Mossmask: At one point this story was taking a backseat to my other fic, GatG, but I've lost my muse, inspiration, and direction for that all at once. This fic has always had direction, and that hasn't changed since the day I first conceived the idea. So, I guess that means this fic just burst it's way up to the top rung on my priorities. It's about time, too.
~Cya on the other side.
Phantom of Amity Park
Danny Phantom fanfiction
by The Cinderninja
The nine-year-old girl ran through the garden, dragging her brother by his wrist. She had long brown braids falling down her back and wore a black turtleneck sweater with a weird sort of 'D' printed on the front in white ink – her mother had bought it for her less then an hour ago at a local giftshop, after only six minutes of constant high-pitched begging.
"Come on, I found a ghost! A real live ghost!"
Her brother looked irritated but let her drag him nonetheless. "I really doubt that. And if it is a ghost, then it can't be alive."
"Don't be such a spoilsport! He said he'd tell me a story."
I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up. I wasn't sure what it was right away, but something just felt different. And completely wrong. As I sat myself up slowly, the first thing I noticed was my hands. They were covered in glowing white gloves.
I was still in ghost form? That was odd. Usually, when I get knocked out I automatically change back. Odd, but not completely impossible. It had happened on a few occasions in the past. So I guess I didn't think it was that big a deal at the time.
I was still trying to get my bearings, and had a killer headache. I rubbed my hands against my eyes, trying to clear my vision and get a good view of where I was. I was sitting in a pile of concrete – the remains of what used to be a big fountain, in the middle of the park. I recognized the place right away, but I couldn't remember what I had been doing there.
Frowning, I pulled myself up. I actually had to phase intangible at one point, when I realized that my legs were pinned by a chunk of fallen concrete. I winced. That looked painful. It would probably hurt tomorrow. I was just surprised – and incredibly lucky – that I apparently hadn't broken anything. It was in that next minute, as I was standing beside the fountain and staring, completely clueless as to what had happened, when I finally pinned exactly what it was that was bothering me – I wasn't breathing.
The next sensation to hit me was overwhelming panic. It felt a bit like when I had first realized that I was a ghost. I tried to breath, but ended up choking and sputtering awkwardly. It just wasn't happening. I stopped as another thought occurred to me, and held a hand against my chest, searching desperately for a heartbeat that I already knew wasn't there. I felt sick. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good.
I know, I know. I'm a ghost, right? Why am I freaking out about not breathing? My missing heartbeat? Well... I'm only half ghost. I'm still half human! And the way my two halves interact...well, I never really understood it. But the thing is I could use some – not all, of my ghost powers without actually transforming. I could still be a normal human kid with ghost powers.
But it worked both ways. When I was in ghost form, I still had a few of my human traits. Like the ability - the need - to breathe, and a heartbeat for example. A few other things too, but still. These were most important. They were kinda my focus at the moment. So obviously, if I didn't have those, then... I shuddered at the implications.
I was really freaking out here. I mean, I woke up in the middle of the park, alone, with no idea what had happened. And apparently a lot more ghost then the last time I checked. Finally, I realized that there was one last thing I could do. Searching inside of myself, I can't begin to explain how relieved I was when I felt those familiar rings split around me, turning me back into my regular, human self.
But the relief was short lived. I still wasn't breathing. I still couldn't find a heartbeat. And I was still freezing cold. Normally, my human self was a lot warmer than my ghost half, despite the ice powers I had in both forms. But I suppose that was because of blood circulation and the fact that I didn't have my ice core as a human... but that's besides the point.
I honestly didn't know what was happening. What had happened. But right now, I didn't care. I was myself again. My normal, human self. So what if I wasn't breathing? Did I care? Not a chance. Well, I did, but I managed to convince myself that I didn't, because I really didn't want to care. Not right now. Now I had to get home. I could care later...
Because as long as I was human, I wasn't a ghost. And as long as I wasn't a ghost, I wasn't dead. Even if science wanted to contradict me. I was still here, right? That's good enough for me. I shivered, suddenly crossing my arms and looking around with a feeling of paranoia.
It was late – it was already dark out. I had almost certainly missed curfew by now. That thought got me going. I turned around and sprinted out of the park, in the direction of home. It would have been a lot faster if I'd flown, but right now I wasn't comfortable going ghost. I would make it home like a normal human being.
It was still the weirdest feeling, as I ran but didn't feel myself needing to gasp for breath. I mean, hey, Phantom may be pretty fit, but for some reason, unlike injuries, that never transferred over. For the first time, the lack of breath and pulse didn't actually bother me. I kinda liked it. I ran the whole way home without stopping. When I got there, I didn't feel like my chest was about to burst. There was no painful pounding from my overworked heart, no choking and gasping or tasting blood in the back of my throat. Yeah, I could get used to this.
No, I didn't tell Jazz - my sister. Or my best friends Sam or Tucker. Why should I? I didn't know what was going on, I didn't want to worry them yet – at least, that's what I told myself. I think my mind was made up as soon as I realized I could still transform back in the park. Of course I knew what was wrong, on some subconscious level. It was obvious.
I was dead. But somehow, I wasn't. And as long as I could still pretend, I was going to. If I let my friends and sister in on it... they'd ruin everything. They'd make a big deal of it, they'd... they wouldn't let me act like nothing was wrong, they'd probably make me tell mom and dad. So I couldn't tell them.
Once a halfa always a halfa, I guess. The more I thought about it the next day, the more sense it made to me. When I, uh... when... well, you know. When I was alive – I could go ghost. I was a human with a ghost half. And my ghost half shared the same traits as my living human half, because ghost or not, I was still alive.
So now... I guess it's the same thing. But all backwards. I'm not a kid with ghost powers. I'm a ghost with... I don't know. Not human powers. But I can still be human. Or pretend to. I can still be myself. I don't know how it all works, don't ask me because I can't explain it. All I know is that even when I was a ghost I was still alive. But now, even as a human, I'm... not.
But I promised I'd stop thinking about that. I'm not going to worry about it. I promised. I looked down at my hands, as I sat in my desk. My normal, human hands. My normal, human self. And I looked up,at my normal, human friends. Classmates. Teacher. But it still felt wrong. I felt empty, hollow. I felt horrible, like there's nothing there inside me. I wondered if this was what the other ghosts felt like. I was still still staring at my hands. I didn't notice.
"Danny!" Suddenly, Sam's voice snapped me out of it, and I jumped, looking over at her.
"Uh, sorry.. what?" I asked, kind of embarrassed.
She shook her head slightly, and met my eyes. She looked worried. "I was asking if you were okay. You're acting sort of... weird." she paused there, looking for the right word.
I didn't answer for a long moment. That sick feeling came back. After a while though, I turned away from her and picked my pencil back up. "Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine."
