Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own Danny Phantom.
Fire and Ice
Danny landed in an alleyway a short way from Casper High. Quickly reverting beck into his human form, Danny ran out of the alleyway and down the sidewalk. Since everyone knew his secret and he was a worldwide hero, he should have been comfortable in front of, or inside of the school. But, then again, old habits die hard.
With the school in sight, Danny picked up the pace. He actually would have been on time this morning if it wasn't for 'Skulker! The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter!'
Now running up the front steps, Danny entered the building, skidding to a stop at his locker. He turned his hand intangible and grabbed his English book and notebook, before continuing his mad dash to class.
The bell rang right as Danny entered his first period class and he let out a quick sigh of relief. He was excused in the mornings and during class if a ghost attacked and allowed to make up all homework, tests and quizzes he had missed while saving Amity from said ghost, but that didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed being late or not having his homework in class. Danny made his way to the back of the room, giving Mr. Lancer a nod on the way when he was given a questioning look and quickly sat down between his best friend, Tucker, and his girlfriend, Sam.
"Who was it this time?" Sam asked as Danny tiredly pulled his book and notebook from his bag and set them on his desk before stretching his arms and feeling his back crack. Straightening up, Danny quietly answered her question while leafing through his notebook for his vocabulary homework and his definitions.
"Skulker. That's the third time this week! He's getting almost as annoying as the Box Ghost, who attacked me with his 'cardboard boxes of doom' at two this morning!" Tucker gave Danny a sympathetic look.
"Dude, you seriously need some time off. Why don't we go somewhere for a quick vacation in two weeks? The five day weekend is coming up, we could go and rent a room somewhere quiet and peaceful and let your parents and Valerie handle the ghost issue for a while." Danny thought for a second. He knew that Valerie could handle the challenge of taking care of Amity for five days. She had actually been a big help after the Disasteroid. She had happily and quickly agreed to join Team Phantom and now helped out constantly. To Danny, it was a relief for Valerie to finally know about his secret. She had been upset at first, but Danny had finally been able to explain everything to her and she had apologized for hunting him all the time.
"Maybe. I think that I should stay here though. You never know what could in five days. Especially with ghosts like Skulker and Ember coming out of the Ghost Zone every other day. It can be a bit trying at times." Tucker opened his mouth to retort, but never got the chance. At the front of the room Lancer clapped his hands.
"Alright class. We will be beginning today where we left off yesterday; the wonderful world of poetry!" There was an audible groan from the class at the thought of sitting and listening to poetry for ninety minutes. Lancer ignored the protests and continued. "If you would please open your books to page five fifty six, we can begin." The soft sound of pages turning slowly filled the room. Most of the class were turning the pages one by one and already looking bored. At the front of the room, Lancer picked up a small, worn book off his desk and turned to a page in the book and began to recite the poem on the page.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Lancer shut his book and looked expectantly at the group of half asleep teenagers who were still slowly flipping to the page in their books with that poem on it. The overweight teacher sighed. "Can anyone even tell me the name of that poem? Anybody?" Seeing no hands raised, Lancer sighed rubbed his temples and continued. "The poem was called 'Fire and Ice'. It was by Mr. Robert Frost. Can anyone tell me what the poem means? How about you, Dash?" Startled awake from his daydream, Dash looked sheepishly at Mr. Lancer.
"Uh… does it mean that the world is going to catch on fire?" Closing his eyes, Mr. Lancer sighed again.
"No Mr. Baxter. Why don't you read your book for once?" Danny watched the scene from across the room. Now that Dash knew he was Phantom, he had done just about everything to get on Danny's good side. Fortunately, Danny was able to see through not only his, but also every A-Lister lies. Danny suddenly gasped, a blue mist rising from his mouth. Danny groaned lightly. Can't those stupid ghosts ever give him a break? Slowly, Danny put his hand up in the air to get Mr. Lancer's attention while digging through his bag and pulling out the Fenton Thermos.
"Yes Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked turning his attention to Danny with a look that clearly showed he knew what Danny needed to ask.
"Can I be excused for a moment Mr. Lancer? There's a slight problem that I need to take care of." Mr. Lancer sighed looking at Danny. Danny knew that look. Lancer hated the fact that one of his students had to put himself in danger constantly. He had been told by the principal that if Danny needed out of class he was to let him out, so it was no real surprise when Lancer nodded slowly before turning back to Dash, who he was still trying to coax the correct answer out of. Danny stood up and quickly made his way out of the room closing the door behind him and transforming on the other side.
Floating about a foot off the ground, Danny looked around the corner the ghost. There was nothing. Speeding up slightly, Danny flew through the school hallways looking for which ever ghost had decided to come and have his, or her, butt kicked next. Hanging a left by the cafeteria, Danny continued down the hallway when his ghost sense went off again. Tensing up and preparing for a fight, Danny quickly turned around to face the ghost he had sensed behind him. Half a second later Danny relaxed and tried (unsuccessfully) to stifle a groan that was fighting it's way out.
"I just put you back in the Ghost Zone! How in the heck do you get back out so fast?!" Danny shouted at the ghost, exasperated.
"Foolish human! You cannot trap and contain me in a cylindrical container, for I am the Box Ghost! BEWARE!" Danny landed and put a hand on his forehead. He could definitely feel a migraine coming on.
"You are, by far, the most annoying ghost I've have ever had the displeasure of meeting, much less fighting!" Danny half-yelled as he uncapped the thermos and sucked the madly protesting ghost inside of it. Danny capped it and reverted back into his human form staring down at the thermos in deep thought. He seemed to come to a conclusion after a second, and he quickly turned on the spot and moved unnaturally quietly through the halls of Casper High towards his English class. He paused outside the door for a second before turning the doorknob and quickly walking back to his seat without making eye contact with anyone. He quickly sat down and put the thermos into his bag before turning to Tucker.
"Alright, Tuck. Here's the deal. You're right I need a break before I completely crack from the stress. If I can somehow get my parents to agree to let me leave and get both them and Valerie to agree to protect Amity for a while, I'll go with you on this trip that you're planning." Sam blinked at him a surprised look on her face.
"What caused you to change your mind so quickly? You're usually much more hard-headed than that." Danny rolled his eyes and decided to disregard that comment.
"The Box Ghost. I'm so tired of dealing with them all! It a constant annoyance. They bug me twenty-four seven and they never seem to be able to take a hint! That and if I don't have a break soon I'm going to end up with a nervous breakdown. If that happens I won't be able to defend the town for quite a while." Tucker smiled largely before taking out his PDA and typing a message on it and sending it.
"Excellent. I just told my secretary that I'm going to be taking those five days off." He paused for a quick second with a thoughtful look on his face and then continued. "Where are we going to go exactly?" All three ghost-fighting teens thought for a few moments before Sam finally snapped here fingers.
"I've got it! How about the mountains? They're quiet, peaceful, and secluded. We could camp out under the stars and just relax for a few days." A smile crossed Danny's face and he nodded.
"That's a great idea Sam! Which mountain range?"
"I went to the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina a few years ago for vacation. I have relatives who live in Boone. Why don't we go there? We can hike and ski and sightsee. And we'll have all of that fresh mountain air!" Sam answered him with a halfway excited look on her face. Danny opened his mouth to respond but way interrupted by a stern 'hem hem' at the front of the room.
"Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, Miss Manson? Is there something that the three of you would like to share with me and the rest of the class?" Lancer asked the trio, slightly perturbed.
"No Mr. Lancer." They all responded together. With a quick satisfied nod, Lancer turned back to the chalkboard and started to explain some of the elements of good poetry. He pointed out some of them in 'Fire and Ice; which, as always, greatly confused the class.
"We'll talk later." Danny whispered to Sam and Tucker as he opened up his notebook and pulled out a clean page before following the example the rest of the class set and started taking notes and copying what Lancer had written on the board. Sam and Tucker nodded and all the spent the rest of the class period struggling through the confusing, yet occasionally satisfying, elements of poetry.
A/N: So what do you think? This happens to be my first Danny Phantom fanfic and I think that it's coming along decently well right now. I can promise that it will become much more exciting later. I just have to set the stage for some of our other stars to come out.
I would like to thank Cordria who betaed most of this chapter for me. If you haven't read anything by Cordria yet, I highly recommend it.
Well, drop me a review and tell me what you think. Flames are accepted!
EdElricFan1001