Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: Okay, here goes one of those much anticipated chapters…and there's even a few things in here that only a few people have suspected…or maybe no one has suspected it at all….bwahahaha!
And look! Confusion reigns supreme! Poor confused characters who don't get all the facts, lmao!
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Thirty Seven: Slipping
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Dash Baxter was experiencing something he had never experience before in his life. Well, he had experienced it before, but never quite in the manner that was happening to him. With sweaty palms he stood outside of the Nasty Burger and thought over his very interesting predicament.
He was being avoided.
Nothing unusual in and of itself, if he had been being avoided by the unpopular portion of Casper High, but that wasn't his problem. His problem stemmed from him sticking up for the little guy. From him stepping in when his 'friends' got too carried away with their bullying. From his refusal to stuff kids into their lockers yesterday on the last day of school and the day before that. Really that whole last week.
He just hadn't felt like doing it.
He was being avoided by the popular people of Casper High. By the 'A-list'. By those very same people that were supposedly friends with him.
It shouldn't have bothered him, and he told himself that over and over. He could be a loner, didn't need anyone, but as he reached for the door and walked in, he knew that he was lying to himself. If he didn't have this group of people…if he wasn't on good standing with those on his team…who would he have left to turn to?
Heads swiveled in his direction, the male portion of the group either turning away in disgust or glaring him down for daring to be different and go against what they had come to enjoy. The girls all rolled their eyes and went back to talking about their hair, or make up, or clothes, or boys.
There was no substance to anything. The colors they wore may have been bright and beautiful, but everything seemed so drab as he approached them with his chin high and back straight. They may have suddenly developed less than kind feelings for him, but that wasn't going to stop Dash Baxter from letting them know he was still better than all of them. That's just who he was.
"'Sup guys?" he jerked his head up in a half-nod acknowledgement. Half of them didn't even blink in his direction. Kwan turned his head away with a sad, knowing look, all the while talking with Star who avoided eye contact with him. They knew what was going to happen.
"Baxter," Jason Dillinger replied to him coldly, "We don't really want to talk to you. We all seem to be on a different page than you lately."
"And that means what to me?" Dash asked back just as coldly, 'This is not going good…'
"It means that we don't want you around us for a while," one of the girls, Sarah it appeared, called out from behind the boy she was sitting next to, "so you should go hang out with all the geeky little friends you've made lately."
'You little bitch,' was all Dash could think as he watched her smile at him as politely as if she had just offered him an ice cream, "You think you can just kick me out of our group?"
"We don't think it, Dash," Paulina piped up, somewhat sadly, "We voted, and we're doing it. Give back your card, we don't want you hanging around with us anymore if you're going to start being a loser. It's nothing personal against you, it's just what the group wanted to do."
"Whatever," Dash said under his breath as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet and the 'A-list' card he carried, "Take it. I don't need something as stupid as that anyways."
"Stupid?" Sarah laughed wickedly, "What's stupid is sticking up for those dumb, uncouth, nerds like you've been doing."
"No," Dash moved closer and got in their faces, "What's stupid is acting like a bunch of middle-schoolers with their stupid secret society and membership cards. What's stupid is thinking that you're all better than me just because you voted me out of the group. I don't need you."
And with that Dash Baxter angrily strode away from them all, leaving several re-thinking their decision and others laughing maliciously at him lashing out. It was a common reaction, but the first to be so entertaining. He didn't need them? They scoffed at his attitude.
He'd be crawling back to them in two weeks tops. Begging to be let back in. Crushed that he was no longer the 'Prince of Casper High'…
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Did you hear about what happened yesterday at the Nasty Burger?" Tucker's voice appeared on the speakers from the computer that Danny had stationed himself in front of to play a war game with the aforementioned techno-whiz.
"No," Danny grunted as he concentrated on taking out his enemy's left flank while protecting his own, "what happened? A ghost attack and I didn't know about it?"
"Nope," Tucker smirked to himself in the comfort of his room, "Dash Baxter got the boot from the 'A-list' for being too nice to nerds and losers apparently."
"No way," Sam said in disbelief, "He practically helped found that stupid group, they wouldn't kick him out. I can see them kicking Star or Kwan off for being too nice to us so called 'losers', but not Dash. Since when did he start being nice to those outside of his little cirlce?"
"Sam?" Tucker asked in puzzlement, "You're over at Danny's?"
"Yeah," she answered with a shrug even though he couldn't see it, "I got bored so I came over here. Mom and Dad decided they needed to take a trip again...something about making the political rounds…anyways, Danny isn't a very good host, but Matches is keeping me pretty well entertained."
"I see," Tucker smiled widely, "so does this have anything to do with 'going flying' the other night?"
"No!" was shouted back at him from the halfa and Goth in a very stern, very loud manner causing him to laugh himself into side stitches.
"Hey, Tucker," suddenly came Danny's voice, "Want to go ghost hunting? I think we've got a ghost about to cause some trouble."
"Be over there in five," Tucker answered as he cut his computer off, 'Wonder which ghost it is this time…hope nothing goes wrong.'
Tucker didn't know that Mr. Murphy liked to jinx people. Especially people who knew, or were in close contact with, one Daniel Fenton…or rather, Danny Phantom. He'd figure it out one of these days...
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chasing the ghost hadn't really been the problem, nor had fighting it, nor defeating it, nor had catching it. He hadn't been a particularly strong being, with no real special attacks or intelligence. He was obviously new at escaping from the ghost zone. He had even led them to the secluded area of the park, the perfect place to fight in Danny's opinion.
Nothing had really gone wrong on this particular ghost hunt...except for one major thing. Valerie had just decided to show up as Danny blasted the ghost one last timeand Tucker sucked him into the thermos, and she didn't look thrilled to see them.
"Danny!" Sam hissed as the hunter advanced on them, some new gadget raised and trained on the halfa, "Get out of here and we'll take care of staling Valerie."
"How are you going to explain being here and helping me?" Danny frowned as he landed in front of them, hands glowing green, "Just stay behind me and get out of here as soon as you can. You too, Tucker, you don't need to get mixed up in this."
"Cool it. I just want to talk Phantom," Valerie removed her mask, but kept her weapon raised, "I know that you know who I am. What I want to know is why you haven't tried to take me out at school…Fenton."
The hard glint in her eyes and the determined set of her jaw told Danny there was no denying it, 'She knows…she's known all along. Why didn't she do anything to me then? All those chances, at school, out of school, at Sam's party…'
"How do you figure that, Valerie?" Sam snapped at her, "He's a ghost, he can't be Danny Fenton."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," she glared at the Goth, "and then I saw something at that rally back in November. Something flashed behind you and Tucker and then there was Phantom. I followed you all to the park and I saw it. I saw that ghost take over Danny's body to become Phantom."
"Take over?" the trio all asked at the same time in obvious confusion, which caused Valerie pause, 'Thank goodness I didn't shoot first and ask questions later. This is getting way too confusing for me. I want answers and I want them now!'
"Yeah," she kept her composure, "I know that that Phantom character is overshadowing Danny and…"
But she was rudely interrupted by Danny howling in laughter and near floating away from them all in his mirth. Tucker anchored him to the ground by grabbing his ankle and pulling down, all the while trying desperately to get his own laughter under control.
"You think Danny is being overshadowed and that's how he turns into Phantom?" Sam dryly stated with a raised eyebrow, "You think that Phantom and Fenton are two different entities?"
"Uh…yes?" it sounded more like a question than Valerie would have liked as she lowered her gun in confusion.
"Oh that's just too good," Sam stated as she started laughing as well.
"What is going on?" Valerie yelled in frustration at the three of them, "Shouldn't you be denying Danny being both Phantom and Fenton or trying to fight me or something?"
"Not really," Danny's laughing had slowed into soft chuckles, "but if you answer me one question I'll answer anything you want me to."
"What?" Valerie raised her weapon again, not quite trusting the ghost boy before her, 'What's he planning? I don't like this, why were they all laughing? It's like they know something I don't…'
"Well, you obviously know I'm Danny, so why didn't you attack me at school?" he frowned slightly, "You had every chance and never tried to do anything to me. Not in the computer lab, or in the hall, or at Sam's party. Why now?"
"Because I just got my new toy from Mr. Masters," Valerie's face hardened, "It took him three weeks to make it and it's designed specifically to remove the ghost from a human body it's possessing."
"Vlad Masters?" Tucker shook his head, "You still trust him? Don't you know what he is?"
"Tucker," Sam shot him a look, "Valerie doesn't even know what Danny is. She thinks he's possessed or something."
"What about Vlad Masters and me not knowing what you are?" Valerie asked and began to charge up the gun.
"Whoa," Danny held up his hands, "Calm down, you do not want to shoot that thing at me if it does what you said it does."
"And why not?"
"Because one of two things will happen, and neither one is pretty," Sam moved closer to Danny, "I call dibs on fun Danny if he splits that way."
"Aw man," Tucker frowned, "I don't want hero Danny. You get him."
"I got him last time. I am not doing that again!"
"Fun Danny likes me more anyways!"
"So? I get him!"
"SHUT UP!" Valerie broke into their argument, "What do you mean 'fun Danny' and 'hero Danny'? Why are you so against Vlad Masters? And why are you acting like Danny isn't overshadowed?"
"Because I'm not," Danny sighed, "Look, would it make you put the gun down if I was human right now?"
At her slow nod Danny changed and took a cautious step closer to Valerie as she lowered the strange looking gun, "Look. I'm something called a 'halfa', half human and half ghost. Vlad Masters is a halfa too, but unlike me, he's the bad kind who likes to try and kill people and rule the world. He's kinda' my archenemies..."
Valerie's eyes narrowed, "You wouldn't be lying to me would you Fenton?"
"I don't have a reason to lie, Valerie," Danny said tiredly as he walked over to a fallen tree that hadn't been cleaned up by park maintenance yet, "If I'm such an evil guy, don't you think I would have done something to you by now? I mean, I know who you are, I go to school with you…I could have done something but I haven't. Shouldn't that count for something?"
"I don't…know…" Valerie let her new device retract back into her suit, "What did you by 'fun Danny' Sam?"
"Danny's been split twice before," Sam got out before Danny cut in.
"Uh, three times actually," he rubbed the back of his beck, "The first time my human body wasn't conscious and I flew back into it…"
"Whatever," Sam waved him off, "anyways, the second time he got split, happy now Danny? He was split into two people, human 'fun' Danny, and ghost 'hero' Danny. They were exactly like their names say. One was all about having fun, the other was all about being a super-hero."
"Yeah," Tucker laughed before calming, "but the second, uh third time wasn't good. Let's just say Danny wasn't very happy before he was split and it caused him to have a big fight with himself…"
"So you're saying that splitting Danny is a bad thing because it literally splits his personality as well?" and at their nod Valerie moved shakily to sit with Danny on the tree, "So Mr. Masters wanted me to kill you for him…he was using me."
"Pretty much," Sam moved closer and stood with her arms crossed, "He's been using you the whole time actually. Danny wasn't the one who wrecked your Dad's job, Valerie."
"It was Vlad Masters?" she asked with a dangerous look, 'I'll kill him, I'll hunt him down and use his own stupid tools to kill him for using me. No one uses me!'
"No," Danny laughed sadly, "I've told you a hundred times before it was that stupid ghost-dog. I was trying to catch it, but it kept ruining stuff before I could…I really am sorry about what happened."
Valerie just shook her head, "It all makes sense now…"
"What?" Tucker shot her a look, "You finally coming to terms with Danny being good instead of evil like you thought he was?"
"No…I," Valerie glared at the trio for making her feel the way she was, "I had kinda' already decided that, thank you. That's why I was nice and didn't blow all three of you to kingdom come! Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because I thought you would have killed me," Danny shot back angrily as he stood, "and I bet you would have, no questions asked. Excuse me for not wanting to die."
"Don't think that just because we had a little question and answer session that I trust you, Phantom, or Fenton or whatever," Valerie stood as well, "I don't understand what's going on, my head hurts, and I don't like being confused."
"I already told you I'd answer whatever questions you ask," Danny's fists balled, "Stop treating me like some horrible person. I don't do anything wrong, I protect this stupid town and all these people all the time, Valerie! I'm not evil, I don't hurt people, and I'm sick and tired of being hunted by someone I thought I could be friends with!"
'Thought he could be friends with?' her conscious replayed the words, 'He is my friend…when he's human…and he's never tried to really hurt me when we fight, he just always tries to disable me…and..'
"I need to go," Valerie turned to walk away, "I have a lot to think over."
As she neared the tree line a hand on her shoulder stopped her and she turned to come face to face with Sam, "Look. I know we don't get along very well, and I know we've both been less than polite to each other…but Danny still thinks of you as a friend, even after all the fights you've had with him. He needs all the friends he can get," she looked to the side, "Just…just think everything over before you come to a decision. He really does care about you."
"Girl," she furrowed her brow looking for the right words, "I'm mad right now. He didn't trust me…but then again I didn't trust him either. I just need to cool down and think things over. I'm kinda' on information overload right now."
"You had better know though," Sam put her right hand on her hip and balled the other by her side, "that if you try to hurt him, you're gonna' have to go through me."
"I already knew that," Valerie gave a tiny chuckle before the heaviness of the situation weighed her down again, "I'll see you later."
With a final nod passing between both girls, the hunter turned and walked away, heading for home and the comfort of her room. She had a lot of thinking to do.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker all headed back to Danny's house, a thousand thoughts running through each of their heads. Danny's anxiety, guilt, and hurt were over powering and Sam felt sick for most of the evening. Danny could feel Sam's own anxiety and worry as they all listlessly ate dinner and earned worried looks from Jack and Maddie. Tucker didn't even try to crack a joke or pull out his PDA. Everyone knew something was wrong, but didn't quite know how to handle it.
Jazz, who hadn't been informed of the situation yet, was sitting quietly, waiting for her chance to pull them aside, one by one, to talk, try to calm them down, and get answers about what had happened. Observing the trio, she knew she had her work cut out for her.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Oh little Badger," Vlad said to himself, "What trouble you are most likely finding yourself in now…"
So assured had Vlad been that Valerie would take care of the halfa for him, the elder halfa hadn't bothered to check on the situation until that evening as he observed them all at dinner. No one had been killed yet, but he had half expected that. The looks on their faces, though, that was what he was enjoying at the moment.
'Soon,' he thought to himself as he headed back to his mansion, 'Soon Daniel, I will be coming for you and your family. Just when you think it's safe…you'll find out there's no such thing…'