"…and there was a fucking horde of giant spider monsters." Dash spread his arms as though to encompass that number. And failed. "A hundred times worse than a horror movie and they were all coming right at us and I fought a good four or five," he punched thin air. Kwan leaned away. "But Phantom! He took on practically the whole army of them. Hell that guy got into so many fights and he had great bloody wounds on his chest and on his face and arms and everywhere and he still kept going!"
"How's he bleeding if he's a ghost? Ghosts don't bleed according to—" Star began.
"He does," said Dash. "And this machine we got hit with, it was turning him human. Turning him living again so he bled red and everything!"
"Really, what did he look like?" Paulina asked.
Overhearing that, the very marrow in Danny's bones froze and he held his body up, listening.
Dash didn't even look his way replying. "Badass, like the kid that constantly got into fights when he was in school. Maybe a basketball or baseball player or something."
"More like a badass ball player," Kwan said admiringly.
"Fenton, you can stop holding that chin-up now," Tetslaff said. Whole body trembling, Danny lowered himself.
"He must have been the champ," Paulina went a little starry eyed. Danny barely suppressed a snicker at the irony before dropping to the ground, done with the last of his chin-ups and the last of his fitness test. Automatically his arm wiped at the sweat. Pausing at the last second, he dabbed to keep the makeup from coming off. The last thing he needed was to show off his shiny new facial scar, especially when people were still pestering Dash for details about what Phantom looked like alive.
What a weird thing to think.
Sam and Tucker turned their last lap, jogging neck and neck in the mile run as the pair had been for every event. He shook his head in wonder; what kick in the rear had they given each other?
"Wow! Never knew Tucker was that good," Valerie remarked. "I always wrote him off as a techno-geek."
"His PDA must be on the line," Danny said. "Or his Meaty Mighty Meltdowns."
"Sam's doing much better than first term too." Valerie cleared her throat but didn't quite face Danny. "So…you doing okay? Dash must have been tough."
Danny shrugged. "Not that bad. He got on the wrong side of a Fenton invention," he quickly turned away from the scowl on Valerie's face. "Well after getting his ass kicked he took it easy for the first few days." Rubbing his neck awkwardly, Danny added, "Heh, just as well or he would've torn me up."
"You did well," Valerie complimented.
"Thanks. Um…" courage Fenton, courage, "Val? We…"
"Shit!"
"Damn!"
"A tie!" Tetslaff boomed as Tucker and Sam hit the finish line simultaneously, panting for breath. "You two passed and with flying colors." She glanced between Danny and Tucker. "I'm impressed. Congratulations to Dash and Sam for being such excellent trainers. Dismissed!"
Tucker rolled his eyes and Danny sighed as Valerie's back vanished into the girl's locker room. "Typical."
"Typical," Tucker echoed, heading to their changing rooms. "Good thing I don't do this for her praise. Meat may not have triumphed but neither did vegetables!" He pumped a fist.
Danny said. "Actually after everything that test was easy."
"Did Dash put you through the wringer?" Tucker asked. "Sam sure did, even after I got her to cool down on the marathons. Hardly had time to do anything but hunt with you, do school work and train. I think this is the first real conversation we've had in three weeks." He grinned mischievously, "She's a tough lover."
Danny glanced around just to make certain the locker room was deserted. "Right, haven't told you yet. Dash and I were struck by dad's ghost shrink ray—"
Tucker laughed, "Oh that must have been hilarious."
When Danny took off his shirt, Tucker's laughter stopped. Being hit by the Fenton Crammer the second time around had restored his healing abilities, turning wounds to scabs in minutes, scabs to fresh scars in days and pink scars to white ones within weeks. The jagged wounds from all those spiders still didn't look any prettier for healing fast. His chest especially looked like someone had tried to tear his heart out with a rusty chainsaw. Makeup ran off with sweat, exposing his shiny new facial scar.
"I nearly died from a bee sting because the amount of poison was about half my new body weight," Danny added softly.
Tucker shut his mouth. "Dude…you need to get into shape. I mean another close call like that. You're luck's warranty is gonna to run out…has run out…" Was this what inspired Sam to be such a ball-buster? A scar that could have been a gaping wound on a corpse? The sudden urge to make sure a best friend never got so close to death again. The technogeek choked back laughter. How ironic, lecturing his best friend on life-threatening heroics when newly healed flesh still tugged when he stretched it too far.
"Pot, kettle," Danny teased. "Besides, Jazz had to help patch me up a little after and she already put me through the wringer."
As they abandoned the solitude of the locker room Tucker added, "We should both make this a habit, work out every day. We don't ghost-hunt all the time."
And maybe there was some armor he could build Danny...or himself. Go the Iron Man route. Tucker's mind was already whirling with ideas.
"Yes but most of our free time is spent gaming or watching movie marathons. Willing to give up DOOMED and the Dead Teacher series?" Sam asked, catching up with them.
"If that's what it takes," Tucker said seriously.
"Actually we could try working out and watching movies at the same time," Sam suggested.
"Either way I'm going to," Danny said. "Actually after the whole shrink-ray incident Dash took the trainer thing seriously instead of using it as wailing time. Teaching me warm ups, stretches for all the muscle groups, the best foods to eat and the best exercises to do." His voice dropped slightly. "Ghost fighting got me into decent shape but it's not enough. If it hadn't been for Dad I'd probably be…well, dead. No…I would be dead."
A shadow looming down the hall clammed him up, but the trio relaxed as a familiar face drew closer, "Hey Jazz, guess what we passed that fitness test. A plus!"
"Congratulations! You know if you want to keep in shape I've got this cool program mom and dad invented. It's a helmet that projects holographic ghosts to fight. Gives you a workout and," her voice dropped a little, "Practice at the same time." Speaking normally she added, "I've been using it to train for the upcoming fitness test for months now."
"Sounds cool. Actually I was thinking of asking mom for some martial arts lessons now that Dash isn't hogging all my free time with training. Could have used them a few weeks ago. Maybe it's something we should all do?"
"Of course, that's an excellent idea. I could use a refresher," said Jazz.
"Count me in," Tucker said, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Me too," added Sam.
"Hey Fentoid!" Dash came around the corner with Kwan trailing behind, an enthusiastic grin on his face. Suddenly the jock's mind caught up with his mouth and he stopped, smile dropping off his face.
The halfa froze. Beneath new, carefully applied makeup his scar itched beneath that intense gaze. This wasn't the first time Dash looked at him weirdly, but was he finally going to put the pieces together?
"Nevermind, I'll…deal with you later. Come on Kwan." The other boy actually beamed at his best friend, following him away from the trio.
"Okay…that was weird," Sam summed up.
"Did aliens abduct Dash?" Tucker asked.
"Danny are you okay?" Jazz asked.
"He might know," Danny whispered. "At the end of the whole shrink ray incident I transformed. My clothes were pretty much a mess and the rest of me wasn't much better…and he didn't seem to recognize me as Phantom then but…" The superhero shook his head. "He's been like that for nearly a month now. Not fanboying or anything thank goodness but…nice…for him anyway."
"I don't think you have to worry Danny," Jazz said. "If he didn't figure it out within the first day his fine-detail memory of Phantom's human form is probably already gone."
"But he never stops picking on people," Tucker pointed out. "I mean he isn't even like Kwan who does it just to keep his spot on the A-list. Dash actually enjoys wailing on people for shits and giggles. Maybe he has figured things out and isn't telling anyone."
"Nah, it would have to get through that brick skull," said Sam.
"Dash hasn't ever been in a true life or death situation before the shrink ray," Jazz pointed out.
"Well, not like that. Probably reality's big punch in the face," Danny said.
"Exactly. Maybe just the punch he needed to mature a little out of his bullying tendencies. After all he did fail his hero and some part of him must have realized he survived only because of dumb luck. Often we learn more from our mistakes than our successes."
Danny reflexively clutched his arm. "If you say so Miss Successful; I'm not gonna hold my breath. Enjoy it while it lasts: yes. Believe that he's been converted to the friendship movement: no."
As the quartet left for Fentonworks, Dash followed them with contemplating eyes.
"Hey Kwan, you ever notice how much Fent-on looks like Phantom?"
AN: I'd like to thank everyone for their support and reviews. Your comments and questions shaped this story into something much better than what I'd written on my own! Thank you so much, I'm so grateful! As for Dash's little part-revelation…well we'll see what comes of that. Dash has gotten a much-needed knock upside the head by reality…which is why I had Jack Fenton save the day in the first place. He's exactly the sort of person who would do that accidentally and honestly 1) I couldn't see Dash stepping up to be the badass hero (at least not yet) and save Danny, that's too OoC. 2) If Dash did rescue Phantom his attitude wouldn't have changed, at least not as much as if he'd lost. Nothing teaches like failure and Dash, for all his physical prowess and football wins, failed when it counted most: with his hero.
PS: If you do become inspired to exercise, Tucker's advice of starting low and slow is much better than Sam's advice of starting marathons, just as several reviewers have said. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it even more than I did writing it!