This fic was originally posted on Archive of Our Own. I am more consistent with my writing on there because the format is easier to use. So if you want more regular updates you should go there. The information is the same.


Danny stares at Technus with what he hoped was the most disappointed look on the planet plastered on his face. The ghost floated frozen, arms raised in his usual evil cackle pose though he wasn't laughing.

"Really?"

The ghost smiles sheepishly and shrugs, "They have the newest model of technology out and a software update I can't download off the internet."

Danny sighs heavily, "We either do this the hard way or the easy way."

The ghost lets his arms drop in a sag, "Can I at least finish the update first? It's almost done! Then you can drag me back with your little thermos!"

Danny looks around the 'speedy tech' shop, the employees had exited a while ago, leaving him to do his job and as far as he could tell nothing was broken.

"Do you have money to pay for what you were taking?"

Technus perks up and fishes some random amount of cash from his person before dropping it on the counter.

"Is that money stolen?"

Technus frowns, "I found it all. You would be surprised how much of this stuff just sits around or falls into the ghost zone."

Danny sighs, "Fine. But you get in the thermos as soon as it finishes, got it?"

Technus cheers, staring at what looked like the newest model of phone in hand and the version just before it in the other. As soon as the pinwheel disappears, and the screen finishes set up, Technus shoves it into his pocket before throwing his arms around.

"WHOO! I WILL TERRORIZE THE TOWN WITH MY NEWEST DOWNLOAD!"

Danny takes the lid off of the thermos, pointing it at the ghost and waits for his shouts of defeat to abruptly end when he closes it again. Really, the man didn't have to terrorize the store to get what he wanted, he could literally go invisible and buy whatever he wants but he doesn't.

Danny leaves the shop and waves at the employees, "He left money on the counter for what he took. Have a good evening!"

He flies off as soon as he gets an ok, rushing to his house as quick as possible. He isn't prepared to whack into something solid and get electrocuted however.

"AH!" Dropping to the ground, he groans in pain as the remaining shocks make their way through his system, "Ugh, what did I hit?"

His father's boisterous laughter rings in his ears, though muffled, "HAHA! IT WORKED! Honey, come look! The ghost boy is down!"

Danny looks around him as soon as he can get it to stop spinning, he was about a block away from his house, which didn't make sense because his parents were right there and the only thing he usually crashed into that hurt that much was the ghost shield.

The sound of a gun warming up is the only warning he gets before heat rushes past his face.

"I WON'T MISS NEXT TIME!"

His mother's threat has him springing up into the air, as fast and as far out of range as possible. Luckily, his mom doesn't get a second shot off.

Danny slows when he gets to cloud cover, "What the heck?"

He pulls out his phone and calls the group chat with Sam and Tucker. They answer almost at the same time.

"Guys, I think my parents upgraded their ghost shields."

Their voices echo when they respond, "We know."

"Wait, you know?"

Tucker hums, "Yeah, my dad's been complaining about the electrical drain for about an hour now. He's not too happy about it and wants to charge your parents extra."

Danny frowns at the slight echo, "Is Sam with you?"

The goth laughs, "You can tell?"

"Your voices have a slight echo, like your phones are close together."

One of them starts clapping, "Bravo my dude." Then Tucker hangs up.

Danny puts the thermos in its holder at his back, "I was trying to go home and got the worst shock I've had since the telephone wire incident."

Sam hisses, "Yeah, That one was bad. Did they get you?"

"No," Danny tries not to remember the heat of the shot, "My mom missed by a hair."

Tucker's voice is low, "She never misses unless it's dodging her, were you moving?"

The ghost shakes his head, "No. I think dad bumped her or something. That's the only other time she misses."

Sam laughs, "True. Have you tried going through in human form?"

Danny lowers enough to see the town, "Not yet but I'm about to. If you don't hear from me for a while, I died."

Tucker gives his a dry and very short laugh, "Heh heh don't."

Danny hangs up and flies back down to find a place to change back. Once the warmth envelops him and his heart is beating again, he takes a deep breath. Time to figure out what he hit. What he finds when he turns the corner twists his stomach into knots.

An early green flow of energy is encircling the whole block surrounding his house, it's the biggest ghost shield he's ever seen, aside from the one time they put a shield around the school for an hour.

He walks up to it cautiously, reaching out his hand to touch it. His hand tingles one he presses through it but otherwise he doesn't feel any pain. He takes the full step, that tingly feeling enveloping his whole body and making his tongue numb.

He pulls out his phone, 'Good news, not dead. Bad news, can't feel most of my body.' He's thankful for spell check.

He gets a text back from Tucker, "Can't feel as in it's not there? Or can't feel as in numb?"

When it takes him longer than a few minutes to reply he gets a phone call. It takes him 3 rings to answer.

"Heooo~?"

Sam makes a concerned noise, "Danny? What happened? Why do you sound like that?"

His tongue is lead in his mouth and it takes all his willpower to stay standing when he can't feel his legs, "Nummm, no goo-"

Tucker's voice sounds muffled, "Numb? Danny do you need help? Where are you?"

The ghost teen leans against the wall, in which his whole body gives out and he only keeps his phone to his ear by sheer luck, "Fell. Hoss."

Sam says something along the lines of 'we're coming' before it hangs up. Danny isn't totally sure but his head is slowly filling with a buzzing sound he can't seem to get rid of. He slouches till his head in resting on his knees, tucked close to his body from how he fell. His arms are jello on either side of him now that he's not trying to keep them up. It was weird, he almost felt trapped in a useless ball of goo, his arms unmoving and his head fogging up. It was like when he got electrocuted by Skulker but this time he can't shake off the feeling.

A short laugh leaves him then, if only Skulker could see him now. Slumped over and defenseless. Maybe he would laugh so hard he wouldn't be able to skin him alive. Why did he want to do that anyway? He was made out of flesh and bone, that would be so gross. There would be a huge mess and it wouldn't come out of the carpet. Maybe his parents had a ghost carpet cleaner, then they could suck him out of the rugs. It would probably be easier to study him molecule by molecule that way.

The buzzing seems to cloud the rest of his head, making it hard to think. What did he hit anyway? Maybe he could phase out of his body. That should fix it.

He feels gravity pulling him upwards, the tingling overtaking his body again. His lungs spasm as he takes in a large gulp of breath and with it, his brain starts working again.

"Danny! Danny wake up!"

"Dude, you're freaking us out here!"

With a jolt, he stands up, energy coursing through him so violently he can't sit still, "What happened?! Who am I fighting? Come at me!"

Sam puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down, "Whoa, easy there, you were just about comatose when we found you."

Tucker checks his phone, "Yeah, your heart rate was waaay too slow for it to be healthy."

Pinpricks rum up and down his arms, a feeling he only got when he had pent up ghost energy in his system, "I feel like I could run a mile. Or like 6. I could probably reach Jazz's college before she did!" He's jumping in his spot, his energy quickly turning nervous was he stands still.

Sam gives him a look, "You probably went into shock, no pun intended. You need to sit down for a minute and-"

Danny cuts her off by jumping, "I can't! I have so much energy right now! I could definitely kick all of the ghost zones butts!"

Tucker puts his hands out, "Ok. That's too much. Danny you're just experiencing a little bit of an adrenaline high. Please don't do anything rash!"

Danny smiles at the idea, his excitement running as rampant as the ants crawling around his skin, "That's a great idea!"

Sam turns toward the darker teen, most likely to yell at him. In that moment, Danny takes out the necklace Clockwork had given him and channels his ghost energy into it.

Time slows to a crawl, a ticking noise replaces the blood rushing in his head. His vision swims as a green portal envelopes his vision.

Then, all at once, it comes rushing back to him in a loud crash and screaming.