Thanks to Pterodactyl, iluvlucy7, Darth Frodo, The Sorceress of Light, Natwolfess, and Coronadofwb, who reviewed on dA.

Chapter 2: Humiliation

I do not own Danny Phantom, The Clan of the Cave Bear, David Copperfield, The Wind in the Willows, or The Phantom Tollbooth. People who write much better than I do own them instead. I also don't own W.W.I. or the Battle of the Somme, in case anyone was wondering.

William Lancer awoke stiff and sore. The accident at FentonWorks yesterday had not done his body any good. He would need a strong cup of coffee too, as he was still incredibly tired and cold, and would need the energy to keep his unruly classes in hand. He collected his marking from the night before, made his coffee and lunch, and got into his car to drive to Casper High.

As usual, he was at school long before his students, and used the time to play a few levels of Doomed. Something was off about the keyboard this morning, because it wouldn't register his keystrokes half the time, and his mouse kept sticking too. Lancer made a mental note to talk to the technology department later to replace the equipment.

Soon Lancer heard the happy chatter of students in the hallway and the banging of lockers. He smiled contentedly to himself. The day was going as it should, and after yesterday's excitement he needed a normal day.

First period, he taught history to the senior class. They were currently studying the First World War, so he had prepared a powerpoint presentation showing pictures of the battles and their aftermath. During the Battle of the Somme, the class troublemaker started blowing spitballs at the main candidate for prom queen, and he lost his concentration for a moment. The laser pointer he was using fell onto the floor, and he could have sworn it actually went through his hand. It certainly was an odd sensation, whatever had happened. The class laughed, as was only to be expected, but he got his concentration back and the rest of the lecture went without a hitch.

The second class Lancer taught that day was Danny's English class. After the bell rang, he picked up the stack of recently graded essays, tripped, and spilled them all over the floor. Well, not so much tripped, perhaps, as actually felt a foot go through the floor. Odd. After some difficulty picking them up again (he didn't seem to be able to get a grip on them), he continued handing them back. As he got closer to Danny's desk, he inexplicably shivered. Just a draft from the open window, probably.

"You okay, Mr. Lancer?" Danny's eyes were wide with concern and worry.

"Yes, Mr. Fenton, I am 'okay'. Someone must have walked over my grave, that's all. You got a D. Clan of the Cave Bear!" He had "tripped" again.

After talking a little about what the class should have done for the essay, Lancer set the class to silent reading to calm his nerves and started reviewing his notes for the next class. After about five minutes he fell through his chair.

"David Copperfield!"

The class laughed. This was much more fun than the normal class. Lancer was definitely not his normal poised self today. Of course, they became dead silent and buried their faces in their books the moment his bald head rose above the desk. No way were they getting detention over this!

After shivering, tripping, and dropping things periodically throughout the class, the lunch bell mercifully rang. The students lingered for a moment, hoping that Lancer would have another clumsy moment, and then left for the cafeteria. The balding man sank blissfully, but carefully, down onto his chair. What on earth was going on? He'd certainly have to be more careful about everything after the lunch break.

Lancer leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, the ceiling was a lot closer than he'd like it to be. It was about a foot above him, and he was staring straight at it.

"Wind in the Willows!"

The shock had caused him to crash back down again. The force of the landing caused the chair to spin away from the desk, him on it, and hit the far wall of the classroom. Lancer picked himself off the floor groggily and pulled the chair back to the desk. That was one more thing he'd have to watch out for, obviously. He gingerly sat down again and pulled out his lunch. Then he fell through the floor.

"Phantom Tollbooth!"

---

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Tucker was actually glowing about Lancer's class.

"Hey, did you see the way he just fell off his chair like that? And how he couldn't hold a piece of chalk for more than a minute?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "I wonder what's wrong. He seems nervous about something."

"But it was funny! Wasn't it, Danny? Danny? Earth to Danny?" Tucker waved his hand in front of his friend's face. Danny blinked.

"What? Oh, hey Tuck. What was the question?"

"Tucker wants to know whether Lancer's behaviour today was funny." Sam's tone of voice managed to convey the hint that "no, it absolutely was not funny, Mr. Lancer should be shown compassion."

"I'm with Sam on this one, Tuck. Remember what I was like when I first got my powers? I think he might be going through the same thing." Tucker blinked, as did Sam.

"You think Lancer has ghost powers?" Tucker asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Look, we found him just outside the Ghost Portal, right? It would have suddenly turned on when the emergency generator kicked in, and if he'd been in it he'd have had a sudden shock, like I did. And I swear today he was phasing through the floor, and I'm pretty sure he had a ghost sense too. I know I did."

Sam handed a twenty to the server, muttering, "Your ghost sense went off and you didn't leave?"

"It feels different for halfas than real ghosts. I can't explain how. And this was definitely a halfa one."

"Okay. So Lancer's a halfa. Well, hopefully Skulker won't want to hunt you now you're not as unique." Sam took her tray and led the way to a table by the window. The conversation continued once they'd sat down.

"Well, I think maybe I should tell him about myself. Y'know, he's a good guy and doesn't deserve to go through this alone. He needs help."

"Yeah, Danny, and it totally wouldn't help your grades any, would it?"

"He needs help, Sam."

"Danny, it's not safe. This is Lancer we're talking about. He thinks you're the bad guy, like the rest of the town. And he doesn't even like Danny Fenton much. Let him work it out alone."

"But I still..."

"NO!" This came from both Tucker and Sam. Before Danny could argue, his real ghost ghost sense went off and he ran to the bathroom.