Me: Yay! Chapter 2!
Danny: Did we update quick enough? Is this OK?
Me: Thanks for the follows and to the four awesome people who reviewed! Replies for you lovely people:
Guest: hereitishereitishereitis! Anons are so cool :3
RinRox: Thanks! And, if I might ask, who is the Rin that rox in your penname? Okumura? Kagamine?
Jeanette9a: I swear that every Danny Phantom fan that likes anime got into it via Sayonara Pussycat. You know, Paulina's obsession? I didn't, though XD And thanks for your review! It was so nice :)
NomNomInc: OHMYGOODNESS YOU LIKE BLACK BUTLER/KUROSHITSUJI? I LOVE YOU! *cough* sorry. Well done on winning the universe, my friend, and, thanks :)
EXILE, Chapter 2: EXILE
Out with it, Fenton, I forced myself mentally.
"You see…" I began.
"Yes?" my parents looked at me expectantly.
"I'm…I'm…"
"Just get on with it Danny," Jazz whispered to me. "Remember, theyloveyou."
I swallowed nervously, "I'm Danny Phantom."
Mum frowned, lifting her goggles off her eyes and onto her forehead as she did so. She set the weapon she was holding back down on the lab table and turned to face me properly. "Danny… I'm afraid I don't understand, sweetie. What do you mean you're Phantom?"
"I'm Phantom. That's all there is to it," I reiterated, looking down at my feet for a few seconds. I didn't want to meet her eyes.
"But Danny, that isn't physically possible," she took a few hesitant steps forward – it was clear that she didn't know what to think. Dad remained silent and he was staring at me carefully, his expression oddly unreadable. I thought I saw his gloved fingers twitch towards something, but Mum was blocking my view of it as she came closer.
"Phantom is a ghost," she said, "Phantom is dead. And you are alive. You're my son, Danny. Stop making this up for attention, you're worrying your father."
Jazz stepped forward, "No! He really is Phantom!" She turned to me, gesturing her arms up and down towards me, trying to represent my rings, "Show them Danny."
"Um…Jazz…" I began.
"Just do it! They won't believe you if you don't!" she replied urgently.
"Don't do what?" Mum raised an eyebrow.
"Do this," I said, as I let myself transform. I didn't need a mirror to know that I was in my ghost form. I could tell from the constant cold that surrounded my body which had grown stronger, and my heart which had slowed to a stop. I didn't bother to make the extra effort to breathe anymore.
My mother's eyes widened and her mouth hung part way open in shock as she slowly reached out a hand and placed it slowly on my shoulder, flinching from the icy temperature. Her violet eyes gazed into my now neon green ones, clearly searching for something, some kind of evidence of the blue they previously were.
"Danny…" she breathed, her voice small, low with a hint of fear, "is that… is that really…"
"Yeah, it's me, Mum," I forced a smile, trying to break away from her gaze.
"You're…You're Phantom," Dad was beside me now, "you're really Phantom."
Mum's face became distant, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and then fall without a sound. "I hurt my baby. I hurt my baby. My baby boy… my baby boy is Phantom. Phantom's dead. He's dead." She released me from her grip and stumbled backward, staring into middle distance like I was no longer there.
Dad had become soundless again, gawking at me with a confused expression, blinking like it was all a dream.
My mother was still taking steps backward, except now she was slowly starting to shake her head, faster and faster and more intense each time.
"No," she said, her voice breaking, "you aren't Danny, you can't be Danny. It's impossible. My boy wouldn't… he wouldn't do things like Phantom does. He's not evil, I know he isn't."
"But Phantom isn't – I'm not evil, Mum. Yeah, there was that time with the mayor, but I was fr-"
"Phantom," she looked right at me, her voice was shaking as she tried to hold it together, "leave my son, now. Get out of him."
"Mads is right," suddenly a gun was visible in Dad's hand – was that what he was reaching for earlier? "we'll give you a chance to leave Phantom, to get out of our son before we suck you up with the Fenton Weasel!"
"What?" I stepped back, distancing myself from them as they were doing to me, "Mum, I'm telling the truth, I really am Danny."
Jazz now finally decided to say something, and she jumped in front of me quickly, waving her arms, "Phantom really is Danny! Mum, Dad – what are you thinking? Don't you recognise your own son?"
"That's not our son, he looks nothing like our son," Mum grabbed a gun also before she carried on, "my baby boy's eyes don't glow in the dark. It's impossible. There's no such thing as someone that can be dead and alive at the same time."
Dad spoke next taking a step closer to me as he narrowed his eyes., "so this was your pathetic plan, ghost punk. Hiding inside our son, thinking that you could pose as him. Disgusting.
"But I didn't-" I tried to say, raising my gloved hands as a sign of submission.
"Now get out of my house before I change my mind and rip you apart," suddenly Mum was beside on my left, her voice cold and hard as she spoke into my ear.
I heard the familiar sounds of guns powering up and my eyes widened. She was really, honestly, threatening me. I stepped back and turned to Jazz. Her face was a mix of everything, hurt, sympathy, confusion. Guilt.
I swallowed the bile that was rising up in my throat and flew upwards, phasing though the ceiling and into my room. If I was going to leave, I needed a few things.
Glancing around, I rapidly grabbed my phone and iPod, stuffing them into the bottom of an empty backpack. I packed some basic supplies like clothes and food that I found still wrapped up under my bed afterwards, stopping when I heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. My parents would be here any second. If they found me still here… well, I didn't really want to find out what would happen.
To overwhelmed to think anything, I flew through my window and took to the sky, the only thing my brain focusing on was where I needed to go next.
Just take this one step at a time, Fenton, I told myself, trying to sort out my priorities.
Closing my eyes for a second, I cleared my mind. First priority: somewhere to sleep.
I couldn't really stay with anyone I knew well - because their houses would be the first place my parents would look for me. With a quick scan of the landscape below me, I landed on the branch of a tree in a park and took out my phone. Scrolling down, I frowned at the lack of contacts, Dad, Jazz, Mum, Nasty Burger Home Delivery, Sam, Tucker, Valerie.
Valerie.
She was the only person my parents didn't know. Well, they kind of did – I'm sure they'd heard of Axion Labs - but they don't know where she lived now: an old apartment on the east side of town.
Taking a deep breath even though I didn't need to and it kind of hurt, I selected the number and pressed the green dial button.
After five rings, she picked up, "Hello?"
"Valerie, hi. It's… um…Phantom," I decided to choose that identity despite the fact it was the one she hated. I knew that my parents would be looking for Danny Fenton now, a human was much easier to find than a ghost.
"Phantom? How did you get my number?" Her voice was suddenly raised and I could picture her staring at the phone in disgust, being tempted to hang up, "and how does a ghost like you get your filthy hands on a phone anyway?"
I groaned inwardly, having known this would happen. "Long story, can I crash at your place? I kinda need a place to stay."
This time, pure, mocking laughter sounded on the other end of the line, "Phantom, you want to stay at my apartment, even after I've tried a million times to destroy you? Wow, you must be completely out of options. And I've never heard of a ghost slee-"
"Valerie! Can you please just listen to me! I don't care that you hate me or whatever. I don't particularly want to stay in your apartment – I am just so completely out of options right now. Please?"
"How did you know my house was an apartment?"
"Valerie! Can we talk about this later?"
There was silence for a while and I heard a sigh from the other end of the line. Then more silence and, after that, shuffling.
"Look, I can call back…" I offered weakly.
"Fine Phantom, you can stay. But if you even do one tiny thing that I consider threatening, you'll wake up one morning, very confused at the bottom of the ocean, get it?"
"OK, OK, fair enough. I get it. And Valerie?"
"What?"
"Thanks." I hung up before she could say anything else.
I took the long way around town to try and steer clear of my parents (who were most certainly trying to follow me or pick me up on radar), so it took me a painfully long ten minutes to fly to Valerie's apartment.
Seeing the light was off, I knocked softly on the dirty window and patiently waited for a reply.
She opened it up just a little so she could speak, and I saw her narrow her eyes when she saw me through the glass, "I've said this before and I'll say it again," she whispered harshly, "I've got my eye on you Phantom. Just make sure my dad doesn't see you - he'd flip if he found out a ghost was staying at his place."
"Don't worry about it, it'll be like I'm not even here," I promised her with a cheeky crooked grin as I crawled in through the window and sat down on the sofa. "Is it OK if I sleep on here?"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just stay out of my way," Valerie left the room without another word. I heard the sound of a lock behind her and suddenly I heard a hum of a ghost shield through the walls. She must have set one up before I came to make sure I didn't have a surprise attack planned for the night.
But, then again, she might herself.
Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on something else, distract myself from everything before it all got too much. I reached for my bag and pulled out my iPod, switching it on shuffle and jamming in in my ears, hoping that that would be a help.
When she was sure Phantom and was sleeping (or as close to sleeping as ghosts could get), Valerie carefully stuck her head through the living room door and then crept quietly into the living room where he was resting.
One of the ghost boy's arms was across his stomach, the other strewn off the sofa. Both his gloves and boots were still on and the girl wondered why he didn't take them off. Were they actual apart of his from, his skin? She was slightly curious. Maybe tomorrow when she had decided to ask him questions she would try to pull them off and see what was underneath. His mouth hung open slightly as if he was snoring, but no breath came from him. His pale white glow was the only light in the room apart from the stars and moon outside, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
Valerie scowled at his 'innocent' appearance. This was supposed to be one of the most powerful ghosts in the Ghost Zone!
As she stepped closer, she noticed a half-open rucksack. She'd seen him bring it in, but before that she couldn't recall Phantom ever wearing it. But strangely enough, she'd noticed the purple bag somewhere before.
There were clothes, packets of crisps and a half-eaten sandwich inside. Not exactly much of an arsenal. She picked it up, going through the pockets. There wasn't anything else in there, so she shrugged and put it down again, trying to make as little noise as possible so she wouldn't 'wake him up'. She smirked. He was probably awake now, observing her through squinted eyes.
Suddenly she became aware of an almost soundless constant beat coming from Phantom and she looked to see wires trailing out of his ears, connected to an iPod that was in his hand. She hadn't noticed it before, and it was currently making her very curious. What kind of music did a ghost listen to.
Gently, she pulled it out of his hand pressed the 'lock button'. The screen flashed to life and a lock screen came up, displaying a photo of a rocket.
A rocket?
She lid the bar at the bottom across, surprised when no passcode came up. It let her straight in.
The wallpaper was the main concern though, and she did a double take when she saw it.
It was a pale black haired girl in a tank top, her left arm slung around a dark-skinned bespectacled boy in a red beret. On her right, Danny Fenton, with a hastily doodled label around his face, probably not drawn by him, that said in red 'me!'.
She blinked, not moving.
Why did Phantom have Fenton's iPod?
Danny: Ah! Cliffy! How terrible!
Me: Well, *takes deep breath* that was my second update of the day. *shudders* so much wrting… pirates….ghosts…. fics…..
Danny: Well, we hope you enjoyed it, guys!
Me: Review and we'll see you next time!
Danny: Bye!