Psycho Iguana: Yes it's me, Batholith Fetish, in disguise!! As is evident, I have created a new FF account, and from here forth will use this one and only this one. Dig??
Alrighty then! Well, here's the first four chapters of Out of Proportion, same as always; they'll be posted all at once. I still need to get off my lazy butt and write chapter five already...
Once I'm finished with Out of Proportion, stay tuned for the sequel: Love's Eternal Flame! That story will focus on Danny and Ember -- how they met, how they fell in love, why they married, etc -- and is basically the big missing chunk of what happened to Danny between this chapter and the next. So be on the look out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Big whoop.
Full Summary: Years after Amity Park turned their backs on him, Danny Phantom returns. But he's changed so much, that for Sam, everything is out of proportion. Will Danny ever be able to forgive his town and move on? Will his town ever be able to forgive themselves? And what's this about King Karsh?
Chapter One: What Have We Done?
Sam Manson sat at the edge of the lake, thrusting stones angrily into the dark water. Even though it was night time, her wet eyes glistened in the moonlight. She wasn't the only one who was depressed on this god forsaken day. Tucker, the Fentons, and many of the Ghost Boy's fans and admirers were mourning as well, at the loss of their loved one. No, don't worry, no one died, but he might as well have, because he sure as hell wasn't coming back, ever.
Danny Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom, had run away. Why, you ask? Well, let's rewind to an earlier part of the day...
"Yes! Flee, pitiful homo-sapiens! For I, Technus, master of all technology, shall blast your internal organs to oblivion! Muahaha!"
A very technic ghost, Technus, was floating around in Amity Park's sky, terrorizing the citizens and looking very pleased about it, which was evident in his highly irritating, villainous laugh. But wait, there's more!
"Hahaha! Citizens of Amity Park, prepare to perish under my cubical boxes of doom! Beware!"
A blue ghost in overalls, the Box Ghost, was laughing manically (and annoyingly) as well, shouting 'Beware!' at anyone who came near. Typical.
"Running for your lives? That's against the rules," a tall ghost in a white coat said with a smirk. Walker, no doubt.
"You need more meat on those bones!" the Lunch Lady screamed at a trembling boy. She then asked sweetly, "Cookie?" When the boy nodded his head, she screeched, "TOO BAD!"
These weren't the only ghosts terrorizing Amity Park today. Skulker, Desiree, Spectra, and Bertrand, among many, many others, also chose this day to wreak havoc upon the defenseless, pitiful town. It's hopeless. No one can save Amity Park now. Except...
Danny Phantom suddenly swooped down out of nowhere, throwing ecto beams and punches as he went, catching all the ghosts by surprise. But they quickly recovered, and focused their attention on the intruder.
"Give it up, whelp!" Skulker threatened, aiming a huge gun with blinking lights all over it at the ghost boy. "If you do, maybe I'll consider skinning you quickly."
"Ha! I wouldn't count on that," Danny said with a smirk, blasting Skulker to the ground with one of his ectoplasmic shots. Some people who were running away stopped to watch the fight in fascination, while others shook their fists angrily at Phantom. They still had issues over him. Suddenly, a huge screen appeared out of nowhere, and the face of none other than Vlad Masters, mayor of Amity Park, came into focus.
"Good evening citizens of Amity Park, ghosts, Maddie," he greeted, batting his eyes at the last name. Maddie Fenton, who was standing nearby with her husband, both prepared to fight, crossed her arms and glared. Vlad continued, "As mayor of Amity Park, it is my duty to keep my people safe, and the only way I can do that is to rid my town of these foul ghosts. Especially one in particular, whom you may know as...Danny Phantom." Everyone turned to stare at Danny, some glaring, others looking confused. Danny ignored them, and continued to look up at the Vlad screen with suspicious eyes.
"For nearly a year now, this ghost has disturbed Amity Park and its peace, not only destroying their harmless way of life, but attracting a number of multiple ghosts, each more dangerous than the last."
The ghosts, who had ceased action to stare up at the screen, stuck out their chests proudly at the consideration that they were 'dangerous'.
"Despite all my efforts, my incredible talents cannot seem to defeat this troublemaking ghost child," Vlad continued. "But my amazing brain skills has finally hatched a brilliant plan to rid us forever of this mongrel, and it seems the only way I can do that is to reveal his secret."
Danny --as well as Jazz, Sam, and Tucker, who were standing nearby-- gasped. Screen Vlad just smirked, and the screen fuzzed to show a recording of Phantom.
"Citizens of Amity Park, I give you Danny Phantom. Or should I say, Danny Fenton!"
In the recording, two blue rings appeared around Phantom's waist and separated, leaving none other than Danny Fenton in its place. The crowd gasped. Danny Phantom, who had been holding the Box Ghost by the scruff of his overalls the whole time, promptly dropped him and fell to the ground, gaping at the screen in horror and shock. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam froze. Slowly, Danny turned around to face his parents. A look of pure and utter shock was evident on their pale faces. They slowly turned to look at their half ghost son as well. Danny gulped.
"Uh...surprise?" he said awkwardly. Maddie and Jack gaped at him for a moment, before they burst out laughing.
"That's a good one Vlad!" Jack shouted to the screen. "How did you do it, movie editing?"
Vlad frowned at the 'insignificant fool', as he so enjoyed calling him.
"This is no trick, Jack; I am afraid your son is in fact Danny Phantom," said Vlad. "Actually, I'm not afraid, I'm glad. Yes, very glad indeed."
Danny turned back to his parents and sighed.
"He's right. Here, I think it's better if I show you. If I show all of you." And with that, he climbed up on a platform where everyone could see him, and transformed back into Danny Fenton. The grins were instantly wiped from Maddie and Jack's faces, and they realized with horror that there was no denying it; their son was a ghost.
"Gee Danny, your parents look like they've just seen a ghost!" Tucker joked, unable to resist the temptation to turn every situation into a corny one. "Haha, get it, ghost? Ah, I crack myself up."
But even his joke couldn't lighten up the mood, and Sam nudged him angrily in the ribs to make him aware of how serious the situation was. Tucker stopped laughing immediately. Maddie and Jack continued to stare at Danny, he staring back at them nervously, until Maddie cleared her throat.
"How...how did this happen?" she asked quietly.
"Ghost portal," Danny replied simply. "It's hard to explain, really. When I went inside, I got shocked, but I only half died...if that makes sense."
He blinked at them, before transforming back into Phantom.
"So...you accept me...right?" he asked hopefully. Maddie and Jack looked at each other. The silence lasted for eternity, before they slowly stepped back.
"No," they said quietly, slightly shaking their heads. Danny was taken back, not expecting this answer even though he knew the possibilty of it.
"W-what?" he stuttered in disbelief. All this time, he had been so sure they would accept him...
Jack and Maddie took another step back, and laid their hands on the guns at their side. Everyone tensed, even the ghosts.
"How can this be?" Jack wondered aloud. "How can this be our son, this...this freak!"
Danny looked as if he had been slapped. He glanced at Tucker and Sam helplessly. They made a move as if to go near him, but their parents held them back.
"Samantha, stay away from that freak," Mrs. Manson warned her, glaring up at Danny in disgust.
"That goes for you too, Tucker," Mrs. Foley agreed, glaring at Danny with the same look of disgust. But Jack and Maddie were more than repulsed. They glared at Danny in...hatred.
Trembling, Danny looked back at his friends for support, but they slowly turned their backs and let their parents hold them away. Oh, how they would regret that later.
Danny stared at their backs, not daring to believe, not wanting to believe that they had just abandoned him. They weren't the only ones, however. Slowly, one by one, the crowd yelled 'freak' at Danny, until all of Amity Park was chanting the cruel name.
"Freak! Freak! Freak!" they screamed loudly. Danny staggered as he would under blows. Out of nowhere, a rock hit him on the head. Then another, and another, and...
Pretty soon, everyone was throwing things at him, from rocks to shoes to dirt. Someone even spat their gum on him.
"Let's kill him! Let's kill the ghost freak!" someone yelled. And soon after that everyone, even Maddie and Jack, were chanting the same lines and slowly walking dangerously near Phantom. Danny put up his hands as if to defend himself, but Jazz suddenly leapt upon the platform, holding out her arms in front of Danny protectively.
"Stop it!" she screamed at the crowd. "Stop it! He's not a freak, and he's not dangerous! He's just trying to protect you!" But when the citizens of Amity Park started to throw stones at her too, and the stones started to get bigger and heavier, she had no choice but to step down.
"Danny!" she called desperately from below the platform, "You have to go! They'll kill you!" But Danny could only stand there in shock, unable to believe what was happening. However, an anti-ghost shot that whizzed past his ear brought him back to reality and made him aware of the grave danger he was in. He slowly floated up and looked down at the crowd. They were still throwing stones, only this time, Maddie and Jack had joined in, and were now shooting blasts from their anti-ghost guns at him. He saw Tucker and Sam looking up at him helplessly, and holding back Jazz, who was struggling to break free from their grip and get to her brother. Even the ghosts looked too shocked to do anything, as they, like everyone else, had always expected the town, and especially his own parents, to accept the ghost child. He blinked down at them all, the shock of the situation being too huge to fully grasp. The town knew his secret...the town hated him...his parents knew his secret...they didn't accept him...Tucker and Sam turned their backs on him...and he was alone...
That hit him like a brick wall. He was alone. Alone. Finally realizing just what that word meant, Danny took off without a moment's hesitation, not knowing where he was going and not really caring, just as long as it was away from Amity Park. With a loud cackle at his success, the Vlad screen turned blank, and the ghosts couldn't even try to pursue the ghost boy. The crowd continued to roar and shout, angry that they couldn't kill him, but all in all glad he was gone. Sam ad Tucker released Jazz, and she fell to her knees and sobbed at the loss of her brother. Sam and Tucker blinked after the dot in the sky that was their friend.
"He...he's really gone?" Sam ventured to ask. Tucker gave a silent nod.
"And he's...not coming back?" she pushed. Another silent nod. Sam stared at the sky for a moment longer, before burying her face in her hands and breaking out into violent sobs.
"What have we done?!"
Psycho Iguana: One down, three to go. Even though I'm posting these chapters in the same day, reviews would be nice; I hated leaving my 35 reviews behind. :(