This chapter is dedicated to theweirdonech on tumblr. I'm so glad these goofballs and their story helped you—so here's one on me.

Chapter 6

Phantom was up on the land a bit, but his tail was inches from the gentle surf. He was focused on some seagulls perched on rocks, tilting his head right and left as he listened and observed them. Danny was working on the Ski, keeping half an eye on his friend, while Valerie found herself purposefully watching the merman. At first she expected him to try and stalk and hunt them, didn't merman kill anything that moved? Phantom wasn't behaving like most merfolk, and she was starting to get catch on to that pretty quickly.

Finally, the birds all opened their wings and headed for the soft blue sky, their cries echoing far and wide.

When they did this, the merman's posture changed. Phantom blinked and stood up on his tail to become taller, chattering in the back of his throat as he spread his hip fins a little. They flapped slowly, trying to find a point of balance so he could lean on his long tail, frills twitching. He met Danny's height like this and passed it just with a few centimeters, watching with intense curiosity at the gulls flying overhead. As the birds passed high, high above, the merman craned his neck after them, large fins beating the air with a little more purpose. He gave a soft churring noise that turned towards the quietest of whines as the birds flew off.

"…Phantom?" Danny finally asked when he heard that noise, turning to give his other half a questioning look.

The merman just dropped back down onto his stomach and dragged himself in a circle, rumbling softly. He looked disappointed, and a little distracted.

Danny's look moved from curiosity to a knowing concerned look. He smiled as Phantom neared him and reached out, patting his shoulder and giving it a little squeeze.

"You're still growling pal, who knows? Could happen someday. Those things are so big I'm surprised you haven't taken off yet." Danny chuckled, hoping to coax a smile out of his best friend.

"Yes, Minnow."

Phantom didn't seem overly convinced, but he dropped the subject and simply curled up behind Danny, resting his head on crossed arms and closing his eyes to doze.

Danny shot him a sad smile and noticed Valerie watching them. Her gaze was questioning as she stared back, but she didn't speak. Danny offered her a tiny shrug, motioning he'd explain it later, when Phantom wasn't around. Phantom as a prideful creature, there was no need for Danny to explain to their work partner how the merman kept trying to fly and simply couldn't. Not right in front of him.

"I talked with my parents; there's been nothing on their radar that's big enough to set off an earthquake." Danny said instead, thinking back to this morning conversation over breakfast and machines. He had spent the better part of the morning sleeping after their little excursion, and after checking in with his parents—leaving out a few of the more dangerous parts—Danny and Valerie were back in the cove fixing the damage to their rescued Jet Skis. Phantom had found them, dragged them back to shore and immediately ate his weight in fish before flopping into the sand like a useless tuna. His job was done and he was taking advantage of that.

"So it was…natural?" Valerie ventured.

"I don't know." Danny admitted, pausing in his work as he thought. "I don't think so—and Phantom doesn't seem to think so either. But I have no idea what it would be other than a natural occurrence or something really," Danny glanced at Phantom, who lifted his head up from the sand, head fins lifting "Really big."

"Yeah. I mean, you guys took care of the kraken, so. What else is there?"

"Well, a lot of people helped with that, we didn't do much." Danny laughed, "What—you think it was just us against that? I'd still be in its stomach."

Phantom snorted at that and curled back up in the sand, tucking himself under his tail so he was just a giant circle of gray scales and green fins. He grumbled something about 'silly minnows' but it's all but inaudible over the sound of surf and gulls.

Valerie laughed at that and went back to work.

Danny smiled, mostly at Val's laugh. She was slowly coming around

It was only about five or so by the time Danny got the ski's engine back online. Valerie had fixed hers already and was sitting on a sand dune looking at something on her wrist when Danny felt more heard someone approaching. Phantom was so out of it from the sun he might as well have been in a coma, but Danny stood up as the man from the cruise liner approached. What was his name—Freakshow?

"Can we help you?" That was Valerie, strutting right up to stand by Danny with her hands on her hips and giving Freakshow a calm, challenging look that warned for explanations. Danny felt a rush of affection for her, because his tongue was lodged in his throat, memories of Plasmius all chained up clouding his thoughts.

"Oh no, no not at all. Just looking about. Thought a nice walk on the beach at this time of night would calm my arthritis, you know." Freakshow waved his hand dismissively, leaning heavily on his strange cane. In the light of the setting sun Danny saw the intricate little patterns—waves, sea shells and what looked like mermaids curled around its elegant black wood.

Something about that smile set off all sorts of warning bells in Danny's head. He shifted over to Phantom in what he hoped was a subtle way, kicking sand at the merman's shoulder to get him to wake the hell up. But the merman only shrugged and uncurled lazily, stretching his arms out and arching his upper back as he twisted around to see what all the fuss was about.

"Minnow?" Phantom grunted sleepily, and Freakshow looked briefly surprised.

"Ah—so it speaks. How long did it take to teach it English?"

"What makes you think I taught him?" Danny said, feeling his hackles rise for some reason.

"Don't be insulting my dear. The stories of you two have reached even the mainland in colder waters. Although…he's rather untamed it looks." Freakshow tsked as if this was a bad thing, and Danny decided he hated the man right then and there.

He looked around quietly—no one but them was on the beach by the cove. It was too far from the boardwalk and lights. Great.

"Phantom's just fine, thanks." Danny muttered, taking a step back and closer to his other half.

A little more awake, Phantom shook himself out and moved his tail behind him, giving Freakshow a dark look up through his white bangs. His eyes narrowed dangerously, his head fins pressed back against his skull and his tail twitched in dissatisfaction—all the warning signs of a creature that wanted its space.

"Glaring in such a manner at a stranger—how rude, though. That's the sort of thing that leads to an uncooperative, wild monster you know."

"He is not—" Danny started, hands fisting at his sides helplessly. Phantom spotted this and became distracted, taking his eyes off Freakshow in favor of wrapping his long tail around Danny, fins brushing his ankle comfortingly, as if to promise he wasn't going anywhere.

"And wild monsters have the nasty fortune of being put down sometimes. I've seen it happen in my show many times." Freakshow's words were quiet but cutting. They worked, Danny went shocked still and drew back, his shoulders raised and eyes wide as he thought of what might happen to his best friend. Valerie gave Danny a look, one that showed worry. But for him or for Phantom, Danny couldn't tell.

Phantom hissed fearlessly at Freakshow, and when the man only walked closer the merman puffed his fins up and tensed like an aggravated tom cat. The merman gathered himself up and stretched his jaw a little too wide, something in the back of his throat working and clicking like it was trying to do something other than wail. His hesitancy to attack stemmed from a desire to stay coiled round his human, who he was protecting. That, and hopefully because Danny had pushed it quite often into his mind he shouldn't kill or maim without trying to reason first.

So Phantom withheld, fighting down age old instincts as the Circus Master avoided his warnings entirely, and even Danny's. Phantom spared one uneasy, questioning look up at his human before the man's hand was in front of him, stroking his nose, dragging his finger up the bridge of the merman's face.

Phantom's eyes widened, glazed over and he promptly slumped to his side, limp and still. His frills flopped lifelessly and not a noise was heard from the merman except his usual whispy breathing.

"Hey!" Danny cried without thinking, jerking to life and shoving Freakshow away from his still other half. "What did you do to him!? Phantom? Phantom!"

Freakshow chuckled behind him and Danny shot him a livid glare, one hand fisting at his sides.

"My, my. You really know nothing about them, do you?"

The merman was unresponsive and quiet. Upon closer inspection, he was breathing still. Just deeper, and even. Danny gasped, realizing the merman was…

"H-he's asleep. You put him to sleep? How did you…?" Danny kneeled slowly down by the merman and shook his shoulder, hoping that would rouse the merman. It didn't.

"It's called tonic immobilization. And it works quite well on sharks and tricky, untamed merfolk. Stroking his nose just so in that manner will put him to sleep. Well, what it really does is induce a relaxation so deep they stop breathing altogether," Freakshow waved his hand nonchalantly, "Pass out from lack of oxygen and all that. So, they are not so much hypnotized as half dead, you see."

He was speaking so idly it chilled Danny to the bone, and he could see even Valerie looked disturbed at the man's cheerful tone. Danny glared at Freakshow, at a loss for words. He turned his back on the creep and bent over his partner again, reaching for a sensitive head fin. A classic area to wake his best friend back up.

"Phantom, wake up buddy, c'mon." He shook the merman harder, hoping to jar him back to life.

"Phantom, please—Phantom g-get up right now!"

The smoke whirled around them, and it took Danny a second to realize it wasn't smoke but steam. Steam with a much too sweet, relaxing order. He heard Valerie gasp and Danny winced, knowing she'd fall to it first if she was in taking air like that. He tried holding his breath, he did, but a whack to the back of his head made him stumble and inhale sharply, the grayish steam circling around them as something from the waves spewed it forth. He knew the creature that made this, but he did not know why it was obeying Freakshow and attacking them.

Danny wasn't given the chance to ask question, his body hit the sand, one arm flung over Phantom's shoulder in a pathetic attempt to protect him. The problem was Danny couldn't even protect himself from the Nocturne's knock out gas.

The last thing he heard was the Circus Master's gleeful, creepy laughter before sleep claimed him.

oOo

Phantom came back to reality with his head spinning, a ringing between his ears and that distinct sensation of being very, very pissed off.

He ignored it at first, instead checking to see if everything was in working order. His fins flicked. His tail twitched, and his arms shifted. Satisfied nothing was broken, just a bit sore, Phantom made a low garbled noise that would make Danny coming running, where he around to hear it.

No response.

Well. His minnow wasn't with him. They were separated, and Phantom had no idea what state his partner was in at all. Forget about himself then, his first priority was finding Danny, and making those bastards pay for touching his human.

Back in the very early days of their relationship, Phantom knew very little about humans. For him, there were two categories of humans, Danny and Not-Danny. And he never got along well with the Not-Danny's of the world. Phantom opened his eyes a crack, because he could just now make out of the sound of footsteps, and footsteps meant one thing.

Humans.

The scent hit him next, and his nose wrinkled on reflex at the smell of male sweat and grime and the blood of his own species lingering around them. Bad humans, then.

At the very least, now Phantom had finally found something to take his aggression out on. And Minnow really couldn't berate him in this case; he was only defending himself, after all. Phantom smiled to himself, his eyes slitting. Gone was the warm green gaze and now the merman's smile was the ugly, wicked look of the wolf before it went for the lamb's throat.

When the footsteps got louder and then quieted, he opened his eyes all the way to look around. He was in a small darkly lit enclosure, hardly enough water sloshing beside him that let into a shallow little pool. Just enough for him to fit, but not enough room to actually maneuver. And with his giant hip fins, Phantom knew he would have even less room. One side of the room was glass, the other was bars. Wonderful. Trapped like a common goldfish in a human bowl. Thank Pariah Danny couldn't see him now; he'd be so embarrassed to have his world see him like this.

Phantom's head fins flattened in annoyance, and then opened again to read his surroundings a little more carefully. He knew leaving this tank would not end well. Which meant he just had to make enough noise (and perhaps damage) until they released him back into the ocean. This old trick worked every time. According to anyone who wasn't Danny but had had the displeasure of meeting him, Phantom could be 'a bit of a handful.' Phantom's grinned widened at the mere thought. They had no idea.

The human was coming back again, moving in such a way he seemed quite bored, and bored was good. Bored meant off guard. Foolish, stupid little humans.

Phantom curled his hands in, talons scraping the floor as he curled up and darkened his body. He blended perfectly into the shadows, with the exception of his toxic green eyes. When they footsteps got their loudest again, those eyes glinted and a jaw stretched wide. Something in the back of his throat clicked faintly, like two stones coming together on their edges. The merman bunched himself up and opened his mouth further…just a little more. The clicking got louder and stronger. This time, maybe it would finally work.

Aiming right at the human, Phantom opened his mouth and breathed—

Light.

Time to be a bit of a handful.

oOo

Danny didn't want to open his eyes, his head hurt too much and it made him feel ill. Adding sight would just give him worse vertigo, he reasoned. But he had to, if only because there was something snarling much too close to his throat for his liking.

He didn't know who was making that threatening sound, but he knew enough to know that it wasn't Phantom.

Bile rising in his throat from dizziness and fear, blue eyes fluttered open and Danny found himself staring into the ruby red eyes of Plasmius. That was the first thing he noticed, and from there it only got worse.

The second was the chain around his neck was taught, and Freakshow was holding the other end like he was walking a dog. The man stood in front of the ladder out of Plasmius' tank, keeping a hold on the chain and smiling in sadistic pleasure down at Danny. He realized vaguely, Freakshow had been standing there the entire time Danny was unconscious, just watching him.

Well that made him move. Danny scrambled up, hissing a bit but all he could manage was a woozy stumble. That hit to his head wasn't going away, and the throbbing nearly pushed out Freakshow's dark words.

"Lunch time, my pet. Go on, enjoy this one. Who knows when you'll get the chance to feast again?"

"Nnh…" Danny managed, holding a hand out to try and stop, reason, anything—but, shit, the whole world was spinning. He tried taking another step back, hoping for some distance. What he failed to realize was that if Freakshow was by the ladder, than Danny was by the edge of…

His foot hit water and he fell backwards with a splash.

…Plasmius' pool.

"Look. He even made it easy for you. Do not screw it up, puppet."

Like that, the chain dropped onto the ground with a wet clank, and Freakshow disappeared up the step ladder. His smile was dark when he heard the water moving and metal sliding as the merman began sliding along his belly to sink into the waters, chasing his prey.

"Good boy." Freakshow shot condescendingly.

Danny sank like a stone, limbs lax and completely out of it. He barely had the strength to hold his breath let alone struggle back to the surface. That seemed like a bad idea anyway, because the surface light was being covered by something long and thin and purple and red.

Bubbles gurgled from between his lips, and his hazy eyes began to close. He wasn't sure he wanted to be conscious for Plasmius' killing him anyway—

A hand grabbed hold of his shirt and wrenched him powerfully up. Here it comes, teeth in his throat next—

He broke the surface, body gasping for air automatically. That dilemma fixed, his brain sought for the answer as to why he was no longer drowning, or being sucked dry by—

"P-Plasmius?"

"Be quiet you fool, do you want him to come back?" A voice hissed in his ear, a surprisingly strong arm round his waist and shoulders. Plasmius turned to look upward at the top of his tank, and when Freakshow didn't return to see what the commotion was about, the blue merman gave a satisfied noise and started dragging Danny through the water and toward the shelf.

Danny nearly stopped breathing from just shock. He gaped like a fish even as the real fish shoved him onto the plastic over hang and his body lay on safe, solid ground.

"I d-don't…you can? Talk, you talk…"

"With a better ear for pronunciation than half your species, honestly. Yes I do in fact; talk." Plasmius muttered as he hauled himself up on the ledge too, water sloshing as he swung his tail up. It created a loose half circle right around Danny's body, and it took the human a moment to recognize the gesture. Phantom had done it many times before.

Plasmius was protecting him.

"…You saved me." Danny mumbled quietly, unable to keep the growing awe out of his voice.

Those red eyes narrowed, the blue tint to his cheeks darkening a touch to purple. The merman was blushing, if only a little bit. That, and he refused to look Danny in the eye, apparently finding the far end of his glass wall very interesting.

"Don't get used to it, boy."

"Well, uh, either way….t-thank you." Now wasn't the time to correct Plasmius—Boy?! He was 21!—"If you hadn't…uh. Thanks, Plasmius."

And that soft mumble finally made the merman turn to stare at him. He seemed to have a permanent glare on his lips, and the scowl deepened depending on whether or not he actually was annoyed by something. That was fine with Danny, whose only look he was afraid of was Clockwork's disappointing one when he and Phantom got in trouble for something.

"Hey, he didn't reattach your chains?" Danny noticed as they slipped about freely. He picked one attached to the merman's wrist up and inspected it carefully. It wasn't heavy, but it was rusted and probably brittle in some places.

"Freakshow—I mean the master," Plasmius spit the word out. "Usually reattaches them after I've eaten. He'll come back in a little bit to do so…what are you doing boy?"

Because Danny had pulled out a strange, crude little tool out of a pocket. It looked like a knife, but no steel knife Plasmius had ever seen. This was bone white, lethally sharp looking and looked surprisingly familiar, and the merman gave it a confused look. A merman's tooth?

"Oh no he won't."

With one of Phantom's old canines Danny began to fiddle with the shackle lock. He was pleased to hear it begin to work the old iron looser and looser. Thank god Phantom shed his canines every few months.

"…pardon?" There was the sound of metal hitting the floor, and Danny went to work on the right wrist.

"'Cause I'm getting you out of here. Right now." There was so much confidence in the words and look Plasmius looked taken aback for a moment. Before he could open his mouth to argue, Danny was shaking his head, denying him the right to refuse.

"Nope. You saved me, now I save you"." He got up and moved toward the ladder, studying it. This wasn't going to be easy.

"You are a reckless fool." Plasmius tried to sound disdainful, but the tip of his tail was twitching in thought. Danny merely shrugged.

"Sheeyah. You don't know the half of it." With a final clank, the last shackle came free.

oOo

Phantom dragged himself around a corner, shaking the hair out of his eyes. he'd been tank hopping, dipping into tanks every chance he got to keep himself moving through the ship. So far, it had worked. But he knew once he went up the stairs he'd be on the deck and then he would need to get into the water as quickly as possible. His search for Danny had been fruitless. But as he leaned round a wall, his eyes fell on something familiar and human and obviously not supposed to be there.

Poor Shrimp gave a strangled noise behind the gag in her mouth, and Phantom didn't blame her. Coming around out of the dark like he had, with his glowing fins and eyes with blood dripping from his open jaws was probably a little startling.

But when he noticed it was her, all aggression vanished and he perked up, giving a noise of greeting. She glared and twisted, breathing hard. She was scared, he could smell, but seemed unharmed. Just shaken.

He moved over to her anyway, keeping low to the ground to show he wasn't a threat. She struggled anyway, closing her eyes and pressing her back against the wall as he advanced. His eyes fell on the tight sea-swollen ropes holding her in place and he made a noise in the back of his throat, sympathetic and warbling.

Ignoring her quiet whimpers of distress and shaken jerks, Phantom hooked his claws under the rope and sawed quickly. A moment later it snapped, the entire section falling loose. It freed her arms but not her hands, tied behind her back. Even with only her shoulders free Shrimp jerked, like she was trying to hip check him. Phantom grunted and cuffed her scoldingly, grabbing her nearest shoulder and pinning her on her stomach, and he went to work on the bindings round her wrists with surprisingly care. She struggled under him, at least up until she felt her wrists come free. Then she froze as she felt her new found freedom. Phantom pulled the rope away helpfully and pushed off her, letting her up.

He went for the ones around her legs next, slicing them after a bit and leaned back as he saw her take the fabric from her mouth. She was staring at him, and her movements slow.

"Better?" Phantom said with a smug smile, staring right back at her evenly.

"….s-shut up, fish boy."

Phantom cackled and headed for the stairs without looking back to see if the female would follow him.

He supposed these humans simply weren't used to merfolk that could move on land. That was all. Couldn't really blame them for shrieking like little spineless eels when he first hauled himself onto the top deck, all anger and fury and unholy shrieking as he threatened to drag their souls into Pariah's depths. Stupid, vile little…

"S…stop!" The raised gun lowered when Phantom turned his paralyzing glare around.

Phantom reared about on the now shaking human, opening his mouth and letting loose a vortex of sound that howled into the body, sending the unprepared figure stumbling backwards. He gave a satisfied cackle when he saw it tip over the railing and took a minute to get his breath back, swallowing the sore ache behind his teeth.

Granted, Phantom was only getting somewhere out of sheer muscle power and the sliding of his tail, but it was working. He could feel a few scales on his belly getting brushed off as he moved along the woodwork of the ship, but all he cared about was he was on deck, and he needed the salt water quickly. Before his throat got any drier, and he couldn't fight.

Valerie was on deck by now, ducking the guards and running after him. Phantom paused making sure she got overboard first. He supposed that could make up for what he'd done down under the deck, provided Minnow found out and got mad at him for it.

Once he was back in the ocean, he could sink this rotten vessel and find Danny by proxy.

If his treasure was still on here somewhere, which Phantom sort of doubted. Even if he was, Danny was perfectly capable of escaping. They would meet up somehow, they always did.

He only had energy left for a few more shouts, four if luck was on his side.

Something whizzed past his head and Phantom ducked, his fins having picked up the vibrations of the small ball not a second too late. Turning to glare at the man, he let the new deck hand get a good look at his bloodied teeth and lips a moment. Some of it was his own, his throat having torn itself open by the third wail he'd unleashed. He could taste flecks of his blood that was mixed with more blood that was certainly not his own. People who'd gotten in his way of his teeth, that was all. Pinning the man with a critical stare, Phantom turned back and quickly hauled himself over the side, busting through the railing with his shoulders. It was a long drop, but he'd had longer. His fins guided him easily, sending him plummeting as he folded them at the last minute, diving straight as an arrow. He entered the water with hardly a splash, vanishing just like a phantom.

Splintered wood and curses followed his descent into the waters, and by the time anyone made it to the side, there was no trace of the merman, not even a ripple. Far below in the depths, the merman stared upward, let the water wash the stains of his revenge away…

And he waited.

oOo

Getting Plasmius into the ocean was easier than Danny thought—it was by sheer luck they found a portal big enough for the sharkman's girth. Though Danny suspected it had something to do with the fact Plasmius was so damn thin. He wouldn't have good endurance once he was into the ocean. How would he hunt for himself? Where would he rest? His worried thoughts were broken when a great crash came from above, followed by the pounding of footsteps and a trademark shrieking sound.

"What was that?" Plasmius asked, looking up from where he was leaning against Danny's side.

"Erh…that was probably Phantom. I hope he found Valerie." That explained the suspicious lack of guards or Freakshow himself as he and Plasmius edged their way to freedom. Danny made a mental note to give so much salmon to Phantom later.

"There are others?" Plasmius asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah we…kind of attract others I guess. I dunno. It's weird." Danny explained, half to himself and half to Plasmius as he helped push the merman up. "Is it too long a drop for you?"

"No, it should be fine. I am not that old, boy." But Plasimus sounded vaguely amused and Danny grinned back. With one final shove Plamius' shark tail vanished from view and all that's left is for Danny to follow.

Except he wouldn't fit, and he isn't too keen on dropping headfirst into the waters, where he isn't sure if there's rocks or worse. Humans were not made for jumping, and they certainly couldn't fly. Danny wasn't about to take the plunge without Phantom with him, just in case.

"Ok. Time for plan B." Danny breathed, mostly to himself as he crouched and hurried through the ship. He had seen the world outside when he'd rescued Plasmius. It was dark, the waters pitch black. That was good, because it meant Amity was asleep and it would give them time to regroup before Freakshow went after them. They would be in serious trouble after this, but one thing at a time.

Danny ran onto the deck, twisting over the railing when he saw a glint of glowing green that might have belonged to a dorsal fin.

"Phantom!" He cried, eyes widening in hope when he saw a familiar tail flash.

"I'm over here!" For emphasis he put his fingers between his lips and whistled, no longer caring about drawing attention to anyone on deck.

The merman spun around at his voice, perking up himself. Putting on sneaker on the railing, Danny sucked in all his breath and pushed off, diving down into the water with his arms out for better control. He knows Phantom will be there, just like he knows the merman will pull him right up to the light when he gets the first chance. The merman nearly bowled him over as they collided in the water, Danny's body stopped only from the girth of Phantom and his outspread fins, flapping in the water to move them gently. Phantom yanked him hard, and Danny soon broke the surface, gasping lungfuls of air.

"Woah! H-hey fancy meeting you here, huh?" Danny grinned, unable to stop the stupid little joke because he was nearly giddy with relief Phantom was okay. He hugged back, laughing as he gently but firmly peeling Phantom off him and convince him to stop nuzzling his shoulder and neck.

Sounds of outrage and curses sounded above them.

"Oh man—we're in trouble. C'mon Phantom, get us out of here." Danny moaned, winding his arms around the merman's waist on instinct as Phantom pulled him down into the dark of the ocean.

Purple flashed into his peripheral, Danny hoped Plasmius would follow them. He also hoped the other could keep up.

The cove wasn't safe, and instinctively Phantom headed into the deep of the sea. The merman dove down, down, sharing oxygen with Danny when a hand grabbed his arm and squeezed.

Blue eyes shut against the sting of salt water and the eerie blackness all around them. Phantom couldn't glow for him; that would attract attention. So Danny suffered in silence, heart pounding against his chest as Phantom swam nearly at his full speed, tail waving and fins flapping at the currents. For how long or how far they swam Danny couldn't tell you, he could only tell you the relief he felt as Phantom soared out of the water and glided clumsily down into cool sand of an island. Danny gasped a bit; resting in the hold of the merman wrapped around him and let his head drop lifelessly back onto the ground.

Above him, Phantom grunted and panted, sides heaving as he rolled to check them both over. The lack of response from the human was probably worrying the merman. Danny remained conscious if limp, letting Phantom fret and nuzzle him, having just enough energy to look at the merman and smile wearily. Big, soulful glowing eyes met his and Phantom thrummed happily, brushing his wet black hair off his face with his palm.

"Were….we…followed?" He hadn't gotten a lot of oxygen during that mad-dash and now it was catching up to him. Every bone felt like it weighed a ton, and all Danny could manage was to curl on his side against Phantom's bulk.

"Yes." Phantom muttered, jerking his head to the black and red jet ski coasting up to them.

"She's okay…that it?" Danny raised a hand and waved to show Valerie he was okay. With any luck she wouldn't turn them in. But Danny was too tired to worry about that now.

"Another, minnow." That made him open his eyes back up, lifting his head and looking over his shoulder to see where Phantom was pointing.

Exhausted, blue eyes raked the strip of beach to see Plasmius resting up on shore and watching them quietly. He looked tired too, but he was lying at a safe distance and also observing Valerie with more calmness than he'd thought the sharkman would. He was probably hungry, and Danny wanted to go take care of the merman but found his eyes sliding shut before he could stop them.

Danny woke up to the sound of the ocean and the closer, louder sound of Phantom's sleep induced rumbling. It sounded more like a purr to be honest, and Danny was so used to the noise it nearly put him back to sleep. And it might have too; if he hadn't heard something drop into the sand behind him.

He twisted a bit, sitting up under Phantom's giant fin and stared down at the small pile of bananas. Phantom grunted and lifted the fin reluctantly, starting to wake up himself.

"Uh…thanks?" Danny said slowly, and he didn't really mean to phrase it like a question. He was just trying to get past his shock and try and be gracious. Thankfully, Valerie seemed caught up in her own world and didn't call him out on it, just walked around to her side of the ashen campfire.

Phantom gave a groggy blink to the fruit but reached out for one anyway, yawning widely.

"No—not, those aren't for you." Valerie suddenly mumbled, as if embarrassed by something. Phantom pulled back and gave her a look.

"Yours is over there."

Both Danny and Phantom looked over as one, and saw three fish and a dozen clams sitting in a pile.

All of their shells were pried open.