Dani's Debut Part 3
"Guys, I've rethought my whole plan…"
"No way Danny,"
"Sorry Man, we aren't letting you escape this time."
"It was worth a shot."
Danny sighed as he let himself be dragged into the doors of Casper High. Jazz followed closely behind, watching their backs for any surprise mobs.
Under Mr. Lancer and Principal Ishiyama's suggestion, the group had entered inconspicuously from the back. So far, it had worked.
Jazz smiled at him, and slapped him on the back, hard.
"Come on, what happened to the mature, "in control" Danny from last night? Don't tell me it was another apparition you brought forward to hide your inner turmoil!" Jazz grinned sheepishly at all three teens looked at her in blank confusion.
"Whoever he was, he's gone now." Tucker said cheerfully. Danny looked at him dryly, but he just smiled.
"Thanks Tuck."
"Anytime Buddy."
Sam snorted.
"Tucker and I, and Jazz, have already dealt with this. So we're kinda used to it. And Dani's in school right now, waiting for the reporters any second. So please excuse me when I say 'Suck it up and be a man'."
"Wow. You managed to make that seem so threatening and still whisper! That is so ho-Shutting up now." Danny said in response to Sam's glare.
It was true though. They were all whispering. That's because they were only just entering the main hallway.
The minute they walked out, talking ceased. Everyone stared as the group huddled closer together and walked down.
Sending an apologetic smile and whisper of good luck, Jazz patted them on the backs and separated to her locker. Some people stuck around to talk to her, mostly the seniors in the high school.
When they reached their lockers, Danny opened his and stuck his head into it immediately, gathering his stuff and moving it around aimlessly.
"Dude, calm down." Tucker said, relaxing against his own locker amidst the stares.
"Don't worry about it Dan, what can they do? Demand that you take them to Danny Phantom?" Sam said sarcastically.
"FENTON!" Someone yelled. Danny took his head of his locker painfully slowly, and in a split second Dash was pinning him against his now closed locker's door.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW PHANTOM?! HE'S TOO COOL FOR YOU GEEKS!" Danny grimaced, but made no move to wipe the spit off his face.
"Well Dash, it's quite simple." Tucker said, pushing his glasses up and taking out his PDA. Dash looked at him angrily, still pushing Danny against the lockers.
The crowd now forming stared at him too.
"Take it away Sam!" Tucker said, laughing nervously. Sam rolled her eyes, then ticked off her fingers.
"We're not nearly as shallow, we were his first friends when he came out of the portal, he likes us better, we are capable of intelligent though, we don't care about his powers or his image-"
"And what exactly does Phantom see in you, Manson? You're just a goth!" Paulina said, coming up next to Dash. The crowd instantly parted for her, then reformed.
Sam rolled her eyes.
"I could retell you the entire list if you'd like. And FYI Paulina, Danny P. thinks I'm much more unique than any of you A-Listers." Sam said. Paulina started to steam from the first-name basis, and Dash's eyes narrowed, focusing in on Danny.
"I'd really like to hear it from Phantom himself Fenturd, but he's not here right now. So why don't I just pound you so you can go whine and he can realize what a crybaby weakling you are?!" Dash said menacingly. He began to pull back his fist.
"Except I don't go cry to Phantom Dash! And Danny says he owes you one for the incident with Skulker, so he wouldn't pound on you anyway!" Danny spat, worming out of Dash's grip.
Dash blinked at the backbone Danny displayed.
"How do you know about that?!" He asked. Danny dodged as he charged at him.
"We're friends, remember? Really Dash, your memory seems to be very short-term, you might wanna get that fixed." A few kids in the crowd snickered.
Paulina went for another approach.
"Wow Danny, standing up for yourself is so….cool…." Paulina said, suddenly taking his arm and running her hands down it. She stopped suddenly and her brow furrowed. Had she actually felt something there?-
Danny snatched his arm away.
"Thanks Paulina, but you don't have to think anything. I wouldn't set you up with Danny even if I was forced to listen to Technus for a millennia." Sam and Tucker giggled, and Danny grinned. Then, in a sudden act of boldness, he put his arm around Sam, who went slightly frozen.
The crowd oohed.
"Besides, I have a girlfriend, and she's a lot cooler, prettier, and more unique than you. And I'm pretty sure Danny P. agrees with me there." The crowd gasped (and a few whistled), then automatically parted as Sam, Danny, and Tucker went through, Danny's arm still around a now-smirking Sam.
Danny seemed to remember something though, because he now turned around to the fuming Paulina and Dash.
"Oh and about Danielle?" the crowd perked.
"She's twelve, and I agree with Dan. Any of you idiots make a move on her and I'll sick Phantom on you." His eyes narrowed, and immediately the crowd felt no doubt that he was just as protective as DP. He then turned around, and the group walked off rather…coolly. The others followed.
"You're messing with the hierarchy of school." Sam exclaimed as they walked to class. Danny's arm was now around her waist, and she didn't seem to mind.
"I like it!" She exclaimed again, glowing with an evil happiness. Tucker shivered and backed away.
"No offense Sam, but you're kinda scaring me." He said. Danny grinned.
"Man that's hot-shutting up again." Danny looked away innocently. As he walked into the classroom Mr. Lancer's gaze dropped to Danny's arm around Sam's waist. Danny's arm dropped after a moment, and they went to sit down.
A little into the period, Tucker nudged Danny, and gestured to the windows. Danny glanced discreetly and winced. He could see the reporting vans, instead of swarming around his school, heading over in another direction.
The middle school's direction.
He crossed his fingers.
"Good luck Dani…good luck."
Then, with a last resolute stare, turned back to Mr. Lancer's lesson…until his ghost sense went off.
"Mr. Lancer!" Danny raised his hand suddenly. Mr. Lancer turned to him, eyes sharp and alert.
"I have a-ur-problem with my-uh-Will you excuse me a sec?" He fumbled in his pockets as Sam sighed and Tucker pinched the bridge of his nose. Mr. Lancer turned his eyes upwards as well.
Danny found the slip of paper and opened it up, then, clearly reading off of it, stated,
"I am currently having some trouble with my…colon…may I be excused?"
"Yes you may Mr. Fenton. Please do let a teacher know if you plan on missing next period." To his credit, Mr. Lancer kept a straight face. If someone had been looking, they might've noticed his hands were shaking.
Danny nodded and grinned, then blinked and groaned, doubling over to hide the blue smoke now pouring out of his mouth.
"I think it might be a bad one. I'll let the nurse know." He then high-tailed it out of the room.
Mr. Lancer gulped, then turned to the blackboard so the kids wouldn't see him wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.
--
Dani groaned loudly as Ms. Sanderson pulled the last blind down, blocking the flashes of many cameras. While the other children were outside or in the cafeteria, she was there.
Inside the classroom.
Resting her head on her desk.
Ms. Sanderson gave her a sympathetic glance, then snuck one last look through the blinds. She winced.
"Let me guess. Protesters?"
"Not many Dani. I think your brother doing what he did helped in that aspect." Ms. Sanderson smiled, then hastily added,
"Not that I'd ever suggest he did it for that reason or-"
"It's okay Ms. S. I know." Dani smiled. Ms. Sanderson sat at her desk.
"Anybody call for some attitude-adjusters?" Dani perked and turned to Lily, grinning. She tackled the girl to the floor, who yelped.
"Yes!! Thank you for the cavalry!" Lily groaned.
"I get it, I get it, get offa me already!" Dani did so, and Alex kneeled down by Lily.
"I am so glad I'm a guy. Girls are too rough. At least the ones I know anyway."
Dani shook herself and glanced at Alex curiously.
"What about Gabriella? You guys no each other pretty well, right?"
There was an awkward silence. Alex looked away, and Lily (who had gotten up) suddenly seemed interested in the floor, her face blank.
Dani bit her lip.
"Umm, never mind. Oh, hey Kevin!" Kevin, who had been passing through the halls, looked up.
"Oh, um, hey, D-D-Dani." Dani grinned.
"Hello to you too Kekekevin. You wanna eat lunch with us?" He smiled shyly and nodded.
"Uh, sure." She took his hand and pulled him inside to where the others had already situated themselves in a cluster of desks.
Soon the kids were talking busily, and Ms. Sanderson smiled from behind her book. She had noticed the changes.
In the time Dani had been here, Kevin had slowly gotten less nervous. Lily smiled a lot more. And the foursome had grown surprisingly close in such a short period of time.
Dani suddenly went stiff.
"Hey, something wrong?" Alex asked. Lily rolled her eyes.
"No, of course not, she just stopped talking in the middle of a sentence for no reason."
"Really?"
"No moron! Dani, what's up?"
"You okay?" Kevin asked, touching her softly.
"Shhh." Dani said suddenly.
"You hear that?" The others strained, even Ms. Sanderson. There it was. Slowly…someone's voice…yelling.
Dani stood up, her ghost sense springing from her mouth.
"May I be excused?" She asked Ms. Sanderson, her ghost sense coming up in short puffs.
"Dani, why is it coming out so much?" Lily asked, half-used to the ghost sense.
At the same time, "You're going to fight a ghost? Cool!" Alex spurted.
And then Ms. Sanderson, everyone talking at once, "But your brother doesn't want you leaving under any circumstances, even a ghost Danielle, and-"
Kevin made nervous sounds.
"No." Dani said suddenly. Everyone stopped talking at once.
"This isn't just one ghost. Or two." Her face was troubled.
"This is-AHHH!" Suddenly her body was whisked away by some invisible force, through the walls, papers flying up and desks blowing backwards.
"Danielle!" Ms. Sanderson shouted.
"Dani!" Danny yelled, coming through the roof and landing on the floor harshly.
"Where is she?!" Danny asked none too calmly looking from person to person. Lily looked at him, for once truly frightened.
"I-she-Dani was-"
Danny looked at the state of the room and swore under his breath.
"Too late. Stay here, and get all of the kids indoors." Ms. Sanderson's breath caught, as did the others.
This Danny was different from the one before. This one was the rumored Danny Phantom, the hero, the fighter.
And he was ready for a fight.
Ms. Sanderson ran outside without another thought, the others following her as Danny swooped out of the ceiling. Immediately he was surrounded by camera flashes, and a large group of ghosts.
"Hello child." Skulker stepped forward. Danny grit his teeth.
"Where's. Dani?" He spat. One of the ghosts growled.
"I don't think you're in any position to be acting insolent ghost child! You should respect your elders-ouch!" Technus rubbed his stomach, and hastily added,
"I mean, your beautiful and young arch-enemies!" He declared in his nasally voice. Spectra nodded approvingly, retracting her elbow.
"Speak for yourself tech-geek. I think the disrespect rocks. As long as its not aimed at me." Ember spoke up, hands on her hips. A smirk was alight on her face, and her hair flared dangerously.
"Where is she?" Danny ground out again, his eyes narrowed so dangerously. The ghosts started laughing, not noticing Danny shaking angrily.
With a flash he shot forward, catching Bertrand by the collar and shaking him. The laughter immediately ceased and the ghosts stared with increasing curiosity.
"GIVE DANI BACK." Danny stated, looking straight into Bertrand's eyes. Bertrand laughed, but his voice quavered a little.
"As Technus stated before child, you're hardly in the position to be bargaining for a prisoner. You need two main components first," Walker said. Danny glanced at him, then released Walker, and purposefully strode on the air towards him.
"Then tell me what they are." He said, meeting Walker's gaze.
"The first is the setting. Time and place are important kid, and this is hardly the place to be looking for a fight." Walker said, a calm and easy but cold smile on his face. Danny nodded.
"And the second is you've gotta have something to bargain with. That's how the game is played, rule by rule." Danny stepped back and faced all of the ghosts.
"I have Aragon." He stated. Another barrage of laughter was coaxed from the ghosts heartily.
"We couldn't care less about that fool. No boy, you just bring yourself." Skulker threw a crumpled piece of paper at him, which he caught.
"Invite those gold-diggers if you want." Kitty said, smiling.
"I could always use some good publicity." Ember smiled as well.
"Heck, who cares if its bad. Someone out there's gotta enjoy watching dipstick being eliminated." She smiled innocently, strumming her guitar a little.
"If you touch her-" Danny started. Skulker frowned, as did the other ghosts. Without another word, they disappeared. Danny looked at the address on the piece of paper, then burned it with ectoplasm. It disintegrated in his hands.
He was feeling dramatic.
Without another glance at the spectators, he flew off to the location, as fast as a bullet.
In case you're wondering, things are being changed around a bit. I'm going to be redoing the Episode Summary chapter, because this is going to have the whole "Dani being called a clone" thing. Just letting you guys know! Get ready, fight scene on the way!
I'm sorry for the long wait. Absolutely inexcusable, I know. Plus I have no excuse, which makes it doubly more pathetic. Feel free to kick the authoress (unless you know where I live, in which case it wouldn't be a virtual kick, thus hurting, which is gonna cost big time)!
Artgirl4