YAY AN UPDATE ALREADY IT MUST BE THE END OF THE WORLD!
No it isn't. This is a one off. This chapter feels... Lacking. I'll try to make it up to you guys ^^"
i don't own stuff of the Danny phantom sort.
enjoy!
Chapter 10: Tall, dark and... Um, who are you?
Danny found himself in the Casper High corridors once more, standing in front of his locker alone. Danny looked left and right, up and down the long hall, to see no one in sight. He wondered where everyone was. Of course it would be a school day, it was Tuesday and the school was open. Well, he thought so anyway. To be honest, he didn't know how he got there in the first place. Either he had an awful memory or something was seriously up.
He had no books, no bag, no belongings with him, only himself standing in nothing but a loin cloth. Okay, now it was just damn strange. He shut his empty locker and walked around the school, searching for any signs of human life. Danny looked into every classroom, every toilet, every crevasse until finally, he ended up in the last room in the school.
Cautiously, he opened up the door to the locker room. The room was empty, as to be expected by now and the lights were off. The raven haired boy turned to switch them on, but found that when he did, the room was not brightened. The lights were not working which rendered Danny in the pitch black room. Out of pure curiosity and against his best interests, he walked through the darkness, sparking up a ball of ectoplasm in his hand to light his way. He could only just see the objects around him, lit up by the eery green glow. His stomach churned uncomfortably as he spotted a note pinned to his locker.
Reaching out and tearing the piece of ripped parchment from its place, Danny noticed the elegant black writing written on it. He frowned as he looked at the scrawl and lifted his hand up closer so he could read it:
'Daniel Fenton has now discovered his official mate and is soul-bonded with a human of the Living Dimension. This shall be documented as the first official halfa and human bonding in ghostly and human history. Under the usual protocol, Daniel will alter to the required state needed to attract his mate, so named Dashiel Baxter. This will effect both his human and ghost form. (as predicted by the Observant Council) Congratulations Master Fenton.'
As he finished reading he felt his heart clench and his muscles tense. The room became cold and an electric buzz filled the air. Something was seriously wrong here. His ghost sense wasn't going off. It wasn't a ghost.
His hands tightened on the paper as a large hand clasped over his shoulder and a warm breath drifted over his neck. He shivered as the being spoke "You chose me Danny." Danny gasped as he realised who it was.
Dash turned Danny around and pinned him against the lockers with a creepy smile. He looked him up and down hungrily before letting him go, but not letting there be enough space between them for him to move. He lay his hand against Danny's chest, just over his heart and felt it beat quickly beneath his touch. "So it is true? You have marked me as your own?" He brought his hand away. "Well that's unexpected Fenton." He smiled.
"D-Dash... I- I..." Danny said in fear, getting so distracted that his ectoball fizzled out.
"You have taken my free will to be with someone else. We are now bonded. So, you must adapt to me. The Ghost Zone has chosen that you grow to fit my personality. You will grow in different ways too... But you'll see that for yourself soon enough. It's a give and take situation." Dash said with a dull tone.
"B-but-" Danny stumbled over his words.
"I wish you luck on trying to get me." Dash grinned a grin that made Danny's heart skip a beat. "I think I'll put up a fight."
With that, Dash opened the locker behind the ghost boy and pushed him in, closing the door behind him. But Danny didn't find a shock of pain as his back hit the metal wall. Instead, he found himself floating in a place that looked an awful lot like the Ghost Zone. He tried to control his floating but found himself caught in a current that he couldn't pull away from.
On his back, he looked in the direction he was being pulled. Straight ahead were all of his ghostly enemies, looking ready to beat him into a pulp. His baby blues widened and he tried to direct himself away, his arms moving in a windmill way. But, try as he might, he couldn't seem to get away. He was pulled closer and closer to the pack of malevolent ghosts.
"Come here dipstick!" Ember shouted, giving him an evil smirk.
"No, no, no!" Danny tried to go ghost but found himself powerless.
"You're mine Phantom! You'll be less than nothing once I'm done!" The Ghost Writer growled.
"This isn't fair!" Danny complained as he was dumped onto the ground in front of them.
"Life isn't fair punk." Walker announced as the group surrounded him.
"Prepare for a pummelling whelp!" Said Skulker.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" Shouted the podgy ghost, who received a boot to the foot from Kitty.
"Can't we be civil about this?" Danny pleaded.
"Nice try. You can't avoid this Danny. It's all in your head, but you can't control it." Spectra loomed over him and grabbed him by the throat.
His fingers fumbled over her hand and he found it harder and harder to breathe. She threw him onto the floor carelessly and he was hit by several ecto-blasts and kicks.
Kick.
Blast.
Punch.
Whip.
Tare.
Stretch.
Bleed.
Scream...
Danny woke up with a jolt. Sweat poured down his body, still aching badly. He swept back the hair sticking to his forehead and sat up more, finding his movements slightly restricted and uncomfortable. He craned his neck to the side, rubbing his eyes to look at his clock. Danny felt surprised when he discovered that he had an hour until he had to be at school. He never woke up this early. Pushing himself up, he felt his bones clicking. He massaged his head to soothe the slowly growing headache he had and got up from his untidy mess of a bed.
Standing still, he realised how odd he felt. His clothes from the day before felt tighter. Much tighter. Exhaustedly, he stumbled over to his mirror, eyes closed and held onto the frame for support. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at himself, brushing through his own with his fingers roughly. But when he got a proper look at himself, he stopped brushing and his hands dropped slowly.
"Oh my ghosts." He said in fear with a voice that didn't sound like his own.
That wasn't him in the reflection. It wasn't the scrawny, short boy without so much as a muscle in sight. It wasn't the boy who still looked like a twelve year old. That wasn't Danny.
He fell back onto his bed, looking at the clothes that once barely fitted him. The pants now looked like cut off ones and the t-shirt seemed to have ripped. You do not want to know what was happening in the underwear department.
After sitting for a good ten minutes, Danny decided a shower would help calm him down. Yet, after feeling the hot water pour down him, he did not feel any better. Still, the stranger in the mirror stayed and Danny realised that this was no trick of the mind caused by exhaustion.
Knowing that he had grown, he inspected his limbs one by one, checking they were real. He looked at his chest and found he wasn't as much of a weakling as he used to be. His hair was the same length if not a bit shaggier. Out of pure interest, he looked down and his eyes widened. Well, that'd be a pain in the ass (No pun intended) to hide. Especially if he went through what he did yesterday again.
He searched through his wardrobe in hope for any clothes that might possibly fit him. He only found a pair of black pants his parents had bought him after he had hit puberty (which showed their hope for Danny to be built like Jack's side of the family) and an old, green striped, t-shirt that Vlad had left behind when his parents college days had ended. As much as he hated it, these were the only things that'd fit him.
After had slipped the two items on, he found that the shirt was a little too small and the trousers hugged his legs as tightly as his phangirls wanted to hug him. Feeling quite irritated, Danny managed to find some tube socks and brushed through his hair roughly. He looked across at his clock again; still too much time.
Realising that he'd die of boredom by waiting in his room any much longer, he figured it was time to suck it up and go downstairs. The floorboards creaked more than usual under his steps. He struggled to walk properly with his large feet that made him feel like a clown when he walked. His over-sized hands literally smothered the handrail as he held onto it. So caught up with the oddness of his movements, he didn't notice that the kitchen light was on.
So he stumbled into the kitchen, muttering a good morning and slumped into a chair. Needless to say, Jazz, who'd been munching through a bowl of cereal was freaked out. She paused in the middle of a mouthful and looked at the person in front of her with wide eyes. "MOM, DAD THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE KITCHEN!" She shouted and tripped out of her seat.
Danny jumped and looked confused, "What? Jazz?" He asked her just as Jack, the huge, orange clad ghost-hunter, skidded into the room with a look of determination and a bat in his hand.
"Get away from my daughter! What's a punk like you doing in my house!" He growled threateningly.
Danny fell out of the chair and crawled away mumbling gibberish.
"Danny's not in his room!" Maddie cried as she entered the room and scowled at her son.
"What have you done with my little brother!" Jazz questioned him and glared, poking a still milk covered spoon. Her aqua eyes were full of judgement and hatred for the one who had discovered her still dressed in her bunny covered pyjamas.
"Jazz! It's me! Danny! Mom! Dad! See!" He smiled forcefully and gave a nervous laugh, "don't blast me please." He begged.
Jack was about to step forward before his curvy wife intervened by putting her hand on his chest to stop him. She squinted and bent down to look closer at the boy who sat on the floor's face. His chest fell and rose quickly and his unmistakable baby blue eyes looked into hers in fear. The trade mark messy black mop of hair was there, along with his slightly pale skin. The way he held himself; wary but ready and a little bit clumsy.
"Take your top off." Maddie ordered bluntly and her family looked at her as if she were going crazy. Danny shared this look. "Just do it." She said seriously. Danny, a bit bashfully, removed the t-shirt and put it near his side, "Danny?" She looked at him closer.
"How'd you know it's him?" Jazz said condescendingly.
"The Florida-shaped birthmark is a give away Jazz." Maddie said over her shoulder and pointed at the mark on the left hand side of his chest. "Plus, who else has that bright-blue eye colour in Amity Park? And the hair of course. He's my son. Of course I knew who he'd be." Maddie said with a frown and turned back to Danny.
Inside, Danny felt a bit confused. How on earth could his mother recognise him with a complete body change but not when he was Phantom? Maybe the people of Amity Park recognised colours above all else, meaning he and Phantom looked completely different to them? Whatever the reason, Danny felt annoyed by it.
At his mothers words, the father who's midnight hair was beginning to grey, bent down and looked at Danny too, "I suppose his face is there." He huffed, "Danny boy, what happened to you?" By this time, Jazz was now closer, feeling safer.
"Um.." He mumbled as he pulled his top back on. How was he supposed to answer that? He didn't know himself! He just woke up like it after a really strange and realistic dream! He couldn't tell them about that! It'd be suicide... So, he came up with the best possible thing he could.
"Puberty?" Danny said with false confidence.
"There's my boy! I knew he'd follow his old man's side of the family!" He helped Danny up and slapped him on the back. "I think we should celebrate! With FUDGE!" Mr Fenton bounded across the room.
"We need to buy you some new clothes sweetie." Mrs Fenton informed him and hugged the boy who was a height mid-way between hers and his fathers. "JACK YOU STAY AWAY FROM THAT FUDGE!" She shouted as he stuck his hand into a box.
Jazz walked up and looked up at him with her arms folded. "This is weird Danny. You're telling me everything. Later though." She looked across the room at her parents. "You've got some explaining to do."
"Don't I get an apology?" Danny fluttered his eyelashes.
"No." She said stubbornly, "and you sound like 'Him'." She added with a certain degree of concern. "Yet you aren't 'Him'." She pondered and walked back to her cereal. Danny stood there, with a feeling of dread for what was to come. Today was going to be a long day indeed. A long day in his fathers shoes. Literally.
Sam and Tucker sat in home room, along with many other pupils in their group and chatted about the normal things. You know, ghosts and stuff. At this time, Danny would never join them before school as he was doomed to a life of only just on time's and tardiness. Dash sat a couple rows back with Kwan and chatted friendlily while Paulina and Star sent them cruel looks from the other side of the classroom as Paulina reapplied her lipgloss for the forth time that day.
The only one in the classroom who was not happy in the slightest was Valerie Grey. Apart from the usual Phantom issue, she discovered recently that Vlad Masters had cut off her funding and supply of ghost tech without a real reason. She frowned at her desk and bit her pencil hard. How on earth could she protect the town from Phantom now when she had a lack of things to protect and defend them with?
Mr Lancer sat with his feet on his desk, head stuck in a classic novel and his podgy belly struggling to stay concealed with his button up shirt. This was how it usually went. The students would chat, he would read and Mr Fenton would be late. There was obviously something going on with Danny, Mr Lancer just didn't know what it was and, being a curious man, he found this extremely irritating.
Looking up at the clock, Mr Lancer lay down his book and leant forward, ready for the bell to ring. He picked up his pen and grabbed the registration document ready to mark Daniel late. Again.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!
As expected, Danny was not sat in his seat like everyone else was. Yet again, Mr Lancer felt let down by the troubled teen and on when reaching his name on the file, he pressed his pen down lightly before he dropped the object in surprise.
A large bang shook the classroom and the students as the door slammed against the wall. There stood in the doorway, now grabbing everyone's attention was a tall man with ebony hair you wanted to run your fingers through and eyes that glistened beautifully under the bright lights. Not to mention his strong yet slim build was very prominent through the clothes that appeared to be too small for him. His jaw was strong, yet resembled Danny Phantom's slightly. He huffed and puffed as he gripped the doorframe and the door handle tightly and looked at Mr Lancer with a distressed gaze.
"Sorry I'm late Sir." A baritone voice said sorrily. The tone made many of the girls in the classroom become more interested in the mystery man that stood before them. "Um, ah traffic." He stumbled. There had been no traffic though. Only his father fussing him about fudge and shoes that could actually fit him.
"Who are you may I ask?" Mr Lancer asked, not recognising him in the slightest.
"Gee, you people really are clueless," he said under his breath, "It's Danny Fenton Mr Lancer. You know, the guy who's grades are pretty much down the toilet right now? Little kid; attracts trouble, you remember?" He tried to prompt him.
Mr Lancer stare for a bit before nodding, "Okay... Danny. Sit down." He said and ticked his name to state that Danny had come to school on time. As Danny head to his seat, he felt everyone's eyes on him. He lowered his head and had a pained expression on his new face.
He slumped down into his seat, finding it a lot more uncomfortable than usual, "What the heck happened to you?" Tucker demanded and leant forward while Sam just sat there looking like something was making her feel uncomfortable as she squirmed slightly.
"I'll talk later. But, my knowledge on this matter is as plenty as the amount of mercy my parents have on ghosts." Danny sighed and let his head fall on the desk.
"Mnnnnnnnmmm." A squeal came from the direction of Sam, grabbing Tucker's and Danny's attention.
"What was that?" Danny asked in confusion and looked at the blushing girl.
"Nothing I swear." She said quickly before burying her head in a black book to try and disguise her embarrassment.
Danny and Tucker left it at that and began chatting pleasantly. Mostly about how he'd changed. Danny planned to tell Tucker about him being gay later. Like Sam said, sooner better than later. Or something like that anyway.
Across the room however, Dash was transfixed on Danny with a look of shock and bewilderment on his face. There was no way Fenton could have grown overnight that much! He was gargantuan! All the girls were looking at him and for once, Dash was a but jealous of Danny.
Kwan nudged Dash with his elbow, looking in the same direction Dash was,"Hey Dash, Fenton looks taller than y-"
"I know he does okay!" Dash snapped back with a dangerous look, "I mean, he looks like a senior dammit! How the hell did he do it!?" He asked in fury.
"Steroids?" Kwan suggested meekly.
"Come on Kwan, seriously?" He gave him a look of amusement before that faded away. "It's just freaky..." He looked back up at the laughing boy and narrowed his eyes. There was one thing he did know and that was that Danny was keeping more secrets than he was when they were friends. He was keeping bigger secrets too. Dash just hoped they wouldn't effect him too much.
Boy was he wrong.
R&R please! thank you for the lovely reviews by the way. Though there have been a lack of them of recent... See you next time!