Hello all. I am finally starting it. The crossover is a GO! I am really, really excited about this story, and absolutely will not drop it, even if I take a long time to update. I hope everyone likes the plot as much as I do. I have wanted to contribute to the Danny Phandom for a long time, but never had a story worth writing. Plus I have a lot of anxiety about accidently having OOC scenes, and not doing the story justice.

On that note, I am currently looking for betas if anyone is interested. Especially people good with catching spelling errors, coming up with puns, making sure I don't continually slip into present tense, and who are obsessed with the finer details of MHA. I can only edit my own work so much. Hahaha

This story is rated K because I don't know exactly how descriptive of the violent scenes I want to be. MHA tends to be brutal and I don't want to have to tiptoe around a rating if a scene calls for it. There will not be sexual scenes.

I am going to give this story my all. Wish me luck!

P.S. I know the beginning is a tiny bit slow. I hope that doesn't turn you off, because this story the is going to be a wild ride. Also, as a new favoriter, thegrimmangel (you're awesome- that message made me so happy) pointed out to me, I forgot to mention Phantom Planet didn't happen. Yikes. Good catch. Hahah

All scenes with only MHA characters will be written in English, for ease of reading, but the characters are actually speaking Japanese to each other.

UPDATE********
Chapter One is now available in an audio format! Took forever, but I plan to do this for every chapter! You should be able to find it by looking up Weshney on Youtube!

Monday, September 3rd

8:50 am

"If you look at the final page, it covers the grading policy for all the projects and assignments we will be covering this quarter." Papers shuffled throughout the room, too quiet to echo in the large auditorium. "Mr. Johnson - or, you know, Carl'' stood out on the whiteboard that hung beyond the lanky, brown haired instructor. Below the name, several announcements sat encased within a markered box, while an underlined joke of the day defended its solidarity from several feet away.

"I may throw in a couple more things near the end of the quarter if everything goes well, but we'll see. It depends on how far we get in the syllabus," Carl informed distractedly, and glanced at the clock hanging unassuming over the door. The man sighed and straightened, rearranging the papers in his hand until the top paper proclaimed "Fall 2015" at the head, and "PC Repair and Information Technology: Course Syllabus" at the foot.

"That'll be everything you need to know from today's class." Walking to the center of the stage, Carl haphazardly tossed his copy of the handout forward, the little stack of stapled papers splaying onto the podium as he passed. "I know it's the first day of school, and can seem a little overwhelming, but we'll get there." The man clapped, and addressed his audience with hands held in not-quite finger guns. "Besides, your early morning enthusiasm should float you straight through the rest of the day!" the teacher chuckled, looking out over terraces of seating filled with glazed gazes.

From the rows of students, a pair of bright blue eyes looked up through black shaggy bangs in mild amusement. A smile pulled at the corner of the twenty-year old's mouth as he cupped his face, forearm propping up his head.

The teacher went on, tone changing to one of embarrassment as he glanced at the clock yet again, "Honestly, I know that the class ends in ten minutes but I'm pretty done with today if you guys are."

Like a spell had been broken, the class' frozen state thawed. People of varying ages started to rise and gather their things. The blue eyed boy stretched, mouth opening in a jaw-popping yawn. Movements sluggish, he collected his pen into a small mesh pouch, zipped the case shut, and dropped it into an open pocket of his laptop bag. Next, he clicked open the metal rings on a plastic binder, and grabbed his syllabus. Sliding the handout's three holes over the curved protrusions, he went to snap it closed. His pointer finger, however, dipped down through the metal like it never existed. The second-in-line then smacked the steel rings hard at the lack of resistance, causing the holder to snap shut over thin skin. Indrawn air hissed through pursed lips. The young man looked down in bewilderment at a small bead of blood that formed at the base of his first finger.

"Ooof. That sucks. You good, Fam?" A brunet teen inspected the injury from two desks down.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a slip of the hand," the safety-challenged boy responded.

The other kid looked dubious, and shuffled around in his bag before holding out a stack of travel tissues.

"It's already stopped bleeding; thanks anyway."

After having the offering waved away good-naturedly, the concerned party nodded, and headed toward the classroom's exit.

"Nice going, Fenton. It's been years since you've done that." The admonishment did not carry. With a quick wipe of his hand on a pair of black jeans, the male stood and put the binder away. Most of his peers had already left, but a few stragglers remained. The stage was empty, the professor long since departed.

It always amazed him, being in college and seeing the normalcy of the instructors. His homeroom teacher in high school, Mr. Lancer, had been overbearing and a bit quirky, constantly breathing down his neck and pushing him to succeed while simultaneously swearing in book titles. As a byproduct, the young man expected community college to be incredibly uptight. Instead, the teachers were just slightly older people slogging through their day just as much as he was.

Hiking his laptop bag over a shoulder, he sidled down the aisle past pushed-in chairs. Filing in behind the last of the students, he followed the herd to the exit and kicked out the stopper from underneath the door. A last glance around the room confirmed nothing left behind as wood patterned veneer started to obstruct his view, moving slow from a soft-close mechanism. He turned, ready to leave.

Thump.

The black haired youth held his head, blue eyes closed, as a goose egg formed beneath his fingers and someone's hand reached out to steady him. The hissing door settled against his back, ushering the still-dazed clutz over the threshold. This time he was just aware enough to duck past the jam that had smoked him. The twice-injured male looked back toward the door, mildly affronted by its audacity. He blinked in confusion when the skinny, rectangular window recessed into it carried a luminescent green hue. Blinking his eyes a few more times, both the spots in his vision and the color disappeared.

"—anny...Danny...Danny!" A feminine hand waved in front of him, and he jerked back to the present. Replaying the incident in his head, Danny realized who the steadying arm had been attached to.

"Hey, Sam."

An amethyst-eyed goth cocked a hip, palm settling against her tartan mini-skirt as she gave him a once-over. "Be nice to the door jam, Clueless1. It can't win in a fight against your head; I've seen your thick skull break concrete." A short pause. "Seriously though, something up? Your eyes haven't glowed like that in a while."

"Yeah, just spacey this morning, I guess. It's the only class this year I've had that's started before ten. At least all we did was go over expectations and introductions. I expect Biochem to be way worse." Danny shook his head a bit to dispel the last of the grogginess.

"I mean, you do look like the dead." Blue eyes rolled in the face of the excessively overused joke as Sam smirked. Did he really look that bad?

Danny appraised Sam's outfit, getting ready to parry his close friend's comment.

"Well you look…" He paid more attention, and the jab died in his mouth, replaced by curiosity. "Even more black than normal. And is that...orange I see?" His brows knitted together and his gaze went to the ceiling for a second, before snapping back down. "Oh no."

Sam's smile turned vicious. "It's already September, and the most sacred of holidays is next month."

Danny cast a sidelong glance at Sam as he started to walk away. "You're getting worse, you know. You're almost as bad about Halloween as large corporations are about Christmas."

"Wow. That was below the belt. I might just have to start playing Spooky Scary Skeletons in July if you keep that up."

Danny cracked a smile and altered course, veering around someone on their way to class.

"The horror."

The two shuffled down the hallway, combat boots and sneakers just barely squeaking on polished linoleum. Occasionally they had to break stride to avoid people, but not often.

"So what'd you have in mind for lunch?" the goth asked.

A shrug. "Up to you. You know I'm not picky. I'm just excited we actually have classes that kind of overlap this quarter."

"If you call me having to come to class two hours early 'overlapping'," Sam air quoted, "I think we may have a difference of opinions. My Women's Lit doesn't even start 'til noon." Danny peeked down at her sheepishly as she continued, "You know I'm a night owl. I could be sleeping right now." A mildly grumpy look was shot at Danny as he rubbed the back of his neck.

A thought occurred to Sam as she craned her head back, "You know, it still gets me that we were basically the same height before summer and now you're a foot taller. I swear you grew faster than my chili pepper plants."

A reddish tint flushed Danny's normally pale cheeks, bringing a light dusting of freckles to visibility. "Quit it, Sam, you know I only grew five inches. I'm not that tall."

"Yeah, you are. But six foot one looks good on you," Sam answered with a shrug.

"The glowing white stretch marks up my back would disagree with you," the taller of the two refuted with a grimace.

"Pfft. You know your scars don't stick around. Besides, faded scars are often described as having a silvery sheen. Yours just happen to take things a bit more literally until they disappear." The two came to a door at the end of the hall, and Sam pulled it open. On the other side was an open-air stairwell, Amity Park's urban area peeking from beyond the roofline of one of the campus' other buildings. Sam waited for Danny to pass, then followed single-file through the door and down the steps.

"I'm surprised you haven't attracted any female attention around here to be honest." Sam slapped Danny's shoulder amiably as she came level with him just before the end of the stairs. The young man tensed, subconsciously bracing himself, but kept his steps steady. Behind him, three barely-visible, shoe shaped ice prints stayed flash-frozen on the cement. "Community college is a decent sized fishing pool, and most of the A-listers from Casper aren't here. It's practically a fresh start." Sunlight blinded the pair as they passed out from under the shadow of the building and onto one of the paved pathways.

Danny hummed non-committedly in response.

"Well, mostly." A short ginger male holding a clarinet cut in front of them, and made his way into a nearby building. Sam threw a thumb toward the freckled kid with braces as he disappeared into the two-story lounge of the Arts Center. "Pretty much only the geeks know your reputation here." There was a pause, then a Cheshire grin lit Sam's face. "In fact, there is a really nice girl in my nonprofit class who likes the occult..." she trailed off suggestively.

"Ah yes. Sweet with a side of necrophilia. A match made in heaven."

Sam felt Danny's mood shift from bantering to bothered in a heartbeat, and didn't comment further. A silence descended, but it wasn't strained. Good friends knew when to back off and when to push.

They turned right at a T in the walkway, and a row of hedges on the building's side fenced them in, little waxy leaves showing the first sign of autumn red at the edges.

Taking advantage of one of the last sunny days of the year, the duo made their way into a courtyard with several brilliantly-colored sweetgums. Danny slung his bag onto the grass and plopped down next to it, sprawling out and making himself comfortable. A decent number of people shared the space, making the lawn appear to have a speckling of human weeds.

Squinting up at Sam from his place on the ground, Danny groaned, "We never decided what we wanted for lunch."

Monday September 3rd

4:25 pm

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" A sixteen year old bowed out of a lounge room containing two blue-eyed blondes, each dip of his shoulders punctuated by another "thank you". The fanatic manners and mousey demeanor were typical to the green haired student, and warranted no additional reactions from either of his seniors.

The blondes stayed seated across from each other, one on a stool and the other on a green couch. They may have matched in both eye and hair color, but that is where the similarities ended. One was emaciated and middle aged, watching stoically from behind permanently blackened eyes. The other, at the peak of youth, had a disarmingly warm smile plastered on his rather plain face.

"No worries, Midoriya. Just try to relax. I'm sure Sir will love to meet someone All Might personally recommended," the upperclassman reassured. "Just don't be late Sunday." His easy smile stayed in place as he lifted a heavily-muscled arm for an overachieving thumbs-up.

"Y-yes! Thanks again, Togata-senpai!" Midoriya tried to return the confidence in kind, but faltered a bit at the thought of meeting his idol's one and only sidekick.

Believing himself dismissed, the teen turned and stepped into the expansive hallway just outside the lounge, only for a much deeper call to stop him dead, "Midoriya-shounen. Just because Nighteyes and I had a falling out, doesn't mean I don't have complete trust in him." The hollow man studied the ground for a moment before looking back up with a sad smile. "I simply cannot face him myself."

Monday, September 3rd

5:16 pm

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

A disheveled sleeping bag shifted slightly from its place on the floor next to several cubicles, but otherwise did not move.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

"Aizawa-san, if you don't intend to answer, might I suggest putting your devices on silent during office hours," a calm, even voice gently admonished. The approximately human-shaped block of cement turned back to his computer, double clicking on an icon, before looking back down at the paperwork on his desk.

Ring, ring.

Another UA teacher sighed and rubbed her temples, the R-rated hero already well on her way to cultivating a migraine.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring

…..

The room held its breath as the small electronic demon quieted.

….

….

Ring, ring. Ring ring. Ring, ring.

"HEEEEEY! SHOOOTA! Answer your phooOONE!" a shrill voice screeched as several of the faculty flinched. The unholy cry had come from mere inches above the polyester cocoon's opening. But rather than respond, the yellow sleeping bag flipped over, hiding black tufts of hair from sight.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

Click.

"Hey there, LISTENER! THIS IS ERASURE HEAD'S PHONE, YAAAOOOW!"

"Yamada-san. Please," the grey-faced building material beseeched as both he and the sexy dominatrix next to him shot a pleading look across the room.

"Ok, ok," the concession was fast, with no hesitation, similar exchanges a common occurrence for the man.

Yamada listened to the person on the other end of the line while idly repositioning his directional speaker. The metal rubbed wrong if he let it stay hitched too high on his neck. Reaching down, the voice hero shook his exhausted friend surprisingly gently, then continued in a more subdued tone, "Shota, this support company has been trying to get ahold of you for over a week. It could be important."

With a groan, the ragged man rolled over, sticking a hand through the tiny opening of his buttercup encasement. Yamada passed the small flip phone into the erasure hero's waiting palm, and both arm and machine disappeared back inside like a startled tubeworm.

A voice barely carrying the will to live spoke up from within the bedding, "Moshi mosh. This is Aizawa speaking. Please be quick with whatever you have to say, as I only have thirteen minutes left to sleep." A pause, and something was relayed.

"Ahh. A job then." A sigh. "Yeah, I can make that time. I'll just have to switch my fourth period with someone else and skip my lunch. Thursday the 13th, at 12:30 pm. Is that all?" Another pause. "See you then." The call clicked off and Aizawa shoved the cell phone back at the boisterous, entirely-too-loud blonde with gravity defying hair. His tired voice spoke up once more, now with a bite, "Hizashi. Don't do that again." Then, as if he didn't just reprimand his friend, "And send me a reminder about that appointment later."

Monday, September 3rd

7:30pm

A large dorm building sat nestled into a stand of trees with architecture a blend of both Greek and modern. All the plants growing on the plot remained green despite the slight chill of the air. The sunset took on a golden-pink hue, making the front of the building appear darker as a teenager with floppy green hair approached. In fact, he could hardly see the white Doric columns above the front porch that accented the "1-A Alliance" label.

"It's definitely the end of the year," Midoriya commented to himself while looking around at the beautiful campus, still in awe of living in such a high-class place. Even if he got a part-time job and pooled the cash with his mother, they still wouldn't have been able to afford something near so nice. Two globe lights flicked on, illuminating the pathway from either side, as the lean kid carried white plastic bags on each arm.

"Oi, oi. Midoriya's here!" a guy by the entrance wearing a soft red shirt and navy blue pants announced over his shoulder to some hidden audience inside. Redirecting his voice back in front of himself, the spirited teen demanded, "What took you so long?!"

"Kirishima-kun! Sorry! I realized I might not have time to get groceries if I get a work study, so I went shopping early," Midoriya yelled back, his response not nearly as loud.

"Hey, no need to apologize, you just missed the cake is all."

"Sato-kun's trying to fatten us up!" another kid with a jagged black strip through his butterscotch hair called, poking his head out from behind his sturdy classmate.

Kirishima angled his red eyes down at his friend. "Hey, Man, a padded jacket is an acceptable gift, even in summer."

"But if I keep eating sweets all the time I'm gonna get a pudge, and then I won't get any ladies," the boy whined pathetically.

A slightly rough female voice cut in from beyond the two, "Yeah, because you have so many women falling head over heels for you now, Jamming-yay."

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, Kaminari-kun, we can work out to get rid of any extra fat. It'll be great!" Kirishima assured, pounding his fists together, the skin taking on a crackled, rocky texture.

Watching the banter eased some of Midoriya's stress as he made his way to the front door with a heartfelt smile. The grocery bags he carried stretched taut under their content's weight, but seemed to cause only mild inconvenience. Kirishima and Kaminari stepped back, the chivalrous redhead pulling the door open with him as he retreated. Midoriya entered and was soon flooded by the curiosity of several bored teenagers as he followed the other two left to the lounge.

"Oh wow! That's a lot of groceries. What'd you get?" a bubbly pink girl exclaimed, head dropping back to look upside down at Midoriya from her spot on one of the green couches. A punk-rock chick with earlobe protrusions reclined next to her, actually turning her body to the side to get a better view.

A hand reached out over the coffee table at their feet, silently grabbing a remote and turning the volume down on a massive flat screen TV. The limbs' two-toned owner observed the going-ons through mismatched eyes, content to stay quiet.

Midoriya walked past the couches where his friends, Ashido, Kyouka, and Todoroki chilled. It was kind of surprising that more of class 1A wasn't hanging out, as per usual.

"Where is everyone? It's too early for bed," the boy inquired as he passed only three more students with worksheets scattered around them on his way to the kitchen—a cute brunette, a reserved frog-human hybrid, and a well-groomed male with nary a hair out of place. With the addition of the trio sitting at the centralized tables, the number of occupants in the space only totalled nine, Midoriya included. More than half the students were missing.

Reaching the kitchen counter, the hero-in-training set down his groceries, the answer coming from behind him, "Sato-kun went back to his room to make more sweets for training tomorrow. Koda-kun and Sero-kun went with him. I think Aoyama-kun had an appointment with the support department for his belt. Tokoyami-kun is training with Dark Shadow, but I don't really know where anyone else is." The bubblegum-skinned girl shrugged.

"I know Momo-chan is up in her room calling people. She was really determined to find an agency that would take her on for her work study," Uraraka Ochako supplied, not looking up from her homework. The brunette distractedly twirled a weightless pencil and stared hard at a sheet of paper riddled with English letters.

"Everybody is trying their best to get a work study, but most of the agencies aren't qualified, or don't want to take on the responsibility for our safety," the straight-laced Iida Tenya explained from next to Ochako. "But that is why we need to get better! It is our duty to become stronger so that we may not burden those around us!" The exclamation was accompanied by a chopping hand motion that quickly gave way to a clenched fist at chest height.

"I am already a burden. I need to catch up as soon as possible." The words were calm and even, carrying with them the single-minded determination of the half-hot-half-cold Todoroki.

A number of laments soon echoed around the room. "The school said Gunhead-san hasn't had enough interns, so I can't go there." "Same here, I wanted to go to Selkie-san's, but…" "Fourth Kind doesn't even take work studies."

The mood gained a heaviness as Midoriya listened, continuing to stow groceries. His head disappeared behind the fridge door as he leaned forward, holding a bundle of leeks. The teen's semi-muffled voice floated out to the room as he did so, "I might have found a place to do my work study, but I won't know until after my interview on Sunday."

A chorus of gasps sounded around the room, and several of the students launched themselves toward Midoriya. The unsuspecting male got yanked out of the fridge by two strong arms.

"You're already ahead of us, dude?! That's so manly!" Kirishima shook his meek friend forward and back in excitement, teeth bared in a shark-like grin. Ashido, Ochako and Kaminari pushed in close, invading Midoriya's personal space in an instant.

"No fair, Deku-kun!" Ochako pouted, perma-blushed cheeks puffed up in envy.

"Who's it with!?" the class' personal charging station asked. Kaminari's hands had lit up with sparks to match his enthusiasm.

Midoriya went white, frozen under the attention even as he was wrenched back and forth. "N-N-Nighteyes!"

"Nighteyes. As in All Might's sidekick, Nighteyes? Holy crap, Man, that's awesome!" Kirishima encouraged, ending his classmate's captivity with a slap to the back.

Midoriya blushed, and looked at the floor, hand sliding through his green locks in embarrassment.

Tuesday, September 4th

1:47 pm

Zzzzt. A neon pink ray of light shot across a forested area, just barely missing a black and white blur dodging between branches.

"Nice try, Val, but you'll have to be faster than that! I clocked in at 241 miles an hour last wee—!" the echoing taunt was cut off as the gloating entity slammed face first into the dirt. An emerald vapor formed between the leaves of a nearby bush, camouflaged and blending with the colors of the foliage to give the plant a hazy look. Neither party noticed, eyes drawn instead to the pink mist that rose off the ghost's back, the location of the impact covered with a stinking magenta ooze. Danny's opponent smirked behind a red-tinted visor.

"Speed doesn't mean anything if you aren't paying close attention," Valerie teased; then repositioned her feet for better balance and preemptively swerved right. A green glob splattered against the ground, some feet beyond where she had just been.

"Dang it! I thought I had you! Your gear's automatic spatial awareness is too OP." The ghost lifted into the air again, the pink goo on his back falling through his body and dropping to the pine needles below. "Ugh. Jeez Val, did you have to make your shots stink? I'm gonna have rotten onions and banana peels stuck in my nose for days." Danny scrunched his face in disgust and pulled his white Kevlar collar away from his neckline, shaking it to create a breeze. Dodging yet another blast of the smelly goop, the boy held out a hand. The spread fingers lit up in a shimmer of refracted blue light before several rays shot out and froze all of the stinking piles. Abruptly the air smelled once again of fresh cedar and pine.

"How are you gonna learn if there's no consequences to the hits?" the woman asked as she angled her hoverboard lower, zipping to another position with more space, of which there was little. "You know, Phantom, you sure are whining a lot. You were the one who asked for help with 'Evasive Maneuvers in Tight Quarters'. If you remembered to use intangibility half as often as you could, you'd probably be flying circles around me by now." Valerie chuckled to herself as she shot several more attacks at Danny. Sure enough, the ghost boy zipped to the side to evade, just as she'd intended. The red and black-clad girl pressed a button on the inside of her wrist as the attacks went wide, causing the goo to explode in a shower.

This time, though, Danny was ready for it, and slid through a tree trunk, using it as a shield. Since all his usual opponents had attacks that could hit him whether he was incorporeal or not, springing out of the way, or tossing up an ecto shield was often the safest bet.

"Hey! I'm pretty good at improvising! I just haven't been in nearly as many fights lately." In the last few years, as Danny had become stronger, he had noticed a drastic drop in ghost attacks, and an even greater drop in genuinely malicious ones. "It's a lot harder to keep myself sharp when I only get to let loose a couple times a month. It's not like you've been around enough lately to keep my sorry butt in shape."

"Sounds like we need to kick this training up a notch, then." Speed increasing, the Red Huntress streaked all around the area, flitting from spot to spot sporadically and driving the training further into the woods. Danny chased hot on her heels, ecto-charged fists glowing. Suddenly, she turned a 180 on her board, the machine still moving forward, and amended, "For the sake of your backside." Valerie punctuated the remark with a blitz. A barrage of pink energy exploded outward, but a tree branch nearly clotheslined her in the process. The agile woman did a quick turn about, zipping away as she heard her opponent wheeze.

Two of the attacks that had ignored hastily-conjured intangibility slammed Danny hard in the chest, causing the air to whoosh out of him. Trying to recover his breath, he laughed internally at Valerie's mistake as he watched her shrinking backside. A swirling mass of energy formed several feet behind him; but, the distortion dissipated just before he reached it and he passed backward through harmless, nearly invisible wisps of ectoplasm. The same could not be said for the underbrush he smacked into shortly after, the tree boughs breaking against his back sure to leave painful, if temporary, bruises.

Before he could take out more than a couple feets worth of the natural flora, the superhero phased through the remaining bushes and saplings. In an attempt to arrest his momentum, Danny dropped down into the earth. Correcting his flightpath and still underground, he shot forward. The maneuver twisted his body into a V that would pop most human's spines, but his middle took on an almost liquid state, and the ghost incurred no damage. A tug at his psyche left him a little unsteady, but he continued flying in the direction he had last seen his foe. Subconsciously, all color and light faded from his body as he popped up behind Valerie, who was fastidiously surveying the area. Powering up his hand, and making sure to change the state of the ectoplasm to goo, Danny lobbed a ball at his frenemy.

Who instantly countered with a blob of her own. This caused the two to splat together in the air, turning the mass a different color as the ectoplasm mixed pink and green together with unnatural speed.

Brown slime covered the Red Huntress as she exploded through the attacks, using the distraction to land a cheap shot with her fists. Danny took the uppercut before poofing out of existence.

"Crud!" Valerie turned too late, took a giant neon glob to the back, and was tossed to the floor. With a shlurp, she stuck fast to the ground. "Ugh. You complained about bananas and onions. But they don't hold a candle to the natural stuff. Antiseptics and chemotherapy chemicals is not a scent I'd buy at the store. It smells like hospital."

"I wouldn't know, I tend to avoid them," the original Danny gloated from above Valerie, a triumphant smirk on his face. He reached down, touching the glob with a single glowing finger. A catalytic reaction occurred, spreading outward. Valerie soon ceased her struggle as the prison became a solid. Then, Phantom rapped it with his knuckles. The knock that resounded was much louder than the casual flex of muscles, betraying the strength behind the blow. The shell cracked, the lines spiderwebbing out until the trap flaked away. Danny held his hand out, offering Valerie assistance which she promptly ignored, lunging to her feet and dusting herself off.

The curvy ghost hunter raised an eyebrow. "You're becoming quite the show off in your old age, you know that? We both know you could have just phased me out of there."

"But I just learned that trick, and it was the first chance I've had to use it." The young ghost looked away. He was not pouting.

"When'd you make the duplicate?"

"When I was underground. Figured it was as good a time as any," the admission was coupled with a semi-proud expression.

"At least you're finally thinking ahead in fights. You used to suck at that," Val commented, yanking the cemented-in tip of her board out of the crumbling pile.

"Hey!"

"I think we need to set more rules for training, though. This was supposed to be practice for evasive maneuvers, not counters. And you were talking over the phone how you needed help with dodging, right?"

"I don't like where this is going," Danny's tone was uneasy, watching his friend as she took on a serious expression. Which, ironically, when it came to her brutal style of training, was infinitely more concerning than her sadistic smile.

"The best way to avoid getting hit is to not have to think about it. And you always seem to be fighting enemies that cancel the advantages of nearly all of your powers. I think we should spend the next hour with you limited to flight only. Then spend an hour where I shoot at your—you powered down."

"You literally just got done telling me to use my powers creatively, and how it was good I was thinking ahead. Now you're just gonna nerf me when I do well? Rude." Danny crossed his arms and lifted a few feet into the air in indignation.

The female sparring partner examined Danny's defensive body language. "Don't worry. I'll put on the training wheels for the second half." Val's cocky attitude was back in full force.

Danny just barely caught the end of her sentence with his enhanced hearing, already creating as much distance between his ghostly tail and his friend as possible. And with good reason, as a discharge just narrowly missed his thigh. Heart thumping wildly, Danny swerved right, just barely ducking around a tree. He had correctly anticipated Valerie's eagerness to cream him in battle, what he had not expected was the centimeter wide branch at neck level. It failed to stop him, but at such a high speed it smacked across his Adam's apple with the force of a whip. Blinking through watery eyes at the stinging sensation, Danny didn't falter, more worried about what Valerie would do if she caught him.

Left behind and overlooked at the offending tree, a viridescent hue increased in size. The energy coalesced and centered on a single point, a three foot wide atmospheric eddy trapping the lazy spiral current.

An unconcerned voice yelled out to the fleeing superhero, already nearly three hundred feet away from the spot, "So are you excited to have Jazz home for the whole year?"

Danny shot a look of disbelief over his shoulder. Keeping up his speed, he zagged away from a still fully-leafed Hackberry. After several more minutes of erratic maneuvering, he groaned when Valerie followed up with "Well?" Another pause in which the ghost did not answer, focused fully on the forest around him. His flight path would have given a two-year old's drawing a run for its money. "Danny, you are as obnoxious as Technus in a fight because you never. stop. talking. If this training is gonna be realistic, you're gonna have to keep up your signature word vomit."

Narrowly avoiding yet another branch to the chest, Danny turned his face partway to the side, resigned to answer.

Only for his powers to pull back into his core. His hair lost its ethereal float, flattening to his head and darkening into a light grey. Internally, his sensation of weightlessness fled, the slippery eel of buoyancy sliding out of his reach. He chased the tendrils of his power in panic as he dropped several feet, before doubling down and dragging them back in. Breathing hard from nearly hitting the ground at top speeds, Danny stopped dead. The world swirled around him for a second before settling.

Splat.

The sensation of viscous fluid sliding down the back of his neck and under his jumpsuit's collar brought him back to his senses faster than anything else would have. "Ugh, again?!" A quick bout of intangibility had the ooze falling through him and onto the floor as a shudder ran up his spine.

"You stopped. An enemy would have pegged you in a real fight, I'm just keeping up the authenticity. Besides, I could have made that shot knock you over." Unfaithful to the harshness of her words, however, no further shots landed. Phantom stayed hunched over, holding his knees to increase oxygen and blood flow.

"For real, though. You good?" Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow at Danny's posture.

"Just a bit of vertigo. I've felt a bit odd lately, but nothing too bad. Maybe I'm catching a ghost cold or something. I got one last year that was brutal." Danny laughed, glossing over the worry with a little white lie.

"You should have your parents take a look."

"Maybe, but it's not a big deal. I don't want to bother them over something that might not even happen again," the super insisted.

Valerie gave the hard-headed man a once-over, before sighing as she saw his expression settle into a "the-world-will-end-before-I-change-my-opinion" Fenton Face™.

"You'd know your limits better than me, I'd hope," she finished lamely, giving him one last chance to back out.

"Yep, I'm good!" Being winded had been more rooted in shock than exertion. Danny plastered on a cheesy grin, straightening with exaggerated spring. He also floated up several feet to emphasize his point when a skyblue-and-white colored bomb fell from the canopy. The projectile solidified into a feminine shape just before impact and drove Danny to the earth, his head thudding resoundly against a gnarled root.

"Less good," he coughed, ghost sense rasping from his lips a moment late.

Valerie was too busy cracking up to respond. After a moment, she forced a big breath into her lungs, and strided over to pull the newcomer off Danny and into a familial hug. "Hey Dani."

"Hey Sis!"

"What pulled you out of the Ghost Zone long enough to visit the elderly?" Valerie joshed, glad to see her entirely too busy pseudo-sister after several months absence.

Danny, without an "i", waited for his vision to clear, not particularly worried about a concussion with his advanced healing and supernatural durability. Sitting up, he watched the exchange from his position atop fallen leaves, air whistling through his nose as he controlled his breathing.

"I'm actually here to see my Grandpa for once." The faux seventeen-year-old smirked, and Val indulged her with a high-five before the girl continued, "I need help in the GZ. Something's wrong with my kids." Her brows furrowed subconsciously. "They're powers aren't stabilizing correctly. I'm worried." Danny and Valerie both noticed the teen's nearly imperceptible flinch, forcing them to mentally revisit their own near-loss of Danielle.

"I think we were pretty much done here anyways. Let's grab something from the Nasty Burger, then head back to my place to brainstorm," Danny suggested, missing the way Valerie grimaced at the mention of her workplace on the one day off she had this week. Being a manager sucked. "I haven't been there in forever."

"Really? I thought you lived there?" Dani joked, quick to pretend her obsession wasn't eating her alive. Danny and her had more in common than just DNA.

"I haven't been in a couple months. My parents put their foot down and said I couldn't go back to college on their dime unless I ate better. Something about the grease being bad for my soul," Danny lamented, swooning back into the leaves dramatically, careful to avoid the violent root.

"Oh quit your belly-aching. I heard enough of it when they put down the ultimatum," Val griped. "Your parents made the right choice. The extremely high levels of saturated fats were binding to some of your mitochondrial DNA when you changed forms. Who knows how long it would have taken you to 'go ghost' permanently." Danny had the grace to look sheepish.

"I'm glad you're doing better." The clone looked to Valerie, who nodded in affirmation. Shoulders untensing, she smiled up at Danny, "...but when did you get so tall? You've shot up like a weed since the last time I saw you."

"Oh, summer. Actually, right around the time that I…switched…" Danny's eyes got big as he failed to finish the thought.

Valerie tilted her head, and stared up at her clueless friend, a bird observing a worm. Then, changing her tone to guttural and scratchy, she declared, "Looks like meat's back off the menu, Boys." Teeth bared viciously, she added, "I heard the HeartBeet cafe has excellent smoothies."

Chapter Notes:

-In my headcannon, Danny and Sam aren't actually a great match for a functioning adult relationship. I set it up like they tried dating in the second half of high school, but ended up breaking up somewhere along the way. It didn't stop them from still being great friends, though.
-Clueless1 is often Danny's nickname or online username in the show
-There was a Lyle cameo. He's the ginger holding the clarinet. *nasally voice* "Hi, I'm Lyle. Did you want to help me clean my spit valve?"
-I am proud of myself, because not a single scene of this story will be a copy of any MHA scene even if it is very similar.
-This chapter has three direct quotes in it, despite that. The matching dialogue is a deliberate cameo to show what scene it matched up with in the plotline.
-A padded jacket is a good gift, even in summer is the Japanese idiom equivalent of "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".
-My story does not have Mineta, sorry folks. I find him annoying, not funny.
-I have nerfed Danny a bit. With his growth in the show he could be close to godly at this point. But I tried to work in realistic growth levels. If he could fly at 112 mph nearly 2 years into having his powers, I felt like 241 mph was reasonable after 6. Most people, when getting faster, have less growth over time because it just gets harder. It's like going from a 7 minute mile to a 5 min mile run rather than a 15 min mile to a 13 min mile run. That doesn't mean he couldn't learn teleportation or something, though, to fudge numbers eventually. Hahaha.
-Val is the manager at Nasty Burger because that's what pays the bills for college. Her mindset hasn't changed since high school. But she plans to go to a 4 year school once she has some money saved up.
-Yes, that was a Lord of the Rings reference at the end. Lol