Beginning Note: This will be an AU based off the show as well as my own headcanons. It will begin to deviate drastically from the tv storyline as we go along. Now, I'm not sure when I'll be continuing this, so for now this is a sort of stand alone chapter. The idea is a little hard to explain, and I feel this first chapter does quite a bit of that on it's own. All the characters have been altered in small and major ways, as you will see.
This chapter is based on the first episode of Danny Phantom, Mystery Meat. However, the twist is that it takes place just before Danny gets his powers. So how does a non-ghost Danny deal with a ghost? Mostly by running. Yeah; not too much ghost action in this one, as it's more character study, but I'm pretty proud of it. Rating is T for this one, but is sure to escalate to M if I continue. I gots plans.
Listened to 'In The Room Where You Sleep' by Dead Man's Bones. It really fits the atmosphere I'm trying to create with this AU, and the tune and lyrics are catchy and creepy at the same time! Just like DP!
Anyway, if you read it don't be afraid to drop a comment! Whether it's love/hate/confusion, go right ahead!
Also pardon my grammar and spelling mistakes; I wrote this all at around four AM and I'm just too tired to go back and correct things.
Chapter 1: Where You Sleep
The early morning quiet was interrupted by a repetitive, annoying sound, causing the room's lone occupant to roll toward it with a groan. Danny Fenton rubbed his hands harshly over his eyes before flinging an arm out of the warm depths of his bed covers, hitting the snooze button square on before settling back down with a tired sigh. He'd stayed up nearly the entire night with his best friends Tucker and Sam on a new online RPG that had just opened up. It had seemed so worth it a few hours ago, but now Danny wasn't so sure.
"Danny! Time to get up!"
Another groan emitted from the fourteen-year-old as he listened to the sound of his older sister, Jazz, passing by his closed door on her way downstairs. Experience had taught Danny to never mess with Jazz when it came to mornings. If he tried to ignore her, he'd be getting a cold surprise in the form of a cup of water. Why oh why did he have to have a morning person as a sister? Oh well, it could be worse; he could have parents that were morning people. A few sleepovers at Sam's house had really shown Danny the light. Figuratively and literally when they both yanked Sam's heavy black curtains aside, jolting Danny awake and nearly blinding him.
The annoying sound returned, and Danny's fogged mind was dragged back from the edge of sleep as he pressed the off button forcefully, sitting up with a scowl. Untangling himself from the covers, Danny shivered a little in the cool air of the house as he made his way to his closet, removing a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. Getting dressed, Danny walked dazedly out of his room and into the neighboring bathroom, taking in his exhausted appearance. School had only begun that week and already Danny was nearly falling asleep in class. He knew it was his own doing, but that didn't stop him from loudly complaining and blaming the school and all its teachers.
Danny himself was an average-looking kid. He had pale skin, acquired from his mother's Germanic genes; he was just grateful he hadn't inherited her freckles like his sister had. This was accompanied by light blue eyes and black shaggy hair, which stuck out in spastic angles, causing Danny to reach for a comb as he attempted to recall his dream. It had been a weird one, but he always seemed to forget his dreams rather quickly, so he stopped bothering as the comb caught in a particularly stubborn knot, causing Danny to let out a mumbled curse. He really ought to get it cut, the front was beginning to hang in his face, nearly covering his right eye.
He heard Jazz distantly call for him to hurry up so he'd have time to eat breakfast. Danny had never had much of an appetite, and as a result he was incredibly skinny, which led to him wearing baggy clothes quite a lot. It didn't help. In fact, Danny often admitted to himself that it probably made it worse. He swore the next person who made an anorexic or bulimic joke at him was going to get puked on.
Finished with his morning routine, Danny left the bathroom and trudged downstairs to have breakfast with his family; or rather, eat cereal with his sister while his parents tinkered with a new ghost invention.
His parents had always been obsessed with the supernatural, long before he was born. Foggy memories of trips out to remote locations in search of ectoplasm residue or ghostly artifacts were the majority of Danny's recalled childhood. But in the past four years his parents had stopped the trips abruptly, and had practically moved into the basement, which was converted fully into something from a fifties science fiction film.
It was all the same to Danny, really; his parents had always been rather preoccupied with their interests, leaving little time for himself and his sister. He and his mother used to be incredibly close, but that had changed due mostly to Danny's typical teenage 'Get away Mom you're embarrassing me' attitude. He wished he could say he and Dad had once shared the same intimacy, but truth be told Danny had always been rather estranged from his father. Not that Jack Fenton was cold or cruel in the slightest; quite the opposite, really. Danny just…never really knew what to say to the man, and he was sure his father felt the same. So aside from short conversations, shared laughs at a joke, and a mutual desire to hoard everything they owned, the two male Fentons tended to pass eachother by as if they were, well, ghosts.
Recently, at Jazz's adamant request, the two scientists had begun hauling their latest experiments to the dinner table every morning, under the guise that they were sharing quality breakfast time as a family. It kind of worked. Jazz stopped pestering them about spending time with herself and Danny, even though both parents didn't make an effort to eat or talk. It didn't make much difference to Danny, he was more than accustomed to it by now, any besides, he was just grateful not to have overbearing parents like Sam's, who practically never left her side.
The halls of Casper High were swarming with students and faculty alike, making it nearly impossible to take three steps without getting an elbow in the gut, your foot stepped on, or temporarily deafened when someone yelled at another across the hall…right in your ear.
This made carrying a conversation headache-inducing, but by god were Danny, Sam and Tucker going to try. All three were dead tired, but buzzing with excitement over the new level they'd unlocked in last night's game. All in all, they considered the day's coming exhaustion worth it.
Sam and Danny had been given lockers right beside each other at the start of the term, and Tucker had thrown such a passionate and well-worded fit in the principal's office that the woman had finally relented and reassigned him to a new locker beside Sam's.
That was Tucker Foley all over; intelligent, stubborn, and relentless when he saw a new goal to reach for. It was the reason he was one of the highest-scoring students in all of Casper High. The African American was tallest of the three friends by a few inches, which he proudly lorded over the two often enough to get old quick. His love of bad puns and sarcasm was surpassed only by his affinity for technology.
Last year, as a joke, Danny had hidden the other boy's brand new PDA, and when Tucker had finally found it (after breaking Danny's locker door) he had cradled it tenderly while shooting glares Danny's way as if the other had kidnapped his firstborn. As funny as it was, Danny vowed to never screw around with Tucker's gadgets again, mostly due to the fact that he was blamed for his busted locker, Tucker left him to take the heat alone, and he spent the remaining afternoons of eighth grade in detention for damaging school property.
Tucker had once had some cool dreadlocks, but his parents' repeated disapproval had finally persuaded him to shave them off over the summer. He was still in mourning. He now sported a red beret, and Danny feared he was becoming as obsessed with it as he had been over his old dreads. Hell, he'd buried the damn things in his backyard like an old dog. Tucker could be scary sometimes. It took a while for the spark to return to the teen's green eyes, bemoaning his naked head long into the summer until Sam finally told him she'd buy a hat of his choosing if he'd just shut up. Hey, it worked.
Danny pulled himself from thoughts of his forgotten math homework as he listened to Tucker debate combat strategies with Sam, wisely choosing to stay silent and not pick a side. The two always got this way when it came to just about anything. For long-time friends, Tucker and Sam shared little in common, and it was a wonder they put up with each other. But the three friends knew at the end of the day that both loved each other dearly and, despite frequent yelling fits, had each others' backs.
Sam Manson was practically the yin to Tucker's yang. Where he bowed before the technological revolution, Sam's heart was held by the medieval, the dark, and the decrepit. Things like bats, thick eyeliner, and a new choker caused her to go all gooey inside. Tucker's giving in to his parents had strengthened Sam's own mother and fathers' resolve to pester her about her several ear piercings over the summer, but Sam had yet to stand down. In fact, as a show of rebellion, she'd went out and gotten the right side of her head shaven, leaving the left half to fall in raven spikes just below her jawline. Part of Danny wished he'd had a camera trained on her parents the second they returned to her house, another part wished he could erase the memory of their reaction from his mind forever.
Danny was fighting a losing battle to stay focused on the teacher's voice as the end of first period drew near. He wished terribly that he shared this class with his two friends, but Sam had World History and Tucker gym, leaving Danny to brave one of his most hated subjects, English, alone and steadily falling asleep as though the droning voice of Mr Lancer was a lullaby. With any luck he'd make it through the day without getting busted for drooling on his desk, although he was dreading facing his math teacher without his homework completed. She liked to scream to get her point across.
The bell ringing was very much like a second alarm clock, and Danny jerked his head up, realising it had steadily begun to droop down toward his chest. As he began to rise slowly from his seat, he felt the back of his head grabbed from behind and had but a moment of delirious confusion before his cheek was roughly pushed down onto his desk. He didn't have to look up to know who had caused the blossoming pain in his right cheek. Dash Baxter wasn't the smartest person but he was crafty when it came to bullying, practically refining the hobby to an artform. He quickly released Danny from his hold as he passed by, backpack slung over a shoulder and smirk radiating off of him, becoming stronger as he left the class without Mr Lancer so much as noticing. Danny sighed, it wasn't anything new; he was pretty much a wallflower in this school anyway, with no high grades or dark gothic appearance to set him apart from the crowd.
Dash was quickly followed by the rest of the class, and Danny waited until they were all gone before he finally made his exit, preferring to spend a few extra seconds in first period than be trampled by stampeding students.
Danny held his hurting cheek for a few minutes as he made his way to his locker, glaring at the ground as he wished for the millionth time since fifth grade that he could stand up to Dash. Make the larger male leave him alone, or better yet, get even. But the first and only time Danny had ever hit Dash back had been in sixth grade, and both boys had nearly been expelled from school. Danny for 'starting the fight', and Dash for fracturing Danny's right arm.
As Sam and Tucker came into view, already pulling things from their lockers, Danny forced thoughts of Dash from his mind as he looked forward to second period, which all three friends shared, Biology.
"What have you done!?"
As Danny heard the distant shout of Tucker he knew it was probably a sign that he should just turn around and walk away, but with a sigh he made his way through the crowd of students toward where his two friends stood. Sam seemed to be standing a little straighter than normal, lording one hell of a smirk over Tucker who looked close to passing out, eyes staring up at…what? Danny followed the other boy's gaze to see a large sign nailed above the cafeteria line.
'Wednesday Vegan Lunch Day' Oh…
Doubting that Tucker could form coherent sentences at the moment, Danny turned a questioning look to Sam as he stood beside them.
"Uh guys, what's going on? The school changed the menu?"
Sam's smirk grew as she looked Danny's way, "Yep. The school board finally agreed to at least one day of vegan food only; I wore them down."
Tuck seemed to finally snap out of his daze, turning toward Sam with a devastated glare, as though the girl had committed a heinous act.
"How could you do this? Do you want to starve us?"
"Oh Tucker stop being so dramatic." With a flippant gesture Sam led the way to the growing line, and as the three friends got their trays and took in the sight of the food, Danny mentally agreed with Tucker. No way they were getting any real food today.
By the time they made it down the line and got to their usual table in a secluded corner of the cafeteria, Tucker looked as if his soul had been broken and Sam seemed the happiest Danny had seen her in weeks. This wasn't good; he could feel a fight brewing just below the surface of this situation. And as much as he wanted to play referee, picking up a piece of…whatever this was, Danny felt himself shifting to Tucker's side more and more.
"Uh Sam, don't you think this is going a little far?" Danny tried to keep his tone neutral as he held up the foreign substance on the end of his spork.
Sam made to reply, but a large hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking up, the three saw Mr Lancer, giving Sam a smile as he spoke.
"Ms Manson, the school board asked me to personally thank you for ushering in this welcome experiment to our cafeteria."
Tucker stiffened almost immediately, sniffing the air like an animal, eyes going almost primal as he stared toward the teacher. "Meat…near…"
Mr Lancer backpedaled quickly, eyes widening as he drew away from the three.
"No no, the rumors about the all-steak buffet in the teacher's lounge are completely untrue."
'Yeah right,' Danny thought with a small scowl.
Lancer gave one last nod toward Sam before walking away, speaking a he went. "Thanks again."
"Yeah, thanks again Sam for making us eat this garbage."
Danny sighed at Tucker's words. There was the start of the fight he knew was coming. He was growing more and more tired of playing mediator between these two.
Sam's previously smiling face dropped into a frown as she sat forward. "It's not garbage, it's recyclable organic matter."
"It's garbage." Both boys spoke in unison, Danny unable to help himself despite wanting to remain on the sidelines.
"FENTON!"
Danny, wishing he could turn invisible, turned around in his seat to see Casper High's biggest bully storming toward him, plate of 'organic matter' in hand. This was going to go badly for him.
"I ordered three mud pies. D'you know what they gave me? Three mud pies! With mud! From the ground! And all because of your stupid girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend!" Danny felt an indignant heat rush up the back of his neck.
"I'm not his girlfriend!" Apparently Sam felt the same.
They didn't have time to share in their mutual offense for long before Dash was hauling Danny from his seat by the front of his shirt, raging at him.
"These are the best years of my life; after highschool it's all downhill for me!"
'Well, at least he's self-aware…'
"How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days eating mud?"
"Actually it's topsoil." Came Sam's monotonous reply from somewhere behind Danny.
With an angry "Whatever!" Dash sent Danny crashing back into the table with a wince. A following clatter brought the raven-haired teen's attention to Dash's plate of dirt, which now sat before him. A spork was thrust toward his face as he heard Dash's words, tone offering no room for argument. "Eat it. All of it."
Danny stared at the spork in Dash's grip, wishing more than ever that he had the strength to kick this jerk's ass for once. Well, he may not have the physical strength for a fight, but he sure as hell wasn't going to eat this crap!
With a silent prayer that he wouldn't die today for this, Danny acted quickly before his courage could leave him, lifting the plate of topsoil and yelling "GARBAGE FIGHT!" at the top of his lungs. He took a moment to savor Dash's confused expression before throwing the plate and its contents into the jock's face.
The smaller teen immediately dove under the table, wanting to get as far away from the quickly mounting free-for-all as possible. Tucker seemed to get the idea, dropping to the floor along with Danny. Sam, however, was standing up, trying to shout in defense of her vegan menu, and Danny quickly dragged her down by her shirt, not wanting Dash to find them in the chaos. Students pelted one another with clumps of soil and other such questionable food items as the trio hastily crawled toward one of the exits.
In the confusion they ended up opening the door leading into the kitchen. Grateful that there seemed to be no one around, the friends decided silently to just stick it out there for the time being.
Careful to stay quiet, they crouched together behind a counter, shivering a bit in the suddenly dropping temperature. This in itself wouldn't be too strange; the kitchens were probably supposed to be cold, but what had the teens' collective attention was the old woman standing at the far end of the room, seeming to drift back and forth between the stoves and cabinets.
"Hey, who's the new lunch lady?" Tucker whispered.
"I don't know," Sam replied back, "And where are all the other lunch ladies, anyway? Um, excuse me. M'am?"
Sam stood up, walking toward the stranger, Danny and Tucker standing up as well, but choosing to stay back. Something about this just didn't feel right. Sam continued to speak as she came within a few feet of the woman.
"M'am, you do know there's a food fight going on outside, right?"
Finally the woman seemed to detect the goth girl's presence, turning to her. She appeared to be a lunch lady, dressed up in the cafeteria uniform, if a bit worn looking. She was definitely advanced in her years, wrinkled skin creasing as she turned a confused expression toward the girl before her.
"Hello deary, can you help me? Today's menu is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?"
By this point Tucker and Danny had joined Sam, banishing all weird vibes they had felt before. Tucker let his angry scowl overcome his features once more, not wasting any opportunity to lay blame for what he considered a travesty.
"Yeah. She did." He pointed a thumb in Sam's direction.
Sam had no time for a comeback, as the temperature in the room skydived to the point that all three kids were seeing their breath. In joined confusion, they looked at each other and then back at the old lady. Bad mistake. The trio gasped in unison as the woman seemed to morph before their eyes, skin taking on a greenish glow and her eyes becoming red as she loomed over them, voice echoing off the walls in her fury.
"YOU CHANGED THE MENU? The menu has been the same for fifty years!"
Thinking fast, Danny grabbed Tucker and Sam by the arms and sprinted toward the cafeteria door. He only made it a few steps before the ear-piercing sound of tearing metal caused him to freeze, his friends smacking into his back with enough force to knock them all over in a pile. Three large ovens flew over the teens' heads and crashed into the wall, covering the door.
"Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules!"
With one last roar of rage the old woman reached out a hand, grabbing hold of Sam and yanking her away from the others. The boy's reached out, grasping for Sam's hands, but it was useless. The crazy woman lifted up off the ground and ascended into the ceiling, dragging a screaming Sam along with her. For a few seconds the remaining two lay in a tangle of trembling limbs, too shocked at what had just happened to even speak. But fear for Sam overrode that quickly, and the two looked to one another in determination as they rose shakily from the floor, noticing the rise in temperature.
"What the hell was that!" Tucker's voice cracked as he spoke, looking around him as though he expected the woman to come back for them next.
"I-I don't know. I think it was a…a ghost. I mean, my parents have seen a few before, and they always said ghost could fly and stuff, and control objects."
"A ghost? Great, so you mean to tell me a flippin' ghost lady just grabbed Sam and flew away with her? What are we supposed to do?"
"We gotta call my parents." With that said, Danny led the way toward the other exit in the kitchen, which led outside the school building. Once there Danny pulled out his cellphone, glad he'd taken to carrying it in his jeans pocket instead of his backpack, which was back in the cafeteria. He pressed the speed-dial button for his house, pacing back a forth as he impatiently waiting for an answer.
One ring…two…three…four…fi-
"Hello? Danny? Why are you calling, honey?"
"Mom! There's uh, kind of a situation here at the school."
"What? You're not in trouble, are you? Is your sister alright?"
"Yeah she's fine. I hope…A-anyway, there's sort of a ghost here and-"
"Ghost!? Danny I want you to barricade yourself in a classroom and stay there until I come for you!"
"But Mo-"
"Now, Danny! We're on our way!"
With that the line went dead, and Danny turned to Tucker, who had heard most of the conversation. They knew there wasn't much they could do against a ghost, but there was no way they were going to hide away and abandon Sam. The two boys ran around the side of the school building, heading for the front entrance. They didn't know where this ghost lady was, but they were determined to search every room of every floor if they had to.
Turns out, they only made it halfway down the main hall before the sight of Mr Lancer rounding the corner, looking very pissed, stopped both of them in their tracks. Before they could think to hide, the teacher spotted them, as a hawk might spot its prey below on the ground.
"Fenton! Foley! You two have some explaining to do!"
He marched toward them, grasping them both by the wrists and began the short walk to his office. There they found Dash, who was still covered in mud and looking like cold retribution was about to be served. No doubt he'd run to Lancer with some sort of sob story. The teach brought both boys in, shutting the door behind him.
"Now I want you both to sit down."
"But we-"
"Now, Mr Foley! And no talking as of right now. I'm not in the mood for any of your excuses."
Contemptuous looks in place, both teens sat down with a huff in the chairs which were placed before Mr Lancer's desk. Dash chose to remain in his spot, standing by the door and smirking at the smaller teens as Mr Lancer shuffled papers on his desk, speaking as he went.
"I just don't know what it is with you two and your penchant for misbehaving. Foley, you were nearly suspended for getting into an argument with a teacher last year, if I remember correctly. And the both of you have quite a record of tardiness, among other things. But as of yet, neither of you have committed any severe mischief before today, so tell me…why did the two of you conspire to destroy the school cafeteria!"
"Hey, Dash started it! He's-" Danny attempted to defend himself, but Lancer was having none of it.
"The football teams lead player and therefore exempt from scorn. You two on the other hand, are not. I'll map out your punishment when I return. Mr Baxter, I want you to watch the door."
With that, the man promptly left, and with a malicious grin in the twos' direction, Dash closed the office door behind him. They could see the back of his head through the tiny window in the door. He wasn't going anywhere.
Both boys rose, and Tucker was the first to speak, keeping his voice down so as not to be heard by anyone but Danny.
"We've got to find Sam, and fast. I feel like this is my doing."
"Maybe because you told that ghost she changed the menu? How 'bout that?"
Sudden movement caught both boys' eyes, and they looked over to the tv screens installed in the wall of the office. Mr Lancer was Vice Principal, as well as a teacher, and as such his office held the screens to the school security cameras. Looking up at one of the small black and white televisions, Danny and Tucker watched as the ghost from the kitchen floated back and forth on the screen, seeming to have a conversation with Sam, who was trapped under a pile of meat.
'Where'd all that meat come from?'
"That looks like the school storage cellar," Tucker said, pointing at the screen. "I know how to get there, but how do we bust out of this room with Bone-Cruncher on watch?"
Danny searched about the room, his eyes landing on the window.
"I've got an idea. Come on."
He moved toward the window, opening it up and taking a look outside. They were only on the ground floor, but they couldn't go out and step back in through the main hall; they were sure to get spotted by Dash or Lancer that way. No, the only way to go was up. Pulling his head back inside, Danny looked to Tucker.
"Alright, we're gonna have to climb up to the second story window. Luckily most of the windows are open since the weather's still warm, so all we gotta do-"
"No way am I scaling up a building!"
"Come on Tuck it's just up one floor, it's not even far! We can't leave Sam alone with that thing, it could hurt her!"
With a guilty look, Tucker stepped up to the window. Taking that as reluctant agreement, Danny pulled himself out the window, sitting on its ledge as he looked up. True, it really wasn't that far; definitely within reach, but it would still hurt to come tumbling down.
Gulping, Danny began to shakily stand on the windowsill, trying not to panic as his arms stretched above him with nothing to grasp onto. Finally, he felt his hands make contact with the above window. He called down below him.
"Tucker, I can't pull myself up. Try to push my legs if you can."
"Got it."
Feeling his friend's arms wrap around his legs, Danny fought to keep his balance as he felt Tucker begin to lift him. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Danny's fingertip hold on the window to become surer. He put all his strength into lifting himself. It wasn't an easy task; he and Tucker tended to slack when it came to gym. Now he was beginning to see the reasoning behind Sam's constant preaching about fitness.
Danny made it into the window slowly, first by an elbow, then another, then there was the mad scuffle to try and pull the rest of himself into the window, all the while trying not to kick Tucker in the face. The landing wasn't so graceful, and once Danny pushed himself to his feet he surveyed the room he was in.
Seemed to be a classroom, thankfully unused at the moment. With that Danny turned back to the window, calling to Tucker, who was already trying to stand up on the windowsill.
"Grab my arms, I'll try to pull you up!"
"Are you crazy? You barely got yourself up!"
"Just come on, Tucker!"
The two boys latched onto each others' arms, and Danny found that pulling someone else up was much harder then pushing his own body. It took several exhausting minutes and a lot of cursing and sweating, but finally both friends ended up back in a pile on the floor.
It was then that they heard a mighty roar coming from directly below, and both jumped to their feet.
"Guess Lancer came back."
Knowing that time was running out, Tucker led the way as the two ran in the direction of the school's storage room. As they ran Danny thought he could hear the familiar sounds of his parents' voices. Good. They'd know what to do. Danny thought of just running to them, but three things stopped him. One being the fact that he'd most likely slam into Lancer on the way. Reason two was that…well, most people didn't like his parents, or at least they barely tolerated them. The Fentons were pretty infamous in Amityville for running strange, often loud experiments inside their home at all hours. And three was that Danny just really wanted to get to Sam. If she got hurt, Danny didn't know what he and Tucker would do.
After two flights of stairs, the two males finally made it down to a wooden door in a dim hallway. Getting horror movie vibes, Danny couldn't help but hold Tucker by the back of his shirt as the other boy led the way, seeming just as spooked.
As soon as they entered the large dark room they could hear the voice of the ghost woman. Thankfully she sounded much calmer than before. She seemed to be trying to get Sam to try some meat, to which the vegan girl was not willing to budge.
Tucker and Danny took cover behind a large crate, looking on as the woman appeared to be loosing her patience. That ghost definitely wouldn't stay calm for long, so Danny quickly decided on a plan.
"Alright, Tuck, I'm going to go out there and get that thing to chase me. When she does, get Sam and get the hell out of here."
"What, no way, man! We ca-"
"No. You know I can run faster than you, and I'm smaller so that gives me an advantage. Once you're out go find my parents; tell them where I am."
Before Tucker could argue further, Danny leaped from behind the crate, waving his arms in the air and hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt.
"Yoohoo, hey ghost! Why don't you and your meat go haunt a butchery somewhere?"
The ghost luckily took the bait, turning toward Danny with a frown. As she started to advance, Danny ran toward her, not wanting to lead her back to Tucker. He managed to doge her outstretched arm and blazed down the storage room, calling over his shoulder as he went.
"Hah! seems my all veggie diet is working better for me than any meat could!" He felt more than saw the ghost in hot pursuit. He was far too afraid to look back, and so kept on running. That is, until a hand seized hold of one of his ankles. He found himself dangling upside down in the air as the ghost rose into the air.
"See? This is why you need meat," She proclaimed angrily, giving Danny a rough shake by his leg. "You're skin and bone!"
Before he knew it Danny was flying; sailing across the room and smack into a wall. It left him completely winded as he slid to the floor, unable to get up and run. Through the fogged pain he felt the air grow cold as the ghost hovered over him. He managed to look up just in time to see piles of meat forming around her, like some sort of fleshy outer shell.
'Oh great. I'm going to be killed by an old lady wrapped in meat.'
Just as the meat ghost raised her hands into the air with a victorious expression, a green beam of light shot through the centre of her body, causing bits of meat to fly in every direction. The creature turn around in confusion, only to be met with two more blasts, sending it flying away from Danny.
It was his parents; it had to be. Danny was so happy that he nearly passed out. He slowly raised himself to his hands and knees, wincing at what was sure to be bruises in the morning. He could hear his parents yelling something or other through the fog that still lingered over his mind.
Suddenly, all became quiet, and Danny's vision cleared just as he saw his parents running toward him. He stood up, looking worriedly around himself.
"Mom, Dad, where's the ghost? Did it get away? And where are Tucker and Sam, we need to-"
"Danny calm down, it's all going to be okay. Your friends are safe upstairs with Mr Lancer, and as for the ghost…"
As Maddie trailed off, Jack triumphantly held up a small green and white object, to which Danny raised a questioning brow.
"A thermos?"
"Not just any thermos, Danny. It's a thermos with the name Fenton on it." Jack held the thermos aloft as he spoke, as if the item were a religious symbol. "This baby can capture and trap ghosts inside it. Pretty neat, huh?"
Danny was about to question why exactly a thermos, of all things, but his father continued speaking, looking incredibly happy, despite the fact that the air held the noxious aroma of incinerated meat, and his son was very nearly stomped by several hundred pounds of steak.
"We gotta get this baby back to lab, and pronto! Come on Maddie, back to the Fenton RV!"
Maddie gave her son a quick peck on the cheek before joining her husband in their race back toward the storage door.
"Bye sweetie! We'll see you when you get home!"
'Of course. Whenever there's a ghost involved, I might as well be the dead one.'
Letting the solemn and depressing thought linger in his mind, Danny ascended the stairs as well. He was snapped from his thoughts, however, when he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt. Looking up, he was met by the icy green glare of one Mr Lancer. He could also see Tucker and Sam standing off to the side, and while he was relieved both of them were okay, he also wished he were back in the storage room with the ghost.
Danny planned on crashing into bed immediately as he walked up the front steps to his home. Lancer had made all three of them stay after school to clean every inch of the cafeteria, all the while listening to the lunch ladies go on about how they had been saying the kitchen was haunted for years and it was great to finally be proven right. Also there was a big debate over whether the ruined ovens should be considered the kids' fault. Thankfully Mr Lancer wasn't that cruel. However, he did allow Dash to supervise the cleanup…
Walking through his front door, Danny immediately picked up on the strange feeling in the atmosphere. It was as though the very air were buzzing, and Danny looked about the empty house in confusion. When his eyes landed on the slight glow coming from the basement stairs, his curiosity got the best of him and he made his way quietly down into the lab. He hardly ever ventured down there; the various inventions and overall feel of the place spooked him a bit. At the far end of the large room Danny saw his parents mumbling to one another as they stood before one of their longtime projects, the Ghost Portal. For over a year the two had been obsessed with getting the large machine up and running, convinced that they had figured out how to make it work. Unfortunately, test after test had failed, leaving the elder Fentons more frustrated as the months went by.
Danny had made the mistake of asking his mom how the thing was supposed to work one afternoon, and Maddie had sat him down with a huge smile and proceeded to spend hours explaining in detail how portals between the human world and the ghost realm were supposedly created. Apparently it was believed that ancient civilizations would hold sacrifices, killing animals and sometimes people. In doing so, their deaths would open, however briefly, the passage between the two planes.
Of course this was incredibly barbaric and outdated, according to his mother. No, the Fentons would find another way of unlocking the other world, Maddie was sure of that. They had enough ectoplasm supplies to try again and again to start up the machine, but each time the hulking device implanted in their wall only stood there, cold and impassive. Sometimes it sparked, but that was the extent. Now it seemed they were ready for another attempt. Each time they seemed a little less excited, and it made Danny feel bad for them. He wished the stupid thing would just work already so his mom and dad could finally stop obsessing and get some actual sleep.
His parents seemed to catch on to his presence as he neared, and they turned to him with excited expressions, his father's voice booming out to echo off the white walls.
"Danny! You're just in time to watch us start up the Fenton Ghost Portal! This time we got it for sure; your mother corrected a few calculation errors she'd made and we've got everything up and running."
Maddie frowned up at her husband for a moment, and Danny knew it was because those calculation errors were no doubt made by his father. Whether Jack was just too dense or too proud no one was really sure.
But the frown was soon abandoned in favor of a smile as Maddie stood beside Danny, obviously happy to be sharing in this 'special moment' with her son. If she got too sentimental like last time Danny was definitely ditching. Jack was busy giving the machine one last look-over, making sure all the switches were on, a low hum emanating from the dormant Portal as the bulky man stood back a few steps, coming to stand beside a monitor. There beside a few flashing lights and switches was a single red button, which Jack pressed after yelling and ear-shattering "BANZAI!"
As Danny expected, nothing happened. The machine continued to hum, and after a minute his mother lowered his arms, which she'd been clasping, and her face faltered a bit. Danny couldn't help but slump in response. This would undoubtedly lead to another night of listening to his parents mutter and curse amongst themselves directly below his room.
Jack rubbed a hand across the growing stubble on his jawline as he stared at the Portal with a defeated expression.
"Well…I guess we should go back to the basics…again. But first, I'm gonna go grab a snack. It's gonna be a long night."
Danny stepped forward, not sure what caused his next words but knowing he wanted his parents to stop looking so worn down and stressed. Okay, maybe this was all getting to him more than he thought it was.
"Why don't you both go out to eat instead? Come on, you've been down here working on this thing for forever! When's the last time you so much as left the house?"
His mother placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him with tired brown eyes.
"Oh Danny, we're fine. Just a five minute break is all we need."
"Oh come on, you haven't eaten an actual meal in days, and I know you both sleep down here. Just one night, what do you say? You guys deserve a night to yourselves."
His parents must have been more exhausted than even he thought because they seemed to give in at that, looking to one another before smiling reluctantly, looking toward the stairs as though unsure of how to walk up them anymore. Danny, happy to know he wouldn't be kept up by sounds of his parents experimenting that night, led the way up and into the house.
An hour later he waved his parents out the door before they could change their minds. It had been a struggle to get convince Jack to change into normal clothes, and Danny had practically pulled out his hair trying to find a nice restaurant for the two of them while Maddie showered and dressed, but all in all Danny felt proud of himself that he could do this one nice thing for his parents, and for his own sleep cycle. But as Danny began to ascend the stairs toward his room, his gaze was pulled back down to the glow of the lab. Seems in his haste no one had bothered to turn the lights off down there. If Jazz came home and found it like that, she'd tear into all of them about wasting electricity.
Down in the basement, Danny looked about for the lights switch. He couldn't recall a time when the lab had never been fully lit, and was beginning to doubt such a switch's existence as he walked up and down each wall, coming to stand before the far wall, eyes lingering on all the buttons and switches on the Ghost Portal's monitor. Danny felt a sigh leave him as he watched the flashes, hating the machine for being so defiant. Why couldn't it just work? Surely his parents had everything correct; what could be missing? The teen felt his mood crash as he pondered over how, even if his parents actually got some descent sleep tonight, they'd be right back in here come morning.
Strangely the only place the bright lights of the lab didn't touch was inside the Portal. It couldn't have been that deep, but as Danny stared into the shadows, the back seemed to extend and stretch on forever, and Danny got the distinct impression of a cave, or a tunnel. Curiosity peaking, Danny turned to the rack of jumpsuits nearby. At Jack's insistence, they'd had matching suits made for all four family members, and Danny pulled his shirt over his head before he lost his nerve. The Portal was spooky, but maybe there was a loose wire or something that his parents had overlooked.
Stepping into the machine, Danny couldn't help a slight shiver overtake him. Was it just in his head or was it colder in this small space? Definitely getting the creeps, Danny stepped toward the back of the Portal, feeling his balance tilt slightly as the dark messed with his depth perception. Not wanting to fall over in the Portal like a dumbass, Danny reached a hand blindly out to where he knew the wall would be. He felt something give way under his palm, and jerked his hand back in surprise. Peering toward it in the blackness, Danny noticed that he had accidentally pressed a button, hidden away in here for some reason. Probably his father's doing. It was then that the low hum of the machine began to grow, and the low buzz that Danny had grown used to intensified, and Danny could practically feel it in his bones as fear spiked through him. He stepped back, intending to backpedal out of the scary machine, but was halted by a pinprick of light at the back of the Portal, rapidly growing in size. Danny had but a moment to gape at the green swirling color before his entire world was bathed in white.
Awakening was a slow experience. Danny wasn't sure how long he'd been lying on his back in total darkness, and he just hoped he wasn't badly hurt. The last thing he remembered was a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt. It reminded him of the time he'd reached into the back of the dryer as a child, helping his mother with household chores. He'd received a shock, and after staring at his arm for several seconds, had proceeded to cry for hours. He never forgot that odd sensation as the years passed. It wasn't so much painful as it was odd; strange wave-like pulses racing up and down his arm at the speed of light. The same thing had definitely just happened to him in this damn Ghost Portal. Only this time, it had been all over his body. And it had been painful. Really painful.
Danny let out a weak cough, his head feeling thick and clouded, as though he were suffering a nasty headcold. He attempted to sit up, but found to his worry that it was as though he were magnetized to the floor. Danny felt as if a great weight was suddenly settling over him, making the simple act of moving nearly impossible. Danny wasn't claustrophobic by any means, but he felt what little breath he'd regained leave his body as panic overrode rational thought and he pressed his palms flat on the cold ground, pushing with all his might as his eyes squeezed shut, the pain in his head becoming alarming. Why couldn't he just get up!? Get up!
Danny felt the air forced from his body as he finally sat up, feeling a bit like he'd fallen from a great height. He sat in a daze for several minutes before he began the slow crawl out of the Portal. As he stood in the silent air of the basement, he realised with a bit of a shock that the entire lab was coated in darkness. The lights were all off, and the monitor was no longer flashing. Maybe that shock had shorted out the power. He'd get hell for this if his parents found out. With that thought in mind, Danny decided that it would be best if he just went up to his room and feigned ignorance.
Wanting to get out the eerie blackness, Danny couldn't help but take the stairs two at a time, relief flooding him as he reached a hand out to open the basement door.
Relief turned to confusion when the door didn't open as he intended it to. His brain scrambled for a moment as he stared down at the doorknob he was sure he'd reached for. Reaching out slowly a second time, Danny's confusion bled into disbelief as his hand went right through the doorknob! Was he just seeing things? It was dark down here but…
He tried again. And again. And again. He literally couldn't touch the damn door! Oh god what was happening!? How was he going to get out? Okay slow breaths, panicking isn't doing any favors. Oh Jesus just get me out of here I want out now!
In Danny's petrified haze, he felt an subtle sensation overtake him. It felt similar to the low buzz that had been pulsing in the lab before when he'd first entered. Danny reached out on impulse, and jumped nearly out of his skin when his hand made contact with the cold of the doorknob. He stood for several moments, gripping the shiny metal and listening to his own ragged breaths. What had just happened?
Feeling as though some major wire in his head had been disconnected, Danny opened the door into the quiet darkness of the house. Seems he was out longer than he thought. He was just glad no one had found him down there passed out because of his own idiocy. Walking into one of your parents active inventions. Genius.
Before he could head for the stairs, Danny remembered his discarded clothes back downstairs, and smacked himself over the head. He instantly regretted the action, as it caused his vision to tilt slightly. He turned and hastily made his way back down into the shadows, eyes focusing on his shirt and jeans lying just outside the Portal. He quickly unzipped the hazmat suit, hanging it on the rack as he dressed himself. Out the corner of his eye he caught a bit of white in the black, and his eyes were drawn toward it, brows furrowing as he realised something was inside the Ghost Portal.
Reluctant to go back in there, Danny took a few shaky steps toward the Portal, eyes adjusting little by little, until with a growing sense of unease, Danny began to see a shape forming in the darkness. The white of it stood out most, and Danny found himself stepping forward, his mind rebelling and shouting at him to turn and run. His body disobeyed, coming to stand over the unknown mass in the Portal. And it was then that Danny felt the world dissolve. Everything seemed to fade; his universe shrinking to contain only the darkness, the Portal, him, and the body before him.
It was his body. It had to be. It looked just like him, lying there on the floor of the Ghost Portal, eyes closed and mouth hanging slightly open. But…if that was him, than who was he? Danny looked down at himself; he was himself, he knew he was. But…
None of this made sense. He was dreaming, he had to be! Thoughts seemed to spiral in Danny's mind, and he reached out a hand to touch the body lying before him. He couldn't help but gasp in fear as his hand made contact with the cool hazmat suit that covered his chest. And that's when he noticed that the chest wasn't rising. It wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing. What did this all mean? Danny placed his other hand over his own chest, and sat in absolute stillness, willing himself to feel a heartbeat. He was breathing, there had to be a heartbeat! But the seconds ticked by and Danny didn't feel the slightest stirring. A whimper slipped past his lips beyond his control and he began feeling for a pulse on his own wrist, tears of pure fear pricking at his eyes when he came up with nothing.
It was a bizarre sensation. He could feel his heart beating, practically pounding out of his ribcage, but he couldn't detect it at all with his hand. Same thing with the pulse. Oh god what were his parents going to say about all this!? No no, they can't find out. At least, not yet. I just…I just need to think.
Without realising it, Danny began to reach down toward his other self, and by the time his brain fully caught up, he was already gripping his body under the armpits and dragging it out of the Portal.
'Wow, for such a skinny guy I'm damn heavy.'
Struggling up the lab stairs with gasping breaths, Danny shouldered the still-open door wider, thankful now for the darkness of the house. Either his parents weren't home yet, or they were asleep. Either one would do.
Hauling his other, and presumably dead, self, Danny blanked his mind as he ascended the staircase toward his bedroom. He was terrified that if he allowed himself to stop and think that he'd completely lose it. Hell, this might all just be some dream, after all. Best to just stay calm and not panic.
Once in his room, Danny laid his body down onto the carpeted floor carefully and immediately closed and locked his door. Breathing a little easier, Danny then realised that he had absolutely no idea why he'd dragged his body in here of all places. Geeze what was I gonna do, arrange it in the bed and pretend it was me sleeping? I'm such an idiot.
Eyes sweeping the room, Danny's gaze settled on his closet, and with a cringe he decided that it would have to do for now. At least until he could figure this all out. And if it wasn't really a dream. It was probably a dream.
Danny tried not to look at his own face as he situated his body against the far wall of the closet. Luckily he had descent-sized closet space, and since he was a packrat he had an overflowing pile of junk to use as cover. Once he maneuvered a bunch of old boxes in front of the dead him, it was completely hidden from sight.
Feeling shaky and exhausted, Danny closed the closet door and decided that whether this was all happening or not, he needed sleep.
He was out before he could even get underneath his bed covers.