AN: Okay, this is going to be the first story in a one-shot style series. Introductions of the three main characters first, then I'll get into the story more, and things'll start happening. Crossovers like you wouldn't believe.
Wish me luck! XD
The trip had been going well, all things considering. Taking a break from ghost hunting had seemed like a great idea, and he had needed to relax after the stresses of maintaining his secret identity and a 'B' average during junior year had sounded amazing. Going to Japan with his family after final exams had been welcome, despite the looming threat of the ghost hunter's convention he had supposedly been on the trip to attend. Escaping his family for a bit and taking a side trip to the charming ramen restaurant had seemed a stroke of brilliance, and the equally charming waitress (purple hair? Maybe it was a Japanese fashion trend?) had not dispelled this idea.
The strange visitors who sounded like they were speaking Chinese (pink, purple, orange, blue…What is it with the hairdressers in this country?) had been mildly interesting, but not alarming by themselves. The fact that they were fighting with more normally coiffed teens who seemed to be as freakishly amazing at martial arts as they were was, but hey, he fought ghosts on a practically daily basis, so as long as they were still alive and not hurting anyone, who was he to interfere? He was on vacation, after all.
The short-haired girl's mallet had been distressing briefly, but it wasn't aimed at him, so that was fine after all. Okay, so that thing with the pink haired girl flying and that pigtailed guy in a Chinese outfit suddenly turning into that pigtailed girl in the Chinese outfit was freaky, and maybe he was starting to get a little alarmed now, but this was interesting, even if he couldn't understand a word anyone was saying, and he wanted to see how it was going to end.
Really, he should have noticed the flying packet headed his way (Its label read 'Jusenkyo, Instant Spring of Drowned Girl', not that he would have known what that meant even if he had been able to read Mandarin) but in his defense, the mysterious ladle and bucket had distracted him. It occurred to him later that really, he really shouldn't have been standing behind the pigtailed girl at all, hadn't his experience taught him never to get caught in the crossfire?
But by then, it was far too late.
'Really,' Danny Fenton thought, water dripping from her soaking wet bangs and onto her ample chest, 'All the signs were there. It's my own fault for not paying more attention. Always have to be in the center of the action, don't you, Fenton?'
No one seemed to have noticed her, standing there, quietly dripping onto the floor. There was more shouting, and then the Chinese trio left, followed closely by the pigtailed girl, the short-haired girl with the mallet, and the boy with the yellow bandana.
Not really caring about her secret identity at this point, Danny Fenton transformed into Danny Phantom. The universal, failsafe pat-pat test confirmed the suspicions raised by the innocent looking bulges in the front of her Hazmat. 'Don't pull that innocent trick with me, missies. This is all your fault; I'm sure of it.'
She transformed back with a defeated sigh, wondering how she was going to hide her secret identity once everyone noticed that hey, wait a minute, didn't Danny Phantom become a girl at the same time Danny Fenton did? There was also the vague concern that she was probably in shock if that was all she was worrying about right now.
"Sir? Or Miss, as the case may be?" Danny looked down, and saw the old woman that the three Chinese had been talking to before Pigtail and Bandanna had come in.
"You speak English? That's good, I suppose…Not many people speak English in Japan, you know…" 'Something seems wrong with my voice. Maybe its shock.' Catching a glimpse of herself in one of the hanging mirrors on the walls, the halfa noticed that she was as pale as a ghost. 'Wow, so I make bad jokes in my thoughts and out loud. Go figure. But if I'm this pale, it's definitely shock. Oh, well.'
The old woman barked what sounded like a series of commands to the purple-haired girl; the old woman gently led Danny to a chair and sat her down. They sat in silence for a few minutes, which gave the teen time to get over her shock, and subsequent hysteria,
i'magirlwhatthehellisgoingonwhyisthishappeninghowdidthishappedwhoarethesepeopleohmygodohmygodohmygodwhataremyparentsgoingtosayohgodican'ttellthemihavetoleaverunscreamcryGETOUTOFHERENNOW
and then the purple-haired waitress returned with tea, and the old woman told Danny a story. It wasn't a happy story, in fact, most of it didn't even make sense, but Danny found it strangely comforting that there were other people like her out there; people who had had close encounters of a very personal nature with the cursed springs of Jusenkyo.
What was not so comforting was the fact that water from the ladle the Chinese trio had in their possession, water that she and the pigtailed boy (girl?) had been splashed with, negated the temporary cure hot water provided.
Then the crone told her of the water kettle, and how it would cure her completely, because the curse inside the packet that had landed all over him (when she had been a him, that is) was only temporary. The woman had then given her directions to the Tendou Dojo, informed her that she would be by later with a map to the kettle's last known location, and sent her out the door.
Strolling down the streets of the Nerima prefecture, Danny had reflected on how lucky she was that this little problem, at least, had a cure. It was fortunate, she had thought, that all it would take to solve this latest identity crisis was a short trip to some shrine or something (she had assumed that was where the kettle would be) and she would be on her way back to the hotel, preparing to go down on her knees and beg for forgiveness from her parents and Jazz for worrying them by being gone for so long.
She could have said that her life had gone totally, completely wrong at any point that day. It could have been when he woke up, when he decided to eat at that particular restaurant, when Pigtail and Bandanna had come in, when he was splashed with cursed water, or when she noticed that if she cut through a certain alleyway she could shave two blocks off her trip. But, when asked about it later, she would have said, with absolute, total certainty, that the exact moment her life went totally, irrevocably spinning out of control, was when, in that alley, a man a jumpsuit which rivaled Jack Fenton's for bad taste ran into her.
He stared up at her, seeming shocked she was there, and then began dragging her along with him as he ran.
"Hey, whaddare you--"
"We have to run," he gasped, eyes wild ('Are his eyes purple? And…Glowing?') "They're coming for me, and if they see I've made contact with you, they'll take you too!"
'Then why did you make contact in the first place, dumbass?' "What are you talking about? And who're 'they'?"
"The IIvildai! They're coming for it! You have to hide me, for if they find it, the universe is doomed!"
'Oh. Okay then.'
whew Well, there's the first one done. Don't worry, the IIvildai (Or, as their Earth-based department is known, Black Org ;)) Will be explained in further detail later on in the series, as will the mysterious "it" that the man is carrying. I'm playing with time a bit for this story, and once you find out who Purple Eyes is, you'll see what I mean. Fans of Detective Conan/Case Closed and Magic Kaito should be familiar with him. winks No, it's not Kaito (or Kid), but you're close!