Fifth Danuary Crossover
~Danny Phantom x One Piece~
Category: Friendship, (could be read as) Everlasting Trio, slightly Unreliable Narrator, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff.
Trigger Warning: Self-deprecation Issues, Facial Injuries, (apparent/temporary) Disintegration.
Danuary 05 _ Pharaoh Once, Pharaoh Forever
Tucker Foley knew that he was just a nerd with amazing friends.
Sure, he had his technology and meat-lover shticks going on, but beside those, who was he really in comparison to them?
Danny was his childhood friend (they had shared so many things together that it was impossible to list them all) too good for his own good and, adding that he was a whole superhero now, that didn't help when he had to take care of himself, so it was Tuck's and Sam's job to make sure of it.
(Hey, he was useful for something, at least.)
Sam was stubborn, brave and hot headed, but she cared about other people, always trying to fight for a better world (despite his carnivorous attitude, Tucker admired that "green" attitude). She was rich, but she despised her wealthy heritage and her Goth aesthetic suited her to a T.
Really, Tucker was nothing special.
(And he was still deeply ashamed of being sometimes jealous of them and causing them -and the town- so many problems during his fits. They had enough on their plate already with the many usual ectoplasmic visitors, he had just added insult to injury, really.)
Tucker should really have expected to keep on being the inconvenient misfit among the three of them once more, though. ("Travesty!" Sam would outragedly say much later, when he would voice that thought.)
It had all started with an "expedition" to Sam's greenhouse.
For once the trio had been studying in a neutral environment (AKA the Manson's library), away from the chaos of the Fentons' experiments, Tucker's well meaning (but still a bit nosy) parents and Sam's annoying ones, since they were out of town.
But then Danny had shivered and few seconds later the dodo¹* had scurried in the room, squeaking about something odd suddenly sprouting among Sam's plants.
Dreading an "Undergrowth second coming", the trio had rushed to the greenhouse with the dodo tucked under Phantom's arm to get there quicker and still be guided to the exact place.
Of course, Danny was the fastest, but given the high-speed travel, the spectral bird got disoriented and once they arrived inside the glass enclosed space, it couldn't immediately tell where the odd plant had been. Thus, the halfa hovered above the shelves to have a better perspective, while trying to make the extinct avian describe the specimen.
Sam and Tucker arrived a minute later, running and barely dodging the gardening tools that apparently the Goth had forgotten to put away…
…Or at least, dodging the ones they could see.
Clarification needed, because as Tucker was making a sharp turn around a pot of hydrangea, he tumbled over a rake on the floor and fell face first into a tan-colored barrel cactus.
The cry of fright got muffled by the mouthful of spiked vegetable, which juices almost chocked the poor boy, before he managed to lift himself from his prone position and spat the piece of cactus.
Immediately both Danny and Sam were at his side, fussing over him and the former making Tucker intangible in order to phase off the spines from his face.
Thank Tesla that his glasses had protected his eyes.
Though, at the moment the Techno-Geek was more concerned with the foul taste of the cactus juice that he had inadvertently swallowed and was making him shudder in revulsion.
(Although, even with how much he was gagging, nothing seemed to come up?)
– Easy Tucker, drink this. – Danny crouched down from wherever he had flown to pick up a bottle of water and aided him in getting rid of the awful taste. – I should have gotten rid of all the spines, but do you have any in your throat? – The halfa asked anxiously.
– No, that thing just tasted like Sam's Surprise Soup. – Tucker shuddered at the memory and took another swing at the bottle since now he was steadier. – Did I hurt it more than it did to me, at least?
– Well, you'll need disinfectant and several band-aids, but nothing seems too damaged. – Danny inspected Tucker's face after taking it between his cool gloved hands. The chill felt… soothing against his pierced skin, so he tried to lean in without being too much obvious, despite his friend being the Clueless one. Danny didn't seem to mind, instead he shifted his palms to cover more skin and the injured boy almost melted in a puddle of relief. Stupid plants, always in the wrong place…!
Tucker gasped in recollection and pulled off his friend's hold in order to look around for the dodo and the odd thing it had seen. They still needed to check for Undergrowth!
Before the Techno-Geek could work himself up in a frenzy, Sam's voice pierced through his incoming panic. – Well, you did a number on the cactus Tuck, but this time I'm not angry at you… or at least I'm not angry at you for the reason you're thinking about. – Both boys turned to look at her and found a bizarre scene: the Goth was lifting up (with her gardening gloves on) what had been the sand-hued barrel cactus once, before getting smashed by the tumble. – I've never seen this plant, so if that's the "intruder" the dodo had found, we've probably already overthrown any ghostly attempt to do anything.
– …Then why are you angry? – Tucker dared to ask.
– Because now we can't assess what it was for certain! We don't even know if it was poisoned! How do you feel? – Sam asked annoyed (to cover her concern).
– I… feel surprisingly fine. The punctures don't even sting anymore. – The four-eyed boy poked at his face and he felt it smooth like fine sandstone. (Stupid acne.)
– Was this the intruder? – The girl asked her greenhouse ghostly guardian, who looked at the squashed plant and nodded.
– How about I take it to the Lab then? If it's ghost-related, maybe it's better if we analyze it. – Danny fidgeted, nervous.
– Seems like a good idea. – Sam passed over the specimen, then took off the gloves. – I'll take a better look at our moron in the meanwhile, just in case.
– Hey! It wasn't my fault, that rake was hidden! – Tuck protested, standing up to be at eye level with her, but she averted her gaze to the culprit on the floor and guilt flashed on her face.
– Fine, I'm sorry. I'll take better care of my tools, now come with me and you Danny, go! Better safe than sorry. – She ordered them around and Phantom almost saluted with the cactus, before fleeting to the FentonWorks.
– Where are we going? – Tucker asked, before being grabbed by his friend and dragged away from the greenhouse, barely waving at the dodo, who stayed guard.
– To check you with a magnifying glass, as I said, better safe than sorry. – Sam almost growled, shutting him up. (She had already half-killed Danny by daring him to enter the portal, she didn't want to be the cause of another death with her inattention.)
The following check-up was passed in silence and for good measure the Goth disinfected her friend's face, if only to get rid of whatever substance the cactus could have left behind.
Luckily, before things could get awkward or tense, Danny called them to relay the result of the analysis: there were no toxic substances in any part of the cactus, but! the plant didn't exist in any genetic database available on the web.
Meaning it could have been made by a ghost.
It was great that Tucker was feeling fine, but he wanted to be sure, so Danny would take the remains of the plant as evidence to the Zone and ask around.
(Tucker was making them worry, even if this wasn't technically his fault, but how many times had something like this happened?)
– Well, at least we know that you're not poisoned. – Sam slumped in relief after ending the call.
– Eh, but with our luck it was probably cursed. – Tucker was still tense, but thankfully the girl wanted none of it.
– Com'on, you're the one who usually says not to jinx it! Help me look at the surveillance cams to check what happened and send a picture to Danny if the squashed proof isn't enough.
They found the moment of the accident, then rewound to find exactly when and how the odd cactus had arrived in the greenhouse. …Or better, how it had mutated.
Sam had had a green barrel cactus of her own in the greenhouse, but in the video it suddenly pulsed and vibrated, before it gained swirls on its surface and changed color.
Analyzing the sequence with an Ecto-Scanner revealed just a purplish aura suddenly envelope the plant any without warning signs just a mere second before the vibration.
The filter registered that the glow had a tremendous power within, but both vanished as soon as the plant finished its mutation, as if the aura had never existed. The plant didn't appear on ghost scanner, but to double check the duo waited for the dodo to appear in the framing and the bird did register!
Tucker kept staring at the monitor, panic mounting. – Did I eat a ghost baby?! O-or was it really a curse after all? – He started to hyperventilate, but Sam grabbed forcefully his shoulders to make him turn and look at her.
– We still don't know, calm down! – She ordered, just shy of slapping some sense in him.
Unfortunately, that didn't help because the Techno-Geek felt faint at the knees and crumbed out of the chair, realizing half-a-second later that he had done so literally: his torso had sunk into a mound of dirt that he felt as his own legs.
Terrified, Tucker screeched, grabbing Sam's arms as his only anchor. He was disintegrating! It was the cactus' curse; he didn't want to die!
– Shish, you were right Robin! – A new voice pierced through the screeches of the two panicking teenagers and in a flash Phantom was beside them, a dark hawk and a monkey (both ghosts) climbing down from his shoulders. – Okay, Tucker, I know that this could be disorienting, but you have to ignore your legs for a bit, can you do that for me? – The halfa crouched down beside Sam, gently moving her away from in front of Tucker in order to take her place.
– Whatdoyoumean?! – The disintegrating boy chocked, grabbing Danny's forearm with his right hand while the left kept on clinging on Sam's.
– Do you remember the first time my legs turned into a ghostly tail? How did you help me turn them back to solid form? – The halfa coaxed, shifting his arm enough to get a hold of his friend's forearm and draw circles on it with his thumb to try and soothe him. – You distracted me enough to forget about the tail and then they came back on their own.
– Danny, I'm turning into dust, how could this be the same!? – The hysterical boy sobbed, wanting nothing else than to wake up from this nightmare.
– No, you're turning into sand and it's the same, because you're not dying. – Phantom spelled out decisively, staring right into the other's turquoise eyes. Tucker hiccupped, but at least now he wasn't losing his head anymore. – I promise you, you are not dying, okay? You aren't possessed either, no one is going to take over your mind, so breathe.
It took a while and the Techno-Geek had to leash his catastrophic thoughts to gain a resemblance of calm.
(Seeing her friend slowly recollect himself -both mentally and literally- was what Sam had needed to calm down as well, though she didn't let go of either Danny's or Tuck's hand.)
– What's happening Danny? – The dark-skinned boy whispered wetly, pulling at the halfa's obsession.
– Do you remember Chopper the Racoon²*? He asked for help to save his friends from Skulker once. – A shacky nod in response. – When they were alive, they were people from another dimension and they recognized the cactus as something from there. They called it… – Danny trailed, frowning in concentration, but the dark hawk intervened, chirping something. – Ah, thanks Robin, Suna Suna no Mi, or Sand-Sand Fruit. It gives the user the power to turn into sand and manipulate it as they please.
– Oh. – Tucker flickered his eyes to the bird, who nodded in confirmation. – Can you… get rid of it?
– We don't know, the rules of the Devil Fruits say that the powers can be lost only after death, but they didn't have our technology, so we could try the Ghost Catcher. – Danny proposed.
– R-rules? What do they say? – Sam intervened, worried.
– "There cannot be two identical Fruits at the same time;" – Phantom began, translating the tiny's chittering, – "one person can eat only one of those otherwise they would die; if the Devil Fruit Users come in contact with a certain stone, they'll become weak and unable to use their powers…" – He tilted his head in confusion at the last chirp, pursing his lips. – For the last one, she thinks that we don't have it in this world… Anyway, I'm sorry Tuck, if this sticks, you won't be able to swim anymore.
– Well, I was never one for sports anyway… – The Techno-Geek commented weakly, still reeling by the revelation.
– Ah… not what I meant. Your body has literally forgot how to swim, you'll become a hammer if you're submerged. – Danny corrected, uneasily.
– Oh. – Tucker breathed, stunned. – So, it is a curse.
The ghost monkey (tired of waiting and looking around to amuse himself) sensed an opening and climbed on the halfa's shoulders and cried at the sand-teen, who just blinked back at the animal.
– Luffy says that it's not. – Danny translated, eyes briefly flickering up to look at the tiny now on his head. – "Now you have these cool powers and this doesn't mean that you're cursed or a monster. You can use them to your advantage to fight ghosts!"
– But how? It's just sand. – The raven-haired teen whispered helplessly. The dark hawk hopped nearer and looked up at him, chirping.
– "For once you're a Logia." – She said through Danny's translation. – "It means that your body will turn into sand automatically if someone shoots or slices you, leaving you unharmed. Blunt force trauma is also nullified."
– So, not counting the drowning risk, he's basically invulnerable. – Sam realized, but the monkey shook his head.
– "I fought with the crocodile that had that fruit before, if you soak him with water or blood he can still be beaten." – Danny frowned at the translation, turning pensive. – So, it's like a sandcastle, probably any liquid could make him solidify enough to be tangible.
Robin intervened at that point. – "Crocodile could also willingly dry up anything he came in contact with without any consequences, so it's all a matter of experience" – Phantom then added his own observation. – How about we concentrate in helping him stay solid for now? I know that in the Grand Line of your world it was normal-ish to see Ability Users, but for us it's better if nobody notices. What do you think Tuck?
– Can we please try to get rid of it, please? – The boy garbled, still a bit teary.
– Of course. – Danny and Sam said at the same time, squeezing his forearm and biceps in comfort. Tucker sniffed in gratitude, getting dragged up along with the Goth when Phantom floated up.
– See? I told you could do it. – The halfa tugged his childhood friend, nodding towards the solid legs.
– I guess so. – Tucker murmured, drying his tears on his shoulder.
Keeping the Devil Fruit User between them, Sam and Danny (as Fenton) escorted him to the FentonWorks, stopping whenever he felt himself destabilizing to reassure him.
(Robin and Luffy followed them from the sky.)
Once in the Lab, they run him through any and every noninvasive test they could find or imagine (plus using the Ghost Catcher), but nothing ghostly came out of it and every now and then Tucker leaked sand.
The only solution they could came up with to keep him stable in public was to use spray bottles to douse him like a misbehaving kitten.
A bit discouraged, the trio retreated in the Manson mansion, deciding to do a sleepover there like they had done in Danny's room the night of the Portal Accident, since at the moment the only adult present in the villa was Ida.
(Maddie and Jack had been so hyped by studying the portal that they didn't check once Danny's room and so witness the powers disfunction. At Sam's house they would have the same privacy, but only because the only adult present was respectful.)
They settled on the carpet, Tucker sat cross legged in the middle and leaning on Sam, who took his hands in her to keep him grounded, while Danny pressed close to him to play with the curly hair in his nape, an action that had always soothed the nosocomephobic [phobia of the hospitals] boy while one of them stitched his injuries.
(The pirate animals had left through the Portal to give them privacy after a brief talk with Danny and Sam, agreeing to come back the following day with the monkey's brothers -a red hawk and a dragon- to aid Tucker in keeping tangibility, since they both had experience with the Fire variant of a Logia Fruit.)
– You know, after Duulaman I decided that being normal might have been the right thing for me. There were other ways to be listened to instead of having "powers", but now… that can't be true anymore. – Tucker piped up after a while, when his whirling thoughts couldn't be contained anymore.
– Hey, hey, first of all, that one was all our fault. If we had listened to you from the start, the whole pharaoh-takeover wouldn't have happened. – Danny intervened, stern. – Besides, you heard what Jazz said about the whole mess after she pestered us to tell her about it: we're teenagers, it's within our right to mess things up. We've already apologized to each other, so you don't have to think about that anymore, okay? – He lightly tugged a curl on his friend's nape to make his point across.
– Yeah, your biology may have changed, but that will just help you stay out of the place you despise the most, right? – Sam added, glancing sideways at the boy on her shoulder. – No more broken bones, stitches, bruises…
The sand-boy chuckled, losing a few grains with the motion. – That's the only good thing about this, at least.
– Wrong! According to Luffy and Robin any Sand-Sand Fruit user can dry up things, so you could make unlimited beef jerky. Imagine: "The Too Fine Pharaoh Jerky" for everybody! – Danny imitated an overdramatic ad announcer, prompting a laugh from the others. – It could be cheap and super quick to make, the possibilities are unlimited!
The rest of the night was spent playfully bickering on the uses of the power, allowing Tucker to get more comfortable with it.
Much like Danny's first night, they slept in the same bed (this time with Tuck in the middle) to anchor the newly powered newbie through the instabilities of the night.
The Foley heir ended falling asleep on his side, curled against the halfa's chest (probably lulled by the quiet and slow beat of his heart/core) and with Sam's arm thrown across his chest (to allow her to feel his heartbeats and reassure herself that she hadn't killed another of her precious people).
(If the following morning they woke up with a mound of sand between them and had to coax him back to solidity by drawing with their fingers on the superficial grains because the sensation felt calming, that's a story for another time.
For now, the trio was asleep without a nightmare ad that itself was already a victory.)
¹*The one from Day 3 of "12 Days of Tiny Christmas".
²* From "Tiny ghost followers".
A/N. My intention wasn't to add this much angst, but I noticed that whenever I give powers to characters, I tend to make them suffer at the beginning, sorry! (￣ヘ￣;)
If you are wondering how the Sand-Sand Fruit could have possibly reincarnated in Amity's dimension, it's because the barrel cactus went extinct in the One Piece world, so, due to a natural portal to the Zone, the power jumped into the nearest place that had them, AKA Sam's greenhouse (which is nearer to the Fenton Portal than any other place).
Why did I choose the Sand-Sand Fruit?
One, because it could be tied to the whole Pharaoh reincarnation thing, then because sand has potential:
it can pulverize easily any debris, allowing Tucker to pull out anyone blocked under concrete pieces; it's a Logia, so he's near invulnerable; it could absorb and neutralize ectoplasm goo, etc.
While I was editing, I noticed that this one-shot doesn't have much Luffy and Nico Robin interactions with the trio, but given that I wanted to concentrate on the relationship among Tucker, Sam and Danny, their presence would have been a little too invasive if I made them more active. Hope this wasn't a letdown… (・–・;)ゞ
Anyway, what do you think? If you were wondering, the red hawk and the dragon that Luffy mentioned are Ace and Sabo! They would be ideal candidate as teachers for controlling a Logia, so that's a possibility for a sequel.
Tomorrow is a big day, what will your Dragon bring to you? DC or Council/Counsel?
Type ya tomorrow!