Me: Hey, everyone! It's been of a bit of a long-time-no-see/read for my DP readers, hasn't it?
Danny: Yeah, I doubt many Phans are anime fans.
Me: Although I have seen a few DP writers write for some anime stuff… *clears throat* anyway, while I was on my awesome A New Way to Bleed writing adventures, I realised how poorly written my DP fics are. So, I'm re-writing them!
Danny: Yay!
Me: There will be one big difference, though. The new version of Shadow Ink will be linked with this fic, but not exactly in a sequel-y style way. I'll explain in the next chapter.
Danny: But for now, enjoy this chapter!
EXILE, Chapter 1, Dinner
"You're goin' down, ghost scum!" My father's war cry rang through the night, loud and apparent as I heard the sound of an ecto-foamer charging up.
I took a few more steps backward into the alley, my boots almost slipping on the wet ground. Crouching down low, I tried to fit myself under a collapsed fire escape. My feet stuck out slightly and I sighed when I realised this wasn't really helping. Why did ghosts have to glow anyway? Where did all this light come from?
Turning intangible or invisible wouldn't have helped right now – their trackers and sensors made sure of that, and if I changed back their radar would sense the decrease in ghost energy. This was basically like most nights, except this time I had found myself cornered.
Straining my ears, I tried to work out how close my dad was by the sound of his footsteps. His were heavy and obvious, whereas I had no hope in finding Mum. She was probably almost as furtive and silent as I was.
Based on what I could hear, I concluded that the street was empty. Well, from Dad anyway. His shout must have been farther away than I thought. That was logical, as I knew sounds were always amplified at night and I was always mis-calculating things like that. I made a mental note to get better at that sort of thing. Why did they always have to hunt me after the sun went down?
Suddenly, I heard the sound of something drop down nearby and I jumped round to see a stone slide to a halt beside me. I glanced up, squinting into the darkness. Where did that come from?
"I've got you know, Phantom," I recognised my mother's voice instantly, seemingly coming from nowhere at first. Then a pair of crimson red goggles into view, my alarmed reflection showing clear in them, and the next thing I knew was the feeling of a gun - cold, sharp and pressed into the my chest.
The weapon whistled and clicked as it prepared to fire a shot and I yelled, flying up through the rubble just when I began to feel the energy about to pulse out of the ecto-blaster. A net followed as I made my way into the sky and I had to put on an extra burst of speed to stay clear. Mum cried out in frustration.
Another, more primitive shout told me my father had spotted me and I looked down to see him fire blasts of ecto-foam in my direction. But, like usual, each shot fell short as I climbed higher and higher into the air. The sound of an empty gun clattered to the floor as I finally found my chance to get away.
"We'll find you, Phantom, and when we do, we'll destroy you. Molecule by molecule. There'll be nothing left of you when we're finished!" Mum's threat echoed behind me as I sped on, trying to get out of range of their trackers as quickly as possible.
It was a whole half an hour before I deemed it safe to go home and I almost fell asleep as I phased through my bedroom and landed on my bed, my mind only barely registering that I had to change quickly in case my parents' ghost technology was still on.
Yawning, I triggered the transformation and let myself turn back into a human, my eyes shooting open when I felt my heart kick start again and I took my first breath for about six hours. That was always a weird feeling.
My right arm began to throb and my eyes ran over a long, but not very deep gash I had seemed to have acquired during the night's fight. I made my way tiredly into my bathroom and ran the wound under the taps in the sink, wincing slightly as the cold water washed out the dirt that had lodged its way inside. This would be so much easier to do in ghost form, but I still couldn't risk it. Even if the pain was guaranteed to decrease by miles.
I shrugged to myself. It would heal by the morning anyway.
"Danny, dinner!" I heard Mum call from the kitchen. I looked up, confused. How did she get home and cook dinner so quickly?
I groaned inwardly. Maybe she was using that stupid invention again, the one that cooks meat in a few seconds. I walked downstairs after putting on a longer shirt, hoping that my food wouldn't eat me first.
I sauntered into the kitchen to see everyone sitting down at the table already, just starting their meal. Taking an empty seat next to Jazz, I picked up my fork and stared down at my plate unenthusiastically, wondering what was going to be in my stomach today.
Just sausages, some mashed potato and baked beans. And I grabbed a slice of bread from the center of the table. It seemed, from the outside, OK.
I gently nudged one of the sausages with my knife to check that it wasn't 'alive' before eating it, but sticking a fork through it was impossible. It was rock hard and just simply trying to sent pain up my arm.
Great. I fight my parents and now I have to fight my food. Why can't my life be normal?
Like I hadn't pondered over that question before.
I felt someone's eyes on me and I looked to see Jazz. Her face was full of concern and she was obviously the first one to notice the faint trace of blood coming through my right sleeve.
I shrugged, nodding my head towards Mum and Dad.
Jazz frowned.
"You know, Danny, you wouldn't believe how close we got to catching a ghost today," my dad spoke up in the middle of a mouthful.
"Oh, really? Who?" I tried my best to act surprised. Well, it wouldn't matter even if I didn't. They say the same thing at dinner every day.
"That putrid piece of ectoplasmic scum, Phantom."
"Huh? That's cool."
"I'm starting to rethink what we would do with him when we actually do catch him," Mum suddenly said, "maybe we should dissect him? I've never really had a close look at a ghost for a long period of time before. I want to know about the structure of a ghost's organs. They don't have a heartbeat, so what's in the place of that? Not to mention what happens when it eats…"
I quietly sat there and choked on my bread.
"Are you going to sedate Phantom?" I heard Jazz ask worriedly, "It would hurt him if you didn't."
Mum laughed, "Sweetie, you know we don't care about that."
I exchanged an anxious glance with my sister.
She carried on, "I have a brand-new set of scalpels down in the lab, now that I think of it. All we really need is some ghost proof restraints to fix onto the table. I'll move the computer down there tomorrow to help records the results… and I can type fast enough, I might also do a transcript of what he says-"
"But you haven't even caught him yet!" Jazz pointed out hurriedly.
"Can we talk about something else, please?" I added quickly.
"Son, by now you need to know that this is very important to us." Turning towards me, Dad spoke for the first time in a while. "Catching a ghost would not only be a great achievement for me and your mother, but it would be another step to understanding these ecto-punks properly."
I looked down at my food, trying to think of something to convince them against it, "why can't you just ask Phantom for all the information you want?
My parents fell into hysterics. "Danny, sweetie, why would a ghost like Phantom ever co-operate with humans? I expect he would rather die for a second time than sit down and talk," Mum replied.
"And how exactly do you know that?" Jazz raised her eyebrows.
"Everybody knows that ghosts are evil, Jazzerincess," Dad said, "It's a fact. Why else would they try to destroy the town every day?"
I guessed that they had their point. They'd never heard of ghosts like Frostbite, Clockwork or Dora because they had never left the Ghost Zone. In fact, the only reason a ghost left the Zone was because they wanted to destroy the town. Unless they were Klemper or the Box Ghost, I mentally corrected myself, or if they needed a date for the ball.
"Personally, I don't think that Danny Phantom is evil at all. He does a great job of protecting the town," Jazz winked at me as she crossed her arms.
"That's just a distraction to keep us away from his evil plans and what he's really doing," Dad said dramatically, narrowing his eyes for effect. "He's scheming something right now, I know it!"
"Yeah," I mumbled under my breath, "he's scheming about how to get his fork through his sausage."
"Tomorrow we'll all go out and look for him," he declared loudly, "your mother and I will get the weapons ready now. And remember," Dad eyed me and Jazz "If you see any sign of Phantom, tell us so that we can tear him to shreds- I mean dissect him," he said, looking at Mum.
And without giving us a chance to reply (or bothering to finish their dinner in the heat of the moment), my parents left the room and headed downstairs to the lab.
There was silence for a few more minutes as I sat there eating, half listening to the now buzzing activity down in the lab.
After a while Jazz turned to me, her face set in a deep frown. "I think they're serious this time, Danny. They've got closer and closer to capturing you every day and this time, they might actually do it."
"I know," I groaned, wiping a hand across my face in anxiety. "I just don't know how to stop this. It's not like I can stop being Danny Phantom, just like that. Amity Park needs me."
Jazz appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, staring down into her empty cup. Then she looked up again, right at me. "Maybe you should tell them that you're Danny Phantom. They'll be alright with it, I know."
"What if they're not alright with it?"
"Come on Danny, we both know it won't come to that. Why would it? They love you. I love you - and I accepted you, didn't I?" she smiled encouragingly and stood up, holding her hand out. "Why don't we do it now to get it over with? I'll come with you if you like, Danny."
"Well…I…Jazz, you see, I don't want-"
The next thing I knew, Jazz had grabbed hold of my arm and we were on our way down the stairs and into the lab, my parents' voices getting closer and closer with each step.
"We'll catch him using this ghost-proof net," it sounded like Mum was going through the plans with Dad, "but we'll take some spares in case either of us misses, like last time. I charged them up with electricity to weaken him once he's inside, so he shouldn't struggle. If it happens that he does, I've put together something here that should hopefully knock him out for about three hours."
The door was open already, so Jazz gently nudged me inside, far milder than she had just been.
Looks like she got her own way with me. Again.
My parents looked around as they heard us come in, "Hi guys. What's wrong?"
Before I could even think about speaking, Jazz said, "Danny's come here to tell you something."
I felt her gaze on me, willing me to continue. But I didn't know how to start.
Where should I start?
Should I just not start at all?
And so, she did in my stead. "About Phantom."
"What about Phantom, son?" Dad asked me, "have you seen him? Do you know where he is?"
"In a way," I replied quietly.
"What do you mean?" my mum spoke this time, confused.
I hesitated again. What if they didn't accept me? What if Jazz was wrong? What if she was actually wrong?
What if… they didn't love me in the first place?
No.
I shook my head to myself. Of course they did. They said it every night before I went to bed, before I hung up on the phone, before leaving for school in the mornings.
Out with it, Fenton, I forced myself mentally.
"You see…" I began.
"Yes?" my parents looked at me expectantly.
"I'm…I'm…"
"Just get on with it Danny," Jazz whispered to me. "Remember, they love you."
I swallowed nervously, "I'm Danny Phantom."
Danny: And….. finish
Me: I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP, guys :)
Danny: Reviews are also nice.
Me: So, bye!
Danny: Yeah, see ya!