Notes:
Thank you very much for reading and reviewing this story. I'm glad to know that some of you enjoyed the part with the dog :) And I'm also pleased with the confusion generated after the last chapter, mwuahaha!
Anyway, this one deals more with Phantom than with Fenton. Be prepared for some explanations (pouts) even though I wanted to keep you guessing for a little longer. Oh, well.
Chapter 8: Hide and Seek
Crowded halls equal a weakened warden. I knew that coming back to Casper High would work. He hasn't even noticed I'm around. Of course, I'm invisible, but that wouldn't stop him. He's going to get tired soon if he keeps posing as so many people. I could bet my ghost powers that as soon as Fenton goes to his locker, the others will leave the hall so that our ghostly fiend can recharge his energy.
Ok… now, to find Fenton. He should be here any moment now. Oh! There he is. It's now or never. I can't believe how easy it was to sneak in here like that. I still need to be careful, though. Who knows how long that ghost will be away?
Phantom flew silently and invisibly towards his human half. The boy, Fenton, was taking a book out of his locker. Sure enough, all the students in the hall left and the kid was now alone, giving the ghostly hero the opportunity he needed. Even the inseparable Sam and Tucker weren't around.
Still unseen, Phantom pulled out his hand and covered Fenton's mouth with it. The human teenager tried to free himself from his mysterious captor and attempted to yell for help. He was then dragged into an empty classroom nearby, which was about ten feet from his locker.
"Shhh… don't speak. Just listen. Calm down and nod if you understand me," Phantom whispered into his ear. Fenton recognized the voice and his eyes widened. However, even though he was somewhat shocked, he nodded. "Good. I'm going to release you now and make myself visible. We don't have much time so don't interrupt," the ghost continued. Fenton nodded again and was immediately freed from the invisible grasp.
Phantom did as he said, allowing himself to be seen. His human half turned around to face him and fell into a silent shock. After all, the last thing he remembered about the ghost is that he was only a dream, so he shouldn't have been able to touch him.
"Listen, I know everything's messed up and you're having some trouble trying to believe I'm real. That's why I'm going to prove it," the ghost told Fenton, who just looked at him quizzically. "There's a ghost playing with your head. I'm not exactly sure about the nature of his powers, but there are a few things I can tell you: he somehow managed to split our minds, and he plans on destroying us by feeding you with dreams of a perfect life. That way, you would renounce to your ghost half and we both would be trapped in this hell forever," he continued explaining.
The human boy just kept staring at Phantom trying to understand what he was saying. But how do I know that he's not an illusion? I mean, no one else has seen him. Still, if they saw him and his story turns out to be true, then the 'enemy' he mentioned would try to do something to him, right? Agh! How can I know for sure?
The ghost, noticing the hesitation in his human counterpart, sighed loudly. "Right, you need proof. That's what I'm here for. To prove it, like I said," he continued and stood firmly in front of Fenton. "Here's the deal: considering we're trapped in some sort of dream, I'm pretty confident that my powers work better in here and I think I can pull off a little trick."
As soon as he said this, Phantom closed his eyes, holding his clenched fists at the level of his waist. A white ring appeared just like it did when he wanted to turn back to human. The next thing Fenton saw was, well… himself. Standing in front of him.
Fenton took a step back and gasped. "If you're the Phantom part of me, how come you can turn into a human?" he asked, speaking for the first time since he saw the ghost.
The other boy just smirked. "I didn't turn into a human. I'm projecting a human illusion of myself… err, us… you? Well, you get my point," he replied.
"So what's the big plan, then?" Fenton questioned.
"Simple: I'll fool the ghost by making him think that I'm you. I'll talk to our friends, go to class, and all those things. If they can see me, then it's obvious I'm real and that I'm saying the truth. Deal?" Phantom explained, extending a hand for the other teenager to shake in agreement.
Fenton hesitated for a moment. This is so weird. Man… I think 'weird' has been the word I've used the most in my vocabulary since I woke up. Anyway… Maybe I should trust him. It's not like I'm risking anything, except for my sanity but that has been screwed up lately, so it wouldn't make that much of a difference.
"All right. Deal," Fenton finally replied and took Phantom's hand, giving it a small shake.
"I'll go outside and act like you during the next period. You… well… just stay here and hide", the ghost said.
"Wait! I can't hide in here! There could be a class or something," Fenton exclaimed.
"Relax. He only makes people appear around you or, in this case, it will be around me. As long as he thinks I'm Danny Fenton, you can hide in here with no problem," Phantom explained with a secure tone. "Just one thing, though: try to block your thoughts."
Fenton raised an eyebrow. "What? Why?"
"Because, as soon as he regains his energy, he will continue scanning your mind or mine. If that happens, he will notice something's wrong and who knows what he might do…"
The bell then rang, startling the both of them. They looked into each other's eyes and nodded. "You'll know if my plan worked after class. I'll tell Tucker and Sam to see me outside this classroom. That way, you'll be able to hear whatever we talk about and you'll know I'm for real," Phantom said, preparing to leave the room.
"Why don't you try that now? Why do you want to wait for the end of the class?" Fenton asked.
The ghost shot him another smirk. "Because, if we're able to keep this charade for that long, we'll be closer to freedom".
Fenton looked at Phantom once again before he left the room and closed the door behind him. The human boy just sighed and sat on the floor.
Just what I needed… more reasons to believe I'm losing my mind…
Oh! Right. Block my thoughts.
Danny Phantom, disguised as Fenton, walked towards his classroom and met with his 'friends'. They waved and apparently fell for his human illusion. He smiled, satisfied by his accomplishment.
"Uh, are you alright? I think that's the first time we've seen you smile since yesterday," Sam said.
"What... is being happy a reason to worry now? C'mon. Let's just go to class," the blue-eyed teenager replied.
"You actually want to go to class?" Tucker asked skeptically.
Danny just shrugged. "Sure, why not? I'm actually in a good mood right now."
The three teenagers walked into the classroom, where they took their seats and listened to Mr. Lancer as he began to teach his lesson.
Good. So far, he hasn't noticed a thing. I hate to act as if those were really my friends, but I have to play this game for a few minutes. I hope my plan works…
I have never felt so insecure before. Usually, I'm the part of our brain that keeps encouraging us. I'm the stubborn one who doesn't quit a fight or who doesn't give up on anything. I'm the one who lights the glow in those green eyes. I'm the one who wants to be the hero.
Actually, I can't believe the split we're going through didn't separate us like that one time with the Fenton Ghost Catcher. I guess that ghost chose which parts of our personality to keep and which ones to dismiss. He didn't want the courage, so he sent it to me. He wanted the doubt, so he sent most of it to Fenton. He didn't want to deal with the 'hero', so he locked me up in a dark 'room'. He wanted to keep the human side. To feed him with what he wanted the most: a taste of a normal life.
I can't blame the other part of me for that. After all, who would want to fight dangerous foes on a daily basis rather than living like a regular teenager? I understand that part of Fenton. Even if we've been divided like this, we still share most of the feelings, fears, and desires we had as a whole. I can't deny my insecure moments and I'm sure he can't ignore the inner voice telling him to seek the truth.
Maybe we didn't split as much as I thought we did… although I still have no clue about how to defeat this ghost or how to bring us back to reality.
He sighed as the class continued. Time was running fast and he found himself free of the lecture a couple of minutes later. He stood up from his desk as soon as the bell rang and walked outside of the classroom with Sam, Tucker, and Valerie, who didn't join them until now.
I'm sure he didn't want to risk spending too much energy using three illusions instead of two. Making them walk around is one thing, but keeping them in character and having a conversation is another different situation.
"So, Danny, are you really feeling better or are you going to snap at us like yesterday?" Tucker asked.
Danny chuckled as naturally as he could. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"For starters, you avoided us all afternoon," Valerie now chimed in.
"Well, there was something bothering me," he began, trying to sound nervous about it.
Time for a little game of confusion. He wants to mess with my head? Fine. But let's see how his trick works on him...
"What about?" Sam asked intrigued.
Danny continued walking until he reached the door to the classroom where Fenton was hiding. He stopped there and sighed. "About us," he said, staring at the ground.
Meanwhile, the human Danny was behind the door waiting for them to approach so he could listen to whatever they said.
"Us?" the trio asked in unison.
"Not us four. Us three… Valerie, Sam, and I. No offense, Tucker," Danny replied.
"None taken," the dark-skinned boy said immediately.
"What about us?" Sam and Valerie now questioned.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you know. How it seems like we clashed into a little love triangle," he said sheepishly.
Hey… even if they're illusions, I still feel wary about that kind of topics...
He took a deep breath and continued. "Listen, I think we have to sort this out. You know I have feelings for both of you and I know both of you have feelings for me... but what's it going to be?"
The two girls exchanged surprised looks and then turned to face once again the boy.
"You have to be kidding me," Sam said in disbelief.
"Yeah, you can't expect us to make a decision like that all of the sudden," Valerie added.
"You wanted to know what was wrong? Well, there you have it," Danny said.
"I thought you were confused about the whole Phantom thing," Sam now spoke.
Tucker, who had been watching the conversation like it was a tennis match, just shook his head and decided to intervene. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't come to them with that kind of information. YOU'RE the one who should figure it out on your own."
"You're right, but I need help from them. I've been so confused lately that I don't think I'll ever figure this out by myself," Danny explained.
Ha! I want to see him solve THAT part of Fenton's dilemma! After all, if he wants to keep the boy happy with this imaginary world, he'll have to fulfill his wishes. That should give us some time to come up with a plan to escape from this guy. If he's distracted with this, he won't pay any attention to me and then, I'll be able to stay out of my prison. It's ferpect! I mean, perfect!
I think I still need my other half of the brain...
He watched his three 'friends' talk and was amused by the lengths he had to go to ensure his freedom. "Think about it, will ya? Oh! And why don't you go ahead to the cafeteria? I'll meet you there in a minute," Danny said.
Tucker, Sam, and Valerie stopped their conversation and decided to follow their friend's suggestion by heading to the lunch room.
As soon as they were out of sight, he noticed he was once again alone in the hall, so he opened the door and Fenton fell out of the classroom to the floor.
"So… convinced?" Phantom asked his human counterpart as he changed again to his ghostly self.
Fenton remained on the floor wide-eyed and with his mouth open. "Ok… I believe you," he replied.
Phantom gave him a hand and pulled him up, smirking while doing so.
Once on his feet, Fenton shot him a nasty look. "You do know you didn't have to bring up the whole thing with Sam and Val, right?"
Phantom just laughed as soon as the human teenager said that.
We're back!
Notes:
And here's where I begin to feel that things are clearer. Man… that sucks. (As Youngblood) I wanted to see your heads go 'Kaboom!'. But if I keep writing about the poor and tormented Danny Fenton, then I'd kick myself for being so repetitive.
So there you have it… a bit of the explanation.
Save Danny Phantom from cancellation! How?
Write a letter:
Cyma Zharghami or Marjorie Cohn
Nickelodeon
1515 Broadway
New York, New York
10036
USA
Attention: Programming.
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Sign the petitions below (without the spaces);
www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ SaveDannyplease
www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ fightfordanny
www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ DannyPhantom
www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ dannyphantomrules
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Continue the chain (without the spaces):
www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 28170710/
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And don't forget: spread the word! Let's keep the ghost-boy alive! (Err… or as alive as possible)