Hello! I bring you the longest chapter so far! I felt kind of bad about the last one, it was the shortest chapter in all, but I was tired and it was late and I had to get up early the next morning for competition audition things. Yeah.. So, here is a longer chapter, I really hope you like it. I put quite a bit of effort into it. So please R&R and lemme know what you think! And I'd like the thank Kimiko1234 for helping me out last chapter! Okay, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.


Chapter 8 Start!

Danny sighed as he continued his trek to his school. He had taken the liberty to learn the town's layout at night. Flying had always relaxed him. After such a panicked first day, he had a feeling that the rest of the school year (and however much longer this whole mission would take), would be one heck of a crazy ride. Danny was still trying to adjust to things, and he had just been lucky on his first day that the brutish bully he had been told would attack him had skipped school. He supposed he wouldn't be as lucky on his second day. He wasn't really looking forward to that...

Danny was sure he'd at least gotten a bit better at pretending to be the Fenton boy though. It hadn't been long, no, but he was sure he had improved, if only a little. But, he couldn't help but worry about his new sister. She was planning on majoring in psychology, and she already knew quite a bit about the study.

He gnawed the inside of his cheek in troubled thought. If anyone was going to notice anything was different with their beloved Danny, it would be her. She would notice the smallest thing, whether that be a slight change in posture, facial expression, how he placed his feet, and the list goes on. Considering how he was brought up, there would no doubt be a huge difference. How could he hide something from her if he couldn't even notice it himself?

He was startled brutally from his thoughts, giving him a skinned cheek from where he had bitten down too hard, when a voice from behind him called his name.

"Danny! What are you doing? School's the other way, man!" Tucker called out from behind, watching (whom he believed to be) his best friend since kindergarten flounder about in surprise and confusion. Danny whipped around to see Tucker's expression of amusement at having startled his friend. "Dude, we gotta go or Sam's gonna leave without us!" Then, Tucker turned and started walking at a brisk pace. Danny heaved a quick sigh before running to catch up with the boy in the obnoxiously colored clothing. Danny still wondered why everyone tended to have multiples of the exact same outfit. It was really just kind of strange. He had been wearing the same shirt ever since he started pretending his surname was Fenton and it was beginning to confuse him. He tried not to think about it too much.

"Sorry, Tuck. I guess I was just distracted." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck, as his sister had kindly mentioned that morning. She was already noticing miniscule differences. That was just great.

Danny sat at the kitchen table, contemplating how he had gotten himself into this whole mess. He was really regretting not listening to his father. Don't fathers know best anyways? Well, the master of time thought this was best too, but he wanted the greater good. Vlad wanted what was best for his son, he didn't care in the slightest about all of the other people. Danny let out a huff as he stabbed at his plate of scrambled eggs. They didn't look quite edible, but the impeccable manners that Vlad had instilled in Danny all throughout his life wouldn't allow for him to throw them out. That would be impolite.

He didn't quite notice that a loud screeching noise broke the comfortable silence that the kitchen was currently resting in. The other Fentons all looked at him from where they were situated in the kitchen, Maddie trying to cook breakfast, no doubt getting it contaminated with some of the ectoplasm from Jack's ecto-weapon, which he was working on next to her, and Jazz sitting on the other side of the table with a psychology book.

That was another rather large difference from his own life with his father. With Vlad, they ate most - if not all - of their meals together, exchanging casual conversation and simply enjoying each other's company. Here, it was more of a "fend for yourself" kind of environment. They ate meals when and where they pleased, and did other things while doing so. There wasn't really any general "family time". It was definitely strange, to say the least.

Danny felt his face heat up as a blush rose to his cheeks. He didn't want to be noticed! And besides, he was just rude! Stupid unforgiving manners! He began to wring his hands together out of habit - a habit his father was trying to break him out of, saying it didn't show how confident he knew his son could be - and opened his mouth to apologize. Instead, he found himself getting cut off by Jazz as she stated a problem that she obviously felt was obvious.

"Danny, have you been trying to break yourself out of your old nervous habits? That's wonderful, but you should try not to replace them with a new one, you know. You'll end up trying to break that one too, and it'll get replaced by another habit and it'll become a cycle. Although, I suppose messing with your hands is better than rubbing your neck and touching your hair. Having one habit isn't as bad as two..."

By this time, he had tuned her out, having gained the knowledge he really needed from her whole lecture.

Danny could only imagine how his father would feel. He had been trying so hard to help Danny break his one habit, and here he was, trying to replace it with two more prominent ones. Although he knew Vlad would be slightly angry, he figured none of that emotion would be directed towards him. It would most likely be sent at Clockwork in a string of ecto-blasts and insults, considering the fact that he knew Vlad was already quite angry at the spirit. Danny couldn't help but smirk at the idea of getting hugs and a drawn out and heartfelt apology from his father, right after Clockwork allowed himself to be punished out of his own guilt. He knew Clockwork would be a little annoyed with that, and that pleased Danny. Clockwork tended to get a little overconfident in himself.

He followed alongside Tucker, fantasies playing out in his head, which included Vlad finally playing a video game with Danny out of guilt and the pure desire for his son's forgiveness and Clockwork being extremely lenient in the hope that Vlad's anger would subside sooner rather than later. He knew it would never happen, in light of the fact that everyone would be extremely out of character, but it wouldn't hurt anyone if he just imagined it.

He was too lost in his daydreaming to notice as he and Tucker went up the cemented stairs that lead to Sam's front door. He only really noticed when the door opened to reveal Sam, clad in her usual gothic outfit - even she wore the same outfit everyday! - and this had Danny vaguely wondering how long they had been walking for, and if Tucker had been trying to talk to him at all. Oh well, too late to worry about it.

"Hey guys." Sam greeted happily. The happiness of the strictly goth girl had thrown Danny for a loop, though he supposed he shouldn't really believe much of what the kids at his previous school said about the cliques of a normal public school. None of them really had any true experience in that department.

"Hey Sam!" Tucker greeted, adjusting his backpack before pulling out his PDA and stylus, tapping away. Sam stepped out of her house completely and closing the door behind her, ignoring the cries from her parents confessing their love for her and telling her to have a good day at school.

Danny then spoke his normal polite greeting before he realized his mistake, "Good morning." Sam and Tucker both looked at him in surprise, all while Danny was thinking, "Oh crap! That was supposed to be Fenton, not Masters!"

Tucker was the first to shake himself from his stupor before explaining to Sam what he believed to be the problem. "He's been distracted all morning, that's probably what's up. I caught him walking in the opposite direction from your house. He didn't even notice that he was heading for a stop sign!"

"I was headed for a stop sign? I guess I was distracted..." Danny thought to himself before finding Sam's face inches from his own.

"Are you okay, Danny? Is this about what happened with your parents' ghost portal? If it is, you know you can tell us, right? We were there, we know." she said, concern lacing her voice, making it seem exceedingly warm and welcome. Danny knew she was trying to manipulate information out of him to satisfy her own curiosity - as well as Tucker's, no doubt - even though she was probably doing it unintentionally. Living with his father for his whole life, along with going to a school filled with kids who had been taught to do whatever they had to to get what they wanted, had taught him that there were many forms of manipulation. Danny knew himself to be quite well abled in that department, having learned from his father, the master of manipulation. He didn't feel she meant it like that though, she probably was trying to be caring.

She made it really seem manipulative though. She was merely curious. Danny was currently in the process of trying to find a way to explain that things were fine (without giving more away, of course) when he felt a familiar cold feeling spread throughout his chest. It wanted to rise and spread outwards, but by now, he had learned how to control that little feature that came along with his ghostly abilities. He knew exactly what it meant though.

A ghost had come into the human realm, and had entered the vicinity. Danny didn't feel the need to panic (he knew a lot of ghosts, and although some of them weren't exactly fond of him, none of them would have the gall to bring their personal problems to him and start anything. They had a healthy respect and fear for his father, so he was generally protected just from his relation to Vlad.), he figured it was probably one of the ghosts to help him along in his mission. Either Clockwork sent this one to help keep up appearances and make sure time is running smoothly, or Vlad sent it both to test him in his skills and to make sure he was doing okay.

A familiar voice from above called their attention away from Danny, much to his relief. He looked upwards to where Sam and Tucker were staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He found himself face to face with a common and well-known visitor to his home.

Skulker sat comfortably in the air, relying heavily on the jet propellers attached to his mecha suit, relishing the bliss that stemmed from the knowledge that the new upgrades to his suit were working well. He looked down to his boss' son, not helping the fond smile that grew on his face. He wouldn't admit it, but over the span of time he had ended up spending with the boy, whether it be babysitting him for a short amount of time while Vlad was out, or having to wait for Vlad to return for a business meeting with him, he had grown slightly attached to the kid. He found it hard not to, really.

He called out the insult he had given the boy as a sort of affectionate nickname, finding it quite well-fitting for the current situation. He was just happy that both Danny and Vlad saw it for its true meaning. "Hey, whelp! I hear that you've become a half ghost punk!" He tried to remember the lines he had come up with to set a battle into motion without actually demanding a fight as per usual.

Sam looked over to Danny, her eyes clouded with confusion. "How does he know about what happened, Danny?"

Wow, Skulker had just blown it by showing up before he could really explain much. Now he'd have to wing it. That seemed like all he had been doing lately...

"Well, he might have seen me when I was practicing in the basement. I wasn't fond of falling through floors." Danny said, thinking back to some of the stories of when his father had first gotten his powers. Who knew they'd be so helpful? Then, he looked back up at Skulker, hoping to continue the act. "Who are you?"

"Whelp, I am the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone! I hunt down rare species and capture them as trophies. You are the rarest of them all, so I have come to claim you as the newest addition to my collection!"

Sam and Tucker exchanged glances that portrayed their shared perplexity at their best friend's sudden and new bravery. When had he become so fearless? It was especially strange that this bravery was radiating off of Danny in the face of a ghost!

"Look, Sulker, or whatever your name is, I have to get to school. I don't have time to listen to you talk." Danny said gruffly. He was pretty sure he was going overboard, but he couldn't help it. And the looks on Sam and Tucker's faces was priceless!

He could find a way to explain later...

The next thing he knew, both Sam and Tucker had screamed his name in panic, and Skulker had him pinned to the wall of a building by his neck. Danny knew Skulker wouldn't hurt him, but he kept up the act. But, Skulker started whispering to him instead, so he wasn't quite able to do so.

"Okay whelp, Vlad asked me to do this so don't worry about fighting me now. That'll come later. I know you're already much stronger than me, even though I hate to admit it, but your father wants me to fight you anyways so he can see areas that you need to improve."

"How will he see us battle?" Danny knew it was a stupid question, but he couldn't help but ask.

"He's got spy bugs everywhere, kid. He said it's for your protection." Skulker replied, his answer ready, having been prepared with the knowledge that Danny would ask that same question. "He also says that he'd like for you to call him often. He didn't say so, but he misses you, whelp. And he's my source of income, so don't go making him emotional! I could end up getting a cut in my paycheck."

Danny could tell that Skulker was saying those things as a cover for his true feelings, seeing as the ghost wanted to keep up a masculine and surly reputation. He nodded slightly in a way that only Skulker would notice, before feeling air on his now free neck and feeling the force of gravity pull him back down to the concrete sidewalk below. Sam and Tucker ran over to him, helping him up, as Skulker hovered again in the air.

"I'll be back later for a battle, whelp! And I'll remember to bring a cage to stash you in!" then, Skulker took off, leaving Danny with his two worried and confused friends.

"Danny, are you okay?!" Sam asked, panic adorning her features.

"Dude, what was that about?" Tucker questioned.

"I'm fine, let's just get going before he decides to come back." Danny said, brushing himself off and going to pick up his discarded purple backpack - he still hated the color! - and began walking off. Sam and Tucker stared at him, completely stupefied as to what they just witnessed, before jogging to catch up with him.

Danny was sure he would kill Skulker later if he was late. He might just do it anyways as punishment for causing such a scene. Danny would never get an easy day during this mission. He was sure of it...

End Chapter 8!