"Danny!" He grinned as he walked into the station, ready to give yet another ghost some peace by reporting their improper grave, and by suggesting who might have killed them ( He was starting to get annoyed serial killers).
"Hey Ethan," He leaned against the receptionist desk, looking down at the man who was smiling at him," Got another set of remains for you."
He pushed the paper forward, where he circled the location in red ink. Ethan sighed and took the paper," How do you keep on finding them?"
Danny shrugged a shoulder and casually said," Being the Ghost King gives me the ability to sense dead bodies. Not that hard." He had long learned that if you told the truth, no matter how crazy it sounded, if you said it like it was nothing, people weren't going to believe you. Especially if you say it with a smile and in a casual/dismissive tone.
Ethan snorted and rolled his brown eyes," Whatever dude. As long as you're not the one putting them there."
Yep.
Works each time.
It's not his fault if they don't believe him when he was telling the truth.
He scrunched his nose at the way Ethan worded that," I feel bad when I have to clean up the web of that daddy long legs that lives in my apartment. There no way I could kill another human being."
"You let a daddy long legs live in your apartment?"
Out of everything he could have focused on, Ethan focused on that?" Yeah, dude. She kills all of the flies and mosquitos for me."
"Okay," Ethan shrugged his shoulders as he dismissed the topic and moved on. He grabbed a paper from the side, and scribbled something onto the paper before handing it over to Danny," This time, its going to be Detective Cardenas who will be handling this case."
"Got it," He took the paper, and took note of the phone number that will be calling him eventually," Anyway," He pushed away from the desk and started to walk away," Hopefully I'll see you without giving you guys a new case."
Ethan grinned," yeah yeah get out of here already dude. Detective Cardenas will contact you later."
And with a final wave, he walked out of the police station. After he was a few blocks away, he ducked into an alleyway and transformed.
He already had a pulling to another part of the country, and it was going to be a little bit of a flight to get there. After a few years of going around the world-leading people to remains and burying others, he was known around a few police stations.
They either knew him as Danny, the guy who keeps on leading them to bodies. Or that anonymously mailer who mails them the information to find said bodies.
He shivered as he crossed over to the warmer side of the country, consciously telling his core to release more energy to keep his body temperature down.
It took him a few hours to find the bodies, especially since they were in Death Valley of all places. Probably the hottest, and worst place to be stranded in the U. S
His heart sank when he finally found the family.
They were covered with sand and were at the base of a small hill, each adult skeleton had a smaller, child-size skeleton right next to them. His throat clenched up at the sight of a third skeleton in the middle of all of them, easily being the smallest and the youngest of the bunch.
He stood at their feet quietly, bowing his head as he paid his respects. He already knew who they were, there was only one case he knew of, where five people went missing in Death Valley.
A Hungarian couple and their respective children tried to drive around Death Valley, only to get lost back in 1996.
He looked around at the desert, wincing as he further realized that the family was hundreds of miles away from the main road. There is no shade, nor any source of water in sight.
He already knew that their death was not pleasant.
With a sigh, he sat down on top of the hill that they were sitting at. Ready to start the month-long wait to make sure that none of the family members became a ghost.
He had half a mind to grab onto a bone and wait to see if there was a ghost, especially since the family had been missing for the past twenty years, but ghosts were always his first priority. As much as he wanted to bring relief to their surviving family in Hungary, he needed to wait.
Thankfully, being a halfa, he was able to make the time go by faster by doing the odd thing here and there. First, he busied himself with finding out the exact coordinates of where the hell he was. And then he started to make a few landmarks that would make traveling to the remains easier for the authorities.
He already knew that he was going to have to report this anonymously, especially since it was Death Valley, and it would be highly suspicious if he 'managed' to find the remains while on a 'casual hike'.
Especially since no one went hiking in Death Valley.
It wasn't until the last day when he was starting to get ready to leave when he met another being.
The keyword is 'being'. Since he wasn't sure what this guy was. All he knew from first glance, was that he was tall, and looked like he was some guy that took the emo look a little bit too much to heart.
"A human," The man said, somehow making his words sound slimy," What is a human doing all the way out here?"
He already had a bad feeling about this.
The man kinda felt like the way Jack does, a ghost, but yet not a ghost. Just enough ghostly feeling for him to notice, but not enough for him to definitely say," yep, this is a ghost." Actually, now that he thinks about it, this guy doesn't feel like Jack at all.
If anything, he kinda feels like Fright Knight, having that old and ancient feeling, with a slight hint of fear. Only the man was lacking that very distinct feeling of a ghost.
Hm.
Danny stood up and dusted off his pants, speaking as he did so," Out here on some personal stuff." He looked up at the man and crossed his arms as he said," you do know that there isn't a salon to get your eyebrows done out here. Right?"
He had to refrain from smiling when he saw that the comment on the guy's lack of eyebrows hit a nerve," Bold words from a mere human." The man hissed out, bending down to be at his eye level as he did so. They were standing nose to nose, the man with a look of anger on his face, and a look of boredom on Danny's face.
Oh, this was going to be easy.
"Are you mad?" He asked with an innocent tilt to his head, though there was a shit-eating grin that repelled that," It's hard to tell without eyebrows you know?"
The man was seething in anger, only getting more upset as Danny positioned his index fingers over his eyebrows to act as mock eyebrows," Maybe you should do this if you want to show that you're mad. It would probably help in the long run."
Danny rose an eyebrow (along with an index to mimic the action) as the man started to do something that made the air feel heavy, a snarl on his face the entire time.
It was kinda like the way Fright Knight does it when he's getting ready to reap the souls of the unlucky with his sword. He would make the air feel heavy in a similar way to stun and immobilize his victims.
This guy's attempt was cute.
"If you're done throwing a hissy fit," Danny waved him off as he started to walk down the hill, back to the family's remains," I got shit to do and places to go." He jumped off the hill, landing lightly on his toes at the remains feet.
Just as he reached out to place a single finger on the smaller skeleton, just to completely make sure that there was not a ghost who could claim the remains.
A wave of black sand washed over the remains, disturbing all of them . The force of the wave almost threw them across the sand, mixing up their bones and throwing them against the rocks in the area.
Ok.
Ok.
He knew what he had to do.
It was the only logical choice left.
He was going to have to kill the guy.
No doubt about it.
Danny snarled, his ghostly characteristics becoming more pronounced as he rounded on the man.
Without a single moment of hesitation, he let his transformation rings wash over him, his growls becoming more inhuman after the transformation," You," he could tell that the man knew that he fucked up because the moment Danny rounded on him, he took a step back," I'm going to fucking kill you…"
The man's eyes widened and he took another step back.
He didn't get a chance to run before Danny leaped forward with a snarl.
"Jack," He spat out his lukewarm hot chocolate when he heard a voice behind him," Oh, sorry," Danny patted his back in an attempt to help him cough out all of the liquid he had inhaled," Didn't mean to scare you like that."
Jack could hear the others standing up from their chairs, Bunny's voice being the loudest as he yelled," How did ya get in 'ere!?"
"Woah Woah," He croaked as he stood up protectively in front of Danny, still coughing out some of the hot chocolate as he said," Calm down. It's Danny Phantom. Everything's cool."
North rose his eyebrow," You say that like it explains everything."
"Right," Jack almost smacked his forehead," You guys don't go out enough to know who he is. " he had already had the conversation a few times, since he had tried venting to them about some annoying autumn spirits, only for them to have no idea who he was talking about.
"To be fair," Danny cut in," I don't interact with spirits that much."
"Yes but rumors go around like wild fire," He sighed heavily, and stepped to the side, where he started to introduce Danny," This is Danny Phantom. The King of the Ghost Zone. You know, the same Danny who helped me with my body?"
Bunny raised his eyebrow," Pretty sure Danny didn't look like that."
What?
Jack turned around, his first time looking at his friend since his arrival, and jerked away," Dude!" Danny rose an eyebrow," What happened to your face?!"
"Oh," Danny's slitted eyes (Why were they slitted !?) were rolling, his pointed eyes sticking out of his flaming hair, and his fangs sticking out of his mouth," Yeah this guy really pissed me off and my face is the result of me getting pissed. Anyway," As if that was a normal thing for them to hear, Danny dragged something from the dark to the light," Do you know this asshole?"
They all stared at Pitch, who was unconscious in Danny's hand, they could see bruises covering his pale gray skin," Uh. Danny…?"
Danny was rubbing his ear as it slowly turned back to normal," Yeah?"
"…What did you do to Pitch?"
Danny hummed as he started to run his hand through his hair to make it stop looking like fire," Is that his name? I told you, he pissed me off." The ghost motioned for one of them to take Pitch from his hands.
It was eerie to see Pitch like that. To see him unconscious, behind held by the back of his neck. There were ice bonds all over his body, there were one for his upper arms, forearms, hands, upper thighs, knees, and feet.
Just what the hell did Pitch do?
" I suggest you take him, because I still have half a mind to kill him for the shit he pulled. I would have killed him if he didn't mention you guys." Jack leaned away when Danny heartlessly threw Pitch onto the floor, not even trying to be gentle as he did so.
"Er…" he almost didn't want to ask," What did Pitch do?"
A shiver went down his spine as Danny let out an animalistic growl," I found the remains of a family in Death Valley," Oh no. he didn't…" And this fucker disturbed all of them," Danny was growling out his words, the room getting colder in response to his emotions.
They were used to the room getting colder due to emotions since Jack had the power to do that.
But, there was something different this time. The way Jack would cool the room was different from the way Danny was doing it at the moment.
The air felt heavy, and it felt like the air was too thick to breathe.
"He's lucky that there weren't any ghosts related to the remains. Because I would have let them kill him."
Jack was the closest, and the only one that knew Danny," Ok," He was struggling to keep his voice steady as he stepped in front of Danny, using his body (Thank god he started growing again) to gently push Danny away from Pitch," We'll take care of him." Thankfully, he was now tall enough, and heavy enough where Danny couldn't easily brush him off.
Danny snarled out his words," He fucking knocked them to the side like they were nothing," He heard the others start to do something behind him, most likely trying to move Pitch to another room," Tell him I'll kill him if I ever see him again."
Oh, Danny was seething . The mere thought of Pitch desecrating the family's remains was enough to send Danny into a fit of rage again.
Despite his words and tone, Danny let himself be corralled to the corner of the room," Ok," Jack said calmly, trying to calm down his friend," We'll take care of him. Thank you for catching him for us," Danny grunted in response, his features becoming warped again.
This was a terrible way for the others to meet Danny for the first time. Sure, they met him when Danny was helping him with his remains, but that was a meeting strictly based on business. He had been the only one who continued to meet Danny and hang out with the teen.
So much for first impressions.
"But you need to calm down dude," Jack said seriously, his voice low in what he hoped was a calming, but stern tone," You're scaring everyone right now."
His words were enough to bring Danny out of his trance. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Immediately, the air became lighter. His features started to return to normal again and Danny tiredly leaned his head against the wall behind," Sorry." His voice was back to normal, and he sounded tired," Just. There were kids. Two adults and three kids, and he just," Danny waved his hand around," He just knocked them to the side like they were nothing."
Jack's throat clenched at the thought of three kids dying in Death Valley. He still remembers the first time and last time he went to Death Valley, the heat had been stifling and unbearable. He didn't want to think about the way the children felt being stuck in such a place.
He licked his lips nervously before quietly asking," What are you going to do?"
Danny sighed and ran his hands down his face," I have to report their location to the authorities in Shoshone. I think they're that Hungarian family that went missing back in 1996," Jack nodded his head, showing Danny that he was going along with what he was saying when Danny peaked at him," Then I have to go with the Forensic Analysists to make sure they get everything. Especially for the kids."
"Ok," Jack said," I'll go with you to Shoshone. I'll help you report them," At last, the corner of Danny's mouth curled up in a small smile.
"Thanks. But I have to report them anonymously. The family is really off the trail and they're gonna find it weird if I do it in person."
Well, there went his good intentions of helping. It was way too hot for him to go to Death Valley to help Danny, and he was already pushing it by offering to go to Shoshone to help report them since that was the closest town next to Death Valley.
"Well is there anything I can do? Maybe one of the others can help?"
Danny hummed tiredly," Just keep that guy away from me and that'll be enough for me." Danny sighed heavily and slid down the wall, pulling his knees to his chest when he was sitting on the floor. Jack joined him on the floor, sitting crisscross," Sorry by the way," He said suddenly," that was a shitty first impression I had on your friends.
Now that was an understatement.
"Its fine," He said quietly," They'll understand when I tell them what Pitch did. I don't think they'll hold it against you."
He snorted," I don't think they're gonna like the multiple death threats I made against him."
Yeah…
Tooth really wasn't going to like that.
"It'll be fine," Jack had a grin on his face, but he still had one more question," But just a question. What did you do to Pitch?"
Danny turned to him with a raised brow," I just socked him in the face a few times," He shrugged his shoulder dismissively," He went down pretty fast. Most of my enemies are stronger than that guy."
Alright.
Jack was just going to ignore the fact that Danny just called their main, and strongest enemy, weak.
That was terrifying.
His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Danny looked over at him, snorted, and then said," Ghost King, dude. I got the position through battle when I was 15 or so."
"Well," His voice came out as a croak. He was still trying to cope with the fact that his friend, the same friend that would laugh and fly with him, was insanely powerful.
"God help anyone who pisses you off."
Because if Pitch was lucky he mentioned them, they were definitely going to need it.
"Why was your friend so upset?"
Jack groaned as he sat down in the chair. Pitch was already in the workshop's holding cells, and Danny had already returned to the States to start the process of reporting the family's remains," Pitch disturbed the remains of a family that had kids with them," He said bluntly, he could see his older guardians stiffening up, Bunny's ears pinning against his skull," oh that isn't the worst part," he added on.
And they looked at him, their eyes asking him silently 'how could this get worse?'
"Danny said that he, and I quote, ' socked him in the face a few times'. " their eyebrows were raising, but he wasn't done," He also said that Pitch was weaker than most of his enemies."
Now they all looked horrified.
Maybe he shouldn't have told them that.
Nothing like hearing their youngest member was hanging out with a person that was strong enough to kill them all.
"How strong is that guy!?" Bunny said loudly, his eyes wide with surprise.
Jack grinned nervously," Danny is the King of the Ghost Zone. He said he got his position through battle when he was 15."
"And how old is he now?" oh he knew that look in Tooth's eyes. That was her inner mama bear coming out.
"He turned 19 at the beginning of this year."
Tooth was frowning," I don't think he's safe to be around Jack," there it was," what if he loses his temper again?"
He threw his arms into the air," Come on! Pitch messed with the family's remains!" he said loudly," Of course he was going to be upset. Hell, I would be upset if I saw Pitch do that!"
Thankfully, North was nodding along with his words, as was Bunny and Sandy.
The quiet tapping of wood made them look at sandy, where he roughly said," Phantom is a good person. Very kind, very nice."
Jack sighed in relief. He knew that Danny was truly a kind person, but it was a comfort to see that Sandy was standing up for his friend.
Still, Tooth did not look happy.
It seemed as if Tooth was the only one who was worried about his association with Danny, so Bunny helpfully added," Jack, bring Danny around to the warren to help me paint some eggs. Just to bring some relief to Tooth here."
He grinned and nodded happily.
He was just happy that Danny was getting another chance at a first impression.
"Great!"
Tooth still did not look happy. But he knew it was because she cared for him.
It was nice, to have friends and family who cared for him.
He had missed that the most.