(A/N)
Ah, I do seem to have lost track of when where and how to update properly…at least I'm writing another chapter, though!
See, I was a bit distracted by my own misery…a sprained ankle is no laughing matter! I sprained my right ankle rather badly playing Dance Dance Revolution not long after my last update, and have been wallowing in misery ever since. Also, I just couldn't get myself feeling creative with an injury like that…I'm feeling better now, though, so please excuse my tardiness!
I do not own Danny Phantom. I own only my original character…that mist in Danny's dreams (for those of you that don't feel like reading other people's reviews).
Phantom Nightmare
Chapter the Tenth
Phantom Nightmare
"I can't believe Jazz went off on a rant like that…I'll tell Mom and Dad when I'm good and ready," a white haired, green eyed ghost in a very recognizable and well publicized black jumpsuit muttered under his (optional) breath as he flew straight for Casper High School, possibly the most haunted building in the most haunted town in the United States of America.
Spotting his two friends walking along the sidewalk below him, Danny smirked mischievously and shifted his form out of the visible spectrum.
Phantom Nightmare
"I'm just a little worried about Danny," Sam replied to her electronically inclined friend in a defensive tone, "he's been a little distant lately…and he looks like he's getting even less sleep than usual!"
"Uh-huh…" Tucker mumbled, pressing buttons on a beeping PDA as he walked alongside the Goth.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Uh-huh, whatever you say, Sam…"
"Give me that!" the angry individualist snapped, yanking the device from her companion's hands.
"Hey, what was that for? I was almost to level 58, too…"
"That was for not listening!"
"Oh, right…what were we talking about again?"
"Danny! He's been acting funny!"
"Sam, you worry too much. Maybe ghosts have been attacking at night more, maybe he's going through some sort of ghost puberty, maybe his parents invented some sort of device to stop ghosts from getting their sleep and turn it on at night. Nothing serious."
"Well, maybe you don't worry enough, Tucker! What if something's horribly wrong and he hasn't told us because he doesn't want us to worry? What if something's horribly wrong and he hasn't even noticed it yet? What if…" the young woman trailed off and stopped walking as the temperature dropped, a sure sign that a ghost was around.
"What if what, Sam?" the ever oblivious techno geek asked, turning around to cock his head at his friend.
"What if…the guy you're talking about can hear everything you're saying?" Danny's voice came from thin air, and they could almost hear the cocky smirk that was bound to be on his face.
"Danny! What's the matter with you? You started acting funny a couple of days ago, and—"
"And nothing, Sam," the half ghost grinned, becoming visible and returning to human form after checking to make sure that no one was watching. "I'm fine, I've just been having a few nightmares, and I talked to Jazz about them. Nothing's the matter."
"See, Sam? You worry too much," Tucker's grin echoed Danny's as he chimed in. "Now, give me back my PDA and let's all get to school before we're late again."
Phantom Nightmare
"Fenton, Foley, Manson! Do you three have any particular reason to be late? A tardy slip, perhaps? Or shall I just put you all in detention…again?"
"Man, I hate having Mr. Lancer first period," Tucker groaned.
"No excuses? It's detention, then. I expect to see all three of you after school today, and I will be calling your parents."
"Yes, Mr. Lancer," the trio groaned, before sitting down to a grueling hour of English.
Phantom Nightmare
At lunch, the three people lowest on Casper High's student hierarchy sat together, discussing how odd the day had been so far.
"Dude, I can't believe Dash only shoved you in your locker once!" Tucker mumbled around his school-made cheeseburger.
"What I can't believe is that no ghosts have attacked the school today. I haven't seen one since last night—and they ran away when they realized that I'd noticed them," Danny replied after swallowing his rubbery macaroni and cheese.
"What I can't believe is that the two of you are actually eating cafeteria food. That's disgusting," Sam cut into the conversation, wrinkling her nose at the greasy trash cafeterias across the country tell teens is food and hastily taking a bite of her tofu salad.
"This is nasty? Just look at what you're eating! That is nasty!" the ever-carnivorous Tucker pointed at the salad.
Danny smiled to himself and ate in silence as he tuned out his friends' ongoing argument.
Phantom Nightmare
"I'm home!" the youngest Fenton called out as he walked through the front door of the Fenton household.
"That's great, Danny! Hey, if you're lucky, your mother and I might have a breakthrough to tell you about before you go to bed!" the Fenton patriarch shouted from the basement lab.
"'K, Dad," Danny yelled back.
As he reached the top of the stairs, the sight of an annoyed older sister, complete with crossed arms and tapping foot, greeted the teenaged hero.
"Danny, you need to tell Mom and Dad before you go to bed tonight," Jazz scowled, trying her best to look intimidating.
"I told you, Jazz, I'll tell them when I'm ready, and now is most definitely not the time—they're in the lab, working on something. I'm not going to tell them now! I'll wait until they're not so excited. It's not like there's an emergency and I need to tell them or something terrible will happen to me! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got homework to do."
The amateur psychologist glared at her little brother as he brushed past her and into his bedroom, slamming the door.
Phantom Nightmare
After doing his homework, surprisingly without ghostly interruptions, Danny closed his books and put everything away, then headed down to eat dinner with—or without—his family.
'Why is it almost always with?' he wondered, looking at the display his parents made at the kitchen table. His father was tinkering with a half finished tracking device with one hand and eating with the other, while his mother ignored her dinner in favor of calibrating a particularly nasty looking ecto gun.
Danny spent the meal in silence, practically bolting his food before standing up and announcing that he was going to bed, unwilling to spend any more time than absolutely necessary in the presence of his parents (and one or more ecto weapons).
Phantom Nightmare
Before going to bed, Danny checked his injury from the night before in the mirror and put fresh bandages on it. It was nearly healed. 'Looks like dream Fenton weapons don't work like real Fenton weapons. Thank goodness! I'll still have to be careful, though…a bad injury, or one in a hard to hide spot, could take a lot of explaining that I don't want to have to do.'
Sighing, the half ghost pulled on his pajamas and got into bed.
"No nightmares, no nightmares, no nightmares…third time's the charm, right? C'mon, peaceful sleep!"
Phantom Nightmare
(A/N)
OK, was that long enough for you? I hope it was, because it wrapped up everything I wanted to say in this chapter.
I think everyone knows what's coming in the next chapter…I'm following a very predictable pattern here!
Does anyone care to guess at what'll happen next? Correct predictions about the future will get you virtual prizes and a warm fuzzy feeling! Or, at least, I always get a warm fuzzy feeling when someone mentions me…is that just me?