Similarities
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Fenton was a klutz. Maybe it wasn't entirely his fault, but ever since that week where he didn't come into school, he'd dropped things left, right, and center. He'd gotten better about it, but those first few months had been pretty hilarious to watch. It was almost as if he didn't even HAVE hands some days!
Then, while he had been klutzing around, ghosts had started attacking, and one ghost showed up to protect the town.
Phantom was a hero. He showed himself one day at the high school during the Lunch Incident to defeat the insane meat monster, and ever since then, he'd reappeared to save the day nine ways to Sunday. There were times he came close to losing, but always, always, through twists of fate or strokes of luck, always emerged the victor.
About the only things the two shared were a first name and an apparent age.
Both Dannys were roughly 14 when everything changed.
Where Fenton was a verifiable scaredy-cat, running away from even the slightest mention of ghosts, Phantom charged headlong into battle, with nary a care for his own well-being.
It was honestly quite strange, when Valerie thought about it.
She filed away those thoughts for later as her watch buzzed on her wrist. Her hand shot into the air at the same time as Fenton's, and they both called out the same question.
"May I be excused?"
Mr. Lancer sighed and gestured to the doorway, letting the two leave. They split up the moment they were out the door, Fenton running to the bathroom and Val heading around a corner, out of sight.
Ever since she'd seen Vlad Masters and Plasmius were one and the same, and once she'd accepted that Dani was both ghost and girl, she hadn't found it hard to come to the conclusion that Danny Phantom was another half-and-half. He had made it clear he truly hadn't intended to ruin her, and with a fervor to match her own, to boot!
But who was Phantom when he wasn't Phantom?
Her suit snapped into being over her body, and with a click of her heels, she shot off down the halls and out the door.
There was a roar from above her as she popped outside, and she gulped.
That was one big slime monster.
Danny Phantom was already zipping around their attacker, firing off ecto-blasts and witty quips in equal measure, driving it away from the school and the people.
"Hey, Phantom!" Valerie called out, rising to meet the monster's eye level before blasting it with her gun. "Need some help?"
"No, but I'll take it!" He rushed past her, lobbing balls of ectoplasm at the monster like grenades, complete with delayed explosion. "Although I'm surprised you're offering!"
She summoned her zapping cubes, commanding them forward to attack the slimeball in the streets. "Well, ever since that whole Plasmius biz, I figured out you prolly did mean what you said about the darn dog."
The ghost boy quirked an eyebrow at her, not stopping his attack on the monster for a second. "Really? What changed?"
Valerie opened her mouth to answer, only to cut herself off mid-inhale as the monster slapped Phantom out of the air and careening into a building. There was a puff of dust as the roof caved in, but there weren't any screams from inside, which meant it was probably abandoned, thank goodness.
"HEY SLIMY!" She yelled, whipping out a silver-and-red thermos. "I WAS FINE WITH LETTING PHANTOM TAKE YOU WHEREVER, BUT DESTROYING OUR TOWN WAS A BAD MOVE!"
She popped the lid off and aimed it square at the attacking ghost, and a black vortex shot from the mouth and grabbed hold of it, drawing it in until there was nothing left of its rampage except the building Phantom had been launched into.
Speaking of Phantom, he rocketed up into the air, debris in his hair and ice at his fingertips. "Where'd he go? What'd I miss?"
"I got him right here." Valerie gave her thermos a little shake as she screwed the lid back on. "And you got a little something right…there…" She trailed off as she actually took in Phantom's appearance.
He wasn't injured, at least, not too badly, but that wasn't what had captured her attention.
Phantom's hair was nearly black with dust and whatever had been in the ceiling of the building, and his eyes were an almost electric blue as his hands glowed the same way.
Call her crazy, but Valerie swore she knew those features.
"What, is there something on my face?" Phantom tilted his head, and the moment was gone. His eyes turned back to the ectoplasmic green they normally were and he ran a hand through his hair, dislodging anything still stuck and returning it to snowy white.
Valerie shrugged it off. "Eh, you got it already."
Before they could say anything else, the distant ringing of a school bell brought them both to reality.
Class had ended.
The two shared a nervous look, then split up, Phantom flying around a building and out of sight as Valerie swung her board around and sped back to school.
Who was Phantom when he wasn't Phantom?
Valerie had a sinking suspicion she knew the answer.
She snuck into the school building as the last gym class was walking inside, then rushed through the halls and to Mr. Lancer's classroom. She ran in and slung her bookbag over her shoulder as someone else was frantically gathering his supplies.
"Ms. Gray, Mr. Fenton, a moment, please." Lancer held up a hand to stop them both. "I hope you two aren't doing anything…untoward…when you run off?"
Valerie and Danny shared a slightly disgusted look, then turned to Lancer. As one, they protested with the universal "Ewww!"
Lancer sighed. "I suppose I'll have to accept that. Be that as it may, the two of you are beginning to slip in your studies. I expect this from Mr. Fenton, sadly, because that's how he's been ever since his accident. Ms. Gray, on the other hand, I am rather surprised."
Danny shrugged awkwardly. "When duty calls…"
At the same time, Valerie grimaced. "Sometimes my job gets out of hand."
"I believe I may have a solution." Mr. Lancer stood up after a moment's deliberation. "If the two of you can work on an extra-credit project, you can bring your grades up. Do well, and I might even be more lenient about your frequent bathroom breaks."
"You got it, sir!" Danny snapped his hand up in a salute as he beamed.
Valerie nodded, a small smile growing on her face. "We won't let you down, Mr. Lancer."
She pushed down the rising sensation of familiarity at the sentence and finished packing up.
"I would like you two to create a presentation on our next class reading, The Most Dangerous Game." Lancer elaborated, handing each of them a small book. "I would like to be able to use it as a lead-in next week Monday. You can make a powerpoint, a posterboard, anything that can get the themes and ideas across. And remember, I expect good work from the both of you."
Mr. Lancer smiled as his students nodded and left. He had the utmost confidence in them.
After all, if he didn't, who would?
〜〜〜〜〜〜
Danny and Valerie were talking about their project when they ran into Sam and Tucker.
"…so I was thinking we cou-Oh, hey, guys!" Danny's face brightened when his friends came into view.
"Hey, Danny!" Sam greeted. Then she turned to Val with a slightly forced grin. "Hi, Valerie. What're you two up to?"
Tucker flashed a grin of his own at Val, who just chuckled and shook her head before answering. "Lancer decided Danny and I should work on an extra-credit project, to make up for always rushing out of class. We were just talking about what we should do for it."
"Well, what's it about? Maybe we can help!" Tucker asked, following the others as they started walking again.
Danny laughed under his breath. "We have to make an introduction for Lancer, for when we read The Most Dangerous Game next week."
Sam gave him a friendly slug to the shoulder. "Oh, do you now? What are you two planning?"
"We haven't got much yet," Valerie explained, "but we're planning on heading over to Danny's house to plot it out."
Tucker wiggled his eyebrows at Danny with a smirk while Sam tried (and failed) to hide an exasperated sigh. "Just be safe, you two. Danny's parents' inventions like him, for whatever reason. It gets annoying."
"I'll see you guys later, okay?" Danny gave his friends a thumbs-up as they left the school building.
"See ya!" Sam called over her shoulder, pushing Tucker in front of her as he kept wiggling his eyebrows.
Danny led Valerie to his house, dodging the occasional Nathan. He opened the door and told her, "Well, here's my house, now that we aren't hiding from a ghost king or anything."
Now that the place wasn't under siege by spectral tyrant…it actually didn't look any different. Valerie wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried.
"Danny, is that you?" A woman's voice drifted up from the stairs to the basement.
"Yeah, Mom!" Danny called down. "I brought a classmate over to work on a project for school, I hope you don't mind!"
Mrs. Fenton's voice sounded cheery when she replied. "Alright, dear, tonight's a fend-for-yourself night anyway! Your father and I are gonna be down here a while yet!"
"Alright, then!" Danny turned to Val. "So, we've got frozen pizzas if you want some, there's leftover Chinese takeout, and I think my mom made meatloaf. What're you gonna want for dinner?"
Valerie set her backpack down by the kitchen table, pulling a seat up to it. "Pizza's fine. Lemme just call my dad so he knows I'm here and not in some sort of trouble or something." She pulled out her phone as Danny gave her the OK sign, heading to the fridge.
"Valerie? Where are you?"
"Sorry for the lack of warning, Dad." Val leaned back into the chair. "Mr. Lancer assigned me and Danny an extra credit project, so I'm at the Fentons' right now. It might take until after dinnertime for us to be done for the day, though."
"Alright, sweetie, just don't let the Fentons' weapons get a lock on you and your suit. Goodness knows what you'll come across as."
Valerie chuckled. "Dad, I'll be fine. Apparently their inventions like Danny, and if they decide to be 'friendly' with me, I think I can handle it."
Danny turned from the fridge and mock glared at Val, making her crack up silently as her dad continued.
"Well, as long as you're sure. You come straight home once you're done, alright?"
"No promises." Val grinned.
A sigh on the other end. "See you at home, Val."
"See you at home, Dad." Valerie hung up.
"So we're clear to get started?" Danny asked, closing the oven.
"Eeeyup!" Val stuck her phone into her pocket. "So, where were we?"
Danny pulled out his English notebook, flipping it open to the page he'd been on when they'd brainstormed earlier. "We were planning out what we were going to go over in our presentation."
"Alright, then…" Val started flipping through the book Mr. Lancer had given her, pointing out various passages.
As they went over the plot, Valerie snuck a look at Danny, imagining the light on his hair was its natural color, pretending his eyes were bright green.
It didn't add up to a pretty picture, in her mind.
If she was right about Phantom's human self, she was no better than General Zaroff in the short story, hunting people who could think for themselves, who were just as smart as she was, if not smarter. And for what? Some misguided attempt at revenge? To play the hero, get the glory, save the day? For an ego trip?
The beep of the oven timer jolted her from her thoughts.
"Oh, good, the pizza's done!" Danny beamed, grabbing oven mitts and pulling the circle out. "Let's let it cool for a bit, then bon appetit!"
When he turned back to Valerie, she was staring at him like he'd just said her dad had died.
"What, is there something on my face?" Danny asked, confused.
"You…I don't believe…" Val stammered out. "…but how?!"
Danny felt something inside him freeze up. "Val, you're kinda freaking me out here…what's going on?"
"…how long?" Her voice cut through the air like a knife.
"Hah, hah…how long what?" Danny set the pizza down on the table, pulling off his oven mitts. A nervous smile played across his face.
Valerie realized she couldn't do it. She couldn't ask him to tell her. She couldn't make him, either.
Yet she'd started the question, and now she had to finish it.
"…how long have you been…y'know…" She cast a tense glance to the stairs, where the Fenton parents were still working on whatever it is they did. "…you know!"
Danny looked to the side, then nodded to himself. "Hey, Mom, me and my classmate are gonna head up to my room for a food break!"
"Okay, Danny, just don't make a mess!"
"Come on, I'll answer any questions in my room." Danny stood up and headed for the stairs, bringing the pizza with. Then, as a thought hit him, he turned back. "Just, ah…don't get too trigger-happy, please?"
"I'll try." Valerie finally conceded, pushing away from the table and following him.
They walked up to his room in silence, the burning need to know eating Val up inside.
The bedroom door clicked shut behind them, and Danny took a seat on his bed, his legs crossed. "Alright, so, what've you figured out so far?"
"Well, the pieces were there for a while, I just didn't start putting them together until earlier today." Val admitted. "When you came out of that building, your hair was almost black with debris and your ice powers made your eyes blue."
Danny cursed under his breath, but he calmed himself. "Well, you know how important secret identities are, can I trust you not to give away mine?"
"As long as you don't pull off my hood again." Val smirked. "Now, about how long you've been…"
"Remember my accident in freshman year?" Danny smiled bitterly. "I hadn't realized my parents' work could be so, heh, shocking."
Valerie couldn't keep herself from gasping. "No way…"
〜〜〜〜〜〜
There was a yell from where Danny and his friends stood, disrupting conversations all the way down the hall.
"WHAAAT?!"
"Calm down, Sam, it's alright!" Danny waved his hands in front of her face. "She knows, and she's on our side now!"
"How do you know that?" Sam retorted, her voice quiet but intense. "For all we know, she might be playing you until she can stick you in a thermos!"
"I'm right here, you know." Valerie sighed. "Look, I get that I haven't exactly been a happy, friendly ray of sunshine, but I've been trying to protect this town the whole time. I just…started out with a lot of misinformation, is all."
Sam didn't seem convinced, and for once, neither did Tucker. Danny groaned. "Guys, you didn't see her face when she realized she's been shooting at me the whole time. She's being honest here."
Tucker softened his glare first. "Alright, welcome to Team Phantom, I guess."
"I'm outnumbered, aren't I?" Sam grumbled, but she stuck out her hand. "Welcome aboard, please keep all heads, hands, and feet inside the ride at all times, and if you hurt Danny on purpose again we WILL end you, end of discussion."
Valerie snorted and shook Sam's hand. "I think I can live with that."
〜〜〜〜〜〜
It was 5th period when her watch buzzed. Thankfully, she and Danny shared this class.
Valerie's hand shot up. "Um, Danny and I need to go get something ready for our next class. May we be excused?"
The teacher nodded and went on teaching.
Once they were outside the classroom, Danny turned to her with a grin as they sprinted down the halls. "Nice save back there. I wasn't sure I could get away with another bathroom break."
They skidded around a corner, Valerie's suit activating and Danny's body changing.
"Alright, Danny, you wanna kick some butt?" Valerie asked, smirking under her visor as they shot out of the school.
"With pleasure!" Danny punched a fist into the palm of his other hand as they turned to face their latest enemy.
"HEY METALFACE!"
"SURPRIIISE!"
〜〜〜〜〜〜
Skulker decided he needed to find another hobby. Hunting would always be his passion, but if the ghost child and the huntress were going to keep teaming up like this, he'd need something he could do while he waited for his suit to repair itself.
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well heck i did it again aw geez