"I hate Mondays," I groaned, waiting in line to get my lunch.
"Dude, that's the fiftieth time today that you've said that," Tucker replied next to me as one of the lunch ladies plopped sloppy joes onto his tray.
I turned to him in surprise. "…Seriously?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No," he replied after bypassing the lunch lady spooning out cooked vegetables. "It's more like the dozenth time you've said it." He waited for me to get my vegetables before continuing. "Was your math test that bad?"
I groaned. "Please don't remind me," I whined.
"Dreadful, huh?"
"Yeah…"
"Should've studied, dude," Tucker snickered as he grabbed a carton of chocolate milk. I glared at him.
"Says the guy who dragged me off to play Destiny all weekend long," I grumbled, also grabbing a carton of chocolate-induced milk. And just at that moment, my arms became numbed. "Oh, no…"
My lunch tray crashed onto the ground.
For a solid minute, I stood there, just seething at the mess. At these stupid powers. At ghosts in general!
"Yeah, you do need to learn how to control…your powers," Tucker said, breaking me out of my stupor. I didn't even bother to answer as I crouched down and began to pick up the mess, Tucker helping me for a bit before the janitor came and cleaned the rest. I slouched back into the lunch line, Tucker standing beside me, chatting about the new Destiny game that we played all weekend.
"I think we can beat that level," Tucker continued as we walked over to our table, where Sam was already sitting. "We just need to upgrade some of our equipment."
"I know, Tuck," I replied, sitting down next to Sam. "But the thing is, we need a strategy." Tucker gave me a dubious look. "I mean a better one, Tuck. We keep on getting our butts handed to us."
"You know, I can play with you guys," Sam added. "An extra player helps a bit, right?"
"Sorry, Sam, but I hardly doubt you'llunderstand what we'll be talking about through the headset," Tucker said right away. "We don't want you to fall behind."
"Yeah, what he said," I agreed, and I didn't even need to look at her to know that there was a dark scowl on her face. "Besides, these players are pros. You'll be overwhelmed within seconds." And right as I said that, my hands turned intangible, causing my sloppy joe sandwich to splat on my tray.
"And speaking of pros," Sam said with a sly smirk, "didn't you practice your powers this weekend?"
"Err…"
"Oh, come on, Sam," Tucker exclaimed a bit too loudly, then began whispering softly. "So what if Danny didn't practice his powers? It's not like you're his mom or something."
Sam groaned, shaking her head. "But what if something bad happens?" she said sternly. "What if someone finds out about his powers? That ghosts exist?" She turned to me. "I thought you were serious about this."
"I am!" I yelped, my hands rising in surrender. The last thing I needed right now was Sam chewing me off. "I just…got distracted. That's all!"
She held her glare at me until she sighed. "Danny… I just don't want you to get hurt," she said quietly.
I paused, wondering why she sounded so worried…and sad. "Hey, I won't get hurt, Sam," I told her, a small smile spreading across my face. My hand touched her arm, and her eyes snapped onto mine. "I promise."
A small smile crept onto her face.
"Lovebirds," I heard Tucker mutter under his breath
Sputtering and flustered, I said, "We're not lovebirds!"
"Tucker!" Sam shouted, her face also pink, but full of anger.
Tucker yelped and scooted away from Sam. "Don't hurt me!" he whimpered, knowing full well of Sam's physical strength.
"Then stop calling us that!" She stood up from her seat, nearly screaming at him. Tucker gulped and nodded silently. Sam breathed for a moment, before sitting back down, Tucker joining us only after he was sure that Sam had cooled off. We ate in silence until Sam broke it.
"But you do need to practice using your powers, Danny," she said quietly.
I paused from eating a fry, frowning. "Why do I need to practice using them?" I asked her. "I just need to learn how to control them."
She shrugged, replying with a nonchalant, "Same thing."
"No, it isn't," I grumbled, "It sounds more like that whole superhero thing again."
Sam only shrugged again, and continued eating.
"Dude," Tucker began, "if you do learn how to use your powers, then think of all of the stuff that you can do!"
I paused long enough to give him a deadpanned look. "Like what? Truly be invisible?" I asked out of spite.
Tucker just shook his head, smirking. "No… Well, invisible so that Dash can't bully you in the hallways," Tucker pointed out. I blinked, realizing that he had a point. "You can use your intangibility to go through walls…get out of the classroom…heck, even to grab your books from your locker without even opening it. And…" he bent low, speaking quietly, "you can even sneak a peek in the girl's locker room and see-" but Tucker didn't get to finish as a yelp screamed out of his throat.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Sam growled, glaring darkly before she turned to me with the same look, "and don't you even think about doing it..!" I raised my hands peacefully.
"I won't, I swear on my deathbed," I quickly said. I heard Tucker snickering in the background as Sam slowly turned her gaze back onto her food.
The rest of lunch passed in silence with an occasional comment here and there. Once we were done, we cleaned off our trays before leaving the lunchroom and going upstairs to the second floor, where we usually hang out for the rest of lunch time before our afternoon classes begin.
"I'm telling ya Danny," Tucker began. "We need to get that rapid-fire power-up in level three so that we can toast the boss in level four."
"Yeah, but Tuck, in case you haven't noticed, we always get creamed when we try to get into the maze for that power up," I said. "We need to figure out a different way – or find a different power up – that would allow us to defeat the level four boss without getting creamed ourselves."
"You know guys," Sam said, "There is a walkthrough book that you guys can get."
"Psh," Tucker sounded, "please, Sam. True gamers don't use walkthroughs."
"Oh really?" Sam responded through gritted teeth, her hands clenched in tight fists.
I sighed, knowing what was about to happen. I calmly placed myself between my two best friends.
"Now, now guys," I began, "do we really-"
My throat went to ice in an instant. Gasping, blue mist left my mouth and trailed away, the three of us watching it as it trailed away.
"Uh oh," I mumbled, my teeth clattering.
"Hey, is it just me," Sam began to say, but faltered as the hallway grew colder, as if someone turned on the A/C to "Arctic Blast." "Is it just me, or whenever that mist comes out of your mouth…" She paused, a shiver overtaking her entire body.
"A ghost always appears…" she finished with clattering teeth.
As if on cue, a high pitched masculine laugh echoed throughout the hallway, sending chills down my spine.
"I think we should le-" I began to say, but stopped when something caught my eye.
A floating box.
…I'm pretty sure that the expression on my face was hilarious, just a blank shocked look that screamed "am I high or something?" I stared numbly at the box defying gravity, absolutely confused as to how it was floating.
It was then that I noticed Sam and Tucker also staring at the levitating box; and I'm pretty sure that they had the exact same face as I did.
"How in the-"
"Ah-ha!" that same otherworldly voice echoed loudly. More boxes appeared out of nowhere, and instinctively, Sam, Tucker, and I stepped closer together, backing into a wall of lockers behind us.
"Yes, humans! Tremble!" that same voice echoed, boxes surrounding us. "Tremble before the power of…."
Some humanoid blue thing phased through the floor, crimson eyes gleefully staring at us.
"The BOX GHOST!" the pudgy dull blue man declared.
I think we all blinked at the same time.
"Wha?" Sam said, utterly puzzled. The floating man smirked at us.
"Ah-ha! Your fear over my powers over everything square has left you speechless!" the man stuttered out. He then began to laugh – which was the most annoying sound I've ever heard in my life.
"D-d-dude," Tucker uttered out, his green-teal eyes glancing over to mine. "D-didja heard h-his name…?" he asked me, the corner of his mouth tugging a little bit. I gave Tucker the "please don't go insane on me" look, but I nodded nonetheless.
And then he laughed.
Both Sam's gaze and mine snapped to Tucker in horror. I wondered why Sam wasn't hitting him to shut up, but then again she might be too shocked to do anything, so I decided to nudge him.
"Tuckerrrrr," I whispered through gritted teeth, still nudging him. "Shut uppppp."
"W-why?" Tucker asked in-between laughs. "H-his name…is so….stupid!"
"Tuck!" I yelped, my eyes shifting towards the ghostly man.
His face was oddly blank, staring at Tucker.
"What…did you say?" the ghost asked almost too quietly.
Tucker paused his laughing, and I saw him out of the corner of my eyes, wiping his eye with his hand.
"I said," Tucker began with a smirk on his face, "that your name is stupid! I mean, come on! The Box Ghost? Creative much?"
The ghost continued to stare at Tuck with a puzzled expression.
Then…
"Puny human!" the ghost roared angrily, wind suddenly whipping through the hallway, papers flying in the strong current. "How dare you mock the Box Ghost? Now you shall pay…with your Doom!"
The wind whipped up again as boxes rose menacingly, poised as if ready to shoot at us.
My throat was too dry to even try to scream, my feet frozen to the ground.
"RUN!" Sam screamed, breaking me out of my stupor. Automatically, I was running, with Sam in front and Tucker rushing to catch up.
"Puny humans!" the ghost roared from behind us. I chanced a glance behind us at the ghost, watching as the boxes steadied themselves when he raised his arms. "How dare you try to run from your Doom?!"
And the boxes shot right at us.
"Duck!" I yelped as I barely dodged a hurling cardboard box. I heard a yelp from Tucker, and his footsteps staggered a bit before regaining his momentum. We rounded a corner, watching as the boxes plowed right into the wall, crushing each other.
"W-what are we g-gonna do?" Tucker panted out, sweat dripping down his face.
"I-I don't know!" Sam exclaimed, also panting slightly. She turned to me. "Danny?" I shook my head.
"Nuh-uh," I panted out. I noticed Sam's look on her face, about to respond, but I interrupted her. "This is totally different, Sam. It's not a lion. Not a weird floating…burger. It's a person."
"A dead person!" Tucker interjected, but I ignored him.
"Plus he has powers!" I paused. "Over boxes!" I added, knowing that to anyone else it might've sounded lame to say that. "And all I have is-"
"Ghost powers, Danny!" Sam shouted at me, grabbing my collar and dragging me closer to her face. "You have ghost powers, Danny! So stop fighting against us, and start fighting against it!"
I heard a couple more boxes slamming against the wall, the ghost's chuckling echoing closer.
"B-but Sam," I whined, "I-I'm scared."
Wow, pathetic much? I immediately thought to myself.
"Would you rather have Tucker and I get hurt?" she whispered, a strange sort of sadness glowed in her eyes. I stared at her expression. Some sort of tugging started in my heart – in the core of my soul.
"No," I answered without hesitation.
I knew, deep down, that I would never forgive myself if they got hurt…
A ghost of a smile crossed Sam's purple lips. "Then what are you waiting for?" she asked me, letting my collar go. "Go kick some ghost butt!"
"And we'll be waiting over there," Tucker added, tugging Sam away. "Good luck!" he called out. I watched them about to turn a corner when a group of floating boxes blocked their way.
"Hey!" the ghost yelled from behind me. "You're not supposed to run away from your Doom!"
"They're not running away from their 'Doom'," I responded, turning around to face the ghost with burning green eyes, "because there won't be any!"
Miraculously, I managed to transform with hardly any effort. The ghost's face was in pure shock, and I decided to use this moment to my advantage once the halos had vanished.
"Hey, you're-" he began, only for me to punch him in his face. Quickly, I brought my foot around midair to kick him, connecting with his side easily. He flew into the wall between two classroom doors; a sickening crunch came from broken plaster from the decades-old wall.
I felt a smirk appearing on my face. Maybe this won't be too hard…
"Hey," I called out cockily. "Aren't you packaged by your return add-ahhh!" I yelped when a few heavy boxes slammed into my back, and the next thing I knew, I had my face planted into the hallway tile.
So much for witty banter, I thought to myself.
My arms flailed as I tried to recover; however, a large hand grabbed the back of my suit and yanked me upwards. I was met with an increasingly familiar blue face.
"Hey!" I yelped, straining to free myself from the ghost's grasp. "Let go of me!" I glared at him, but he only stared back with a blank expression. "What's your deal?!"
"Deal?" the ghost echoed softly as his eyes narrowed. "The deal is," he began to shout out dramatically, "the Almighty Powerful Box Ghost wants…!
"To know what your name is!"
I stared at him with an expression that clearly said 'what the heck?'
"What…are you talking about?" I asked when the ghost obviously didn't get my facial message.
"I want to know your name!" the ghost echoed, trying to sound scary. "So that I can personally give you your Doom!"
"Oooookayyy?" I said. "It's Danny Fen-"
I paused.
Why the heck was I gonna give a ghost my name!?
"Danny Fen?" the ghost repeated with a frown on his face, releasing me from his hold. "That's a terrible name."
"Hey! Is not!" I retorted with a deep glare. The ghost gave me a dubious look in return.
"Danny Fen?"
"No! That is not my name!" I told the ghost, who frowned.
"What? Danny Fen is not your name?"
"No! It is, but…I didn't get to finish!" I sputtered out, resisting the temptation to face palm myself.
"But you did," the ghost pointed out. "You stop when you said 'Danny Fen'."
I couldn't help myself; I face palmed, dragging my hand down my face in utter frustration.
"Look, Mr.-"
"My name is The Box Ghost!"
"Okay, whatever. Box Ghost, I didn't meant to say that," I told the floating ghost, pausing only to realize the bizarreness of this entire situation. We stopped fighting, only for him to know my name...?
"Then what is your name, Danny Fen?" he asked me with his arms crossed.
"Listen, it's not Fen!" I snapped at him. "It's Danny…Danny Fent-" I paused, glancing around to find a better name.
Lockers, floor, fluorescent light bulbs, a poster of the drama club's play, boxes…
Waitaminute!
I glanced back at the poster of the upcoming play. One particular word jumped at me from the title. I silently mouthed the word, tasting it before I spoke.
"…Phantom."
"Huh?" the ghost questioned. "What did you say?"
I took a deep breath.
"I said, my name's Phantom," I told him in a final tone. "Just Phantom. Nothing else."
He blinked at me before responding, "That's not original at all."
My jaw literally fell open.
"What?!" I shouted. "Phantom's not original?! How is that?!"
"Cuz, it's a typical ghost name," the ghost snorted with a wave of his gloved hand. "Totally unoriginal."
"Says the ghost whose name is the Box Ghost," I muttered darkly. He must've heard me because I could've sworn I saw his eyes flashed a brighter red.
"Foolish child!" the ghost roared. The blue energy came back brighter, surrounding his form once more as forgotten boxes rose in the air. I tensed up, ready to dodge for my life... my afterlife…? "I will personally bring you to your Doom…..Danny Phantom!"
I let my guard down in shock and irritation.
"Hey! I said it's just-!" I didn't get to finish, instead opting to avoiding getting hit by the suddenly speeding boxes shooting towards me. I managed to dodge the first few, but once one grazed me, another slammed into my shoulder, and another in my gut. "Ouch…" I murmured before I saw a huge group of boxes hovering over me.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled before the pile fell out of the air. I tried to bolt out of the way, but gravity was against me and the boxes slammed me onto the floor.
I struggled under the weight of the mountain of cardboard containers; some of them – I'm pretty sure – were storing piles of copy paper. I kept on pushing through, yelping whenever a corner would stab hard in my side or in my eye. And after what felt like forever, I finally busted out of the mountain of cardboard.
"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried just beyond the foot of the cardboard boxes.
"Guys!" I yelled gleefully, easing my way out of the pile of boxes as if I was walking through a ball pit. I was relieved to see that they were safe and sound. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine, dude," Tucker replied, holding out a hand. I grabbed it without hesitation, and he finished pulling me out of the deathtrap.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, glancing over me. I waved her off.
"I'm fine, Sam," I told her, pausing for a moment. "Though I might have some bruising from the stupid boxes poking my sides."
Tucker snickered. "Dude, you got beat up by a pile of boxes," he crackled.
I rolled my eyes. "Ignoring that," I said. "Besides, where did that ghost go?" I glanced around our surroundings, trying to spot that blue hued ghost.
"I don't see it anywhere," Sam said once she was done looking around the vicinity.
"Me either, dude," Tucker agreed. "Plus the A/C isn't demented anymore."
"He's right. It's not cold anymore," Sam said with furrowed eyebrows. I still glanced around, but even that weird wisp didn't appear.
"Great. Just great," I groaned, wiping my hand down my face while I transformed back into my human self. "Another ghost got away. Perfect."
"Hey, don't worry, dude," Tucker said. "We'll get that ghost back into the Ghost Zone."
"Yeah, and in the meantime, we can walk away before anyone finds us with this pile of boxes," Sam pointed out. I looked back at the boxes, frowning.
"Good point," I said, leading my friends away from the mountain of cardboard. Luckily for us, we were on the other side of the hallway when the bell ringed. And for the rest of the day, people kept on talking about whose idea of a prank it was to have a pile of cardboard boxes in middle of a hallway.
The last bell of the day rang, and everyone ran out of the classroom. I calmly walked out, knowing that Sam and Tucker would be waiting for me at my locker. And as soon as I turned the corner, there they were, chatting about something.
"Hey, Danny," Sam said as soon as I was within hearing distance, well at least for them. Tucker turned around to face me.
"Hey, dude," he greeted. "Did you see that ghost again?" I shook my head, spinning the lock to my locker.
"Nah, it's been quiet," I replied, stuffing a couple of books away.
"No weird mist that comes out of your mouth?"
"No weird mist either," I agreed. I paused, frowning to myself as I shut the locker door. "Besides, I wonder why that weird mist keeps appearing whenever a ghost is around…"
"Maybe it's your ghoooost sense," Tucker said in a mock ghost voice.
"That's not funny, Tuck," I deadpanned.
"No, maybe Tucker's right, Danny," Sam said. I stared at Sam, slack jawed along with Tucker. Sam looked between us, frowning at our mirrored expressions. "What?"
"Tucker's right?" I murmured almost horrified.
"I'm right?!" Tucker exclaimed in amazement. Sam rolled her eyes at us, obviously not understanding the severity of admitting that Tucker was right for once.
"Yes, Tucker's right, okay?" Sam said with annoyance lacing her voice. An impish grin spread across Tucker's face as he turned to me.
"Heard that Danny? I'm right. I'm always right," he told me proudly. Then he yelped when Sam stomped on his foot.
"Stop it, Tucker," Sam said in annoyance. "I only agreed with you because it actually makes sense!"
"It does?" Tucker and I said at the same time. Sam face palmed, shaking her head while muttering under breath. It suspiciously sounded like "Idiots. I'm surrounded by clueless idiots." She drew in a long deep breath before she looked at us again.
"Think about it guys," she started as she began to walk away, Tucker and I automatically following right beside her. "Every time that mist appears out of Danny's mouth, a ghost shows up soon afterwards. It must be warning you that a ghost's nearby – thus a 'ghost sense'."
"If you put it that way, then it does sound reasonable," I said as we exited through the school doors.
"Unless," Tucker began with a devious smirk, "every time Danny breathes out that mist, he brings a ghost into our world." This time, I decided to elbow him in his side. "Dude! It was just a joke!"
"Then that had to be the worst joke ever," I said irritably, taking a breath afterwards to calm myself. "Sorry," I added, looking at Tuck. He flashed me a smile and an eye roll, basically saying 'it's no big deal'. "So, anything else?"
One of Sam's eyebrows rose. "What?" she questioned.
"Anything else we've figured out with…?" I clarified, gesturing to myself. Sam was quiet, thinking as yet another grin spread across Tucker's face. Frowning at Tucker, I said teasingly, "You know, if you keep grinning like that it's gonna get stuck there."
"But, Danny! I just remembered what you told that ghost!" Tucker exclaimed ecstatic. Both Sam and I exchange a somewhat fearful glance.
"Uh, what exactly did I say?" I asked, a bit curious. Frankly, I don't remember the entire fight with the Box Ghost, even though it had only happened a few hours ago. I can recall mostly the running and then getting pummeled by boxes – which isn't the most frightening thing, but it sure did leave a few bruises here and there. Luckily, by the beginning of last period, the bruises were nearly gone.
Thank goodness for super healing abilities.
"You told him your name! Your superhero name!"
I blanched.
"I don't have a superhero name, Tuck!" I shouted angrily at him. Instead of flinching, Tucker grinned at me, crossing his arms.
"You do now," he said. "You told the ghost that your name's Danny Phantom."
"Which isn't really the best alias," Sam added. "Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom. They're too similar." I rolled my eyes at them.
"Guys, I only said that so that he'd let me go," I told them.
"That and you were scared," Tucker corrected me with a smirk.
Now glaring at my best friend, I added, "Besides, it's just Phantom. He's the one who keeps on saying my first name with it."
Tucker only shook his head, the grin still glued to his face. He wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders, her face twisted in minor disgust at being used as a human arm rest.
"Ah, the origins of a superhero," Tucker said blissfully as Sam moved his arm off of her. "Is there anything else so grand and exciting?"
Sam gave me a concerned look, but I waved it off. Tucker was just in superhero nerd mode at the moment, and sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if he started drooling. I would be doing the same thing…if it was happening to someone else instead of me.
"Hey, Tucker," I called out, snapping my fingers in front of his face. "This isn't ComicCon. This is me – your best friend – you're drooling over."
That snapped him out of it.
"I'm not drooling over you," he snapped, swiping my hand away. "Now if you were a female…"
"Ewww," Sam and I said at the same time. I felt myself flicker out of the visible plane, but only momentarily.
"Dude, let's not ever speak of this again," I said, covering my face in utter horror. I pushed the potential image away from my imagination.
"Agreed," Sam said her face paler than usual.
"You're only agreeing because you have a crush on-" Tucker ended in a yelp when Sam purposely kicked him in his shins. He bent over and rubbed the injured spots. "Ow, what is this? Physical Abuse on Tucker Day?"
"Then shut up," Sam nearly growled.
"Yes, I agree, shut up," I added. Tucker rolled his eyes, but strangely obeyed. However, not even a minute later, he spoke up, "I wonder where that ghost went…"
"The Box Ghost?" I asked. He nodded and I shrugged my shoulders in return. "Don't know. Maybe he went back to the Ghost Zone?" Now that would be nice.
"Probably not," Sam said, wrecking my hope. "I mean, why would he come out of the Ghost Zone just to bother you and then go right back home? I think he's still here, in our realm. Hiding somewhere…"
"But," I interrupted Sam's train of thought, "he could've just done that and gone home. Who knows how a ghost acts? Maybe they do go home after they're done raining terror."
"Danny," Sam began, "we know how your luck usually goes."
I frowned, knowing exactly what she was saying. Just when things look like they'll be okay, karma goes and bites me in the butt. It's almost like the whole universe is always against me.
"Maybe I'll get lucky and he did go home," I countered as we entered Nasty Burger. Sam only rolled her eyes in irritation while Tucker zoomed up to the front and ordered some snacks. I smiled victoriously. Sometimes, I do get some good luck every now and then.
Later that night, I found out that I'm never that lucky.
Hey Everyone!
First thing's first, I must say my thanks to Schaemine for beta reading this story. With her extra hard work, my grammar won't be able to torment any Grammar Enthusiasts.
Second thing I must say, I'm really sorry for not updating. It's a mixture of real life and having writer's block. But I am trying to get this story done by the end of this year.
And last but not least, for Lent this year I'm not only giving up pop but also fanfiction (but it's one of the sources of my procrastination). That means: no reading, no reviewing, and no posting (this one chapter I an exception because I haven't updated in forever).
I hope you guys are doing well, and thank you guys so much for all of your patience! You guys are awesome! Thanks! :D
PLAN:
Winter - 1 Chapter
Spring - 1 Chapter
Summer - 2 Chapters & Epilogue