#phantomphangphucker

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - You Look Sort Of Like My Father

For: Chrysanthemum and Care

Danny’s never had good parents. They were objectively ‘good’ people, but maybe an objectively ‘bad’ man would make for a genuinely good parent.

You look sort of… like my father.

Little boy, little boy, let me come in.

Let the dark come in.

Dad is that you, are you back?

Danny’s always had a… rocky relationship with his parents, it’s not that they were actively mean to him or that he actively hated them. It’s more that they just… weren’t good, weren’t attentive.

Weren’t really meant to be parents.

They were meant to be scientists, to be researchers, to be explores even; meant to be ghost hunters.

Kids were just for ‘the Fenton legacy’ or because ’married couples were supposed to have kids’ or simply for them to have extra hands to help them or extra minds to listen to them…

Or maybe it was simply to have free experiments that couldn’t escape for eighteen years.

…

That last one felt a little too true these days. At least they didn’t know about him, about what he was. If they did…

It, it would be so so much worse. Surely.

How couldn’t it be? They’d have access to a ghost, a unique hybrid ghost at that, that was stuck under their roof for at least two more years… if he survived whatever they’d do for that long anyways.

He didn’t have his hopes up. Never did. Never had even.

At least when he was human, fully human, he didn’t have to wonder if they’d saw out his ribs just to see what colour they might be. Blood samples were just blood. The stool stuff was creepy but still, not really a part of him.

Plus they stopped doing that stuff a year after they started actively feed him and Jazz ecto as little kids, since it didn’t ’yield interesting results’.

If it had…

He’d have been screwed from the start of his half life. He absolutely would have had to flee on day one. God that would have been awful.

He’d have… survived of course, he was good at surviving, had to be, but surviving wasn’t good. Surviving, only just surviving, was worse than dying.

He’d do it for his friends and to protect the town of course but still, he’d be doing all of it, all of that, empty and numb and waiting for the fight that would finally brutally beat the fight out of every one of his limbs and eventually… his heart and core too.

But that’s not how things are, not how they were, small mercy he guesses.

Didn’t really make what he does have now much better though. And it’s not like he can even dream that things would be better if only he hadn’t died.

They would be, just…

They still wouldn’t be good. They wouldn’t be fine or even okay.

And giving kids at least a ‘fine’ childhood was kinda the point of being a parent, ‘good’ was the goal and ‘great’ was better, but ‘fine’ would do. ‘Okay’ was only really acceptable with parents who didn’t choose to become parents, which was firmly not his parents positions.

They chose this.

They shouldn’t have.

He wished they hadn’t.

…

Well, okay, that wasn’t strictly true. He… enjoyed being around, he did!

He liked helping people, and seeing movies, and getting into ghostly fist fights, and hanging out with his friends… Even taunting Dash mid bully session could be fun.

But his parents shouldn’t have had kids and Danny would be better off someone else’s kid. Jazz was treated better by them and even she knew that; and unlike him, she had told them as much.

Did they care?

No, not really. Just a ‘that’s nice, honey’, which was and is somehow worse than them being upset, or heck, even happy. They just… didn’t really care.

He’d always wanted to fly, but all they taught him was how to drown.

The only things from them he did really like was his own love of science, of exploring and discovering, of tinkering; but they only cared and nurtured those things in him as far as they benefited and leaning into their interests… not his. Sure he was interested in ghosts too, just not like them.

Never like them.

They’d want him to be. Push him to be. So he never made that little interest known.

That’s okay though.

Because he explored his interests on his own, which wasn’t how it should be.

But…

His parents also gave him what he is. He wouldn’t be a halfa if it was for them. And that was such a part of him he could hardly seem himself without it. Even if what gave him it is all the things wrong with his parents. All the reasons they should never have been parents.

Unsafe handling of samples and unlocked projects. No adult supervision and contaminated baby bottles from the day he was born.

His parents must have paid someone off to avoid him and jazz getting taken away by cps. That, or, Sam was right and the cps only ever really did anything when a kid died and actually left a corpse behind.

…

Sucks for him he guesses then. Or not. The adoption system sounded awful.

He just… didn’t know if that would be better or worse than what he’s got, hard to say. Which he knows is really really bad. At this point it didn’t matter anyways, he had two more years and it wouldn’t matter.

He could stay.

He could go.

He could stay sometimes and go other times.

It would be up to him. And well… he did not hate his parents. In some ways he wanted to stay, he just… knows he can’t. It’s not safe. It never will be safe. Human or halfa. It won’t be safe. It won’t be healthy. It won’t be happy.

He won’t be free.

He really wanted to be free.

Not free from them, not really. Just free to be, well, him. Free to go where he wanted. Free to talk as he wanted. Free to decorate as he wanted. Free to simply be without having to be so damn paranoid about them. About them hurting him, about them confining him, about them maybe simply just not caring.

If they ever found out and just said ‘that’s nice, sweetie’, he knows he wouldn’t be able to handle that.

What would he even be supposed to do with that?

Nothing. Because you can’t do anything when someone gives you nothing. And that was a nothing response.

He could power through torture, would suck but he could do it. It was something. Confinement he could find an escape or be rescued. Nothing would just…

…

Yeah. It would just, and that’s it. And being stuck in that kind of uncertainty would be the farthest from being free or safe or happy.

He can only starve for so long before he’ll die. He’s starving for freedom. For better. For more. For what only the darkness seems to whisper he can actually have.

It’s a bit weird.

Because he didn’t used to really think about this stuff, all of it, before. As a kid, an early teen, it just simply was. No need to think about it and no real reason to. Jazz did, because Jazz studied behaviours, because Jazz cared about and for him more than they ever did.

But at least he knows why he actually thinks about this stuff now. He had a reference point, and a bit more maturity of course; but it was mostly that reference point he mentioned. And ironically, the reference point that actually got him to really think about how bad his parents were at being parents was an outright mass murderer…

That was pretty messed up, in all honesty. Even to him.

When a literal war mongering genocidal mad man provides an actual example of what a good parent should be, because the biological parents were just that far gone.

Someone he knows is no good, is good to him.

But…

Pariah just… seemed to care, not just in general but about him specifically.

Somehow.

Danny had been pretty convinced that the whole ‘you nearly truly bested me, child, you shall be my heir’ situation was just that, claiming a strong heir.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

Just some other adult using what they wanted or needed of Danny and moving along.

Like mom and dad.

Like Vlad.

Like ClockWork.

Like Pamela and Jeremy Manson.

Like Alicia.

Like Pandora.

Like Angela and Maurice Foley.

Even like Lancer.

In fact… the only adult that Danny can think of that didn’t do that to him, was Sam’s nana Ida… his nana Ida… who of course died.

Figures right?

The one adult who treated him well dying?

Yeah…

‘That’s rough buddy’.

He was tired of rough. Honestly.

But then, now, there’s Pariah. Who… doesn’t do that to him.

Sure Pariah trains him. Hand to hand combat. Weapons. Political jargon. War strategies. Zone geography. Ghost typography and linguistics.

But…

He also listens to him. He doesn’t just throw things at him. Doesn’t just push his own wants, his own desires, his own ways, on him. On Danny. He didn’t do that to Danny as a whole, not just the ghost Phantom or the Human Fenton. Danny. He listened.

He gave back more than ‘that’s nice, sweetie’. Or ‘be back by super!’. Or ‘okay, have fun’.

Pariah gave responses. He gave actual feed back, and opinions, and his own specific thoughts.

And neither did he just say what he thought Danny wanted to hear or what he thought would get Danny to do or say or be the way he wanted. Even when Pariah knew it wasn’t what Danny wanted to hear.

When Pariah’s thoughts and opinions were cruel and twisted and dangerous.

Which was… good. It was really good.

As much as that had been difficult to admit, even to just himself.

Because someone who ended trillions in death and murdered thousands in life, shouldn’t be someone Danny’s ever thinking positively of… right?

Yet he was.

Because Pariah actually seemed to give a damn about Danny. Even if sometimes it was a bit twisted or dark. Even when he pushed for more than Danny was willing to give, he’d back off, drop it, immediately. Maybe explain himself a little, but that was all.

That alone was refreshing.

A ten foot civilization Ender trying to test out Danny’s level of willingness to commit murder, shouldn’t be ‘refreshing’… but it was.

Pariah was everything he didn’t have. Everything he’d never had.

And wasn’t that an awful thing?

What’s worse is it made Danny feel… off kilter. It just wasn’t what he was used to. His experience with so called ‘parental figures’ was lie, hide, and subdue everything.

Be enough for their wants and their needs but never too much. Never too you. If it was a situation where he didn’t have to then he wouldn’t, but with mom and dad he always had to. With anyone with actual claim to the term ‘parent’ with him, he had to.

Until Pariah.

Mom and dad left the door open, the latch ajar, for someone else to come in and scoop him up.

Pariah wanted of him of course. Wanted for him. But he also just wanted Danny seemingly. Wanted Danny as Danny. No lies. No hiding. No subduing his self.

Pariah didn’t like stars. Well he did, he just liked the stars because Danny liked the stars. Danny’s mom and dad couldn’t even understand the concept of liking something just because someone else, because their kid, did.

Pariah, he… felt more a parent each day and each night than Maddie or Jack did.

Every day he sent the FrightKnight as his guard, not because he wanted to ‘keep an eye’ on Danny, but because he wanted Danny safe. Because he did not view Danny as safe in his home environment… or a school… or at his friend’s homes.

Every night he decided to show up and glare menacingly at whatever ghost was bugging Danny, all so he could have some ‘father/son’ time.

Every day he just plain played with him, no ‘how to be a parent’ book needed.

Every night he’d sit on the observatory and let Danny explain the constellations at him even though he’d seen them all before.

Every day he eagerly teach Danny maths and social and even English, in place of living teachers who had long since given up on him.

Every night he simply let Danny sleep purely because he knows Danny needs to.

Then there was what he didn’t do.

He didn’t tell Danny half of what he was, was lesser than him. No, just that everyone was beneath them, because they were king and prince. No bigotry, no bias. It was simple status.

He didn’t gift him backhandedly or gift him only things that were useful to ‘the parent’ instead.

He didn’t disregard him and all that was his. Didn’t give him nothing answers.

Most of all, he didn’t experiment on him. Tests of skill or knowledge, sure, but not experiments, and the tests were with good reason.

Danny being weak, Danny being unskilled, Danny be unaware; would be dangerous. For him, for Pariah, for both of them. It wasn’t the same, it was always willing, eager even.

Pariah… was making Danny happy. Not like the contentment from when he was a young naive child. Actually happy.

That just… also hurt. Because it should be his mom and dad doing that. Having that effect. Not someone Danny met only because of an ill-thought fight and Vlad machinations.

But at some point Danny has to choose himself. His happiness. Choose a future with him happy in it.

Mom and dad.

Maddie and Jack.

Weren’t that future.

They never were. Never even could be. They didn’t have the capacity to be. Not for him, not for Jazz, not for anyone. That’s not Danny’s fault. That’s not Jazz’s fault. He can’t even blame Vlad. It was just them. Maddie and Jack. But that’s what made it hurt too.

Because they were happy the way they were. Hurting and failing those they chose to bring into the world by force. And happy people… can’t be changed. Shouldn’t be really.

It would be really selfish of Danny.

So he’ll let them have their peace. Without him.

It’s okay. It hurts, but it’s okay.

Danny had someone who did want him. Who did change for him. Pariah wanted Danny. And Danny likes being wanted, wants to be wanted.

Was that so wrong?

Was it okay for him to… actually pick Pariah? As a dad?

It… felt like it was but it also felt like it wasn’t.

…

Danny made his choice already. Made it a while ago. Long before he met Pariah. Long before he died. Long before he even understood that not choosing Maddie and Jack was even an option.

It just…

He just… needed to realize that. Mourn that. Hurt a little.

And he had. He really really had.

The realization will settle in. The mourning will peter down. The hurt will dull.

But at least that was an adjustment he wouldn’t have to bear alone.

Even if Pariah didn’t get Danny’s emotions, because they were too human or perhaps simply to foreign to Pariah himself, he would still make an effort to get them or hear them or soften them to something easier for Danny.

That’s so so much more than he’s ever had.

Still.

He has to stay. Stay here. In this house. For two more years, regardless of his falling off breaking non-attachment to its owners. He will be here, but he’ll be motionless. He won’t be himself.

He has nothing left to give.

They failed him, and Pariah came like holy water being poured on him. The devil always seemed so much kinder than god.

Will they even know? Will they be able to tell?

Like astronomy, they were whole worlds apart. Whole universes.

…

They already rarely see him. His room his only home here. The night. The sky. The stars. Even more so home.

Will they one day realize that he too -so much like Jazz but so much painfully later- had lost his will to believe in them? That he tried so hard but they never had anything. Had nothing for him.

Would he just be a memory?

Would they?

Once you reach the sky, you can’t look down at the sea.

A ghost gave him hope and an idea of what happiness was, what it could be.

He… he can almost laugh at how crazy that might drive them…

…

If they cared at all, or if they just dismissed him with their nothings.

Pariah would care. Pariah would laugh with him. And Danny’s heart and core would beat and pulse all the more with it.

Pariah could have him as son.

Pariah had him as son.

And Danny?

Danny, for once, for once in his life and death, had a dad.

As much as it hurt, he couldn’t bear the sound of loosing what he’s never before found.

And with that, the Infinite Realms had a king and prince too. And Danny could make Pariah love the place again. Want it to flourish again.

Because Danny wanted that.

Danny wanted it to thrive.

That place was the space he’d never get to see. The spaceship he can’t fly.

He can’t force a star that’s already died to align with living ones.

But he’ll reach out into the void with his small child ghost hands, and this time…

This time…

He won’t grab the wrong hand.

You look nothing like my mother

You look nothing like my father.

Dark thrashing, calling my name

Looming, threatening, and shaking the latch

You look nothing like my mother I know no mother.

You look exactly like my father.

End.

Prompts: Pariah Dark adopts Danny. He is a surprising dedicated to being a good parent. "This had all been for his own good, he knew that. Still, it was hard to remember that sometimes."

[fascinatedscrawls]

Phic Phight Prompt: The Box Ghost, aka the most un-frightening pathetic nuisance ever, is actually incredibly powerful compared to the average ghost.

Word Count: 1910

For @phantomphangphucker

Summary: After dying in a warehouse collapse, one ghost sets out to make the ghost zone OSHA Compliant one box at a time.

Working with a couple different crews and shifts for a decade or two means getting used to going by a nickname or three. He's not one to linger on the past, but when he thinks back he's pretty sure that there was a stretch of time where he didn't hear his legal name for weeks, possibly months, so adapting to this new green dimension where no one can get his name right isn't difficult.

Or, the name thing isn't.

Asking everyone to call him the Box Ghost is easier than correcting their pronunciation of his actual name. Everyone around here seems to be going by one title after another - so Boxy (his favorite nickname that the others have given him here, but unfortunately too close to other's monikers to use as an introduction) keeps it simple for his own benefit. Explaining things can get frustrating and having to do so repeatedly is boring, so Box Ghost it is!

Making a habit of introducing himself every time he sees someone isn't a new habit, but it makes itself useful here even if he doesn't have nearly as much trouble remembering ghostly faces as he did human ones.

So introductions - easy!

Needing to sound threatening to get his point across? That's more difficult to get used to. Boxy doesn't exactly like fighting, not after losing the few fights he got into when he was alive. But, if a few threatening words is all it takes to make this place safer, he can put on the act.

Because this place - the Infinite Realms - they're sorely in need of his help.

Back when he was alive, Boxy  watched countless safety videos and participated in even more inspections over the course of his career. He rolled his eyes, slouching his way through the required checks, going over lists and participating in drills before getting on with his actual work. While he and the others were careful with the boxes they handled (as they'd be on the hook if they weren't), they usually just made jokes about the old cracked and slowly bowing walls. They weren't in charge and it wasn't hurting anyone, what was the harm?

He knew the harm now.

He might not have blood these days, but Boxy swears he can feel it boiling whenever he sees cracked, bending, and broken walls. Can feel the ache in his jaw from clenching his teeth when he looks at sagging, leaking, and collapsed roofs.

The numerous cliffs hanging out into the swirling, glowing abyss he can't do anything about, but the all the other places where these ghosts live - those he can fix.

Newly dead, he tried suggesting improvements he remembered from before. Tried providing examples he'd seen in practice. Tried offers to fix the old castles, the burnt homes, the cracked caverns only to be fought tooth and nail at every turn - often literally. Fighting back was instinct, one he fought more than the other ghosts whose homes he was clearly insulting.

He smothered the impulse right up until the first time he was thrown through a stone wall.

Boxy still doesn't quite remember what happened directly after that, only the result and the result was very good.

When he came to every wall in the area was square, the rooms complete, the roof secure, and the ghost who lived there? Well, they were a little worse for wear, but they brushed off his concerned look with something between a shrug and a shudder.

"Warn a guy." They had said or, rather, muttered before flying into their now safer home and slamming the door.

So Boxy took their words to heart.

"Beware!" He greeted others as he found more buildings in need of his help. "I am the Box Ghost!"

The practice of holding his hands up in a mild threat came later, after a lot more fights followed by a short run of successes - each of which ended with the other ghost cringing away from him.

Boxy still isn't fond of threatening people. He does this for their safety and the safety of others - so that no one ends up like he did, but if that's the only way to keep everyone safe he'll play his part.

Besides, maybe after this he'll move on to what is clearly his true calling - acting! His old coworkers always used to make fun of his attempts to act, but with just a few words and an exaggerated angry gesture or two he seems to be pulling of 'threat' really well!

Then again, maybe he'll stay off the stage. His ghostly powers don't lend themselves to it in the way he's seen with others. He can fly, but he can't teleport. He can stand up to other's blows, but he can't shapeshift or take on their faces.

His powers mostly lie in his interests, which doesn't seem uncommon in the Infinite Realms.

He can move himself - handy for getting around. He can move boxes - something he's so familiar with he could do it in his sleep even before his death, though not having to touch them is something he still delights in. And, most importantly, he can bring buildings up to code.

This last one is by far the trickiest to do. It's hard to explain what he does and how he does it in words. It's something similar to how he always knows which stack of boxes aren't stacked correctly even when they look secure. He can feel the fault lines, taste the breaking points, smell the way the not-gravity of this place pulls on a structure.

He chose 'The Box Ghost' not only because boxes are, obviously, amazing, but because boxes hold up to the pressures of this place better than other shapes. The right angles, the rigid sides, when put together just right they can stand up even under dragon fire or unexpected island collisions.

Of course, leaning into his name and specialties leads to strange consequences.

Something about this place, it twists things. It took a while for him to notice, but the strength of his boxy architecture is improving, but not without cost. He thought it was just experience, but then he tried to keep the shape of a tower as he improved it and something about the rounded walls made it fall apart.

The fight he had with the owner for causing the tower to crumble was less memorable than the testing that needed to be done after that (sure the guy could turn into a dragon, but his castle was more than big enough to trap him in). With his mastery of all things square and box like, Boxy specialized to the point of being unable to not make things square.

It isn't a huge problem, most purposefully non-square things were built with more thought than the broken down buildings he needs to fix, but it is annoying at times.

He doesn't give it much thought after that, other than making a note to tell ghosts of his cubic specialty when he introduces himself, so he continues his campaign, hoping that one day he can share the burden of this quest to ensure safety in the Infinite Realms. Looking back at all those videos and checklists he knows that this isn't a one-person job, he needs the government to get in on it for his work to be effective.

Unfortunately, any attempts he's made to speak to those in charge either leave him with new clients or with frustratingly few answers.

"The king is in forever sleep," is not the answer he's looking for, especially when he's trying to confirm what kind of building codes are currently in use in this place. As more people hear of him, Boxy finds both more and less resistance to his safety crusade. Some invite him in meekly, while others refuse to bend to his (clearly terrifying) threats, instead posing some honestly, quite reasonable questions about the safety of the buildings he's putting in place.

It's while he's trying to find this justification that he comes across the permanent portal for the first time.

"This doesn't belong here!" Surely they'd have some permits up and posted if such a thing was supposed to be built in the middle of a thoroughfare like this! It's not Boxy's first interaction with a portal, but it's certainly the first man-made one he's seen. He takes the time to inspect it from every angle - the only roughly octagonal shape, the poor welds on the metal, the lack of safety measures - it's horrible! And probably beyond his (non-existent) pay grade.

He turns to go report this to the scary knight who guards the king's castle only to nearly get run over by another ghost gunning for the portal.

When he straightens up, he finds himself in a nightmare of safety violations. Boxy stares in horror at the clearly DIY walls, the uneven floors, the stairs with steps that are clearly too tall.

Sure, there's a lot of sciency things scattered around the place in ways that look dangerous, but Boxy isn't familiar with that side of things. He disregards it in favor of what he knows how to fix.

So, of course, that's when the alarms go off. The portal slams shut behind him and lights start flashing. A recording blares too loud for Boxy to understand, but he's done enough drills that he knows what to do.

Quickly, quietly, Boxy exits the building and heads for a safer area.

He waits for a handful of minutes before realizing it wasn't a fire alarm after all and the fire department won't be coming to give an all-clear. Normally he'd head back, but the extra time outside has let him realize where he is.

The realm of the living!

There are side walks! Rows of homes, most of them safe and square! For a moment each of the box like suburban homes glows as he happily resonates with the cubic structures.

It cuts off as a delivery truck drives past.

Boxy's attention is captured especially when he realizes the boxes within are filled with books.

Books! Books in Boxes! Books are just what he was looking for - now he can get examples of building codes for the king whenever he wakes up!

He dives into the delivery truck and gets so lost in the ecstasy of so many good, old-fashioned, cardboard boxes, neatly and professionally stacked inside a box truck that he only comes back to himself after he's introduced himself to someone - warning, threatening gestures and all.

After so many successful fights it's a shock when the white haired teen bests him so easily. Then again, just as the boxes and that truck seemed to energize him, the cylindrical capture device the child pulls on him seems to sap the fight right out of him.

It seems like no time at all before he's back in the zone, staring at that misshapen portal once again. It may be a safety hazard, but that won't stop the Box Ghost. He'll brave the portal and fight as many times as he needs to in order to get the books necessary (and maybe a few more boxes, as a treat) to fix all the broken parts of this Realm.

When the Ghost King wakes up and starts managing this place again, the Box Ghost will be first in line to talk to him - together they'll make this place safe for all ghosts!

[five-rivers]

wandering heart

For @phantomphangphucker for phic phight!

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The needle was bronze.  

The copper alloy stood out better against ectoplasmic flesh than it would have against red blood.  It dipped in and out of Danny's skin with machine-like precision, drawing a slender purple string in its wake.  Appropriate.  Clockwork was at least partly mechanical.

“You're getting close to my liver,” said Danny.  “Careful.”

“You are aware that these facsimile organs are not at all essential to the function of your body.”

“Sure they are,” said Danny.  He leaned his head back on the cushion Clockwork had provided him.  “That's why you're sewing me up.”

Clockwork's tower wasn't Danny's usual post-battle stop, but the fight had been nasty and it had been close. His other choices had been flying an hour to reach the Far Frozen and leaving an ectoplasm trail through the mad science lab dedicated to dissecting ghosts.  The decision had been easy.  

Clockwork had complained, of course.  Ninety percent of the time spent stitching had doubled as time spent snarking.  It was fun.  

“You have more than fake human organs in here, and losing that much ectoplasm is unhealthy for a ghost regardless.  You are friends with the doctors of the Far Frozen.  Perhaps you should avail yourself of their knowledge more frequently.”

“I already have one health class I'm failing.  Don't need another.”

“You are not failing your health class.”

Danny peeled back an eyelid that had fallen shut at some point during the exchange.  “Are you using your time powers to spy on my grades?”

“Hardly.”  Clockwork picked up a pair of ornate scissors and snipped the string he'd been stitching Danny up with.  “But even so, I doubt you would notice if I removed one of your so-called organs.” 

“You could try,” said Danny.  He closed his eyes again and leaned to the side until he was slumped over on Clockwork, who made an offended noise.  “You’re trapped now.  Stuck.”

“I am a shapeshifter,” said Clockwork.  “You cannot ‘trap’ me simply by leaning on me.”

“Can too.”

Danny was tired.  Sometimes, he could shrug off both fights and injuries like they were nothing, but unicorns were vicious and Technus was mean.  Electricity always took a lot out of him.  

Clockwork sighed heavily.  Danny smiled.  

“You aren’t nearly as charming as you think,” said Clockwork.  

“And yet, you are neither kicking me out nor stealing my pancreas or lower intestine or anything like that.”

“I could.”

“But you haven’t.”  Danny tucked his feet underneath him and snuggled more heavily into Clockwork’s side.  

The ghost groaned, but obligingly made room for Danny.  Yes, yes, exactly according to plan.  The evil one, where he made friends with Clockwork.  He figured he was already halfway there, if Clockwork was willing to sew him up, but with this it was definitely closer to three quarters.  

Having thought this, Danny promptly fell asleep.  

.

The front doors of Clockwork’s tower were not made to slam open, but Danny, fingers of one hand clenched over his chest and still wearing a Far Frozen medical gown, managed anyway.  He was resourceful like that.  

“Clockwork?” he called.  “Clockwork!”  He flew from room to room, only sticking his head in long enough to assess them for Clockwork's presence.  

Finally, he found him.  

“Clockwork!” he shouted, re-energized by the sight.  “Did you steal my heart?  My heart?  My actual heart from my actual chest?”

Clockwork stared blankly at Danny for long enough that his panicked doubled and doubled again.  This was, quite literally, his only lead.

“No,” said Clockwork, finally.  “I stole the replica of your actual heart.  From your chest.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Is it?” asked Clockwork, smugly.  “After all, you didn’t even notice this one was gone.”

“Oh my god, I cannot believe you did this.”  Friendship plan canceled.  Or something.

“I cannot imagine why,” said Clockwork.  “After all, I told you exactly what I was going to do.  You even gave me permission.”

“I thought you were joking.  Who’s going to think that you’re serious about stealing a friend’s organs?  That’s a joke.  A joke.  Banter, if you would.  Not an invitation to steal my literal heart.”

“Even so, it has been done.”

“Well, can you undo it?  Put it back in?  You didn’t, I don’t know, toss it out with last week’s eggshells or something?  Stick it in the back of the kitchen junk drawer.”

“No, I know exactly where I put it,” said Clockwork.  

“And you can undo it, right?  It’s not, like, expired?”

“It is difficult to get more expired than a ghost’s heart.”  

Danny stared at Clockwork expectantly.  

“Yes, I can undo it.  It will be the work of a moment to return it to its proper place.”  

“Great, so…  Lead on.”  Danny made a forward sweeping motion with both hands.  

Clockwork’s eyes slid back towards his time screen.  “Can it wait?”

“No!”

“You haven’t had it for weeks.  You won’t miss it for a few more minutes.”

“Uh, yes, I will!  You can time travel.  Whatever you’re doing, you can do it later.”

“I suppose,” said Clockwork.  “Very well.  Follow me.”

Clockwork led him back, through narrow halls, into a towering closet with spiral shelves.  It was full of what could only be collectively referred to as stuff.  

“Wow, I wasn’t serious about the junk drawer thing.”

“Oh, please,” said Clockwork.  “This is hardly junk.”

“You’re a hoarder.”

“I resent that appellation,” said Clockwork, flying up and rotating slightly.  Danny kept his feet on the ground, slightly intimidated.

“The only reason you aren’t drowning in all this is because your house doesn’t have to exist in Euclidean space.”

“And yet, I am not drowning in it.” Clockwork continued to float upwards, a faint frown on his face.  

“You do remember where you put it, right?”

“Yes, Daniel,” said Clockwork, visibly rolling his eyes.  “I put it right– Ah.  Interesting.”

“Interesting?  What do you mean interesting?” demanded Danny.  He flew up to hover near Clockwork's shoulder.  “Did something happen to it?  Is it– It's not there?  You said you knew where it was!”

“I said I knew where I put it, which is rather a different thing altogether.”

“No, it isn't!  It's not like it has legs!  It couldn't have wandered off on its oooohhhhhhhh my God, it could have wandered off on its own.  That thing had more ectoplasm in it than a Christmas turkey.”

“It is, in fact,” said Clockwork, “entirely made out of ectoplasm.”

“If it’s moving around like that, can we put it back in?  Would it– Would it try to escape?  Like, escape my chest?  Is that a thing?”

“Unlikely.”

“As unlikely as it starting to move around in the first place?”

“Unlikely,” repeated Clockwork.  

“Where even is it?  Do you know?  Can you tell?  Obviously, your whole ‘I know everything’ shtick is a lie, but can you, like, rewind things so that it’s here?”

“No,” said Clockwork.  “We will just have to look for it.”

“In your hoarder cave?”

“It is not a cave.”

“Ah, but you don't dispute the hoarder part?”  He spun, head over heels, trying and failing to see the entirety of the not-really-a-closet.  “What if there are things in here?  Like, living things?  Could it have been eaten?  By, like… Clockroaches?  Do you have clockroaches here?”

“Media tends to grossly exaggerate both the aggression and size of temporal boggles–”

“They’re real?”

“Why would you ask about them if you didn’t think they were real?”

“I don’t know.  It turns out I don’t think through the things I say to you very well.”

“Clearly.” 

Danny arrested his motion.  “Where do we even start?  This place is huge!”

“That statement assumes that it is still in this particular room.”

“Oh my God.”

“Although, if we are to search this room, it would make the most sense to start from either end and work towards the middle.”

Danny flipped over.  “I can’t even see the other end.”  This was only barely an exaggeration.

“Then we had best get started soon.”

Danny rubbed his face.  “Am I even going to recognize it?  What will it look like?”

“Like the organ it was imitating, of course,” said Clockwork.  “Oh, and don’t touch anything.”

Danny groaned.

.

There was something quivering and green huddled behind a bank of jars.  Was that… it couldn’t be…  He formed a stick out of ice and went to poke it.  

“What are you doing to that poor frog?” asked Clockwork.  

“Holy– It’s a frog?”

“Yes.” 

Danny stared.  Clockwork was covered in splatters and streaks of ectoplasm from head to tail.  

“Why do you– I don’t even want to know.  Did you find it?”

“Yes,” said Clockwork, holding up a jar.  There was…  Well.  It was a heart.  “Are you sure you want it back?  Surely, the sentimental value cannot be that great.”

“Wh– It’s not about the sentimental value.  Open it up, put it back in!”

Clockwork’s sigh was incredibly put-upon.  “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He unscrewed the lid of the jar, and the heart, which had up until that point, laid quiescent on the bottom of the jar, flew out, smacking Danny in the face.  

“Augh!”

“Grab it!” 

Danny managed to get a hand around a ventricle, but ectoplasm and ectoplasmic muscle was slippery.  It escaped his grip.  It flopped-flew its way down to the bottom of the genuinely-not-a-closet and made for the door.  Danny dove at it, only to get a faceful of ectoplasm from an artery for his trouble.  

Danny wondered if this was what Skulker felt like.  He let ectoplasm dribble out of his mouth.  

“That, bleh, that tastes like my ectoplasm,” he said.

“That’s because it is,” said Clockwork, tiredly.  “I will refrain from asking you to elaborate on your ectoplasm-tasting experiences.”

“Look, when nature gives you a weapon, and afterlife gives you enemies, you use the weapon.”  He peered cautiously out of the door, wary of being sprayed with what was essentially his own blood once again.  “Where do you think it–”

He got another mouthful of ectoplasm.  

“Bleh,” he said.  

“I don’t suppose you saw it?” asked Clockwork.  “Which way it went, etcetera, etcetera?”

“No,” said Danny.  

“Then this will be a long night.”

“Can’t you just, like, stop time or something?  So it won’t move around while we look”

Clockwork gave him a look.  

“I’ll take that as a no.”

.

“I think,” said Danny, from where he was dangling from the ceiling, a tangle of clock chains wrapped around his ankle, “that we need help.”

“Unfortunately, I must concur,” said Clockwork, who was underneath a pair of couches even he’d been surprised at owning.

“Unless you want to use your totally awesome time powers to find it.”

“No.”

.

“I’m sorry,” said Sam.  “What did you lose?”

“My heart,” said Danny.  “And I didn’t lose it.  Clockwork stole it.”

“Is this some kind of Ice Queen situation here?” asked Sam.  “Are you going to lose all empathy and care for other people?”

“No,” said Danny.  “It’s just the, um, physical thing.  And only my ghost half’s physical thing.  Apparently.  Apparently, the ‘human organs’ I have in my ghost form aren’t functional, unless the functionality is, like, the functionality of being incredibly annoying and spraying ectoplasm everywhere.”

“So, what should we bring for this thing?” asked Tucker.  “Butterfly nets?  Bow and arrow?  Guns?  What’s the endgame?”

“You want to shoot my heart?”

“I don’t know what you want here, dude.  I’m still kind of reeling over the fact that the guy you were hanging out with literally stole your heart.  Do you need someone to give him a stern talking to, make sure he gets you home before curfew?”

“That’s disgusting.  He could probably be my great-great-great-great-great-great–”

In ghost form, Danny didn’t have to breathe all that much, so he was able to go on like that until Sam and Tucker joined forces to stuff socks in his mouth.  

.

“How in the world did things escalate to Clockwork stealing your literal heart?” asked Jazz.  

“Okay, yeah, I see how that’d seem bad, out of context, but you see, it isn’t actually my literal heart–”

.

Danny glared at Clockwork’s idea of ‘help.’ “I bring three completely reasonable and competent people, and you bring them?”

“From my point of view, I am the one with the reasonable and competent people,” said Clockwork, gesturing at the combined forces of Nocturne, Ghost Writer, and Skulker.  “You, meanwhile, have brought three teenagers.”

“Are you really calling Skulker competent?”

“If not, he at least has experience in being outsmarted by you.”

“Hey!”

.

“Alas,” said Tucker, “the heart wants what the heart wants, and what it wants is freedom.”

“Where,” said Sam, kicking at a puddle, “is all this ectoplasm even coming from?”

“Around,” said Danny.  

“Ooh,” said Jazz, “it’s condensing it from the atmosphere?”  She paused.  “What are you all looking at me like that for?  I can have scientific curiosity!”

“I think it’s more because of what’s happened to your hair,” said Ghost Writer.

“What’s happened to my hair?”

“You don’t want to know.”

.

“Danny, I think I hate you,” said Sam.  They were sitting on one of Clockwork’s couches.  Clockwork had a lot of couches.  A fact that Clockwork seemed both bemused and distressed by.  

“Oh, trust me, the feeling is mutual.  As in, I hate me too.”

Clockwork sat down on the couch next to Danny.  “Daniel, I must tell you that while hate is beneath me, I am seriously regretting my earlier decisions.”

“Does that mean that you’re going to time travel back to–”

“Absolutely not.”

Tucker ran past them with a butterfly net, chasing down a green blur.  

“That’s a blob ghost, isn’t it?” asked Sam.  

“I do believe so,” said Clockwork.

“Well,” said Danny.  “At least this all makes us friends, yeah?  Can’t go through something like this without being friends.”  At least he’d get something accomplished with all this insanity.  

“I wouldn’t call myself friends with Skulker.  Or Nocturne.  Acquaintances, more like.”

“I notice you didn’t say anything about Ghost Writer.”

Clockwork shrugged.  “He’s somewhat more tolerable.”

“And me?”

“I suppose.”

The heart fell straight down, into Danny’s lap.

“Are you serious–”

[echoghost1]

Phic Phight Phic #2!!!

Title: EctoBath

Word Count: 711

Prompt: Jack or Maddie walk in on Danny taking a bath in ectoplasm.

Prompter: @phantomphangphucker

You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut!

Danny entered the basement with the intent of just emptying the thermos before working on some homework. 

He was distracted when he noticed the vat.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever figure out how his parents were able to build such large things in such short amounts of time. He was just here yesterday and it was not there.

He stared at the vat a few seconds longer but decided to empty the thermos and then investigate. 

Once that was done he returned his attention to the vat.

He vaguely remembered his parents talking about some new project that used a special type of ectoplasm at dinner last night, but he stopped paying attention when he realized it was just a research thing and not a weapon.

Also he had been super hungry since he had missed lunch due to a ghost fight.

The only clue he had was that on the vat was a label that read “Experiment 257”.

He wondered if that number was right, but his parents did seem to make something new at least once a week, if not more, so he supposed they could be nearing 300.

He leaned a little closer to the vat and peered over the edge.

The first thing he noticed was that the color wasn’t quite as vibrant as he was used to seeing from ectoplasm. This batch also had a pleasant scent that he couldn’t quite place.

He had absolutely no idea what his parents could have done to make it like, but that but didn’t seem to be a bad thing.

Danny reached his hand onto the vat out of curiosity. If it looked and smelled differently, maybe it felt different too.

The texture was rather pleasant. Less slimy than normal ectoplasm and it reminded him of a nice warm bath.

Although it wasn't warm or purely liquid, so it was more like it had the vibes of a bath.

He was glad there was no one around he had to try and explain this to.

The next thing he knew he was chin deep in the vat, blissed out on the altered ectoplasm.

He didn't remember climbing in but he was so comfortable he didn't particularly care.

Or at least he didn't until his parents were suddenly in the basement too.

“Don’t worry Danny! I’ll save you!” His dad said before he scooped him out. He was dangled over the vat for a few seconds so the excess dripped off and it made him feel like a naughty kitten.

“Oh you poor thing.” His mom said as she came over to check on him after he got set back on the ground, “Did you see the ghost that dropped you in there?”

“No, it happened pretty fast.” Which wasn’t technically a lie. He didn’t see himself jump into the vat after all.

“Well let’s get you cleaned up,” his mom said as she started to guide him towards the safety shower. 

“Make sure to put your clothes in the hazard bin.” she added.

“Aw, what?!”

“You know the rules, no ectoplasm in the washing machine. Not after last time.” His mom chided, “Do you want me to get you something to change into?”

“I'll be fine.”

“Alright then.” She turned to Jack, “I think we should get a lid for that vat so this doesn't happen again.”

“Good idea Mads! I think there's a good piece of scrap in the shed that should fit!”

His parents went back the way they came and finally left Danny to his own devices.

He stood over the drain and focused his intangibility to drop all the ectoplasm, leaving him spotless.

He walked over to one of the cupboards and found a small container with a lid.

He got himself a generous scoop of the ectoplasm and sealed the lid. “I'm sure they won't miss a little bit.”

He turned invisible and flew back up to his room so he could change. 

He tossed his clothes in the back of his closet and figured he could wear them again in about a week when his parents would have promptly forgotten which outfit he had gotten covered in ectoplasm.

His sample was carefully tucked into the drawer of his bedside table. 

Just in case.

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Legal Limit

When Danny starts acting weird during school—drunk, to be specific—Sam and Tucker are tasked with figuring out what's wrong with him.

For the Prompts: Danny gets a ghost illness that causes his ectoplasm to ferment, resulting in him being mildly to extremely drunk constantly. {from @phantomphangphucker} and Nobody ever told Danny that dying and coming back would stop him from growing up. He discovers this (either on accident, from another ghost, or when he realizes he's stopped aging after a few years) and has a bad time. {from @kawaiijohn}

Read Also on AO3

[Warnings for illness and underage intoxication]

"Hic." Danny hiccuped. He'd been getting the hiccups off and on all day, but that was alright. He felt alllllllllll right.

"Hiccups again, Danny?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"'M fiiinne," Danny told her, blinking sluggishly at her like he was trying to communicate in very slow Morse code.

"Are you drunk?" she asked.

"Mr. Falluca thought so in second period, but the principal made him take a breathalyzer test, and it came back clean," Tucker told her.

"Y—hic! Yeah. Ca-leeeeeee-nuh."

"Okay, well something's obviously wrong with him," Sam said. "Is he sick?"

"Feel fiiiiine," Danny insisted. "'n fact, I feel good." 

"Yeah, I'll bet you do." Sam frowned at him. "He really passed a breathalyzer test?"

Tucker shrugged. "Maybe it's a ghost thing. If it was, I doubt a breathalyzer would notice."

"We should test him at his parent's lab after school."

A puff of missed escaped Danny's mouth, indicating that a ghost was nearby.

"If you'll 'scuse me," Danny said, standing up with a lurch and clumsily maneuvering himself off the bench at their lunch table. "Seems I gotta ghost ta fight."

"Or we could go now," Tucker suggested as the pair of them watched Danny stumble directly into the middle of the cafeteria and raise his fists into the air, about to transform in front of everyone.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Now is good."

"I'm goin—!"

"Home!" Tucker shouted. "He's going home. He is clearly in no condition for classes, so we're gonna get him outta here."

He and Sam each grabbed one of Danny's arms and started to drag him forcibly out of the cafeteria. Luckily, he was too out of it to put up much of a struggle.

"Yeah, nothin' to see here, just a kid who should have stayed in bed this morning."

"Wha—guyssss!" Danny complained. "What about the Ghooooost?"

"I'm sure Valerie will handle it," Tucker said.

"Valerie? She's so preeeettyyyyy."

"Ugh, gag!" Sam rolled her eyes.

As expected, when they dragged Danny out of the school building, there was Valerie on her hoverboard, already engaged with the Box Ghost who wasn't much of a threat anyway, thankfully.

Danny's house wasn't far, but given his condition, Sam opted to call a cab rather than try to drag him the whole way.

"Isn't you're friend a little young to get that drunk?" the cabbie asked as the three of them loaded into his backseat a block away from the school.

"I'll tip you a fifty if you mind your own business," Sam said.

"He looked twenty-one to me, officer," the cabbie said, and drove them to Fenton Works without another word.

Danny's parents were out on a ghost hunt, so the trio had the lab to themselves to run some tests. After an hour or so, they finally figured out what the problem was.

"Uh... Danny, according to this chart," Sam looked back and forth between the  color wheel and the stick in her hand, "when the stick turns purple like this, it indicates the ectoplasm has fermented and should not be used in any further experiments."

"Ectoplasm can ferment?" Tucker asked.

"Evidently."

"So I guess Danny really is drunk."

"Nooooo!" Danny refuted. "'M not drunk!"

"What are you then?" asked Tucker.

Danny scowled at him, until that scowl melted into a dopey smile. "'M happyyyy."

"So what causes ectoplasm to ferment?"

"On a shelf? Age," Sam replied. "In a ghost that's still up and walking around? No idea. Well... stumbling around anyway."

Danny bumped into a workbench and apologized.

"I think we're gonna have to take him to an expert," she said. "Grab a coat, Tucker, 'cause we're heading to the Far Frozen."

Danny gasped in excitement. "Yaayyyy! Frossssbite makes the Beeeessssst hot cocoalate!"

It took nearly an hour to get to the Far Frozen in the Specter Speeder. It probably would have taken half the time if Danny hadn't kept trying to take over driving.

It was a struggle not to crash land outside of frostbite's cave, but with Sam distracting Danny, Tucker managed to touch down the speeder safely.

"Frostbite, there's something wrong with Danny!" Tucker shouted as he and Sam corralled their drunken friend inside with promises of hot 'cocoalate'.

"Please tell us you know how to fix it," Sam all but begged.

"Oh, my," Frostbite commented, taking in the state Danny was in. "Come in. I'll make some cocoa."

"Yayyyy!" Danny cheered.

Sam and Tucker groaned.

While they were sipping cocoa, Frostbite took an ectoplasm sample from Danny and took it to his study. Only a few minutes later, he returned, looking relieved.

"Good news," he said. "His ectoplasm has begun to ferment as the result of a relatively common ghostly virus, and I know how to make a cure. The even better news is that, once cured, he should be inoculated against ever getting the virus again."

Sam and Tucker sighed in relief.

"Hear that, Danny," Tucker said. "After this we will never have to deal with you drunk again."

"At least until he turns twenty-one," Sam amended.

Frostbite laughed heartily. "Ohh hahaha! It's funny because he won't be turning twenty-one! Haha! Good one, child!"

"Uhhh... care to clue us in?" Sam asked. "I didn't realize I was making a joke."

"Yeah, what do you mean he won't turn twenty-one?"

"Yeahhh! Waddya mean I woon turn twenny-onnne?" Danny echoed, looking up wide-eyed at Frostbite. "Also, canneye have more hot cocoalate?"

Now, frostbite just looked confused. "Well, obviously he will in a chronological sense—time still passes after death—but as a ghost, even a half-ghost, his physical age will remain unchanged. Physically, he will always be fourteen."

Danny's mouth fell open as he continued to stare up at Frostbite. Sam and Tucker didn't dare to say anything, hoping that Danny was too intoxicated to understand what was going on.

"Y... you mean... I'm neverrr gonna grow uuup?" Danny said, tears welling up in his eyes. "'M gonna beee fourrrteen forreverrr! And therre's noddeven anymore h-hot cocoalate?!" 

He began to openly bawl, and no one really knew what to do about it.

"Oh no! No, great one!" Frostbite attempted to reassure him. "Of course there's more hot chocolate! I'll make some now. Would that make you feel better? More hot chocolate?"

"NOooo!" Danny wailed, and his friends reeled back a bit as they realized that his powers were affecting his cries now and if they didn't cheer him up fast his ghostly wail might come out and bring down the whole cavern. "There's no more hot cocoalate for meee! Neverrr everrrrr!"

"You'd better get him that cocoa fast, Frostbite," Tucker suggested.

Frostbite nodded frantically and hurried off to oblige.

"No, Danny, that's not what he said," Sam tried to calm him down. "You can have all the hot 'cocoalate' you want, you just won't be able to drink alcohol."

Danny sniffed, his tears subsiding. "Alcoholl? Hic. I can't have alcoholl?"

"That's right," she continued, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "And alcohol is nasty stuff anyway, and it makes you feel all weird, so you wouldn't want to drink it anyway."

"Donn wanna?" Danny repeated. "But... Frossbite is bringing more hot cocoalate though?"

"That's right," Tucker said. "He should be back any minute."

Suddenly, Danny's tears returned full force and he was bawling again. "He'll be back in a minnud, but I wonn even be ONE minnud olderrr!"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other with matching grimaces, both of them silently hoping Frostbite's cure was the fast-acting kind.

Danny calmed down a little when he had some cocoa in his hands again, and Frostbite hurriedly excused himself to make the cure while Danny burned his tongue and blew bubbles in his drink, seemingly having already forgotten the reason he was crying, or that he had been crying at all.

When Frostbite eventually came back with a glass filled halfway with a thick, green liquid, Sam and Tucker were ready for all this to be over.

"Here you go, Great One," Frostbite said, holding out the cure. "Drink this and you'll feel all better."

Danny leaned forward, sniffed it, and pulled a face. It seemed even just getting the cure into him would be a whole ordeal.

"Stinky!" Danny said, sticking his tongue out.

"Oh, don't be fooled by the smell," Frostbite said, sounding calm. "This is a brand new hot chocolate recipe I'm trying out. It may smell funny, but it tastes better than any hot chocolate you've ever had. You have to drink it all, though."

Danny's eyes widened and he quickly snatched the drink and gulped it down.

"I've treated many ghosts for this," he muttered to Sam and Tucker with a wink. "No one can resist my hot chocolate."

When the cure was gone, Danny pulled that same disgusted face again. "Ugh, Frostbite, I think you should abandon this cocoa recipe and stick with what works."

"He didn't say 'cocoalate'," Tucker observed. "Danny, you back with us?"

"What d'ya mean? I never left—hic!"

"It starts kicking in right away, but he won't be fully back to normal for about an hour," Frostbite said, "and he'll have to pee like crazy to expel the fermented ectoplasm. You should get him home quickly."

"And then once he's fully sober, we're gonna have to have a talk with him about the whole 'not aging' thing, aren't we?" Tucker guessed.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "That's really not something we should just let sit until it becomes a serious problem."

Tucker sighed. "Of course we can't," he grumbled. "You know, just once I wish there'd be a problem where ignoring it until it goes away actually works."

"You and me both, Tuck," Danny groaned, rubbing his head. "Lessss jusss go home."

"Promise you won't try to take the wheel this time?" Sam asked.

"The onlllyyy thing I'm takin' is a nap," Danny replied, and the moment he was inside the Specter Speeder he laid down on the ground and was out like a light.

[v-writes]

Crunch Like Chips?

Phic Phight 2025

Prompt: Danny eats duck-tape by @phantomphangphucker

Word Count: 100

Read on Ao3

"Dude you need to sleep more." Tucker groused.

"'M fine, just let me have my nap for lunch."

"You are not fine, you-"

"not accepting problems without solutions at this time. Shhh."

Sam held up a finger stopping Tucker from continuing. Rolling her eyes she loudly rips pieces of duct tape placing them between two slices of bread. Setting it next to Danny's actual sandwich she nudges Danny, "no nap for lunch, sandwich and nap for lunch."

Danny grumbles, grabbing the duct tape sandwich Sam and Tucker watch him eat in horror.

"Jazz is going to kill me." Sam mutters.

[silverwing013]

Ecto Energy is Great! This Can't Go Wrong! Right? Right

Jack and Maddie Fenton have created a source of green energy! It's really green too. It uses the ambient ectoplasm in Amity Park. Generates power. Weakens ghosts. Forces the ghosts away, making them leave. This is great all the way around! Their kids are concerned about nothing. Then there were some noises. But it's fine! And the scratches were probably a rat in their house. Nevermind what that teacher said! Crazy! Their son was fine!

Phic Phight 2025! (enter in the slam post it all up really fast before going to bed late)

The prompts: @lostlitany Drs Maddie and Jack Fenton have created a new source of green energy that feeds on the ambient ectoplasm in Amity to simultaneously generate power and weaken those pesky spooks. @anguishedlurker Machines often make many noises. That wasn't one of them. @datawyrms There's a scratching sound coming from the walls. It's been getting louder and louder. @burning-clutch Problem with being a ghost is that most of the time you're invisible…. well Danny Fenton is, Phantom however is very much seen. What would happen if danny's notice me not power has been cranked to 11? No one really sees the human him unless they're really looking for him specifically, even if hes screaming at the tops of his lungs hes ignored. @schrodingersfic Danny takes a bad hit as Fenton, and, to conserve energy while he heals, he ceases to materialize on the visible mortal plane. Now he has to resort to communication via classic ghost story haunting style. Unfortunately ( and perhaps hilariously ), this leads to everyone being sure that Danny Fenton is well and truly dead. @phantomphangphucker Jack or Maddie walk in on Danny taking a bath in ectoplasm.

[phandomphightclub]

Round 1 Match 15: @imdepressedanditshows vs. @phantomphangphucker

Writer: @ecto-american

“More newbies! This is fantastic, I love seeing new ectoplasm shedding ectoplasm,” Nick announced a bit too cheerfully. “We have @imdepressedanditshows up against @phantomphangphucker!”

Titania pulled out their greatest weapon. It was a ghost goldfish that swam in the air around them, making happy bubbles as it circled them.

“Attack!” Titania ordered their fish. The fish swam at Black Ice, bubbling all the way. The little creature was too fast to keep up with, causing an instant small chase before Black Ice stopped. Goldfish wasn't the target. Titania was.

With a menacing grin, they rushed forward as their entire body glitched. Titania put their hands to their mouth. It hurt, badly, and they soon realized what the issue was.

“I don't have any teeth!” Titania complained in horror. Nick was unsympathetic.

“None of us do, there's like six people in Phight Club who specialize in stealing teeth,” Nick replied. “Dee stole my teeth a long time ago. You get used to it. And our Denny's has a special menu for those who have no more teeth, or you can borrow some teeth from the Teeth Bucket temporarily.”

“Wait, so is our phight over??” Titania asked.

“Uhh, I take bribes,” Nick didn't even bother lowering his voice or taking his hand off the microphone. Titania hung their head sadly.

“...I'm smol and broke,” they confessed. Nick nodded.

“Mood. Anyway, phantomphangphucker wins!”

[phantomphangphucker]

*squeals in joy* my trashfire boiz! AAAAAHHHHHHH!

That scene from @phantomphangphucker ‘s fic “Legless on Maim” where Danny finally meets Eddie and Venom and goes full Space Nerd Mode. Black-and-white color schemes, big dark eyebrows, casual body horror and a tendency to eat non-food items; they get along pretty well!

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - The Core Cuddlers Confession

For: @rgbyshipper101 @jadenoryuu @lostlitany @underforeversgrace @jewishicequeen

Danny and Phantom have managed to keep things a secret for nearly four years, regardless of Danny’s parents making that progressively harder and harder. But maybe they, mostly Phantom, got a little too comfortable with the situation they’ve got going.

Danny rubs his forehead, glaring down at the homework in front of him, he doesn’t know why anyone would need calculus. Sure he knows why he needs it but still, Danny just didn’t want to have to take two more science classes. It was either he take two science classes or one math class, sure his dumbass didn’t clue in that that was because calculus was fucking hard. His teacher wasn’t happy, he wasn’t happy; but he got a goddamn spare. A spare that actually gave him some proper time to spend with his body buddy. His little ghostie. Normally he could just meet with a ‘trusted’ teacher or the class advisor about finding and thus needing at school time with his soulmate; an aid option pretty much all schools put in place for kids who either couldn’t or didn’t want their folks to know. But Danny gets the wonderful luck of his soul mate being literally dead. Guy just pops out of a portal and bam! Danny’s got his ‘other half’ and now they both literally need each other to be healthy… and happy for that matter. Not only does Danny think that Lancer -the only teacher he even mildly kinda trusted- wouldn’t go for ‘gotta let my spooky boo externally cuddly with me!’, but also frankly Danny doesn’t want to deal with the goddamn ‘necrophiliac’ jeering if Dash and co. found out. Ugh.

Everything was fine, perfectly peachy, before his parents figured out how to basically suck ecto-energy out of things to generate electricity and shit. And especially before they decided to make amplifiers for it in and around the school, you know, to solve the whole ‘Casper High is a ghost hot spot’ problem. Except that was a problem because Danny and thus Phantom were mostly there for seven hours a day! If he could leave school during lunch or skip class and leave then he’d have been fine, but no Vlad and his stupid teenagers should wear trackers because of all of the abductions rule.

Fucking jerk.

Even if he had a point. Still. JERK.

Danny letting his head fall down and thunk on the desk/papers, “ugh this isn’t helping anything”. At least if Phantom was here and not out throwing fisticuffs Danny could try to hash this shit out with him, not that Phantom was any better at goddamn calculus than Danny was. Guy was a sorta god, not a mathematician.

Didn’t help that Phantom seems tired, meaning Danny’s tired, thank you mom and dad for your crazy ass inventions and thank you ghosts for still wanting to spar in a town that’s using your presence for free energy. Stupid cores. Granted the other ghosts got a nice free pass back to the zone via the ‘Phantom Thermos Express’ but Phantom just got Danny. Sure technically Phantom could go to the zone too but the too frequent and too prolonged separation just drained both of them more. Been there tried that. At least Phantom sends him a little soothing ping, likely picking up on a bit of the annoyance; no human can hide their emotions from a ghost for shit, even more so when you’re soul mates apparently.

Scratching his head a little before jumping from a somewhat soft knock on his door… not soft enough to be Jazz and she’s at college anyways, but weirdly soft for his mom; definitely not his dad though. Danny lifting his head a little, “yeah?”.

“Sweetie? Are you busy at the moment?”.

Oh fuck, he’ll beat himself with his own text book and give himself a concussion that Phantom will have to fix, if there’s about to be an invasion and she wants him ‘safely in the dungeon’. “Not really no. I’m just sitting here deeply regretting my math related choices”.

She of course opens the door, laughing slightly, “you wanted a spare, mister”, and moves to sit down on his bed. Not a great sign, but definitely a sign that there wasn’t an invasion on the horizon. So no having to fling off a warning alarm ping down the currently strained emotional line and panic his spooky, yay.

Danny leaning back in his chair and quirking an eyebrow at her, “so, what is it?”.

His mom eyes him a little, concerning, “so…-”. That’s not a good start, last time she started a surprise conversation like that it was ‘cause there had been a whole ass blob ghost stuck in his hair. “-do we need to put spectral blockers in your room?”.

What? Okay he gets that his room is horribly contaminated, more than the rest of the house is even, but they know that’s just because of a mixture of the crap kept in this house and himself. And it’s not like she could have seen Phantom in here, since there wasn’t any cameras and Phantom never just hung out in Danny’s room alone. Why would the guy? It was a hunters house! And he’s pretty sure no other ghosts just chill in his room ever. That situation with Elle was a massive outlier. So he makes sure his eyebrow looks very dubious, “…why?”, blinking, “I’m pretty sure no ghost is barging in here trying to steal my model rocket ships or homework, they’re welcome to take the homework if they want to though, not gonna complain there”.

The look she cuts him is absolutely judgemental, he just smirks before dropping it and rubbing his neck when she frowns a little. Him sighing, “okay seriously, what is it?”.

He’s not sure whether or not to be thankful when she just cuts to the chase. “Why is Phantom sneaking into your room almost every night? Is It threatening you? You know you can tell us if a ghost is harassing you right?”.

Zone fucking damnit he’s told Phantom to stick to invisibility around his house! Sure that’s kinda hard when the guy is running low on energy, but still! Danny blurting out, “what ghost!? No ghost is entering my room!”. She stares at him.

“I’m not being threatened or anything, mom!”; what is he actually supposed to say though? Like really?! He can’t exactly easily explain away a well known town ghost just barging into his room all the damn time! Oh and his anxiety and shock is probably gonna make Phantom want to rush back to him, hopefully that doesn’t result in him taking a hit or something. But hey, at least Phantom’s not stupid enough to fly into his room with his mom right here… hopefully.

She’s obviously misunderstanding his not so mild panic, her furrowing her brows in worry, “are you sure? Me and your father are good hunters even if Phantom is a tough one”.

Ha yeah in no world would his parents be able to actually beat up Phantom unless he let them, which well, he might. Dumbass. Lovable dumbass but still. He glares a little, response less panicky this time, “no mom seriously”.

She does not look impressed with him, “well if that ghost isn’t harassing or threatening you then what is It doing coming into your room at all hours of the night?”, crossing her arms, “I know you teens are a lot more tolerant and even fond of that spook, but that’s still a ghost and I would hope you’re not giving It Fenton Tech”. He one hundred percent totally was. She sighs, “and even if that was what you’re doing, doing that here? If you’re going to be doing something you know we won’t like at least be smart about it. And at night? Please tell me you aren’t part of the ‘Phan club’ that’s romanticized Phantom”.

Danny absolutely can not help full body cringing at that, that whole club was so embarrassing in both his and Phantom’s opinion. Not to mention the amount of stalking it’s led to. Putting his face in his hands, “mooomm no, just no. Nothing is going on, I swear”.

“Do I need to instal motion sensors and a net trap and ask Phantom myself?”.

Danny -like a fellow dumbass. Phantom was clearly in good company- speaks before his brain can catch up with his mouth; an ability usually good and reserved for witty comebacks not digging Danny into a hole, “I mean I wouldn’t object to him being all tied up”…. By the time that comment catches up with him he’s very glad his hands are already over his face. Fucking hell he is a moron.

“Want to repeat that without mumbling it into your hands?”.

Danny’s, “…no?”, is a smidge actively pathetic. At least at this point Phantom shouldn’t be worried since he can probably pick up that whatever nerves and shit Danny’s giving off is embarrassment induced. He’s not looking forward to the pestering he’s gonna get from the ghost later though, stupid ghosts and their love of gossip.

“Danny from where I’m sitting and from what I’m hearing it sounds like you’ve been letting some teenage ghost sneak in and out of my house through your bedroom window, and like you absolutely are part of that fan club. And did you really think I wouldn’t notice the human-shaped blur zipping into the exact same window constantly?”.

Danny groans, she wasn’t going to drop this and, like, what can he even say? “I tell him to go invisible”.

He can feel her staring at him for a beat, “you… tell him to go invisible”.

Danny looking back up at her, “yeah…”.

She pinches the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes shut a little, “at least you’re not the one being stupid”.

“Um. Your welcome?”.

He’s not surprised to get glared at this time, him giving her a definitely nervous wobbly smile and a little chuckle. She stands up, making him crane his neck as she crosses her arms down at him, “I am not impressed and you need to give me even one good reason to not basically force a Spector deflector on you”. Oh that would be bad, he hated those things since they rather painfully forced Phantom out and kept him out; not to mean toon made it so Phantom couldn’t even touch him without being in pain. Combine that with tired and low on energy and Phantom’s ecto being sucked dry for free town energy, both of them would wind up mildly comatose and ClockWork would show up to lecture them again. Omnipresent in-laws were the worst.

Danny blinking and glaring a little right back, “shouldn’t ’I like him’ be enough?”.

“With a human, Danny. A human. Not a ghost. Why a ghost? I understand why you wouldn’t be interested in Tucker, but there’s tons of fit lean boys at school if that’s your type”.

“Oh zone, it’s not about a type!”. Though yes, Phantom was his type. The fluffy sparkly hair, the green freckles, lean and fit but not super muscular, the glowing eyes almost always filled with amusement, and the stupid little stars he’d make for Danny’s amusement.

“Then what Danny?!”.

Shit Danny distracted himself a little, and being tired wasn’t helping; his own core almost aching with it.

Then, because of goddamn course, Phantom thunks into the wall below the window, sticks an arm in and hoists his chin up onto the sil. Danny turning his head to stare at the ghost, “seriously?!”, getting up, completely knocking the chair over, grabs a blanket, and smashes the blanket down on the ghosts head, “you have got to be kidding me! what’s wrong with you!”.

Phantom flails slightly before just grabbing the blankets like a spider, baring his teeth a little, “I, am tired”, huffing while his form vibrates faintly, “and I want my space cadet”. To be fair to the guy, the pull was absolutely there; after all cores learned to adapt to the general needs and wants and likes of their soulmates.

Danny whining back a little bit, “I know but this is like the worst timing”. Phantom just scrunches up his face in response.

“Oh no you don’t”, his mom fists up the back of Danny’s shirt and yanks him and thus Phantom inside. Danny’s back basically smashing into his mom’s stomach, Phantom all but head butting his chest, and the blankets getting smushed between the two boys chests. Danny jolts away from his mom like she’s on fire and gets Phantom behind his back protectively, why the guy is still holding the blankets between them Danny has no freaking clue. Maybe it had to do with the urge to slip in and cuddle up with his mates (Danny’s) own core? Danny glancing at his ghost then looking back to his mom, “uh. Please don’t shoot?”.

“I don’t mean to cause trouble, Mrs. Fenton?”.

“You don’t mean to,” she glares at both of them, “and yet here you are, floating in my house, a hunters house, after entering via my son’s window. You see the problem, right? What the hell are your intentions with my son, ghost”.

At least they’re not getting shot at! Though if this was a few years back then they definitely would be. His parents weren’t great but they were better. Plus her giving him, giving Danny, a faintly worried look means this is legit more about Danny than ‘ghosts’. And hey, maybe Phantom will have a better way out of this conversation than Danny?

“There’s absolutely nothing suspicious about this”.

Saying THAT makes it sound like there is something suspicious, asshole. Danny kinda wants to hit him.

“Do you take me for a fool, Phantom?!?”.

“I’m just a little guy in another little guys comfy room. He has nice blankets!”.

Zone the guy’s just gonna piss his mom off at this point, and there is absolutely no getting out of this at this point, blurting out, “he’s my soul mate”.

Phantom sags in the air dramatically, finally drops the freaking blankets, and basically smushes his collar ‘bone’ and neck into Danny’s shoulders. Danny wants to melt into the touch more than a little bit, core vibrating happily; pushing his shoulder blades back automatically. Phantom groaning, “oh thank the Ancients, I thought you were never gonna do that and I did not wanna be the one to and I am very tired and would like to board my very lovely spaceship right now I got stabbed so many times”, looking at Danny’s mom, “please stop sapping my ecto to fuel your town, it is, like, so annoying and tiring. And unlike my fellow spookies my soul mate has yet to give his corpse the boot so no I will not be ‘fucking off’ to the Infinite Realm and that will not do anyone any good”.

Danny glaring at him slowly, “and I’m not dying anytime soon”.

Phantom grins stupidly, “oh I’m not complaining, it’s nice to feel a heart beat again”, pulling a couple faces, “the lack of emotion awareness is super annoying though, I’ve been trying to piece if you needed help for like half an hour”.

“Well excuse me for not being made partly of emotions”.

“You’re excused”.

Danny, and Phantom for that matter, jumping when Danny’s mom snaps, “what do you mean soul mate”.

Uh, well, hmm, well him and Phantom are touching so… man this was gonna be the only time Danny’s legit happy about that whole soul mates cores glow when they’re in contact with each other thing. Danny just kind of awkwardly grabbing the hem of his pj shirt and yanking it up, revealing the faint blue glow coming from inside his chest. Phantom glancing at it, chuckling, nodding to himself and just… phasing into Danny’s body aka fleeing this entire situation like an asshole. Danny wobbling slightly and dropping his shirt hem, glaring at where Phantom was, “really man?”.

‘I am not kidding about being tired. Walker showed up and was being such an ass’

Ah okay that made even more sense, Walker always gave Phantom the run around and also made him do a shit ton of damage control.

‘Exactly! So now space wants his squishy little space ship’

Geez stupid needy ghosts.

‘Hey!’

His mom jerking forward and putting a hand tentatively on Danny’s shoulder, and basically staring at his eyes, “what was that? What did Phantom do? Are you okay? Soul mates, Danny?”.

Danny makes a point to stare back at her, so that she one hundred percent can see that his eyes are not green, and if Phantom decides to be a funny guy and flash his eyes over Danny’s, then Danny’s gonna zap him one.

‘Boo. You’re no fun’

Danny thinks Phantom can just deal with it and not make this situation worse or more awkward, thank you very much.

‘Hmpf’

Danny clears his throat awkwardly and puts a hand on his mom’s wrist, “I’m fine, mom. He’s just resting from getting into brawls for the past however many hours”, swallowing, “and, ah, yeah. Soulmates”. She saw his chest, his core, it’s not like he can fake that shit. Everyone’s cores glowed when they were with their soulmate, that’s just how shit worked. Like the universe was trying to make sure people didn’t miss their person once they found them. He still thinks it’s weird that people in the past didn’t even have cores, ghosts might be annoying sometimes and gossiping asses but the world being more spiritual, more connected to the zone, was worth it to have cores. She glances down at his chest and pulls her hand away from him, so he lifts his shirt up again. The glow was brighter this time, because of fucking course it was, their cores were literally melded together right now or over lapping each other, however exactly it worked. Plus there was two cores there now. She blinks, “it’s… brighter”.

Danny nodding awkwardly, “er, yeah. Two cores and, uh, his is, like, all, um, cuddled up with mine now”. Ghost cores were a hell of a lot more intimate and active than human ones were. Cores were an addition to human bodies, while a ghosts body was an extension of their core. A bodies soul manifesting in a more physical state, and a soul manifesting a body in a more physical state. Him swallowing, “ghosts, interact, with things with their cores remember? Including each other”. Sometimes Danny felt a little bad he couldn’t really do anything with his core back beyond tugging on their bond or zapping Phantom’s core when they were in contact like this, but Phantom didn’t really seem to mind.

‘A living core can’t play at fighting for dominance, and I like my dominance’

Oh geez there’s absolutely no way to stop himself from blushing a little at that; Phantom, of course, laughing at him immediately. He absolutely drops his shirt because now he one hundred precent feels over exposed. Almost blurting, “he’s not hurting me I swear”, sagging a little because he might as well just be goddamn honest at this point, “kind of the opposite actually”. Again with the whole ghosts cores were more active thing.

She stops staring at his chest to eye his face, “are you sure, Danny? And what do you mean the opposite? And what about It- about Phantom resting?”. He can appreciate the sorta correction.

Danny looking to his bed and then back to her, “I’m sure, but could we, maybe, sit down if this is going to be a whole conversation?”. She blinks once before nodding and awkwardly following him to sit on the edge of his bed. Danny rubbing the back of his neck and mildly trying to ignore the way she’s still staring at him, “ghost cores interact a lot more, they actually communicate. I don’t just get or give faint pleased purrs and hums or hints of my persons emotions and them hints of mine. I’m pretty much an emotional open book to him and I get specific emotional replies back from him some. There’s words and specific tones, pulls and pressures”, shrugging a little, “stuff a living core isn’t really, you know, normally meant for. So mine kinda expels energy more, hence the whole I���m a contaminant thing”, and chuckles a little awkwardly.

“So you’ve known the why for that the whole time?”.

Danny cringing a little and glancing around, “yeah, sorry”, clearing his throat and looking back to her, “and ghost cores are more, ah, needy? of each other so all of everything is more draining than normal when we’re apart”. Normally human soul mates just got emotional, grumpy, bummed out, and unmotivated when apart too long. While ghosts could and would outright de-manifest their physical forms back into their cores, but that was extreme since ghosts cores could actively connect and communicate across the ectoplasmic atmosphere of the zone and shit. That even sorta worked in Amity! Before his parents started sucking the town dry of its free floating ecto anyway. Grumbling a little, “especially with the lack of free floating ecto in town now”.

She blinks at him before putting her elbows on her knees and knitting her fingers over her mouth, staring at forwards, “is… is that why you’ve seemed more tired lately?”.

‘Oh so they have noticed’

Okay there’s no reason to be an ass, there was no reason for them to think too heavily that had anything to do with him being tired. He was in his senior year of high school, of course he was more tired! School was harder, university was a looming threat; adulthood neigh! His friends were more stressed, he was more stressed; it made sense his folks would think it was school and nothing else. Clearing his throat, “part of it for sure, yeah. Phantom wouldn’t really get all that tired fighting, since he could just replenish from the free floating stuff and nothing else was draining him. And he could just send his own energy through the portal and all the free floating stuff at me when he was in the zone for a while”. Sighing, “and the amplifiers at school plus the stupid trackers, I really hate those things, makes it difficult for me to get any good physical touch in during the day since he gets drained so much if he leaves my body, my core, and stays inside the school. The spare’s nice but the amplifiers drain him, so he needs a good core cuddling after”; what ever the amplifiers did manage to suck from Phantom through Danny’s skin the guy just replenished easily due to their cores close contact making the self generation easy for the guy.

She looks back to him, eyeing his chest with a small amused glint in her eyes, which is legit relieving to see honestly. “So Phantom is… hmm, ‘core cuddling’ you right now?”. Danny, of course, blushing instantly, because as cute as it was it was also absolutely embarrassing to be called out on. Sam and Tuck teased both of them enough as it was! And ClockWork’s silent amusement wasn’t much better!

‘I’ll take amusement over Clocky’s judgmental stares any day!’

Oh so would Danny. If ClockWork decided to stare judgmentally they absolutely could and would follow you around and do just that for multiple hours. After all, time was merely an optional concept to them. Phantom’s told him the tale of ClockWork doing that for three days to him once!

‘Never again’

It was very effective.

Danny glancing around, “he needs to rest and replenish”, grumbling a little, “and fine, it’s nice”. Sure sometimes Phantom tried to interact with his core way beyond what a human core was capable of, making Danny’s wires get jumbled up or crossed or whatever, but eh it was usually an accident or something the guy tried not to do more than once or twice. Like when the guy tried to poke at what Danny’s Obsession was, something humans don’t have and that ghosts have a hard time grasping humans not having. Phantom was still pretty insistent that Danny’s would be space though, Danny’s not gonna argue on that.

His mom sighing and rubbing her forehead some, “and that ‘rest’ is needed partly because of the Fenton Ecto Sifter?”, sighing again, “somehow everything we make seems to wind up hurting you somehow”.

‘Whelp. Now I feel like an Ass’

Danny giving what he can of a feeling of a supportive pat to the guys core, it vibrates back in a way that rattles his chest a little, him shrugging, “I mean, I’m always either connected to or housing a ghost so”, rubbing his neck, “and we both know you guys mean well. You’re trying to help the town with its weird level of ghost problems and sure there’s some bigotry, but like, less than there used to be”.

Her eyeing him, glancing at his chest and back up, again, she was going to be doing that a lot for the next while, wasn’t she? “If it wasn’t for your core I’d have a hard time believing you aren’t being manipulated here. Even then I still want to ask if you really like Phantom, like a ghost. Natural instinctual attraction or not”, shaking her head, “I know the answer yes, of course. Same as it was a yes every time Vlad asked if I really liked your dad”.

Danny really doesn’t get how Vlad’s still so interested in going after his mom when the guys got Plasmius. Like really dude. Sure sometimes people dated outside of their soul mates even after they found said soul mate, but that was usually with all parties being a-okay with it. Or, you know, people just being asshole cheating douche bags who seemingly didn’t give a shit about hurting others or themselves. Phantom was definitely not in the ‘willing to share’ category.

‘Ha ha. No’

Yeah neither was Danny himself.

Danny chuckling a little, “mom, I’d have to be blind and deaf to think you and dad don’t love each other”.

“Exactly”.

Danny nodding and swallowing, “yeah. So, uh, obviously I like like Phantom, and he’s pretty jazzed about me. But it’s, uh, not like we both aren’t aware that it’s weird”. One of them was alive! The other was dead! One was a mostly average space crazy wannabe astronaut and the other a freaking death god. One had ghost hunter parents and the other had literal time god for a parent. Frankly it was a good thing both of them were already slightly weirdos beforehand.

“And he… actually feels that same way about you? Likes you like that?”.

Danny can’t help but glare at her, “yes mom, if anyone can attest to ghosts having emotions it’s the guy who can freaking feel them. Especially when Phantom can be a sappy corny shit head”.

‘Oh you love it’

Sure, maybe he does, doesn’t make it any less corny though.

She blinks, “language”, shaking her head, “and they feel the same? They feel just like human emotions?”, blinking again and tilting her head a little, “I can’t imagine how that would be possible?”.

Part of him wants to brush this off as bigotry but he’s mature enough now to know at least some of it is just pure genuine confusion. Genuinely not getting how it’s possible. So he doesn’t give her too much of a hard time, “if anything his emotions are more. Ghosts are always feeling something, there’s always emotions, and they always hear and feel and pick up on them too. Humans don’t. Hence his little comment about my lack of emotion awareness making it hard to tell what’s up earlier. Ghosts seem to communicate with raw emotion a lot, even with people who aren’t their soulmate”, rubbing his neck, “I’ve learned how to a little, with Phantom any way. But eh. And I definitely think he comes off ‘more human’ because of learning stuff from me”.

‘Oh yeah you living guys are terrible for misinterpreting things and fall for bullshit. Your lack of purpose and odd ways of bonding’.

Rude! But yeah propaganda didn’t really work with ghosts for a reason. “Like ghosts literally have a ‘manipulative’ emotion, they can tell when another ghost is being manipulative so ghosts never hide when they’re being like that, so he was always confused by ya’ll accusing him of being manipulative when he wasn’t. Ghosts don’t know that humans can’t just tell”, shrugging, “lots of things like that”.

She hums, nodding a little, “I guess I’ll just have to take you word for it”, looking at his face, “but how long has this been going on? You and… and Phantom? How long have you known?”.

Danny flushing almost immediately, he knows damn well she wasn’t going to like the answer to that, “uh, since the beginning? The portal opened up and he just kind of came out of it crashing into me, and we both just got bashed into the wall by the impact. Then, well, you know how it works”, coughing awkwardly, “the tingling and core purring and feeling like you just got dunked in an ice bath. Like a card being jammed in a card slot”, furrowing his brows, “also different though, like my core was trying to dissolve my insides to soup. Phantom actually got gooey and, uh, scared the crap outta me by dissolving into ecto on top of me”, rubbing at his chest a little because he had absolutely freaked out when that had happened. He had found his person and they had gone and dissolved into goo on him! “That’s uh, the first time he went, uh, inside me. His core basically ramming into mine, which yeah wasn’t great. He knows how to not be too much now”, chuckling awkwardly, “living cores aren’t really meant for direct contact like that, you know”.

“Alright I’m not impressed this has been going on that long, but-”, sighing, “-I understand you not telling us, especially back then. With how close-minded and firm we were”. Danny just nods a little so she continues, “and I would have freaked out if your dad had dissolved on me too, so that I completely get. You not saying anything because you were focused on It-him. I’m guessing Phantom, entering you, didn’t freak you out too much purely due to his core touching yours and how that felt?”.

Danny clearing his throat and nodding slightly, “yeah, it basically blitzed me out and made me feel like a sensitive over exposed live wire that was constantly being grabbed at, pretty sure I saw some colours that don’t exist. Like rubbing up against a cold sun filled with static, flickering thoughts and feelings I definitely couldn’t make sense of. He freaked a little over me being a limp ragdoll on the floor for, like, an hour or two”.

She cringes, “I’m glad Phantom is gentler now”.

Yeah so is Danny.

‘I just think of your core like it’s an egg! Easy to crack or break but holding something lovely’.

Danny putting a hand over his chest, over his core, when Phantom sort of swirls or twists around it like a cat. Purrs get exchanged of course, while Danny nods at his mom, “yeah. And just to make it clear, I didn’t have to ask him to be nicer, he just did that on his own. Don’t think I need to point out that he’s the protective type. No ones allowed to hurt me, including him”. It was really really obvious.

She blinks but actually smiles a little after a beat, “ah so Phantom started playing at protecting the town because of you then”.

“I wouldn’t say he’s ‘playing at’ any thing. He’s legit protecting mom, whether you guys like to see it that way or not. And sure fine, me living here is definitely part of it”. It was literally the guys Obsession after all, not that Danny would be saying that. You don’t out a ghosts Obsessions.

‘I would take over your mouth if you tried anyway’

Danny mildly hates that the first thing that brings to mind is ‘kinky’ and he is ignoring the mild smirk emotion thing he’s getting from Phantom.

She doesn’t look like she really believes him but she’s not outright saying he’s lying either so… eh it’s something. “Alright. Okay”, sighing heavily before nodding and smiling at him, “well, a soulmate is a soulmate, regardless of it being odd and me not being super happy about it”. What a way to both accept and not accept it. “Though I am happy knowing that someone capable has been looking out for you with all this ghost madness, besides just me and your dad. But I’m going to insist that Phantom at least tries to go about this in the human way. We’re human, you’re human. It- he comes over for supper, eating or not. Me and your dad judge the ghosts worthiness, while both of us work to ignore the ghost part”, sighing again and scratching her head, “maybe it’ll become less ignore and more okay with eventually, I don’t know Danny”.

Danny looking away and shrugging, “I, uh, never really expected okay. And I didn’t want it to be a big deal or cause issues. I wanted to just keep on keeping on, you know? And fine, I’m protective of him”. Which was working somewhat okay for him! He’d have liked to keep doing that! But if they do wind up becoming okay with this, with ghosts as a whole even maybe, then it’d be amazing.

“I can’t say I blame you, your aunt Alicia did the same with your grandparents”, giving Danny a bit of a look, “though I’m glad you didn’t have a fake marriage with someone just to continue to lie to us”.

Danny can’t help snorting at that a little, “I mean Sam and Tuck would totally go for that but no”. Sam would be on board purely to piss off her parents and Tuck was a weirdo who’d go along with just about anything.

She laughs a little too, good, “and I do want you at least talking to Mr. Lancer about this because, sweetie, you’re not cut out for calculus”.

Cut deep why don’t you.

‘Ha’.

Oh shut up. “And what? Tell him I’m mated to a ghost? Like sure, now I don’t have to worry about him calling you guys about that kind of statement but still”, glaring a little, “and that still wouldn’t solve the issue with the amplifier or me not being able to get out of said amplifiers range without a tracker going off”.

His mom looks suddenly a lot more awkward, “we could… code the Sifter to ignore his specific signature, the amplifier wouldn’t matter then. We’ve… had complaints over not already doing that”.

Okay that slightly ticks him off just a little bit, “you deserve to get complaints over that if you’ve been able to just do that this whole time”, groaning and putting his head in his hands, “your guy’s Phantom hate is really annoying, and not just because of the mate situation. That too but, ugh, you know what I mean”. Then he gets that fizzing sensation behind his eyes and can feel the little pricks of annoyance from Phantom, guy clearly had a thing or two he wanted to say. Sighing into his hands, “Phantom also has an annoyed thing or two to say about that“.

“We… we thought we were doing what was best for the town and by that do you mean, overshadow you? Instead of… coming? out?”.

Danny, still talking into his hands, “he’s still recuperating”. The eye fizzles gets a little more persistent, but hey at least he sorta asks now unless someone really pisses him off or he got over protective of Danny… Dropping his hands to look at her, quirking an eyebrow.

She sighs slightly, readjusts to be sitting up a little straighter, and nods at him, “alright, but Phantom better not get up and start puppeting your body around”.

That’s fair enough he supposes. And Phantom, the guy who is definitely not known for self restraint in this relationship, promptly flares his green eyes over Danny’s. Phantom crossing Danny’s arms at her and laying into her immediately, “I get that you guys have this whole ‘we’re ghost hunters and we don’t like ghosts’ thing going and that yeah this town has some bizarre ghost issues”, rolling Danny’s eyes, “how you guys keep attracting gods I do not know”, glaring at her again, “but being actively and knowingly malicious towards me is just kinda dumb since y’all do need me because again with the whole attracting gods thing-”. Okay Danny knows they don’t actually believe in the whole gods are ghosts thing. “-whether you believe they’re gods or not-”. Oh hey look Phantom’s valuing his input. “-oh shut up you, I always value your input”. Way to go making himself look crazy in front of Danny’s parents. At least all Phantom does that time is glare at nothing and give Danny’s core a little bit of an internal smack.

His mom blinking at Danny/Phantom, “is, is Danny still aware in there?”; she was very clearly tense but trying not to show it.

Phantom rolling Danny’s eyes, clearly not impressed that that was the part she was choosing to comment on, “I’m not actually over shadowing him. Just using a couple of things, with permission”. Sure the guy could do that without permission too but that wasn’t important right now; and it wasn’t something he was wholly opposed to either. “Enthusiastic permission sometimes”. Oh zone he did not need to say that! And Danny was gonna fight for his mouth back if the guy says something like that again.

At least Danny’s not the only one that found that statement embarrassing, his mom flushing a little and coughing, “right…”, clearing her throat, “maybe me and Jack have let our, opinions, cloud our judgment slightly-”. Danny seriously doubts she realizes how surprising that is to actually hear her say even if he’s heard it multiple times in the past year. “-but not having a way to at least weaken a clearly strong ghost is far more foolish. And frankly, the only reason I’m rethinking that, with you, is because of my son being your soulmate”.

And Phantom… Phantom sticks Danny’s tongue out her and makes a, “bleh”, sound. The fizzing fading as Phantom just gives Danny back his full control. Danny blinking a couple times before shaking your head, “that was real mature”.

‘She hasn’t earned my maturity’

Oh for fucks sake.

“You okay sweetie?”.

Danny sighing and making a point to give his mom a small smile, “I’m fine, he’s just being pouty”, shaking his head and frowning a little at her, “and mom, I get where you’re coming from with the strong thing but seriously, the town likes and has accepted Phantom, it’s way past time you guys did too”.

Her sighing and sagging a little, “I’ll… try, but as for accepting you two together, I stand by having suppers together”.

“Ah technically-”.

“I don’t care about technically’s, mister. Suppers without this, body sharing situation”.

“Yeah yeah yeah”.

“And I’ll call Mr. Lancer if you don’t”.

“Mom!”.

She smiles a little and shakes her head, “no buts. You can’t not have physical time with It- him, with him, and I’m sure the school will let you have a private library room for forty minutes”, narrowing her eyes a little, “just to hang out of course”, then sighing, “because yes, I… don’t think this relationship should be made public”. Danny absolutely can’t help flinching at that. It’s not surprising that she wouldn’t want anyone or, forbid, the whole town knowing about the Fenton son having a ghost for a soulmate. She winces, “I don’t mean it like that, I don’t mean it negatively. Just that, well, Phantom has that Phan club I accused you of being in, and I’ve seen the mobbing chasing videos”.

Danny blinking and cringing, rubbing his neck, right yeah, that. “Heh. Yeah. If it’s anything, he doesn’t like all that either and fine yeah that would make me trying to finish school a lot more difficult”.

“Yes, it would. Just like you not telling Mr. Lancer currently is”, her shaking her head slightly, “I’m not saying you have to tell him which ghost, but if you do I highly doubt he, of all people, would go harassing you about it”.

Okay that was fair, Lancer was pretty chill like that. And it wasn’t like a guy who side hustled as a drag queen was gonna give a crap about Danny being gay af, “oh I know he won’t, I’m just, not great at telling people things like this?”.

“Clearly”.

Danny wincing, “hah, yeah, sorry, again”, swallowing, “but you are going to Phantom proof the Sifter? Like, actually do that? Because yeah, that’s definitely not helping”, gesturing around a little, “makes him tired, and me tired, it’s messing with our communication, he can’t be in the zone for a long time, has to spend more time in me, yadayada”.

And she… she actually ruffles up his hair for the first time in this entire conversation, “yes, Danny, I meant what I said. Especially if it really is causing that many issues. Even if I did fully oppose this, which I do not, trying to break up soulmates is pointless, cruel, and never works. Like it or not, Phantom’s your soulmate; you have proof of it. And knowing your father he’ll act like he never ever once even had a problem with Phantom’s entire existence”, smirking, “he’ll probably even whip out the baby photos”.

Danny sputtering a bit, “what- no. Uh, he’s, um, probably already seen them anyways so there’s no point totally no point”.

‘Oh I definitely haven’t’

Danny blinking, blurting out, “wait you haven’t?”. That's weird, Danny would have thought ClockWork would have just shown the guy purely to mess with both of them.

‘Naw, Clocky says that’s totally your parents job. I will have so much fun with that’

What no! Ghost baby photos weren’t nearly as bad as human baby photos! Ugh!

“Do I want to know why you’re blushing? And what would make you think he’s seen them already?”, levelling Danny with a bit of a glare, “that ghost better not be snooping through our personal things. Our weapons are a different matter, he’s a ghost I expect that kind of snooping”.

Well he’s glad she can acknowledge that a ghost going through ghost hunter weapons was reasonable. “Uh, he’s just bugging me about the, baby photos comment”, and rubs his neck, “and his parent has a weird power set”.

She blinks at him, “his… parent”.

Danny quirking an eyebrow, “yeah?”. And wait shit right his folks still don’t believe that ghosts can reproduce or that adoption is a thing. “Uh, Phantom was literally never alive. A born ghost”.

She blinks harsher this time, “I… I think I’m going to want to revisit that later”, and then mutters, “that shouldn’t be possible”, to herself. Danny should probably refrain from giving her any more world shattering news today.

‘Like her son’s parent in law being the literal manifestation of time and older than the universe itself?’

Yeah! Like that!

‘Or like her son’s soulmate being the literal manifestation of death?’

That too. Definitely that too.

‘Then there’s also that you’ll probably be some kinda Ancient too when you finally kick it. Probably space. Eh definitely space’

Oh fuck him so much.

‘Who knows! Maybe you’re already an Ancient and just the Ancient of life! And that’s part of why we’re soulmates!’

That’s a massive mental plot bunny and an existential crisis that he doesn’t need to deal with right now… or ever possibly.

Danny shaking his head out, “uh yeah, probably a good idea”, pouting slightly, “but please get dad to at least spare me for a little while?”.

She still looks a little too wide-eyed but she does smile at him a bit meanly, “oh I don’t know mister, you’ve avoided it for almost four years already”.

“Moooommm”.

“I’ll hold him off for two diners, just two, but only if you tell him yourself about this”.

Oh zone. Was that worth it? Because yeah… dad, dad absolutely would just pull out the photo albums immediately. Especially once he found out they were soul mates and not ‘just a couple’ and that Danny and Phantom had been a thing for multiple years. And those ‘two dinners’ would give his dad some time to take shit in and calm the fuck down… damnit. At least an omniscient parent in-law didn’t need time to adjust to things!!! Danny sagging a little, groaning, “fine”.

She smirks at him, “good because he’s home and waiting”.

“Wait what!”.

“Do you really think I’d see Phantom going into your room all the time and not talk to your dad about that?”, she ruffles his hair again, sighing, “I convinced him to let me ask you about it alone, since he can be so, well, excitable”.

Okay… that was fair he thinks. His dad could be worse than FrostBite and Pandora, which was saying something.

‘Pandora only gets super excited about you because you can use weapons weirdly good’

Danny thinks Phantom is just jealous. Danny nodding a little at his mom, “yeah that’s true”, glancing at his desk, that shit was so not getting done tonight or ever possibly. Clapping his legs and pushing himself to stand up, “well I guess there’s no point in not just bitting the bullet now, huh?”.

She giggles at him faintly, “not really no. But are you sure you don’t need to lay down or sleep with Phantom ‘resting’?”.

Danny blinking, slightly confused, “no? I was tired and he’s still resting but I’m not tired now because he’s got some rest. That and I’m not being drained now from the, you know, connection picking up on him getting drained and hurt and stuff. And core contact is still physical contact so that helps too”.

She eyes him like she’s trying to sus out if he’s being honest or not, “hmm, okay”, getting up and walking with him to his door, “he’s probably worry tinkering with the toaster, again”.

Danny glaring as they head down, “I hate that stupid toaster”.

“But your dad loves it and that’s what matters”.

His mom gesturing him into the kitchen, “well go on”. Startling the hell outta his dad, who sends a couple pieces of toaster or random tech maybe, flying, “Danny-boy!”, tilting his head at Danny, “Mad’s talk to you about that darn spook?”.

Danny whines a little, shifting on his feet. Beating around the bush with his dad wasn’t only pointless but also dumb, “uh, yeah. About that-”.

“Is It breaking in!? Do I need to fight It!?! Did you manage to befriend a spook somehow!?! Does Phantom like space things and that’s why It’s busting into your room!?! Did you dare It to repeated duels for the Fenton family honour!?!”.

Oh goddamnit dad. “You don’t need to fist fight my freaking soulmate, he’s had enough of that tonight!”.

‘I mean, I’m not that tired now’.

Danny thinks Mr combative can chill out and not offer to fist fight Danny’s dad; especially since said dad would definitely say yes and probably eagerly.

His dad stills and blinks, “your soulmate!?! YOU FOUND YOUR SOULMATE!?!”, and suddenly Danny’s being bodily lifted up and swung around, “that’s amazing Danny boy! And he’s a ghost hunter!”, pausing and lowering Danny a little, not enough for Danny’s feet to actually be touching the ground but enough for his head to stop spinning a little, “a ghost ghost hunter. But still!”, and then continues swinging Danny around a couple more times. Eventually putting Danny down, his mom steading him while his dad chuckles awkwardly, “sorry ‘bout that kiddo! But a soulmate! Wow!”.

Danny shaking himself off violently, “uh, yeah. Zinged and everything”.

His dad laughing a little again, “ah I remember when me and your mom zinged”, then frowning a little and bending slightly to be just a little bit more on Danny’s level, “but why was your soulmate trespassing in the dead of night like on some sitcom? You could have dragged him in through the front door?”; rubbing his neck, “you know, when I imagined meeting my son’s soulmate, I pictured a barbecue. Handshakes. Possibly a back breaking hug. Not espionage!”.

‘Not espionage, he’s says. As if I’m not literally a ghost busting into a ghost hunters home’

Oh Phantom’s clearly a bit offended that the sneaking around might not have been super needed with Danny’s dad, at least now anyways. “Dad. He’s a ghost. One you’ve actively talked about dissecting in front of me???”.

His mom flinching while his dad goes wide-eyed, “oh”.

“Yeah. Oh is right”.

His mom sighing and putting a hand on Danny’s shoulder, “obviously that’s not happening, not now and not ever”. His dad nodding immediately, “I, uh, that hasn’t even been on the table for at least a year, and it never would have been if I’d know, that’s for sure”.

“Good?”. What is Danny even supposed to say to that? If either of his parents was actively cool with trying to chop Phantom up now he’d start throwing fists himself!

‘I’d totally be your cheerleader. I’d rock the outfit and everything’.

That was a mental image that Danny doesn’t know what to do with.

“So how long have you known?! Did he rescue you like a princess? Or did you bump into each other on the Nasty Burger roof? Was it a meet cute!”.

“What?!? No! Oh my zone dad”, Danny groaning and putting his head in his hands immediately. Ugh why are his parents so embarrassing??? Danny, at feeling his eyes fizz up again, just gives up. Let Phantom say whatever dumb shit he clearly wants to. Phantom not moving Danny’s hands from his face, snickers, “I yelled catch before body slamming him into a wall when your portal yeeted me out at him”. Yup. Stupid.

It almost sounds like his mom jumped, “P-Phantom! A little warning, both of you!”.

Phantom moving one of Danny’s fingers to peek a green eye out and smirk at Danny’s parents, “I will not apologize”.

Danny’s dad blinking at the green eye, “I’m confused and don’t want to jump to conclusions”. His mom sighing and turning to the man but keeping an eye on Danny/Phantom, “Phantom being a ghost and Danny being a human has apparently made things a bit weird”, sighing, “and we need to make the Echo Sifter Phantom tolerant”.

The man laughs, rubbing his neck and straightening back up fully, “ah yeah, I guess draining the ecto out of Danny boys soulmate would be pretty rude of us”.

Phantom fully dropping Danny’s hands and eyeing the large man, “ya think? I’m strong so I don’t care that much but it’s still annoying as fuck”. Dude can’t just be swearing at his parents!

Danny’s mom chastising him immediately, “language”; his dad doesn’t look super impressed either.

“You literally shot at me last week I think I can swear a little, as treat”.

Okay no Phantom can shut up now. At least the guy doesn’t fight him on giving him back control when he pushes for it. Danny shaking his head out, “don’t be a dick”.

“Danny!”.

Danny pouts at her and shakes his head again, eyeing his dad, “uh, ghosts are more involved with their cores so he kinda just, um, cuddles up with mine and recovers after fights and sh- stuff. And you know, the whole doctor recommended physical contact”, rubbing his neck, “explained it to mom”, and nods his head at her.

She nods at his dad herself, “it’s just part of being soulmates with them. So yes, Phantom is around, under Danny’s skin, a lot. Most of the time probably”, and looks back to Danny questioningly.

Danny wiggling his hand back and forth in the air, “eh? It depends, he was away more pre-Sifter, since we could still be connected via all that free floating ecto-”.

He’s legit not surprised when his dad interrupts him, “-so we need to stop depleting the town quite so much?”.

“That’d be nice yeah”.

His mom giving him a bit of a judging eyebrow, “only enough that what you guys are doing works again though, this town does not need to be contaminated enough to start growing ecto-plants”.

‘I for one don’t see the issue with that’

Of course he doesn’t, he’s a ghost. Granted Danny doesn’t take much issue with it either but that’s because Danny was firmly ‘ghost friendly’ and had been around ghost flora and fauna plenty enough. “Yeah yeah, okay”.

Both of them nod firmly at him, his dad going wide-eyed seconds later, “wait if he’s here then that means I can get the photo albums!”.

No no no no, Danny looking, panicked, at his mom immediately; trying to beg with his eyes. She smirks at him a little before turning to his dad, “Jack hon, no. We’re having some proper suppers with his soulmate first”.

“But he’s had supper with us?”.

“We didn’t know Phantom was there and Phantom wasn’t even out with us. Those don’t count”.

His dad deflates a little, “ah I guess you’re right”.

She nods strongly, “and they’re soulmate meet and greet suppers, not a research chance”.

“Aw but-”.

Danny can’t help but chuckle a little over how his dad shuts up immediately at her glaring. These ‘suppers’ were going to be weird and awkward as shit though. And he still had to talk to Lancer, ugh. Because yeah, fuck Calculus.

End.

Prompts: Maddie has been noticing the ghost boy actively going into her son’s room. What could the ghost boy want with her son? (Could be halfa Danny or split Danny) Soulmates AU (can be platonic/romantic/familiar/nuanced) Drs Maddie and Jack Fenton have created a new source of green energy that feeds on the ambient ectoplasm in Amity to simultaneously generate power and weaken those pesky spooks. Good dad Jack reveal! Anything involving Danny and Maddie's relationship. Fluff or hurt/comfort, good parent Maddie

[fascinatedscrawls]

Phic Phight Prompt: The Box Ghost, aka the most un-frightening pathetic nuisance ever, is actually incredibly powerful compared to the average ghost.

Word Count: 1425

For @phantomphangphucker

Summary: There are a lot of different kinds of power. Some are easy to see and others - others take a little more perspective to understand. Of course, realizing that the Box Ghost was both feared and respected within the Ghost Zone is still a bit baffling even after Danny gets to see it first hand.

"Wait, wait, wait." Danny held up a hand to stop Ember before reconsidering and putting it to his own forehead in an attempt to drive off the headache he could feel building there. "Can you repeat that?"

"What am I, a wind up doll?" Her look of disgust made way for an eye roll when Danny dragged his hand further down his face to glare at her over his fingertips. "The Box Ghost will have what we need."

Hand now over his mouth, Danny wondered if he needed to get his ears checked. When she clicked her tongue at him and went to keep moving, Danny quickly followed her gesturing wildly.

"The Box Ghost? Really? As in, the guy who comes to Amity just to grab cardboard boxes and crates? The one who won't stop introducing himself and screaming 'Beware!' - that guy?" Actually, a thought occurred to him and he narrowed his eyes trying to fly ahead of Ember to try and read the truth of it off her face. "Hang on, does he introduce himself because he's trying to use some other ghost's reputation? Is there another Box Ghost out there?"

Ember sped up shaking her head as she sped through the Zone.

"Of course not, anyone would be able to tell that the imposter was lying. Or, well," she winced a little, "no one would believe that guy when he lied. I mean, he's not the best actor. Not everyone's meant for the stage, obviously."

"Obviously." Danny repeated, voice and expression flat before he remembered that he was here to ask Ember for help. Pasting on a friendly smile when she sent him a warning look, he tried for a little more clarification hoping that she wouldn't change her mind. "But how did he become the ghost to see?"

"I'm the ghost everyone wants to see." She reminded him instantly, striking a pose like she was getting photographed before waving off his fumbled response to that. "I know what you meant. For this type of thing it's more that it just falls into his domain."

"Like, a kingdom?" The Box Ghost had a whole realm like Dorothea and Frostbite? Danny almost breathed a sigh of relief when Ember shook her head.

"No, more like a website."

Danny wasn't aware that he could stumble while flying, but he managed it anyway. "Excuse me?"

"No."

Ugh. Ember was sometimes all the parts of Jazz Danny couldn't stand - a big sister without any of the care that made Jazz one of Danny's favorite people. At his groan Ember came to an abrupt stop and reached for her guitar. Danny almost brought ecto to his hands before he realized she was holding it out instead of readying an attack.

"Look, everyone has what they're good at, right? Like I'm amazing at singing and playing my guitar so when I play I can do things through my performance."

"Right." Danny drew out the vowel a bit, following but not really sure where this was going.

"It also means that things pertaining to my domain of Rock Star Sensation are more likely to find their way to me even inside the Infinite Realms." Flicking her fingers, she rolled a guitar pick down her knuckles in a practiced move. "That's why my guitar is always in tune and I usually have all the things I need to play it. Strings, picks, if they fall into the realms there's a good chance I'll find them."

So ghosts frequently found things that related to their obsession. Danny wasn't sure how true that was - that things find their way to the ghosts that wanted them rather than most ghosts only paying attention to things they were personally obsessed with, but the Ghost Zone didn't exactly run on any logic he truly understood so he was going to roll with it for now.

"And the box ghost-"

"Finds boxes." Ember finished his sentence, swinging her guitar back over her shoulder and starting forward once more, more noticeably following the path of a few other ghosts Danny could see in the distance. "And other packages, though he doesn't like those quite so much."

"He finds boxes and keeps them no matter what's inside, got it." Which explained why she was leading him to the Box Ghost for those supplies Frostbite was looking for. "How often does he find more boxes?"

Just how likely was it that Danny would find the laundry list of things Frostbite was looking for?

"Oh," Ember didn't even knock before pushing a double wide set of swinging doors open so they could step inside what Danny now saw was their destination. "Almost constantly, I think."

Goggling at the ghostly equivalent of a big box warehouse complete with rows and rows of aisles that practically scrapped the almost cavernous ceiling, Danny didn't even care that Ember was absolutely snickering at his reaction. "Where do they even come from?"

"They're every package that gets lost in the mail, I think." Ember answered, grabbing his arm and pulling him further into the store. "And there are a lot of lost packages these days."

They passed huge piles of boxes, each stacked higher than the Fenton Works Ops Center, many of which baring familiar logos from various online retailers. Danny snorted before his eye caught on a ghost reaching through the cardboard to triumphantly pull something (hedge trimmers?) from a box only to very quickly place whatever was in his other hand into the box in its place. Looking around at other ghosts who were sifting through the madness or bargaining between themselves Danny noticed something.

"Does everyone bring their own stuff?"

"Money doesn't really mean much here, so like everywhere else in the Realms this place runs on trades." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few CDs some of which Danny vaguely recognized as being popular a few years ago, all of which wouldn't have fit in her pocket if she weren't a ghost. "The Box Ghost doesn't care about what's in the boxes so long as something is inside the box."

Danny's next question was forgotten as the Box Ghost himself burst intangibly through the boxes on the next aisle over, hands raised with a loud, "I am the Box Ghost!"

After months of being warned by the same ghost with nothing resulting from it other than maybe a few hours of annoyance as he chased the Box Ghost around town before capturing him, Danny watched incredulous as the smaller ghost the owner of this 'store' was threatening cowered, literally tripping over themselves as they searched their pockets for something to put into the box they'd left empty a few minutes before.

Around them the other ghosts scattered as the Box Ghost yanked the offender up by their collar, eyes burning bright and an surprisingly impressive wave of energy rolling off him that even Danny could fee,l before a figurine (in mint condition) was held up in shaky hands as an offering.

There was a pause as the Box Ghost blinked away his rage to inspect it. Then he snatched it from their hands and put it ever so gently back into the temporarily empty box. Giving it a satisfied pat, he then threw out a practiced "Beware!" before vanishing back to wherever he came from.

Danny watched the ghost he dropped snatch up their prize and shoot out the double doors before giving a knowing Ember a wide eyed look.

"Never mess with a ghost over their obsession on their own turf, especially not a guy who gets all his power from the ecto people give off his his warehouse." She warned him.

"But - he's so-" Danny struggled to put it in words. "He never does anything like that in Amity?"

"Not his turf is it?" The pointed look met its mark even before she followed it with, "Besides, you've got his kryptonite."

Baffled, Danny pointed at himself. Ember helpfully pointed at him too. Following her finger, Danny unhooked the thermos from his belt.

"For a guy who is all about boxes and other things cubic, the only thing worse for him would be a sphere."

Aaand there was the Infinite Realm's 'logic' catching Danny off guard again.

"I guess it doesn't matter how powerful he is if I'm always fighting him with the perfect weapon."

"Yep, now get searching. I don't have all day and this place doesn't have any sort of organization."

With a groan, Danny snatched the CDs from her hand and got to work.

[aedelia]

I've read this before and I read it again just now. One of my favorite of gothmoth.

Fic Recommendation #221

Comments: Recommended by @annakreis42 and hope y’all enjoy it, too!

Title: This Is A Little Bit Much

Author: GothMoth

Fandom(s): Danny Phantom

Synopsis: Of course, everyone wants to know what they would look like as a ghost, Danny already knows except now he’s really confused and heading for a crisis or two…or twenty.

Word Count: 10,128

Rating: T

Status: Complete

Location: AO3

[raaorqtpbpdy]

I’m not gonna post all the individual chapters to tumblr because there are 15 and I don’t feel like it, but I just realized I forgot to even post a link, haha whoops.

So here’s my Phic Phight fic for @axion-labs’ prompt: Maybe Danny had been having a bit *too* much fun taunting Wes and even transforming in front of him. It was definitely coming back to bite him now...To be fair though, no one knew Desiree was right there. And @phantomphangphucker’s prompt: Wes body swaps with Danny in an attempt to expose him as Phantom, it fails spectacularly.

Mistakes Were Made

See AO3 tags for applicable warnings.

[phandomphightclub]

Round 2 Match 7: @phantomphangphucker vs @phantomroyalty

Writer: @ecto-american

Nick put a mouth guard in. Tucker stared at him oddly.

“We have somebody up that steals teeth, so unless you wanna have used teeth from the Teeth Bucket,” Nick began before nodding at some mouth guards, courtesy of Denny's during matches with teeth thieves. Just in case.

The trio immediately put mouth guards in.

“Alrighty, now it's time for Black Ice to square up against PhantomRoyalty!” Nick announced cheerfully.

Black Ice wasted no time, and soon in the blink of an eye, was on the other side of PhantomRoyalty.

“Oh god, my teeth!” PhantomRoyalty cried out, clutching their jaw. They were in pain, but no matter...they drew in a new set of teeth. Black Ice stared in disbelief, and they rushed to try and steal them again.

PhantomRoyalty dodged, and they quickly drew themselves a shield. As Black Ice turned to charge again, PhantomRoyalty shieldbashed them. While Black Ice was temporarily stunned, Phantom Royalty drew an oversized hammer, and with a powerful swing, hit them hard, sending the ghost flying.

“And PhantomRoyalty wins! Both the match and free new, unused teeth!”

[five-rivers]

Bring Your Ghost To School Day

AO3

For @phantomphangphucker

Valerie felt pleased with herself.  Sure she would have preferred to catch the ghost dog, or Phantom (take him down a few pegs), but if she was being honest with herself, showing up to the Paranormal Self Defense class practicum with Phantom in tow would have raised way too many questions.  Most of her classmates would probably come in with blob ghosts.  

Although she has heard a few scheming to get the Box Ghost…

Whatever.  Finally catching that slimy, scaly, slippery giant ghost worm nicely straddled the line between what was feasible for her from an outside perspective and what she, personally, considered an accomplishment.  

She walked into the classroom with her head held high and set her Fenton Thermos mk. 10 (the only containment device approved for the class) squarely in the center of her desk.  

Star twisted in her seat to face her.  "Hey, Val, what didya get?"

"Giant ghost worm."

"Nice.  That'll be pretty unique.  Pauli and I tried to tag-team some ectopuses over the weekend but we were only able to get one.  Good thing I had a backup blob ghost, right?"  She sighed.  "They're so fat and cute.  I wonder if they can be domesticated."

Valerie doubted it, but she shrugged noncommittally.  The rest of the class dribbled in over the next fifteen minutes, with Danny sliding through the door just before the bell rang, as usual.

"Alright class," said Mr. Lancer, wheeling forward the class's Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™.  "As you all should know, today, your practicum is due.  You will be coming up one by one and releasing your ghost into the-" he sighed, then inhaled deeply, "-Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™, whereupon you will explain to the class how you located and captured the ghost in question.  When you are finished, you will recapture the ghost and place your thermoses on that shelf, to be picked up by the Fentons for, yes, Miss Manson, ethical release into the Ghost Zone.  Any questions?"

Dash raised his hand.  "Can I get an extension?"

Mr. Lancer turned his gaze briefly towards the ceiling.  "See me after class, Mr. Baxter.  Any other questions?  No?  Then, do we have any volunteers?"

All hands stayed down.  Hey, Valerie was proud, but not volunteering to present first proud.  That was crazy.

"That's fine, I'll just pick randomly, then.  Mr. Gregor, you're first."

Elliot stood up and made his way to the front of the classroom like a man made to walk the plank.  He stuck his thermos into the socket on top of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ and hit the release button.  Blue-white light briefly filled the space.  When it cleared there was…

Nothing.

"Hey!" shouted Dash.  "It's empty!"

"No, it's not!  It's Youngblood!"

"I must confess," said Mr. Lancer, "it does look empty."

"You just can't see him because all of you are adults already, and I don't turn eighteen until July!"

Danny raised his hand.  "Neither do I."

Elliot looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped forward.  "Aw, man.  You couldn't let me have this?"

Mr. Lancer tapped a dial on the front of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ with his pen.  "The ecto-detector would have outed you–" 

There were a number of snickers from the jocks' side of the room.  

"--in any case, Mr. Gregor.  You can return to your seat, now."  He made a note on his clip board.  "My homework is invisible to adults is a new excuse for the books, though.  Mr. Fenton, you're next."

"'Kay," said Danny, passing Elliot on his way up.  "Prepare yourselves to be amazed!"  He slotted his thermos into place and hit the release button.  

Valerie shielded her eyes from the light and suppressed a laugh.  She was glad Danny had actually gotten something, considering how skittish he was about ghosts, but that intro was–

"Daniel!  Release me this instant!"

Wait, what the heck?

Valerie looked up to see Vlad Plasmius glaring at Danny through the walls of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™.  Vlad Plasmius.  Better known as Vlad Masters.  Mayor of Amity Park.  Richest man in the world.  Scarily powerful ghost with a great disguise.

She felt her jaw drop.

"May I introduce to you, the Wisconsin Ghost!"

"It's Plasmius, you insufferable brat!"

Mr. Lancer cleared his throat.  "Mr. Fenton, did your parents help you catch this… Plasmius?"

"I borrowed some equipment from them, but that's within the rules, right?"

"Let me out!"

"Hey, you heard Mr. Lancer.  You'll be released into the Ghost Zone after school with everyone else."

"Speaking of which, you should start your presentation."

"Oh, right.  So, what happened was that I snuck up on him while he was monologuing in his evil lair and hit him over the head with–"

"You did not!  And I don't have an evil lair!"

"That's debatable, but you know what?  Fine," groaned Danny.  "Spoilsport.  Anyway, I started by baiting my trap with cheese–"

"Daniel!"

"I pretended to be the mayor of Green Bay and called–"

Plasmius hissed at him.  

"Okay, okay, what I really did was tell Mr. Lonely Cat Guy that I'd tell him my mom's number if he helped me with a school project."

"Mr. Fenton," started Mr. Lancer, obviously concerned.

"It was a lie, of course!  Guys and girls, the only ghost you should give digits to is Phantom."

"That is not what happened!"

"My man, I'm trying to make this less embarrassing for you.  Work with me here."

"Mr. Fenton, must I remind you that this practicum is a graduation requirement?"

"No, no, I've got it.  But it is, like, super embarrassing for him."

Honestly, Valerie didn't know why she was surprised at this point.  Danny never had normal presentations.  Not since the gorilla thing.  

“What are you talking about?” snarled Vlad.  

“Aw, it sounds like it was so traumatizing he doesn’t even remember it…”

“Mr. Fenton, please.”

Danny shrugged.  “I told him I’d be more likely to consider letting him adopt me if he could win a fight with Fright Knight, because, like, that’s something I could do in Freshman year, and he’s never beaten him, and when he showed up afterward to gloat I snuck up behind him and souped him.”

“Backstabber!”

“The worst part is that I didn’t even think he’d do it.  Like, I’ve made exactly zero attempt to hide the utter disdain I feel for this man.  It was a joke.  I said I didn’t expect him to do it, but apparently he took that as a taunt or challenge or whatever.  I was just going to bring Wade, but then he showed up this morning, so I was like, why not?”

“Wade?” asked Mr. Lancer.  

Danny reached into his hoodie’s front pocket and pulled out the teeniest tiniest blue-green blob ghost.  “This is Wade.  I call him that because I found him in a pool.”

Wade squirmed out of Danny’s grip and flew up to chew on his hair.  

“You know you aren’t supposed to bring uncaptured ghosts into the school,” said Mr. Lancer tiredly.  

“That’s what your focus on?” ranted Vlad.  “And you call yourself a teacher–” 

“And that’s enough.”  Mr. Lancer reached over to hit the capture button and disengaged the thermos.  “You can go back to your seat now, Mr. Fenton.  Mr. Ishiyama?”

Kwan bounded up to the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ and gleefully slammed his thermos down into the socket.  “I caught the Box Ghost!”

“Oh, no,” muttered Danny.  

“BEWARE!  I AM THE BOX GHOST AND– Oh, my, this is a lovely box.  Is it for me?  I ACCEPT THIS TRIBUTE!  FEAR ME!”

The Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ began to levitate.  Valerie pulled her class-approved ecto-pistol from her bag.  Honestly, in retrospect, something like this was bound to happen.  At least, she noted, seeing all of her classmates pull out their approved ecto-pistols, she wouldn’t be the only one stuck fixing it this time.

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Surprise Professor Professes Only Violence

For: Chrysanthemum9484

It doesn’t matter who Mr. Lancer picked to teach a class on ghosts, all the options lead to suffering. Danny just happens to be the option less damaging to everything and everyone around, much to his annoyance.

Danny’s a little concerned when Mr. Lancer all but corners him outside of social- what a dumbass class. Danny eyeing the man cautiously, “I swear I didn’t break anything today”.

Mr. Lancer shakes his head, huffing a little out of breath, before fixing his tie, “you’re not in trouble, not this time. However, seeing as you have a spare next I would like you to follow me”.

Oh zone what now? Did his parents drop something questionable off? Or was the guy trying to tutor him again? Were Sam and Tuck fighting again? Or did someone or something blow up his locker for the fifth time this month…

Danny sighs and follows, “what is it”; it’s not even a question, he’s resigned, defeated. His spare has so totally been lost. Ugh.

Mr. Lancer wastes no time in walking off, grabbing Danny’s arm because, as per usual, he doesn’t trust Danny to not just disappear on him. Reasonable honestly. “As you know, this town and school have had to make a few adjustments to deal with the ghost issues. One such adjustment is going to be a ghosts one oh one course-”. Holy shit finally, Danny was wondering when the school was gonna man up and do that. Knowing about ghosts in this haunted ass town was kinda super necessary. And he guesses that Mr. Lancer just wants Danny’s advice? Since Danny was a teen and not insane. “-it’s happening during fourth period-”. That’s this period isn’t it? Why does Danny have a bad feeling about this? “-and seeing as you are not insane or a government funded bigot, everyone agrees you should teach it”. Mr. Lancer coming to stop in front of a closed classroom door, looking at Danny now, “now knowing you, you’d skip town for a week to try and get out of this, and you respect me enough to not simply kick me in the knees and run. Just try alright? It’ll count towards your gpa if that gives you any incentive”, then turns back to the door, opens it, and basically shoves Danny inside. “I know you’ll do great!”. And… and the man has the fucking audacity to just up and leave!

What. The. Actual. Fresh. Fruity. Fuck.

Danny stands there in a wide stance, arms slightly away from his sides, and slowly looks at the goddamn class full of people. Fuck him so much. Fuck Lancer. What the zone man! Danny blinks harshly at everyone, “I’m gonna kill that man”.

Dale snorting at him, “ironic that the first thing you say in a ghost class involves murder”.

Emilie fiddling with her hair, “yeah and why’d he stick you here anyways? It’s not like you’d need to learn this”.

Todd snorting, “probably taking pity on him and giving him a free easy grade”.

Danny drops his arms and glares at Todd, “actually, he just shoved me in here to teach this damn thing”, sighing and rubbing a hand down his face, “hence why I now wanna kill him”.

Someone snorts, “sure. Right. He tOtAlLy DiD tHaT”.

But after a couple of seconds someone else shouts, “holy shit he actually did! The thing online just updated with him as the teachers name!”.

Everyone else just starts screaming and shouting and otherwise freaking out while Danny groans very deeply and moves to walk over to ‘his’ desk. Fuck his half life.

The worst thing was that he knows that he can’t just go crawling back to Mr. Lancer and claim he needs time to prepare. Since he knows that Lancer knows that that shit would be a goddamn lie. His parents have literally made him basically memorize presentations to give at ghost conventions. Danny absolutely can do this. He just really really doesn’t want to.

But…

Ugh. He needs to get that gpa of his up and Mr. Lancer’s a manipulative dick to bring that into this.

Danny wants to just lay on the desk and cry. He is absolutely beating Boxy through a tool shed whenever that guy shows up next. As it stands, he’s just going to slump down into the chair, put his elbows on the desk, and put his head in his hands. Grumbling through said hands loud enough that he knows he’s being heard, “look, okay, if any of you fuck up and fail this shit, thus hurting my grades or whatever, I will personally find and pay a ghost to haunt you”, sighing, “I do actually know how to give seminars, or whatever, on ghosts. And I know none of you fuckers go to goddamn ghost hunter conventions, since none of you have parents that force you to attend them, fuck every last one of you, so I can technically actually teach ya’ll shit; so sit down or stay seated or whatever, and shut up”.

“WOW, someone’s pissy”.

“I will kill you too, Todd”.

“Oh yeah? With what? Your noodle arms?”.

Danny lifts his head out of his hands, stares at the asshole, then starts digging through the desk. He’s not sure why but there’s a sledge hammer in the bottom drawer, it goes on the desk very loudly.

One of the freshman nerds blinks, “why was there a hammer in there?”.

Danny shrugs loosely, “I don’t know, I don’t care, but that can definitely breaks someone’s fingers so, you know. Threat stands”, clearing his throat, “okay so because the preparation time that I was given was precisely jack fuck all, I’m gonna run this shit like a convention panel. Just without any slides, yes I’ve had to make slides shut up or kill you, without all my funny jokes on them”.

Lindsey actually sags dramatically in relief, “oh thank Zone. Mr. Lancer managed to spare us”.

Danny standing up, grabbing the sledgehammer, and swinging it back and forth up in the air a bit, “hammer time threat stands”, puts the thing back down loudly, handle sticking up in the air, and moves to the fucking white board, “ya’ll get my jokes written all over this board now”.

Multiple people shout, “Lindsey!”, at the girl. Danny doesn’t care, Danny thinks his jokes are great. Promptly writing, ‘why did the ghost decide to start teaching? Because he’d heard it was going to be dead fun’; to a class of his groaning peers.

Turning back to everyone, “so since I should attempt to actually graduate, I’m gonna actually start this shit off but with something that’s gonna make all ya’ll suffer, ghost baby making! featuring The Box Ghost and The LunchLady”.

Everyone looks suitably disgusted with him. Multiple people shouting, “oh zone why!?!” and “you’re evil!”.

Does how ghosts have babies have anything to do with dealing with and surviving ghosts in this town? No, obviously not. Does he care? Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Mr. Lancer sticks his head in the room, eyeing the sledgehammer, “why is there a sledgehammer?”.

Danny snarking right back, “why was it in the drawer?”.

Mr. Lancer nodding a little, seceding that, “the janitor must have left it. How are you fairing?”.

Danny just glares at the man violently while Dale sticks up his hand, “Mr. Lancer, he keeps threatening to kill us”.

“Mr. Fenton!”.

“Bitch, you knew what you were doing”.

End.

Prompt: "The teachers of Casper High decide that assigning a student to teach a subject is the lesser evil considering that the other options are a pair of insane scientists and a bunch of government cuckoos. Or in other words, Danny ends up teaching Ghosts 101."