"Wait." Tucker's jaw dropped once Danny finished telling him what had happened. "Sam did what?"
Danny sighed in response, looking at his feet before answering. "I don't think anyone actually caught on…though Valarie did look at me funny."
"Brutal." Tucker shook his head. "I can't see her doing that."
"I know." Danny nodded. "But it happened, exactly like I told you. I can't believe she'd do that either, even if she was really upset."
"Upset?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Or totally ticked off. I've never seen Sam as mad as you said she was." Again, Danny sighed, this time refraining from response. "So," Tucker took a seat beside him. "How do you feel?"
Danny turned and blinked at him several times. "Huh?"
"How do you feel?" the dark-skinned boy repeated. "Every time I'm upset, my mom asks me how I feel."
"Tucker…" Danny warned.
"Come on, man," he shrugged. "It helps."
Danny's look hardened to a glare. "My best friend just betrayed me. How am I supposed to feel?"
"So y—" the other started, but a loud yelp cut him off.
"HELP! GHOST!" Both Danny and Tucker jumped up into a crouch, ready to spring into action. After a few seconds of searching, and Danny wondering why his ghost sense hadn't gone off, the same voice called out to them.
"Hey, Fenton-yata." Dash's words made both teens cringe as they turned to look at him and his football buddies, miming pain and agony at the opposite end of the gym. "You're a superhero. Come save us!"
Danny turned away with a set jaw, and glowing green eyes.
Paulina chimed in, and Danny felt his face go red as the rest of the kids in his class turned to stare at him. "You should save us before the Ghost Boy gets here and saves us instead! Not that you're anything compared to him." She and the group of girls huddled near the jocks burst into laughter.
Suddenly, the gym felt stifling and harsh, and Danny just had to get away. He elbowed Tucker and jerked his head towards the door. His friend nodded, and they started making their way over the bleachers.
"Now that's ironic," Tucker commented suddenly.
"What?" Danny asked, not really sure if he wanted to know.
"They want you to save them before you get here." The half-ghost couldn't help but growl, and for once, Tucker caught the hint. "Come on, man," he defended. "It's funny!"
They left the gym just as Dash started chanting "Fenton the Super Loser". At that point, Danny really didn't care if leaving got him a bad grade for the day; he just wanted out of there.
- - -
Later that night:
"So," Tucker's voice drifted through the phone receiver. "Whadja wanna do?"
"I don't know," Danny replied, still thoroughly depressed.
Tucker sighed. "You can't stay bummed forever, y' know," the African-American said matter-of-factly.
"Wanna bet?" Danny answered, hoping he didn't sound too harsh, and flopped onto his bed.
"Well, we could hang at my place," Tucker suggested. "I just got Doomed 3." Danny only grunted in response, so he continued. "Or we could head over to Geeks. I hear they have a Mystic card tournament going on." No response. "Or we could—"
Danny laid there, facedown on the bed, not really caring about anything, except for the fact that his now only friend was trying to help him out. The thought almost made him smile.
Almost.
"You there?" Tucker's voice cut through his thoughts. He sat up, about to answer...when a familiar cold feeling in the pit of his stomach suddenly appeared, working its way up his throat. He could see his next breath as clearly as if it were 30 below, and sighed.
"Tucker," he replied, unable even to get worked up over a ghost, but knowing he had to check it out, "I think we just got something to do."
On the other end of the line, he could just imagine Tuck blinking in surprise. "Like what?" he asked.
Danny tried unsuccessfully to force a laugh. "The kind where you bring your thermos, and follow the screams," he answered his friend sarcastically.
"Oh," Tucker said, then added almost as an afterthought, "You'll end up at the park again. You always do." Again, Danny almost smiled. Of course, if there was anyone in the world that could help him feel better, it was Tucker and his pathetic sense of humor. "I'll see ya there!" the other end chirped cheerfully before the phone clicked off.
Danny shook his head, and stuck the phone in his pocket before half-heartedly putting his hands in the air. "I'm goin' ghost," he mumbled. The two blue rings appeared, separating to leave behind an equally depressed Danny Phantom, with unusually dull green eyes. Without a word, he took his own thermos from under his pillow. He didn't look back as he phased through the wall and into the dark night that matched his own feelings so well.
He followed his ghost sense until he saw two figures exactly where Tucker had predicted: directly over the park. Several people who had seen them were fleeing the scene, screaming, as Danny floated towards them.
"Two of them," he commented. "I hope that—oh no." Suddenly, he knew exactly who they were, and just as suddenly, he wished he'd stayed home. The last thing he needed right now was more girls—especially if they weren't named Paulina, and were calling him "Cutie". For some reason, it really unnerved him. Maybe it was the fact that she was a ghost--although he wasn't sure why that should matter, because he was half ghost himself--but it just gave him the creeps.
An image of Box-Lunch flashed through his head, and he shuddered. "Definitely a 'NO'," he said under his breath, floating closer to the two, one of whom turned around and saw him.
Her face lit up immediately. "Hi, cutie!"
"Er…hi," Danny said as he flew in front of the two identical ghost girls, running a hand through his silvery hair. "I don't know why you want to stick around-"
"To be close to you, silly," Abigail giggled. Danny gulped, not sure whether to blush or roll his eyes. Ashlynn folded her arms, choosing the latter. Unfortunately, his face chose the former for him. He felt his cheeks go warm again.
"Abby, sister…dear," if the second ghost had sounded any more sarcastic, she'd have had to pay hazmat team to clean up the residue dripping from her words. 'Wait,' Danny thought, "they're systers? Well it would make sense.' "You need to be more reserved," she continued, and then turned to Danny. "And you told us we could stay." It took a lot of willpower for Danny to not cringe at her annoyed, monotone voice. He would have replied if Abby hadn't cut in, pouting.
"Ash, you're no fun." Ashlynn shook her head slowly as Abby turned back to Danny. "Besides, I'm much cuter than that Goth girl you hang out with, aren't I?"
Danny's head snapped up, with a pang of pain at the thought that Sam wouldn't come to back him up like normal. Only Tucker… He didn't know what he would do if his other friend somehow betrayed him too.
"I—" he started, but sudden dizziness flooded his senses. "Whoa." He blinked and tried to shake the fuzziness off, putting a hand to his head.
"You what?" Ashlynn snapped.
Danny rubbed his head for a minute before focusing on them again. "Oh, I…nothing."
"You sure?" Abby asked, looking at him questioningly.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he sighed. "Look, first, I'm not available, okay? I just don't want to deal with girls right now, ghost or not. Second, you guys are scaring people. So…could you…er…leave?" He hated sounding so weak, but he still wasn't convinced they were evil ghosts, although he didn't particularly want them to stick around, either.
Abigail's face lit up again, this time in realization. She almost looked like Christmas had come early. "They got in a fight!" she crowed.
Danny rolled his eyes. Was the ghost girl's laugh perpetual? Vaguely he wondered where that thought had come from, but again shook it off. He could worry about it later. "What makes you think that?" he asked before he'd thought about it.
"Where is she, then?" Abby looked around.
He gulped and shook his head, looking away. "I don't know," he muttered, feeling his jaw set. Glaring up at them, he added, "That might be relevant if–" He stopped. His head was swimming, and he found himself unable to focus on anything. "If–if we...were still best...Betrayal kind of..." Why couldn't he seem to finish his sentences?
"Are you okay?" Abby asked again, genuine concern now in her voice. Her twin simply raised her eyebrow in curiosity.
"I...I don't know," Danny grunted, and put his arms around his stomach, although he still felt no pain.
The sisters exchanged glances before turning their eyes back to him. With a wary fascination, they watched his aura fade to red, and two black streaks begin to zigzag through his now-drooping hair. The white belt around his waist disappeared, while everything else turned deep red.
"He's changing," the talkative ghost commented.
"No, really, Abby?" Ashlynn muttered to her sister, not taking her eyes off of the half-ghost. "This might be a good time to make an exit," she said, the green spear appearing in her hand. She moved in front of her sister, as if to shield her, holding the ectoplasmic staff in front her protectively. For once, Abby didn't argue, and they began to back away when a cold voice stopped them.
"Don't go." This came from the hunched-over form of the halfa. His voice seemed different...colder somehow. Uncaring, and hard...not at all like he had sounded before. A malicious grin spread across his face.
"First you want us to go, now you don't..." Abigail waved her hand in the air to mark her irritation, but it vanished instantly with a twinkle in her eye and her next remark. "I think I like the change." The boy looked up, and Abby gasped, while Ashlynn once again only raised an eyebrow. His vibrant eyes had turned a deep, blood red, now matching the trimmings of his suit, and the red circle in the center of his chest.
"Good," he grinned cruelly. "Let's go have some fun, shall we?"
If anyone hasn't seen pictures of Evil Danny before, let me know, and I"ll post some links in my next chapter. :D :hug:
