#What if PHIGHTING mean girls au

[mossy-paws]

Cutiespace but what if he liked Mean Girls (PHIGHTING!)

This is my personal headcanon. You can not tell me that cutiespace would not worship Ragina George

anyways small stress reliever thing :3! I promise I’m working on comms but mermaid au content is definitely gonna take a bit since I gotta go do all of my art fight reference sheets since it’s coming up! Anyways enjoy cutiespace but mean girls off I go!

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Respect or Privacy (1)

Tucker is excited for everything about college, even having a roommate for the first time. At least, he is until his roommate Danny turns out to be standoffish and a little bit of a dick. Whatever. It's a disappointment, but he'll survive. The same might not be said of Danny.

This is my first fic for Phic Phight 2024. The prompts I used were:

College AU where the characters don't meet until college and Danny has to hide his halfa status from his dorm roommate (your choice which character that is) [from @shadowfaerieammy], and Tucker fucked up. Hard. But it’s like, how the hell was he supposed to know that hacking the federal government was a bad idea? [from @lexosaurus]

You can also read it on AO3.

Chapter 1: Fuck Around (Chapter 2)

[No warnings apply]

Tucker was excited for college. After the nightmare that was high school (his dad's "just be confident and people will like you and treat you well" advice had been complete garbage), he was looking forward to a school experience where everyone had actually signed up for and more-or-less wanted to be there. He was looking forward to studying programming and information technology, and spending six hours a day on average hanging out with people who were just as interested in those subjects as he was.

Then, obviously, there were the college girls—big bonus to this whole experience. Lastly, he was looking forward to the dorm experience. He'd always been kind of lonely growing up. He was an only child, and he'd never had any close friends. Honestly, he'd been closer with his bullies than he had been to the other guys in the A/V club his mom had convinced him to join which was... embarrassing.

But all freshman were required to live on campus, and he'd signed up for a double room, meaning that he would have a roommate who would have no choice but to spend time with him, and as a result, they would have to get used to each other, and learn to live with each other, and inevitably become best friends—at least until the end of freshman year.

When Tucker reached his new dorm, room 416, he could hear grumbling and shuffling on the other side of the door. His roommate must already be here. He grinned as he opened the door.

"Hey, roomie!" Tucker greeted cheerfully.

His roommate jumped at the sound, and slammed a dresser drawer closed on his finger. "Fuck!" he yelped, and turned around with a wide-eyed look on his face like he'd just been caught doing something illegal.

"Uh... sorry," Tucker said. "Didn't mean to spook ya."

"Heh, you didn't... I mean you surprised me, but I wasn't like... scared...." He cleared his throat and gave Tucker an awkward forced smile. "I'm Danny."

"Tucker Foley." Tucker tossed his duffel bag onto the empty bed and gently placed his box of tech on the desk next to it. "Looked like you were struggling with that drawer, whatcha got in there?"

Danny's smile fell. "Look, I don't wanna sour our relationship right out of the gate, but that's really none of your business. I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out of my stuff."

"Uh... okay, sure," Tucker agreed. "Wasn't trying to be nosy or anything, anyway. Sorry."

"Good," Danny said, the tension in his body language easing slightly. "As long as you respect my privacy, I think we'll get along fine."

Tucker smiled, but he felt his heart sink. 'Respect my privacy' sounded a lot like it meant 'leave me alone', and 'leave me alone' was pretty much the same as 'I don't want to be your friend', which sounded a lot like all Tucker's hopes for dorm life flushing down the toilet.

"So where're you from, Danny?" Tucker asked. "Or is that information too personal."

Danny paused before answering, like he was genuinely trying to decide if it was too personal or not.

"Illinois," he said finally. "You?"

"Illinois, also. What town?" Tucker asked. "Man, wouldn't it be wild if we grew up in the same place and never met before? I'm from Elmerton."

"Elmerton? Ew," Danny said with a laugh. "I'm an Amity Parker. I'd rather die than live in Elmerton. Elmerton sucks."

"Hey! It may be kinda boring, I'll give you that much, but it's still better than haunted-ass Amity Park!" Tucker argued, thankful it seemed like things were starting to lighten up a bit between him and his new roommate. "At least I didn't grow up surrounded by a bunch of evil ghosts taking revenge on the living."

Tucker was laughing, but just like that, Danny's demeanor got cold and closed off again. Shit. Tucker let his laughter awkwardly trail off, wondering what he'd said wrong. Man, making friends was even harder than he thought.

"Is that all your stuff?" Danny asked. "Just the one bag and a cardboard box?"

"Oh! No! I still have some things to bring up; I left them with the dorm supervisor. I better go get 'em."

"Yeah, you probably should," Danny agreed. "I wouldn't put that much trust in the dorm supervisor, he seemed kinda shady."

"Er... right."

Tucker went down to grab the last of his stuff, and by the time he reentered the dorm room, Danny was gone.

He sighed. "Great first impression, Tuck. Well done."

Danny must've arrive much earlier in the day than Tucker had, because most of his stuff was already unpacked. His bed was made and everything. As Tucker's eyes wandered over Danny's side of the room, they were drawn to the bottom drawer of his dresser, the one he'd accidentally slammed his finger in, trying to make sure Tucker didn't see what was in it.

"I shouldn't," he said out loud. "Danny literally asked for one thing—that I respect his privacy."

Poking around now would be completely stupid. It would ruin my chances of ever being friends with him. Tucker reminded himself internally.

Still, he couldn't tear his eyes away from that drawer.

And he doubted Danny would be back any time soon. It wouldn't be dark for a few more hours at least, and Danny was clearly avoiding him.

Against his better judgement, Tucker knelt down on the floor and opened the dresser drawer, expecting to see sex toys, or lingerie, or something similarly embarrassing. Instead, he found strange, futuristic looking weapons and technology. It looked like alien shit. Was Danny secretly an alien? No, that was stupid.... Right?

Tucker slowly pushed the drawer closed again, questioning everything he knew about the universe.

He would have preferred sex toys.

No, they had to be earthly technology, because Tucker distinctly remembered seeing a logo emblazoned on everything that said 'Fenton Works'. All he had to do was look that up online and put his mind at ease. Danny seemed like a... fairly reasonably guy. There had to be a good explanation for him having a cache of high tech weapons in a college dorm. Although, to be honest, it wasn't looking too good at the moment.

Tucker unpacked his box of tech, set up his desktop PC set up and plugged in his laptop and PDA to charge. Then, he looked up Fenton Works, which brought him to an absolutely hideous orange and teal website for what seemed to be a small family business in Amity Park that specialized in ghost hunting and developing ghost hunting technology.

A sigh of relief escaped him.

Danny definitely wasn't an alien. He was just another paranoid Amity Parker, worried about ghosts attacking, even though they were all the way in Wisconsin. That was probably why he'd tensed up when Tucker made a crack about ghosts before. Tucker's dad sometimes went to Amity Park for work, and he said they were super serious about ghosts there, and didn't appreciate jokes about their haunting situation. Honestly, Tucker should have known better from the start, but he'd thought they were riffing. He hadn't gotten all offended when Danny made fun of Elmerton.

Whatever. He could apologize when Danny got back. In the meantime, he started programming his class schedule for this semester into his PDA, making sure there would be room for homework—and, more importantly, college parties.

As the days passed and classes started and the two of them both got busier, Tucker made an effort to talk to Danny as much as possible, and even though Danny smiled and responded politely, he always dodged any personal topics. Also, Tucker was pretty sure he was avoiding spending more time together than was strictly necessary, but he couldn't be sure. Still, he was determined for he and Danny to be friends.

"So Danny, I heard about this party one of the frats is hosting to draw in pledges," Tucker said. "Obviously I'm not planning to join a frat, but it could still be fun. Wanna come with me?"

"Uh... I'm not really a party person," Danny said apologetically. "I'm more of a bed person, enjoyer of sleeping and chilling."

"I get that, sure, but don't you want to meet people? Make friends? Maybe find a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, I don't judge."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Danny refused. "You have fun, though."

Tucker left it at that, but he couldn't help wondering what exactly was up with Danny being so standoffish. Did he have a problem with Tucker in particular, or was he just anti-social? It wasn't exactly unusual for someone not to want to go to a party. It could be that he didn't like crowds, or loud music, or being around drunk people, or frats in general. There were plenty of reasons Danny might not want to go—and no evidence that Tucker was part of the reason at all.

That didn't stop Tucker from wondering if he was.

That trend continued for the first month. Tucker would invite Danny to do something as friends, and Danny would decline for one reason or another, no matter what it was Tucker had proposed. Everything from parties in the dorm, to just going to get coffee or tea before classes, whether it was loud or quiet, crowded or solitary—even going to study at the library in silence, Danny always had a reason to say 'no', and Tucker was starting to take it personally.

"Okay, what's your deal?" Tucker demanded after Danny once again refused to join him, this time for literally just takeout in their dorm room—Tuck had offered to pay and everything. "Do you have some kind of problem with me, or something? I just want us to get along and shit, 'cause we're roommates, and we have to live with each other all year, but you keep shutting me down! So what gives?!"

"Nothing," Danny insisted. "Honestly, I'm just not hungry."

"Yeah, this time you're not hungry, but you refused laser tag 'cause you're not very athletic, and studying at the library 'cause you had other plans with your classmates, and coffee before class 'cause you don't drink coffee—even though I've literally seen you drinking coffee before!" Tucker snapped. "Dude, it's ten pm, and you haven't eaten since breakfast, you can't not be hungry, so what's wrong with you?!"

Danny flinched at the question, but Tucker couldn't feel too bad for mildly offending the guy who'd been blowing him off all month.

"Nothing," Danny said again, not meeting Tucker's angry gaze. "I'm just... I'm just a regular, ordinary guy. So go ahead and order takeout if you care so much, I'm not gonna stop you."

"No. That's not good enough," Tucker insisted. "I been trying to hang with you since we moved in, and you keep blowing me off for no good reason. So what's the issue? Is it 'cause I'm black?"

"What?! No!"

"Then what?! Give me one good reason why you're treating me this way?"

"Look, it's not about you, okay?"

"Oh, you're gonna pull out an 'it's not you, it's me'? I'm not your overbearing girlfriend, I'm your roommate, and all I wanted to do was get along."

"I don't want any friends, okay?!" Danny finally burst out. "I don't have any problem with you, I just... I just think I'm better off on my own."

All Tucker could do was stare in disbelief.

"I made up excuses because I didn't want to offend you or anything, because I didn't want us to be on bad terms," Danny continued. "We're still roommates. I know that, and I'm not so stupid that I wanted to torch that relationship right out of the gate, but I'm not looking for someone to be best friends with, you know? All I wanted from a roommate was mutual respect and privacy."

"Why?" asked Tucker at length.

"What do you mean 'why'?"

"I mean, why do you want to be alone all the time?" Tucker pressed. "I been there, and it sucks. It's lonely and sad and pathetic and people make fun of you for being some kind of defective human being who can't get anyone lo like you. Why would you want that?"

"I like my solitude," Danny mumbled. He was back to not being able to look at Tucker again.

"You're afraid," Tucker refuted.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's obvious," Tucker said. "I don't know why, but for some reason you're just fucking terrified of people getting close to you? So what is it? Are you terminally ill or something? Do you secretly just have a totally shitty personality? What?"

For a long moment, Danny was silent, but he did tilt his head up to look Tucker squarely in the eye before speaking.

"That's none of your business."

Tucker's forehead wrinkled and his mouth fell open incredulously. Slowly, he shook his head. "Fuckin' fine. Whatever," he said finally. "You want a roommate who'll leave you alone—you got it. But mutual respect is off the table, 'cause you just lost mine."

[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.

[ecto-american]

The Other Side

Phic Phight Oneshot for Kiinotasha and KC: (AU) Born a halfa and raised in the Ghost Zone by his mother, Danny struggles with his human identity when a permanent man made portal appears in the Ghost Zone.

On AO3 and FFN

-------------------

Danny never questioned his life until that man made portal spawned. He never forgot when he first saw it six years ago while playing with Youngblood.

Naturally, they were playing aliens and spacemen, Danny's favorite. Earlier in the play session, they had found it, and it was deemed part of their spaceship. It was just a metal outline, an octagon. Thick enough that they could sit, and they pretended that the limited space was the entrance. Obviously on the left side was space, and the right side was their ship. Eventually their moms called them home, and during dinner when asked about his day, he told his mom about it.

She frowned, and she asked him for more details. Having played on it all day, he described it perfectly. His mom paled, and she forbid him from going there again, but she didn't expand on why.

He saw no reason to be afraid. It was just a metal shape. There were far more dangerous places in the Ghost Zone. So the next day, he told Youngblood about his mom's weird reaction. His mom had reacted the same, but didn't say why. His dad explained that it was dangerous, but not what about it was dangerous. Danny didn't have a dad, but he was sure that if he did, he probably would have said the same thing. But neither child could get it. What was dangerous about a shape?

So they just played with it again the next day, and they lied to their moms about what they did.

Two years later, another ghost had join to make them a trio. Her name was Box Lunch, and she was honestly a lot of fun. But she was still a girl, and they didn't tell her about their secret fun location until they were sure she didn't have cooties. When they showed her, she instantly knew what it was.

"That's a ghost portal!" she exclaimed. Youngblood and Danny thought she was stupid. Ghost portals didn't stay anywhere permanently. They opened and closed at random, when the human world and Ghost Zone would temporarily merge and allow for a rip to tear. But it always mended back together quickly.

"No it's not," Youngblood scowled. Box Lunch made a face at him.

"Yeah-huh!" she insisted. "My mommy and daddy get into the human world all the time! She said some people there have been trying to make a permanent portal to here!"

"Nu-uh!" Youngblood argued. "My dad said that humans wouldn't do that, they're more afraid of us than we are of them!"

"Yeah-huh!" Box Lunch said more forcefully. "My parents were human once, they said that people constantly wanna hunt us in the human world! And that they're coming here!"

"If they're afraid of us, then why come here?" Youngblood challenged.

"What else would it be?" Box Lunch asked, crossing her arms.

"It's a weirdo ghost's lair!"

And as they bickered back and forth, Danny had remained quiet. He didn't know how to feel about any of this. His friends often forgot that Danny wasn't just a ghost. He was also human.

Not that he was a ghost who was once human, that died. He was both, and he always had been. Born that way, according to his mom, because his dad was human. Danny didn't know too much about him, and he never really thought to ask.

He knew that his name was Jack, and how he looked like. His mom had hung a photo of him in his room so that he'd know; blue eyes, black hair, with a square jaw and in a distinctive orange jumpsuit. The orange suit always reminded him of the blue one his mom wore underneath a lab coat. She said he looked just like his dad when he was in his human form, and he could absolutely see it. Though as a ghost he had white hair that he seemingly inherited from nobody, with his mom's light blue skin and yellow-green eyes. As a ghost, he matched with a black jumpsuit, though as a human, he preferred regular clothes.

Most ghosts had learned of Danny's true nature early on as the news slowly spread when he was born. They loved him and accepted him as one of them. He could go out into the Zone as a human, but it always felt weird. So he was always a ghost.

That night, as he got tucked in for bed, he decided to bring the metallic object up again.

"Box Lunch said that the big metal shape is a permanent ghost portal," he blurted out. His mom stared at him with wide yellow eyes, and so he knew that Box Lunch was actually right. "Is it?"

She sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I believe so," she confirmed. Danny sat up.

"Is that why you don't want me going near it?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. Danny cocked his head curiously.

"But if I'm also human, wouldn't they be okay with me?" he wondered. His mom paused for a long, long time. "I'm also one of them."

"I don't know, honey," she admitted. He could tell that she did know. She kissed his forehead. "I'll talk to you about it when you're a little bit older, okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now good night, sweetie."

It was four more years before it really became relevant again. He had essentially forgotten about the unoperational portal as homeschooling, other friends, and general undead life had continued on for him and his mom.

Youngblood didn't age, since he was once human and died, and so as Danny got older, they hung out less. While Box Lunch, a born ghost, grew, he became distant from her too for unrelated reasons. Danny wasn't alone, however. For a while, he hung out with other ghosts who had died young before he met his best friend. He was a bit older than him when he had died, sixteen to his fourteen, but Johnny 13 (and his shadow) and him had almost instantly become friends and hung out nearly every day. Often his girlfriend joined them too. His mom also allowed him to keep a newly dead dog that had followed him home, that alternated from a puppy to a large hulking beast of a monster dog. Danny named him Cujo.

Ghost Writer provided lessons in the arts on Tuesdays and Thursdays for him and a few other younger ghosts, which did include Johnny and Kitty. On the other days, his mom homeschooled him in her passion: the sciences. His favorite memories were of him and his mother in her lab, doing home experiments and building a wide variety of things.

She indulged in whatever nonsense he wanted to build, which included but wasn't limited to: rock cannon, small spaceships, figuring out how they could grow potatoes on the moon like the man in the martian book did, using ecto energy to cook poptarts.

Often her friend, Technus, but better known to Danny as Uncle Nico, came by to do more of the tech-based stuff. Danny believed that Uncle Nico could do anything with technology. He was one of the ghosts that often went through the natural portals, and whenever he came back, he had something for Danny. Typically game consoles and games, but sometimes fun little useless knick knacks that Danny treasured deeply. He fixed those game consoles many times, and also showed him how to download and install cheats and mods to make them more fun.

And after a morning full of science or the arts, Danny would eat lunch then rush off to play with his friends, Cujo always on his heels.

Looking back, he never did much as a human. He had to resort to his human side to rest, or would default to it if he fell asleep. It felt weird being in human form amongst ghosts, and so he was just always a ghost. He never thought much about it, and nobody ever asked him to be a human around them. It was just how things were.

On the day he'd never forget, it was just him and Johnny. His girlfriend had opted not to come. Danny couldn't remember the original topic, but it made him remember the portal. As soon as he told Johnny about it, the two idly scratching Cujo as the dog slept in between them in puppy form, the ghost's eyes lit up excitedly.

"Dude! We have to check it out!" Johnny insisted.

"I dunno," Danny hesitated. "My mom said that I should stay away."

"Come on, it'll be sick! I've always wanted to go back to the human world," Johnny begged. "And you've never even been there, despite being half-human!"

Danny paused. Well, when you put it like that...

"Okay!" he agreed. He floated up from his seat a bit so he could untangle his legs to stand. Cujo immediately got up from his spot laying near them, tail wagging excitedly. "Let's go! I think I still know where it is!"

It had changed since he last saw it. It now had huge yellow and black doors in place of the previous blank space, and it seemed somehow bigger than he remembered it years ago. But it was unmistakably the man made portal.

Even now, he didn't get what would be too scary about it that his mom would encourage him to stay far away. It was just a door.

"This is so fucking cool," Johnny whispered as he touched the door. "Imagine...no more trying to hunt down a portal. We can just come and go as we please...seeing our lost loved ones...seeing my mom again…It's been so long...I dunno if she'd even remember me..."

Danny didn't say anything, but he did begin to think and truly wonder for the first time what his dad was like. His mom never talked about him, and he never really asked. He and his mom were happy, and he also had Uncle Nico. Was his dad kind? Did he also like science? Why wasn't he here? Did his dad even know about him?

"Do you think we can open it?" Danny asked. Cujo licked his fingers, and Danny scratched his head. Johnny glanced over his shoulder at him.

"I dunno," he admitted. His hand turned into a fist and he knocked on the door. "It seems really solid. I don't think we can just break it or something."

"Hm. Lemme see," Danny mused. He came closer, and he put his hand on the door. It was cold, and Johnny was right; it was metallic, just like the outer edge he used to play on, and it would not break easily. His finger traced the middle line of the two doors. "Hm. Maybe we can pry the door open."

"The humans made this," Johnny spoke. Danny stared at him. No shit. "No, no, I mean. Maybe you should do something to it as a human." Danny thought on this, and he shrugged. Couldn't hurt.

His transformation rings came and went, leaving him in his human state. He was just in a t-shirt and jeans today, and he stayed floating near the portal.

His hand had barely touched the portal when it opened for him.

Danny gasped in shock, jerking his hand back as it opened. Johnny had also jumped, going backwards a bit, and Cujo's fur went up as he barked. It fully opened, and he couldn't see anything but the green ooze. This wasn't anything like Uncle Nico had mentioned natural portals being like. They normally acted like a window you could see through. But it was an unnatural portal made by man.

"Maybe this isn't such a-" Johnny began, but Danny had already stepped through.

There was a weird in between area that shined bright blue that he never heard Uncle Nico describe. But in this in between, he could see exactly what the ghost had mentioned. He knew he was still in the Zone, but he could look out the portal into the human world like a window.

A man in an orange jumpsuit, with black hair that was graying, was sitting in a room that reminded him very much of his mom's lab. He was staring at the portal in confusion, likely because it had randomly opened, and Danny instantly knew who it was. He had no idea if his dad could see him, but he found himself rushing backwards, and back into the Zone.

The second he returned, he became a ghost again, and he silently began to fly away as he tried to process. Johnny asked no questions, only following, Cujo following them both.

That night, at dinner, he finally asked.

"What was dad like?"

His mom stared at him for a moment.

"Well, he was very sweet," she said slowly. "Very bubbly personality. Always went out of his way to help his friends." She smiled softly as she talked about him. "Adored fudge."

"Did he like science?" Danny wondered. His mom gave a short laugh.

"Oh boy he adored it. Not the best at it, but he had a lot of enthusiasm," he replied. "We used to do experiments together all the time."

Danny stared down at his food as he thought. He looked up to her, and he could tell that she already knew what he was going to ask.

"How come I never met him?" he wondered. She sighed.

"...He doesn't like ghosts," she replied. "Aspiring ghost hunter when I met him, actually. I was alive then. Had the same ambitions." At his shocked look, she laughed again. "I know, ironic. We had dated for about two years officially. But then...I died. It was winter, and I was driving late at night during a snowstorm. My car slid off the road, and into a river. And I died from my injuries. I found that I could disguise myself as human, and I was in denial. So I just...continued on."

"...Why?" he asked. His mom shrugged in defeat.

"I guess I just didn't want to admit that it was over. I hadn't done everything I wanted to do yet. I was still in college, and I felt like my life had been forcibly finished before it had even truly started," she admitted. "Jack had proposed, but I had declined. I was too afraid to tell him. He began pursuing ghost hunting more seriously as a profession and building weapons and portals. I found out I was having you, and he was so excited to be a dad. I began getting scared. I didn't know how long I could continue the lie. I didn't know how it all would affect you. Then the police found my car and body, and I knew I couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer. So I left. I had no clue how to face him, or even how safe you might be if we talked. Especially after you were born, and I realized that you were half ghost."

The more she talked, she more somber she became. By the end, she was sniffling a little. Guilt began to wash over him.

"Have you ever talked to him again? Like after I was born?" he wondered. She shook her head no. "How come you've never taken me to the human world?"

"I had considered it. But it's too dangerous," she explained. "Humans aren't like ghosts. If they knew that you were also ghost...you wouldn't wanna find out what happens."

"...Do you regret any of it?" Do you regret me?

She smiled softly despite the conversation.

"You were the best thing to ever happen to me," she told him. "I may have been very anxious about being alone, and how you may turn out despite it all. But you were born healthy and perfect in every way. You're absolutely the light of my afterlife."

Danny smiled back, feeling some reassurance. His mom stood up, leaning over to peck his forehead before picking up her plate. He heard Cujo scramble out from under the table, ears up in excitement.

"I think I'll finish this later," she told him. "I'm not too hungry tonight." She glanced down at the dog. "This isn't for you."

Cujo whined, following her as she put her plate in the microwave. Danny nodded, sparing a small smile to Cujo and ushering for him to come over. He slipped him a piece of chicken as his mom left.

Later that night, Danny couldn't sleep. He was too busy sorting out his rushing thoughts. He was of course still him. Nothing really changed, but there was this new growing emptiness. Danny was still Danny, but there was a whole other side to him that knew nothing about. It began to eat at him more and more. Who was this human side besides just human Danny who lived in the Ghost Zone? He didn't know.

He now wished that his mom had taken him to the human world before so that he could know. She did say that there was a risk in the humans knowing he was also a ghost, which he didn't get. The ghosts accepted him as one of their own, so why wouldn't the humans? He didn't get humans at all. And he needed to know more about them. He was one of them.

By breakfast, his mind was made up.

After an unusually boring lesson with Ghost Writer together, Danny immediately went to Johnny once their small class of sorts were dismissed.

"I have to go back." Danny couldn't breath for a moment. "I have to see what it's like. Like you said, I'm also human, and I've never been there. All my unlife, I've been a ghost, here, in the Ghost Zone. My dad's in the human world. And I need to know what it's like to be human. What it means. So I can maybe meet him one day."

Johnny nodded.

"I think I get it," he said slowly. "I'll come with you. Keep you company. I think I could pass for human pretty well, even if I have to say that I have some kind of sickly disease that keeps me pale."

Danny grinned.

"Thanks," he replied. "Come on."

It took no time at all to find the portal. Danny stared up at it, his breath once more stolen as he tried to think of a reason why he shouldn't go through it.

Nothing came to mind.

"It's okay if you don't wanna," Johnny said. Danny shook his head no.

"I have to do this," he replied. "I need to do this."

Johnny patted his back, and that was all the subconscious encouragement Danny needed to turn human and press his hand to the door. Once more, it opened. The fact that he's even able to open it made him know that this was something he was meant to do. He once again stepped through with Johnny right behind him.

[phandomphightclub]

Now for what you’ve all actually been waiting for:

THE PHIGHT PROMPTS

These were all chosen from the most popular prompts in the voting form posted earlier this week.

Round 1:  Dumb Danny Phantom AUs

-Post about some stupid variation on the show.  It can be as ridiculous as you like, or it can be closer to canon.  It can either take place during the show or be more of an alternate ending; this prompt is very open-ended.  If it’s stupid and has to do with Danny Phantom in some way, you’re probably doing it right. -example: danny phantom au where ghostspeak is just dead memes and vine quotes (via @reallydumbdannyphantomaus)

Round 2:  Stupidest reveal scenario

-Post about the stupidest way that Danny’s secret could be revealed.  It could be revealed to the whole world, his parents, Valerie, the A-Listers, Mr. Lancer, or anyone else.   -example:  Dash goes to punch Danny but then his fist gets stuck inside Danny’s stomach

Round 3:  Worst outfit change

-Post about a dumb outfit that Danny could wear instead of his usual black hazmat suit.  This can also extend to his clothes in human form if you want.  Outfit changes may include full clothing changes, partial clothing changes, or adding accessories.  You may also add pictures if you’d like, but this isn’t required. -example:  Danny Phantom but he wears thigh-high pink crocs

Round 4:  Incorrect quotes

-Post something that the Danny Phantom characters didn’t say, but attribute it to them.  The original quote could come from another show/book/tumblr post, or your own brain.  It can be a conversation between multiple characters, or it can be just one character.  You don’t have to list the source of the original quote, but it’s recommended if you know it. -example:   Sam: We need a distraction. Jazz: Are any of you good at jumping up and down and making annoying noises? Tucker: My time has come. (via @totallycorrectdannyphantomquotes; original source was Gravity Falls)

Round 5: Wes

-Post about Wes Weston, the phandom’s OC who is obsessed with exposing Danny's secret identity.  It could be something he’s done, stuff about his background, a conversation between him and another character, or anything else related to Wes.   -example:  The reason no one believes Wes is because he’s actually accused every single boy at school of being Danny Phantom And also some of the girls

Final Round:  TBA on January 19th, though I will say this round will take more effort than the previous rounds.  It is not a prompt that was listed in the voting form.

How to submit your post:

Go to @phandomphightclub

Click on “THROW YOUR PUNCHES”

Tag with ONLY the round your submission is for. For example, if you’re submitting a terrible outfit change, click  the box for round 3.

Submit your shitpost

If submissions won’t work for you for whatever reason, post it on your tumblr and @ us (@phandomphightclub) and we’ll reblog your     submission.  Please also put which round it’s for in the tags.

DO NOT submit through the askbox.  Asks are if you have questions regarding the Phight.  Similarly, anything sent via submissions that isn’t a shitpost for the Phight will be ignored.

Submissions will be posted ASAP on the days that the calendar has listed.  The schedule can be found HERE.  You may submit a post for any round at any time, but it will only be posted on its specified day, and only if you have advanced to that round in the bracket.

On the day that voting begins, the posts will be copy/pasted into a google form where people can vote on which out of each pair is funniest.  For example, hello-torracat and lumanae’s posts will be two options in one question, and you’ll pick which one you think is funnier. The posts that receive     the most votes out of each pair will move on to the next round.  The usernames of the posters will not be listed in the voting form.

If your post isn’t submitted by midnight CST on the day the round’s posts are due, you will forfeit the match and be yeeted out of the competition.  

FAQ:

Q: Does this mean I can submit my post for Round 1 now? A:  Yes!  It will be posted to the blog on Monday, but you may submit it at any time before midnight CST then.

Q:  Can I submit a post for a later round even if I don’t know if I’ll win the round before it? A:  Yes!  But it will only be posted to this blog if you advance to that round.  If you don’t get there, you’re welcome to post your shitpost on your own blog.

Q:  If I don’t want to reveal my main blog, how do I submit my posts? A:  Post it on your DP/sideblog and @ us!  We’ll reblog it on the day that the posts for that round are due.

Q:  I can’t think of anything for the round’s prompt! A:  Do your best, and you can try looking to other posts for inspiration.  Don’t steal other people’s posts, though.  If your post turns out to be stolen from someone else’s blog you’ll be disqualified.  If you really can’t think of anything, you can always submit a post telling us how you’d like to go down in the ring.

If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to send us an ask!  Thank you all and let’s get ready to PHIGHT!!!

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

i may not know you, but i see you - Phic Phight 03

Event: Phic Phight 2019 Team: Team Ghost 

Title: i may not know you, but i see you  

Prompt Giver:  Motherfrickincalamity on tumblr Prompt Chosen: Dash isn’t a /complete/ asshole AU - Strangely enough, when Danny first came out to his school, Dash was the first person to call him by his chosen name. Apparently, there are some lines even the bully won’t cross?

Rating: T Content Warnings: Misgendering Status: Complete Final Word Count: 415

Author’s Comments: Written alongside Kasena/Cheshire-Kas!

Summary: Danny has a new name, but the problem is no one seems to remember that. At least, that’s what he thinks until Dash Baxter.

              Click here to read the work on Archive Of Our Own.

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                                                     ::

His name was Danny - at least, that’s what it was once he started high school. It had been… different, before, but now his name was Danny. The problem, though, was that no one seemed to remember that, whether it was because the person was malicious or they just honestly forgot. “Hi, Ellie,” Paulina said with a smile, waving to her.

Danny felt the curl of nerves and uncomfortable embarrassment in his stomach as he waved at Paulina, debating on whether to open his mouth and say that wasn’t his name before he was cut off by Dash, who nudged at Paulina and said, “Are you sure you don’t need glasses or something? And hey, Danny.”

Staring at Dash, Danny only noticed that Star was even there when he bumped straight into her. “Oh, jeez, sorry-”

“Oh, it’s fine, Ellie-”

“C’mon, Star, not you too,” Dash groaned, defending him. “That’s not his name anymore, remember?”

“Oh! Right! Um, sorry about that, Danny.”

Danny looked between them all before staring back at Dash again. “Are you… Are you sick?” Instead of being offended, Dash stared back before sighing and scrubbing a hand through his hair.

“Look, Fenton, I know I can be an asshole, but I’m not that bad. I mean, if you ask me Fenturd is still a way better name, but whatever, I guess.”

“Uh… Oh… kay.” Danny looked over towards where Sam and Tucker were waiting for him. “I gotta go.”

“Yeah, see ya later, Danny,” Dash called, sounding bored as he followed after Paulina and Star, the girls giving him waves goodbye themselves.

Sam got to Danny’s side first, giving him a nudge, “Hey, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”

“Dash just went out of his way to be nice to me.”

His friends stared, Tucker finally muttering a quiet, “Is he… sick?”

“That’s what I said. I think he’s just… trying to be nicer.”

“Huh. How was he nice to you?” Sam asked, nudging him on the way to class.

“Paulina and Star both called me Ellie. He told them that my name was Danny.”

“Dash called them out for misgendering you?”

“Yeah. Weird, right?”

The three were silent for a few minutes, Tucker finally patting Danny on the back, “At least he’s not as big a dick as he could be, then, huh?”

“Yeah. I guess so. Let’s go to class, guys.” Maybe starting high school wouldn’t be so bad in the end, after all.

[bibliophilea]

Clueless

For the Phic Phight 2019, organized by @currently-lurking and @ibelieveinahappilyeverafter

ao3 | ffn

Prompt: "Danny/Jazz swap AU: Jazz is the half ghost and Danny is the older sibling. Go wild on your take of how this would all play out." - @octolingkiera​

TW: Canon Typical Violence (but with greater consequences), Suicidal Ideation, Broken Bones, Ectoplasmic Burns, Hospital, Electric Burns

Word count: 9313

Danny should have known something was wrong the first time Jazz came home with a less than stellar grade. Rather than her usual cheery cry of "I'm home!", she stalked through the door, forgetting to close it on her way down the hall. Danny got up from his perch in the living room to close the door, then followed her down the hallway towards the kitchen. She had paused there, hand running through her hair, mouth frowning, eyes boring a hole into the paper she was holding.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay there, sis?"

She started, then held the paper to her chest, looking down, frown deepening. "I'm fine." She abruptly turned around, brushing past him to pace back down the hallway.

"You sure you're okay? Because I'm pretty sure that paper's smoking from how hard you're staring at it." Danny raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. "What is that, anyways?"

Jazz absentmindedly pulled her hand through her hair, pacing back towards the kitchen. "We got our tests back."

Danny nodded. "Nice. Get your A plus plus?"

Jazz froze mid-stride. The paper crumpled and shook in her hand. Her other hand had stopped midway down her hair and had tightened into a fist.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Danny asked, pushing himself up from the wall.

Jazz looked down at the ground. Then she looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I got a B, okay?" she shouted, her voice echoing in the hallway. Her backpack dropped to the floor and her test slid from her hand. She growled in frustration, bending down to pick them up.

"Woah, hey, you don't have to growl over that, a B's a great grade!" If there was one thing he hated more than her holier than thou attitude, it was when she was genuinely upset.

Jazz snorted. "For you maybe, you get B's and C's all the time!"

"Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that!" Danny retorted, miffed.

"But that's you, not me!" Jazz stressed, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and stalking past him into the kitchen. "I'm supposed to be the straight A student – the perfect daughter who goes to Stanford and becomes a renowned psychologist! How can I do that if I start getting B's?"

"Wow, way to make a guy feel special," Danny muttered, following her into the kitchen. She had dropped her backpack by the table and was pacing around the island, one hand holding her test, the other alternating between turning a page and running through her already frizzy hair.

"Seriously, though, it's nothing to worry about." Danny put a hand on his sister's shoulder, stopping her mid-pace. "Stanford's not gonna care about one B. So the test was a little harder than you expected – so what? You put in the work, with all that time you've spent in the library studying – that's what matters. You did your best. That's all anyone can ask for."

Danny sent her a gentle grin, but she didn't reciprocate. Instead she bit her lip, looking down at their shoes.

"Danny, can I tell you something? And can you promise not to freak out or anything?"

Danny put his other hand on her other shoulder. "Yeah, of course, Jazz. What's up?"

Jazz took a deep breath. "Well, I–"

Then she gasped. She looked up, but not at him – her eyes darted around the room, before settling on the window.

"Jazz, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"I– I need to go to the library!" she blurted, yanking herself from Danny's grip and running out of the kitchen, down the hallway and out the door.

Danny followed after her. "But you forgot your–"

The door slammed shut.

"... Backpack."

Danny should have figured it out the first time he met the ghost girl – but, to be fair, when he finally did meet her, he was a wreck.

He had gone to schedule a meeting with Dr. Spectra for being late to class, again. He wasn't sure why, but ever since he'd started sessions with her – heck, maybe even before then, he was too depressed to tell – he'd felt miserable and dazed, and found it harder to get up in the morning to go to school, let alone get to class on time.

So here he was, skipping the beginning of the Spirit Week assembly, hoping to catch Dr. Spectra before she left for the day. Sam and Tucker were probably jealous – skipping even a part of any school-mandated assembly would be the highlight of his day, even if it was to meet with the school counselor.

But she'd helped him realize that maybe he'd always felt depressed, and the fact that it was worse now just meant he was getting it out in the open so it could be dealt with. It sounded about as reasonable as any of Jazz's psychobabble, so he went with it. Maybe he should ask Jazz about this, she was into psychology and all that... but he shouldn't burden her with his problems, he was the older brother after all, and especially after her accident and with her troubles in school–

Danny was about to knock on Dr. Spectra's door when he heard a cackle.

That was weird.

Danny stopped short, hand on the door handle, listening. The voices were muffled, but it was clearly Dr. Spectra talking animatedly, probably to her assistant. He could only just make out the words.

"Oh, Bertrand, I'm gonna miss these kids. They're a waterfall of misery."

Bertrand murmured a reply Danny couldn't hear. Dr. Spectra laughed in response.

"Especially the Fenton kids! Teen misery is the nectar that keeps me looking fabulous. And those kids are like a walking spa treatment!"

Danny's blood ran cold. This doctor – no, this hack – was making him feel miserable? Was making his sister feel the same way? His eyes widened, and his grip tightened on the door handle in anger.

Bertrand muttered something, and Spectra chuckled.

"You and your puns, Bertrand! Just because we're ghosts doesn't mean we have to spirit ourselves away! Certainly not before the grand finale!"

Danny had heard enough. He dug his other hand into his pocket, gripping the Fenton Lipstick Blaster before swinging the door open. He pointed the lipstick at Spectra, who was leaning against her desk.

"I don't know what your 'grand finale' is, but it stops here!"

Spectra and Bertrand looked up at Danny, still smirking. "Why, whatever do you mean?" Spectra cooed, putting her hand to her face

"I heard what you were plotting, ghosts. And you're not going to get away with it! You're going back through the portal, and you're not gonna touch me or my sister again!" Danny tightened his grip on the lipstick.

Spectra glanced at Bertrand. Bertrand glanced at Spectra. Then they burst into peals of laughter.

"Oh, kid, this is too good! So you've discovered our little secret, so what? What are you going to do, throw lipstick at us? What's a boy like you doing with lipstick anyways?" Spectra wiped an invisible tear from her eye, getting up from the desk.

Danny smirked. "This."

He then let loose a blast from the lipstick blaster, hitting Spectra in the shoulder.

Spectra cried out, stumbling backwards into the desk, clutching her shoulder, grimacing in pain and anger. "Bertrand," she hissed. "Sic 'em!"

Bertrand lunged at Danny, transforming from a short tubby man to a green glowing cougar. Danny let loose a cry and another blast from the lipstick. It missed wildly. Bertrand knocked Danny down, pinning him to the ground. Danny held back a cry and tried to buck the ghost off of him. Weren't ghosts supposed to be light? But Bertrand was heavy in this form, and he quickly pinned Danny's blaster hand down with his paw. He pressed down slowly, firmly, watching with joy in his eyes and his bared teeth as Danny squirmed and then screamed in pain, letting go of the blaster.

Bertrand flung the lipstick away, and in that moment Danny curled his injured hand into a fist and hit Bertrand in the eye. Bertrand recoiled from him with a yelp. Danny choked on a scream, grimacing against the flaring agony spreading across his knuckles. Oh god, the ectoplasm burned, even more than curling his hand into a fist did.

Suddenly free of the pressure, Danny flipped himself over and bolted from the doorway. He had bitten off more than he could chew. The blaster was just a few feet from him; if he could reach it, he could hold them back and call his parents, and they could help–

A cold hand grabbed his neck; nails dug into his pressure points. He tried to scream, but another hand, black as midnight and clawed, wrapped around his mouth and nose. He was dragged back into the room, saw Bertrand, smirking despite his black eye, close the door. Then he was forced to sit in the chair before the desk, forced to face the nightmare that had captured him.

Its form was like fire and knives, forged in darkness. Its edges were sharp, yet flickering, and they cut into his torso and arms as it wrapped itself around him like a snake. The top of its head flickered and waved, trailing behind its every movement. Its clawed hands wrapped over his head and around his face, forcing him to look into its eyes. The eyes were the worst – red like blood, glowing like embers, tinted with malice.

Then it spoke, and Danny realized with horror who it was.

"Aw, why are you afraid?" Spectra crooned. "Surely you knew what you were getting into when you decided to face us. Where's your brave face now, you stupid boy?"

She grinned, purple lips splitting to reveal pointed teeth. Danny shuddered, then winced in pain as she tightened her hold on him.

He was stupid – stupid for opening that door, for starting a fight with things he didn't understand – hell, for trusting Spectra with his mental health in the first place! Stupid Fenton with his stupid anger and his stupid pipe dreams and stupid grades and wow, you're just all around stupid aren't you, you stupid, stupid boy?

Danny couldn't respond, couldn't find the will to respond. Everything was hazy and everything hurt and he just wanted the pain to end, just wanted it all to end, and who would care if anything happened to a stupid boy like you? Your friends? Your sister? They're better off without you!

His friends... his sister... he needed to... he was here because... if he let go now....

"L-Let go," Danny muttered, still hazy with pain and misery, still staring into those horrible, horrible eyes.

"What was that?" Spectra murmured, bringing her face closer to his, feasting on the anguish in his voice, in his eyes. "Are you ready to let everything go, stupid boy?"

Danny screwed his eyes shut. He needed... he needed to think, he needed the pain to go away, he needed it all – no, he needed the monster to go away, needed it to....

"Let– let go of me!" Danny cried, trying and failing to pull away from the monster's claws.

"Why would I do that?" Spectra crowed. She traced a line down Danny's face with one of her claws, drawing blood. "Your doubt, your misery – it's delicious."

Danny was fading. He couldn't keep his eyes shut, couldn't look away from those glowing red pits that promised pain and despair before the sweet release of death. He couldn't fight, couldn't get away, could only wait for the monster to devour him whole–

"Let go of him!"

The voice echoed in his head, cutting through the fog like a ray of sunshine. He felt something collide with him, felt his body hit the wall before collapsing to the floor, and it hurt like hell but not like the hell he'd felt before; it hurt like hell but he could breathe again, and he did so, taking great gasps of air, and with every inhale the fog lifted a little bit more, until he could think thoughts other than death, feel emotions other than misery.

When he could remember what moving felt like, he slowly worked himself up to a sitting position, glancing around the room. It was empty. Undisturbed, save for himself and the chair knocked over in front of him. If not for the chair, it looked like Spectra and Bertrand might just be out for lunch.

Spectra. Danny couldn't repress a shudder, and then a wince as the cuts along his chest and arms and face made themselves known with sharp, stinging pain. What the hell kind of a ghost was that? Mom and Dad had never said anything about ghosts that could do that. When he thought of ghosts, he thought of little green blobs with frowny faces. Not... whatever the hell Spectra was. He forced back another shudder. Maybe they were right all along. That ghosts were real, and that they were evil and to be avoided....

But then, who was that voice that had cut through the fog? Who had saved him?

He didn't know. But what he did know was that those ghosts were too much for one person to handle. He needed to find whoever had saved him, and help them before Spectra could–

He repressed another shudder. Don't think about it.

He needed to help them stop the ghosts.

Which meant he needed to get up.

Right.

Danny pressed his hands against the wall, then hissed as his left hand shot fire up his arm. He looked at it and gulped – it didn't look good. A couple of fingers were bent the wrong way, and the skin was raw and blistered from punching Bertrand in the eye. He squeezed his eyes shut. Took a deep breath. There were worse things than a broken hand. He couldn't focus on that now. He cradled his hand into his chest, and with his other hand he dragged the chair closer to him, using it to lever himself up onto shaky legs.

Standing. That was a thing he could do now. Good.

He took a small step and nearly fell over, bracing himself once more on the chair.

Okay, walking was going to take a little bit.

He took a few moments braced against the chair, before pushing himself up. He took a few wobbly steps towards the door, feeling like a baby giraffe taking its first few steps. When he reached the door, he braced himself against it for a few seconds, before taking a step back and pulling the door open. He needed to get to his locker if he wanted to be of any help – the ghost weapons his parents insisted he took to school were there, as was the ghost tracker they'd nearly perfected. It still pointed to Jazz for some reason, but it was better than nothing. He just hoped it'd lead him true.

Getting to his locker didn't prove to be a problem. He was a little slower than he wanted to be, but he was for once grateful for the school assembly, which emptied the hallways of students and teachers.

Opening his locker posed no problem – he could do it just as well with his right hand as he could with his left.

Picking a weapon to go along with the Fenton Finder proved tricky. He needed something that actually worked, that he could use with one hand. Something he could tuck under his arm while he used the tracker. Something that could actually do something against Spectra and Bertrand. He wished he had an ectogun, wished that he hadn't drawn the line at guns in school. But maybe...

He remembered his Dad demonstrating it at the kitchen table. He remembered how it turned into armor and a blaster. Hoping against hope that his parents had given a functional prototype to him "for his protection" – with the days he'd been having, hell if he knew – he dug one-handed through the junk in his locker, searching for the Fenton Peeler.

Fenton Ghost Fisher... no... Fenton Grappler... maybe... Fenton Anti-Creep Stick? What was that doing there? Aha!

There, partially hidden behind the Fenton Blanket, the Fenton Peeler sat, green ports gleaming in the light from the hallway behind him. He picked it up, finagling it one-handed under his arm, before picking up the Fenton Finder. Shutting his locker door and turning the tracker on, he waited for it to download location data.

"Ghost 150 feet to your right."

Danny grinned and turned to his right, following the Fenton Finder down the hallway, occasionally leaning against the lockers as he fought waves of dizziness, but always forcing himself back up again. Whoever it was that saved him probably needed help, and he was the only one who could find them.

He turned down a side hall to the doorway that let out in the alley behind the gym. The gym was where the Spirit Week assembly was being held... if this thing led to Jazz, he was going to scream. And then maybe faint. And then berate her for skipping assembly when there were dangerous ghosts on the loose.

But a few feet from the door, his blood ran cold and he couldn't suppress a shiver at the harsh, cutting sound of Spectra's voice. He powered down and put down the Fenton Finder, pulling the Peeler out from under his arm as he crept to the door. Gently pushing it open, he caught the last of Spectra's spiel.

"... some creepy little girl with creepy little powers?"

"Both! Uh...neither! I don't know!" The voice he had heard before – the one that had cleared the fog for him – rang clear now, high and uncertain, echoing in the alleyway. He glanced out the door and saw Spectra in her nightmarish form, clutching the face of his savior in her claws.

She was a ghost. She glowed like a ghost; her white hair, done up in a ponytail, floated and flickered like a ghost; and when he thought about it, her voice echoed like a ghost. He wanted to shut the door and leave them to it – they were ghosts, and ghosts were evil, Spectra had proven that – but she had saved him. Why would a ghost bother with saving him?

Then an aura formed around both ghosts, growing weaker around the girl, and stronger around the nightmare. Spectra bared her fangs in wicked delight.

"You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a girl! Who cares for a thing like you?"

Danny gritted his teeth. His grip hardened around the Fenton Peeler. With his elbow, he slammed the door open.

"Hey! I don't know this girl, but I think she should get a second opinion!"

And he activated the Fenton Peeler.

Spectra dropped the ghost – the girl, she was just a kid, no older than his sister – as the armor formed around him, sprouting from his hand and engulfing his arm, then his torso, then his head and legs, with metal. It squeezed just a little too tight, and he grimaced in pain; but it held him up, held him steady, held his arm steady. Gritting his teeth, he fired.

The blast of green should have bowled him over, but the armor stood firm. Instead it expanded from the end of the blaster, a wave of green that threatened to blow out the knife-like flames of the monster's being.

And then it did – peeling the darkness away, revealing Spectra's human form beneath, still buffeted by the onslaught of green. And then it peeled that away too, unveiling a slightly older Spectra, lines in her face twisting as she screamed. Layer after layer shriveled from her form, each revealing an older, weaker Spectra, until there was nothing left but a withered husk of the ghost she used to be. Danny released the trigger.

"No! I am nothing without my youth!" the ghost cried, voice straining against its atrophied state.

Suddenly, a blast of blue-white light engulfed her, and she screamed again, distorting and stretching towards the source of it. Danny looked and saw the ghost girl, arms outstretched, holding the thermos Dad had thrown away. Her eyes blazed green, her face set in a determined expression, her feet spread and braced against the force of the thermos.

Then, as Spectra disappeared into the thermos, the ghost girl capped it, and everything suddenly went silent, all but the blood pounding in Danny's ears. He wondered briefly if the ghost girl heard blood pounding in her ears, then dismissed the thought. Ghosts were dead. Their hearts didn't pump blood, if they had hearts at all.

Danny pressed the button to shut down the armor, and it peeled off of him, making him think of the way Spectra's nightmarish armor had peeled off of her. He chuckled, saying, "Talk about having nothing within."

Then a wave of dizziness hit him, and his legs buckled. His vision blurred as the pain he'd been forcing back hit him all at once, and he collapsed.

"Danny!"

The voice echoed in his head, but it couldn't cut through the pain he was in. He ached everywhere, and his arms and torso and face stung with a dozen cuts and bruises, and his hand was on fire, and his head – oh god, his head hurt like hell. He couldn't tell which way was up, could hardly think over the pounding in his brain–

There was a bright flash of light, and he couldn't hold back a moan as it stabbed into his eyes. He squinted them shut for a second – it could only have been a second – but when he opened them there was a familiar shock of red hair, and then a face – Jazz's face – looking down at him. Her mouth opened and she said something, but he couldn't make out the words, could only stare as her hair floated around her head, forming a ring around it like a crown of flames. Her eyes burned a toxic green, almost glowing in the alleyway. Then he blinked and her face was gone, and red and blue and white surrounded him, switching between the colors too fast for him to keep track. He wanted to sit up, to look around and find Jazz again, but his body wouldn't do what he told it to do. Instead he closed his eyes, shutting out the confusing lights and the loud noises that wouldn't sort themselves into things that made sense.

As he faded from the world, a fragment of Jazz's voice caught up to him, echoing in his head like the ghost girl's. Funny, they sounded almost the same. He would have laughed if he had the strength, if the world weren't tilting and twisting around him.

"Hold on!" she had said.

 Hold on

The first thing Danny noticed was the sound of beeping.

It began softly, echoing in the darkness, an almost comforting sound in the background of his mind. But as awareness crept into his being, the beeping grew louder, more distinct, climbing to the foreground of his mind, poking him and prodding him and urging him to wake up, wake up, WAKE UP–

He opened his eyes.

And squeezed them shut again as the white light bored into them, driving a spike through the front of his head. He hissed in pain, and the beeping increased in frequency.

"Danny?"

He felt something cold touch his hand, and flinched away instinctively, eyes flinging themselves open, then squinting against the harsh light and the sharp pain in his head. He tried to sit up, but felt something large push against his chest. A dull ache pressed into his chest, but it was nothing compared to the panic racing through his veins, the beeping growing louder and more urgent, he was trapped, he couldn't get out, couldn't escape the monster that wanted to devour him whole–

"Danny!"

"Danny, it's okay!"

Danny froze, and then relaxed at the sound of familiar voices – voices that meant safety and comfort, voices that meant the monster couldn't be here because they would have chased it away. He opened his eyes again and was met with a wall of orange, a pillar of it outstretched, ending in a black glove held against his chest.

He glanced to his right, and saw a mild teal color – the color of home and cookies and gentle hugs and forehead kisses – then looked up to see purple eyes with eyebrows knotted in worry, lips pulled down in a gentle frown.

"Dad? Mom?"

His voice was raspy, but his parents smiled down at him all the same, their heads haloed by the bright white light in the ceiling above him. Still squinting against the light and the pounding in his head, he asked, "Can you turn down the lights? They're making my head hurt."

His mom turned back, saying, "Jazz, could you – thanks, honey!"

The lights went out, and the spike in his head disappeared, leaving a dull ache in its wake. He sighed in relief, slumping back and rubbing his eyes. Or at least, he tried to rub his eyes – his mom grabbed his right hand, saying, "Oh honey, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

His left hand, however, was left free; but as he raised it into his line of sight, he stopped short.

His hand was bandaged, and two of his fingers were heavily bruised and splinted. He stared at his hand in dull confusion. Was he in a hospital? What had–

Then his hand began to shake as the memories rushed back. Bertrand pressing slowly into his hand until his grip on the blaster and his fingers broke. Spectra's body cutting into his own as it tightened around him, her claw dragging down his face as she–

He put his hand down, pressing his head back into the bed and squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't want to think about it – didn't want to think about those red eyes, bleeding with malice and glee, staring into his own, or the way his thoughts and emotions had bled and twisted at the whim of her words, or – no, don't think about it – don't think–

"Oh, honey!" He felt a warm weight upon him, and he opened his eyes. His mom's hair was in his face, her arms wrapped around him, holding him gently, but holding him close. His dad quickly followed, his huge arms wrapping around them both. Danny burrowed his head into the crook of his mom's shoulder, and she hugged him tighter. He turned his head and looked for Jazz – she was still by the light switch, one hand fiddling with the hem of her shirt, the other fisted in her pocket. Her eyes were trained on him, shining with unshed tears, expression uncertain. He smiled wearily, extending his right hand to her. Before he knew it, she was hugging him, too, holding his hand and burying her head into his shoulder. Her hand was cold, but not freezing the way Spectra's had been. Her grip pressed into the needle in his hand, but he squeezed it anyways, pressing his head into hers. His dad wrapped his arm around her as well.

Surrounded by his family, warm in their arms, he felt safe for what seemed like the first time in ages. What Bertrand and Spectra had done almost felt like a dream.

Almost.

 Stupid boy... who cares for a thing like you?

He shuddered and held tighter to his sister's hand. Then his dad squeezed him harder, and he winced as pain flared in his chest.

"Jack, you're hurting him!" his mom berated, giving Danny a kiss on the forehead before pulling herself from the hug. Jazz and his dad let go as well, his dad sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry, Danno, I'm just... so proud of you, son!"

Danny stared in confusion at his dad, who wiped a tear from his eye and smiled.

His mom beamed down at him as well. "We're both so proud of you, Danny, and we're so glad you're alright."

Danny looked between his parents, still confused. "Um... proud? Why–"

"You kicked ghost butt, Danno! Just like your old man!" his dad proclaimed, chest swelling with pride.

"Jazz told us all about it! How you saved her from that horrible ghost–"

"And how you shredded that ghost with the Fenton Peeler! Created by me! Jack Fenton!"

"But–"

"You were so brave, sweetie, facing down three ghosts–"

"That's my boy! You got Fenton genes!"

"Wait–"

"But next time be sure to call us before you confront them; we're the experts, and we don't want you to get hurt–"

"Plus you get to see your old man in action!"

"Okay, but–"

"We'll have to figure out just where that ghost girl got a Fenton Thermos, and how she knows how to operate it..."

"And then we can rip her apart molecule by molecule!"

"But not before a thorough dissection–"

Danny bristled. "The ghost girl saved my life!"

His mom and dad paused, a bit shocked by his outburst. Then his mom smiled gently at him.

"Oh honey, that concussion must have really done a number on you! Ghosts aren't helpful, and they don't save people's lives except to advance their own selfish desires."

"Ha! Imagine that, Mads, a ghost saving someone!"

Danny could only stare dumbfounded as his parents laughed. Then he spluttered, "But– but she did, she– can you please stop laughing?!"

His mom put her hand on his shoulder, her laughter dying down to a chuckle. "I'm sorry, sweetie, we weren't laughing at you. We were laughing at the concept of a helpful ghost!"

"But she did help me..." Danny muttered, looking down.

His mom sighed, still smiling, removing her hand. "Ghosts don't help people, sweetie. If they seem like they're helping, it's only to further their own selfish agenda."

His dad nodded enthusiastically. "And when we get our hands on that ghost girl, we'll figure out just what she wants, and everything there is to know about her!"

His mom beamed up at his dad, wrapping her arm around his waist. "But first – we need to fill out some paperwork!" she said, guiding his dad towards the door.

"Aw man, I hate paperwork!" his dad complained, pouting.

"We'll get fudge after we're done!"

"I love paperwork!" his dad cried enthusiastically, pulling his mom out the door.

"You kids stay safe in there!" his mom called back to them.

Then the door shut.

The silence was deafening after the whirlwind that was their parents. Jazz was still standing next to Danny, but her hands were bunched into the bottom of her shirt, her eyes boring a hole into the floor.

"So..." Danny said, trying to break the silence. He wanted to move his arms, but with the bandages on one hand and the needle in the other, he figured that was a bad idea. Instead he bent forward, trying to catch his sister's eyes.

Oh no. Bad idea.

Danny shot back into the bed, squeezing his eyes shut, waiting for the vertigo to pass.

"Danny!" Jazz cried out in alarm. He felt her cold hands grip his arm, and he focused on them, tried to ground himself in the only sensation that wasn't spinning.

"Do you want me to call a nurse or something?" Jazz's hands loosened on his arm.

He thought about shaking his head, but decided that would be a bad idea, too. "No, I'm fine," he grunted out. "Just vertigo, it'll pass."

Jazz's hands settled on his arm, and Danny settled into the bed, riding out the tilt-a-whirl the world had become. When everything finally stopped spinning, he opened his eyes, carefully turning his head to look at Jazz.

Jazz was looking at him with worry on her face, but the moment he caught her eyes, she let go of his arm and turned her head down again, biting her lip. Danny sighed heavily.

"You know, I'm not gonna shatter or anything. It's just a concussion."

Jazz looked up, staring at him incredulously. "Just a concussion? And just lacerations that required stitches and just bruises and just a broken and burned hand and–"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Danny rolled his eyes. Then shut them as another wave of dizziness overtook him.

"Still not gonna shatter," he gritted out.

"You sure you don't want me to–"

"I'm fine, Jazz." Danny waved a hand in her general direction. "I don't think some nurse sticking a light in my eyes is gonna help anything."

There was a pause as Danny got his bearings. Then he heard Jazz shuffle in place, her hands digging into her shirt again. She was going to stretch it if she kept up that habit.

"Sorry," she whispered. Danny opened his eyes, glancing at her.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for."

Jazz turned around, pacing between the door and the bed, glaring at the floor.

"It's my fault you got a concussion, and it's my fault Spectra did what she did to you."

"Jazz, it's not–"

"No, it is!" She stopped mid-pace, fists by her sides, eyes glaring through him, glaring vivid green.

"I should have found out about them sooner! If I had, then you wouldn't have – and who knows what sort of psychological damage those monsters did to you!" Jazz then turned back to her pacing, throwing her hands in the air. "And to the whole student body! They're not psychologists! They used psychological tools sure, but they used them monstrously and to the detriment of everyone they touched! They..."

Danny was frozen while Jazz went on her tirade. His mind was whirring, trying to process what he had seen. He knew his sister's eyes like he knew the back of his hand, and the toxic green irises that illuminated her face were not them.

Nevertheless, they were familiar.

Jazz's hair began to float around her head as if lightning were about to strike, and Danny felt the hair on his arms and the back of his neck rise in response. Memories fractured by pain and disorientation bubbled up in his mind. Jazz's face above him, hair spread like a wildfire around her head, eyes burning green with worry. And another face, illuminated blue by the light of the thermos. Teeth bared in a grimace. Eyes aflame with determination.

"... and she said horrible things to Janet about their gender, I've never seen them so upset and uncertain! And I bet she's the reason why Johnny Barker ran out of class when Oedipus came up, she probably filled his head with Freud even though Freud's been largely disproven–"

"You're the ghost girl."

Jazz paused in her pacing, turning to face Danny. "Well, yeah. You saw me, right? Before – well – you saw me transform and–"

"Get out of her."

Danny had pushed himself into a sitting position, had felt his face harden into a glare.

"Wait, what?"

Her hair fell around her and her eyes blinked from toxic green to their familiar blue in her surprise. That didn't fool him, though – Mom and Dad had said ghosts could hide in anyone. This was no different, except that it was his sister, and it was the ghost girl. His hands curled into fists. Or at least, they tried to, before the bandages and splints stopped his left and the pain from the needle stopped his right.

"You saved me, so I'm not going to call Mom and Dad. But you need to get out of my sister, and you need to leave."

"Danny, it's me!"

"What do you mean, 'it's me'?" He scoffed. He wanted to cross his arms. He settled for pressing his hands into the bed instead.

"You're the ghost girl, and you're possessing my sister, and you need to leave her alone!"

"Danny, I'm Jazz! The ghost girl is Jazz is me!"

"Yeah?" Danny raised an eyebrow. He could do that much, at least. "Prove it. What did Jazz do to my dinosaur when she was four and I was five?"

"Dinosaur? What– oh, I know what you're talking about!" Jazz smirked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "First of all, it wasn't a dinosaur, it was your adorable bunbun. And second of all, I made it cuter is what I did! It was plain and white and boring, and I gave it some much needed color!"

Danny blushed. "You made him into an atrocity is what you did!"

"Did not! I gave it all the colors of the rainbow!"

"You colored his eyes red! It was creepy!" It was all he could do to refrain from waving his arms. Jazz had no such qualms.

"They turned pink when Mom put it through the wash! It was cute!"

"You mean creepy, because those eyes were lopsided and weird and haunted my nightmares!"

"If I call Mr. Fluffy Munchkins creepy, will you admit I'm Jazz?"

"Fine!"

"Fine! It was creepy!"

"And you're definitely Jazz!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Great!"

"Wonderful!"

"Splendiforous!"

"Absitively Posolutely Splendtacular!"

There was a beat of silence as they glared at each other.

Then Jazz's face wobbled, and Danny snorted, and they both broke down in laughter.

Danny couldn't help it – the whole situation was ridiculous. Here he was, trapped in a hospital bed, arguing with his sister over whether or not she'd turned his stuffed animal into a creepy monster and whether or not she was a ghost who had saved him from a creepier monster.

Oh man. His sister was a ghost.

His laughter took on a hysterical edge, but Jazz made no comment. Her laughter was bordering on hysteria as well, now that he thought about it.

But he needed this – they both needed this – a good long laugh, after everything they'd been through, after everything that monster had done.

As his laughter died down to a chuckle, he felt lighter, despite the dull ache of his torso. He watched with a smile as Jazz wiped a tear from her eye, her own chuckles subsiding as she looked at him.

He sighed, flopping down onto the bed. Then he pushed himself back up into a sitting position, carefully turning his head to face Jazz.

"So... how does that work? Are you d– are you a ghost?"

She bit her lip, looking down at her shoes. After a moment, she said quietly, "I... don't really know. I have a heartbeat when I'm human, so I don't think I'm dead, but... well, you've seen my other form." She looked up at him, quirking a smile despite the uncertainty in her eyes. "I'm basically a ghost in that form. I glow and float and can do ghost things when I'm a ghost. Oh, and I can do some of them when I'm human, too!" She raised her right hand, which faded out of visibility.

Danny's eyes widened in shock. It was one thing to half-remember his sister's glowing green eyes and floating hair; still another thing to see them when he was awake and lucid; but it was another thing entirely to see her do something ghostly on purpose, to watch as her hand faded to nothing. He reached out towards where he thought her hand was, and she took a step forward, putting her hand in his.

It was cool to the touch, but unmistakably a hand, palm squishing under his thumb. He pulled her hand towards him; adjusted his grip so that her fingers curled under his own.

Then he carefully uncurled her middle finger.

"Hey!" she cried, hand blinking visible as she pulled it back. He laughed at her expression, and at the incredulous tone in her voice.

"You know I had to!" he chuckled.

"Rude!" she pouted, sticking her tongue out. But she couldn't hold back a smile as she did so, the corners of her mouth fighting and losing against themselves to stay down.

He poked her in the cheek, and she finally let go and giggled. "You're so immature!"

"Well, someone's gotta be, with you being Miss Mature Smarty Pants over there!"

But Jazz looked back down at her shoes again.

"If I had been smarter, I could've saved you before she did that to you," she muttered. Danny could read the self-loathing in his sister's voice, and it broke his heart. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug.

"Jazz, you are the smartest person I know. If you hadn't figured it out, no one would've, and I'd have been a goner."

He felt Jazz shudder. She pulled away from him a bit, distraught eyes staring into his own. "You almost died! If I had found you any later she would have – and the concussion, that was my fault, I shouldn't have hit you so hard – I'm just some loser freak, and I can't even save my own brother right and–"

Danny covered her mouth. He stared hard into her eyes, which had begun to leak.

"You're not a freak. And you're not a loser. You're a person with superpowers, which is pretty cool in my book! You're, like, the coolest person I know, and that was even before I knew you had superpowers." He smiled at her, removing his hand and putting it on her shoulder. "And because you're a person, you're not gonna be perfect, no matter how much of a perfectionist you are. It doesn't matter when you figured it out – what matters is that you did, and you saved me when you did. I don't care about the concussion – a lot worse would have happened if you hadn't found me."

His sister stared at him, tears still falling from her eyes, bottom lip trembling. Then she sobbed and lunged at him, hugging his torso and burrowing her head into the crook of his neck. He held back a groan and held her tight, pulling his right arm as far as it would go and wrapping his left around her. He buried his head into hair, shutting his eyes. After a few moments, he was surprised to find it wet. He opened his eyes again, and his sight was blurry.

Crying. He was crying.

He shut his eyes again, taking a few deep, shuddering breaths.

He was alright. Jazz was alright. Everything was going to be alright.

"Hey Jazz," he whispered after a few moments of holding each other close.

"Yeah?" Her voice was still damp with tears.

"Thanks. For everything."

She chuckled wetly.

"No problem, big bro."

Danny supposed the very first thing that should have tipped him off was the accident itself. He'd never forget the sight of his little sister sprawled before the swirling, pulsing mass of green that wasn't there before, red hair covering her face, almost glowing white in the green light coming from the portal that had only ever been a sparking hole in the wall beforehand. He heard someone scream her name. Blinked and he was halfway down the stairs. Blinked again and he was kneeling in front of her, legs aching, throat raw. His hands shook as he moved the hair from her face, and he forced them to still as he held one of them in front of her nose and mouth, holding his breath as he waited for a sign of life–

There! Only just noticeable, but unmistakably there, a small exhale of air from her nose tickling his palm. He could have sobbed with relief, but he wasn't done yet, her foot was inside that toxic radioactive green, and her arm – her arm was – he couldn't look away, could only stare at the raw flesh blistering in fractal patterns up her arm, disappearing at the shredded shoulder of her jumpsuit, why was she in her jumpsuit she said she wouldn't be caught dead in that thing oh god please don't die–

And suddenly he was shoved aside, heart pounding in his ears, pulsing out of tune with the light of the portal. He blinked and saw his parents, his dad a mass of orange clashing with the pulsing green, cradling Jazz in his lap; his mom a slip of teal blue and black, gently caressing the injured arm before turning to Danny and yelling something he couldn't process over the pounding in his ears. He blinked and his mom had disappeared, his dad standing up, his sister still cradled in his dad's arms. He blinked again and he was walking up the stairs, following the mass of orange in front of him, leaving that toxic pulsing glow in the basement behind him.

He blinked again and heard sirens, loud in his ears, how had he missed them approaching; saw the kitchen awash in cycling blues and reds and whites. His dad was carrying his sister to the door, to a bunch of people in uniforms, to the ambulance he could see just beyond his dad's hulking figure. He felt a wave of relief wash over him, they don't bring ambulances for dead people–

He blinked again. He was in a waiting room, sitting between his dad, who was glaring a hole in the wall and tapping a divot into the floor with his foot; and his mom, who was chewing on her lip, worrying her hand through Danny's hair. Danny leaned into his mom, closing his eyes, letting the feeling of her fingers gently untangling the knots in his hair wash over him.

He saw his sister, sprawled on the ground, pulsing green light casting her in a sickly glow, fractal blisters climbing up her arm–

Danny tensed, eyes shooting open, pulling away from his mom.

"Honey, are you okay?" she asked in a hushed tone, resting her hand on his shoulder.

Danny nodded. He tried to speak, choked, cleared his throat. Tried again. The words came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Will Jazz be okay?"

His dad's foot paused, and then tapped a little harder, a little faster. His mom's hand on his shoulder tightened.

"She's in the ICU. We have to wait for the doctor, but– we don't know, sweetie." Her voice wobbled. "I'm sorry, but we don't know."

Danny's eyes blurred. He blinked, rubbed at them, and was surprised to find tears. His mom wrapped an arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. His dad turned and engulfed them both in a hug, burying his head into Danny's hair. A sharp pain squeezed his chest, and suddenly he was sobbing, unable to keep back the flood of emotion coursing through him. He couldn't quite process it all, but there was one thought on his mind, echoing in his head: Please don't die.

 Please don't die.

"I'm going to school! Bye!"

Danny heard the front door slam as he dug into his scrambled eggs. Today was a rare day when his parents were between projects. His mom made the best scrambled eggs (when she wasn't testing some new ecto-powered appliance): mixed with parmesan cheese and pico de gallo, and spiced and cooked to perfection. He was going to savor this breakfast.

Or at least, he would have, if he hadn't caught sight of Jazz's Fenton thermos on the table.

Danny nearly choked on his mouthful of eggs, but he quickly swallowed it. Shoveling the rest of the eggs on his plate into his mouth, he got up from the table, snagging the thermos in one hand and his backpack in the other. If he was fast enough, he could catch her before she took off–

"Danny, what's the hurry?"

He turned around in the doorway to see his mom poking her head out of the kitchen, a slice of toast in hand.

"I–"

"Danny! Chew and swallow before you talk to anyone, young man!"

Danny swallowed the large clump of eggs in his mouth. So much for savoring his breakfast.

"I need to give Jazz her- her lunch! She forgot it!"

"But–"

"Okay Mom going to school now love you bye!"

Danny turned around and ran out the door, slamming the door shut and jumping down the steps. He hoped he wouldn't get a lecture later.

He glanced down the street and caught sight of Jazz flying away from him, hair and ghostly tail whipping back and forth in the breeze. He ran towards her, waving his hand in the air.

"Hey Ja– Phantom! Hey Phantom!"

Despite her distance from him, Jazz stopped and turned around. She flew down to the street, looking around before transforming, her tail splitting into legs a few feet above the ground. Danny marveled at the ease with which she transformed in front of him. Only a month ago she had been reluctant to transform in front of him, even when they were alone. Now, as long as no one who didn't know was around, it came as natural to her as breathing.

Jazz alit on the asphalt completely human, running a couple steps before coming to a stop and frowning up at him.

"Danny, what are you doing?" she hissed. "You can't just shout my name in the middle of the street!"

"First of all, I didn't shout your name, I almost shouted your name. There's a difference. Second of all, you forgot your thermos."

Her eyes widened in surprise as he handed her the thermos. "Oh, uh, thanks!"

"No problem, sis."

They walked together in comfortable silence for a bit. Jazz frowned at the sidewalk, muttering under her breath. Something about... signs? And co-signs? And tans... Oh, he knew what this was about.

"You've got a math test today, right? How'd studying for that go?"

Jazz continued to mutter under her breath before answering him, still staring at the sidewalk.

"Pretty good, actually. Spike's been helping me a lot, he's really good at math. Says he might be a math teacher or a professor someday."

"Cool. Maybe you'll see each other at the same university some day!"

They stopped at the end of the block, waiting for Danny's friends to join them before they walked the rest of the way to school. There were a few cars passing by. An old lady was walking her dog on the other side of the street.

"Oh, I doubt it," Jazz said, looking up at Danny. "I'm going to Stanford, and he's set his sights on–"

Jazz gasped. Her face turned upwards and her eyes searched the sky. Danny, meanwhile, searched the street for somewhere to hide, somewhere she could transform and not be seen. The nearest alleyways were usually occupied, they'd learned that the hard way. If they wanted an alley that probably didn't have anyone in it, they'd have to run half a block–

Wait, there! There were Sam and Tucker, making their way down Birch Road, talking animatedly. He saw Sam punch Tucker in the arm, and Tucker grab his arm in (probably) mock hurt before pushing Sam. Danny grabbed Jazz's arm and booked it towards them.

"What– hey!" Jazz cried, stumbling before turning around and keeping pace with him.

"Hey guys! Group hug!" Danny shouted down the street. Sam and Tucker turned their heads to him before running towards them as they processed what he'd said.

"Danny, what are you– oh!" Jazz spotted Sam and Tucker, and raced ahead of Danny to meet them.

They all four met in the middle of the sidewalk, Jazz running into Sam and Tucker's embrace before being glomped from behind by Danny. When she was sure she was covered, she transformed, rings of light hidden by her brother and their friends. She then slipped invisible and intangible, the only sign of her a cold spot in between them – one which left them with a quickly whispered "Thanks, guys!"

The trio held onto the hug for a moment more, only letting go when Jazz turned visible in the sky, searching for her quarry.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

Jazz groaned, turning around to face the ghost.

"Come on, Crate Creep! If you ruin my no tardy streak, I'm leaving you in the thermos for a week!"

"YOUR PUNY NON-BOX-LIKE CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER CANNOT CONTAIN–"

Jazz threw an ectoblast at him.

The Box Ghost gulped and fled, Jazz chasing after him.

Danny smiled up at them, shaking his head. It was just the Box Ghost. She could handle it.

"Do you think she does that on purpose?" Sam asked, pointing towards Jazz with her thumb as the trio continued their walk to school.

"Does what on purpose?" Danny asked, glancing at Sam.

"Oh, you know," Tucker said, pulling out his PDA. "Call the Box Ghost 'Crate Creep' and Skulker 'Ghost X' and all that j–"

"Tucker, finish that sentence and I will hit you."

Danny laughed as Tucker dodged from Sam's reach. "I think she just doesn't want to admit she was wrong about their names. Either that, or she likes the names she came up with for them more than the names they came with."

"Well, you gotta admit, 'Lady Lunchabelle' has a certain ring to it that 'The Lunch Lady' lacks," Tucker quipped.

They all three nodded seriously, before breaking into laughter.

Then Sam said, "Have you seen the trailer for that new superhero movie? I know it's normally not my thing, but the protagonist was so cool! She..."

And so the three of them continued, their discussion moving from superhero movies to movies with secret identities to secret identities in general. They were crossing Elm Street when the topic turned to Jazz's secret identity.

"How did it take you so long to figure out your own sister?" Sam asked Danny, lightly shoving him in the arm. "I figured her out within the first week!"

"Yeah, dude, it only took me like two weeks to find out – she 'becomes ghostly' everywhere." Tucker tapped a few buttons on his PDA, before looking up at Danny. "She's lucky she has me to scrub all the security cameras!"

Danny winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I should talk to her about that."

Sam continued as if Danny hadn't spoken. "It took you over a month to figure it out, and only because she told you! You gotta admit – you're pretty clueless when it comes to these things!"

Danny didn't respond. He rubbed the back of his hand – it was still rough from where he'd punched Bertrand, but he was familiar with it now – familiar with the way it dipped and whorled around his knuckles. He thought about Jazz's eyes – both their teal blue, and their glowing green. So different, yet both familiar to him now as well – both burned with the same curiosity, and both lit with laughter in the same way. Both meant his sister.

He thought about how her voice had echoed in the hallway the day she had gotten her first B, and the way it echoed in his head when she saved him from Spectra. He thought about how white her hair had seemed in the light of the portal, splayed limply around her head. And he thought about how white it was now, tied behind her head but flickering like fire, as she floated across the sky, giving them a wave before flying in the direction of school.

"Danny? You okay?" Sam put a hand on his shoulder, and he started.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking." He chuckled, watching as his sister did a vertical loop in the sky. "I am pretty clueless, aren't I?"

[ecto-american]

The Half-Dead Kids Club

Phic Phight Oneshot for bibliophilea: (AU) Tucker Ghouly was looking for a relaxing weekend with his boyfriend. Too bad the halfa versions of his boyfriend, his boyfriend's sister, and their other best friend crashed the party. [Danny/Tucker]

Also if you've read my Tucker Ghouly AU fic, this is set in the same universe/using the same logic and same eventual ship, and there is a spoiler for things I have planned for that fic too.

On FFN and AO3

-------------

Tucker sighed, doing a cheesy yawn and stretch as he put his hand over his boyfriend's shoulder. Danny rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to do that every time," he told him. Tucker grinned.

"Yeah, but you're a sucker for it," he replied.

"Can't argue with that," Danny agreed, returning the smile. "Your parents are gonna be out for a while, right?"

"Yeah, and Olivia's sleeping over at her friend's," Tucker replied. Danny's smile widened.

"Sooo…" he said slowly. He leaned in to kiss Tucker instead of finishing his sentence. Tucker happily leaned in too, only to stop when he felt that familiar electrical tingling in his head. He suddenly stood up. Danny stared before snapping to his feet too. "Ghost?"

Tucker nodded as he looked around, going ghost. Danny reached into his pocket for a screwdriver sized-handle, pressing a button that made it spring out into the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick (Mobile Version).

"Can you tell where it-AH!" Danny screamed as a semi-familiar figure came out of seemingly nowhere and crashed into the coffee table. Tucker also screamed, turning on his heel.

The figure was a motionless girl with short black hair, one of the sides of her head shaved to expose an ear with multiple piercings. She wore a dark purple sleeveless shirt and a black skirt, with purple and black tennis shoes. The girl was laying on the wooden pile of the now broken coffee table.

"Aw, man! My mom's gonna kill me!" Tucker cried out.

Danny took a few deep breaths, clutching his chest before nudging the girl with his foot. She groaned in pain. He squinted his eyes at her voice.

"...Sam?" Danny asked. He clicked the button, and the weapon folded back together.

"...Danny?" she moaned softly.

The couple immediately reached down to help her up, setting her on the couch.

"Sam! What happened?" Danny asked. He cupped a bruised cheek, taking note of what injuries she had. "I thought you were going to Florida with your grandma." Sam stared at him, confused.

"What? N-no. No, I….I'm sorry, but are you wearing eyeliner? It looks rad."

"...Yeah? I always wear eyeliner?" Danny said slowly. "How badly did you hit your head? And how did you get here?"

Tucker had watched everything silently, but now he had to say something.

"...This isn't our Sam, dude," he told him. Danny gave him a weird look, and Sam did too, only for her face to drop in surprise upon truly looking at him. "Our Sam would never shave her head." Danny glanced back at Sam, and he had to nod.

"...Yeah, my Tucker's not...glowing," she stated hesitantly. Tucker saw his hand, and he remembered that he was, in fact, still in ghost mode.

"Sorry," he apologized, and the rings formed, but he stopped as his senses went wild once more. Black mist escaped Sam's nostrils as well. "...Hold that thought."

"There's more?" Danny asked, standing up again. Fenton Anti-Creep Stick (Mobile Version) was once again sprung out.

"Whoa, sick!" Sam grinned. She got to her feet too, wobbingly a bit.

"You should rest, you took a nasty fall," Tucker insisted. He took her hands, causing her to flush a light red. Slowly but gently, he made her sit back down. He looked to Danny, leaning in to give him a quick peck. "Make sure she's okay, I'm gonna go investigate."

"Gotcha," Danny confirmed. Tucker jumped up, flying straight into the ceiling and out. Sam rubbed her upper arm anxiously.

"So...you and Tucker, huh?" she asked slowly. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, for a while now," he replied. He raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"No!" she said quickly. "No! Uh, just kinda...weird to see, if I'm being honest. Um...So by now I'm pretty sure I fell into some kind of natural ghost portal to where Tucker's half ghost, and you two are dating….but um...where I'm from, I'm kinda half ghost, and I'm kind of dating Tucker. So! Uh!" She coughed nervously. "Just kinda...not something I'm used to seeing."

"Oh. Ah. Um...I see." Danny shifted from foot to foot before sitting down next to her. "Um. That's uh. Heh. Kinda funny."

"He also goes for the goth look," she continued. "Like, uh, like you. So. Um." She clasped her hands together, resting them on her knee as she crossed her leg. "Just uh...kinda weird." She paused. "Kinda really weird."

"Uh...yeah."

They sat in silence for a few seconds. Danny glanced over to her, clearing his throat.

"...Our Sam's dating Paulina," he suddenly blurted out. Sam choked on nothing.

"I'm WHAT?"

-------------

Tucker flew out of his house, and he immediately found what was looking for. Two figures, talking as they floated in the sky. A girl with bright blue hair, in blue and white, and a boy with white hair, in black and white.

"Hey," Tucker called out to them. They turned to him, and they stared.

"We're peaceful!" the girl called out. The boy elbowed her in the ribs, making her yelp.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Tucker Ghouly, and you two?"

"Tucker Ghouly…" the boy repeated slowly. He glanced between himself and the girl. "...Wait. Tucker? Is that you? It's me, Danny."

Tucker blinked in confusion as he stared. He squinted, and he could finally sorta see it. If he dyed the hair black, made it a bit longer, added the signature eyeliner...this dude kinda looked like his boyfriend. Though of course, his boyfriend was of course much cuter.

"Danny...Fenton?" he asked slowly. The boy, Danny, quickly made a cut it out motion.

"It's Danny Phantom," he replied.

"And Jazz Phantom!" the girl pipped up. Danny put his hand on her face, pushing her back a bit.

"We're not related," he informed him.

"We kinda are!"

"Do you know where we can talk? Like in private?" the boy asked. Tucker gestured to his house below them.

"Come on, my house should be good."

The two followed him into the living room, and Tucker glanced between his boyfriend and the Not-Sam. His boyfriend had moved to sit in an armchair while Sam was whining and complaining about something he couldn't quite make out, sprawled out dramatically on the couch.

"What did you do?" Tucker asked. Danny shrugged.

"Told her she was dating Paulina here," Danny said, and Sam let out a dramatic shrieking noise. He nodded at the two ghosts. "So why aren't we kicking butt?"

"So, if I'm guessing right," Tucker said slowly, finally turning to the two ghosts that had been just standing there awkwardly. "Ghostly portal nonsense happened, and now we have a bunch of half ghosts here."

"Wait, what?" Danny spoke up.

"I think what Tucker's saying is that me, that Danny, and." Sam sat up, pausing as she stared curiously at the other girl. She cocked her head. "Jazz?" she guessed. Jazz nodded. "Okay, and Jazz, are all half ghosts from another timeline. We need to get back."

"Yeah, and like. Soon. My parents and little sister are gonna be back by Sunday night, and I'm already hiding one half ghost, me." Tucker gestured up and down at himself. "From a Guys in White agent."

"Whoa! Wait, hold up!" the Not-Danny said, holding his hands up. "Your dad's a GIW agent?" Tucker sighed.

"Yeah. He was a cop, but right around the time of the accident he got hired on with them," he replied. "Is your dad one too?"

"No! They're ghost hunters! They run and operate FentonWorks!" Not-Danny grumbled. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, my parents too," Danny spoke up. "Tucker got shocked when we were trying to troubleshoot it. We uh...we got it running."

Danny visibly sunk in his seat a bit. Tucker immediately turned human, walking over to the armchair. He sat on the arm, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and hugging him close. A reminder that it wasn't his fault.

"Yeah, I got shocked by Mom and Dad's portal too," Jazz finally spoke up. Since Tucker had gone human, she did too. She revealed herself to still be a redhead, wearing a light blue blouse and black jeans, with matching black flats. "My boyfriend, well at the time he was just my best friend, but Spike convinced me that I should check it out. So….I did."

"Spike?" Not-Danny echoed, staring at her weirdly. "Really?" Jazz nodded. "...Huh."

"Yeah, same," Sam nodded. She shifted to pull her legs to her chest. "I was trying to convince Danny to go into the portal, but he said if I was that curious, that I should just do it myself. So I got shocked to hell and back."

"Man, your dad's portal's really been fucking with us all," Tucker told Not-Danny. He made a bit of a face.

"Wait, are you two…?" Not-Danny finally asked. Tucker nodded, affectionately patting Danny's back.

"Yeah, for a bit now," he replied. Not-Danny stared for a moment, shaking his head.

"Kinda weird. I mean, just like, I'm dating Sam," he began, only for Sam to cut him off.

"God, I know right? I'm dating Tucker!" she exclaimed. "And he-"

"Sam looks a lot like me/him!" they somewhat finished the sentence together. Jazz snorted in amusement.

"Apparently halfas have a thing for goths," she joked. Everybody gave a small chuckle.

"But yeah, seriously, I need to get you all the hell out of here before my dad gets back," Tucker said. Sam frowned.

"How are we gonna do that?" she asked.

"Clockwork, duh," Jazz said, as if it was obvious. "We just go through the Fenton portal and find him. He'll put us back."

"Yeah, but um…" Danny paused. "My parents' portal is kinda...destroyed."

The other halfas immediately went into a frenzy of panic.

"WHAT?"

"How is that possible!?

"It's destroyed!? What!? How!?"

"Was it the ecto-filter? It was the ecto-filter wasn't it?

"What did you do!?"

"Hey, hey, hey! HEY!" Danny had to raise his voice to get everybody to settle down. "Look, they're still rebuilding from Uncle Nico destroying it. It's not going to be operational for another few months. I'm sorry."

"Uncle Nico?" Not-Danny echoed. "I don't have an Uncle Nico." Danny stared at him.

"Uh, you don't?" he questioned. "He works with Uncle Vlad?"

"Wait he's your Uncle Vlad!?" Not-Danny seemed to pale. Danny looked so confused.

"...Yeah? He's my godfather. My parents have known him since college, we have family vacations together. What's wrong with him?"

"He's a fruitloop!" Not-Danny nearly screamed, waving his arms dramatically. "He wants to marry my mom and kill my dad, and adopt me as his son!" He turned to Jazz. "Right?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I have...absolutely no clue what you're talking about," she said slowly. "Uncle Vlad's great. He bought my brother a car for his sweet sixteen."

"I don't even know a Vlad," Sam agreed. Not-Danny looked like he was going to have a stroke.

"Okay, okay then," Not-Danny scowled. "So who's the old half-ghost asshole that roams around trying to ruin your life?" The other three halfas all went "ohhhh."

"Oh, that's Spectra," Jazz replied, as if it was obvious. "She went to college with my parents. She got hit by the portal and became ugly as well as half ghost, so now she basically makes my life a living hell cause she's mad that I like? Have potential or something? She's my principal, Ms. Penelope Spencer."

"Mrs. Fenton," Sam nodded. "No ghost name. Cause, uh. Well. She got hit by the portal in college and hates herself for being a half ghost. Wants me for experiments so she can cure herself. Reaaal awkward to have dinner over there."

"Danny's Uncle Nico, or Technomancer." Tucker jerked a thumb at his Danny. "Vlad's business partner that got shocked while trying to fix their portal, is now pissy cause he thinks he's better than humans cause he's got ghosts powers. Wants me to join him and be my mentor."

"Okay, so." Not-Danny rubbed his temple. "This is really fucking weird and messing with my head. Can I just go home?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my parents will start to worry about me soon," Sam agreed, looking at her watch.

"Does your Uncle Nico have a portal?" Jazz wondered. Danny shook his head no.

"He makes his own portals " he said, pointing to his wrist. "It's programmed into his watch."

"We need to take it," Not-Danny blurted out. Everybody stared at him. "What!? It's the only way to get home, I can't be crazy for suggesting that!"

"Uh, I think he might be right," Sam hesitated. "But I mean. This is your guys' world." She nodded to the couple. "Are there any other portals around?"

"Um. No? Not that I know of?" Danny admitted. Tucker thought hard.

"...Would Paulina have one?" Tucker asked. Sam visibly jerked in surprise.

"Paulina? Why Paulina?" she demanded to know. Tucker flinched.

"I uh...kinda ruined her life. So Uncle Nico...sorta...kinda...um...gave her weapons to use against me." He gave a sheepish grin. Sam gawked at him.

"...Paulina. Paulina is the Green Hunter. I don't get it, like. At all."

"Uh, Pink Huntress," Danny corrected. "But yeah."

"Wait, who the fuck could the Green Hunter be?" Not-Danny spoke up.

"Yeah, isn't it supposed to be the Blue Hunter?" Jazz seemed confused.

"No! Red Huntress!" Not-Danny scowled.

"Red?" Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Who's Red?"

"Valerie Gray?" Not-Danny stated as if it was obvious. Jazz had to think hard.

"You mean Danny's friend? Like my brother Danny? I barely know her." She shook her head. "No, the Blue Hunter's Mikey."

"Mikey!?" Sam snorted in amusement. "Oh my god, Mikey. He's seriously your hunter?"

"You never told us who the Green Hunter was!" Not-Danny pointed out.

"Oh! It's Kwan!"

"Kwan!?" Not-Danny was in disbelief. "But he's so sickeningly nice!"

"Oh my fucking god, we're going to be here all weekend if you guys don't stop comparing timelines!" Danny snapped. All the halfas stared at him, a bit guilty. They all murmured some sort of apology.

"So...should we try Paulina?" Tucker asked. Danny sighed.

"We know she has one, it's how she directly puts ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. So it's just a matter of if we wanna challenge Paulina or if we wanna challenge Uncle Nico."

Go up against a half-ghost billionaire tech genius or a weaponized high school cheerleader?

They all stared at each other.

The half-ghost billionaire tech genius was way easier.

-------------

Plan was in motion.

Danny glanced over his shoulder to look at all the halfas hiding (somewhat badly) in a bush outside of Nico's house. He had his messenger bag on his other shoulder, and a big tupperware container on his hip.

"So he's basically Technus?" Not-Danny whispered. Jazz elbowed him. "OW!"

"SHH!" she hissed back.

Danny rang the doorbell, and everybody waited. A minute passed before the door opened, and the familiar black man with long braids opened the door. He was wearing his dark green shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows.

"Hey Uncle Nico!" Danny smiled. "Are you free? I've been really struggling with this robot." He used his free hand to pat the top of the tupperware container. "Can you help?"

Nico grinned warmly.

"Course kiddo!" he boomed excitedly. "Come on, come on!" He moved to the side to let the teenager in. Danny thanked him, and they both went inside. Even from the bushes, Tucker could hear the tech genius talking a mile a minute in his outside voice.

"Okay. Danny's gonna try and get Nico into a position where he'll take his watch off, and when that happens, I'll grab it," Tucker told the others. "You guys stay here, I'll go get it."

"We should come with you," Sam Specter replied, trying to take a step forward. Tucker put a hand out to stop her.

"No, you guys really need to stay out here. Nico's got one hell of a ghost system, and he's incredibly powerful to boot. I know how to slip around it, and it's a very delicate procedure," he explained.

"Shouldn't we stick together?" Jazz questioned. Tucker shook his head no.

"No, trust me on this."

"Are you sure?" Not-Danny asked. Tucker scowled.

"Just! Stay here!" he said. He floated towards the property, turning human on the front steps but phasing into the building.

The other three halfas stood around in a semi-circle, staring at each other. Sam broke the stare to look at the ground, lightly kicking at the dirt. Not-Danny sighed impatiently. Jazz looked up at the sky.

"It's just Technus," Sam spoke up.

"Yeah! He's so easy!" Not-Danny scoffed. "He literally shouts his plans all the time."

"I can beat him with one hand tied behind my back!" Jazz agreed.

"So we'll just go in and strongarm it from him, kick butt, and go!" Not-Danny reasoned. Sam smirked.

"Yeah, of course! We'll just speed up the ass-kicking!" she said, punching her fist into her palm confidently.

"Tucker doesn't know what he's talking about," Jazz smiled.

-------------

All four halfas were spread out in Tucker's living room. Tucker was on the couch, arm over his stomach as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Sam was face first on the floor, grumbling in pain. Jazz was curled up next to the armchair, on and off grumbling about chest pains. Not-Danny was in said armchair, mirroring his not-sister by being curled up and holding his head.

Danny came into the living room, balancing three pizzas on one hand with four sodas underneath his other arm. He frowned at the three strange halfas.

"Tucker and I told you to stay outside," he rubbed it in. Not-Danny groaned.

"Man, we get it," he complained. Danny rolled his eyes, setting the food on the impromptu coffee table made up of Amazon boxes.

"Well I hope so, cause now we gotta go through Paulina," he replied. He glanced over to Sam. "So hope you're ready to go on a date, Sam."

"Wait, what?" Sam pulled her face up to look at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I am. It's the only way to get her guard down so that Tucker can get her watch so we can find Clockwork and send you guys home." Danny frowned at her. "I'm pretty sure I can make you look like our Sam. Olivia may have a cosplay wig you can borrow, so she won't question why her girlfriend suddenly shaved and somehow unshaved her head. You're going to be the only one who can convince her to take that watch off."

"How on Earth am I supposed to do that?" Sam frowned, rolling onto her back. Danny threw his hands up in the air.

"Figure it out," he scowled. "You guys got yourselves into this mess! We don't have to help you, you know." Sam made a face at him. Tucker reached up to grab Danny's hand.

"Babe, chill. They were just trying to help," Tucker sighed. Danny exhaled too, squeezing his hand.

"We warned them that Technomancer was dangerous," he frowned.

"What's done is done, let's just focus on Paulina."

"...You're right."

Tucker smiled at him, and Danny gave a half-smile back. He let go of Tucker's hand to open the top pizza box.

"Alright, who wanted what?"

-------------

That next morning, Tucker nearly forgot that he had three other random halfas crash that night in his living room. Jazz and Danny had decided that they could tolerate sleeping on the queen sized pull out sofa together with their not-sibling, leaving Sam free to have the twin air mattress to herself.

He didn't wake them up when he saw them though, instead silently making his way towards his kitchen to get himself a bowl of cereal. Not too long afterwards, he heard Danny come down the stairs and come into the kitchen too.

"Hey," he greeted warmly. Tucker smiled, feeling his stomach flutter a bit.

"Hey, morning," he replied. He held up his box of cereal. "Want some?" Danny shook his head no.

"Nah, I'm gonna raid your poptarts," he replied. He opened the cabinet for them, fishing a packet out to unwrap and toss into the toaster. "When Sam wakes up, we need her to call Paulina and invite her out somewhere."

"But we need to take her someplace where she'll not wear that watch," Tucker mused, opening his fridge for milk. He poured some into his bowl. "She wears it everywhere though. How's she going to get Paulina to take it off?"

"That's why we emphasised so fucking hard to them the other day that Uncle Nico was the better option," Danny grumbled.

"Hey, it's okay," Tucker tried to sooth.

"No it's not," Danny insisted. "They wouldn't listen to us!" Tucker put the milk away. "They said it ourselves, that this is our timeline, and we know our timeline, and we know our rivals. So why did they just ignore everything we said about how powerful and dangerous Technomancer is? It's frustrating, it kinda pisses me off still.

"It's okay," Tucker repeated. He took a step forward to be closer to his boyfriend. "They made a mistake. Our timelines are so similar that they probably just underestimated him. Especially if he's supposedly such a joke in theirs." Danny let out an annoyed huff. Tucker cupped his cheek. "We'll figure it out. We always do."

"...I know, just." He paused, sounding emotionally exhausted. "They should have listened."

"They'll listen now," Tucker smiled. Danny couldn't help but give a small smile back. "We'll likely be able to get them home by dinner at the latest, and we can go out."

"I guess…" Danny took a deep breath. Tucker leaned in and gave him a kiss, and he could feel Danny finally relax.

"Oh, whoa. Um. Sorry," Sam's voice made Danny tense up again, and the couple pulled away from each other. Sam was staring at them, standing awkwardly in the kitchen entrance, looking a bit flushed. "I was uh. Hungry. Um. Sorry, just that you look so much like my Danny and Tucker, and the whole um. Yeah. I'll just..." She reached for the sole remaining pizza box, quickly opening it and grabbing a leftover slice and hurrying out of the kitchen. Danny huffed again.

"This is our timeline," he grumbled, his frustrations turning into inaudible mutters. The toaster popped, making them both briefly jump. He grabbed his poptarts, and Tucker collected his bowl and a spoon. The couple went into the living room.

Not-Danny and Jazz were both awake by now, sitting cross legged on the pull out bed as Sam sat in the armchair.

"Okay," Danny began as he stepped into the living room. He pointed to Sam with his poptart. "You can use my phone to call Paulina and ask her to meet you today." Sam looked physically pained at the idea.

"Do I have to?" Sam whined. Danny frowned, taking a bite of his poptart.

"If, uh, other me, is right, you're the only one who's going to be able to convince her," Not-Danny spoke up. Jazz nodded in agreement. Sam dramatically slammed her head against the cushiony back of the armchair.

"...Fine." She held her hand out, and Danny pulled his cell phone out, pulling up Paulina's number. He put it in her hand, and Sam stared at the contact. She took a deep breath before pressing the call button. After a few rings, somebody picked the phone up.

"Um? Danny?" Paulina sounded confused. Sam gave a pained grimace.

"Hey...uh...baby?" Danny waved his poptart in the air in a what the fuck motion. Sam mirrored it back to him.

"...Sam? Is that you? I thought you were in Florida with your grandma this weekend? Why are you calling from Danny's phone."

"Um. No? I lost my phone," she awkwardly replied. Danny motioned for her to keep talking. "Uh, hey! Wanna meet up today?"

"Sure! Do you wanna go mall cruising?" Paulina asked.

"Uh yeah! Sounds fun! How about?" Sam paused to glance at the wall clock. "Say in an hour?"

"Sounds perfect! I can't wait to see you!"

"You...too." Everybody could tell that it took everything for Sam to force that sentence out. "Goodbye. I miss you."

"Byebye!"

Sam hung up the phone, handing it back to Danny. He was frowning at her.

"That was terrible," he told her. Sam scowled. "Come on. We need to get you looking like our Sam."

-------------

"Ugh, why is there so much hair?" Sam complained. She pulled on the wig to adjust it some. Apparently the Sam here had long hair, and it felt so heavy. And this outfit was so...nerdy. This was going to be a terrible day.

"Stop pulling on it!" Danny hissed. "We can't afford to blow this twice."

"Here," Tucker spoke up. He handed her a watch. "Just try and switch the watches if you can." Sam hesitantly took it. She turned it over in her hand.

"Once you switch, give us some kind of signal," Not-Danny added.

"And we'll make a distraction," Jazz chimed in.

"Won't she notice if I switch it then?" Sam asked. Danny shook his head no.

"No, her bracelet is her ghost hunting gear, the watch is just a portal device."

Sam glanced between all of them worriedly as she pocketed the device.

"You got this," Tucker smiled. She reluctantly nodded.

"Pink Huntress, coming right for us," Danny said, nodding ahead of them as he lightly slapped Tucker with the back of his hand. Not-Danny and Jazz immediately rushed away.

"Good luck!" Tucker whispered to her as he and Danny grabbed each other's hand, quickly walking off to pretend that they just happened to be having their own date out at the mall.

Sam smiled weakly as Paulina bounced up to her. She wasn't in the dark pink and black attire Sam was used to, but a long sleeved light pink shirt with white shorts, hair pulled back in a long french braid.

"Hey!" Paulina greeted her warmly. Sam forced a bigger smile.

"Hey!" she replied.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Paulina asked, immediately reaching to grab Sam's hand. The halfa flinched at first, jerking away before quickly remembering, and she took Paulina's hand. The huntress raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it.

"Uh, wherever you wanna go!" Sam replied lightly.

"Hmm," Paulina lightly mused. "How about Sephora?"

"Uh, sure," Sam agreed.

Thankfully Paulina was still chatty, and so Sam wasn't forced to make conversation, but simply just listen as Paulina talked on the walk towards the store. She mostly talked about her Starbucks job, since she had apparently come straight from there to the mall. Sam couldn't imagine her own Paulina actually working at all, but she guessed it seemed to make sense that this Paulina did. Sam kinda...fucked Kwan over, even though it was unintentional, and he had to take up a part time job at the Skulk N Lurk because of it.

The store came up, and Paulina broke away from Sam to excitedly hurry in.

"Ooo, Sam! Look!" She smiled, pointing out a display of bright pastels, primarily warm tones. "These are so pretty!" Paulina opened the display palette, looking at the colors. Sam came up next to her, studying the colors.

"Oh wow, those look so pretty," Sam had to admit.

"Yeah, but I don't know if they'd look too good on me," Paulina mused. She took the test brush, and she applied the color to her inner arm. Sam watched, and the idea hit her.

"...Hey, Paulina? Do you wanna take your watch off so you don't get makeup on it?" Sam questioned. Paulina glanced at it, thinking for a minute before nodding.

"Yeah, probably a good idea," she agreed. She slipped it off, handing it to Sam. "Can you hold it for a moment?"

"Of course!" Sam smiled. She accepted it.

Paulina returned her attention to the sample palette, and she began to swatch her arm with it. Heart pounding, Sam quickly made the exchange, putting the real one in her pocket and holding the fake one while Paulina was distracted. She glanced over to see Danny a few isles over, watching her from the corner of his eye as he looked at makeup. She gave a small nod. Danny gave a short nod back, and she saw him exit the store.

Sam returned her attention fully to her

A small beeping came from Paulina, and Sam raised an eyebrow at her. It was still...weird to think of her mortal enemy as being the hunter-er, huntress. Paulina glanced around worriedly.

"Uh, hey Sam? I totally forgot, my papa-," she began, pulling her phone out. Sam could see that obviously, nobody was calling, but she nodded anyway.

"Oh, don't worry! Go on, I understand!" she said. Paulina smiled in relief. Sam held up the fake watch. "Don't forget this!"

"Oh, right!" Paulina used one of the free wet wipes, quickly wiping the swatches off before putting the watch back on. "Thanks! You're the best!" she chirped. "Call me when you find your phone!"

Paulina exited the store in a hurry, and Sam followed. She saw her already near the exit of the mall, opening the door and leaving. The halfa jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned to see Danny.

"Hey, you get it?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"I gave you the signal, didn't I?" she said. She reached into her pocket to pull the watch out. Danny plucked it from her fingers, turning it over. He sighed in relief.

"This is it," he confirmed. "The other Danny and Jazz went to wait for us outside. Tucker's making a distraction, and once he's done, we'll finally get you guys home."

A rush of air blew hit them as Tucker Ghouly flew by. A feminine figure in pink, riding a skateboard style hoverboard, was close on his heels.

"...Assuming Paulina doesn't finally get him."

-------------

"I'm so glad that's over," Danny sighed as they plopped onto Tucker's couch. Tucker gave a small hum. Luckily it took no time to find Clockwork and send everybody home.

"Yeah. Just gotta figure out what to do about this," he mused, pushing the Amazon box coffee table with his food. Danny waved it off.

"We can go to Ikea tomorrow," he replied. He held his hand out for Tucker to take, and the halfa immediately did.

"We also need to call Sam and let her know what we did in case Paulina asks," Tucker said. Danny grumbled tiredly.

"...We'll call her in a bit," he promised him.

"At some point we need to find a way to slip that bracelet back to Paulina."

"Problem for another day."

They sat in silence for a bit. Just resting. Just chilling, until Danny finally spoke up again. "...you know what's kinda cool?" Tucker brushed his thumb over the back of Danny's hand, giving a curious hum in response. "...It's kinda nice to know that it's seemingly meant to be. You know. Us. Halfas and goths getting together." Tucker grinned.

"Yeah, that is kinda nice," he agreed. He let go of Danny hand to stand up. "Come on. I promised you some food."

"Finally."