Annnnnnnnnnd chapter 7! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys are the reason I try to update so quickly! Hopefully the updates will remain to be within a couple of days as the year goes on, I'll warn you guys if I think for any reason it'll take a little longer.
Argus Drax: Sorry for the absence of Jazz, but don't worry! She's in this chapter!
FanficFan920: Thanks for the vote!
DerDrachen: You'll be seeing more of our friendly little skeleton, don't you worry
PhantomFanForever: I don't think that would be too much of a problem. I'm reading some fanfictions that take months to update. If someone really wants to read your story, they will patiently wait it out
Sophia the daughter of Nyx: Thanks!
LooneyAces: Jazz did not see him transform. In the chapter for starting A/N, if you check out my reply to Angela, you can see my explanation on how Jazz not knowing has affected the events in Ultimate Enemy. If you have any questions about how certain people not knowing effects certain events, just ask. And thanks for the vote!
Angela: And I love your awesome questions, and I'll continue to do my best to answer them! The answer to your question can be found at the A/N at the end of the chapter.
AmandaSkittles7: It makes me super happy that you're liking this so far! I do agree that it is cliché, but you are also right that it makes sense because of how close they are. Thanks for the vote!
Snoopykid: Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. And that's one of the things that I was really worried about, keeping the characters, well, in character. It's good to know that I'm succeeding so far, and please tell me if they start to get a little OOC
TheMemeKing: I'm actually pretty sure I crawled up from the pit, but it's good to know my disguise is working! I will do my best to make sure the updates remain constant.
Werewolf2994: Maybe it was. You'll find out next chapter!
Potterheads2016: Yeah, it probably won't be too long until someone finds out
So, this chapter isn't as long as the other ones have been (I think) and sorry that not a lot really happens, but I brought Jazz back! And great stuff is going to happen next chapter! (I think, if I write it the way that I'm thinking)
Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom and all its characters, not me.
Enjoy!
Danny tugged at the collar of his turtle neck. It was never a type of shirt he had found comfortable, and he didn't understand how Tucker could wear them all the time. But the high collar was necessary. The wound on his neck hadn't fully healed yet, apparently he had underestimated its seriousness and almost passed out the moment he got home. Danny was just glad that gym had been the last class of the day, so he didn't have to worry about missing any school. He assumed that his parents would patrol the halls of the school until they realized that there was no longer a ghost in sight, and by that time school would have been over.
So, after retrieving his things from his locker and the change rooms (actually thanking his parents profusely for the addition of the ghost shield, since it meant the halls would be free of screaming children) Danny had flown home and phased straight into the bathroom to clean up. A hard task indeed when the only thing stopping you from blacking out is sheer willpower. But luckily Danny had a lot of it.
He shifted uncomfortably on the couch, aware of his sisters scrutinizing glare, while trying not to agitate his ribs. He still had about an hour or two to go until they would fully heal, and his throat probably about ten minutes. And for those ten minutes, it would seem that Jazz was determined to bother him with her psychobabble.
"You weren't at school," Jazz said, finally breaking the silence.
Danny tugged the collar of his shirt again and looked up. "I was at school."
"During the ghost attack, you weren't there, Danny. In the auditorium, with everyone else. There was a roll call of sorts, and you were the only one not there. Where were you?"
"Not there," Danny replied smartly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"It's not funny, Danny! We were worried sick about you, we thought that the ghost had been attacking you, or taken you!" Jazz shouted, standing up from her own seat across from him. She leaned forwards, eyes blazing and fists clenched at her side.
Danny looked down guiltily, but smirked internally because they hadn't been too far from the truth.
"We spent an hour, an hour, looking for you before Mom and Dad sent me home. And here I find you, sitting on the couch, without a care in the world! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"A ghost attacked and I panicked, I ran way instead of going to the auditorium, okay?" Danny snapped. He realized now that he probably should have sent a duplicate back to the auditorium, but he had been delirious from blood loss and there was no way he could have thought that through. Danny tugged at the collar once again.
It was so itchy, and rubbed uncomfortably against his 'fresh' wound. Five minutes to go, Danny thought.
"What are you doing?" Jazz asked suddenly.
"What?"
"With your shirt, what are you doing?"
"Exactly what it looks like I'm doing."
Jazz sighed in exasperation and reached out to grab his hand. Danny quickly ducked away, sliding down to the floor and rolling so that he was behind her. Jazz jumped when he moved, so fast her eyes could barely follow, and whirled around to face her brother. He was still tugging on his collar.
"Danny, what are you hiding?" Jazz's eyes narrowed, focusing on his hand.
"Nothing, Jazz," Danny said, rolling his eyes.
"Then let me see."
Danny's hand stilled. That would be the logical thing, wouldn't it? But the wound wouldn't be fully healed yet. She would see the angry red that danced across his throat, and then she would see tomorrow that it was gone.
"If there's nothing there, you don't need to see it," Danny replied, crossing his arms.
"If there's nothing there, you don't need to hide it," Jazz countered.
"And you still don't need to see it," Danny smirked. Jazz frowned, then jumped forwards. And Danny, the great Danny Phantom had not been expecting it, and could not get out of the way before Jazz yanked down the collar of his shirt. Danny sucked in a sharp breath, prepared for the sudden outburst, as Jazz looked at his throat and saw… nothing.
There was nothing there.
"You win, Danny," Jazz muttered, letting go of his collar. Danny rubbed his throat, sighing in relief. Apparently the wound had healed a little faster than he anticipated, and the lighting in their living room wasn't good enough to illuminate the scar.
"Of course I do, Jazz. Now, I have… homework to do. Yeah, homework," Danny nodded in approval and went upstairs, leaving a sulking Jazz in the middle of their living room. He closed his bedroom door and stood firmly in front of the mirror, ignoring his green eyes and instead pulling off his shirt and tossing it aside. Despite his room having no better lighting than downstairs, Danny's enhanced eyes could easily find the scar. It was thin, but not unnoticeable. I they had been outside, Danny had no doubt that Jazz would have immediately spotting the white line curling around his neck and across his throat. He dragged his eyes away from his newest scar and checked his arm. He had removed the stitches after cleaning his neck, and found that the cut was now fully healed, although this scar wasn't as thin as the one on his throat.
Danny sighed. Before, it was possible for him to at least wear the occasional t-shirt, if its sleeves were a little longer than normal, because his arms, while still scarred, hadn't been horribly so. And if his upper arms were covered, no one paid attention to the muscle on his forearms. But this new scar would make that impossible.
Jazz stood in the middle of the living room, right where Danny had left her. She watched is retreating back, no longer frowning, just thinking. Thinking about how he had changed so much in the last year. At first it was small things. He started to get clumsy, dropping beakers, tripping a lot. Then he started missing class, getting to school late and disappearing in the middle of a lesson. Jazz was just grateful that Mr. Lancer spoke to her instead of their parents. They surely would have thought Danny was overshadowed.
Their parents didn't know the full extent of Danny's growing unusual behaviour at school. They had gotten a call every now and then last year, to discuss that Danny was late. But it was never brought up just how often he was late or missed class.
Jazz, being the active observant that she was, noticed that his strange behaviour started only a couple of days after his accident in the lab. No one besides Danny knew exactly what happened that day. He had told them that he was fixing the Ghost Zone portal, and got shocked a little. And since only Danny had been home at the time, there was no way someone else could even try to guess what really happened. There were no clues.
But Jazz was adamant that the accident was the root of his problems. After a month the bags under his eyes formed, and he started to fall asleep in class. Jazz stayed up late for several nights, watching Danny. But she never noticed him leave the house. For sure he left, because she would peek into his room and he'd be gone, but she would never actually hear him leave. But one day she had heard him come back. It had been quiet for hours, then she heard a loud thump coming from Danny's room, and a groan. Jazz was going to go see him, when the door to his room opened and she heard the shuffling of dragging feet across the hallway carpet, then the bathroom door easing shut. Jazz had fallen asleep before Danny went back to his room. The next, he had appeared as normal as ever. Or at least as normal as his new normal was.
She had confronted him several times about his activities, but never got a straight answer. Sam and Tucker didn't even know what he was up to. Then, over the summer, she had seen so little of him it was like he was never even home. Then there was the Pariah Dark incident. Danny had been missing through most of that, then found injured outside the safety of the ghost shield. But he wouldn't tell anyone what happened to him. Same with during the Disasteroid event. Everyone had seen so little of Danny while Phantom and that annoying tech ghost, the one that always shouted out his plans, put the plan to turn Earth intangible.
Once again, he wouldn't tell anyone where he had been. It was like he didn't trust anyone, didn't want to let anyone in, and it pained Jazz to know that.
"You can trust me, Danny," she whispered to the empty room.
That night, Danny wasn't at the Ghostketeer meeting. Jazz had been the last person to see him, and Sam and Tucker's worried texts were given quick responses of I'm fine and I'll see you tomorrow. Unsure of what to do, they meeting continued as normal. Jack and Maddie gave them some more information on ghosts, showed them a couple more inventions, and moved on to target practice.
Tucker, taking a break from his practice, was fooling around on the lab's computer. He was trying to guess Danny's profile password.
"What about his character name on Doom?" Sam suggested after their fourth failed guess. Tucker shrugged and typed it in, sighing in frustration when the computer beeped that the password was incorrect.
"Why don't you just hack it, this is taking too long," Sam said, glancing at the PDA resting on the desk.
"Because I want to see if I can figure it out," Tucker replied, though he also felt his eyes drawn to the small device.
"Fine. But this is going to take you forever. I even have some great new tech I could update Sharon with," Sam goaded, pulling a thin box from her pocket. Tucker gasped and reached up for the chip, but Sam quickly yanked her hand back.
"Only if you hack it," Sam said.
"But… why, Sam? I'm just doing this for fun, it sounds like you actually want to look through his stuff!" Tucker hissed, glancing around the room.
"Yeah, Tuck, I do! Something's up with Danny, has been for a long time, and we still don't know anything about it. I'm sick of it!" Sam threw up her hands in frustration.
"If he wants to tell us, he will," Tucker said.
"I know, I know. It's just… why doesn't he tell us? We're his friends, his best friends. His only friends! He should know he can trust us with anything. I get why he might not tell his parents, they haven't really been close in a while, and Jazz is constantly trying to psychoanalyze him, but us? Me?"
Tucker found himself grinning at the fact that Sam singled herself out in that rant, then turned serious. "Sam, if we find out his secret, whatever it is, before he tells us, how do you think he'll react? Maybe he doesn't want us to know for a good reason."
"Tucker, this is Danny. Please? I'm worried about him, and I know you are too," Sam pleaded. Tucker's eyes widened. Sam never pleaded, for anything. He nodded slowly, taking the new microchip from Sam, then turning his attention to his PDA. His thumbs moved quickly across the buttons and soon enough, the computer pinged. The first thing they noticed was that Danny's background was the Danny Phantom logo, accented in a neon green and icy blue.
"You know, I never took Danny as a Phantom fan," Tucker said.
"There's a lot of things we don't know about Danny," Sam said. Their eyes scanned the desktop, skimming over the normal shortcuts, browsers, and links found on any computer. Besides a link to Doom, there was nothing you might not find on any other computer.
"Check his files," Sam prompted. Tucker nodded and clicked through the various folders.
Homework
Photos
Music
GZ
Tucker clicked the GZ file.
Map/locations
Friends
Foes
Neutral
At random, Tucker chose the neutral file, and started scrolling through the document.
"It's… ghosts. They're profiles on different ghosts," Tucker said.
"Not into ghost hunting? Dany has some explaining to do," Sam scowled, pulling away from the computer.
"Should we…?" Tucker waved his hand at the screen, glancing around to make sure no one had been looking over their shoulder.
"No. We need to talk to Danny. If he won't tell us anything, then we will," Sam said, and Tucker nodded. He closed off the files and logged out.
"Tucker, Sam, no slacking! If you want to fight ghosts, you have to be able to hit them," Maddie called. Sam and Tucker shared a look, then turned their gazes to the targets they had abandoned. Both were fairly worn and stained black from the ecto-blasts.
"Come on, Tuck. You want to be able to hit the ghosts, don't you?" Sam asked sarcastically. Tucker chuckled and rose from the chair.
"Danny isn't allowed to be the only one who can handle a gun," Tucker agreed before they returned to their training.
And that's the end! (Of the chapter) I know there's a lot more left on the post itself, but if you aren't interested in how some things have changed, you can totally ignore the next 1300 words. Sorry that makes the post so big, to those that don't wanna read it.
To those curious minds who would like to know how things have changed, and Angela who has been asking fantastic questions that really make me think about the story, here is what happened during Freakshow's episodes, now that Sam and Tucker don't know Danny's secret!
Control Freaks – The start of the episode remains the same, as in Sam's parent chide her for being friends with Danny, he freaks them out by responding to the Circus Gothica commercial, and Sam acknowledges that he is acting weird. They skip school to go to the circus (minus Sam's comment about Danny hiding from the cops, despite him actually hiding from the cops) and the overbearing parents bust them all! At night, Danny goes thieving for Freakshow with his other ghosts and such. (Sorry if my description of the semi-canon events are totally accurate, it's been a while since I've seen the episodes). Now everything changes. Sam, Tuck, and Danny are in detention with Mr. Lancer because you know why, Sam is watching Circus Gothica stuff on Tucker's PDA and Danny's hypnosis is reinforced by the ad that plays. He asks Lancer if he can go to the bathroom (using one of his classic lines). Lancer escorts Danny there, and when his back is turned while Danny 'enters the washroom,' the halfa promptly knocks him out and runs off to join the circus. Sam and Tucker, still watching Gothica stuff, realize that they have been gone for a while and go out to find them. All they find is Lancer out cold in the middle of the hallway. Tucker calls Danny, and the only reply he gets is "Come to Circus Gothica." So, naturally, they go, and leave Lancer on the floor. When they reach the circus, they find that the adults are already trapped inside the tent, and Freakshow and his ghosts are nowhere to be found (this info Tucker discovers when he calls Jazz, who attended the circus out of worry for her little brother and his uncharacteristically dark manners recently). She tells them that no, she hadn't seen Danny either, but she did see Phantom, and he looked weird (Jazz didn't realize he was being controlled). Meanwhile, on the train, Freakshow is gloating about his control over ghosts and how now he's going to be rich and stuff. Sam and Tucker, outside the circus tent, notice that the train has started moving and, knowing that Phantom is probably on there, climb aboard to seek his help because they know Phantom is really a good guy and something must be wrong. They find the compartment where Freakshow and the ghosts are, Freakshow tries to get Danny to 'take care' of his friends (not knowing that they are his friends). Danny recognizes them and starts to realize that whatever he's doing is wrong, but can't fight Freakshow's control. He is able to bring their attention to the staff Freakshow holds before attacking. Since he's being controlled, Danny doesn't fight as well as he should be able to, and he's also trying to mentally hold himself back, so Sam and Tucker are easily able to remain out of harm's way. Sam grapples Freakshow for the staff, and while Lydia is attempting to assist her master, she actually is more help to Sam and knocks both of them apart, causing Freakshow to release his hold on the staff. During the tumble, the stone on the staff cracks, and Danny is able to gain even more control of himself, and stops attacking Tucker. Freakshow, in the meantime, proceeds with his typical "here, minion. Go get the staff" manner, while beckoning Danny, and Sam simply talks, telling Phantom how he's a good guy, he saves people lives, he doesn't do stuff like this. Danny is confused, and he steps towards Sam. When he lashes out and grabs the staff, Freakshow is ecstatic and Sam horrified, but when he smashes it their reactions switch. The other ghosts, now free from Freakshow's control, proceed to attack him (minus Lydia, the ever faithful ghost). They leave him in a state identical to the one on the actual episode, where the police can find him surrounded by all his stolen goods. Danny flies Sam and Tucker away from the train, and they ask him about Fenton and if he can help them find him. Phantom agrees and, while he is away from Sam and Tucker, duplicates himself and heads back to his friends (the real Danny being Fenton). They have a brief conversation consisting of thanks, and the duplicate Phantom quickly flies away before it can disperse. (At this point in the series, Danny can make duplicates, but can only hold them for about a minute or so, and they can't actually fight very well). Sam and Tucker as Danny why he was acting so weird and where he was, and Danny gives the vague answer that he "decided the circus wasn't for [him]." And that's the end of the episode!
Reality Trip – The events of Reality Trip don't actually change a lot. Mostly the events are just reduced from Sam, Tucker, and Danny to just Danny. He only sends on of the gems in the gauntlet away using the defense mechanism, seeing as he's the only one holding it. After he transforms back into Fenton on stage during the end of year concert, Danny flees as he does in the show, but Sam and Tucker follow and confront him before he can get away. Danny gives them a rather poor rehashing of how he became Danny Phantom while they are fleeing the GIW (Sam and Tucker refused to be left behind before he explained everything to them). The remaining events are essentially the same as they were in the episode, except they only have to find one gem. The main difference is that Danny explains to Sam and Tucker what the reality gauntlet is and, while saying he's going to use it to make sure no one remembers who he is, they make him promise that he won't change their memories. Danny actually avoids using the words "I promise," but Sam and Tucker don't pick up on that, they are still mad at Danny for not telling them his secret, and excited because their best friends is Danny flippin' Phantom! Once Danny obtains the reality gauntlet, he turns everything back to the way it was supposed to be. He changed everyone else's memories before doing Sam and Tucker. They think that he is going to keep him 'promise,' and Danny considers it, but he remembers what they looked like when Desiree granted Sam's wish, and how he didn't want them to have the life he did. I'm actually gonna describe this scene in detail, because I kinda like it, and it feels dramatic and the writer in me is showing, so here it is for those that wanna read it!
...
Danny looked at Sam and Tucker, at how happy they were, to finally know his secret. He listened as they talked excitedly about how now, they could help him fight ghosts. He wouldn't have to do it on his own anymore, and suddenly Danny was afraid. He had seen their scars after Desiree granted Sam's wish, seen how ragged and tired they looked. How much they looked like him when he stumbled back into a classroom after a big fight, apologizing for how late he was and accepting that horrid pink slip. And he realized that, no matter how much he wanted them to know, they couldn't. It would be better if they didn't. Danny was sure that, even if his obsession wouldn't allow them to know the truth, he still would have done what he did next.
"I'm sorry, guys," Danny said quietly, raising his arm and pointing the gauntlet at them. Sam and Tucker immediately stopped talking, knowing what he was about to do. They looked hurt, but Danny could also see that they understood, deep down. And that made it even worse as he altered their reality. He blinked, and found himself sitting in the stands of the Dumpty Humpty concert, Sam and Tucker on his left and right respectively, cheering for the band and making last minute trip plans. Danny glanced down at his backpack, at the gauntlet that was nestled between his notebooks, and thought to himself it was for the best.
...
Dun dun dunnnn, super dramatic! And that's how Reality Trip would have ended! Sorry this ended up being so long, but to those who took the time to read it, whaddya think? It kinda makes me want to re-write every episode to fit my alternate reality (see what I did there?). It would be kinda cool, but this has gone on long enough! Go, live your life, read more fanfiction, watch out for the next chapter!
'See' you guys next time!
