Chapter Ten: (Don't Fear) The Mall Ghost
Wes unconsciously held his hands in front of his chest, trying to block the obvious insignia that was commonly recognized throughout the town. White strands of hair kept falling in his face, and every time he tried to fix his wig, the hair would stick to the gloves. Not to mention that he was starting to sweat like crazy; spandex was extremely uncomfortable. This was mortifying... why had he agreed to do this again? Oh right... the bet.
It's not like he was the only person there who dressed as Phantom for the Phantober Fest. Dash and Kwan donned identical costumes to Wes, though they were wearing their black suits with pride. Hell, Wes thought he even saw a few girls dressed as Phantom. Talk about devotion.
What worried him the most was facing Danny. As soon as he reached the parlor Ishiyama had informed him to be at by 7 p.m. (it was currently fifteen past because Wes had trouble getting the costume on), the black haired boy starting roaring with laughter. He was dressed as a vampire, a fancy black outfit complete with a dark cape with red lining. He threw his head back, and Wes thought he saw a pair of fangs fall out of his mouth.
"This is the single best thing that's happened all night," Danny laughed. "And that's including my parents forgetting that it was Halloween and sounding an emergency ghost invasion evacuation." Well... that explained all the sirens earlier.
He blushed, "Shut up! I lost a bet!"
And in retrospect, Wes really should've known better than to make a bet with Justin that close to Halloween.
On October 22nd, Wes and Justin had made plans to go Halloween shopping together at Amity's mall. Justin still hadn't bought his Joker costume, and Wes figured that he would find a costume for himself by the end of the excursion. So the two of them wandered around the costume store for a little while, hoping to find some ideas.
"So you think the chicks will dig the Joker look?" Justin wondered, holding up his own costume.
Wes shrugged, "I don't know. But hey, if nothing else, I can always be your Harley Quinn."
The two of them laughed. "I don't think you can pull off blonde," Justin commented.
They shifted around the store, going from section to section. Finally, the reached an aisle that was solely stocked with different eye contacts.
"Hey Justin, don't you think I'd look badass with red eyes?" Wes asked, gesturing to a pair of red contacts on sale.
"Hell yeah! You'd probably look like some sort of ghost."
Wes scowled, "You said you'd lay off the Phantom jokes."
"It wasn't a Phantom joke. I was just saying that you'd look like a ghost or something, y'know, 'cause most ghosts tend to have red eyes. Well, other than Phantom. He has green eyes."
"I guess..." Wes set the box of contacts back on the shelf. He naturally glanced around the store, and noticed Sam dragging Danny and Tucker towards a goth store parallel to the costume store. The scene wasn't too out of the ordinary, everyone knew that Sam was as goth as they come, and particularly enjoyed creepy shops like that one. Wes was just taken aback at how convenient their arrival at the mall was. As he forced himself to return to reality, an inkling of an idea struck him. Oh... this is way too good to pass up.
"Justin, are you up for a bet?"
Justin eyed him suspiciously, "Wes?"
"Are you up for it or not?"
His friend gave an unexcited shrug, "I guess."
"I bet you... that if I wear these red contacts, I can convince Fenton I'm overshadowed by a ghost."
"Why would you want to convince him – oh right, your Phantom theory. Wes, it's not gonna happen."
Wes gave a mad grin, "I think you'll be surprised."
"Yeah, and if you're wrong, you have to dress for Phantom for Halloween," Justin replied triumphantly.
"Sure I will," Wes rolled his eyes. "And when I'm right, you have to confess your gay love to Kwan."
"My what?"
"You heard me. Now... let's proceed to check-out. I think I have enough money to buy contacts..." Wes muttered.
"I can't believe you don't have a costume yet Danny!" Sam said, dragging both him and Tucker to one of her favorite goth stores.
"Halloween isn't for another week-and-a-half," Danny argued defensively. "And if you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly had the time to shop lately."
"Well, you have the time today," Tucker grinned.
"I don't even know what I want to dress up as" Danny muttered, poking at a fake skull. "Thanks to Ishiyama, costumes are mandatory for this stupid Phantober Fest thing. I really don't want to go."
"Hey, it might be fun. After all, I think it's pretty cool that they named it after you," Sam said.
"Yeah, because working at a snack table all night with the one guy who's convinced I'm Danny Phantom is 'fun'," Danny deadpanned.
"Lighten up Danny!" Tucker grinned. "It's not like you're gonna have to fight ghosts like last Halloween. Pretty much everyone in the Zone is going to be at that party at Ember's."
"I guess that's true," Danny admitted. "Apparently even Vlad was invited. I doubt he's going though, he still has a grudge against Ember ever since she broke into his house and replaced all his personal files with Ember CDs."
"Sure," Sam said offhandedly, "that was completely Ember. It's not like I had anything to do with it..."
Danny and Tucker shared a look. Was there something Sam was hiding from them?
"Sam..." Tucker said slowly, "what did you do?"
"Forget about it." She quickly changed the subject, "Let's get Danny his costume!"
After some debating, Sam decided that Danny was going to be a vampire. He was against it at first, but reluctantly agreed to her antics.
"It'll be an actual Dracula vampire," Sam explained, holding up a black and red cape, "not one of those sparkly… glorified tampons from those stupid undead teen romance novels."
"But I am an undead teen," Danny teased.
Sam glared at him, "Shut up, Danny."
While Danny and Sam argued like an old married couple over Danny's costume, Tucker took it to himself to record everything on his PDA. Oh, the joys of fresh blackmail. They were both so... clueless.
As the three of them finally left the store after they checked out, they were met with a (dreadfully) familiar face. None other than Wes Weston stared them down with unnaturally red eyes... what?! Wasn't he supposed to have green eyes? All suspicion of overshadowing was thrown out the window with what he said next.
"Hello, Phantom," Wes spat. "I've overshadowed this mangy human in hopes to provoke you."
The trio exchanged glances. If there had been a ghost overshadowing Wes, they wouldn't have been so recklessly stupid to just walk up to him and admit that he was overshadowed. Besides, if it was overshadowing, Danny's ghost sense would've alerted him. It didn't use to sense overshadowing, but ever since his ice powers became more developed, it became easier to feel when there was a ghost around. Wes was clearly not overshadowed.
"Yeah, whatever Wes," Danny said, "I'm not an idiot."
"But I am not Wes. I am the... Mall Ghost! You will reveal your true form and fight me, ghost boy!"
Tucker snorted, "The Mall Ghost? What, do you like haunt Victoria's Secret? Actually... that wouldn't be so bad..."
Sam kicked him. "Pervert."
"Look Wes," Danny said, "pretending to be overshadowed is a good idea and all, if you're trying to trick Phantom, but will you get this is your head? I am not a ghost! The real Danny Phantom is probably out protecting the town or something!"
"And what better way to protect the town than with a secret identity? You can't fool me! I am the Mall Ghost and I know who you are, Phantom!" Wes trembled.
"If you're overshadowed, then why are your eyes watering from the contacts?" Sam asked.
"Because... I am weeping tears of victory?"
"I've had enough of this," Danny decided. He grabbed Sam and Tucker by the arms, and walked as far away from Wes as he could.
"Phantom... wait!" he cried. But Danny and his friends were long gone.
Justin approached him from behind, "Looks like I win, Wessie-boy. Should we start shopping for your Phantom costume?"
This day couldn't get any worse.
Maybe that day couldn't get any worse, but Wes's current disaster certainly could. Danny thought Wes's costume was hysterical. All night, when people approached the two of them and complimented the accuracy of Wes's Phantom costume ("Your eyes are amazing, they really look like Phantom's!" or "Do you Cosplay a lot? You could probably make money off this!"), Danny made obvious attempts to keep himself from laughing out loud. It was even worse when Sam and Tucker (who were respectively dressed as a zombie and Darth Vader) made their way over to the snack stand and joined Danny in relishing Wes's pain.
As they night slowly progressed and the temperature dropped, Wes felt like he was freezing. The costume was made of skintight materials and was horrible at keeping the wearer warm. Not to mention that the materials kept sticking to his skin, making him break out in cold sweat. Furious at himself for not thinking to bring a jacket, Wes let out a yell of frustration towards Danny, "How the hell do you wear this all the time?! It's so uncomfortable!"
And to Wes's surprise, he didn't even try to deny anything that time. He simply just laughed. Already dead or not, Wes was going to kill him.
Somewhere around 11 p.m., the live music at the center of the festival came to an abrupt stop. At that very moment, Wes watched as Dash Baxter climbed on stage and picked up a microphone. He cringed as Dash's voice echoed across the town square.
"What's up Amity Park?!" All around him, there were cheers from random by-standers. "I hope you're having a good time! Now, I just talked with Principal Ishiyama, and I have some good news for all you guys!" Dash paused for dramatic effect. "There was an unexpected amount of people who dressed as Danny Phantom tonight, so due to popular demand, we will be hosting a Danny Phantom Look-Alike Contest! Anyone who came tonight as Phantom can participate, and the first prize winner gets a $50 gift card to the Nasty Burger! It will be held in twenty minutes in front of town hall, and the judges will be none other than Dale Presson, Paulina Sanchez, and Jazz Fenton! Spread the word to your friends, and we'll see you there. May the best Phantom win!"
An unexpected wave of nausea overcame Wes. There was no way he was participating in that contest; he would never live it down.
"If you want to do the contest," Danny smirked, "I can hold down the fort for you."
"Nope," Wes said quickly, "I'm staying right here."
"Hmm," Danny frowned, "that's a shame. You might be able to win that gift card. But who knows," he says eerily, "maybe I'll change and win it instead."
Wes paled, "What did you just say?"
Danny laughed, "Lighten up. I was talking about changing my costume."
But they both knew that he wasn't. Wes looked at him from the side for a moment and realized, that was the closest that Danny came to admitting the truth.
"Wes!" Oh no... Justin. "Why're you just standing around? You've got to get over to that contest! You're bound to win, for sure!"
"Justin, I'm not doing it," Wes said firmly.
"Ah, come on! Don't do this to me, Wes. Live a little! It won't hurt you. What's the worst that can happen, coming in last place?"
"No," Wes said. "Worse. Coming in first place."
"Stop being so depressing," Justin said. "I'll bet Danny agrees with me. Right, Danny?"
"I think that he's closer to the real Phantom than anyone thinks," Danny shrugged. And of course, Wes was the only that picked up on the double meaning in his words.
"Come on, please Wes," Justin begged. "I promise you won't regret it."
"My answer is still no."
"Fine," Justin spat, "be that way." He turned, leaving Danny and Wes alone once again.
"I still think you should do it," Danny told him.
"You can't make me do anything," Wes said stubbornly.
"Actually..." Danny threw him a chilling smile, "maybe I can."
Right when Wes was about to ask him what he was talking about, there was a bright flash of light – like someone had put a camera in his face – and everything went black. He wasn't unconscious, or blinded, he could tell that much. But everything seemed... murky, like he was being held underwater or something. It was almost relaxing, Wes wanted nothing more to give in to the sensation – and he did. Just when he let the feeling overtake him, everything came rushing back.
The world burst into colors around him, and he found that his feet were planted on a stage. There were people of different ages around him, all dressed as Phantom. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Amity Clock Tower; it read 11:28. Just seconds ago it had said 11:16. What the hell had happened to him? Wait... he had been talking with Danny, and then there was that light.
"-participants of the Danny Phantom Look-Alike contest. The judges have reached a decision. With so many great costumes, it was hard to decide. But with no further ado, the honorary mention is Mikey Hobaken!"
Wes looked down and saw Dale, Paulina, and Jazz all sitting at one table together. For a moment, Wes caught Jazz's eye and he swore he saw something mischievous in it. Like she knew something that he didn't (in retrospect, it was Jazz Fenton; she probably knew a lot of things he didn't). Wes felt his stomach plummet, this wasn't good. He didn't even know how he got here, or why he couldn't recall the past ten minutes.
"-third place, Mia Cornwall for her remarkable take on Phantom's-"
Danny had something to do with Wes's memory gap. He had said something right before... what was it? When he had said that Danny couldn't make him do anything, Danny had replied with, 'Actually... maybe I can.'
"-and our second place winner is... Dash Baxter!"
What had Danny done to him that allowed him to control him? In a moment of recognition, Wes's mind backtracked to the week before, when he had pretended to be overshadowed. If Danny was a ghost, and since overshadowing was a power that all ghosts possessed... Oh God, Danny had overshadowed him! Wes immediately felt repulsed with himself. Just the thought that a ghost (his own classmate!) had been able to go inside him and overpower him so easily made him sick.
"-you've all been waiting for! The first place winner is Casper's very own basketball star, Wes Weston! Come up here Wes!"
Oh crap. Crap! He won! What was he supposed to do now? Just calm down, Wes. You can do this. Take a deep breath.
He took a few shaky steps forward and shook the announcer's hand. He was given a cheap black medal with Phantom's insignia on it. They told him that he'd be able to get his gift card the next day at school. Soon after, everyone spread out to different areas in the festival, leaving Wes practically alone. He spotted Danny talking to his sister, and feeling both enraged and embarrassed, Wes stormed over to them. But when he approached them, he found that they were in the middle of a conversation, and ended up hiding behind some nearby trash cans.
"-you shouldn't be so reckless Danny," Jazz chided him. "Overshadowing is-"
"Wrong, I know," Danny finished. "But come on, it was a one time thing – not to mention funny. And it's not like I was the one who dressed as Phantom tonight, well, you know what I mean."
"That's no excuse," Jazz crossed her arms sternly. "I played along, but it wasn't right. I thought you were better than overshadowing people ever since Poindexter showed up to make you stop screwing with Dash. Forcing people to your will is something that Vlad would do, something Vlad does on a regular basis!"
"It was just-"
"I'm not done, Daniel Fenton," Jazz's voice darkened. "If Mom and Dad knew, they would disapprove. I disapprove. I may only be your sister, but someone needs to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Jazz, it's Halloween..." he protested weakly, shame slowly creeping into his gaze.
"Which means nothing. Did you see how freaked out Wes looked when you left his body? I did."
"I... I know. I've kind of accepted that he already knows my secret. He's passed the point of convincing otherwise, so what more do you want me to say?" Wes recognized the self-disappointment in his voice, and kind of enjoyed it.
"You don't have to say anything," she replied coldly. "I don't care if you use your powers for fun, but that's one of the ones that's easily abused. That's why I don't think you should go to that 'big spooky Halloween party' in the Ghost Zone tonight. I don't care if it's at Ember's concert hall and that you're on a truce, I'm grounding you for the night-"
"Grounding?" Danny protested. "But-"
"I can do what I want." Wes couldn't really see from behind the trash cans, but he heard the sound of a bag unzipping. "You're walking home with me, and if you even try to fly away, I'll use this Fenton Thermos on you-"
"You wouldn't-" Danny groaned.
"I would. And then when we get home, I'm setting up a halfa-proof portable ghost shield around your room until morning."
"What! That doesn't exist, you don't have that," Danny said.
Jazz scoffed, "Please, Danny. You and I have both had blueprints shoved down our throats before we could speak. It wasn't that difficult for me to reprogram one of Dad's shields with yours and Plasmius's ectosignatures."
"That's not fair!"
"Overshadowing Wes wasn't fair," she responded.
Danny was silent. "I... I won't do it again. Unless it's life or death."
"Good. Now we're leaving. You can text Sam and Tucker that their Ghost Zone party plans are canceled."
The two siblings walked away, leaving Wes with much more evidence than before.
So far, I have to admit this has been my favorite chapter to write. I didn't intend for it to be this long, but I ended up writing a few unplanned scenes, such as the dialogue when they're shopping for Danny's costume, when Danny overshadowed Wes, or that last conversation with Jazz. Unlike a lot of the previous chapters, there were no Tumblr headcanons or fanart ideas I based this on. I came up with the entire plot for the chapter one night and fell in love with the idea that Wes tried to convince Danny he was overshadowed.
On another note, I'm going to spend some time at my grandparent's in the next few weeks and I don't know how often I'm going to be able to write. The updates may slow down, but chances are they won't. And once again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot to me :)
Also, props to those who get the reference in the chapter name. I've been meaning to get into more Blue Öyster Cult lately, but haven't had the time.