Chapter One: Hope

"You're a coward, Fenton. You never stand up for yourself. We can't baby you forever."

"Danny, your grades are slipping again! Jazz never lets her grades slip; you have to get ahold of yourself!"

"Stop shoving your ridiculous theories on this poor, helpless child!"

"I'm sure things'll get better soon."

He'd had enough. When even his friends could do nothing but offer attempts at comfort and things weren't getting better, Danny Fenton had run away from it all and was curled up in the park in the center of Amity Park. He knew he'd be found and brought home sometime tonight, but he just needed to be alone for a bit.

Maybe if he was lucky he'd be kidnapped by some pervert and forced into the sex trade. Maybe he'd actually be good at something for once. He pulled up his coat sleeve to look at where his father had roughly grabbed his wrist, and then held his side where his relentless bully, Dash Baxter, had hit him harder than usual just because he didn't do his homework for him – and why did he expect him to, when he could barely do his own?

He looked up at the tall courthouse building across from the park and considered jumping. Before he knew it, his mind was taking over his body and he was climbing up the emergency stairwell to the roof, looking down at the city below.

And really, would anyone really care? Even his friends were starting to dismiss his frustrations and cries; they found him a waste of time, for sure. He sighed and let himself fall off the roof, his eyes closed. He just wanted it all to be over. The wind rushing through his hair felt nice, why didn't he do this sooner?

"Whoa, careful!" He heard a voice say, and then his fall was halted by…arms? The voice sounded like a distant echo, and his eyes widened to see bright-green eyes framed by white hair. "Geez, are you crazy? You could've died!"

"Uh…" Danny looked down and then around and realized they weren't on any kind of surface. They were floating – in the air – and his savior had a long, black tail trailing from his waist instead of legs. His minds started to panic. "G-Ghost!"

"Yeah, that's what YOU would be if I didn't step in." The ghost rolled his eyes and flew Danny down to the park, setting him down on the soft grass.

Danny stumbled as soon as he was set back and scrambled back on his bum. "Don't kill me! I'm not tasty!" He cried, covering his face with his arms.

The ghost raised a black eyebrow and shook his head. "Okay…one: that would be a VERY stupid reaction to a hostile ghost attack. Two: why the HELL did you just jump if you didn't WANT to die?!" He asked, forming legs and landing on the ground.

"Please don't kill me, Mr. Ghost…" Danny pleaded.

The ghost sighed and took off his cloak, wrapping it around the trembling teen. Underneath, he was wearing a black tunic and pants with white gloves, belt and boots. "Look, why don't you tell me about it? Why did you jump?"

Danny froze, all the reasons crashing down on him all at once. "I'm useless." He whispered, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I'm nothing. I'm stupid. No one likes me, no one wants to be with me, I'm too annoying, too whiny, too—" He gasped when his arm was gently pulled away from his tearful face and the ghost had his arms around the teen.

"And have you told anyone about these feelings? You know, a proper counselor? Or did you keep it bottled up and not tell anyone aside from the ones who were hurting you in the first place?" The ghost asked softly. "Oh, kid…there is so much to live for, you have to realize that people's opinions of you are not your biggest concern. What matters is how YOU feel about yourself."

Danny's eyes widened and he looked at the ghost silently. Did this ghost…care about him? Why did he care? Why wasn't he killing him? Why was he hugging him? And why hadn't Danny gone into shock like he normally did when attacked by a ghost?

The ghost started to pull away and Danny grabbed his arm. "W-Wait." He breathed. "Don't…don't leave me."

The ghost frowned, looking towards a glowing figure flying above. "I have to. Otherwise HE will hurt people again." He stood up, pulling Danny up with him. "You should get home. And remember, someone does care about you, and as long as you love yourself then nothing anyone can do can harm you. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent'." He smiled.

Danny held on tighter. "What's…what's your name?"

He gently pried off Danny's hand from his arm. "I'm Phantom. And THAT up there is Plasmius, who I have to go fight now to keep him from killing people so I'll talk to you later." He started to lift into the air.

"Wait—your cloak?!" Danny gripped the cloak.

The ghost teen smiled at him. "Keep it. I'll create a new one." As if to demonstrate, a cloak appeared around his shoulders and then he was flying off. "Remember, don't let what they say affect you! There is so much to live for!" He called as he flew off.

"Phantom…" Danny gripped the cloak, noting the dull, white glow it still retained. Unlike the other ghosts, Phantom's glow was white instead of green. It comforted him, somehow, and gave him hope.

"Son, why are you doing out here so late?" He heard a man say, and looked over to see a policeman patrolling the park. "Why are you alone?"

"I…I ran away from home." Danny admitted, looking down. "I just needed…some time alone."

"Well, let's get you back home." The man offered his hand. Danny took it, looking over his shoulder at green and red lights in the distant sky over Amity Park.