Breaking Dawn
A Danny Phantom Fanfic by Quill N. Inque
I do not own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 3: Back to School, Part 2
Danny Fenton's battered tray of steaming, viscous glop lay utterly abandoned on the small picnic table where he and his friends had taken their ease, and the mysterious, unappetizing sludge was rapidly beginning to cool as Danny kept his head buried in the book in front of him.
Though he was loathe to admit it to anyone, even to himself, he now agreed with Tucker: the extra-credit project Lancer had given the young hero was not at all unpleasant. The sky overhead was as clear and flawless as a cut sapphire as Danny became further engrossed in his novel, and the noises of conversation that buzzed around the schoolyard faded into a dull roar as he turned the page…
Therefore after the Dark Lord's triumph at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Hurin, father of Turin, was brought before Morgoth and chained and set in slow torment. But after a while Morgoth offered him the chance to be set free if he but divulged the counsel of the King, for Morgoth knew by his arts and spies that Hurin had the King's friendship…
Danny paused for a moment. Such Machiavellian tactics were certainly reminiscent of Vlad, and the memory of his foe surfaced in his brain like a sour taste in his mouth before he continued.
What next he read sent chills up his spine.
But Hurin, staunch and brave, mocked Morgoth's offer and defied him openly, and then wrath mustered in the Dark Lord, who said, "Yet I may come of you, and all of your accursed house, and you shall be broken on my will." Then, stretching out his arm, Morgoth cursed Hurin and all of his household. "Behold! The shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world! Upon all whom you love my curse will weigh like a shadow of doom, and it shall bring them into darkness and despair! Wherever they go, evil shall arise! Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel! Whatsoever they do shall turn against them! They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death!"
Danny's face grew somewhat pale. That…that is almost exactly what Vlad tried to do to me, he thought, stunned at how close the similarities were. Vlad, like Morgoth, wanted to make everyone I care about suffer because he hated me so much. I ended him, I was forced to, and yet even then he cursed me by exposing me to the world, just like Morgoth cursed Hurin.
And if Vlad actually did end up being some kind of "Dark Lord," it would not surprise me, the ghost boy added wryly.
"Danny?"
The voice of Sam Manson caused his head to snap up, and the Goth's familiar, comforting tone was almost a siren's song as it returned Danny to the present.
"Yeah?"
"Enjoying your book?" Sam grinned. "You've hardly said a word this entire time."
"I know," Tucker said teasingly. "Isn't it grea-OW!"
The self-confessed geek's face crinkled as Sam kicked him in the shins under the table, and Danny, with visible hesitation, reluctantly put his book aside.
"Sorry, Sam," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly."I didn't mean to ignore you."
"We know," Sam replied, an understanding look on her face. "If I were in your situation, I'd look for an escape, too."
"You gonna eat that, Danny?" Tucker pointed to the young man's tray as it lay forlornly abandoned at the edge of the table.
Danny grimaced in distaste. "How can you stomach that stuff? I don't think even the lunch ladies know what's in it!"
"It's meat, dude," Tucker winked smarmily at Sam. "And that makes it good enough for me."
Sam turned a little green as her friend dug into Danny's tray with exuberance. "You're disgusting."
"Sticks and stones," Tucker retorted around a mouthful of gristly lumps.
Danny, an amused smile about his lips, turned back to his book-
"'Scuse me," a new, unexpected arrival to the friends' table suddenly interjected. "Aren't you Danny Phantom?"
Danny tried to conceal his frustration at having his moment of peace interrupted as he gaze at the student who'd come up to speak with him. He didn't know the other boy, not personally, but then again Danny recognized a lot of faces that had, as of yet, no names to go with them. He looked to be about the same age as Danny, and the hero decided to answer his inquiry for the sake of going back to his book.
Besides, he'd already been asked that question more than a dozen times today. One more was hardly of any consequence.
"Yeah," Danny replied wearily. "I am."
A malicious sneer crossed the other student's lips as he suddenly lunged forward, knocking Danny's fine reading out of his hands and sending it splashing into the mud. The action was so sudden and unexpected that it took all three friends momentarily off-guard.
Danny's newest detractor gave him a triumphant smirk. "Freak," he sneered, before shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching away.
Sam, a thunderous expression on her face, was looking positively rabid as she went to follow the anonymous bully, but Danny's palm clapped her shoulder gently and eased her back down onto the bench.
"Let him go," he said tiredly, picking up the now-tarnished literary work and trying vainly to shake the mud and dirty water from its pages as the one o'clock bell began to ring. "I told you before: it's not worth it, and it'd be too risky to confront him, anyway."
"He'd better hope I don't catch him alone," Sam snarled, grabbing her books with far more force than was actually necessary. "I swear to God, I'll kick his ass so hard he'll have to drop his pants to say hello!"
Danny felt a fresh wave of affection for Sam wash over him. "I appreciate the thought," he said, taking her hand in his own as he and his friends joined the massive exodus back inside.
The edges thick book's pages were already beginning to crust over with hardened slime when Danny, still chuckling to himself over his girlfriend's fiery temper, darted into his classroom only seconds before another, ear-piercing shriek let everyone know that classes had resumed. He looked almost mournfully at the now-battered novel as he put inside his book-bag, and once more Danny tried not to notice the piercing stares of his classmates as every eye in the room automatically shifted to him.
"Ah, Mr. Fenton," Claudia Barousse, Danny's algebra teacher, narrowed her eyes in barely contained disgust. "I'm so glad that you chose to join the rest of your human classmates, albeit five minutes late."
She was the spitting image of Satan's own headmistress. Barousse's face was permanently creased in a frown, her nose sharp like the beak of a bird, her cheeks narrow and angular, and her demeanor severe. Her graying hair was tied up in a severe bun, and cold, sharp eyes the color of tarnished pennies held a look of utter loathing as they gazed upon Danny. Barousse was no longer young, for her fingers were gnarled and scowling wrinkles had been etched in between her eyebrows. Horn-rimmed glasses sat sternly upon the bridge of her blade-like nose, and the immaculate, drab grey suit and business skirt she wore only served to emphasize her air of menace.
All in all, Barousse looked the part of every student's worst nightmare, and for the young hero, that nightmare was about to become reality.
Danny checked the clock and was suddenly confused. "I got here just before the bell," he protested. "It hasn't even been thirty seconds."
"I do not tolerate insubordination from my normal students," Barousse said coldly. "And I will certainly not accept it from someone like you. You may expect special treatment for your so-called 'heroism,' but you will find none of it in my classroom. I personally find it distasteful to have a common criminal within these hallowed walls, but despite my objections the school board is convinced of your innocence. Have a five-page essay on the consequences of disrespecting a teacher on my desk by noon tomorrow. And I tell you right now, Mr. Phantom, that I will personally ensure that one such as you will never earn a passing grade in this class."
There was a chorus of loud snickers as Danny's peers delighted in his persecution, and Danny felt his hands clench beneath his desk as Barousse went on, "Don't follow Mr. Fenton's example, ladies and gentlemen," she declared, her eyes dancing evilly. "Otherwise you might end up just like him, instead of being perfectly normal and human young men and women."
Danny, throughout all of this, was utterly taken aback. Barousse had never been his favorite teacher, but he was stunned at the teacher's undisguised prejudice and clear statement of ill intent towards him. But then his shock turned to resignation as he realized, belatedly, that it had been quite unrealistic to expect every teacher to be as accepting as Lancer.
"Now, if you will open your textbooks, those of you who can turn the pages without phasing through them, we will pick up where we left off last week in the middle of chapter nine."
Danny, his fingers shaking with humiliation, heaved the obese manual onto his desk, and started flipping through it.
"Mr. Fenton," Barousse's smile was that of a shark that's spotted a bare behind. "Why don't you come up and demonstrate for us the quadratic formula? Surely someone as…talented as you would have no trouble solving it."
Danny resisted the urge to tear his textbook. Barousse knew, as he did, that he had not the slightest idea what she was talking about. The teacher was merely trying to humiliate him in front of the other students again.
But in spite of this, Danny felt defiance well in his heart as Barousse scrawled a complicated theorem onto the blackboard. The woman's smile was chilly as she beckoned Danny forward, and the hero returned it with one of his own.
I may not be able to stop you, he thought fiercely, picking up the chalk. But I can sure as hell make you eat your words.
Danny's face screwed in concentration as the wheels in his brain spun into overdrive, and with utter determination he set out to find the correct answer purely to spite his newest enemy. Nothing would drive Barousse up the wall more than having her sadistic plan turned upon itself.
After more than five minutes (during which Barousse gave a loud theatrical yawn, to the hilarity of all present), Danny finally put his writing instrument aside and stepped back to let the smirking woman inspect his work. His veins boiled with outrage at the sheer glee in which she painstakingly checked for any possible error that she could use to further embarrass him, and the silence that passed as Barousse picked through the numbers was almost unbearable…
But then, slowly, the woman's superior grin began to grow smaller and smaller as her eyes roved over Danny's computations, eventually fading altogether to be replaced with a look of barely contained malice. Barousse's teeth clenched together, her eyes flashing with hate, and wild hope soared in Danny's chest as the teacher gradually stepped back.
"That is…correct, Mr. Fenton," she said, her voice so thick and tight that it emerged a harsh, rasping grate. "Now sit back down."
Danny kept his expression carefully neutral as he obeyed, but nevertheless he caught Barousse's eye as he resumed his spot in the back of the classroom.
The challenge Danny sent her was unspoken but completely understood.
Bring it on, bitch.
A/N: HAHAHAHA! Looks like Barousse's plan backfired! But will Danny ever earn the acceptance of the world? Will Vlad's shadow never lift from his life? And what has become of Agent Brody? All this and more will be revealed, for in coming chapters we see that Danny has an implacable foe entrenched in the highest levels of the U.S. government! As always, PLEASE REVIEW! If YOU have any ideas or suggestions, LET ME KNOW! ^^
On a more personal note, I will reiterate once more that I can make no guarantees over when the next update will be posted. Final exams are drawing near, and thus I'm afraid my writing time will be in short supply. I will also remind you all that I will be on vacation for near a month after school is out, so if I do not update between now and then, I humbly apologize and beseech you all for your patience and understanding.
And as for the mysterious enemy I mentioned above, I WILL say you guys have met him before in "Shatterglass." He was the one with "the face of a rat". (That's a direct quote from the description I gave of him, so if you guys wanna go back to "Shatterglass" and skim over it, you can figure out who he is! ^^)
Your humble servant,
-Quill N. Inque
P.S. In case any of you were wondering, the "Battle of Unnumbered Tears" took place when Morgoth utterly annihilated the host of Elves and Men who had laid siege to his great stronghold of Angband. (Mordor, in point of fact, was actually built in imitation of Angband, but it was not nearly strong). Only three survived the slaughter, and Hurin was one of them.