Danny Phantom: A Long Nap
by John Rose
Shhhhhhh. Click. Sploosh. Drip. Beep, Beeeeep,Beep. Drip. A raven haired boy awoke in a tube with beeping all around him. He stumbled out of the tube in to a room filled with rubble and what seemed to be abandon machines. Cracks worked there way across the floor, walls, ceiling like vines. He laid down, not from exhaustion, but to stop the room from spinning. Where am I? Why can't I remember? He reached up to his face and rubbed it realizing it was wet. This thought process was interrupted by a surprise. Whiskers, I'm not old enough to have whiskers. Am I? The blue eyed boy got up, steadied himself, and then walked over to a shiny, metal machine. He, at first, didn't recognize his own face. It had thinned out, not to the point of starvation, but to the point of being matured. Then he noticed the whiskers, it looks like I haven't shaved in years. Danny turned around, looked at the tubes that were around his, then at the machinery around him. Then it hit him. Vlad's Lab? Why am I here? Danny's head pounded as if someone was taking a hammer to a stubborn nail that was actually his head. Danny was suddenly back in the lab when it was taken care of. He could see the lab when it was taken care of. He could see Vlad, Sam, Tucker, his parents, and his sister standing there. They were all sad and Danny wanted to reach out to them but he knew he couldn't. The glass was between them and Danny knew he was in bad shape.
Suddenly Danny was back in the room. He looked around wanting to know that the stairs had survived. He was seriously disappointed when he realized that they had been reduced to nothing more than twisted metal and rubble. The years he spent ghost fighting and his adventures with his friends came trickling slowly back. First came the knowledge that he hadn't kept secret. How am I going to get out of here? …The Ghost Zone. Danny turned to the corner of the room that he remembered Vlad's ghost portal being. It looked like a bicycle tire after a bad crash, but it still might work. Danny thought as walked over to it. He flicked buttons and turned knobs that he knew would start the machine. Danny's only reward was a few sparks and a clicking noise. He knew that he could get out of here, but how. Then two words dripped into his mind: Danny Phantom. Everything that happened prior to the weeks that's actions which ended him up in the tube came back to him. Danny concentrated on his alter ego, the ghost boy who had saved so many. His raven hair turned to a snow white. His clothes, which he had failed to inspect, tuned to a black and white jumpsuit with his symbol on it. The symbol was a white D with the lower part missing to create a P in the negative space on his chest. Danny's blue eyes finally became green.
This part had always bothered him. He could feel his heart not beating, and if he checked his pulse he knew he wouldn't find it. He knew he drew in breath only out of habit and not necessity. He knew that if he were to hold his breath that he would never turn blue, never pass out, and never need oxygen again. Danny floated up to the ceiling putting those feelings behind him for now and phased through it. As foot by foot went by he wondered if he would ever find the other side. He saw the remains of Vlad's house as he passed through it. When he reached the other side, he noticed that the sky was red, the grass had been burnt. He thought he could see rubble, but that was all he could see. The land was baron and Danny felt like he had something to do with it. Danny flew in the direction of Amityville Park, his home. Mom and Dad should be able to tell me what happened here. And what's with the dump truck of puberty that hit me.
Danny flew about fifteen minutes before he realized that he was too tired and needed to rest. He landed, reverted back to his living self, and leaned up against a tree. He slowly slumped down until he hit the ground. Why am I so weak? I should have been able to fly for hours on end, not just fifteen minutes. How long was I in that tube? Danny leaned his head against the tree and closed his eyes. When he opened them he was sitting in an alley of Amityville Park with water and trash sprawled about around him. He could hear something around the corner of the building. He got up, walked to it and peered a rounded the side into the road way. He saw Skulker laughing and firing missiles at random targets. "Whelp, were are you? Shouldn't you be here helping the people of this small and worthless town?" Skulker laughed.
"I'm going ghost." Danny shouted, feeling a return to the normalcy of his abnormal world. He flew around the corner of the building and fired his emerald-colored rays at his foe. Skulker hit a button on his belt and a green shield projected itself in the path of Danny's ray. "You are worthless whelp; you don't think I haven't upgraded my suit before taking you on? Hahahaha." "You don't know what kind of day I've had." Danny charged his ray and shot. Skulker's shield went down after Danny's shot and it was now Skulker's turn. Danny knew what was going to happen next, but suddenly the whole world was shaking and everything went dark. Danny opened his eyes to someone shaking his arm. Danny couldn't fully see their face, because his vision hadn't adjusted in this dark. "Hey, hey, wake up. Don't let them catch out here." They mysterious person rambled. "Hey, wait, slow down. Whose going to catch me? What day is it and who are you?... What do I know you, your voice is familiar." "Well let's get you into the light, and see who you are." The stranger grabbed Danny by the hand and dragged him into the light of the moon. "Danni?…is that you?" "Well, nice to see people know the resistance out here in Hollow Manor." Danni smiled the smile of a star who has just met one of her fans. "Hallow Manor… Don't cha mean Wisconsin?" Danny said. "Wisconsin…I haven't heard anyone call it that for about eight years. …Do I know you?" Danni stared at him as if she was trying to see through him. "Danny is…is that you?" "Yay, how is everybody? You, Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, … even Mr. Lancer?" Danny wasn't expecting the crushing hug Danni gave him.
Danni looked sadly disappointed. "Lancer is teaching combat and advanced combat techniques. Well, your mom is alright, Jack on the other hand isn't so well…" "What happened to my Dad Danni?" He was worried. It was the look in her eye. "Your Dad, Jack…Well I'll let your mom tell you. Everybody else is alright though you may not recognize them. Sam and Tucker have changed the most, not physically, though in that way they have changed, but emotionally. Sam and Tucker were both devastated when you left. Tucker was hit the hardest, Sam always thought you would come back to save us all. Tucker lost all hope for awhile because he believed that with you there the three of you could do anything." Danni was sad by this thought of Tucker, she hadn't known him very well before, but even she could see the difference between him now and him back then.
"Well let's get back to Amityville and see the rest of my friends and family." Danny was happy that soon he would have all the answers he needed.