels guilty, while Danny tilts his head back and laughs, “my deadness is debatable. Half human and half ghost. Half alive and half dead. Sometimes I go with half dead, and other times I go with fully dead and fully alive but at the same time. For all accounts and purposes, my very existence is impossible. I go against the laws of nature. A little impossible enigma, like I said”. Danny shuffles a bit, “and as for the not remembering thing, time is a strange thing. And time travel makes it even weirder. You’ve found out at least three times, I made you and the rest of the world intentionally forget though. Kind of had to, for my own safety”.

This makes Jack clue in that his son has been up to some seriously dangerous stuff, deadly kind of dangerous. But at the same time, his scientific curiosity nags to throw safety out the window. “Ok first off, you shouldn’t be doing such dangerous things. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Phantom get impaled more than once”, Jack can’t really maintain the glaring as he gets a bit excited, though he kind of wants to keep glaring, as his son waves off his worry over his injuries, “second, are you sure about the half-dead thing, what about your organs? Heart? Breathing? If you exist, and are half dead, then clearly it’s possible. But yes it shouldn’t be, so how?”

“I’m durable dad, questionably so. And well no, not really possible. It’s considered factually impossible to be both dead and alive. Those two things are the most mutually exclusive things out there. And yet...”, Danny snickers a bunch to himself, “as for my organs and what not, most function to half the degree they should. My heart beats half as much and pluse is also half. My natural body temp is way below hypothermia. I have no clue if most of my organs even do anything anymore. My heart is pretty well the only organ that I haven’t lost at some point, so they’re all kind of useless. I breathe but I don’t really need to. My bones are just plain confusing, sometimes I have bones and sometimes I don’t”. Danny shrugs, “all very impossible. Not to mention illogical”.

Jack’s a bit shocked by the info dump, though he can’t help but find it amusing that his son obviously checked this stuff, and yeah, it makes pretty well no sense, “how the? How does your human body? Form? State?, maintain itself at all? And I’m still not happy you’re getting hurt so much”. Jack can tell Danny’s getting a good kick out of this now, obviously he finds humour in causing mild confusion. Watching Danny smirk as he responds, “I go with human form and by defying reality and all the known laws of nature? Being able to shape-shift into a ghost is already downright nutty, so makes sense that everything else is weird too”. Danny rubs at his neck and Jack can easily see the rather apologetic look on his face, “it’s really better to not try and figure out just how the hell my body can even function. The other, much older, halfa is a major scientist himself and he hardly knows how this all works. Though he gets the genetics of it to a scary degree”. Jack mutters, “so it is genetic”, before noticing Danny’s rather intense gaze. He can’t help but ponder on how differently Danny’s blue eyes convey an intense stare than his green ones, probably something to do with ghostly energy or maybe it’s because his green ones glow. As Danny is clearly trying to make a point, “don’t worry about the injuries. It’s part of the job, protecting people and Amity, the occasional bigger thing. I expect it, I know how to handle it and wounds aren’t the same for me. I heal from most things in minutes. There’s even a very good chance that I’m flat out indestructible”.

Jack’s not sure whether to find that worrying or to be happy. But he’s pretty sure his son’s exaggerating a bit, he doesn’t even have to say anything though. Since his son is clearly good at reading people, judging by how he comments on Jack’s mild disbelief, “my ghost protects my human and my human protects my ghost. The standing theory is that both sides of me would have to be instantly and simultaneously destroyed otherwise my sides would shield and heal each other in an unending loop. It would be like trying to count to the end of Pi”.

Jack’s surprised that actually makes sense, though still shouldn’t even be possible. Deciding to take his sons advice on not trying to figure it out though. “Wow, well I’d still you rather not get hurt. Speaking of jobs though”, Jack taps on title section of the screen, “do they just not care you’re part human? And something tells me your life is way more complicated than I thought”.

“Halfas are by our very nature stronger than regular ghosts. And ghosts respect strength, so the king being a halfa is actually a source of pride for many. I’m pretty much viewed by them, as a ghost who’s able to exist on the human plane. None really see me as a human, but rather a ghost who can shape-shift into a human”, Jack’s not sure why that’s funny to his son, because Jack finds it concerning. He’s glad his son’s respected but he’s more of a human than ghost, right? While Danny laughs, “just like how every human who knows, views me as a human with ghost powers. CW is really the only one, besides me, who truly sees me as equally both. Which is what I am. I’m not more ghost than human nor more human than ghost. Just like how a coin isn’t more heads than it is tails. It doesn’t matter what side you can see or what side was made first, they’re equal”.

“But you live a mostly human life, right? And you live here, not in the GZ”, Jack feels he doesn’t even need to mention that Danny’s family and friends are all humans. Though he’s certain Danny has ghost friends, which is rather weird.

“I spend most of my time in human form yeah, but what I do as Phantom takes precedence over everything. Phantom’s what I do in life, my purpose. The hero, the protector, the watchful eye, the saviour, the king. There’s not really anything human I could do that would ever be more important, so lifestyle wise; I’m more ghost than human”, he knows his sons’ got a point there, even if he doesn’t really like it. Danny was human first, had a human life first; this ghost stuff was just forced on him, wasn’t it? But he lets his son finish before commenting on that, “I guess while I view myself as equally both species, I don’t really hold them at equal weighing. I know if I had to choose, I’d choose ghost every time. I could begrudgingly tolerate being full ghost, but I couldn’t tolerate being full human again”. Jack can tell that Danny knew he wouldn’t be happy to hear that, even if he does like the rare honesty from his son. Jack really can’t grasp how anyone would rather be a ghost than human, even if they had powers. It makes him a bit worried that his son’s power-hungry or that his mind has been altered by all of this. Which now that he thinks about, of course his sons’ mind has been altered; it would actually be really weird if it hadn’t. “You like the power of it that much? Which I guess the ghost aspects of your mind would. I’m not sure how you couldn’t resent something forced on you though”, Danny looks a bit confused but apparently figured out whatever was confusing him, judging by the slightly embarrassed smile.

“Becoming half ghost was unintentional in the beginning yeah. But the accident that made me a halfa actually got reversed at one point and as soon as I found out I intentionally made it happen again. So I chose it ultimately. And while yes, I like the power, it is rather useful. It’s what I do with that power, that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate giving up. Fighting ghosts, protecting people, resolving ghost skirmishes, teaching and guiding new generations of either species, occasionally saving the world. It’s who I am, failing to be that would destroy me, not literally”.

Jack’s honestly a bit in awe at how mature his son is now. It’s pretty clear he’s thought about this too, Jack still doesn’t really like it though. Even if he’s glad his son is clearly proud and happy with it, “you could do that human, but...I guess you couldn’t do it the same. Could you?”. Danny shakes his head a little sadly, “no. I really do need my ghost everything. CW likes to say I’m an old soul who could only ever exist as a guardian. A guardian to both sides of the world and the world needs me that way. Though I wish it would stop reminding me of that”. Jack finds it a bit amazing how Danny makes this all sound so mundane, “so the “saving the world” thing, was pretty literal then. And I’m going to guess this “CW” is a friend? Ghost friend?”.

Danny’s knowing smirk makes it clear to Jack that he’s right, before Danny even opens his mouth, “you have no idea. One second GIW idiots are trying to blow up the entire Ghost Zone, which would also destroy the earth by the way. The next second some future jerk destroys almost all of humanity and ghosts. And then on Tuesday some moron releases a chemical weapon into the earth's core. Some times I swear, the world actively wants to be destroyed”. Even Jack can’t help but laugh, “well thanks then!”. Danny humorously stabs his finger on the table and chuckles, “I’ve got my licks in too though. Had to stop my future self from destroying everything no less than three times. And that’s why the Observants hate me, too much power they say. Which they’re not really wrong about, but I don’t like them either so”. Jack’s not really concerned by that, since it’s pretty obvious his son’s overpowered. Throwing in shapeshifting just makes him more so. Plus there’s no way his heart of gold son, would ever intentionally destroy the world. He’s practically still a kid, he’s going to mess up; even if his mess ups, apparently, have major consequences.

“And CW, or ClockWork as he's actually called, is more than a friend and more than some ghost. He’s my mentor, might as well be family really. He’s one of the only ghosts who can truly hold a candle to me power wise. He’s a guardian, so to speak, himself. He controls time itself and is responsible for making sure the time-stream doesn’t get damaged or destroyed. I watch over earth and zone, he watches over time, and the Observants watch over existence. We all do jobs for each other sometimes, though both me and CW make a point to annoy the hell out of the Observants if they ask us to do anything”. Jack’s not sure if he feels more impressed or worried about his son intentionally pissing off clearly powerful ghosts. But if his son sees this ClockWork guy as like family, then he wants to meet him. Though wait a second, “did you just imply you’re the most powerful ghost?”.

Now Danny just looks embarrassed, “technically, I am. But CW’s power is basically a real-life ultimate cheat code. There’s no real way to win against him in genuine, which is why he has restraints and rules pretty much binding him. He can’t act or interfere unless absolutely necessary for the sake of the time-stream, existence or reality. On top of that, he’s got a bit of a trump card on me as he’s actually responsible for me. He majorly cheated so I could exist and continue existing; if he wanted to, he could just erase me from existence”.

Jack doesn’t even get a chance to voice how much he does not like that and how he’s officially not so ok with this ClockWork guy. As Danny waves off his worry, “CW has a massive soft spot for me. And he can see every single possible future, the only way he’d erase me is if there was absolutely no possible future wherein I didn’t need to be. In which case, I’d fully agree with his choice and actions. And he knows that, so chances are he’d give me a heads up. Everyone calls me a self-sacrificial idiot for a reason”.

Jack’s still not impressed, at all, “there’s nothing you could say to make me ok with that son. And this guy has way too much power”.

“And I don’t? All power needs checks in place. CW’s restraints are his and CW is mine. I’ve seen what happens if I don’t have him and it’s majorly bad. Likewise, CW doesn’t do well alone. Two overpowered weirdos with odd senses of humour need a brother in arms. And if you think my death jokes are bad, listen to his time ones”, it’s kind of hard for Jack to be bothered now, what with Danny’s mischievous snickering, that looks to be verging on flat out laughter.

Blinking, Jack realises this is the most he’s seen his son laugh in months, maybe even years. Well, as a human anyway. Which is more than enough to make him decide that all of this was a good thing, that his son being this way is a good thing, and that ClockWork might really be good for him. Though he’s not sure he could handle being around two pun machines, “you’ve got a point there son. And I guess I can’t find this bad, since it clearly makes you happy. You never laugh or smile this much”.

Danny rubs his neck awkwardly, “well, a good chunk of my Fenton time is spent keeping things a secret and maintaining appearances. Plus I’ve made a bit of a show of Phantom being a jokester, I can’t have Fenton acting the same as Phantom. In just the same way, I overact the whole “hero” thing as Phantom. No one can see Phantom ever appearing weak, so I make sure they don’t”, gesturing to himself, “so only those who know what I am, really get to see who I really am as a person. Which I realise is kind of shitty but it’s out of necessity, not me being mean or anything. My sides have to be separate to the public and any who don’t know. But who I am as a person, is both. So I guess, you’re kind of meeting me, the real me, for the first time in a very long time. Uh, sorry?”.

Jack knows kids often hide part of themselves from family so he’s not really bothered by that. More bothered that his son is way too grown up and clearly has been for a while, “what even was your childhood?”.

Danny blinks, Jack’s guessing that was not the response Danny was expecting, “most kids wildest dream? I’m a literal superhero, that’s most kids greatest fantasy. Sure it’s serious and painful but I enjoy it. Always did. When I first changed, I pretty well hated being half ghost and I wanted to be normal again. But one real ghost fight and I was in love. Saying everything clicked into place is cliche, but very true”. Snickering now, “who knew hundreds of pounds of cooked meat would be what slapped destiny into my face. Well, that and the Fenton Thermos. Which literally slammed into my face”. Jack can’t help but laugh a bit himself, “that is ridiculous. Still though, kids are supposed to play around and goof off”.

“Sneaking into the girls bathroom, prank wars, jumping inside of video games, pelting the Box Ghost with styrofoam circles. I’ve goofed around plenty, still actively do. My mundane fun is just a bit more ghostly”, Danny pauses as Jack yawns, which is apparently funny to Danny, “my fun is also a lot more used to sleep deprivation”. Jack really doesn’t care that he’s tired, this is way better than sleeping. He’s tolerated lost sleep in the name of science plenty of times and he’s far more willing to do the same for family. “The biggest mystery of my life just got solved and you’re being, well, you! That’s worth some missed sleep Danny-boy”.

“I’m not going anywhere, dad. I’ll be here tomorrow for you to pepper questions at. And the day after that, and the next, and so on. Though everyone could use some reality-defying before bed”, Jack’s not really sure what Danny’s thinking or why he’s smirking like a devil. A face he’s all too used to seeing on Phantom, and yeah Danny’s right, if his sides or forms acted the same he’d get caught. His sons’ goofy grin and how he’s lazily resting his chin in his palm makes it seem more like he’s talking to Phantom. But that kind of makes Jack feel good, it means his son is happier than he used to think. He was just pushing his joking nature and silly side all onto Phantoms’ persona. Which leaves him wondering which persona is more accurate to the real Danny, he’s got a gut feeling that Phantom is closer.

“I’m not sure what’s got you grinning like that, but I’m glad to see the humour!”, Jack chuckles to make it clear, cause really he just wants a happy son. Even if he has to be the pretty well strangest thing in the world to be happy.

“I’m a funny man. A funny punny man. A shockingly shapeshifting one at that”, well at the very least, Phantoms’ humour is a real Danny thing. And yeah, Jack still finds it admirable, “I can see, now anyway. But I guess that means you really are ok. Though I hope to see a lot more of my son, the real one”. Jack’s almost a bit excited to know how much of Phantoms’ over the top personality is actually real, but he’s also a bit sad over missing out on it over the past years. Danny obvious is a bit guilty about that even if he clearly is still finding something quite amusing, “Oh you will, mind you, old habits die hard. Even if dying comes pretty naturally to me. I do it all the time and I’m damn flashy about it”. Jack squints at that, which prompts Danny to talk again, “Death jokes, lots of death jokes. My whole shapeshifting thing is basically dying on command, so how could I not?”. Jack has to admit his sons’ got a point there. Ghosts are dead and he literally becomes a ghost. Still weird to know his son is partly dead or only sometimes alive. However it works. Yawning again as Danny glances at him, clearly a bit nervous but also snickering, “so, care to see? Insult the laws of reality by bearing witness to a dose of half death before bed?”. Jack’s confused for only a few seconds before clueing, smacking the table and nodding excitedly. Danny runs a hand through his hair before drawing Jack’s attention to his waist by pointing. Jack quickly gets the “flashy” comment at the sight of the pretty darn bright rings. Instantly curious as to what the hell they're made of. Some kind of ghost energy? Ectoplasm? Or is there literally life or death energy? Human cells? Even more stunned as his son literally shape-shifts body parts as the rights spread over him, while looking like this is utterly natural and easy to do the whole time. Which Jack guesses, probably is easy and natural to his son now. Zone knows how many times he must do this in one day, let alone over the years!

Jack can’t help but chuckle a bit as Danny instantly starts floating, Danny rubs his neck, “yeah the floating is automatic, which is actually very convenient. And I can change the position or direction of my rings. Up and down, side to side, make mini ones over my limbs. Managed to change a couple times without the rings at all. And before you ask, they’re composed from my cores energy”.

“Core! Not a lot of ghosts have those! That’s like a whole new organ! Half ghost core? Half of a core?”, cores are a pretty unique thing, Jack really didn’t know a lot about them. He figured Phantom had one but there’s no real good way to check those out without dissection and no way is he even considering going there, not now. Danny pats at his chest, “all halfas have one, snuggled up next to our hearts; mine’s an ice core. Hence my cold body temperature and ice powers. A core has to be formed with a mixture of ghost and human DNA to be able to make the halfa rings. My core is complete and fully mature, so it’s not literally half of a core”.

“Why would every halfa have one? Does being part human make them easier to form? And I guess your core is a constant then? You’re always cold to the touch, not just as Phantom”, snapping his fingers, “that’s why your breath fogs up! A ghost being around makes your core act up!?”. Jack’s flat out proud that Danny looks impressed as he nods, “that’s exactly right, a chill passes through my entire body and yes, both my core and heart are there regardless of form. As for why all halfas have them, you’re pretty close. Halfas are more stable ghosts, have more stable ectoplasm, because of the support of our human side. Stable ectoplasm is what makes it possible for a core to develop”. Danny’s snickering again but Jack’s too curious to care why, “if I’m near seizure inducingly flashy, I can actually make my core visible while shapeshifting. Other ghosts find that mildly terrifying”. Jack hopes he doesn’t even have to mention he wants to see that, his son is clearly good at reading people, so him excitedly clapping Danny’s shoulders should be more than enough. Clearly, it was and his son wasn’t kidding, this is hard to look at. Like his son just became a black void with an intense light blue light in his chest. Blinking a bunch at his, human again, son, “wow that is bright. Not too mention big, how does that even fit in there?”. Danny laughs, “well some of the bright light is literally just energy coming off of my core, so it’s not that big. It’s around the same size as my heart and my heart sits a fair bit more to the left than a regular humans, to make room for my core. Like you saw, my core’s in the exact centre. And my lungs just move around it”. It’s pretty obvious to Jack that his son likes his core, as Danny pats his chest rather affectionately, “you know how you can feel your heartbeat or hear it if you pay attention? Well, cores have something like a humming and faint vibrating”. Jack tries his damnedest to stifle a yawn, full stop his son is probably the only way he’ll ever learn about cores. Clearly, he didn’t do a good enough job, as Danny puts his hands on his hips playfully, “if I let you hear it, will you go to bed?”. Jack’s way to excited to say no even if he would far prefer to keep talking through the night, “ok ok, yes. But you knew cores were something of a complete mystery to me didn’t you?”. Judging by Danny’s smirk, Jack’s right, not really surprised though.

“It was my get-dad-to-actually-sleep trump card, yes”, Jack gapes a bit incredulously as his son just phases a stethoscope out of the table. Realising Danny must have put that there before Jack even got home, “and I thought you were good at reading people before. Do you just hide stuff in things all over the house?”. Jack takes the stethoscope while Danny blushes, obviously, he has been doing that. “Lets just say, you should warn me if you ever hire someone to do major house Reno’s. Unless you want to really confuse and possibly scare them. Especially my room”, Jack’s laugh turns into a yawn as he waves the stethoscope a little. A bit caught off guard as his son changes again, “it’s more noticeable when I’m a ghost”.

That makes total sense to Jack so he puts it to his chest and yeah, no wonder Danny refuses doctor check-ups. The deep powerful hum, like being inside a massive cave with drum reverberations all around, is very noticeable. It’s honestly eerie and the occasional deep solid thump, which Jack is assuming is Danny’s deathly slow heartbeat, only makes it more creepy. Perfectly suiting for a strong ghost, really weird to hear from his own sons’ chest though. Pulling back, “that might just give a doctor a heart attack, sounds strong though. Which I’m assuming is a good thing?”.

Danny laughs a bit, “the school nurse hounds me because I never let her give me checkups ever. And yes that’s a good thing. Soft or quieter core means I’m hurt, bad. Just like a weak pulse”. Glancing at his sons’ hand, as Danny pokes him with a gloved glowing finger, “so now you sleep. With the sound of my impossible existence in your head”. Speaking of sound though, “people can hear their pulse and heartbeat hammering in their head when they really exert themselves! Your core?!”.

“Dad, bed. But yes, if I exert a bunch of ectoplasmic energy”, Jack was going to comment but Danny is clearly having none of that and uses a powerful commanding, and very Phantom, tone, “bed”.

Jack will admit it’s pretty hard to say no to him whenever he uses that tone on people, especially with the echoy power laced in his voice. So he nods and rubs the back of his head a bit embarrassed at his son pretty much playing the role of parent here, “alright, but that’s a heck of a voice you’ve got”. Danny chuckles as he follows Jack up the stairs, “you have no idea”.

End.

[phntm-lgcy]

Allyn Cleo Fenton

Here is the character sheet for the main character of the story, Allyn Fenton. More history will be updated as the story progresses. If anything is wrong with their race, please let me know so I can fix it. I really don’t mean to offend anyone, I just personally headcanon Sam as that specific type of Jew since it fits with what little Elmer Fartman gave us. Character template found here. Picrew images by Sangled (tumblr)

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

    –Maya Angelou

    General Information

Name: Allyn Cleo Fenton Gender: Amab, nonbinary Pronouns: They/Them or Ve/Ver Titles: Mx. Birth Name: Charlie Elias Fenton Birth Date: Thursday, 30 September 2027 (Age 14) Birth Place: The Ghost Zone First Word(s): ”bye-bye” Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous Astrological Sign: Libra

    Appearance

Height: 5’10” Weight: 130lbs Species: Half Ghost/Half Human Hybrid Race: Ashkenazi Jew/White Blood Type: Unknown Skin Color: Pale white as a human, grey as a ghost Birthmarks: Freckles.

Hair Color: Reddish orange as a human, cyan as a ghost. Hair Length: Short and spiky Widow's Peak: No Ear Shape: Rounded as a human, pointed as a ghost. Eye Color: Amethyst as a human, green as a ghost. Nose Shape: Sharp Face Shape: Angular Complexion: Smooth Facial Hair: None

    Health and Image

Fitness: Allyn begins to get very fit as a result of hero work. Running Speed: Pretty fast, but they can fly faster. Dexterity: Good Reflexes: Good Primary Outfit: Primarily, you’ll find Allyn in a black t-shirt with a white Batman logo that says The Dark Knight Rises. They wear dark jeans with silver decorative buttons down the thigh and dark combat boots. Over their shirt they wear a black and yellow jacket.  Secondary Outfit: Allyn’s secondary outfit is a long-sleeved orange polo trimmed with navy blue and dark green jeans with lots of pockets. They wear blue sneakers on their feet. Tertiary Outfit: Allyn’s third outfit is a simple one. A purple pullover that looks like a spooky town with cute ghosts on it with black jeggings and red slip-on shoes. Other Outfits:  As a ghost, Allyn decided to wear the jumpsuit of a Black Panther costume with the cowl, cape, and belt of a Batman costume. The colors inverted upon their first transformation. The Black Panther costume became a white/gold color with black highlights and the cowl and cape of the Batman costume became white. The belt became a mix of white/gold and white.

    Philosophy

Religions: Christianity and Ashkenazi Judaism Spirit Animal: Wolf Political Party: Left Political Awareness: Not much

    Home, Work, and Education

Abode: Salem River, Wisconsin Hometown: Amity Park, Illinois Citizenship: American Elementary School: Amity Park Elementary (Amity Park, IL) Middle School: Casper Middle School (Amity Park, IL) High School: Pluto High School (SR, WI) Colleges: None, yet Extracurricular Activities: Does superheroeing count?

    Social

Mother: Samantha Anne Manson Father: Daniel James Fenton Close Relatives: Jackson Fenton (Paternal Grandfather), Madeline Fenton (Paternal Grandmother), Jasmine Weston (Paternal Aunt), Wes Weston (Uncle-in-Law), Wendi Weston (Paternal Cousin) Danielle Fenton (Paternal Aunt/Sort of parent?), Jackalyn Fenton (Adoptive Cousin), Jeremy Manson (Maternal Grandfather), Pamela Manson (Maternal Grandmother) Best Friend: Marietta Blakesley Close Friends: Lakin Jones Friends: Terho Ranta, Pur, Apollo Duffy, Leona Duffy Allies: Shaw McEwan Enemies: Gemma Plasmius Inspirations: Batman Role Models: Danny Fenton Heroes: Danny Phantom Mentors: Danny Phantom, Iron Man, Nick Fury (sort of)

    Romance

Love Interests: Lakin Jones

    Personality

MBTI Personality Type: ENFP-T

Allyn doesn’t really understand what their dad does when he’s gone, but respects it. Very curious and always questions things. Always feels like they have to do the right thing.

    Biography

Infancy (0-3): Allyn was born Charlie Elias Fenton in the Ghost Zone on Thursday, September 30th 2027 to Danny Fenton and Sam Manson. He showed no signs of powers and was a happy baby for the first three years of his life. Nothing of importance happened during this time.

Childhood (4-12): When Charlie was five, he fell out of a tree and broke his arm. At age 7 he became friends with Marietta Blakesley, Wulf and Desiree’s daughter. When he was twelve, he found out there were more genders than just male and female. He found that being nonbinary fit him better than anything else and decided to try it out. His parents were very supportive of the transition, even helping to pick out a name. 2039 was also the year that Danny closed the ghost portals in Amity Park for good.

Adolescence (13-19):

Age 13: Got their name legally changed to Allyn Cleo Fenton.

Age 14: Moved to Salem River, Wisconsin. Made friends with Lakin Jones, and then the rest of her friends. Gained ghost powers while getting mugged (stress + puberty). Thought they were a mutant. Joined Team Styx.

Adulthood (20-54): TBA

Seniority (55+): TBA

    Miscellaneous

Updated 2019-12-19: Added age and a bit of a personality.

[friking-awsom-kitten]

What ghost up must come down IASA Chapter 1

Danny rotated his shoulder with a wince and fixed his blurry gaze on the ghost. He held up a finger and shot the ghost down. It wasn't a really powerful ghost of any special kind. It shouldn't be that hard to beat.

But the last three sleepless nights and mental strain had him and his body exhausted.

It's all because of those exams, Danny grumbled internally. He was certain the teachers had ganged up against him to cluster all the tests in one week. The term 'free time' had become a stranger to him the past week.

Danny sighed deeply as he held up a shield, too lazy to dodge a shot. Maybe he should take some time off and go punch the arcade games instead of ghosts and textbooks.

Something prickled his sixth sense and Danny looked over his shoulder to see two GIW jets come into sight.

Shit, he thought, why now. He hadn't seen those guys in weeks. They weren't a daily occurrence, thank Clockwork, but how bad could his luck be that they chose this particular day to annoy him.

Danny decided to end the fight quickly. For both his sake and the ghost's.

He flew at the ghost rapidly. "Hey dude. What about we let this die?" He threw a roundhouse kick and the ghost was thrown away. "Seriously!" He exclaimed as the ghost recovered quickly and shot multiple shots at Phantom. "You have ghost to calm down!"

The ghost groaned. "Do you ever stop?" To which Danny grinned. "Over my dead body."

"Watch out, Phantom!"

Danny got the warning too late and was hit on the back of his knee. He yelped, wondering why they couldn't hit the other leg. This one already had a massive bruise on it. He put up a shield and groaned when a few other strong shots hit it.

The GIW seemed to be updating their weapons.

Phantom scowled and swirled around, lighting his hands up with ice. "Common, guys, can't you see I'm busy?! Can we reschedule so I can kick your white clad ass another time?" He aimed and successfully encased one of the planes with ice.

The jet flew out of control when the driver's vision was obscured. Suddenly it stopped jolting around and landed harmlessly, though rather roughly.

After all, Phantom wasn't a bad guy. He landed the jet with telekinesis before returning his attention to the battle.

A small crowd had started to form a bit away. Danny barely spotted a camera crew setting up their equipment. His gaze was directed to the large RV revving up the driveway. Could this day get any worse?

He'd have to take them out one at a time.

The boy decided to concentrate on the most dangerous threat first. He tried a few shots, which the GIW jet expertly dodged.

Danny squeaked when a shot exploded a few feet from where he stood. He glared at the ghost, who shook his head with wide eyes and pointed at something. There stood Jack holding up a large weapon.

Jack held up a fist. "Stay where you are, spook!"

Danny rolled his eyes and winced when it sent a jolt of pain in his head. He'd been fighting a headache since yesterday. Sam said it was because of his lack of rest.

You know what? Baby steps.

The ghost boy flew up and punched the ghost hard.

"Why did you punch me!" The specter complained. "They did it."

"You were annoying me first," Danny countered. "You started this, and I don't know about you but I always finish what I started. Now get in the stupid thermos."

"You keep that thing away from me!" The ghost chose to escape into the sky and Danny followed swiftly. He appeared in front of him and waved as he sucked the yowling spirit into the thermos. "That's done. Let's get out of here."

Maddie squinted into the hole on top of her gun, aiming at the ghost boy. He was distracted. This was her chance. However, something paused her finger on the trigger.

Phantom looked so exhausted and so drained out. He was dripping a bit of ectoplasm and he almost dropped the thermos from his shaking hands. Maddie didn't know why this made her hesitate.

She lowered the gun slightly and her eyebrows furrowed.

The woman's eyes suddenly widened and out of instinct she shouted a warning.

Danny gasped when he heard something behind him. The sound of a machine charging up.

He slowly turned around to come eye to eye with Agent O, who smirked and pushed a button. This caused the giant canon under the jet to light up.

The crowd below watched in horror as their favorite hero was enveloped in light coming from the gun and rocketed down to the ground. They expected him to catch himself and float back up. To shake it off like he had done so many times before.

However Danny Phantom crashed. Hard.

A small crater formed under his unmoving body.

The Fentons spent no time to rush forward and catch the ghost boy off-guard. The camera crew also hurried up, as did some other people, to check on the boy.

They stared at the unconscious teen with bathed breath.

Jack frowned in confusion. What just happened? "Hey spook!-" He wasn't sure how to continue. Ask him if he was ok? That seemed like such a stupid suggestion.

Suddenly Phantom flashed.

The people watching almost thought he was fading? Was this how ghosts died??

What really happened was much worse.

When the flash disappeared....so did Danny Phantom.

In his place was another, just as famous (for different reasons), teenage boy.

An unconscious, bleeding and injured Danny Fenton met their mortified gazes.

"No," Maddie whispered, tears prickling her eyes. "Da..Danny?"

Jack's arms went slack and his weapon clattered on the ground.

Everyone's shock was interrupted by a loud announcement.

They looked up to see the jet aiming another type of gun at the boy on the ground. Jack and Maddie recognized it as a restraining gun. "Step away from the Specimen," Agent O said through a speaker.

"What?!" Maddie shouted in disbelief. "What are you planning on doing with MY son?!"

"This is a rare creature and he will be brought in by the GIW to be examined."

"Examined?!" A civilian exclaimed in disbelief. "He's just a kid!"

"We are from the government," was the agent's answer, one he used frequently. "Stand back as I immobilize him. He must be prepared for experiments. Lots and lots of painful experiments." He charged up the gun.

Maddie ran up and stood over her son, gun pointed to counterattack. "You will not lay one hand on him!!" She cried, tears streaming from her face from shock and rage at man above her.

"You have no say in this, Fenton." Agent O said irritably. He wished that woman would just move over. The specimen was within his grasp. So close. He would not let it go. "Move over or I will call for backup."

Jack placed his large body between the jet and his son. "Let them come," he growled. "You filthy scumbags will have to go over my corpse to get him."

Agent O sighed as if this was a minor inconvenience. He reached for his communicator.

"And mine!" A woman in her early twenties stepped closer to Danny.

"And mine!" An old man waved a fist as he joined the group.

"Who said anything about my corpse!!" And enraged goth screamed up at the insecure GIW jet. "I'll be dancing over yours if you come within a five mile radius of Danny!"

Agent O pursed his lips as his eyes took in the crowd yelling and shaking their fists at him. He turned on the communicator. "Requesting assistance. The Specimen seems to be of more value than anticipated." He winced when a shoe clanged against his window. "However the civilians seem...reluctant to let it go."

"Describe reluctant," a voice from the communicator asked.

"One threw a shoe at the ship."

The voice hummed.

"A muddy one," Agent O clarified, making the voice gasp.

Agent O took a peek at the crowd. "I am grateful there isn't a tomato stand near here."

"This is the twentieth century. There are no tomato stands in the middle of the road in a city like this one."

"Believe me. Tomato stands are always at the ready when there's a riot," the Agent commented drily.

"Is that the term you would use?"

Agent O winced when a shot from the Fentons scorched his ship. "Definitely."

"Are you able to restrain them?"

"Cameras are present."

There was a small silence. "Retreat," the voice said with as much regret as Agent O felt. But he obeyed and powered the gun down as he directed the jet to base.

The boss of his sector continued. "When you're back, come to my office and relay all the information you have on the specimen."

"Yes sir."

[lilaclily00]

Apologies (2)

Reposting this part separately since I think most people missed it... Well, I’ve learned my lesson on reblogging to old chapters.

Danny Fenton secretly sort-of joins the family business.

Here’s Part 1!

AO3 link

@goinggoblin​ @pigte​

Part 2

Danny didn't know how it happened, but one of the shots he fired went into the portal and got it to start up. He stumbled back and blocked the burst of light from his face. He had finally adjusted and put his arms down by the time the footsteps bumbling down the stairs had stopped at his side.

"What's happening down he--" His mom paused as she stared into the green abyss in the wall.

"You fixed the portal, Danny-boy? You fixed it! It works!" Danny grunted as his father crushed him in a hug so suddenly he dropped the ecto-gun, which broke apart on impact with the ground. "That's my son!"

"How'd you do that?" Jazz asked, a little too skeptical, earning a glare from Danny as he was finally let go.

"Now, Jazz, you know your brother's very smart, too. It runs in the family." Their mom ruffled Danny's hair; he was still a little too focused on that ghost girl to appreciate it. He had no idea if she was still in the lab, or had run off to somewhere else in town, or made the escape back "home" through the portal the second she could. "Perhaps I should start having you kids help us in the lab more!"

Their dad patted the portal's rim affectionately. "Oh, it'll be a snap to get a new grant once we tell 'em this baby's on and running!"

"Now, Jack, we don't know if it even goes to the Ghost Zone yet," their mom chastised him gently, though excitement sparkled in her eyes. "Would you kids like to help run the tests?"

"Later. I think I'll head up to my room for a bit," Danny said, rushing up the stairs. He did not have the energy or patience for that right now. He also had to go inform Sam and Tucker about the ghost girl--he could count on them to help him deal with her if he ran into her again. No, when--he was not going to let her go without any consequences.

She had no right to ruin their lives. It only seemed fair to ruin her afterlife right back.

"Dude, are you sure about this?" Tucker peered over his best friend's shoulder, scrunching his nose at the otherworldly smell wafting from the box. Sam glanced back at the door of the shed, impatiently tapping her foot.

"What, you don't believe me?" Danny muttered, not quite hiding a bitter tone as he pulled contaminated, broken contraptions out from the next box. Where was that little laser, he swore it was in here...

"We do!" Sam protested, pulling at the wrists of her gloves. "I just--"

"Can't condone the use of violence, I know. It's not like it'll really hurt her, she doesn't have nerves," Danny reminded. He'd heard his mom say that about ghosts a while ago. He grinned when he recovered the laser at the very bottom, holding it out like a trophy then setting it aside.

"Well, yeah," she assented, frown forming, "but it also just seems a little too dangerous to use old equipment to hunt her down."

Tucker kneeled to help Danny throw the scraps back in. "Yeah, man. Your parents, the leading experts in ghost-hunting tech, thought this stuff wasn't worth keeping anymore."

"Because they don't have the time to fix them, not with trying to get their grants again, which are all for their newer projects." Danny slapped the top flaps of the box down and carefully laid the "CAUTION: ECTOPLASMIC WASTE" tape back over. "We, however, do have the time."

"Yup, time to contaminate ourselves for a senseless need for revenge." Sam crossed her arms, defiant as Danny stood up to face her, gloves tensed up into fists.

"You don't get it, do you? You don't even care, do you?!" Danny didn't notice his friends flinch. "We pretty much lost everything because of a ghost! They had all the anti-ghost systems on, but she somehow got through all of them! We can't take a ghost to court, and--" Danny closed his eyes and let out a huff. His friends didn't deserve to get yelled at like this. He opened them again, gaze fixed on his hazmat boots, then continued quieter, "And all the credibility my parents had is wiped out. The fact that the portal started will help, but still." He dropped down to the concrete floor of the shed, sitting as he pulled his glove off to scratch at his hair. "I haven't ever been into ghost-hunting, you know that, but my parents really don't deserve this. It's the only way I can help, you know?"

"Is... that why you haven't told them about the ghost girl?" Tucker shuffled to sit by his friend.

Danny nodded, glancing between his friends' wide eyes. "Yeah. I want to take her down myself."

School was surprisingly normal, except for Dash. Dash was acting weird.

With how distracted he had been on Monday, he hadn't noticed that Dash never bothered him, but it became increasingly noticeable over the next couple days. Danny passed by him and Kwan wailing on other kids in the halls, but he wasn't even acknowledged.

"Why is Dash ignoring me?" Danny whispered to his friends at Tucker's locker. "It's driving me crazy! I don't know what this means!"

"I'd take it as a stroke of luck and not question a good thing," Tucker shrugged as he poured notebooks into his backpack.

"But what if he's planning something big? Is there something I don't know about? What's going on?!" Danny cried out, pulling at his hair.

Sam swatted at his hand before he made any more of a scene. "I'm a little suspicious too. Nothing's ever stopped Dash before, though I wish you'd try harder to defend yourself." She glanced over at the bully himself, strolling down the hall towards them. "But I doubt there's enough room for big plans in his tiny brain."

"Hey, Foley!" Dash slammed Tucker's locker closed, leaning on it as he towered over the trio. "I've got a bad English grade to take out on you."

Danny was startled by how he nearly felt... offended. "Am I not good enough to be your personal punching bag anymore?!" he blurted out. Sam facepalmed as he put himself in front of Tucker to confront the blond.

Dash scrunched his nose as he studied Danny, a strange emotion in his eyes. "I made a deal to stop picking on you for a while." The three gaped, frozen. He continued with a smirk, "But it didn't say anything about your loser friends," as he side-stepped to grab Tucker's collar.

"With who? Why?" Danny asked as the shock wore off, but Dash was already dragging Tucker away, to Sam's protests. Why would someone do something like that for him now? Why would Dash go with it?

Oh. Danny swallowed, mixed emotions settling in his chest. Maybe more people knew about the lab accident than he thought. This very well could've been not just an act of kindness, but an act of pity. He didn't like that.

He opened his bedroom door with a sigh, ready to dig out the ghost weapons from under his bed and work on possibly getting them to function. He frowned when there was a box waiting on his desk. "I'd rather not have another surprise today," he groaned as he walked over. His interest was piqued by the note laying on top:

"For your ghost troubles. -V"

He cautiously opened the box, eyes widening at the goodies inside. "Maybe this is a good surprise," he corrected himself with a growing grin as he pulled out ghost-hunting equipment--new, clean, intact equipment, all painted black and icy blue.

"Look out, ghost girl." He playfully pointed one of the guns at the window. "You're gonna be sorry you ever messed with the Fentons."