A/N: Guest: You're not really missing anything obvious, but the clues are all there, albeit I like to think I've hidden them somewhat well. This chapter might add another aspect to it, if you look closely. ;)
Thank you for the encouraging reviews!
Danny yawns as he switches his books from Biology to History, slamming his locker after he picks out the right ones. He turns around and begins to walk to his next class, but not before pausing to read a poster taped to the wall.
He pulls it off and looks at it mouth agape, with a series of giggles surrounding him, clearly from amused onlookers. He huffs, dropping his hand to his side and closing his eyes. Footsteps approach from behind him, and he knows exactly who it is.
Danny shakes his head, but refrains from looking at the stalker. "Weston, I swear to god."
Wes circles around to look Danny straight in the eye, who reluctantly stares back. "Morning, Fenton. I believe I got both of your good sides in those photos, so I'll gladly take your thanks."
"No, you didn't get my good side- sigular. Phantom looks good though, I'll give you that." He crumples up the paper displaying him and his alter-ego, shoving it into his pocket. "I can't believe you seriously did it. How much printer ink did this cost you?" He looks at the sheer volume of posters he made, there had to be almost 100 of them just in this hallway alone. "I mean this is just excessive, don't you think?"
"I told you that if you didn't reveal your secret within a month that I'd blow it for you. I think this is a perfectly fine amount, don't you? Plus, you've been giving me a weird feeling lately, so I know you're planning something."
Danny rolls his eyes. "For the last time Wes, I'm not a ghost. Don't you think I'm a little too… solid for that? Oh, yeah- and alive?!" He exclaims. "Plus, I don't even look like him." He points to his hair. "Black." He points to his eyes. "Blue."
"Yeah, Fentonia can't look anything like Phantom. He's a wimp."
"And clearly not hot enough, either."
Danny points to the approaching Dash and squad behind him, holding back a smirk. "Yup, take it from the King and Queen themselves. What's up, Dash? Paulina?" Danny turns around to face the jock, tilting his head to the side to see the whole crew behind him. Dash, Paulina, Kwan, Dale, and Star all approach, the last of which pointedly holding her tongue and keeping her distance. Danny flashes her a quick smile.
"You the one that printed these?" Dash holds up one of the posters, also crumpling it up and shoving it in Danny's chest. "Cause it seems like something you would do."
"Oh, no no no. Apologies Dash, but you've got the wrong guy." He jabs a thumb behind him, pointing at Wes and smirking. "He's the one that printed them, I'm just the innocent victim."
Dash looks over Danny's shoulder, and then back at him, raising an eyebrow. "There isn't anyone there, Fentoad. You think I'm stupid or somethin'?"
Danny's smile falters, and then he glances back, taking note that he is indeed alone.
"Aw, friggin- seriously Wes?"
Dash grabs Danny by the shirt and pulls him forward, who holds out his hands in an attempt to placate him. "Now- Ugh, wait wait wait, Dash I'm actually not the one behind this, I swear."
"Oh yeah? Well shoving you in a locker sounds like a pretty good plan either way." Dash looks around for a student with an open locker and shoves them aside. He pushes Danny towards the open door, who struggles. "Wait wait wait wait! Stop! I'm too- agh- I'm not small enough to fit anymore!"
"So? Even better!" Dash pushes harder, starting to struggle against Danny's strength.
Star bites her lip, irritated about the whole situation and feeling like she wants to step in. She doesn't notice Paulina glancing her way and raising an eyebrow.
She's about to reach out to stop Dash when Danny yells out again.
"Dash! Dash wait, I have an idea- even better than shoving me in a locker. Listen!"
Dash pauses, but doesn't let go. "You've got 10 seconds Fenton, what's your great idea?"
TTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Danny barely makes it to Lancer's class on time, but make it he does. Star follows him in right before Lancer shuts the door, giving their teacher an innocent smile. Wes however, has been in the room for a while. He smirks upon seeing Danny.
Who eerily grins back. Wes' smile falters.
"Now, addressing the school's new adornments, the faculty would be appreciative if students would help clean up the ungodly amount of posters covering the walls, as it'll make the custodial staff's jobs much easier come evening. I'm sure Mr. Fenton would be thankful as well."
Danny raises his hand. "Uh, why is Wes not getting in trouble for this? Everyone knows it was him." He asks.
Lancer gives a defeated sigh. "Unfortunately school policy states that students are allowed to put up any type of poster or propaganda as long as it doesn't contain anything inappropriate for classes or breaks our content rules." Lancer pauses, and looks pointedly at Danny. "You can thank the Mansons for that rule change, if it concerns you. It's too new to have any sort of specificity yet, but it'll be updated after this… incident."
Danny slumps in his seat a little more, and Wes eyes him as he leans back in his desk. "The students are allowed to see the truth, Fenton- or should I call you Phantom?"
The room collectively groans, and, surprisingly enough, Star's the one to speak up.
"You know Wes, Danny's not the only one that looks like Phantom." She says. "I mean, you're probably more his height, and you've got green eyes, too. Danny's too short."
A few students in the room snicker at Wes, who blushes bright red. "I- what are you talking about?" He points at Danny. "Look at him! He's got the same facial structure as Phantom, and he uses Fenton technology! How do people-"
"Mr. Weston, that's quite enough please." Lancer gives him a glare. "Unless you'd like to stay with me during your lunch period, I suggest you allow me to teach my class."
Wes quiets, but stares daggers at Danny, who smirks once again.
TTTTTTTTTTTTT
"You're officially going too far with this, dude."
"No, I'm not. This is payback for plastering my face all over the school again. Now shush. This is going to be funny, trust me."
"I'm not disagreeing with you, nor am I dissuading you from continuing, I'm just saying."
"Danny, where did you even get these guys? I'm like, really debating considering this animal abuse."
"Sam they have the mental coherence of like a fly, and they're naturally intangible. Nothing a human can do can hurt them."
"Unless your parents show up, or if someone pulls out an ectogun. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the teachers had one."
"He's going to the bathroom! I'll be right back, Tuck, keep the camera out."
Danny follows Wes out of the cafeteria and across the hall into the boy's bathroom. There are a few delinquents hanging about, but nobody pays any mind to Wes, as to be expected. Danny immediately follows and enters a stall, hoping that Wes didn't see him. He then raises his hand, turning the small blob-like ghost he's been holding visible again. Sure he had to fly back home to grab it, but this will totally be worth it.
He pulls out a long, thin strand of the Fenton Fishing Wire out from his pocket. He admires the craftsmanship that went into the simple thing, clear and strong, it's almost unnoticeable if you're not looking for it. He ties it tight around the small ghost, who doesn't seem to notice the disturbance.
Danny turns invisible and pokes his head out of the stall. He watches Wes move to the sinks and wash his hands, and takes his chance.
Floating forward, he nimbly ties the fishing line onto Wes's belt loop, being careful to keep the ghost tucked under his arm to keep it invisible as well. After he's done, he lets go of the ghost, who floats next to Wes like a half-filled balloon. Satisfied, Danny retreats back into his stall and becomes visible again. He exits just in time to see Wes walk out the door, the delinquents in the corner silently gaping at the little ghost bobbing along behind him. He hurries out the door to follow along.
As Wes walks down the halls, students give him a wide birth and strange stares, which honestly confuses him. Sure, everyone knows that he put up the signs that are still occasionally dotted along the halls, but people were acting fine at the beginning of lunch. Maybe he was just noticing it now.
Wes shrugs, unbothered and unsurprised by the sudden change in demeanor. They'll all see eventually that he's right, and they'll have to eventually admit that they've been completely blind to the signs that were in front of them all along.
He's content with planning for the future.
What did surprise Wes however, was a freshman girl looking up at him, then immediately squeaking "ghost!", tripping back and landing right on the floor, her lunch tray clattering to the ground.
Wes jumps at the action, but still approaches the girl. "Are you alright?" He asks.
She shuts her eyes and frantically scoots away, seemingly trying to get away from him.
"Th- there's a ghost!"
Wes blinks, and then draws his brows together while watching her retreat. A few snickers can be heard around the tables closest to them.
"Ghost?" He questions.
"Heeey, isn't that kind of ironic, Weston?" A familiar voice calls out. "Weren't you just calling the Fenton kid a ghost?"
Wes stands up, looking Star dead in the face. "That's because Fenton is a ghost. How can't you see it?" He throws his arms in the air. "Can nobody see it?!"
The snickering grows louder, and Danny walks through the cafeteria doors nonchalantly, wandering over to his table, and Wes gestures in his direction. "Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom literally have the same name! And Phantom carries around Fenton tech all the time!"
Danny stops in his tracks and looks at him."What, do you want an ectogun? My dad offers classes." He deadpans.
"Ugh!" Wes walks up to him and prods a finger in his chest. "Why don't you just tell them all you're Phantom?!" he whispers. "You'll get nothing but fame and glory, popularity, it doesn't make sense!"
Danny looks over Wes' shoulder. "I dunno man, we already talked about you looking more like him than me, and I mean, you're the one with a ghost following you." He points behind him.
Wes gives him a weird look, and then turns, indeed seeing a small green ghost floating behind him.
"Agh!" He tries to back away from the ghost only for it to lazily float closer to him. "H-hey! Take care of this thing!" He looks at Danny, who only shrugs.
"I don't know what you expect me to do, it's not like I carry around ghost tech with me all the time."
Wes tried to push the ghost away, but it partially phases through his hand, freaking him out even more. Danny just walks away.
"I may be a Fenton, but not a ghost hunter! Call my parents, I guess. Or maybe Phantom will show up if you wait long enough."
Danny wanders back by his friends as Wes struggles with the little ghost, who seems to be growing more irritated at who it's tethered to- not that it can do much about it. As the lunch bell rings, the A-listers walk past laughing.
"Maybe if you tell the ghost that you're Phantom instead it'll run away crying." Dash laughs.
Paulina follows up. "You're still not hot enough to actually be Phantom, but you've at least got some muscle on you from being on the basketball team. Maybe you can dress up as him for Halloween!" The rest of the group walks by as well, leaving Wes sighing at the situation.
"Fenton!" He yells. "I know you're behind this! Get this ghost offa me! I don't wanna touch it!"
"Sorry Wes, I don't like ghosts either. Maybe it'll leave you alone eventually?" Danny, Sam, and Tucker all leave the cafeteria- and Wes- after dumping their trays.
"So, Sam, can you make it a rush order? I can go pick them up during my next class."
Sam taps on her phone a while longer. "Sure, they'll be done in 10 minutes. Don't use them all though, I want some for myself, okay?"
"No promises."
TTTTTTTTTTTT
The following two classes go by uneventfully for Wes, considering the circumstances. None of the teachers consider the small ghost dangerous enough to call the Fentons for just yet, since they figure they'll blow the whole thing out of proportion. These types of ghosts show up occasionally anyways, so it's not like they're particularly abnormal for anyone that's been in Casper High or Amity for over a year.
No, the ghost itself isn't really the issue for Wes, it's the fact that he keeps catching the A-list whispering to students across the school, and the fact that there's around 30 students hovering around his locker before he went home for the day.
The ghost bumps into Wes when he stops at his locker. He doesn't feel it exactly, but rather gets a chill up his spine from it partially phasing through him. He sighs dramatically.
"I really don't know what you're all waiting for, it's not exciting or anything." He spins the lock a few times and enters in his combination. "It's just floating behind me, and I think it's getting tired any… ways…"
He blinks a few times at the open locker, for a second believing that he opened the wrong one.
But no, it was definitely his.
Dash saunters up to the locker and opens it up as far as it'll go. "Woooah, looks like Wes here is quite the Phantom fan."
The interior of Wes' locker is almost entirely covered with Danny Phantom stickers depicting his famous logo.
Wes growls. "It's Fenton that's behind this, isn't it?"
"Um, actually I'm mostly innocent." Danny raises his hand a few lockers down. "I just popped it for them."
"You popped it? You can't even pop these lockers! That was the middle school ones!"
Danny shrugs and rubs the back of his neck. "I used a bobby-pin?"
"Don't phrase it like a question! I bet you just phased it open!"
Tucker shakes his head. "Man, he is way off the deep end, isn't he?"
"Agh!" Wes slams his locker and stalks past the laughing students, glaring at Danny as he leaves. "I know you're planning something Fenton, and I'm gonna figure it out." He whispers.
The group watches him stalk out (with the little ghost still following behind) and Tucker points at him.
"Should we be worried about this?"
Danny shakes his head. "Nah, it's just Wes."
"Aren't you worried he'll figure something out? Some more concrete evidence or something?" Sam whispers.
"Not really." Danny starts walking to the exit, with his friends following. He waves towards Star as well. "But even if he did, at this point I doubt anyone will believe him. Even if he got a video of me morphing then people would probably just assume he doctored it or something." He shrugs.
"Isn't it ironic that the harder he tries, the less likely someone's going to believe him? He should just stop while he can still climb out of the hole."
"I'm fine with him staying there." Sam says. "If it's less chance of anyone believing him then I'm all for it. We really should get that ghost, though."
"Alright, alright, we'll get the ghost."
TTTTTTTTTTTTT
"Look at the little half-breed, playing around while a potential crisis arises. Are you not concerned?"
A group of three Observants gathers at Clockwork's lair, heckling the timeless ghost and gesturing at the wide array of screens depicting the past, present, and future. "The council isn't pleased with the recent turn of events, especially Karlov."
Clockwork shuts off all of the screens in the main entrance. "If Karlov's concerned, then Karlov can fix it. It is your fault for underestimating that ghost either way, not mine for being unaware of the circumstances due to your… interference." He spins, and the Observants dodge his billowing cape.
They follow him anyway. "You know our sworn-"
"Your sworn oath of indolence." Clockwork interrupts. "I am aware. If you didn't break these oaths so often I might take them more seriously." He looks back. "And we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with, either."
The head observant raises a hand. "Both parties are familiar with their stances on the matter, arguing will resolve nothing." He declares. "We apologize for the disturbance, we have other matters to attend to, so we'll leave at once. Forty-five, Twenty-nine, come."
The other Observant that's been arguing for some time shakes his head. "But Seventeen, we-"
"I said, come, Forty-five. That's an order."
The younger Observant looks back at Clockwork, who simply scowls at the display. His eye twitches, showing his disdain for only an instant before he reluctantly follows his superior. They get a ways away from Clockwork's lair before Twenty-nine finally speaks.
"We cannot let this go on for much longer. The potential damage, the chaos…"
The elder nods. "Yes, but I've unearthed a different option that might benefit us. As he mentioned, we do have the ability to capture this ghost again, and I'm sure we can get the proper clearance to do so." Seventeen turns towards the other two ghosts.
"This might be the chance we need to finally rid the time-stream of the impure, Phantom. The details are still foggy, but as is anything else that the so-called Time-Lord protects."
Twenty-nine blinks. "You wish to break our oath?"
"It is within our oath to directly alter things within the time-stream, not outside of it. Clockwork is outside of it, as are we." He continues. "If we disrupt his vision, that would be within our rights. We've done it before, after all. It's only a matter of what to disrupt to cause the most favorable outcome."
He holds out a hand, summoning a portal out of nowhere. He taps his staff on it.
"We'll need to gather more assistance, however. And inform Karlov of the path we intend on. He may object, but obtaining his blessing will either impede or ensure our intended outcome."
Forty-five allows his elders to enter the portal before him. He looks back at Clockwork's lair, at the cogs and gears that encircle it.
"If he has any sense left in that old mind of his, it'll be the latter." He says.
He disappears through the portal.