Catching his breath, Danny increased his pace as he flew faster to Fentonworks. Many thoughts clouding his judgment.
How could they?
Danny was so stupid. Clueless and stupid. It was all in front of his face and he didn't saw the signs even when he knew they were there.
Salty tears began dripping to Danny's cheeks as he repeated the events of this morning in his head. Thing was, the situation had started weeks ago, but Danny ignored it.
Passing it off as a phase.
Wrong. Wrong. Every look, comment, whisper, gun shot was starting to affect Danny, unknowing they were cutting deep onto his sanity. His heart was ripping apart; He choked a bitter laugh, openly admitting to himself he was in love with his best friend, Sam, however being firstly afraid of risking their friendship, Danny never took any chances.
Irony said twice with the fact that any trace of 'friendship' that they once had was gone by now.
It had all been noticeable little things, but Danny looked at them like small details he better decided to ignore. What the ghost boy did took account was that the the trio of friends was separating and getting out less and less to the point the three friends didn't get out nowadays, not even to see a movie, play a videogame or something so simple as seeing the stars.
It was rare not to be seen together. Often, they would make excuses –Ridiculous ones, if I may add. – But, despite being Clueless #1, Danny wasn't an idiot. He knew how to recognize an excuse, after all, he made them all the time.
On home, things weren't better. His parents had grown more aggressive to his ghost half, usually telling how they would love to catch Phantom so they could cut it open and see what its made of.
Each time was more difficult than the last one to hide his abrupt movements in the table or his wary and alert eyes looking at the scientists. Danny winced, remembering the times his dad would tell the process of how a ghost its open meticulously and Danny would need to run into his room to throw up.
But that didn't stop them from hurting Danny Fenton too, regularly giving him disappointing looks and scowls from his passing curfew, slipping from his chores or the constant reminder that his chores were on the toilet. (Like if Mr. Lancer wasn't enough, but he didn't really blame them, he had no valid excuse.) Silent voices on Danny's head said he was too much of a shame, they didn't even bother to ask about his injuries. Yeah, Danny prefer that they didn't worry about his constant cuts and bruises, but at least some parental attention would make, despite all, Danny feel hope that they would accept him completely.
…Instead, he was much considered as a disappointment to the family. He sighed at the constant in-directs they kept sending him:
"You're a Fenton! We are geniuses! Be true to our name!" His dad said encouragingly, but the message was clear.
"Danny, seriously couldn't you please be a little more responsible! It is no excuse you're a teenager. Seriously, you're a mess. Go on, clean your room, at least." Maddie said after Danny was late in his curfew and with bags in his eyes because he had no sleep the previous nights.
"Oh! Jazz! We are so proud of you! You are the pride of this family!" His parents praised Jazz in front of him.
He didn't blame Jazz. She deserved the praise for a great student and sister.
But, they never gave him the chance to prove he was good at school too, he just had responsibilities with ghosts.
He wished to know if they would still love him being a disappointment as a Fenton and a ghost as Phantom.
School was filled of gossip, it was no secret everyone was talking about what had happen to the secret trio. Yeah, at least on school they talked, but sometimes he would catch a glimpse of Sam and Tucker whispering when they thought he wasn't looking.
It was really no surprise the trio was talk in school. They had always been together since kinder and now, they were never seen together outside of Casper High. Apparently, Sam and Tucker were always busy.
Doing? God, knows what.
Dash, the blonde bully that often taunt that raven-haired boy, had become more ruthless; usually mocking Danny with comments that he know make tick off the smaller boy like:
"Where are your friends, Fenton? Abandon you already?" Dash grabbed him by the collar, he grinned, "Wouldn't be surprise looking on how freaky you are."
Or the typical: "Hey! Fentonisky, Where is the goth geek to protect you, now?"
Truth was, Dash was slightly angry at Danny for receiving so much attention instead of the jock, also with the school field destroyed because of a ghost attack, his notes had fallen.
And that meant a lot of misplaced aggression. Besides, his hero wasn't himself anymore Dash noticed.
With his parents' threats hunting his mind and the distance between his friends, it felt no need to say Danny was distracted, he felt kind of empty. Consequently, ghost battles took more time and caused more property damage, automatically causing Amity Park's dislike of his ghost half to grew more.
Sam and Tucker weren't there to help him, too, but Danny could manage alone. It was a heartwarming feeling to let them sleep for a while, a sides Danny could avoid putting them in danger.
Not to say of others, Amity Park had notice Danny's change in behavior, tagging him as incompetence.
Their comments began to hurt.
Bullying resulted in blind eyes of teachers.
By becoming more violent, Dash often reopened cuts Danny had to later stitch.
His parents insulted Phantom on daily basis.
His friends didn't appear to be friends anymore.
But, Danny could handle all of it. He continued to tell himself it was a phase that would eventually be over, that all would be better …Like in the stories, right?
The last straw was the G.I.W. were he discovered his so-called best friends had betrayed him on one of the worst ways possible.
They had given the GIW all types of information of him. Personal information.
This morning Sam and Tucker had been relatively quiet and Danny, like everything didn't question them except for a:
"Are you alright?" Sam only nodded.
Danny felt a current onto his body, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling, it was obviously telling something bad was going to happen.
Class proceed normally, Lancer was talking about the importance of literature in life and how could it express things we didn't knew about ourselves, when sudden screams pierced the atmosphere, but there were no ghosts. Danny's ghost scene would have alert him, so what was it? Danny could feel that earlier feeling overcoming him again and making his stomach turn and twist.
Thanks to ghost drills, his classroom had already dispersed and hide. Everyone was outside the room in no time, that was until a crash was made.
When the smoke dispersed, men in white suits could be seen on Danny's blurred vision. Guys in White, guns in hand and some small millennia of drones ready to attack. Danny's mind didn't register everything so fast until the click of a gun was charged pointing directly to his head.
"Daniel James Fenton aka Danny Phantom in according to the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Act, Article 1, subsection A, you're under arrest!" All color in Danny's face drain and he went pale-er than usual. "Give in or we will be forced to shoot."
Danny did the only reasonable thing to do. He let his hands up as he thought of something.
He needed a plan. Now.
However, when Sam and Tucker approached to him, Danny let a small sigh of relief.
He opened his mouth to talk but he was quickly cut off by Tucker. "We are making this for a greater good." He said, hoping Danny would understand. "You're a danger." But, on the contrary, Danny didn't understand what nonsense he was talking about.
His hands were brought down by Sam, giving Danny a small smile. Instead of reassurance, the uneasiness returned to Danny with full force. "We are freeing the world of things like you. The reason is town is infested by scum." Danny tried to argue or at least, talk to Sam, but before he could do anything, ecto-cuffs were placed into wrists.
Realization dawned to Danny.
Sam and Tucker had given him to the G.I.W., A living hell, that no ghost has survived.
Rumors went they preferred oblivion.
Danny's expression darkened. Filled of betrayal, lies and treason, Danny felt all the emotions and words he had kept all this time bursting out. He was visibly shaking.
These previous weeks were starting to make sense. Sam and Tucker had meet with the GIW at his back.
"Don't worry. He has no powers, the ecto-cuffs make sure of it." Said Tucker, crossed arm.
Danny realized he was right and in a last attempt to make sense with them, he said desperately, "Why?" He whispered.
"Why? Why?" Tucker laughed darkly, dropping sarcasm in his tone.
Tucker wasn't dark, he was funny and comically. This didn't seemed Tucker.
At least, not the one he knew.
Sam was the one that answer. "We were only sidekicks, like your servants. We are always grounded because we needed to cover you. Or came into the rescue, because Great Danny Phantom couldn't. Oh, and don't forget about your amazing powers! While, you had super healing, what about us? We were cut or bruised and what do we do? Nothing. Ha! Imagine the irony when we found out we were killed because of you and your stupid mistakes. At the end, we always needed to clean your mess.
And we are tired. Tired of your complaining, Of not given credit of anything! We were tired of you!
Our grades slipped, our future. University given away because of you! Just because you had to enter to that goddamn portal and let the ghosts away!"
"So, why not?" Tucker continued, his voice cold as ice.
Ice.
Cold.
"Oh! That's what you think? Because if that's it, you're more closed-minded than I thought! I did everything for you, For Amity Park to be safe! I broke bones for everyone in this f*cking darn town! And what do I get? Insults, they turn their back on me! Is that what you both call praise and credit then you can have it for all I care! I gave my dream to catch ghosts that on daily basis tried to kill me!" He glared menacingly down at the goth. "You didn't have to support the fact you had your shitty future was on stone! I was electrocuted to death! Or having parents who you don't know if they love you anymore! Or a whole dimension against you-"
"It was your fault we were targets!"
Danny ignored it and continued his rant. "What you're saying is bullshit! I was neglect by my own frikkin parents! I am a half-ghost tell me who could relate, huh? No one! I was alone in the world! I made one freaking mistake and what was I? A freak! A menace!" He leaned in to the goth, eyes piercing into her soul.
"You have no idea how I felt, Samantha. Because it was never enough. The town hated me, my parents, ex-best friends, a freaking dimension and an archenemy. Let me tell you that is not individuality. That is selfish." Danny leaned threating to Sam. "Besides, if that's not enough, let me put it on your selfish terms: it was you who had the idea of me entering the port-"
Sam slapped him, she glared back, "Now you're blaming the fault on me? I never told you to kill yourself." She argued.
Danny retreated his face back to Sam. He looked at her in disbelief, before his eyes glowed green, "You never told otherwise, Samantha." Danny managed between gritted teeth.
Sam stood up to Danny, but a hand stopped her, "Are you finished?" A GIW soldier looked down at the scene.
"Yes." Tucker stepped in, his face showing no emotion.
Sam backed away with Tucker after one final message: "I hope you rot in hell and that you never show your sorry face again!" Sam shrieked; it was clear she was fuming.
Danny's face fallen as many GIW soldiers were approached closer to detain him.
From a moment to another, the room's temperature dropped drastically, you could actually see a couple of thin layers of ice forming.
"For some best friends, you sure don't know me." Danny lifted his head to reveal glowing icy blue eyes. His ex-best friends looked at him in shock as the ecto-cuffs were covered in ice.
Before anyone could react, Danny broke the cuffs and passed the floor intangibly.
"Fire!" Agent O yelled, but the half-ghost was far gone.
XxX
Danny sighed tiredly as he walked absently near the outsides of Amity Park on some abandoned street. He knew he needed to think something fast, the GIW would probably was tracking him down right now.
He closed his eyes briefly, he felt like dying completely this time. It was for good, he couldn't go anywhere.
To his parents? In no time, the GIW would barge in and tell them he was a ghost. And not just any ghost, the ghost they despise the most. They had made it clear they hated Phantom. And that the town was finally seeing Phantom's true colors.
He sighed again, the lone fact he has nowhere to go kept replaying on his head. He clenched his fists together ignoring the pain brought by the force he put on it.
Irony was so ironic. He promised he wouldn't turn evil to his family and friends, and now here he was, on the verge of doing something he would probably regret. (A/N: According to Danny in this story, Mr. Lancer only died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.)
Staying with Vlad wasn't an option. Even when he doesn't have anything left, going to the fruitloop was a low blow, he would likely make him a pawn in his crazy plans. Danny wasn't in mood for a visit to his arch-enemy.
Dani's location was unknown, and he didn't want to risk her just because he doesn't know what to do with this.
Basically, his life was resumed to running and hiding. As long as the GIW had his ecto-signature -And other things. -, he was bound to be found on Earth.
Danny blinked several times; an idea came across him as a small smile of hope accompanied with it.
Danny transformed into his ghostly half and putting a determinant face, Danny flew to the Fentonworks, hoping the GIW wasn't there.
XxX
An underestimation was to say Danny wasn't relieved to see his house free of GIW. It was a great view. He looked around and turned into Danny Fenton before the ghost alarms would go off and-
"There it Is!" A voice alerted.
Shit.
Danny phased thru the door and down into the lab faster than he had done all his life. His heart was pounding so hard on his chest and his breathing had quickened, he let a small smile as saw the Ghost Portal, swirls of green and endless mass of ectoplasm awaiting him.
Between his stupor on freedom, Danny failed to notice the small beeping sound as a booming sound rang into his sensitive ears.
Danny blinked as his vision regained focus, he was on the floor between crumps of broken tubes and other broken lab material. He looked around were glass was broken, test tubes samples poured out of their container as the floor was reduced to dust and pieces of ceiling.
Danny's cloths were torned and Danny himself had no serious damage except for some cuts from objects that fallen due to the explosion.
He gave one sigh of relief as he knew no one was on the house except for him, of course.
"Stop!" A manly voice rang, probably a GIW soldier. Bloody hell, he needed to get out of here now!
"Danny! Wait!" Danny stopped dead his tracks. He recognized the voice. It was Sam.
The girl was just standing there between the destroyed stairs and goop of ectoplasm, her eyes looked so pleading, "Stay. Please, Danny you need to understand this is for the good!" Sam yelled trying to convince the halfa.
Danny stood back, getting away from her. Her last words still repeated on his subconscious.
"Argh." Pressing his back against a metallic table that somehow had not been damaged to the explosion, he looked at his forearm, it was burning with some green substance. He looked back at Sam. Danny snorted…This was awfully similar to the accident with Undergrowth. He made a pain gesture, the burning sensation in his forearm certainly hurt.
"Goodbye Sam." He whispered as he turned to the Ghost Portal ignoring the 'bangs' that were coming from upstairs. Danny pressed a few buttons, he then fired some ghost rays at the control equipment of the machine.
As the ghost boy predicted, the portal started beeping frenetically, smoke appearing it, clouding it sides. The halfa took a deep breath-
"Danny!" And with that he crossed the portal.
XxX
Okay, first of all, Hi!
Second, I know the characters seemed OC, but remember somethings our temper or jealousy can get the worst of us. It's a similar case with Sam and Tucker.
Then, TuCkEr AnD sAm hAd MoTiVeS! So, WATCH IT!
Question to be questionified:
Why did Sam went after Danny? (Try something deep)
On the next chapters:
He woke with dimming light, which he guessed it was because he was sleeping.
He quickly became alerted, this wasn't a place he recognize. "Well well…"
But it was a voice he recognize. "Skulker."
Goal for next chapter: (We're starting low.) 2 REVIEWS.
Note: The Ghost Portal overloading is exactly the same as in "Masters of All Time."
Thanks for taking the time for reading this! (If you're reading this.)
Hope to read you later!
~SofiPhan29. (And yes, yes I know I haven't uploaded other stories.)