Compared to some of Dash's previous house parties (namely Da Dash Bash), the evening had been relatively tame. By no means could the thumping beat and strobe lights be considered an intimate get-together, but at least this time there was a distinct lack of malicious ghosts attacking innocent software. However, the party wasn't completely devoid of ectoplasmic entities. Perched awkwardly on the edge of the leather couch sat Danny Fenton, accompanied by his two best friends who, despite their best efforts, were unable to help their friend relax.
But who could blame him?
Danny could feel people stealing glances in his direction – even after all this time, the novelty of a teen with ghost powers hadn't quite worn off. It wasn't as if these curious looks were a recent development either, it was just that people had long since given up being subtle about it.
In the wake of revealing his secret alter ego to the entire world, the appeal of A-lister popularity had waned, so he felt out of his element in this setting. It's funny how once he gained popularity and the respect of his peers that he desired, he realised how little it mattered compared to his parents acceptance of his half-ghost status. Not to mention his 'element' consisted of action-packed ghost fights resulting in his conclusive victory as he ultimately handed his opponents their own ass.
As such, in light of Danny's paranormal abilities, Dash had given up picking on the smaller boy. Perhaps because – as a class eight spectral entity – Dash felt intimidated by the superhero's physical prowess, or maybe the fact that Danny had been letting him beat him up in order to maintain his feeble façade just didn't sit well with the jock. Either way, Danny was thankful for the reprieve. Maybe Dash wasn't such a bad guy after all – Phantom had clearly been influencing his new outlook on life (if the famous monochrome 'DP' insignia stamped on his T-shirt was anything to go on).
Yet, despite the hero-worship, Danny hadn't expected the trio to be invited to Dash's eighteenth birthday party. After all, in making an appearance – whether he intended to or not – he would be stealing the spotlight away from the blonde, so Danny couldn't understand why Dash-the-glory-hog would ever ask him to come. Besides, it wasn't as if he could enjoy himself. What if a ghost attacked and someone got hurt because he wasn't fully alert?
Understandably, he'd tried to politely refuse, but of course the jock had begged his hero to show. It was times like that when Danny wondered if people ever really saw Fenton and Phantom as one and the same. For that reason, he couldn't help but adopt a tired expression, looking for all the world as if he'd rather be anywhere (Ghost Zone included) than here.
Perhaps Dash had sensed the Halfa's air of unease and sought to remedy the situation when he decided to plop himself down on the couch beside Danny, but the hulking frame of the school's star football-player did little other than earn himself a weary glance in his direction and a long sigh that translated to: 'what do you want, Dash?'
Testing the water, Dash offered a half-smile, dutifully playing the part of a welcoming host.
"Hey man, you want a refill?" he asked, gesturing to Danny's empty glass.
The trio, who had been quietly chatting amongst themselves, fixed Dash with three identical, calculating expressions before Danny mumbled his reply.
"Sure," the Ghost Boy shrugged – anything to distract the jock from the 'main attraction'.
Dash got up to make his way over to the refreshments, but he paused and back-tracked, leaning against the backrest of the sofa in thought.
"Hey, man. This is like what... your fifth shot?" he asked, casually.
"Ninth, actually," Danny replied off-handedly.
It was true – all evening, guests had been clamouring to interact with the ghost boy, using any excuse to make conversation. Bringing the superhero a drink had been an overused ice-breaker and, as far as Dash was aware, Danny had yet to refuse.
The last thing he wanted was Phantom to think he was a buzz-kill, but he couldn't hide his surprise.
"What the hell!?!"
His exclamation attracted the attention of all of the party-goers – if they hadn't already been intently watching their exchange, they were now.
"Danny can't get drunk on normal levels of alcohol," Sam supplied matter-of-factly.
The Halfa rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Don't even feel a buzz," he affirmed.
Tucker – the only one of the three who appeared to actually be enjoying himself – added, "This dude could drink you under the table!" Then, lowering his voice so only his friends could hear, he said, "It's a shame really, 'cuz drunk Danny is so much more fun to be around."
Sober Danny pouted and sent Tucker an obscene hand-gesture. He knew he was being a killjoy, but Danny and social situations were like oil and water. Unfortunately, Dash's keen ears had picked up on Tucker's quiet quip and the taller boy's interest had been piqued.
"Wanna bet?" he responded to the remark directed to the room.
"I know it's hard to believe, but Danny's no lightweight," Tucker said, slapping his blue-eyed-bud on the back jovially.
"Hey!" Danny protested weakly.
Given, he wasn't exactly the type to have a high tolerance for alcohol, but it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise. And sure, without his powers he probably wouldn't be able to hold his drink, but the way they were speaking made him sound like an habitual drunkard. Even so, the comment was enough for Dash to issue a proviso.
"Fine then, let's even the playing field and make things a little more interesting..." he drawled. "Let's play Never Have I Ever!" he yelled over the track, signaling for the DJ to quieten the music and plopping himself down beside the smaller boy as if to say: 'challenge accepted'.
Tucker was quick to jump on board, but Sam looked less than convinced and shot Danny a sympathetic look to let him know that he didn't have to go along with this. But his pride had been wounded and he felt like he had something to prove, so he nodded slowly. As long as he didn't get too inebriated, they had nothing to worry about.
"I'm game," Tucker eagerly agreed, thinking for a moment before a wicked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Ooh! I've got one! Never have I ever..." he paused for what Danny assumed was dramatic effect. "Been kissed by Sam Manson."
Unsurprisingly, the Ghost Boy took a sip of his drink and Dash smirked, taking the action as consent for the game to continue. But what threw everybody was when he too put his red, plastic cup to his lips, sneaking a guilty look over at Paulina. While he obviously wanted to discover all the cool things he had in common with the superhero, being kissed by his girlfriend probably shouldn't feature on the list.
"Wait, what?" Paulina gasped melodramatically. "When?"
"That is a long story," Sam winced. "But believe me when I say I did not enjoy the experience," she mumbled, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
Next was Danny, who put his hand to his chin in mock contemplation – the room hanging on his next words. While not everybody was taking part, every guest was intrigued by these proceedings and leaned in closer as he spoke.
"Never have I ever won a beauty pageant," he said, looking to Sam expectantly.
Both Paulina and Sam downed a mouthful, but no one was surprised – the Miss Teenage Happy Princess Beauty Pageant still fresh in their minds. Danny could tell that this wasn't exactly the big revelation everyone was hoping for, but living in a town shrouded in secrets, he figured they were nothing if not patient. Great.
Next up was Valerie. If she planned to target Danny she'd have to get creative because – as a fellow ghost hunter – the pair would likely have more in common, so her options would be significantly limited. Fortunately, her 'extracurricular activities' had gained her some insight into Danny's personal life, so it didn't prove too challenging.
"Never have I ever been cloned," she said in a sing-song voice.
"Do I drink for every time I've been cloned? 'Cuz that fruit loop didn't just do that once!" Danny grouched. Sure, some good had come of Vlad's experimentation, but he would never forget Bed Sheet Ghost.
His answer had been purposefully ambiguous to those who weren't part of the Halfa's innermost circle. Letting too much slip could give the other players ammunition and despite having a distinct advantage, his competitive side won out. Besides, he liked to have an air of elusiveness about him – even if he was one of the most watched people on the planet. So, when questions exploded from all over the sitting room, he was grateful that Dash silenced them, not-so-politely reminding the peanut gallery that it wasn't how the game worked.
"Just the once, Ghost Boy," Valerie smiled, most likely remembering the smaller girl phantom fondly.
Doing as he was told, Danny downed another shot, noting the faint tingling feeling that had begun to permeate his body. He anticipated Dash picking on him, but aside from a few obvious facts the jock knew next to nothing about Danny's social life and he predicted they'd all soon run out of biased questions long before he even started to feel tipsy. There was no way he could lose, right?
As expected, Dash's was generic, but effective. "Never have I ever saved the world," he spouted like a true fanboy.
The Halfa flushed in modesty, knocking back another and urging his friends to do the same. "I never could have done half those 'heroic deeds' without you guys. And remember Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet? Tell me that wasn't all of us."
"Who and the what now?" Dash questioned, speaking for all of the confused faces. Not a single DP fan recalled that incident and each of them were clearly hungry for details.
"Alternate reality. Doesn't matter," Sam dismissed, turning to her boyfriend. "My turn," she smirked evilly. "Never have I ever eaten Dash's tighty-whities."
Danny looked betrayed. "We promised to never speak of it again," he seethed, but made sure that Sam knew his anger was (mostly) exaggerated.
If her truth was in some way revenge for bringing up the beauty pageant, Danny felt that it was hardly fair. Even reminding her about the time she'd had to kiss Dash to break Ember's spell didn't warrant this. Unaffected by his 'scary' eyes, she shrugged and laughed as Danny took a swig of his drink, turning a sickly shade of green from the memory.
When Paulina's turn rolled around, she was quick to issue her declaration. Danny suspected she'd have ulterior motives and use the game to reaffirm her status as queen bee of Casper High and his suspicions were confirmed when she said, "Never have I ever dropped my trousers in order to impress a girl." She giggled flirtatiously - reminding everyone that Danny had once had eyes for her.
But that was a long time ago.
"I refuse to drink to that," Danny protested. "I accidently turned them intangible, so I didn't do that with the intention of impressing you, Paulina."
Naturally, at the time he hadn't been able to explain the situation, but that only served to increase the hilarity of the event at Danny's expense, so it felt good to voice the truth. Not to mention the loophole worked in his favour.
In retrospect, the signs that Danny had more than just you average teen problems became readily apparent. Yet the students of CHS had dismissed the incidents without a second thought as, generally, weird occurrences didn't equate to your classmate having ghost powers.
A few more players took their turns, each selecting a truth that was specifically tailored to Danny's superhero lifestyle and before long, it was Tucker's go once more. Most of the teens were beginning to feel slightly tipsy and Tucker was no exception. Before the game had begun, he'd allowed himself a couple drinks and more than a few of the Never-Have-I-Evers had been applicable to all three of them. Subsequently, with his inhibitions lowered, his one was more daring than his previous attempt, but much in the same vein.
"Never have *hic* I ever dreamed that Sam *hic* was my girlfriend," he slurred, between bouts of hiccups.
"Really, Tuck? You too?" Danny pretended to look hurt – he thought Tucker was on his side, but evidently he also wanted to see Danny wasted. "And while that may have been funny while I was still clueless, Sam and I are dating now. Dude, get over yourself." He rolled his eyes and placed a kiss on Sam's cheek for good measure.
When his gaze returned to the other players, he forced down his laughter as almost every guy subtly raised their cups in admission at the same time that he reached for his own drink. Honestly, Danny couldn't say he was surprised (he'd caught countless guys ogling Sam as they passed in the hallways), but the dozens of faces awash with embarrassment brought a tear of mirth to his eye and he fought back chuckles.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?" she asked rhetorically before briskly moving on.
As the teens became more intoxicated, the quick-fire pace slowed and the game all but grounded to a halt. With every passing round, it got harder and harder to string together coherent sentences and it didn't help that Danny's powers were on the fritz. Somewhere along the way, Danny had become too invested in beating Dash at his own game that he had lost track of how many units he'd consumed.
This was why he was sitting in the couch.
Not on it like a normal human. Danny had phased inside the couch so that he appeared to be a disembodied head on his seat. When he passed the point of tipsy, he had started to lose control over his intangibility and now his body refused to maintain a physical presence. His attempts to extricate himself had been futile and filtered through the mind of a drunken teen, the scenario was quite amusing.
For every time Dash had taken a gulp of his beer, Danny had taken around ten and – factoring in his supernatural tolerance – the two were equally inebriated, but both insisted they were the picture of sobriety.
"Lemme prove that you… are more out of it than I *hic* am," Dash provoked, waving an unsteady finger at Danny's head.
Danny stared at the digit. The harder he concentrated, the less focused it became, but he was never one to step down from a challenge and allowed him to proceed.
"I bet I can freestyle rap better than you," he said, tripping over his words. "You may go first," he decreed with an overzealous bow.
Now with a sense of purpose, Danny was able to free himself from the couch and floated towards the ceiling. Planting his feet solidly on the plaster, he cleared his throat and requested a 'funky' beat from the DJ. (His set would have ended hours ago and he'd only been hired until midnight, but he wouldn't miss this for the world.) Upside-down-Danny started to rap and anyone with a phone to hand started to record.
"Young Danny Fenton, I was just fourteen, When my parents built a very strange machine. It was designed to view a world unseen…"
Then, Tucker chimed in as a pitchy back-up singer, "He's gonna catch them all cause he's Danny Phantom…"
Straight-faced, Danny continued with his origins rap.
"When it didn't quite work, my folks they just quit, But then I took a look inside of it.There was a great big flash. Everything just changed. My molecules got all rearranged."
"Phantom, phantom," Dash echoed.
Two glowing rings appeared from Danny's waist and encompassed his body as he transformed into his alter ego and the narrative started up again.
"When I first woke up I realised, I had snow white hair, And glowing green eyes. I could walk through walls, disappear and fly. I was much more unique than the other guys."
He shot a wink at Sam.
"It was then that I knew what I had to do. I gotta stop all the ghosts who were coming through. I'm here to fight for me and you!"
When he had finished, Danny lost his concentration and de-transformed. Gravity kicked in, pulling him back towards Earth with a resounding, "Oof."
Picking himself up and dusting himself off, Danny swiveled to the bemused faces of his peers. No one knew exactly how to react to his performance but Dash. "Man! That is one tough act to follow," he conceded.
Danny opened his mouth as if to reel of some trademark witty banter, but a blue wisp escaped instead; a ghost was nearby. The rational part of Danny's brain unhelpfully informed him that this was exactly the kind of situation he had been trying to avoid, but the louder and significantly less sensible part of him decided that it had been worth it to prove Dash wrong.
"Shhh," he told the blonde, his finger taking a winding path to the other boy's lips. "Hold that thought," he said, cracking his knuckles, he prepared himself for a fight and brought on the transformation for a second time. "Guess I'll die," he shrugged non-committedly.
Seconds after Phantom had replaced Fenton, the back wall was torn apart by one of Skulker's ecto-cannons and the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter made a dramatic entrance. Surveying the room, he identified his prey and powered up his wrist rocket. Before Skulker had the opportunity to fire his weapon, Danny phased them both through the wall, glad that he wasn't so off his face that he would think fighting inside was a reasonable idea.
"Hello, Whelp," Skulker spoke tauntingly once they were hovering a safe distance away from civilians.
While Skulker's antagonising would normally bring out the best in Danny, he was decidedly off his game and unable to successfully apply himself to even the simplest of tasks, let alone combat.
"Good morning, fine sir," he crowed, bowing cordially.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you" - he cleared his throat - "Hammered, Ghost Child?" Skulker frowned, crossing his arms.
"No, it is you who is drunk!" said Danny with slurred defiance. "You're the one who's upside-down. How'd you 'splain that?"
"I'm not. You are."
Danny checked himself and sure enough, his feet were pointed skywards.
"Touché," he said as he spun back around.
Skulker's arm fell to his side. "I can't fight you. It violates my moral code," he said.
Danny cocked his head. "Since when do you have morals, Skulky?" he asked, trialing a risky pet-name.
Skulker was not amused, but refused to give Danny the satisfaction of a reaction. "Since always. I suppose this shall have to wait," he sighed, extending his glider wings in preparation for his departure.
"Not so fast!" Danny said, doing an exaggerated version of his hero voice and puffing out his chest. "This isn't over!"
Face scrunched in concentration, Danny attempted to channel ecto-energy into his balled fist, but the powerful toxins in his bloodstream redirected the flow to another body part. Angling himself so that his glowing green derriere was now targeting the battle-suit-clad specter, Danny fired a potent ghost ray from his butt.
Still reeling from the impact, Skulker sputtered, "That was uncalled for!" But even once he had recovered, he stayed true to his resolve and did not attack Danny in his vulnerable state.
"So… you're really not gonna fight me, Skulky?" Danny questioned sceptically.
"Stop calling me that before I change my mind," he warned and made to leave again.
"Are you leaving already?" Danny asked, hanging his head in shame. "Was it because I shot you with a butt-ray?" he asked looking sincerely remorseful.
"What is going on here? What is this?" he gestured to Danny's forlorn appearance. "Yes, I'm going. Now enjoy the rest of your party. There will be no more of that when I have your pelt, so enjoy it while it lasts and so on," he heaved a long-suffering sigh as he repeated the usual threat with little conviction. "What now?" he asked impatiently.
Danny looked crestfallen, his eyes twinkled with unshed tears. "Will you stay? Just for a little bit."
"No."
"Please?"
"Um… No?"
The Ghost Boy wobbled his bottom lip.
"Fine," he surrendered.
When the two frenemies touched down in the sitting room, the guests eyed the newcomer warily. Dash was yet to move from his seat on the couch, staring dumbly at the gaping hole in his wall and Danny suspected he was one disaster away from Defcon one. Maybe introducing a hostile ghost to the mix wasn't his best idea…
The ghost in question smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about your wall."
Before Dash could shake off his near-catatonic, shock-induced daze, Danny broke the dumb-struck silence that had settled over the room. "Guys…" He grinned maniacally. "This is Skulker. Now let's have some real fun…"
–DP–
Something was tickling Danny's nose. His limbs felt heavier than lead and his brain was under siege from an army of angry hornets, but he cracked open an eyelid to investigate what had awoken him. His vision was obscured by pink netting of some kind, but when he reached a tired hand to shift the fabric, he inwardly groaned; he hadn't left Dash's last night – no one had.
Tracing the pink netting back to its owner, Danny was greeted by the unusual sight of a goat dolled up in a ballerina's tutu. As he further examined his surroundings, he concluded that he could confidently say that was the most normal thing about the scenario. For starters, Dash had donned a wedding dress and similarly, Skulker now wore a tux… Paulina – despite at first glance looking exempt from the destruction – had one side of her perfect hair shaven off… Tucker's beret sat backwards on his head (in Danny's opinion this was far more bizarre than a goat in a tutu)… But most surprising of all, Sam was dressed from head to toe in hot pink.
In retrospect, falling into Dash's trap and becoming entirely intoxicated was in no way a win for the teen superhero. But last night he remembered the importance of kicking back and goofing off every once in a while. Sure, his head hurt like hell and he had morning breath to give a hoard of decaying zombies with a serious case of halitosis a run for their money, but – from what he could remember – it had been worth it.
After snapping a few pictures of his unsuspecting classmates in their interesting wardrobe choices, Danny's phone buzzed with an incoming call from Jazz.
"Hello," he rasped, his mouth like sandpaper.
"Hangover?" she asked knowingly.
"Yup," he concurred. "Minor memory loss, but I'm sure it'll catch up to me. So what's up?"
"Well… I think I can help with the latter," she told him. "Just search for Danny Phantom raps."
"Something tells me I'm not going to like this," he moaned, running his hand through his unkempt locks.
He could sense her wicked grin over the call. "Probably not. But me and one hundred and twenty-seven thousand other people thought it was hilarious!"
A/N: I should be revising, but then I was plagued by the worst plot bunny I have ever faced and this is the result. When it comes to fanfiction, exam stress works wonders, so I hope you enjoyed this even half as much as I did writing it! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought!