AN: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.
Chapter One- Black & Blue
Danny Fenton slammed his alarm clock off and rolled out of bed. His thick black hair stuck up at every angle imaginable, and his back cracked as he stretched. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he headed to the bathroom to take a shower. The water hissed on and he stepped into the shower, letting the warm water wake him up slightly. He scrubbed away dirt and blood from his most recent ghost battles and then stepped out of the shower. He stood on a towel and went intangible, letting all the water that was on him drop to the ground. Being half ghost had its benefits, especially when Danny was tired. He picked up the towel and wrapped it around his waist before walking back into his room to get dressed.
Jazz knocked on Danny's door and waited for her little brother to open it. She frowned when she saw him. His eyes had dark shadows underneath them and exhaustion was written all over his face.
"Danny you haven't been sleeping well have you?" Jazz asked. Danny shook his head.
"How am I supposed to sleep when ghosts keep attacking the city?" Danny asked, irritated.
"I know you have a lot of responsibility, but maybe you should try and take a break for once." Jazz sighed, placing a hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny winced and pulled away, rubbing his shoulder lightly.
"I can't Jazz. If I don't stop those ghosts from destroying Amity Park, who will?" Danny said, lifing up his plain white tee shirt. His shoulder was heavily bruised.
"Valerie is a really good ghost hunter too Danny. Maybe you should give her a shot." Jazz suggested before walking out of Danny's room. Danny sighed and pulled open his closet, looking through his clothes. He pulled out a blue button down polo and put it on, rolling the sleeves up past his elbows. He grabbed his new black and white high tops and trudged down the steps to grab a bite to eat before he headed off to meet Sam and Tucker.
"Good morning sweetie, you look nice." Maddie Fenton said, sitting at the kitchen table.
"Thanks." Danny said, grabbing a piece of toast and plopping down into a chair. He put the toast in his mouth and pulled on one shoe.
"Are you ready for the first day of school?" Jack Fenton asked, emerging from the basement lab.
"I guess so." Danny said, his voice slightly muffled by the toast. He tugged on his other shoe and pulled the toast out of his mouth before eating it normally.
" That's my boy! Always ready for another challenge! That's why he's a Fenton!" Jack beamed before sitting down next to Maddie and helping himself to a piece of toast. Danny stood up and picked his backpack up off of the floor where he had put it last night.
"Well I gotta go, don't want to leave Sam and Tucker waiting." Danny said, heading out the door. He walked a few blocks before reaching Sam's house, where Sam and Tucker were waiting on her porch. Sam was wearing a black v-neck tee with a green tank top underneath, a black pleated miniskirt, black and green striped stockings, and her usual combat boots. Tucker had traded in his yellow hoodie and green cargo pants for a red teeshirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. He still donned his red beret and glasses though.
"Hey Danny. Ready for another exciting year at Casper High?" Sam sighed, walking down the few steps to meet Danny on the sidewalk. Danny rolled his eyes.
"You betcha." He said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Hey, think about it this way. Only one more year after this and we're done!" Tucker said, jumping down the steps.
"Yeah, but then we have at least four years of college." Sam pointed out. Tucker frowned and pulled out his PDA.
"But at least in college we get to study things we actually care about." Tucker said, his eyes glued to the PDA screen.
"Hey Fentonio! How was summer in loserville?" Dash Baxter jeered, slamming Danny into his locker. Danny glared at Dash and tried not to wince as the multiple bruises along his back screamed.
"Beat it Dash." Danny growled, standing up straight. Over the summer Danny had grown quite a bit and now he was taller than Dash. Dash snorted.
"What are you going to do if I don'?" Dash asked, challenging Danny. Danny clenched his fists and his eyes flashed green. Sam laid a hand on his unbruised shoulder.
"Danny don't bother with him. He's not worth your time." Sam said, glaring at Dash.
"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend Fenton. You don't want to mess with me." Dash said before storming off to join Kwan and the others. Danny took a deep breath and relaxed slightly.
"Dude, I didn't even realize how tall you got until just then." Tucker said. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?" Danny asked, opening his locker.
"You're taller than Dash now." Tucker said. Danny shrugged.
"I was too pissed off and in too much pain to even notice." Danny sighed, tossing his backpack into his locker. He tucked a mechanical pencil behind his ear, a pen in his pocket and turned his phone onto silent before taking out some notebooks and shutting his locker.
"What do you mean, you were in too much pain to notice?" Sam asked. Danny pulled back his shirts to reveal his black and blue shoulder.
"There's a lot more where that came from. I got the crap kicked out of me last night. Skulker, Desiree and a few others got out last night. I have bruises everywhere." Danny sighed, pulling his shirts back to cover the bruise. Sam frowned.
"Maybe you should take a break Danny." Sam said.
"Jazz said the same thing. She said let Valerie take care of a few creeps for once." Danny said, leaning against the lockers.
"Maybe Jazz is right Danny. Everyone needs to take a break sometimes, even you." Sam said, tucking her purple spider backpack into her locker. Tucker nodded in agreement.
"Dude, this weekend it's just going to be the three of us. No ghosts, no fighting, no ifs and or buts about it either." Tucker said, shutting his locker. Danny opened his mouth but Sam slapped her hand over it.
"No ifs, ands, or buts Danny. You need a break. You haven't had one all summer." Sam said firmly. Danny sighed and nodded in surrender. He was tired of being black and blue.
