Time in the Heart
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.
Christmas: All I want for Christmas is a box of Smurfs and a mallet.
Forgotten Shadow
About three years had passed since Danny had arrived in the human world. He was now ten years of age.
The boy had grown like a sprig, but remained scrawny and small. His raven hair was always in need of cutting and his clothes were too baggy. Perfectly normal.
Maddie opened the door to the school office and sighed when she saw Danny sitting on the bench. "Plum or the ring?" she asked.
"Ring, this time," Danny said, looking down at his right hand. "Dash tried to steal it from me, but it electrocuted him."
"A mild zap, I hope?" Maddie queried.
"Well, his hair glows in the dark," Danny confided, grinning.
Mother and son had a good laugh before she went in to see Principal Skyler, the new school 'head boss' as Danny put it.
"Mrs. Fenton, your son is disruptive, destroys school property, and does not have the basic fundamentals someone his age should have in education," Principal Skyler began, as soon as the door was shut.
Maddie listened as he outline cases where Danny was always being followed around by a shadow, people were scared of him, and he was in violation of school policy which forbade boys wearing jewelry to school.
"The ring was a gift to him," Maddie interrupted his tirade. "Danny has had it for so long that it won't come off. I heard about what happened with the Baxter boy. You should be more concerned with school bullies than with what my son does."
The principal flushed with embarrassment. "Mrs. Fenton..."
"Maybe I should home school Danny instead," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"T-that won't be necessary," Principal Skyler stuttered.
"Goodbye, then," she rose to her feet and left a stunned school principal wondering what had just happened.
Maddie Fenton may be a crackpot, but she was a formidable one.
"Come on, Danny. Plum drop the invisibility act; I know you're there," she said to the empty air beside his head.
"Bad man not hurt Danny?" Plum asked.
"No, but neither are you two staying here for the rest of the day," Maddie said. "Go and collect your homework."
"Plum!" Danny shouted, echoing his pet.
Maddie's mouth twitched slightly. She loved the boy dearly. She was proud of him and of Plum. Plum had nearly doubled his vocabulary since arriving and could string together sentences, albeit incorrect grammar, but they were working on that. He didn't always say 'plum' any more either. Plum had also learned to turn invisible to avoid unnecessary staring.
Maddie sighed. Maybe it was time to try and locate Danny's birth parents again.
So, far no evidence had ever turned up that they had ever even existed.
Most strange indeed.
Alice and Jorge were on the petitioner's bench awaiting audience with King Pariah.
The doors swung open to reveal the Fright Knight slice a neat gash in Prince Aragon's armor with the Soul Shredder. The Dragon Prince screamed, then vanished.
Turning his helmeted head to the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady, he smiled.
"You may enter," he said in cool overtones.
"I don't like it when he smiles," Alice whispered.
"Never bodes well," Jorge agreed, as they entered the doors.
"Alice, Jorge, welcome," King Pariah greeted them warmly.
"Majesty," they bowed.
"How is young Danny abiding on the earth?" the Ghost King asked.
"The Ring of Rage is the recent subject of Danny's tussle with the school bully," Jorge said.
"Youngblood was just there, unseen," Alice added. "We have Apricot and Youngblood taking turns watching out for him. Ember too, if I believe."
"Hmm, so that's where she disappears to," Pariah Dark muttered.
"And the Fentons' plans for the ghost portal?" came the query.
"They keep getting the calculations wrong," Jorge said. "I've watched them work on it several evenings ago."
"I see," King Pariah said. "Thank you."
Both knew a dismissal when they saw one and took their leave of the Ghost King's palace.
"You're mine now, whelp!" were the first words to greet Danny when he opened the bedroom door.
"Not you again!" he yelled, flinging his bag at the robotic ghost, who always chasing him.
"Mom, Skulker's in the house!" he yelled, running down the stairs and into the living room. A launched missile exploded into the television, showering the room with sparks.
"Hey, I was watching that!" Jack Fenton glared at the intruder.
"Not sorry," Skulker said, giving chase to the Fenton boy.
"Give up, whelp, there's no place you can hide," he said, cornering the boy by the kitchen fridge.
"Guess again," the whelp answered, opening the door. "Sic 'em!"
Skulker's screams as the ecto-weiners attacked him brought a smile to Jack Fenton's face. "That's my boy! This is way better than watching television."
He and Maddie had decided long ago that Danny was to deal with this particular ghost himself. The boy proved to be quite agile and learned by instinct and reflex, even if he couldn't pass gym.