WHY MUST SCHOOL BE BACK?! DX I have all the hard classes…

LOL. Thank you to those who voted! I'll take down the poll SOON. So if you haven't voted yet, do now! Every one counts, and just a single vote could change what story I'll do next. :3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own ROTG or DP. Can't think of anything clever. Too much thinking in school… :P

Phantom Spirit

Chapter 9: Secrets

Danny sat on top of the school building in Amity Park. Usually when he stayed around there he would be down in a tree with his Shadow Animals near him, scaring some kids and helping others. But now, he didn't want to risk running into that Sam girl.

She seemed nice and all, but he just felt… strange, for lack of a better word, around her. Almost like he was supposed to know her, but couldn't remember. He didn't like that feeling, so the spirit decided to just let his shadows to their job and watch from above, unseen.

Shadow walked up to him and sat next to his master. Danny smiled and patted the coyote's head. A scream came from the crowd of kids before Midnight and Rocko, a wolverine, came up with them. Midnight sat in his lap, making the spirit chuckle as he rubbed her back.

Footsteps started behind him, stopping just behind the dark figures. Danny turned to see a slightly messed up Jack. His hair was messier than normal and his clothes ripped in places. He also looked slightly nervous, but Danny didn't see that past his horrible looks. The Phantom of Halloween raised an eyebrow. "Um, did you get caught in a tornado or something?" he asked, standing up.

The winter spirit let out a half-hearted laugh. "Yeah, a tornado of NightMares."

"What…?" Danny pulled his hood down. Midnight curled up in it, her head on his shoulder to look and Jack.

"Pitch's NightMares and new wolf fearling, things attacked the North Pole." Jack stepped towards him. "Danny, we need you for this."

The Halloween Spirit closed his eyes and ran a hand through his raven hair. "Jack, I don't know, okay?" He turned around and floated to sit on the edge of the roof, his feet hanging off it. He watched the kids file out of the building, in a hurry to get home for the day.

Jack sighed and stepped forward. Sensing Danny's distress, Rocko growled at the older spirit, blocking his path. Jack raised his hands in a surrender pose before slowly walking around him.

He plopped next to Danny, one foot off the roof and his arm resting on the other leg. "I understand why you want to think about this, but we need help with soon. I know Bunny wouldn't admit it, but we do."

Danny let out a small laugh. Before he could reply, the other Shadow Animals suddenly perked up. Midnight shot out of his hood and flew in front of him, her eyes wide and worried.

"Midnight?" Danny asked, confused.

The fawn gripped onto his hood with her mouth, pulling him up to a standing position while whining in distress. Shadow pulled him by the bottom of his cloak and Rocko pushed his master with his head from the front.

"What?!" the boy cried, almost tripping on Shadow. "What are you doing?!"

Midnight turned him around and pushed him forward, Shadow just able to keep him upright. The wolverine kept pushing him towards the other side of the building. The spirit sighed, turning his head slightly. "I'll be right back Jack! Talk to ya later!"

"Uh, bye?" Jack raised an eyebrow from where he was still sitting on the roof.

Midnight let go of him and flew ahead. She turned around to see if they were following. Rocko growled and pushed Danny forward again, causing him to yelp. "Alright! I'm going!"

The wolverine continued to push him while Shadow and Midnight led the way. They were soon met with the equally as panicked Stallion and Hunter, who sped ahead with the coyote and fawn as they led them through the forest near Amity.

It didn't take long before they started to hear whines and yelps from ahead. Danny's eyes widened as he realized who they belonged to.

"Star!" he exclaimed, rushing in front of the others. He spotted the wolf pup in a small clearing, cornered by a tree and five black-sand wolves. The fearlings stalked forward, making Star push up against the tree.

The middle wolf leaped forward, but was knocked to the side. Danny stood in front of Star, the other Shadow Animals soon joining him. The wolf pup yipped and dove behind Shadow, who picked him up and took him away from the danger.

NightMares walked out of the forest surrounding them. Almost immediately, Stallion kicked the nearest NightMare, turning it to just sand on the ground. The other Shadow Animals and Nightmares charged at each other, the misty animals winning.

A fealing wolf jumped towards Danny after dodging most of the Shadow Animals. The boy put a hand up to protect himself, a green beam shooting out of his palm. Danny looked down at his hands in amazement as the wolf turned to sand.

"Since when could I do that…?" he asked himself. Looking up, he shot a NightMare that was creeping up behind the female cougar. "Awesome!"

Almost as suddenly as the fight started, the black-sand animals left in a hurry. The left over fighters looked around in confusion.

At seeing their victory, Rocko, Stallion, and Hunter left while Midnight went to check on Star and Shadow. Danny started to walk away, but paused.

"Your 'Shadow Animals' put up a great fight," someone said behind him. The Halloween spirit whipped around, hands glowing green and ready to strike.

"I hope you know I didn't plan to hurt any of them," it said again, golden eyes appearing in the shadows of the trees.

"I hope you know your wolves were about to hurt Star!" Danny yelled. "And you started the fight!"

"On the contrary, your horse was the one to attack first, not mine." A dark figure stepped out into view. He was taller than Danny, with dark gray skin. His hair was the same raven color, but was spiked backwards. The cloak he wore seemed to blend with the shadows, making it harder to see him.

Danny narrowed his green eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm sure you've heard of me." The man clasped his hands behind his back. "Humans know me as the Boogeyman, but you may call me Pitch."

Danny got into a better fighting stance, one he didn't even know he knew. "What do you want?"

"My, don't you ask a lot of questions!" Pitch smiled, revealing white teeth.

"Answer me!"

"Fine." His appearance seemed to darken, but he regained his calm look. "I want you to consider my offer."

"No," Danny said simply, turning to go find Star and the others. "Jack said you're bad, and I'm taking his word for it."

Pitch seemed to rise from the ground in front of him, blocking his way. "I wouldn't be believing Frost if I were you."

The Halloween spirit narrowed his eyes again, but tilted his head. "Why not…?"

The King of Nightmares smiled, knowing he had the boy. "You didn't know? The way he's been nervous around you? How he always seemed guilty?" He removed his hands from behind him, bringing them forward to gesture and increase the meaning of his words. "What about when you were with those girls? You didn't notice his uncomfortable look?"

The older spirit sank into the shadows, coming up behind the boy to whisper in his ear. "He's been keeping something from you," he hissed by the boy's head. Danny relaxed, shock clear on his face as he remembered Jack's awkward positions and facial expressions.

Pitch laid a hand on his shoulders. "And by the looks of it, a big one too," he added.

"What…?" the teen started.

The Boogeyman started to pace around him, his fingers tapping his chin as if he were thinking. "And now that I think about it, I think the other Guardians know too," he lied, knowing only Jack and North knew of this "secret."

A look of betrayal flashed across Danny's face. 'They've lied to me?' he thought.

Pitch smiled more, if even possible. "So I want you to think about that. Why be a Guardian if the others don't trust you, when you could join me?"

The teen furrowed his eyebrows and looked up into the golden eyes of the older man. "And why should I join you?"

"Because!" Fearling wolves stalked out of the woods. "Look at how much alike we are! Dark appearance, black animal helpers, we both even bring fear to others! You would be like my son, my apprentice."

Danny blinked and looked down. 'He's right… maybe I should…'

"And besides," Pitch continued. "We both want the same thing."

The Phantom of Halloween looked up at him in shock.

"To be believed in," the older spirit said, faking an innocent look. "Why protect children who don't see you? Who don't believe in you?"

While Danny was staring into space, a NightMare came out of the woods. Pitch looked at him, sharing a silent conversation. The man nodded and shooed the horse away.

He looked back at the teen and tilted his chin up to look in the radioactive green eyes. "I'll tell you what. I believe in you." Pitch let go of his chin and started to back away into the forest. "So think about this: Whose side would you rather be on?"

With this, the spirit was gone. As soon as those golden eyes disappeared, Midnight came out of the forest, Shadow and Star following. The fawn tilted her head at his distant look. She padded forward and nudged his hand.

Blinking, Danny looked down at her and mindlessly rubbed her head. "I'm, uh, gonna go think…"

The spirit floated off, heading for a place to be alone. Midnight looked at the two canines before followed him out.

Well then, I think Danny is standing on the border of the light and dark side…

CHOOSE DARK!

*Cough* I, uh… I mean light… Always choose light…

LOL. Don't have anything to say. :3 I'm planning to update most my stories this weekend, but that won't happen every weekend! Just so ya know. :D

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~BloodBlossom88