AN: I'm glad people are enjoying this. Thanks so much for the reviews. They aren't much, but they do help. I love feedback!
I don't own Danny Phantom. I do, however, own the OCs that show up here, just not their last names. Ben is mine, and I guess Andrew and Sara are mine as well.
Even through the dense brick wall and heavy door, I could still make out a few words that were definitely being shouted on the other side.
"Ghost!"
"Andrew, dear, I highly doubt there's a ghost on our front porch-"
"No, look! That girl is way too spooky-ooky to be a human!"
I glared at the door, trying not to divert the hard gaze to the camera above our heads that I deftly noticed.
Danny, on the other hand, seemed to be having a hard time fighting back laughter, and had we not been under strict surveillance, well-let's just say things would have been different.
Finally I heard a different voice, one that was most likely going to save my skin from being blasted in the hope that I was a ghost.
"Dad, I'll get it. Go eat the fudge Mom bought yesterday." This male was younger, with a higher voice.
"Ooh! Fudge!" Easily distracted. Just as I remembered Andrew Fenton.
Finally the door swung open and there stood a blond male about my age. His piercing blue eyes met my amethyst, and I was dully reminded of someone else.
"Can I help you?" The male finally spoke carefully, studying me, trying to figure out if he knew me.
"Umm, hi, I don't know if you remember me but-" I began, but was quickly cut off by the blond.
"Sam? Is that you?" his voice was somewhat incredulous, but at the same time, I could tell that he wasn't too surprised. After all, I pretty much looked the same way I did when I was a child, save the whole growing up part.
"Hey Ben," I cracked a weak smile. What? Smiling just wasn't my thing. Before I could get anything else out though, I saw a big cheeky grin before I was squished.
And by squished I mean pulled into a great big bear hug.
Fortunately for me, Ben wasn't very stocky, just tall. But still, there was a reason I didn't like hugs, or any breech of personal space for that matter. Seeing as I hadn't seen my friend in over ten years though, I figured I could suck it up and deal. Plus, I was about to ask a huge favor. And tell him everything. So yeah, I could deal.
I stole a quick glance at Danny, who looked rather-pouty? That was odd.
Ben's grip was becoming awfully constricting, and I coughed slightly. "Too-tight," I managed to choke out, which got Ben to let me go rather quickly, apologizing with a goofy grin.
As if on cue, he became aware that I had brought a stranger to his doorstep. "This is Danny Elliot," I spoke quickly. The last name caught Danny by surprise, but he did his best to go along with it.
"Ben Fenton, nice to meet you." The two shook hands, albeit rather awkwardly seeing as Danny was still surprised that someone else saw him. "Come on in," he then added, although it felt like the offer was assumed as we followed him inside.
As we walked into the living room, I saw a woman in an odd-looking suit that reminded me of spandex. Well, at least I knew that the family was still in the ghost hunting business.
She seemed to notice us as well, and she was studying me hard for a moment. "Little Sammy Manson, is that you dear?" I grimaced at the nickname my parents loved to torture me with. Danny, on the other hand, was sniggering, obviously going to use the same nickname later to get on my nerves.
"Hi, Mrs. Fenton," I replied meekly, giving another small grin. She, too, decided a hug was in order, but it was much more careful and didn't hurt my vital organs, something I was grateful for. This time Danny introduced himself, lingering on the last name as if it was foreign, but she seemed to buy it anyway.
"I'm Sam's friend, Danny Elliot."
"Oh, nice to meet you!" she replied, and I could tell that she was glad I made a relatively normal-looking friend. "So, what brings you here? We haven't seen you since you moved over ten years ago!"
Still, the woman showed no signs of malice or contempt for us randomly showing up on the doorstep, and I was grateful.
"Well...it's kind of a long story, and I think we ought to sit down," I replied slowly, my face falling as I began to think back to everything that had happened.
I could see the look of concern on both the Fentons in front of me, to which Mrs. Fenton nodded, gesturing to the couch. "Please, take a seat. Would you care for anything to drink?" I shook my head, as did Danny.
First it was just Danny, Ben, and myself seated around the coffee table as Mrs. Fenton was in the kitchen, no doubt dealing with her one-track mind husband.
"So, what happened?" Ben asked tentatively, curious as to what exactly was about to be said.
"Ghosts plotting an apocalypse," I returned plainly, my face deadpanning.
Ben was confused at first. I could see he wasn't sure if I was joking and he should laugh, or take me seriously. Finally, he inhaled deeply. "Mom, you need to come in here."
"What is it sweetie?" I heard the woman as she emerged from the kitchen. Ben seemed to make a small face at the fact that she still used pet names, but didn't say anything about it.
Ben glanced at me, a silent plead for me to be the one to say it, since I had more information on the situation, so I sighed. "We have information that has led us to believe there's going to be an attack on our world," I began slowly, glancing at Danny who, oddly enough, seemed to be urging me on. I guess he decided it was okay to trust these people. Plus, they were rather fun to have conversations with.
Slowly Mrs. Fenton sat down, also urging me on gently.
"We came to you because-well, you're the only people we know who specialize in weapons and defense in relation to the paranormal."
Mrs. Fenton sat there for a long time, not saying anything, like she was in shock. Finally, she gathered her thoughts back together. "You're saying that you have information about ghosts planning an attack on us?" I guess that was a good way to sum it up.
I nodded slowly, grimacing. "More like taking control of Earth and killing any human that protests."
They both seemed shocked still, so I figured I should take a different approach. "Do you know of a ghost called Plasmius?"
Danny tensed up at the name. Ben also looked a bit fearful now, and it was Mrs. Fenton's turn to nod slowly. "He has...attacked us before. Sometimes he'll show up in Amity Park, sometimes he'll come here. We don't know why, and we can't destroy him."
"He's behind this," I returned softly, looking down. I really didn't like talking about the guy that nearly killed me; then again, we were seeking the Fentons' help, so they needed to know.
"How exactly did you come to this conclusion?" Mrs. Fenton was not about to take the information lightly, and I didn't really think she was going to accept it full on.
"It's a rather long story," I paused glancing at Danny, wanting reassurance that it was ok to talk about the subject. He gave a small nod, knowing fully well the mental question I had posed, and I sighed, looking back to the other Fentons.
"I guess I should start with the fact that I'm a Medium." Mrs. Fenton gasped slightly, obviously not expecting that to come out of my mouth. Ben looked somewhat confused though, so I figured I'd explain it to him. "I can see ghosts in our plane, in our dimension. They look solid, they sound solid, and usually I can touch them."
"Why didn't you tell us before? I can't even begin to imagine a child having to live through such a frightful experience." Mrs. Fenton seemed disturbed that I had kept this to myself for so long, and I felt a bit guilty. I could have come to them. I knew they were ghost hunters, even when I was a child.
"Well, when I was little, I didn't really know," I started slowly, this time not daring a glance at Danny. "I was under the impression that I had an imaginary friend. For a few years I believed that was all he was, but when I grew out of the 'imaginary friend' phase and realized he was still around, I guess that's when I knew."
Ben, this time, was the concerned one. "Did this ghost hurt you?" Again, I felt Danny tense up a bit at the accusation, knowing it was him that was being talked about.
I gave a small laugh in spite of the situation. "No, no. He was my best friend. You guys vaguely remember my parents, right? They were always about social status. And when I was little, I was pretty isolated from the real world. They didn't approve of spending time at a public park or anything like that, so I was stuck in my house with maids and butlers.
"When-when James showed up," I quickly substituted names, not wanting them to draw any conclusions to the young man seated next to me, "I was grateful that I finally had someone who understood me and would spend time with me. Not because I had money, but because he wanted a friend too.
"When he started talking about the Civil War, well, that's when I knew he was a ghost. I mean, I was six, I wouldn't have known about it in order to imagine it up myself. Of course, my parents were startled and upset that I was constantly talking to 'no one,' so I saw a bunch of shrinks and doctors. Of course, none of them came to the conclusion that I was a Medium. Just some attention-seeking kid.
"I guess when I turned eight, that's when everything started happening. My ghost friend kept saying 'he's coming to get me,' and one day I found out what he meant. This other ghost showed up, Plasmius. He took James. He was the reason we ended up moving."
They had all sat in silence, listening to the beginning of the long story that was slowly unfolding. Finally Ben spoke up. "Is he the reason you were in the hospital in a coma for a week?"
I looked down, nodding, not bothering to meet Danny's now questioning and aggravated gaze. I had decided not to tell him about what Plasmius had done to me, and now he knew that something happened, something I neglected to mention.
Mrs. Fenton, thankfully, said something before Danny did, however I'm not sure I'm all that grateful for the interruption. "The hospital? Oh dear, what did he do?"
"Well," I started slowly, looking up at the woman. "He had claw-like nails, and he cut me across my stomach. Considering the fact that I was eight, it kind of did some damage."
She nodded knowingly and paused, no doubt thinking over everything I had just said. "So this first ghost, the young one, he wasn't dangerous?" I could tell she was surprised. Their family was a group of ghost hunters, not investigators, and they all believed that spirits that still came to Earth had bad intentions.
I shook my head in response. "Not that I know of. He was really kind. Plus, he was a child. I don't think he really understood what he could do." I gave a small shrug, still feeling odd about talking about Danny as if he wasn't here.
"So, what does this have to do with this plot to take over the world?" Ben asked softly, trying to sort everything out.
"Well, you see, I occasionally go on investigations with a group. They like me going because I'm a Medium and all. We went to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, where I encountered a certain spirit from my childhood."
"So you mean to say you met the same child ghost from before?" Mrs. Fenton asked politely.
"Yes, in a way. But he didn't remember anything from his past. Plasmius showed up there, obviously trying to take the ghost back again. We ended up accidentally falling into the Ghost realm."
There was a collective gasp. "You have been in the ghost dimension? Oh, this is wonderful! I mean, from the scientific viewpoint," Mrs. Fenton added, smiling softly.
"Yeah, it was weird. But anyway, we ended up getting out, and we called one of my friends who is great with computers to find information on Plasmius. That lead us to hack into his computer files," I added, giving a sheepish smile, knowing that it was, in essence, illegal.
"That's where we found...some interesting stuff. Plasmius has been doing experiments on other ghosts, which is why he took my friend."
"Do you know why he would be doing that?" Ben then chimed in, and I nodded grimly.
"There's a whole lot more to this story than meets the eye..."