π°πππππππππππ 2021_Day 10 [Trick]
~Continuation of "Twelve days of Tiny Christmas" #4~
Category: Unreliable Narrator, Angst, Attempted humor (I mean, Danny's here, so he's always ready to crack a joke), Friendship.
Trigger Warning: bullying,foul language, slurs and one (1) insult that could be interpreted as suicide baiting/death threat.
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Dash Baxter was furious! Angry! Peeved! InCeNsEd!
How did Mr. Falluca dare to give him a D?! Him, who was the nascent star of the school football team, the quarterback?!
Dash needed a target for all his misplaced aggression.
Where was that turd of a Fenton?
The only time they had crossed paths had been in Lancer's English class, but the flea had managed to slip away and, to be honest, Dash had let him in favor of showing off his new blazer, custom made and with leather inserts.
It had been an early birthday gift, so his strutting had been justified!
β¦Then the result of the test had come back with that D, so his perfect day had been ruined.
The blond stomped through the hallways after the end of the classes, not finding his target, so he marched to the front door, hoping to find his target loitering outside.
All of sudden, his luck was back: the scrawny nerd was leaning on a pole, wearing a blue sweatshirt (with the hood up), barefoot(!) of all things and apparently waiting for something or someone, because he was looking straight at the entrance.
Straight at Dash, as he came out of said door, with his freaky blue eyes showing no other emotion other than boredom. Not reacting whatsoever at the blond's arrival.
The little shit should have quivered and cowed before him!
This was why Dash Baxter snapped.
As if during one of the football matches, the blond charged forward, ready to tackle the puny aberrant, ready to see the terror on his face, ready to take pleasure in beating him to the ground; however, the skinny sack of bones had the gall to look surprised and made no movement. At the very last second, he just twirled to the side, leaving Dash to crash into the pole, almost breaking his nose.
β What in MiM's name are you doing?! β The rangy teen demanded, brandishing a stick higher than him. As if that could have been enough to defend him from the quarterback's wrath!
β Fenton, you're dead meat! If you know what's best for you, you better come here and take your beating, or I won't hold back! Your home will be the hospital for the next weeks! β Dash roared, discarding his blazer, in order not to stain it with blood (either from his own nose or his target's).
The other teen's eye suddenly grew cold and the air temperature actually dropped, since frost started painting the walkway.
The students who had been watching the spectacle (some had been snickering at Dash's expense, while others had been wary of his words and ready to actually call the police, if things went south) reared back, recognizing the signs of a supernatural event, but they still stayed to assist at the spectacle.
β You. You want to send my friend Danny to the hospital. β The twig lowered his hood, revealing a birdnest of white locks. Even with that difference, the resemblance with Fenton was uncanny. The azure eyes had the exact same shade, but these ones were blazing with fury. β What did he even do for you to think you're justified to beat him?
Not realizing the danger because he was focused only on the anomaly of those eyes, Dash snapped back. β He's a freak and he exist! Do I need any other reasons? β The blond looked at the other from top to bottom. β Who the heck are you anyway? His boyfriend or a twin that those clown of Fentons hid because you're a worse fluke than Fenturd?
The air grew even colder and the wind started to whirl around the white haired teenager, who had grown tense with every word the blond spouted. Before anyone could have intervened or reacted, a tweeting pierced the cold atmosphere, making the Fenton-doppelganger turn his head to the side, where a feathered green tiny something was nestled into the hood of his sweatshirt.
The boy gritted his teeth, but the wind quieted down and the air warmed up a bit.
Apparently dimwitted enough (or blinded by pain), Dash foolishly took that as an opening to taunt him again. β What? You got told off by a pigeon? So you're no man at all, after all! No wonder you're such a waste of air like Fentonio!
The next thing Dash knew was that he was encased in ice from mouth down and the freakish teenager was heaving in wrath, poised as if he had thrown something down from the tip of his stick.
Seething, the monster prowled forward to stand face to face with the quarterback.
β You're lucky because Danny wouldn't wasn't me to bet in trouble, otherwise this ice would have been eternal. I fight Kings of NightmaresΒΉ* in my spare time, do you think you are even a challenge? β The ice demon hissed, not listening to the "pigeon" on his shoulder.
β Jack! What are you doing?! β A familiar voice pierced the heavy atmosphere much like the bird's call had done few moments before, but this time the doppelganger completely relaxed, drawing back from Dash's half-frozen face.
β Ah, Danny! Nothing special, this guy tried to bully me, thinking I was you. β He put his free hand in the front pocket of the hoodie, facing the running Fenton with (what others could have mistaken for a genuine) menacing smile. β Do you really think I'd let a jerk like him go unpunished? β He made a small gesture with the stick towards Dash, who would have flinched at the action.
β Well no, but you iced him! β The original raven teen reached them with a pigeon of his ownΒ²* in the crook of his neck. He waved worriedly to the blond. β If my parents will ever know about this, you'll be on their "shoot on sight" list!
β Ehh, I'm already on the Naughty List, there's nothing worse than that. β "Jack" shrugged mischievously, without a care in the world. β Besides, I like to collect them. This was just a harmless prank in comparison to what your parents face on daily basis. Don't worry, they'll classify me as a nuisance at most. β The monster reassured.
β "Nuisance" is what you usually do in other cities and that would put you in North's Naughty List. This is on another level, they'll shot you!. Either one is a pretty big deal, anyway! β Fenton punched the demon's shoulder carelessly.
β¦They were really friends after all, if the other didn't leash out in response.
β I take pride in being on North's Naughty List! You know how long did it take me to be put there again after being nominated Guardian? Let alone being on the top? β The freak asked in a fake-disbelieving tone.
β Let me guess: β Fentina deadpanned, β the hailstorm that pelted those protesters against the Climate Change Accords.
β What? NO, that actually made me lose 100 places. No, I iced the runway of the Air Force One. They had to stay on the ground for hours in that private airport! β Wait, did this evil spirit really interfere with the US president's airplane?!
And he was snickering about it?!
β β¦Wow, that sure was ambitious! Nice one! β That traitor fist bumped the ice wraith, who laughed with him. When they stopped, the skinny nerd eyed Dash warily. β How long will this ice last anyway? β He nodded to the cool sarcophagus.
β I really held back, so between 15 minutes to half a hour. It's not even on subzero temperature: I didn't want to give him too much frostbite. β The abomination smirked menacingly.
β You have to teachβ¦ Phantom that trick, ghost ice is similar to magical-ice, after all. β After one last pensive look, Fenturd began to walk away, followed swiftly by the evil incarnated.
β Hey, my ice is spirit-ice! Just because I'm a Guardian now, it doesn't cancel the fact that I died 300 years ago! β The ghost protested, leaning his stick over his shoulder.
β Shoot, sorry! You're so different from our usual visitors that I tend to forget. β Dash's favorite punching bag scratched his nape sheepishly.
β I'll forgive you only if you promise me a snowball fight in the park. No powers, only the snow I'll conjure at the start. β The apparition rose a fist: was he going to freeze Fenton solid too?
β Deal! β Unaware of the danger, the traitor thumped with the back of his own fist the raised one of the monster, but miraculously he went unscathed. Or, at least, he managed to flee the next instant, running more quickly that Dash had ever seen him do during PE. β Race ya! And no Wind!
The shriek that came out that inhuman throat was indignant and dangerous, but the being started running after Fenton, until they disappeared around the corner, probably in direction of the park.
Only after their departure, Dash finally had the time to realize his predicament.
It was an early Fall day and the air had been warm enough to make the quarterback sweat under the blazer before, so for now the ice encasing him was just cooling him down⦠temper included.
That ghost had the gall to stand up to him, but if what he had said was true, he could have done worse. However, that wasn't the realization that scared him the most: that freak of Fenton had mentioned that the doppelganger knew Phantom.
He could snitch him to his idol!
β What's the meaning of this! β Mr. Lancer and Principal Ishiyama hurried out the front door, probably after being called by someone. β Did a ghost do this?
Dash whined and complained through the ice gag, trying to dislodge the cover with the movement, but the construct held true.
β Yeah, but Baxter had it coming. β Wes Weston opened his damned mouth. β He tried to harass Jack Frost, believing he was a student, and then pretty much threatened him of bodily harm. I think that there were some slurs and if you count "waste of air" as suicide baiting, there was that as well.
The adults straightened at the claims, turning severe. β Are there other witnesses that can confirm your statement? β The Principal looked around in question,
β I was already filming Jack Frost for personal researches, so I have everything on tape. β The redhead raised his phone (that had attached on the camera optic a device that looked like a magnifying lensΒ³*), smug that for once a couple of "reasonable people" were available to hearing him.
β Very well. We'll save a copy of that video on the school server. I presume that the ghost you're calling "Jack Frost" did this as a strong emotional response. β Ishiyama leaned down to observe and test the resistance of ice.
β Did he said how long this will last? β Mr. Lancer asked around, a bit bothered.
β 15-30 minutes. β Kwan, who had appeared from a blind spot, answered apologetically. β Sorry if I couldn't stop you, but I was too far away. And you were kind of a jerk, soβ¦ β He trailed off, looking at his blond teammate in discomfort.
That made Dash se red (once again) and he tried to wriggle out from the ice, but with no avail.
β Stop struggling, Baxter! We will ask professor Tetslaff for some heat-packs to accelerate the melting process. I do not believe it's secure to break the ice with force, the shards could be potentially injure somebody. Besides, I think you deserve a lesson on your behavior. Due to the football coach's influence, we let too many things slide. This is a start. β The Principal nodded to herself, making Dash's fury melt into dread.
What are they going to do to me?!
β This is a brilliant idea principal! If you could come along with me Mr. Kwokβ΄*, your assistance in retrieving the hot packets will be fundamental. β Mr. Lancer seemed to smirk at the first statement, adding fear to the blond's list of emotions.
Dash Baxter couldn't do anything else than curse his situational awareness (for the unknown camera), the tardiness of the shitty nerd (who had been his favorite target) and that trice damned Fenton-doppelganger, who had ridiculed him so easily.
Sooner or later he would extract his vengeance, he swore it!
ΒΉ* Plural intended, because there had been an encounter between the Guardians and Nocturne's underlings in the past.
Β²*Much like Jack's favorite fairy is Baby Tooth (and viceversa), Danny eventually met one that sympathized with him the most. Her feathers are a slightly brighter shade of green (almost the same tone of Phantom's eyes) and her head-quill is ice-azure. Her eyes are lilac-gray and Danny named her Baby Fang, because she seems attached to all the teeth he loses during the fights in Ghost Mode.
Β³* This is a Fenton Cameraβ’, which is capable of capturing the images and sounds of every type of spirits, then translate it into tangible data. The Fentons were happy when Wes volunteered to test this technology (with great success).
β΄* I searched for the surnames more commonly associated with the name "Kwan" around the world (since there isn't an official one) and the alliteration had me in stitches, so Kwan Kwok it is.
A/N. Yeah, Baxter, dream on, maybe someone would hear you out⦠Probably.
I don't know where all this rage came from, but I wanted a motive for Jack to lash out, since he wouldn't do that to civilians without one, above all if they are kids/teens.
Obviously the "Unreliable Narrator" tag comes right from Dash's twisted vision of reality: that everything is made for his own benefit and that others' sentiments matter only if they are from "his besties". This was also why it was incredibly satisfying to ice him up and make our boi Wes be the hero for once!
Nothing compares having credibility thanks to a nice accidental timing, when the rest of the rest of the times no-one believes you.
(Besides, this time there were other witnesses that were ready to end Dash's reign of terror after such display of malice.)
Anyway, the first installment of DP x RotG (the prequel of this one shot) is going to come out in December with the others Tinies' stories, so please bear with me a little! (γ·_ _)γ·
Hope you liked this, type ya tomorrow!
Will Day 11 be Maze or Doors? Check in "Domestic Phantoms" and you'll find out!