[Author's Note: Randomly decided to binge-watch Danny Phantom, which was my favorite show when I was younger. Rekindled my love for the show. I feel like it ended far too soon and that there was so much more of this world to explore, so I'm going to write my own adventures. Enjoy!]
"Thanks for coming with me today, guys."
The campus was bustling with newcomers from all corners of the country. Colorful banners lined the doorways of buildings, reading different variants of welcome, and signs were posted on the corners of the greenest grass that showed facts about the school, pictures of the mascot, and arrows pointing to the tour. Danny was holding an introductory folder filled with descriptions of the campus and its majors.
"Of course. Wouldn't miss your big astronaut debut."
His friends were with him, having volunteered to go with him instead of his family so that they could "attend to business as usual." One of them was his girlfriend, Sam, who had her black hair down over her shoulders to prevent a potential sunburn on her pale skin; her usual indifferent attitude didn't seem to stop her from grabbing whatever free stuff she could. The other person was lagging behind—Danny's other best friend, Tucker, who was somewhat lost in his own world, his glasses askew as he played a game on his phone.
"It's not an astronaut debut… It's not even a debut," Danny muttered. "I haven't graduated high school yet."
"Yeah, but it's your first step, Danny," said Sam, casually taking his folder and looking through some of the pamphlets. "The first step toward your astronaut debut… I mean, if you still want it."
"Of course I do. I still don't know why you two came with me, though." Danny glanced at his Tucker, who was catching up from behind.
"Moral support!" he piped, finally sprinting toward his friends after realizing he was behind. He practically shoved his screen in Danny's face to reveal only one bar of service in the top corner. "Could also serve as the occasional reality check."
Danny pushed the phone away. "And what kind of reality check are you suggesting, exactly?"
"The wi-fi here sucks, dude. You should consider a different college."
"Or not. They have some great science programs." Sam glanced up from the information folder, tapping on a certain part of the page with her black-painted nail. "Even for environmental science."
"You're considering coming here, too?" asked Tucker, knowing that she was the only one particularly interested in the subject.
"Duh. I have choices to make, too, you know."
"You want to come to college with me?" said Danny. "I'm flattered."
"This isn't about you. Though I guess that would be a plus," Sam added, smiling. "I don't know. I definitely want to do something with environmental science, though I might minor in digital art or something."
Tucker arched a brow. "Art? You?"
"Hello?" Sam nudged Danny hard in the chest, where the Danny Phantom logo sat ("Ow," he grunted). "My art is everywhere. I practically made him."
"His logo," said Tucker.
"The logo that everyone knows about. Think about what that will say on my resume. The logo that I made just so happens to play a part in saving the world, and with my expansive knowledge of environmental science, I'll play a part in changing it further."
"Starting with changing the lunch menu?" Danny suggested.
Sam gave him a side-glare.
"Resume schmesume," Tucker continued, waving his hand idly at the both of them. "Who needs a glorified piece of paper to secure their future, anyway?"
"In this economy? Everyone," said Sam sourly.
"Not everyone. I've got a kickin' job as mayor of Amity Park."
"I still don't know if that's legal," said Danny.
"I still don't know how you even managed that. I thought it was just some publicity thing until a new mayor got elected, but you're still going strong three years in."
Tucker stopped in his tracks. "I'm hurt, Samantha."
"Anyway," Danny cut in. "Maybe Sam's right about this place. I've heard good things about the science programs."
"Why are you even attempting to go to college anyway?" Tucker asked, walking with them again. "One, you hate school. Two, you've already been in space and you're already considered a hero."
"Yeah, well, being a hero isn't really on their list of requirements. But there's not a lot of requirements left, at least." Danny pulled out an oft-crumpled paper from his pocket. "Perfect vision, check." He discreetly flashed his eyes green to prove it. "Flight experience, check. And I'd do okay with the physical stuff. I just need a college degree in some kind of science field and I can start applying and training with NASA."
"And what about you being technically dead?" Tucker asked.
This time Sam aimed her glare at him. After some more extensive research on ghost biology courtesy of the Fenton family, Tucker knew that Danny's powers were the result of ectoplasmic properties and had nothing to do with death (as far as they knew), but he still liked to joke about it from time to time. It seemed that Danny wasn't the only one now sort of tired of hearing ghost jokes. (Ghost puns, on the other hand, were always welcome.)
"Half dead," said Danny. "I mean, half ghost. There's still that human part I need to work on. Better make sure I do it right."
"He'd probably be able to use the ghost half to his advantage anyway," said Sam. "With all of this considered, he's a shoo-in."
Danny chuckled. "Right. Let me just survive high school first before we even consider astronaut stuff, though, all right?" He paused. "And… ghost stuff. We're here as normal high school seniors, so let's act like it."
"Actually, we should act like normal college students," said Tucker. "People here can practically smell upcoming freshman. We don't blend in." He directed his gaze to a group of older students, who were grinning at the gaggle of visitors.
"We're here for a tour of the university, Tucker," said Sam. "There's not much blending in we can do."
Still chatting, they walked over to what appeared to be the main hall at the heart of the campus. There was a bespectacled student in a red vest at the door letting in visitors with a dull expression. When the trio eagerly arrived, he handed them yet another pamphlet, which showed the tour schedule and list of academic buildings.
"Why so many pamphlets?" Danny asked, hesitantly taking it.
"The university has plenty of information to offer," the young man droned. "It's always beneficial to, uh"—he glanced at some ink written on his inner arm—"arm yourself with knowledge."
"Arm." Tucker laughed, prodding the greeter's arm. "I get it."
The greeter only blinked back, unamused.
"Well, thank you, um... Greg," said Sam, squinting at the student's blurred name tag.
"Whatever. Enjoy your visit."
"Any idea of when we'll visit the environmental center?" Sam asked him, taking a pamphlet as well. "Or maybe the dining hall? I want to see if they have any ultra-recyclo-vegetarian options available."
"Vegan, huh," the guy grunted. "Don't ask me, I'm just here to hold the door open for some extra cash. Ask the tour guide. Who's actually giving the tour."
Sam scowled. "Fine." She gestured to his arm. "By the way, you spelled 'knowledge' wrong."
The student averted his eyes, reaching into his pocket and taking out a pen.
"Friendly people around here," said Tucker as they walked past him. He nudged Danny in the side. "You should zap him."
"I said no more ghost stuff," Danny reminded him. "Although…"
He considered it for a moment, peering back at the figure, who was leaning against the door frame, recoloring the missing lines on his arm. After a few seconds of thought, Danny decisively pointed his index finger at him and shot a tiny blast of energy at the greeter's backside.
The resounding "Ow!" and the following swear from the doorway rendered the boys hysterical.
"Nice, you guys," said Sam coolly. "Way to make a good impression."
Danny laughed. "Ah, he's just here for the extra cash."
"I wonder if he saw that," Tucker mused.
They arrived to a nearby group, where the visitors were completely engrossed in their own worlds. Even the reluctant greeter at the door seemed unfazed, rubbing his bottom and glancing around the room in confusion.
"I don't think anyone did," said Danny.
As if on cue, Tucker leaped forward and sang dramatically, "Danny Phantom?!"
Everyone turned their attention to him, some vocalizing "Huh?" and looking around, before ultimately finding nothing and returning to their business. Sam and Danny both hit Tucker on the arms, but Tucker only looked thoughtful, as though he had just received interesting results in some kind of experiment.
"Huh. The whole world knows Danny Phantom, but not so much Danny Fenton. At least, not outside Amity Park."
"It's hard to remember that Amity Park isn't the whole world," said Danny lightly.
The concept of a secret identity had been up in the air ever since the day three years ago that everyone called Disappearing Day. His immediate family knew, and all of the people at his school knew, leaving him free to go ghost when he needed to instead of worrying about hiding first. The people from around the world who helped in Antarctica knew. Even Valerie knew. And though Danny said his words in jest, it technically was true that being openly half-ghost was different than it was in the ghost-riddled, tight-knit community of Amity Park.
To this day, his human identity was still mostly secret. People knew that Danny Phantom was half-ghost but didn't know much about the other half. People knew Danny Phantom but didn't really know Danny Fenton.
Danny Fenton was okay with this. The idea of his human side being just as recognizable as his ghost side sounded way too exhausting.
It was as if Sam could read his mind. "So, that's good, right?"
"I dunno, I kind of like it. Gives me more of a chance to do something with my human life without any expectations." He shrugged. "College seems like a good place to start."
"I guess so. Kind of stinks that they'd only recognize half of you, though."
"It never bothered me before. Besides, it's kind of good to sit on the sidelines sometimes, you know?"
"The first tour begins in fifteen minutes!" a significantly more cheerful student also donned in a red vest called, skipping to the center of the room. "I repeat, fifteen minutes! Potential future Tigers, please meet here in the center of the lobby!"
"Oh, good, there's still time left for questions." Sam hastened over to the girl with her pamphlet in hand, having already written some things in its margins.
"I think she's been hanging out with Jazz too much," Tucker muttered.
"She just wants to make sure everything goes well. Looks like she's not trying to uphold that whole goth indifference thing anymore," said Danny casually, admiring her from afar. "She cares so much."
"Enough with the googly-eyes, man." Tucker patted him on the shoulder. "There's room for that later."
They talked for a while with the remaining students, the majority of which were still high school students like them. One of them was a girl seemingly just as well-versed in technology as Tucker – and perhaps even more talkative, such a thing was possible.
"It's just ridiculous, you know?" the girl said to nobody in particular. "Our society forces us to stay in school for years and years of our life, only to have us pay thousands of dollars for college that's supposed to be optional but actually mandatory if we want to have a job and survive in this world. You know, I'd just like to be able to learn things without feeling obligated. I've even been teaching myself to code lately." She lifted her device for emphasis.
"HTML or PHP?" Tucker piped.
"Both." She didn't look at him. "Anyways, like I said. Ridiculous."
"I hear that, girlfriend."
The comment prompted the girl to give Tucker a one-over. "Ugh."
"It was just an expression!" he called, watching as she walked away. He sighed, pocketing his beloved gadget. "I need to work on relating to humans."
"You're human, Tuck," said Danny.
"What's your point?"
"Five minutes, future Tigers!" the tour guide interjected. Sam cringed and covered her ears with an annoyed expression.
Danny glanced back at the group. "I guess that's that. We'd better hurry before we're late for the first…" He felt a chill go up his spine and eventually out of his parted lips, manifesting as a puff of visible air.
"…tour."
Oh, no.
The giant room became darker, as if the sun had disappeared behind gray clouds. But that definitely wasn't the case; when Danny looked up, all he could see was a ghostly shadow, so large it stretched across the glass of the ceiling, cloaking the lobby in darkness.
All it took was a look now. Danny caught Tucker's eye, then looked at Sam, who immediately forgot about her questions and ran over to him, digging in her pockets for one of his Dad's ghost hunting weapons. At the moment, all everyone else could do was stare up at the eerie presence, not sure of what else to do.
When Danny still hesitated to move, Sam looked at him imploringly. He'd seen this look before, so he made to glance back up at the sight.
"Not my town, not my problem?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.
Sam only rolled her eyes. "Do you really believe that?"
Danny looked around, realizing that the threat of ghosts likely wasn't as common as it was in Amity Park, where ghost portals ran rampant. No one else knew what to do about mysterious creatures randomly appearing on the roof. No one could fight it or figure out a way out of it. No one could fly up to the height of the oncoming ghost and give it a piece of their mind.
But Danny could. He could try, at least.
"No," he said.
Sam smiled knowingly, shoving the thermos into his hands.
"Then you know what to do."