I do not own Danny Phantom or X-Men: Evolution in any way or form. This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only.
> PHANTOM MUTANT
>> Chapter Two – Ghosts and Mutants
"AHA! Foolish ghost child! You have fallen into my clever trap, for I am the Box Ghost! Master of all things cardboard and square! BEWARE!"
Danny groaned as he laid eyes on one of the most annoying ghost he's ever known. It's been a few weeks since the incident with the Ghost Writer, and the ghosts didn't hesitate to attack Danny when school started.
Right now, Danny was once again skipping class to take care of another ghost attack. At least it was Friday so he had the weekend to look forward too, hopefully. Sam and Tucker promised to cover for Danny in class as he took care of the ghost, so now here he was, facing the Box Ghost.
The Box Ghost was one of his most annoying and pointless enemies, having the ability to control and manipulate boxes. If Danny had to guess, he would say that the Box Ghost was a disgruntled postal worker with a box fetish before he died. "God, you have got to be the most annoying ghost I've ever met… so what is it this time?"
The Box Ghost laughed as he used his powers to levitate the empty boxes laid out throughout the store. "You have come after me, but what you do not realize is that I am in a store that is packed with boxes! There will be no escape from my square DOOM!"
Danny sighed; it seemed that luck was never on his side.
"Dude… they're cardboard boxes… and they're rectangular, not square…" With that, Danny began to gather ectoplasm into his hands, causing them to glow neon green. He began to blast each box with ecto-blasts until there were no more boxes left for the Box Ghost to control. The Box Ghost just stared at Danny with a mix of astonishment, shock and very slight fear.
Danny sighed, regretting the fact that he skipped class and risked detention to come after such a weak threat. Even Dash Baxter was more of a threat that the Box Ghost, and he was just a quarterback with way too many 'Fenton puns' handy. "So do you think you can get in the Thermos peacefully and let me get back to class?"
This caused the Box Ghost to shake out of his stupor. "Foolish ghost child! You cannot get rid of me that easily! Your cylindrical container is no match for my mastery of all things cardboard and square! Beware, for I am- hey, what are you doing?"
The Box Ghost gasped as the bright blue beam shooting out of the uncapped Fenton Thermos, a device built to capture ghosts, overpowered him. He could feel the beam pulling him towards the Thermos and finally consume him as Danny placed the cap for the Fenton Thermos back on, tightening it firmly.
"Glad that's over with…" He took a look at the clock by the cashier and nearly choked on his own saliva. "Oh man! Lancer's going to kill me if I don't hurry!"
He shoved the Fenton Thermos inside his backpack after transforming back into Danny Fenton and rushed out of the bathroom; running towards Mr. Lancer's class like the floor behind him was crumbling under his feet. It seemed that every time a ghost attacked, it was during Lancer's class.
'God must hate me or something.' Danny thought.
He pushed the door open and stopped at the doorframe, holding himself up by his knees and breathing heavily as Mr. Lancer stared at Danny with an indifferent look.
Mr. Lancer was an English Literature teacher and the vice principal of Casper High, Danny's high school. He was an out-of-shape bald teacher with a big interest in education, but a low tolerance for troublemakers. It didn't take a telepath to figure out who he classified as a troublemaker.
"Late again, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer asked with an exasperated tone.
Danny cringed slightly as he looked at Mr. Lancer, and then looked at both Sam and Tucker. Sam was rubbing her stomach vigorously while Tucker had his mouth open, sticking his finger in it and looking like he was throwing up.
Danny returned his gaze to Lancer. "I, uh… my stomach hurt and I was throwing up in the bathroom…?" He said, a little unsure.
Mr. Lancer sighed but seemed satisfied. "Very well Mr. Fenton, you may take your seat," Danny grinned, but unfortunately Lancer didn't stop there. "You can tell me about it in detention Monday afternoon, and may I suggest a little more fiber in your diet." Danny sighed and his expression settled back into a tired gaze as he made his way toward his seat.
The class was pretty uneventful as a whole, and attempting to stay awake was beginning to become Danny's most difficult battle at the moment. He turned to look at his friends, both of them in the same situation he was in.
"Hey Danny," Tucker whispered, leaning over to him. "Which ghost was it this time?"
"Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley."
Both teens turned to see the face of their teacher. The class began to snicker as Danny and Tucker sank into their seats, trying to avoid Mr. Lancer's gaze. "It's good to see that you're both paying attention, it'd be a shame to have you both talking during class, isn't that right?" With that he turned to continue his lesson.
"Now don't forget, you have an essay due on Monday about the use of satire in George Orwell's Animal Farm. Four pages, Times New Roman font, size 12, double spaced, and don't widen the margins or I'll deduct points, people!" Mr. Lancer paused to take a look around the class before continuing. "I expect you all to do a good job come Monday, considering you've had all week to complete the assignment, isn't that right Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer watched Danny with another dry look, most likely already establishing the fact that he shouldn't be expecting an essay from Danny.
Danny stood up as he heard the bell ring, walking past Mr. Lancer along with Sam and Tucker. Unfortunately, as soon as he walked through the frame, he could hear the voice of his own personal bully calling for him. "Hey Fentoid!" Dash yelled.
Danny groaned and dragged his hand across his face. "Oh great, and my day was going so well too." He said.
"Hey, you could always overshadow him." Tucker commented.
Danny shot him a glare, but suddenly he could feel Dash's shadow loom over him. Danny turned to see a well-built quarterback with slicked back blonde hair, a satisfying smirk plastered on his face. Now all he needed to do was say another horrible Fenton pun and today's expectations would be complete. "Been waiting for ya, Fenturd!" Dash said.
Danny sighed. 'Great, what God did I piss off to gain my own personal bully?' "I don't suppose you can just not wail on me and say you did?" He asked.
If anything, Dash's smirk got bigger. "Not happenin', Fentoast!" He said as he picked up Danny by the collar of his shirt.
Dash watched as Danny squirmed in mid-air, his smirk growing even wider as he spotted an open locker. Dash walked over to it and shoved Danny inside the locker, slamming the door closed behind him and laughing cruelly as he began to walk away. "See ya Monday, Fentoad!" Dash yelled as he turned the corner, leaving the now desolate hallway.
Both Sam and Tucker looked from side to side, making sure no one was present. "Coast is clear, man." Tucker said.
As soon as those words were spoken, Danny suddenly appeared out of thin air standing in between Sam and Tucker once again. "Well, at least this time you were the only one in the locker." Sam said.
"Yeah; the last time he did that, he stuffed you with a bunch of other nerds." Tucker said.
"How exactly is that any worse from being stuffed in a locker, period?" Danny asked.
Sam groaned. "Oh that's right, you don't need to explain to a bunch of other guys in a locker with you how you can turn intangible and just phase out of the locker." Sam said sarcastically.
Danny chuckled nervously and Tucker snickered. "Speaking of ghosts, which ghost did you have to fight this time?" Tucker asked, changing the subject.
Danny chuckled. "The Box Ghost, I swear I think he gets more pathetic over time." He said as the trio walked out the doors of Casper High.
"Well at least he was an easy one compared to the other ones that showed up this week." Sam said, running a hand through her short raven hair.
That much was true. Ever since school started, ghosts had been attacking almost nonstop, causing Danny to miss most of his classes. Sam and Tucker continued trying to cover for him, but their excuses could only get them so far.
"Let's see… Monday was Skulker, Tuesday was Ember, Wednesday was Spectra, Thurs-" Tucker said, counting off the fingers in one hand, but he was cut off by Danny.
"Alright! I get it, I've been busy." Danny said in frustration, sighing as he thought back to the attacks.
The attacks themselves didn't bother him that much, it was the fact that his grades were starting to decrease steadily. Danny could deal with a detention of two, but it wouldn't be too long until the principal or Mr. Lancer decided to suspend him, or even expel him.
"Is it sad that I'm so used to these attacks that I'm not even fazed by 'em anymore?" Danny asked.
"I don't know, is it sad that neither are we?" Sam said as Tucker nodded.
Danny sighed. Although he didn't want to admit it, this week's attacks were wearing him out. Between sucking up ghosts into the Thermos, arriving to class on time, and keeping up with homework assignments, Danny was spent.
'Then again, Skulker wouldn't hesitate to put innocent lives in danger whether I was tired or not.' Danny thought with a frown. Skulker was the (supposedly) Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, a collector of rare and unique things. Unfortunately, Danny's status as a half-ghost fell under the category 'rare and unique'. The ghost wore a silver high-tech battle suit with black coating that looked like clothing and he had a mullet made of green flames. His face resembled a skull, and he's made it his goal to 'hunt the ghost child'.
"Hey, you okay man?" Tucker asked, waving his hand in front of Danny's face.
Danny shook his head and turned to his friend. "Oh, sorry guys, I was just thinking." He said.
"About the ghost attacks?" Sam asked.
Danny shrugged, holding his blue backpack over one of his shoulders. "That's part of it." He answered.
"Hey Danny?" Tucker asked.
Danny turned to Tucker but Danny got worried when he noticed the anxiety present on Tucker's expression. "Yeah?"
Tucker pointed to Danny's front steps. "Who's that?"
Danny and Sam both turned to look at the front steps of the FentonWorks and tried to hide their anxiety as well. Out by the steps was a well-built rugged man that could probably send Dash rushing with his tail in between his legs. He wore faded blue jeans along with a dark blue shirt and a brown leather jacket. He had brown boots and he was leaning against the side of Danny's house, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
'Is that dark blue hair? That can't be natural. Then again, who am I to talk about natural?' Danny thought.
Suddenly Sam gasped.
"Do you have any idea how many cows were probably killed to make that jacket he's wearing?" Sam almost screamed.
Danny groaned and shook his head, although he couldn't help but feel amused. No matter what, Sam always seemed to notice those kinds of things before she passed judgment on something, like with the GiNormo 6000, an environmental nightmare in the history of cars according to Sam.
'With seats made of owl leather, interior wood paneling from the Amazon rain forest, and twelve gallons to the mile… Whoa, how'd I remember that?' Danny thought.
Tucker grabbed both of his friends' shoulders and pulled them back. "You guys don't think he's another ghost hunter here for 'Inviso-bill' do you?" Tucker whispered.
Danny froze and gulped. "Let's hope not… either way, I have to get home, and I'll have to walk past that guy to do it." He said, although his voice was a bit shaky.
He began to walk towards his house but Sam held his shoulder. "Danny, be careful…" She whispered.
The trio walked up the front steps to Danny's house and he couldn't help but notice the guy's eyes were following him intensely. There was also one more thing he noticed…
'Is he… sniffing me?' Danny thought incredulously.
He attempted to hide his shock and walked inside along with his friends, but inside were more people the trio didn't recognize. The simple explanation consisted of the following: two hotties and a man in a wheelchair.
The worrisome question right now was the fact that he didn't see his parents in his immediate sight, yet these strangers were sitting in his living room like they owned the place.
The man in the wheelchair was the first to speak. "Ah Daniel, we've been expecting you for quite a while now. Please, have a seat." At first glance, the man seemed a lot like Mr. Lancer, although he kept himself in much better shape and seemed much more lenient than Mr. Lancer ever hoped to be.
The fact that this man was in shape raised more questions rather than answer them, since he was currently in a wheelchair. There was no way he could exercise if he was crippled.
Danny didn't move from the front door. "Who are you and how did you know my name?" Danny asked, a bit more sternly than he intended.
The next few seconds of Danny's life, however, caused him to (once again) lose all respect for Tucker and his lack of self control over his raging hormones. Tucker stepped forward and switched into 'smooth operator' mode, much to the disappointment of everyone present. "Please ignore my good buddy over here and allow me to introduce myself." He said with a grin plastered on his face.
Both Danny and Sam groaned as Tucker set his sights on the two ladies who came with the man in the wheelchair.
'Rico Suave, eat your heart out.' Danny thought bitterly.
One of them chuckled after Danny thought that and he raised an eyebrow. 'She didn't hear me or something… did she?' He thought as he gazed questioningly at the one who chuckled.
She had long flowing red hair and emerald eyes that seemed to pierce right into Danny's mind. She wore a long sleeved light pink shirt that showed her mid drift, along with baggy khaki pants and a pair of sandals.
Next to her was a petite brunette around Danny's age with a high ponytail. She wore a light pink blouse over a yellow tank top, along with skintight blue jeans and high heeled sandals. Danny couldn't help but blush when she turned to face him and smiled.
He was brought back to reality when Tucker spoke. "The name's Tucker; Tucker Foley; and yes I'm currently single, ladies." Tucker began to walk forward, but seemingly tripped on the floor halfway to the ladies.
Weird part was that he didn't seem to trip over anything, at least anything but air.
Danny just sighed as he watched his friend sprawled out on the floor. "Smooth…" He said sarcastically.
Sam was still sour and it was evident when she spoke. "In retrospect, maybe trying to impress a couple of girls who haven't the slightest interest in you wasn't a good idea."
"Stand up Tucker…" Danny said with a stern tone. "This is serious, so stop fooling around."
Tucker scrambled to his feet and stood next to Danny as he looked at the man in the wheelchair. "Now who are you, how do you know my name, and what did you do with my parents?" Danny asked, once again sternly.
"My name is Charles Xavier, and these two are my students: Jean Grey," He motioned to the redhead, although the trio seemed to stiffen at the mention of her name. "And Kitty Pryde." Then he motioned to the brunette with the high ponytail. "As for you're parents, they're currently in the basement working on some… ecto-equipment, I'll assume you know what they mean by that. They let us in to wait for you. There's much we'd like to discuss with you if you'll allow us the time." Xavier said.
'Well, at least he isn't a ghost hunter after Inviso-bill.' Danny thought as then he held up two fingers. "Okay, two questions. One: Any relation to Valerie Grey?" Danny asked, turning to look at Jean.
Jean blinked and shook her head. "No, never heard of her."
'Okay, no relation to any ghost hunters I know either, thank god.' "Alright, I just needed to know. Now for number two: Just what exactly do you need to speak to me about?" Danny asked.
Xavier closed his eyes as if in deep concentration and then opened them after a few seconds, looking at Danny sternly. "Your powers." He answered, leaving the trio of kids looking paler that Danny's ghostly alter-ego.
>> To Be Continued…
Next chapter, it all comes out: Danny's secret, Xavier's purpose, and the Fenton's reactions to the revelation of what the Ghost Portal accident really did to their son. You can except a lot of Jack humor next chapter, that's a big definitely.
Thanks to Agent-G, Laeedil, slickboy444, Admiral Krause, SamuraiSirius and Asla for reviewing my last chapter. I really appreciated the input! Don't forget to review this one too. (That is, if you want to of course.)
Don't forget to read and review. Most of all, let me know if the story's keeping you interested and if the characters are… well, in character. I've been struggling to make sure all the characters stay in character.
Also, I didn't notice that Valerie and Jean had the same last name until I actually wrote it, isn't that funny? It's one of those things that you don't pick up on until it's right up in your face.