#while Lancer believes he is talking with the ghost of a former student. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ladylynse · 6 years ago

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Ectober 2018, Day 19: Mistakes

Helpless: Part 3 (Part 1 | Part 2)

The more Star looks, the more cracks and inconsistencies she sees in Danny’s story—not that that makes it much easier to fill in the blanks.

Now that she was watching for it, Star could see of a lot of things that didn’t add up where Danny Fenton was concerned.

It had been almost a week, and she still bore the telltale scratches and bruises from the ghost fight and her fall through the floor—or, more accurately, her landing and subsequent journey in the dark. But Danny, who had been fighting and dodging and slipping and ramming into desks, looked fine.

He always looked fine.

Even though Dash had shoved him into his locker three times this week.

She didn’t cheer Dash on anymore, but she hadn’t said anything to try to stop it, either. After her detention and with her appearance being what it was, she was on thin ice with the A-listers until she was blemish-free again. She’d seen what had happened to Valerie; she didn’t want to go through that herself if she could avoid it.

And if she stuck out her neck for Fenton now, he’d know something was up.

If preserving the status quo and actually learning the truth meant enduring the scowls of Danny’s loser friends who probably knew more of the story than she did, then so be it.

She kept a closer eye on him in the classes they shared together. Given how often he fell asleep in class, it was easy to believe he was up half the night helping Phantom fight ghosts. It was less easy to believe he managed that without his parents noticing anything, but she didn’t know Mr. and Mrs. Fenton very well, all things considered.

What she noted now, though, was the way Danny would abruptly sit up with a gasp before making up some excuse to leave class. Lancer knew it was only an excuse—he had to—but he usually let Danny go anyway. Eventually, if not immediately. Maybe in case it wasn’t just an excuse. Or because he knew Danny would run off anyway.

Shortly thereafter, there would be some signs of a ghost fight, and Phantom would be there.

Danny never was.

If Phantom was waking Danny up—if the shock of being touched by an invisible ghost was what had him gasping and inventing excuses—then what purpose did Danny play? Surely he wasn’t just the weapons supplier. If he were, he’d just need to keep a stockpile somewhere Phantom could get at it. She was pretty sure even the stuff that ghosts couldn’t phase through could still be phased out a locker.

There were a few times Danny came back with a limp or cradling an arm, but he always tried to brush it off. The one time it had looked more serious to Star’s eye, Sam and Tucker had watched him like hawks, and Danny had managed to avoid Dash that day. He’d favoured his leg in gym, but after that? He hadn’t been skipping home, but he hadn’t been limping, either.

She knew people who didn’t bruise very easily, but she didn’t know anyone else who could shake off an injury that fast. His parents were scientists, but she wasn’t convinced he trusted them enough to take experimental drugs, and she doubted they’d actually experiment on their kids. But how could Phantom help heal him? Ectoplasm helped ghosts regenerate because they were made of the stuff. Besides, as far as she understood, ectoplasm had to be incredibly concentrated or in extremely high levels to have any noticeable effect on humans.

Star closed her locker, and Valerie was there, waiting for her, as she had been every day. This time, Paulina wasn’t around to head her off; she’d slipped into the washroom to reapply her lipstick, making it quite clear that even if Star didn’t come with her, she was expected to wait.

Which made her a sitting duck for Valerie.

“You can’t avoid me forever,” Valerie hissed. “I know associating with me doesn’t do you any social favours, but the least you can do is fill me in. You can’t just change the subject whenever we talk on the phone.”

Valerie knew there had been a ghost fight. The entire school knew it. Valerie also knew Star had been in detention that day, and—coupled with her appearance now and at the Nasty Burger—would’ve put two and two together. Star had seen her trying to talk to Danny before, but Valerie clearly hadn’t been satisfied with his answers, which was why she kept coming back to Star.

“It was a ghost attack. Like always.” Star shifted her bag, wondering how long she could stall before Valerie would have to run to the Nasty Burger to start her shift. Probably not long enough. “It was some new ghost, an ice one. I hadn’t seen him before.”

“What’d it look like?”

“Like he could use a haircut. And a makeover.” Star managed not to smile at Valerie’s frown, but she really would be suspicious if Star didn’t spill some of the obvious details. “He wasn’t human, just humanoid. Kinda like that talking wolf, except he spoke English.”

“How did he fight?”

“Like a ghost.” Star really wasn’t sure what Valerie was asking—or why, for that matter. “Just…ice attacks, flying, phasing, that sort of thing. He was good. Thought he might get us before Phantom showed up to take care of him.”

Valerie couldn’t hide her scowl. “Danny said Phantom phased you guys out of the room.”

“He saved us. Every exit was frozen over. He’s the only reason we aren’t popsicles. I know you don’t like him, Valerie, but cut him some slack. He’s at least trying to make up for all the bad things he’s done, and I’m pretty sure the good outweighs the bad.”

“Not yet it doesn’t,” Valerie muttered.

Star decided not to poke the bear. She knew Valerie’s opinion of Phantom wasn’t going to change easily. “I lost my phone in the fight. Danny found it, but he didn’t stick around, and after everything was over, I didn’t know where he was. That’s why I needed your phone. Happy?”

“Not really. I’m not convinced you’re telling me everything, and I’m definitely not convinced you can take care of yourself if you’re in another fight. You’re still my friend. I don’t want to see a ghost get you. Phantom’s not always going to be pretending to be the good guy.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Star said, “but if that’s the case, wait till he makes a mistake to set your sights on him, okay? He’s helping now.”

“If you took some lessons and learned how to defend yourself—”

“Valerie, these are ghosts. If one of them wanted to, they could fly into me and take over my body right now. No training is going to help that.”

“Actually, mental—”

“I don’t want to have this conversation again,” Star interrupted. “I appreciate your concern, I do, but I’ve got other things to think about right now.”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “What you’re going to wear to Paulina’s party tomorrow doesn’t count.”

Star hadn’t forgotten about that—Paulina was talking about it too much for that to be possible—but it was one of the farthest things from her mind.

Best not to let Valerie realize that, though.

She said nothing, letting Valerie assume she’d caught her out.

“Just…promise me you’ll at least think about learning some self-defence? And maybe picking up one of the FentonWorks weapons? They had this laser lipstick thing at their last show—”

“Valerie, I’m more likely to forget I have something like a laser lipstick and accidentally fry half my face when I go to put it on than to actually use it well in a ghost fight. I mean, come on. I get that you’re interested in this stuff after what happened, but don’t pretend you’re an expert. You barely know more than I do when it comes to actual ghost hunting. It’s not like you’re carrying around a bag full of weapons right now, are you?”

Valerie winced. “Point taken,” she conceded at last, “but at least I’m educated.”

“Consider me warned,” Star said, “and we’ll work on educated and trained later.” She flicked her eyes over Valerie’s shoulder. “Paulina’s done. I’ve gotta go.”

“Okay, Star. Just…be careful. Don’t trust everyone so much, okay? Especially Phantom.”

Especially Phantom? What about especially Danny? If his sleep patterns were anything to go by, he’d been doing this while dating her. And since Val’s hatred of Phantom wasn’t exactly a secret, even if she tried not to let it get the better of her, Star sincerely doubted Danny had told her anything.

No wonder they hadn’t lasted.

“I know what I’m doing,” Star murmured as she walked past, “but thanks anyway.”

She hated being rude to Valerie, but Paulina was waiting for her now, and there was only so much Star could get away with. Valerie would know that, even if she wouldn’t like it. It was…hard, maintaining even this much of a friendship with a former A-lister. They were supposed to cut all ties when someone was dropped from the group, but Star had been that person, and she’d hated it. The balancing act she did now, walking the line and sometimes straddling two rungs of the social ladder—that’s about as adventurous as she got. Protection had never lain in rebellion with Star; she’d found surviving a lot easier when she fit in. When she blended in. When she wasn’t a target—from ghosts or other students.

Now, she was beginning to realize just how much she might have missed because of that.

Valerie didn’t have to hide her determination, her fierceness, her fire. She was a force to be reckoned with and everyone knew it, which had saved her from being a bottom feeder on the social food chain when she’d been dropped from the A-listers.

Danny? He apparently had a double life. He worked with Phantom, something that could win him instant social fame, but he didn’t take advantage of that.

She remembered how hard he and Tucker had tried to claw their way up, both before and after Manson had come to town. She remembered Danny’s horribly obvious crush on Paulina. Even after losing his pants while asking her out and otherwise making a huge fool of himself and becoming the laughing stock of the school, he could have saved everything. He could have used Phantom as leverage.

He hadn’t.

So why not?

He had never struck her as someone who thought long and hard about consequences of things like that. Manson? Sure. That girl was more aware than Foley or Fenton. She had some pull, even if the other two didn’t realize quite how much. But for Fenton to hold off on something that could give him what he wanted? For Foley to keep quiet about it when he had to know what was going on, when his association with Danny would win him favour if the truth about Danny and Phantom came out?

No.

This wasn’t just keeping something from Danny’s parents.

Especially not if they knew how his sister felt about Phantom and everything he was doing for this town.

They might not know how much Danny associated with ghosts, and they wouldn’t like the idea of Danny fighting with a ghost against other ghosts, but they’d be thrilled that he was hunting ghosts at all. They’d be training him, too. He wouldn’t need to sneak around and get training from ghosts in wherever the heck this Far Frozen place was supposed to be. He could get good training from them, use the opportunity to plead Phantom’s case, and maybe use his previous work with Phantom as evidence to bolster his case that Phantom wasn’t the bad guy. It might be rough, but they could find out what he was up to and things would turn out more or less all right.

So what really had him spooked?

Paulina was talking about tomorrow night’s party again, chattering enough for the two of them as they made their way to the Nasty Burger. Star paid only as much attention as necessary; she was too busy planning her reason to leave. Danny was in detention again—he hadn’t turned in his last assignment, so Lancer was making him do it under his watch—and Star planned to catch up with him when he got out.

His friends Sam and Tucker apparently had the same idea and had claimed their usual spot at the Nasty Burger.

This time, she didn’t assume their frequent glances out the window meant they hoped Danny might arrive early.

If he was involved in something, chances were very good that they were, too.

But if Phantom was going to pick allies, why them? Even if he wanted the insider info on all the FentonWorks weapons that Danny could provide, Jazz was likely the better source for that. And she was definitely less clumsy than her brother if Phantom actually needed help in the field. Even if her coordination wasn’t great off the start, it wouldn’t take her long to improve. So why Danny over Jazz? Or why not just go to the Fentons for information and nothing else?

If Phantom just wanted a fighter, why not enlist one of the jocks? Because he didn’t think they could keep a secret? Or because they were an obvious choice? Danny certainly wasn’t. But maybe that was why. He wasn’t the smartest kid in school or a star football player. He still had things to lose, but maybe it wasn’t as steep a trade. To be honest, Star couldn’t remember how good Danny’s grades had been before all this, but they’d slipped. He never used to get into this much trouble. Maybe Phantom hadn’t wanted someone with more to lose to risk it—not just for their sake, but for his.

Because Danny was less visible.

And the reasons for his sliding grades and truant behaviour could be explained in other ways; they already were.

He wasn’t just a convenient choice; he was a strategic one.

Star made her excuses to Paulina ten minutes before Danny was due to get out of detention. She’d missed him two days ago—she still wasn’t sure how—and had had cheerleading practice on the weekend ahead of yesterday’s game. Danny could be surprisingly difficult to find; even with all the information she’d managed to wheedle out of Valerie while trying to avoid giving away too much about the ghost attack, it felt like sometimes he just dropped off the face of the earth.

Not that she’d ever actually gone to his house.

That would instantly kill her chances to stay an A-lister for sure, since word was bound to get around even if there were no visible witnesses. (The ghosts had to be gossips.) And she couldn’t afford that. She just wanted information right now, and tracking Danny down at his house without a good reason wasn’t the way to get that. She wasn’t willing to commit social suicide for this. Not yet.

But try to get evidence of him working with Phantom? Sure. Except she still didn’t have anything concrete. She couldn’t even prove that it was Phantom contacting Danny during class.

Eavesdrop whenever possible? Definitely. She just rarely got the opportunity, since Paulina made a point of avoiding losers whenever possible. When she did overhear something, most of it didn’t make sense, and she typically couldn’t tell when Danny and his friends were talking about some video game and when they weren’t.

That’s why Star had decided to take another risk and straight up talk to Danny again. Not another demand for explanations—that still wouldn’t work—but a plea. She wanted an introduction. A meeting. She wanted to thank Phantom for saving her—and see what he said about the situation. It was an angle she hadn’t had a chance to explore, and she needed whatever she could get.

She was a block from the school when she heard the explosion, and as she rounded the corner, she saw the smoke.

Another ghost attack.

Which meant Danny would have been let out of detention early again, for his own safety.

Star groaned and started to run, not sure if there was even a chance that she could catch up to him now. He was probably long gone. Anyone smart would be. They wouldn’t be running towards a fight like she was!

Except that he said he did this on a regular basis. Just not out in the open where anyone—including his parents—could see him.

As she reached the front lawn of the school, Star’s foot came down on a loose clump of dirt, a remnant from a previous explosion. She twisted, instinct from cheerleading practice not quite enough to prevent pain from stabbing up her leg. She rolled to a stop and hissed out a breath as she touched her ankle. This wasn’t enough to take her out, but it would slow her down.

“Star, watch out!”

She turned at the call and could only stare at the stray missile rocketing towards her. She lurched forward—

--and her entire body went cold.

Weightless.

The missile exploded, and dirt flew through her.

It was just like before, except she wasn’t sinking into the ground beneath her feet. Instead of pushing her or letting her fall, Phantom had a death grip around her middle and was pulling her out of the blast zone. She knew he was flying—she could see the ground moving; they weren’t just hovering in one spot—but she couldn’t feel the wind.

Heaviness and warmth smothered her as Phantom released her. Her legs buckled despite her best efforts. When she looked back at him, he had his hands on his knees and was panting. “Run,” was all he said when he noticed her gaze. As if she could run very easily after what she’d done. “I’ll lead him the other way.”

Him.

Skulker.

Someone he’d taken down hundreds of times by now. What was different this time? Sure, sometimes Skulker’s suit went through various upgrades, but—

“You don’t have a thermos,” she blurted as realization struck. No thermos, no way of catching the ghost.

But wasn’t that what Danny was supposed to provide? Weapons? Support? I help Phantom, he’d said, but where was he now? He couldn’t just be used for information, not with how he’d moved. He’d been in more than the few ghost fights she’d seen; experience had been evident in his every move, every calculation.

Phantom didn’t stop, didn’t even glance back, and she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her. He yelled a taunt at Skulker instead, trying to get the other ghost to chase him. Trying to draw Skulker’s attention away from her, the newcomer who might otherwise be used to bait Phantom into a trap. Just like Danny had done with Icebreaker.

Star was on her feet, favouring one leg but still standing on two, when Skulker’s retort came: “Your pelt will be mine, whelp!”

Nothing she hadn’t heard before. Phantom’s response was equally predictable. She’d be more surprised that he knew her name than at what he said now if she didn’t know he worked with Danny.

But then Skulker growled, “A halfa pelt will be the prize of my collection,” following it all with another volley of missiles as he flew after Phantom, and Star’s breath caught in her throat.

Continued for Day 26

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#ectober 2018 #danny phantom #fanfiction #ectober2018 #phanfiction #dp fanfiction #star #valerie gray #my writing #ladylynse #snippets #dp snippet

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