Me: Ugggghhhhh…. I feel terrible…

Jade: *looks up from pudding* What's wrong with you?

Me: *falls on couch, presses cushion to face* I spent too long getting around to this chapter. The readers probably hate me….

Jade: *mouth full* They probably do.

Me: *whining* They must think I'm some rude, lethargic bum who only watches anime…

Jade: *scrunches up face* Aren't you?

Me: NO! I watch other things too! Cartoons are the greatest! *mumbles* If only they had better plots…*sighs* And I forgot to sign off last time too…

Jade: *starts eating a tub of ice cream* Oh, don't worry. The cat took care of it.

Me: *looks up slowly* What cat?

Jade: *chewing* Yeah, I was confused too, but it has better grammar than you!

Me: *stares at her* You mean… It was real?

Jade: *swallows* Huh? Have you spent too many late nights reading fanfiction?

Me: *soft whisper* I thought it was imaginary…. Like, my mind trying to make me feel better for forgetting to sign off…

*long moment of silence*

Jade: *drops tub of ice cream* So it's not yours!? Then… WHO'S CAT IS IT!?

Me: PREPARE FOR INVASION!

*they start frantically building a pillow fort and stocking it with supplies*

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

Chapter 6: A Sack of Goodies and Too Many Ghosts (Plus a Friend)

The walls of Walker's room were white.

Danny felt blinded the moment he was escorted inside. Everywhere he looked, there were pure white surfaces. Even the furniture matched the colour scheme - a stark comparison to the slate grey halls of the prison he remembered.

"We meet again, Phantom."

Danny jumped and flicked his eyes to the desk. He hadn't noticed before because they blended in with the rest of the room, but there was a ghost sitting there, fixing him with watchful eyes.

He swallowed, "Walker. I guess you know why I'm here?"

The older ghost nodded and stood up menacingly, making a show of displaying just how big he was compared to the halfa in front of him. He said nothing, simply staring at Danny with his off-putting eyes. Danny coughed and felt sweat slide down his back.

Walker opened his mouth to speak, "As you know, the Ghost Zone is a chaotic place. Without the law, we would live in constant anarchy. We need laws in order to live with each other," his eyes burrowed into Danny, making the other shiver with the feeling Walker was looking into him. "And I make those laws." He turned around and clasped his hands behind his back as he looked through the window down onto the prison grounds. "In this place I am the judge, executioner, law-maker, jury, executioner..."

The prison warden droned on about all the power he was responsible for. Danny found it a bit hard to pay attention. He was too nervous thinking why Walker was going off on a tangent instead of harshly berating him. It was strange he wasn't in shackles already!

The guard who had escorted him here, in fact, one of the ones who had waited for him at the portal whispered in his ear, "Walker may not show it, but he's actually secretly happy you came to him to ask for permission. The fact you had the forethought to send Skulker ahead with a request is just the icing on the cake. He's glad you finally seem to be following the rules. You're already on his good side, so try not to mess up."

The ghost's tone was encouraging but Danny couldn't help but feel even more anxious as he waited for Walker's monologue to finish. The warden paused and spun around to address him, leaning close and looking very dangerous.

"What is your reason for bringing real world contraband into the Ghost Zone, knowing it is unlawful?" His deep voice boomed and filled the space so it felt suffocating, and his ominous presence did nothing to help matters. Danny tried to get his voice to work but found his throat was suddenly dry. He really didn't want to get thrown in jail. Maybe he had bitten off more than he could chew. If only his friends were here.

Focus Danny!, he told himself. He forced his throat to swallow and summoned all the diplomacy he could muster.

"Mr. Walker," the warden raised his eyebrow. "I can assure you that I have a perfectly logical reason in the best interests of all ghosts as to why I brought all this stuff." Walker leaned out of his personal space and seemed content to listen until he had finished, so he continued. "The asteroid that nearly destroyed both our worlds was avoided only a few weeks ago, so I think it's time that I show you all show appreciation."

Danny looked Walker straight in the eyes, "Those 'real world contraband' are gifts for all the ghosts who helped me. It's also to say sorry for dragging them around in a net and hoping they'd just do as I say. That was wrong of me and if I know you, you'll throw me in a cell the minute I stop talking because I just incriminated myself for kidnapping and coercion but please let me give them anyway and why am I saying all this I know I'm rambling but god I'm really nervous hahahaha..."
He shut his mouth and shifted anxiously under the warden's stare, unsure if it was contemplative or thunderous. He had no idea which would be better.

Finally, Walker's face moulded into something puzzled, his brow furrowed and his gaze distant. "Mr...?" he repeated.

Danny was thrown for a loop, "What?"

The ghost guard helpfully spoke into his ear, "I don't think Mr. Walker has ever heard you respectfully address an authority figure. He seems quite confused."

"Wha-!" The ghost boy flustered, unsure of what to say. "I respect authority! I mean there's..."

Danny's eyes went wide, "Ok, wow, I guess you're right. It's kinda hard to like a teacher who hates my guts and even harder to love parents who want to rip me apart 'molecule by molecule'."

Danny caught himself and hurried to amend his statement, "But that was all before they knew I was the ghost boy! I don't really hate them now... B-but that's just humans! I respect lots of ghosts!"

"Yes."

"There's Clockwork, Frostbite, Wolf... Skulker, I guess?"

"I said yes."

"On second thought, scratch that. I don't really know him all that well... Maybe-"

"Phantom!" Danny winced as the ghost warden raised his voice.

"Um, what?"

Walker stepped around his desk and approached from the side. His larger size only seemed to swell up more as it filled Danny's vision; the ghost towered over him! "I said, you may."

Danny released the breath he had been holding, "May what?"

Walker sighed, "You're not very bright, are you?"

"Hey! I'm plenty bright! I glow like a candle!"

The ghost ignored the joke and walked back to his desk, picking up some papers. "Here are the permit papers needed in order to possess and distribute real world items in the Ghost Zone. All it takes is one stamp from me and a signature from you and you'll be free to do as you like with your 'sack of goodies'," Danny frowned as he detected a hint of satire (a word he was proud he'd managed to pick up during one of Lancer's classes despite his 'popularity situation').

Walker paused. "Within reasonable boundaries," he added.

But Danny didn't care, he was too thrilled for anything short of another asteroid to dampened his previously bad mood. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips - the prize was almost within reach! He made sure to keep his attention centred on Walker, waiting to hear the rest of the older ghost's words.

Walker stared into the face of the Ghost Zone's hero - their 'saviour'. That might be the way Danny was seen in the eyes of other ghosts but to him, in that moment, he looked nothing more than an earnest child who'd do anything in the world to get the toy he wanted.

Did Walker trust him not to use the permit unwisely? It was hard to say, but the little runt was certainly on the way to getting off his 'to capture' list.

Little did he know that deep in his mind his subconscious had already given up on 'bringing the ghost boy to justice'. It was actually better in the long run to keep him out of a cell as it dissuaded any trouble-making ghosts from breaking the law. He would let the boy do as he liked, regardless of whatever mayhem he whipped up. He would still threaten to press charged though - that never got old.

"You want to show your appreciation to us for helping you turn the earth intangible, correct?" The boy nodded. "Then I see no reason not to grant you permission to do as you say. You have my formal approval." Walker reached into his coat and took out a black ink stamp, pressing his official seal onto the paper.

"Use it wisely," he added gravely.

Danny nodded, his smile now as bright as the sun itself, "I will." That had gone much better than he thought, but he felt like a few years had been shaved off his lifespan nonetheless.

Walker handed him the pen.

His good mood continued as he walked through the prison corridors, regardless of the fact that his goofy smile made him look like an idiot. He couldn't help it; the smile refused to leave his face as if stuck with Fenton Sustiglue (super sticky glue). Any ghost walking by would have said it was as radiant as the sun.

Currently, the guard from Walker's office was taking him to where his sack of stuff had been secured. The ghost seemed as happy as Danny.

"So what's your name?" he asked, wanting to know the name of the ghost who had not left his side since he entered the ghost zone.

The guard smiled, pleased the boy would want to know, "It's Miles."

"Last name?"

"You don't care about last names when you're dead."

"I guess not. Ok, then," Danny pressed. "How long have you been a guard?"

Miles smiled whimsically, "All my life and afterlife. I used to live in Arkansas when I was alive. I was a police officer, so joining up with Walker was the best thing to happen to me when I died."

Danny listened, touched that Miles had chosen to share such sensitive information with him. Not many ghosts liked to speak of when they were alive since it reminded them of what they had lost and whom they left behind.

"It suits you," he decided to say.

The ghost said nothing; they had arrived at the storage room. The two paused their flight and Miles swiped a key card into the access port. The grey door slid open to reveal a room cast in shadow. Miles flicked a switch and a fluorescent light flickered to life to present them with large piles of stuff Danny recognised as things from the living realm.

"That's a lot of stuff," he breathed.

Miles chuckled, "More than you expected?" The boy nodded.

How do you get it all to stay in on place, and on the ground at that?" Danny pressed.

Miles replied, "This room is surrounded by two walls, one of ghostly energy and the other of real world iron. We have a gravity generator somewhere in the back to stop them from floating around."

Danny giggled. Miles looked confused, "What?"

Danny shrugged, "Just that in my dimension, people are trying to create anti-gravity generators instead. Weird right?"

Miles considered this. "So, humans are trying to find a way to float around like ghosts? That is weird."

"Humans would say ghosts are weird," Danny retaliated.

Miles smiled. "I guess that makes you the weirdest," but the joke didn't get the reaction he hoped for.

The ghost boy's shoulders slumped and a wave of dejection passed over his face. "Yeah, I guess so..." he trailed off. "And what good does that do me?"

The guard frowned, "You don't like being half ghost?"

"No, no!" Danny cried. "It's just..." He sighed miserably. "Sometimes I wonder if I might have been better off not revealing my identity - at least to the whole world."

The ghost didn't understand, "What do you mean?"

The ghost boy wearily sat down on a television, the nearest thing to sit on. "Have you ever read comic book about superheroes before?"

"I think so," Miles nodded slowly, having no idea what the kid was going on about.

"Well, humans love that kind of stuff, especially teenagers. A superhero is someone with awesome powers fighting to protect them all, someone they look up to. The attention was all right when I was Danny Phantom since they had no idea of who I really was. But now they know who I am, what I am and even where I live."

Miles simply listened to the boy vent all his frustrations as he floated deeper into the piles of contraband. "I get to wake up every day to a crowd screaming at me to transform. I receive mountains of fan mail that will one day overrun my house. I get to go to school and be pestered for photos and stared at the whole day. News reporters and fans ask me for autographs. Even the merchandise sells better than Empress She-Wolf! The whole world is treating me like I'm some endangered species to put on a pedestal and admire! Like I'm not a normal person!"

Miles swivelled to stare at the boy he was quickly beginning to think needed some guidance for his troubles. "Are you?"

"What?" Danny frowned.

The ghost guard continued, "Are you normal?"

Danny sighed, "No. I guess not."

"Then why does it bother you now?" Miles perked up as he finally spotted the sack of 'goodies' belonging to his companion.

Danny slumped in defeat. "Because... because everything's different now. I used to be nobody, just the poor sucker who was shoved in lockers and got C minuses in all my classes. Then I got my powers and suddenly I was something..." he struggled to find the right word. "More. It was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I was a butt-kicking hero who saved the town and went on adventures with my friends."

He smiled at the memory, but it was short-lived. "Well, not anymore. Now that my cover has been blown, I hardly have a moment to myself. The attention is suffocating me. I need an outlet, something to stop me from losing my mind." He paused, "And my school life. No way am I being home schooled by my overbearing parents."

He jolted as a net full of gifts hit the ground in front of him. Miles' head popped up round the side. "Have you thought to ask for help?"

Danny shrugged, "Who can I ask? Tucker would think it's cool, Sam would tell me to deal with it, my parents are terrible role models, my sister would only be annoying-"

"How about someone not human. After all, your problem doesn't sound like it falls under the living realm's... expertise."

The boy's eyebrows rose, "Then, a ghost? Who?"

Miles floated over to him and gave a reassuring smile, "The ghost best at helping others of all - Clockwork."

Danny sat is silence, thinking it over. "How can he help me?" He paused. "Wow, dumb question. He knows everything, including that I have a problem."

Miles sat down next to him, "Exactly. As the Master of Time, Clockwork is responsible for looking after the time streams of all beings - not just ghosts. It's fair to assume he knows quite a bit about your world."

Danny slowly nodded, "Yeah, ok. Clockwork will know what to do, and if he doesn't..." He smiled, "Hell would freeze over before that happened."

"Actually, despite popular belief Hell is not a realm of fire or burning," Miles interjected.

Danny looked up at him in amusement, "Why? Have you been there?"

Miles nodded, completely serious, "I have."

"What is it?" Miles paused, unsure if he should tell the young boy about Walker's torture chamber. He determined it would be for the better if he let the poor boy sleep that night.

"Doesn't matter. Now," Miles placed a hand on the large sack that towered over them. "How do you plan on emptying this sack?"

As it turned out, Miles was more than happy to help Danny give out the gifts to the Ghost Zone residents. He was becoming a fast-friend and even went so far as to round up a couple of his colleagues to help.

"Won't you get in trouble with Walker?" Danny asked nervously.

Miles shook his head, "Nah. We've been waiting for the perfect time to take some time off, so this is great. Besides, it'll take too long with just yourself." He purposely forgot to mention that the group of guards had been given permission from Walker beforehand if the warden had been pleased with Danny's explanation.

And so it happened that the Danny and his ghostly helpers split the sack's contents between them and travelled around the ghosts' home, delivery presents and thanks to every door, a bit like a ghostly version of Santa Claus and his elves. The ghosts were pleasantly surprised (after Danny explained that he was there only as an act of goodwill and the ghosts stopped trying to blast his face off) by his thoughtfulness and their acknowledgement of him only grew.

Soon the message had spread that 'Danny Phantom pays back his favours' and ghosts from all over started coming to him, expecting their own colourfully wrapped gift. Many ghosts he knew made an appearance such as Box Ghost, Lunch Lady, Ghost Writer, Young blood, Spectra and Bertrand, Desiree, Cujo and Wolf.

"Vi faras feliĉojn kun via boneco," Wolf rasped as he accepted a box of sweets.

"Thanks," replied Danny, not quite understanding all the Esperanto words but nevertheless getting the gist of it.

Another ghost he caught a glimpse of was Fright Knight. He could have sworn that the ghost, now no longer under the servitude of Pariah Dark, had shown up while the crowd was large and busy and done nothing but stare. He didn't move closer to obtain his own 'appreciation package' as they had been dubbed by the ecstatic ghosts, he had simply sat on his sinister steed and fixed his helmeted gaze on the halfa.

Danny had felt the chills emanating from his stare and swivelled round to give the ghost a piece of his mind - "Wait, where'd he go?" Danny scanned the area but could not find any trace of the knight, and instead speculated on whether he had imagined it. He figured the ghost was probably somewhere else and wouldn't feel the need to accept a gift, preferring to keep Danny in his debt until a later time?

He settled to forget about it. The sack was still half full!

More than anything, Danny was relieved when none of them seemed to want to fight him or even share unfriendly banter. He had fun talking to them as he did during the Christmas Truce and found out that many of them liked to chat and joke around just like he did.

The only downside was that Bertrand kept shapeshifting into snakes or clowns whenever he turned his back, occasionally earning him a small scare, which the other ghosts found hilarious.

Overall, Danny was glad he had decided to come here. The longer he stayed, the more he felt the previous week's tensions slowly slipping away, replaced with well-deserved serenity.

Me: *head pops out from under pillow fort* Oh, there you are! We've been waiting for you to finish reading so we can get your help! *eyes dart around in suspicion* Were you followed? Doesn't seem like it… Come inside, quickly!

*reader jumps into pillow fort*

Me: Welcome aboard! Jade, what's our status?

Jade: Uhhhh…. We're running low on supplies. Our rations won't last longer than a week at best.

Me: What? But I thought we fully stocked everything! We should have had a month's worth! *spots wrapper under pillow* Have you been eating extra rations!?

Jade: STRESS MAKES ME STRESS EAT, OKAY?

Me: Gahhhhhh! I can't believe you! Whatever! Hey, Rookie! *throws reader binoculars* Keep a look out for the cat, alright? *dangerous whisper* It's out there…

MISSION: Locate, capture and interrogate enemy cat. DISSMISSED!

Translations:

Wolf: "You make ghosts happy with your kindness."

A/N: Make sure to look out for Fright Knight in future chapters! He's an important plot device in this fanfic's main storyline. (And I assure you, all this "fluff" at the start and end of each chapter DOES have an end goal. Think of it as a writing exercise for me and BONUS material for you. You're welcome, enjoy!)