Sticky Spandex Part 3
"Yeah Mr. Lancer, it's just one of-WHOA!" Danny ducked under a slimy tentacle, managing to catch his phone before it hit the ground.
"Huh? Oh, oh right! It's just one of those days! Ack!" He narrowly avoided two coming from either direction.
"What? No, no I can come-Ah!-to pick up the homework later. I'll drop by before school ends, I promise! UGAH!" One of those tentacles finally caught him, and he was waved back and forth.
"No! I'll! Be! Fine! Thanks! Bye!" He hung up, turning more green than the stuff in his hair as he was swung to and fro.
The monster of a ghost brought him to eye level, apparently nearsighted. He squinted, then sucked in his gelatin mass and let loose. Goop flew into Danny's hair and face, and he closed his eyes at the onslaught.
"Oh, dude, gross!" He said, then winced as the ghost gasped again. However when the ghost kept gasping, he opened one eye, then the other. The ghost's eyes seemed to be gleeful, and Danny suddenly realized what he was doing.
He was laughing.
Danny gawked in disbelief, then remembered his hair, and a flush rose on his face to match his hair.
"Great. First Dani, now I'm even being ridiculed by a ghost whose body is the equivalent of gelatin." He groaned, and the ghost seemed to realize he was being made fun of. Danny was flung down yelling into the ground, where he shielded himself, bouncing off the gravel only to still land on it face down, hazmat protecting is skin from getting scraped.
He let loose another groan, pawing for his thermos in his pocket, just as the news vans pulled up. Everyone piled out, coming face to face with one stunned half ghost still lying on the road.
One half ghost with clown hair.
A million cameras were flashing in his face, everyone was blinking rapidly in shock, and then something slimy wrapped around his ankle and he froze.
And for the third time since the beginning of this battle, he let loose another groan-
-Which was cut short as he was catapulted into the air, the ghost still chuckling mini-earthquakes, and the reporters, despite their best efforts, joining in.
"Dani, seriously, you're creeping me out." Lily said, poking her with a straw. Dani continued to hum, munching her sandwich vigorously. Lily shuddered and deliberately scooted away from her.
Alex smiled. "Hey, leave her alone Lil. She's obviously happy about something, why not let her be?" He ruffled Dani's hair, who smiled and barked like a small puppy. It hadn't taken long for them to adopt a carefree attitude with each other that greatly resembled that of an older brother and younger sister.
"Geez, yes, let's all be a bunch of smiling idiots, shall we?" Alex stuck his tongue out at Lily, and she rolled her eyes.
"No, really, please direct me to the nearest field of daisies so that we may frolic together." Lily grabbed Dani and pulled her over, hugging her head.
"I promise, I'll protect you from him and his oblivious optimism, I swear it." Dani giggled, and Alex glared at Lily who also smiled. Then the table erupted into laughter.
"Oh, hey there's Kevin! KeKevin! Over here!" Dani waved frantically, and the boy, like usual, did the check to make sure she wasn't talking to someone other than him. Despite their constant invitations for him to sit with them at their lunch table, he would not come unless invited.
Lily and Alex smiled and beckoned him over. After another glance about, he approached.
"Hey, Dani. What's up?" Lily snorted, and grabbed his wrist.
"Just sit down Dude." She said bluntly, pulling him down to sit. Kevin blushed, partially out of embarrassment and partially because of female contact.
Dani flashed him a dazzling smile that left him disoriented for a moment, herself oblivious to his apparent blindness as she continued to snack.
"You, um, seem happy." Kevin mumbled, unpacking his own bacon cheeseburger. Earlier on they had realized that despite his lankiness, Kevin ate enough to feed a small village. The real question was where he put it all.
"That's because I am!" Dani chirped. Lily glared at her.
"I still really don't approve, you know that right?" Dani nodded, smile never faltering.
"Yep!" She responded. Lily's eyes narrowed.
"But you know as a third-party I'm not going to get involved because I don't care, right?" Dani nodded again, and Lily shrugged.
"Okay then, as long as that's clear. Don't ask." She told Alex, who had been opening his mouth curiously. He close it with an upset grunt, folding his arms and leaning back.
"Psst! Dani!" Everyone at the table jumped as someone whispered. Lily clutched her heart, startled but immediately getting it, while Alex swung his head back and forth, looking for the mysterious voice and gaining a few weird looks in the process. Kevin also froze, terrified and maybe just a little damp, if you know what I mean.
"What?" Dani asked, having regained her composure. She twirled a fork through her salad, and kept her head carefully inclined. Despite the attention their table was receiving as a result of Alex's antics, no one noticed anything else off.
"Who's-" Alex groaned as Lily jabbed him in the stomach, bending down and placing his cheek against the table.
"What did you replace your elbows with, harpoons?" He mumbled. Lily gave him a wry grin, then nodded her head at Dani.
"We have a visitor that wishes to remain anonymous, in case you haven't noticed." Alex gave her a look that clearly stated he hadn't. He too, looked at Dani, who in turn, though keeping her head down, was glancing upwards. He snapped his fingers and opened his mouth to exclaim his understanding, but Lily's elbows beat him to the punch.
"Owwww…" He groaned again.
"Translate my previous sentence to: Shut up!" She hissed. He merely moaned in response.
Dani nodded subtly, getting their attention. Then she resumed actually eating her lunch, not looking upwards again. However, a small smirk adorned her face, and Lily groaned.
"What did you do?" Dani gave her the puppy look.
"Dani…that bad?" Dani shrugged.
"I don't know if you would call it bad. Danny wanted to know where he could go to get some privacy, 'cause he…uh, because he doesn't want to go out in public with his clown hair, so I told him a room where he could stay for a bit." There were holes in her story, and she knew it, Lily knew it, and they both knew each other knew it. But Lily didn't protest, instead catching on one of the more important details…
"Which room is that, exactly…?"
Danny sighed, making his way around the building. He tried to remember Dani's whispered instructions. Despite his years here, there were still a few hallways he had trouble finding his way around.
As he wandered, his mind also went to other things. For instance, his sister's strange behavior towards him. That girl was undeniably getting to him. How in the world had she dyed his hair without him noticing? He wasn't that deep a sleeper! At least, he didn't think he was…
Groaning, he looked to the door number, mentally coming to an end of the directions he had been given. 179. This was it. He pulled at the door handle first, and to his surprise it opened. He checked up and down the hall, then landed on the floor and flickered into visibility. He slowly slipped inside the room, the door gently closing behind him. He walked inside without flickering on any lights.
Danny looked around, surprised at the lack of desks and chairs in the room. In fact, there seemed to be a few small couches instead. He smiled happily. His sister may have been going through a rough patch, but he knew somewhere deep down in there was a person he could count on. She was still his sister after all.
With that comforting thought, Danny slipped his head comfortably onto the couch, and spread his legs down, easing himself into a well-deserved nap. He never thought to glance at the door that had closed behind him, but if he had, then maybe he might've noticed his own enlarged face staring back at him.
But he didn't.
The man stood, watching the boy. Well, he wasn't young, but he wasn't old either. He was, however, in a sort of hibernation. He had never had to hibernate, but he supposed it was necessary, now that he was separated from his master…
His head hurt.
He had found the girl, but something had pushed him past. Don't go after her, it said, look for the male, look for the male! It had hurt his head further to consider disobeying, but he wasn't out to harm anything. Certainly not this boy. Certainly not that girl.
His head still hurt.
His hand was reaching forward towards the boy, his dark suit and lack of light making the man feel dizzy and light-headed. He hated the dark now. What was once his home only served to remind him of a prison.
The room spun, but the boy stayed in focus, hibernating while the man's hand continued to move towards him, unaware of how much pain the man was in.
Go! The shrieking in his head urged. Go! Make him feel pain and the worst luck! Strangle him and let your darkness feed on his misery! Go! His head exploded with sharp aches and he stumbled back, clutching it, the boy forgotten.
Footsteps and giggles sounded near the door, and his head shot up, pain momentarily gone. Run! All of his senses screamed in unison, and he disappeared just as the door opened, light shedding into the room. The giggles and footsteps sharply ceased, and then returned full throttle, only to be shushed again.
And nothing disturbed the peaceful hero, slumbering on the couch.
Dani giggled to herself, swinging her legs back and forth in her chair. Lily stared at her, putting the last of the books in her bag and zipping it closed. Their homeroom had just been dismissed, but people were lagging, obviously in hopes of seeing crazy-haired Phantom once more.
They didn't see, but they clearly heard.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Dani smirked while the rest of the class jumped as Danny phased through the door in a leap, tumbling and banging into a majority of the desks, landing in an undignified heap with colorful hair.
The door banged open, and their attention switched to the doorway. A group of girls stood panting, eyes sorely fixed on the male Phantom.
They took a step forward, and Danny let out an unmanly whimper.
"Girls!" Snapped a sharp voice, and the girls stopped mid-stampede, pulling back guiltily. Danny let out a breath of relief, and squeaked again when their eyes fixed on his mouth. He scooted back and banged his head on the metal desk leg.
"What in the world are you doing to poor Danny here?" Ms. Sanderson asked strictly, gesturing to Lily who helped him up. He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. Alex, who had already come in, stiffened.
"Remove your hands Non-believer! You do not have the right to touch the Savior!" Sarah, the President of Phantom Pherocity shouted, the other girls nodding behind her. Lily raised an eyebrow and promptly released him. He stumbled and glared at her, but she shrugged.
"That girl can worm her way into my bank accounts if I'm not careful." She said, pointing to Julie, the Treasurer. Julie smiled secretively, pushing her glasses up so they glinted and hid her eyes.
"Hello Danny, so nice to see your…assets." Danny felt a shiver go up his spine. Micky, the VP, waved her hand frantically.
"Heeey Dan! I lurv what you've done to your hair! It's so…creative! Just brings out the green in your eyes, y'know? I rather enjoy guys with creativity." She grinned, and the shiver increased double-fold.
"Girls!" Ms. Sanderson snapped again, and they stood at attention, looking at her guiltily.
"But Ms. S, he was the one in our room! We were sure it was an offering from up above!" Sarah proclaimed, hands clasped. Lily turned to Dani with accusing eyes, she looked away. Danny turned at her at the same exact moment. The next thing anyone knew, both Phantoms were on the floor tussling.
"It's your fault!"
"Shut up!"
"Why did you do that?"
"None of your business?"
"What do you mean none of my business, WHAT HAPPENS TO ME IS MY BUSINESS!"
The two rolled around on the floor, pulling and scraping at each other, green eyes flashing. The door slammed open for the second time, but it did nothing to halt the Phantoms. However, one hand reaching out and tugging at Danny and Dani's hair did the trick, pulling them both apart like magic.
"Owwww.." They both whimpered at the same time. Dani's head shot up and glared at her brother, who in turn glared at her.
"What the heck are you two doing?" Sam said, hands on her hips. Jazz looked equally as menacing, and Tucker pouted, still holding his PDA up.
"Guys, they were making a memory here! I could've gotten millions for that vid!" He drew back when both females shot him glares of doom.
All of the kids looked at the older teens with a bit of awe, something none of the group really paid any attention to.
"Danny! Explain!" Danny opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced with a glare from his leading lady.
"Now." He pouted, and pointed at his head. Sam took it in, eyes only widening a fraction. Everyone else stared at her completely control over the ghost boy. Jazz, on the other hand, gasped and rushed forward.
"Your hair! Oh please no, not your hair! Sam! Tell me this is reversible!" She pleaded. Sam stepped forward and grasped gently at his roots. She then grinned.
"No worries, it's washable. Come on, I have the stuff needed to rinse it out. Tucker, come with me, you know how screamish he gets around cold water, Jazz, you take care of the hard part."
"What hard part?" Jazz asked, then glanced at her little sister, whose anger was rolling off her in practically visible waves.
"Oh. Sam, wait, I'll help!" She grabbed at Tucker's collar, pulling him back. He yelped, and collided with the floor as she ran out the door, hastily apologizing and pulling a disoriented Sam and Danny behind her.
Tucker groaned and got up, blinking at all the staring students.
"What? Never seen a tech geek before?" He snapped, getting a helping hand from a reluctant Dani. She glanced away, mumbling,
"He brought it on himself." To her surprise (and to the kids' and Ms. Sanderson's) he grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure. He always manages to do the stupid thing, good ol' Dan. I'm not going to lecture you on stopping, I just think it would be easier to change your image than his. I mean, when I started being called Bad Luck Tuck, it was easier for me to change my clothes than the bullies that called me that." Tucker shrugged.
"It's cool as long as you don't go goth. Changing who you are is a lot more different than changing clothes." Dani nodded thoughtfully.
"Besides, the whole hair-dying thing? Comedic gold!" Tucker raised his hand in a high-five and Dani slapped it, grinning. Ms. Sanderson coughed in a disapproving way and they both turned to her guiltily.
"Hahah, Hey Ms. S!" Tucker chuckled nervously. Ms. Sanderson crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in the classic pose of 'Is that really the mature thing you're doing?'. Tucker chuckled nervously again.
Everyone in the class grinned at the interaction, knowing Ms. Sanderson all too well. The door opened and everyone glanced towards it. A sulky Danny strolled in. His hair, mostly white now, still had soft tints of color. Sam smacked him on the head and he whimpered again.
"Geez, I'm sorry, but this is about as good as it's gonna get Danny." She said, running her hands through his hair gently.
"What, no pet names?" Dani murmured. Tucker smirked as they both turned and glared at her, faces red.
"Shhh! Do you want someone to hear you?" Danny snapped at her. The class looked on quizzically, not hearing under their shushed voices except for the tones. Ms. Sanderson and Lily groaned. The Phantoms seemed to be at it again.
"I was being quiet!" Dani snapped back, voice rising.
"Not quiet enough!" Danny yelled back.
"Both of you shut up!" Sam roared, effectively silencing both halfas. Lily raised an eyebrow.
"She is like me."
"Told you." Dani muttered.
"She/he started it." Both of them grumbled in unison. Dani let out a shriek which startled everyone.
"Not again!" She yelled. Everyone stared, unsure how to take her outburst.
"What is this about, Dani?" Danny asked, sighing. He was sincerely bemused. However, Dani was still on edge. She opened her mouth and he braced himself.
"None of your-" She started. Then she and Danny were gone. No big poof, no magical dissolving, just gone. Everyone blinked so their eyes would readjust, but no one stood there.
Sam jumped, finding empty space where her boyfriend had been, as did Tucker for Dani.
"What-how?" Ms. Sanderson sputtered. Jazz ran to where her brother had been, waving her hand cautiously over the area (in case he decided to rematerialize and she ran him over like a freight train). She knelt at the ground, looking for any burn marks to show her brother had spontaneously combusted (hey, what couldn't happen in Amity?), and found a small square card lying there. An even smaller picture was drawn in a deep blue ink delicately across the paper. She squinted for a moment then sighed, eyes narrowed.
"You little trickster…" She grumbled, handing the card to a pale Sam.
"What is it, Jazz?" She too scrutinized the card carefully, then let loose a huge breath. Her expression turned dark(er).
"What is it? Are they alright?" Sam and Jazz shared both annoyed and amused expressions. Tucker walked over and they handed him the card, which he looked at and started laughing.
"I never thought he'd give a calling card! It's like the Bat Sign!" Tucker chuckled. Seeing the group growing restless, they hastily assured them.
"They're fine. At least, they should be. Last time I checked he no longer wanted to terminate Danny…" Tucker said, tapping his chin. "But how come I didn't get to go along? I wanted to take a look around the Clock Tower again, align my PDA to the hundredth of a second with the correct time! Geez, Dan, when you leave a brother behind-"
"Oh shut it, Tuck." Sam said, grabbing the card out of his hand. She turned to the pale group of classmates.
"He's fine. We're gonna go make sure. Thanks for having us Ms. S. Good-bye. Tucker, Jazz, come on." They headed for the door, and Jazz turned the handle only to be caught off guard when the door opened on its own, smacking her lightly as she stepped back in shock.
"Hey Ms. S, where are my Guitar Geeks, they're late for-oh." The agitated expression on Sam's face (the male) disappeared as he looked at the two familiar-looking high-schoolers, and one adorably confused-looking ginger-haired girl sitting on the floor. One ginger-haired girl who was now glaring at him darkly, hands reaching up to cup her nose. He found himself quickly regretting his decision not to knock.
"Errr, hi there."
"What are we here for, Clockwork?" Danny asked, not making eye contact with his sister as they were led through the building. Dani's eyes roamed over anything and everything as she took in the numerous clocks on her side. She never glanced her brother's way as they entered into the main room, instead choosing to observe the floating surfaces that displayed different settings.
"I'm afraid there is something serious going on than your feud, Danny. A ghost is about to die, and I need you to stop it." This got both of their attention.
"But, how can a ghost die if they're already dead?" Clockwork turned to the both of them grimly.
"A spectral being is kept together by a sort of aura, a band of electoplasm. If a part of that being is separated from the rest of it, that band of ectoplasm can fall apart without the whole being supporting it. The spectral being will disband, and it's not a painless experience." Clockwork pointed their attention to one of the surfaces, raising a hand over one. Inside it, he dark-haired man appeared, holding its head in pain, crouching against a wall. He stood up, and lifted his head, and the two halfas gasped. He pushed off a wall and walked away, the camera zooming out to show Casper Middle.
The screen wavered as Clockwork waved his hand again, and this time showed one ghost, crouching, also holding his head in pain. He raised his head and screamed as part of his face started to turn green and gooey. A female ghost ran over and placed her hands over his disfigured face, hands glowing green. The face quickly reassembled itself. Clockwork turned to the two shocked ghosts solemnly.
"I'm afraid the clock is ticking, no pun intended. Shadow must be returned to Johnny." The screen went black.
"Otherwise both parts of Johnny 13 will be doomed."
HAHAHA. AND YOU THOUGHT SAM WAS PUT IN THERE JUST AS A FILLER CHARACTER. WELL U WERE WROOOOOONG. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. No, Sam (the male) is not a filler character. Don't remember who Sam is? Read agaaaiiiin. Muahahahahaha. Yes, I realize I do not deserve the right to evil-laugh. Muahahahaha, that's how rotten I am. I DO IT ANYWAAAYYYY. I just realized there might be confusion about Sam the male and Sam the female. Hahahahahadarrrrnnniittttt. Meh. Whatever. If you have a way for me to make it less confusing (without changing his name), let me know! Thanks!
Artgirl4