Okay! I swear, this will be the last short chapter. I think. It should be.
Potterheads2016: At the moment she's just kind of in shock that Danny could die, so she's not fully accepting, just too worried to question it
Mimi1012: You're welcome, and thanks for the compliment
Assassin4life: Is your sanity intact? Did I make it in time?
Sophie the daughter of Nyx: Thanks!
Phantomfanforever: How could I ever forget you? And it depends on what kind of ice skating competition you know. I'm from Canada, the stereotype are true, we're born on skates. And Deal!
Princessbinas: I actually am going to address the whole 'will he leave Amity to rule?' thing, and I'm pretty sure it won't be how you're expecting it. Also, I'm in the process of writing a oneshot about ghost obsessions, and the dark side of Danny's
Viridian Thorns: They make great friends, don't they?
ShinyMudkipGal: Yeah, I made Maddie the bad Maddie in this one
Don't own DP.
Enjoy!
"You don't think that's our fault, do you?" Kwan asked. The A-listers were huddled together after having watched Danny pass out.
They heard Mrs. Fenton say something about thirty-two, and Dash shot back a quick "Told you" before responding to Kwan.
"No, it's not our fault. That gun isn't harmful to humans, and technically doesn't harm ghosts. Just pushes them out of ya. You saw his stupid, bumbling dad shoot too. It's probably his fault," Dash said, but his words did come out as confident as he intended.
"What if it hurt the ghost boy?" Paulina asked with wide eyes. She didn't even think about Fenton.
"Of course it didn't," Star snapped in her straightforward manner. "It's obvious the Phantom wasn't possessing Fenton, or else he would have come out when Dash shot him. And Dash, if it is any of our faults, it's yours."
"What? You guys wanted to see Phantom to," Dash hissed.
"You were, like, the one who shot him," Paulina pointed out.
"Yeah, man. He could sue you, you could go to jail!" Kwan squeaked.
"It's not my fault, I'm not gonna go to jail!" Dash struggled to keep his voice low. "Am I?"
"If they sue you for assault, you will." Three pairs of eyes fell on Star, who was not at all acting like her normal, ditzy, cheerleader self.
"What? My daddy's a lawyer," Star huffed. She knew most people assumed she was stupid, but she was actually kind of smart. Playing dumb just made it that much easier so weasel information out of people, because they didn't know they were giving it. She met each of her friends' gazes, then continued.
"It's the perfect revenge. You bully him non-stop, so what better way to end it then to send you where you can't do it anymore?" Star smiled and giggled in her normal dumb blonde routine. "I would."
"Fenton wouldn't sue me, he's too scared," Dash attempted to wave off the prominent threat.
"Um, Dash? Did you forget what he just did? He threatened to send a ghost after you! He was lifting you off the floor with his own two hands," Kwan ranted.
"He so strong. And he's taller than you, too," Paulina said dreamily.
"So you have a crush on Fenton now?" Star asked, looking disgusted.
"Ew, no, not that loser. Danny Phantom is the only boy for me. Fenton just made me think of him is all," Paulina scoffed. "You know, because of their… name. Yes, their name."
Star's eyes were filled with doubt as she processed what Paulina had just said, her eyes flicking back and forth between the unconscious Danny, and love struck Paulina. She furrowed her brow, deep in thought, then blinked in surprise.
"Oh," Star breathed, her eyes finally falling on Danny.
"What?" Kwan asked, but Star ignored him. She stood, jostling the Latina beside her, and walked away, her call of "Hey, Foley!" being the last thing her friends heard.
"That was so weird," Paulina said.
"As weird as you being in love with Fenton?" Dash grinned.
"I'm not in love with Fenton! I love the ghost boy, and he probably loves me too. He's saved me several times before, you know," Paulina sighed.
"Yeah, we know. You won't stop talking about it," Dash groaned.
"I bet he'll come and save me now! If it weren't for Fenton or that stupid Speeder breaking, we would be home by now. The air here is so bad for my hair, and the lack of sun will ruin my perfect complexion," Paulina whined.
"Why did we come here, anyways?" Dash added in annoyance.
"Because you wanted to follow Fenton, see if Phantom was with him," Kwan explained. Dash glared at his best friend. Was he implying that this was all Dash's fault?
"You wanted to see Phantom just as much as I did," Dash countered harshly.
"Of course, yeah, we all did," Kwan nodded and raised his hands in surrender. There was no arguing with Dash.
But Kwan did kind of blame it Dash. He wouldn't deny that he had played his own part, having been willing to watch Fenton get shot just so that he could see his hero. Kwan swallowed guiltily. He'd had misgivings about what Dash had wanted to do, he always did. But, again as always, Kwan went along with them with barely a word of protest. He remembered when they were younger, before Dash had moved to Amity in elementary school. As little kids often did, everyone hung out together, because it didn't matter that they were different. Kwan even remembered how cool it was that Fenton could speak German. But once Dash came, and he had seemed so cool, and he started picking on Fenton and Foley, it just became something everyone did. Either ignore it, or take part in it, but never, ever defend the nerds. Or else you would be treated the same as them.
Despite the urgency of their current situation, Kwan found himself thinking back on those days when everyone had been friends, and absently wondered why Fenton never spoke German anymore.
Paulina continued to ramble on and on about the ghost boy for several minutes before she noticed that neither Kwan nor Dash were paying any attention to her. She huffed and snapped at them, but they gave no reply. Finally, she gave up and slumped back in her seat. If Star hadn't gone off to talk with that loser geek Foley, then she would have listened avidly to what Paulina was saying. At least, that's what the Latina believed.
She thought about Star and Dash's accusations. How dare they accuse her, the queen of Casper high, of liking that loser Danny Fenton. Sure, Danny was muscular, and obviously strong too in order to lift Dash so easily. And he was tall. Everyone had noticed that Fenton had gained some height in the last year, but because he was always slouching or hunched over at his desk, no one actually knew how tall he had become. Apparently taller than Dash who, last anyone had bothered to check, had been almost a whole head taller than Fenton. How had they not noticed?
And then there was Fenton's perpetually messy hair, which always managed to look good. And his eyes, being such a cool, icy shade of blue that the girls of Casper High had secretly fawned over for years. Paulina jumped, realizing where her train of thought was going.
"I don't have a crush on that loser," Paulina muttered firmly. But if anyone had actually been listening, it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself then those around her. Her eyes settled on the unconscious halfa, and somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, Paulina wished he would be okay.
During this time, Dash was thinking both very little, and very much at the same time. He looked everywhere around the carriage but at his favourite punching bag for the longest time. He even looked at that scary yeti ghost first, but there were only so many things to see in the confined space.
When he finally did look at the raven haired boy, one question broke through the stark jungle that was Dash Baxter's current thoughts.
Did I do this?
Tucker sighed in relief. For now, it looked like Mrs. F had bought his quick lie.
"It's keeping him alive."
It was the only thing that Tucker could think of, and he suddenly found it highly impressive that Danny had managed to keep his secret for a full year. He also started to wonder if there was some form of truth in his statement. Danny had yet to tell them how it happened, but obviously he had died, if only momentarily, and had long term effects. Maybe the ectoplasm had saved his life, and without it he would be dead now.
Tucker shivered. He couldn't imagine life without his best friend. He hated himself for thinking this, but Tucker was relieved that Danny got the brunt of the bullying. He and Sam did constantly ask him about it, but Danny always insisted that he could take. Better him than someone else. Better him than Tucker. And Danny was right, Tucker knew he would never be able to take. The occasional punch or quality locker time was bad enough. But daily? Hourly? He couldn't do that. And Danny had been his friend since forever. Neither of them could remember a time when they weren't friends.
But Danny was strong, way stronger than anyone realized it. He would fine, right?
Right.
Tucker refused to be so pessimistic. That was Sam's job. He visibly flinched at the thought of Sam. She was strong too, she would be fine. Danny would get better, and he would go charging after her. Then he would rescue her, and they'd probably make out, or something.
"As long as it's not when I'm around," Tucker said, sticking out his tongue. Then he remembered something very important.
"You guys owe me twenty bucks, each," Tucker said, thrusting his hand out towards Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. "So does Jazz, but I'll get her money when we get home."
The elder Fenton's blinked at Tucker, then Jack spoke. "You mean…?"
"They kissed," Tucker nodded in confirmation. "And Sam called herself his girlfriend. Pissed off a lot of girls at school."
Jack glanced at his catatonic wife. "When we get back."
Tucker nodded. He had hoped that that topic of conversation could have brought their minds off their current situation. Apparently it wouldn't suffice. Tucker sighed, then grinned when he heard Star shout.
"Hey, Foley!"
"Finally come to your senses, have you?" Tucker asked, leaning back and turning his smile on her.
"Gross, in your dreams," Star scoffed as she sat down next to him.
"Okay!" Tucker's grin widened.
"You're, like, Fenton's best friend or whatever. I have a question."
"He already has a girlfriend," Tucker answered quickly.
"What? No. And I knew those two freaks would end up together. It's about ghosts. The ghost boy, to be exact," Star said.
"Really?" Tucker looked nervous.
"Yeah. Fenton obviously knows his ghosts. Has he ever met Phantom?" Star asked.
"Oh, that's all?" Tucker sighed in relief, then caught Star watching him carefully. "I mean! I don't know, sure Danny knows a lot of ghosts, but even I didn't know that until recently. He may have met Phantom. You'll just have to ask when he wakes up."
"Is that so?"
Tucker shrugged and crossed his arms.
"Then I guess I will." Star crossed her arms as well and leaned back.
"You know, while you're here, are you sure you don't want to-"
"No."
"I didn't even ask yet!"
"But you were going to. The answer is still no."
Tucker dropped his head in defeat.
The rest of the carriage ride was spent in silence, everyone deep in their own thoughts while Snowstorm did her best to keep Danny's temperature down. No one noticed as the carriage slowed to a stop.
What they did notice, was the door flying open along with a gust of icy cold air, and a large, foreboding figure filling the frame.
So who's the foreboding figure? I bet you guys know. And now the short chapters are done (for now). They should be getting longer again, though that also means there'll be a little more time between updates. Not a lot, it'll just go back to normal.
'See' you later!
