Chapter Twenty-Eight: New Boy in Town
They arrived late at night and Vlad checked them into a hotel. With his permission and the assurance that he wouldn't take off the cloak—ever—Dan was allowed to walk around the city of Amity Park. He glanced around at the familiar places and felt like he didn't know them at all. People he knew the names and faces off seemed like complete strangers without Danny there with him.
"You're a new face." A familiar voice said. He glanced to his side and realized that he'd been walking beside Danny's best friends, Sam and Tucker. They were looking pretty glum, but clearly trying not to show it.
"…Yeah. I'm not from here." He glanced away.
"Oh. Well, what's your name?" Tucker asked.
"…Dan." He replied. "I'm from Wisconsin."
"Well, welcome to Amity Park. Sorry if things are all gloomy, we recently had a really bad incident and…everyone's upset about it." His mask broke then and he bowed his head into Sam's shoulder, sobbing softly.
"What are you in town for?" Sam asked.
"…My godfather came for a funeral. I was visiting, asked to come along to pay my respects." He glanced away. "Apparently the deceased was close to my godfather."
"Well, I'm sure he would appreciate a stranger coming to see his funeral." Sam said, nodding. "Uhm, I'm Sam, by the way. This is Tucker. We were…Danny's friends." She glanced away, gripping her arm. "Danny was—"
"The deceased boy. I heard his name." Dan nodded, pursing his lips grimly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure he was a great friend."
"He had his faults, but we loved him for them." Tucker said, wiping at his eyes. "We were gonna go to the arcade, blow off some steam. Join us?"
"…Sure. Why not." He shrugged, his head lifting a bit so they could see his face properly.
"Your eyes are so green…" Sam breathed. "Like poison…"
He blinked. "Is that a compliment?"
"To her it is." Tucker shrugged.
He shrugged. "Thanks." He looked forward. "So…the arcade?"
"Oh yeah, this way." Tucker led him along down the street.
Sam looked at Dan as they walked, still transfixed by his eyes. She couldn't help it; they looked just like Phantom's – if they glowed. And she was feeling guilty about being unable to fulfill Danny's last wish. Phantom had escaped on his own and no one had seen him since.
Some part of her…was wishing this was him. But, she couldn't see a glow, not even a little, and the clothes were wrong. But, his face…so similar. His hair was red, though, not white. IT couldn't be him.
"Is there something the matter?" He asked, looking at her. "You've been staring at me a while."
"You just…" She sighed. "Your face…reminds me of Danny."
He frowned and looked away. "Godfather said so, too."
"I'm sorry." She looked down.
"No…it's fine." Dan shook his head. "If it brings you a bit of solace, you may think of me as him for a little while. I don't mind."
"Even your name is similar." Sam wrapped her arms around herself. "He told me…he loved me. Just before he…he…" Tears slipped down her cheeks again and she couldn't finish her sentence.
Dan frowned and reached over, gently pulling her close. "I'm not him, so I can't love you, but I can at least be by your side until I have to leave."
She smiled a bit. "Thanks."
Tucker sighed, then led them into a door. "This is the arcade, Dan. You play much?"
"…No. I don't really play anything." Dan glanced away. "I've been learning to fight all my life."
"Then you gotta play these." Tucker grinned, popping in some money. "C'mon, grab a gun and shoot these aliens with me!"
Sam sat back, watching as Dan picked up a gun and started firing along with Tucker. It felt almost like being with Danny again, except that Danny would be laughing as he fired and making comments about the game. Dan was just silently firing; taking out alien after alien like it was some kind of duty. Tucker noticed this and grinned, poking his side.
"Hey—you made me miss!" Dan protested.
"Have a little fun, Dan! It's okay to miss every once in a while!" Tucker laughed. "And take off the hood." He pulled it off, revealing his red hair fully.
Dan was thankful that the dampening device was in the whole cloak, and so taking off the hood didn't release any of his power so he would start glowing. He still looked completely human – at least, that's what his reflection on the screen in front of him told him.
Even with his red hair, he still looked remarkably like Phantom with those poison-green eyes. Maybe it was just her wishing to have found him, but she didn't dare say it out-loud, in case it was the wrong person. Besides, if Phantom was going by 'Dan' now, that meant…no. She couldn't think of it; of that horrible…monster in the Thermos at Clockwork's tower that had nearly killed her, Tucker, Mr. Lancer and Danny's family only months ago.
"Sam?" Dan spoke up, and she looked up to see they'd finished playing. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." She nodded. "Uhm, we might want to head home soon, Tucker. My parents will be worried."
"Oh, right." Tucker looked at his PDA. "Yeah, pretty late. One more game, Sam, what'cha wanna play?"
She nodded and walked off to get on a music game. "Dan, Tucker, take an instrument!" She said, grabbing the guitar after putting in her coins.
"Okay." Tucker went to grab the mic. "I'm gonna sing!"
"Okay." Dan shrugged, getting onto the drums.
Sam chose the music and then they started to play, Dan's reflexes helping him get a high score on the drums while Sam did awesomely on guitar and Tucker…well, his singing wasn't THAT bad. Either way, they got on the top of the charts and Sam looked at them. "What should we call ourselves?"
"I dunno. DST?" Tucker shrugged.
"That works." Sam put it in, then took off the guitar. "Alright, last game. I better get home, mom is going to kill me if I'm late."
"Yeah, I gotta go home too. Gotta prepare my outfit for the…the…" He faltered.
Dan nodded. "I'll see you there, then."
They parted ways, Sam and Tucker running off to their homes and Dan walking back to the hotel.
On the way, he heard a scuffle and frowned. A bunch of guys were picking on a little kid in an alleyway, and it made him scowl. Punching his fist into his hand, he walked over to the alleyway. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
