Description: (no PP) Years ago, Danny went missing and no one has seen him since. Now, 10 years later at their high school reunion, he shows up without an explanation. Tuck and Sam aren't the only people surprised at what's become of him. (Short summary I know. But eh. light TxS in the beginning)

AN: I've never written a fanfiction before- I prefer to read them. But after a while of looking for (and failing to find) a fanfic where something specific happens, I figured I might as well write it myself. I plan on making this pretty long, but alas~ I'm a busy college student with barely a speck of motivation. Don't expect regular updates. I don't keep a schedule for anything. I also have no clue how this site works, so just bare with me for now XD Oh! For a little plot thing, Jack and Maddie know Vlad is a halfa, but never made the connection with DF and DP. Cuz everyone is too oblivious for their own good. I'll probably follow this fic with a small series of one-shots based around it. Like how the Fentons found out what Vlad is and their whole history, Danny's initial panic at his appearance, stuff he did in the 11 years, and whatever else you guys might want to know.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Danny Phantom. Though I wish I did. I'd remake the entire series simply because I'm not a fan of the art style. Google image 'Sapherer' for my art lol

Warnings: Currently rated T, mostly for foul language and mild violence. If it's ever finished, it'll quickly turn to M for extreme violence and gore. Oh, and I'm terrible at keeping people in character, so almost everyone will be OOC- oops

Ps: I hate present-tense stories. Like "He walks over to the house and does this" Just… No. It's a serious pet peeve of mine. So even though the majority of this fix is written in 'the present', I'm using past tense. "He walked over to the house and did that."

...I also may occasionally draw fanart for my own fic. Check out Instagram .time

Let the show begin!

Chapter 1: Inevitable

Present:

Nearly eleven years ago, at the start of senior year, Daniel James Fenton vanished off the face of the earth. His friends said something scared him into running away, but they didn't know what. His parents could offer no explanation, though Jack Fenton claimed it was ghosts. Not even his older sister Jasmine knew what happened.

Alongside him, the town hero Danny Phantom mysteriously disappeared as well. But of course, no one connected the dots. Without someone to challenge, other ghosts stopped showing up as well. Many blamed Phantom for their appearance in the first place, so this only added to their 'proof.' Search parties for both Dannys went on for months, but even those who cared the most eventually gave up.

But now, ten years after their graduation, his class is holding their reunion. No one expects him to show up, but a name tag is placed out anyways.

11 years ago- senior year:

Danny's parents were always worried that their son hadn't hit puberty yet. At 17, it was incredibly uncommon and concerning. It came as a shock when he finally did. In just a few weeks he shot up a foot- nearly as tall as his mother. He had cheered at first, glad to finally no longer be the shortest senior. Not unlike other boys, he went all but mute when his voice started to change. Others thought it was out of embarrassment from the cracking but his friends knew better. They could spot the hidden fear in his eyes- even if they didn't know why he would be afraid.

His ghost fighting started to add up as well. Muscles started building up much quicker than before and was becoming increasingly more difficult to hide. Even with the late summer heat, he wore long sleeves and jackets to school. Though he was still getting taller, his shoulders gradually growing broader, he was still the favorite victim of Dash Baxter- and Danny still just let Dash do as he pleased.

It wasn't long until citizens started noticing a change in Phantom as well. Many stories were soon posted about his apparent sudden aging. Theories were thrown about how he was some sort of sub-species of ghosts who grew, aged, and died like humans. But at the same time, many articles were written by teenage girls who goggled at him all day long. If possible, Paulina Sanchez's obsession grew even more.

Strangely, Phantom started changing in other aspects. He started appearing less often- only showing up when another ghost was around. He was clearly getting stronger. Enemies that took an hour before only took minutes now. When he was spotted, his suit now had a simple change. Attached to the back of it was a white hood that he never removed. It completely hid his hair and cast a dark shadow over his face. His green eyes glowed brighter in the darkness, almost as if he were forcing them to be that way.

But as long as he kept up his job, no one really cared what he wore-

Location: Casper High

Eleven years ago

Danny stood by his locker, nervously fidgeting with his books as he waited for Sam and Tucker to show up. He's become increasingly nervous over the past few weeks. It was obvious even to students who didn't know him. He shuffled his feet, a light frown on his face. Sam and Tuck were late again. Late for their normal meet-up time, at least. His two friends had started dating nearly as soon as Danny started acting odd. He knew it was strange he was distancing himself from them, but he had a good reason and- Danny jumped as his locker slammed shut a few inches in front of his face.

He looked to find the resident bully blocking his view- Dash Baxter. He no longer had to crane his head up to look at the A-lister, nor did he fit in his locker anymore, but that didn't deter Dash in the slightest.

"Hey, Fenton," Dash said in his annoying nasally voice that made Danny cringe, "Your friends making out in some corner without you? I heard that goth bitch finally chose the techno geek over you."

Danny just glared at him, not trusting his own voice. It had stopped cracking in only a week- which was a miracle in its own means- but that's not why he chose not to speak. Of course he knew Sam and Tucker had started dating, and he was a little jealous, but he supported their decision. Dash's petty words were more annoying than insulting.

Dash grinned and shoved Danny back against his locker, a loud clang echoing in the mostly-empty hallway. "What, cat got your tongue? Or are you too embarrassed or your squeaking voice?" Dash laughed. "Fuckin' freak." Danny closed his eyes, trying to will himself to calm down. He'd found that he was much quicker to anger these days. Dash shoved him again. "Speak up, loser. Can't stay quiet forever, freak."

Danny opened his mouth to snap back when a different voice cut him off. "Danny!" Sam called from down the hall as she and Tucker hurried over.

Dash scowled. "This isn't over Fenton." He gave him one last shove before marching away.

"Hey, Danny. You ok?" Tuck asked, getting a small glare from Danny. "Right, standard question…"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Why do you still let him bully you around? We all know you've been able to fight back since freshman year." She eyes him for a moment. "Even more now."

Danny just shrugged and turned to head to their first class, his friends soon following after.

Casper high

Lunch

The infamous trio sat down at their usual table outside, two out of the three idly chatting away. Danny would nod at appropriate moments, shrug, or roll his eyes. Sam and Tuck didn't seem to mind his silence. Although they were concerned at first, it was pretty normal now. He frowned down at his food, ignoring them for now. He was hungry but… this didn't bring up his appetite. It seemed wrong for some reason. Almost like it wasn't food.

He jumped slightly when a chunk of "meat" went flying across the yard and landing in his tray. He sent a glare towards the A-List table, where Dash and Kwan were clearly laughing at him. Another chunk of food flew over and splattered across the table, but it was Danny's deep growl that caught Sam and Tucker's attention.

Sam turned to fuss at Danny with a frown, but her eyes widened in shock instead. "Danny, your eyes…" Danny immediately stiffened up. His eyes had been burning a bright red, but quickly faded back to blue. "Why…" she began, but trailed off.

Tucker had noticed too. "Dude, is that what you've been looking so scared about?" Danny gave a little shrug. "It's… probably nothing, yanno. Ghost puberty?"

Sam smacked his shoulder before turning back to Danny, who was staring down at the table with something akin to shame in his eyes. "Maybe it just… has to do with emotions. You were getting mad at Dash, right?" Danny nodded. "There you go then. I mean, it's just a color… That doesn't mean you're turning evil, or into him." Danny visible cringed when she mentioned him. She paused, catching that, before continuing quietly, "There's more, isn't there?"

Danny's mouth opened for a moment as if he were going to reply- but was cut off when a large chunk of moist meat smacked into the side of his head. His eyes immediately snapped back to the glowing crimson red. He abruptly stood up, the table jerking, his hands on the top of it. Nearly everyone froze when a deep rumble of a voice growled, "What the hell is your problem?" Even Sam and Tuck froze. No one expected that from Fenton. Despite everyone's gaze on him, Danny's eyes were only on Dash.

It took Dash a moment to comprehend that it was Fenton who spoke. He laughed, "So he can talk!" He looked at the other A-listers. "Who woulda thought the freak hasn't gone mute?" The rest of them laughed, but it only lasted a few seconds. Dash raised an eyebrow, "What?" noticing their gazes on something behind him. Turning around- a loud crack filled the air as Danny's fist connected with his face, sending the jock flying out of his seat and to the ground. "Gyaah!" Dash yelled, a hand over his bloody and bent nose. None of the A-listers made a move to get up- not even Kwan. The terrifying furious look on Danny's face had them frozen in place, not to mention the fact that his eyes were red.

Picking Dash up by his shirt collar, Danny cranked his fist back to punch him again when a voice cut through his mind-

"PARADISE LOST! Mr. Fenton, what do you think you're doing!?" Their overweight English teacher, Mr. Lancer, yelled from across the yard as he made his way over.

Danny started, his eyes wide as he dropped the jock. He… he'd punched Dash. He'd hurt someone. He'd wanted to hurt him. "I…" Everyone's eyes were on him. A few looked angry or amused, but most were confused or scared. Before anyone could get to him, he ran behind a tree and turned invisible. While invisible, he shifted to Phantom and took off into the air.

His eyes remained red.

Later that night-

Danny didn't go home that afternoon. He couldn't. His condition was getting worse, and… he couldn't put them through this. It wouldn't matter if they knew he was Phantom- they'd still accept him. But this was something he couldn't accept himself.

He sighed to himself as he slowly flew above Amity Park, watching people walk around beneath him. The crowds had thinned down in the hours since he left Casper, but he hadn't landed yet. Not even in the park. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him right now- especially with his eyes still deep red. And so, his invisibility stayed up, and he kept high out of the range of ghost-detectors.

"Danny?" Sam's quiet, concerned voice asked in his ear. The three of them always wore Fenton phones in case of emergency, or if Danny was too far away to talk in person. "You can talk to us, yanno. We're worried about you." Danny stayed silent, as he had been since he left.

"Dude, Dash had it coming anyways." Tucker spoke up. "And it was awesome! No one's ever stood up to him before!" There was a light smack and Sam hit him to shut him up.

She sighed. "Look, I know what you're thinking. We were there when you first met him, remember? You're nothing like him, and you never will be. A little change in eye color doesn't mean anything. Pandora has red eyes, doesn't she? She's not evil. Clockwork too. And Dora, and Cujo…"

"Well, your voice did kinda sound like-" Tucker started but there was another smack as Sam hit him again.

"Tucker! You're not helping!"

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew they were trying to help, but it was more than just his eyes and voice. He looked down at the streets when he heard a startled scream. The box ghost was scaring some poor woman away from her shop. But instead of helping, Danny just kept flying until he couldn't hear them anymore.

After a few minutes of silence, Danny murmured, "You want to talk? Fine. Meet me at the park in twenty." He then reached up and switched off the ear piece. He then pulled his hood tighter around his head and angled towards his house. Sneaking in his room though the window, he grabbed a bag and started packing a few things- clothes, an extra Fenton thermos, a few hundred dollars he'd been saving, and a few other things. He slung the bag over his shoulder then took off for the park.

A bit later, he landed in a tree they usually met at and hid his bag in the leaves. His decision was already made, but he knew they'd protest if they knew. He floated down to the ground, turned human, and waited for them. The tree stood on top of a large hill, far from the main area. It had a great view of the city, and it was a wonder as to how barely anyone ever came here. Danny sighed and sat in the grass when he heard them coming up the hill. Not seeing a glow from his eyes, he figured they must be blue again.

"Danny?" Sam called.

"...yea." He answered, forming a small ball of glowing ecto-energy in his palm so they could see where he sat. Sam and Tuck wordlessly sat on either side of him. The infamous trio relaxed in the grass, watching the flickering lights of the city. It wasn't quite bright enough to block out the stars of night, which Danny always loved watching more. He closed his eyes and fell onto his back with a sigh.

It was awhile before anyone spoke up, but Sam broke the silence. "You're being ridiculous Danny. Everyone changes at one point or another. It's completely natural." She had slowly filled in over the past few years, gaining a more adult figure and slightly altered features. Tucker had grown taller as well- though was still rather scrawny.

"Yea, but not everyone grows up to be a psychotic evil ghost that's going to destroy the world." Danny grumbled quietly. His voice still came as a surprise to them.

"Dude- Clockwork said that's not ganna happen. He said-"

Tucker was cut off when Danny sat up and snapped, "Well Clockwork lied! He and Vlad said Dan turned evil when he merged with Plasmius, so why is it happening to me?"

"What are you-"

"I wanted to do so much more than just punch Dash." Danny said, his voice nearly an animalistic growl. "I wanted to beat him into the ground until he couldn't move- I wanted to make him beg and plead for forgiveness- and make everyone who's ever hurt me suffer. So if I'm not turning into Him, explain why I still want to do that. Explain why I didn't care when someone was being attacked by a ghost earlier. Explain how I was a 6 on the meters last month, but a 7.5 this morning." He pulled his knees up and put his forehead against them with another growl. "And I'm so fucking hungry…"

Tucker and Sam watched him with wide eyes. Neither of them knew what to say.

"Explain this…" Danny continued in a much quieter voice. A moment later, bright rings traveled across his body, transforming him into Phantom. One it was done, he pulled down his new hood. Though half lidded, his eyes burned bright red, giving an odd highlight to his unnaturally pale skin. Flickering slowly, almost lazily so, his hair was just as Dan's had been- white fire, not yet long enough to put in a ponytail.

Sam's breath caught in her throat. Neither she or Tucker could deny the shocking resemblance to Danny's older counterpart. Adding the fact that he wore a skin-tight suit, it was easy to see the buildup of muscle. He wasn't near Dan's bulk, but certainly had a build fit more for an adult instead of a teen in high school. "D-Danny…"

"Clockwork lied…" Danny said again, his voice barely a whisper. He looked up with his breath came out as a little puff of blue mist just a second before-

"GHOST CHILD! I, TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL THING-" Technus rose out of the ground in front of them, but was quickly silenced by a powerful ecto-blast from Danny. When Sam and Tuck turned towards the small explosion and pulled blaster out from who-knows-where, Danny turned invisible and floated up into the air.

He was long gone before they even noticed.

Even years later- Present Day

Amity Park-

A motorcycle roared down a bumpy road as it approached the welcome sign to a small city. In its seat was a tall man wearing dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket, with a small bag strapped across his back. He didn't have a helmet on- he'd never bothered with it. His shaggy black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, the bangs hanging just in front of his eyes- though dark sunglasses covered them. A layer of fine black stubble covered his jaw, where it was thicker at his chin.

He pulled his bike over just ahead of the welcome sign, temporarily parking it in the grass. "Amity Park…" he grinned, showing off sizeable fangs. "It's been a long time."

Chapter one complete! :D

...idk when imma update again. It won't take a year, I promise! XD Well, unless I die or something. Check my Instagram (link at top) to see if I've vanished off the face of the earth. It'll prolly be updated about once a month. Whenever tf I have time to write.

For now…

Jack grinned at the stranger, showing no ounce of recognition. "You're a fan of our work? Great! Madds will love to meet you! What can we do for you?"

"Name's Daniel. I need your help with something."