A/N:
Hello Danny Phantom fandom :) My name is Azure129 and this is my first time writing a DP fic! However, I am a HUGE fan of the show!!! Anyway, this is a story set just after Phantom Planet and is going involve a lot of crazy and dramatic things, the return of several familiar characters, and a very big adventure for our favorite halfa. I'm a little nervous about doing this fic as I've only ever written fanfiction for Hey Arnold! before (a shout out to all my readers from that fandom who might be checking this out, especially DP-shrine-in-closet-girl, who's recent review of one of my other stories kind of inspired me to finally get this fic up and running :) ). Anyway, I'm just hoping that I've managed to keep everything in character and that I can keep up with this show's crazy and sometimes ambiguous canon, lol.
Okay, so, without further ado, please enjoy the beginning of…
PHANTOM REALITY
Chapter 1:
If I Could Turn Back Time…
"Mmm, Ughhh…" A certain dark haired halfa tossed and turned in his bed, a dream vaguely floating around in his mind.
He was in a dark place, and, though there were no signs to support it, he had a feeling that he was in the Ghost Zone. Strangely, though, he was also pretty sure that he was surrounded by a finite, small space. 'Weird…' he thought to himself.
Finally, Danny also sensed that he was in his ghost form right now, though he couldn't remember having transformed.
Danny could feel himself breathing and wanted to say something, to ask for help or at least see if anyone else was around...but somehow (as is the case in most dreams) what he wanted his body to do just wasn't happening.
Suddenly he felt a distinct and familiar shiver rise from the center of his stomach and explode into his chest, escaping from his apparently open mouth. 'Ghost sense? But who else is…'
His thought was stopped as he heard a low vibration… 'An earthquake?' No something about it seemed more…human…'Or inhuman…' he added silently to himself.
Some vaguely familiar jarring sound suddenly began to pull Danny from what he half-realized must be a dream. Just as he escaped from the strange images and sensations of his sleeping mind, though, a thought about that low vibration he had felt pulsing around him occurred to him, though he would not remember upon opening his eyes. 'It's almost like a…laugh?'
"BEWAAAAAAAAAARE!!!"
"HUH?!?! What the…?!?!" Danny Fenton sat straight up in his bed, breathing heavily, his dark hair a mess. The sunlight shining in through his window told him it was morning.
"I SAID BEWAAAAAAARE!!! For I, the BOX GHOST, have come with a surprise attack to destroy you in your sleep!!!" The bluish specter raised his arms and an object flew off of Danny's desk and hovered likewise over his bed. "Now, prepare to be VANQUISHED by your own ordinary pencil box—now a PENCIL BOX OF DOOM!!!"
"I'm Going Ghost!" And, after uttering his signature battle cry, Danny Fenton transformed into Danny Phantom and hovered above his bed on level with the Box Ghost.
Danny let out a frustrated sigh and scowled at the ghost before him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Shouldn't Pandora be punishing you for a few hundred more years for taking her box?"
The Box Ghost took a break from his spooky voice to explain. "Well, she did have me doing all of that yard work and stuff, but after a couple of weeks she kicked me out." His spooky voice returned. "I guess I just got too SCARY for her, WOOOO!!!!"
Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, too annoying's more like it. Well, prepare for a little reunion because you're going right back to the Ghost Zone where you belong!"
"That is what you thi—" But before he could finish his sentence, Danny had pulled a Fenton Thermos off of his nightstand and sucked the comic relief Box Ghost inside.
Danny Phantom smiled to himself. "Ha! And next time you're planning a 'surprise attack' maybe you should try NOT waking me up first so I can kick your butt."
Danny landed on the floor and tossed the thermos onto his bed.
Suddenly, his door opened…
"Danny, honey, are you okay? I thought I heard someone yelling and—" Maddie Fenton stopped in mid-sentence as she saw her son standing there in Phantom form looking at her with a surprised expression.
"Uh…" He glanced almost in panic around the room quickly, and then tried to respond to her in a deep voice—the one he had always used to disguise his real voice whenever communicating with his parents while in Phantom form. "Sorry, citizen, I was just uh…"
He looked at his mom who was biting her lower lip, a half smile on her face. He sighed and resumed his normal voice, smiling back at her. "The Disasteroid thing wasn't a dream, was it?"
Maddie walked into the room. "Danny, this is the third morning in a row that you've asked me that. No, it was not a dream."
Danny sighed and transformed back to his human form. "Sorry—old habits…" he replied, referring to his former need to keep his identity a secret.
Though Maddie had known about her son being the ghost boy for several days now, her eyes still couldn't help going wide as she watched him change forms. 'Amazing…' she thought to herself, 'the ability for human and spectral DNA to coexist in a single being doesn't seem possible…' She had been meaning to ask her son how, exactly, he changed forms—just one of the many questions she had wanted to know the answer to ever since the Disasteroid had nearly struck and everyone had discovered that he was the ghost boy. However, she stopped herself as usual, not wanting to make him feel like one of her ectoplasmic experiments.
Maddie just smiled and headed toward the door. "Well, Danny, breakfast is ready downstairs if you're hungry."
"Thanks Mom." Danny approached one of his dresser drawers. "I'll be down in a minute. Did you seal up the shades?" He glanced back.
"Yes Danny…"
"Lock the doors?"
"Yes Danny…"
"Take the phones off the hook?"
"Yes Danny…" She stopped attempting to return back downstairs and instead turned to look back to her son, smiling with concern.
He sifted through a couple of the dresser drawers, pulling out a few pieces of clothing and tossing them onto his bed. "Thanks, Mom. I'll set up a force field around the kitchen just to make sure they stay away."
Maddie sighed. "Danny…" He turned around to look at her, closing the drawers. She continued, a genuinely concerned tone in her voice and a genuinely concerned look in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want your father and I to talk to the press for you?"
Though everything had seemed to be perfect following Danny's heroic rescue of the earth from certain destruction by the Disasteroid, he had quickly learned that the aftermath of having everyone know his secret was even more difficult than organizing every ghost in the Ghost Zone to turn the earth intangible had been.
Not that Danny Fenton/Phantom wasn't glad for the newfound appreciation he was getting ('It beats being 'Public Ghost Enemy No. 1,' he kept thinking to himself) but, still, the attention was a little much. Every reporter wanted a story from him, every agent a book and movie deal, and every person in town in general seemed willing to do anything for his autograph or even just a glimpse of him 'going ghost.'
Needless to say, this had all led to the family having to take certain precautions to keep their lives from becoming a public spectacle; a development Danny couldn't help but feel guilty about putting his family through. Not that they hadn't been very willing and supportive about dealing with the papparatzi, but he knew he had to make the media circus stop soon before it got too out of hand.
Danny smiled at his worried mother and threw his clothes for the day onto his bed. "Don't worry, Mom…Tucker and Sam and I have been talking, and I think it might be better if I do it myself." Danny didn't want to mention that it was also a little embarrassing having your Mom hold a televised event where she asked people to 'leave her little boy alone,' though the thought was definitely a factor in his decision.
Maddie stepped forward and hugged her son, and then headed for the door again.
"Mom?"
She turned around once more.
"Uh, two things…" Danny picked up the full Thermos on his bed and tossed it to her, "Do you think you could throw what's in there into the Ghost Portal for me…you know, before Dad finds out?"
Maddie nodded, recalling how the last two ghosts Danny had captured Jack had insisted on throwing into the Ghost Zone himself (when Skulker had said that the truce was over as soon as the earth and Ghost Zone were safe, apparently he had meant it!). Despite his good intentions, though, somehow Jack had not only managed to let both Ember and the Lunch Lady free on both of those occasions, but he had nearly destroyed the house and the Fenton RV in the process until, between Danny's powers and a few choice Fenton inventions, the two had managed to return the ghosts to their thermoses.
"Who was it this time?" Maddie asked, referring to the occupant of the container she currently held in her hand.
"The Box Ghost…" Danny replied casually. "Don't worry—he's harmless except for his ability to annoy people to death." Danny laughed to himself at his joke, and then smiled at Maddie. "I just don't want to have to deal with him getting out and bugging me all day at school."
Maddie nodded at her son. "And the second thing?" she asked, putting the thermos into her utility belt.
Danny walked toward her and said in a very sincere voice, "Well I just…" he glanced downward, "Wanted to thank you…again…I mean for…you know, NOT getting incredibly angry that I've been lying to you this whole time…and for even trying to help me with ghost fighting. It means a lot to me." He smiled up at her.
"Danny," she knelt down a bit, smiling, "your father and I will always love you and we'll always support you, no matter what."
Danny smiled to himself. "I know."
"Oh, Danny…" So happy that there were finally no more lies between them after all these months, Maddie suddenly decided to hug her son as another show of her support for him.
"OW!" Danny yelled, and pushed away from her.
Maddie stood up, her eyes wide with concern. "Danny?!"
Danny sat on his bed, his hair a little frazzled looking all of a sudden. He shook his head for a second to clear it, and then looked back at his mother as though searching for something on her person. He raised an eyebrow, though, as, it appeared, he couldn't locate what he was expecting to see. "You're not wearing the specter deflector?"
Maddie blinked and reached into her pocket. "Well, actually, I've been working on these new ring size models for Tucker and Sam, so that they'll be safe if they're around when you're fighting a gho—" Suddenly, Maddie stopped as she realized why Danny had just pushed away from her. "Oh Danny, sweetie, I'm sorry I—"
Danny stood up, feeling a bit better despite the small shock he had just received from the miniature specter deflectors. "It's okay—just…deactivate them and I'll bring them to school for Tucker and Sam."
Maddie nodded and twisted each of the rings, shutting them off. She looked at her son inquisitively and couldn't help but ask, "It hurts you even when you're not the ghost?"
Danny shrugged. "It hurts more when I'm Danny Phantom, but when I'm human it definitely still gives me a shock…You might want to look into increasing the power of those things, by the way—the belt specter deflector hurts a lot more." He suddenly remember that he was talking to his (already overly-concerned-for-his-safety) mother and that, with all this talk of the Specter Deflector, she might end up recalling that she had hugged him with it on several occasions right after it was invented during their trip to Wisconsin as part of one of Vlad Plasmius' crazy schemes to win her and Danny over to 'the dark side.' "I mean," Danny tried to backpedal a bit, "It's not excruciating or anything…kind of like a really strong static shock." He tried his best to smile at her in the hopes that she would buy that something with enough power to slightly fry his hair and send him pushing away from her really hurt his body so little.
"Oh Danny, I really am sorry…" Despite Danny's efforts, Maddie knew when her son was just trying to make her feel better. She looked at him with a mixture of concern and guilt in her eyes, and glanced downward. "This is all going to take a little time to get used to, isn't it?"
Danny laughed to himself, trying to lighten the moment. "Hey, just be glad you didn't wake up more morning and start turning intangible without any warning. Now that takes some getting used to!"
Maddie smiled and actually almost laughed at the comment, very proud of her son who had managed to handle such a big responsibility by himself for so long, and who now seemed to be doing just as well with it all even though his secret out. She headed for the doorway once more. "Well, I'll just go put this," she held up the Thermos still in one of her hands, "back in the Ghost Zone." She opened the door and stepped out, but not before popping her head back in one last time. "And, Danny?"
"Yeah?" Danny grabbing the clothes he had chosen from his bed.
"We're all really proud of you." She winked and the two shared a smile, and then Maddie finally headed downstairs.
Danny quickly dressed and brushed his teeth and hair in preparation for school. Now, he glanced around his room, which he had just reentered. "Now to put up that force field and keep the camera crews out!" He transformed into the Phantom and turned intangible, then phased through the wall and outside.
Around the perimeter of the kitchen he could see reporters and fans lined up all along the three walls of the room the Fentons would most likely be in during breakfast time. He rolled his eyes. 'Here we go again…'
Danny concentrated as hard as he could and suddenly he had an invisible double by his side. The double turned visible and flew up the street. "Hey guys!!!" It called to the ogglers who turned to see what they thought was the ghost boy above them. "Phantom going to school!" it shouted. "Who wants exclusive photos?!?!"
Instantly, the entire mob ran toward the Danny-double, who flew through the neighborhood. Danny laughed to himself. 'It was so worth all of the practice time to figure out that power.'
His plan working, Danny flew down to the level of the kitchen and put up an ecto force field around the room's outer perimeter before completely phasing through the wall and finding himself back inside of his house.
At the table, his father and sister were just sitting down to breakfast. Danny landed in his usual seat, turned visible, and then transformed back to Danny Fenton, causing Jack Fenton to squirt chocolate milk out of his nose and onto his daughter in surprise.
"Danny! Or should I say Danny?" He pumped his eyebrows up and down a couple of times and gave his son a joking elbow across the table. Danny rolled his eyes: his father had been stuck on that joke ever since he had used it after the Disasteroid incident.
"Just 'Danny' will be fine, Dad." Danny smiled to himself and pulled a box of cereal closer to his place setting.
"Ugh, DAD!" yelled Jazz, a scowl on her face and brown milk dripping from her hair.
Jack noticed the mess he had made of his daughter. "Oh, sorry, Jazzy-pants! It's just that I still can't get used to your brother suddenly appearing like that. I've gotta get the Fenton Ghost Finder out of moth balls and start keeping it with me so that I can have fair warning…" Jazz just rolled her eyes and went over to the sink to clean herself off. Suddenly, Jack's eyes lit up like he had an idea, and he smiled at his son. "Hey, Danny," he began, turning his attention back to his son, "Would you like me to come up with a pocket-sized version of one of those for you? It could be really helpful knowing there's a ghost around before you see it!"
Ever since he had found out Danny's secret three days ago, Jack had been trying to help his son's hero mission in any way possible. Unloading the Fenton Thermoses was just a start: his real passion, though, was trying to make a device that could assist Danny despite his already awesome halfa powers.
Danny sighed, feeling bad about having to dash his father's hopes again. "Sorry, Dad, I don't need it. I've got a ghost sense of my own."
"Really?" Jack seemed intrigued. "You mean you can tell when other ghosts are around? How?"
Danny poured some milk into his bowl along with the cereal he had already placed inside, and grabbed his spoon. "Well, this ghost I know, Frostbite, explained the details of it to me one day, but, basically, my breath gets cold and I start to get chills whenever another ghost is around."
"Hmm…" Jack took out a small notebook he had starting using to keep notes about the progress of his son's abilities. "A temperature gage for detecting ghosts?" he mumbled under his breath. "Could be an interesting addition to the Ghost Finder…or the BooooMerang…" He walked off, writing down more ideas.
Danny turned to his sister who had just returned from a brief trip to the sink where she had managed to wash all of the milk out of her hair. "Hey, Jazz, you think you could give me a ride to school?"
Jasmine Fenton smiled at her little brother who sat just swirling the contents of his cereal bowl around, a somewhat listless look on his face. "Sure, Danny—but, you know, they're not going to leave you alone just because you're with me…" She was, of course, referring to the paparazzi outside. "You need to sit down and talk to those reporters and everyone in town before things get out of hand."
Danny's face fell a bit. "I know, I know…it's just that all of this flying and force fields has been wearing me out for the last three days and I don't think I could handle a full blown press conference right now." He smiled, glancing at his sister. "I mean, I feel like all a ghost would have to do is look at me funny and I'd pass out," Danny joked, referring to how he usually fainted when a ghost's power overwhelmed him. He sighed and tried to eat a bite or two of his breakfast. "I'll explain things to them this weekend… but, right now, I really just need one morning free from a bunch of ghost maneuvering through Amity Park." He smiled at Jazz. "They already think I flew to school, though, so they won't be looking for me to be with you."
"Alright, Danny," Jazz smiled understandingly. "But we better leave soon before they figure out that you ditched them…" She grabbed her plate and put it into the sink. "Do Tucker and Sam need a ride too?"
Danny smiled to himself, chuckling slightly. "No, thanks. Actually, they've come up with some pretty creative ways of avoiding the media frenzy themselves…"
Meanwhile, across town, Tucker was putting the finishing touches on something. He smiled to himself as he stepped back to enjoy his handiwork. "You are one handsome looking decoy, if I do say so myself. I can't believe Mr. and Mrs. Fenton just left you behind after the Disasteroid almost crashed…"
Standing in front of Tucker was the Tuckbot, in full Tucker outfit.
Tucker opened his front door. "Now go get 'em!" he yelled, pushing the robot outside.
"Hello. I-am-Tucker. Please-take-pictures-of-me," yelled the Tuckbot mechanically. Instantly, all of the reporters surrounded the robot.
Tucker, meanwhile, smiled to himself and went out the back door. "Suckers…" He dropped his PDA on the ground and hit a button on the side with his foot. It suddenly expanded horizontally, and then grew wheels and a small rocket engine on the back. Tucker hopped on and started zooming to Casper High using the back ways. "I knew I'd figure out Vlad's way of making Valerie's transporter boards so compact…Take that, Dalv Industries!"
Meanwhile, at another house across town…
Sam Manson grabbed her backpack and headed toward her front door. "Bye Mom, bye Dad!"
"Bye sweetie!" the Manson parents called to their daughter.
"Okay guys, you know the drill!" Sam yelled when she got out onto her stoop. Instantly, ten hired girls dressed in Sam Mason outfits appeared at her side. The group of them walked to ten identical limos, one for each girl.
As the girls approached the cars, Sam could hear the questions of reporters being flung at them as they forced their way through the crowd.
"Ms. Manson, Ms. Manson, how long did you know that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom?"
"Ms. Manson, what does it feel like to be dating the hero of the world?"
"Ms. Manson, Ms. Manson, why did Mr. Fenton change his name from Inviso-Bill to Danny Phantom?"
Sam rolled her eyes at this last question, but couldn't help also blushing at the mention of the second one. Her and Danny would have been an item for one full week this Monday, and she couldn't wait for the anniversary…Girly things like that usually didn't appeal to her, of course, but she was so happy that her and Danny were finally together that she didn't care how much her enthusiasm cramped her Goth style.
Sam sat down in her own limo and sighed, a grin still on her face. "Well, this might not stop them from harassing me at school, but at least it'll take them off the scent so that I can get there without driving through a sea cameras." The car started up and she addressed the driver, "Alright, Jenkins, let's hit it!"
"Right away, Miss Manson!" The driver turned to face her, winking.
Sam blinked and her grin widened as she saw who was actually up in the driver seat wearing the black cap and jacket. "Grandma?!"
"If anyone's gonna see to it that my Granddaughter gets safely to school, it's gonna be me!" The old woman laughed.
Sam laughed as well. "Alright, Grandma! Punch it!"
And with that, Sam's limo as well as the nine decoys were off into the Amity Park streets.
Meanwhile, back at the Fenton kitchen…
Danny stood up and put his bowl in the sink just as both of his parents entered the kitchen.
"Maddie!" Jack turned to his wife. "Did you know that Danny has a ghost sense of his own?"
Maddie blinked. "Really, Danny? You didn't tell us that?"
"Well, come on, Danny…" Jack said, putting an arm over his son's shoulder, "Let's see it in action!"
Danny blushed slightly, not liking suddenly being the center of attention even if it was with just his parents. He was glad that they were proud of him for being the ghost boy, but, at the same time, the idea of suddenly showing off his powers to them when he had spent months keeping them a complete secret still felt a little weird to him.
"Well," he started, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, "I can't really do a 'demonstration'…my breath only gets cold whenever another ghost is aro—" Suddenly, Danny felt the familiar chill grow from his chest to his mouth. His body shivered.
"Hey, that was pretty good, son!" Jack Fenton smiled.
Danny turned to him, a serious look in his eyes. "Dad, that wasn't a demonstration…there really is a ghost here…"
Danny transformed into the Phantom and looked skeptically around the room. At the back of his mind, Danny couldn't help but hope that the Box Ghost had escaped when his mother wasn't looking, or something. Somehow, though, he felt like something stronger was here… 'Maybe my ghost sense is evolving so that I can sense power levels too…?' he thought to himself as he floated around a bit, gazing about warily.
The kitchen appearing clear, he flew into the living room. Not seeing anything there either, he became intangible and floated upward, popping his head through the ceiling for a quick check upstairs. Everything appearing fine up there, he decided to head to the basement. 'After all, if I'm looking for a ghost who just arrived at my house, chances are checking out the only room with a ghost portal in it is probably a safe bet.'
Still intangible, he floated back down through the living room and then through the floor to the basement. Danny landed on the floor of the lab and went tangible again. He glanced around at the empty and quiet room. "Hmm…nothing. Maybe it left?" He turned to the control panel in the laboratory. "I guess it couldn't hurt to put up the ghost shield just in case…"
Danny went to push the button but was suddenly knocked to his feet by something very heavy! Smoke from the table of chemicals in test tubes (which were now shattered everywhere and mixing together) that he had been slammed into rose around him, and he could feel that a good dent had been dug into the floor underneath his body. The last glance he'd gotten of the room before ending up completely flattened on the ground had shown him, to his surprise, that the Ghost Portal had been opened.
Hearing the commotion in the basement, Jack, Maddie and Jazz all ran down the stairs.
"Danny?!" yelled Maddie from the top of the staircase she was currently running down with the two other members of her family.
"Danny, what's going on? Are you okay?" called out Jack, right behind her.
Suddenly, the three reached the bottom of the stairs and finally saw the large ghost currently atop a very discheveled looking Danny Phantom.
Jack glared at the intruder. "You stay away from my son!!!" he yelled to the specter, pulling out the only weapon he had on him (the Jack o' Ninetails) and spinning it high above his head.
Danny sat up at the sound of his father, feeling a bit woozy and dizzy to say the least. "Wh-what?" It took a second for him to focus his eyes and see clearly what exactly had hit him. Upon recognizing the large bluish being, his eyes widened considerably.
"Back to Ghost Zone where you belong you putrid pile of ectoplasmic energy!" shouted Jack, running at the ghost that, to him, seemed to be trying to attack his son.
Danny instantly pulled himself out from under the ghost and flew up, blocking his father's path. "No, Dad, stop! He's not attacking me!"
Jack halted at sight of his son suddenly defending the ghost upon the floor, though he couldn't help still glaring at the strange ghost. "Danny, what are you talking about? Look at what he did to the lab? And to you?" He motioned to the few scuffmarks Danny had on his suit, and a bruise forming near his chin.
"Dad, listen!" Danny began, trying to be as patient as possible, but finding it hard to hide the panic in his voice about what had just happened and how close his father had just come to hurting one of Danny's few ghost friends (and one who already seemed severely injured.) Danny took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly and firmly as he continued. "This is a good ghost. Remember how I explained to you and Mom that there are good ghosts and bad ghosts just like there are good and bad people?" Danny folded his arms in front of his chest and gave a determined look to his father.
Jack closed the ninetails and put it away. "Yes…" he said in a defeated and stubborn voice. Old ghost prejudices die hard.
"Danny, who is this?" his mother asked curiously, approaching the passed out being on the floor who seem to be…aging before her eyes? A fact that caused her to pause and even to take a step back from him.
Danny landed and motioned to the ghost on the floor. "This is Clockwork, and if something's hurt him then it can't be good news."
Danny knelt down beside the now child-seeming ghost and did his best to sit him up. "Clockwork? Clockwork? Are you okay?" Danny looked genuinely concerned. Jazz's face took on a similar look, and eventually his parents adopted the same expression.
Slowly, Clockwork opened his eyes. "Danny…"
"Clockwork, I'm right here. What's wrong?" asked Danny, a serious touch of worry in his voice.
Clockwork looked at him, growing older as he spoke. "Help…" And with that he passed out, leaving a very bewildered Danny Phantom holding him in his arms.
A/N:
I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 1!!! Sorry for the Cliffie, but I'll try and have Chapter 2 up asap (it's already written along with Chapters 3 and 4—they just need some grammar edits and, of course, some serious fact checking since, once again, this show's canon is crazy!!!)
R & R please, and, of course, Happy Reading!!!
~Azure129 aka Jenna