In which stuff happens. Yes, stuff. Stuff is a good term.

Granted, some of it is stuff that emotionally compromised my lovely beta, but who's keeping track?

(I am. I'm keeping track.)

No warnings aside from the usual, so… onwards!


Chapter 6:

Stopwatch's room was small, with no windows, a bed in the corner, and soft sheets. There was a dresser with a mirror- that was new- along with plenty more hoodies and t-shirts, among other things. Apparently, Clockwork hadn't been too thrilled with the fact Stopwatch didn't normally change his clothes. He hadn't found the little vial of human blood hidden in Stopwatch's sweater, fortunately. That had been a disgusting pain to get back.

Stopwatch sighed, flopping back onto his bed. The pillow rubbed uncomfortably against the bandage covering his cheek, causing him to wince. He may have been told to rest for the next few days, but that didn't mean it wasn't boring. There was nothing to do in his room! Stopwatch groaned, rolling over so that he was facing the wall. I hate everything.

The door squeaked open, and Stopwatch quickly sat up. Hourglass stood there, a tray in her hands. "Soup," She said, "For you."

Stopwatch sat up as she moved forward, setting it down on the table beside his bed. "I could've gone down to get it."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to be resting." She sat down beside him, playing with her braid. "I'm sorry."

Stopwatch raised his eyebrows, "For what?"

Hourglass shrugged, "I don't know. Just... thought I should... sorry."

Stopwatch frowned and poked her arm. "Stop apologizing. You did nothing wrong."

"But..."

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong." He leaned forwards, "So stop being sad, okay?"

Hourglass licked her lips, tugged on her hair, and burst out with, "Prince is okay!"

Stopwatch blinked twice. "Okay?"

"He got caught in the portal, and you pushed me back, and then I was upset." Hourglass clarified, "He's fine. Stuck to a Danny but he's fine. I- I don't think I told you..." If you did I wasn't listening. "Tardis and Infinite wanted it to stay a secret. They only told me because I was crying and... and Infinite said that was his weakness..."

"Oh," She'd be crying right now if I'd let him die.

"Yeah," For a moment, there was silence. "Why don't you like him?"

Shit. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You thought I didn't notice, didn't you? I- I'm not stupid! You hate him! You don't even hate Tempest, and she hates everyone, but you hate him!"

"Oh!" Stopwatch grabbed her arm, "No, I uh... I know. I get it. He's just annoying, that's all."

Hourglass nodded slowly. "Oh. I see. …He's not really like that, you know." Right. "He's really scared, all the time. Aunt- um. Not that. Tardis said that he saw something really bad a couple months ago. And he's trying to get over it by being overly nice and friend-like to everyone. So they'll like him, and be his friends. So he'll be less afraid because he has friends."

That doesn't make sense. "Where is Infinite now?"

"Um, home." She grabbed a loose strand of hair and started braiding it, "Tardis gave him the next while off or... or something. I wasn't really focusing because I was worried about you."

"Oh," For a moment the two sat in awkward silence, which was fortunately broken by Stopwatch grabbing the tray. "Want some?"

Hourglass wrinkled her nose, "I cooked it, why do I have to eat it too?"

"What?"

"Umm..." She held up a finger, "I don't want to eat it because it smelt weird while I was cooking it."

"You cooked it?" Stopwatch frowned, "You hate cooking. Did Tardis crash or something?"

Hourglass nodded, "I- maybe. I don't know. But Clockwork locked her in her room so uh-" She slouched, "I'm going alone. There's another royals meeting Thursday for some important reason and she's not going to be able to go now but one of us has to go-" She pulled down her hood, "I don't want to deal with them alone."

Stopwatch put a spoonful of soup in his mouth to avoid having to speak.

"I should go... do... things." She stood, starting towards the door. "Um... eat the soup." She didn't close the door.

Stopwatch moved the tray to the side, about to get up and close the door. He didn't want to go. The Royals Sympathizers were weird; who else had meeting nearly every week that you could go to have other people tell you your twisted views were right? And he especially didn't want to go if there was going to be some reminder of them there. After Infinite's stunt there was no way it wouldn't go badly. But if he didn't go, if he let Hourglass deal with it alone... she'd be in danger. And it'd be his fault.

"Hourglass!" He moved into the hallway, "Wait up!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny stumbled, nearly dropping the box he was carrying. "So why exactly are we breaking our backs here, Sam?"

"Frogs' rights!" Sam declared as Danny and Tucker exchanged a look. "We've got to stop raising frogs specifically for dissection in our school's biology lab! And at today's assembly I'm going to demonstrate a humane alternative."

Tucker shifted his box, "I can't believe it's not a frog cadaver. So we're ripping off fake butter now?"

"Aw, that was lame. Come on Tucker; surely you can come up with a butter joke than that?" Danny slipped, yelping as he fell back into Prince's arms. "Hi, Prince."

"Hello, Danny." The ghost pushed Danny back to his feet. "I have a butter joke."

"You do?"

"Yeah. But it's not my churn to say it."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look. "That's it," She said, "I'm leaving."

"Aw, come on guys!" Danny shifted the box, moving quickly away from the ghost and after his friends. "I'll come up with-"

"If that sentence has anything to do with butter in it," Tucker said, "I'm going to hurt you."

"But they're dairy good!" Prince said, landing beside Danny.

Sam set her box down, "Did you want something, or are you just here to bother us?"

"Yeah," Tucker said, "What do you want?"

"Um... snacks?" Prince said, "Danny has granola bars. I want one."

Danny rolled his eyes, and motioned to the row of lockers just down the hall. "They're in my locker. I-" His ghost sense cut him off as Sam's box started glowing. It nearly jumped from her arms, green mist spilling from any opening and taking the form of- "Oh great, him again."

Prince groaned. "Why. Why does it have to be you?"

"I am the Box Ghost! And I will have my corrugated cardboard vengeance!"

"You go do your thing," Prince said, sighing. "I'll deal with this."

Danny was strongly tempted to protest, but having the assembly go perfectly did mean a lot to Sam. And it was just the Box Ghost... "Whatever. Come on, guys." He led the way past the two ghosts, "If you get a chance, mess up the art room or something. I don't want to go to that class." Prince punched the Box Ghost as the trio rounded a corner. They made it to the gymnasium in record time, slipping in the side door which led to stage.

"We'll be here in case something happens," Tucker said, setting his box down where Sam said to and taking out his phone. "Just don't make us join your speech."

"Seconded," Danny said, setting his down as well. "Good luck."

"That gives me bad luck," Sam said. "But thanks." She moved to the other side of the curtains and on stage.

Danny stood awkwardly off stage, not quite sure what he should be doing. And his shoulder was starting to hurt...

Prince crashed into Danny's back, causing the two of them to be thrown across the stage. Tucker, who had put earbuds in, did not look up as the Box Ghost appeared beside him.

"Tremble before the might of the Box Ghost, as you are devoured by... uh-" He paused, looking at the box he was levitating. "Oh yeah, props and costumes from the Broadway classic; My Fair Lady!"

"What might?" Danny said, standing up. His shoulder was really uncomfortable now. "Because everything I've seen from you so far is mighty pathetic-" He was cut off when the contents of the box hit him in the face. Danny found himself caught in a pile of fabrics which somehow managed to get stuck on his arms.

"Fellow students. Something sick and disgusting is taking place right here in our school..." Crud. Crud Sam was starting. I need to get out of the way! Danny flopped out of most of the clothes pile, rolling onto his stomach in an attempt to discharge the rest. The curtain slid open before Danny could move, and there was a beat of silence. Maybe they haven't seen me. Maybe I'm off stage. Maybe they don't care maybe everything's going to be fine-

The room burst into laughter the second Danny sat up, staring at the pink dress and hat he'd somehow ended up in. An almost painful mix of anger, guilt, and embarrassment had settled in his gut and it was not helped by Tucker's yell of "Take it off!"

Danny forced himself to his feet and ran off stage.

Danny found himself in an empty janitor's closet, throwing the hat across the room and struggling to get out of the dress. He could feel Prince watching him from the side. "Danny-"

"What?" Danny snapped, struggling to pull the dress off of himself. "If you're going to say anything about this being my fault I'm going to hurt you."

"But it is your-" Danny aimed his elbow upwards and jabbed Prince in his neck. Prince made a squeaky noise as he moved back, and Danny took an uncomfortable breath in. "Well I was going to help you, but now I'm just going to watch you squirm."

"I hate you," Danny muttered, and took a moment to realize what he had said.

"Line-stealer," Prince crossed his arms. "You should've just gotten out of the way."

"You smacked into me!"

"You're the one in the dress!"

"Because you lured the Box Ghost right to Sam's speech!" Danny jabbed a finger in Prince's face, "I know you don't like her, but that was not cool, Prince!"

"Right. Because him nearly stabbing me then knocking me through your locker was planned." Prince nodded slowly, "That plan is dumb."

"Yeah- well- you're dumb!"

Their argument was cut off by a knocking on the door. "Danny?" Jazz called, "Are you in there?"

Prince rolled his eyes and turned invisible as Danny went back to struggling out of the dress. "What do you want?"

Jazz opened the door just as Danny managed to free his arm. "Danny-"

"It fell on me," He said, "Stupid thing fell on me and now it's stuck." Danny groaned, attempting to free his other arm. "Get... out!" He heard it rip, but at least his arm was free. Danny threw the dress too, watching as it caught on a broom and both fell to the ground. "I hate this school. I hope someone burns it down."

"Danny," His sister said gently, "You don't mean that."

"You're right. Fire's too good for this place, anyway." There was something on his face. Danny rubbed at his eyes and pulled his hand back, staring at the blue smudge on his knuckles. "...Why."

"I would've told you," Prince whispered by Danny's ear, "But you looked really pretty."

Danny threw his hands in the air, walked over to the dress, and used it to wipe his face. "Of course. Of course the weird stuff that doesn't make any sense is going to happen to me!" He threw it back against the wall and glared at it. "I'm going to have to pay for that, won't I? Great. Excellent. Can this day get any better?!"

It was at that moment when Sam burst in, Tucker on her heels. "What the fuck was that?!" She snapped, "Thanks to your little dress up parade, my save the frogs presentation was a total bust! You ruined everything, you- you-" She cut off into a scream and punched Danny in his arm.

"Ow, hey!" Danny shoved her back as Tucker moved behind Jazz. "It's not my fault!"

"That's enough," Jazz stepped between them, one hand on Danny's arm. "Sam, right? Get out. If you're going to attack my brother because of his disability you can leave."

"Disa- oh." Sam stepped back, "Wait, you're saying that he-" She frowned, cutting off abruptly and holding out her hand. "Danny, give me the whistle."

"Sam-"

"Danny, now."

Thinking back to how much of a dick Prince had been before, Danny handed Sam the whistle. She rushed out of the room, dragging Tucker with her.

Jazz raised her eyebrows, "Why were you wearing a dog whistle?"

"Technically it's a ghost whistle," Jazz raised her eyebrows a bit higher and Danny sighed, "Don't ask; it was free. Can we just go home or something? Please?"

Jazz hesitated for a second before wrapping her arm around Danny's shoulders. "Of course. You know, if you actually took your epilepsy medication like you were supposed to, this wouldn't have happened."

Danny rolled his eyes but didn't comment. He allowed his sister to lead him out of the janitor closet and through the hallway, cutting off any thought of Prince and doing his best to ignore the pain that shot through his gut.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny entered the kitchen the next morning to see his mom working on some sort of metal gloves while his dad ate breakfast. Jazz sat a little ways away, checking over her something in her textbook.

"So, Danny!" Jack said, "What's this I hear about you getting a new locker?"

"I am?" Danny raised an eyebrow, grabbing a banana from the counter and starting to peel it.

"The school called, sweetie," Maddie said, "Mr. Lancer said something about your locker being damaged...?"

"Oh," Darn it, Prince. "This is the first I'm hearing of it, so it can't be too important. Nothing to get obsessive about- and no, it is not haunted!"

"Haunted?!" Jack perked up as Jazz groaned.

"Don't worry, son!" Maddie said, "You'll barely even notice us while we're staking it out during regular school hours!"

Danny, not remotely paying attention, rolled his eyes and gave them a thumbs up.

"What? No!" Jazz jumped up from her chair and pulled Danny close to her, "Danny's at a very critical stage in the development of his peer groups," Danny maneuvered his banana around her arm so he could take a bite. "He's already considered a clumsy nerd; the last thing he needs is you two confirming it!"

Danny swallowed as his sister pulled away, "Nice defense Jazz, total confidence builder." He took another bite, "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Danny, don't speak with your mouth full," Maddie chided, pulling the gloves away as her husband reached for them. "Not yet, Jack! The wires aren't stable yet; they could electrocute you."

"I can confirm that is not fun," Danny said, finishing off his banana.

"That reminds me!" Jazz opened up the cupboard and passed Danny a small plastic container. "Take your medicine Danny, we don't want a repeat of yesterday, do we? You need to take them everyday and on time."

"Oh, sweetie," Maddie abandoned the gloves and turned back to her kids, "Did you have another seizure?"

Danny had a brief, mental vision of punching Prince in the face. "I'm fine, Mom." He grabbed a pill and went to pour himself a drink. Danny glared at the pill before he dropped it down his shirt and feigned swallowing it. He took a long drink of milk, keeping his arm pressed against his side in an effort to stop it from falling onto the floor. "I hate everything."

Jazz handed him a napkin, "It's called being fourteen." She patted him on the shoulder, gathered up her books, and left. While she wasn't looking, Danny shoved the pill into his pocket.

Danny put his cup in the sink and pretended he didn't notice the looks his parents were giving him. More than ever, he was tempted to tell them there was nothing actually wrong with him; it was all Prince's fault. He was fine.

"Hey, Danny!" His dad spoke up just as he left the kitchen, "Would you, um, like a ride to school?"

Danny considered his Dad's driving for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, okay."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Sam was twirling the ghost whistle around one of her fingers as she walked. Tucker thanked his mom for the ride and rushed over to her, snatching it out of her hand. "What are you doing?"

"That ghost and I have settled our differences." She grinned, "I've got him under control now."

"You ordered him to do that stupid dance again, didn't you?"

"It's funny," Sam said, grabbing the whistle back and shoving it in her pocket. "And he won't hurt Danny or make him feel like shit anymore. I fixed everything."

Tucker frowned, "So where is Prince?"

Sam brought the whistle to her lips and blew it. Prince appeared in front of them, hands resting at his side instead of clasped over his ears, and fixed Sam with a blank look.

"Holy shit," Tucker took a step back, "Did you break him or something?"

"He has to follow orders, doesn't he?" Sam went back to spinning the whistle, "Well I've made sure he can't hurt any of us in any way- even indirectly- without having to inflict triple that pain on himself. And he's not allowed to let any harm come to Danny unless he feels like breaking all his fingers. And he has to report to whoever blows the whistle for orders, which will have full effect on him without saying his name." The whistle went flying off her finger, and Tucker lifted a hand to catch it. "He can't even look at Danny the wrong way anymore. I fixed everything."

Tucker frowned, looking at the ghost in front of him. Some part him was screaming about how wrong this was, but he silenced it. The ghost had caused Danny nothing but trouble. If Sam had found a way to keep Danny safe, then that was definitely a good thing. "How do we get him back to normal?"

Sam cleared her throat, "Prince Phantom, you are dismissed."

Prince flinched, pulled his hands close, and nodded slowly. "T-thank you." He disappeared again.

Sam and Tucker found Danny in a hallway, narrowing his eyes at a rusted locker. "Why," He muttered, "Out of all the stupid lockers in this school-"

"Hey dude," Tucker said, tossing his friend the whistle. Danny fumbled and dropped it, glaring at piece of metal. "Good job."

"I hate everything," Danny said, "So apparently I have a new locker now since someone ruined my old one. And guess what? Locker 724 is-"

Tucker cut him off with a gasp, which was copied by Sam.

"Um, guys? What's wrong?" Danny said, opening the locker and looking at the mirror inside. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Or, you know, something really scary we don't see every single day. Speaking of that, do you guys know where Prince went? I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"Hello? Locker 724?" Tucker raised his eyebrows, "How do you not know the legend of locker 724?! Your parents hunt ghosts!"

"Which I ignore," Danny said, poking the mirror. "What's the big deal with 724? Wait, let me guess; it's haunted."

"It's more of a curse," Sam said, picking up the whistle. "Fair warning, the dick squad is approaching."

"The what?" Tucker and Danny looked over just as the football team approached. Dash slammed a pink hat down on Danny's head while Tucker took an awkward step back.

"You left something behind, Fentina!" Dash declared before breaking into laughter, which was copied by his crew. Danny glared at them as Dash continued, "Let's see if it fits in your new locker! With you inside!" He grabbed Danny by the shoulder and lifted him slightly off the ground, before abruptly dropping him and moving back.

"Ow, hey!" Danny picked himself up off the floor and threw the hat at Dash. "Watch it!"

Dash didn't move, looking for a few moments longer as if he was screaming without sound. His hands were shaking as he lowered them, and Danny took a step back.

"Dash?" Kwan said, "Are you okay?"

Dash placed one hand on his hip and stuck the other out with a slight bend. "I... am a teapot. With muscles."

Danny took a step back. "That's... that's nice. Good for you."

"And now... for a song." Dash crouched down, drumming his hands on his knees. "This... is the teapot song!" He sounded unsure, which was especially weird coming from Dash. "It's a song about teapots, singing their song! The teapot song! The teapot song! Singing their song! The teapot song! I made up this song and I don't know the words! The teapot song! The teapot song!"

Kwan gently placed his hands on Dash's arms and led him down the hall, "Hey... come on, Dash, let's go for a walk, okay?"

Dash patted him on the shoulder as they turned a corner. "You're a good friend. Too bad I have no idea what your name is."

"It's okay," Kwan said, "Just come with me, okay?"

The rest of the football team exchanged confused looks before following them. For a moment, the trio was left in awkward and confused silence.

"Well..." Tucker said, "That happened."

"Is he okay?" Danny said, "He... what even was that?"

Prince appeared in from of them, humming something with a toon similar to Dash's song. "Ta-da!" He bowed, "I am never writing a song again!"

"Wait," Sam narrowed her eyes, "That was you?"

Prince stepped back as Sam moved forwards, but was cut off when Danny held up his hand for a high five. "Dude, that was awesome!"

Prince frowned, "Huh?"

"You were controlling him! You made him sing that stupid song!" Danny dropped his hand and leaned against the locker, bending over with laughter. "That was awesome! How did you do that?!"

"Overshadowing...?" Prince muttered, looking cautiously at Sam. "Um..."

"Danny!" Sam snapped, "Don't encourage him! He used Dash like a puppet!"

"And stopped me from being shoved in my locker!" Danny's smile was huge, while Prince kept giving them unsure looks. "How is that a bad thing? It was awesome! Tucker, back me up here!"

Tucker held up his hands, "Dude, Dash literally just got possessed by a dead guy. That's not okay."

"So if he could do it," Prince said, pointing at Danny, "It'd be okay? You humans are weird."

Danny frowned, looking down at his hands. "If I could do it... huh. Tucker, don't move."

Tucker didn't get a chance to dive out of the way before Danny turned himself intangible and rushed into him. The next thing Tucker knew, he was sitting on the ground a little farther down the hall. Danny was a little ways away with his hands thrown in the air.

"That was awesome!" He shouted as he threw his hands in the air. "I'm totally going to do that to Dash!"

Tucker moved away from his best friend, bumping into Sam. He felt her grab his shoulder, though Tucker didn't take his eyes off Danny. "You're not going to do that to anyone ever again," Sam said, "Or else."

"Come on," Danny said, standing up as Sam helped Tucker do the same. "It's Dash! He deserves it!"

Prince floated slowly over to Danny's side, looked hesitantly at Sam and Tucker, and said "You should probably get your whistle back."

Sam gripped it tighter, "No. Not until you agree to never do that to anyone again. Tucker, back me up here."

Tucker looked between Danny and Sam. "I have no idea what just happened."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny felt his gut twist as he watched a couple from the football team harass some kid he didn't know. He could make them pay; he knew he could. He could overshadow them and ruin their lives so easily. But Sam had made him promise not to use his powers against humans.

Danny stuffed his backpack in his locker and slammed the door closed. He ignored his ghost sense- it was probably Prince- and moved to the cafeteria.

Sam and Tucker were sitting at a table near the A-list when Danny finally sat down. He overheard bits of their conversations- one had been hit by a locker door, Paulina had some sort of goop tangled in her hair, and Kwan thought the school was haunted.

"Apparently someone's been busy," Sam said as Danny sat down. "You need to control your ghost."

"Now how would I do that?" Danny said, "Aside from ordering him around, because that doesn't get me any brownie points."

"You have brownies?" Danny jumped when he heard Prince's voice right beside his ear. "I demand at least one. Preferably all."

"Hello to you too," Danny muttered, offering the invisible ghost a fry.

"Ah, fries being eaten by nothing." Tucker said, messing around with his phone, "Spooky."

"Well I can't eat them," Danny said, "They taste bland without salt."

"Your arteries will thank- Lancer!" Sam jumped up, smirking, "I'll be right back!" She rushed out of the room.

"My arteries will thank Lancer? Sweet. So," Danny said, "Cursed locker?"

"Everyone who's ever had it has died within the year, and then some sort of natural disaster would come and screw up the school." Tucker said. "Speaking of which, you die I die."

"We were weird seven-year-olds," Danny said, watching as the still mostly invisible Prince stole the rest of his fries. "So basically this locker is going to kill me. This day just keeps getting better and better."

"And then there was the fact that Sidney Poindexter's corpse was found in it..."

Danny leaned back as Prince choked on a fry. "Please tell me that's an urban legend."

"Nah, Olivia Marshall's story is- but she had your locker too." Tucker shrugged, "Locker 724 was originally owned by him back in the fifties. Poindexter was the victim of more cruel pranks than anyone in the history of Casper High! Apparently picking on him was a graduation requirement. He set a record for the amount of hours spent in a locker. And then Spring Break came around, which coincidently starts this Saturday. He got shoved into the locker and they forgot him there over the week. During grad that year most of Casper High burned down. The only part they didn't have to rebuild was the hallway with Sidney's locker."

"So I had a dead guy in my locker?" Danny pushed his lunch over to Prince. "That's... nice."

"It's a good thing you believe me," Tucker said, still messing with his phone. "Apparently in the eighties Olivia Marshall didn't believe in the supernatural and set out to prove the locker was safe. Considering that she later decided she was too gay to live and jumped off a bridge, and most of the school flooded, you can guess how that went."

Danny nodded, "I think I'll cause a tornado." Sam rejoined them, carrying a small plastic tote. "Sam, what are you doing?"

"Nothing! Certainly not trying to smuggle frogs out of the biology lab when Lancer isn't looking!" She set the tote down on the table, "You wouldn't know a good place to hide them, would you?"

Danny held up his hands, "Last time I tried to help you I ended up in a dress. You're doing this on your own." He threw a fry at Tucker when his friend snickered.

Danny could see the faintest outline of a person as Prince moved beside Sam. "They're cute. Can I keep them?"

"No, Prince," Danny said, standing up as well. "I'm not even going to ask why we have live frogs. Sam, please put them somewhere else. If Lancer catches me with them then I-" A chunk of meat hit him in the face.

"Hey guys!" Dash's voice rang out as Danny peeled it off, "What do you say we meat my new locker neighbor?"

"Dash..." Kwan said softly.

Danny didn't dignify that pun with a response and glared at Prince when the ghost laughed. "You're really not helping."

"I know," Prince said.

"Fuck off, Dash!" Sam snapped, "Nobody cares about what you have to say!"

Danny turned around, eager to watch Sam chew Dash out, and got hit in the face with a moldy baguette.

Danny set the bread down as Dash and his friends rushed out of the cafeteria.

"Hm," Tucker mused, "I wonder how Dash would feel with a frog in his throat?"

"Or twelve," Prince said, "In his pants." The tote disappeared, "I really don't like him."

Prince disappeared before anyone could order him not to, though Sam was the only one with any intention of doing so. Danny caught sight of her glare and hesitantly raised his hands. "Fine, I'll go stop him." Or get conveniently stuck somewhere before I can. Abandoning his lunch, Danny headed towards his locker.

Unfortunately, Sam and Tucker followed him, urging him to try and use his ghost sense to find Prince. When Danny tried to tell them it didn't work like that said power was triggered. Dash, screaming at the top of his lungs, bounced past them. Kwan followed, and upon catching sight of the trio, pushed a handful of bills into Danny's hands. "Here's twenty dollars," He said, "Don't tell anyone about this." He ran after his friend.

Danny handed half of the money to Tucker when Sam refused her share and led the way to where his locker was. Prince and some sort of grayscale ghost with an annoying voice were floating in front of each other.

Prince seemed confused as the grayscale ghost pointed a finger at him. "You're the bully from where I'm standing!"

"Um, floating." Prince corrected.

"Oh, uh, yeah okay. Floating," The other ghost said awkwardly.

Danny looked between Sam and Tucker and whispered, "Anybody have a plan?"

"We scream?" Tucker offered, "Because I'm pretty sure that's Sidney Poindexter."

Danny looked at Sam, "Anybody have a better plan?"

"Let's see how you like being bullied!" Poindexter shouted, raising his hands menacingly. The lockers started to glow green and spray their contents. Danny pulled his friends back around the corner and out of harm's way as Prince turned intangible.

"Spooky," He said, "My turn." He pulled his fist back and punched Poindexter in the jaw. The ghost hit the ground and skid across the floor, landing just past the trio. "If I say please will you go away?"

Poindexter's eyes were glowing red when he sat up and twin green beams shot from them. They hit Prince in the chest, knocking him through a wall. The lockers stopped spewing their contents and Danny heard people scream.

"The frogs!" Sam abruptly said and rushed in the direction Dash had run in. Tucker and Danny shared a confused look before moving after her.

A hand grabbed Danny's wrist and he found himself being pulled through a closed door. Prince let go of him once Danny was steady and held out a hand. "Help me beat him up."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to fight ghosts with you anymore?" Danny said, one eyebrow raised.

"Ghosts is plural. This is only one so it's all okay." He moved his hand a little closer to Danny, "Please?"

Danny rolled his eyes, but grabbed onto Prince's hand and forced the two of them together.

A minute later Danny took control and grabbed Poindexter by his shoulder, "How about we make this easy," Danny tried, not entirely okay with beating up a kid who'd spent so many years being bullied. "You go away and we don't hurt you."

"Your grammar is all wrong," Poindexter said, shoving them off. "There's only one of you, bud!"

"I'm not your bud," Prince said, taking control of the legs and kicking the ghost in his jaw. He was thrown down the hall, knocking into a garbage can which fell on his head. "Buds are baby leaves." Prince moved them forwards, and Danny caught sight of his friends down the hall.

Poindexter phased through the garbage can, glaring at them. "Put an egg in your shoe and beat it, bully!"

"Yum, shoe eggs," Prince said, "My favourite meal."

"I," Poindexter declared, "Am Sidney Poindexter! And wherever there is a single nerd in need," He motioned to Tucker and Sam, who were now carrying the tote of frogs. "I will be there!"

"Hey," Tucker narrowed his eyes, letting go of his part of the tote and leaving Sam to carry it by herself. "Who're you calling a nerd?"

"You," Danny said, "It's the glasses. And the face. And the everything- whoa!" He was cut off when Poindexter tried the eyebeams again. "Hey, watch where you're pointing those things!" Prince took control back and attempted to tackle him, only for the ghost to go intangible. The two crashed into Tucker, and then Danny felt his face hit the lockers.

"I was right," Tucker whispered, looking Danny over. "Are you okay?"

"Is my nose bleeding?"

"No? I... I don't think that's blood. It looks like jam."

"That's nasty," Prince stood them up, and Danny tried to ignore how much his nose hurt. "Let's finish this!"

"With what?" Prince asked.

"Um... fists?" Danny shrugged, "You're the ghost here. You pick something."

"Okay," Sam said, "That's still weird."

Poindexter took out a pen and Prince refused to let them flinch as ink sprayed from it into their face. Poindexter broke out into laughter as Danny snatched back control, hoping he managed to turn them intangible as he tackled Poindexter through the floor.

They hit the ground of a boiler room hard, separating back into two people. The ink was still on Prince's face and Danny could feel blood on his.

"Holy socks," Poindexter said, "There's two of you?!"

Danny groaned and wiped the blood from his upper lip. Prince however moved quickly over to the ghost, energy around his fists. "Dammit, Danny," He said, his sleeves riding up slightly when he moved his arms. Poindexter raised his eyebrows, looking Prince over. "You broke everything!"

"Nah, just my nose. Again." He wiped the blood off his face, looking up at the ghost. "Oh, I'm sorry Prince, was that supposed to be an insult?"

Prince's reply was cut off when Poindexter said, "Prince Phantom?"

"Great," Prince whispered.

"The Prince Phantom?" Poindexter moved towards them, "I don't believe it! The entire Ghost Zone's been talking about the rumors, but I thought it was just one of those lies spread by the royals! You're really here! You're really still-" He narrowed his eyes, "And you're hurting people?"

"Mostly me," Danny said, raising a hand. "Not that anyone cares but it's mostly me."

"You're hurting innocent humans!" Poindexter jabbed Prince with a finger, "And attacking innocent ghosts! You're no better than your parents! I wonder what the Master of Time would say if he knew about your deeds, or the Obser-"

"Don't say their name!" Prince held out his hands, shrinking away from Poindexter. He was shaking, and Danny moved a bit closer as a wave of fear seemed to hit him in the face. "Please, I'll do anything, just don't say that name!"

"Why?" Poindexter said, "You think I'll let you get away with doing this? These humans may be outside of their domain but you are not, and I'll make sure you pay for your crimes!"

Prince shook his head and moved his arms close as he stepped back. "P-please just let me explain! I- I- I can't go back there! I- I can't! I can't!"

"You should have thought of that before you attacked these humans!" Poindexter motioned to Danny, who was slowly standing up.

"Prince?" He said softly, "What's he talking about?"

"I didn't attack them!" Prince stepped back, "I- I just- I hurt Danny but I thought he was working with them when I started doing that and I just wanted to get away you don't understand-"

"I understand perfectly!" Poindexter moved towards them, "And I'm sure the Observa-"

Danny blew the whistle. Poindexter fell to the ground, much like Prince used to, while said ghost tensed for a second. He took on an oddly blank look for a second, which Danny chose not to comment on. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to blow the whistle again? Prince," The ghost still looked oddly blank, "Why does he keep using your full name?"

Prince tensed for a second before saying in an eerily bland voice, "He's attempting to be proper to someone of my status."

"What status? Prince is your name, not your title." Danny turned to Poindexter, who was looking suspiciously between the two. "And you? Leave him alone! He didn't do anything I didn't want him too!"

Poindexter had stood back up, "You wanted him to attack that poor kid? You made him-" He fell quiet, looking at Prince.

"Um, yeah!" Danny looked back over at Prince, who was still oddly quiet. "Um... Prince Phantom stop doing... whatever it is you're doing!"

Prince shook his head and moved back, holding his hands close to himself. "Danny, what are you doing?"

Danny shrugged, caught sight of Poindexter's narrowed eyes, and stuffed the whistle back in his shirt. "Prince Phantom, um, do the Macarena!"

Danny looked back at Poindexter as Prince groaned, forced to follow the order. "What is it with you humans and this dance?"

"He follows your orders?" Poindexter's question wasn't really meant to be answered.

"Basically, yeah," Danny looked back at Prince, "Okay, um... Prince Phantom stop dancing and uh, go back to Sam and Tucker for a minute."

Prince tensed and while still giving Danny a conflicted look, turned intangible and moved through the roof.

"See?" Danny said, "He's fine, everything's under control, no need to go and tell the Observe-whatevers about him." He turned back and yelped, finding Poindexter to be right in front of him.

"You're controlling him! You made him do those horrible things!" Danny took several awkward steps back, which Poindexter matched. "You're no better than his father was!"

"Okay, I really don't know who or what you're talking about." Danny bumped into some sort of tank- a water heater, maybe- and Poindexter floated to his eye level. "Hey, personal space!"

"You may be outside of the Observants' jurisdiction, but you're not out of mine!" Poindexter declared, turning intangible. "And I can fix everything you broke!"

Danny held up his arms in a wasted effort to protect himself. Poindexter flew right through them and into Danny's body. "H-hey! Hey!" He could barely speak; it was a struggle to speak with his own lips. "What're you doing?!"

"Giving you a taste of your own medicine, bully!" Poindexter's voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once. Danny's eyes burned and every part of his body seemed to be trying to tear itself away.

"No... no, wait! L-listen to me!" Danny struggled to shout, "Dash- and Prince- they- they aren't-" He was thrown back, and a comforting darkness wrapped itself around him. It would be so easy to give up, to quit trying...

"You may use your skills to harm innocent kids," Poindexter seemed to say, "But I sure as sugar won't!"

Give it back! Danny's voice was barely worthy of being called a thought, give... it... back! He lashed out at the darkness around him, screaming at the top of his lungs as if that would do something. His world peeled away, and Danny felt pins and needles stab his skin.

A charge ran through his being and Danny heard himself scream. The world twisted itself and he felt faint. He would have fallen over and thrown up if he had the ability to. Everything was wrong. Everything was wrong...

Danny couldn't remember closing his eyes, but when he opened them he was half stuck in a locker. A grayscale man was standing there, laughing at a joke Danny had missed.

Danny turned his head slightly and saw Poindexter's face looking back at him from the locker's mirror. And once again he screamed.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Stopwatch wasn't a fan of large crowds. It made him uncomfortable to potentially have so many people ready to attack him. And the Royal Sympathizers- normally shortened to Royals or RS- were the worst for that. It didn't help that he didn't agree with them at all, technically making him a Rebel Supporter, which meant they would hate him by default. The divide in the Ghost Zone was weird like that. But at least the Rebels' logic made sense! The Royals thought that Pariah didn't deserve to have his family killed. They thought the Ancients were in the wrong to attack him and basically save everyone from his evilness.

Of course, he couldn't tell anyone that, since Tardis was one of the leaders of the Royals and Hourglass was one of their most avid supporters. At least Tempest agreed with him that the Royals were wrong and refused to stay quiet about it. Time Turner kept saying he was neutral because the divide was dumb, but that probably just meant he was too afraid to admit he was Rebel.

Stopwatch followed awkwardly behind Hourglass, both his hands wrapped around her right wrist as she weaved carefully through the crowded Rebels. They reached something which might have been a tree at one point before finally stopping. "Wait here," She said, "I need to go and um, talk to people."

"Why do I have to stay here?" Stopwatch asked, "I'm only at this thing because you didn't want to come alone."

Hourglass opened her mouth, closed it, and moved quickly back into the crowd. Stopwatch watched her go, unsure of whether or not he should attempt to follow her. He decided against it and floated up slightly, trying to get a good view of everything in case he needed to make a quick escape.

The island they'd gathered on was huge and packed. It was terrifying to think of the fact that there were so many ghosts who could think the same wrong thing. What if they figured out he wasn't one of them? He'd heard so many horror stories of what could happen. Stopwatch flattened himself against the tree, hands resting right in front of his death wound. He just had to act cool. Be social. Trick them into believing he was on their side. He could do that. He- he could do that.

Stopwatch moved slowly towards someone a few years older than him, hanging out awkwardly by him. "Um... hi?" Act natural act natural- wait what is natural for these guys?

The blue-skinned ghost was dressed in mostly white, but had his black hair in a similar style to Infinite's. "What do you want?"

Wow you're a dick. Stopwatch hid his fear. He just needed to get through this.

"Positgen," Another, slightly shorter ghost jabbed the first with elbow. Stopwatch frowned, noticing the other ghost didn't seem to have a face. That's not normal. "You're scaring him."

"I'm not scared," Stopwatch said, attempting to figure out what the hell a 'Positgen' was. "This is my happy face."

"...Right," Faceless looked up at Positgen- that's not even a word what the hell- before his form seemed to twirl in on itself. A moment later, as he floated back in confusion, the sight in front of him was almost like looking in a mirror. An angry mirror.

"You have a strange definition of happy, kid." Positgen said. Stopwatch's attention snapped away from that damn shapeshifter and to the blue-skinned one.

"Don't call me that name!" He fired a violet ectoblast at his face, which Positgen blocked with a shield.

"Oh, you want to fight?" Positgen dropped his shield and moved towards Stopwatch.

"Positgen, please," The shapeshifter was back to being faceless, and sounded annoyed when the other ghost phased through the hand placed on his arm. "I would suggest you avoid beating up the child."

"Too bad," He cracked his knuckles, ignoring the sigh from that damned shapeshifter. "I'm going to punch a teenager."

I knew it. I knew I'd have to fight someone. Fuck, fuck... whatever, I can do this. Normal combat, avoid the reality manipulation for now... yes. This'll work. Stopwatch teleported slightly back, avoiding the punch would have hit his jaw. "Ow, my nothing." He coated his hands in ectoplasm, floating back a little more.

The other ghosts were watching them, muttering amongst themselves. Stopwatch ignored their words and tuned them out. He struck with a green blast; weak, easy, and there was a chance that it could end all this before it started. It didn't, unfortunately, and the other ghost easily deflected his attack. Fine, guess I actually have to fight.

Stopwatch dodged the fist aimed at his face by shifting to the left and kicking Positgen in his shin. He moved farther to the left, throwing three successive blue blasts at his face. Two missed while the third hit its mark in Positgen's gut. That earned him a pink blast to the face, and Stopwatch bit his lip as it stung his scar. He was thrown back, his ankle hitting part of the tree. Positgen came after him, grabbing onto his wrist and yanking them both down.

The ground was hard and it hurt. Positgen straightened up, lifting a foot up and about to place it on Stopwatch's chest. He thought he'd won. He didn't even think to turn around in time to see the hastily-made duplicate kick him in the side of his head. Stopwatch switched his consciousness to said duplicate, letting his other form disperse. Positgen had landed on his stomach, and energy curled around Stopwatch's twitching fingers as the other attempted to stand. He crashed back down to the ground, anchored by a rope that didn't exist to anyone but him.

"Let me repeat myself," Stopwatch said, "Do not call me by that name. Ever. My name is Stopwatch. Don't call me by anything else." His fingers stopped moving and the energy fell away. "Are we done here?"

Positgen stood slowly, looking over his shoulder at Stopwatch. That shapeshifter was in the watching crowd, wearing a hat now, and had his palm resting on where his face should be. Beside him, a grey-skinned ghost in a cool looking scarf rolled his eyes and slipped deeper into the crowd. Stopwatch watched him go, deciding he wanted a scarf. A lot of the ghosts had turned to watch the fight apparently, though Stopwatch recognized none of them. He bit down on his bottom lip and silently cursed; whoever it was that worked for Them had definitely seen that.

Caught up in his thoughts, he missed Positgen's sucker punch until it was too late to block. He was thrown back into the tree which he hit awkwardly and wrong, sucking in a breath as part of his left arm snapped. He got back up as fast as he could, ignoring the pain and ready to continue.

"Enough!" Hourglass appeared between them, her hood down and her hands out stretched. "Don't- don't make me fight you both! I will! I can and I will if you don't stop!"

"Hourglass?" Stopwatch frowned, rubbing the broken part of his arm. "What're you doing?"

Positgen frowned, "Wait, you know her?"

Hourglass snapped her attention from Stopwatch to him, her braid swinging around to her shoulder. "I thought you were better than this."

"Aw, Hourglass!" He took a step forwards, "Come on Little Miss, don't be like that! We were just-"

"You broke his arm, Positgen!" She motioned to Stopwatch, "T-that's not okay!"

Stopwatch frowned, "Wait, how'd you know my arm was broken?"

Hourglass didn't reply, instead choosing to silently lift up her hood and pull it over her face.

The ghost with the cool scarf reappeared, awkwardly forcing his way through the crowd. He shoved the shapeshifter aside, sticking out his arm for another ghost to slip under.

Time Turner straightened up, looked between Stopwatch and Hourglass for a minute before turning back to the ghost who'd gone to find him. "I do hope you realize that I hate you."

"I'm okay with that," Time Turner's friend said, pulling his hand away from the now angry shapeshifter.

"I like your scarf!" Stopwatch called as Time Turner approached him. The other ghost ducked back into the crowd, probably to go stand beside someone he hadn't offended.

"Don't encourage him," Time Turner said, tossing his first aid kit from hand to hand. "Why are you getting in fights when you should be resting?"

"I'm fine!"

"You were stabbed in the face a couple days ago. I don't care if Clockwork healed you; you're not fine."

"Um, we- we should move." Hourglass grabbed Stopwatch's right arm, pulling him off to the side. Positgen had retreated back to the crowd, hanging out beside that shapeshifter. Stopwatch glared at him until Time Turner stepped between them.

"Don't do that." He turned back to the crowd, "Take a picture; it'll last longer!"

"Calm down," There was a ghost sitting on the tree now. Her hair was literally blue fire, and Hourglass leaned away from it. "If you're done, we'd like to start."

"Sorry Ember," Hourglass whispered. The ghost floated back up to the top of the tree, and Time Turner didn't bother turning around to pay attention.

"A tree," He muttered, "Of all the things, they talk from the top of a damn dead tree."

Ember cleared her throat, and Stopwatch tried to pretend that being so close to a high-ranking Royal Sympathizer wasn't terrifying. "Alright, stop staring at the injured kid. Positgen, if you do something like that again you're going to have a little talk with Tardis, capeesh?" A moment later, she stared down at them. "So, since all of our leaders like to get themselves in shit with the Rebels, I'm going to be delivering the important news. If you don't like that, then fuck you. Everyone wants to know what's so important that you all had to come here, right? Even some such as Ghostwriter, who as much as he likes to pretend otherwise knows we're in the right."

"Don't drag me into this!" Someone in the crowd called. He sounded kind of like Time Turner's friend. "I only came here once!"

"Whatever, we Royals take care of our own. Even if they don't want to admit they're on our side." She looked over at Hourglass for a moment, "As you all know, Skulker recently went to check out that stable portal. On the other side he found something that none of the Rebels can know about." Ember took a moment, building tension. "The rumors are true; Warrior Boy and Dark have been sighted."

Someone screamed, Time Turner rolled his eyes and attempted to put Stopwatch's arm in a sling, and Hourglass whispered, "Prince."

"That is impossible," Someone said. Was it Time Turner's friend again? "They haven't existed for over two thousand years. There is no way in hell that they could have-"

"You can argue all you want," Ember said, "I'm telling you what I heard directly from Skulker. And if he says Warrior Boy is still a clever little shit who is dangerous, and that Dark is pretending to be someone else, then I trust him. We need to get rid of those two before the Rebels get their hands on them. Whoever can bring them back to Skulker will get whatever it is they desire. Tardis will be providing it."

"Wow," Time Turner crossed his arms as a mutter went through the crowd, "I know nobody's told Tardis about this. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"I know, right?" Stopwatch said, "Who names their kid Warrior Boy?"

"Um," Hourglass spoke up, "In- in all due respect, I- I don't want to be a burden or inconvenience or anything... but you said Dark was pretending to b-be someone...?"

"Unfortunately," Ember said, "He told Skulker his name was Prince Phantom."

"Well," Time Turner said, "This is going to go badly."

"That bastard!" Hourglass shouted. Stopwatch jumped back, knocking into Time Turner. "How dare he?! How dare he take on that name and- and- and-"

"Huh. I think I died a bit," Time Turner said, pushing Stopwatch off of him.

"Shush!" Hourglass snapped, floating up. "Everyone, listen up 'cause I'm not supposed to be telling anyone this! Prince Phantom is still in existence and stuck in the Human Realm." She raised a hand and the quickly rising confused muttering ceased. "If the Rebels or those- those- those monsters get a hold of him he's dead! We have to protect him! We need to bring him back here before they do!"

"Question," Stopwatch said, "What's going on?"

Time Turner looked over at him, apparently tuning out the shouts of agreement rumbling through the crowd. "You know who Prince Phantom is?"

"I think so, kind of. I tried to kill him once."

Time Turner raised his eyebrows, "Of course you did. Prince Phantom is-"

"Excuse me," Time Turner's friend with the cool scarf- right, Ghostwriter, that was his name- had squeezed his way back through the crowd, coming stand in front of Ember's tree. "As much as I would like to comment on everything wrong going on at this disaster you call a meeting- and there are a lot of things- I'm going to push that aside for the moment. You see there is something very obviously going on here and you should all be ashamed of yourselves for not realizing it. Chances are pretty high that 'Dark' probably isn't lying about his identity."

"Prince would never-" Hourglass started.

"And how would you know?" Ghostwriter said, "The only things we really know about him come from old stories."

"Warrior Boy and Dark killed his family-"

"Actually there's no solid proof they killed anyone aside from the word of-"

A burst of blue fire exploded between them, and Hourglass crashed back to the ground. She clung to Stopwatch's right arm, shivering as she tried to make herself appear smaller.

"If you two are finished," Ember continued, sitting on a lower branch with one leg crossed. "I'd like to continue. Go stand beside her and insult her quietly if you have to."

"Fine," Ghostwriter moved to stand near their group. "This is getting worse by the second. They actually believe the stories she's telling."

"Want me to help you move so it's harder for them to find you again?" Time Turner offered.

"I'm not sure if that would work," Ghostwriter said, "I feel like they'd follow us, or harass you to make us come."

Stopwatch sidestepped away from their whispered conversation, turning his attention back to Ember.

"I also need to make sure everyone knows that Walker does not like us, as Skulker has had the pleasure of learning, and his laws are getting stupider by the minute. If he finds any reason to think that you've gone through the stable portal or and brought something through it, you will be arrested. We're setting up a bail fund for those who need it."

"Walker takes money?" Stopwatch frowned, "Why would he want that?"

"It goes to the Observants," Hourglass whispered, "They give it to Tardis."

"Why would anyone give her money?"

"Question," Positgen- your name is still dumb- asked, "What currencies are acceptable?"

"Any human ones." Ember looked the group over, "That's it. You can go beat each other up or whatever you want now."

The crowd chanted her name for a minute, which Ember seemed to particularly enjoy, before it became significantly less packed.

"Finally," Time Turner said, "Sweet freedom. Stopwatch, if you break another bone on your way back I'm locking you in a room."

Stopwatch replied with a thumbs up and watched him leave. He turned to Hourglass, who was still clinging tightly to his arm. "Are you okay?"

"I really don't like fire," She whispered.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Oh Jesus Christ where am I this is not normal this is so not normal this looks like something from Grandpa Fenton's yearbook why is the school in black and white this is so not normal-"

"Hey Poindexter!" Danny stopped just in time to avoid crashing into someone much taller than him. "You've got a spot on your shirt!" Danny frowned, looking down. The guy flicked his finger up, hitting Danny in the nose. "Hah, made ya look!" He stepped aside as everyone in the hallway started laughing. Danny glared after him, turned to walk away, and tripped over someone's foot.

"Have a good trip, Poindexter! See you next fall!"

Danny lashed out, kicking her in the ankle. His foot went right through her. What the heck?

He couldn't touch any of them. They were free to do what they wanted to him, however and whenever they wanted. Danny couldn't fight back; it was as if they weren't actually there.

"Nope," He said, pulling himself away from some sort of greaser. "Nope, not doing this, nope, goodbye world I am gone-" He pushed the doors open, finding nothing outside but a twisting emptiness filled with black and gray. "Oooookay nice to know that I can't run away that way-" A bell cut him off. Danny looked around in terror. They had bells in the fifties?

The hallway shivered and shifted, and when Danny blinked he found himself sitting in a desk. Nobody seemed to hear his surprised shout and he looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Ah, Mr. Fenton, so nice of you to join us."

Reflex caused Danny to look up when he heard his name. The man standing in the doorway was huge, in terms of muscles and height. He bent down as a small blonde woman stood upon her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"See you after class, James." She left as James Fenton awkwardly waved a hand.

"Bye, Alice..." He turned back to the teacher, "Hello, teacher whose name I can't remember."

As the teacher lectured him Danny nearly screamed. There was no possible way this could be Grandpa Fenton. Grandpa Fenton was not dead.

Danny shrunk away from the man who couldn't under any sort of circumstances actually be his grandfather as he sat down beside him. He turned awkwardly, seeming to catch Danny staring. "What?"

"James William Fenton," Danny whispered.

"Why do you know my middle name?"

"It's tradition in your family that children carry on some form of their Grandparents' name." Danny said, "Right?"

"How do you know this?"

"You're not dead," Danny whispered, "You can't be dead. Please tell me you're not dead."

Grandpa James Fenton raised his eyebrows, "No... I'm not dead. Do I look like a ghost to you?"

Danny nodded, trying not to break down.

"Well I'm not," He shrugged, "Now shut up, Poindexter. I don't want to get in trouble."

"My name is Daniel James Fenton," Danny said quickly. "I'm your grandson and you can't be dead."

James raised his eyebrows again and threw his hand in the air, "Ms. Tasha, can I sit somewhere else? Poindexter's being weird."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny's parents ran around the corner about a minute after Danny had disappeared through the floor. Mr. Lancer was moving after them with Jazz at his heels.

"Is this where everyone was running from? Is it true?" Maddie asked, skidding to a halt. "Did you kids just witness a ghost attack?!"

"Fear not, young ones!" Jack declared, holding his hands in the air. He was wearing a pair of sparking metal gloves which probably weren't safe. "These gloves are made for grabbing!"

Lancer and Jazz had reached their sides, and while Lancer just seemed annoyed Jazz had taken up glaring at Sam. A little behind them, a bit of black hair poked through the floor.

Tucker rushed forwards so that nobody could see Danny come up while Sam returned Jazz's glare. "No ghost here, Mr. and Mrs. F!"

"Just a girl trying to create a diversion for her own needs," Lancer looked down at Sam, holding out his hands. "The frogs, Miss Manson."

Sam held the tote tighter. "No."

Lancer rolled his eyes and yanked the tote from Sam's hands. He stepped back when she went to kick him, looking back at Jazz. "Make sure your parents don't destroy the school." He moved off in one direction while Danny's parents ran off in another.

Jazz didn't move, looking at Sam. "You stole frogs?"

"We raise them specifically to be killed and cut up," Sam said, "We don't do that to puppies, so why would we do that to frogs?"

Tucker was honestly a bit surprised that Danny didn't give a horrified gasp at the suggestion that anyone would dissect a dog.

"Whatever," Jazz handed Danny a wipe from her purse. "Here Danny. Are you okay?"

"Fine," Danny's voice sounded a bit off, but that probably had something to do with the fact that he'd smashed his face into a locker.

Jazz raised an eyebrow before turning back to Sam. "I don't know why your cousin is here, but you shouldn't leave him alone like that. He doesn't speak the language; what if something actually had happened and he needed help?"

It took Tucker a moment to realize she was talking about Prince. Sam didn't seem to have the same conflict. "Do you have a reason to be here, or did you just feel like being a bitch?"

Jazz frowned, looked over at Danny and Tucker, and moved off in the same direction her parents had gone.

"You need to be more careful, dude," Tucker said, turning back to Danny. He was holding the wipe on his face, not making much of an effort to get the blood off of it. "Your parents and Lancer almost saw that."

Danny smiled. Tucker was about to ask why he'd done so when Danny was yanked away from him.

Prince grabbed Danny by his wrist and threw him against the lockers, pinning him there. "Get out."

"Danny!" Sam moved forwards, "Prince Phantom, let him go!"

Prince tensed, pulling back halfway across the hall. Sam dragged Tucker over and put him right in front of Danny, while she moved towards Prince. Prince wasn't paying her any attention, instead glaring past them. "Let me-"

"I don't care!" Sam said, "You're not allowed to hurt him. I thought I made myself clear."

"But..." Prince frowned when Sam stepped directly in front of him and floated up a little so he could continue glaring at Danny. "That's- that's really- he fooled you? That worked? Are you stupid?"

"Hey!" Tucker snapped.

"He's not even trying to hide himself!" Prince said, motioning to Danny. "How can you not see that that's not D-"

"Prince Phantom," Danny said, his voice still sounding weird. "Stay away from... my friends!"

Prince tensed, arms shaking. "I- I'm gonna stop you. I'm gonna. I- I-"

"Prince Phantom," Danny repeated, much harsher this time, "Get away from us!"

Prince disappeared, and Tucker gave his friend a confused look. Something seemed off. "Are you sure you're okay, Danny?"

Danny hesitated for a little too long before replying, "Yeah. I'm right like Ike, Mike! What do we do now?"

Sam frowned, coming to Tucker's side. "Why does your voice sound so weird?"

"Uh... puberty?"

"And what happened to Poindexter?" Tucker narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, that square?" He walked past them, moving down the hallway. Tucker and Sam moved to catch up as Danny continued talking. "He flew the coop, permanent like."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look before Sam raised an eyebrow, "Danny, what the actual fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Danny waved them off and kept walking. Tucker could hear the sounds of someone getting frustrated as they turned the corner, and stopped abruptly as he realized they were coming from Dash.

"Come on, give me my soda!" He beat his fist on the vending machine, ignoring Kwan's attempts to calm him. "Stop being broken!" He kicked it, probably breaking the machine more.

"Well, time to go in the other direction and avoid the angry Dash," Tucker said. Danny, for some strange reason, didn't take the chance to avoid his bully. Instead he walked up to Dash, completely ignoring Kwan's motions to turn around and run away.

"Hey," Danny said, "Let me help you out with that, pal." He leaned against the machine, intangibly sticking his arm in.

"Oh no," Sam said, "Prince broke him." She grabbed Tucker by the wrist and pulled them up behind Danny. He'd managed to get Dash's drink out of the machine, somehow.

Dash drank it down quickly and crushed the can in his fist. "Thanks, Fenton."

"Eh, no problemo." Danny waved a hand, which was thankfully solid now.

Kwan stepped up to Dash's side, and the two exchanged a look. "Hey, you know... I'm a little tight on quarters," Dash said, "Do you think you could get a few more of those for me and my pals?"

"You betcha!" Danny said, sticking his hand back in the machine.

"Danny!" Sam whispered, "That's stealing!"

"You're stealing for Dash," Tucker pointed out as Dash and Kwan moved down the hall to get the rest of the A-list. "Maybe we should go find your sister."

Danny gathered up the cans and shrugged, "I'm sure that poor kid has had more than his fair share of quarters stolen by the vicious bullies in this school. It's time somebody evened the score."

Tucker raised an eyebrow. This was Danny, and he was really sarcastic, but still. Something was wrong.

Danny walked off, handing Dash and the rest of the A-list a can each. He said something about egg creams as he did so, and Tucker shot Sam a look.

"Well," She said, "This is new."

"Here's to Fenton!" Dash said, holding his drink in the air.

"This is weird," Tucker said, "Everything about this is really weird."

"Prince weird?"

"Prince weird."

The bell rang and Danny flinched. Everyone went off in their separate directions, leaving Danny confused in the middle of the hallway.

"Danny," Sam said, "Do you want to hang out in the library again with us during art?"

"I have art?" Danny frowned.

"Art and then gym," Tucker clarified. "But we still have to finish our project from last week, so you should join us in the library."

"We'll go with you," Sam said, "Miss Miller already knows where we'll be. We just need to tell your teacher."

Tucker reached Danny's side and threw his arm around his friend's shoulder. "Come on, we'll go with you!" He led Danny towards his classroom.

Prince had been ordered to stay away from them, but not Danny. And as much as Tucker wanted to believe his friend could take care of himself, it would be better this way. It'd be better to avoid leaving Danny alone with the ghost for as long as possible.

.-.-.-.-.-.

James Fenton spun around and slammed his fist into a locker, startling his future grandson. "You got a reason for following me, Poindexter?"

"I'm your grandson and you're not dead?" Danny said.

James ran a hand through his hair, looking over the now empty hallway. "Look, what happened last night was a mistake. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, is that what you wanted? Now do us all a favor and stop being weird. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Honestly if Poindexter died again I wouldn't be sad."

James' glare softened, "No, don't- don't say that. I'd be sad if you died, okay?"

"Me, your grandson, or Poindexter? You're going to have to be specific."

"You can drop it now, Sid. I- I just can't do this at school." James said, "Spring Break starts tomorrow. I'll have my sister give you a call; she knows about... what happened. She'll set something up. She could be our cover."

Danny raised his eyebrow up as far as he could, "Um, what?"

Someone else turned the corner, though James didn't notice them. "And having a girlfriend will totally boost your status, especially since she's in college."

"I'm not dating my great aunt." Danny stepped back, "Also, turn around."

James looked over his shoulder and jumped, staring at the man who was somehow even taller than he was. "Whatcha doing with Poindexter, Fenton?"

"Nothing!" James held his hands up, "I- I was just-"

Three more guys had appeared behind that one, and when Danny looked behind him he saw five more approaching. "I heard that you two got a little close at the dance last night."

"Me? Close to Poindexter?" James sounded nervous and horrified, nothing like the tone he'd used when they were alone. "Steve, I know you're dumb, but really?"

"Uh..." Danny attempted to use his future grandfather as a human shield, "I don't think you should be insulting them." I have no idea what's going on here.

"Shut up," James whispered.

"What're you whispering to him?" Steve said, "Are you talking about what amazing things you'll do once you're alone together?"

"Steve, drop it." James said, "You want proof I don't care about the nerd, especially that way? Fine by me." He opened up a locker, nearly hitting Danny in the face with it. He could clearly see the number on it; 724.

"Crap," He muttered.

James picked up 'Poindexter' by the back of his shirt and shoved him in the locker. "I'll come get you out as soon as they leave," He whispered, and the door slammed shut.

Danny frowned, attempting to shift himself so he was less cramped. "Why do I feel like he's not coming back?" His breath fogged up the mirror which had somehow ended up in front of his face, though Danny could barely see it in the dim light. "Wow, this should probably be a lot more uncomfortable than it is." The world in the mirror seemed to shift, and Danny watched in confusion as a scene appeared. It was the hallway of his school, but with one key difference; it was in full colour.

Danny pressed his face against the mirror, eyes wide. Sam and Tucker walked by, each with an arm around the shoulders of Danny's body.

"Sam! Tucker!" He attempted and failed to beat on the mirror. "That's not me! Sam! Tucker! Help me!"

Prince appeared in the hallway the second it was empty. He narrowed his eyes and glared in the direction they had gone off in. "Stupid humans," He muttered, "He's going to get trapped or killed and they won't even notice because they're so stupid-"

Sick of hearing his friends be insulted, snapped out "Hey!"

Prince yelped, flattening himself against the opposite wall and staring at the open locker. "Poindexter? Wait- no, no but... he's supposed to... what?"

"Stop insulting my friends," Danny said, "I have enough going on without dealing with you terrorizing them."

Prince blinked, taking a step forwards. "Danny?"

"Yeah?" He asked, trying to shift into a less cramped position.

"Why are you in his body?"

"How should I know?" Danny would have thrown his arms in the air if he was able to move more than a few inches. "Ghosts don't make any sense!"

Prince frowned, looking around. "We need to get you out of there."

"No, really?"

"But he ordered me to stay away from your friends," Prince said, "And they won't leave him alone." He moved his hands through his hair, getting them tangled in it. "They think that they're protecting you but- but they're not and- and-" He gripped his hair and pulled, looking down at the ground and shaking slightly.

Danny bit down on his lip, a wave of guilt rolling over him. "We can fix this," He said, "We just need a plan."

"How?" Prince whispered, "I don't know what- but I'm supposed to-" He pulled his hair a little more, and Danny flinched as he felt it too.

"Prince, stop that," He said, "We need to think-"

"About what?" The guilt was getting stronger by the second. "I can't get to either of you. I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to be good at figuring out stuff like this but I don't know what to do!"

"We just need a plan!" Danny said, "Stop panicking and try thinking! You can't get to them, but that doesn't mean someone else can't for you! We- we need someone to relay the message! This is how I came in, I think, so-"

"And it's where Poindexter came out," Prince said. "But people don't know about me. They'd get scared. Your- your sister kind of does, but if we try to explain she won't believe me."

"Darn," Danny's back was starting to cramp, "Who knows about you?"

"Your friends," Prince said, "Lunch Lady, Skulker, ectopuses, that thing from the science fair..."

"Wait, the what?"

"That's it," Prince said, "None of them will help." He looked up, dropping his hands to his sides and taking a breath in, "Do you think your parents would-"

"No!" Danny cut him off, "We are not telling my parents about this. I am going to be grounded until I am dead for not telling them about you."

Prince held his arms close to himself now, and Danny's guilt significantly lessened. Wait, what just happened? "Well we have to get you out somehow. Poindexter's going to go to them if we leave him alone, and I can't go back. S-so if telling your parents is what we need to do-"

"Beware!"

Prince's head snapped to the left, and Danny could barely see bits of the Box Ghost in his view. "Go away!" Prince shouted, and a thin layer of frost crept along the lockers behind him.

The Box Ghost? "Wait!" Danny said, poking the mirror. Both ghosts turned and seemed to face him. "Prince, I know what to do!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

They had a substitute teacher in gym that day, and he didn't particularly seem to care what the students did. That led to Sam and Tucker standing off to the side as Danny joined in a game of football. Dash handed him the ball and the rest of Danny's team abandoned him. The opposing team rushed in, tackling her friend all together.

Sam winced, exchanging a look with Tucker. "Well, it was nice knowing him."

"Think I could have his computer?" Tucker joked.

When she opened her eyes again, Danny was somehow not dead and running for the opposing end of the football field. He made it and threw the ball of the ground, jumping up and doing a little victory dance.

"Fenton's got game," Dash said, "Who knew?"

"Since when can Danny play sports?" Sam asked.

"Aside from swimming? He can't," Tucker said, "He turned intangible."

"Oh," As cool as Danny's powers were, that was still weird.

"There's a ghost in here, I can feel it in my boots!" Sam stepped back as Danny's dad ran past the bleacher to their left, his wife at his side. "And I'm not leaving this campus until my gloves grab some ghosts!"

"How mad do you think Danny would be if we pointed them in Prince's direction?" Tucker whispered.

"Uh, very?"

"Damn."

Maddie held what Danny had described a while ago as a 'weirdo spoopy ghost tracker' in her hands. She pointed it in Danny's direction and frowned, "That can't be right; Danny's not a ghost. Hm, at this rate we'll be staking out the school all night."

"In that case I'll need to use the little ghost hunter's room," Jack said, suddenly noticing Sam and Tucker. "Hey, you two. Hold these! Where I'm going there's no need for that much power." He passed them each a glove before running off.

"That's weird," Sam said, "Danny's not a ghost. I thought he said that thing only picked up- Prince." That bastard.

"He wouldn't attack Danny when there are so many people around," Tucker asked, "Would he?"

"I don't know. Go get his whistle from the change room; I'll cause a distraction."

"Hey, Danny!" She dropped hand Tucker her glove and rushed over, "That was excellent. I didn't know you could play sports." Normally because you start bitching if you have to walk more than a couple blocks.

Danny smiled at her, but his attention was soon pulled away by Dash and Kwan.

"Party at Fenton's house!" Dash declared, pumping his fist in the air. A cheer rumbled through the students, and the substitute didn't even look up from his phone to acknowledge it.

"Hot dog!" Danny said, "Where does he live?"

"It's your house, bonehead." Kwan put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "Is he hilarious or what?"

Danny smiled. Sam however, just fixed him with an annoyed look. Free soda, a touchdown, and the opportunity to trash a classmate's living room. How easily the letter jacket and pom-pom set is swayed. She grabbed her 'save the frogs' badge, pulled it out her shirt, and set her sights on the jock closest to Danny.

"Oh Kwan!" She held it up, "You simply must where one of these badges! It's all the rage!"

"Uh, I don't know..." He stepped back, pulling his hand off of Danny's shoulder.

Danny looked hurt for a moment before grabbing the badge. "Hey, boss badge! Can I have one?" He didn't wait for an answer and instead pinned it on his chest.

Great, now nobody's going to want one. Sam was doing her best not to make it obvious how much Danny's actions had bothered her when the rest of their class approached.

"Hey, I want one!" Dash said.

"Me too," Paulina said, and Sam tuned her out.

"Give me one, yo!" Kwan said, "I started this trend!"

"Hang on, folks!" Sam said, "There's plenty more in my locker where that one came from. Danny, come with me?"

Danny gave the teacher, who still wasn't paying them much attention, a hesitant look. "Uh... sure!"

"Great!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the school. "Prince was lurking around you. Did he do anything?"

"No," Danny said. Sam grabbed both his arms and stared into his eyes, looking for any hint that he was lying. He looked a bit uncomfortable with her touching him. "I've always been a fream but now I'm killing it with the bulls, so can I go back to that?"

Sam raised her eyebrow, "A fream?"

"Hey!" Tucker joined the group, whistle hanging from his hand and metal gloves in his backpack. "Why'd you guys come in?"

"To get more badges!" Danny said, pointing to the one he was wearing.

"...Cool," He handed Sam the whistle, "You can keep that for now. Are we going to go back to class or-"

"Beware!" Sam turned around, facing the Box Ghost. He had the tote of frogs Lancer had taken from her. "I, the Box Ghost, would like to offer you these frogs if you would go to locker 724!"

"Why would we want to go to Danny's locker?" Sam asked.

"I get five hours of help finding my box if you do!"

"That makes no sense," Tucker said. "Go away. We're avoiding the cursed locker."

Does he want us to let Poindexter out? "Who put you up to this?" She gripped the whistle tighter, "Was it Prince?!"

"It was the imprint claiming to be a human!" The Box Ghost said, "Beware his powers of persuasion!"

Danny snatched the whistle from her hand and stormed forwards, "You tell that imprint that this is my place now!" He brought it up to his mouth and blew.

The Box Ghost dropped the box and disappeared. At the same time, Danny crashed to the ground and started shaking.

"Shit," Tucker said, "I think he's having a seizure!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

The center of Danny's chest twisted and he sucked in a breath. This was wrong. This was so wrong. There was something pounding there, twisting and jerking and it was so, so wrong-

It didn't fully register with him when Prince fell to the ground, or when the Box Ghost returned. The first thing that actually registered with Danny was Prince saying, "I hate conflicting orders."

"What... what the heck was that?" Danny asked, looking between Prince and the Box Ghost, who floated awkwardly off to the side.

Prince chewed on his lip for a moment before turning back to the Box Ghost. "It didn't work?"

The Box Ghost shook his head and Danny groaned. "Darn it! If they hadn't ordered Prince to stay away he could just go a drag them here! And Boxy, don't offer to do it or our deal is off."

The Box Ghost didn't say anything and Danny shifted his attention back to Prince. Apparently when the Box Ghost was little his parents had left him in a box on the side of the road. He was convinced that if he found that box he would find them, and so Danny had offered five hours helping him search if the ghost could help free him. That didn't mean he was okay with working with the ghost, though; there was no part of him that hadn't protested it.

"I think we need to go to your parents," Prince said, "They're here. I can find them. We can-"

Danny cut him off, "Do you want to be dissected?"

"It's better than going back to them!"

"Them?" The Box Ghost asked.

"Drop it," Prince had started playing with his sleeves, "Any better plans?"

"They ordered you?" The Box Ghost asked, glancing at Danny for a moment. Prince ran a hand through his hair before turning to face the other ghost.

"Yes, they ordered me!" His eyes glowed a little brighter as he spoke, "People can do that now because they got mad when I tried to run away the first time! Poindexter ordered me to stay away from his friends because they're too stupid to tell when it's not Danny because all humans are-"

"Prince!" Danny snapped, "What did I say about insulting them?!"

"His friends?" The Box Ghost said, "You said that imprint had no friends."

Danny opened his mouth, then closed it. "Wait," He had said something like that. He'd mentioned that Poindexter didn't have actual friends when convincing the Box Ghost to help them; his grandpa certainly wasn't a friend- he'd left him to die- and nobody else tolerated Poindexter. "Wait!"

Prince's face lit up and he did a little flip in the air. "Loopholes! I love loopholes! Poindexter has no friends and when he said that he was talking about your friends and he said nothing about staying away- I'll be right back!" He flew off down the hallway.

Danny glanced over at the Box Ghost. "Go help him." The ghost nodded and flew off.

Left alone now, Danny shifted to a less uncomfortable position. His entire body hurt. If this was what Poindexter spent his time doing, then the 'Grand Theft Danny' thing was almost excusable.

Almost.

Danny leaned back as much as he could, attempting to straighten his back. How had he gotten out last time? He'd just... switched with Poindexter... then lived his life...? This makes no sense. Ghosts make no sense.

Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, I can do this. Just a little longer, and then it'll all be okay. I can do this.

Tucker's scream caused Danny to open his eyes back up, wondering why no teachers had come to stop this, as both ghosts returned. Prince had dragged Sam and Tucker in by their wrists, and the Box Ghost cut off any orders they tried to give with a well-placed "Beware!"

Prince dropped them in front of the locker, "Ta-da! I love loopholes!"

"Poindexter?" Sam narrowed her eyes, "I knew you were behind this!"

"I'm not Poindexter!" Danny snapped, "It's me, Danny!"

"Yeah right," Tucker said, "They made us leave Danny in the hallway."

"Poindexter took over my body!" Danny said, "Guys, please, you have to believe me, this place is really freaking me out-"

"You're not Danny," Sam cut him off, "I think we can tell the difference between you and our friend."

The way she spat his name hurt, but not as much as when they turned to leave. "Sam, wait! Um- um- in second grade Tucker threw up in your lunch box but we told you Ricky Marsh did it! Tucker, um- um- Audrey! I know about Audrey!"

Sam was looking at him in confusion now, while Tucker had frozen in his tracks. "Wait, Tucker did what?"

"Poindexter," Tucker's voice was cold, "I don't know how the fuck you found out about her," He turned around and Danny knew he had crossed a line. "But you can shut the fuck up. Prince Phantom, break that mirror."

"No, wait!" The center of Danny's chest twisted painfully again and Prince shook as he pulled his fist back. "Tucker, please, you don't-"

"Shut up!" Tucker snapped, "Danny wouldn't bring her up! He would know better! I don't care what you are but you're. Not. Danny!"

Danny flinched as Prince moved to punch the mirror, waiting for the impact that was sure to come. But the center of his chest twisted again, and Danny gave the mirror a confused look.

Prince had stopped his fist, though it was still shaking. Something twisted in Danny's chest again, the echoed feeling of wrongness spreading throughout him. "I have orders never to punch Danny," Prince said, "They came from him. His take priority over yours." He snapped his hand back and slapped Tucker's face.

"Leave him alone!" Danny snapped, and froze as he realized he hadn't spoken alone.

Poindexter continued just outside of Danny's view, "Don't hurt my friends!"

"You have no friends!" Prince snapped back, "Literally nobody likes you and your voice is dumb!"

"Prince..." Danny said, "Prince, no..."

"Who the hell asked for your opinion?!" Poindexter shouted, "I-" He was cut off when the Box Ghost hit him with a box of cleaning supplies, knocking him closer to the group. Tucker had shifted his backpack around and was pulling the metal gloves out of it. Are those my parents' gloves?

"Sorry for doubting you," Tucker said, putting on the gloves. "Hey, Poindexter!" He grabbed Danny's body, lifting him up a little, "Danny doesn't swear."

"Noooo!" Poindexter wailed, kicking Danny's legs.

"Okay, this is nice and all," Sam said, breaking the mood. "But what do we do now?"

"...Put him back?" Box Ghost suggested. And then Danny fell out of the locker.

"Hey Poindexter-" Someone started.

"Shut the heck up, nobody likes you." Danny jumped back to his feet just as something crashed through the mirror past him. He recognized the hair and the jumpsuit within a couple seconds and had to take a moment. He'd never seen the form he and Prince took when they were together like this.

It had Prince's puffy hair, and his eyes. The jaw and the nose seemed to be Danny's, as well as the eyebrows, while the arms had muscles so they most definitely weren't. The skin tone matched Prince's more than it did Danny's, and Danny had to pull his attention back to the task at hand. As weird as this was, he had to focus.

"You've had your fun," He said, "Now I want my body and my life back!"

Poindexter seemed to have taken complete control. "Forget it! You're not going anywhere!" He floated up, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, and attempted to punch Danny. Somehow he ended up getting turned around, smashed into Danny with his butt, and knocked him into the opposing wall.

"Prince," Danny said, scrambling out of the way when the Prince-Poindexter cross-thing dived at him. The ghost... thing... went through a wall, having turned intangible at the wrong time. "A little help!"

Prince gave no sign of having heard and Poindexter attempted to punch Danny. He gave a weak and kind of annoying battle cry as he did so.

Danny stepped back, leaned to the side, and watched Poindexter fall to the floor. "Wow. You may have our powers, but you really don't know how to use them. Seriously, I don't know how to use them, but at least I know how not to use them better than you do!" He ducked to avoid a punch, "And come on buddy, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses!" He pointed to Poindexter's pair as he stepped aside to avoid another hit, "You couldn't hit a guy with glasses!" He stepped around Poindexter, crossing his arms. "In fact, you couldn't hit the broadside of a barn!"

"Hold still!" Poindexter said, and suddenly started twitching. "A-and you stop fighting me on this, Prince Phan-" There was a flash of light and Danny watched as one person split into two. Prince was flung to Danny's side while Poindexter crashed into the lockers. Both got up slowly, looked at each other, and moved forwards as if they were about to fight.

And then the bell rang.

Danny grabbed onto Prince, expecting the world to throw him somewhere again. From the horror on Poindexter's face, he thought the same would happen. But instead the hallway seemed to melt and twist into little bits around them, and person after person appeared. They surrounded them, chanting "Fight, fight, fight!"

"I really don't like imprints," Prince whispered, phasing his arm out of Danny's grip.

Poindexter tried to punch Danny several more times, which Danny easily ducked to avoid. Prince was not remotely helpful, mostly just trying to avoid touching anyone or anything and occasionally making squeaky noises.

"Hey, get a load of Poindexter!" Someone called, and Prince moved a little closer to Danny. "He's fighting a human!" Danny caught sight of his grandpa pushing past part of the crowd to see them. Poindexter, taking advantage of Danny's distraction, knocked him back into the locker. The door slammed closed on his left ankle as he hit his head on the edge of the mirror.

"Now, if you don't mind," Poindexter said, "I'm going to live it up some more in your body!"

Danny kicked the door open with his right leg and grabbed the mirror as he slid out. "One false move and I smash your door back to my world!"

"You wouldn't! You'd strand us both here!"

"Danny," Prince whispered, "Don't."

Danny ignored him, holding the mirror just out of Poindexter's reach. "Just try me."

Poindexter reached for it again, and Danny stomped on his foot. It occurred to Danny that he was hurting himself by doing so as Poindexter stumbled back. He fixed Danny with a glare, and very maturely, Danny replied by sticking out his tongue.

"I have a better idea," Poindexter said, "I can make you. I've still got these powers, and I can make you do whatever I want with them." He turned intangible and dove back into his body.

Danny grinned, "That's what I was hoping you'd do."

Danny wasn't sure what happened to the mirror in the resulting struggle, though to be honest he didn't quite care. He didn't fight this time, let Poindexter take his body back, and moved for his. But something distracted him along the way.

It started off with music, and then a drink being splashed in his face. "Why would I ever want to dance with you?" The blonde girl stormed off, and Danny found himself surrounded by laughing teenagers. The world shifted- he was in a corner now- when someone else approached.

James Fenton held out a glass of punch and a damp cloth, "Alice is a bitch."

Another shift. They walked side by side. They talked and for once everything was okay.

"Why are you still here with me?" He was confused. Poindexter couldn't grasp anyone being nice to him; every time they were nice to him it hurt more in the end.

"Because you deserve so much better," James said, "I'm sick of how everyone treats you. You could reach the stars but they cut you down before you've even tried. The teachers are useless and so is everyone else. I've spent years wanting to do something and this is the first time I-" He stopped, "I should've sooner."

They were close already, but they moved closer. Danny tried to pull himself out of this as the world shifted again.

Scene after scene filtered in front of Danny's eyes. How Poindexter was terrorized and hung from a fan, and how James got him down. How he stopped when people knocked Poindexter's books down, fetched him a bag of ice when someone gave him a black eye, told him about all the spooky ghost stories his family passed down-

Danny tried to pull back when James showed up with a split lip and broken nose and said they couldn't hang out anymore. It was better- safer for them both- that way.

There was another dance. James' date slapped him and left- it was Alice again. Poindexter brought him a drink and smiled.

They kissed that night, and the next day James pretended he didn't exist.

Danny fell back into his own body, landing on the floor. Prince was by his side within seconds, helping him up. It hurt to hear Poindexter's anguished scream.

"I'd say this was fun," Prince said, "But lying like that is rude."

Danny was feeling incredibly lightheaded and was certain that if Prince let go of him he would fall over. He didn't want to leave yet. There was still so much he didn't know. It was his grandpa's fault this kid was dead, he couldn't just leave like this, he needed to do something to help him-

But Prince forced them together and flew them through the mirror.

Danny fell on top of Lancer and hit his chin on the ground. The teacher ran off, but Danny couldn't hear what was said over the ringing in his ears.

Sam helped him to his feet, while Tucker stood off to the side with his metal gloves. She seemed to say his name, but Danny was too out of it to fully understand.

"Box Ghost," To Danny, it felt as if he was hearing someone else speak with his voice. "What's an imprint?"

"Ghosts who are forced forever to relive the incidents that killed them," The ghost said. He sounded as if he was yelling from far away. "They aren't real ghosts, and only learn about the world through the twisting of our realm. This one is powerful, and should be feared!"

"Danny," Tucker said, "Let's sit down right here, okay?" He helped him do so. Sam sat down on Danny's other side, placing a hand on top of his. Prince and the Box Ghost had apparently turned invisible at some point, since Danny could just barely see their outlines now.

"My grandpa killed Poindexter," He said. "He kissed him then he killed him. And I'm... no better."

"Danny, no," Sam squeezed his hand, "We're sorry we didn't believe you. We did notice something was wrong and ignored it. We'll be better in the future, okay?"

"You shouldn't have to," Danny said, "I almost became the type of person I hate because I- I didn't think- and now that dead guy is back in his horrible life that he can't get out of- oh god I feel like I'm going to throw up this is wrong I should have done something instead of just running oh god-"

Danny bent forward, hands on the side of his head, and heard someone screaming from far away. Once again scenes and waves flashed before his mind. The world faded to black and white, and as Danny looked around he could see series after series of events. If Poindexter went through his day like normal and didn't try to change anything, he had longer outside of the locker. If he tried to leave, or to get James to confront him somewhere else, then he spent less time free. And every time he tried to change something some person disappeared. A face got deleted from the crowds. Poindexter convinced himself that if he resisted people died. Everything was safer, everything was better, if he suffered alone. James would never be a missing face if he didn't resist. But that wasn't true; the world imprints created was only real to them. Nobody else was affected by it, nobody else could even see it he wasn't protecting anyone by trying to stay there-

And then Danny saw that guy, Steve, stab the younger version of his grandpa and once again he heard the scream.

Danny was vaguely aware of someone shaking him. He'd slumped against Sam at some point. Prince was right in front of him, visible, with his hands on Danny's shoulders and his eyes wide; obviously terrified. "Oh thank god," He whispered and pulled Danny into a tight hug.

What?

"Beware that imprint," Box Ghost said, "His powers are even more fearsome than mine!"

Danny's throat felt as if it was made of sandpaper and he found that he couldn't speak. Prince pulled back and turned to face the Box Ghost, "You can leave now."

"He owes me five hours of-"

"You'll get it later." Prince stood up, "Don't make me hurt you. You know I will."

The Box Ghost held up his hands in a spooky motion, shouted "Beware!" and flew off.

Danny coughed and Sam handed him a water bottle. He drank at least half of it in a single gulp, but it did little to sooth his aching throat. "Wha... what happened...?"

"You shouted something like 'he's takes their pain to keep them going' and just started screaming," Tucker said, "The lights started to flicker, dude. It was terrifying."

Danny shook his head, drinking the rest of the water. "I saw things." He handed the water bottle back to Sam, and she got up to refill it. "Poindexter, he-"

"I'm going to find your family," Prince said, cutting him off. "Stop trying to talk. You sound like death."

Danny gave him a thumbs up, "I feel like death." Prince disappeared as Sam handed him the water bottle again, "He hugged me."

"That was weird," Tucker said, "So what, do you two like each other now?"

Danny shrugged and took another long drink of water, running over what he had just seen in his mind. None of it made any sense. What had even just happened? Was that a new power he'd stolen from the ghost? If Prince could do it, what had he seen? And why hadn't Danny ever heard him scream?

He looked up at his open locker and took a deep breath in. He couldn't leave it like this. He was terrified of Poindexter and what he could do... but he spent every day suffering because he thought that was the only thing keeping everyone else alive.

Danny ignored the confusion from his friends as he stood up to reach the locker. "Poindexter," He said, placing his fingertips on the mirror.

Somebody had to tell him it was safe to let go.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny still felt like death when he unlocked his front door nearly six hours later. They hadn't found the Box Ghost's 'special box,' which had resulted in a lot of angry screaming until Sam had the sense to suck him into a thermos. More than anything, he was thankful for his friends' reluctance to leave him alone with ghosts. They hadn't even been hunting them for two weeks and Danny was already perfectly ready to throw in the towel and pass all this over to his parents. He didn't want to do this anymore.

"A couple kids thought there was a party here earlier. Dad coated them with ectoplasm. What else... oh, someone screamed bloody murder today in the halls today. The teachers didn't think it was important so they ignored it and that was fun," Jazz was talking to someone on the phone. "Honestly, this school is so disappointing some days."

"Preach," Danny said, coming into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of milk.

"Oh, hi Danny!" She hesitated before turning back to him, lowering the phone. "Grandma wants to talk to you."

Shrugging, Danny held out his hand and took the phone. "Hi, Grandma, what's up?"

Grandma Charlotte Fenton laughed, "Not much, Honey. What's up with you?"

"Not much," Danny said, taking a drink of milk. "I was the one screaming bloody murder in the hallway today." He ignored Jazz's confused look, "That was fun."

"Why would you do that?"

"You know, you'd really think I would know that." Danny said, "And I apparently accidentally released a bunch of frogs that were supposed to be dissected at some point in time, but the teacher was okay with it because the football team wanted to save the frogs. Oh, and two kids died thanks to my locker apparently."

"It sounds like you had an adventurous day," Cool, she doesn't believe a word I just said. "Anything else wild and woolly happen?"

"Not really," Danny lied, finishing off his drink. "I have to go now; shower and all that. I'll pass you back to Jazz but um, could you tell Grandpa something for me?"

"Of course, Honey!"

"I have locker 724 now. Sidney Poindexter forgives him for what happened." He handed the phone back to his sister and moved up the stairs, ignoring her call after him.

He took longer in the shower than normal, running over the day's events in his mind. It all seemed so much; had it really all happened in one day? He could control people with overshadowing, ghosts- imprints, whatever- could do it to him. And Prince had hugged him.

That part was definitely the weirdest.

He dried himself off and moved to his room. Prince wasn't there, but there was a weirdly bright glow by his window. Darn it Dad, don't leave lights on. Danny kicked his beanbag chair aside, dropped his whistle on his nightstand, and stepped to where is beanbag chair had been. "One to the Ops Center."

Danny hopped the fence on the edge of the Ops Center, climbing down until he was actually on the roof. Apparently it wasn't a light; it was Prince, sitting on the edge of the roof, and glowing brighter than that stupid FentonWorks sign.

Prince was holding his knees close to his chest and resting his chin on them, while cuddling with that creepy doll. He didn't seem to be moving, and didn't react when Danny sat down beside him. "So... why are you on the roof?"

Prince didn't reply. A breeze ruffled his hair and Danny shivered.

"Prince? Hello? Earth to Prince!" He poked him. "I'm just going to keep talking until you-" A hand grabbed onto the front of Danny's shirt, pulled him, and he fell.

It occurred to Danny that Prince had just thrown him off the roof.

A moment later, he realized he was falling off the roof.

Danny screamed and flailed his arms, as if that would somehow stop him from falling to his death. He squeezed his eyes shut about halfway down, waiting for what was sure to come. Thankfully, it never did.

"I've got you!" Prince said, and Danny opened his eyes to see that Prince had grabbed him around his ankles. "I'm so sorry I've got you it's okay!"

Danny nodded, squeezing his eyes shut again. I'm alive. I'm alive. He let his hands fall back, hissing in pain as his left hand hit the railing. "Oh god," Danny tilted his head, realizing how close he was to the ground. "Oh my god I could have died."

"I'm sorry," Prince repeated, flying them back up. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry you can't believe how sorry I am I didn't mean to do that I- I didn't think oh my god I am so sorry-"

"I almost died," Danny whispered as Prince set him down on the roof. "Oh dear god..." He tripped, falling back on the roof and scrambling away from the edge, "Ohhhhhh dear god."

Prince knelt down, licking his lips. "I'm so sorry."

"You nearly fricking killed me and you think sorry is going to make everything okay?!" Danny bumped into the edge of the Ops Center, sucking in a breath and trying not to start screaming again. He was alive. He was alive, so he was okay. He was okay as long as he was alive.

"No," Prince pulled back, looking away. "S-sorry." He shivered, looking down.

Danny slapped himself in the face and shook his head. Calm down, Fenton! You're fine, you're alive, calm down! He raised his left hand to slap himself again, only for Prince to catch his wrist.

"Um," Danny said, glancing at Prince's hand, "Okay?"

Prince let go, looking away. "I'm sorry."

"Uh, it's fine." Danny took a deep breath, heart still pounding in his chest. "I, um, I'm sorry I snapped at you. Are you okay?"

"Are you?" Prince said, "I'm sorry I pushed you. I- I thought..."

"Yeah?" Danny shifted so that he was in a similar position, "Hey, it's okay. Prince, you don't have to tell me." I can guess, anyway. "What were you doing on the roof?"

Prince shrugged, "Doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

Prince's head snapped back to Danny, and he stared at the human. "W-what?"

"It matters to me what happens to you and what you do." Danny took a deep breath in, looking into the ghost's eyes. He had a chance to try and fix everything between them. "Look, Prince, I know things are weird between us. I didn't even think you were real for the first week and a half I knew you. And this... thing we have going on between us? It's scary, yeah, and we don't know anything about it. We could be separated by tomorrow, or stuck like this for the next hundred years. I don't know." Prince had raised an eyebrow and was staring at Danny now, "But I do know it's going to be a heck of a lot longer if we keep acting like jerks to each other all the time. I don't want to spend the rest of the life with someone who hates me. It matters to me what happens to you because right now, your life is happening to me too." He moved a hand towards Prince's shoulder, pulling it back when the ghost flinched. "Sorry."

"Why are you being nice?" Prince asked, "Poindexter attacked you because of me. You got hurt because of me. I just pushed you off the roof." He frowned, "You should be mad at me."

Don't worry, I am. "Did you mean for any of this to happen?"

"No..."

"Then I don't blame you." Danny forced a smile, "I'm not innocent either; I know that. I- I understand perfectly if you don't like me. It's fine if you don't, okay? You've been through some stuff and all that. But if there's anything I can do to make this easier..." He trailed off. Prince was looking away from him again. "Well, let me know if you think of something." He grabbed onto the railing for the Ops Center and started to help himself up.

"We..." Danny turned back to Prince, who seemed to be struggling to get his words out. Danny turned back to the ghost, tipping his head to the side. "We could... start over. Try again, I mean." He held out his right hand, trying to stop it from shaking. "Hi. I'm Prince."

Danny grabbed his hand and shook it once. "Hi Prince, I'm Danny."

"Hi Danny, I'm Prince."

"So I've heard," The two pulled their hands back, "So, is Prince like a nickname or is that your actual name?"

"Um, my dad called me Princey," Prince said, "So... yes? My turn; does your sister ever eat?"

"Never where people can see, I think," Danny said, "But she's almost always eating celery or drinking water, and she probably has a bag of snacks or something in her room."

"Okay," Prince frowned, playing with his sleeves.

Danny raised his eyebrows and leaned forwards, catching sight of something on the underside of Prince's right wrist. "What is that?"

Prince pulled his wrist close before saying softly, "Promise not to laugh?"

"Scout's honour."

"What's a scout?"

"You know, I don't actually know. I think it might be a bird or a weasel or something. So, wrist?"

Prince rolled up his sleeve and held out his wrist. A little underneath his palm there was what seemed to be a large misshapen freckle. It was almost a circle with little triangles pointing towards Prince's fingertips. It looked almost like a cartoonish drawing of a cat's head.

"Oh my god," Danny laughed, looking up at the ghost, "Oh my god; you have a kitty on your wrist. That's adorable!" He grabbed Prince's hand, trying to get a closer look, when something else on the ghost's arm caught his eye. For a brief second the pattern on it reminded Danny of how lightning did when it flashed across the sky, and he shivered.

"Danny," He barely heard Prince say his name, too caught up in rolling back the sleeve. "Just- just stop that-"

There were other scars that twisted around Prince's body, but none stood out with the same sickly dark green colour that the branching one did. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Prince said, "It was just kind of there after the portal thing," He pulled his arm back and rolled up his sleeve, "Stop touching it now."

Danny pulled his hands back, making a motion of surrender. "Sorry. Uh, what about the others? Did... they give it to you?"

Prince flinched before nodding slowly. "Some of them."

"Some?"

Prince pulled down the front of his shirt, pointing to an ugly black mark by his collarbone. "Them," He let it go and pulled up his pant leg, revealing a green mark that went up his shin, "Dragon." He took off his shoe, pointing to a toe which was missing the nail, "Them."

"They ripped off your toenail?" Danny leaned back, "Okay, I don't know who these guys are but that's not okay."

"I can't say their name," Prince said, his voice shaking. "I- I don't know how it works but- but if you say their name they can find you and-"

"Whoa, hey," Danny held out his hands, "It's okay!"

"No it's not!" Prince shrunk back onto himself, pulling at his hair again, "Poindexter almost said their name and if he said that they would've been able to see us and they would've found me and-" Danny reached forward, trying to stop Prince from pulling out his hair as the ghost started shivering. "I can't go back there."

"You won't have to," Danny said, guiding Prince's hands away. "Prince Phantom, I give you my word that if those guys come for you I will stop them."

"How?" Prince sniffed, "You can't fight them. You can't. You can't."

"Maybe not," Danny put on fake smile, deciding it would be best not to mention that Poindexter actually had said the Observants' name after Prince had left. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try." He stood up, helping Prince to his feet. "Come on. I don't want you sleeping on the roof anymore. I'll grab you a sleeping bag and you can hang out in my room until we think of something better."

Prince wiped his eyes with his sleeve the second Danny turned away to climb back onto the Ops Center. "Thank you."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Question."

"Answer."

"Hilarious. Why haven't we done anything to change the past yet?"

"If I intervened before this I could have prevented their partnership. If they couldn't get along, then- well, you know what I mean."

"Uh, no? I'm dumb. Spell it out for me."

"Fine. Then they won't die for each other."

"I just like to imagine people hearing this conversation and having a moment of confused fear when they hear that."

"And I like to imagine you shutting up. You never do, have you noticed that?"

"For eight thousand dollars a month I will stop."

"What about a punch in the gut?"

"Stopping now."


ATTENTION EVERYONE WE HAVE SURPASSED 100K WORDS I HAVE REACHED SUPREME LEVELS OF TRASH

*Ahem* So… I have been looking forward to this chapter for a long time. As you can see, it's the start of the wonderful little nerds attempting to friendship with each other. We've also gotten a bit more of a look at who Prince is, and we'll continue to do so in the next couple chapters~!

Next full chapter will be Bitter Reunions. However, I can confirm there will be a bridge chapter before it. So, be on the look out for those sometime in the near future! ^^

Any sort of love for this story is amazing! Any flames, however, will, be thrown off the roof.