#but no she's properly obsessed like she still carries around her tardis bag that she bought in cardiff in 2015

[claratwelve]

i texted my mum that i bought s11-13 on dvd (i think she stopped watching around the same time as me) and she was so excited, i've literally never seen her be this excited via text but she sent several emojis and exclamation marks..... she's not even this excited about her favourite soap opera-

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

The Super-Switch

(part 4)

Monday was coming too quickly and Danny was starting to panic.

The heroes that were sent to search for Desiree were coming up empty, the Flash having made a wish that ended with him buried under a mountain of pizza. Whether that was an accident or not remained to be seen. It was starting to look like the chosen heroes were spending more time trying to fix the chaos Desiree was making than defeating Desiree herself. It was frustrating because Danny knew he and his friends would have handled this within the day of her escape.

He had already contacted his friends and let them know what was happening. Neither could get away from Amity to help hunt the ghost but they were going to offer there services as soon as they could.

Superman and Danny's house arrest was also starting to get noticed. Well, Superman’s disappearance more than Danny's. Danny was sure his parents were jumping to the conclusion that he was planning something nefarious and big, and Val was probably missing her punching bag but at least the ghosts were being handled back home. Dani was always willing to lend a hand when he got tied up with league business and he’ll love her forever for that.

For the most part, the training with each others powers was going well. Danny was surprised at how nice it felt to fly while alive and warm and also tall. If he was being completely honest, Superman was pretty much the best person you could magically get turned into. He was handsome and strong, he was indestructible and everyone liked him. More people have said hi to him since he’s become Superman than the sum of Danny's entire high school experience. It was nice. Plus EXTRA BONUS: he could still fly! He’d really miss that power if he lost it.

Superman was having a harder time, but in Danny's opinion not nearly as hard as of time as Danny had when he first got turned into a ghost. Maybe having a teacher really did help. If Vlad weren’t so much of a fruit loop it might have been nice to have a mentor.

But despite his insistence that Sups was doing well, Superman has been a lot more frustrated with his progress. He hasn’t lost his optimism and his determination to improve was admirable. Danny wondered if his face would hurt from all the smiling Superman was doing with it. But Superman it turns out was actually incredibly hard on himself. The fact that they were both presently bared from helping people was also clearly bothering him.

Danny felt a similar need, though the fact that it wasn’t colored by the normal cold desperation of his core was strange. Maybe that was why Superman was struggling so much! Maybe he just wasn’t used to the feeling of obsession. He needed to tell him as soon as possible but that would have to come with the rest of his speech...

See, Danny needed to go home and be Fenton tomorrow. Lancer had made it very clear that he couldn’t get away with an absence or a tardy. If he didn’t make up this test tomorrow, he would be suspended form school and his parents would be called and he’d even have to attend a hearing about it. He had to be at school tomorrow. Lancer wasn’t going to give him anymore chances.

But as it stood, he couldn’t attend as superman and the team of ghost hunting heroes weren’t any closer to changing them back. So Superman would have to attend school for him as Fenton.

Which meant Danny would have to tell Superman about Fenton.

Monday was coming too quickly.

Superman watched as Phantom rambled, impressed at how much the boy could say without saying anything. It would be a good talent to have with the press. As a reporter he had a vested interest in the truth but as a hero he could see the good in being able to keep one’s secrets.

“Danny, could you please get to the point,” he asked patiently. It’d been a trying week and while he’s been rather irritable lately, that was hardly Phantom’s fault. He was in the same boat after all and he wasn’t the one who made the wish. Phantom had also been trying his best to help him master his new powers, so Superman wasn’t in the position to hold a grudge against him.

He was presently more disappointed in himself. While he stood by his argument that Phantom could stand to be more responsible, he was the one who stated the fight and he was the one who messed up. Because of his mistake people were now in danger and he couldn’t do anything to help them. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He needed to be out there saving people, but until he could control Phantom’s powers he wouldn’t be able to save anyone. It was a frustrating contradiction and it was eating away at him

“Right.” Phantom was saying. “OK. OK, we just gotta rip the band-aid off. Just get it over with and then explain. Right. I can do this. OK. Superman I want you to reach inside your chest and find the warm spot.”

Superman blinked at the hero. The warm spot?

Ever since he’d become Phantom he’d been practically numb with cold. As far as he could tell ghosts weren’t supposed to be warm. Did this have to do with the core Danny kept talking about?

Superman closed his eyes and sure enough, Danny wasn’t wrong. There was a feeling a warmth near his heart, almost hot compared to the rest of his body. Superman mentally held onto the warmth and suddenly...

There was a flash of white light and two glowing rings passed around him. His black super suit was replaced with a white and red t-shirt and jeans. His feet landed heavily on the floor and he could feel again, feel the way a living person was meant to. He was also hit with the heavy weight of exhaustion. it was a level of weariness that he had never felt before, not even returning from the dead carried quite this level of tiredness. Superman didn’t like the feeling.

“Right,” Danny said anxiously. “So, this is my human form. I’m what’s known as a halfa. I’m half ghost, half human and there only three of my kind in existence right now.”

Superman stood up strait. “you’re alive?”

Danny was rubbing the back of his neck and refusing to meet his eyes. “Yeah, I mean technically. I’m sorta like Schrodinger's cat, I’m both alive and dead at the same time. We don’t really get the science behind it, but I mean magic and aliens are real and we know of several after lives so it’s whatever, I guess.”

Superman simply stared at his look-a-like. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest now. He could gravity bearing down on him and a desperate kinda hunger that hadn’t been satisfied by the portions he’d eaten as a ghost. 

Superman stared at his hand. It was young but it was calloused and scared. Minute burns shined on fingers and his nails were dirty and bitten away. It was a human hand. In his chest he could feel the remains of the icy numbness but right now he was human. 

Phantom was human.

“How old are you?” he asked quietly. A vague feeling of horror was coming up over him like a wave.

Danny laughed nervously. “Um, I’m sixteen, now? I've done a little time travel so my exact age is a little less precise. But I've been dead for about two years.”

He said it so matter-of-factly. He was a child, an actual child.

And somehow he had died and taken on the responsibility of being a hero.

“How?” is what he asked.

Phantom bit his lip and looked very uncomfortable. “It’s not really something I talk about. I mean you’re actually the first person I've properly told my secret to. everyone else usually figures it out on their own or they catch me when I have no choice but to change. The actual story is kind of embarrassing.”

Curiosity burned within him but Clark nodded. “Take your time, son.”

“It’s so weird seeing me act like you,” Danny commented distractedly. ”Like you make it looked like I actually know what I’m doing. You need to stop that. You can’t do that at school or people will notice.”

“School?” Superman gasped. The child was attending school on top of hero work!? Clark hadn’t started proper heroics until after he graduated. What was this boy thinking. He could get... he could get killed.

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I’m telling you. I’m sorry to ask this but I can’t afford anymore absences, so I kinda need you to go to school for me tomorrow. I would obviously do it myself but-” Phantom gestured to his body. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while and I know we don’t have a lot of time for a crash course in Danny, but don’t worry, you won’t be alone. My friends and my sisters will help cover for you.”

“What about your parents?” Superman couldn’t help but wonder.

Phantom winced. “Um... they don’t know about this. They can’t know. They’re ghost hunters and for all their best intentions they tend make situations more dangerous rather than safer. And I also sorta have someone blackmailing me to keep it a secret from them but that’s a whole different level of complicated and it’s not something you’ll have to worry about.”

Superman could only gape at the child. “What happened to you?” the sense of horror had solidly taken its grip of him. Blackmail? Ghost hunting parents? Who was protecting him?

Phantom laughed nervously. “I just stepped into a portal to another dimension and activated it while inside, nothing too strange.” He said it like it was a joke, but it was obviously not a joke. The look of panic in Danny's eyes and his desire to flee was obvious.

Superman took a long breath and tried to regain his footing. “Phantom,” he said as gently and as kindly as possible. He though of his father and his endless patience when it came to Clark and his power issues. He could offer that to Danny. He had to. “Son, I really need you to tell me everything. If I’m going to help you properly, I need the truth. I won’t judge you. I won’t hold anything you tell me against you. I just need to know the truth.”

Phantom relaxed minutely. “You sound like my sister.”

“I’m sure she’s a lovely young woman.”

“Right. Yeah. Okay.” Phantom said. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

And he did.

Later that night, Clark Kent's head was still ringing with the young boys tale. He’d always respected Phantom. They shared similar philosophies and ethics. Phantom was a hero through and through. But to find out the man behind the strength and determination was a child in over his head, was disturbing.

He knew Phantom was more than capable of taking care of himself and looking after the people in his protection. But to hear the story, to know that it wasn’t a thirty year ghost fulfilling an obsession but a sixteen year old child actively choosing to put himself in danger, to know that at any moment Phantom could die completely, it shed the hero in a new light.

It also filled him with an irrational sense of guilt. He knew there was nothing he could have done to change phantoms situation. He had no way of knowing or stopping Danny's accident. But still his stomach twisted because he was helpless with this. He couldn’t very well demand Phantom stop his hero work, he did too much good and he didn’t seem nearly as disturbed by his circumstance as Superman felt.

Perhaps, he was reading too much into things. Phantom has always been a good kid after all and good things come to good people. That’s just karma.

Clark set his jaw in determination. He’ll be one of those good things, he decided. He’ll make things easier for Danny. Just you wait!

 (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (here) (part 5)