Danny could hear the words before his father even came to the dinner table.
"So Danny, do you have a date for the Prom yet?"
"No," Danny answered back with an annoyed sigh.
Jazz gave him a look. It wasn't his fault he couldn't get a date to prom. He had spent the last week hunting down two giant mole ghosts and trying to stop them from creating a sinkhole under the entire city! Danny was so sorry he couldn't fit a date into a week filled with digging through mud and ectoplasm filled tunnels. It had been a few days and six showers later, and Danny's till couldn't get the smell of giant ghost mole shit out of his nostrils.
"What about Sam?" His Mom asked, while bringing a dish of mashed potatoes to the table
"Sam is going with Tucker," Danny held back the eye roll.
While hunting down the moles, Tucker had asked him for help with his promposal to Sam. Tucker had set up an automated email to be sent to Sam early in the day, the email would be full of clues and instructions on how to get to the haunted house and find the next riddle. Which was hand written on coffee stained printer paper and shoved into the chimney, waiting for Sam to find it and follow it to the graveyard. There Tucker would be waiting in all black, while Danny floated there, holding the signs "Will you go to prom with me?" while invisible. Jazz said it was cute, while Danny thought it was a lot of work for someone you were already dating.
And it turned out to be a lot of work for nothing. First Danny had to bail because the mold ghosts were digging up city hall, then demolition had begun on the haunted house. By the time Sam got there, the old black Victorian had been turned into a pile of rubble. Lastly it began to rain, so when Sam finally figured out where her boyfriend was, she found him sobbing, trying to duct tape together melting cardboard signs, with his black mascara running down his face.
It must have been a funny sight for Sam busted out laughing before helping him to Nasty Burger to get out of the rain. She did comment that Tucker was the picturesque Goth, dressed in a black suit, eyeliner and make up running down his face, while standing in the graveyard, looking miserable. If he kept it up he could be America's next top goth! Tucker didn't find it as funny, but he did have a date for prom. Even if she was going to go with him anyways. Danny felt glad that it worked out, glad that it wasn't him in the rain, and frustrated that he didn't have a date.
"Why don't you ask them if you could all go as friends?" His Dad asked.
"You want Danny to go to prom as the third wheel?" Jazz gave her father a skeptical look. Her eyes avoided the grease and oils running down his chi from their fried ghostoly chicken dinner. It was fried chicken, but their Mother had drawn ghost faces in edible markers on the skins.
"That's what I did in high school, and it turned out fine! Just the three of us hanging out and dancing to the music. Ah yes. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the third best moment of my life. The first was gettin' married to your Mother."
"What was the second?" said Danny.
"Ah, that was when I was seven years old and my mother took me to the candy store and bought five pounds of fresh fudge. We had to split between all of us, but boy. Do I love fudge."
"The birth of your children isn't in your top three?" Jazz was appalled.
"Ehhh…" Jack put his food down. "What was the question again?"
The next day wasn't much better. Kwan had rented one of those large LED vans to prompose to Star in front of the whole school. Star, in turn, burst into tears and loud over excited screeching. The "Oh yes!" could be heard all the way down to city hall and back.
"I still don't like this promposal stuff," Danny said. "It's not like it's the rest of your life. It's just a dance."
"Aw, come on Danny, it's cute," Sam had one arm around Tucker's shoulders and the other one was holding on to a new cellphone.
"You're just jealous that you don't have anyone to prompose to," Tucker said, his arms were wrapped around Sam's waist, his fingers brushed against her skin.
"No Thanks, if I have to prompose, I'd rather go to prom alone,"
"You might be going alone either way, all the girls are getting picked," What Tucker said wasn't wrong. Danny had watched most of the other girls in his class get asked out, Dash promposed over the morning announcements. Kyle had gotten a AV club girl a basket of flowers, and heck even Wes the crazed stalker had gotten a date.
Scanning the courtyard, Danny's eyes almost popped out his head at the slight of Valerie Gray. She looked tired, but even then she was still one of the most beautiful people Danny had ever seen. Her uneven hair, messy clothing, and yawning face made his heart skip a beat or three. Star ambushed her friend, squealing and shouting about her Promposal.
"Does she have a date?" Danny wondered aloud.
She must have. Valerie was beautiful, brave, smart, strong, and so much more. Her frizzy hair bounded around her head as her and Star jumped around with joy. Moving his hands to his pockets, Danny could still remember that night from two years ago, when she rested her head on his shoulder, the color of the fireworks reflected in her dark skin and bright eyes. The rocking of the late night carousel bringing them closer together.
Yanking his head out of the memory, he turned away from it all. If Valerie knew who Danny really was, she would hate his goddamn guts. Looking up Danny spoke to his friends. "Maybe it is best If I-'' His jaw dropped. Tucker and Sam were making out. Danny could see someone's tongue.
"Ugh Gross I'm leaving!" Grabbing his backpack Danny ran towards the school doors. Tucker and Sam waved goodbye to him, their lips never leaving each other's faces.
Lancer was his first class of the day. For some reason Danny had been in every single of his english classes since freshman year, and it seemed like nothing had changed. The classroom still had the same boring hang in there cat poster, and "you can't change the situation, but you can change your attitude." poster that hung on the wall next to him. Taunting him. Mr. Lancer himself resembled the staleness of the room, the years of ghost attacks having no effect on his shiny bald head or black goatee. He still maintained his beer belly and wardrobe of black ties and blue pressed shirts. The only new edition was a pair of black reading glasses that hung around his head from a glasses string. The gym teacher had gifted him the storing last year as a Christmas present, the black cord being the only thing protecting the glasses when they flew off his face, in a burst of excitement.
Mr. Lancer had been talking the whole time these thoughts and observations ran through Danny's mind. God forbid Danny retain anything his teacher was saying. He had a reputation as a lazy kid to hold up.
Glancing around the room he saw that nearly everyone was like him, eyes glazed over and bodies slumped in sleeping like conditions. Even Wes who was usually glaring at him had a far off stare in his eyes. A black fly buzzed around the room, circling over the student's heads before landing on Wes's face. Its grubby tiny hair covered legs rubbing together as it moved around.
Danny waited for Lancer to look away and then darted his hand over, pushing Wes to the side, scaring off the bug.
"What was that for?" Wes whispers.
"You had a fly on you," Danny whispered back.
"Sure…"
"I'm telling the truth."
"What ever Fenton, you're just jealous that I have a date to prom and you don't."
Danny rolled his eyes into the next dimension. Prom was like a virus infecting everyone's mind. He gave Wes the side eyes, vowing to get back at him later.
Returning his eyes to the board he wrote down whatever Lancer had scrawled on the board. Drafting his notes as the teacher rambled on.
"The Great Gatsby is not only known as a great American classic for this reason, but also for its commentary on the unattainability of dreams. Some have attributed this to the death of the American dream, but as you saw in your reading last night, it is not just the American dream Gatsby can not have. This is most shown in Daisy, and her connection to the green light, but also in Nick our-" The high pitch buzzing of Casper high's new ghost alarm sprang to life, screaming it's pathetic heart out. "Romeo and Juliet, Kwan get the blinds, Jessica get the lights! And Wes Weston! If I see you so much as go near those doors," The teacher's glare was like a poisoned arrow.
"What about Fenton?" Wes complained.
"Mr. Fenton has a doctor's note allowing him to hide in the nurse's office whenever a ghost attack happened due to his phasmophobia,"
"Uh yeah, it's for my panic attacks," Danny smirked, watching Wes glare him down.
Danny headed towards the door passing Lancer.
"Stay safe," Lancer muttered. Danny held down a giggle. If he knew how helpful Mr. Lancer would've been, he might have told him sooner. Running into the bathrooms, white ring involves Danny, turning his hair snow white, and his eyes bright green, With a leap he took off phasing through the school ceiling and into the skies.
The early summer air still had a cool breeze from spring to it, giving it a bit of a refreshing feel. Especially when he compared to the soggy winter they just had. Danny was thankful for it as he flew around the school, looking for whatever chaos awaited him. Usually it was pretty easy to find, students screaming, green goo everywhere. You know, the usual. But it was quiet today, beside the buzzing of the school's ghost alarm.
Danny floated above the school confused, until a flash of light caught his attention. It was coming from the new football field. Bright lights of pink and blue and green shot off like the fourth of July. The sounds of fighting became louder as he drew closer. His body moved through the air like the swirl of a painter's brush. His long ghost tail dodged the multicolored flying bullets, before he hid himself amongst the new bright red bleachers.
There in the middle was the Red Huntress, broken guns and hover board laid around her as she shot off her pistol. Her black shit had been charged at the shoulder reliving her skin. A green ring was around her, keeping her in a protective slime bubble. On the other side was Skulker, standing behind a broken "we won the state championship" billboard sign. He was shooting at her with all of the guns around his body, each shoulder had a gun, there was a big one that laid broken on the ground,two more on each arm, and he had a small one on his other knee, but it looked like it was more of a laser pointer than an actual gun. The fake grass around them was black and smoking, with the smell of burnt plastic filling the air.
"Woah they are really going at it." Danny muttered to himself. He stood back and watched it go down like another episode of his Mother's favorite crime drama.
"For crying out loud! Stop this girl!" Skulker yelled, "Just give back what you borrowed!"
"Tell Mr. Masters that I am not giving back a gift!" Huntress launched a fist-size grande at skulker, who, logically, threw himself into the air to dodge it. "If Vlad Masters wants his guns and toys back he can come get them himself!" She lobbied another grenade at him, it missed tumbling in the air until it landed right next to Danny. Mimicking Skulker, Danny took to the air to avoid certain death. He watched from above as it exploded into a canopy of green radioactive melty goo. Covering the bleachers like a virus. Wherever it touches a faint hissing sound could be heard.
"Phantom! What are you doing here?" Skulker and the Huntress yelled out in unison
"I uh- I saw! The lights go off at the school so I uh- thought to check it out." Smooth Danny, smooth.
"Get out of here! There is nothing here for you to gawk at." Huntress hissed.
"Brat it welp. You're not my target today."
"It looks like your target is giving you a beatdown"
Skulker grunted, pulling out a large cannon from his chest, his black tank top tearing to allow it to pass, and aimed it at Huntress. It smelled like sulfur and sounded like a jet engine going off. Danny panicked and swooped down, his hands grasped her suit, dragging them both out of the way of the giant green blast. Behind them a giant hole had been burnt into the bleachers, its edges glowed a violent red and it all smelled like burnt rubber.
"Let me go!" She wrenched her arm out of his grasp.
"I'm trying to help you!" He yelled back. The sound of a jet taking off filled their ears as another blast came roaring in their direction. Danny pushed the both of them to the left but the edge of the black caught his shoulder. The blast sent him flying in the other direction, crashing into the fake grass, skinning his arm. Stunned by the force, he laid there as the world spun and twirled around him. Until the ground flew up from under him. Skulker held him up and threw him like a ragdoll into the goo covered bleachers.
"Phantom!" Huntress screamed.
The world that was spinning before was now on fire. Danny was screaming, stumbling, and fighting his way out of the goo, but it stuck to his skin, eating away at his jumpsuit. His hands were turned into a mixture of red and green. Bile began to bubble out of his throat, threatening to come out like a geyser. With a heaving chest and eyes burning with tears, Danny pushed his hands to the ground below him, letting the bitter cold build up into his hands, and letting it go.
Flying through the air once more, Danny begged for relief. Right before his body crashed onto the plastic field, the false grass blades scratched and burned his sensitive skin, collecting this blood and turning it into a make-shift artwork. The field began to look like a child had been given cans of red and green paint. And a flame torch with the amount of burns the gunfire had caused. His body came to a final halt, moving the AstroTurf into false arms around his body. The leftover goo was still sizzling on his skin.
"Phantom!" Red Huntress yelled. She tried to run to him, but the sound of a semi went off disturbing her actions. Danny knew she wasn't dead or hurt when he heard the sound of returning gunfire and explosives.
Pulling himself up, he began to roll around the ground, smearing the goo anywhere that wasn't him. He had just taken the good off his arms when the sound of screaming, and the smell of burnt rubber hit him like spoil milk. Skulker Flew past him, bounced off the goal post, and landed with a harsh crushing sound. He saw Skulker look up, and then dart out of the way of a speeding blast of green. His crumpled and fried wings carried him away, cursing the both of them as we went.
"Phantom," She said. She had rushed over to see him, her worried eyes could be seen through her mask. She grabbed him and shook him up and down. "Are you okay?"
"Please. Put. Me. Down," He breathed, his mouth released a small "oof" when she dropped him. He tried to take a deep cathartic breath, when the feeling of a popped balloon went off in his chest. The first time he felt it he thought his heart had exploded, but after many years with his powers he knew what it really meant. it usually meant he was going to be in danger. "Hugh, sorry Huntress, but this ghost boy has to jet." She grabbed his leg, pinning him to the ground.
"You aren't going anywhere like this," she gagged. "Your skin is peeling off your body, you're covered in blood, and look." She put a little bit of pressure on his leg, but she might as well have shot the damn thing. Danny yelped in pain, pulling his leg out of her reach. "You broke your leg."
"I can deal with that! Thank you very much. I don't need your-" White rings appeared at his waist, traveling in opposite directions of each other, until they had covered his whole body. Turning Phantom back into lame old Fenton. "Crap." Danny let his head fall back to the ground. He heard her say a small "What?" then take a few steps. Danny groaned, is that all she could say?
"I'm half ghost, surprise! I'm both dead and alive, ghost and human, a halfa as the other ghosts call me. I got into an accident with my parents ghost portal in my freshmen year, and I've been fighting ghosts ever since. Now that you know, can you wait until my leg heals itself before you kill me?" Danny didn't raise his head, just his hands in sign of peace. His eyes locked on to the blue sky.
Silence. The worst response anyone could get. He hated it.
"Who else knows?"
"Um…" he began counting on his fingers. "Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Dani with an I, Vlad, Wes, and Mr. Lancer." At the last name she pulled her leg up, as if to stomp on his broken one. "Wait! Fuck no!" Danny recoiled from her.
"You told him before you told me?"
"I didn't tell him! He pulled me out of class one day and said if I didn't come clean about the ghost hunting, he was going to tell my parents about how much class I had missed," Huntress lowered her leg, but it still hovered above the ground, ready to strike. "I'm telling the truth."
"Why should I believe that? You lied to me for two years about who you really are," She wasn't wrong.
"Because I have no reason to lie. You're probably going to attack me anyways. I don't even know why I'm trying."
"Why are you trying?" Her words were bitter.
Dramatically sucking in his breath Danny said "Probably because I am a loser who still wants to be friends with you."
"You and your dog, destroyed my life and you want to be friends?" No, Danny wanted to be more than friends, he wanted a second chance at what they had. A second date, just another second as her boyfriend.
"I didn't mean to! I was just trying to catch Cujo and-"
"And you cost my father his job and got him blacklisted."
"Do you think it was all on purpose? Oh yes Valerie, I sit in my room all night thinking of ways to ruin your life. What shall I do today? Dump glitter in her closet? Blast cracks in the pavements just so you might trip on them? Maybe I will angle the sun just so it catches in your eye and only your eye? No! It was a shitty accident Val."
"An Accident that almost left us homeless."
"Oh! I don't want to hear that coming from you. Especially after what you did to Danni. Not me, the other Danni. The one with an i."
"T-that was a misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding that almost killed a child!"
"I didn't know! I thought- well Masters was manipulating me, how could I have -" Valerie was silent, both of her feet were firmly planted on the ground. Danny's only reply was a smug smirk.
"We both have fucked up in the past. Can we just... move past it?" Danny asked, finally looking up. Valerie had taken her helmet off and placed her head in her hands.
"Is she okay?"
"Do you mean Dani?"
"Yeah. Is she okay?"
"She is doing better. I heard she found some cool folks in California."
"That's good. Hey Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time you talk to her, can you tell her I'm sorry?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Thank you," her voice was so small.
The school's alarm was still going off in the distance. The siren's faded scream became a hunting lullaby over the scene. Danny's skin began to heal over the acid burn with thin web like strands, covering the hole and sewing his skin back together. The wind carried embers from one of the many burnt holes and carried it past them. Valerie's long tight curls flew with the wind. Individual strands flew about her head fighting to be free.
"I'm sorry," Danny said.
"No, I'm sorry."
"No you don't have-"
"Danny, we both owe an apology to each other," She got up standing tall against the summer sun. Under her breath he could hear "and maybe ourselves." She came close to him, closer than they had ever been in the last two years, "Do you need help getting up?"
"Maybe."
"Here I'll take you to my apartment. My Dad is pretty good with a first aid kit."
"Thank you Valerie."
"Don't thank me, I'm just repaying a favor from earlier." She helped him get on her overboard. The wires and metal fused together until it was Whole again. "Hang on." carrying him, the two of them escaped into the air once again. The silence between them at a little bit more bearable. The city changed under them, from tall skyscrapers into small dusty apartment buildings.
"Hey Valerie?" Danny asked.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Do you have a date for prom?"
"Fenton if you are serious I am going to drop you."
"Serious? Me? Never!" She rolled her eyes, and for a moment all the years melted away as they both laughed like idiots.