For the Phic Phight 2022.
Prompt by Rev: In a horrendous mix-up, Danny and Tucker accidentally dye Sam's hair magenta. (PR353)
Enjoy!
Vivid
It wasn't even a nice shade of pink.
Sam's eyes were blue (as predicted), her jumpsuit was violet (as planned), but her hair was the most garish color of magenta the three of them had ever seen. It was pinker than Pepto Bismol, pinker than a feathered flamingo, pinker than even a bouquet of Valentines Day roses. The color reminded Danny, vaguely, of Paulina's quinceañera.
As the newly halfa Sam stepped out of the portal, the boys shared a glance in panic. Because in an instant, they knew.
—They had royally screwed this up.
"So?" Sam asked, stepping out of the portal, propping one gloved hand on her hazmat covered hip. "How do I look?"
"Uhhhh—" Danny began, sharing a chagrined glance with Tucker. "You wanna tell her, or should I?"
Tucker squinted at Sam, then removed his glasses, polishing them with the hem of his shirt. "…Yeah, it's a good thing I already committed to dying, today, because she's definitely gonna kill us."
"Tucker!"
"Hey! You don't have a monopoly anymore, man. I'm half dead now, too! I'm allowed to make jokes."
It was a pact they'd made months ago. Sam and Tucker vowed to be at Danny's side, no matter the cost. When ghost attacks started to get too overwhelming for Danny to handle alone, Tucker proposed the plan that he and Sam had been brewing for months; give Team Phantom superpowers.
Danny had argued against it. No one had intentionally tried to make halfas before—so much could go wrong. But when high school graduation came and went, and Tucker and Sam both got scholarships to the local community college, proving they weren't going anywhere - well, at last, Danny relented.
His friends knew the consequences better than most. They'd seen his troubles firsthand, and they still wanted in. And frankly, Danny wouldn't mind the company. His only stipulation was that they plan it carefully, and that they do this one at a time, so they could back out in case things went wrong.
Tucker's transformation, an hour prior, had gone off without a hitch. Darker skin, golden eyes, the faintest teal tinge to his hair. Everything, even the colors, turned out like they expected.
But Sam's…
"Uh, guys?" she asked, sounding nervous. She started inspecting herself, looking down. "What, did I grow a third eye or something? Extra arms?"
"Noooo," Tucker said, drawing it out.
Sam sighed, and Danny swore she almost sounded disappointed. "What, then?" she pressed, dropping her hands to her sides.
Danny grimaced. He stood up straighter, bracing himself, and simply said, "…Your hair."
Sam went still. "What about my hair?" she demanded.
Danny opened his mouth, but then closed it, at a loss for words. Sam's eyes widened a fraction in horror, able to read between the lines. She scrambled. Her hands flew to her head, grabbing fistfuls of hair, and when she brought her locks into her field of vision -
She screamed.
"Okay, yup, definitely gonna kill us," Tucker said, instinctually leaping behind Danny, forgetting he had powers, now, too. Sam's scream was almost banshee-like, echoing through the house, and Danny was so glad they'd picked a weekend where his parents were on vacation, because otherwise, their secrets would be blown for sure.
"Sam…" Danny stepped forward, hands held out.
"How!" she screeched, throwing her hands wide. "How did this happen?!"
"I don't know—" Danny started.
"I mean, we dyed my hair! It was the same god-awful yellow as my suit!" She started to pace. "How did my hazmat wind up purple and not my hair?!"
"That's actually a good question," Tucker mused, intrigued. "Maybe the bleach we used did something unexpected?"
One benefit of planning to become halfas was that Tucker and Sam had time to design their own outfits. Knowing that Danny's suit and hair inverted, and that his eyes slipped one color on the color wheel, it theoretically should've been simple. They'd even tested the fabrics once before sending Tucker in. Zapping the yellow and orange hazmat suits in the portal made them turn blue and purple, respectively. Sam, wanting her hair to match her suit, let the boys dye her hair blonde beforehand.
Apparently, that backfired.
"Maybe there's an extra color between yellow and green that only ghosts can see." Tucker pitched. The other two turned to stare at him. "What? It makes as much sense as anything. That's the inverse of pink, right? Yellow-green? Or…"
"Technically pink doesn't show up on the color wheel."
"…Ok cool, cool. So there's zero logic here, then."
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Ugh!" Sam buried her face in her hands, muttering to herself. "I can't believe this. You're telling me my hair is gonna look pink for the rest of my afterlife? This is terrible!"
Danny felt a pang of guilt. "Sam…" he stepped forward again, beseeching.
She took a deep breath through her nose, and let it out slow. "No regrets," she said, a mantra. Her eyes fell closed. "No regrets, no regrets, no regrets."
"…I'm sorry," Danny said at last. "I wish—"
"No." Sam opened her eyes, scowling at him. "None of that."
"But—"
"But nothing. I said I'd be behind you, no matter what," she reminded him. "And that means good or bad. Life or death, rain or sunshine…" a pause, and she grimaced. "Pink, or purple."
Danny looked at her, wringing his hands, not sure what to say.
Sam ran her fingers through her hair, sighing loudly, but let her hands drop. "I knew going in there was a risk. We both did," she nodded to Tucker, who nodded back. "We both knew there was a chance this could kill us, or that we'd come out wrong. And in the grand scheme of things - if this is the worst of it?" she met his eyes squarely. "A bad dye job? Danny. That's nothing."
Danny stared at her for a long moment, then let his eyes fall.
"I just hate having to ask this of you," he said, looking away. "I hate taking the risk. This stuff's permanent, Sam."
"You didn't make us do anything, dude," Tucker said, slapping him on the back. "We're free to choose."
"And we chose you." Sam agreed. She shrugged, flipping her magenta hair. "I mean, granted, I'm not happy with these new pink locks. But you know what? I'll live."
"Technically—" Tucker began.
"Oh my god you're gonna be worse than Danny with the half-dead puns, aren't you."
"I've been waiting for four years. I deserve it," Tucker countered.
Danny, despite himself, snorted, and ducked to hide a smile. Sam put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"We're gonna be fine," she promised.
Danny covered her hand with his, squeezing back. If his eyes were suspiciously bright, neither of them commented. After offering a weak smile, Danny sniffled. "Thanks guys."
Tucker and Sam pulled back to give Danny some privacy, and grinned at each other, doing a fist bump. Danny scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I'm still asking Ember if there's a ghost zone hair salon or something, though," he argued. "I mean, there's gotta be. Right?"
Sam shrugged. "I dunno, Danny. Your hair always changes back when you transform."
"It's worth a shot though, right?"
"…Worth a shot," she agreed, nodding. She heaved a deep breath. "For now, help me change back, ok? I wanna at least dye my human hair back to black before I have to go anywhere tomorrow. I'm not getting caught dead as a blonde."
Tucker snickered at that.
"—I will pay you to stop the half dead jokes." Sam said, belatedly realizing her pun.
"Hey, you did that one," Tucker argued, grinning. "I'm just along for the ride. If you want, I could switch to hair puns instead. Or make some morbid combos."
"Don't you dare."
"Hm. Hair today, gone tomorrow," Tucker opined. "Silent as the shave…"
"Stop."
"What kind of shampoo does Ember use? Dead and Shoulders, maybe?"
"Oh my god."
"Could be worse," Tucker consoled. "You could've ended up with deadlocks."
"Sam, he's stealing my shtick," Danny whined.
Sam groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Oh my god, what did I do to deserve this," she asked. "I'm never gonna live this down."
Danny grinned. "Okay, okay," he agreed. "We'll give you a break." He slung an arm over her shoulder, steering her towards the stairs.
"Aww," Tucker complained. "I had more material!"
"C'mon, Tuck," Danny argued, grinning like a madman. "It's only fair. After all…" he said.
"…She kinda did just dye."
—