...Wow. This...this is embarassing.
Alright, guys. I'm really, really sorry. I know I said in the last chapter that there would be weekly updates...and...I'm sorry. Really. Like, really sorry.
So now you probably can't expect when you'll get updates. I do have plenty of story planned out, though, so that's a light side.
Enjoy the update. I tried to make it longer.
Disclaimer: Never try to explain logic to a cartoon. Like, seriously. Oh yeah, and I don't own Danny Phantom.
The full moon glowed in the dark night sky. In an alleyway, a limp silhouette lay on the ground, partially obscured by two trashcans. The squeaking of rats could be heard somewhere nearby.
Eventually, a pair of wings stretched out from the dark form, followed by a serpentine head atop a long neck. The head glanced around cautiously before inching out of the shadows, its body slowly following.
Danny hadn't expected Sam's reaction. Heck, he hadn't expected himself unable to talk at all. But now that he thought about it, it really made sense, considering the fact that he was no longer human*…Stupid, stupid, stupid, he mentally scolded himself.
But what would he do now? Based on what Sam had done, going to Tucker was clearly not an option, and Jazz even less so.
Dora.
Of course! The female dragon ghost was sure to have some answers about all this. He was surprised he hadn't thought of going to her earlier. Danny sighed and shook his head. If only he wasn't a C student.**
The dragon lifted up into the sky, his silhouette framed against the full moon.
The halfa touched down in front of Fentonworks. Glancing around cautiously, he eyed the front door. He had to get in somehow; were there any open windows anywhere?
…Of course. There was the one he came out of, in his bedroom.
Danny looked up at the open window. He backed up a little, and then leapt upwards as far as he could. With one great thrust of his wings, he was in front of his window in an instant. The dragon smirked in satisfaction and dove through the opening. Unfortunately, his tail accidentally whipped to the side and smashed through one of the windowpanes as he was going through, the sharp sound reverberating through the whole house. Danny cringed and stood still, crouched on the ground.
When he heard nothing, he slowly made his way across his room and out into the hallway.
A few light flaps brought him down to the first floor. He scuttled over to the door of his parents' lab, carefully extending his snout in to examine the room. However, the swirling green of the ghost portal was nowhere in sight. What he saw was a steel gate, firmly clamped shut.
Danny groaned. The portal was closed when he needed it most.
He walked over to the mechanism for opening the gate – one that operated on thumbprint recognition. Why did his dad have to install that genetic scanner? He doubted that it would grant him access now.
Well, it's worth a shot, the halfa reasoned, and hesitantly placed a paw on the scanner.
A harsh beeping signified that no, it did not recognize his fingerprint.
Danny cringed from the sharp noise. But as soon as it stopped, his acute ears soon detected another sound.
Footprints?
The dragon gasped and turned around to see Jazz Fenton, still in pajamas, standing wide-eyed at the open laboratory door.
Several things happened at once. Jazz's surprised look quickly hardened as she leapt forward and snatched up an ectogun. Danny, screeching in words he knew she couldn't understand, backed up hastily and ran into a pile of boxes, knocking them over.
"Back off, spook!"
After working himself out from under the clutter, Danny wearily peeked out to see a green beam traveling towards him. He moaned and closed his eyes, bracing for impact.
It never came.
Peeking open one eye, Danny saw that the blast had simply hit more boxes on a shelf above him. He thanked his stars that Jazz had such bad aim.
Unfortunately, the boxes above toppled down on him too.
As he was working himself out from his corrugated cardboard mess, the halfa was desperately thinking of a plan to ward off Jazz without harming her and to get in the Ghost Zone at the same time. And then it hit him.
But what hit him wasn't a great idea. It was another box.
Grimacing, Danny rubbed his head. What did his parents put in those boxes, anyway?
But suddenly, he did get a great idea, as if the box had knocked it into his brain.
He abruptly sprang forwards out of the pile of cardboard crates, tackling his sister. Jazz hadn't expected this move and gave a small shriek as they flew through the air, colliding with the counter behind them. Danny quickly mumbled an apology as he lifted up her hand and pressed it against the fingerprint scanner. In another second, he was through the swirling green vortex that marked the Ghost Zone.
Which way was Dora's castle again?
Cursing himself for not bringing the map, Danny floated aimlessly through the Ghost Zone. If only this otherworldly dimension was easier to navigate. As it was, he hadn't seen anything but floating purple doors for quite some time now.
Minor specters occasionally passed him, wailing and moaning. Danny ignored them, mostly, except he sometimes tried to ask one for directions. However, they barely paid any attention to him whatsoever. Once, he tried to talk to a green blob with a pink bow on its head. She took one look at him, shrieked, and flew off in the other direction. People were so uncooperative these days.
All of a sudden, a wave of shrieking, fearful ghosts swept past the dragon, sweeping past and disorienting him. As soon as he regained his senses, Danny moaned and looked for the source of the panic.
He found a large, robotic ghost with flaming green hair.
Just perfect. Skulker.
A grin spread across Skulker's metallic face. "What have we here?" he chortled. "You're mine tonight, dragon ghost."
Danny glanced below him and saw Skulker's Island. Well, at least there was a major landmark for you.
The second he glanced up, he saw a large, blue, glowing net speeding towards him. The halfa shrieked as it wrapped around him upon contact, sending him plummeting downwards. He hit the ground with a sickening thud, the spectral hunter following soon after. He had the same malicious grin on his face.
"What an easy catch. I expected more of a fight from you, prey."
Oh, you'll get more of a fight, Danny thought. He ripped open the net with his claws, the blue webbing tearing apart easily. The dragon then turned to face his opponent.
Skulker raised an eyebrow. "So that's how you want to play, huh?"
Danny responded by diving forwards with a screech.
Skulker immediately summoned a large cannon from his suit, which proceeded to shoot four large missiles towards the teen. Danny dodged the first three effortlessly, but was hit by the fourth. Wincing from the resulting explosion, he fell at Skulker's feet. The hunter grinned, and lifting a foot, stamped down on his serpentine neck.
Danny's eyes immediately shot open in pain. Not only that, but the crushing force seemed to have activated something in his throat, as something burning was quickly welling up in his windpipe…
The pressure quickly built until the dragon's jaws were forced open. Green flames erupted from within his esophagus, flaring out in a great tornado of fire. Skulker was forced backwards and disappeared in the dense underbrush, which was quickly consumed by the inferno. The blaze licked away at the jungle around it, quickly spreading to encompass the whole area around.
Danny sat up and coughed hoarsely a few times, small puffs of smoke coming out of his nostrils. He got up and saw that he was in a ring of emerald fire, which was quickly eating away at the surrounding jungle, leaping fingers of flame dancing into the air.
The halfa winced. Did I really do that?
However, he hadn't much time to dwell on it, as a small dart zipped out from somewhere behind him and struck him between the shoulder blades.
Fatigue almost instantaneously overtook the poor halfa, who tried to stay awake. Alas, the sleeping drug quickly rushed through his system, and he soon found himself collapsed on the ground. The last thing Danny saw before he passed out was a dark shape slowly emerging from the blazing wall of fire…
Daniel awoke, blearily blinking away sleepiness. His first sensation was one of uncomfortableness. He soon realized that this was because he was upside down.
Not only upside down, but entangled in another blue net with his claws bound tightly with glowing green rope.
Danny sighed.
However, the moment his sigh ended, he became aware of an odd sensation building in his chest. It quickly spread to the rest of his body, encompassing it in a feeling of numbness. He closed his eyes and winced as something inside of him rearranged itself, sending sparks of pain shooting up his spine. When he opened his eyes, he felt…different. And he wasn't taking up quite as much space in the net anymore.
The halfa glanced down at himself and gasped.
His claws were once again hands; talons had transformed into feet. Looking backwards as well as he could, he could see no indication of wings or a tail. Danny blinked to make sure he was seeing things right. No doubt about it; he was back to normal.
The elated teenager whooped. Sure, it was cool being a dragon n' all, but it was good to be back on two feet. And speaking of being on two feet…
Danny phased effortlessly through the net and landed on the ground, relived to be walking upright again. With a grin plastered on his face, the ghost kid transformed and flew off towards home.
*Human. Halfa. Human sounded better.
**Yes, I am aware that this joke has been overused, like, over 9000 times. But still.
I hate this chapter for some reason. I just...I hate it. Well, not necessarially hate. Just...dislike. I dunno.
I don't think I have much more to say. But I know you do. So click that review button! Even short reviews are appreciated.
Best Regards,
Cat
