AN: Because I forgot at the beginning of this collection: I don't own Danny Phantom nor do I own any pop culture, brand name, etc. references.
Prompt: PhannieMay2014 - Ghost King
Category: Gen (Canon)
Characters/Pairings: Lancer, Danny
Ratings/Warnings: K+; set Post-PP, junior year of high school
Word Count: 994
Summary: Who knew ghosts would inspire such an interesting response to classical literature?
Ghost of King
It wasn't a normal day if Lancer didn't get completely frustrated with this particular class. It always seemed that they participated the least. From the front of the classroom, he scanned their faces, sighing when he found most students' eyes on their desk. It wouldn't save them from being called on, but it still dismayed him. Only a few actually dared to meet his gaze, and a good fraction of those few were obviously caught in some very distant daydream.
He had wanted to hop right into a discussion with his students about these books, but since they already seemed to lack the motivation to so much as appear like they cared, he'd have to treat them like children. Huffing inwardly, Lancer pretended as though he had never posed his initial question and asked instead, "Who actually read their required reading over summer vacation?"
Samantha Manson was one of the first to raise her hand. He wasn't surprised to see that Daniel Fenton did not raise his hand, as it was currently being used to prop up his sagging head, but even so, Lancer couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, which was all too quickly followed by pity.
He didn't blame him for not having read, and he made a mental note to talk to Mr. Fenton after class. For now, Lancer would allow him to doze. Just this once. It was only the first day back, after all, and he was hardly going to be to doing any significant lecturing today.
After seeing that most of the class claimed to have read the play assigned, Lancer felt he had sufficient ammunition to successfully guilt-trip the class into a more enthusiastic response, and he had no qualms doing so.
It never failed to work like a charm, and a few minutes later, he nearly had the whole class offering opinions and interpretations.
"Yes, that is a good point, Nathan," Lancer praised. "How would you say that the ghost of King Ha—"
A bang resounded through the room as Mr. Fenton jerked, his knees crashing into the underside of his desk. His eyes flared green, and without thinking, he demanded loudly, "What?!"
Sniggers erupted from the back, and Danny, realizing he'd interrupted class, flushed bright red. He aimed an elbow toward Tucker's gut from underneath the desk, and Mr. Lancer cocked his eyebrow at his behavior. "Something you'd like to add, Daniel?"
"Um, no, I'm sorry," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I…um, thought you said 'Ghost King' and…"
Ah. Even Mr. Baxter stopped snickering at Mr. Fenton's awkward words, and Lancer found he wasn't the only one who winced. Peace had not lasted long after the Disasteroid nearly hit. It hadn't been more than two weeks later that rioting broke out in the Ghost Zone, and terrifying rumors that the Ghost King had been released again kept Amity Park on its toes all throughout the end of summer. The Fentons had been run ragged lately, trying to find proof that the rumors were either unfounded or—God forbid—true.
"In a way, I suppose you heard correctly, Daniel," Mr. Lancer admitted.
Ms. Manson muttered something to the boy, and Daniel's mouth popped open into a silent "oh" before he grumbled, "Ghost King. Ghost of the king. Close enough. They're not so different."
Lancer blinked. It sounded as though…Now intrigued, he asked, "What do you mean?"
Daniel shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the number of eyes on him. In a strange way, his modest discomfort amused Lancer, especially considering how much attention he began to attract after he'd revealed himself as Danny Phantom.
"They're both evil," Danny eventually said bluntly. "It's just…the ghost of the king pretty much screwed his son over, right? Hamlet was never ignorant—he kind of suspected something fishy was happening when his mother remarried his uncle so soon after his father's death—but it was the ghost's urging that really led him astray. It was his…influence, we'll say, over Hamlet that also ultimately led to the destruction of nearly every other main character in the play."
Blue eyes narrowed, and Lancer was suddenly aware that he was seeing the true Daniel Fenton for the first time. Without secrets holding him back anymore, Mr. Fenton could express himself to his full capacity.
"And for what? Revenge?" His tone was spiteful. "Sure, Claudius might have had it coming to him—King Hamlet didn't just become a ghost for no reason—but he cared nothing of the casualties, nothing of the consequences. The other characters were nothing to him. His country and his people were nothing to him. His son was nothing to him. Just a pawn. Most of the ghosts I fight might not sound much different, but even the worst of them—Spectra, Walker—there might be something holding them here, they might use people as pawns, they might not necessarily care about some of the things they destroy, but there is always something, you know? I've seen Ember playing with Youngblood. I've seen the Box Ghost giving the Lunch Lady ecto-lilies. I've allied myself with more ghosts over the past few weeks than I can even believe. They aren't so bad, really. There's…something that's…not necessarily good all the time, but there's certainly something redeemable in each of them."
"But Pariah Dark…" The name fell dark and heavy from Daniel's lips, and a collective shudder possessed the class. "He'll trample everyone and everything. For no reason. Just because he can. Just because he doesn't care."
The whole classroom was silent as Daniel paused to take a breath. The passionate anger faded from his eyes when he caught the stares, and his hand crept to the back of his neck again. "So…yeah, I just got that vibe from the ghost king in Hamlet too."
It was Sam Manson who finally broke the silence. "Had a bit to get off your chest there, Danny?"
"A bit, yeah."
