Hi, I'm back with another chapter. Enjoy!
Edward thought about it long and hard. It wasn't that he was scared of confronting Phantom, but that he wasn't sure and if he got it wrong, he wasn't sure how he would react. If he was right and Phantom really was Daniel, he didn't know what he'd do. Would that mean he would stop being so damned secretive, or would it make him close in on himself even more? Edward sunk down into his armchair (he was doing that a lot recently) and groaned.
In the end, he didn't confront Phantom or Danny. He just watched. He watched as Danny's breath fogged in front of him and his hand flew up in the air. He let him go and Phantom hovered outside the window fighting Skulker only a few minutes afterwards. He watched as Danny favoured his right arm in class one day while Sam kept sending him concerned glances. He watched when the boy glared at Valerie as she went into another one of her rants about ghosts, this particular one focusing on Phantom.
It was really rather obvious, now he thought about it.
It was about a month after they started training when Phantom finally let Edward come with him on patrol. He had been asking very politely (begging and getting rather angry) for weeks, wanting to help Phantom keep the town safe and perhaps persuade him to talk to the ghosts instead of punching them. The only downside to all this was that he had to fly. Edward really hated flying.
He wobbled a little as the wind changed directions and shuddered at the electricity pylons down below them. Ahead of him, Phantom was swooping and looping even higher up in the sky, obviously having the time of his life.
"Come on, Edward!" he called. "It's great up here!"
"I'm staying as low as I can." Edward said. "I have at least some sense of self preservation."
"You're missing out."
"I'm much more comfortable here thank you."
"Suit yourself, old man."
Edward did a double take and glared at the ghost. "What did you just call me?"
"Old man! You're too scared to come up high!"
"I'll show you old man." He growled. Damn Phantom, always making fun of him. He soared up to where he was hovering, arms crossed and his signature smirk adorning his face.
"Well, now you're here," Phantom grinned, "let's get started."
Edward noticed that he was indeed up high now, and it really wasn't so bad.
Phantom guided him through the air, doing a backflip every now and then just to show off. Edward followed him, albeit a lot slower, taking in the sights of Amity Park from up above. He had seen the town from up high – their warehouse perch gave a wonderful view – but it was completely different when he was flying. The cars passed by, so small and insignificant compared to them, and the people on the streets were just tiny ants like the ones in the pavement cracks. It was getting dark and streetlamps were coming on one by one, illuminating the high street and the smaller ones around it. Casper High School was beautifully floodlit, the football field almost glowing. Beautiful was not a word Edward ever thought he would apply to Casper High.
He was just starting to get the hang of staying on the wind current and using it to keep himself stable when Phantom's ghost sense went off and Skulker appeared. Edward had to wonder at how they did that all the time. Did they stay invisible until they reached Phantom then appear again for dramatic effect, or did they just pop into existence from the ghost zone? Phantom really hadn't been clear in his explanations. Skulker seemed to be one of the regulars and apparently, he was a fairly easy fight.
Edward had never actually seen him up close before and the ghost was, to put it lightly, terrifying. Gleaming silver suit, guns charged and ready to fire, mohawk flaming away. Edward gulped.
"Hello Whelp." He said. "Older Whelp. You're new."
Despite being almost paralysed with fear, Edward smiled thinly. "I'm Edward. Nice to meet you?"
"It's really not." Skulker sneered. "Can we get on with this, Whelp? Ember's expecting me and I said I'd get your pelt today."
"Whatever." Phantom drawled. "Come on then."
Edward, seeing that they were about to launch into a barrage of unnecessary violence and puns that were just a crime against humanity, said, "Wait a second. Pelt?"
"Yes. I am the ghost zone's greatest hunter. I want Phantom's pelt for the foot of my bed. And possibly yours. You might be an interesting prize."
"That doesn't get any less disturbing no matter how many times I hear it." Phantom muttered. "You should get therapy or something, dude."
"Ghost Child, who is this other halfa? He looks familiar."
"I'm Edward Lancer." Edward said again, trying to gain some semblance of control over the situation.
"I don't care. Whelp?"
"Yeah." Phantom said. "That's Edward Lancer. Teacher at the high school. I think he might have thrown a book at you once. Not sure."
"I would never mistreat a book like that!" gasped Edward, shocked and appalled that Phantom would even suggest such a thing. "I have respect for books."
"You sound like the ghost writer." Skulker said. "You two would get along."
Phantom's eyebrows raised. "You're right." He agreed. "I should totally introduce you. Anyway, Skulker, ready?"
"Bring it on, ghost child."
Phantom's fists lit with raging green flames and Skulker's guns swivelled round to point at him.
"Wait!" Edward cried. "Can't you talk about this? Skulker, what do you want?"
Skulker didn't look amused at the interruption. "I want his pelt. Can I fight him now or are we going to keep on yapping? Shut up, old man."
Ignoring the burning insult, Edward turned to Phantom. "What about you. What do you want from Skulker?"
"For him to leave me alone and stop going on about my pelt! Edward, I appreciate the sudden group discussion, but I would really like to end this so I can sleep."
"But there has to be a way to do that without fighting? Come on Phantom. You said not all ghosts are malevolent, didn't you? Just put Skulker in the thermos without punching him."
Skulker grinned, a horrible metallic toothy grin that sent shivers up Edward's spine. "I like his idea. Don't punch me. Stay still and let me punch you instead."
"No!"
"Gentlemen, please." Edward moved quickly in between them. "Skulker, do you really think you're going to be able to get Phantom's 'pelt'" he shuddered, "After years of failing? Please just get in the thermos or go back through the portal by yourself. Don't you want to see your…" he glanced at Phantom for confirmation, "girlfriend?"
"Ember can wait." He growled.
"She won't be happy." Phantom warned. He seemed to have taken to Edward's idea, and tried to calm the situation further. "Come on, dude. Just this once, go away and let me sleep. How about I come and visit you tomorrow. Then we can have a fight. No PDA's involved. That means no gorillas."
Skulker raised a single brow. "No gorillas?" he asked. "do I have your word?"
"No gorillas." Phantom's hand lay on his chest. "You have my word."
"Gorillas?" Edward questioned as they flew away.
"It's a long story."
His first patrol had been a success, at least to some extent, even if it had been absolutely petrifying as well. He started to go out more often as a ghost, although always with Phantom. He still didn't trust himself when flying.
Because they went out in the day on weekends and people began to notice him, Phantom insisted that he come up with an alter ego for himself. Edward thought that was ridiculous.
"I'm a middle-aged man, not a teenager like you. I'm no superhero." He protested. "You can't seriously expect me to fly around in spandex and a cape?"
That resulted in Phantom laughing at the mental image for a good five minutes straight.
"Oh my god, I'm scarred for life!" he wheezed. "You in spandex!"
"I'm glad you find me amusing." Edward said, gritting his teeth.
In the end, they came up with a number of suggestions, the most memorable being 'Ecto Ed' – one of Phantom's that Edward immediately vetoed vehemently. They decided on just calling him Edward as a ghost, because he was firmly against any superhero type name, and it was such a common name that it was unlikely to be connected to the English teacher at Casper High School.
"Just because you don't like puns." Phantom grumbled.
"I don't." Edward said. "And your name is terrible anyway. 'Phantom'? seriously? Because you're a ghost?"
"Phantom is a brilliant name." he countered. "You just don't appreciate true art."
Edward turned away, refusing to dignify that with a response.
"You know," said Phantom one night after training when they were sitting on their roof, "I should really take you down to the Fenton portal at some point." His fingers were tapping again. He did that a lot, Edward noticed.
"The portal? Why?"
"Well, I'm hoping to take you into the ghost zone at some point, but I figured we should start with the portal. We can also take a look at the Fenton's lab and weapons vault just in case you ever need to go there without me. Seriously, some of the stuff in that lab is fucking terrifying."
"Language!"
"Whatever."
"Don't whatever me, young man. Anyway, that sounds like a good, if somewhat illegal idea." Wouldn't it technically be breaking and entering? Edward may be half ghost now, but he didn't want to go into a life of crime. He also didn't want to end up on the wrong end of one of the Fenton's guns.
"I've done it millions of times before and I've never got caught." Phantom insisted. "I'm pretty sure they know I'm there, and Jazz Fenton lets me in sometimes. Therefore, not illegal."
Of course, if he was Danny, he would simply be letting himself into his own house.
Edward tried to remember that when the two of them were sneaking invisibly into Fenton works the day after.
"Can't we just get Jasmine to let us in?" he hissed.
"She's at the library today." Phantom whispered back.
"How do you even know that?" Danny would know that because she was his sister.
"I have my ways. Now come on!"
They snuck in through the walls, then Phantom took his hand and they floated down into the lab in the basement. Phantom wasn't lying when he said there was some scary stuff in there. Edward wondered if it was really safe for Danny and Jasmine to be living in a house with all of these lethal weapons. When he said this to Phantom, perhaps hoping for a reaction that would point towards him being Danny, he just laughed.
"These weapons can't hurt humans. Well, most of them anyway. There was an occasion where Dash Baxter and I got shrunk by my d – Jack Fenton."
Ignoring the horrible implications of that, Edward focused on what Phantom had nearly said. My dad.
His theory was getting more and more likely.
With that in mind, Edward wandered over to the portal. Swirling, green, altogether otherworldly. It reminded him of some of the sci fi books he'd read, and for a moment he thought that maybe he was imagining the whole thing. To think that there was a whole other world on the other side of that thing. A world with life (in a way) and society and culture. Edward wanted nothing more than to see this phenomenon for himself.
"Pretty impressive right?" Phantom said from next to him, arms crossed and smiling.
"It's wonderful." He breathed, unable to say anything else.
"This is where most of the ghosts come out."
"Most?"
"There are a couple of natural portals, and I know a ghost who can make them himself. There's also the box ghost. I think he might be able to do that as well, because that guy just keeps on coming back no matter how many times I shove him back in the zone."
Edward had learned how persistent the box ghost was firsthand. He nodded in agreement.
"Now, over here is the weapons vault. I'm pretty sure I've shown you most of these, but there are always new ones being made, and…" Phantom froze, his head whipping round. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" asked Edward who had always had bad hearing.
"The Fentons. They're coming. Shit."
"Phantom!"
Phantom's face screwed up in annoyance. "No time for you to be a teacher! Go invisible, quick. Ugh, I didn't want you to know yet."
"Know what?" Although he feigned ignorance, Edward had a good idea of what.
"Look, sorry for not telling you, but it's easier for me to go human now. Please don't hate me."
"Why would I –"
Phantom cut him off as he changed.
It was one thing suspecting, but it was another to actually see it as the rings that Edward was so familiar with on himself appear around Phantom's waist. They passed over his body and turned white hair black, jumpsuit to a t shirt and jeans, boots to trainers. There was no doubt about it – Phantom really was Danny Fenton.
He looked down for a second, then glanced up at Edward as if to gauge his reaction. Edward just smiled at him, trying to reassure the teenager.
"I already suspected." He admitted. "I'm not completely oblivious." Danny nodded in relief, letting out an audible sigh. Then he straightened up and picked up one of the ectoblasters on the side.
"Should have known you would figure it out. Anyway, get out of here, quick! I'll meet you back at the warehouse in a while."
Edward nodded and flickered into invisibility, then shot out through the walls where the scanners hopefully wouldn't pick him up. He would have changed as well, but he highly doubted he would be able to control his invisibility as a human and he didn't have an excuse as to why he was in their house.
He flew back slowly, still not confident in the air and also trying to work his mind around what he had seen. He hoped that Phantom – Danny – would be okay with his parents. Judging by what he heard at school, Danny wasn't the best at coming up with excuses.
Gosh, now it all made sense. All those 'bathroom breaks' and rushing out of class. He really didn't know how he didn't figure it out sooner; it was a miracle no one else had.
Now that he knew for certain, Edward wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with Danny - a fourteen year old child – defending the town from the ghosts. He certainly wasn't for Valerie, although he supposed she didn't have the advantage of intangibility and the other safety mechanisms that ghost powers gave. Still, he couldn't let Danny go out into daily fights like that. He was missing a lot of school, and his grades were at a low, even for him. Valerie was still running out into fights despite his refusal to let her go, and she was still brutal towards Phantom. Brutal towards Danny – one of her best friends.
Lancer felt slightly sick and nearly lurched downwards mid-air. He caught himself just in time.
It wasn't right that these two teenagers had to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the whole town, and it wasn't right that they both saw fights and violence as something totally normal. Now that he knew what he knew, Edward could understand why Danny had had such an extreme reaction to being compared to the Fentons. His parents. Who actively hunted him.
Edward really had to talk to Danny and make sure he was doing alright. Who knows what kind of impact this all could have had on his brain and development? Maybe a chat with Jazz Fenton would be a good idea too.