Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Paramount global.
Growing Pains
Chapter 5: A New Man in Amity Park
Danny, now 24 years old, kept walking and looking for Helena and see if she was up to anything again.
However, he had a small problem right now. What problem?
Well, he was still trying to get used to his new body.
Suddenly being 6"2 and weighing a lot more due to muscle mass really did put him a little off in his inner balance and almost knocking his head on a few signs. One such sign he walked into head first made him grown in displeasure.
"This is gonna take some getting used to. Hopefully, I won't need to be used to do it for long..."He thought, trying to get adjust to his body.
He kept walking and quickly managed to find a rhythm for his newly grown body, though he is still a little trouble taking steps at first.
"So far, so good..."He thought, trying to be positive.
However, he also noticed people staring at him, most if not all of them were women. Pausing in his tracks, he felt a little nervous at all eyes on him. At school, he doesn't stand out much unless something weird or humiliating happened, and he worried that was the case here as well.
"Why are they all looking at me?..."He thought before glancing at his clothes that were still quite baggy.
"Do I really look that weird like this? Maybe it would be a good idea to get some new clothes..."He thought.
Just then, his the end of pants nearly got caught on a bench waiting for the buss. That convinced him to do it even more.
"Definitely have to get myself some clothes that actually fit the new me, before I have to deal another pants falling down incident..."He thought, not wanting to repeat that.
He decided to go find a place to buy clothes, and he figured the mall would be his best bet.
Thankfully, he had some money to spare right now. He went to find a place to go ghost fast and be done with this.
However, unknown to him, the reason that so many people were looking at him was not because of his baggy clothes at all.
Rather, it was how he looked right now.
"Oh my, who's the new stud in town?..."A dark haired business woman said, making a rather lustful smile as Danny walked away.
"I don't know, but he must be some kind of athlete from the way his body's built. Rrrr..."Her friend said, purring lustfully.
"All he needs in a new outfit and I'm there in a heartbeat..."She said, intrigued.
"Get in line, Sweetheart. I'd just love to bring that man-candy home with me..."The other woman said, grinning as she kept staring at the way he walks away.
With Danny
He went to a nearby alley and changed into his ghost form.
He sighed, as he glanced down to his current form.
"At least this outfit is better fitted..."He admitted, before noticing a discarded mirror in the alley.
He glanced at his appearance and noticed how different it is from his usual ghost suit. Namely, this suit had a new utility belt and the strange buttons on his silver gloves.
He considered seeing what the button did and what was in the pouches, but decided not to.
"I still have no idea where these came from. Is it like how Technus got a new look and it came with legs?..."He wondered, before deciding that's not what he should be thinking about.
"Get new clothes first, then find Helena and get her to figure out how to turn me back to normal...well relatively normal in my case..."He said. as he floated and tried to fly.
However, to his shock, he suddenly found himself flying MUCH faster than usual and flew straight pass all the clouds that were now several feet below him.
"WHOA!..."He shouted, as he was flying at speeds near mach 11.
He stopped in mid air and examined just how far he went.
"What was that?!..."He shouted, but soon noticed where he was and the fact that he apparently beat his old record.
He was at almost leaving the Earth's atmosphere, half way to the Karman line, which was VERY far away from where he was a moment ago.
He was stunned to say the least.
"Whoa! That was weird. How did I do that?..."He wondered, slowly letting himself descend to Earth.
He tried to figure out what had just happened.
"I guess that I'm a little faster in this form...which means I should have no problem keeping up with Helena, once I find her..."He thought, trying to see a bright side to this.
He tried flying again, soon finding himself going at nearly break neck speed. He barely could handle the whiplash, but thankfully his ghost self is still pretty durable.
Still...he groaned, finding an increase in power at the worst possible time and he was still not used to it, or this new body yet.
"Uh...until then...maybe I should take it steady..."He said, before flying again to Amity Park, this time at a slower pace.
All the while, he had no idea that his speed wasn't the only thing that has grown thanks to his new transformation.
Later
Danny soon arrived to the mall. He landed behind a photo booth and changed forms, making sure that no one could see him.
He came here to both, keep an eye out for Helena, as well as find some new clothes before he either trips over his own own feet or his pants fall down and he humiliates himself.
"Okay. I got about 30 bucks on me. I just have to find some cheap, but fitting clothes and I'm golden..."He said to himself, wanting to find the first thing he can afford and be done with that.
However, he was near a some stores and took a peek inside.
Seeing nothing he'd get, he decided to take a walk, unaware that he was about to catch someone's eye.
Meanwhile
It was a slow day at the Abyss.
A 20 year old blonde woman named Stacey, was in the middle of her shift. She was a salesgirl here at Abyss, and has been since she was 18.
On the outside, she was perky and smiling as she dealt with her customers. But on the inside was tired and bored.
"What a day. And I thought that Paulina brat is a total headache but this lady is something else..."She thought, irritated and exhausted as she dealt with a high maintenance customer.
It was Paulina's mother, Mrs. Sanchez, who was even harder to deal with than her daughter.
"Can't you sales people be up AHEAD of time? Honestly, how hard it is to fold clothes and put them back?..."Mrs. Sanchez said in a snooty way, holding her nose up that it almost made Stacey crack.
The annoying, rich woman soon left with her purchases. Stacey tried her hardest not to scream out her frustrations. She managed to keep it all to herself, while staying calm, which wasn't as easy as it sounded.
She just settled with keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself, seeing as she didn't want to get fired.
"What a witch. And I thought her daughter was a pain to deal with..."She thought, glad that she was gone.
Now that one of her most high maintenance customers was gone, her work day continued.
However, underneath her perky sales girl routine, she was bored and tired dealing with annoying customers and pushy, unreasonable people complaining to her about every little thing.
It almost wasn't worth the payment she received by the end of the week. For a moment, she let her smile drop as she groaned, as her mind began to wander a bit.
"What I'd give for a handsome stud to swoop in and save me from all of this..."She thought, sighing longingly as looked up at the digital clock as she wanted to go on her break already.
Thankfully, time had come.
Stacey prepared to take her break. However, she spotted someone walking past her store and she gasped as soon as she saw him.
"Oh my!..."She whispered, straightening up before hearts appeared in her eyes.
She saw a gorgeous man with black hair, blue eyes and lots of muscles pass by and she felt her tiredness fade away. Sure, he was wearing pretty baggy clothes, but she didn't focus on that.
She was focusing more on the fact that he had a perfect jawline and was hiding a six-pack under that baggy shirt he was wearing. Not to mention, he had a really handsome face and thick black hair that looked perfect on him.
The twenty-one year old sales lady then looked up at the sky and smiled happily.
"My prayers are answered..."She said as she pulled out her makeup and quickly fixed her face, wanting to make a good first impression.
The gorgeous guy, or rather, Danny, was still trying to find something suitable to wear.
"I wonder what I can get here that will fit this body?..."He asked himself.
He was about to leave and check another store, but he then saw a certain blonde woman get in his way.
"Hello...welcome to Abyss. How can I be of service to you, sir?..."Stacey said, trying to get his attention.
"Uh... hi?..."Danny waved, as the saleswoman then glanced down to his hand and smirked.
"No wedding ring. Perfect!..."She thought, before making her move.
"I'm Stacey... and you are?..."She asked, wanting to know everything she could about this handsome customer.
"Dan-..." Danny paused, realizing he can't use his real name.
"Stupid! You can't use your real name!..."He thought, but the blonde lady was still expecting an answer.
"Da-uhh..."He stammered, trying to think of something fast.
His eyes darted around until he spotted a nearby game store with the poster of a certain game series he's been itching to play. The main character had white hair, like his ghost form, and a red robe.
Seeing as he was wearing red and his ghost form had white hair, Danny decided he could use that name.
"Dante..."He answered.
The woman before him just kept staring at the rest of his fit body, liking what she saw. She then heard him "name" and smiled for some reason.
"Dante... what a name!~..." Stacey said, sighing dreamily, as if she heard the most handsome name ever.
"Excuse me?..."Danny asked as the sales woman took another step closer.
"Can I get you...anything that you could possibly want?..."She asked, eager not to let him get away.
Danny blinked.
"She must be trying really hard to make a commission..."He thought, as he decided to check and see if this place has what he is looking for.
"Well, it's as good a place to get some clothes as any other..."He thought, before answering her.
"Well, I do need a new shirt and pants, and maybe some new shoes..."He said, since he was wearing some sandals from his dad which were the only thing he had that fit him.
"Oh, your wish is my command!..."Stacey said, as she eagerly lead him inside the store.
"Whoa!..."Danny said as he was now inside the store, and recalled something.
"Wait...isn't this store for women?..."He asked, but the saleslady just giggled.
"Oh, we have a Men's section and all the clothes here are fabulous! Trust me, I can find exactly what you're looking for in here!..."Stacey said, as she showed a section that had a variety of men's clothes.
Danny, not having much else to do, tried to look for something here, as Stacey kept her salesgirl act up.
"Well, at least I can finally get rid of these baggy clothes..."He said, as he checked the merchandise.
"If you don't mind me asking...those clothes do seem to be a little big for you..."She said, trying hard to keep eye contact with the handsome customer and not look like she was totally undressing him with her eyes.
Danny flinched and tried to think up an excuse.
"Oh...it's that...new low calorie diet. It really works..."He said, and she seemed to buy it.
The ghost man continued looking over the clothes here, wanting to make sure that they fit the new him. He didn't want anything flashy or overpriced, he wanted something simple and similar to what he is used to.
As he checked the clothes, Stacey was eyeing him like the sight of him brought life to him.
"Those arms...that chin...and those biceps...they really deserve something much nicer than those rags!~..."She thought, blushing and biting her lower lip in desire.
She tried to get closer to him, under the guise of working and attaining to the customer's needs
"Is there anything...in particular that you are looking for?..."She asked, being intentionally vague with her question as she even twirled some of her hair a bit.
"Any shirt, shoes and pants that I can get under $30..."Danny said flatly, not even looking at her as he checked the price to a pair of jeans.
Stacy, still smitten, just absent-mindlessly fulfilled his request. All in the hopes he would be so grateful he would ask her out.
"Oh, I think I have something in mind! Wait right there, I'll be back in a second!..."She said in a cutesy manner before going to go get them.
She was practically running and giggling like a school girl, as she loved that fact that she getting the rare opportunity to dress up a really hot guy like this.
Danny raised a brow at that, confused by that bizarre behavior from the blonde saleslady.
"What was that about? Is that normal here?..."He thought, rubbing the back of his head in nervousness.
He didn't notice that the female patrons in the store were all gawking and staring dreamily at him like Stacey was.
"What a hunk!..."One of them whispered, sighing lustfully as her best friend did the same.
All the women in Abyss were looking at Danny like he was some art piece. One that was a masterpiece to them. Danny noticed their staring and misinterpreted them.
"Do I really look that weird in these baggy clothes?..."He thought, feeling self-conscious right now.
Stacey soon came back, carrying several items of clothing and presented it to the dark haired man.
"Here they are, Dante!..."She said as she presented the haul to him.
Danny examined them and saw a lot of them are flashy or very short-sleeved to practically sleeveless or were probably a little tight in some places.
"Geez, talk about going overboard. And why did she bring me so many with no sleeves?..."He thought, trying to find something that he could wear that was also comfortable, and within his budget.
Thankfully, it seems that he did indeed find something that he could wear.
It was a white, short sleeved business shirt, along with a pair of dark blue jeans and some black shoes. It was simple and not very flashy, and it didn't look uncomfortable either.
"I guess this stuff here..."He said, while Stacy smiled widely.
"An EXCELLENT choice, Dante!..."She said, happy that he chose something from her haul.
Danny soon went to the changing room and finally got out of those oversized clothes from his dad.
He would have to get them back home before his father finds them missing. Anyway, after getting dressed, he walked out of the changing room.
He was now wearing the news clothes and started to feel a little more like himself. He took a look at himself, wanting to be sure about this.
"How does this look?..."Danny asked, hoping that he looked alright like this.
To his surprise, Stacy and a lot of the female patrons in the store all looked at him and they all stared at him in awe with even a few of them going slack jawed too.
Some patrons and even female workers even dropping their bags and items as his presence was of more importance. Danny was surprised by this reaction and felt something he did got their attention.
"Uh...did I say something wrong?..."He asked, wondering what's wrong with them.
Stacey snapped out of her daze and immediately returned to sales girl mode. She cleared her throat, making sure she didn't say anything wrong.
"Oh...don't worry, Dante. You look...AMAZING!..."She said, feeling her heart pound very fast.
"Thanks..."He said, thinking she was just being polite.
However, he sighed in frustration as he knew that he couldn't afford these clothes.
"Anyway, I'd take these, but I checked the prices and they seem a little out of my price range..."He said, disappointed that he can't buy them.
However, the blonde saleslady suddenly felt her fantasy break a bit. She then decided to save it and smiled at him in an overly perky manner.
"Oh, don't worry about that. These clothes are on...a special sale today..."Stacy said, fluttering her eyes at him.
"A special sale?..."Danny asked, as she dragged him the counter where the register was to pay for them.
"Uh...shouldn't I take these off and put on my old clothes?..."He asked as he was still wearing the new clothes.
"Oh, don't worry. There is no need. I have all the prices and taxes memorizes. I just need the tags to scan and complete the transaction..."She said in a perky way, as she worked the register.
"Plus, you look 10 times hotter in these clothes than those rags..."She thought, looking at him dreamily as she made the sale.
She then typed in her employee discount into the register.
As she was a long time employee here, she got a big discount on the clothes. Something that she shared with only a FEW select people that she likes.
Usually with good looking men who caught her attention.
Anyway, once she was done typing everything in, she pulled out the receipt and turned to her handsome customer.
"Okay...you're total comes to about $20..."She said, surprising the dark haired man at the amount mentioned.
"Wow, that's some discount..."Danny said, since he did the math and the clothes all together had cost a lot more than that.
"Well...this is a special...exclusive discount today... exclusive for men..."She said, as she quickly grabbed a pen and crosses out the actual prices.
Danny raised a brow and wondered if this was a scam or something. He shrugged, paid her the money and soon received the receipt, but not before the blonde sales lady wrote something quick on it.
"Thank you for shopping here...Please...come back again...any time..."Stacy said as she slides the receipt on the table counter to him.
"Thank you..."Danny said, as he removed the tags off his new clothes.
He soon left, carrying the receipt with him. Stacey just sighed dreamily, watching the now very well dressed man walk away.
She ignore passing customers just to watch him go.
"I think I'm in love...What a man!~..."She said, hoping he comes back soon.
"Stacy, stop drooling over some pretty boy and get back to work!..."Her boss yelled, seeing Stacy making goo-goo eyes at the admittedly gorgeous man that was just here.
She groaned, realizing that she just spent her whole break on helping that hot guy get himself new clothes that fit really well.
Even so, she certainly didn't think of it as a waste.
Not at all.
Outside
Danny was checking the receipt and saw that his math was right about the original price.
He was relieved he didn't have to pay too much, feeling much more comfortable in these clothes than the previous ones.
"What luck that there was a sale..."He said, surprised that he got such a good deal.
He checked his receipt and to his surprise, he saw something strange on it.
"What's this?..."He said as he checked it.
He saw a phone number written on it, as well as the words "Call me - Stacey", which was in perky cursive writing, all of which was inside a little heart that was drawn on the piece of paper.
Even he wasn't clueless enough to not notice what this meant, though he was surprised.
"An older woman likes me? Didn't see that coming..."He said, surprised that the sales lady was actually hitting on him the whole time.
Danny hadn't noticed, since he's never been hit before in his life. Or at least not because of his less than stellar reputation. He shrugged, figuring it was a one time thing.
He wasn't gonna call, since he wasn't going to be in this body for long. Or at least, that is what he hoped.
"What time is it?..."He wondered, as he checked his watch.
He saw that it was already 9 in the morning. Tucker, Sam and Jazz would still be at school for a few more hours, and he still had a lot of time left to himself.
"I may as well keep looking for her...and maybe get something to eat. I realized that I skipped breakfast..."He thought, licking his lips for a bit.
The ghost man went an bought a blueberry muffin from a nearby kiosk, before he continue his stroll around town and be on the lookout for any signs of Helena.
Unaware that he was attracting all kinds of attention of many people, especially women, the entire time.
A little later
After finishing his muffin, Danny left the mall and began to stroll around town. He was still wearing the new clothes that thankfully fit him better.
He still felt pretty out of place in his brand new body, though.
"Hopefully, I won't have to get used to this any longer than I have too..."He thought as he turned the corner.
He walked, feeling like it was the first day of school or something. He noticed that people were staring at him.
"Why is everyone eyes are on me for? I'm starting to feel like a sideshow attraction..."He thought, feeling a little self-conscious at the moment.
He noticed some tough looking men nearby the corner, looking at him.
"Amity Park is looking a little funny today..."He thought as he awkwardly waved a hand at them.
To his surprised, they smiled and waved back. The men in particular gave nods as if accepting of him.
As Danny wondered what was making them act like that, some women were also gawking at him and talking about him. He wondered what they would be discussing amongst themselves, unaware it was him that was their topic.
"Oh my gosh, who is that guy?!..."A brunette one asked, looking infatuated.
"No idea, but he's so hot!..."The blonde woman said, practically drooling over him
"Hot nothing, he's gorgeous!..."Their red haired friend said, looking like she wanted to pounce him.
Danny, unaware of what they had been saying about them, notice their stares. He waved at them in a nervous manner, and the trio of woman gasped in excitement.
"Oh my gosh, he waved at me!..."The blonde said in excitement.
"As if! He was waving at me!..."The red head said in a territorial manner.
"You're both dreaming, it was meant for me!..."The brunette said, glaring at her friends.
Suddenly, all three of them entered a cartoonish ball of violence, fighting with each other. The ghost man blinked, surprised by that sudden reaction.
"Huh... weird..." Danny commented, paying no further mind.
He kept walking and noticed more people staring at him and sending him funny looks.
He saw more women looking at him the same way as those other woman and that sales lady did earlier. He also noticed that some men seemed to be giving him the stink eye, completely giving the ghost man a total 180 from how they were acting a moment ago.
"Okay, this is more strange than my usual standard for strange. What's going on with everyone one today?..."He thought, feeling like a total fish out of water.
He suddenly felt a familiar blue mist escaped his mouth. He sighed.
"Why am I not surprised?..."He grumbled.
He didn't care that he was in a new body or not. He still had a duty to protect the town. He tried to run into a nearby empty alleyway, but soon found himself running too fast that he ran across the entire street and into another alley instead.
"WHOA!..."He yelled, as he tried to stop and almost hit the wall.
Once he did, he processed what had just happened.
"Wow...I guess my speed got super changed in this form too..."He thought, still not used to these new skills in his body.
However, he recalled that he still had a ghost to deal with right now.
"Fight ghost first, figure this out later. Let's just hope that will be the only time I need to do this..."He thought, as he ran behind a dumpster.
He changed forms and transformed into equally new adult formed of Danny Phantom.
"This better be the ghost that I'm looking for...or at least someone who I can take some misplaced aggression out on..."He thought as he floated up to the sky, being careful not to accidentally nearly fly all the way into space again.
He frowned, as he looked around for whoever is causing trouble this time.
-To be continued-
Next time on Growing Pains
The Ghost Man
A/N(1): Special thanks to NeoMark and Jay The Average Fanboy for helping with this chapter. You guys rock :)
A/N(2): Also, thanks to Jay The Average Fanboy for posting 4 reviews in a row. :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867: They are investigating a supposed haunting around Lake Eerie.
Boris Yeltsin: I will consider the idea. Thanks.
Jebest4781: Danny's older ghost half is meant to look like Silver's design for his older self.
NiteOwl18: No problem :)
Invader Johnny: I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.
CZS4: Thank you :)
Tiamat Dragoness: You're welcome :)
JDF Legacier Morphicon: It's okay, no worries.
Here is my response for your review for chapter 4: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I an 50/50 on the topic.
2) No.
3) I think she might have died in battle during Ancient Greece.
4) Not sure.
5) No comment.
6) Maybe a little bit.
Luiz4200: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
GhostRider00: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Pzombie: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Jay The Average Fanboy: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1-4) Sorry no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
5) I hope that this chapter answers that question.
6-9) Sorry no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
10) Sorry, no spoilers. That will be answered in the next chapter.
11-14) Sorry no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
15) Sorry no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
16-20) Sorry no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Also, thank you once again :)
Adeeba: Hello, sorry that it has been a while. I wanna work on finishing a few fics, and then I will try and see what I can do for this fic.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)