I was so amazed at getting responses so soon for my first two fanfics. Thank you so much for everyone reading. I hope you really enjoy this work as much as I do.
Happy New Years (Posted Dec 26 or 27, 2014)
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 2
Danny opened his eyes, blinking blearily in the light. He slowly adjusted to the relatively dim room and started taking in his surroundings. From what he could tell, he was in either a live-in funeral parlor, a witch's home, or a glorified tomb.
Black and purple seemed to be the dominant color palate. The walls were black and dark grey with Victorian floral designs. The bookshelves held a number of ominous tomes and some supernatural fiction along with a few voodoo dolls and what looked like a sheep's skull. By the shelves was a comfy, winged reading chair. There was a bed in the corner. It had an old-fashioned four-post curtain design. Needless to say, the curtains were purple and the sheets were black.
He started to edge more towards the witch theory.
He saw a purple-curtained window and peeked outside. He was surprised at the ambiance. He had expected some desolate moor, an eerie Count-Dracula-esque ravine with a single road up, maybe even a swamp or something. He would never have guessed he'd be in an upscale mansion district; much less, one with a rose-garden-white-pillar-everything's-awesome atmosphere to it.
He looked out at the street in front of him. Every home was a pristine, white, Columbian-esque mansion with perfectly manicured lawns and flower gardens trimmed to an over-glorified state. A large pond was nearby with picturesque reeds, ducks, and a bench. The water glittered under the moonlight-
Wait. Moonlight.
He looked up and gasped. It wasn't the familiar green swirls and endless doors of the Ghost Zone. It was a complete night sky with a beautiful, white, full moon and honest-to-God stars!
He was in the human world! His parents' portal worked!
His moment of excitement quickly died down.
His parents invention worked…
…
…
"How am I going to get back?" He mumbled to himself. As far as he could tell, there wasn't a portal on this side of the world and for all he knew, the portal they built on that side was a one-way trip.
He started pacing the grim room nervously. Where was he? Where did he arrive? Would a portal still be there? Is it possible for him to get back? Who brought him here?
Desperate for answers, he decided that he needed to get out of here first. He crouched down to fly and phase out through the wall. He jumped-
And smacked headfirst into it.
He rolled on the floor grasping his head in pain-
Wait. Pain.
He barely started to process this when he heard footsteps approach. He looked up at the door in time for it to slam open and a teenage girl stepped in. She was a mirror of her room style; all black, short skirt, combat boots, dark makeup. Danny remembered Jazz making a theory on people like this. "Goths".
"Are you okay?" She asked him. He looked stunned for a moment, not expecting concern or care in her voice. In all honesty, he'd expected something more of an angst-ridden response. He nodded his head.
"What was that crash?" She continued. She looked up at her wall, now sporting a small crack where Danny slammed into it. "Did you seriously break my wall?"
Danny shrunk a bit at her anger, but mumbled apologetically. She eased up a bit and went over to grab his arm. He flinched at the contact, but allowed her to direct him over to the comfy reading chair.
He sat down in it and waited while she pulled up another chair next to him. She sat down and looked at Danny over before speaking up.
"Hey."
"…hey…"
They stared at each other, waiting for the next move. This conversation wasn't going far.
"…my name's Sam. It's short for Samantha, but never call me that." She smiled a bit. It was sincere.
"…Danny…" He replied. "Danny Phan-ton" He mumbled at the last bit, doubting "Phantom" was a normal last name.
"Danny Fenton?" She asked, piecing together the syllables she could.
Danny nodded immediately. Not just for the quick escape, but because Danny Fenton sounded…right…
"Okay. Are you from around here? I've never seen you before."
He shook his head.
"Oh… Okay." She waited a bit, explaining a better explanation, but sighed when he stayed quiet.
"Alright, I'll skip to it then. What were you doing in the cemetery tonight and why did you pass out? You seem fine, so I assumed there were no drugs involved and you don't smell like alcohol."
He perked up a bit at that. "I seem fine?" He suddenly doubted this girl's medical capabilities. 'Fine' isn't what he'd expect humans to call someone dead.
"Yeah, I mean you feel really cold, but your heart rate seemed pretty okay even though it was a bit slow-"
"Wait. WHAT?!" He jumped up and looked around the room. He spotted a black vanity against the wall and rushed over to the mirror.
He almost passed out again.
His white hair was raven black.
His green eyes were now an icy blue.
He slowly put his trembling hand up to his chest.
Ba-Bump.
…
He backed away in complete shock. He managed to make it back to the chair before a complete mind-fog took over.
Sam Manson, meanwhile, was extremely worried for this kid's health. First, he was passing out in random graveyards. Now, he was pretty much shut down after looking at his reflection.
She noticed his lips moving slightly and she leaned in to hear him whispering a mantra. "I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive."
Now she was seriously freaking out. What was wrong with this kid? Maybe she should've just taken him to the hospital. She jumped as she heard a knock at the door.
Panicking, she took the still mind-numb boy and stuffed him in her closet. She brushed herself off to make herself seem more normal before going over to the door.
Her fears were instantly relieved as she saw the familiar, wrinkled face of Ida Manson, her grandmother.
"Grandma! Oh thank God. I thought it was my parents for a second."
"Don't worry, dearie. Those two are still downstairs. You know how absorbed your mother gets when she finds a new recipe. Your father is on a conference call, so I think he'll be out for a few hours. I heard a crash, though. Is everything alright?"
"Not really, grandma. I have a serious problem." The old woman's brows furrowed as she drove her moped further into the room. Her granddaughter shut the door, walked to her closet, and opened the door. To her surprise, a young boy fell out onto the floor. "Don't worry, Grandma. He's fine- I think. He's just in some kinda shock."
Sam hoisted the young lad onto her reading chair again and Ida saw that he was, in fact, awake but had a thousand-mile-stare that could rival some of her senior friends' Vietnam PTSD. She motored her way over to the two chairs and calmly said "Alright, Sam. Please tell me everything."
Sam explained to her grandmother how she found this kid, what happened at the cemetery, and how she brought him home. She finished off her story with his odd episode after seeing his reflection. Ida remained silent throughout the explanation.
"So, this Danny… Fenton, yes?" Sam nodded. Ida's eyes narrowed a bit. "So, you found young Danny and brought him here to make sure he'd be alright?" Another nod.
"It seemed like the only thing I could think of." Ida nodded understandingly.
"Well, dearie, aside from some issue with his reflection, I'd think he's fine. I lived through the 60's. I've seen what drugs do to people and this hardly seems like an after-affect of anything I've ever heard of." She stopped when she saw the young boy blink. His blue eyes started going back into focus and he slowly became aware of his surroundings.
"…wha….where….huh?" He still seemed a bit out-of-it. Ida smiled warmly at the confused boy.
"Hello, Daniel. My name is Ida Manson. I'm Samantha's grandmother." Sam didn't mind her grandmother using her full name. "Can you tell us anything about yourself? Are you alright?"
He nodded his head and his gaze sharpened with a plan. "A-actually, I've got to go. I'm sure my parents are worried about me. Could you tell me how to get back to the cemetery? I think I can find my way back from there."
"Are you sure you don't want me to just drive you, dearie? I may be old, but I can still work a car."
"No, I think I've caused enough worry for now. Thank you so much for everything." Ida relayed directions to get to the cemetery and he jotted them down on a notecard from Sam just in case. He got up and Sam escorted him to the front door, avoiding her parents along the way.
She watched him go down her street following the card's directions.
She walked up to her bedroom to find her grandmother looking out her window. The old woman's gaze was sharp and concerned as she followed the young man's progress.
"Daniel Fenton…" She murmured. "What a coincidence."
Danny kept going down the streets. Everything was quiet and no one was out, so he wasn't too worried about being mugged. It wasn't like he had anything on him anyways.
He walked past the landmarks listed on the notecard as he went on his way back. His only hope was that, somehow, there was a return portal at the graveyard, otherwise, he'd be here for a while.
The entire time, he kept processing things in his head. He was alive! His only thought was the Portal accident, but he had no idea how that was even possible. Maybe his parents would help him out…
No! a small voice in his head shouted. He shuddered at the thought. His parents were obsessed with anything human, ghost, or otherwise. He worried that their obsession would overrule any parental emotions they have for Danny Phantom.
He suddenly felt very alone…
And scared.
It was times like these that he wished he could have a cinnamon bun or something- wait, where'd that come from?
He stopped and processed that stray thought. Cinnamon buns? His mouth watered slightly (it felt weird after being dead for so long) at the prospect of… what? He couldn't quite remember tastes and food in the Ghost Zone was a bit different from food in the mortal plane.
Still, he decided to entertain the thought.
'It was times like these that I wish I could have a cinnamon bun or something from that bakery on Krueger Street.' He was a bit confused. Krueger street? What was-
He suddenly looked around for the first time in a while, suddenly very aware of his surroundings.
He looked over to his left and saw a sign on a store. Amity Park Bakery; serving fine confections and pastries since 1956. He looked up at a nearby street sign.
Krueger Street.
His newfound heartbeat was racing slightly as his mind started wrapping around this new information. He looked around and saw the old buildings around him.
Aw, they got rid of the arcade? Come on! Who needs some "tofu" place anyhow?
He jumped at that small blip in his mind. He saw a vegan Chinese restaurant and had a fuzzy picture of that same building, but with bright and colorful posters boasting PacMan, racing games, and Pinball machines.
He slowly looked around. No other buildings jumped out, but street names seemed to be calling to him. He decided to deviate a bit from the card, but note where he was going to backtrack.
He followed the street signs. Krueger to Oak. Oak to Weston. Weston to Heathcliffe. Heathcliffe to-
At the corner of two nearby streets, he felt his heart stop again. His mind blanked as he walked numbly to the corner of Vincent Price Avenue and Specter Street.
Sitting there was a small building. It looked just like all of the buildings around it, save for a few key differences. The once-red/brown bricks had black scorch marks around them. The lawn was dead and overgrown with weeds. Chunks of wall were exposed, revealing mostly destroyed rooms inside.
But what made him stop was an odd UFO-like metal saucer on the top with a familiar neon sign running down it.
"F-nt-nWo-"