Small Problems
-Micro Management-

Danny climbed the string of oozing cheese hanging off the edge of the lab table, up and up until he reached the top. He extended his cheese greased hand to the edge, sweat threatening to drip from the fringe of his hair as he pulled the entire mass of his body over and onto the surface of the table. He collapsed onto his knees and hands and panted hard as he tried to catch his breath. There was no time to spare; his identity was one transformation away from being exposed to his high school bully and Skulker was practically at their backs in a high streamed chase... but still, he felt so sore and tired. Despite the fact that he was Phantom, he still wasn't in the best of shape. He heard a heavy grunt behind him.

"Dude, what happened to your hair?" a masculine voice asked, now almost directly next to him.

Danny groaned, knowing that he wouldn't be able to explain away this particular transformation like he was able to with the clothes. He stole a glance over at his companion in this struggle. Dash stood tall and confident in his own ability, blond hair cut short and blue eyes blazing with determination and resolve. And he stood there, unwaveringly, despite the fact that he was scared of the idea of being stuck 'puny' for the rest of his life. Danny had to admit he admired the teen's newfound inner strength.

"Nevermind, it doesn't matter. So is this it? The thing?"

Danny lifted his head completely to follow Dash's outstretched hand. In front of them was the Fenton Crammer, completely abandoned and just asking to be used. Danny crawled to his feet.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. He laughed slightly, barely able to contain the bubbling mirth that was building up inside him. Never had he felt so relieved to see one of his dad's inventions.

"Well, let's get to it, then. I don't do puny."

Danny rolled his eyes. Did he have to describe it as puny? Even as a shrunk down midget, Dash was by no means puny.

"Right. We should hurry before Skulker catches up with us..."

"Too late, ghost child."

Both boys tensed as they slowly turned around. Skulker, in all his metallic glory, floated in front of them using his suit to propel him up in the air. He aimed an arm at the boys, a rocket presenting itself from the metallic cuff of the armor.

"Say goodbye," Skulker gave an almost feral smirk as the weaponry on his arm began to charge up.

Danny could feel himself seconds from another transformation. They had run out of time. This was it! And if he didn't do something now, he was going to lose his secret identity to Dash. Inspiration struck. The Fenton Crammer! If he could get Dash to press the button with him inside before he completely reverted back to Fenton, his secret would be safe!

He glanced over towards the invention that got them into this mess in the first place. Hope blossomed in his chest. But then he heard the sickening whirl of Skulker's arm canon powering up. There was no way he would be able to transform in time before Skulker fired off that missile. And there was no way Dash would be able to hold Skulker off long enough until he did. That left only one option...

"Dash, get inside the Fenton Crammer, stat!"

If he couldn't transform, he could at least get Dash out of sight so he didn't see his transformation back to human him.

Dash blinked before jumping to attention and running towards the stupidly named invention.

"Don't think you're going to get away," Skulker threatened. He shifted his arm to aim towards the running Dash.

"Oh, I don't think so," Danny called. He started to run towards Skulker as fast as he could.

"I know so," and with a tackle that would make any football player proud, Danny launched himself at Skulker's arm.

The force knocked Skuker's arm towards the direction of the rest of the lab. Skulker pushed to bring it back on target as Danny strained with all his power to keep its sights off of Dash.

"Get off, ghost child!" Skulker yelled.

He pushed Danny off forcefully with his other armor powered arm. Danny flew towards the table and fell hard on the surface. He groaned, feeling the familiar white blue rings wash over him, converting him completely to him human persona. He closed his eyes briefly and reopened them, knowing without a shadow of doubt that they too, had returned to their normal sky blue hue.

Skulker retrained his canon path towards where Dash was.

"Don't worry, ghost child, you'll get your turn again soon enough."

Danny scrambled to his feet again, panting in exhaustion. He turned his gaze to where Dash was. He was almost there. So close...

"Phantom, I'm inside! Now what?" Dash's voice called.

Danny's dry lips cracked slightly into a smile. There was still a chance, albeit a small one, that they would succeed.

"Leave it to me, Dash!' he called out. Danny flashed a grim smile towards Skulker.

"You're not going to win, ghost child. My canon will be finished charging in less than a minute. Soon you and your friend's pelts will make great new additions to my wall."

"Not today, Skulker."

With more bravado than he was feeling, Danny pushed himself to his limits and jumped up, spinning around a performing a practiced roundhouse kick which slammed directly into Skulker's armored chestplate. The ghost was pushed back and slammed into a different part of the table hard.

"Phantom?" Dash called out.

"Coming!"

Danny turned and started to run towards the Fenton Crammer. He was almost there when...

"Bye, Phantom."

It was like time suddenly shifted into slow motion. Danny turned his head towards Skulker as he continued to run forward blindly, eyes widening as he saw the missile launch from Skulker's raised arm. The missile steadily came closer and closer to Danny, a stream of white trailing behind in its wake. Danny slammed into the button of the invention, feeling it give from his applied weight and pushed with all his might. Finally, he heard it click and to Danny's awe, the invention started to glow blue at the end as it started to take effect.

Danny pressed his head tiredly against the side of the Fenton Crammer in relief. He could hear his doom approaching behind him at a speed he couldn't possibly avoid. No powers, no energy, small as the size of a human thumb, Danny didn't have the will or the strength left to dodge Skulker's attack. But Dash would be alright, an innocent bystander did not die because of Danny. He sank to his knees, vaguely hearing an explosion. He was content to know that he saved at least one last person before death...

And then there was darkness.