WoM- Have I told you guys how much I love you? 'huggles reviewers,' Thank you all for being so generous! Here's the fifth chapter! WHOO-HOO! YAY FOR MID-WINTER BREAK! 'Celebrates'
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one."
-William Shakespeare
Detention
"The usual rules for detention apply," Mr. Lancer announced to the silent room. "No talking, no headphones, no electronics, no cell phones, no passing notes. You can do homework, but only after you finish the four page essay on why you are here and what you can do to avoid committing that crime again."
'Doesn't he ever get tired to this speech?' Danny wondered from where he sat in his usual detention seat by the window.
'I wonder how he'd react if he knew exactly HOW tired I was of it…' Lancer thought dryly. Especially when it came to repeating it to Danny. 'Why can he not go a week without getting detention for some bizarre crime?'
"Any questions?" The teacher continued out loud. He received no response from his students other then a few cold glares here and there and an annoyed look from Paulina. "No? Good,"
Mr. Lancer took a seat again, pulling out a newspaper to pretend to do the do the crosswords as he listened in for any stray thoughts. This weeks detentionees were an interesting group, after all.
Other then Danny, who was a usual for crimes that ranged between tardies to completely obliterating Mrs. Ishiyama's office when left alone in it for three minutes. (Something that still baffled the students and staff alike. How someone as small and with such a slim physical stature as Danny could completely destroy the entire office without any sort of help or weapons was something Mr. Lancer still puzzled over.) And Paulina, who had never had a detention in her life, there were six other students in the room.
Valerie was one, and she was one of the ones glaring hardest at the teacher's bald head. She had been sent to detention by Mr. Lancer himself, for mouthing back when he's told her she could 'use the bathroom.' (She'd been planning on going after Phantom and some abnormally large meat monster,) Now, though, Mr. Lancer couldn't help but flinch at some of the dark thoughts she was projecting loudly in the confines of her mind, especially the threat on his life involving a pair of tweezers and his right shoe.
'Can she really do that?' Mr. Lancer wondered, hoping never to find out first hand.
Sam had managed to avoid detention, but Tucker was in the seat right next to Danny, though his detention was over the fact that he was found by the cafeteria ladies in a pile of meat in the school freezers. He wouldn't say how he'd gotten there, and as far as Mr. Lancer could catch from his thoughts, it had something to do with a psycho lunch lady. Still, the fact that he remained closed lipped earned him yet another detention.
Behind Tucker, sitting in the far back, was Spike, looking as though he could care less what went on around him as usual. He's cut school completely yesterday, and was being forced to suffer for it now. Not that any of the usual punishments ever seemed to faze the silent and disturbingly pale and over-pierced teen, but the school had to try and enforce some rule over their students.
''Try' being the key word,' Mr. Lancer thought, sighing mentally. 'It's difficult getting through to these kids now a days… especially after the ghosts became a problem in this town.'
Next to Paulina sat Star, who'd been caught cheating in Mrs. Petakowski's class, a Math Teacher who showed no mercy to such a crime. Like Valerie, she was glowering at Mr. Lancer. Unlike the freelance ghost hunter, though, her thoughts were more whiney then vengeful.
The English teacher was honestly torn to which he preferred.
On the other side of his girlfriend, Kwan was busying himself with little paper footballs, which he was flicking at Tucker and Danny whenever he thought Mr. Lancer wasn't looking. He'd gotten in trouble for stealing something from Mrs. Ishiyama's office, apparently on a dare from Dash. Like the girls,. This was the first detention he'd ever received, being a first string football player.
Far more astounding then any other student there was the girl who took the seat Sam usually occupied right behind Danny, his sister Jazz. She was caught cutting class the same day Tucker was found in the freezer, and like so many before her she refused to say what the completely uncharacteristic troublemaking streak was about. All Mr. Lancer had found out from her thought was that she 'refused to betray Danny's trust,' and things such as that.
'I'm becoming less and less reluctant to get more involved in whatever these kids are doing,' He thought dryly to himself, 'Whatever it is, it's clearly putting them in more danger then I anticipated…' The question was, though, why didn't anyone else notice anything? Their parents, for example…? 'Well, being fair, parents can't read minds,' The English teacher admitted reluctantly to himself. 'No matter how many time it seems like there's evidence of otherwise…'
A sigh from Danny drew his attention back to his blue eyed captive.
'I hate detention,' He thought sourly, 'Especially with Desiree still running around out there causing all kinds of panic with her wish granting,'
'If you dislike it so much, don't get it.' Mr. Lancer thought sternly, before he comprehended the rest of the boy's thought. When he did though… 'Man in the Iron Mask…!'
"Wish granting?" Mr. Lancer repeated out loud, making several students jump. Worse of all was Danny, who snapped to attention to meet Mr. Lancer's curious gaze before the English teacher realized the slip he made.
"Huh?" Paulina said, her eyebrow raising as she gave the scholar an unimpressed look.
"Wish Granting?" Jazz repeated, "Mr. Lancer, are you-?"
"I'm fine," the teacher answered the unasked question. He pretended to turn back to his crossword, "Ah, here we are. 19 down, what are genies famous for…" The students exchanged looks before returning to their tasks from before. All except for Danny, who's gaze remained intently on his teacher.
'Now that was just plain weird,'He thought to himself, before he froze up and paled, 'Wait… did he read my mind or something?' Danny considered this for a second before brushing the thought away. 'Nah… I mean, where does a high school teacher get telepathy?' Mr. Lancer blinked down as his newspaper in alarm.
'How is he figuring all of this out on his own?' The English teacher wondered, growing concerned. Especially when a smaller voice answered Danny's thoughts.
'From the same place everyone else around here seems to get weird powers…'
'I'm not completely sure that's something I should be okay with,' Mr. Lancer thought, avoiding the eyes of the teenager. Thinking about it, though, he supposed it was fairly normal for someone to have conversations with themselves mentally.
As soon as those conversations turned verbal in any way, shape or form, though, he was taking action.
'Mr. Lancer hasn't been in contact with any ghosts,' Danny thought doubtfully. '…Has he?'
'Why is this boy having trouble passing his classes again?' Mr. Lancer thought, annoyed with Danny's keen interpretations. It certainly wasn't from a lack of observational skills, that's for sure. 'It's almost like he's used to figuring out everything on his own…'
"Mr. Fenton," He said out loud, "Would you do me a favor?" Danny blinked, startled at being called out like that.
"A favor?" He repeated.
"Could you go down to the library and get enough dictionaries for everyone here?" Tucker groaned and Danny flinched slightly. Both knew where this was going.
"Aw, come on, Mr. Lancer!" Danny complained. "What did we ever do to you?"
'Except help save your butt from getting killed by evil,' Tucker added mentally. Mr. Lancer frowned darkly at that.
'Then they are involved in all this ghost business somehow…' Mr. Lancer realized with a sigh. 'The question now is, how and how much…?'
"Mr. Lancer are you sure you're okay?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
'What was with that weird look right now?'
"I'm fine, Mr. Fenton," The older man said automatically, "And I'll hear no complaints from you. It's no one's fault but your own that you're in here today,"
'Actually, I'm pretty sure a psychotic ghost who wants to kill me and rest my pelt at the foot of his bed had something to do with it too,' Danny thought pointedly, crossing his arms before he sighed and stood up obediently. Mr. Lancer's face turned green at that visual.
'Is he talking about that ghost from the Nasty Burger?' Mr. Lancer wondered, remembering the mechanical ghost who had threatened to do something similar to that to Phantom. 'Does that mean Danny and his friends are in league with the ghost boy? It would explain why they defend him so vigorously, and why they dislike Miss Grey… well, it explains why Sam dislikes Valerie, at any rate.'
'It isn't fair, though,' Jazz thought, glancing at her little brother before turning back to Mr. Lancer. 'Danny has enough responsibilities with being punished for the good he does…'
"Can I help him, Mr. Lancer?" She asked, raising her hand.
"No, Miss Fenton," the teacher said automatically, "I asked Mr. Fenton to do this, and I expect him to be the one who gets it done."
"But Danny got hurt last night, Mr. Lancer!" Jazz protested. Danny shot his sister a dark look at that.
'That's not something he needs to know!' The younger Fenton thought vigorously at that defense.
"Oh?" Mr. Lancer said questioningly, giving both of them suspicious frowns. "And how did he do that?"
'…Okay, maybe that was something I shouldn't have said…' Jazz thought, cringing slightly. 'Guess I'll have to lie my way out of this now…'
"Yeah, there was a nasty accident with another of my mom's cooking experiments," Jazz explained with a nervous laugh, "Danny and I barely made it out alive!"
"I see…" Mr. Lancer said in an even tone.
'Even Jazz is involved in this?' He thought, a little hurt, 'Surely she's smart enough to know the repercussions of getting involved in things like this…'
"Very well, Miss Fenton," Mr. Lancer complied, "I'll allow Danny to have a little help… but not you. Steven? Would you-?"
"Spike," The pale teen said, annoyance clear in his voice as he stood.
"Spike," Mr. Lancer sighed, "Would you mind helping Danny?" Spike shrugged and stood up.
'He's more tolerable then anyone else in here,' Spike though irritably. 'Besides, at least he doesn't talk as much as his sister…'
'Aw, man…' Danny groaned, 'Great. He was one of Jazz's old 'patients,' which means if he's anything like the other guys, this trip is probably gonna be painful…' Mr. Lancer almost laughed as the misery in his students tone. Especially since he knew for a fact that Spike wouldn't hurt Danny.
'Just goes to show you exactly how little people can trust first impressions…' The English teacher thought, bemused.
After the two teens had left (Spike bored and Danny very, very nervous.) Mr. Lancer turned his attention to the rest of his captives, feeling he could relax now that those blue eyes weren't watching him and figuring out his secret at an alarming rate.
'And I've only just started to figure out his even with my power,' Mr. Lancer reminded himself in self-exasperation, 'I'm not sure whether to be impressed or embarrassed,' Shaking these thoughts away, Mr. Lancer turned to Paulina to listen in on what her thoughts were.
'Uugh, this is so BORING!' Paulina thought sourly. 'How do Danny and his friends stand being in here every week? There's so many better things I can be doing right now…' The girl sighed wistfully, her thoughts drifting away. The next thing Mr. Lancer knew, the world was replaced with a vivid picture of Paulina being carried away by Phantom…
"SCARLET LETTER!" Mr. Lancer bellowed, making everyone jump.
"Mr. Lancer?" Jazz said, alarmed. The English teacher shook himself from his popular student's surprisingly flamboyant imagination, unable to restrain a blush.
'Man Alive,' He thought to himself, 'If that's how the teenage mind works now a days, I'm not sure I want any part of it,'
"I'm fine, Miss Fenton," He said out loud, still a little shaken by the surprise attack on his psyche.
'Riiight…' Tucker drawled out, 'Maybe Sam's right, maybe he really is starting to lose his mind.' Mr. Lancer had to roll his eyes at that thought.
'Quite the opposite, Foley,' He thought dryly. 'I've gained several others…' Before anything else could be said though, a loud scream was heard from down the hall, followed by a crashing noise.
"What was that?" Valerie asked as she and Kwan both jumped to their feet at the same time.
"It sounded like it came from the library…" Star added, looking interested in what was going on at last. Jazz and Tucker paled at that.
'Oh no…' Jazz thought, fear clear in her tone.
"Danny!" She yelled, jumping up and dashing for the door. Mr. Lancer stopped her before she reached it, grabbing her arm as she passed him.
"Everyone stay in your seats," He ordered, glaring pointedly at Jazz as he made his way to the door, opening it attentively. The halls were clear as far as he could see, and there were no signs of Danny or Spike.
"Stay in here," The teacher said, stepping out into the hall, "If something comes, call for me." With that, Mr. Lancer shut the door behind him, venturing down the hall to the library.
"Steven?" He called out, "Daniel? Can either of you hear me?" Frowning to himself as he reached for the library door, he added, "If this is another prank or yours, Danny…"
He opened the door, gasping at the sight in front of him.
Danny and Spike both sat on the floor amidst a pile of dictionaries. And both were staring in horror at the monster-like creature that loomed over them, acidic saliva dripping from its fangs as it growled at the teenage boys.
Spike looked fine (If quite a bit paler, which Mr. Lancer would've never imagined to be possible) But Danny appeared to be nursing an injury on his left arm with his right hand, a fair amount of blood oozing between his fingers and onto the floor.
'This isn't gonna end well…' Danny thought grimly to himself as the monster approach, 'Oh, man… what should I do…?'
"Run!" Mr. Lancer yelled, grabbing a nearby volume of War and Peace and throwing it at the monster, who yelped in pain upon impact. Danny obeyed instantly, hauling Spike after him.
His students safe, Mr. Lancer found himself with a new problem when the monster turned on him.
'Annabelle Lee…' Mr. Lancer cringed as the smell of acid washed over him upon the monster's approach, 'I'm in trouble now…' Then, as he closed his eyes to prepare for the impact, he could've sworn a strange cry reached his ears…
"Goin' Ghost!'
WoM- Don't gimme that look, I've got a lot more to cover and very little time right now! 'sticks out tongue' you'll just have to wait next week for Detention Pt. 2…
Thanks to;
Truth91920, ShiroandFubuki, My Eternal Facade, Laura, epobbp, Hiroshi Yakuza Ketchum, SilverstarsEbonyskies, Tetsukon, I Brake For Ghosts, Queen S of Randomness 016, Light Dragon SunsSong, puppyface, IwuvMyKenshyPoo, GhostAnn, ur1crazedupfruitloop, Shades-of-Pink, kdm13, SquirrelGirl, avearia, Moss Royal, The Great Susinko, Happy Orc, Pocky Katze, Black Mage758, Kairi7, the sleep warrior, Darth Frodo, memoirs of a faded memory, Ghost Writer's Assistant, animeobsessed3191, Rob Phantom, Lumias, Inumaru12, conan98002, kinguofdoragons, The Sole Survivor, dArkliTe-sPirit,
Next update; February 24th
See you then!