Ah, the update schedule. Well, that was fun while it lasted! I just spent a week debating on what chapter to put the first scene of the next chapter in, because I apparently can't be trusted with anything! And then my computer threw a tantrum, and now I can't edit anything saved in microsoft word! God, I love technology.

Onwards!

Chapter 10; Group Work

There were some advantages and disadvantages to Danny's plan. Some disadvantages would be the fact he didn't understand ghosts, flies weren't exactly known for being easy to kill, and that he currently felt half-dead.

An advantage would be the fact Danny was pretty sure that punching a fly in the face would be the coolest thing he ever did.

He hadn't planned for the aftermath, however, and found himself in front of the fly, his left arm elbow-deep in its eye.

"Ew," Danny said, "okay, bad plan, definitely had some holes. Much like your eye, yeah. Yeah." He looked up at the fly's face, and the fly stared at his. "Um... what's up?"

The fly continued to stare at him. Danny pointed a finger gun at it. The fly spread its wings and shot back into the air.

"Whoa, hey! Hey!" Danny's voice cracked, and he flailed wildly as the fly dragged him farther up. "Put me down, put me down, put me the heck-" he broke off into frantic screams and punched the fly's other eye. After everything, part of him was surprised when that didn't result in another visit from Flicker.

Danny didn't look down, but the wind whipping in his face and the freezing air that left him breathless told him all he needed to know. He tried to punch the fly with his right fist, but the bug darted forwards and Danny was left screaming as something in his shoulder pulled much too far. Pins and needles dug into his body, and his left palm felt cold.

Just like he had earlier in the week, Danny fired an ectoblast. The fly was flung off his arm, and he was launched back. The pins and needles were back with a vengeance, and a shockwave ran up his arm. He screamed-

And then he was falling.

Danny closed his eyes and braced for an impact that would absolutely kill him, curling up on himself and hoping it at least would be quick.

A minute later, and a few seconds after the wind had stopped blasting him, Danny opened one eye to see the grass below, not rushing towards him, just staying in place roughly a foot below him. He was floating again.

"Oh. O-okay, yep, this is a good thing. Very good, yep." He flailed and tried to move himself closer to the ground, "I got pretty morbid there for a second but alright, okay, this is cool." Laughing uncomfortably in hope that it would bury the rest of his remaining fear, Danny grabbed handfuls of grass and tried to pull himself down. He'd ended up barely a yard away from the football team's storage shed, and just on the outskirts of the forest behind it.

Danny pulled himself to the ground and let out a wheezing laugh, lying facedown in the grass. "Alright. Okay. I'm alive." He rolled onto his back and laid there, just breathing and feeling the grass on his skin. "I'm alive." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, and a stream of freezing air poured out of his mouth. "Gosh darn it."

He could rest later. Right now, he had something much more important to worry about. Danny moved to his feet just in time to see the fly, ectoplasm dripping behind it, land on the school roof.

"Absolutely not," Danny hissed, and took off running.

.-.

Phantom had been grabbed and pulled away by several teachers, and Sam and Tucker had followed automatically. These were normal humans, they had reasoned, he could seriously injure them! We, at least, know a bit about him!

But Phantom hadn't done anything.

Mr. Lancer, the Vice Principal, had pulled him into his office and sat the ghost down on a chair. Phantom hadn't said a word. He just sat there, holding onto the arms of his chair with his knees curled close to his chest, and stared at everyone with wide eyes. Sam and Tucker knew this, because they were currently crouched in the bushes outside of Lancer's window, listening in through a crack and peering in whenever they could.

Currently, Lancer sat across from the ghost boy. "I can't help you unless you talk to me."

Phantom said nothing, but tried to make himself smaller when Lancer reached out near him to grab a travel mug.

Lancer sighed before taking a long drink and looked towards the door. Principal Ishiyama stood there, with the PE and Health teacher, Ms. Tetslaff, at her side. "Do we know when Penny's getting here?"

"Her assistant said they were stuck in traffic; something about the Fentons taking up half the road." Ishiyama said, "It could be a while."

"Can we call child services now?" Tetslaff asked, "Let them deal with the kid if he won't talk to us."

"We should let Penny make that call," Ishiyama replied, and Tucker saw her give both teachers a pointed look. "He's not one of ours."

Lancer sighed, and turned back to Phantom. He stood and the ghost curled up tighter. Lancer stopped, and said, "We're not going to hurt you."

There were three sharp knocks on the room's door, and Sam pulled Tucker out of view. Everything from the inside of the room was muffled until Sam released her grip, and the two slowly rose back into view.

Ms. Spectra, the guidance counselor, and her assistant who nobody cared to remember the name of, had entered the room. "Well hi there, kiddo!" She said, leaning in overly close to Phantom, who automatically leaned away. "What's your name?"

Phantom leaned back even farther and fell out of the chair.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't be like that!" She reached down and grabbed his sleeves to pull him up. Phantom flinched away, but Spectra placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. "Now, I didn't introduce myself first, and that was rude. I'm Penelope Spectra, but you can call me Penny!" She tapped him gently on the nose, and Phantom scrunched up his face in reply. "What's your name?"

Phantom raised a hand to touch his nose and looked absolutely lost.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Sam whispered, "Mia would've punched someone by now, and she's not a supernatural creature bent on destruction."

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked, and lost his balance when Sam's fist shot out and caught his arm.

"Talk about her like that again and next time I'll hit your fucking face," she hissed, and turned back to the window. Tucker dusted himself off and gave her a half-hearted glare. He didn't have time for this.

"I'm going to find Danny," he said.

.-.

No no no no- the fly had phased into the school, and Danny hadn't seen where it went. The science fair had to have started by now, so Sam and Tucker- or worse, his fifty-two classmates and everyone else who knew nothing about ghosts- would all be inside. They'd all be in danger. He had to get to the office, he needed to get on the intercom and let everyone know they needed to get out- or something-

He turned a corner at full speed and ran face-first into Valerie Grey.

She caught herself on the wall and kept her balance, while Danny hit the ground hard at her feet. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Valerie," Danny wheezed, "oh God, okay- people like you. You have to help me."

Valerie took a step back. Danny struggled to his feet, suddenly aware of the fact his left arm was covered in loose ectoplasm and that at some point his nose had started bleeding. He definitely looked terrible.

"What happened to you?!" Valerie asked, pulling back in disgust.

"No time- there's no time!" Danny panted, "We need to get everyone out! My parents- I promise, I know how crazy this sounds- but they were right and ghosts are real and we need to get everyone out!" He took a deep breath in, leaning against the wall for support. He couldn't quite catch his breath. His heart was pounding. He couldn't stop thinking about the fly landing in the middle of the gym and setting it ablaze with everyone inside.

Valerie took another step back. "You're crazy."

"You don't believe me." Of course she doesn't believe you, Fenton, you idiot! Why would anyone believe that?! "Valerie, please, I promise I'm not trying to-" he choked out more freezing air. Valerie took several more steps back. "Oh, no, c'mon..." He slid his hand along the wall and bumped into the fire alarm.

"I'm calling you an ambulance. There's something seriously wrong with you." Valerie said. She didn't take her eyes off him as she pulled out her phone.

"Fair enough," Danny muttered, and broke the glass around the fire alarm with his right hand.

.-.

The fire alarm went off before Tucker could leave. Sam, still staring into the window, saw Phantom throw his hands over his ears and drop back to the floor. Ishiyama and Tetslaff ran out of the room, and Lancer grabbed the door. Spectra and her assistant reached down to grab Phantom again. Before their hands could touch him, Phantom ducked and rolled closer to the window.

"Sorry," he said in perfect English, and shattered the window with his fist.

Sam and Tucker ducked out of the way to avoid the shards, and Phantom landed evenly on the ground between them. The fire alarm blared in the background, nearly drowning out the shouts of the vice principal and guidance councillor. And as Phantom turned back towards the school, either missing or not caring about Sam and Tucker, a huge, bright green fly shot out from the school, curved around, and dove back in.

Spectra reached the window just as Phantom jumped onto the wall and easily climbed up. The fire alarm continued to blare, and students were rushing out of a nearby door.

Sam watched Phantom pull himself onto the roof. Where's Danny? She dodged the broken glass to reach Tucker's side the second Spectra backed away from the window, and pulled him towards the crowd. "Danny?"

"Danny?!" Tucker shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. He didn't wait for Sam this time, and rushed into the crowd. Sam followed a few steps behind, weaving past Mia, Paulina, and- oh God- Danny's sister. Jazz called after her, but Sam kept running, and calling out Danny's name.

She found Tucker, right in front of Valerie, who was looking around wildly herself. He looked back at her, and Sam saw a trace of a bright green stain on Valerie's shirt.

They didn't say anything to each other, and Valerie said nothing to them. Danny's sister called their names again as Sam and Tucker ducked through the crowd and back into the school.

.-.

The fly was in the gym, and Danny had followed the cold air and his gut feeling right to it. Pieces of science projects had been utterly destroyed, and the fly was perched on half a table.

Danny stepped forwards and stared the bug down. "Get out of my school."

The fly rubbed it's two front legs together and launched a huge glob of ectoplasm at Danny's chest. He crashed into the desk behind him, arms pinned to his side.

"Dying didn't teach you how to bargain, did it?" Danny deadpanned, as he struggled- and failed- to at least sit up. "Okay, fair enough." The fly buzzed over to him, loose ectoplasm dripping from its injured eye. A semi-solid clump landed on Danny's cheek. "Um, less fair. Definitely less fair!" His arms were stuck to his side. He couldn't move.

Danny's breath caught in his throat, and he stared up at the bug. His breathing turned shallow, and his heart was pounding. Every part of him that wasn't restrained was shaking. Oh God. Oh, God... the fly stood above him, rubbing its hands together again. What had he been thinking?! That he could yell at it and it would leave?! Why did he think that would work?

"Flicker!" Danny barely managed to choke out the word, "Flicker, please, I- oh, God, please." The fly leaned in closer to him. "Help me."

A huge clump of the ceiling broke off and crashed into the fly, with Phantom riding it all the way down. He floated up, energy coating his hands- Danny felt his bindings pull against the floor, and freezing energy stir in his palms. He still couldn't move.

"You do not belong in this realm," Phantom said, glaring down at the fly as it shrugged off the chunk of roof. Danny flinched as it landed right beside his head. "Leave at once."

"Dramatic," Danny whispered, trying desperately to shift his hands away from his sides. "Nice commanding spooky voice. Did you practice that?"

Phantom frowned and looked down at him. He opened his mouth to speak, and the fly launched itself right at him. Phantom darted out of the way, spinning back around in a second to fire his ectoblast. Danny's fired too, and the ectoplasm holding him down immediately snapped.

Danny screamed, arms flailing as he ascended. Phantom darted towards him, grabbing Danny by his shirt and dragging him onto the roof's support beams.

"Stay," he said, jabbing a finger in Danny's face. "I'm going to get it away from here. I'll get you down after." He turned back to the fly.

"Wait!" Danny shouted, clinging to the support, "I can help you, just point me at him and shoot!"

Phantom rolled his eyes and dived back down towards the bug. He weaved expertly around the fly's ectoblasts, only forming his own right before he hit the fly. It was launched towards the hole in the roof, but fell back in an arc with a painful crunch! Desks went flying, science projects shattered on the ground, and Danny faintly heard his name.

He frowned, looked away from the fight, and heard his name again. Tucker?

Phantom looked to his left for just a second and didn't manage to dodge the next shot. The ectoblast hit his chest and he tumbled, bounced, and snapped a desk in half.

Danny winced in sympathy and more phantom pains before turning back to the door. He tried to ignore how the left side of his head was stinging. The fly darted past, and Danny stared at the two who'd jumped back in fear. Sam and Tucker were in the doorway, staring at the remains of the science fair. Tucker was pointing at the fly and had been loudly saying "Um," for the last ten seconds. Sam was glaring at Phantom, who wasn't moving from where he'd landed.

The fly had landed right beside him, and was staring Danny's friends down.

Danny shifted along the beam, trying to get a better look at Phantom. The fly rubbed its gross hands together as more ectoplasm dripped from its eye, and flames sprung up around it.

"No!" Danny screamed, and the flaming bug launched itself at his friends. The doorway lit up and Danny screamed-

Sam was on top on Tucker, just inside of the gym. She'd tackled him out of the way. Danny nearly lost his balance as he collapsed with relief and Tucker, lying on his back, saw him flail lamely before grabbing the beam. His hand whacked a stuck dodgeball.

"Danny, what the fuck!" Tucker shouted as he pointed at him, then at the fly, then back again. Sam rolled over, looked up at him, and leaned back to avoid Tucker's frantic pointing. "What is that?!"

"Ghost bug!" Danny shouted back, "Is Phantom okay?"

Sam shot the still unmoving ghost a look. "Doesn't look like it!" She turned back to Danny, and the fly landed on another set of broken desks. "Don't move, we'll find a ladder!"

The fly turned to face her and rubbed its hands together.

"Hey!" Heart pounding in his chest, Danny yanked the stuck dodgeball out from between the supports and pulled back, "Stay away from them!" He felt the cold feeling flow through his arm as he launched the ball, and the world seemed to move in slow motion. The fly flickered, and turned to face him. A clump of ectoplasm slipped out from its eye. The ball, wisps of energy twisting from it, sailed out of Danny's hand.

Time clicked back into place and the ball wedged itself in the fly's injured eye.

Danny pulled back. "Oh, gross!"

The fly reeled back, launching its half-ready blast at the ceiling. The hole in the roof spread, shattering into pieces that missed Danny by less than an inch. A chunk hit his beam and Danny heard a sickening crack!

Danny clung to the beam as it groaned under his weight, squeezing his eyes shut. If any of the supernatural jerks stalking me want to make themselves useful, now would be a great time!

"Tucker!" Sam's voice rang out, "Go long!"

Danny opened his eyes just in time to see a sharpened piece of pipe sail through the fly.

"Holy-" instead of hitting the ground on the other side, it nearly stabbed the ugliest remote control car Danny had ever seen. But the little robot spun around and shot the pipe right back through the fly. Danny could see Tucker beside it, hidden among the rubble, a remote control in his hands.

"Danny, get somewhere safe!" Sam shouted, and ran for the pipe. She never stopped- she scooped it up off the ground, turned on her heel, and flung it right back through the fly.

Where?! Danny's attempt to shout back to her was cut off as the beam started to bend and groan. Danny sent an anxious look back at the fly before starting to shimmy across it. His heart pounded in his chest, and his blood rushed past his ears. He was terrified- he could die so easily, at any time- but Danny still let out half a laugh. Something about this just made sense.

An ectoblast hit the metal in front of him and it snapped.

Again, the world seemed to slow down. He could hear Tucker shouting. The fly was dripping, but wouldn't stop buzzing. Sam had slipped when trying to grab the pipe, and was falling too. She kept staring at him.

Danny looked down. Phantom was right below him, ectoplasm caked around the side of his head, and in a blink Flicker had perched on a broken desk next to him. Danny swore he could see blue eyes as Flicker, unaffected by the slowdown, motioned for him to come over.

Time snapped back to normal and Danny launched himself off the beam, hands clasped together as he swan dived into Phantom's still form.

There was no pain- just a flash, a jolt, and then Danny was on his back as his palms filled with a painful, burning cold.

"Hey, house fly!" He called, "The ladybug wants you to get out of her house!" He aimed both hands and twisting blue energy shot from his palms, trapping the fly for barely a second before it was falling.

The bug hit the floor and splattered.

Danny's chest was twisting. Sam was picking herself up from the ground. Tucker poked his head out from behind half a desk.

"I..." Danny swallowed, staring at the ectoplasm the coated the destroyed gym. "I don't think Ishiyama and Lancer are going to be very happy about this."

"That was awesome!" Tucker shouted, and threw the remote away as he shot across the gym. He threw his arms around Danny and both boys were sent crashing to the ground. "Dude, holy shit-" he pulled back, "I am talking to Danny, right?"

Danny blinked. "Oh! Right!" He focused on being separate, and with a flash of light Phantom was slumped outside of the hug. And automatically, with his heart slowing down, a sharp ache started to sink into his bones. "Oh yeah," he held up his right hand, and stared at the tiny pieces of glass still stuck among scabs, "I punched the fire alarm."

"Are you okay?" Sam was standing a little way away, anxiously watching Phantom. "Danny, are you hurt?"

"Probably," he said, and Tucker pulled off the hug to help him back up. "Thanks."

"Come on," she took a couple steps closer, "we should get you out of here."

"I'm fine, I can walk and stuff," Danny half-muttered, not really focusing on his friends. "I'll be fine. Yeah." He took a step and his legs automatically buckled under him.

Tucker caught his right arm and Sam dove forwards to grab the other. Her fingers brushed the semisolid ectoplasm stuck to his arm and she snapped her hand back with a shout. "What is that?!"

"Ectoplasm," Danny said, only half paying attention. "I punched the fly in the face. It was really cool. You should've seen it, Tuck."

Tucker stared at him for a second. "I'm sure it was, dude. I think your sister's here, let's go find her before you die on us."

"O-okay, but-" Danny held up his ectoplasm covered hand, "if I die, can we say I went ghost?"

"Sure," Tucker slung Danny's arm around his shoulder, "let's go tell your sister you aren't dead."

Right beside Sam's foot, Phantom groaned.

She took several quick steps away from the ghost as he sat up, dragging Tucker- and Danny- by the sleeve with her. Danny barely registered her placing a hand on his right arm.

"See?" Danny said, and the room started to spin around him. "I told you I could fight."

Phantom rubbed his eyes and looked confused for a second. "What?" He blinked, looked over at Danny, and threw himself back against a broken desk.

Danny threw a look over his shoulder and took in the splattered ectoplasm behind him. A tiny, pulsing ovular object sat in the middle. He felt a weight in his chest. Wow, what did I do to that dodgeball? "Oh yeah," he looked back towards Phantom, "we blew up the bug."

The ghost stared up at them, and Sam pulled the boys back a couple more steps before moving to Danny's left. "Ask him if he brought it here," she said.

"Right." Danny pointed his ectoplasm covered hand at Phantom, "Why'd you bring that fly here?"

"I didn't!" Phantom steadied a shaking hand on half the desk behind him. "I was trying to stop it!"

"Well, I did, not you," Danny shrugged, "so-"

"You didn't have to kill it!" He shouted, and shoved himself to his feet. Phantom turned to face Danny, and the temperature around them seemed to drop. "It was scared, and confused- it didn't need to die, just to go home! And you splattered it! It wasn't a threat!"

"It was lighting itself on fire and destroyed the gym!" Danny shouted back, nearly smacking Sam as he gestured around. "Don't tell me it was just scared, look at my-"

"You attacked it first!"

"You attacked it too! What, are you just mad because you lost?!"

"No!" Phantom stomped a foot, and twisting streams of frost curled out from around him, "I was trying to get it away because it didn't understand what it was doing!"

"Well you could've fooled me!" Danny shouted back, and kicked some rubble onto one of the frost lines. "You left me on a roof, you jerk! I could have died!" The room kept shifting, but Phantom stayed stationary.

"You deserved-"

Something in the back of Danny's mind pulled taunt and snapped. "Phantom, never shout at me again!"

The ghost tensed up and pulled back.

"Is that clear?" Danny asked, staring him down. "I said-"

"Danny," Tucker reached out another hand to steady him.

"-Is that clear?!" Danny didn't even acknowledge him.

"Yes, sir," Phantom mumbled.

"Hey, Phantom." Sam said, "Stop speaking your weird ghost language and talk in English. We already know you can."

"Guys-" Tucker started, and again, Phantom tensed.

"Ohh-kay," he muttered, "ownlie- only English."

"Now he sounds broken," Danny said.

Phantom glared at him, but stayed silent. He kept his fists clenched at his sides, and didn't even bother to blink.

Danny could faintly hear a rhythmic slapping sound. "I think someone's coming," he said, the anger draining from his voice. "I don't care what you do Phantom, just stay away from me."

"You stay away," Phantom growled, and disappeared.

Tucker sucked in a breath. "Well that was fucked up! Let's go find a place for Danny to pass out."

"Also the glass," Danny held up his still slightly bloody hand, "should probably-"

"What in the name of Hamlet's father is this?!"

Three heads snapped back to the door to see Mr. Lancer standing there, looking absolutely horrified at the remains of the science fair, with a pale-faced Jazz Fenton at his side.

"Oh, hi Jazz," Danny said, and waved with his ectoplasm-covered arm. "When did you get here?"

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children are alone.

Fight scenes are hard, but Danny's witty banter will get better with time, as will his ghost fighting skills and his teamwork. We hope. Well, we know, because that's the A-plot, but we still hope. He's very good at making supernatural creatures hate him.

Anyway, don't mind me, I'll just be leaving some snacks out. Maybe while you eat these figurative creations, you can tell me your thoughts?