#lancer of the waking world; aria

[atdutiesend]

S C O O P.

"You rang?"

"I demand the softest, snuggliest cuddles please."

[dannyphantomisameme]

Excuses

Phic Phight Prompt by @ave-aria 

“In the wake of Phantom Planet, school resumes at Casper High. Lancer tries to collect homework assigned before the Disasteroid, but - of course - who does homework during the end of the world? Nobody, that's who.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He was late. Again.

Lancer was surely going to kill him. He’d been late to school everyday last week and by now he could recognize that his first period teacher was getting annoyed. In addition to his horrible attendance, he hadn’t completed the assignment that was due today, but this time, he had a reasonable excuse.

Capping the thermos in his hand, he stuffed it into his purple backpack which slung loosely across his shoulder. He leaped into the air, setting off in an attempt to make it before his first class ended. Today, it had taken an abnormal amount of time to get Technus to surrender, considering he didn’t have Tuck and his PDA. But he had finally done it, and now he was late.

Soaring through the air with the minimal amount of energy he had after barely receiving any sleep last night, he headed in the direction of the only high school in miles.

Casper High was notorious for its constant claims of ghost infestations. Although other high schools ridiculed the institution for its absurd claims, the citizens of Amity Park knew the reality of it all. The students often received breaks because of the constant rebuilding required to fix the destruction ghost attacks posed. Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those days.

He swiftly descended onto the the ground and landed on the stairs in front of the school. He dashed into the building, running as quick as he could while transforming. A ring of blue light fell from the top of his head all the way to his feet, leaving an alternate version of himself. His shoes skidded against the linoleum floor as he turned a corner. Running down the hall once again, he turned another corner and slammed into an unsuspecting figure.

“Sorry!” He yelped as he regained his composure and took off once again. He had run into Principal Ishiyama, who was left confused at his hasty appearance. She shouted after him, but Danny didn’t take the time to listen. He finally found the classroom door and quickly opened it.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The door swung open, interrupting Lancer and revealing a disarrayed teen. “Sorry I’m la-” Daniel replied in haste only to suddenly stop as he noticed the stares he was receiving. All of the students had their eyes on him. Looking back at everyone with a questioning glance, the boy shuffled into the classroom and closed the door behind him.

Although Lancer understood why people were staring at him, it felt odd that Daniel, an outcast, was being watched like a celebrity, which ironically, he was.

“It’s nice to see you Mr. Fenton.” Lancer greeted as the raven haired boy shuffled over to his desk at the back of the classroom. Everyone’s stares followed him as he sat down and placed his backpack on the ground. Just as the student sat down, a sudden explosion of voices from the others filled the previous silence. The cacophony of conversations prompted an annoyed Lancer to silence his students.

“Students, please be quiet.” Lancer said in an aggravated tone. “I understand that there are some matters from this weekend that you would like to discuss, and I will allow you to, once I’ve collected your assignments from Friday.”

His students eyes went wide as they realized they hadn’t done their homework. Even the smartest kids who usually had their homework completed weeks in advance had managed to completely forget about the assignment. Given the circumstances that the world had been in danger and was close to destruction, it felt fitting for the students to dismiss their assignments and only hope that a certain ghost boy could save their world.

“Please hand your assignments to the front of the classroom, and then we can continue with our plans.” Lancer said as he glanced around the classroom.

Nobody stood up.

The students looked around the class to see if anyone had completed the assignment, but no one had.

“Is there anybody who did the homework?” Lancer asked only to receive shaking heads in return. One student raised their hand.

“In our defense sir, we were in a global crisis. How could we have worked on our homework when the world was in danger?” said Mikey somewhat defiantly, unlike his usually introverted self. Another hand shot up.

“Like, it would have been impossible to do my homework when some giant asteroid was hurtling towards me.” Paulina said as she filed at her nails. Lancer swore he could hear Samantha mutter something along the lines of ‘not everything revolves around you Paulina’, leaving him battling to keep his smile from showing.

Lancer let out a sigh. How was he going to teach his class if no one had done the preparatory work for today’s lecture? After considering the situation for another minute, he decided to let it slide. He could adjust his teaching schedule to accommodate for one day.

“Alright fine. I’ll extend the date to tomorrow. Rest of the class is a free period. Please keep your conversations to a low volume.” Lancer instructed as he sat down in his desk chair. All the students turned backwards to face Daniel, some even moving their desks.

“Uh Fentur- I mean Fenton, is it true? Are you really Phantom?” Dash asked as he turned to face the raven haired boy. The question intrigued Lancer and he decided to listen in while simultaneously reading through his emails.

He had seen the news and the revelation as Phantom as his own student, Mr. Fenton. It had initially shocked him, how could one be a human and a ghost simultaneously? Was he even human? How had this come to be?

As he further pondered the questions, gears began to click as he recognized his obliviousness to this whole situation. How had he not noticed the student’s constant bathroom breaks and late attendances? The injuries he seemed to sustain after returning from said breaks? The daily uncompleted assignments? The lack of sleep he seemed to have?

The teacher had previously chalked it all up to bullying, as he had known Mr. Fenton was a common punching bag for the upperclassmen jocks. He knew it was wrong to not discipline the jocks for their disrespectful behavior, but they were considered the schools prized possession and on strict orders under principal Ishiyama to not be penalized for their misconduct. It frustrated Lancer, not being able to uphold his moral standards just because some school wanted to make money off of their students.

But he let it slide, only for the sake of not being fired. Any salary, even one as small as his, was necessary for his survival. At hearing the voice of his most reserved student, he was sucked out of his thoughts and brought back into reality.

“Well, uh… yeah I guess.” Daniel stuttered as he rubbed his neck with his hand. It was a common gesture that Lancer had caught on to over the years. The student used it whenever he felt shy, timid, or was bending the truth and making an excuse.

“Can you show us?! I wanna see the ghost boy!” Paulina practically screeched. She was the one who ran the Danny Phantom Fan Club, however despite her immense liking for the famous hero, she wasn’t the only one bouncing out of her seat in joy.

“Uh,.. I don’t know.” He said eyes shifting to the ground. It was obvious he wasn’t enjoying the attention from his fellow classmates. His best friend Tucker nudged his elbow in an attempt to get Daniel to continue. “Mr. Lancer, can I-?”

“Go ahead Daniel.” Lancer said as he nodded towards the boy. Daniel stared back in disbelief. It was obvious he didn’t want to transform into his alternate self so soon after his revelation, let alone in front of a group of his crazed fans. But he couldn’t say no to his classmates, especially with the approval of Lancer.

Sighing, the boy stood up and backed up near the wall. He looked around the class and suddenly two rings appeared at his waist. Lancer couldn’t remove his eyes from the spectacle. It was one thing seeing it on TV, but it was another to see it up close and personal.

One ring descended to his feet while the other rose to his hair, leaving the boy looking like an inverted version of himself. The students ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the wondrous display of light, some girls were even screaming at the sight of their beloved hero.

Once the rings disappeared, Daniel levitated off the ground, neon green eyes piercing the crowd of unruly teenagers. Lancer noticed himself gawking at the sight and quickly reoriented himself. How did his most enigmatic students manage to save the entire world? The student who he thought would never amount to anything? The student with the worst grades he had ever seen in his entire career of being a teacher?

But Daniel had proved him wrong. He’d never seen a student rise so quickly from the dead, quite literally too. He’d secretly been one of the most iconic people in town, and now globally. It truly warmed his heart to know that his student had been the one to save the world. If only he had known sooner of Daniel’s alternative self, he might’ve helped the boy on his assignments and decreased his overall workload.

“I can’t believe it. You really are Phantom…” Dash murmured.

“Wow Fenton, what else can you do?” Kwan shouted.

“Can you take me on a ride ghostboy?” Paulina asked in a flirtatious voice.

Several other students began talking simultaneously, making Lancer annoyed. It seemed as if Samantha and Tucker were also displeased at the several voices.

“Quiet down students. Daniel can only answer one question at a time, so please, raise your hands.” Daniel seemed to let go of his tense posture as he slowly returned to a slouch.

“Uh... Valerie.” Daniel said as he pointed to the African American girl in the back after looking through the crowd of students.

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” She asked somewhat aggressively with narrow eyes. Her question seemed to have some hidden meaning, but Lancer couldn’t define what exactly was her true message.

“I couldn’t risk anyone’s lives in danger.”

“What about Sam and Tuck? They knew about it. Weren’t their lives important?” She questioned the boy.

“Well uh, they were there when it happened…” Daniel replied unsurely.

“It?” Valerie asked as she leaned out of her seat and towards the ghostly teen.

“The accident.” Daniel said dropping back to the ground and transforming into his former self. He seemed uncomfortable at the mention of this accident, which meant Lancer would need to intervene. Before he could, Samantha replied.

“Val let’s not talk about that day, ok? Clearly he’s not ready.” She said standing up and looking the African American girl squarely in the eye. Valerie reclined back in her chair from her previous tense posture and began muttering something incoherent.

“Next question.” said Samantha as she turned to face the students who had once again shot their hands into the air in an effort to be called on. “Lester.”

“What powers do you have?” asked the red haired boy from the back.

“Uh, ecto-ray, intangibility, invisibility, flight, ecto-shield, cryokinesis, body manipulation, extra strength, extra healing, and uh… those are the ones I can list off of the top of my head.” Said Daniel as he crossed his arms over his chest. Lester was left in awe as he wished he had powers too.

The class continued like this until the last five minutes of the class period, where Lancer interrupted the students Q&A session to remind them of their assignment tomorrow.

“Remember students, complete Friday’s homework by the beginning of class tomorrow if you would like to earn credit. I will adjust our schedule to accommodate for today’s missed lesson. This means you will have double the assignments tomorrow. Is that clear for everyone?”

Many students groaned, while some replied with a ‘yes’. They began to gather their things and straighten out the desks to their previous placements. The bell rang a second later and students began filing out of the classroom, conversing amongst themselves.

“Mr. Fenton, could you come see me for a moment?” Lancer said as he glanced at the boy. He nodded towards his friends, who left the classroom to wait for him outside. The boy shuffled up to Lancers desk, backpack loosely hanging off his shoulder.  

“Daniel, I want you to know that I’m proud of you.” Lancer said with a smile, prompting the teen to return the smile as well.

“Thanks Mr. Lancer. You don’t know how great that is to hear from you.” He said through his wide grin.

“Just when I thought I might have to recommend your for summer school, you manage to save the entire world.” Lancer said sarcastically. “I’m just curious, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped you.”

“Like I said Lancer, I couldn’t risk your’s or anyone’s life. If you knew I was Phantom, the ghosts would come after you.” The raven haired boy replied quickly.

Daniel’s answer was reasonable, but something felt missing. It was as if he was leaving some crucial information out of the picture.

“Is that truly why you didn’t tell anyone?” Lancer questioned.

The boy was left speechless, and Lancer knew why. He had uncovered another part of his student that he had kept so strongly concealed. Daniel stared at Lancer for a few seconds before replying in a lower and softer voice.

“I didn’t know if people would accept me. Would I be even more of a freak than I am now?” he replied staring at his shoes.

“Daniel, you realize that no matter who or what you are, I will always accept you. You’ve done astounding things with your special powers, and despite your mix of identities, I will always be there for you. And like I said, I am very proud of you…”

Daniel stood there soaking in the words, for a moment he looked like he was going to say something, but then he shut his mouth. He walked around the desk and towards the teacher. He then wrapped his arms around Lancer, and Lancer returned the embrace. The two hugged for a moment, with Lancer patting Daniel on the back. Leaving the embrace, Lancer spoke to his student.

“Now go to your friends, they’re waiting.” he said with a smile.

“Thank you Mr. Lancer.” Danny said looking straight at his teacher. Lancer could’ve sworn he saw a flash of green light from the student’s eye, before he turned around and walked into the hallway.

Lancer watched as the trio walked past the door and into the sea of students.

He really was proud of the enigma everyone called Danny Fenton.

And so was everybody else.

[pseudinymous]

A Zest for Life

Phic Phight / Team Ghost / 798 words

Prompt by @ave-aria

In the wake of Phantom Planet, school resumes at Casper High. Lancer tries to collect homework assigned before the Disasteroid, but — of course — who does homework during the end of the world? Nobody, that’s who.

Lancer walked the halls of Casper High without the spring in his step one might expect from someone who’d just survived literally the end of the world. His arms — empty. Frustratingly, infuriatingly empty. He’d been through three different classes today and not one of his pupils had managed to complete the assigned homework. They’d had a week to do it — sure, sure, maybe that week was a slightly distracting one given that everyone thought they were about to die, but it just didn’t do to take academic performance so lightly.

Just where did these children think their futures were going to go in their adult lives if they were unable to work under the crushing, crippling pressure of multiple existential crises? After working an office job for ten years were they simply going to give in to the horrifying inevitability of death? Fold over, curl up and die? Because that’s what was happening here. They were throwing their lives away!

… That’s what Lancer might have thought if he were at all the disposition of Mrs Tetslaff. In reality, it was all bemusement and conjecture he used to get over the fact that nary seventeen hours ago he really had thought he was about to die, and so even he managed a tired smile as several students bolted through the corridor.

He could have told them off. Should have, really. But they were alive, celebrating living — if that wasn’t school spirit, he didn’t know what was. Who cared about the homework anyway?

Lancer walked into his fourth class that day. Fifth period, almost the end of his daily teaching stretch, an English literature class. Bright young faces looked up at him and in spite of the hunch in his back he couldn’t help but beam a little back, masking the tiredness in his eyes.

“Well class, it’s good to see you all here today!” he said. Not a seat was empty. He expected some students might be off somewhere trying to live it up after such a serious brush with death, but attendance was attendance, and this was the first day back at school after the national emergency had been dropped. “I don’t suppose any of you managed the homework either, so I don’t think I shall be handing out detentions for—”

“Aah, Mr Lancer!” Jazz. It was Jazz. His favourite student. The brightest of futures amongst all of them. And in her hand, her nails decorated by oddly individualistic icy blue nail polish, she held an essay. “I’ve got it right here!”

Lancer froze as though he were looking at a cryptid. Granted, she was a Fenton, Fentons were well known for being cryptids, but the pieces of paper she was holding were far more deserving of that description. The gel ink she’d written with glistened brightly in the afternoon sun, shining its incandescent light into the homeworkless hellscape that had taunted him for the past five hours.

She grinned. This was her final year before she entered college, and come hell or high water (or in this case an asteroid), nothing was going to screw it up for her.

“… Nineteen Eighty-Four, you did the homework?” Lancer stammered. “I didn’t even grade the tests!”

“Well, homework is homework, right?”

Under any normal circumstances yes, but the end of the world was not normal circumstances.

A few scenarios ran through his head, each more dizzying than the next. About the worst of it was this: Jazz sitting down with her essay as the asteroid loomed over the Earth, writing feverishly just in case she wouldn’t have time to finish before it hit. Was that even dedication anymore? Or — and he felt like he was Jazz herself for even thinking it — did that perhaps qualify as a type of addiction? A disorder of the mind that convinced one to act very strangely even in the face of Hell?

… It didn’t matter. He smiled gratefully as he took her paper, hiding every etch of shock from that point forward. This was her, after all, and this is what she felt she had to do. Nothing he said was ever going to change a mind like that. For her efforts, he’d give a review. The most detailed review he’d ever given, because no one deserved to get into a scholarship program quite like someone who kept studying during the threat of the apocalypse.

He’d make sure she’d get there. It was the least he could do.

“Ms Fenton, you must know I appreciate your efforts,” he said, grinning as he held up the paper. “But you should know that next time there’s a world-ending asteroid threatening to reduce the Earth to cosmic dusts, you are quite welcome to be excused.”

She smiled back even as the class laughed.

A zest for life.