Fandom: Danny Phantom
Title: Dead Ringer
Author: isadorathegreat
Characters: Dark Danny, Sam, Tucker
Pairings: Slight Dark Danny/Sam; Implied Danny/Sam
Genre: Humour / Gen
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Set during episode 2x07 "The Ultimate Enemy"
Warnings: Phantom's vivid, violent fantasies.
Summary: Deep down, Dark Danny still has some qualities from when he was human. That's why, ten years, one time jump and a dash of disguise powers later, he's still clueless.
Word Count: 1515
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from this story and all creative rights to the Danny Phantom characters belong to Butch Hartman.
Author's Notes: I've seen stories about how Dark Danny was born or Danny's time in that terrible future, but I've never seen a story about Phantom's time in the past. I thought I'd give it a try with this one-shot. Enjoy this updated version of the story.

"Men should be what they seem … "

-- Iago in Othello, a play by William Shakespeare

Phantom smirked as his old friends led him to Tucker's house, where he would likely spend the rest of the day. 'Fools,' he thought. Distracting them with the prospect of video games was all he had to do to dispel any suspicion on himself. They were so simple-minded.

He would rather be doing something else. Maybe crushing the buildings surrounding him, or perhaps killing the past versions of the Gray family. They had caused him so much trouble, it would be almost a relief not to deal with them when he returned to his time. But, then again, he wouldn't have as much fun smashing his way through the pathetic traps they set for him.

Either way, Phantom had to make sure his present came to pass. Cheating on the C.A.T.'s was the only way, but that would include going back to his old home. While his parents were completely oblivious, Phantom couldn't take the chance they may have one of their brilliant moments and catch him. No, he would avoid them as much as possible, stay in the disguise of their beloved, human son, and bide his time.

But he would remember to laugh. Laugh when they realized that he wasn't Danny, not completely. Laugh at the horror in their eyes as he destroyed everything they ever loved. Laugh when he finally turned his ectoblasts on them, watching them vaporize into fine, green ash...

"Danny, you okay?"

Sam's voice cut into his pleasant daydreams of death and chaos, and Phantom's glazed eyes turned red for a split second before he calmed himself down. Luckily, neither the girl or the boy noticed, just like before.

"Yeah, you were really spacing out there," Tucker stated, looking concerned.

Phantom almost laughed when he realized that concern was for him. Him! The monster that killed two-thirds of the world's population, permanently scarred the Earth's surface and ripped apart any sense of safety for everyone who could feel it, living or dead.

He still let out a chuckle, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about the C.A.T.'s. It really is so hard to study for." The slight sarcasm was not lost on Sam, who rolled her eyes, and Tucker just gave him an incredulous look.

Phantom just smiled, his expression laced with boyish charm he hadn't needed to use for almost a decade. Sam turned away, her face curiously red, while Tucker returned his smile with a bright, if slightly mischievous, grin.

"Awww," drawled Tucker, facing Sam. "Does widdle Sammy-kins like widdle Dan-Dan's widdle smile?"

There was a moment of silence, one in which Phantom was confused. What did Tucker mean by that?

"You're dead, Foley!" growled Sam, lashing out at the techno-geek. He quickly dodged and sprinted up the street, the goth girl not far behind. Phantom relaxed a little. Now that was a bit more normal behaviour from them. At least as far he could remember.

Tucker, with his head start, was too far ahead to notice when Sam tripped over a crack and fell roughly onto the pavement. Phantom sighed and reluctantly caught up with Sam. If he didn't help her up, it would be extremely out of character for his past self, which may lead to suspicions being aroused again, but he didn't want to bother. He avoided touching people as much as possible, unless he was about to throw them into the side of a collapsing building.

Perhaps he could do that to Sam when he finally revealed himself.

Cheered at the thought, Phantom reached a hand down and Sam wordlessly grasped it, pulling herself up.

"Thanks," she said, her face still a little flushed from the exercise. She just seemed to stare at him, particularly at his eyes. Phantom wondered for a second if his eyes were red, but realized it couldn't be; he was surprised, not angry or annoyed. Then he noticed that she was still holding his hand. He arched an eyebrow.

"Can you let go of my hand now, Sam?" he asked dryly, startling the girl out of her stupor. She dropped his hand quickly, giggling nervously. She babbled something that Phantom didn't quite catch before she spun around and ran, presumably to Tucker's.

Phantom made sure he wasn't too far behind after that, because he couldn't remember the way to his former best friend's house. But he was still confused by Sam's strange behaviour. Did she suspect? Or was it something else?

It was getting annoying and it was all Phantom could do to keep his eyes from turning red again.

He and Tucker were playing Fabulous Fight Sisters on his V-Cube, a match which would decide who would face against the reigning champion, Sam Manson. At first, Phantom found that he was enjoying himself. After all, why wouldn't he like something that encouraged such violence?

But then, he found Sam wasn't paying attention to the screen. She was looking at him again, probably in what she thought was a covert manner. And he'd had enough of squirming under it.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked straight out. Phantom was hoping it was true, because then he wouldn't have kill Sam ahead of schedule. The C.A.T.'s would probably be postponed to accommodate everyone's "grief", which meant he would have to stay longer than necessary in this sickeningly happy time.

"W-what?" she stammered as Phantom had his gender-confused princess kick away Tucker's lightening-powered rodent. "N-no, why?"

"Because you've been staring at me for the past half-hour?" he answered. Sam blushed and refused to look him in the eye.

"I have not!" she lied indignantly. She smacked Tucker when she saw his smirk, causing his rodent character to fall off the edge of the floating castle and lose the match. Tucker's cry of outrage was quickly muffled when the gaming queen knocked him over to reach for the controller.

Of course, Sam beat him quickly and Phantom was a little disappointed and angry, but not enough to blow his cover. He'd take it out on some squirrels later.

They took a break to order in pizza; Sam wasn't going to touch any food from Tucker's house. It arrived quickly and Phantom found himself to be a little hungry. It didn't happen too often. As a full ghost he could draw energy from other sources, such as the feelings of pain and suffering, but he couldn't risk that right now. Besides, he almost missed the taste of pizza in his weaker moments.

He reached for a slice of vegetarian at the same time as Sam, and their hands touched briefly. Sam quickly pulled hers back, but Phantom just calmly picked up the slice and took a large bite, savouring the flavour. Oh yes, he was going to have to remember to eat food more often.

Phantom frowned as Sam picked up another slice of pizza. There really was something wrong with the girl. He was fairly sure that she still didn't suspect anything, but she was acting so strange compared to his admittedly limited memories. These behaviours were niggling at the back of his mind, like he should recognize these signs as something big, like a -

"So, you both like veggies, huh? Sounds like the perfect match." Phantom almost glowered at Tucker when his words interrupted his train of thought. Now the idea was lost, thanks to the smug voice of the geek. He was going to rip out that tongue the first chance he got.

He heard Sam kick the boy under the table and decided he'd had enough. These two were making Phantom think about their meaningless lives. Pointless, as theirs would be ended by tomorrow night. He'd take his chances with his former parents rather than linger here, listening to the lame in-jokes of his old friends.

"It's getting late. I should probably go home now," said Phantom, gulping down the rest of his drink. He saw them nod and they followed him to the door. Tucker gave him a slightly painful good-bye punch on his arm and Sam surprised him with a hug. He grimaced internally, but he hugged back for two seconds before dropping his arms and bolting through the door. As Phantom heard it slam behind him, he allowed a shudder of disgust to run through his body. 'Ugh, she's going to pay for that,' he thought.

Phantom didn't know why the girl insisted on hugging him, touching him, staring at him with those blasted eyes of hers, constantly irking him. Not to mention all those times she turned red when he talked to her, like she was angry, but he could easily tell she wasn't.

She looked almost... happy.

With another shudder, he quickly walked down the street towards FentonWorks. If this was what Danny's life was always like, his idiotic past self could keep it.

Just before he left those front steps for the last time, he could have sworn he heard Tucker say, "He's clueless."