This is just me coming up with funky post-Phantom Planet situations because I find the idea of reluctant celebrity Danny Fenton to be way funnier than secret-identity Danny Fenton. Headcanons will be peppered in and treated as canon, and you can pry Ghost King Danny from my cold, half-dead hands.
Enjoy. Or don't enjoy. Don't let me tell you how to live your life.
"I hope we've made the necessary accommodations, Mr. Fenton?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, totally. Thanks, it's really nice of you all to do that."
"Nonsense. It's the least we can do for our resident superhero, don't you think?"
Danny let out a nervous laugh. Even months after the Disasteroid…incident…he wasn't quite used to this kind of widespread recognition. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be. "Yeah, well, thanks anyways…" But he had to admit, it was nice not having to make up excuses to go and fight ghosts anymore. And not having his parents shooting at him during battle. That was definitely a plus.
"So," Principal Ishiyama asked, straightening a stack of papers on her desk, "what brings you to my office? It's rare to see you at school so early. Usually, it's quite the contrary."
Danny laughed again. What could he say? Nervous laughter was his coping mechanism.
"Um, yeah. Well, I saw on our schedules that all the students are taking Ectology courses this semester?"
Ms. Ishiyama smiled, positively beaming. "Yes. With the deep connection Amity Park has with ecto-entities, we thought it best to adjust our curriculum to educate students on the complex nature of them, because, as I'm certain you know better than anyone, they are sentient, complex creatures like humans and deserve the same attention and consideration in our schooling systems."
Danny couldn't help but smile. Out of everything that had come from his little stunt in Antarctica, the one thing he was most grateful for was the recognition of ghosts being capable of complex thought and emotions, capable of just as much good as evil, and capable of having an open dialogue with humans.
But that didn't mean that he wasn't here at school this early for a reason. "Yeah, totally. And as an ecto-entity myself, I was hoping that that would, um, let me test out of Ectology…" He trailed off, his voice becoming weaker as he watched Ms. Ishiyama smirk at him like he'd said something funny.
"No, Mr. Fenton, that's not how things work around here," she told him, shaking her head.
He really hadn't anticipated her to shut him down so quickly, and he quickly started to list his arguments. "But…I experience Ectology on a daily basis. Doesn't that count for something?"
"Mr. Fenton, would Mr. Baxter be allowed to test out of Biology because he experiences it on a daily basis?"
Well, he couldn't really argue with that. The logic was solid. "Well, no, but—"
"Then I think you have your answer."
Danny didn't even get to open his mouth to try and defend himself before she added, "On the contrary, I think that your knowledge will be very valuable to the rest of your class, Mr. Fenton."
Again, she made a fair point. The problem was mostly that Danny didn't want to be the 'token ghost kid' in the class, like how Sam was the token Jewish kid or how Kwan was the token Asian kid. Not that he didn't enjoy answering people's questions, but sometimes, he just wanted to learn something and not teach. He sighed, looking down at the crumpled-up schedule in his hands. All right, then. Two hours to Ectology 101.
"So? What did she say?"
"Obviously, she said no, Tucker." Sam turned to Danny, raising an eyebrow like she was silently asking 'Well, did she?'
Danny hung his head, hoisting his backpack up on his shoulder. "Yeah, she said no. Guess I'm stuck with another useless course."
"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "Maybe you'll learn something about ghosts that you didn't know." To Sam's credit, Danny did always seem to be leaning new things about ghosts on the daily. Yesterday, Technus had informed him that the number of ghosts who were actual dead souls who hadn't passed on was less than five percent of the entire population of the Ghost Zone.
"And, if not…" Tucker winked at Danny, patting his shoulder encouragingly. "At least it's an easy A."
By virtue of having shown up at school so early, the three of them were first to their classroom, meaning that Danny had to endure every person's reaction to seeing him in their class. On the one hand, his classmates weren't as skittish as they were at the end of last semester. After the Disasteroid, there had still been another month left of school before Casper High let out for summer break. That month was an odd blend of handing out autographs, accepting apologies from the A-listers, and trying to study for finals. Even though it had only happened months ago, it still felt like a dream.
On the other hand, by the beginning of this semester, people had mostly adjusted to the fact that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom, meaning that they had stopped worrying about how they looked in front of their idol and returned to making fun of Danny for being a total dork. Apparently, being Danny Phantom didn't stop your classmates from laughing at your completely normal number of astronomy-related t-shirts.
Kwan passed by Danny's desk before stopping and doing a double take. "Wait, what are you doing here?"
Danny pretended not to notice, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a pencil. "Trying to get a high school diploma so that I can get into a decent college," he replied smoothly, glancing up at Kwan. "How about you?"
"Wait, so you're not teaching the class?" said Paulina from the other side of the room, looking more than a little disappointed.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Paulina, he's not even listed on the schedule. We're being taught by a—(she glanced down at her schedule, neatly spread out on her desk)—Dr. Turmond, apparently?"
Star took the desk to Paulina's left. "So you're here as, what, the teacher's aide?"
"I'm here for my science credit," Danny told her irritably. Of course he didn't want to be here—was that so hard to understand? Behind Danny, Valerie chuckled at this interaction. Danny flinched, surprised at her sudden appearance. Sure, he could sense a ghost a mile away, but stealthy humans like Valerie were still able to catch him off-guard.
"Who knew that a kid who fought ghosts all day doesn't know a thing about them?" she teased.
"It's a required subject!" Danny spat, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "And you're not one to talk, you fight ghosts just as much as I do," he hissed, lowering his voice so as not to be heard by any prying ears. The fact that a non-superpowered teenager was ghost hunting with professional equipment was currently something Valerie felt Amity Park was not ready for, so Danny and his friends had promised to keep her activities a secret. But she would probably be doing less hunting anyways, since school was starting again, and balancing school and a part-time job and ghost hunting was a lot for one person, even if that person was Valerie. But the point still stood.
"But I'm not the one who's actually part-ghost, so I don't—"
"All right, settle down." Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man with greying hair wearing an honest-to-god lab coat and a thick pair of black glasses. "I know it's your first class, but I'd still like to teach you something," he joked with a little smirk. A couple of the students chuckled weakly, unsure of how to act around this new teacher. They had yet to get a feel for him and what he would tolerate in his classroom. Was he a no-nonsense kind of guy? How did he do with students speaking without raising their hands? Did he have an actual sense of humor (no, Mr. Lancer didn't have a real sense of humor)?
He walked over to his desk and leaned on the front instead of taking a seat. "I'm Doctor Turmond, and it's a pleasure to get to teach you all. I just moved to Amity Park a couple weeks ago—" Everyone glanced at one another. Basically a tourist, then. "—and I'm already enjoying things here."
He continued to introduce himself. Meanwhile, Danny was staring at their teacher, trying to gauge what kind of a person he was. The man was relaxed and yet looked ready to launch into a lecture at any time. He let the students ask him questions, and, by his answers, Danny could tell that this man was very confident in his own knowledge. He wasn't afraid to correct a student, even cutting them off to do so. Now, Danny didn't want to judge this man before he got to know him, but he was beginning to get the feeling that his new teacher was just a little self-absorbed. But Danny would try and make the effort to get to know him, of course. He knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving.
Unsurprisingly, Dr. Turmond only got maybe five minutes into today's lesson before Danny first interrupted him, raising his hand high.
"And you are…?"
"Danny. Danny Fenton."
"All right, then, Danny, did you have another characteristic to add to the list?"
Danny shook his head. "No, but I just thought you should know that 'obsessions' aren't a constant among ecto-entities." His classmates looked at him, surprised, and nodded, all taking his word for it. After all, Danny, who was technically an ecto-entity himself, didn't have an obsession, no matter how much everyone joked that it was 'protecting the innocent' or 'being a self-sacrificing lunatic.' "Also, the term 'obsession' is being phased out, 'special interest' would be a more appropriate description."
Dr. Turmond smiled at Danny like he had just said something cute. "And what would make you think that?"
"Ectopuses…" Danny hesitated for a moment. "Ectopi?" He shook his head. "Whatever. Those ones don't have special interests. Neither do the yeti of the Far Frozen. In fact, there are plenty of species of ghosts that don't have a special interest. It occurs more commonly in humanoid ghosts."
"Hm. Well, that's an interesting theory, Danny," said his teacher, looking pleased that Danny was participating in the discussion, which definitely wasn't the point Danny was trying to make.
For a moment, Danny considered debating the man on this subject, but it wasn't that big of a deal, not really. And Danny wasn't particularly fond of trying to make other people look stupid (unless that person was Skulker. Or Jazz), so he could let this one slide.
A minute and a half later, despite his best efforts, he was raising his hand again.
"Yes, Danny?"
"Uh, actually, ectoplasmic energy can also produce ectoplasm when in the right environment. It isn't a strictly one-way transformation."
Dr. Turmond sighed, setting down his whiteboard marker on his desk. "Danny, while I appreciate your participation in this class, it might be best if you let the teacher teach and the student learn."
Danny frowned. "But it's not teaching if you're spreading false information." Sam raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed at Danny's resistance to authority. Not that Danny wanted to start some sort of class-wide revolution or anything, but this was just a subject that he thought was very important. It would directly affect how these people would interact with ghosts in the future—how they would interact with him.
Dr. Turmond stared Danny down. Danny, to his credit, did not back down. "Danny, which one of us went to graduate school to study Ectology?"
Okay, well… "You did, but—"
"So, why would you presume that you know more about this topic than I?"
"Dude," Kwan interrupted. "His parents are Doctors Jack and Maddie Fenton. I'm pretty sure they also have degrees in Ectology." This was only partially correct. Technically, Ectology was not a degree offered at any colleges in the world right now, but it was true that his parents had both studied it in graduate school.
This information seemed to surprise Dr. Turmond, but he quickly recovered from his shock. "Perhaps your parents may have come to different conclusions than the rest of the scientific community concerning ectoplasmic entities, but in this classroom, we will be studying a syllabus constructed by numerous experts in the field. What your parents have told you may not always align with our curriculum, Danny."
Danny took a deep breath, reminding himself that this was not the hill he wanted to die on. It didn't matter what this teacher said, his classmates had been around ghosts long enough to know that not all of this was accurate. As long as Danny was there to answer his classmates' questions, they would be fine. Not that Danny particularly enjoyed being the secret teacher in the room, but he would manage—
"—which is why all ecto-entities have a natural disposition towards evil—"
Without even stopping to think about what he was doing, Danny stood up and slammed his palms down on his desk. "That's not true!"
Dr. Turmond narrowed his eyes at Danny. "Pardon?"
Danny rattled off a reply he had been repeating for the past year to anyone who'd listen. "The malicious behavior observed in ghosts is almost always connected to their special interests. It's more that ghosts with a special interest have heightened emotional responses to stimuli, which traditionally results in malicious behavior. In ghosts without a special interest, malicious behavior is purely a matter of choice, just like humans." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tucker nod vigorously. "And for ghosts of a particular species, their 'disposition towards evil,' as you call it, is only present in specific species."
"Danny, if you continue to interrupt this class, I will have to report you to—"
"Well, if you're going to keep on spewing out outdated information that's actively harmful to the ghost community, I'm going to have to keep on interrupting you."
Dash let out a low whistle. Star cleared her throat uncomfortably. It seemed like this would going to be the rest of the period.
"And how would you know what is 'harmful' to the ghost community, Danny?"
There was a silence. Then the entire class burst into laughter. Dash doubled over in his seat and let out his trademark cackle. Paulina wiped a tear from her eye, being careful not to mess up her makeup. Valerie's boisterous laughter rang in Danny's ears from behind him.
"Are you kidding me?" Tucker snorted. "That's like asking Sam how she knows what's harmful to the ultra-recyclo-vegetarian community."
Valerie added, unable to hold her laughter back for too long, "Or asking Mr. Lancer how he knows what's harmful to the LGBTQ community."
"Yeah, that's just stupid," Sam agreed, not even granting Dr. Turmond eye contact. "He's the Ghost King, he's basically the spokesperson for ghosts everywhere."
Not that Danny particularly wanted that position. He and Jazz were still trying to work on instituting a democracy for the Ghost Zone. It was a work in progress. Making democracies out of monarchies was harder than he'd expected. Throughout this process, he had gained a new level of appreciation for the Founding Parents of America and all they had to come up with to form the governing bodies of the United States.
"The…Ghost King?" Dr. Turmond looked Danny up and down, clearly reluctant to take any of them seriously. "What does that mean?"
Danny sighed, dreading the inevitable recounting of the rein of Pariah Dark, but as he did, he felt a chill run up his spine, and his breath came out cold. He wasn't terribly surprised, not after all this time.
"A whole fifteen minutes of school uninterrupted…" he muttered. "That's gotta be a new record."
Next to him, Sam saw this happen and looked up at him, smiling in that way she did when he was going off to fight a ghost, that way that still made his stomach do backflips. "Who is it?"
"Skulker," he grumbled. "I swear I told him today wasn't a good day for me."
Tucker shook his head. "It's never a good day for you, Danny."
"Fair." He took a moment to stretch his arms, reveling in the expression of utter confusion that was on Dr. Turmond's face. He really was still a tourist. "Well, I'm going ghost."
The twin halos split, bathing Danny in a soft light and changing him into his ghostly form. Paulina watched with an appreciating eye, leaning over her desk on her hand. Danny Phantom floated up and towards the ceiling.
"Bet you ten bucks you won't make it back before second bell," Dash called out. Danny, inches away from the ceiling, looked back down at Dash.
"I'll take that bet," he said, pointing at Dash, and then he zoomed out through the ceiling, disappearing from the school.
The moment he left, Valerie spun around to face Dash. "You're sooo gonna regret that, Dash. Trust me, he'll be back with time to spare."
"Yeah?" said Dash, crossing his arms. "What would you bet on it?"
"Next week's banana pudding. Monday and Friday."
Star looked impressed. "Which do you think he'll come through, the door or the ceiling."
"Ceiling," Tucker instantly replied, just as Sam said, "Door." The two looked at each other, narrowing their eyes as though each had just performed the ultimate betrayal.
"W-w-was that…?"
The class stopped chatting, remembering that their teacher was still in the classroom, although the man looked hardly fit to be teaching right now. Dr. Turmond was leaning on his desk for support, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose frequently.
"Was that…D-Danny Phantom?"
The class was silent for a moment before they all burst out laughing, even harder than before.
"Oh my god, you didn't know?" Valerie wheezed, face in her hands.
Star snickered, shaking her head in pity. "Did the other teachers, like, forget to tell him?"
Tucker slammed his fist against his desk over and over again, grinning madly. "The look on your face right now is priceless!"
"Oh no, just wait till Danny comes back, he's gonna lose it!" Paulina gasped, sending the class into a fresh round of giggles. Dr. Turmond readjusted his glasses.
Six minutes to second bell, Danny Phantom phased through the ceiling and into his seat. He closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair and transforming into a human again with a groan. One hand was tightly clutched around a Fenton Thermos, which he slammed down on his desk like an empty beer mug.
Without opening his eyes, he swung his other arm around and pointed at Dash. "You—owe me—ten bucks," he said, still catching his breath. The class immediately burst into applause like they always did whenever he returned. They were all stupidly supportive like that.
"Oh, come on!" Dash whined, though he clapped with everyone else.
"And some banana pudding, Baxter," added Valerie smugly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dash grumbled. "Anyways, you look terrible, Fenton. You fight a ghost wrecking ball?"
Danny let out a dry laugh. "Ha, ha. No, it was Skulker, and the guy had the nerve to try out a new gadget of his today of all days." He lifted up his hands, showing off what looked like burn marks branded around his wrists. "Tried to stop me from using my ice powers. Didn't work the way he'd hoped."
"Yeesh." Tucker winced. "Need me to take notes for you?"
"Probably. Thanks. It'll probably heal up by lunchtime at the latest."
Paulina took one look at Danny's wrists and immediately recoiled. "Ew, that looks nasty. Wanna borrow some concealer?"
"Nah, I think I'm good, Paulina, but thanks for the offer." He sat up in his seat, forcing his eyes open. "Anyways, what did I miss?" he asked, looking up at the whiteboard. His gaze fell on the man pushing up his glasses and clutching his tie like it was a lifeline.
"Danny Phantom…" the man gasped.
Danny raised an eyebrow. "…Dr. Turmond…"
"You're Danny Phantom."
"Yes, of course I'm—" He stopped when his dumb brain finally understood what was happening here. "…you…didn't know…"
His teacher let out a sharp, hysterical laugh. "That one of my students is a ghost? No, I—"
"Halfa," Danny, Sam, and Tucker automatically corrected.
"Come again?"
Sam sighed. "Halfa. You know, half-ghost, half-human."
Apparently, he did not know this, because he stared at Danny like he was the eighth wonder of the world. "B-but that's impossible. You'd have to be partially dead."
"Yep," Danny said, popping his 'p.'
"Which is impossible because an organism's state of being is binary. You're either alive or dead."
"Or both."
"Or bo—or both?"
"Yeah." The teacher stared blankly at him. Okay, time to give him the abridged story. "I was exposed to a highly-concentrated wave of ectoplasmic energy. Instead of killing me, like it would with most people, it bonded with my DNA. So, yeah, both."
…prrrrrrrrIIIIIINGGGGGGG…
"And with that," Danny said, standing up and tucking his Fenton Thermos into his backpack, "it's time for Literature."
mr lancer is gay and no I will not accept criticisms