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Tuesday
Jackson observed Danny from his position across the dining table. Danny looked much better than he did when he found him yesterday. He was coming from the public library when he found the Fenton kid on his knees and trying to stand up. He really looked pale and sick. Jackson almost regretted not taking him to the hospital but seeing him this morning picking at his breakfast put his mind a little at ease.
When they got home last night, Danny immediately asked to be taken upstairs. Daniel complied knowing he needed to lie down. Once Fenton was settled Daniel went to go and get his parents but Danny pleaded for him not to tell his parents and that he was fine, just really tired. Daniel wasn't happy but honoured his wishes. Relief crossed his face and he fell into a deep slumber shivering a little. Daniel sighed and pulled his covers over the boy before leaving him alone for the night.
Jackson was beginning to become concerned more than curious. Why was this kid trying to hide his sickness? Where did he disappear to? Did something happen to him?
Daniel sighed feeling angry. He promised himself not to care, not to get involved with the homes he was placed in. He was moved around too often to form bonds and emotional ties to anything. He wound up getting hurt and rejected. Perhaps it was a shock to see the Fenton kid so sick looking plus his unusual behaviour kept nagging at him.
Danny picked at his food not feeling hungry. His headache was dull and his shivering has stopped at least for now. He didn't understand what was happening. He had to think it was probably being caused by a ghost… perhaps his Ghost Sense was trying to tell him something…
Fenton knew he probably had to explain his actions last night. He had been thinking what to say to the foster kid. He saw how worried Daniel was last night and wondered how bad he looked because he certainly felt like crap.
Danny looked up to see a suspicious ocean blue stare. Danny glared back at the foster kid with his own baby blue eyes. They both sat there silently glaring at each other.
What are you staring at!? Danny shot
Why are you acting all suspicious!? Daniel shot back
Jazz walked into the kitchen breaking the spell when she yawned, "Morning"
Danny and Daniel looked away from each other and concentrated on trying to finish their breakfast.
Jazz blinked at the quiet table before her, "Did I miss something?"
Jackson knew this week of school was going to be a pointless and boring venture. It was already Tuesday and he really thought about skipping school. He just made the first mistake when entering school. Don't be too smart. He knew most of the stuff they taught in this year anyway so he naturally answered almost everything. If he wasn't answering he was doodling on a piece of paper bored out of his skull.
He hated being really smart. He knew he was a quick study and all that but in a normal school setting like this he could never fit in. If it weren't for Danny's friends Sam and Tucker he would be a complete loner by now.
He didn't think anyone caught on how smart he really was and he wanted it to remain that way. He wanted to fit in the best way he could. Usually bullies would target him to do their homework and assignments if they knew so he was glad no one had caught on yet.
He told the social services that he knew all this stuff they taught in school already but he was usually ignored. So all he did was ace his tests and get all the bully beatings or blackmail. So as usual he was left to fend for himself.
"Hey Daniel" Sam greeted as she left her class and met the foster kid in the hall
He closed his locker and looked at Sam, "Hi"
"Thanks for helping me with my history assignment yesterday"
He had helped Sam with her assignment yesterday afternoon at the library where they had good access to books. She was well intentioned but she kept asking about his previous foster homes. He never felt really comfortable talking about anything from his previous homes. The good times he always longed for and the bad times he wished to forget. All this stuff he wanted to put behind him so he could continue.
"It's nothing" the foster kid shrugged, blushing at the compliment, "Egyptology is my specialty. My dad loved Egypt and always wanted to discover it's past…"
He didn't know why he just mentioned his father. He very rarely mentioned his parents.
"Was you dad famous?" she asked
"Not really. He was well known in the community though," he said
Maybe he talked about his father because he felt comfortable with Sam. Even if she was a Goth he felt like he wasn't going to be judged or laughed at. He was still guarded but relaxed.
"It's been a long time since I've talked about him" he said quietly
Sam gave a smile.
"Hey, it's the new kid!" a tall blond haired jockey, wearing a red jacket and blue pants approached them. He recognised him from class.
"Hey man do you know what time it is?" a black haired guy asked, dressed in the same red jacket. Daniel assumed that they were friends.
"Yeah!" the blond haired guy towered over Jackson, "It's wedgie time!"
"No seriously, what's the time?" his black haired friend was freaking out a bit
"Dude, get a watch" the blond guy scolded
Daniel gasped as the quarterback towered over him.
Danny yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He felt extremely tired today. After being basically dragged home last night, he felt slightly better. He wasn't shivering but he still had a dull ache in his head.
"Are you ok dude? You look terrible" Tucker commented as they walked into school
Danny gave a yawn, "I just feel a bit off today"
"Is it serious?" Tucker asked as he pulled out his PDA
"Nah" Danny shrugged, "Probably the flu or something"
Tucker started to shift his focus to the device in front of him. Danny gave another yawn before looking around.
"Hey, where's Sam?"
Danny expected a reply but none came. He turned to Tucker to find him completely engrossed in his device.
"Tucker? Are you even listening to me?" Danny snapped feeling grumpy
Tucker kept his eyes glued to the screen, "What was that?"
Danny growled and snatched the PDA away from him.
"Hey! Give that back!" Tucker protested and grabbed for it
"It's the only way I can get your attention" Danny snapped before looking at the screen, "Is that Bethany Barks?"
Tucker nodded, "Yep. I'm playing a live performance she did in New York. Isn't she hot?"
Danny saw the blond haired girl dressed in hot pink leather suit, revealing and confronting body parts.
"If she's singing why there is no sound coming from this thing?" Danny asked lightly shaking the device
Tucker just looked at him as if his friend was stupid, "Duh, you watch her with no sound. Everyone knows that her music's terrible"
He grabbed the PDA back as Danny shook his head, "If her music is so terrible why people like her? Or why are you going to see her live performance on Sunday?"
"Please tell me you're not that clueless" Tucker lifted an eyebrow
Danny blinked back.
"Wait, don't answer that" Tucker replied
"You worry me sometimes Tucker" Danny eyed his best friend warily
"Says the kid who has ghost powers" Tucker retorted
They continued down the hall as Tucker continued his viewing with his PDA safely in his possession.
"It's wedgie time!"
Danny's ears pricked at Dash's tone. His immediate instinct was to turn and walk the other way but he saw Dash's intended victim, his new foster brother. His protective nature got the best of him and he ran towards the scene.
"Leave him alone Dash," a Danny defended
Jackson turned to find Danny approaching with Tucker behind him and then looked at the blond haired guy in front of him. This is Dash? Dash Baxter?
"Oh and what are you going to do about it Fen-turd?" Dash challenged
Danny was in front of the foster kid by now but he seemed to lost a bit of his nerve, not sure what to do next. Daniel felt annoyed. He didn't need anyones help, he could do fine on his own like he always did.
"I was just fine until you showed up" Jackson snapped
Danny turned around completely surprised, "What?"
"I don't need your help. I'm fine"
"Going to get beaten by Dash doesn't classify as 'fine'" Danny snapped
"So? Who says I was going to get beaten?" Daniel said defensively
"Well excuse me for helping you!" Danny growled feeling once again unappreciated
"I didn't need your help in the first place," Jackson said stubbornly, "If I did I would ask for it"
"Everything I do seem to be always wrong to you!" Danny yelled, "Well sorry for breathing!"
"Um excuse me" Dash interrupted, "I believe I was about to give someone a wedgie"
"Can't you see I'm having a family moment here?" Danny snapped
Suddenly Dash grabbed Danny by his shirt pulling him close. Danny suddenly regretted his outburst.
"I don't care about your needs Fenton. I only care about mine. And I need to give someone a wedgie!"
"Erh…"
Suddenly Danny gasped as the familiar chill shot up his spine and blue whisper of breath came out.
"Uh, oh…good timing though"
Suddenly the school erupted with noise as people started running down the hall, screaming. Everyone ran towards the exit as a green ghost and a blue ghost appeared. It was the ghosts that appeared before Danny on two sperate occasions on Sunday. Today they were both here wailing and attacking.
Dash got the good sense to drop his intended victim and run. Daniel stood there frozen and fixated by what he saw. He never seen a ghost before and suddenly two came out of nowhere, attacking people, making objects fly and causing chaos. Daniel's mouth opened in shock as he witnessed the supernatural phenomenon before him.
Danny turned to his friends and commanded, "Get Daniel out of here!"
They both nodded and grabbed the boy and ran towards the exit along with all the other terrified teens. Danny stayed behind and stared at the two ghosts who now stopped since no one else was left to terrorize.
"Going ghost!" he yelled as two rings appeared changing his appearance in a cool and dramatic way.
"PAIN!!!!" they both screamed, "DANIEL!"
"Ok, that's getting old" Danny flew up ready to fight, "Have you guys considered a catch phrase or something?"
The ghosts ignored him and charged down the hall, right past him.
"Hello! I'm right here! It's me you want… right?" Danny flew off after them
The couple exited the building and dived into the fleeing students with Danny hot on their tail. Danny pushed his weakness aside and focused on quickly dealing with the ghosts so he could get school over and done with and go to bed.
Jackson couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene and the new arrival of the white haired kid. He felt like he'd seen the kid before but this was the first time he actually saw him.
"Oh no you don't!" Danny grabbed the male ghost with thick glasses and mop top hair and punched the ghost
Sam and Tucker pulled Daniel along knowing they needed to get the foster kid out of there, to let their friend to do his job and to keep the secret.
"Where's Danny?" Daniel asked
"He's up ahead" Sam lied, "Let's go"
Elsewhere the female ghost was else where creating havoc. She blasted blue Ectoplasm at the people below. She screeched before diving down and grabbing Dash.
"PAIN!" she cried, "SUFFER!"
"AHHHH! Please don't hurt me!" Dash whimpered
The ghost floated over to a nearby trashcan and dumped the jockey into the garbage. Then closed the lid tipped the can on its side and kicked it sending it rolling down the hill. She laughed showing her sickly pointy teeth.
Meanwhile the male ghost and Danny were locked into a fight, a hand-to-hand combat that Danny had a hard time trying to defend himself. Feeling lethargic due to his energy drain from yesterday Danny could dodge most of the punches but the male ghost seemed to land quite a few blows. In other words Danny was getting most of the hits. It was bad enough his body was sore from two days ago, not to mention he wasn't feeling well.
The grounds were cleared of people by now except for three. Jackson had stopped. His curious nature got the best of him and he started to watch and observe.
"Come on we've got to go" Tucker cried
"Who's that?" Jackson pointed to the white haired boy
"That's Danny Phantom. He's the town's ghost hero and number one ghost fighter," Sam said a little too boastfully
Daniel would have scoffed if he wasn't seeing this for himself. He understood why the Fentons were here. It looked like this was a common occurrence in this town.
The two ghosts were exchanging blows and steadily the male ghost got the upper hand. Danny was thrown against the wall while the male ghost came in and hit Danny in the gut. He keeled over in pain as he fell to the ground. Daniel gasped as the strange white-haired boy struggled to get up. Sam and Tucker were trying to pull him away but he wouldn't budge.
"We got to go now!" Sam tugged just wanting to get the boy away so she could help Danny
Sam grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him away. Finally he allowed himself to be pulled along but his eyes were glued to the scene before him.
Danny recovered quickly but pretended to let his guard down. The ghost attacked. Danny gave a smirk and at the last second pulled out the thermos and activated it. Realizing it was too late the ghost was sucked in.
"This time stay in the Ghost Zone" Danny caped the device and gave a smirk, "Now for the other one…"
Jackson stopped running and tore away again as he witnessed the ghost being captured. Sam and Tucker caught up with him. Then suddenly a shape formed in the air in front of them. It slowly formed into a woman. She was beautiful with a red bandanna keeping her blond-brown hair from her face, large glasses circled her blue eyes, and she wore a shoulder padded blue blouse with jean overalls on the top. She would look completely normal if it wasn't for her pale blue skin.
"Whoa, talk about being out of date" Tucker commented, "I never liked retro 80's"
"Daniel" the woman said softly
Jackson stared mesmerized at the ghost, "No…way"
The ghost came closer almost face to face. Then suddenly she screamed as a black blur came across and knocked the ghost away.
"Leave him alone!" Danny cried before pointing the open thermos at the female ghost
"Nooooo!" As a blue light was enveloping her she shrieked, "DANIEL!"
Danny capped the thermos with a sigh of relief, "I hope that's the last that we see of those two"
"No! Wait!" Daniel seemed to snap out of his state, "Where did she go?"
"Don't worry I've got them" Danny reassured him bent over puffing like he ran a marathon, shaking the thermos, "You better get home"
The foster child made a grab for the thermos "Let them go!"
"What? Have you lost your mind?" Danny snapped pulling the device away, "They're dangerous!"
Daniel just stared at the ghost child then glared at him. Quickly taking in the details of his clothing. It was black and white with a logo on his chest and also had snow-white hair, pale face and neon green eyes.
Danny growled and flashed his green eyes in annoyance and anger. Startled Daniel blinked and stepped back not knowing how to take the spectral being before him.
"Danny" Sam hissed a warning
Danny ignored her, "These ghosts just attacked the school and put a lot of people at risk and you want me to release them?"
Daniel shook his head his mind trying to comprehend the events before him. Sadness glazed his eyes that made Danny's stare falter and wonder what was going on in the foster kid's head.
"Look-"
Suddenly Daniel snapped his defences up and glared furiously at the ghost boy
"ARGH! I hate you!" the boy snapped before he turned and ran off.
"What else is new?" Danny muttered
"Wait!" Sam yelled after him but he continued running.
"What was that about?" Danny asked when the foster child was far away enough
Then Danny felt something smack into the back of his head, "Ow!" he turned to Sam, "What was that for?"
"What the hell was that?" Sam scowled
"What!?" Danny snapped, "He's the one who's always trying to pick a fight with me!"
"He never seen a ghost before, you idiot!" Sam growled, "Cut him some slack!"
Danny looked startled as he forgotten that the kid wasn't familiar with the paranormal occurrences that appeared around here. The adrenalin left his system and he suddenly felt weak and tired. He changed back as shivers raked him once more.
Feeling guilty, annoyed and drained he turned away.
"Dude are you ok?" Tucker asked looking how Danny suddenly became pale and was shivering
"I-I'm f-fine" He stammered before leaving the school grounds with one dire in mind, sleep.
He didn't see the worried looks his two best friends were giving him.
To be continued...
What's wrong with Danny? Stay tuned for the next chapter!