By Nyassa Kaiba
Summery: A mysterious ghost child shows up with little control over her powers. Worst of all, she's afraid of them! Danny and Sam have to show her there's nothing to fear, and wipe away her tears. But the visitor has a secret, one that could get the three of them over their heads in trouble.
Yuri warning: This has Sam paired with a GIRL, instead of with Danny. Got a problem? Read another fic, good bye!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I own Hexa and Black Velvet, but that's all. Why I'm using BV is a mystery to me, but I needed a villain to use.
Chapter 1
It was Danny Vs. Skulker, and Danny was losing. Skulker had him by the neck, trying to throttle him. "Can't… breathe…" Danny gasped out.
"This is horrible! What can we do?" Tucker asked worriedly.
"THIS!" Sam scooped up a brick and threw it at Skulker. "Hey you punk! Don't you know any better about hurting children?"
Skulker turned, with a roar, and targeted Sam. "That hurt mortal! Don't you know better than to attack your elders?"
Danny fell to the ground, too dazed to do anything. Sam screamed as the ghost attacked.
"Hi to Ho-ou!" A phoenix of ghostly ectoplasma hurtled down on Skulker slamming him into the wall beyond Sam. The ghostly hunter developed a nasty bump on his head and curlicues for eyes.
Danny looked up. Silhouetted against the sun was a girl with long white hair, pale green eyes, and dressed in a druid's robes over a blue and gold body suit. A gold phoenix and pale blue dragon were painted onto the body suit. She sailed down slowly, coming into view. She stopped at Sam. "Are you alright?" The ghost girl asked.
Sam nodded, blushing as she took in the girl's outfit and quiet demeanor.
The girl went over to Danny and crouched next to him. She held her hand about six inches away from his forehead and closed her eyes. Danny felt something along his body glow with ghost power, then it was gone. "You'll be alright." She offered him a hand and the phantom took it. The girl helped him up and over to the sidewalk. The girl stood, panting for a moment, before she fell to her knees. "Damn, not again." Her ghost form began to flicker until she became fully human again.
The girl's human form had long black hair streaked with blue and gold and pale blue eyes the color of ice. She wore a black T-shirt that had a blue dragon and gold phoenix in combat on it and black jeans. Still panting she got up, leaning heavily on the wall.
"Are you alright?" Sam was the first to speak.
"I think so." The girl sighed, stumbling slightly. "Sorry, my Ghost powers are really strong, but there's a ton of weaknesses attached to mine. I think we need to get out of here before Skulker wakes up."
"Right." Danny agreed. "I'll cover you all, run for it!"
Sam offered the girl her arm. "You saved me, now it's my turn to help you."
"Thanks." The girl leaned on Sam for balance. "I'm Lexain, but my TAG name is Hexa."
"Wait a minute? TAG name?" Tucker asked. "What's that?"
"A TAG name is an assumed name. Like Skulker or Technis or Ember, it's just a made up name that a ghost goes by." Replied Hexa. "After all, if any ghost knew the name your friend up there goes by, how fast would they be on him?"
"You have a point." Tucker agreed. "But I never knew the term."
"Now you do." Hexa sighed. "I get my name from the attacks that I use." She explained. "I can make hexes out of ectoplasma or any other kind of energy and turn them into attacks, it's very useful, and they're stronger than a normal ectoblast."
"Sounds useful." Danny commented from above. They came to the park. "Okay you guys, I think we're far enough away." Danny said as he landed. "There's a place we can go to talk. I have a few questions for you Hexa."
"I'll answer most of them." Hexa replied. "Some I'm not sure of myself."
Danny changed back and led them to a rock sitting in a clearing. The rock was big enough for all of them to sit on top of it. "Okay, how did you get your powers? I thought I was the only one."
"It's a long, SAD story." Hexa sighed, looking down at the ground below.
Sam put a gentle hand on her back. "It's okay, start from the beginning."
The girl sighed. "Well, my mother's a chemist working for the military. She was working on a special solution to enhance empathy. What she didn't know was that the thing was pure ectoplasm. It was take your child to work day, and Black Velvet was the only girl I knew who was there."
"Who's Black Velvet?" Danny asked. "Another ghost?"
"Sort of." Hexa replied. "I'll tell you once I've finished this. BV thought it would be funny to shove me in the vat of the stuff they'd made. And that gave me my powers. My mom doesn't quite know what she stumbled on. I managed to keep it a secret from her. I started training in secret, ducking in and out of the ghost zone in the afternoons to train."
"But Black Velvet found out about my powers. And she wanted powers too. So she snuck into the lab and DRANK theectosynth solution. The problem was that it wasn't intended to be drunk, and it was dangerous. It turned BV into a ghost, permanently. She assumed the name Black Velvet and now she won't REST until she's got me." Hexa finished. "I was on my way to the portal for some training when I spotted you fighting Skulker, and it didn't quite seem like a fair fight, so I decided to help you out."
"Thanks for helping us." Danny told her. "I don't think I could have lasted much longer. I'm Danny, Danny Fenton. But I use the TAG name Danny Phantom."
"It's got a ring to it." Hexa allowed. "And you?"
"I'm Tucker, Casper High's resident Techno Geek." Tucker extended a hand and Hexa shook it.
Sam flushed slightly. "I'm Sam, thanks for saving me. I wasn't exactly thinking."
"You were lucky. Skulker would have mashed you like a potato." Danny told her.
"And I was supposed to let him choke you?" Sam asked.
"Hey, no arguing okay?" Tucker told them. "Everything worked out."
"No it didn't, we have to return Skulker to the ghost zone so he can't cause any more trouble." Danny sighed. "I shouldn't have run. I should have stayed behind and fought."
"You were in no condition to fight." Sam told him. "You could barely breathe."
"You're taking this too seriously. If Skulker came after you, odds are he's going to KEEP chasing you and (possibly me because I interfered) and nobody else." Hexa pointed out.
"And if he doesn't?" Danny asked worriedly.
"We'll deal with that when it happens." Replied Sam. "You need to rest and be ready for when he comes again."
Danny sighed, he knew they were right. Not his fault and Skulker would come after him again, and nobody else. "Do you mind if we drop by your house Hexa?"
"Okay, but call me Lexa or Lexi when we get there. My mom doesn't know about my powers, she doesn't even believe in ghosts." Hexa told them.
They got up, Hexa feeling a lot better. "I think I've got my strength back now." Hexa sighed. "I REALLY wish I could fight longer. When I fight against anybody I have to finish it quickly or my powers will give out." They started through the park to a house at the far end.
The house was a typical cape, painted pale blue with pale green edging. The garage door was open, showing a car and a truck. Hexa led them through the garage. Then she opened the door. "I'm home mom!" She called.
"Lexain, you've got thirty minutes until dinner." A woman with long black hair and an Asian cast to her features came around a corner. "And who's this?"
"These are my friends, Danny, Tucker and Sam."
"Well, welcome!" Hexa's mother said with a smile. "Lexain, you need to go take your pill. The latest bottle is waiting for you up in your room."
Hexa groaned. "Mom, not in front of my friends!"
"You have a condition Lexain, you need to take care of yourself." Hexa's mother gave her daughter a hug, as if afraid she'd disappear any minute.
"Lexa, what's with the…"
Hexa dragged Danny, Sam and Tucker upstairs. "You can't tell a SOUL!" She hissed as she opened her sock drawer. Inside was a pill bottle. She opened it up and poured out the last pill. "See this? This is pure ectosynth. I need to take one every day or… well…"
"It's okay. You can talk to us." Sam said gently.
"Well, I've got ghost powers, but they don't work right. Remember how I mentioned that Black Velvet turned into a ghost, permanently? Well if I don't take one of these EVERY day, I'd… I'd turn into a ghost and I wouldn't be able to turn back."
Danny's eyes widened. "But… I mean… you've got powers like mine!"
Hexa looked downcast. "I've got powers like you, yes, but they don't work the same. My DNA is unstable, it fluxes between being a ghost and being human. I can't even control what times I transform, not very well at least."
Sam sat on the edge of the bed next to Hexa. Hexa leaned over to the bedside table, picked up a water bottle and put the pill in her mouth. She swallowed it with water and grimaced. "And it tastes awful too!" Hexa declared.
"It's okay, it's a condition, it's not your fault." Sam told her. "You can trust us with it. I take it from the mess in here that you're new around here?"
"Yeah, we moved in last month."
"Sophomore year at Casper High starts tomorrow. We'll see you there okay?" Sam asked.
"Sure!" Hexa said, brightening. "And it will be a lot better knowing that there's another Phantom there."
A ghost cat came sailing out of a cat statue on one of the shelves in Hexa's room. "Mew." It said, cutely licking Hexa's face. "Mewl."
"This is Bastet." Hexa told the others. "I found her at a haunted house being picked on by other ghosts. I rescued her, but I didn't have the heart to kick her out."
"mew!" Bastet flew over to Sam and curled up in her lap. "row… prrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." Bastet started purring.
"She likes me." Sam blinked, reaching out to pet the cat. "Hey there. Yeah, you're kind of cute."
Bastet looked up at her with huge Kitten eyes.
"Okay, so you're very cute." Sam said with a chuckle.
"Lexaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnn!" Hexa's mother called up. "We have guests! New neighbors!"
Hexa got up, the trio and Bastet following. Danny gasped. "Mom! Dad!"
"Danny? What are you doing here?"
"Lexain here was being picked on by a bully, so Sam and Tucker and I scared him away!" Danny lied.
"Mew!" Bastet sniffed Mr. Fenton's boot. "Mrrrrrrrrr!" She floated up to nuzzle Danny's father's cheek.
"A ghost cat?" Mrs. Fenton asked quietly as Mr. Fenton and Hexa's mother talked over to one side.
"Yup. I found her at a haunted house and she followed me home." Explained Hexa. "I found out she can possess objects and make them move, so I made a stuffed cat that she uses when she wants to be visible."
"It's called Overshadowing, and ghosts can do it to people too. You be careful alright?" Mrs. Fenton asked. "The ghosts here tend to overshadow a LOT. You be careful dealing with them."
"I will." Hexa replied.
"Danny, I'm glad you made friends with her. I think Lexain would be a good opportunity for you to learn about ghosts. Just be careful, don't talk to any strange spirits you see."
"Okay mom." Danny winked at Hexa.
"So the people here actually believe in ghosts?" Asked Hexa's mother. "I don't. Just a bunch of rubbish."
"Ask anybody who's lived here for more than a month and they'll tell you that Ghosts are VERY real." Danny's mother warned. "Our mayor nearly got attacked by one."
Danny winced, because he knew the incident his mother was talking about.
"Well, believe in your ghosts if you want to, I'll stick to PRACTICAL science." The term practical was drawled disdainfully.
"If you need help, you and your cat drop by." Mrs. Fenton said. "And Danny, tomorrow's a school night, when you leave, you leave with us alright?"
"Yes mother." Danny sighed.
Danny left just before dinner. "Mother… have you ever heard of somebody turning INTO a ghost?"
Both his mother and his father turned to him. "No, we haven't." His mother said slowly, eyeing him carefully. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, Lexain said that somebody she knew got turned into a ghost, permanently. And that ghost kept haunting her until she moved away." Danny explained. "The ghost calls herself Black Velvet."
Mrs. Fenton looked warily at her son. "We've hypothesized that its possible. But we haven't found any proof of it."
"I see." Danny said nothing more as he got in the car with his parents. They drove home, and Danny ate dinner in silence. Then he finally went to bed. But he couldn't sleep and kept tossing and turning. The dilemma was this, his parents could help Hexa with her condition. But asking them for help might mean that he had to give away his secret, and Hexa's. Was he ready for that?
