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omegasmileyface · 2 years ago

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The Forest, the Trees, the Fire I: CATALYST

Chapter 3

woawoawoa chapter 3 :) this chapter more than doubles the word count of the story thus far! Authors: @ectolemonades, me, @attackradish. Artist: @/crunchysart

For the full characters list, word count, content warning, and a directory to all the currently available chapters and related content, see the Table of Contents!

full summary: The world outside of Amity Park has learned about the existence of ghosts, and the time for first impressions has arrived. The delicate public consciousness could be disrupted by the slightest ripple. Danny Fenton is being ripped apart from all sides, and when he finally breaks, the ripples will be very big indeed.

warnings: self-worth issues, small meltdowns, that kinda thing

words: 3388

AO3 link

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===

October 6, 2006

Danny tried to find a way to rest his head without the school bus vibrating his brains out. They’d left city limits forever ago, and the excitement that gripped everyone this morning had died down. Sitting next to Tucker had fought off the boredom for most of the trip, but conversation ran dry a couple miles back. Even the back of the bus had gotten quiet. There’s only so many unique 'would you rather?' scenarios that a group of teenagers who already see each other every week for football anyway can think up.

Danny leaned his head against the seat in front of him, the bitter bus seat smell prickling his nostrils. Gravity dragged his body into an increasingly uncomfortable slouch, the vinyl clinging to his forehead and stretching his facial features upwards until his skin stung. Bone ground against bone as his vertebrae tried to accommodate the unnatural arch his neck had been forced into. Eventually the discomfort won over the exhaustion, and Danny sat up straight again, unsatisfied and unchanged. Bound to do it again. Like Sisyphus.

They had to have been on this bus for AT LEAST, like, half an hour.

“You’d think they’d build a laser tag place a little closer to the city. You know, so people could actually go there,” Tucker remarked.

“Well, isn't this some GIW thing? I bet they saw one of those dilapidated roadside fun-whatevers and just said ‘kids like these, right?’ and nabbed it without thinking.”

“Well, they’d be right. Laser tag rules." Tucker slid off his headphones. "Really, how badly could they ruin something like laser tag?“

“It’s the GIW. They’ll find a way.”

“C’mon, Danny. A year ago you woulda been even more excited for this trip than me! Even if it is about hunting ghosts, it’s not like we haven’t done that before." Tucker rubbed his shoulder against Danny's and adopted his best 'cheer up, Sport, we're on our way to Disney as we speak!' voice. "Could be fun!”

As patronizing as he was being (and Danny immediately got him back for that shoulder rub), Tucker was right. Spending half the school day at a laser tag place should have been a dream come true! Maybe he could let himself enjoy this.

“Tell you what," Danny said. "I will keep myself open to the possibility of having fun! Whether it happens or not is none of my business."

“That’s more like it! I was beginning to worry Sam’s goth spores finally took over your frontal lobe.”

“Not yet, Tuck. I haven’t fallen that far.”

“I dunno, you seem pretty close,” he teased.

“Am not!”

“I’m gonna come to class one day and I’ll see you in a long sleeved striped shirt and guyliner.”

“That’s emo, not goth.”

“A-HA! And since when do you care about that distinction, my friend who totally isn’t infested with spores?”

“Shut up!” Danny shoved him playfully.

“You’re just saying that because…”

“HEY! I THINK I SEE IT!” shouted Mikey from the front of the bus. Conversation burst from its grave as the students clamored to catch a glimpse of their destination.

“Alright, everyone, settle down! We’re almost there, but let’s stay professional and orderly.” Mr. Lancer shakily stood up at the head of the bus. “What did I say about opening windows? Mr. Baxter! Stay on your side of the aisle.” He plopped down again.

“Hey, Danny, what do you see?” asked Tucker.

Braving the buzz of the glass, Danny pressed against the window for the widest view ahead. Amid the fields of soybeans and rotting grain elevators stood a warehouse with a highlighter-colored wall and a parking lot. Out front was a sign in an inscrutable font on an impressive pole. He couldn’t read it at all through the vibrations.

“Well?”

“It’s big. I think the front is spray painted or something.”

“Oh, maybe the building’s an independent thing. You know how the government is about spray paint.”

“Let’s hope,” Danny sighed.

They lurched around in their seats as the bus slowed and veered into the parking lot, where another bus was already unloading. Danny waved when he saw Sam in the crowd, but she didn’t look over. The bus parked, and Mr Lancer rose to block the front.

“Okay! Just a reminder that we are not going to be rushing inside right off the bat! We are going to gather by the front of the bus and then go in in an orderly fashion.”

Danny and Tucker stayed in their seats as the A-listers barged to the front of the bus. They only followed once they were urged to hurry up.

When Danny got a better look at the spray paint mural, disappointment settled on his shoulders. It was covered in gross-looking cartoon ghosts getting shot at by some guy in sunglasses. Sighing, he braced for the ectophobic propaganda that was undoubtedly going to be inside. Damn. Right after he got his hopes up.

There was way more going on in the foyer than he expected. It wasn’t just a tight room with a front counter; there were a couple arcade machines and quite a few benches. They seemed to be prepped for larger crowds, at least for Amity. Plastered on the walls were some “informative” posters about ghosts and what to do if you see one. Guides on how to support the GIW in your community and bullshit like that. There was also a sorry-looking ball pit in the corner.

Mr. Lancer and Ms. Driftwind, the bio teacher, had ganged up on some of the staff. They were all huddled around a clipboard and pointing at students intermittently.

“C’mon, Danny. I see Sam brooding near the ball pit. Whatever we're waiting for, it’s gonna take a while, so we might as well hang out.” Tucker gestured for him to follow with a jerk of his chin.

Sam started talking without even looking up at them. "Do you think they have a snack bar here?"

Danny looked around. "I don't see any."

"Me neither. But it would be weird not to have one, right? At an entertainment center?"

Tucker boldly stuck his feet in the ball pit without even looking. "Maybe they can't get catering all the way out here?"

"You don't get catering for a snack bar. You just get ingredients shipped."

Danny grabbed a ball out of the pit and ignored the way Sam recoiled in disgust. "If the GIW owns the whole building, it's probably weird. Maybe they have a sketchy cafeteria in the back. 'Hello, hip kids! Come on back for a radical snack! We have hot dogs, and they're made out of normal meat.'"

His friends laughed. Somehow, they ended up talking about how weird American commercials for Japanese video games were, and before they knew it they were all in the ball pit, passionately pelting each other with plastic while doing impressions of overly-enthusiastic TV gamers. Danny went wide with a ball aimed at Tucker, and it hit Mr. Lancer in the side. He glared. Whoops.

Ms. Driftwood clapped her hands rhythmically to get the scattered teenagers' attention. "Ravens! A third of you will be heading in to hear the rules now. If and when we call your name, please group up neatly by this door."

Before long, Dash's wish had come true and they were both in the first group together. Better yet, Danny's friends weren't joining them. Joyous day.

"Alright, kids! Have fun!"

As they passed through the door, someone yelled "kill somebody, Baxter!" and Danny felt the weight of an omen there.

As soon as he could, he got out of Dash's line of sight and to the back of the line. He knew he'd be found eventually, but at least for now there were a couple other A-listers in the group, and they were too busy hyping each other up to even look in his direction. When the door opened, they were the first through it.

As the rest of the students filed in, he saw a few people’s shirts light up, and a wave of nostalgia washed over him. Years ago, he’d begged his parents to take him to a local rock show when he’d heard there was a meteorite, and while he was there he saw some rocks that fluoresced under UV light.

He wondered if ghosts were fluorescent. Crap. What if he was fluorescent? He couldn’t just step out of line, everyone would notice and there would be questions. The door was several steps away. Ancients, what if this was the end? Shit shit shit shit. Shit!

Ghosts do not fluoresce under UV light.

Danny relaxed his shoulders. He hated being this paranoid about everything. It was over, he was okay, that’s what mattered. Breathing as deeply as he could without getting stares, he waited for the blacklights to start being fun again. They didn’t.

“So. Who here has played laser tag before?” asked a laser room employee. Several hands shot up.

“Okay, cool, cool. So you know how this is going to go. Everyone else, this is for you. See the vests and blasters against the wall? You’re going to need to put the vests on, making sure the big triangle is centered on your chest.”

There were students suiting up before the instructor had finished talking. Danny subconsciously calculated how long he should wait until grabbing a vest of his own to draw the least attention.

“Ok, everyone is doing good so far! Now, as some of you have already heard, this is going to be a little different than usual laser tag. You’re going to be taking the role of GIW operatives, fighting against ghosts hidden in the maze. Fake ones, of course.” The instructor chuckled at his own joke.

“There’s a variety of targets hidden in the maze, some ghostly and some harmless. The more ghosts you shoot, the more points you get! If you shoot a civilian target, you lose points. And it’s not just a glorified shooting range, you gotta be careful and have sharp reflexes. If you don’t shoot the ghost within a few seconds after it jumps out at you, you lose a life. Everyone got that?”

The group nodded and murmured with agreement.

“Are you guys ready to kick some slimy ghost butt?”

A halfhearted “yeah” rippled through the room.

“Alright, we can do better than that! Are you guys ready?”

A “yeah” that was equal parts excited and begrudging rang out. Danny wished he could melt people with his mind. First they desecrate laser tag and blacklights, then they talk about how he’s less than human and deserves to fucking die, and they stick him in a confined space with his bully and demand that he play enthusiastic? Fuck you.

The instructor seemed appeased.

“Alright then, soldiers, let’s go go go!” He swung open the doors to the course and the crowd bolted out, with Danny caught in the flow. The techno music hit him like a wall. He didn’t see Dash, and he didn’t want to. He’d already turned a corner by the time he called out.

“Hey, where’s Fenton? I need him to watch my six.”

Danny unwound his shoulders a little. That wasn’t a problem he’d have to deal with for a while.

Turning another corner, he nearly slammed face first into a fluorescent green cutout. He shoved down his instinctual response to go ghost, instead swinging his gun up and shooting at the little black thing in its chest. His gun flashed and made an approving noise, and the cutout folded back against the wall.

As Danny made his way deeper into the maze, his mood brightened. Not by much, but… noticeably. The beat got his blood pumping, he was waist deep in fog, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t shot ghosts before. Even the blacklights were regaining some appeal.

The next cutout was of the Box Ghost, who he happily gunned down. A shoddy representation of Technus swung out behind him, and was taken down just as fast. It felt good. Pretty much all the ghosts here were either perfectly generic or ones he had grudges against. They even had that jerk with the red eyes and the memory powers, who Danny took out with a masterful 360 no-scope. Not that his gun had a scope, but it was still cool.

His spirits dropped when he turned a corner and saw Dash Baxter in the middle of the path. He was looking down another hallway, and hadn’t noticed him yet.

Dash lowered his gun, smiling like he’d cleverly avoided a trap. A second later, his vest buzzed violently.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?“

Curiosity got the better of Danny, and he jogged over to see what had Dash worked up. It was a cutout of him. Well, of Phantom. Dash’s vest buzzed again.

“I’m not shooting Phantom!” Dash threw down his gun with a loud clatter. “This thing’s freaking busted.”

His vest buzzed a third time, and a loud recording rang out overhead. “Player sixteen: eliminated.”

“No, some genius set up the course wrong! I’d better get a second round after this.”

A tinny laser sound rang out, and the cutout sprung shut.

“Phantom’s a ghost, idiot,” said Elliot, before running off to score more points.

“Idiot?! You think I'M the idiot here?! He's on our side!” Dash’s nose crinkled into a full snarl, and his eyes flashed in Danny’s direction.

“I bet you feel the same way, Mr. Fenton Works! Huh?” Dash marched up and seized him by the shoulder straps. “Bet you’d shoot him down while he was distracted saving someone, or some shit, because… I don’t know, there’s something fuckin' wrong with you or something!” Dash threw him aside.

The commotion was drawing a crowd. There were two students behind Dash, and Danny heard footsteps behind him. He wasn’t getting a chance to appease Dash, not that he wanted that asshole to think they were on the same side of anything.

“Fact, we all got saved by Phantom just a couple weeks ago when that weirdo meat lady attacked at Star's birthday party!"

“Dash, Phantom’s putting on an act. We all know that,” said Valerie.

“What act? You think he’d be risking his life every night saving people from ghosts if it was all an act? If he wanted us dead he’d let us freaking die!”

Liam scoffed. “He wants us to think ghosts can be trusted, duh. And it looks like it’s working. Why do you care? Do you have a crush on him or something?”

The tensed muscles in Dash’s neck spelled death. “Why you little—!” Dash lunged forward. A hand seized his arm.

“Hey!" One of the staff materialized from the shadows. "That kind of behavior isn’t going to fly here. Mr. Baxter, right? You’ll be coming with me.”

“Hell no! Why don’t you explain why Phantom’s set up as an enemy? Trying to get us to turn on our local hero? Thinning out the competition?”

“You’re coming with me, this isn’t a request. We’ll talk about this later.”

“Make me!” Dash squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest.

The staff member shrugged. “You look like you play sports. Think for a moment. You’re at a school-sponsored event. Wanna bet that there won’t be consequences?”

Dash scowled, then his shoulders sunk. He sulked after the agent, leaving awkward silence in his wake. Danny just stood there. You don’t just start playing again after something like that.

===

In time, the round was officially over, and Danny went back into the lobby without looking at the leaderboard.

“Man, Danny, you look almost as bad coming out as you did going in. Was it really that bad?” Tucker asked.

Danny blew through his teeth. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Sam’s fork foraged through the green stuff she brought from home. “Does it have something to do with whatever Dash did that got him escorted outside?”

“In fact, it has everything to do with what Dash did.” Danny scowled.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging, what did he do?”

“Must’ve been something pretty bad. He never gets more than a slap on the wrist.”

“He decided to make a big old scene about Phantom being a hero, how he saved our lives and shouldn’t be hated like other ghosts and whatever.”

Tucker glanced around, then leaned in close.

“Isn’t that… a good thing, though?” he whispered.

“No,” Danny hissed. “I’m not letting myself be endorsed by Dash fucking Baxter. He's the worst bully at Casper, he doesn’t get to like Phantom.”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe this could be to our advantage. He might leave you alone if he thinks you’re on the same side.”

“Maybe!” Danny cursed himself and lowered his voice. “It might’ve been nice to catch a bit of slack. But I’m not gonna degrade myself by walking up to him and telling him he’s not alone, that I care about Phantom too and no hard feelings and we can help him together and it’s all going to be ok. I’m past groveling for his approval.”

“…Are you past buying dumb tracksuits too?” asked Sam dryly.

An icy shock stabbed through Danny's chest. It was just a joke. He knew it was a joke, they teased each other like this all the time. This was stupid. It’s no big deal. It’s not like he didn’t deserve it.

The shock faded into a buzzing ball of dread and weight. Tucker’s concerned face had been replaced with a lighthearted smile, and the corners of Sam’s lips were turned subtly upwards. They didn’t mean anything by it, on any other day he’d have laughed and quipped right back.

He stood up. Everything was just a bit too much. Tucker said something, but Danny was already on his way to the front doors.

Fresh air filled his lungs. He hadn’t realized how much the echoing cacophony was getting to him. Out here, every sound was clear and distinct. Bits of gravel left over from snow season crunched under his feet. Cars occasionally whooshed past on the highway. Getting caught out here could mean trouble, but he doubted anyone would come out. Eventually settling for a yellow parking bumper near the corner of the building, he sat down and braced his elbows on his knees.

Right as his shoulders were relaxing, he heard the weather stripping of the front doors scrape across the concrete. He bolted out of sight.

“Mr. Lancer, I think you know what I brought you out here to discuss.”

Danny’s ears perked up.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into him. He’s a good kid, best quarterback we’ve had in years.”

“I’m sure he is, he didn’t strike me as a delinquent. Neat hair, strong posture, and as you said a football player. Good all-American young man. But that boy’s been exposed to some dangerous ideas, and it seems like some of them have begun to take root.”

Mr. Lancer sighed, with a concern that Danny wasn��t used to hearing. “Is he going to be put on a watchlist?”

“No, nothing that drastic. He’s a teenager, he’s bound to make some stupid mistakes. The government understands that. But to make sure nothing worse comes of this, it would be a good idea to sign him up for some mandatory counseling sessions on ghosts and respecting authorities.”

“I’ll make sure that happens. Thank you for being so understanding.”

“Of course. The GIW is here to keep you safe, not to bring down the hammer on impressionable teenagers.”

Danny sneered at that last sentence. As if.

“Thank you again, regardless.”

He heard them go back inside. Knowing that they had just used the front door made getting back in unnoticed suddenly feel a lot more daunting. Maybe he’d just wait around for the trip to end and merge in with the rest of the students as they lined up for the bus. Look for ladybugs in the grass or something. And he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of bailing on Sam and Tucker either. He could just wait until they forgot or it got too awkward to mention so they wouldn’t try to apologize to him even though he was the one in the wrong.

That’s what he’d do. It was gonna be a long wait.

#danny phantom #my writing #invisobang 2023 #the forest the trees the fire #ftf catalyst

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