#phic phight entry

[half-dead-half-wit]

Welcome to the Nasty Burger, home of the Nasty Burger. Can I take your order?

Mikey doesn't know how he wound up getting talked into working the closing shift at the Nasty Burger in the middle of finals week. He feels like it's some shade of illegal to have a student on the clock past 3 am, but it'll all be worth it, what with Valerie promising him Paulina's phone number for covering for her. Yeah Mikey, keep telling yourself that. It's not like she's already blocked you & changed numbers twice already. She's in love with him, she just doesn't know it yet. Totally. But anyway, that's not even his most pressing issue right now. Oh no, that would be Phantom - THE Phantom. Local town here Phantom. Probably saved the world at least twice and Mikey more times than he could count, Phantom. Yeah, he's been standing - er, floating? Mikey's not entirely sure which, in the drive-thru window for like 20 minutes. And he's been talking. The. Entire. Time. Not ordering food, no. He's just… talking the most batshit nonsense. Even worse, there's a line of cars slowly growing behind him. Mikey had to admit, it took him at least 5 minutes to notice him, initially. Opening the window and attempting to get Phantom's attention hasn't been particularly fruitful. It might help if Mikey said something instead of awkwardly waving & attempting to make eye contact. Yeah, he'll try that. "Uhm, sir?" Mikey tried meekly, to no avail. "So I said, I'm the king of the undead! How am I not exempt from jury duty-" "Excuse me, sir?" He tried, a little louder. No dice. Phantom steamrolled right on through Mikey's admittedly feeble attempts at interruption. "And then the Box Ghost, of all people, strolls in all high and mighty saying he's filing a grievance against me for quote " taking out misplaced aggression" on him! Apparently there's a union for ghosts who died from OSHA violations, of all things! So after the trial, I asked if I could join. Well, as it turns out, since I'm the king of the realm, I don't qualify for any of the protections! Yet I'd still have to pay union dues, can you believe that?!? They said I could take it up with HR, but guess who HR is! The flipping Ghost Writer!! And we all know what he thinks about me. He still hasn't forgiven me for the Christmas Truce fiasco 3 years ago, you know. Like, I'm still not a big fan of the holiday but a truce is a truce and we respect the truce."

"MR. PHANTOM, SIR YOU ARE BACKING UP MY DRIVE-THRU!!!" whether from embarrassment or exertion from the sheer force of his bellow, Mikey's face turned beet red. He's pretty sure that homeless man across the street wasn't staring murder at him earlier. He might've been asleep then, too. Oops. At least he finally got Phantom's attention. "Wh-huh? Mikey? When did you start working at Denny's? Where's Tali?" The ghosty hero seemed genuinely confused, and also like he wasn't entirely all there at the moment. Maybe he's pulled three all-nighters in a row this week too. That'd explain the spaceship boxers and pink fuzzy slippers he's sporting. "Uh, this is the Nasty Burger?" Mikey responded. Was it a statement or a question? Mikey totally didn't look down at his uniform to confirm he was, in fact, working at the Nasty Burger. "Ah." Phantom said. And upon making that eloquent response, Phantom promptly faded from view, kinda like that popular vine, leaving Mikey with more questions than answers and a line wrapped around the building of hangry, sleep deprived, classmates who stayed up way too late cramming last minute and midnight shift workers desperate for something hot and greasy to shove into their mouths. Great. He didn't even order anything.

[dpfantasyzine]

Socials: Tumblr | Cohost

"I’ve been writing for about twelve years, and writing fan fiction for about six. I’m honored to be included in this zine." - @pennerjones

To Lose Everything

Summary:

The fall of the Tyrant Ghost King has largely been lost to time. But know that it was far more complicated than the old legends tell. Pariah Dark's downfall told through the eyes of the one who betrayed him, the one who masterminded his fate, the traitor who loved him with all their being.

I Got Reincarnated As My Enemy And My Mentor's Infant Son??

Summary:

First entry for Phic Phight 2023! I used two prompts for this one! Prompt #1: "He had the perfect life. He was a hero, had a beautiful wife, and had successfully mediated peace between the ghost zone and human realm. Unfortunately, even beloved figures can be assassinated. Now Danny has been reincarnated as Pariah Dark's half-human son." by nocturna-starr & Prompt #2: "The Ancients are a long-standing group of halfas that maintain balance between the living world and the Infinite Realms." by catmiint

No One Was Prepared

Summary:

Previously called “Mr. Lancer Was Not Prepared”. William Lancer had seen many things in his years of teaching. He’d seen bullying, teen pregnancies, kids kicked out by their parents for their sexuality, ghost attack—heck, he’d even fought off the Box Ghost with a fire extinguisher once! But all this had not prepared him to deal with the situation concerning one Daniel Fenton. A Ghost Prince!Danny AU with identity reveal shenanigans, Danny/the Core (inspired by @floralflowerpower's "A Ticket to the Halfa Life"), disabled!Danny, and many of my other favorite head cannons.

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Death by Exposure

Written for the Phic Phight Prompts: At first Danny had been worried sick that Wes had figured out that he was Phantom, but when no one believed him it had sort of become funny. Still, after the anti-ecto act, and the GIW, and his own parents very public very violently vitriolic screeds against ghosts, Danny had to wonder what he'd ever done to Wes that the guy would risk exposing Danny to all that. (from @hpwotters-blog, or at least I think that's you're tumblr.), and Wes Weston wakes up to find an injured Phantom on the fire escape. (from @half-deadmagicperson)

With how much time he spends on basketball and his delusional conspiracy theories, no one would ever suspect that Wes Weston has another secret hobby… (from @kadziduo)

Another prompt that will be included in later chapters but isn't as of this one:

And Wes has been spending more and more time around Fenton and Co. lately - hey! he’s only trying to get some much-needed evidence against them, not trying to get all buddy-buddy with them. And anyway, they’re an entirely annoying bunch, so he wholeheartedly blames them for the fact that he’s currently being monologued at by the ghost holding him hostage. (from @a-closet-emo)

Chapter 4: Expositor

AO3 Link

[Warning for mentions of blood and violence]

Danny used a damp washcloth the clean off what was left of the blood and ectoplasm from his skin before changing, first from ghost to human, and then, once he was back in his own clean clothes, into the pajamas. When he returned to the bedroom, Wes was gone.

Danny didn't really wonder where Wes had gone because he didn't really care. He was completely wiped from everything that had happened that night, and he just wanted to get some sleep. Crossing the room, he flopped face down onto the bare bed. Without any kind of sheet or comforter, the mattress was lumpy and not very comfortable. Danny hardly noticed.

He adjusted himself so he was laying near the edge to make it easier to breathe and was just about to drift off when his arm slipped off the mattress and brushed against something hard. Not wanting to open his eyes, Danny felt around blindly until his fingers closed around something flat and solid wedged between the mattress and the bed frame. It was a close race, but his curiosity one out over his exhaustion and he pushed himself into a sitting position to see what it was.

In his hands, Danny held some kind of journal. At first, he thought it was Wes' diary, and that he should put it back because even if it was Wes, Danny wasn't enough of a jerk to read someone's diary; then he considered the far more likely possibility that it was filled with Wes' evidence of Danny's dual identity, and he should check it out, for his safety. What Danny actually found when he opened the journal was the last thing he would have ever expected.

Birds.

Each page had a photograph of a bird, along with some writing, in Wes' own hand, about what the bird was, and where and when he had seen it. Danny stared at the pages in absolute shock as he flipped through them. Danny almost laughed out loud when he read a clearly very excited entry about a bird called the Red Knot which was apparently endangered in Illinois, but that Wes had spotted out at Lake Eerie over the summer.

"Sorry, it took longer than I thought to wash all that shit off my hands. They still smell like rubbing alcohol," Wes said as he came in. "Make yourself comf—why do you have that?" he interrupted himself when he saw what Danny was holding. He stomped over and snatched the journal out of Danny's hands, snapping it shut.

"You have a bird watching journal?" Danny asked incredulously.

Wes opened his desk drawer, tossed the journal haphazardly inside, and slammed it shut again. "I like bird watching. Is that a crime?"

"No it's just," Danny laughed at the absurdity of it all, "Between basketball and obsessively stalking me and trying to expose me as Phantom, I didn't think you had time for–" he snorted, and brought a hand up to his mouth to cover the amused smile there–"bird watching." He couldn't hold it in anymore, Danny burst out laughing, interspersed with winces as the action irritated his injuries.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Wes said, crossing his arms with a scowl. "I have a life outside of you, you know. You think I got binoculars with adjustable magnification just to watch you? Don't flatter yourself."

"Ouch! But, seriously, bird watching?"

"It's peaceful and relaxing!"

"You're such a nerd!"

"Well what do you do when you have free time?" Wes demanded indignantly. "Let me guess, you spend your time playing video games, right?"

"You mean a normal hobby that most teenagers engage in?" Danny pointed out. "Yeah, I do."

"You'll rot your brain."

"Whatever, nerd!"

"Shut up." Wes pouted. "You just got shot four times. Shouldn't you be resting or something? Go to fucking sleep." He crouched down to lay out his bedding on the floor.

"When do you even find time do go bird watching?" Danny asked laughingly.

"I thought I told you to go to sleep!"

"Alright, alright!" Danny laid down again and Wes got up to switch the light off before climbing into his makeshift bed on the floor. For a while, Danny stayed quiet, but he just couldn't help himself. "What's the rarest bird you've ever seen?"

"Shut up!" Wes groaned and whacked Danny with a pillow.

"Fine!" That lasted all of seven seconds. "But what is it?"

Wes sighed, but Danny could hear the smile in his voice when he finally answered. "I saw an island scrub Jay once, when my family took a vacation to Santa Cruz a couple summers ago. They're so pretty, and they're like, one of the rarest birds in the states; it was pretty awesome. They literally only live on Santa Cruz Island and nowhere else, because they're non-migratory. I spent the whole trip looking for one. Kyle and Easton spent the whole trip making fun of me for it."

Danny laughed again. "Nerd."

"If you don't wanna know, don't fucking ask!" Wes whacked him with a pillow again and he sputtered momentarily. "Go to sleep already."

"How did you even get into bird watching?" Danny asked. "That's not a normal hobby for a kid to have." Wes sighed again.

"If you're just gonna call me a nerd again, I'm not gonna tell you."

"I promise I won't call you a nerd." 

Wes didn't answer right away, probably not trusting the promise, but just when Danny thought he'd decided to just go to sleep he answered.

"My mom's a flight attendant, so when I was little I used to watch the sky all the time and keep an eye out for planes, try to guess which one she was on, you know?" he explained. "Turns out, when you watch the sky all day, you end up seeing a some cool-looking birds, so when I was seven or eight, I asked for a camera for my birthday so I could take pictures of them, and it sort of spiraled from there."

"That's... kinda sweet, actually," Danny said.

"Whatever."

"You know, I do like video games, but actually, I'm also really into astronomy," Danny said.

"And you called me a nerd."

"Hey, bird watching is way nerdier than stargazing," Danny defended. "I mean ask literally anyone. Stargazing is, like, romantic and crap, bird watching is full-on nerdy."

"Sure, space geek," Wes said. "What's your favorite dwarf planet?"

"Haumea," Danny answered immediately, without even having to think about it.

"Knowing any dwarf planet besides Pluto is well into full-on nerd territory."

"Haumea spins so fast that gravity makes it oblong instead of round; tell me that's not cool!"

"Okay, it's a little cool, but you're still a nerd. Go to sleep."

They ended up staying a little later, swapping fun facts about birds and space, eventually falling asleep at almost five in the morning. Thankfully, spring break afforded them the opportunity to sleep in as long as they wanted. When they eventually woke up, Danny didn't leave Wes' place right away.

Wes brought him a sandwich for breakfast/lunch, and helped him change his bandages. Although, it unsettled Wes to see the difference in blood composition between Danny's two forms. It would be a couple more days before the wounds fully closed, but the bleeding had stopped. As long as Danny was still healing, his ecto-signature would be stronger, even in his human form, which meant going home was a no-go.

"What do you mean your house will attack you?" Wes asked, horrified.

"My parents have a very sophisticated anti-ghost security system," Danny explained. "I can pass through in my human form well enough as long as I don't use any of my powers, but if I so much as have my ghost sense go off, it activates and I have a dozen anti-ghost weapons in my face. It'll definitely target me with my enhanced healing working, but I can't exactly turn that off."

"Alright, fair enough," Wes said. "But you can't stay here. My dad's not that observant, but Kyle will definitely notice if you stay any longer, and neither of us wants that, trust me."

"That's fine," Danny said. "Tucker's house is empty right now, and I know where they keep the spare key. I'll camp out there for a few days. And, uh, once I can get into my house again, I'll bring you some of my parents' Fenton Detergent that'll work on ectoplasm stains so you don't have to buy new towels."

"Good, because I couldn't really afford to anyway," Wes said, his shoulders slumping in relief. "I'll come check on you at Tucker's, just in case."

"You will?" Danny asked, surprised.

"Of course," Wes said. "I won't be able to sleep if I don't know you're okay, not after, you know, everything." Ah, so he felt guilty. Alright, that made sense.

"Okay, well... thanks," Danny said, face splitting into a smile, "for, you know, everything." He started to climb out onto the fire escape, ready to leave.

"Yeah, no problem."

"And good luck with the bird watching," Danny tacked on as he transformed into Phantom and jumped off the fire escape.

"Oh, fuck off!" Wes shouted, running to the window to flip the ghost off while he laughed, turning invisible to keep the patrols off is tail as he made a beeline for Tucker's place to lay low.

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[dp-marvel94]

Fic Stats Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

Tagged by @imekitty

Most Hits: Face to Face (Not surprise there 😆)

Second Most Kudos: Double Discovery (This was my second story ever and it still blows my mind that is has so many kudos at 1,407.)

Third Most Comment Threads: Hope Can Be Heavy Thing to Hold (Makes sense considering this is one of my longest stories)

Fourth Most Bookmarks: Fangs or No Fangs (This one's a cute story I wrote for Phic Phight in 2021 😊)

Fifth Most Words: Tumblr Prompts (It's very interesting that my complication of short ideas is one of my longest works. 😂)

Fewest Words: Phandom Phight Club 2023 Entries (I forgot I'd even posted these on AO3. 🤣🤣🤣)

Almost forgot I was supposed to tag people. 😅 @five-rivers @mymadmedleyw @datawyrms

[lexosaurus]

Is there an official starting date for the fight club meeting? I made my 1st s*** post but I want to schedule it on the calendar

Hey so the Phight Club is actually an organized tournament shitpost contest! This means you have to SIGN UP to participate! (It starts on the 1st)

There are only 64 total phighters. So once the slots are filled, the form closes.

The format for the Phight Club works that each round is a new prompt for people to make their silly creation—phic, edit, art, comic, etc. For example, past prompts have been "Dumbest reveal" or "Danny Phantom AU" or "Fenton Technology." You can submit a prompt idea here if you would like.

So each round reveals a new prompt, then the phighters have a few days to make a piece of content for the prompt. They must release and submit it before the prompt closes. Once it does, a voting form is released for the round in which anyone—participant or not—can vote for their favorite for each head-to-head entry. Then the winners of each round advance, and losers are beaten behind the dumpsters with a Danno on a stick (haha jk....or am i?).

So sign up if you'd like to phight for the ultimate glory!

[shamelesslymkp]

REC: Marsalias - Cryptid Crawl!

URL: https://ift.tt/vbdZo8T Welcome back cryptid crawlers to the latest entry in our cryptid crawl across the continental US! Tonight, we visit the small town of Amity Park, Illinois. Now, experienced cryptozoologists might recognize that name as the self-proclaimed Most Haunted Town in America. But we aren’t here for the ghosts. Amity Park has much more to offer than just spooky stories - no offense to our fellow paranormal investigators. (Words: 21,880) Part 6 of Phic Phight 2023, Part 2 of Online and Live !!!fandom, !!fic, |site:ao3, +fandom:danny.phantom, ::rating:teen.and.up.audiences, ~author:marsalias, character:nonbinary.oc.-.character, character:danny.fenton, character:sam.manson, character:tucker.foley, character:wes.weston, character:jack.fenton, character:various.others, ::category:gen, \no.archive.warnings.apply, ~ao3:outsider.perspective, ~ao3:video.blogger, ~ao3:forum.fic

click here for mkp's pinboard and more fic recs!

[phicphight]

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

FIC CAN BE READ HERE: ao3

Identity Reveal, Because it wouldn’t be one of my fics if there isn’t an identity reveal. Complete. Rated G. Word Count: 2136

Pairings: None

Trigger Warnings: None

Author: @babyhedgehog-cutebutdeadly (Team Human)

"Danny being stuck as Phantom and forced to deal with situations that he'd normally be as Fenton (like going to school, having a family dinner, etc)" - @ecto-american (Team Ghost)

***

Maddie Fenton knocks on the door of her son's bedroom, a small frown on her face. Is he alright? It's two o'clock on a Saturday. He has a tendency to sleep in on weekends, but this is a bit much even for him. 

"Danny? Are you alright?" 

"Mom! Don't come in!"

Continue reading...

[darks-ink]

Cacoethes

Prompt: Danny born human; Tucker and Sam born ghosts. Prompt by: @feministhotline Word count: 7,214

[AO3][FFnet][more Phic Phight fics]

Danny’s parents were ghost hunters. They had been since before he was born. Before Jazz was born, even. He knew quite a bit about ghosts. He definitely knew the rules his parents had made regarding them.

Ghosts were dangerous. They were threatening. You shouldn’t interact with them.

Definitely don’t speak with them.

He shouldn’t speak with them.

“Hi,” he said to the ghost in front of him, instead.

The ghost’s teal eyes opened further, and he stared back at Danny. After a long moment of silence, he replied, “Hi?”

Then, seeing that Danny wasn’t running away or anything like that, the boy quirked an eyebrow at him. “Are you not… scared of me?”

“What, because you’re a ghost? Nah.” Danny shrugged. He had seen all kinds of ghosts. Monstrous ones that kept hiding under his bed or inside his closet, mostly. Some formless ones his parents captured and studied. But none as human as the one in front of him.

The boy was dark skinned, with vibrant teal eyes. One could mistake him for human, if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes were lit from inside or that he emitted a white glow.

Or the fact that he was floating.

“Oh,” the dark skinned ghost responded. Then he landed on the ground, his brown boots touching down soundlessly. He seemed genuinely baffled by the fact that Danny wasn’t scared of him. Was that so uncommon?

Deciding that the boy seemed lonely and in need of friend, Danny decided to volunteer himself. After all, he was new to the town and also needed friends. He offered his hand with a grin, finally remembering to introduce himself. “I’m Danny Fenton, by the way.”

The specter hesitated for a moment. Then he took Danny’s hand; his’ was cold and strangely squishy – but Danny remembered that ghosts didn’t have bones, which explained that. It was pretty normal otherwise. “Tucker Foley,” the ghost – Tucker – said.

He still seemed hesitant. Probably didn’t trust Danny to mean what he said, about not being afraid. Guess that he had to prove it.

“So Tucker, anything you like to do?”

Big teal eyes blinked again. “Uh.” The boy paused, apparently thrown off. “I like… video games? And, uh. Superhero movies?”

“Me too!” Danny smiled brightly, swinging an arm around Tucker’s shoulders. “Aren’t your ghost powers basically superpowers?”

The ghost paused, and Danny’s arm passed through him when he continued walking. “I… never thought about it like that.”

“Really?” It had been one of the first comparisons Danny’s parents had made. Ghosts were basically supervillains, or so they had said. Superpowered beings that caused pain and destruction.

“I- Yeah.” Now he frowned, the glow around his body flickering as he thought. “That’s… a nice way to think about them.”

“What kind of powers do you have?” Danny asked, interested. According to his parents, ghosts had all kinds of powers. They were usually somewhat linked to the theme the ghost chose, but Tucker looked like an ordinary kid. Besides the standard powers, would he have anything else? “Besides flight and intangibility, that is?”

Tucker frowned a little, catching up to where Danny was standing. “I’m working on telekinesis,” he admitted, straightening the red beret on his head. “And there’s invisibility too, of course.”

“Right.” Danny nodded. The two of them continued walking, heading through the gates of the park. “Hey Tucker, d’you wanna play a game?”

“Like what?” In the bright sun it was almost impossible to tell that Tucker was glowing. He really did look like a normal kid. Danny wondered what his parents would think of his new friend.

“What about hide and seek?”

Tucker grinned, his entire face brightening. And the rest of his body too, since his glow increased quite considerably in response to the emotion. “You sure about that?”

Danny, remembering Tucker’s invisibility, hesitated. But the boy seemed so genuinely pleased… “Only if you don’t use your invisibility. Gotta stay fair!”

“Right,” Tucker said, still smiling. “Of course.”

“Mom?”

Maddie looked up from the box she was unpacking in the living room. Her son was standing in the front door, pushing it closed behind him. There were leaves and sticks stuck to his clothes and hair – he had been to the park, she remembered.

“Yes sweetie?”

“Can I borrow your goggles?” His eyes were big and hopefully. Regardless, she had to disappoint him.

“Danny… Our inventions aren’t toys.” She shook her head. “If you want to dress up, you can use your own goggles – they should be in your room.”

“It’s not for dressing up!” Danny protested, moving closer to her. “I was playing hide-and-seek with Tucker, but he keeps cheating by going invisible!”

Maddie froze, fingers digging into the pillow she was holding. Surely she had misheard…?

“Honey, what did you say?”

“I made a new friend,” Danny started explaining. “His name is Tucker. And he promised that he wouldn’t use his invisibility while we were playing hide-and-seek, but he totally was!”

Dropping the pillow back into the box, Maddie turned to her son. She crouched next to him, gently putting her hands on his shoulder. Crystalline blue eyes blinked back at her. Not overshadowed, then. But surely Danny knew better than to associate with a ghost? He had called them into his room to chase off ghosts, real and imagined, plenty often.

“Danny. What do we say about ghosts?”

The boy fidgeted under her hands, looking away from her. “That they’re bad.”

“And?”

“And… we shouldn’t spend time with them. If we see one, we should call you and Dad.”

“Good boy,” Maddie complimented, patting him on the shoulder. “Now, since you clearly know the rules and willfully ignored them, you’re grounded.”

“What! No!” Danny pushed her hands off of his shoulders, moving back towards the door. “I promised-”

Maddie frowned at him, and Danny fell quiet. “No talking with ghosts means no making promises to them either, sweetie.”

“But he looked so lonely,” Danny protested, voice feeble and wavering. He wilted under her glare. “He just needed a friend…”

She sighed. Danny was simply too kind, too naive. “Sweetheart, he was just pretending. You fell for his trick.”

“But-”

She laid a hand on his shoulder again, comfortingly. “Ghosts don’t feel emotion, Danny. They don’t get lonely.”

Then she started steering him towards the stairs. “Now get to your room. You’ll stay inside the house until Monday, okay?”

“Yes Mom,” he sighed, swiping the butt of his hand past his eyes.

She waited another few moments until Danny had reached the top of the stairs and turned left towards his room. Satisfied that he couldn’t sneak past her, she nodded to herself.

All she had to do was keep Danny away from that ghost for the next few days. The boy would come to his senses soon enough. And if not…

Well, maybe she and Jack should start working on a ghost scanner sooner rather than later.

The last few days had been unbearably long. At least his mom hadn’t taken away his entertainment, but still. Knowing that he had abandoned Tucker after promising he would be right back was haunting him.

It wasn’t his fault, of course, but that didn’t matter. The ghost was clearly lonely, and Danny had insisted on being the one person who wouldn’t abandon him. And then he did!

And he knew exactly how it felt. Because, in his old town, people had done it all the time to him. They would get along just fine, but then the moment they learned who his parents were, they gave some lame excuse and disappeared. And yes, sometimes it was the fault of the parents who kept the kids away, but still! He wasn’t going to let his parents stop him from making friends with Tucker.

School was even more of a drag than usual. Somehow, rumors about his parents had already spread before they had even gotten there. No one wanted to associate with him, the weird kid with the ghost-hunting parents.

And he had so hoped to leave behind that reputation.

The only good thing about the day was that his grounding was over. After the lessons ended he would be free to roam Amity Park. Then he could finally go back to Tucker and apologize.

Well, assuming that he could find the ghost. After all, if he didn’t want to be found, Danny had no way of tracking him down. And Tucker didn’t seem to have a permanent haunt anyway.

Danny had considered asking some of his classmates about the ghost, but with how bad the rumors were, decided against it. Even if ghosts were more common around here (the reason why his parents had moved here in the first place), they apparently weren’t well-received.

He understood Tucker’s surprise even more, now. How could they live in a city were ghosts were commonly spotted and still not believe in them?

After what felt like several centuries, the school bell finally rang. Danny launched himself out of his seat with reckless abandon, his backpack barely staying on his shoulders. He dodged around one of his new bullies – a blonde guy who growled out an insult as Danny passed him – and was out of the building before anyone could stop him.

He made it to the park in no time at all. And several days too late. But he wouldn’t think about it like that.

Wouldn’t think about the fact that Tucker might not even be here. That he might not want to talk with Danny, or listen to his excuses. His promise that he would do better now.

After all, what would a promise mean if he didn’t keep his last one either?

“Tucker?” he called out when he entered the park. It was quiet still – too early for older children and too late for the younger ones.

Danny started circling around the park, looking for any traces of the ghost. When he finally reached the spot where they had played a few days earlier, he yelled again, “Tucker?”

A soft rustle, like a breeze passing through the grass. But Danny felt no wind.

Assuming that Tucker was here and listening, he continued on, steadfast. “Tucker, I’m so sorry about Thursday. I know I promised to come back quickly, but Mom grounded me. I came as soon as I could, I promise!”

A scoff, faintly echoing. “Another promise you won’t keep?”

Tucker flickered back into visibility, his arms crossed and his brow creased. He looked angry, and Danny couldn’t blame him. He was all too familiar with people backing out of promises.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, throwing his hands out in front of him. “I just wanted to go fetch one of my parent’s inventions, but then Mom got angry and grounded me-”

“Wow, wait, hold on.” Tucker raised a hand, dropping the other by his side. “What do you mean, ‘inventions’?”

Danny blinked. He had forgotten that Tucker didn’t know about him or his family. It was so normal for people to just know.

“My… parents are inventors?” he tried, hesitantly. Then, “I wanted to grab a pair of Mom’s goggles so I could see you even when you were invisible, so you couldn’t cheat.”

“Hey!” Tucker cried out in offense, “I didn’t cheat!” Then he processed rest of the sentence and his eyes grew wide again. “Your parents invented something that could do that?” he asked. “That’s incredible!”

For once, Danny felt pride over his parents instead of shame. Most of their inventions were super cool, but… people were always so stupid about them. For some reason, no one believed that ghosts existed.

“They make all kinds of cool stuff!” Danny swung an arm around Tucker’s shoulders, throwing the other out in front of them as if he was showing off some incredible sight. “Goggles that can see invisible ghosts, shields that ghosts can’t phase through, and even ecto-guns!”

Tucker stiffened, and Danny let go of him again, turning to face the boy. “What’s wrong?”

The boy wrung his hands, avoiding Danny’s eyes. “Why are all their inventions designed to hurt ghosts?”

“Oh.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck, shuffling his feet. “They’re kind of… ghost hunters? That’s sort of why Mom grounded me, actually. She didn’t want me hanging out with a ghost.”

Tucker’s head snapped up, his wide eyes settling on Danny. “But-”

“But what?” Danny asked with a shrug. “Just because they say all ghosts are bad doesn’t mean that they’re right.”

But this apparently didn’t convince Tucker. He took off his beret, using his other hand to comb through his short black hair. “So you… you’re not trying to prove anything, or something? Your parents didn’t put you up to this?”

Danny scoffed. “Nah. Like I said, they want us to stay away from the ghosts, not befriend them.”

“So then why didn’t you?” Tucker skeptically asked. He put his hat back on, carefully straightening it.

“Because I could tell you needed a friend.” Danny lowered his eyes to the ground, kicking the dirt with his shoe. “I know the feeling.”

This seemed to surprise the ghost. “How so?”

Tucker’s brown boots appeared in Danny’s sight, and he looked up to meet Tucker’s eyes.

“Because no one wants to be friends with the kid who has ghost hunters for parents.” Danny rolled his eyes and scowled. “Even here, no one believes that ghosts are real!”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Tucker laughed humorlessly.

“And…” Danny rubbed the back of his neck, hesitant to admit what he was about to say. “And I guess that I know the feeling of people promising that they would be right back, and then never doing so. People… People did it to me all the time.”

Then he grabbed Tucker’s hand, surprising the ghost – and himself, a little. “And even though it wasn’t my fault, I felt so bad about it! And I’m so sorry Tucker. I really really am!” Then he let go of the ghost again, shoulders slumping down. “And I… understand if you don’t want to risk it again.”

A cold hand landed on his shoulder, and Danny glanced up at Tucker. “It’s fine, man. I…” He sniffled. “I really appreciate you coming back to apologize anyway. And coming to talk to me, even though your parents warned you against it.”

“Yeah, well.” Danny shrugged, grinning a little. “They grounded me for it already, so. What’s the worst they could do? Ground me again?”

“What do you mean I’m grounded?!”

His mom crossed her arms, staring him down impassively. “I said no interacting with ghosts, Danny.”

“But I didn’t! I haven’t seen Tucker since that time in the park!”

She tilted her head to indicate the TV she was standing next to. On its screen was a paused video game – the two-player split screen was still visible.

“I… was playing with Jazz?” Danny tried. Seeing his mom’s eyes narrow, he gave up on the attempt. “Alright, okay, fine. I was playing with Tucker. So what?”

Her stern exterior melted a little, her shoulders slumping with some emotion he couldn’t quite read. “Danny. That ghost is not your friend.”

“Of course he is!” Danny cried. “The only reason why he wouldn’t be is because you keep getting in the way!”

“Ghosts can’t have friends.” Her voice trembled a little, straining as she attempted to cover up her emotions. She was clearly trying to come across as factual – like Danny didn’t realize that her research didn’t hold up. “They don’t have emotions. They can only plot, and be manipulative. That is all Tucker,” she bit out the name like an insult, “is doing. He’s just playing pretend! He doesn’t – can’t – care, Danny!”

Danny’s eyes started tearing up. Then suddenly he shoved his mom away from him. “Shut up!” he yelled, pushing her again. “Shut up! Tucker is my friend! You’re wrong about ghosts, and about him!”

Maddie suddenly lurched forwards, gripping Danny by both his shoulders. He tried wrestling her away, but it was hopeless. Instead he glared at her, defiantly.

“Not overshadowed...” she muttered quietly. And suddenly Danny understood – and felt even angrier.

“What, you don’t think that I can have my own opinions!” He grabbed her wrists, now able to wrench them away from himself – his mom was no longer trying to pin him down. “You think that just because I’m defending a ghost – my friend – that he overshadowed me?!”

“Yes, because you should know better!” Then she took a big, fortifying breath and stepped back. “Ghosts are dangerous Danny. I’m not doing this to hurt you, but to protect you.”

Danny balled his fists at her attitude. But almost immediately a cold hand brushed past his, curling around his fist. He calmed down a little.

Tucker was still here.

Tucker would know that Danny really meant everything he had said. That they were friends, despite one being a ghost and the other human. Even if his parents were ghost-hating hunters.

“It doesn’t feel that way,” he growled at his mom, clenching his fists even tighter. He had no plans to use them – his mom was a black belt and also like, an adult – but it made him feel better. “It feels like you’re just stopping me from making friends again.”

“Again?” his mom repeated, her anger broken by motherly concern. “What do you mean, again? How have we ever stopped you from making friends?”

“Are you really that blind?!” Maybe he was being a little too harsh, but he didn’t care. He had, for years upon years, known how his parents’ profession impacted his life – and Jazz’s, too. How could his parents not have seen it? He thought that they cared too much about their profession to be swayed by such things, but they didn’t even know? “How can you not know?! Have you two never seen how people react to you? To your profession?”

A second cold hand landed on his shoulder, but he angrily shrugged it off. The one wrapped around his balled fist stayed.

“I get bullied all the time because of it! Because of you! No one wants to be my friend!” Thick salty tears streamed down his face – when had he gone from tearing up to straight-up crying? “And even if they do, their parents stop them! Just like you made me do to Tucker!”

She shifted, uncomfortable by his outcry and accusations. “But sweetie-” she started to protest, before being cut off by the door to his room swinging open.

“What’s happening over here?” Jazz asked, voice a mixture of confusion and concern. “I heard yelling.”

Tucker’s fingers tightened around Danny’s hand. He squeezed back, comfortingly – a silent message that Jazz was okay, that he didn’t have to worry about her.

“Your brother has been tricked by a ghost,” his mom started explaining, getting it out while he was comforting Tucker. “It has fooled him by acting like a friend, playing into Danny’s own… troubles… with making friends.”

“Did you just call Tucker an it?” Danny hissed, wondering why it surprised him so much. His parents had always referred to ghosts as just ‘it’ – he just didn’t realize before that his mom had never referred to Tucker as such. “And he’s not manipulating me at all, he really is my friend!”

Jazz’s eyes shifted from their mother to him, then almost imperceptibly, to his hand. Or, more accurately, to his fingers – which were curled around Tucker’s. He wasn’t sure what she took from this, but it seemed to fortify her opinion regardless, because she turned back to their mom with a stern expression on her face.

“Mom,” she finally said, her voice not as harsh as her expression suggested. Instead it was flat, controlled. “You’re not seriously stopping Danny from making friends, are you?”

Now Maddie’s gaze swung from Danny to Jazz, eyes widening. “Jazz, surely you’re not encouraging this? You, of all people, should know better – ghosts can only be bad.”

“You don’t know that,” Jazz countered, crossing her arms. “Your research suggests it, but a good scientist should look into such things instead of disregarding them instantly. After all, you might’ve been wrong.”

A cold breath swept past Danny’s ear. “Dude,” Tucker whispered, so quietly that Danny could barely hear him. “Your sister is awesome.”

He grinned in response, silently agreeing. Jazz was often annoying – as siblings tend to be – but when she was on his side she was a force to be reckoned with, for sure.

Maddie spluttered in response to Jazz, then straightened herself out – pushing herself to her full grown-up height. “Our research is based on an uncountable number of sources. Just because one ghost appears to behave differently doesn’t mean that we’re wrong.” Then her expression softened a little. “I can’t risk that, Jazz.” Her eyes shifted back to Danny, pleading. “I can’t risk that you’re wrong about Tucker. If he hurts you…”

“He won’t!” Danny bit back, puffing out his chest to come across as more confident. “Tucker isn’t like that!”

“At least let him try.” Jazz stepped further into the room, drawing the attention back to her. “Your – and Dad’s – reputation is already stopping Danny from making human friends. At least let him try to make a ghostly one.”

This seemed to have done the trick. Maddie’s shoulders sunk down, her entire posture suggesting defeat. “Is it really so bad? Are our jobs… really making it so hard for you two to make friends that you have to settle for ghosts?”

Danny rolled his eyes at her scorn towards Tucker but… he was willing to play along if it meant that she would let Tucker stay. “Yeah,” he said, voice trembling a little. “I don’t have anybody but Tucker. Mom, please.”

Her purple eyes softened even further at his pleading, and she heaved a heavy sigh. “Alright. But if Tucker does anything to suggest that he means ill…” she trailed off, letting the threat linger.

“If he hurts Danny, he’ll have to fear an entire family of ghost hunters.” Jazz quirked an eyebrow at Maddie. “But you’re not gonna act unless he does anything real. Danny’s a kid, mom. Kids his age should get scuffed up while playing with friends.”

Their mom shifted a little, uncertain. Then she nodded. “Fine, alright.” She turned to face Danny, face once again stern. “But you better tell Tucker that if he dares to hurt you-”

“Yes Mom,” he interrupted her, knowing that Tucker could figure out the rest on his own. Besides, she had made the same threat barely a moment ago. “I’ll make sure he knows.” Jazz’s eyes shifted to his hand, and her lips quirked up a little as she noticed that he was still holding Tucker’s hand.

Maddie nodded again, then moved to the door. She stopped in the opening, looking back at him and Jazz. “I’ll tell your father too. But I’m serious, Danny. Don’t just trust him – and please tell us if he ever hurts you.”

“Yes Mom,” he droned, and finally she left.

Jazz chuckled a little, softly. “Did she really not know that he was here the entire time?”

“Do you think she would’ve acted like that if she knew?” He finally let go of Tucker’s hand, turning to face the direction where the boy presumably was. “You want to introduce yourself, Tuck?”

Tucker faded into visibility, looking like he always did. Yellow sweater, green cargo pants, brown boots. And, of course, the red beret. He floated an inch or two above the floor – barely high enough to be at Jazz’s eye level.

He raised a hand, grinned at her, and said, “Hi.”

Her eyes widened a little – apparently she hadn’t expected him to actually show himself. Or maybe she was just surprised by how human Tucker looked.

Or maybe she was still doing that thing where she didn’t believe that ghosts existed. But if that was the case, Danny really didn’t know why she had helped him against their mom.

“Hi,” she answered, feebly. Then, jarringly, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Jazz. Jazz Fenton.”

“I figured,” Tucker answered, accepting her hand. She squirmed a little, apparently more put-off by the feeling than Danny had been, and he let go fairly quickly. “Tucker Foley.”

Jazz’s brow creased a little, as her gaze swept from Tucker’s hand to his face. “Is that… the last name you had when you were alive?” Then she tensed up a little, grimacing. “Or is that a bad thing to ask a ghost?”

Tucker laughed, waving off her concern. “Depends on the ghost, really. But uh, I was never alive. Foley is the name my parents gave me, and I think it was theirs when they were alive, but I was born a ghost.”

“That’s possible?” Jazz spluttered. “But that doesn’t make sense! How can you be born already dead?”

Tucker shrugged. “Do I look like a scientist to you? I just know it’s possible, not how.”

“Besides,” Danny leaned on Tucker’s shoulder, smiling at his sister’s discomfort, “He doesn’t behave like he’s dead, does he?”

Jazz’s eyes swept over Tucker once more. Then she sighed. “No. No, I suppose he doesn’t.”

Then she yawned, rubbing in her eyes. “Anyway, as fun as this was, I need to go to bed. And so do you, Danny.” She glared at him, warning. “If you don’t want Mom and Dad to go back on this, you need to be on your best behavior. Anything less, they’ll blame Tucker for.”

“Really?” Tucker scowled. “That’s stupid.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “Welcome to my world.”

The door creaked open, and immediately all eyes in the room settled on Danny.

Or, more likely, they settled on the boy next to Danny.

Danny bumped him comfortingly, then smiled at his parents – bright and definitely not faked. “Hey Mom, hey Dad. Tucker and I will be in my room, okay?”

Jazz smiled at them, but his parents didn’t share the joy. Instead their eyes narrowed, taking in the ghost behind him.

He decided to ignore them and their suspicions – they had already promised to leave Tucker be, and he doubted that they would try anything. Instead he started walking towards the stairs, Tucker following him. The ghost kept his eyes on the adult Fentons – not Danny could blame him.

Then Tucker paused, looking in the direction of Jack, but not at the man himself. Instead his gaze was set on something Jack was holding.

For a moment, Danny worried that it was a weapon. Then Tucker’s eyes widened, his face broke into something of a grin, and his aura visibly brightened. “Is that a ghost tracker?” he asked, surprisingly excited about the prospect.

“Uh.” Danny’s dad was apparently caught off-guard by the fact that he was addressed by the ghost. But then his usual exuberance over his inventions won out, and he grinned back. “It is!”

Tucker phased through the railing of the stairs, floating closer to Jack. The man jerked at the show of Tucker’s abilities, but lifted the invention for Tucker to see regardless. “It tracks ectoplasmic ab- beings,” he corrected himself forcibly, and more than a little awkwardly.

“That’s so cool!” Tucker grabbed the device from Jack’s hand, startling the man. He started looking it all over, eyes wide and shining with barely hidden enthusiasm. “I mean, Technus tried making something similar, but he never even succeeded. And he’s a ghost!”

Maddie scoffed. “Are you implying that ghosts are better than us?”

“Well, no.” Tucker took his eyes off of the invention for a moment to look at her. “But he’s got unlimited access to ghosts, ectoplasm, and research into those things. Just like you guys would be better at making things to track humans. You’ve got easier access to the knowledge necessary to make it.”

This seemed to satisfy Danny’s mom, as her glare softened a little. Jack made use of the distraction she had provided to scoop his invention out of Tucker’s hands. “Of course, it doesn’t quite work yet, but it’ll get there!”

Danny had crept closer, and could see that although there was only a single green dot displayed on its screen, it wasn’t located where Tucker was. He frowned. “What is it picking up on?”

Tucker, who had shifted closer to Danny now, looked out the windows. His brow creased in concentration. After a moment of silence, he shrugged. “Another ghost, I think. A more powerful one, with a stronger signature to read.”

“Huh.” Jack looked down at the invention, considering this. Then he looked back up, grinning at Tucker. “That’s a good suggestion, kid. Hadn’t considered that possibility.”

“Glad I could help.” Tucker shrugged, but his aura remained bright – a clear sign of his lingering happiness. “Danny mentioned your cool inventions before, so I’m glad I got an opportunity to see one of em.”

And this, all Fentons could tell you, was the way into Jack Fenton’s heart. Well, this, and asking about ghosts.

Jack’s smile widened even further, and he pushed himself off of the couch – to do what, no one knew. “Did he, now? Well, I’d be more than happy to show you some!”

But Maddie grabbed his arm before the man had a chance to storm off. “No you won’t. No unauthorized personnel in the lab, honey.”

She turned to face Tucker, looking a little apologetic. “Standard lab rules. Besides, there are sensitive experiments down there – and we don’t know how they would react to an increase in nearby ectoplasm.”

“Oh.” Tucker nodded, but looked a little saddened. “I get it. Wouldn’t want to break anything.”

Danny bumped the boy – he would’ve swung an arm around Tucker’s shoulders, but he was floating too high – and smiled warmly. “You can see them another time, okay? Why don’t we go and play some video games in my room, like we were going to do?”

“Yeah. Yeah, alright.” Tucker’s glow had dampened a little, flickering like a flame as he tried to get a grip on his emotions. He landed on the floor, nodding towards the stairs. “Guide me to your room then, dude.”

Tucker shoved him. The grin on his face told him it was as playful as the strength behind it suggested, so he smiled back.

“Dude, no,” the ghost said, a complaintive hint to his voice. “What am I even supposed to do with my life if you’re away for a week? I don’t have any other friends!”

Danny laughed. “Welcome to the club! Besides, you’ve managed before you met me, right? It’s only been a few weeks since then, so I’m sure you’ll survive another week.”

“No I won’t.” Tucker pressed a hand against his chest, dramatically. “I’ve never been alive but I’ll die if you leave me, Fenton.”

“Can’t lose what you don’t have,” Danny replied, still grinning. Then something in the alley on the other side of the street caught his eye, and he stopped.

Tucker continued for a few steps more before noticing. He glanced around, saw that the street was empty, and floated back. “Dude, why’d you stop?”

“Look at that ghost,” he replied, pointing at the alley. “Do you know who she is?”

Tucker scoffed, before grumpily answering him. “Danny, I don’t know every ghost. C’mon, I thought you knew better than that.”

But Danny ignored him, instead crossing the street. At the start of the alley he paused, observing the ghost for a moment.

She was humanoid, like Tucker. Black hair, which hung loose except for a small ponytail on the back of her head. Pale skin. A black shirt of some sort, and a skirt in the same color. The spectral tail that emerged from it was purple, however, breaking the theme.

She had her back turned to the street, but from this close Danny could tell that she was upset. Her shoulders were tense and her fists balled.

“Hey, do you need any help?”

The ghost started at his sudden question, and she whirled around to face him. Her eyes were big – and just as purple as her tail. She appeared to be similar in age to him and Tucker. When she saw who spoke, her expression darkened. “Why do you ask?”

Danny, thrown off by her sudden hostility, shrugged. “I just… wanted to know if I could help?”

A cold hand landed on his shoulder, and he glanced up at Tucker. “Dude,” he said, “What’s it with you and ghosts?”

“I just like to help people!” Danny protested, throwing out his hands. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing’s wrong with that,” the female ghost interjected, apparently soothed by the sight of another ghost. She offered her hand. “I’m Sam. Sam Manson.”

Danny took her hand, shaking it with a smile. “I’m Danny Fenton, and that is Tucker Foley.” He leaned closer to Sam, whispering conspiringly, “Don’t ask him what the TF stands for.”

She frowned, glancing from Danny to Tucker. “Why…”

But Tucker grabbed her hand, shaking it enthusiastically. “Tucker Foley, TF as in Too-”

“Alright, I get it!” Sam snapped before he finished his sentence, pulling her hand free from his’.

“Told you.” Danny grinned, smile widening when she shot him a brief glare. Then he sobered a little. “But seriously, Sam. Is there anything we could help you with?”

“We?” Tucker questioned, turning intangible to avoid Danny’s swiping hand. “I didn’t offer to help anyone, dude. Keep your hero complex to yourself.”

Sam rolled her eyes, then huffed out a breath. “I’m fine. It’s just… No one here seems to know about ghosts.”

“Oh yeah, no kidding,” Tucker agreed, dropping his intangibility again. “I was hanging out alone for, like, years. Kept startling the life out of anybody I tried to talk to.”

She cocked a brow at this, eyes shifting to Danny. The wordless question was more than clear.

“My parents are ghost hunters,” Danny said like it explained everything. Which it did, really.

“Yet you’re friends with a ghost?” Sam looked at the two of them with a rather unreadable expression, but she sounded almost impressed. “Dang, now that’s defying your parents.”

“They’re alright with it.” Danny shrugged.

“Dude, your mom grounded you twice.” Tucker crossed his arms. “And you got into a crazy shouting match because she thought I overshadowed you.”

“They’re alright with it now,” Danny corrected.

Sam smiled, wide and a little too toothy. “How would you feel about adding another ghost to your group of friends?”

The door creaked open, and Maddie immediately looked up from her work. Standing in the door opening was her son. And as usual, he was tailed by a ghost – Tucker.

Less usual was the female ghost on Danny’s other side. She looked… dark. Pale skin, but black hair and black clothes and heavy black boots. Definitely a less cheery companion than Tucker – and one Danny hadn’t mentioned before.

She sighed, exasperated. Of course her son wouldn’t settle for just one ghostly friend. Like Tucker hadn’t been enough. She and Jack had barely gotten used to that ghost. His enthusiasm for their inventions had, admittedly, helped.

“Danny, sweetie,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She gestured towards the new ghost. “Who is this?”

The ghost narrowed her purple eyes, glaring at Maddie. “I am right here,” she bit. “You could’ve just asked me.”

Tucker raised his eyes upwards, looking like he was praying for strength. Were there religious ghosts? Did they have the same religions, or other ones?

“Sam, chill.” Her son laid a hand on the shoulder of the female specter. Then he turned back to face her. “Mom, this is Sam. Sam, this is my mom.”

‘Sam’ inclined her head in greeting. Maddie nodded in return. “Nice to meet you… Sam.”

Before they could get any further into the stilted conversation, however, her husband burst through the kitchen door. In his hand was a small invention – the Fenton Finder they had been working on.

“Danny-boy!” he boomed, swinging the machine into the direction of their son – and his two ghostly companions. “The Fenton Finder says that there are two ghosts! So where is the-”

He fell silent suddenly, apparently having noticed Sam’s presence. The girl in question blinked, surprised.

Then she scoffed. “Well, your parents sure are characters. The jumpsuits are pretty cool, though. A little bright for me, but definitely better than what my parents like to wear.”

Maddie perked up at the compliment – and the hint of information it came with. A ghost shouldn’t remember enough from their life to remember such details about their parents. Unless it was born a ghost, but they didn’t know enough about ghostly anatomy to know if such a thing was even possible.

She was still considering a careful way to broach the subject when Jack spoke. “Your parents? What are they like?”

“Eh.” Sam shrugged. “They’re real annoying, honestly. They care too much about what others think of them, and they’re all bright colors and cheery patterning and stuff. Disgusting.”

“How did you get into the human world anyway?” Tucker asked as he floated further into the room. No one paid attention to the fact that he phased through a wall to do so. “I know I stumbled through a natural portal, but that was years ago.”

“I did the same, honestly. Was just flying through the Zone, hoping to get a break from my parents, and then BAM! Right into a wall.” She grinned, surprisingly genuine. “And you and Danny stumbled into me not long after.”

“Won’t your parents be worried?” The voice was a new one, and everyone glanced up at the stairs, surprised. Jazz blushed under the sudden watchful eyes of three humans and two ghosts.

Sam shrugged again, seemingly unconcerned. “Not really? Time and age are weird for ghosts, so having me leave for several months or years isn’t that weird. Besides, we’re sturdy. Not much can happen to us.”

Tucker nodded along. “Yeah, what she said. My parents went into the thing a little more, since they were former humans, so they were still pretty familiar with how things go for the living. But they were alright with me leaving for days or weeks, or even months at a time.”

“But haven’t you been away for years?” Jazz asked, coming down the stairs to talk more easily. “Don’t you think they would be worried by now?”

“Maybe.” He huffed out a breath. “But it’s not like it makes a difference. Natural portals are too unpredictable – I’ve been looking for one back since I got here, and I didn’t even know that there had been another until Sam just mentioned it.”

Then he snaked an arm around Danny’s shoulders, pulling the boy closer to him. “Besides, I got a friend here. I… don’t want to lose him. If I run into a portal back home, there’s no way to guarantee that I can come back.”

“So you would have to chose between your friends and your parents?” Jazz gasped. “That’s horrible!”

Jack, who had apparently crept towards her while the kids had been talking, nudged her shoulder. Quietly, he whispered to her, “Do you remember our attempt at building a hand-made portal back in college?”

She nodded. How could she have forgotten? It had done horrible things to Vlad – to their former best friend. The man had never spoken with them again, and it had been more than a decade since. “You’re not suggesting…”

But it was a good suggestion, she had to admit. A stable, man-made portal would be hugely beneficial for Danny’s friends – and their own research. Tucker, and now Sam as well, had proven to be a valuable source of information. The two of them alone had disproven – and proven – a lot of things she and Jack could only speculate about, before.

And while the last one hadn’t gone well… They knew better now. They were older, more experienced. And they had more information to go on, provided by actual ghosts. Children, sure, but ghosts nonetheless.

She nodded again, this time in approval. “We should. But we’ll have to be careful. We can’t risk it going wrong again, not with children around.”

Jack grinned, and she smiled back. Then her husband turned to the four children. “Well kids, sounds like Mads and I know our next project.”

“You’re not seriously considering building a portal-making machine, are you?” Sam scowled, crossing her arms. “That’s not possible, not even for the most experienced ghosts.”

Smile growing even wider, Jack lifted up a single finger in protest. “But that’s where you’re wrong! Because we’ve done it before, in college.”

“It didn’t last,” Maddie admitted, trying to calm the moods again. “And building a stable one – one that won’t explode like the last one – might take years.”

Tucker and Sam exchanged a look, then shrugged simultaneously. “Can’t take much longer than waiting for a natural one,” the boy said. “And that way I can always come back, too.”

Danny swung his arms around both his friends, pulling them closer to himself. “And I get to keep my friends!”

The metal arch of the Portal stood, looming. The tunnel behind it tapered into darkness, its mechanical guts hidden from view. It was by far the most impressive invention his parents had ever put together, worthy of the years of effort that had gone into it.

Except that it didn’t work.

When, with much ado and show, they had finally plugged it in… It hadn’t worked. Not a single spark or flare of energy, ectoplasmic or otherwise.

And he just stood here. Still clad in his skintight jumpsuit – which his parents had made mandatory for any human entering the lab – with Sam and Tucker by his side. Looking at the enormous invention which had taken so much time and effort.

“Well, what were we expecting?” Sam said, not expecting an answer. She sounded somber, not that anyone beyond him and Tucker would’ve been able to tell. “It’s not like it really could’ve worked.”

“Yeah.” Tucker nodded along. “It was just… just a pipe dream. It was too good to be true.”

But Danny frowned, walking closer to the empty frame of the Portal. His hand trailed over the edge of it, his black gloves squeaking from the friction. He turned to look over his shoulder at his friends. “Come on, are we really giving up so easily? You’ve been waiting on this for years!”

Tucker shuffled his feet, uncertainly. “Yeah, I… Yeah.” He looked Danny in the eye, more certain now. “Yeah, you’re right. We shouldn’t give up so quickly. Maybe there’s just a small problem, or something.”

Sam, too, seemed to be assured by Danny’s confidence. “It would be really cool to get it working…”

The two of them joined Danny at the edge of the Portal. They shared glances. Lingered for a few long, silent moments.

Then Danny asked, “So… Who is going in to check it out?”

[burning-clutch]

Totalitarian Transgressions

Cross Posted on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30377121 Warnings: none Phic phight bay~bee! -.-.-.-.-.-.-

Danny hums as he flew about Clockwork's lair. Ever since the events of his evil future coming back to haunt him Clockwork had seemed to have taken a rather unique interest in him, to say the least. Danny had come to see the ancient ghost as something of a mentor and Clockwork himself seemed to grin just the tiniest bit when Danny had come to that conclusion.

 Today the ancient ghost of time was going through some of his history lesson with him, but of course with him being in the ghost zone having a little add in about the people and nations that did populate Mexico in the age of the Mayan empire, and where they ended up after their downfall was an interesting addon to be sure. Though Danny couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t do him any favours from his teachers to add that in his report.

“And given their ties and warship to the moon and sun, circles were something of a sacred item that soon only could be used when giving praise to their perceived gods and goddesses.” Clockwork explained as Danny examined a small image before him as the temples were shown to him in their former glory through Clockwork’s power.

The ancient ghost was happy to help and found it amusing with how Danny always tried to move about his lair hoping to catch a glimpse of some such things he wasn’t supposed to and turning it into a game of sorts in a way. 

Danny would move from screen to screen hoping to see some going ons and Clockwork would swiftly flick his hand and change the images on the screens to show whatever topic he was going on about. It was a funny thought to think that the boy could really do something or find something that Clockwork did not foresee. 

But, alas. The boy was rather oblivious if he were, to be honest. And it made what he was about to find all the funnier to the ancient ghost. 

As Danny flew through the lair, and over to a nearby table with a book on Parah Dark. It had a black and green cover with a flame and the symbol he had used in the front. The symbols he had used when he led his armies. Danny looked over his shoulder to Clockwork and grinned when he saw the ancient’s back was turned. 

With a little pause, he made a face as if he were trying to look away from the book all the while side eyeing it. He flicked the book open and eyed the contents. It seemed a chronological order of what led to Pariah's crowning, his feats while the king and his eventual downfall.

 It was near the bottom of the list of events there written in a more modern looking script and a newer ink if the deeper and richer colour were anything to go by, that Danny saw something of interest. The entry seemed to tell about when the dark king was released and Danny himself had helped to lock him back up. 

“Ah, I see your eyes have wandered yet again.” Clockwork drawled out in amusement appearing in an instant next to his charge with a bright and amused smile on his lips. “Though I do doubt that bit of history will do you any good in your hopes to get an A” 

“Well you can’t blame me for being curious,” Danny argued, crossing his arms and giving the elder ghost a pout. 

“No, I suppose not.” Clockwork agreed. 

“I thought it was the Ghost Writer’s job to keep track of this stuff, not yours.” Danny wondered as he turned his attention back to the book, flipping through its pages and half skimming its contents. 

“Ah, yes, you are correct in that. This however is for my personal records.” The ancient says, flicking his wrist and turning to a bit of passage about Pariah's ‘upcoming’ period. He lets out a small hum of his own matching Danny’s own in tone and pitch, earning a small annoyed glare from the halfa. 

Danny sighs and eyes the page the book was stopped on curiously. He skims through a bit and blinks as he reads, re-reads and reads again the same paragraph. The book was told from Clockwork’s point of view if the first person narration is anything to go by. 

It was of course my duty to act as an advisor and mentor to the king. Narcissistic though he may be, he had usurped Vassel the dreadful in hopes to quell the niche that have been gathered together. Though while Vessel had hoped to bring all under a solid rule with an iron fist, The Drake king hopes to allow autonomy through similar methods. 

Though breaking apart these lands will only lead to destruction and desolation he seems determined to brush aside my council in favour of his own morality. Though the lands of the realms are tied to the king and in effect he will drive himself mad and become a pariah king if he refuses to listen. I shall notify the court of ancients to begin work on a suppressant.

At least Vassel had the common sense to at least listen to his mentor even if he ignored me after. 

Danny blinked and turned to face the ancient ghost curious about the words he'd read. "Wait, you tried to mentor Pariah Dark?" Danny practically yelled out. 

"Indeed, it was through my wisdom that he, Drake at the time, was able to take the place of Vassel the terrible, or as he was called upon taking the throne Vassel the iron king." Clockwork drawled out dully, though his eyes shined in amusement.

"Wait… you mentored both those guys then? And now you're mentoring me. Huh, guess I should feel honoured then. Looks like you've only taken past kings as students. You really like me then huh?" Danny asked with a lopsided grin filled with teasing.

"Well of course I like you. Your company annoys the eyeballs, it makes things so much more interesting don't you agree?" Clockwork chided back before imitating the eye roll that was shot his way from the teen. 

"Really? Isn't that childish?" Danny chastised with a raised brow and a huff. 

Clockwork changed to his toddler form, a grin on his face as he took the teasing of his charge in stride. "Not at all," he says simply. 

"Really?" Danny asked incredulously.

"But of course. A sign of maturity is knowing that something is childish and not caring about doing it anyway." The ancient said smirking.

"Ugh, and you trained two of the previous Zone's kings." The teen sighed out in mock exasperation.

"Yes, and why do you think that is that makes you special then?" Clockwork prompted. 

"Cuz ya interfered with my future?" Danny half guessed half stated.

Clockwork shook his head as Danny turned back to the screens seemingly losing interest in the discussion at hand. "That is partly… but I have only taken up mentoring kings of the realms before you. There have been but fourteen kings before you." 

"Huh, guess that makes this extra special for you to take me then. Is the other part cuz' I'm a halfa?" Danny wondered frowning as the screen he was trying to catch a glimpse at changed back to show him only a Mayan temple. 

Well, it seems. The boy didn't want to accept his responsibilities just yet. That was fine, he merely needed to plant the seeds of the idea in his head. 

It was sometime later when Danny was laying in bed that a thought occurred to him. "It's funny… only kings. Heh, well jazz does say I'm a royal pain in the ass…." Danny blinked and his eyes widened suddenly.

"Damn it clockwork! That's such a roundabout way of insulting me!" He complained to the glowing stars on the ceiling knowing full well he would be heard by the ghost of time. "Jerk!"

Back in the zone Clockwork sighs deeply and resists the urge to facepalm. Daniels obliviousness seemed to defy even the timestream….

-.-.-.-.-

Total word count 1357

Complete

[raaorqtpbpdy]

In the Zone (2)

Based on the Phic Phight prompts: Danny and co. go sight seeing in the zone and get lost. Maybe they have to navigate weird ghost logic/physics/laws to make their way home (from @ventisettestars). And Sam and Tucker maybe getting Pharaoh + plant powers? ecto contamination for the win ig (from @corvidspectre).

Chapter 2: The Mourning Estate

AO3 Link

[Warnings for supernatural horror elements]

Time passed strangely in the Ghost Zone. They flew in the Specter Speeder for what could have been less than an hour, or nearly a day, before they made their next stop. While Danny took a shift driving, Sam spotted a spooky gothic mansion through the window and asked to check it out. Its pointed spires and ivy-grown walls were built with stone so black it absorbed light from the surrounding ectoplasm, and there appeared to be a perpetual, swirling thunderstorm overhead.

"Okay," Danny said cautiously, "but it's probably a specific ghost's lair, so we'll knock first and politely ask to look around, and if we're told we can't, we'll leave, alright? I'm not looking to get the crap beat out of me on a sight-seeing trip."

"Alright, fair enough," Sam agreed. "But just look at that place! It's so cool!"

"Cool... isn't the word I'd use," Tucker disagreed, already grimacing at the look of the place.

"Scared, Tucker?" she taunted.

"We're in the Ghost Zone, Sam," he pointed out. "Scared is the default around here. If you're not scared, you're crazy."

"Or a ghost yourself," Danny tacked on, taking them down toward the grand, round driveway in front of the mansion. When they touched down on the gravel, an eerie sort of music filled the air.

"I really don't like this place," Tucker said.

"Oh, suck it up, you big baby," Sam told him, jumping out of the speeder with a grin.

Her heavy combat boots crunched on the gravel as she walked up to the front steps, climbing each of them with her heartbeat pounding in her ears. It was like this place was trying to make her think she was afraid, even thought all she felt was excitement. Tucker, on the other hand, was already trembling with terror. The only thing that kept him moving forward was Danny's unyielding grip on his arm, dragging him along, step by step.

A grotesque stared at Sam with ruby eyes as she gripped the iron door knocker in its mouth. She could have sworn it blinked at her as she pulled the knocker back and slammed it into the door three times. For a long moment, nothing happened. The eerie music reached a crescendo and then fell silent as the door creaked slowly open.

Standing in the doorway was a tall, thin ghost in a ratted and torn up formal suit with the tails dragging behind him. His eyes drooped, and his mustache drooped, and his shoulders drooped, and overall he just had a generally droopy quality about him. "I'm afraid the ladies aren't accepting guests at the moment," he said apologetically.

"Well, we tried!" Tucker said loudly. "Guess we should get back to the speeder and get out of here!"

"Wait!" Sam stopped him. "May I ask who the ladies are?"

"Of course." The butler nodded. "Lady Dove and Lady Shroud are the arbiters of this estate. They're in Mourning."

"Look, we just wanted to explore this place a little," Sam told him, pleading. "Would you please ask the ladies if we can see inside. We promise we won't cause any trouble."

"I suppose I can do that," the butler agreed, "but I wouldn't expect them to have you. They're in Mourning, after all." He bowed his head as he closed the door.

When he didn't return after three seconds, Tucker once again proposed that they leave, and once again, Sam stopped him. He stood there, jittering, on the front porch the whole time they waited, and jumped three feet up in alarm when the door creaked open again. The butler stood there once more, still towering over the teens.

"It seems the ladies have elected to meet with you, after all," he said, and he pulled the door further open, drifting aside with a bow to allow them entry. Danny grabbed Tucker by the arm again to lead him in since he was clearly still opposed.

"Maybe I could just, uh, keep the speeder warm for you," he suggested nervously. "You know, in case we need to make another quick get away."

"Stop being such a wuss," Sam told him.

"Please, follow me to the courtyard, and don't wander off," the butler warned.

They followed him down a long, straight hallway, carpeted in a blood red rug with intricate black patterns. The dark grey wallpaper was printed with spidery silhouettes, and the the gas lamps offered very little in the way of light. The eerie music started again, so quietly they didn't notice at first.

They took a left turn, then a right, and stopped in front of a door obscured by shadows. "The courtyard," the butler announced. When the door swung open, the eerie music was replaced by up-tempo rock and roll.

The courtyard was surrounded by a gorgeous garden. Flowers of all colors and shapes grew liberally in along the pathways, lined with white stones. A grove of fruit trees loomed in one directions, branches glimmering with peaches, apples, pears, and apricots, and probably more.

"Wheee!" A voice cheered. A girl in a white dress flew past them on a zip-line.

"Lady Dove," the butler said. "I've brought your guests."

"Really?" the girl called down, dropping from the zip-line and landing in front of the trio. When she hit the pale gray paving stones her white skirt ruffled and flowed out like mist before turning mostly solid again. She looked to be around twelve or thirteen. Her round, pink face beamed up at them. "It's very nice to meet you!" she said. "I'm Dove in Mourning."

"I'm Sam, and these are my friends, Danny and Tucker. This doesn't look like mourning to me though."

"No no!" Dove said, waving a hand dismissively. "My name is in Mourning. I'm just playing right now. Do you want to play with me?"

"Your games don't involve us getting hurt or dying, right?" Tucker asked, and Dove's green eyes widened.

"Wait! You mean you're alive?"

"Well, mostly," Danny joked.

There was a shift in the air, the rock slowed like it was coming from a broken speaker and then morphed back into that music from before. Dove started to cry. Her flouncy white hair turned black, and the color seeped down and down, dripping like oil until her dress was pitch black too, and sweeping across the paving stones. All of the soft airiness she exuded gave way to a dripping darkness. Her pink skin turned a sickly green, and her green eyes turned to red as glowing tears beaded up in them and she started to tremble.

"Alive?" she repeated, choking on her tears. "Alive. Alive."

"Lady Shroud," the butler said. "How nice of you to join us."

Shroud began outright weeping. The tiles around her turned black. The flowers wilted and withered. Only the ones right next to Sam stayed in bloom. The fruit rotted in the tree branches and fell as the trees shriveled up, becoming gnarled husks.

"Did we say something wrong?" Danny asked, stepping back from her nervously. "Should we not have told her we're..." he hesitated to say 'alive' again, not wanting to upset the ghost further.

"This happens sometimes," the butler answered. "One never can know what will set the ladies off. Lady Shroud rarely suffers visitors, so when Lady Dove invited you in, I thought her sister wouldn't make an appearance."

"Sister?" Tucker asked. "Aren't they the same person?"

"It's... complicated." The butler sighed. "It's best to leave them alone when they're like this. Soon enough, Dove will come to comfort her, and she'll calm down."

"Should we... leave?" Danny asked.

Shroud opened her mouth, too wide and too dark with needle-like teeth. She wailed like a banshee and screamed on a howling voice, "GET! OUT!"

"I think that would be for the best, yes," the butler confirmed, and they scrambled for the door back into the mansion. "I'll keep her attention. Best of luck!"

Back inside, they tried to remember which way they came from, but the halls all looked the same and each was darker than the last. When they looked in doors, each room was identical to the others, each parlor, each bedroom, all of them exactly alike. They sprinted through the maze-like mansion while Shroud's wails and sobs grew louder, almost as if they were getting closer. The tempo rose on the ominous music.

Tucker tripped over the carpet and landed with a thud in the hall. The wails grew louder. Danny swore and helped up his friend, picking him up and carrying him bridal-style, rather than wait for him to recover enough to run. "Wait! In the Ghost Zone, humans can use ghost powers!" he remembered. "This way!" With Tucker in his arms, he led Sam through a wall, and another, and another.

Finally, the wailing grew quieter as they went through the final wall and there, like a lifeboat in a storm, was the Specter Speeder. Danny set Tucker back on his feet. They were out of the mansion and home free.

"Sorry, Sam," Danny said as they walked down the front steps again, Shroud's wails and sobs still punctuating each step despite the distance between them. "We got to see some of it, at least, and we met an interesting ghost... er, ghosts?"

"It's okay," Sam said, sounding only a little bit disappointed. "The aesthetic was spectacular, but honestly, that place was kind of boring. I mean, everything being identical has a certain level of spookiness, but no real intrigue. Bit of a let down, if I'm being honest."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, finally calming down now that they were almost back to the speeder. "No offense or anything, Sam,—but this one was a bust." He wheeze, trying to catch his breath still, even though Danny had carried him the final stretch. "I've done more running today than I have through all of high school." She laughed at him, which might've been more biting if they weren't all so out of breath.

"Don't worry," Danny assured her. "This the the Ghost Zone, right? I'm sure there will be a lot more, uh, gothy places for us to see. Ones where we'll have more freedom to explore without the threat of a ghost having a temper tantrum, hopefully." They climbed back into the speeder and Danny took them into the sky.

"Woulda been nice if you'd told us we could walk through walls sooner though, Danny." Sam gave him a pointed look.

"I'm sorry! I forgot! And anyway," he yawned, "I think we should get some sleep. I'll put the Specter Speeder in neutral and maybe it'll be somewhere cool when we wake up."

"Sounds like a plan," Sam agreed, and Tucker nodded, grabbing the sleeping bags. Danny hit the lock button, and then activated the anti-ghost shield to make sure nothing and no one messed with them while they were asleep. "To be honest, we're not off to a great start, but maybe tomorrow will be better."

"I hope so," Danny said. They all climbed into their sleeping bags on the hard, steel floor of the speeder and tried to get some rest.

Previous | Next

[dp-marvel94]

The Same Type of Ghost- Chapter 1

Summary: Deep in the Infinite Realms, something writhed. And only Clockwork can help.

Word Count: 2136

Chapter 1(Here) -> Chapter 2 -> Chapter 3

Also on AO3

Note: For @everystarstorm @modordracena @five-rivers

For Phic Phight 2023. Welcome to my first entry for phic phight this year! Have some eldritch horror and a bunch of angst for this first chapter. As you'll see from the tags, Clockwork comes next chapter to makes things better. Below are all the prompts I'm using for this, though not all are relvant for this first part.

The clones are back, how are they no longer goop? Kibby | everystarstorm | _ | StarStorm21 | _ (Team Human)

Soft and cozy body horror. (Yes borrowing that phrase from Rivers because it’s good and I always want more.) Modor Dracena | Genevieve#6101 | modordracena | ModorDracena (Team Human)

Horror, but soft and cozy with lots of sensation. Five-rivers | FiveRivers | five-rivers | Marsalias | FiveRivers (Team Ghost)

Clockwork knew about Danielle of course, he knew everything. But knowing about her was not enough to prepare him for the full force of her puppy-eyes when she came to him asking for help. Aedelia | Aedelia#2626 | aedelia | neokid93 | neokid93 (team Ghost)

Clockwork is DEFINITELY not sick, stressed, tired, or overwhelmed. The idea of an incredibly powerful ghost with control over time itself experiencing anything like that is ridiculous! Everything is fine, and anything that implies otherwise is mere coincidence.Lurking | Lurking🕓🍁#5333 | Currentlylurking| currentlylurking | (Team Human)

Also, an important note. This story is canon to my "Life and Death is all Perspective Series" set after Drifters (the story where Prometheus, the muscly frankenstein clone is the main character). It assumes that all the clones have been reunited at some point in the future. A main focus here is Prometheus' experience in Vlad's lab before his death, when he saw a lot of other clones destabilize and as the oldest and most stable, tried very had to make sure none of them were alone as they passed.

Deep in the Infinite Realms, something writhed. 

“Stop! NO! Stop!!” A scream of agony.

Pained whispers. “No. No. Please.” 

“Master? Where’s? Where’s... No. No.” Frantic rambles.

“Why?! Why?! Why?!” Weeping sobs.

So many voices- screaming, crying, whispering, wailing- at once. Too many hands… one, three, fifteen, fifty. Reaching, gasping, touching. 

What was… No…. That’s not…. Why…. Thoughts caught and released, shifting like so many limbs.

Limbs? Two hands touched, combined. Smaller? Smaller! Yes! No. Good…. Bad?! What…. What. Why….

A wet, sunking noise. Black, white, green mass of ectoplasmic flesh undulated. One leg divided into two. Too many limbs. Twisting. Growing. Dwindling. 

Another head budded, rising up from the mass. A new mouth opened, a wordless moan of sorrow.

A flash of memory flickered. Needle in the neck. Knives. Red blood, seeping from a gash. Cracked bones. Green… so much green. Like….

Eyes darted – green, blue, red, black, white -- dozens on every surface. 

Can’t… focus. What… where. NO! NO! 

The surroundings… almost familiar. So much green. But where…

“ Stop! Hurts! Please make stop!” A mouth cried.

Can’t…. Focus. Too much. Too many…. Too many directions. Nothing makes…. Pain!... Why!... We didn’t…. Where is….

A cry in front of-

All eyes darted forward, alert. A cry, not from we-me-us-I but….  

Focus! A tall, muscular figure. Scarred with tears in his green eyes. 

One head tilted in curiously. Then a second…. Wait. We know….

Dozens of memories slotted into place. Strong arms, holding, caressing. Fingers, wiping away tears. A gentle, deep voice. And the words….

“I’m not gonna… not gonna leave you. I’m… I’m right here.” A focused watery smile, a finger moving to whip away the tear. “You’re not alone.”

Recognition. All eyes focused on the face, black tendrils reaching out to touch, to grab. Malformed limbs encased the other, smaller figure.

 All voices spoke as one. “Brother?”

“How much farther, Ellie?” The girl turned at the question, taking in Prometheus’ raised brow as he continued. “We’ve been flying for a long time now.” Nervous eyes flickered around the green atmosphere, dotted with a few floating rocks and distant purple-green clouds, but mostly empty. “I’ve never been out this far.”

“We’re almost there.” Ellie offered her larger clone brother a comforting smile. “Twenty minutes or so. See that chunk of rock.” She pointed. “That’s where we’re going.”

The muscular clone nodded. “Alright.” Some of the tension leaked out of him, the question casual. “What exactly did you want me to see anyway?”

The girl’s smile morphed into a grimace, the memory flickering in her mind. The distant cry of pain, the writhing mass of black and green, all the blinking eyes…. Ellie shook her head, forcing the disturbing image away. “You’ll see….” 

Pro wrinkled his nose, the skeptical look making dread and guilt sink like a stone in her gut.

The smaller clone looked down; she would have shuffled awkwardly, dragging a shoe across the ground if there had been any. “I thought…. I might know what it is… whatever I saw.”

That… creature, if that was what it had been. That thing she’d seen from a distance and fled from, full of fear and dread… There had been something oddly familiar about it. Later, when she’d arrived at their lair, Ellie knew she had to investigate and somehow… Pro had to be the one to go with her. 

The taller clone accepted the statement with a sigh, flying forward to hover at her side. An arm briefly wrapped around her in a side hug. “Let’s get going then.”

The rocky island loomed larger and larger in Ellie’s vision. She still couldn’t see anything yet but… her ear twitched. A noise, quiet under the roaring winds of the Realms. The sound of crying…

The girl swallowed, core heavy in her chest. They still needed to get closer but-

“What’s that?” Pro’s hand on her shoulder paused her flight.

Slowly, he pointed. Ellie’s eyes widened. There, along the bottom of the island, almost completely blocked by the rock…. Something squirmed.

A scream pierced the air.

“Pro! Wait!” The larger ghost dashed in front of her and Ellie cursed herself. She should have told her brother about this; the creature had screamed like that this last time. 

Ellie hurried after Prometheus, quickly approaching the island. He dipped down, curving to the side to approach the source of movement from below. 

Another wail. The smaller ghost covered her ears, eyes focused on her brother. His wide eyes darted, searching for the origin of the sound. 

Where was it? It should have been right in front of them. Ellie’s stomach knotted. This was a horrible idea. But… 

A wet snapping noise sounded.

The girl froze, ears drawn to the sound. She didn’t… she didn’t want to look. Something green and sticky dripped past her. God. She didn’t want to look. That… that couldn’t be….

Slowly, as if by a spell, her head tilted up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Prometheus do the same. 

Both clones stared.

Prometheus couldn’t look away. Eyes wide, body frozen, he couldn’t move, couldn’t look away from… from…. He couldn’t describe it. Or maybe, it was too horrible to describe. 

The mass of flesh… constantly moving, fluctuating. It looked… wet. Or gummy. Sticky? So much green…. Arms sprouted, legs, flashes of hair. Eyes blinked, stared, wept. And the noise….

“Make stop! Make stop!” “No. No. Please.” “Master? Where’s? Where’s... No. No.” “Why?! Why?! Why?!”

Blood curdling screams. Crazed rambles. Haunted whisper. Excruciating wailing.

It…. god, this was too much. Too horrible. Nausea rose, tears welling in his eyes. This was… this was horrible. He… he needed to get away. He needed to get his sister way. This was… this was wrong. But…. 

“ Stop! Hurts! Please make stop!”

Prometheus recoiled, a choked sound, part-sob and part-scream exiting his throat. His stomach twisted, a sick sense of familiarity. 

Suddenly, all the monsters' eyes darted forward, focused on him. One head tilted, then another. A breathless pause and…

Black tendrils reach out.

Panikedly, Pro tried to pull away.  “Hey! What are you-”  Slimy, misty, sticky limbs wrapped around his torso.

The larger clone frozen, core locked in blind terror. He shook, mind spinning and blank. Behind him, Ellie screamed. The malformed arms-legs-tails tighten around him. A small, hysterical thought…. He was going to die again.

But… every eye- red, blue, green- fixed on him, the massive body freezing.

“Brother?” The word was gibberish to Prometheus’s ears, mind unable to comprehend. The squeezing lessened into something almost tender….. Like an embrace. “Brother.” Recognition sparked in the hundreds of eyes. A dozen voices speaking at once. “Brother was there. Brother holds. Brother protects. Brother loves.” 

Prometheus trembled, mind crashing to a stop. “Wha…what?” Throat hardly able to form words.

“Shhhh.” The massive creature shushed him, one tendril extending to caress his back. “I’m not gonna… not gonna leave you. I’m… I’m right here.” One face… the painfully familiar face in front of him, forced a watery smile. “You’re not alone.”

Those words…. Prometheus had said those words to… to… The clone’s eyes widened, understanding crashing over him. “No.” The word brimmed with dread.

“Let him go!” An ectoblast slashed into the creature, Ellie finally pulled out of her stupor. 

The monster, the creature let out a cry.

Pro barely registered. “No. No. It can’t…”

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t!

“I said let him go!” Another shot from his sister. 

A confused whine. “Let… go? No.” A head shook. “No! Yes! Let him go. Hurt brother bad!” The grip tightened. “No! Brother stay. Need brother.” 

Prometheus let out a whimper, tear spilling. “No. You’re… you’re not….”

A set of the creatures’ eyes widened in alarm. “We hurt brother. No… accident. Didn’t mean… Bad! Let go.” The being writhed. “We need! No!” The voices echoed, fluctuating. “Yes! Let go.” Tendrils tighten, lossen, tighten.

Another ectoblast from Ellie. “You, listen! Let Pro go!”

Prometheus shook, core in his throat. It hurt. It hurt. The shadowy limbs hurt. But…. but this… this was worse. The truth, what was happening… it wasn’t possible

“No! Yes! What… why? Brother…. Where?” The voices…. So many voices, arguing. “Why?! Why?! Why?!”

The creature shook, movement returning. Heads, limbs sprouting and disappearing. The mass of appendages holding Prometheus twitched…. The abomination less let-go-off, more threw the older clone.

Prometheus tumbled, hand over foot, chest heaving with emotion. 

“Pro!” Ellie darted after him.

The larger clone slammed into a small shelf of rock.

“Are you okay?” Her eyes are wide with worried.

Wobbly, Pro pulled himself to his feet. He felt… felt sick. Head shaking, stomach heaving. “No. Ellie. No. I’m…I’m…” Bending over, he threw up. 

The smaller ghost jumped back. Her eyes popped wider, panicked. “It hurt you.”

Frantically, his head shook in denial. “No. No. That’s not. It… They didn’t… didn’t hurt me. That’s not…” The taller ghost whipped his mouth. “Ellie…” The word came out so pained. “It’s… That’s them…. All the… All the..” Another heave. “All our brothers that die. They’re there. They’re right here. They’re over there. But… But… they’re stuck together.”

Prometheus’ legs wobbled, falling to his knees. “This is… this is so wrong. It’s so wrong. It’s…” In the background, the creature’s argument with itself has devolved back into incomprehensible noise.

This was… this was a nightmare. A nightmare. All the… the brothers he had held as they died, comforted as their bodies failed. The memories flashed in his mind. All the blood and ectoplasm. Deep cuts, scapals, needles, vials of liquid. The cries, the screams, the eerie silence. The begging.

Please make stop! Make stop!  

Pro shook. He’d been there. He’d held, he’d comforted as they died. He’d whispered words of comfort the best he could. And once he’d…. He listened to the begging and with the needle and drugs, put the poor brother out of his misery. He’d died.  They’d all died. They were… they were all dead and gone.

But they were all still here, all right here. In that… that thing, that abomination, that affront to nature. His insides twisted. All those memories, those bodies, those souls forced together. It was… it was wrong. It was sick. It was… it was cruel. It was… bile rose in his throat, eyes falling over the corrupt, twisted, warped mass. This… this terrible unholy conglomeration. 

There were no words for how horrible it was, never enough tears of the injustice, the perversion of how things were supposed to be. He’d already.. He’d already faced this grief. The reality that all those brothers were gone. They were dead, the only solace that they were no longer in pain. Except….

The grotesque amalgamation….  They were weeping-screaming-crying in pain. 

Pro shook his head, his nauseous feeling melting away. “They’re.. They’re in so much pain.” No. No. No. That was worse, so much worse than then just being gone. The wrongness, the affront to nature he could handle -He was a full ghost clone of a half ghost for crying out loud; the definition of what was natural must be much larger than when he was foolish enough to think. But this…. “They’re hurting… hurting so much.” A desperate compassion crowded his core “I need to help them. There.. There has to be a way to help them.”

For a long moment, Ellie stood, a shaking hand covering her mouth. She stared into the distance, her eyes unseeing. Until… “What?” The words finally stirred her back to life.

“I have to help them.” Prometheus repeated, conviction filling his voice.

The girl’s eyes flickered from him to the being, wide and afraid. “How?”

“I don’t… I don’t know.”

Head shaking. “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have brought us here.”

“No!” Pro suddenly stood. “No! We… we needed to find them. We found them for a reason. They need… need our help.”

An agonizing wail behind the pair… Ellie flinched. “Pro. We can’t… there’s nothing we can do.”

Prometheus’ mind raced, desperate. “There has to be..” Fresh tears spilled down his face.

And at their back…

“Brother! Brother! Where are you?! Where’d he… alone… alone!” A sob. “Hurts! Hurt! Please!”

Pro turned, trembling with emotion. “They… they need me.”

Ellie stared, unable to process as the monstrous abomination half-crawled, half-swam forward. Again, tendrils reached for Pro. But this time, the larger ghost fell into them, weeping and blubbering desperate comforts.

Empty despair. Helplessness. All she could hope was Pro crying himself out and being able to get him away from the creature. She… she needed help. She had to get her brother away from this abomination even if… even if it at one point in time, had been… had been….

It struck like lightning. “Time…” Her eyes widened, an idea catching.  “Clockwork…” She zoomed away. “We need Clockwork. He’ll… he’ll help.”

Note: I hope you enjoyed that angst fest. 😅 Things will get better next chapter, once Clockwork shows up, I promise. I don't know when that chapter will be out though. Next week looks very busy for me, just like this week was. Finding time to get this part out was a struggle. :( But I really wanted to get something posted for this event before too late in the month. As always, feel free to let me know what you think. If you need any clarification about my weird idea, feel free to ask too. 😅

[frootysparkycakes]

Kneejerk Reaction

Phic Phight entry for avearia! link in reblog

[q-gorgeous]

Why Am I So Heavy?

fanfiction

Word count: 4318

Prompt for the Phic Phight by @voidetrap. Danny is a ghost who became half-human after stumbling through a portal to the human world.

guys this is the longest fic ive ever written i hope this keeps up i need to catch up to laz

Footsteps could be heard walking through a forest, the sounds of twigs snapping as two teenagers made their way through the trees.

“C’mon, Sam. The last time you dragged me out here to do some spooky ritual I was hiccuping out daisies for a week. Can’t you find someone else to drag out into the middle of nowhere, or go by yourself?”

“No can do, Tucker. Going on hikes by yourself is dangerous and everyone else was busy.”

Tucker grumbled. “I wish I was busy.”

“Here we are!” Sam shouted, running past Tucker into a clearing in the trees that led to a cliff overlooking the rest of the forest. 

Sam walked over to a large, dead tree and started rummaging around in it’s hollow base. She pulled out a large stick, a toolbox, and a crystal ball. 

“Today the earth and sun’s electromagnetic fields are supposed to form a portal, which usually just exchanges electrons. Though I think if I can get this pentagram set up with these quartz and crystals, I can make it work. Oh! And today’s also the solstice, that’ll help too.”

Tucker watched as Sam walked around the clearing, drawing a large pentagram into the ground with a stick. “Electromagnetic hoohaa? How do you even know what that means?”

Looking up at him, pausing in her task, she blew hair out of her eyes. “Don’t you ever go listen to the Fenton’s when they give presentations at the library? They’re kind of weird, but the concepts they propose are actually pretty rad.”

Tucker shook his head vigorously. “Nuh uh. No way. The last time you took me with it was only the two of us and he spent three hours talking about his childhood. Three hours! I didn’t wanna know about how he cried every night at dinner because he had to eat horse meat.”

Looking back down to her drawing in the dirt, Sam shrugged. “Your loss then. Lately they’ve started bringing their inventions in to show people and they go over their blueprints and everything. Mrs. Fenton is also thinking about doing defense classes. Did you know she’s a fourth degree black belt?”

“Nope, and I don’t really care to learn more.” He squinted his eyes and looked up into the trees, smiling mischievously. “Though… I would like to learn more about Jazz Fenton.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Dream on, Tuck. Now come here and put down these candles and quartz at each point while I lug the crystal ball over here.”

Tucker walked over and bent down to open the toolbox, scooping everything out of it. “Dream on? Next time I see Jazz Fenton I’ll walk right up to her and use one of my signature pick up lines. It’s foolproof!” He placed a candle and quartz on the ground at his feet.

“Okay, Tucker.” Sam grunted as she lifted the crystal ball into her arms. “I’ll hold you to that.”

She placed the crystal ball in the center of the pentagram and walked over to her backpack as Tucker lit each of the candles. She pulled out a book and flipped to her latest entry. Stepping over a log and kneeling behind it, she beckoned Tucker over.

“Okay, come behind here. I’m not sure what’ll happen but the Fenton’s said when they tried opening a ghost portal in college it blew up in their friend’s face.”

“Wait, what?!”

Before Tucker could continue, Sam interrupted him, chanting. 

“Vocare nos spirituum ligno!”

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Danny floated on his back through the ghost zone, bored out of his mind. Everyone was busy today. 

Ember and Skulker were on a date. Johnny and Kitty were fighting. Even the Box Ghost had something to do! What was a dead guy supposed to do for entertainment around here?

He rolled onto his stomach and let out a large sigh. The ghost zone needed a new attraction or something. Like a theme park. Yeah, maybe he should talk to-

Something a ways ahead of him caught his eye. It looked like a little flicker of green light. Looking closely again, he could see a small swirl of green mist. 

Today just got a lot more interesting. 

He flew over to it but soon it disappeared again, without a trace. He scratched the top of his head. What was that? He floated around the space in a circle, his eyes never leaving the spot. 

After a few seconds, he shrugged. Maybe it was a ghost trying to form that wasn’t very successful. He wondered where it went. Purgatory? Maybe.

Just as Danny was turning away, he could see the swirl again out of the corner of his eye but it increased in size and suddenly Danny was screaming in pain. 

Pain, why was he in so much pain? Were ghosts even supposed to feel this much pain? What was happening?

And suddenly, suddenly he was falling. Falling and falling through this bright, swirling thing that engulfed him. 

The last thought that went through his mind was that he had forgotten what gravity felt like, and with a smack, everything went dark. 

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

“Si vocare te spirituum.” Tucker said as he looked over Sam’s shoulder at her book. “Clearly you don’t know latin.”

Sam was fuming and pushed his face away from her. “Why’d you tell me to use google translate if you KNOW LATIN?!”

Tucker raised his hands in surrender as he backed away from her. “I couldn’t have you knowing I knew latin! I’d be forever dragged into your schemes!”

“Yeah, well-” Sam was cut off as she heard a groan come from the clearing on the other side of the log. Looking over, covering Tucker’s mouth to shush him, she could see a pale skinned boy with black hair laying on top of her now crushed crystal ball. 

A swirling green portal that she hadn’t noticed during her bickering with Tucker was hovering above him, flickering out of existence. Gaze traveling back down to the boy, she scrunched her eyebrows. 

This didn’t look like a ghost. He looked like a normal kid. Why did a normal kid just fall out of her ghost portal?

Sam stood up slowly and stepped over the log and out of Tucker’s grasp as he tried to hold her back. She walked over to the boy and knelt down and was just about to check his pulse when he groaned again, sending her toppling down onto her butt. 

“Ugh, why do I feel so heavy?”

His eyes slowly slid open, and his head shakily raised and his gaze met hers. They stared at each other until he started taking in his surroundings, panic growing on his face. 

“Where am I?! What did you do to me?!” Sam shook her head, eyes wide. “I don’t know! I was trying to open a portal to the ghost zone and then you fell out! What were you even doing in there?”

“What was I doing in there? What do you think I was doing in there? I’m a ghost!”

Tucker cleared his throat from where he still knelt behind the log. “Sorry to break it to you, dude, but you don’t look like any ghost I’ve ever seen.” “What do you-” The boy stopped as his hair fell into his eyes. “Black? My hair isn’t black! What’s going on?!”

Sam hurriedly pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the camera, pointing it at his face so he could see himself. “What are you supposed to look like?”

The boy grabbed his hair, pulled on the skin under his blue eyes, pinched his arms. His breaths started coming faster and faster until he glared up at Sam, his eyes now flashing green. “What did you do to me?!” He yelled, the sound much louder than anything a human should be capable of, prompting Sam and Tucker to cover their ears.

“I don’t know!” Sam shouted, her heart beating wildly. “I was just trying to open a portal to see if the ghost zone was real! I didn’t know you’d be there!”

“I wanna go home!” He wailed, sending the candles and quartz flying away from the pentagram. 

A flash of white light appeared around the boy’s waist, traveling across his figure until a glowing ghost with white hair lay on the ground instead. Floating up, he flexed his fingers and pulled an ectoblast into his hand. 

“Sam!” Tucker shouted. “When you’re done talking to ghosts aren’t you supposed to say goodbye to them when they need to leave? Right”

She nodded and looked back up at the boy. “Yeah. Goodbye, spirit! Begone!”

He kept floating steadily towards her, an angry look in his eyes. 

Panic flared up inside her chest. 

“Goodbye! Au revoir! Auf wiedersehen!”

“Sam?!” Tucker shrieked. 

“It’s not working!”

The ghost boy pulled back an arm, readying to throw the ectoplasm in his hand when he shuddered and dropped to the ground, the bright flash appearing once again and leaving behind the same, human looking boy from before. 

“What is this?” He grumbled into the dirt. “I feel so heavy and tired. And warm. Gosh, way too warm.”

Sam listened to him wheeze in confusion, her brows furrowed. Ghosts didn’t need to breathe, did they? Why was this one out of breath on the ground?

She scooted towards him slowly and held out her hand to him.

“Can I see something?” She asked softly. 

He looked at her hand, puzzled, before placing his own on top of it. Sam cradled it with one hand and with the other she took two fingers and placed them on his wrist.

Her mouth dropped open. 

“You… You have a pulse.”

“What?” He pulled his hand away, glaring down at the offending appendage. “That can’t be possible.”

“Well it’s there.” She said, nodding towards him. “ Check for yourself.”

He squinted at her, brows drawn, but reached up two fingers and placed them on the side of his neck. His eyes shot open and he looked back at her in disbelief. 

“But… I died. I was a ghost. This can’t… This isn’t…”

The trio was silent for a few moments until Tucker plopped down next to Sam.

“What do we do now?” He asked. 

In response, the ghost boy’s stomach grumbled and with wide eyes he looked at it in shock. 

“Well.” Sam said. “I guess we need to get him some food. Let’s start cleaning up.”

Tucker and Sam began cleaning up, storing the candles and quartz back in the toolbox and erasing the pentagram while the ghost boy just stared at the ground.

“Uh, Sam?” Tucker started. “What are we going to do about the crystal ball?”

Sam looked at the ground where it was smashed to pieces and groaned. 

“We’ll have to lug a garbage bag back with us. Can you grab the shovel from the tree and I’ll get a bag from my backpack?”

“Can do, Stew.” Tucker saluted and walked over to the hollow in the trunk. 

Sam picked up the book she had dropped on the ground and stuck it in her backpack before grabbing a bag. Turning back around she saw the ghost boy standing shakily, one hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Sorry for breaking your...thing.”

Sam shrugged. “It’s okay, I can just get a new one. It’s not like it was really your fault anyways.”

As she held the bag open, Tucker began scooping up shards of the crystal ball and soon Sam tied it off, slinging it over her shoulder. After storing the shovel back in the tree Tucker joined the two.

“So, man, did you ever say what your name was?”

“Oh, uh, Danny. Danny Phantom.”

“Nice to meet you, sort of.” Danny’s face fell at that and Tucker back tracked. “But it’s going good now! Right? First impressions aren’t everything!”

Sam rolled her eyes. “I’m Sam, and that’s Tucker, my reluctant right hand man.”

Tucker flared up the collar on his button up shirt. “That’s Tucker Foley, TF for Too Fine.”

Chuckling, Sam elbowed him. 

“Well, since you’ll need sustenance and shelter for an unforeseeable amount of time, you can sleep over at my house tonight!”

Sam’s face dropped. “Oh my god, Tucker.”

“What? It’s not weird to have sleepovers at our age. It just means we have extra friend time.”

“Not that! What are we supposed to do with him? He’s supposed to be dead! He doesn’t have a birth certificate or any kind of identification! And it’s not like he can stay with us forever. My parents would freak.”

“Hm.” Tucker tapped his chin. “I did not think of that.”

Danny groaned. “So I have to eat food now and find shelter without having anyway to do that? Being dead is so much easier.”

“We’ll make it work!” Sam rushed. “Let’s just go to the Nasty Burger and get something to eat first. Then we’ll figure something out.”

Both boys nodded simultaneously. 

“Okay.”

“Sounds good.”

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

The three were in a booth at the Nasty Burger, Sam and Tucker long finished with their food while Danny was on his sixth round of a Mighty Meaty Burger meal. 

“Dude, even if you haven’t eaten since you died surely you aren’t that hungry? You’ve only felt hunger for like, an hour now.” Tucker said incredulously as he tapped something on his phone. 

“Try not eating anything for an entire year and see how much you miss the feeling of eating delicious food.” Danny quipped back, his mouth full. 

“You got me there.” Tucker said as he threw a finger gun towards Danny. 

“Okay, guys, I think we need to start talking about what we’re going to do instead of watching Danny eat.” She tapped her chin as she thought. “We could go talk to the Fentons!”

Tucker looked at her, a deadpan expression on his face. 

“You want to go talk to the Fentons, who are ghost hunters, about this ghost-human hybrid that we accidentally unleashed?”

“Wait ghost hunters?” Danny mumbled around a mouth full of food. 

“Who else are we gonna talk to? They’re the only people who study ghosts around here, and they know me. No one else would want to listen to a bunch of kids anyways.”

“Wait, Sam, can we go back to the ghost hunter part-” 

“Do you know how risky it would be to bring him there?” Tucker asked. “We don’t know what’d they’d do to him, especially because there’d be no trace of him, since he's, you know, dead.”

“Tucker-”

“They’re not gonna kidnap him, Tucker!”

“How do you-”

“GUYS!” Danny yelled.

Sam and Tucker paused in their bickering, looking at Danny’s glowing green eyes. 

“Can you explain the ghost hunters thing?”

“Oh. Right.” Sam says. “Well, they’ve been studying ectology since they were in college, they even tried to create a ghost portal but it was unsuccessful. Lately they’ve been working on a newer model and an arsenal of ghost hunting weapons, but they haven’t had the chance to really test them yet.” She pulls a flyer out of her backpack. 

“They do presentations at the library every week.”

Danny looks at the paper for a few moments before resting his face in his hands. 

“Why would you want to give them a chance to test their weapons? Wouldn’t they be gung ho at any opportunity?”

“Not necessarily!” Sam said rushedly. “They only just moved here a couple months ago but they’re very nice, though a little over the top. They have two daughters too. They should be able to realize that you’re just a kid that needs help.” 

Danny raised his head back up and leveled a stare at her. 

“When's the next meeting?” He asked. 

“Tomorrow at noon.”

He leaned back in his seat, head tilted against the back, and groaned. “Ugh. I guess we really have no other option.” Tucker swiped a fry from Danny’s tray. “Don’t worry man. If they try anything, they’ll probably be stopped by Jazz. She doesn’t believe in the whole ghost schtick.”

“Jazz?” Danny asked as he picked up his burger. 

“That’s the oldest Fenton daughter. They also have a daughter named Elle. She sort of looks like you, actually.” Sam said. 

“Yeah. She’s a feisty little gremlin. Always beating my high scores when we go to the arcade.” Tucker pouted. 

Sam looked at her watch, checking the time. “Well guys, I think we better get going. It’s getting pretty late. Don’t wanna miss the presentation tomorrow.” She jittered excitedly in her seat. “I can’t wait to tell them I opened a ghost portal!”

“Are you into all their ecto, ghost hunting stuff?” Danny asked wryly. 

“Not really. I’m more into witchcraft and goth stuff. Ghosts just happened to fall in between those somewhere.” Sam stood up and collected her trash. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I’ll meet you at Tucker’s house.”

She waved goodbye and left the restaurant. 

“So…” Tucker started. “Do you wanna go back to my place and play some video games?”

“Video games?” Danny asked. 

Tucker clutched his chest in mock horror. “You don’t remember video games?! Forget sleep, there’s much you need to see!”

And with that, Tucker jumped up and dragged Danny out the door by the wrist. 

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Danny walked out the front door of Tucker’s house, yawning. When he blinked open his eyes he could see Sam standing there, tapping her foot. 

“What? I haven’t weighed this much in a year. Walking around was tiring.” Danny told her.

“We also played video games until three in the morning.” Tucker yawned as he walked out behind him.

“Why would you tell her that?” Danny asked, turning around. 

“To make her mad?” Tucker shrugged. 

Sam sighed. “Whatever guys. Let’s just get going. They’re starting soon.”

They walked down the street in silence until Danny spoke. 

“How many people usually go to these things? Is there a lot?”

“No.” Sam said. “Usually it’s just me. And Tucker when I can get him to go.”

Tucker groans. “I just hope Mr. Fenton doesn’t get into telling His Life Story: Volume Two. It was so boring the last time.”

“What do we do if they won’t help us?” Danny asked.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other in silence. Sam took a deep breath and spoke. “I’m sure they’ll help us. They’re nice people.”

Soon they walked inside the library, the building quiet except for the few hushed voices reading children's books and the boisterous laughter that could be heard coming from Mr. Fenton across the building. When Danny heard it, he paused, hands clenched into fists. 

“What if they hate me? What if they won’t help us? I’ll just be stuck here, alive and homeless. What if they strap me down on some table, tearing me apart molecule by molecule?”

Sam turned to face Danny, walking towards him and resting her hands on his shoulders. “They probably won’t be able to tell anyways. It’ll be alright. We’ll go in and wait until the meeting is over and then go talk to them.”

Danny’s shoulders shook, and he took a deep breath and nodded. 

Together, the three of them walked to the presentation room. 

“Just remember, stay calm. It’ll be-”

A clatter resounded through the room as they crossed through the door.

“Danno?”

Mr. Fenton was standing in front of the projector screen, an ectogun laying on the floor at his feet. His eyes were wide and haunted, looking straight at Danny.

Looking behind him, Danny wore a confused expression on his face.

“Me?” He said, pointing at himself. 

The older man nodded. “But how are you… You… This can’t be possible.” He looked Danny over again and then his gaze traveled to Sam. “Ms. Manson, what..?”

“Do you know Danny, Mr. Fenton?” Sam asked softly, confused. 

“He’s my son.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open and she looked at Tucker who was leaning up against the door frame, staring blankly at the floor. Danny still looked confused, but a chirpy voice soon interrupted them. 

“Jack, sweetie, the staff room ran out of sugar again but I think your coffee should be fine with only four packets.” 

The three kids turned around to see Mrs. Fenton standing behind them, two coffee cups in her hands. She smiled at them until her gaze landed on Danny. Her expression soured and she dropped the coffees, pulling out an ectogun from her suit pointing it at Danny.

“What is this ectoplasmic scum doing here impersonating our boy?!”

“Wait!” Sam shouted, putting herself between the barrel of Mrs. Fenton’s gun and Danny. “He has a pulse!” “That’s impossible.” Mrs. Fenton scoffed. “Our son passed a year ago. That’s just a form of post human consciousness.”

“No, please!” Sam reached behind her, searching for Danny’s hand. Once she found it, he grabbed it in a death grip, she pulled it forward, opening up his wrist for the woman. “Please, trust me.”

Mrs. Fenton threw another sour look towards Sam, but obliged the girl. She placed her fingers over Danny’s wrist and waited. Once she felt the fast pulse underneath his skin, her eyes widened and shock flashed across her face. 

Dropping his wrist, she stepped back, nearly collapsing until Tucker caught her. 

“What is this?” Maddie whispered. “What happened?”

Sam moved to sit down at one of the chairs in the room, still holding Danny’s hand and pulling him behind her. “Yesterday had the perfect atmosphere and phenomenon to create a natural ghost portal and after one of your presentations I wanted to try, because who knew when I’d get a better chance.

“When we finished the ritual a swirling green portal formed and he fell out like this but…”

“He has two forms.” Tucker continued. “And he can still do ghost stuff. But he can feel hunger and gravity and he produces heat. Has a pulse. But he doesn’t seem to remember anything.”

“We came to talk to you guys because we didn’t know what to do… Like, what are we gonna do with someone with no identification who’s supposed to be dead?” Sam asked. 

Mr. Fenton knelt down in front of Danny, touseling the boy's hair, and rested his hands on his shoulders. 

“Do you want to come back home with us? Do you trust us?”

Danny’s grip was still tight on Sam’s hand, and he looked from Mr. Fenton to Mrs. Fenton, who had tears in her eyes and her own tight grip on Tucker’s hand. He nodded.

Mr. Fenton’s own eyes filled with tears and he wrapped Danny up in a bear hug, squeezing the life right back out of him. Slowly, Danny lifted his own arms up around the man, feeling his own tears running down his face. 

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

One Month Later

“Haha! Beat you again!” Elle laughed.

“Man, you really are a little gremlin, aren’t you?” Danny shot back at her, throwing a pillow in her face. 

“Excuse you, I’m adorable.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Of course you are.”

He clicked on the New Round option in the game, going through the fighters and picking the same character as he did for the last fight.

A small frown formed on Elle’s face. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything?”

“Yeah, pretty sure. Why do you ask?” He shot her a look before the round started. 

“You keep picking the same character that had been your favorite before…”

Elle trailed off and when Danny turned to look at her there were tears in her eyes. 

“No, no don’t cry, Elle. It’s alright. I’m here now. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

She sniffed and rubbed some tears off her face. “Yeah. It’s the only thing I could’ve asked for.” She paused. “Do you think you’ll ever remember?”

Danny looked down at his hands. “I’m not sure. But even if I don’t I’ll still be here for you whenever you need it, okay?”

Elle smiled. “Okay.”

Danny’s phone chirped and he pulled it out from his pocket. 

“Oh, that’s Sam. We’re supposed to go see that new movie with Tucker. Rematch when I get home?”

“Can it be called a rematch if I know you’re gonna lose again?”

“You wish!” He pulled her into a side hug. “See you when I get home?”

“Yeah. See you!” She waved him off.

Danny ran down the stairs and was about to bolt out the door to greet his friends when Jazz stopped him. 

“Where are you going, little brother?” She asked.

Danny rolled his eyes at the name. “Just to see a movie with Sam and Tucker. I’ll be back in a couple hours, okay?”

Jazz nodded and walked over to him. “Can I have a hug before you leave?”

Danny opened his arms and she pulled him into a tight hug. 

“Stay safe.” She whispered.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got the power of ghost muscles now.”

Jazz snorted and pushed Danny towards the door. “Okay. Off you go.” 

He opened the door to see Sam and Tucker standing outside it. When Sam looked up, she elbowed Tucker in the side and pointed past Danny at Jazz. 

“Pft, I’ve been practicing. This’ll be no biggie.”

Clearing his throat, Tucker caught Jazz’s attention. 

“Do you like dates? How do you feel about a raisin?” He shot a pair of finger guns at her. 

Jazz tsked and smiled at Tucker. “Dates are very tasty, and a raisin would be a delicious treat!”

Confusion crossed over Tucker’s face before horror broke across it. Sam broke out laughing beside him. 

“Better luck next time, Tucker.” Jazz said before walking back to the kitchen.

Tucker kneeled onto the ground, holding his face in his hands. “The shame. I’ve taken the honor from my family's name. I’ve embarrassed myself for the last time.”

“As if.” Sam snorted. 

“Hey!” Tucker shouted at her.

Danny chuckled and shook his head at his friend's antics. 

“Come on, guys. Let’s go see this movie.”

[phicphight]

Shift

FIC CAN BE READ HERE: ao3 | ffn

There’s a lotta blood in this one, Angst, Identity Reveal, Blood Loss, Everything’ll work out though. Incomplete. Rated T. Word Count: 2559

Pairings: None

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Blood Loss

Author: @lexiepiper (Team Human)

“It turns out that the views of Agents O and K are not held by the rest of the Guys in White. Basically, the GiW scientists are horrified when the two newest agents bring in a fourteen-year-old half-ghost kid for "painful experiments".“ - @nocturna-starr (Team Ghost)

***

As far as lab work went, it had been a quiet day. A bit of spectrophotometry here, a touch of titrating there, and then the only task left after lunch was to autoclave a stack of petri dishes. The half dozen agents milling around the facility was a touch ridiculous considering the sheer lack of work for them to do, but hey, when you got paid by the hour it wasn’t as though anyone was about to volunteer to clock off early.

 Still, there were only so many times that one could check that the samples had all been stored properly and that the labs were perfectly clean. Agent H would have gone out to at least pretend that he was trying to catch a ghost or something, but the radar had been quiet all day except for a couple of blips that the field team claimed to have already dealt with. Realistically, it was probably Phantom who captured whatever ghost had managed to slip through the portal, and H resigned himself to a boring afternoon. Maybe when O and K returned he’d tease them a bit for letting the town’s resident spook one up them again, but even that joke had started to get a bit old.

 There was the distant crash of heavy doors swinging open with enough force to hit the wall, accompanied by annoyingly familiar shouts, and H rolled his eyes. Speak of the devil, and unfortunately, that stupid field team would return early. “Should we go see what they’ve messed up now?”

 Agent J sighed and stopped pretending to check the bunsen burners for rust spots. Not that it mattered, but they had to look busy somehow. “I suppose,” he drawled.

 The pair strolled into the hallway without haste, but then an echoing scream sent a jolt of dread sliding down H’s spine.

 “Please, let me go! I’m not dead!”

Continue reading... ao3 | ffn

[mr-lancers-english-class]

The Car

My first Phic Phight entry. I meant to get this up last week for the dannypocalypse, but I have another cold and a surprising amount of homework for the last months of senior year.

Prompt by @ecto-american: Vlad buys Danny a car for his 16th birthday.

Ao3

“You got me a car.”

“Yes.”

“A car.”

“Yes, Daniel. That’s what I said.”

“For my birthday. A car.”

“Mostly. Some of it is for your last Deathday, as I never did get you anything then.”

“Why did you get me a car?!?”

The car in question was a deep red Porsche convertible: absolutely gorgeous, so new it seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sun, and completely impractical for a high school junior who had a tendency to get involved in explosive fights on a near-daily basis.

“As a gesture of good will.”

Danny snorted. As much as their relationship had improved in the last year, it was still a far cry from perfect. “It’s never just a gesture of good will from you. There’s something more here.”

“Is it really that difficult to accept that I might just care about you, Little Badger?”

“Yes. Very.”

“That’s fair.” Vlad sighed, and went to rub his forehead. “You want me to be honest with you?”

Danny nodded, eyes flitting to the car.

“I am concerned for your safety. The way your father drives, you may well die before you finish high school. I spent decades as the only being in the world like me, and I never wish to repeat that endeavour.”

“Anything else?” Danny had given up the pretense of not caring about the car, and was now staring at it.

“Surprisingly, no.”

“So, self-serving interest that, surprisingly enough, is selfless?”

“That’s one way to put it, yes.”

“Huh. Well, thank you. This is one of the nicest things you’ve done for me.”

“You’re welcome.” Vlad slowly brought his hand up, before placing it gently on Danny’s shoulder. “Happy birthday, Daniel.”

Word Count: 281

[darks-ink]

Grounded

Prompt: Valerie is underground. She's not sure how she got here, but who needs memory when you have a data log recording your hunt? Oh jeez. The file's corrupted, and she's only getting disjointed fragments... Prompt by: @catalystofthesoul Word count: 6,140

[AO3][FFnet][more Phic Phight fics]

When Valerie woke up, the first thing she noticed was that it was dark. Dark, and cramped, and dusty.

The second thing she noticed was that she was wearing her ghost hunting suit. The armor was wrapped protectively around her.

Then she realized that she wasn’t lying in her bed. Or her room. Or, hell, even the building where she lived. The cramped space she was in was completely unfamiliar to her.

Which led to the fourth thing she picked up on; she was underground. It was too dark to make out much, though. She wasn’t even sure how she could see anything, but for the moment that wasn’t important. The dirt and rocks and– was that debris from a building? Yes, it certainly seemed to be – it was all pretty clear.

So, she was somewhere underground. She didn’t know how deep, and she didn’t know how she had gotten here. It looked like a building had collapsed on top of her. Had one? It wouldn’t be unreasonable, with the damage ghost fights tended to cause.

She could find out easily enough, anyway. Because it didn’t matter that she didn’t remember what had happened – she had her suit, and her suit had data logs. Logs which included audio and video, nowadays. She simply had to watch the newest file and figure out what had happened to her. Based on that, she could figure out how to get out again. How much rubble was above her, really? Could she dig her way out, or would she have to rely on someone else?

Was she close enough to the surface that someone could find her before she died?

Valerie shook off the morbid thoughts. She had to focus on the here and now. It would be fine – she would get out of here.

Her suit wasn’t quite cooperating, but Valerie managed to summon her helmet – why hadn’t she been wearing it? – and got the log to play on her helmet display. Or, what was left of the file. It seemed that it had somehow gotten corrupted.

The video was almost incomprehensible, blown out beyond use. It simply showed flashes of green and black and white – nothing else. The audio was more useful, but only slightly. It was filled with static, but occasionally it broke up enough for her to hear snatches of voices. Still too staticky to recognize, but anything was better than nothing.

“…watch out!” and “…s dange…” and even a very frantic “Va-” which dissolved into static as the voice increased in volume.

Nothing she could use, right now. It didn’t tell her anything about where she was or how she had gotten there.

She shifted into a sitting position. With her previous plan a failure, she decided to try and examine the non-existent light. It wasn’t bright but it was enough for her to see – somewhat, at least. An opening to the surface, perhaps?

But a frantic examination of the cramped space revealed no light source. The light seemed to come from nowhere – everywhere she looked was equally bright. For some reason, she seemed to be able to just… see, despite the (almost?) complete dark she was in.

It didn’t make any sense. Actually, no, scratch that. It did. It was probably just a feature from her suit, since the thing was stuffed full of those. Sure, she had never noticed this one before, but that didn’t mean anything. After all, what else could be giving her apparent night vision?

Still, it was hard to see. If she just had a light, maybe she could find an opening of sorts. This was, unfortunately, a feature she knew her suit lacked. It was full of all kinds of things that made hunting ghosts easier. A light was not one of those – ghosts naturally emitted light.

But even though her suit had no way to comply to this request, and thus shouldn’t respond in any way, a tingle deep inside her still answered. It was an eerie feeling, one she didn’t recognize, a cold crawling in her chest–

Suddenly blue ectoplasm burst to life around her hand. She yelped, waving her hand around frantically to extinguish the flickering light. But the ectoplasm stubbornly stayed lit.

Still half-panicking, Valerie started to realize that it didn’t hurt. Somehow.

As she calmed down, she also realized that the cold energy in her chest hadn’t left – it thrummed with energy still, in her chest and down her arm. She saw the ball of ectoplasm flicker in sync with the beat of whatever was in her chest.

She wasn’t sure what drove her to her next action. It just… made sense to her. The energy, the cold in her chest, had seemingly responded to her silent question for light. So then, commanding it to go away should–

And it did. The ectoplasm extinguished itself on her silent command.

It was like controlling her suit – yet nothing like it at the same time. Because this, this was energy – a cold power – centered in her chest. Her suit was metallic – and while yes, it was controlled by her mind, she couldn’t feel it. It wasn’t part of her actual body. Not like this.

She bent her head down, looking at the armored hands in her lap. Slowly turning them around, she examined the suit that covered her, still. It looked like her usual suit – black with red detailing – and the plates seemed to be the same as always. A strong tough material, but light enough not to constrict her.

Valerie had never bothered to figure out where this armor had come from.

She wondered if maybe she should have.

The ball of cold in her chest hummed in accordance with her emotions. It seemed to seep more power into her body, but she didn’t know what that was supposed to achieve. It didn’t feel like the ectoplasmic blast from before – not as strong, and spread across her entire body rather than focused in a specific part of it.

Closing her eyes, Valerie chose to focus on the feeling of her actual body instead. The slow but strong beat of her heart. The comforting feeling of air rushing through her lungs. The shifting of muscles as she moved even the slightest bit.

When she opened her eyes again, nothing had changed. Not that she had expected it to, but…

Wait. With the way she was sitting, with the way she had her head angled, she should be seeing her own body. Her arms and her legs.

She wasn’t.

Freaking out a little, Valerie twitched – barely restrained her automatic response to stand up and back away. What the hell was happening?

The energy in her chest responded, and it drew back its power. Immediately her limbs started to fade back into visibility. Valerie sighed at the familiar sight.

Until she realized what it meant.

Shit. Shit.

Had a ghost somehow settled into her body, like a partial overshadowing? No, surely not – she seemed to be in full control over the powers. Had her suit somehow granted her ghost powers, then? Had she become some sort of human/ghost hybrid?

Oh. Well. She supposed that that wasn’t entirely impossible. She had met Dani, after all. Phantom’s cousin, who was somehow half-ghost.

Valerie didn’t know how the girl had become that way – or had she been born like that? – but then, to be fair, she didn’t know how she had become like this, herself. Perhaps that was just part of the affliction – just like ghosts weren’t supposed to know about their deaths.

If that was the case, then Valerie would be more than happy to settle for remembering everything else. She would rather remember her life, her friends and family and loved ones, than know what had happened to her. That, she might be able to figure out. Memories? Those couldn’t be replaced.

But now that she was thinking about Dani… Didn’t that girl have a second form, a more ghostly one? One that resembled Phantom?

The cold in her chest (a ghost core, she assumed) pulsed in answer. A sudden flash of light blinded her, and she slapped her hands over her eyes in a hopeless attempt to protect her vision.

When Valerie pulled her hands away and blinked the spots from her vision, she could immediately tell that the space around her grown brighter. This was not very surprising – ghosts glow, after all. Dani had.

A glance down confirmed her suspicions. She was glowing – and her colors had gotten flipped around.

She was still wearing her armored suit, but now it was white with blue highlights. She wasn’t entirely sold on the color, but she supposed it made sense – the ectoplasm she had controlled earlier had been blue, too. And Vlad had blue eyes, which had turned red when he became a ghost. It made sense that her suit had done the same in reverse.

Her helmet had disappeared. Apparently it didn’t carry over, possibly because she hadn’t worn it when she first became half-ghost. Or whatever had happened, exactly. Something like that, probably.

There was no mirror to check her appearance, but Valerie could guess. Dani’s black hair had become white when she had transformed, and her own suit had done the same. Presumably, her hair had thus also turned white.

She wondered, briefly, what color her eyes were. But she dismissed the thought almost immediately – it wasn’t important for the moment.

Okay, okay.

Alright.

Focus on the situation. Sum up everything she knew. Stay calm.

So, here’s what she knew. She was somewhere underground. She didn’t know how she had gotten there. She had somehow become half ghost – and had somehow broken her suit in the process.

That was it. That was everything she knew about her current situation. That was… that was just sad.

But, back to the plan. Step one was easy; get out of here.

Now, that was easier said than done. But… ghosts could turn intangible, yes? She had even experienced it before, herself. Phantom had turned her intangible before, when they had broken in the Fenton’s lab. How hard could it really be to mimic that? To turn herself intangible and fly up using her hoverboard?

Assuming she could summon said hoverboard. But, well. Only one way to find out, right?

She pushed herself to her feet, remaining somewhat crouched. There wasn’t a lot of room in the tight space. But there should be enough for her hoverboard, at least.

Thankfully, it responded to her mental command. It formed underneath her feet, the hum of its engines somehow echoing in her core. It, too, was now white with blue accents. An ectoplasmic construct, rather than her normal board?

Weird, but whatever. It seemed to work just fine, as she hovered slightly above the ground. As long as it would work, she wouldn’t question it.

She angled herself upwards. The dirt and debris that greeted her wasn’t an encouraging sight, but… she would be fine. She promised herself – and she had promised her dad.

Valerie thought of the tingly feeling that had washed over her when Phantom had turned her intangible. The core in her chest responded, and the feeling once more spread throughout her body. It was… It was weird, using ghost powers like this.

Doubtful that the intangibility would last long, Valerie threw herself upwards as quickly as possible. She encouraged her board to go as fast as possible – and her core too, for all that it mattered.

A few long moments, she saw nothing but dirt and darkness. And, oh god, what if she turned tangible now – but then the fresh outside air greeted her. Oh, and how she had missed it. She hadn’t even realized until now.

It didn’t take long for her to start taking in her environment. The area where she had emerged was in ruins. No one was nearby – evacuated, most likely, based on the damage. Large pieces of debris laid scattered around, a couple crumbled walls indicating where buildings had once been. Soot covered the ground, clear signs of a fire long conquered.

What had happened here? How long… how long had she been underground?

Her core surged once again, but this time not with power. Not really. Instead it seemed to emit a wave of heat – like she had passed too close by an overheating appliance. Or stood too close to the grills at the Nasty Burger.

“Val?” a soft echoing voice asked, cautious.

She whirled around to see Phantom there, a shocked and… pained?… expression on his face.

Repressing her automatic response – a grimace and a reprimanding over using her name – she instead greeted him. She was too tired to be hostile. Not physically – maybe physically – but mostly mentally. “Phantom.”

Then she remembered that Dani was Phantom’s cousin. She would need help with this, she was sure. And who better to ask than someone who was familiar with this? With being half ghost?

Valerie licked her lips, then hesitantly asked, “Do you… have a way to contact your cousin?”

“My cousin…?” Phantom eyed her, confused and a little wary. “Why?”

She shifted, uncertain. Dani, she might trust, but Phantom she didn’t. Well, a little perhaps, but not much. But she didn’t see a way around this.

“I think… I might’ve become part ghost, too. Somehow.” She looked away from him, glancing around them instead. “I don’t know what happened – can’t remember – but…”

“Stop,” Phantom said, holding up a hand. Then, in a tone that was clearly meant to be soothing, he continued, “It’s okay, I get it. You died Val, alright? But that’s okay – being dead isn’t all that bad, right? You don’t have to lie to yourself, to pretend otherwise.”

And now a flicker of her usual hostility returned. How dare he. How dare Phantom act so condescending, like she didn’t know what she was talking about. How could he!

Her anger thus kindled, she felt her core eagerly respond to her anger. Ghosts were emotional creatures, she knew. It made sense that her core would be eager to lap it up.

Blue ectoplasm stated swirling around her clenched fists once more. Her eyes felt like they were burning – but not like tears, it was different somehow.

Then her core just… quietened. Seemingly gave up. Its power faltered and once more the bright white light washed over her – this time she could barely make out the white rings – and then suddenly she was human again. Or as human as she could be, now.

The light show apparently did a good job of shutting Phantom up, at least. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Then he groaned, deeply and passionately. “Of course,” he muttered, dragging his white-gloved hands down his face. “Of course it had to be her, of all people.”

“Excuse me!” she protested, her core flickering up once in annoyance. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Phantom groaned again, flapping a hand in her direction to wave off her concern. Then he moved the hand on his face to pinch his nose instead.

“If you’re looking for help for the halfa thing, you don’t have to try and contact Danielle. Not that that would’ve been a huge success, because I don’t know where she is, either.”

Frowning, Valerie crossed her arms. “Phantom, you’re making even less sense than usual, and I’m not in the mood.”

The ghost nodded, looking away from her for a moment. When he turned back to her, his expression was sheepish. “I, um. I’m also half ghost.”

Her jaw dropped, and she looked Phantom over once more, critically. It wasn’t hard to imagine him human – he already looked fairly human, and his similarity to Dani was honestly frightening. Just flipping his hair color back to black was enough.

She didn’t know how to feel about this, though. She’s pissed and exhilarated and upset and–

Her clenched fist hit him in the upper arm, and Danny yelped, flinching away from her. “How could you!” she yelled at him instead, digging her still-armored fingers deeper into her palms. “I can’t believe you! You’re one of my best fucking friends, and you–”

Shaking her head, she glared at him. Her core eagerly supported the glare with more burning in her eyes, which seemed to be doing a good job of intimidating Danny. She can’t believe this. One of her only friends knows this, knew what she was dealing with and how to handle it–

But he also let her hunt him. Hunt him and hurt him despite knowing she didn’t want to hurt human beings. And as Phantom, he has done bad things. To her, and to Amity Park.

She snarled, but this time Danny didn’t move. He just raised his hands placatingly.

“Valerie,” he begged, “Please calm down. I’m sorry, okay? But if you calm down, I promise that I’ll explain.”

Valerie took a deep breath, then held it for a long moment. He was right. She had to calm down. She couldn’t let her anger rule her, not again. That was how Vlad had manipulated her, controlled her.

That couldn’t happen again.

When she felt like she was calm again – or calm enough, at least – she nodded at Danny. She still felt agitated – both in the angry and in the energetic way – but she could deal with that.

Danny nodded back, and then light washed over him. He dropped the last bit of distance to the floor, having returned to, well, Danny. Danny Fenton, instead of Danny Phantom.

God, how had no one seen that before? Were they really this blind?

“Can you retract your armor?” he asked her as he moved closer. He went slow, clearly still cautious. She couldn’t blame him.

With a frown, she tried. The armor seemed fried, the nanotech set together and refusing to come apart again. And it seemed to have disconnected from her mind – every time she tried to call on it, her core responded instead.

“No,” she finally answered, looking back at Danny. “I think it got fried. It’s not responding anymore – only my core is.”

Danny nodded, looking thoughtful. “That makes sense. Your armor, or, well, this version of your armor, was made by Technus. Since it’s an ectoplasmic construct, working via ectoplasmic energy, the signal might be blocked by your own ectoplasmic energy.”

He slowly reached for her arm, and she didn’t move as he grabbed it. He inspected her arm – or more accurately, the armor covering it – with a creased brow. Finally he shook his head, somewhat disappointed. “I think we might have to break you out of it. I don’t think it came with a release-all function.”

“No, because that would’ve been too easy, huh.” She sighed, but silently agreed. At least the helmet hadn’t come back when she had shifted back. Small mercies.

“Let’s take cover behind that wall.” Danny pointed towards one of the more intact walls, a couple feet away. “The area was evacuated so people will probably stay away, but better safe than sorry, right?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, trudging over there. She felt tired and she just really wanted to sleep. It was a weird kind of exhaustion, bone-deep – or deeper, perhaps. Like her very being was tired.

They sat down on the dirty floor, uncaring about the soot stains their clothes would surely gain. Or, well, Valerie’s armor would probably be fine. Danny’s jeans? Hopeless.

“So how do you plan on getting this stuff off of me, anyway?” She quirked a brow at Danny. He remained silent for a moment, considering the question.

Then his eyes brightened – literally started glowing, but blue instead of the green associated with Phantom – and the temperature around them dropped. He held out a hand, and slowly but surely, ice started forming above the palm of his hand. It gathered, crystal by crystal, in the shape of a knife.

Then it dropped into his hand, apparently fully formed. Danny offered it to her, a shaky grin on his face. “Here, you take this one. I’ll make another one for myself.”

“Jesus Danny,” she muttered under her breath, but she took the knife anyway. Carefully she started wedging it underneath some of the plating on her arms. It was a good excuse to look away from Danny. Seeing him use his ghost powers was… discomforting. She knew he was half-ghost – that he was Phantom.

But knowing and knowing were different things. Seeing was believing. And for all that she knew, she didn’t believe. Had yet to connect her mental images of Phantom and Danny, despite them being one and the same.

“Too much?” Danny asked with a laugh, having conjured up a second ice knife with more ease. He gestured for her leg, and after a moment of hesitation, she stretched it out for him.

“A little bit, yeah.” With a snap, the piece of armor she had been worked on broke off. For some reason, the armor acted more like actual plates of armor instead of nanotech, now. “How much of your power can you use in human form?”

“Ehh.” He wiggled his free hand for a moment before turning back to the armor. “Most powers can be used in human form just fine, although it’s harder to do. They tend to be weaker as a result, but it’s not a direct limitation. Some powers are even too easy to use in human form. You might’ve noticed the feeling of your eyes burning, earlier?”

She nodded in answer, glancing up from where she was working. “Yeah,” he continued. “That was your eyes glowing. It’s a real pain, has almost blown my cover so many times. Usually happens when you’re angry – or it does for me, at least.”

“That sucks.” A snap as Danny broke off part of her leg armor. “But all your powers work in human form? Ectoblasts, intangibility, flight? All of it?”

“Well, yeah.” He dropped the knife to wriggle the remainder of the plate he had broken. “My really strong one, the Ghostly Wail, I’ve never tried. But if everything else works I don’t see why that one wouldn’t.”

“I don’t think that I’m familiar with that power.” The knife in her hand creaked as she put too much force on it. She was a little amazed that it wasn’t weakening in the heat. “Also, that name is stupid as shit.”

Danny snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. And be glad you haven’t seen it – it’s kind of a finishing move for me. I don’t use it often – too much damage.”

“Then when have you used it?” And how had he gotten it? Why would he – as Danny or as Phantom – need a power that destructive? Did it reflect on him, who he was, somehow?

“That’s… a long story.” He pulled loose the rest of the piece he was working on, falling onto his back as the thing suddenly gave. He grimaced at the soot on his clothes, but went right back to work. “I’ve never used it here. Well, I have in an alternate reality, but that doesn’t count. And never around people who could’ve gotten hurt.”

“That’s a bold claim, ghost boy.” She wrenched another piece of her arm armor loose, freeing most of her left arm. “Because you keep telling people you never hurt anyone, but I know you have.”

Danny also broke away another plate, huffing angrily. “Yeah? And you’ve never hurt anybody, of course.” Then he sighed, and continued with a more subdued tone. “Look, I try my best, alright? But I’m only human – or, well, you know what I mean. There is only so much I can do.”

“And that involved kidnapping the mayor and robbing jewelry stores?” She shot him an unimpressed glare. “And that’s not to say anything about that ghost dog at my dad’s work.”

The boy groaned, driving his knife a little deeper into the armor that covered her. But he remained careful – he had yet to nick her. “Look, the thing with the dog wasn’t my fault, okay! He was just looking for his toy, and he kept coming to me, probably because I was the only ghost around.”

Another piece of armor snapped off, and Danny shifted around to get better access to the next part before he continued. “As for the rest… The mayor was overshadowed by a ghost named Walker, and he grabbed me. The robberies were…” He paused. Seemed to consider his words for a moment.

“The robberies involved a man named Freakshow. He had a staff which he could use to control ghosts – including partial ghosts. Ask Sam or Tucker if you don’t believe that he controlled me.” He looked up at her, his blue eyes big and watery. “I promise, Valerie, that I never intended to hurt anyone. Least of all you.”

She sighed, looking away from him to focus on the armor. “I just… I don’t know, Danny. I thought I knew you. I’m just…”

“Tired?” he finished for her, smiling a little. “Yeah, half dying does that to a person. It should get better over the next few days – or maybe you just get used to it, I don’t know.”

They worked in silence for a few moments. Then, quietly, she asked, “How did it happen to you?”

“Accident in my parents’ lab.” He licked his lips, unsure. “Electrocution via the Ghost Portal. Sam and Tucker were there, which helped, I think.”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything. At least he had had Tucker and Sam. They might not know anything about ghosts, or how they functioned, but they were good friends.

And she would have Danny. He was a good friend too. And he knew about this, about being half-ghost.

“You’ll be fine,” Danny assured, apparently picking up on her silent distress. “You won’t be alone, okay? I can help you. We’ll meet for training – until you get your powers under control, at least.”

“I don’t even know what to do afterwards,” she confessed, pulling off the entire glove on her left hand. She shifted to her chest armor now – it would be too awkward for Danny to work on that. “I’ve just… I’ve been the Red Huntress for so long now. I can’t imagine not doing anything as her. But the suit is fried, I can’t use it anymore.”

“You still have it in ghost form.” Danny broke off the boot, and then shifted to her other leg. “And as far as anyone knows, the Red Huntress died in the attack today. If you use your ghost form instead, you can work off of that. Tell everyone you died and came back as a ghost.”

She hummed. “And that way I can clear your reputation as well. Say that as a ghost myself, I finally understand that not all ghosts are bad. That you weren’t lying.” She freed the first corner of the chest plate. “That’ll explain our sudden truce, at least.”

“Do you really mean that, Val?” Danny grinned at her, bright and hopeful. “A truce, just like that?”

“You’re my friend, Danny.” She sighed, toying with the ice knife for a moment. “And… things are weird, but. You’re still my friend. And I could really use that right now.”

A snap as another piece went off of her leg. “Then I would be happy to accept your truce, Huntress. And I would be more than happy to help you in whatever way possible.”

The second corner of her chest piece came loose, and Valerie peeled the entire thing off in one go. “Much appreciated.”

She moved to take apart the layered plates on her ribs, but paused when she couldn’t see her hands. “Uh. Speaking of help…?”

Danny looked and barked out a laugh. At her glare, he quietened down again. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just used to having that happen to me. Uh, try to focus on being all visible. You can feel your body, yeah? Try to imagine seeing it too.”

She followed his advice, and her hands came back. She set the knife to her ribs. “Thanks. Is that, uh, a common problem?”

“Was for me.” He only sounded a little sorry, the bastard. “But your suit works roughly the same, right? So it might be easier for you. And I’ll be there to help you, too.”

“Can’t be too soon,” Valerie grumbled, yanking the first plate loose. After that one, the rest followed in a cascade. “I’m not very excited about the prospects of accidentally blasting my dad in the face with an ectoblast.”

“Yeah, Tucker wasn’t very excited about that either.” Danny loosened her other boot, too. “Although you won’t have to worry about that for a bit. It was a few months before I did my first ectoblast.”

That tickled her competitive side. “Yeah? Funny, because an ectoblast was the first thing I did when I woke up.”

Danny looked up from her leg, frowning. “Oh. Yeah, I guess you did summon two earlier. Maybe we should work on that – you might’ve gotten it earlier because it’s similar to your guns.”

“Joy o joy.” The plates on the other side of her ribs tore off, too. She moved to the ones covering her stomach, now. “We should… probably start working on control soon, then.”

“Probably,” Danny agreed, tearing the last plate of armor off of her legs. He hesitated as he looked her over – she pointed to her back, and he smiled gratefully as he moved over. “I can drop by tonight, if you want? I sneak out of the house all the time for patrols, but Sam and Tucker can handle those for tonight.”

“You’re not afraid that they’ll get hurt?” Working on the plates on her stomach while Danny was at her back wasn’t ideal, but she would make do. “They don’t even have armor, do they?”

“I’m afraid every time one of them goes out,” Danny confessed, quietly. She could hear him shifting, but she couldn’t see him while he was behind her. “And I was afraid every time you went out, too. None of you have – had – ghost powers, but you all keep going out anyway. And that scared me. Because I couldn’t always be there. I couldn’t always keep you safe, especially you, Valerie. Because you wouldn’t let me.”

An uncomfortable silence fell, broken only by the sound of their knives scraping past the remaining bits of armor. Finally Danny broke it again, voice heavy with unshed tears.

“I thought you died, Valerie. And it would’ve been my fault. Because I didn’t beat the ghost fast enough. Because I didn’t catch Cujo before he ruined your life. Because I didn’t stop Vlad before he turned you into a ghost hunter. Into his little puppet.” A sigh, weary. “Because I wasn’t good enough.”

Shit. She wasn’t any good with emotions, with comforting people. But she had to try, at least. Danny was her friend, and he was genuinely broken up about this. Blaming himself for something completely out of his control.

“Danny,” she said, as gently as she could. “Don’t be a fucking idiot.”

She reached behind her to grab his hand – settled for his arm when she caught that instead. She met his eyes over her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, okay? It was my decision to hunt ghosts. I kept going out, knowing how dangerous it could be – how dangerous it is.”

“But–” he started to protest, but she shushed him.

“If anyone is to blame it’s Vlad, alright?” She turned to face him properly, trying to convey the right emotions. “It was Vlad who gave me my first weapons – my first suit. It was Vlad who kept pushing me on and on. If you’re gonna blame anyone, blame him.”

Danny laughed, his stony expression finally breaking. She smiled back. “Alright, alright. I’m fine with blaming Vlad.”

“Good.” She turned forward again, breaking another piece of armor off. They were getting close, now. “Because I just realized that there is another problem.”

“Uh oh.” A snap as Danny took off a part too. “What’s wrong now?”

“My dad.” The last piece went, her torso now free of armor. Just the few on her back and her right arm left. “He knows that I’m the Red Huntress – which you already knew because you revealed my secret identity to him. If I tell everyone that the Red Huntress died, what about him?”

A sound somewhere between a growl and a groan. Then a loud crack as another piece of armor went. “I dunno. You could… tell him that it’s a new feature of your suit? And that you lied about dying as an excuse for your truce with Phantom?”

She snorted as she turned to offer him her arm. She didn’t want to risk stabbing herself by trying to remove it left-handed. “That might just be the worst lie I’ve ever heard, Danny, and I’ve heard you tell a lot of shitty excuses.”

“Yeah, well, what am I supposed to say?” He twisted the knife under one of the plates on her arm. “’Sorry Mr. Lancer, I just gotta go punch Skulker real quick’? I bet that that would go over well.”

“Yeah, ha ha.” She rolled her eyes at him, kicking him gently with her right foot. “But seriously, Danny, how did you tell your parents?”

He froze, knife hovering just above her arm. Why did he–

Oh. The Fentons hunt Phantom. They don’t… they don’t know. They must not know – they love Danny too much to keep it up otherwise.

The guilty expression on Danny’s face confirmed her suspicion.

He never told his parents.

“What the hell– Really, Danny? You didn’t tell them?!” Her fists clenched, and she felt heat building up behind her eyes. Making them glow, no doubt. “Why the fuck not?! Why would you let them hunt you?”

“I–” He fidgeted, then fell silent again. Went back to work, prying off the last bits of armor remaining on her arm. “I never… told anybody. Sam and Tucker were there for my accident. Jazz saw me transform – and then didn’t tell me until like a year later – and Vlad… Yuck. Vlad found out because he punched Phantom until I ran out of energy and transformed back.”

The plate he was working on came loose, and he moved to the last one – the last one beside her glove, that was. “I just… I know I should’ve told them. I almost did so many times. But I… I was scared. Am scared. And I know that they love me more than they hate ghosts, but…”

He fell silent. Valerie let it linger, content to sit in the quiet. The only sound was Danny’s knife scratching along the armor.

“You gotta tell them,” she finally said, as the last piece broke in half and released. “Sooner or later they’ll find out, Danny. Won’t it be better to just tell them, on your own grounds? Instead of having them find out when you get, I don’t know, shot down?”

Danny doesn’t answer, just dug the knife into the glove – loosening the connections so she can take it off. It clicked loose, and finally she was free.

“Yeah, you’re right.” The knife in his hand suddenly fell apart, melting into water. The one Valerie had laid aside followed the same fate. “I guess… I guess I should. Before it’s too late.”

She smiled at him, and he shot her a hesitant grin back. “Good. And I’ll tell my dad as well – about me, that is. Not about you or Dani. Or Vlad, I guess.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Danny scrambled up onto his feet, then offered his hand to her.

She took it, dusting the soot and bits of armor off of herself. “So I’ll see you tonight at my place?”

“Yeah.” He smirked, then shifted to his ghost form – to Phantom. All the ash and dust had disappeared off of him – even his hair was immaculate and white. “See you tonight, Val.”

Then he launched himself off, leaving her to pick her own way back home. She tracked the direction he went, and realized she was just a street away from her apartment in Elmerton.

“Jerk,” she laughed under her breath. Then she walked home, the core in her chest humming in pleasure.