Chained Reactions
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: I've missed this and you guys! I hope I'm not too rusty at this. This chapter covers the school week before Danny's birthday, September 22nd through the 26th just to clue you guys in.
Also, I doubt this will be quite as Epically Long as LITC…though it will be 30-ish chapters long. Enjoy! :)
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Four: Ersatz
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
'…making efforts to appear religious to sway the 'vulgar'.'
Excerpts from 'The Prince'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
School had been, thus far…school.
With the weird exceptions of the cold spots randomly forming around Danny, Sam, and all of their friends for the past couple of weeks. Honestly though, in a certain halfa's opinion, that was somewhat par for the course.
Danny sat in his history class, tapping his pencil's eraser in a fast cadence as he watched the clock tick the time away until the end of his fourth period class. Chin resting in hand, face and body relaxed, only the tapping gave away his agitation to his other classmates. Most overlooked it though, as it was almost time for lunch and everyone was ready to get away from Mr. Markarth's droning voice.
A wave of curiosity caught his attention, as he was not curious in the least at the moment, 'Huh….must be something interesting going on in AP Chem today. Maybe Sam's teacher is letting them do some experiment or something.'
Glancing around and resigning himself to taking at least a few notes for the last ten minutes of class, Danny put pencil to paper, shaking his head as Sam's curiosity fluctuated between annoyed curiosity and a gnawing desire to figure something out. The intricacies of the two different feelings were hard to distinguish unless he let his own mind sort of…drift out of focus. If he didn't think about what was going on in his head, it was a lot easier to understand what was going on in hers.
The glazed look in Danny's eyes didn't go unnoticed by his teacher, though, who cleared his throat loudly directly in front of Danny's desk. Danny jerked upright to attention, with a half grin of apology on his face, "Sorry Mr. Markarth."
"Danny, I know history isn't your favorite subject," the white-haired man peered over the rims of his glasses, "but please at least try to pretend to be interested in my class and make an old man about to retire happy."
"Yes, sir," Danny's grin turned halfway into a frown, "Just hungry, sorry."
"Almost time, class," the older man shook his head, "Hold on for just another few minutes and let me outline what will be on the quiz at the end of the week."
Groans came from nearly everyone in class at that announcement, and though Danny wrote, his eyes were glued on the clock once again as his thoughts drifted, 'What great luck…a quiz on my birthday. Nothing new there.'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Mrs. Browning, would you have Samantha Manson please report to Mr. Lancer's Office?"
"Oh, of course," the teacher sent a confused glance between the clock on the wall and her student.
'Twelve minutes to lunch?' Sam quirked an eyebrow as she looked over to her AP Chemistry teacher standing at the whiteboard, "Can I just take my stuff Mrs. Browning? It's almost time for class to be out anyways."
"Probably best," the young teacher shrugged before turning back to the chemical equation on the board, "Now, who can tell me how to balance this equation?"
Sam packed her things as one of the other students stood to demonstrate the answer. She couldn't quite figure out why Mr. Lancer would need to see her right before lunch, but far be it from her to turn down a visit with one of her favorite members of the faculty.
The young woman quickly made her way down the hall, thoughts ranging from why he would need to see her to why he couldn't wait until after lunch because she was starving. Heading down the stairwell, Sam nearly tripped over the Vice-Principal in question as he was heading up.
"Is everything quite alright?"
"Um, I don't know?" Sam answered back, inquiringly, "Did you need to see me?"
"Not that I am aware," the man looked at the packet of papers in his hand, "I was on my way to the teacher's lounge to see the head of the math department about the budget."
"Oh," Sam adjusted her backpack, then rocked back on her heels, "One of the office aides just told me to report to your office. I thought maybe you needed to see me for something."
"Perhaps there is something sitting in my inbox on my desk that will explain this," Lancer smiled at the petite girl in front of him, "Please wait outside my office for me. This should only take me a few moments to drop off, then I will be back directly."
"Okay," Sam shrugged, a little confused over the situation, then waved and headed off, "See you in a few Mr. Lancer."
He nodded and continued on his way, confused himself over this particular student being summoned to his office without prior notice, 'We will have it all resolved shortly I'm sure.'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Dude, scoot over," Kwan gestured with his head towards Tucker, hands full with both his and Star's tray, "Star went to grab a couple of extra chairs."
Mouth full of Tuna Surprise, Tucker just bobbed his head and scooted his chair to the right, making room at their surprisingly full little table. Finally getting everything that was in his mouth fully chewed and swallowed, Tucker sent a knowing grin to Kwan, "Whipped much there buddy?"
Kwan just shrugged happily in reply as Star swooped in with the chairs, pecking him on the cheek in passing, "Thank you!"
"Not a problem, babe," he raised his eyebrows, "See Tucker, totally worth it."
"I suppose," Tucker pushed another sporkful of food into his mouth, "but men like me can't leave the ladies disappointed and get ourselves attached to only one girl."
"Keep singing that song and Valerie will probably break you in half," Star retorted in a sing-song tone, as Danny snorted his milk and Dash rolled his eyes, "I think that you would be just as whipped if she let you go out with her. Besides, Kwan isn't whipped, he just knows how to treat a girl right."
"Yeah, what she said," Kwan sat down, then in a stage whisper announced, "That's how you keep your girlfriend happy for future reference."
"That's only if said girl lets you call her your girlfriend," Danny shook his head in amusement as he twirled his spork through the grayish mass of tuna, noodles, and peas on his tray, then reached for his soda, "Speaking of which, where is Sam?'
"Don't you know?" Dash leveled the halfa with a look and pointed to his own temple.
"No," Danny rolled his eyes, "Don't have a clue."
"Maybe she had to stay behind for something," Valerie joined in as she sat, sending an odd glance towards Tucker who had started blushing at her approach to the table, "What's wrong with Foley?"
"Nothing," Tucker spit out a little too quickly, "Nothing at all. As a matter of fact, I'm good. I'm done. I mean, I'm done eating, I'll just stop now."
"Aaand now you know," Danny clapped him on the shoulder roughly, "This is karma. Say it with me, 'Karrrrmaaaaaa'."
"Seriously though," Star glanced towards the food line and cafeteria doors across from them, "where is Sam? She usually gets here before me and Kwan do."
"I'm here!"
The group looked to their right towards the far end of the table as one, Sam's tone a little too bright and bubbly. Danny especially pulled a strange face.
'Okay, I know she's getting better at making her face not match her emotions, but this is a little extreme,' he sent her a half smile, a questioning feeling dancing through his mind pushing towards her. Sam didn't so much as blink as she moved to sit beside him, absolutely no change in her countenance, even as a replying wave of annoyance flashed through him, 'That's weird.'
"What's wrong?" Danny set his soda bottle down, a worry mark furrowing his brow.
"Nothing, why?" Sam popped her clear salad container open, reaching for a tomato, "I mean I know I was late, but I had to talk to my teacher."
"Huh," Danny breathed, then shook his head, "Just worried."
"That's sweet," Sam cocked an eyebrow back at him.
A small silence fell over everyone as they continued to eat. Sam shifted in her chair a couple of seconds later, before reaching for her backpack and digging around. She stopped what she was doing after a moment and bit her lip, "Shoot, left my notebook. I'll be right back."
"Hey," Danny caught her hand, "lunch is almost over. Just wait, we'll stop by on the way to math."
Sam just shook her head, "No, I really wanted to look over my notes, I'll be right back."
Everyone watched curiously as she quickly walked back the way she had came, backpack in hand. Tucker and Valerie shared a very confused look while Dash just kept eating. Not five seconds after Sam had left did she come striding back into the cafeteria and pulled out her chair, slamming herself down into it.
A frown was across her face before clearing at the sight of her salad, "Oh, thanks for getting my lunch."
Sam was met by silence and strange looks all around, "What?"
"Sam," Danny searched her face, "You got your salad…and you just left to get your notebook."
"No I didn't," she shook her head, "I've been sitting outside of Lancer's office for the past twenty minutes, only to find out there was no reason for me to be there."
"Dude, you were just here. You ate a tomato," Dash pointed at her salad, "I watched you."
'Creepy much,' the girl in question felt shivers run up her spine, turning towards Tucker, Valerie, Star and Kwan, who were all nodding their heads and sharing various worried, and weirded out looks, "No, I didn't. Ask Mr. Lancer."
"Hey," Danny grabbed her hand, "I believe you, but we all just watched you sit here and then leave."
"Must have been a ghost," Sam said teasingly, causing Star and Kwan to laugh in mirth, and the rest to chuckle in unease, 'They're serious! Holy…'
"Yeah, must've been," Valerie smoothly covered for her, so as not to tip off the two at the table who were out of the loop, "but it could've been a doppelganger."
"Yeah, no," Dash just shook his head, as Danny spoke, "Amity Park is weird enough as it is. No need to add other myths and legends."
The bell rang then and as the group began to clean up, Sam hurriedly chewed on a few pieces of cucumber. A slight tension ran through them all at the thought that something otherworldly had just walked amongst them in Sam's form.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"What is going on?" Sam pulled Danny to the side as they started their walk towards their math class.
"I dunno'," Danny shrugged, thinking back over his morning, "My ghost sense has been going off all day, and the cold spots have been around Tuck and me, so I guess I didn't notice it was a ghost. There aren't many ghosts that can change their form though…"
"I got called to Mr. Lancer's office right before lunch, but I met him in the stairwell," Sam chewed on her lip as she thought it over too, "He told me he didn't know I'd been called to see him and asked me to wait while he did something else. When he finally got back he didn't find a note or anything explaining why I'd been called in…and the office aide was some Junior guy I've never met before…but the voice that told me to report was definitely a girl's."
"Well, now we know that there's a shape shifter around," Danny ran a hand through his hair, "We need to figure out a way tell though. I think someone's been messing with the air conditioner too, it's been getting colder in here lately. Think someone's trying to block my ghost sense?"
"No," Sam shook her head, "Mr. Lancer told me the AC got stuck last night and they're having the repair guys come in later this week to look at it. Natural short, no ghost involvement."
"Man, I hate when stuff like this happens," the halfa shook his head, "I always feel like I'm at the other ghosts' mercy."
"Well, at least you're not alone," Sam grinned, "You've got a little more backup these days."
"True," he hefted a sigh, before moving towards the classroom, "Let's just hope this ghost gets bored and moves on. Who knows, maybe it'll be friendly?"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Tucker stared hard at Sam. Sam glared back.
"What? Just making sure it's you!" he threw up his hands in defense, "This is the third time this week you know…how am I supposed to know the difference? What did I do in second grade to your lunchbox?"
"Ugh, this is getting annoying!" Sam let her forehead hit her locker before fiddling with her lock, "You barfed in it!"
"It is you Sam!" Tucker playfully patted her on the head before retreating quickly, lest he feel the Goth girl's wrath, "Look on the bright side, maybe it isn't just you. Maybe this ghost is impersonating other girls and we just don't know it because we don't hang out with them…I mean, it isn't around us all the time."
"Sure seems like it to me," she growled out as she wrenched her locker open, "Since when do I ask Danny what he'd want to see me in on his birthday?"
"Hey, we all thought you were trying to get him to tell you what he wanted," Tucker shrugged, defending their lack of attention to detail when it came to her sudden copy, "His face was pretty funny though."
"If it's a ghost, why isn't he able to tell?" she sighed, the looked towards the roof, "He is getting really annoyed with this you know, and so am I!"
"Gotta' be the AC," Tucker shook his head, "but shouldn't he be able to, you know, sense something?"
"The link doesn't exactly work like that," Sam shook her head as she finished loading her backpack with the necessary books for that night's homework, "I mean, if we're standing close together it's a little easier to read, but…if I concentrate it can be just as easy even if we're a couple of miles apart. It doesn't really get stronger or weaker because of distance."
"Well what about the emotions not matching what's happening? Danny mentioned that."
"That's not easy either," Sam shook her head again as they started to walk, "I can be smiling on the outside and crying on the inside. Same for anyone. It's hard to judge, and I know that it helps that we're close friendship-wise, but with it being so close to Danny's birthday the real me is probably just as confusing as the fake me because I am trying to figure out what he wants…"
"Sounds like it sucks," Tucker bumped shoulders with her.
"You have no idea…"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Hey, what's up?" Valerie nodded to Danny, "Did Sam find you?"
"She just told me she was looking for you," but he trailed off as Sam approached with Star talking about their Economics class. Danny and Valerie both did a double –take.
"So now there's two copies, or a really fast ghost," Danny let a huge breath escape him, "Great. Perfect…"
"Whoa ghost boy, ease up," Valerie scolded, noticing green bleeding into his eyes, "She's safe right? I mean, the worst that's happened so far has been a little embarrassment from the way the copy acts…at least we know that when Sam acts weird it's probably 'cause it's not really her."
"Still doesn't answer why it's Sam they're copying," he shook his head, "And isn't it a little too convenient that it happens to be my girlfriend?"
"I don't know Danny," Valerie could offer little comfort, "I really don't."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Dash twirled his lock open, thinking over the newest play his coach wanted them to memorize by their evening Thursday practice, which was due to start in about twenty minutes. It wasn't hard, but it had a lot of details that depended on the quarterback, which was his position. He hardly noticed when Sam walked up beside him until she made a strange little sound of frustration. Grinning to himself, Dash simply intoned, "Twenty three, seven, nineteen Manson. Don't be a loser who can't remember their own combo."
"Who told you my combo?" Sam cocked her head towards him, and Dash felt a shiver run down his spine.
Trying to play it cool, Dash just shrugged before hastily glancing around and catching Danny's eye with a look that clearly said, 'Dude, get your glowing ghost ass over here now.'
"What's wrong?" Danny strode up, looking between Dash and Sam.
"That ain't Sam," Dash backed away, shaking his head.
"What?" Danny turned back quickly to see Sam melt into an amorphous green blob of ectoplasm that shot off through the wall. Danny threw a quick glance around before shoving himself into Dash's locker, yelling, "C'mon Dash, I thought we were done with stuffing me into lockers!"
A flash through the slats let Dash know he'd just been used as a cover and he growled out, "Dude you owe me!" as several passersby glared daggers at him. He just shrugged, grinned his best King of Casper High grin, and headed to practice. He was a little shook up, but he was starting to get used to all the weirdness that followed Danny, 'Maybe he'll finally catch that ghost now. Hope Sam doesn't catch it first…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Gotcha'!" Danny slammed the ghost into the school's roof with Tucker and Sam standing just behind him. They'd seen Danny Phantom's flight up through the floors after what looked like a green streak and decided it was worth the detention to follow. Most of the people around them barely batted an eye and went on with what they were doing.
"That's what's been copying me?" Sam ground her teeth, stomping forward, "I'm so gonna' rip it a new one!"
"I know you," Danny eyed the blob critically, motioning for Sam to back off as Tucker handed him a thermos, "You worked with Spectra!"
"How did you know!" Bertrand, tried to wiggle free to no avail, "Let me go!"
"I didn't know for sure," Danny grinned, "but I do now. Where's Spectra?"
"Penelope is in the Ghost Zone," the ghost averted his gaze, "but she'll come looking if you don't let me go!"
"Not on your afterlife," the halfa bit out, "Why have you been copying Sam?"
"It's not just your girl," Bertrand shifted his gaze.
"Okay, so why are you doing it? Got a perverted side?" Tucker leaned over Danny, Sam following suit, "I mean, I know Sam's good lookin', but I thought you were usually a dude."
"I am a guy!" answered the flustered ghost, "I'm just trying to help Penelope. She's wanted a new form, so I thought I'd learn a little about female structure so she could model her new form off of what I could show her. We're on the list to get out next week! Check with Walker."
"So you snuck out ahead of time," Danny relaxed his grip slightly, "to find your girlfriend a new face."
"Faces," Bertrand sniffed airily.
"That doesn't explain why you've had to try and imitate me with my friends," Sam took the thermos from Danny and waved it menacingly in his face, "I will suck you into this and shake it every hour on the hour if you don't start talking. Now."
"If I can't infiltrate your little group of friends successfully, then I obviously have not succeeded in copying your form," his eyes followed the offending thermos back and forth as Sam waved it in his face, "Now get that out of my face."
"No, put him in it Sam," Danny grinned, "I think you ought to learn to wait your turn when it comes to getting out."
"What! No! I-!" but he was cut off as Sam happily did as Danny asked.
"Feeling better, you two?" Tucker hooked his arms over their shoulders, grinning from one to the other, "Mystery solved! And it was actually easy this time, might I add."
"Who would've guessed," Danny laughed, "He's whipped."
Sam just grinned maliciously as she gave the thermos a good shake, "You better not ever try to impersonate me again…"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
As Danny, Tucker, and Sam headed back down, Spectra let herself become corporeal again high above the rooftop, smiling and congratulating herself on how well her plan was going. She swooped down a little lower, running her tongue over her teeth as she thought of her next move and opened the large binder of information Vlad Masters had provided her.
'That was well done, Bertrand,' malicious laughter bubbled out of her as her eyes flashed, 'Mystery solved! What a fool…'
Laying back and letting the wind take her, Spectra began to thumb through neatly typed notes, black pen adding thoughts and information here and there about the group that surrounded Daniel Fenton. Part fact, part conjecture, and all deliciously usable in what was to come.
Bertrand being caught had been a minor concern, but one she was glad she had planned for. He had done his part well, 'Well enough to convince that little group anyways. How fun! This whole month has been quite…filling. But my, this was just the little bite to whet the appetite.'
'By the time I'm done with all of you,' Spectra grinned as she began to plot a very special surprise for Danny Phantom on his birthday Monday evening, 'I will have more than enough to fuel me to my greatest! Surprise Danny, you're going to catch a couple of ghostly troublemakers at your party. Happy seventeenth birthday, little halfa!'