#Phic Phight 2022

[sailor-toni]

I Think My Neighbor’s Dead Son is Trying to Talk to Me?

You can also read this on A03, FF.net, or Wattpad

Summary:

Wes Weston has just moved into Amity Park but there is something seriously wrong with the destroyed house next door to him. Espically at night when the wind passed through the rusted Fenton Works sign. (AU Full Ghost Danny) (Phicc Phight prompt fill for kalyke/aggressivelyclueless)

The cold summer’s air blasted itself at the nape of his neck, chilling him to the bone. It was a threat, or a command from above to stop, but Wes saw something in the old Fenton Works, and he had to know whose eyes he saw in the brief flashes of lighting.

It started last week, his father had gotten a news anchor job in a medium size city called Amity Park, which according to the aged and weathered sign, was a great place to live. Was it really that great if they had to both underline and italicize the word? To Wes the strangeness of the sign was a single for the dull dread that was to come from life in Amity Park. 

It rained almost everyday in Amity Park, and when the sun decided to show itself the harsh winds kept everyone in jackets well past winter. The buildings were a mash up of white colonial paint with tall white columns, pointed Victorian roofs, and décor that looked like it belonged in the height of the eighties. All together it created a visual disaster of a town that seemed both lost in time and missing whatever soul it had once had. In short, Wes hated it here. He wanted to go back to Oklahoma where the sunset wasn’t obstructed by something every day, and back to where his friends were. 

Worst of all was the house next to them. It was a three story townhouse with a second metal house (It was a large metal circular structure with satellite dishes and antennas on top,  and random metal poles connecting it to the house below) on top, and a dead neon sign on the side that read Fenton Works. The whole building was abandoned and dilapidated with half the windows broken and the other half bored up. 

And Wes didn’t believe in ghost, he thought the idea was stupid. The dead can’t come back and anyone who told you otherwise was trying to sell you something. But one day at school he heard some of the other students talking. 

“So, Kwan are you in?” Dash, school bully, high school football star, and future used car salesman said.

“No way dude! I’m not about to spend my free night looking for Fenton’s Ghost,” Kwan, the only one on the football team who  had enough smarts go to college, said. 

“Aw, are you scared? Is the Kwan-ster scared of an old house?” 

“I’m not scared. We just don’t know what those people were doing there. What if they left a science experiment out and it gives us all cancer?” 

“You’re being ridiculous man, they probably took everything when they left.”

“You never know dude. I mean… their own son died because of what they were hiding in the basement. They probably didn’t want to carry that reminder with them when they left.”

“But doesn't that make you more curious to check it out? My Mom’s co-worker’s second cousin’s boyfriend said she saw strange lights in the house last halloween. Maybe the Fenton kid is still there as a ghost!” 

“Well, you and the girls can go deal with that. I will be home with fresh food, a warm blanket, and the new COD game.” 

  Wes tuned the rest of their conversation out. Instead writing down what he had hearn in his notebook. He didn’t know someone had died there. He assumed it was some business that lost all their money or something. But that would explain why every night as he looked out his window he swore he felt someone staring back. 

That night as the rainstorm turned nightmarish, he pushed his chair to the window in his room overlooking the old Fenton Works. If someone lived there he could have seen right into their bedroom. What kind of person lived there? He thought. Were they cool? Did they also like video editing and video games? Or were they like Dash and took sick pleasure in shoving peoples heads into the mystery meat specials. Wes was sure he could still smell it. 

BOOM! Lighting passed between the houses, staining everything a blinding white. He ducked his head and shielded his eyes, but in the bright light there was someone across the alleyway, with neon green eyes watching him. No, observing him. No, they looked like they were trying to say something. 

“Who…” The question sat on the tip of his tongue as the eyes faded into the clap of thunder. 

A week later, Wes stood outside the Fenton Works on a gray cloudy evening, Dash and Kwan standing beside him. The muted tones of the sky turned the world around them into shades of muted gray and blues, except the sign on the front door. The orange No Trespassing sign stood out like a neon flame. 

“Are you sure they are coming?” Kwan said. He looked nervous. 

“Yes! Paulina and Star just passed the Nasty Burger, they should be here soon,” Dash said. “Hey Kid.” 

“It’s Wes.” 

“Yeah, whatever, are you sure you saw something here?” 

“Yes, it was as clear as day, there was someone watching me with these neon green flashlight eyes,” Wes began. 

“Well you better be right. If we don’t see anything I’ll pummel your ass to timbuktu and back. Got it?” 

“Got it,” Wes said. He had only mentioned it to them because he didn’t want to go alone. 

“Hey guys!” Paulina yelled. Her and Star ran up to meet them with a bag of goodies. 

“What do you got babe?” Kwan said. 

“My Mom used to go ghost hunting all the time with friends back in New York, so she let me borrow some of her stuff. We have an EVP, flashlights, motion dictators, and this radio the ghost can speak through,” Star said. 

“A ghost is going to talk to us through that little thing?” Dask asked.

“Well, kind of, the ghost will flip through the radio stations and use whatever words are being broadcasted to speak to us. According to my Mom it can be a bit buggy at times.” 

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Wes said. 

“Thanks dude! I think it's amazing. I didn’t know she had all this stuff,” Star said. 

“And what did you bring Paulina?” Kwan asked. 

“My Mom made me bring a cross, a bottle of holy water, and a knife, just in case. God, she is so annoying,” Paulina pulled out a nine inch hunting knife as she said this. 

“Holy Shit! Paulina’s packing!”

“Don’t shout it Kwan! Do you want to get the cops called on us?” Paulina shoved the knife back into her low rise jeans. 

“Sorry.” 

“On that note let’s get in there, Wes you go first,” Dash said. 

“Me? Why me?”

“Cuz’, you saw the ghost first, now go before it tries to rain on us.” Dash pushed Wes forward. 

The inside of the Fenton works was worse than the outside. A pipe had burst some time ago and the carpet smelled of sour mold. There were some lights from the windows but the rest of the home was dark. Their shoes squished on the carpet, and the standing water threatened to fill their shoes. Through the groans of disgust and fake puking the teenager found their way to the staircase. The downstairs had nothing in it besides a broken stove and a fridge that had been locked shut. Dash and Kwan tried to pull on it but the lock hadn’t rusted through yet. 

The upstairs was picked clean as well. The fading sunlight showed spots on the wallpaper where pictures once hung proudly on display, but now there were brightly colored spots along the fading wall. Dash kicked open a door that was stuck and yelled for the rest. This room had everything, a bed, computer, desk, faded space posters, and action figures along the wall. 

“Woah! Do you think this is his room?” Paulina asked. 

“Whose room?” Star said. 

“The Fenton’s son, I think his name was Danny? According to the news he was messing around in his parents lab and suffered a fatal accident,” Kwan said. 

“And his parents left everything behind?” Wes said. He noticed a large window that looked directly into the building next door. 

“Maybe it was too hard. I hear some parents won’t touch anything that belonged to their kids after they pass,” Paulina brushed the dust off the computer monitor. 

“That is… understandable, but they didn’t even take his clothes with them. Apparently the kid wore briefs,” Dash was rummaging through the drawers. 

“That’s fucked up, Danny didn’t deserve this,” Kwan said. 

“Did you know him?” Wes said. 

“Yeah, we were in the third grade together. I wasn’t really friends with him, he was friends with Tucker, the nerd kid. But he was nice. I remember he did his whole show and tell about space and what it took to become an astronaut,” Kwan said. “We didn’t share a fourth grade teacher, but the school had an assembly when he died.”

“That’s rough buddy,” Dash patted his friend on the back. 

“It’s okay. I didn’t really know him too well, but I felt bad for his sister. She was in sixth grade and during the assembly all she did was cry.” 

“I would too. That’s a lot for a kid to go through,” Star said. “But maybe you can talk to Danny one more time with the radio.” The radio turned on with a loud static noise, with garbled speech mixed in as the dial moved back and forth. “DANNY IF YOU ARE HERE PLEASE LET US KNOW!” 

“Do you have to yell?” Paulina said. Wes could only hear her because he was standing next to her. 

“WHAT DID YOU SAY PAULINA?” 

“NOTHING!”

“OKAY!” 

“DANNY IF YOU ARE STILL HERE, MAKE THE RADIO SAY YES!” Star yelled. 

The radio flickered between a few channels “...zzzz…Now…Yes sir!...Home…” 

“KWAN DID YOU HEAR THAT! DANNY IS HERE!” 

“STAR THE RADIO IS TOO LOUD!”” Kwan yelled 

“WHAT!” 

“OH MY FUCKING GOD STAR!” Kwan grabbed the radio and turned down the volume. “Does it have to be that loud?” 

“Yes, we have to make sure the ghost can hear it.” 

“Star the ghost is dead, not deaf,” Dash said. “Here Wes grab the radio and let’s do it again.” 

“Why me?”

“Because you saw the ghost, maybe it left some ghost trace on you that will make the radio work better.” 

“I don’t think that’s how it works but whatever,” Wes took the radio from Kwan. “Hey Danny, are you here?” 

The radio flickered, “zzz…YES sir you are getting …. Yes … hello…zzz” 

“Omg did you hear it! He said yes! Quick, someone ask him another question!” Star began to jump with joy. 

“Danny, how old are you?” Paulina asked. 

“zzz…Now for the low price of nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine…zzz”

“Danny, how did you die?” Dash asked. 

“zzz… Supernatural … GHOST! … Home … Man … zzz” 

“What does that mean?” Dash said. 

“I don’t know. Danny, can you try again, we don’t understand?” Paulina said. 

“Zzz… Ghostly ghouls .. you are now entering … ghost! … Twilight Zone …” 

“Did you guys understand that? Paulina said. 

“Nope.” 

“No.” 

“Something about ghosts?” 

“Nah. Try something else, like where did he die?” Wes said. 

“Danny, where did you die?” Paulina asked the box once more. 

“Zzz… deep down below … Dad’s workshop … she opened the basement door … AHHH! ..zzz” 

“It sounds like it was in the basement?’ Wes said. 

“I don’t wanna walk through that carpet again, it’s so gross.” Star said. 

“You don't have much of a choice Star,” Dash said. 

“Here Babe, I’ll carry you,” Kwan scooped her sup in his arms. 

“Awww! Thank you Babe!” 

Paulina looked to Dash. “What?” Dash said. 

“Nothing,” Paulina rolled her eyes. 

The basement smelled of rot and decay, and like Danny’s room it was filled with stuff. Parts of the room had a strange green glow to it. It wasn't bright enough to illuminate anything, but when Wes moved his flashlight he could see it was emitting some light. 

“Okay Danny, what happened here?” Wes asked. 

“Zzz.. Zone … just turn it on and … bright lights of the city … hole deep below…zzz”

“Did you turn one of your parents' experiments on?” Star asked, her arms wrapped around Kwan’s neck. 

“Zzz.. yes.. Pain.. lights … AHHH!...zzz” 

“Omg! Kwan did you hear that?” 

“Yeah, poor Danny.” 

“Danny, why haven’t you left yet?” Wes asked the box. 

“Zzz … Mommy … Daddy … Jazz ha- … alone … zzz” 

“Oh Danny,” Paulina sounded like she was about to start crying soon. 

“Danny, your parents left. Why don’t you follow them?” Wes asked. 

“Wes! You can’t just ask a ghost that?” Star said. 

“Why not?”

“Ghosts are stuck where they die, Danny can’t leave.” 

The radio box sprung to life once again, “zzz… no! … he’s stuck in quicksand … Mommy! …zzz”

“Well can we do anything?” Wes asked Star. 

“We can help him pass on, usually you just have to find out what killed them or tell a relative some dark secret or something. My Mom was telling me that ghosts only stay behind when they have unfinished business.” 

“Okay kid, what do you want?” Dash asked. 

“Zzz… Mommy and Daddy … Jazz hands … Okay! Okay! Okay! … Love you! … zzz” 

“Uhhh kid, we don't know where your parents are, can we do something else?” Dash said. 

“Dash! Don’t be so mean,” Paulina shouted. 

“What, it’s the truth, nobody knows where the Fentons moved to. Plus I heard that the Dad was thrown in prison for child endangerment anyways. We can’t bust him out of prison,” 

The radio box flew out of Wes’s hands, the volume rising as the box did. 

“zzz… Mommy! DADDY! MOMMY! DADDY! … zzz” Junk started flying around them, slamming against the walls and trying to slam against them. 

“Oh shit! Run!” Dash shoved Wes out of the way and b-lined it to the door. Paulina grabbed Wes and they followed Kwan up the stairs. The floor rocking as they ran through the water and mold. Wes slammed the door shut behind them and kept running with the others into the night. He looked behind once to see a pair of eyes watching them.

[kobol1]

😭💔

Phic Phight 2022: Tiptoe

This fic uses a combo of 2 prompts by @phan-pheeking-tastic and @catalystofthesoul

Characters: Danny, Jack, Maddie, Val WC: 4415 Summary: The reveal didn’t go like he thought it would.

[ao3] [ffn]

---

The reveal didn’t go like he thought it would.

It was a quiet affair, much quieter than Danny anticipated. His parents hadn’t yelled or screamed, they just stood there, guns poised to shoot him into oblivion, one smoking from use.

And there was Danny, on his hands and knees on the damp pavement, staring into their eyes through his black bangs.

He remembered how Maddie whispered, trying to insist that it wasn’t him, that it was Phantom tricking them both, but when Danny met his father’s gaze, he knew that it was all over. Jack Fenton was nothing if not a family man. And although oblivious to many things, Phantom wasn’t someone who could fool him so easily like this.

Danny remembered bowing his head, waiting for his father to take that final shot. Just waiting as ectoplasm dripped on the ground like a clock ticking away the time.

But that didn’t happen. They didn’t shoot.

They didn’t yell.

They didn’t scream.

They simply turned around and walked away.

And that hurt more than anything else.

Danny wasn’t sure if he could go home. He didn’t know if they would let him into their house, if he expected them to say, “Well, the jig is up! Back to the Ghost Zone with you, spook!”

So he curled up in the alley for far too long, pressing himself against the wall and swallowing the lump in his throat until he couldn’t swallow it any longer.

Something, sometime later, snapped inside of him. His vision blurred, and he sobbed.

But like everything else that night, his sobs weren’t a loud affair either. They were quiet, muffled, in some desperate attempt to control the situation, his emotions, to not alert anyone, his parents.

Eventually, the tears dried—even though it felt like he still had more to give—and the raw emotions left him exhausted. He wanted to go home.

If he even still had a home.

He decided to risk it, and thankfully his parents hadn’t put up the ghost shield like he was afraid they would. Even so, he didn’t go through the front door. Instead, he phased through his window and flew to the bathroom.

The rest of the night was robotic. Mechanical. Wash the ectoplasm (now blood) off his body, brush his teeth, and drag himself into bed.

And that was the reveal. There was no spectacle, no heartwarming embrace, no I still love you’s and promises that everything would be okay.

Just silence. Whispers. And rejection.

Jazz found out the next morning. Jack and Maddie told her what happened, that Danny was Phantom, and she just said that she knew. She’d known for months.

And that was when the yelling started.

“What do you mean you knew?” Maddie said, her voice tightened in a dangerous warning.

Jazz, however, wasn’t intimidated by this. “I mean I knew. I knew he was Phantom.”

“And you didn’t think to—to tell us?”

“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“Wasn’t your—” Danny heard her slam her silverware on the table. “Jasmine Arabelle Fenton, how could you be so irresponsible? Danny is a ghost! Our son is a ghost and you didn’t think it was important to tell us? Are you serious?”

“He’s a half-ghost.”

“Doesn’t matter! He’s still inhuman!”

Chairs squeaked, and something was knocked over.

Then Jazz’s voice started to raise. “How dare you try to blame anything on me! You wanna know why Danny didn’t tell you? Why I didn’t tell you? It’s because of you both! You openly hate ghosts, you talk about your experiments and the shit you’d like to pull on Phantom all the time! Don’t you get how scared—”

“That’s why you should have told us!” Maddie hollered back.

“Oh, so it’s fine to have hated ghosts all these years, but now that Danny is one, you realize it was hurtful? Real fucking—”

“Enough, Jazz!” Jack roared.

“You both are completely blind! So blind to everything this whole time! And maybe you would have known what was going on with Danny if you’d just opened your eyes a little!”

“How were we supposed to know, huh?” Maddie yelled. “What the hell were we supposed to think, that our fourteen-year-old human son was a—was a ghost? That he died and we didn’t even notice?”

Jazz exploded. “YOU DIDN’T NOTICE BECAUSE YOU NEVER PAY ATTENTION! You’ve never noticed a goddamn thing, and whose fault is that?”

“Jazz!”

“No! I won’t sit here and listen to you two try to put yourselves as the victims here!”

There was stomping, footsteps. Danny hovered invisibly in the hallway upstairs, itching to get closer, but also not wanting to alert anyone that he was listening.

“I’m done! I’ve fucking had it!” Jazz’s voice cracked.

“Get back here!” Maddie yelled.

But Jazz had already turned the corner and was flying up the stairs. Danny had just enough time to press himself into the wall as he watched Jazz run by, her face red and streaked with tears.

Danny wasn’t hungry after that.

He left.

He didn’t have a plan in mind. The clouds rolled in overhead, signaling a storm on the way, but that didn’t phase him. It wasn’t like ghosts could get cold anyway.

People recognized him on the street. Children cheered, waving to him as he flew by. Teenagers pulled out their phones to try to get that viral TikTok moment, and adults simply gawked at him, some with fear and others with excitement.

Danny didn’t acknowledge anyone today. He normally would, but then that would mean he’d have to smile at them, and…no, he couldn’t manage that.

He went from building to building, laying atop the cement roofs and staring up at the graying sky, occasionally switching locations when he got bored. The time ticked by, not that Danny was aware of it, until a chill bit his skin and a raindrop splashed on his face.

Danny jolted upright, shocked out of his stupor, to find that the sun had apparently set long ago. He pulled out his phone, but there were no missed calls or texts from his parents.

His heart plummeted, and he put his phone away.

That was fine, he was fine.

A few more raindrops fell onto his skin, and the smell of the air changed to one of cool pavement. He hung his head down, feeling as the rapidly increasing raindrops started sticking his hair to his forehead, but he didn’t move.

What was the point?

It was dark, it was stormy, and there was nowhere else to go.

“Hey!” A voice called out.

Danny flinched, wondering who in their right mind would be crazy enough to come out on a day like tonight, but there was no one else on the roof.

“Phantom!” the voice tried again, and this time Danny was paying attention enough to look up rather than down, and he was met with the descending form of the Red Huntress, who had her blaster pointed at him and cackling with charged electricity.

He wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Of all the nights for her to come looking for a fight.

“Leave me alone, Red.” Danny flopped back onto the ground, spreading his arms out wide. More rain hit his skin, but he didn’t blink.

Red hovered above him, likely contemplating whether to kill him right here or capture him and kill him later. Whatever her decision was, Danny didn’t care.

And then she did something that Danny would never have predicted in a million years: she put her blaster away.

Danny would have made a snarky remark about her going soft, but he wasn’t about to push his luck with this.

Fortunately for him, Valerie apparently had no such reservations. “Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Phantom didn’t respond.

She lowered herself till she was within jumping distance from the ground. On her mental command, her hoverboard folded into her shoes, and she splashed on the roof next to him, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at him.

Even with her helmet blocking her face from view, Danny was positive she was glaring.

“Why the fuck are you out here? It’s raining.”

“I could ask the same about you,” Danny shot back, though his voice had no bite.

Valerie’s had plenty. “Well I’m out here because I got home from work to find you’re dumbass ectosignature was pinging me from my roof. What’s the deal, Phantom?”

Danny blinked, sitting upright. Sure enough, he recognized this part of town. “Sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“Well, congrats.” She crossed her arms. “What’s gotten into you anyway?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. I’ve never seen you look so depressed before. I didn’t even know you could get depressed.”

Danny shrugged. “Happy to prove you wrong then.”

She shivered. “If you’re gonna be difficult, can we at least do it inside? It’s fucking freezing out here.”

“Uh…” Danny felt his face morph into the most incredulous look he could muster. “I’m a ghost?”

“And what? Ghosts can’t go inside all of the sudden? What are you, a fucking vampire?”

“No, I—I just…you really want me to go in your room?”

Valerie threw her hands up. “Phantom, it’s fucking cold! Come on before I change my mind.”

“Okay,” Danny said dumbly, following her lead into the roof staircase. As soon as they stepped inside the narrow stairs, she deactivated her suit, and Valerie came into view, still wearing her Nasty Burger shirt.

“Your dad won’t be mad that you’re bringing a ghost into your apartment?”

“My dad’s at work.” Valerie shivered and then turned to glare at him. “You’re fucking cold, you know that?”

“So I’ve heard.”

Danny followed Valerie to her apartment, phasing the water off his body before he stepped inside. Her apartment was cozy. It was small, but with remnants of her past upper-class life scattered throughout. The couch looked too upscale and comfy to have been purchased recently, and some of the vases and decorations that were mounted around the room were almost certainly keepsakes from before.

A pang of guilt hit Phantom. It hadn’t been his dog, sure, but keeping Amity Park residents safe was his responsibility.

Valerie didn’t seem to notice his distress, fluttering about the kitchen putting a pot of coffee on and breaking out sandwich bread and peanut butter. “I’m fucking starving,” was her only explanation.

At that, Danny’s stomach growled. He didn’t remember eating anything today.

Valerie looked at him like he had two heads. “You eat?”

“Uh…surprise?”

Groaning, she pulled out two more slices of bread. “Hope you like peanut butter and jelly, because that’s what Chef Valerie is bringing to the kitchen.”

Danny felt his lips twitch up. “Gordon Ramsay could never.”

“Damn straight.”

Gaining a bit more confidence, Danny stepped forward into the kitchen and collapsed onto one of her counter stools. He propped up his head onto his hand and stared at the black and gray subtle swirls on the island countertop.

“So…” Valerie rocked back onto her heels. “Why were you on my roof?”

“Huh? Oh…I don't know.” Danny glanced away from her. “I uh, can’t go home. I guess.”

“Why not? It’s your lair, isn’t it?”

Danny jerked up, surprised, to see Valerie’s pointed look. “My what?”

She waved him off. “Your home, it’s just your lair, right? All the ghosts live in lairs in the Ghost Zone. You were the one who told me that.”

“Oh…I actually don’t have one.”

“You don’t?”

“Or, maybe I do. I don’t know, I’ve never checked. I don’t really know how it all works.”

“How do you not know if you have a lair? Don’t they just, I don’t know, manifest when you die or something?”

Danny tapped his chin in thought. “I guess, probably. But when I go to the Zone, I usually just stay with Frostbite.” At her lost look, he quickly added, “It’s, ah, an island in the Far Frozen. It’s pretty much floating Antarctica.”

She shivered. “That sounds horrible. And you go there? Well, remember to never invite me to your lair whenever you find it.”

Danny gave her a weak thumbs-up.

“So…” She poured the coffee, trying—and failing—to not look too curious. “If you can’t go home, and home isn’t your lair, then you can’t go to the Far Frozen?”

If Danny was more responsible, he would have just lied. In fact, he should have just lied and said yes, he got in a fight with Frostbite, he just needed space.

But, in fact, Danny wasn’t that responsible. He also was far past the point of caring. If his parents already knew his secret and had all but rejected him, then there was nothing Valerie could do or say now that could possibly make him feel worse.

“My family on Earth. They found out I was their son.”

Valerie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she lowered her cup of coffee from her lips. She stared at him, processing his words until she finally managed to emit a simple, “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Like, your family family? Your parents from when you were human?”

“Yeah.” Despite his previous good humor, he heard his voice crack. He ducked in embarrassment and tried to swallow the new lump in his throat.

“Fucking hell, man.”

Danny blinked rapidly, sucking back the tears that threatened to spill. No way in hell was he going to cry to Valerie.

“I’m guessing they didn’t take it well?”

“Not at all.”

Valerie wordlessly offered him a cup of coffee with his sandwich, which he was almost relieved to take.

“What’d they say?” she asked.

“That’s the thing, they didn’t really say anything at all. They just left.”

“You think they thought you were lying or something?”

“No. No, they knew. There was no way I could have lied.” Danny replayed the events in his head, his mind pausing at the image of Jack’s face as soon as it hit him what Danny truly was. “They knew, and they left. We were outside, and they just…went home. Left me there. I don’t know.”

“Ouch. That’s cold.”

Danny nodded, sipping his coffee. It burned his tongue, but he didn't care.

And besides, he was a ghost. His tongue would be healed in an hour.

Valerie bit into her sandwich. “I’m sure they just need time or whatever. I doubt they expected that their son would have turned into Phantom.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I mean, what are the chances, right? Of all the things I could have become, I became the ghost protector of Amity Park.” He grinned bitterly. “It’s the worst thing they could have imagined me doing. They hate ghosts, they always have. Now not only am I a ghost, but I’m the one that hangs around Amity Park that they see every day. I should have known. I did know. I just never expected them to…I don’t know, I would have thought they’d at least say something. I just didn’t expect them to walk away.”

“It sounds like they’re just shocked. Give them time, they’ll come around.”

And so he did.

Days passed, and Danny gave them space, he gave them time. He only spoke unless spoken to, he didn’t make unnecessary noise in the house, he didn’t annoy them, he didn’t really talk to them at all. He showed up for family meals when Jack requested them on Sundays and otherwise, he kept to himself.

He was a model son.

And days passed, which turned into weeks. Danny kept waiting for them to stop him as he was leaving the kitchen at night, to ask him to sit down, to talk to him, to bring up Phantom, to tell him that either they loved him or they needed him out by midnight. He kept waiting, kept waiting, kept waiting.

But they didn’t say anything.

They hardly looked at him, and when they did, it was awkward. Like they had forgotten that this was the same kid they’d spent the last fourteen years raising.

More than a few times, when Danny left the room, he could hear his mother crying.

As time passed, his disgust in himself only grew. His parents had spent their entire careers developing the information and technology to hunt and dismantle ghosts, and now he dared to become the ghost that they hated the most? And live with them? Force them to look at him?

He was terrible.

Phantom was supposed to make people happy. He was supposed to make people feel safe and secure. He was supposed to protect people.

And yet here he was making his mother cry by just existing.

The weeks continued until a month came to pass. A month of awkward stares, tension, whispers. A month of Danny hiding, of him staying out late—far past curfew—and his parents not saying a word. A month of them treating him like…

Like a ghost haunting their home.

Sunday sit-down dinner came again, and like the past four Sunday dinners, Danny found his eyes glued to his plate, quietly eating. The tension was palpable, and none of Jazz’s frail attempts at initiating conversation could crack the feet of ice they’d encased themselves in.

Finally, the dinner ended, and the Fenton family quietly settled into their roles. Danny was scraping food into the trash cans when Jazz threw the sponge in the sink, flipping off the faucet.

“Okay, everyone!” She announced, turning to face the family.

Danny blinked up at her.

“Everyone into the living room! I’m calling a family meeting!”

Maddie looked at Danny uncomfortably. “But Jazz, we need to clean up from dinner first.”

Danny looked away, his stomach suddenly hollow despite having just eaten.

“I don’t care, I’ll clean them later. Let’s go, we need to talk.”

And with that, Jazz grabbed Danny’s arm—who did not yelp, thank you very much—and all but dragged him into the living room with their parents in tow.

“Jazzercincess, what’s this about?” Jack asked, settling onto the couch. “Is everything alright?”

“No, everything is definitely not alright.”

Maddie looked away guiltily.

“Ever since you guys found out about Danny, this house has been completely unbearable. Watching the three of you try to interact at all is painful. I’m sorry for butting in, but I refuse to live in a house where nobody can stand to be in a room together.”

“Jazz honey, that’s not true. We love both of you very much.”

“Oh? Then why have you both decided to stop acting like Danny was a member of this family too?”

Danny felt his face heat up. “Jazz, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine, I don’t care.”

“Bullshit, Danny!” Jazz smacked his arm, turning back to their parents. “I know Danny is Phantom. Sorry, but that’s the truth! You can’t just hide away and pretend like that night never happened!”

“We’re not pretending like it never happened,” Maddie said sharply. “It was just very shocking to us both and your father and I need time to process it is all.”

“It’s been a month. If you haven’t processed it on your own by now, then this intervention is definitely needed.”

“Jazz, honey—”

But Danny had heard enough. He phased away from Jazz and stood. “Listen, I’m sorry, okay? I know neither of you wanted me to end up like this. I’m sorry for being a disappointment, I’m sorry. I never wanted to be Phantom, it just happened. I get it, it’s fine, I’ll just go.”

“Danny!” Jazz sprang up.

But he was done. “No, really, it’s fine.”

“Son, wait.” Jack’s voice was pained. “Wait, I’m sorry, sit down.”

“No, it’s—” Danny blinked, and he felt a tear spill over his eyelid. He ducked his head down, trying to hide behind his bangs. “It’s fine.”

“No, honey—”

But Danny was already gone. Transformed and out the door before they could finish their thought.

It was fine, it was fine. He didn’t care that his parents were still processing, he didn’t care that his parents couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him for a simple conversation, he didn’t care.

Tears blurred his vision, and he could have turned intangible to avoid the tree branch that hit his shoulder, knocking him onto the dirt, but he didn’t.

He wheezed, feeling the grass tickle his cheek.

He was fine.

The stars were out tonight, and Danny couldn’t think of a reason to move. He traced them with his eyes, naming each of them as he went. He found Saturn, bright against the sky, and even saw a satellite trail by.

He was fine.

The Earth turned as the hours passed, and with it, new stars appeared, new constellations, new things to look at.

He was fine.

He wasn’t sure how long he was laying down in the field. He didn’t know how much time had passed. He wasn’t aware that the grass had grown damp in the chilled night and that dew was soaking his jumpsuit.

He was a ghost, and ghosts didn’t feel cold. He didn’t need to go home, he could just be outside. Right here.

Eventually, he heard footsteps, but he didn’t bother to move. Whoever it was would likely just snap a photo of him and leave.

“Clear night, huh?”

Danny sat up, twisting around to see his dad’s giant figure hovering beside him.

He swallowed thickly and nodded, turning his attention back to the stars. He was in Phantom form, and his dad hated Phantom. He would probably just tell him off for missing curfew and then would leave.

After all, Jack Fenton would sooner be caught dead than interacting with Phantom casually.

“I remember when your mother and I took you to Cape Canaveral. You remember that? We went to the space center?”

Danny nodded, the fuzzy memory coming to surface. He had been young at the time, but he remembered the big rockets, seeing the prototypes and pieces from the Apollo missions. It was an older memory, from back when they were still a happy family.

Back before Danny ruined it.

“One of the nights we drove out from our hotel and took you guys to see a rocket launch. You remember that? You were so tired, I think Jazz fell asleep at some point, but you were so excited. I’ll never forget that.”

Danny chewed on his lip. He remembered that too. “The sky turned orange.”

“Yeah!” Jack’s voice brightened. He sat down beside Danny. “We were a couple miles away too, but you could still hear it like it was right in front of you. You remember that?”

“I do.”

“That was such a fun trip. I loved spending time with you and Jazz.”

Not like now, Danny wanted to say. You can’t enjoy spending time with me anymore because I’m a ghost, right?

Jack sighed. “Danny, I know I haven’t been the best father lately. And I’m sorry. I…no, there’s no excuse. I should never have left you alone that night. We shouldn’t have walked away.’

Danny ducked his head.

“I’ve replayed that night over and over so many times. Every time, I see myself walk away from you. And every time, I wish I could take it back. I wish I could have had the courage to turn around.”

“It’s fine,” Danny said, his voice tight. “I get it. I’m fine.”

“It’s not fine. It’s never okay for a parent to do that to their child.”

“No, it’s—it’s—” Danny wiped at his eyes. “I’m half-ghost, so I know that…that you never wanted this. I know that.”

Jack was silent for a moment. “Danny, I was never upset at you for being half-ghost. I was upset at myself for ever letting you get hurt. When I saw you…well, all that I could think of was that a parent is supposed to protect their kid. And there I was with a gun that I’d just tried to kill you with. It was never about me being disappointed in you.”

“Oh.” Danny sniffed, his walls starting to crumble. “Then why have you—you and Mom been like this? Why have you guys been acting like I’m…I don’t know, like I’m the boogeyman or something?”

Jack wrapped his massive arm around him, pulling Danny in close to his side. “Son, I’m sorry. We were scared for you and we're both so mad at ourselves for letting you ever get hurt, for making you feel unsafe in your own home. We never ever wanted either you or your sister to feel like you couldn’t come to us about anything. And we’ve been so preoccupied with this, that we forgot about what really matters right now: that we’re a family, and families need to be there for each other.”

He squeezed Danny’s arm. His cold, Phantom arm. “You’re our son, Danno. Nothing will ever change that.”

Danny felt his shoulders shake as a sob wracked through his body. And just like that, a month's worth of confusion and pain were free.

He curled in on Jack’s side, gripping his jacket in his fingers just like he used to do when he was a kid. Tears poured out of his eyes in a stream, soaking into his father’s clothing. He gasped for air, and more sobs poured through.

“It’s okay. Let it all out.” His father rubbed his arm gently. “I’m so sorry.”

“I thought—” Danny choked out. “I thought you—you guys hated me.”

“No, we could never hate you. We love you, both of you. We were just scared, and we should never have let that change the way we acted around you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

At that, another wave of sobs took over Danny. All this time he thought that his parents were disgusted by him, that they couldn’t bear to see his face any longer, and yet that wasn’t true.

He was wrong.

He cried until the tears finally dried and his shoulders stopped shaking. He cried until exhaustion seeped into his brain and involuntarily triggered his transformation back into human form. He cried until every last morsel of anger and pain was expelled from his body.

And then he leaned into Jack’s body, slumped in fatigue, as they both looked up at the clear night sky.

“It’s a beautiful night.”

Danny nodded, his eyes half-lidded as he fought away sleep.

His father nudged him. “Let’s go home, Danno.”

Danny nodded.

Home sounded wonderful.

---

Cat's Prompt: It's dark, it's stormy, there's nowhere else to go.

Pheeking's Prompt: It's been a month since Maddie and Jack saw Danny transform, but they haven't had the nerve to talk about it yet. Danny's avoiding them as much as possible. Jazz is not having it and stages an intervention.

Thanks for reading!!

[phicphight]

Phic Phight of Past Years

Evey year we hold Phic Phight, and each year hundreds of prompts are submitted. It is rare for every prompt to be filled. And there are many who wish to write a fic for a prompt, but they missed the sign ups. It is sad to see these ideas fall to the wayside, therefore we are now posting links to previous years prompt list and we welcome anyone to fill any prompts from there. This years prompts won't be posted until May 2nd.

If you fill a prompt from a pevious year, it will not count for the current years score, but you can tag it as #phic phight and tag the person who submitted the prompt. 2021 Prompts 2022 Prompts 2023 Prompts 2024 Prompts

[darthfrodophantom]

Micro-Unmasking - Chapter 2

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to continue my one-shot from 2022, but I was inspired by a prompt to give it a go! So now you'll be getting a chapter 2 and a chapter 3!

Summary: Great timing prevented Danny’s secret from being revealed to Dash during their shared experience with the Fenton Crammer. But what would happen if his timing had been just a little off and Dash saw more than Danny wanted?

Phic Phight Prompts: Thanks to seeing how various injuries are treated as a member of the football team, Dash actually has a decent background in first aid and anatomy. He gets adopted into Team Phantom when circumstances keep leading him to be the one patching up Phantom after fights - for Ikiracake

Write one of YOUR ideas that you haven't written for whatever reason. Have you been too intimidated to write it? Are you afraid people won't like it? This Phic Phight season, none of that matters. Whatever it is, put your feelings aside and give it a try, even if it's just one scene! - for @astatia-ghast

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38159509/chapters/140482114#workskin

Chapter 1 on AO3, Chapter 1 on tumblr

Chapter 2: Vexing Texting

The insistent buzz of his phone woke him up before his alarm. Danny groggily reached for the phone and managed to actually grab it after a couple failed attempts. No one ever texted him before his alarm, so it had to be important. With bleary eyes he attempted to read the new message on his phone. 

“Do you have to sleep?”

Danny groaned and threw his phone onto the mattress. It bounced off the padding and onto the floor. Danny groaned again in misery as he threw his arm over his eyes. He would regret that action later when the alarm went off and he’d have to actually get up to find his phone, but in that moment the urge to throw it in frustration felt too satisfying to deny.

~

Thirty minutes later, Danny stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom brushing his teeth. The mad scramble for his phone that somehow bounced under his bed left him cranky and even more tired and he felt a wash of pity for the exhausted face that stared at him in the mirror. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he reached for it instinctively to check the alert. He expected to see some morning alert for a new daily post from social media, maybe the long-expected update from Doomed teasing their newest expansion. 

“Why the rings of light?”

Danny groaned so hard he sprayed flecks of toothpaste onto the mirror. He rolled his eyes and dropped his shoulders in defeat. He looked at the sleeve of his pajamas, shrugged, and leaned over to wipe up the toothpaste with his shirt sleeve. Better a dirty shirt sleeve than a lecture from his sister.

He spat out his toothpaste and typed a terse, quick response before angrily thrusting his phone into his pocket. He’d already suffered through two whole days of this; he didn’t know how much more he could handle.

~

Danny jerked awake as his phone rattled and vibrated aggressively on the laminate table. His face had been inches from his cereal bowl and he almost got a bowl full of cereal to the face. Jazz snickered into her coffee mug from her seat across the table.

“How long have you been sitting there?” He really couldn’t remember if she’d been sitting there when he came down or not.

“Long enough to watch you fall asleep at the table.”

“And you were just going to what? Keep watching as I face-planted into a bowl of cereal?” he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I figured you’d wake yourself up before it got to that point,” she chuckled as she stood up to place her empty coffee mug in the sink. “You have five minutes.”

Danny rolled his eyes and picked up the spoon that fell out of his hand when he jerked awake. He shoveled cereal in his face, which really was the only way he ate cereal anymore. He remembered his phone vibrated and he knew with a sinking moment what he would find even before he turned the phone over.

“Does music sound different as a ghost?”

He dropped his spoon into his bowl and slumped against the chair with a beleaguered sigh. Yes, the text had saved him from getting a milk facial. And this time it was actually an interesting question. But he still couldn’t believe he was still having to put up with this.

“You know you can just block him,” Jazz mentioned as she grabbed his cereal bowl and rinsed out the remaining milk in the sink.

“And you know why I can’t,” Danny retorted as he typed out a short but satisfying answer. He’d become quite the expert at answering the question in as few words as possible. Really it was a shame, because this question did actually make him think, but he refused to give him the reward of a lengthy answer.

~

Danny grabbed his books from the locker. He actually smiled in pride that he could actually keep his locker in some semblance of organization now that he didn’t have to constantly ensure there was room inside his locker for his entire body. Getting a third day in a row without being shoved into his locker really was a sweet benefit from this whole situation. Too bad it came with so much mental anguish.

The feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket wiped that proud smile off his face. He took one look at the phone and threw himself back against the locker as he looked towards the ceiling in the hope that the cosmos above could answer his unspoken questions. Why? Why him? Hadn’t he suffered enough through this whole ordeal? Why couldn’t he just stop?

“Dude, did he text you again?” Tucker asked.

Danny simply held his phone up to show his best friends the new message from Dash. “Why do you wear that jumpsuit?” he read aloud in case his friends couldn’t quite make out the words on the screen.

Tucker just shook his head. “That kid is insane. Obsessed. Nutso.”

“This is the fourth one this morning,” Danny moaned. “That weirdo even texted me before my alarm went off! Who even gets up that early? Crazy people, that’s who.”

Tucker sighed as he patted his friend’s shoulder in sympathy. “Man, I’m sorry.”

Upon finding no salvation or answers on the ceiling, Danny turned his attention toward the phone and typed out a response. “There, I told him I died in it. Let’s see if that shocks him into silence for a bit.”

Tucker stifled a laugh into his sleeve. “Have you told him any half-dead jokes yet?”

“Not yet, so I don’t think he’ll be expecting it.” His sister didn’t understand them, and sometimes Sam didn’t either, but it’s how he and Tucker coped. Sometimes it just felt easier to deal with the trauma of it all with laughter. And if he couldn’t joke about his death-that-didn’t-take, then the seriousness of the event gained a lot more power in Danny’s mind and he couldn’t quite handle that. Maybe when he was older he could find the emotional and mental maturity to seriously reflect on the consequences and meaning behind almost dying in the portal, but even a year out it still felt too close and too soon to the event.

“Why are you still even answering his texts?” Sam finally spoke up, and the sharpness in her voice reminded Danny that she hadn’t talked since he brought up the texts. He could almost feel the irritation simmering around her and he really hoped he’d be able to avoid it. “Why don’t you just stop?”

Danny sighed. Everyone seemed to think it would just be that easy to tune him out, but Danny knew better. He knew Dash better than most people gave him credit for. “Because right now it’s new and it’s all he’s thinking about. Dash doesn’t stay focused on something for long, so if I wait it out then it’ll be old news and he’ll move on.” Danny waved a hand to emphasize his point. “But if I ignore his texts, he’s only gonna focus on this even more. And then he’ll want to talk to me. Trust me, texting him is better than having him come over to talk to me.”

“So now you’re going to be all buddy-buddy with the bully who made your life hell?” Sam challenged as she placed her hands defiantly on her hips.

“The single sentence texts I send back are far from being ‘buddy-buddy,’” Danny retorted.

“You text him more than you text us!” Sam barbed.

He had the decency to look properly ashamed at that call out and he slumped against the locker. “I know. I know, and I’m sorry. But what else am I supposed to do?”

Both Sam and Tucker fell silent as they also seemed at a loss for a better handle on the situation. “I don’t know man,” Tucker finally said. “I’d probably do the same thing you’re doing.”

“I just don’t like that you feel like you have to do something you don’t want to do,” Sam sighed.

“Yeah, well when have I had any say about what I want to do since the accident?” Danny pointed out. If he had his say, he wouldn’t have to hide from his parents all the time or get injured night after night or skip class or get bad grades. He could actually get a good night’s sleep, study to be an astronaut, and maybe consider leaving Amity for school or a job in the future. What he wanted to do no longer held any meaning in his life ever since that first ghost stepped out of the portal.

The group fell silent again as the weight of that statement crashed around them. It hung heavy in the air. Sam and Tucker tried to share his burden as much as they could, and he appreciated that, but sometimes they forgot or couldn’t really understand the full impact of what being a ghostly superhero meant for the rest of his life. Danny, unfortunately, was far too aware of the consequences of that decision.

“Well now we all get to do something we don’t want to do and go to class,” Tucker pointed out as he pasted on a cheery smile. “Do we ever get to do anything we want to do as teenagers?” He elbowed Danny gently in the side, and that jab pulled Danny out of his thoughts. Trust Tucker to find some way to pull them out of the seriousness of the moment by normalizing his struggles. That heavy fog seemed to fade away in the wake of Tucker’s infectious smile, and Danny couldn’t help but smile back. 

“My parents didn’t buy the cereal I want again,” Danny complained.

“See! This is exactly what I’m talking about! No control, no choices, just a bunch of adults constantly telling us we can’t have what we want. Where’s the justice in that?” Tucker complained.

“Don’t even get me started on the dress my mom’s making me wear now to the synagogue,” Sam added. Whether she’d actually dropped the subject in her mind or not, that remained to be seen. Sam had a tendency to hold on to serious topics and ruminate on them over time. Danny could almost see those thoughts behind her deep purple eyes, but she also knew when to let it go and join in on Tucker’s attempts to lighten the mood.

They all complained about the normal, mundane things they had no control over in their lives until they made it to their first class. Danny almost forgot how they got on this subject until he saw Dash in the classroom. Dash quickly avoided his gaze and looked almost…sheepish? Talking about his death really did stun him into silence, or at least made him realize how personal these questions could be. He’d remember that for later.

~*~

Danny stuffed his newest homework assignment into his locker. He’d love to say he’d have the time to complete that, but he knew better than to hope. 

“Hey Fenton!” Dash called in his usual, threatening tone. Danny barely had enough time to spin around before Dash loomed over him. He planted one hand on the locker beside Danny’s head while his large body dwarfed Danny. He peeked around Dash and noticed the rest of the A-listers gave them a fair bit of distance as they chuckled to each other.

“Dash, what are you doing?” Danny asked with a groan when he realized they were out of earshot.

“Just wanted to say hi,” Dash said. His friendly tone contrasted sharply with his threatening pose.

“You were saying about how the texts would stop him from talking to you?” Sam pointed out from the side as she crossed her arms over her chest. Danny did not miss her triumphant smirk at being proved right.

Danny shook his head. “Dash, we talked about this.”

“No see, it’s cool,” Dash explained. “See my threatening pose? People are gonna think I’m doing my usual Fenton bashing. You wanted me to keep up appearances.”

“No, I wanted you to tell everyone that you had a change of heart after being fitness buddies and then we’d just ignore each other,” Danny reminded him.

“Well yeah, I know,” Dash said quietly, almost like he was hurt that Danny wanted to ignore him. “But then they all pointed out that I got a lower grade on the fitness exam because of you.”

Danny gritted his teeth. “I already explained why I had to do that. And I got us a passing grade.” He knew Dash was dense, but he’d already walked through this with him! Did he seriously not remember it? Or had he spent too much brain power texting him inane questions than to actually remember the plan?

“No no, I don’t care about that,” he dismissed. “I remember the plan. But everyone asked me if I was mad about it and if I was gonna do something about it. I couldn’t really think of a good excuse. So if anyone asks, I’m yelling at you for the grade.”

Danny immediately felt a pang of guilt over his harsh thoughts. Dash had been paying attention. He had been working hard to keep the secret, like he promised. He didn’t really know what to expect from the jock after threatening him on the rooftop, but so far Dash had kept up his end of the deal. When he made the ultimatum, he didn’t really think how hard it would be for Dash to keep the secret while changing his ways at the same time. This was his attempt to divert suspicion, and Danny was giving him a hard time for it. He had to remember to be better and a little more gracious going forward. Dash didn’t have to do this; he could blab the secret and only good things would happen to him. He had to be more appreciative of his attempts to keep this under wraps.

“I’ll make sure I complain about that later, just to keep up the act,” Danny promised, committing to his part to contribute to the charade.

Dash nodded. “But look, while I’m here–” 

Danny withheld a groan because here it came: more questions. More requests to engage. More talking about himself and his ghost powers than he felt like discussing with his school bully.

“--I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

That caught him by surprise, and Danny regarded him with a quizzical eye. “You do? For what? You have to be more specific given our record.”

Dash grimaced. “Well yeah. I mean obviously I’m sorry for all of that. But no, I’m sorry about the jumpsuit question. I didn’t mean to make you talk about the fact that you…you know…” He hunched over slightly like he was discussing a secret and mouthed the word ‘died.’

Danny looked taken aback and tilted his head slightly. “You’re sorry that you made me think about my death?” he repeated. He had to have heard Dash’s question wrong.

Dash winced like the word ‘death’ caused him physical harm. Danny felt another flash of guilt. Okay, maybe it was too soon for half-dead jokes with Dash too. “Dash, it’s fine,” he sighed. “I’m reminded of how I died constantly. You bringing it up doesn’t change that.”

Dash’s face creased in sympathy, and Danny felt discomfort squirm in his gut that he could earn a look of sympathy from Dash of all people. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but the sound of his friends behind him caught his attention. “Oh, right. Uh, I should probably go. Right.”

Without much warning Dash slammed his hand into the locker next to Danny’s head. The entire bank of lockers vibrated from the force of his fist. Danny jumped as the action took him completely by surprise. The moment had been so strangely heavy that he forgot they were supposed to be putting on an act. 

Dash walked back towards his friends with a swagger. They laughed once he rejoined them, and Danny could vaguely hear him boast. “Well, he won’t be getting me a C on an assignment any time soon!”

The three members of Team Phantom stood in silence as they watched Dash and the others saunter down the hall while their laughter echoed after them.

“That…was a very weird conversation,” Sam finally said. She kept her gaze down the long corridor at the A-listers’ retreating backs even when they were long out of view.

“Yeah, it was almost…normal,” Tucker added. “We don’t have normal conversations with the popular crowd. And we definitely don’t have normal conversations with Dash.”

Danny shrugged. “That’s how he was on the roof. Like a completely different person.”

“He didn’t insult you once,” Sam pointed out, as if that explained why the conversation felt so strange and off to the group. And maybe that was part of it, but there was something else that seemed off that Danny couldn’t quite place his finger on. 

Every time he talked to him, he seemed to learn more about the boy who’d bullied him for as long as he could remember. Seeing Dash care about his mental wellbeing? He didn’t quite know how to deal with that. For years, he only seemed to care about how he could add to Danny’s mental turmoil, but now he seemed so protective of it. It felt weird, seeing this different side of him. He always wondered how Dash could have so many friends and how people could actually want to hang out with him. Did they maybe see this other, more caring side of him too? Why did he all of a sudden get to see this side?

An irrational anger flared up inside of him. Why hadn’t he been able to see this side of Dash from the beginning? The side that actually seemed to care about how people felt or how they were doing with emotionally taxing information? Why wasn’t he able to see the side of Dash where he came up after a hard day and asked how he was doing? Instead he only saw the side that pushed him further into the dirt and then laughed at his misery. What had he done to deserve that part of Dash’s behavior? And why did revealing himself to be Phantom suddenly make that all go away?

The obvious answer was that he wanted to share the limelight with Phantom. Dash never made his adoration of Phantom a secret, and if he could get Danny on his good side then maybe he could be Phantom’s best friend. Surely he knew that wasn’t going to happen, right? He had been very clear about that on the rooftop. So then what caused the change in his behavior? Why did he suddenly seem to care so much about how Danny felt? It left him feeling unsettled and it stuck with him as he gathered his books and headed for their next class.

~*~

Danny startled in his chair as a puff of cold air escaped his lips. He hadn’t been sleeping, but he had been lost in his own thoughts to the point where he had barely heard anything the teacher talked about. And now he definitely wouldn’t get the chance to catch up on the day’s material. He turned towards Tucker and Sam who recognized that look and they nodded towards him. 

Tucker surreptitiously held up four fingers. Danny made a face and shook his head no. What was he thinking suggesting plan four? That only worked in English! 

Tucker furrowed his brow, but moved on and held up six fingers instead. Danny thought about it for a moment and then eagerly nodded his head. Tucker turned slightly in his chair so Sam could see the six fingers. She rolled her eyes and shook her head but mouthed the word ‘fine.’

Sam situated herself in her chair and raised her hand. “Ms. Murphy, I’m not…” She trailed off as her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell out of her desk. The whole class stood up to see what happened, Tucker and Danny included. 

“Oh my gosh Ms. Manson!” their teacher squeaked as she ran over clearly in a panic. “Someone get the nurse!”

“We’ve got her,” Tucker offered as he and Danny lifted her up and supported her weight between the two of them. “We can take her to the nurse.”

“Well go then!” Ms. Murphy berated them. They quickly made their way out of the room with Sam. As soon as they cleared the door they rushed off down the hall into the janitor’s closet. 

“Plan six? Really?” Sam snapped. “We had to go with plan six?”

“We’d never used it on her!” Tucker defended. “And hey, it worked didn’t it!”

“And my hip is going to be feeling that fall for a week!” Sam complained as she rubbed her hip bone with a wince.

Danny triggered the transformation into his ghost form. “Next time we’ll do plan seven then,” he promised. Tucker winced, but really it was only fair to make him take the fall next. “Now are you guys coming or staying?”

“We’re definitely coming,” Sam spoke up. 

He figured as much when they sacrificed so much to get out of class too. They grabbed onto him as he turned them all intangible and flew them out of the school towards the source of the ghost attack. 

He didn’t have to fly far; his ghost sense led him towards the street just outside the school. The giant ghost of a bear loped down the street as it aggressively chased after cars.

“Well that’s a new one,” Danny remarked as he set them down on the sidewalk. 

“I didn’t know bears hated cars so much,” Tucker commented.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Tucker, it probably got killed by a car.”

Tucker winced when he realized the sense in her macabre statement.

“Well, this just took a turn for the depressing,” Danny sighed. “Much as I’d like to let it get revenge on the thing that killed it, we can’t just have ghosts attacking cars. So here’s what we’re gonna do. Sam, you--”

“Wait!” a loud voice called from behind them.

Danny winced because he didn’t need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. He’d heard that voice yell out to him from afar for years. Even now that tone still caused his heart to jump in response. He slowly turned around in the air to face Dash who positively beamed that he caught them before their attack. “Dash, what are you doing here?” he asked with an exasperated sigh.

“I came to find you,” Dash stated.

Well, that was a given. He’d been hoping for at least a little more guidance on his true motives.

“Wait Dash, how did you even get out of class?” Tucker asked as he studied the jock with a suspicious eye.

Dash shrugged. “I’m the football quarterback - I can leave class whenever I want.”

“There’s something very unfair about that,” Tucker griped under his breath.

“Why did you come to find me?” Danny asked as he tried to get them back on topic.

“Oh, I want to help,” Dash offered. “With the ghost. Let me help.”

“No,” Tucker vehemently denied. 

“Hell no,” Sam added with all the spite she could possess.

“No way.”

“Absolutely not.”

“It’s not happening.”

“Never ever.”

Danny raised a hand to stop their increasingly emphatic denials; they made their point and he could see how each one tore further into Dash. Maybe Dash didn’t care how his words hurt others, but that didn’t mean he had to stoop to the same level. “Dash, I know you’re a fan. I know you want to help, but we’ve got this.” 

“I know you do. You’ve always got it. Phantom always figures it out in the end. But I really think I can help,” Dash offered again undeterred.

Danny sighed. “We talked about this Dash,” he tried to say in as delicate a way as possible, but he was losing his patience with the jock. “You bullied me for years. You’ve embarrassed me, hurt me, got me in trouble, and destroyed my school projects for years. You don’t get to just all of a sudden be here like none of that happened just because you know the secret.”

Dash recoiled like he’d been physically assaulted. He ran a hand along his arm as he folded in on himself and actually looked small for once. It was unnerving to see him with such little confidence. “Yeah...yeah I know that. But that’s why I want to help. I want to make up for it because…” Dash paused for a long, uncomfortable moment “...because I feel bad about it, okay?”

“You feel bad about it now, because you think Danny’s cool now,” Sam pointed out, voice full of venom. As much as Danny would have liked to take Dash’s statement at face value, he had to agree with Sam that he couldn’t really trust the reasons behind this newfound revelation. Phantom and Dash just had this team up against a pretty powerful ghost, and he probably thought that since he was in the know that could become a consistent trend. But there was more to being a part of Team Phantom than just knowing the secret at the core of their group, and Dash hadn’t earned his place there yet.

Dash withdrew even further as his shoulders sank. He wrapped his other arm around his torso. He looked strangely vulnerable in a way that Danny had never seen. “That’s not—I know that’s how it looks. But it just made me think. See, I didn’t know you’d died and went through all this,” he tried to explain as he gestured towards Danny’s floating form. “And I kept bullying you. You had so much else going on, and I kept bullying you. And I shouldn’t have done that. Phantom or not. I think...I think I can see that now. I didn’t really care what you were dealing with, and maybe I should have.”

Dash bit his lip but he plunged on through his explanation of recent self-reflection. “I want to make it up to you. I can help.”

Danny shifted nervously in the air. He didn’t really know what to say after such a declaration. He really appreciated that Dash had given some thought to being a bully and came to the conclusion it was wrong. Granted he only took the time to think about it because now Danny seemed worthy enough to understand. If Dash had decided to think about his side of things at any time he probably would have come to this realization sooner, but it hadn’t seemed worthwhile until now. But did the injustice of the timing taint or negate his conclusions? He still realized that bullying had caused Danny additional undo stress, and he didn’t want to discourage him from thinking about that more. 

But at the same time, did that mean he had to now work with his former tormentor? He shouldn’t have to work with him to help him engage further in his journey of self-discovery, and yet that felt like the only option available to him. If he let Dash join Team Phantom, maybe he could help him be a better person. But did Dash really deserve that time and effort after everything he’d done? Couldn’t he use what he’d already realized and figure out the rest on his own? He didn’t quite know how to turn Dash down while still inspiring him to keep traveling down this road of self-discovery. He had to find some middle ground.

“Look Dash, I’m glad this is making you see the error of your ways, and I really hope you keep thinking more about bullying,” Danny said honestly, “but we have a system. We’ve got this handled.”

Dash looked crestfallen as his shoulders drooped. “I promise I won’t get in the way,” he bargained, and Danny just wished that he would just understand what no meant. He’d heard it multiple times in the past couple minutes, so why couldn’t he get the hint?

“Dash, if you want to help, right now the best thing you can do is to let us handle it. The longer we talk the more cars that bear goes after. You want to help? Let me go fight this ghost and then we can talk about it after.”

He didn’t really give Dash a chance to argue further as he charged after the bear ghost. Maybe he’d be able to think of something to say to Dash while he fought the ghost, but he doubted it. He didn’t really know how much more clear he could be. He rammed the ghost in the side and sent it flying down the road. It skidded across the pavement and Danny winced at the thought that maybe the bear had experienced that sensation before he died. He’d have to thank Sam later for implanting that thought into his head. The bear stood up and roared at him as its eyes blazed red.

“Looks like I got your attention,” he joked weakly. The bear barreled towards him and he shot as many ecto-blasts as he could at it before he dodged out of the way. He rolled on the ground and immediately popped back up to shoot another blast at the bear as he tried to turn around. He didn’t know if he was hurting it or angering it further, but his attacks seemed to be doing something.

He dodged out of the way of another charge but misjudged the direction as his dodge threw him too close to the ghost. It quickly closed the distance and swiped a ghostly claw along his back. Danny choked out a cry of pain as blood and ectoplasm seeped out from his cuts, but he pushed through the pain like always. He took advantage of being so close and punched the bear in the muzzle before he threw all his strength into one large ecto-blast to the belly. It pushed the bear away and he took that opportunity to suck the ghost into the thermos. 

He breathed out a sigh of relief as he stood up from the ground. He looked over at his friends - not surprised to see Dash still there - and shook the thermos in their direction. “Well that was bearable. Get it? Bear-able?” His friends only groaned, but he did notice Dash crack a smile. “Oh come on, how come you never appreciate my–”

A large gray shape slammed into Danny. The force of the blow sent him flying through the air until he hit the pavement hard in the distance as the asphalt cracked beneath him. He rolled along the pavement until he skidded to a stop in the middle of the road. He didn’t move.

[camels-pen]

2023 Fic Round Up

hello and welcome! if you're reading this it's near midnight EST on Dec. 31 (or maybe past midnight bc i forget stuff alot) and new year's is going to start soon! To end off the year, I wanted to make another Fic Round Up post to tally up all that I've written this year!

Years Past: 2022 Fic Round Up, 2021 Fic Round Up

Posted Fics: 31

Word Count: 153,618

Compared to previous years, I've written for a few different fandoms so the formatting will be a bit different!

Formatting: Title // Fandom // Gen or Ship (+ Name) // Event (if applicable) // [Type of Crossover, if applicable]

~Listed from Oldest to Newest~

this one's on you // DP // Ship - UFS

somnolescent // DC, Static Shock // Ship - Virichie / Gearshock

greater good // DC, Batman // Gen // [PMMM crossover]

ghost of your past // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

The Law of Fenton // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

Snaked // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

a solution like clock repair // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

unethical medicals // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

The Power of Plywood // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

crab time // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

ride to the end // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

wrong conclusions // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

livin' two lives is a little weird // DP // Ship - Everlasting Trio // Phic Phight

haha summonings amiright folks // DP // Ship - Gray Ghost // Phic Phight

pet of time // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

no one fluffs au // DP // Gen // Phic Phight

Weather Report // DP // Ship - UFS // Phic Phight

love is blind (really REALLY blind) // DP // Ship - UFS // Phic Phight

you get the limo out front // DP // Ship - Everlasting Trio

cupcake // DC, Batman // Gen // [PMMM crossover]

a little treat // DP // Gen

nothing but time // DP // Ship - Amethyst Ocean

that damn ghost boy again, of all places // DP // Ship - UFS // Invisobang // [Sonic Adventure 2: Battle crossover]

to each their own // One Piece // Ship - Sanuso

Mask // One Piece // Ship - Sanuso

Lemonade // One Piece // Ship - Sanuso

slow descent // DP // Gen // Ecto-implosion

entrusting your stomach (is a task in itself) // One Piece // Ship - Sanuso

keeping an eye out // One Piece // Ship - Zosopp

literal coffee thoughts // One Piece // Ship - Sanuso

showboating affection // One Piece // Ship - Zosopp

[bubblegumbeech]

Bee’s 2023 Fic Review

2021 2022

My AO3

Works: 8

Word Count:  154,635

Events: Invisobang | Phic Phight | EctoberHaunt (Mod Tucker)

Here’s my  fics! I didn't write nearly as much as I hoped but I did start a Masters Program so I am learning to write better hopefully! (I actually wrote a lot I didn't post that I am saving for when I am more caught up on my WIPs tbh >>)

Danny Phantom:

WIP:

Pieces of Time (26,520 words) Subscriptions: 154 Hits: 3,390 Kudos: 267 Comment Threads: 45 Bookmarks: 118

Some questions don't have answers, some answers aren't worth having and some make you wonder where the truth is being hidden. Danny asks Clockwork a question, now, what about the answer?

Finished:

We Interrupt Your Scheduled Programming (10,062 words) Subscriptions: 5 Hits: 486 Kudos: 70 Comment Threads: 7 Bookmarks: 20

Nocturne generally hates doing favors. He’d honestly rather be sleeping, or messing with someone’s head or … well anything really. But Clockwork got himself into a mess that even he wasn’t going to have an easy time digging himself out of. But hey, what are brothers for? Clockwork was going to owe him for this one though.

Pruning the Branches (30,289 words) Subscriptions: 3 Hits: 215 Kudos: 14 Comment Threads: 12 Bookmarks: 2

Flynn is finally headed back to his home in the Ghost Zone! But something happened in the short time he was away, something that put his family at risk. Struggling to once more find his footing now that everything seems to be falling apart around him, Flynn needs to get answers-even if that means running from his Mother and overprotective siblings and dodging a murderous ghost that's a little bit too murderous. Nothing is going to be the same after this.

Other:

WIP:

Hyde Inside (7,847 words) Subscriptions: 11 Hits: 257 Kudos: 27 Comment Threads: 5 Bookmarks: 7

The only place for a murderer is a hangman's noose… but there is another place for a madman if Gabriel can make the argument. He could save his friend's life. Even if he'd never be forgiven for it. It might have even worked if it wasn't for the mysterious sharp-toothed woman outside Hyde's room, and the answers the good doctor seems reluctant to share.

Finished:

Treasures and Tricks (1,518 words) Hits: 314 Kudos: 55 Comment Threads: 4 Bookmarks: 8

Hastur was an all powerful inhuman King. He did not spend his days thinking about Arthur Lester.

Not a Home but a Haunt (2,319 words) Hits: 77 Kudos: 13 Comment Threads: 3 Bookmarks: 2

Arthur Lester is adjusting just fine to his new 'situation' thank you. Being blind doesn't make him helpless, it's just a new fact of his life. He can still be a detective, if Parker would just let him prove it. Ignoring of course, the strange new voice that seems to come from no where, and Parker swearing that it's just the two of them alone in the apartment…

Grand Line Carnival (24,140 words) Subscriptions: 51 Hits: 3,909 Kudos: 268 Comment Threads: 45 Bookmarks: 81

Law doesn't want to go to a carnival ever again, but his crew doesn't know that and they insist that he has been spending far too much time in the hospital. So he's stuck, but at least he's with friends, now if only he could get that weird stranger off his mind. Or better yet, Stop running into him everywhere. Literally.

Beneath Different Stars (51,940 words) Subscriptions: 175 Hits: 7,784 Kudos: 520 Comment Threads: 125 Bookmarks: 116

A role-reversal that has Dynn Jaren, a stormtrooper with an attitude problem running away with a stolen asset. And Corin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter that’s supposed to be hunting him down for the good of his clan. Except, what happens when the “asset” isn’t what he thought it was? And the “stormtrooper” he was chasing packs a bit of a punch?

[strawberrycamel]

Fic Stats Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

thank u @underforeversgrace for the tag! Gonna add small, unhelpful summaries/images after each one lmao

Most Hits: [redacted] by a mile but we don't talk about that one, so! Runner up is: How to Take Out a Ghost by TooFineFoley at 6,171 hits! This was a fic I wrote for Dannymay, back in 2021!

The Justice League is very meddlesome.

Second Most Kudos: Bad Luck Tuck: The Sequel at 680 kudos! Also a fic I wrote in Dannymay 2021, and a follow-up fic to How to Take Out a Ghost!

The Justice League is very meddlesome... 2! Now with gay people!

Third Most Comments: a solution like clock repair at 28 comments! A fic I wrote recently for Phic Phight 2023 and absolutely adored writing, probably my favourite fic on this list so far :D It was also inspired by jackdaw's marvelous fic The Horologist's Paradox!

Fourth most bookmarks: Welcome to Lake Eerie! at 68 public and private bookmarks! This was my very first Invisobang fic, written when I was still getting used to the fandom, and was the first time I ever wrote UFS (Danny/Wes). It holds a very special place in my heart <3

Hehehe blob ghosts

Fifth Most Words: Also a solution like clock repair at 12,281 words! This fic is only 401 words less than my Invisobang fic from last year, how far to fall (to fall too far)

Fic with the Least Words: Wraith at 169 words. It was written for Ectoberhaunt in 2022; very short fic and part of a very heartbreaking series (that I still need to finish haha woopsie)

Jazz is there. That is all I will say on the matter :)

uhhh tagging tagging- @echoghost1 @princessfanonanona @cleanlenins @ectoplasmicsoda @redead-red

[shamelesslymkp]

REC: Marsalias - Quit Your School Join My Ghost Band

URL: https://ift.tt/X31OKZe by @five-rivers Prompt by @brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics: Danny needs help with his ghostly wail. Ember offers voice lessons. (PR297) (Words: 1,719) Part 6 of Phic Phight 2022 !!!fandom, !!fic, |site:ao3, +fandom:danny.phantom, ::rating:general.audiences, ~author:marsalias, character:danny.fenton, character:ember, character:jazz.fenton, ::category:gen, \no.archive.warnings.apply, ~ao3:traumatic.haircuts

[echoghost1]

Fic Stats Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

thanks for the tag @strawberrycamel!

Most Hits: with 9,171 is

Carnival Mythika

which makes sense that it has the most because it so long and has many if not the most chapters of all my fics

Second Most Kudos: with 1,379 is

Unclaimed 

a cute little one-shot of Danny getting ghost adopted that used a prompt and was a gift for @five-rivers so that might explain the boost despite it being from 2021

Third Most Comments: with 46

Fenton Obscura

was a 2022 phic phight fic that actually has multiple chapters! (most of my phic phights fics are one shots)

Fourth most bookmarks: with 130

Wes Weston and the Quest to Find Danny's Obsession

silly little Wes POV fic feat. Space Obsessed Danny. Still love the title of this one

Fifth Most Words: with 10,765 (currently)

Dawn Of Influence 

lol that's this year's invisobang and it isn't even completely up on AO3 yet

although once it's finished it won't be in fifth place 🤔

Once that fic is all the way up, the new 5th place word count will be Phanniemay 2017 [Year of the DIY] at 12,663 words.

and that's a completion of one-shots

I don't write very long stories or at least I don't get very far. I think I have plenty of ideas that are started that could be longer eventually 😅

Fic with the Least Words: with 100 on the dot

Waiting For The Final Bell

I wanted to try and write a 100 word fic and I was able to do it! 🎉

[randofanficrecs]

Today's random Fic rec is from the Danny Phantom fandom, Of hybrids and lairs by Chrysanthemum9484.

Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,330 Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton & Frostbite, Danny Fenton & Pandora, Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters Characters: Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton, Danny Fenton, Pandora (Danny Phantom), Frostbite (Danny Phantom), Vlad Masters Additional Tags: Ghost King Danny Fenton, redempted Vlad Masters, Nice Vlad Masters, Puberty, Phic Phight, Phic Phight: Team Ghost (Danny Phantom), Books, Maddie almost steals, Halfas are an entirely different species, ghost puberty, Halfa puberty, ghost prince danny fenton Series: Part 2 of Phic Phight 2022, Part 14 of One-shots Language: English Summary: Because I can't think of a summary you get the prompt instead: I think ghost puberty would be a fun one and how Danny deals with it.

[gilbirda]

20 questions for writers, tagged by @gremlin-bot

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

83!!! But a lot are crossposted from FFN, and not ALL of my FFN stuff is there.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

753,449

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment dpxdc, but I have projects for DP in progress. I have some really old Inuyasha stuff, and Twilight, and a Gravity Falls fic that I def will continue? but mostly dpxdc :D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Clown around and find out (Kudos: 8,524)

Mondays, am I right? (Kudos: 8,080)

Employee of the month (Kudos: 7,865)

Can't have shit in Gotham (Kudos: 7,343)

How to confuse a Bat (Kudos: 6,749)

Unsurprising xd

5. Do you respond to comments? why/why not?

I usually do the week when I post a fic, but i stop after that period of time. I don't respond mostly because I dont know what to say... I love each and every comment!!! I just get nervous.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmmm, I'd say What could have been. It's a DP fic from Phic Phight 2022 and the prompts I used weren't necessarily angst material, but I tied them together in a story meant to leave you empty.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't do "happy" endings? I think I do "realistic" endings - main quest is conquered but we lost and gained things in the way.

I do write a lot of fluff and unapologetic one shots, so I would consider all of those "happy" endings.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes.

Fortunately is not a normal event in my fics, but now that I have dipped my toes in comic book fanfiction I've gotten my fair share of purists and know-it-alls that come to my comments to educate me on what it's "canon" and explain to me how my interpretation is wrong.

That aside, I'm not afraid to portray "problematic" ships and delicate situations ,mainly mental health stuff. I'm not the first or the last person that pour themselves in their writing and use fictional characters as a medium to work on some personal things. Of course that's gotten me enough comments telling me how disgusting I am and how I'm writing XYZ wrong.

9. Do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. I don't have a lot posted, but I have WIPs.

Mostly BDSM and how important it is to trust your partner.

10. Do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one?

Mostly DPxDC!

I did have an insane crossover between Twilight and a book not a lot of people know. TBH im keeping that information to myself xd.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes.

There's a russian website that reposts fics.

And also people reposting my stuff in wattpad with a "credits to the author [name]" but they never asked me for permission.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! To Russian!!!! Made me so happy ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

13. have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes! I'm co-writing a fic with some close friends and my girlfriend. And another fic with just my girlfriend, but I'm so slow with it lmao

14. what's your all-time fave ship?

I'm a multishipper but usually I have 1 OTP that im Very Normal about in every fandom and then I'm just okay with everything else.

Some examples are:

KogKag, SessKag (Inuyasha)

Hardcover (JazzxJason)(DPxDC)

PrussiaxHungary (Hetalia)

Mabill (Gravity Falls)

HikaHaruKao (Ouran HSHC)

Deckerstar (Lucifer TV)

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I don't want to jinx myself.

But probably the DP longfic. It's just. So long.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've been told that my characters feel very real and that I write dynamics in a very organic way. In romance, I think I'm very good at portraying falling in love.

In general I've also been told I describe things in a way you can feel it, like you really are there.

17. writing weaknesses?

English is not my native language and I make a lot of mistakes, grammar wise. Or I let my weird miss matched speech patterns bleed into my characters and make them sound not quite right.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

Again, I'm native Spanish speaker, so I do write in English regularly xd

Other languages, I'd need someone that speaks that language to help me.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha. I was about 11 years old. Those fics were written in Microsoft Word 2003, in script format (aka "theater" format), and every character had an assigned color and I would switch colors every dialogue line.

20. fave fic you've ever written?

Difficult to choose.

I love a lot of my fics, even older ones.

If I have to pick just one, I'm picking Friendly neighborhood vigilante

Tagging!

Not feeling like tagging today, and grem kinda stole the people I was thinking I could tag.

So, if anyone wants to do this, go ahead!

[sailor-toni]

The Evil Ghost Tyrant wants to Make Me His Heir? But I’m a sixteen year-old halfa!

You can also read this on A03, FF.NET, and Wattpad.

Chapter 2: Time to call for backup!

  The students at Casper High could not fathom what they had seen at lunch that day, and many were weary of their classmate. Danny on the other hand wished for death. The gazes of the school bore holes through his skin, and peeled the frays like hangnails. The teachers watched him with wide dinner plate eyes, their bodies tense like mice before a cat. This must have been a dream for Wes who ran through the halls cheering and hollering. And Paulina would not stop staring at him. He should like this, she was a very pretty lady after all but this wasn’t a stare someone gave their crush. It was the stare of an obsessive fangirl being close to her idol. Her pink I-phone was tucked under desk , probably recording him or she might have been taking photos of him for her fan twitter account. 

    This stance was broken by Dash and Kwan. The knuckleheads blocked the hallway with their steroid fueled bodies, arms crossed and faces stitched into frowns. He wanted to phase through them and fly home, but the two suddenly fell to their knees thanking him for saving them, their parents, their friends, and the school. Kwan had paper ready for an autograph from Danny. This started the title wave of fans chasing him. 

    Sam and Tucker tried their best, but their brave efforts were in vain. Tucker was the first to slip under the trodding feet of his classmates, his voice was muffled by the scream of fangirls and fanboys alike. Sam was next, she sacrificed herself for the greater good. Her strong arms held the classroom door shut. The old wood cracked and rumbled against the horde of hormones behind it. Danny saluted her before he took off to the skies. The roar of a crashing door faded into the Amity Park skyline. 

    He sailed through the air, letting the wind roll off his body with the day’s stress. Up ahead he could see the large Fenton Works sign in its gaudy neon glory. Maybe today was all a dream, and as soon as he opened the door his alarm clock would scream in his ears and wake him up from this chaos. 

    Behind his front door, Danny saw his parents waiting for him in their living room. His mother’s eyes were red and his father looked like he was about to strangle someone. It was a very cruel way reality chose to remind him that everything was in fact real. 

“Danny, sit down. We heard what happened at school today,” His Mother’s tone was a death sentence. 

“Wait, I can explain everything,” Danny said. 

“Can you explain why you’ve been lying to us for more than two years?” His father asked in that tone that parents do when it's not really a question. But, Danny could explain why he hid everything. Why he lied, and snuck out of the house, and threw himself in danger every day, but the reasoning would hurt his folks even more. So, Danny chose silence. 

“Danny I don’t understand why you would hide this from us? We didn’t know that was you in the at night flying to who knows where! We could’ve killed you. Our weapons aren’t toys, they can do actual harm Danny,” Maddie said. 

“I know. I’ve been using them to hunt ghost,” 

“I told you It wasn’t me losing them!” Jack said. Danny didn’t see the look Mother shot his Father. But whatever it was, his father chose silence. 

“If we knew you were interested in ghost hunting we would’ve helped you,” Maddie said. 

“I wasn’t really interested until the accident and then I -” 

“What accident?” 

“Oh um two years ago I was messing around with the portal and iImighthaveturneditonewhileIwasstillinside,” Danny stammered.

“You WHAT?” His Father yelled. “Danny, that portal blasts enough ectoplasm to destroy a person! You should be dead!” 

“Well I’m half dead so you're half right?” 

“This is just like Vlad all over again. Son, we need to get you to a hospital pronto!” Jack began to gather items for a hospital trip. “Maddie! Where are the insurance cards?” 

“No! It has been two years and I’m fine! I mostly mastered my powers and I even stabilized my core, so it's all good.”

“Humans shouldn’t have ghost cores,” Maddie said.

“Hey can you guys keep it down? I’m trying to watch Tedtalk,” Jazz yelled from her room. 

“Jazz Fenton get down here!” Maddie yelled. 

“What’s going on?” Jazz asked, her hair and clothes were a complete mess from all night college study sessions. A sticky note that read STUDY HARDER was stuck to her forehead, and a coffee stain spread from her blue tank top to her gray sweatpants. 

“Jazz, did you know your brother was a half ghost?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh OH! Danny! Oh no Danny how could this have happened to you! Who would do such a thing to my precious baby brother!” Jazz worked up her best acting skills, which were razzie worthy. 

“Jazz you knew! You should’ve told us!” Jack yelled. 

“WHY! You were the ones stomping around the dinner table saying Oh  I’ll catch that Ghost boy and rip him apart molecule by molecule! Explain how I was supposed to tell you anything about Danny when you're making threats like that Dad,” Jazz said. 

“I never said that! but , if I did, I never meant it!” Jack said. He then leaned down to his wife and asked “Did I really say that?” 

“Honey I have to be honest I don’t remember half the things you say.” 

“And to be honest, I don’t either.”  

“Dad we are right here, we can hear you,” Jazz said. “Also! Danny, Sam just texted me saying the Ghost King is back? When did that happen? Did you fight? Are you okay?” 

“Do Sam and Tucker know? How many did you tell before you thought to tell us?”Jack said. 

“Well, to quote Jazz’s words I thought you two would kill me if I told you!” Danny said. 

“We would never kill you!” Maddie said. 

“You held a gun to my head at city hall!” 

“We didn’t know that was you! Which is why you should’ve told us!”

“Batman figured it out in a day!” 

“YOU TOLD BATMAN BEFORE YOU TOLD YOUR PARENTS!” Jack said. “Batman must think we are terrible parents!” 

“To be honest Danny didn’t tell me, I figured it out all on my own,” Jazz said. 

“You didn’t even tell your sister!?” Jack said.

“I thought she was going to tell you!” Danny said. 

“And I was, until Dad threatened to kill Danny over dinner!” Jazz said. 

“I have no memory of that.” 

    The house around them shook, but not from the family fighting. Picture frames fell from the walls and dishes flew from their cabinets. Jazz ran to the windows while Jack tackled Danny to the floor, their large metal chandelier missing the two by hair’s breath. 

“Oh, thank Dad.” Danny said. 

“Don’t thank me, I’m just doing my job. By the way, I was joking about the molecule thing.” Jack said. 

“I thought you didn’t remember that?” 

“Remember what?”

“Oh never mind.” 

“Uhhh Danny, he’s here,” Jazz pointed through the opening in the blinds. The whole family moved to the window, to see Pariah Dark standing on top of the neighboring rooftop with a pair of binoculars. The Fright Knight stood behind him in a firm stance. His metal armor sent blinding reflections right into their eyes. Pariah waved to them. 

“Oh for christ sake,” Danny rubbed his eyes. He could feel the headache grow ever larger behind his eyes. 

“What does he want?” Jazz asked. 

“He wants to adopt me or something,” 

“Ghost King or not I will not allow anyone to adopt my son while I’m still kicking! Maddie get the guns,” Jack said. 

“Wait, I have a better idea, Dad and Jazz, can you distract him?” Danny asked.

“Yes, but first explain,” Jazz said. 

“You and Dad will distract those two while Mom and I get Clockwork. By the way, Clockwork is the ghost of time and he was once married to Pariah Dark. I think Clockwork would be willing to reign him back in,” Danny said. 

“Wait, they were married? Why? That Pariah guy looks gross,” Jazz said. 

“I don’t know and I don’t want to know.” Danny said proudly. 

“Okay… we will go along with your plan but only if you tell me everything that has happened on the ghost ride to this Clockwork fella,” Maddie said. 

“It’s a deal!” 

    The Fenton world explorer parked its shiny metal carcass on the edge of Clockwork’s tower. Maddie and Danny exit the vehicle, with Danny mid speech. 

“And you remember the giant plant ghost, his name was Undergrowth and I don’t think you remember much as you and everyone else was brainwashed, but it was during that fight that I found out I had an ice coe and I almost froze to death trying to save everyone. But I managed to escape back to the Ghost Zone where I met ghost Ice Yetis who were kind enough to train me on how I could control my powers and - Mom? Mom, are you okay?”

“One second Danny, I just need a moment.” Maddie took a seat on the steps of the tower, her hands ran through her hair and pale face. “Danny.” She said, her eyes wore weariness like a coat. 

“Yes Mom?” 

“If you ever lie about anything this big again, I will rip your sorry ass from module to module. You understand?” 

“Yes Mom.”

“I took you out of this world and I can take you out, you understand?”

“Yes Mom.” 

“Good, now let’s meet this Clockwork person and get this over with. Once we get home your Father and I will discuss your punishment.” 

“I saved the world countless times you can’t-” His Mother shot him a look, and Danny made the smart choice of silence. 

“Are you guys also here to see Clockwork?” A female voice asked. 

Behind them, floating in the miasma of the Ghost Zone was a pale yellow ghost with long blonde hair that whipped around her body like a spectral trail. 

“Yes, but who are you?” Maddie said. 

“My name is Celeste, and I’m here to see my husband. Does Clocky know you’re coming?” Celeste said. 

“Danny, I thought you said he was married to the Ghost King?” Maddie said. 

“That’s what he told me. But I don’t know who this woman is. I’ve never heard him mention Celeste before,” Danny said.  

“Excuse me! He’s never mentioned me before! After everything we’ve been through!” Celeste cracked voiced cracked as she spoke. “Maybe I’ve been gone for too long.” 

    The door to the tower slammed open, sending the purple metal door flying into the void of the Ghost Zone, and Clockwork hurried out. 

“Celeste, my love! How great it is to see you again!” Clockwork yelled quickly floating over to her side. 

“Is it? Apparently you don’t tell anyone about me,” She said. 

“That is because I only tell those worthy about you. I can’t have someone trying to steal you from me,” He said. 

“You old fool, there is only room in my heart for two people. You and the sleeping giant. I could never make room for any more suitors.” 

“I do know this my dear, but is it too much if I want to keep you to myself?” 

“Oh you sly fox, you know one day he's gonna break out of that box, and you’ll have to learn how to share again.” 

“And when that day comes you will have to learn how to share me.” 

“With how busy the Observants have you I feel as though I am already sharing with you.” 

“Danny what is going on?” Maddie whispered.

“I don’t know, I think they are flirting?” Danny said. 

“I know that much, but who is this woman? Who are the Observants? Is this man reliable?”  

“The Observants were eyeball freaks who watch everything that happens in the world, and -” Danny began. 

“Danny, let me formally introduce my wife to you,” Clockwork said. Celeste had her arms wrapped around his shoulders and was kissing his quickly aging face. “This is my wife Celeste, the former Queen of the Ghost Zone and currently its only historian.” 

“Is this the boy you were telling me about last time? The one with the evil version locked up in your home?” She asked. Clockwork nodded. “Well it’s very nice to meet you young Phantom.” Danny shook her outstretched hand. 

“I didn’t know the Ghost Zone had a historian, or a queen?” Danny asked. 

“Yes, while Clocky here can see eons into the past, he is really bad at writing it down for future generations of ghosts to learn from. So, I have been going through the Ghost Zone and recording all traces of history down,” Celeste said. 

“But he said you were queen once? Why not?” Maddie asked. 

“I have no desire to rule. Do you know how hard it is to rule the afterlife? There are always new ghosts trying to steal the throne from you, and every ghost expects you to solve their issues, and if you address someone with the wrong title they get upset and try to overthrow you. Plus you have to manage what few resources the Ghost Zone actually has, and create an economy, and stop every wayward human who tries to get in, and and and! UGH! It's horrible, I only did it because Pariah was terrible at diplomacy! What is the new phrase, he saw every problem as a nail ?” She looked towards her husband for confirmation. He nodded. “He’s lucky that I loved him enough to do that for three thousands years.” 

“What happened? Did you stop loving him or something? I mean why did he get locked in the sarcophagus of forever sleep?” Danny said. 

“He went too far and tried to conquer our allies in the Far Frozen. He wouldn’ listen to reason, so Clocky and I started a tiny rebellion.” 

“So you left Pariah for Clockwork?” Clockwork and Celeste both burst out laughing at Danny’s comment. 

“Oh no, technically the three of us are still married to each other. We have been since we first met in the Ghost Zone,” Celeste said. 

“OH!” Danny said. 

“In that case can you help my son here, your husband broke out of his box and is now wreaking havoc on earth. The man is trying to adopt my son.” Maddie said. 

“Pariah’s out? Since when?” Celeste said. 

“Two days ago. I was watching him to see if he did anything,” Clockwork said. 

“So, you saw him come to my school and you did nothing?” Danny said. 

“I was too busy laughing. For a moment I thought it was a mirage in the time stream.”

“Well, can you stop him? I already have a set of parent’s and no offense I don’t need another one.” 

“Yes, we can stop him, but we will need that Fenton fishing pole.” 

“Umm…okay?” 

    A crowd had gathered outside of Fenton Works, confused at the sight before them. Jack Fenton and his daughter were engaged in a heated battle with the King of Ghost and his ever loyal Knight. The four stood around a plastic folding table, the urge to kill deep in their eyes. Jazz made the first move, quickly sliding a card from the table before slamming it upon the building piple of casualties. 

“Draw four and I change the color to blue!” Jazz said. 

“You are making your own father draw cards?” Pariah scoffed. 

“Think again bucko, for I have this in my hand!” Jack slammed down a blue draw two card onto the table. “Draw six Fright Knight!” 

“I am sorry your Highness, but I can not afford to gain anymore cards,” Fright Knight did not look his master in the eye as he lightly set down a blue draw two card. “Draw eight your Highness.” 

“Fright Knight! You betray me again! I will make you pay for this!” Pariah Dark added eight uno cards to his hand. 

“That makes twenty cards in your hand your Highness, at this rate you’ll never win Danny’s birth certificate,” Jazz mocked. 

“There must be some trick to this! You two are cheating!” Pariah said. 

“Nope, you just suck at Uno,” Jack laughed. “Jazz baby, it’s your turn again.” 

“Right.” Jazz said, laying down a blue nine card. “Uno!”

“No!” Pariah slammed his first on the table. 

“Yes! Once I put this card down, I will win. Got anything in that hand of yours that can stop me?” Jazz said. 

“I could kill you all where you stand!” Pariah yelled.

“That is called cheating your kingly-ness,” Jack said. 

“You two are the ones who have been cheating! I will just take the boy by force!” 

“But sir, the book!” Fright Knight cried. 

“DAMN THE BOOK!” The King withdrew his glowing sword and sliced the table clean through. 

    Jack and Jazz withdrew their weapons and took aim at Pariah. When a spear made of light sliced through the air and knocked the sword from Pariah’s hand. Up in the sky was a pale yellow Ghost with long blonde hair descended from the sku. 

“PARIAH DARK WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?” She screamed. 

“Your Highness I believe that is your wife,” Fright Knight said, inching closer to the Fentons. 

“Celeste Darling, the star of my night, what has brought you here?” Pariah’s voice reached a level of softness no living human had heard before, but Fright Knight knew it was a signal of the end. 

“Would you like me to list my grievances in alphabetical order or by severity?” Celeste threatened.  

“My love I did not mean to hide from you, it was going to be a surprise for both you and Clockwork.” 

“Who surprises someone with a sixteen year old child?” 

“Well you have always mentioned creating a family.” 

“Not like this! Now to save face the three of us are going to go back to castle dark and have a discussion about consent and why forced adoption is wrong.” 

“Wait, the three of us?”

“Time in,” Clockwork said, appearing behind Pariah with the Fenton ghost fishing pole in hand. The neon green fishing line was sung around Pariah’s wrist and feet, leaving him helpless. 

“Clockwork!” 

“Hello dear husband, I believe we have a few things to talk about,” Clockwork said. 

“You two can’t do this to me again!” 

“I’m sorry who attacked the Far Frozen, destroyed the biggest natural portal between the living and the dead, …” Celeste began to ramble on and on about every misdeed Pariah had done. From massive destruction and barren lands, to the minor items, like her 12th century shoes being ruined. Clockwork dragged the two of them away, waving goodbye to the Fenton family as they entered the Fenton home. 

“And I thought our family was bad,” Danny said. 

“You have no idea,” Fright Knight said. In his metal hands was the entire uno deck, “Do you mind if I borrow this?” 

“Only if you agree to go back to the Ghost Zone,” Jack said. 

“A deal made sir,” Fright Knight shook Jack’s hand, before skipping into the Fenton home. 

“Well, now that this is over, I have a test to study for. See you guys later!” Jazz took her weapon back into the home. The Study harder sticky note still on her forehead. 

“I think I have a test too! And look at the time, I better go inside to study,” Danny backed away slowly, inching towards the front door. 

“Perfect Danny, and when your done make sure to bring down your TV, cell phone, gaming console, computer, and every single item of Fenton tech that you have,” Maddie said. “Wait what now?” 

“Son, did you really think we wouldn’t ground you for lying to us for over two years? Also Sam and Tucker are not allowed at our home until they apologize for lying to us,” Jack said. 

“You know Batman wouldn’t do this to his kids,” Danny grumbled.

[uniasus]

fic series rec! 37K, 11 stories, DP of various kinds:

Summary: Phic Phight collection

Comments: All of these are incredible, most things Marsalias writes are, but a few standouts to me in this series are:

Flipside - where the otherside of the portal is not the ghost zone, but the living embodiment of each person's death

Blobapalooza - a one-shot collection around different blog ideas that honestly had me hunting for a plushie of one for a day (alas, did not find one I liked)

Marriage of Opposites - in which Clockwork, realizing that his budding bond to Danny means Pariah will also have a budding bond to Danny, tries to get a divorce. Hera is the judge. It does not go well.

Detection - where Danny just can't help but find dead bodies

[phicphight]

What was your favorite/ most interesting prompt of this year?

2022 was a great year filled with so many fun and interesting prompts. We couldn't pick just one. Instead check out the collection on A03 for all the filled prompts.

[five-rivers]

Detection (true version)

This is the second version of this prompt I've written. I decided I liked this take better. Like the other one, it is a loose continuation of Flight Simulation.

Prompt by @faedemon: Ghosts are naturally drawn to death. When people die in Amity Park, Danny keeps finding the bodies. (PR263)

.

"You know," said Detective Collins conversationally, "if most of these guys hadn't been dead longer than you've been alive, I'd be wondering if you were some kind of serial killer."

Danny hunched his shoulders.  As a… whatever he was, he had some powers.  Intangibility, invisibility, overshadowing, transformation, ghost sense, and now… this.  He guessed it might be an extension of his ghost sense.  After all, both had to do with finding dead people.  

"What is this one, the sixth?"

"Fifth," corrected Danny, although that didn't make him any less miserable.  He stared through the trees at the swarm of forensics people.  This was the fifth dead human body he'd been drawn to since the Accident, not counting the incidents at the cemetery and the hospital.

Collins scribbled something on his notepad then snapped it closed.  “Okay, off the record?”

“Huh?  Uh, sure?”

“Is this some new thing from your parents?  Did they make a dead body finder and scrap it because it didn’t find ghosts?  Because, if so, the department would definitely like to get our hands on one.”

“What?”

Collins sighed, slightly, and continued at a slightly slower pace.  “If the reason you’re finding all these bodies is that you’re using one of your parents’ inventions, the police department will buy it from you.  Heck, we’d commission a dozen from your parents.”

“It isn’t an invention,” said Danny.  “But, I mean, that sounds like a good idea.  I don’t know how it’d work, but if it did, I could see it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he wanted to punch himself in his face.  A perfect excuse, and he just hammered it to pieces.

“Pity,” said Collins.  “But this,” –he pointed at where Danny had found the skeleton– “isn’t normal.  Finding five bodies like this by coincidence is unheard of.  Did you get cursed or something?”

Danny shrugged.  Honestly, he might as well be cursed.  “My ancestors on my Dad’s side were witch hunters way back when, so it wouldn’t really surprise me, but…  I haven’t heard of any curse?  That doesn’t mean that I would have heard of a curse, even if there was one…”

“Hm.  Think you’re haunted?”

“My parents are ghost hunters,” said Danny.  “They aren’t always the most observant, but–”

“Danny!”  There was a crash near the park entrance.  Danny winced and blushed.  Marley Park was one of the biggest and wildest still in Amity Park’s services district, but they weren’t actually that far from the entrance.  It was very easy to recognize the sounds of his father’s driving.  

“Did anyone tell them this was an active crime scene?” muttered Collins, flipping his pad back open.  

“Probably multiple times,” said Danny.  Collins flinched a little, having probably not intended for Danny to hear.  Oh, well.  

Danny’s parents thundered down the path, followed by a lot of shouting.  

“Danny, baby!” said Maddie, throwing her arms around him.  “What happened?  What are you even doing all the way out here?”

“He found a body,” said Collins.  “Specifically a skeleton.”

“What?” said Maddie.  “Again?”

“Ohhh,” said Jack, almost growling.  “I know what this is!  This is some blasted ghost trying to make our Danny look bad!”  He pulled out a bazooka.  “When I find it, I’m gonna–!”

“Mr. Fenton,” said Detective Collins, “please, there are no ghosts here.  We took ectoplasm readings when we got here, first thing.  This is a crime scene.  You need to put your weapon away.”

Jack grumbled, but did so.  The other policemen in the area, who had put their hands on their weapons, slowly relaxed.  

“Anyway,” said Collins, “this is an older body, so we…”  He trailed off and made a face.  “I think we all can agree this isn’t a coincidence anymore, but it’s safe to say that Danny wasn’t involved in the actual death of this person.”

“Of course,” said Maddie, who was still checking Danny over, as if the years-dead skeleton could have hurt him.  

“Anyway, if you, any of you, ever figure out what’s causing…”  He gestured at Danny.

“Right,” said Maddie.  “We’ll let you know.”

Danny shrugged, because he sure wouldn’t.  

“And our offer to refer you to a therapist still stands.”

“Thank you,” said Maddie.  “We’ll talk about it.”

Danny was bundled down the path and into the back seat of the GAV.  He slumped, feeling exhausted.  

“Danny,” said Maddie, after Jack had started the engine.  “Why were you out here?”

Jack backed up enthusiastically, and Danny used his need to adjust his position as an excuse not to answer right away.  “I was just walking,” said Danny.  

“Without your friends?” pressed Maddie.  “Or did they just leave before the police showed up this time?”

“They weren’t there,” said Danny.  

Of course, the reason they weren’t there was that they hadn’t been able to keep up with the ghost fight once it started to go through walls.  And then, of course, Skulker just had to pick Danny up and rub in the fact that Danny couldn’t fly.

Jerk.  

Danny much preferred Technus.  At least he only trapped Danny in video games and acted like an avuncular and completely out of touch mad scientist.  Dealing with him was almost fun, if completely terrifying sometimes.  

(Pac Man was an abomination that should never have been created.)

Anyway, Danny had, eventually, managed to get Skulker back to ground level and fish him out of his stupid helmet.  By that point, though, he’d been in the park, and then he had to get out of the park and that’s when he’d noticed the pull.  And there was only one thing that particular pull led to.

Danny couldn’t just leave the body once he’d found it.  That would be… Well, illegal, probably, but considering he was a kinda-sorta vigilante whose existence was illegal under the Anti-Ecto Acts, he didn’t really care about that.  It was more about leaving a person forgotten and unmourned.  Not given proper rites, whatever those were for the person in question.  

Maddie sighed at him.  Danny squirmed in his seat.  

“They really weren’t with me at the park.”

“But you still haven’t said why you were there.”

“I was just walking.”

“Mhm,” said Maddie, dubiously.  “But why there?”

“Why not there?”

“Because it’s all the way across the city!” said Maddie.  

“You’d tell us if you knew you were being haunted, right, Danno?” asked Jack.

“Yeah,” said Danny.  Well, if a ghost was really harassing him, he might.  He’d told them about Johnny.  He hadn’t told him about Skulker, though.  Was what Skulker was doing really haunting, though?  

Attempted murder, though, sure.  Danny didn’t think he could leave without his skin, after all.  

Maddie sighed.  “Alright.”

That signaled the end of the conversation, and Danny slid his phone out of pocket to text Sam and Tucker.  

Danny: im w my prints

Danny: left the park

Sam: u ok

Danny: ye

Tucker: u sure? skulker got u rely good that time

Tucker: and he picked u up. still p sure u cant fly

Danny: shut up

Sam: yeah tuck thats the thing hes sensitive about

Danny sighed and put his phone away.  It was over and done with.  Everything was going to be fine.  

At least, until the next time he found a dead body.  But how many missing dead people could there be in Amity Park?

.

The next time they went on a field trip, Danny wanted to beat his head in for even thinking something like that.  

“Uh, Danny,” said Tucker, “you’re eying that wall really intensely.”

“Yeah,” said Danny, “that’s because there’s a corpse in it.”

“What.”

“Yeah, that was my reaction.”

“Hey, guys,” said Sam, walking up behind Danny and Tucker.  “I hate to interrupt your contemplation, but the art’s hung up over there.  Why are you both staring at a wall?  Are you turning into cats?”

“Well, Danny can already detect ghosts–”

Danny elbowed him in the side.  “There’s a dead body in the wall,” he muttered.  

Sam’s eyebrows went up.  “In an art museum?”

“That is where we are.”

“You know what I mean.  What’re you going to do?”

Danny ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.  “I don’t know.  It’s not like there’s any,” –he waved his hand at the wall– “evidence, so I can’t just call.”

“Didn’t that one detective dude give you his phone number?” asked Tucker.  “Maybe he’d believe you.”

“I don’t know…”

“You could come back as, you know, and phase it out,” suggested Sam.  

“My alter ego has enough problems without being associated with murder.”

“Maybe you could be an anonymous tip,” said Tucker, fiddling with the power button of his PDA.  “I could look up how.”

Danny made a face.  “They all know who I am.”

“All of them?” asked Tucker, skeptically.

“You try calling in five separate skeletons while being the son of ghost hunters.  Yes, they all know who I am.”

“You could still leave a letter.”

“You could ‘accidentally’ put a hole in the wall,” said Sam.  “Or you could phase something halfway in, and then when they have to clean it up, they’ll find it?”

“Doesn’t do much good when they might be the people to put it in in the first place,” said Danny, making a face.

“Could you tip someone off as… you know?”

“Same problem phasing it out of the wall.”  He covered his eyes, feeling the approach of a headache.

Ugh.  He was going to have to punch a hole in this wall.  

He’d have to do it soon, too, otherwise the tour would move on and he’d have to try something else.  

“Mr. Fenton, Miss Manson, Mr. Foley,” called Mr. Lancer, “we’re– Mr. Fenton!  Catcher in the Rye!  Why would you punch the wall?”  Over his shoulder, the tour guide and a security guard started jogging over.

“Uh,” said Danny, cradling his hand, because punching through drywall with his stupid unprotected human hand hurt.  “Because… There’s a skeleton in it?”

Why did he feel the need to tell the truth in stupid, stupid situations like this?

“Mr. Fenton,” said Mr. Lancer, thunderously, “stop making up–”  Danny knew the moment Mr. Lancer actually looked into the hole in the wall, because his face went the color of milk.  “The Cask of Amontillado,” he said, then sat down.  

.

“So,” said Detective Collins, looking at the wall.  “You want to explain how you knew this one was there?”

Danny didn’t have to fake the tears of frustration in his eyes.  His powers were so stupid sometimes.  

“Well,” said the detective.  “This is sure going to be a murder mystery and a half, then.”

.

“So, are we off to solve a murder?” asked Tucker.  

“Why would we be solving a murder?” asked Danny, dropping his backpack on the floor of the bus, where they were waiting for the police to be done with all of them.  

Tucker blinked.  “Because you just found a dead body.”

“It’s hardly the first time,” said Danny, quietly.  He didn’t exactly want something like that to become common knowledge among his fellow students.  Not that he expected it would stay quiet or anything.  

“Well, yeah, but those were just, you know, accidental deaths.”

“We don’t know that.  We don’t know anything about solving murders, either.  Why are you suddenly so gung-ho about this?  I thought dead bodies freaked you out.”

“Sure do,” agreed Tucker.  He shrugged.  “Murder mysteries are cool, though.”

“Wow,” said Sam, looking up from her paperback.  “You aren’t okay with hospitals, but murder–”

“Look, it happened a long time ago, okay?  Guy was a skeleton.  Whoever killed him must be long dead by now.”

“Yeah,” drawled Danny.  “Long dead.  Because length of time spent dead is a good indicator of how much of a problem someone is going to be.  How long have Desiree and Poindexter been dead?  How about Technus?”

Tucker opened his mouth, closed it, went through a variety of emotions, then pushed himself to the end of the bench, muttering.  

Danny leaned back, too.  Rumors at school and his bruised knuckles aside, this was almost peaceful.  

“HEY!” bellowed Dash from the front of the bus.  “CORPSE SNIFFER!”

Aaaaaand there it went. 

[camels-pen]

2022 Fic Round Up

heyoo, wanted to do this again this year. here's the 2021 round up, if ur interested

these are all Danny Phantom fics & they should be in chronological order, more or less

also ima be a bit lazy with the formatting this time around; might come back and fix it later, might not lol

Posted fics: 49

Word Count: 118,575

Formatting: Title // Event (if applicable) // [type of crossover, if applicable]

Royal Bathtime

Welcome to Lake Eerie! // Invisobang 2021

Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby // Secret Santa

a blanket for three // DP Valentine's

cuddlebug, stuck in a hug // not an event, but a valentine's fic

Backfire // Phic Phight

how to kidnap yourself for fun a.k.a. ex theatre kid vlad puts more work into kidnapping himself than in his actual job // Phic Phight

he was a skater boy, she said help me log my brother's injuries before he goes and hides like an idiot // Phic Phight

D(anny) Stabilized // Phic Phight

a kind soul, a wretched tyrant // Phic Phight

A Sound Core // Phic Phight

betrayed by tiny fumbling hands // Phic Phight

New Toy // Phic Phight

extremely flawed and ethically dubious adult has a stressful experience trying to wrangle a half-dead very drunk teenager, more at 11 // Phic Phight

Don't build hope on something broken // Phic Phight

Tolerance // Phic Phight

buckles and bends, but never breaks (no mistakes) // Phic Phight

Holy Feathers, Phantom! // Phic Phight

What ever happened to Ellie Fenton? // Phic Phight

A Haunted, Haunted House // Phic Phight

Cry of the Damned // Phic Phight

Restless Summons // Phic Phight // [DC crossover]

Cozy Cats Cafe // Phic Phight

Once Shattered, Now Whole // Phic Phight

Holiday Pay // Catboy Vlad 1 year anniversary fic

Maple Hill

how far to fall (to fall too far) // Invisobang 2022

Organized Chaos // Ectoberhaunt

Grateful // Ectoberhaunt

Banshee // Ectoberhaunt

Stasis // Ectoberhaunt

The Lesser of Two // Ectoberhaunt

Dietary Needs // Ectoberhaunt

the magic of StopGame // Ectoberhaunt

where does the day go, oh creature of grief? // Ectoberhaunt

the ostrich to your smoothie // Ectoberhaunt

Staff // Ectoberhaunt

Wraith // Ectoberhaunt

You hurt the Prince like the common ghost? Oh, jail for Plasmius! Jail for Plasmius for 1000 years! // Ectoberhaunt

A Jarring Discovery // Ectoberhaunt

Mama's Girl // Ectoberhaunt

Observant Servant Mervant // Ectoberhaunt

pour elle // Ectoberhaunt

three kids from Illinois // Ectoberhaunt // [Static Shock crossover]

Hundred to One // Ectoberhaunt

Spirit Halloween // Ectoberhaunt

Princess of the Sea // Ectoberhaunt

Puppet King // Ectoberhaunt

friendly advice // Ectoberhaunt