Act Two: Glimmers of …

Scene Three: Transformation

A week later, things still weren't looking up for Danny. "I'm telling my parents."

Sam cast Danny a doubtful look as they trudged down the street. She glanced at Tucker on Danny's other side, who shrugged slightly. "Dude, if you want to," Tucker offered.

Danny threw his hands in the air. "I turned invisible in English this time, and I've dropped six beakers in science! Everyone thinks I'm the biggest klutz in the world … you should have seen the way the teacher looked at me. I'm gonna be the biggest freak in school if I don't do something!"

"So … you're going to tell your ghost-hunting parents that you're starting to turn invisible and intangible?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Danny crammed his hands deep into his pockets with a foul look. "Look, my parents love me, no matter what. I'll bet they could invent something that would make me normal again."

"On the other hand," Tucker offered with a raised finger, "if you can turn invisible and intangible, you could totally go peek in the girl's locker—"

"Tucker!" Sam reached past Danny's face to smack Tucker upside the head. "This is serious! Danny, maybe you should just relax. You said you had some control over it, right?"

"Not much," Danny grumbled, but he knew Sam was somewhat correct; he'd told them that he had become invisible when he wanted to escape being in class. "It happens every time I don't— wah!"

Danny's foot sunk into the pavement, and he tripped, landing face-first on the sidewalk with a pained shout. Sam and Tucker both startled, glancing at each other, and ran to Danny's side. "Dude, you okay?" "Danny!"

"Ugh …" Sam and Tucker both grabbed Danny's arms and hauled him back to his feet. Danny rubbed his abused nose. "See!? What's good about these weird things happening to me!?"

Sam and Tucker were silent, exchanging looks again, but they couldn't think of anything to say. Tucker changed the subject instead. "Hey, let's go to the Nasty Burger."

Sam snorted. "Yep. Nothing like greasy meat to take your mind off things."

Danny smiled weakly at them both. "Sounds good," he agreed.

&

"And of course, the goon brigade is here," Sam sighed as they entered their favorite burger joint. Sure enough, Dash, Kwan, and a couple of other football jocks were all walking to the only remaining booth in the fast food joint. The Nasty Burger was the most popular after school hangout for the Casper High students: the menu was packed from end to end with greasy, utterly non-nutritional, and cheap food – and that packed the restaurant from end to end with teenagers every weekday from three to five PM.

"I'll save us a seat!" Tucker volunteered. "You know what I like, Danny!" And with that, he flew across the Nasty Burger to slip into the booth before Dash and company could. Danny watched with trepidation, groaning. Didn't he see the jocks?

"Hey!" Dash halted as Tucker sprawled on the booth seat. "You trying to pick a fight, Foley? We had this seat!"

"Finders keepers?" Tucker smiled sheepishly.

Danny watched the exchange before smacking his face into his palm. "Is there anything Tucker won't do for a free Mighty Meaty Burger?" he asked.

Sam sighed. "Probably not. Look, I'll spot you both for now. You'd better rescue Tuck. We can eat outside or something."

"Thanks, Sam." Danny escaped the line just as Dash was hauling Tucker up by his shirt.

"Now get out of our seat, techno-geek!"

Tucker cringed, opening his mouth to respond, but Danny beat him to it.

"Come on, Tuck, we're eating outside." Danny jerked his thumb towards the exit. He should have stopped there, but he couldn't resist a jibe. "You wouldn't want to make the king of the jocks walk any further, would you? Might strain his overgrown muscles."

"Oh, look who's come to the party!" Dash sneered, flushing slightly from the insult. He put Tuck down and smacked one fist into his palm. "Fen-toad, meet my muscles!"

Bravado exhausted, Danny cringed just as badly as Tuck had. Me and my big mouth! Tucker shouted something, but no one was paying attention any more; the jocks moved in for the kill, surrounding Danny. Dash reached to grab Danny by the shirt, the better to assure that Danny wouldn't get away – but his fingers slipped right through the fabric. "What the--?"

Danny jerked back, startled, and thudded against Kwan's chest. "Yeek!" Unlike Dash, he knew what had happened – his shirt had been intangible when Dash reached for it. If I disappear in front of these guys, my social life will be OVER! … who am I kidding, it never began … Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly, fear giving way to frustration as Kwan gripped his shoulders. If this isn't the stupidest reason to get beat up, I dunno what is! What difference does it make if everyone thinks I'm a freak? Thanks to my parents, everyone already thinks that! He was shoved back towards Dash viciously, and he stumbled.

"Time to meet your maker!" Dash sneered, and Danny lifted his head, scowling at Dash.

"Go ahead, Dash, beat me up," he challenged, making a fist at his side. "It really makes you a man, beating the crap out of me, doesn't it!?"

But Dash was staring at him, eyes wide. "Woah, Fenton … what are you, some kinda freak?"

"I'm a freak, huh!? Just because my parents believe in ghosts!?" The confusion and frustration of the past week came flying out of Danny now. "What's so great about hitting a guy who's half your size? And you've still gotta have your friends to back you up! That's pathetic!"

He didn't notice that the other three jocks were backing up slightly as he screeched at Dash. "So go ahead! Hit me! Prove what a man you are!"

"What is going on here!?" The jocks began to back away as the manager of the Nasty Burger approached, hands on his hips – and then Sam was grabbing Danny's arm, pulling him back.

"Danny, let's go. Come on."

"No," Danny snarled. "I don't need you to save me!" But Sam ignored him, and then Tucker was on his other arm, pulling him back as well.

"Come on, Danny! Let's go!"

They hauled him out the back door of the Nasty Burger not a moment too soon, Danny struggling against them the whole way.

"I'll show that jerk who's the freak around here--!"

A ring of light flew out of his waistline, and Sam and Tucker both scattered, falling back in shock. Danny jerked in surprise as well as the ring split, traveling up and down his body, revealing the black and white jumpsuit Danny had emerged from the Fenton Portal in.

White hair fell into his vision as the rings faded away, and Danny straightened, staring at his white-gloved hands.

"Oh …" he whispered.

"Danny …" Sam breathed.

"Not again!" Danny grasped his bangs, tugging on them so he could see the snow white locks. "Not again!"

"Danny, calm down!" Sam shouted, moving her hands in a placating motion. "Take a deep breath!"

"How can I calm down!? Why is my hair white!?" Danny grasped Sam's shoulders, not noticing when she gave an involuntary shudder. "What about my eyes? Are they … are they—"

"Glowing bright green?" Tucker asked, looking a touch green himself. "Yep."

"Aargh!" Danny pressed his hands against his face. "How did this happen to me?" he asked plaintively. "What am I? What's wrong with me …?" Why did I ever step inside that Portal? Danny wished desperately for a way to turn back time and undo this disaster.

But Sam was looking over her shoulder at the door they had just come through. "Now isn't the time for an existential crisis!" She cried. "Idiot goons at 12 o'clock!"

Tucker visibly gathered his wits even as Danny lifted his head in surprise. "This way!" He grabbed Danny's hand, shivering slightly, and pulled him around the back of the Nasty Burger, towards the garbage dumps. Sam was right behind them as they pressed up against the backside of a dumpster.

Danny took huge, gulping breaths, trying to calm down even as he heard the back door bang open and Dash's voice. "All right, Fenton, now you're really gonna get it!"

"Did he get in trouble with the management?" Tucker asked Sam.

"I'm guessing," Sam whispered.

"He can't see me like this!" Danny panted.

"We know," Sam assured him, even as Tucker added, "But he's already seen your eyes! How can the hair hurt?"

"My eyes were glowing while I was in there!?" Danny cried, his voice rising hysterically on the last word. Tucker and Sam both slapped their hands over his mouth.

"I know you're out here, Fenton!" Dash sneered, his voice closer.

Danny had a flash of inspiration. "Mms, mun," he whispered into their hands. Both Sam and Tucker looked at him quizzically, and he pushed their hands away. "Guys, run!" And with that, he squeezed his eyes shut. I don't wanna be here, I don't wanna be here, I don't wanna be here!

He heard Sam and Tucker gasp, and he glanced down: his body (his weird, black-suited body) had disappeared. "Run," he whispered again, and held his breath.

Sam and Tucker looked at him, then each other. Then they snuck off in the opposite direction from Dash's voice.

It wasn't a second too soon. Dash rounded the dumpster, coming within a few feet of Danny and looking around suspiciously. Danny clenched his fists and hoped nothing went wrong.

Dash looked straight at Danny – and then he looked away. He couldn't see Danny at all!

A wave of relief swept through Danny, and then an abrupt wave of mischief. Dash couldn't see him … he could do anything to Dash and he would have no idea who was doing it! Oh, that is SO wrong, he told himself, and then: But it's just payback. It's not like Dash doesn't deserve it!

Dash scratched his head with a quizzical, classically dumb jock look on his face. "Could've sworn I heard Fenton back here …" He shrugged, and started for the Nasty Burger again.

Danny craned his neck to watch him go, his chance for payback going with him, and sighed. Well, it was all for the best, probably … with his luck, he'd probably have turned visible in the middle of it.

And he was still white-haired and green-eyed.

Danny scrubbed his face with his hands again as he turned visible. "How did I do this? How do I go back?" he mumbled, turning to look for his friends.

They were already running towards him, eyes wide. "Hey," Danny greeted them wearily. "Any idea how I go back to normal from this?"

"Uh …" Tucker pointed down. "Danny?"

Danny looked down.

His legs were gone, replaced with a misty gray tail from the waist down. "AAAH! My legs!" I want my legs back!

His legs reappeared, and Danny gasped with relief, planting his feet firmly on the ground and grasping his chest to calm himself down. "What was that!?"

Both Sam and Tucker shook their heads mutely. "Okay, the turning invisible thing is cool, but that? That was not cool," Tucker supplied.

"No, really," Danny said sarcastically. He slowly relaxed. "Um …" There was an awkward silence, and Danny noticed something else in it. "… I can't feel my heartbeat."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Let me see." She pressed her hand to his chest, only to jerk it away. "You're cold!"

"Your hands are cold, too," Tucker added. He made a slight face. "I noticed earlier."

Danny looked at his friends, distressed. "It's like …" he trailed off, unwilling to give voice to what he was thinking.

"Like what?" Sam prompted, her face perfectly straight in an obvious attempt to keep her cool.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "It's like I'm a ghost."

The words hung between the three of them. Sam was the one to break the silence. "You don't know that," she protested. "No one's ever seen a ghost."

"My parents are ghost hunters, Sam!" Danny threw up his hands. "I've been told about them for years! Cold spots, invisible, they can pass through walls – they're dead, so of course they don't have heartbeats!" He wrapped his arms around himself. "You don't think I died in the Fenton Portal, do you?"

"Dude, you are not dead," Tucker scoffed. "You had a heartbeat five minutes ago, right? You've just got a cool transformation sequence now!" He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Danny half-smiled. "This isn't a superhero show."

"Just sayin'," Tucker shrugged. "Look, you went back to normal the first time this happened, so you can do it again. How do you do anything with your powers? You keep saying you just think about it and it happens, so maybe you can just think about going back to normal."

"But it happens even when I'm not thinking about it," Danny pointed out.

"Maybe you should just try," Sam suggested.

Danny closed his eyes. "Okay." I want to be back to normal. Black hair, blue eyes, a heartbeat …

He opened his eyes just in time to see a right of light jet out from his waist and separate; a moment later, he was just plain old Danny Fenton again. He brushed his black bangs down in front of his eyes with a sigh of relief. "Whew! Glad that's over."

"Told you it'd work!" Tucker grinned.

Danny grinned back. "Yeah. Thanks, Tuck." He rubbed his stomach. "I kinda lost my appetite."

"Me too," Sam confessed.

"I didn't!" Tucker volunteered, earning him two glares. "… but I could settle for some snacks at home. Wanna go play Doomed? You know, to take Danny's mind off things." He smiled.

Danny and Sam exchanged glances and smiles. "After that? Yeah, I could go for something completely different," Danny agreed.

But nothing could take his mind off the transformation.

&

Meanwhile, in another state …

Vlad Masters raised his fists in triumph as the new Plasmius Portal opened for the first time. "Brilliant! I knew Maddie's designs would work!" After all, he had stolen them from right under that bumbling idiot Jack's nose.

Vlad, silver-haired and slim, was a billionare and the owner of Vlad, Co. He had risen to fame and fortune after a long and unfortunate bout with an illness that had left him bedridden and virtually disfigured for years – but now, twenty years later, he was handsome, fit, rich, and deeply, deeply obsessed.

"Maddie, you will be mine," he murmured.

Tbc

Cataloguing:

--Didn't mention this before, but Valerie was part of the popular crowd before her fall from grace, hence her hanging out with Paulina. –Shades of Gray

--Danny's intangibility issues are apparently making him drop beakers in Biology class, as Mr. Lancer notes: "38 dropped beakers in the last month …" –Mystery Meat

--Danny doesn't know that he can turn other people invisible or intangible at the beginning of the series, which is why he doesn't turn Sam and Tuck invisible when Dash comes after them. –Mystery Meat

--Danny's eyes glow green when he's angry. –Multiple episodes, notably Splitting Images

--Vlad's reason for sending ghosts to the Fentons is to kill Jack. –Bitter Reunions

Fanon (things I made up):

--We don't know when Vlad's portal was first opened.

--We don't know anything about Danny's state of being as a ghost: nothing is stated in canon about his natural body temperature, his heartbeat, or his breathing.

--We don't know how Danny triggers transformation or any of his powers, so I'm hypothesizing he wishes for it, more or less.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: phantomphriend, Mak-Magic, soccergurl1990, Nonasuki-chan, Rakahn, phoenix wanderer, Storm Dragon Girl, Me-against-the-world, Epona Harper, Baka Hanyou Rahvin, Bluemoonalto, YumeTakato, cordria, Sweeteen19, Henshi-anichan, HiddenAuthor, lightanddarklove, and Sword on Fire. You guys all rock – you rock out loud! I'm shocked by the response I've gotten to this fic, so thank you!

We're already about halfway through – maybe even a bit further. Look out, everyone – it's gonna be a fun ride!