Disclaimer: Unless I build a time machine to change the past, I'm not going to own Danny Phantom any time soon.
Author's Notes: Enjoy this reenactment of how the loser can be the winner at the same time!
Chapter 7: The Pigskin Polka
"Go, fight, win! Win you mighty Ravens! Go, fight, win! Win you mighty Ravens!"
As the cheerleaders finished their routine the excitement within the crowd increased and the band began to play another song. Seeing the mass of energetic faces, Danny took it all in and felt a small sense of awe. He'd never been on this side of those stands and now he knew what it looked it. Danny turned to his left and gave a thumbs up as he spotted his friends and family waving and cheering at him.
He turned back to the game and saw his teammates in a huddle deciding the next play. Coach Higgins paced in front of his line of vision suddenly and Danny watched as the older man looked on in expectation at how Dash was going to work the play. Danny looked at the score board seeing the 21 to 24, with the Ravens down by 3 points. With only 2 minutes left, the Ravens had to score a touchdown to win.
A loud 'break' caught his attention and Danny saw the other players disperse and get into formation. Had he not been looking closely he wouldn't have noticed the small glance Kwan and Dash gave him before they set down into position. 'Were they looking at me?' he thought. He watched as Kwan hiked the ball to Dash. Everyone watched as the quarterback threw the ball at another boy before he was tackled down. Danny watched anxiously as Cliff, who caught the ball, spun around once and avoided getting tackled. The crowd went nuts as they watched the receiver getting closer to the end zone.
At the last second, a beefy boy from the Dankville Crows rammed into him. Danny flinched at the sight and looked on in suspense as the beefy boy got off of an unmoving Cliff. While Crows' fans cheered on the hit, the home team looked on in worry as the injured boy was gently helped up by his fellow teammates and brought back to the sidelines. Coach Higgins ran forward, the assistant coach not far behind him. Danny as well as everyone else watched as they examined Cliff's right leg. He heard the grunt of pain and realized Cliff's leg was probably broken.
Johnny the Voice, the local radio announcer, looked down at the scene as he spoke "Ooo, that doesn't look good folks. Number 38, Cliff Stanton, looks like he's out of this game and possibly the season. With 15 yards to go, less than a minute left in this game and nearly every player injured or tired, I think the question on every Raven's mind is; who is Coach Higgins going to put in this game?"
"Fenton! Suit up, you're in!"
"What?!" Danny exclaimed in surprise.
"I said your in. Now get your sorry butt in there and tell Dash to play Red Raven to you." Coach Higgins said leaving no room for argument.
Danny nodded nervously as he put on his helmet and mouth guard. He jogged onto the field, the crowd cheering in response to the game being continued.
"Hold the phone fellow Raven fans! I've just received word that Coach Higgins is going to put in the rookie addition number 14, Danny Fenton!" Johnny the Voice said loudly.
"Oh Jack did you hear that? They're going to put Danny in the game." Maddie said excitedly.
"That's my boy. Go get 'em Danny!" Jack said loudly. He waved his big foam finger every which way.
"Wow you're parents are really into this." Sam said as she looked at Jazz.
"As well as embarrassing me, but at least their acting like normal parents." Jazz said smiling. She too cheered on her brother as he jogged toward the huddle.
"Hey look guys, it's Fenton." someone said. They all turned to see the freshman coming towards them.
Danny joined the huddle and nervously said, "Dash, coach wants you to run Red Raven."
Kwan who was right beside him asked, "To who?"
"To me." Danny said. His face was determined but nervous. The others turned to look at Dash and saw face go from an expectant glare into a cocky smirk.
"Alright you heard the man. Break on three!" Kwan said loudly. "One, two, three!"
"Break!" they all said as they moved to get ready. Danny was about to walk to the right side of the field when Dash stopped him.
"Fenton if you mess up, I'll clobber you into next week." Dash said threateningly. He pushed past Danny and went to stand in his place. Danny just sighed and stood ready. Another boy stood in front of him chuckling. Danny quickly went ghost as the ball was hiked to Dash. He ran forward and pushed passed the other boy, knocking him down for good measure. He looked back to see the football zooming toward him.
It all happened in slow motion as out of nowhere the same boy he'd pushed out of the way, crashed right into him. The two sailed through the air, but Danny still managed to catch the ball. Without thinking, his powers kicked in and he flew directly into the end zone with a loud thud. The two tumbled onto the field and ended up in a tangle of limbs. Danny blinked his eyes open, their shade returning back to blue, and sat up to see his school cheering.
"I can't believe what I just saw ladies and gentlemen! Danny Fenton caught the ball after a nasty tackle and crashed head first into the end zone without dropping the ball! This is truly one of the most interesting catches I've ever seen in my career, folks." Johnny the Voice turned his attention to the referee who signaled that the game was over. "Ravens win! Ravens win! With a final score of 27 to 24, our own Casper High Ravens have come out victorious once again thanks to that crazy dive bomb catch from Danny Fenton!"
While the crowd cheered loudly, Danny was lifted up and carried by the team as they chanted his name. Danny raised his arms up as he whooped and cheered with them. He felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness and triumph as the train of players headed out of the field to the locker room, their loud chanting echoing behind them.
None of the happy citizens below saw Griffith standing on top of one of the light poles. The wind ruffled his black hair as his green eyes narrowed into angry slits. His voice was deeper as he spoke, "Enjoy this small victory while you still can, Danny. Soon you'll feel pain unlike any you've ever imagined...and then I'll kill you."
(Inside the locker room)
"Men we played an excellent game tonight. We've shown our skill, our strength and most importantly our determination when the odds were against us. Not only did we beat the tar out of the Crows, but we are one more win closer to the state championships in late December. You've all done well and some of you proved yourselves tonight," he said as he looked at Danny. "Now that that's been said, get cleaned up ladies and get a good night's sleep. Practice starts Monday after school for the upcoming game against our rivals, the Hillside Hawks."
Most of the players grunted in response to the name of their long time enemies. As Coach Higgins walked back to his office, Danny saw Kwan follow after him. Most of the other players talked and joked as they made their way to their lockers to get cleaned up. Some of the players gave him a pat on the back or a word of congratulations. Danny quietly went to his own locker and quickly divested himself of his uniform until he was standing in only his red polka dot boxers.
"Hey, good job out there D.F." said a boy next to him. Danny turned his attention and saw it was one of the other receivers named Derek Sanchez. He'd grown closer with him through their time spent during practice. The sophomore had gone out of his way to help Danny get the basics of football down.
Danny smiled in return and said a quick, "Thanks D.S." He put his things away and finished undressing to take a shower.
"Five bucks says that coach makes you an official receiver." Derek said as he walked with Danny to the showers.
"I don't think so." Danny said timidly.
"Nah, you're a shoo-in man. With Cliff's leg busted he'll be out for at least a month. We're gonna need another receiver to rotate in if we even hope to stand a change against those creepy buzzards from Hillside." Danny smiled at the thought of finally being a part of the team, for being a good player not out of desperation. As he showered, his mind mulled over the matter.
Thirty minutes later he was showered, dressed and ready to go. Derek had left a few minutes earlier and now Danny was the only one still in his locker aisle. As he stood up and picked up his gym bag to leave, he heard the sound of whistling coming from one of the other locker aisles. Out of curiosity he walked toward the happy sound and discovered that it was Dash. The blonde closed his locker and picked up his own gym bag. When he finally noticed Danny standing in front of him, a smile came to his face.
"Hey Fenton," Dash said walking toward him.
"Hey Dash. You must be pretty happy if your whistling." Danny said casually.
"Yeah I had an awesome day." Dash said as he reached inside his gym bag for something. When he found what he was looking for he waved it in front of Danny's face. Danny smiled when he recognized it as Dash's history paper. "Check it out Fenton, I got a B! I've never gotten anything higher than a C in my life! It's all thanks to you man."
"Wow, congratulations Dash," Danny said. He really was happy for the blonde boy.
"That's not even the best part dude. My dad actually showed up to tonight's game." Dash said as the two walked side by side and out of the locker room.
"That's really cool, but I thought you said your dad was always busy." Danny said with a smirk.
"He is, but he said some strange green guy attacked the company where he works at. The guy didn't hurt anybody, but he pretty much trashed everything and now they have to shut down until Monday."
"Some green guy? That's really weird." Danny said uneasily. 'He'd definitely wig out if he knew that the only reason his dad was able to make it was because I went a few rounds with the ghost of a boxer?'
"Yeah." Dash agreed. "Hey my folks are waiting for me outside, do you need a ride or something? It's the least I could do for all your help."
"Thanks, but I have my own ride." Danny said politely.
"Alright. Catch ya later Fenton," Dash said as he walked toward the parking lot. He stopped as he seemed to remember something and turned around. "Oh yeah I almost forgot, Kwan wanted me to invite you to his party tomorrow night."
"Party? I dunno, I might be busy." Danny said. 'Fighting off boring ghosts.' he thought unhappily. He expected the blonde to accept his answer, but to his surprise the other boy walked back toward him.
"Aw come on Fenton, don't be such a nerd. This is Kwan's party we're talking about. Your odds of having fun, getting drunk and acting stupid are high. Besides your the star of tonight's game, think of it as...a celebration party. Hey if you feel weird about it, invite your two weirdo friends Manson and Foley." Dash said, giving him a convincing smile. "Think about it," he threw over his shoulder.
Danny watched him leave, surprised by Dash's persistence to get him to go. He merely shrugged and walked behind the gym. Anyway, it was a nice night to fly home and he could think about it along the way.
End of Chapter 7
Author's Notes: Yay, Danny actually scored a touchdown! Sure it was sort of an accident and he was using his powers, but it won't always be that way. So for once all three of the ghost hunting musketeers are going to be invited to a party? What fun will it bring out next. Please review! Thanks!
Spider's Shout Outs:
(because smoke signals are way too quiet)
Ranma Higurashi: Horay, a new reader has appeared! Finally someone's asked me about my cheesy chapter titles for this fic, lol. The name I chose for this story drew me into a sort of dance theme title for each chapter. The dance name itself is a sort of hint at what the chapter is going to be like. lol, hope that satisfied your curiosity. Thanks for your cool review! :-)
Katy Kreger: Hey girl! I still can't figure out which baseball player that is. I even asked my dad, but he wasn't sure either, lol. When you find out tell me asap! Thanks for the nifty e-mails/review!
Dela the Hidden: Hey there! The funny thing is that Dash hasn't really noticed the watch yet. I think if he did it would pique his curiosity as to why Danny has a watch that on the inside says "Your time now is..." ::wink::wink:: (you are one step further on the sidewalk). I hope you dug this chapter update and thanks for the review!
Akiko: Hey! Ya know, I think you said it well with so few words. Yeah, the slash is finally happening (horay), but the sad thing is you know something will always get in the way (boo). lol. Anyway I hope you dug this update and thanks again for your review!
KimuraSato: Hello again! Yay, I'm glad you liked that more "slashy" chapter. I kinda laughed the whole time I wrote that it and I will say this, when Dash returns the favor (cause it's only fair), I'll be laughing even more. (:-D) Thanks again for the too cool review!
RavenGhost: Yay, another new reader has come! Me likes that you likes! lol. Well alrighty, I hope you like this update too. Thanks for your "short, sweet and said it complete" style review!
Kayume Silver: Hello there! Yeah, I know what you mean, but the truth is that I'm updating so fast because I'm really into this story and for once I'm damned determined to finish a fic with a bang. Sadly I can't make cute lil chici faces because they're never saved when I update, (:-( ), but I can still do this, (X-D) Thanks for the nice review! :)