Inevitable Chapter 3: The Reunion, a danny phantom fanfic

An: It's not as long as I was originally planning, but it's still a few pages longer than the first two chapters. They were about seven pages, while this one is eleven.

Since no one voted, I went with the Seether song.

I already have an idea for a second DP fanfic but I'm lost for a plot o-o it's like "oh that'd be awesome if Danny could do this! But in what scenario…?" So… Yea. :3 When I finish Inevitable, I have more plans~

I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter

Just throwing it out there: Danny's a bit OP… XD

Chapter 3- The Reunion

Phantom crashed down on top of a building, creating a small crater in the cement. He yelled in agony, his hands gripping his head tightly. The attack only lasted a few seconds, and he quickly transformed back to Fenton as soon as he could. He lay there for a few minutes, trembling from the aftereffects of the pain as his core strengthened again.

The attacks were… impossible to correctly describe to someone who didn't have a core. His source of power and life would randomly convulse and completely drain his energy before going back to normal. There was no set schedule for when it happened, though it was usually a few hours between, and had never happened while human.

Danny took a shaky breath when he heard voices below him. Quite a few pedestrians had seen Phantom fall and were gathered around the base of the building.

"Mother fuck…" he hissed quietly when he shifted, pain flaring up through his chest. He had to have broken something, but it would heal soon anyways. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against the broken cement. Concentrating for a moment, he was able to feel emotions drifting up from the human below, and began to feed off of them. He had discovered shortly after leaving Amity years ago that the strange hunger he was feeling was a desire for a more… ghostlydiet. Ghosts scared humans because they fed off of emotions, and fear was absolutely delicious. Well, he could also feed off pure ectoplasm. But that was a bit more difficult to come across.

The whir of an engine caught his attention. Opening his eyes to glare at the sky, Danny spotted a familiar old hover-sled heading in his direction.

"Well, at least she's still alive… Crazy woman." He murmured. Having fed enough to feel relatively normal again, he transformed and turned invisible, but just rolled out of the broken cement instead of leaving.

The Red Huntress soon landed on the roof, just feet from where Danny lay. She scanned the area for ghosts and grumbled when nothing popped up. "Of course. Half the city freaking out cuz they think they saw Phantom, and there isn't a single reading for miles."

Danny smirked and folded his arms above his head, relaxing. 'Let's have some fun…' "Is there, Valerie?" He held back a laugh when she immediately jumped in the air again, her hover board forming and weapons ready.

"Show yourself!" She spun around a few times, her guns glowing as they charged up.

"I heard there hasn't been ghosts here in years. Been awhile since you used that suit, ne?"

She fired at random into the air, but hit nothing. "Who are you?"

"Sheesh. You'd think you'd piece it together quicker. Who do you think?" Danny rolled his eyes. He created a duplicate and sent it up into the air near her, invisible as well. It spoke instead of him, so she wouldn't realize his voice hadn't moved from the roof.

Valerie's eyes slit behind her visor. "You don't sound like Phantom."

The duplicate chuckled. "You don't sound like Valerie."

"People age! Ghosts don't!" She fired again, dangerously close to where the duplicate was.

"Maybe I'm not a normal ghost. Never have been."

"What do you mean, not a normal ghost?"

He snorted. "C'mon, what kind of ghost fights their own? Or protects humans, for that matter."

"Maybe you remembered being a human. I never cared." The huntress practically growled.

"Ok then… I'm ganna make you reaaaal confused. Picture me- as I looked back then of course. Younger than I am now. Now play around with colors. Change my hair color, eyes, skin tone, etc."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You'll see… Photoshop might work better than imagination." He laughed. He let his laughter trail away into the air as the duplicate vanished, making it seem as if he left.

When she assumed he left, she flew down to the roof again and opened a panel on the wrist of her suit. Danny floated up into the air and hovered behind her, watching. He smirked when she actually opened up a little photo-editing app and pulled up a picture of Phantom, then started playing around with the colors.

"White hair, brown eyes… blue eyes… Blond hair, darker skin, brown hair, hazel eyes… Ugh, this is stupid. Black hair, brown eyes… black hair, blue-" she froze when the image of Phantom had black hair and blue eyes. A simple color change had turned him into an exact replica of her old highschool friend, Danny Fenton. "W-what…?"

Danny took that as his cue to fly off, chuckling under his breath. The dull ache of the core-attack, as he began to refer to them as, still lingered in his chest.

Later that night-

Unable to find Sam, Danny returned to the Fenton home late into the night. Checking to see if his parents were asleep, he went wander around the house too see if it had changed much. There was a ton of new ghost equipment and inventions strewn about, and some new furniture, but nothing too drastic. Hesitantly, he floated upwards and into his old room.

Danny sighed softly as he looked around. Besides being clean, it hadn't changed one bit. Little glow in the dark stars still stuck to his ceiling, space posters lined the walls, and his old games remained in a pile. "Wow…" Careful not to disturb anything, he floated over to his old computer and hit the power button. He smiled slightly when it actually turned on. "Ah, what the hell? It's late, everyone asleep." He pulled out the chair and sat down. "Let's see if anyone still plays Doomed."

Barely ten minutes later, Danny was playing on his old account with the volume shut off. The game was extremely outdated and not as fun as he remembered, but it still brought back good memories. There were very few people online. He snorted when he noticed one of them was Tucker. "Not surprised…" Quickly changing his name in chat to 'GZ' he typed out:

'Yo, Techno-Geek. Been a long time.'

Tucker replied within seconds, 'Who r u?'

Danny smirked. 'So quick to question… Can't a guy say hi?'

'No 1 calls me techno-geek anymore, so u obvsly kno me.'

'Clearly.'

'Who r u?'

'GZ.'

'I c that. What's it mean?'

'You know exactly what it means, Bad-Luck Tuck.' And with that, he logged off and tried to contain his laughter.

"Hm… I wonder if he's going to that reunion tomorrow?" he smirked to himself. "I doubt Sam will, but she's still in town, so… maybe." He put everything back where it was and went back to the guest room to rest for the night. He didn't need as much sleep as humans, but still got a few hours a night. It was disappointing to think his parents had never noticed that. Ever since the portal accident, he never got enough sleep, snuck out every night, had cold skin, slowed breathing, and a slower heart rate. Since puberty, his skin only grew colder- near freezing- and he now only needed about three or four hours a night of sleep.

Flopping down on the bed, Danny crossed his arms above his head and easily drifted into a dreamless slumber.

He awoke long before Jack and Maddie. He took a quick shower and headed out again, not wanting to stay in that house longer than he had to. Not wanting to risk another core-attack, he chose to ride his motorcycle around instead. It still sat parked across the street where he'd left it.

Danny took his time riding throughout the city. He didn't have anywhere to be until seven that night. He ended up visiting some old hangouts; like the mall, and even went watch a movie for the hell of it.

Sometime after noon; FentonWorks

While Danny was out, the two elder Fentons went back to the basement to continue their work. The blood and ectoplasm readings should be done. They didn't really question where Phantom vanished off to; though they were helping him, his daily life wasn't really their business.

Maddie hummed quietly to herself as she looked over the results from the blood sample. Everything seemed pretty normal- as far as half-ghosts went. There were large traces of ectoplasm in his blood, but she assumed that to be normal. While she did this, Jack looked over the ectoplasm.

"Mass cell decay within the ectoplasm… No clear cause." Jack took a saved sample under the microscope and peered at it. Individual green cells appeared like red blood cells in animals, but they functioned for different reasons. "Madds, come look at this." At regular intervals about a minute between, the cells would flash blue for a second before a small portion of them shriveled and died.

But Maddie Fenton wasn't paying attention. Something about the DNA pattern seemed familiar to her, but it was way too complicated to place. Instead, she ran another sample through a different machine that would compare it to hundreds of others. Since it sorted through family and friends first, she was shocked when it almost immediately beeped with a match.

Maddie's eyes widened in shock, tears beading at their edges. "J-Jack…? The blood sample we took from Phantom has a match…"

Staring back at her from the screen was an image of their son when he was 16.

That afternoon;

Casper High gym

Danny hung out in the back of the parking lot, watching a steady flow of adults enter the gym. They had to wait in line for a moment and grab a nametag. He recognized a few, but couldn't name countless others. He smirked lightly when he spotted Dash. The jock didn't look too much different than he used to, and even wore his letterman jacket. The only difference the Halfa could see was a slightly broader jaw and a stronger build.

He got off his bike when the number of people started to slow down. "Better late than never, ne?" he murmured under his breath. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, not really caring he was pretty underdressed. Jeans and a leather jacket didn't exactly fit in with suits and dresses.

Danny snickered softly when he saw there was actually a name tag placed out with his name on it. He grabbed it when no one was looking and tucked it into his pocket. Inside, the gym was decorated with a ton of stuff representing their class. Posters of Jock and cheerleader achievements, yearbook stuff, graduation, class favorites, etc. At one end of the gym was a stage, where Lancer was giving some stupid speech about how he was proud to see all the faces there. He then went on to explain a few events they'd be doing, including a 'guess who' type of game, where former students would go on stage and try to make others guess who they were.

Looking around, he saw there were a hell of a lot of people he didn't recognize there. He could easily blend in with them. It's not like he wanted to stay long, anyways. He was basically just curious to see who was alive and who was not. And Dash. It bugged him to know if the jock was successful or a total bum. He snorted as he headed to the bleachers to take a seat and watch from above.

"...Danny?" A voice spoke from behind him.

'...shit.' Danny mentally groaned. So much for blending in. He turned his head to look back at who spoke, relaxing a bit when he saw who it was. No one important. "Kwan."

Kwan gave him a sheepish smile. "Heh… I thought it was you." He went to say something else, but another voice calling his name cut him off. When Kwan turned to look, Danny snuck off into the crowd and found an empty spot in the bleachers. He was far enough away from the crowd to not be seen with a casual glance. With his enhanced hearing, he focused in on Kwan.

Dash jogged up to his old friend, grinning. "Kwan, hey! I thought you weren't coming?"

After seeing who it was, Kwan ignored the question in favor of looking around. "Where'd he go…?"

"Where'd who go?"

"Danny! Fenton's here."

Dash's eyes widened. "Fenton actually showed up…? Holy shit…" They both started looking around.

"Great…" Danny groaned under his breath. "Shoulda guessed someone would recognize me." His grumbles stopped when he spotted Sam walk in the doors. "Wow…" she looked… beautiful. A lacy black dress clung to her frame, showing off perfect curves. Little bat earrings dangled from her ears, as well as a bat necklace at the hollow of her throat. Her black hair had a purple streak in it and was tied back in a loose ponytail, though bangs framed her face. A few heads turned to stare, but it was easy to recognize who she was. Tucker and Valerie followed soon after her, their hands locked. Danny noticed they both had wedding rings and chuckled quietly. "Tuck and Val… wonder when that happened."

Danny relaxed back against the bleachers as some of the guests started playing some games. The 'guess who' was actually pretty amusing. Dash was obvious; throwing a football back and forth between Kwan and himself. Turns out he was a professional football player, while Kwan was a high school coach. Paulina struck up a few poses and pretended to have paparazzi; she was an actor and model. A few others went up, and some were impossible to guess. Tucker even had fun with it. He sat on the stage and typed away on his smart phone. Someone yelled out "Bad Luck Tuck!" within seconds, and the crowd erupted in laughter.

Someone sitting a few steps below Danny looked up at him. "Why don't you go?" the stranger asked. "I don't recognize you, but someone might."

Danny shrugged. "I'm thinking about it…" He truthfully was. He didn't exactly want people to recognize him… But unless Kwan blurted it out, what was the chances anyone would? Danny got an idea when he spotted a few instruments randomly strewn about on the side of the stage. He smirked, got up, and went stand in line for the stage. There were only a few others in front of him.

When he got close enough, he snatched a guitar from the pile. A few others looked over curiously, but no one looked like the recognized him. People began to grow less interested with the participants ahead of him and started paying less attention. Idle chatter started up as Danny stepped up on the stage, barely anyone watching.

But people certainly turned when he hooked up the guitar and started to sing-

"Walk away from the sun, come slowly undone
I can see in your eyes I've already won
I could bleed for a smile, I could cry for some fun
Walk away from the sun, and tell everyone

There's so much left in the air
So much to tell from a stare
There's so much left to defend
But I am no fun

So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone
I can tell by your smile you're coming undone
I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun
Walk away from the sun and kill everyone,"

Many in the crowd started cheering, few even throwing their fists up and rocking along. But no one shouted a name.

"So tiny dancer beware, we're medicated and scared
This smile is so hard to wear, but I have no gun

So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone
I can tell by your smile you're coming undone
I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun
Walk away from the sun and kill everyone

And you're fading with every day
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)
You're fading with every day
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)
You're fading with every day
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)
And you're fading with every day... whoa

There's so much left in the air
So much to tell from your stare
There's so much left to defend
But I am no fun

Walk away from the sun
(fading with every day)
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)..."

The song slowly faded, leaving a cheering audience to fill the silence.

Well, until Dash decided to yell, "Fenton!?"

Danny grinned, gave a two-fingered salute, and vanished. He'd turned invisible and walked back to his spot on the bleachers, leaving the crowd to panic and wonder where he'd gone. "Idiots…" he chuckled softly, becoming viable again in a dark area of the bleachers.

"See! I told you he was back!" A voice nearby caught his attention. Not too far from him sat Sam, Tuck, and Val. Tucker had his arms up in the air. "His Doom account was active last night!"

Sam scowled. "There's no way it was him. He left us, Tuck. He's not coming back."

"...well, I did hear a huge crowd claiming they saw Phantom yesterday…" Valeria said hesitantly.

Sam and Tuck paused for a moment. "What does he have to do with anything?"

Val shrugged. "I… figured out who he is."

Tuck's eyes widened, while Sam looked angry. He took her hand. "Val, you can't tell anyone about that."

To which she raised an eyebrow. "Well, clearly… I don't know what he is, exactly, but the GIW would have a cow if they found out some sort of… hybrid exists."

Sam and Tuck exchanged a nervous glance. "We should probably find him." The trio got up and left the bleachers, not even looking in the direction Danny was sitting.

Danny rolled his eyes. 'It's like they forget I can go invisible… At least I know Val actually figured it out.' He relaxed back and watched the crowd. It took them about twenty minutes to stop freaking out about Danny's disappearing act and continue on with their lives. He occasionally snuck down to grab a drink or little snack to munch on.

Nearly an hour later, Danny visibly stiffened when a shiver traveled up his body and ended in a little puff of blue breath. "A ghost…" he hissed under his breath. "What happened to none being here?" He turned intangible and sank through the wall, then started looking around for whatever triggered his sense. He growled to himself when the ghost sense went off again, then for a third time. "Is the whole fucking ghost zo-" he cut off when he saw Skulker flying overhead, soon followed by the Box Ghost and Technus.

Hearing panic, he turned to see a bunch of the class members fleeing the gym. Other ghosts started to appear, though most were the nameless animal type. Unaware of a few pairs of eyes watching him, he slunk back into a semi-hidden corner and changed into Phantom. He flew up, cutting off Skulker's path.

"Phantom!" Skulker stopped. "At least, I assume you're the ghost-child... No one else bares that emblem."

Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What the hell is going on here, Skulker?"

"Fleeing from the Core Sickness, of course! As all ghosts not taken by it are."

He raised an eyebrow. "Core Sickness, eh…? It's affecting full ghosts now?"

Skulker scowled. "Get out of my way, boy."

Danny frowned. "I don't think I like your tone…" One of his hands began to glow green. "Why don't you ask again, a little nicer?"

A rocket appeared on Skulker's shoulder, ready to launch. Both of them floated in silence, staring each other down. Skulker's eyes were slit as he studied the ghost he assumed was Phantom, while Danny's frown turned into a light smirk. "So… none of you are infected?"

"...correct." Skulker answered after a moment.

Danny's smirk immediately broke into a near sadistic grin, his fangs flashing. "Guess it's too bad that I am, then! You dumbasses just fled straight into someone who already has this 'Core Sickness.'" Skulker jerked and retreated a few yards back, but Danny was a step ahead of him. He vanished with a small puff of green smoke and reappeared just inches behind the hunter.

He shoved an arm straight through the suit's chest and yanked out a bunch of wiring. "Oh, this looks important…" Skulker's suit began to stutter and fall, but Danny grabbed the helmet and ripped it off before letting the body fall. He chuckled and he pulled Skulker out of the helmet by one of his little legs.

The -much less intimidating- Hunter squirmed around and tried to get free. "Release me!" He yelled in a squeaking voice. "I am the Ghost Zone's fiercest hunter! An infected pest like you cannot defeat me!"

Danny raised an eyebrow and held Skulker up eye level. "I think I just did, pest. Now, why don't you have over that pretty little core of yours?" When Skulker gave him a confused look, Danny rolled his eyes. "Have you never taken someone else's core before, Skulker?" He tore off one of the little frog's arms. Ignoring Skulker's screams, Danny started digging around in the wound. "Extremely hard to come across, since most ghosts put up a better fight. But once you have a taste…" he smirked when he fingers brushed against a sphere in the center of the tiny ghost. "That power boost is a hard addiction to break."

Before Danny had a chance to yank Skulker's core from his body, pain flared in his chest. "Fuck…" he let go of his prey, who flew off as fast as he could. Luckily, it stopped short enough that he didn't fall to the ground. He wobbled in the air a bit, but soon stabilized again, taking slow breaths as the sudden pain dulled down.

He groaned under his breath when he heard a bunch of people screaming and panicking as ghosts attacked them. "Guess I gatta help the pathetic humans… drag…" He flew over to where a wolf ghost had a group of people cornered. He dropped out of the sky, his foot crushing the wolf's head into the ground as he landed, splattering the ground with ectoplasm. The group gaped at him as he scraped his foot against the ground to get rid of the ectoplasm.

"Ph-Phantom…?" One spoke up. "Is that you…?"

Danny looked up and snorted when he saw who it was. "Dash. Don't know anyone else who wears this." He tapped the DP symbol on his chest.

Dash looked excited for a moment, but Pauline cut in. "You came back for me~! Why'd you leave?"

Danny's expression immediately dropped into an annoyed scowl as he turned to her. "Come back for you? Ugh, don't make me puke… You were never nothing but a whore in my eyes. As for why I left? Cuz I turned into a psychopath." he shrugged. "And it's pretty fuckin' fun." He launched back up into the air, chasing down a few other ghosts. Animal ghosts that took him minutest to defeat before now took only seconds. A single well-aimed ecto blast could kill the majority of them.

He reached out to grab Technus' cape when another attack seized his core. Stronger than the last, Danny yelled as his body flickered and convulsed. While the humans looked on in surprise, Dann's flight gave out and he dropped. Acting on instinct, he managed to turn invisible and hold onto it until he crashed into a small alleyway just outside the school. He grit his teeth before screaming in pain, his back arching and fingers digging into the cement. Hoping to end the pain, he shifted back human. It dulled down some, but didn't vanish. Instead, he began to violently cough into his hand.

Feeling something wet, he looked to see bright green ectoplasm splattered in his palm. "Well, shit… this is new…" he managed to say before going into another coughing fit. He choked up more ectoplasm, where it now dripped down his chin and splashed across the ground.

"Danny…?" someone said from the entrance to the alley.

Danny looked up to see Sam standing there, her eyes wide. He gave her a little grin, "H-Hey…", and passed out in the bright green puddle.

AN:

...don't hate me :D

I don't have a teaser for the next chapter. So… see you guys soon :3