Danny Phantom and all related characters are owned by Butch Hartman and Billionfold Inc.
Baby Face
Chapter 1: The Transformation
"Danny!" called Sam, running toward him as Ember struck a resonant chord on her guitar. Danny flew backward, propelled by the sound waves onto the pavement.
His black and white jumpsuit was horribly torn, revealing small scrapes oozing ectoplasm. His eyes were half-lidded from exhaustion, and he had to struggle to push himself back to his feet.
"Is that all you've got?" asked Ember, floating menacingly above Danny.
"Nowhere near!" Danny yelled, flying toward the newly powerful Ember and slamming her backwards through the air and into the side of Casper High. Leaping back, Danny fired twin ectoblasts toward the screaming ghost and landed, panting, on his feet.
"Little brat! Wait until you hear my new song!" Ember cried, freeing herself from the building and aiming her airwaves at Danny.
Sam screamed again as the waves bore Danny down onto the pavement.
Ember laughed, slowly petting her guitar as the waves stopped.
The air was silent for only a moment as Sam ran to her unmoving friend. If he hadn't been a half ghost, Sam would've thought him dead. His lack of breath and movement were startlingly convincing coupled with his eyes staring into the distance.
"Danny," Sam said, drawing her hand along his cheek to brush away some miniscule piece of debris. "Wake up Danny!"
Yet the ghost boy didn't move.
"Get up little halfa, we aren't done yet!" Ember yelled, sending another wave of sound down upon Sam and Danny.
"No!" Sam yelled, throwing herself over Danny's prone form and bracing for impact.
After a moment of near silence, Sam looked at Danny to find he had raised his left arm skyward. Above his hand was a green shield that spread over both him and Sam.
A giggle drew Sam's attention from the shield and upward to Ember.
"Bet'cha can't catch me!" Ember called, spinning on her metaphoric heel and flying away, still giggling like mad.
Sam sighed in relief and turned back to Danny, realizing that his shield was gone.
"Danny?" she asked, looking into his face. Yet, it wasn't quite his face. The edges were softer, more innocent than they had been only a few minutes earlier.
"Danny?" she called again, pulling back enough to shake his shoulders. His glassy eyes stared into space, his face showing no acknowledgment of her presence. And yet, the lines of his face seemed even softer than before. He barely looked eight now, let alone fourteen.
"Come on, wake up!" Sam yelled yet again, shaking her best friend. He was surprisingly light now, even more so than he usually was in ghost form. But then, he was smaller too. Sam picked up one of his hands and found it could fit easily into the inside of her palm.
"Sam?" he finally asked, his eyes coming back into their glowing green glory as he searched her face. White rings slid up and down him revealing a young Daniel Fenton.
"Danny, you're okay!" Sam said, hugging him tightly.
"Air… lungs need…"
"Sorry!" Sam said, pulling back with a blush. In her relief she barely registered the difference in Danny. It was not the same for him.
"Sam, what happened?" he asked, his voice childishly high. "Why are you so…."
"Ember hit you with some new kind of sound wave, and it… it did something to you." Sam said, starting to take in the whole situation.
"Did what?" asked Danny, sitting up to get a better look at her. "What are you so far away?"
"I'm not far away," Sam said, taking Danny's hand. "It's what Ember's ray did."
Sam carefully placed Danny's hand in hers, showing him the size difference.
Danny's eyes grew wide. He looked up at Sam's face and back to his hand.
"This can't be happening."
Danny withdrew his hand and stumbled to his feet, wobbling a bit unsteadily. Sam caught his arm as he threatened to fall over backwards.
"I'm like…"
"Two years old," Sam finished, pulling Danny's old jeans away to give his bare little feet better traction on the ground. His old t-shirt now reached down around his ankles, defeating the purpose of his jeans.
"Again, this can't be happening," Danny commented, looking again at his free hand. It was so small—HE was so small.
"We should get out of here before someone sees us." Sam commented, looking nervously around.
"Are your parents home this week?"
"No, they're in the Caribbean. Something about a small island that looked interesting. We can crash at my place as long as we need."
"Cool," Danny said, carefully leaning over to dig through his jeans.
"What are you looking for?" Sam asked.
"My cell. I need to—"
"We can use the phone at my house. Besides, you're voice isn't exactly recognizable."
Danny sighed, letting his jeans fall to the ground.
"Alright, let's get out of here," he said, taking an unsteady step forward. Sam let go of his arm and gathered the rest of his clothes, watching him work his way across the schoolyard.
Both hands were out for balance, yet Danny was still stumbling over his own two feet. Three steps and he was down, wincing as he scraped his knee.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, quickly coming to his aid.
"Yeah," Danny winced. "I'll live."
"Come on," Sam said, helping him stand. "We'll blend in better if you hold my hand."
AN: Not bad for being written at two in the morning. I think I like this story. It's certainly tons of fun to write. I'm out of things to say now. Thanks for Reading!
K.G.