::
Okay, maybe being a reflection of the worlds wasn't the best thing in the world considering Danny now spent his hero time helping out panicked citizens when they started floating if they jumped over a puddle, but it wasn't bad! The kids seemed to be taken with their new invulnerability when they jumped off the swing sets once they got to the highest they could go. The parents weren't as thrilled, but, well, parents rarely were.
There was also the bright side that now that everyone knew who he was - at least unofficially - they didn't seem to care when he started using his ghost powers as Danny Fenton. A few who didn't know gave him odd and terrified looks the first few times, but after a few weeks of it all settling in they seemed to just wave him off as that crazy Fenton kid who liked to play hero. Not a bad thing, overall.
The only bad bad thing was keeping any wandering tourists away from the truth of it all since they didn't seem to be affected, but, well, they had kept the ghosts hidden this long. A few floating humans and glowing eyes weren't so hard after that.
"I don't know… Maybe I'll get that invisible power and I won't have to worry about using cover up." Then there were the teens who were already used to having strange things happen to them.
"Maybe. I think yesterday- Oh! Hi, Danny!" Star was practically beaming and Danny didn't feel right without at least detouring over to say hi. The science fiction section of the bookstore could wait a few more moments.
"Hey, Star." Thankfully, she didn't start spewing apologies over the last day of school, so Danny hoped it could just stay buried and forgotten in history for a while longer. "What are you guys doing in a bookstore during summer?"
"We could ask you the same thing, Fenton." Ah, of course Dash and Kwan were here- Oh! He saw Valerie lurking at the edges and looking at some books. She offered Danny a weak smile, which, okay, progress. Maybe she was getting her own little friend group back. "Nice work on that fight yesterday, by the way."
"Oh. Uh, thanks?" Okay, that was going to take some getting used to. Dash complimenting him was nightmare fuel. "It wasn't that bad of a fight, really. Skulker was just pissy at Technus for adding some hidden surprises into his suit. They usually work it out on their own even when I'm not there to play counsellor."
"You still did a great job. Accept the compliment, nerd," Paulina scoffed, rolling her eyes and oh, thank god. Danny had been worried the hero worship would transfer over to him. It was great when he was fourteen, but now, well.
"Hey, actually, I wanted to ask you guys something." That had all of them looking over, Danny clearing his throat nervously. "How- Uh, how did you figure out that it was me? Like, how did you figure out I was half ghost?"
"Are you kidding?" Wha- What was that supposed to mean?! "You went around the school speaking in Ghost to Mr. Riter."
"Don't forget that his eyes would glow when he was annoyed! That was creepy the first time."
"Then there's the fact 'Phantom' didn't kick his ass when Mr. Riter started flirting back."
"Dude, you changed in the middle of the halls one day. Kind of hard to ignore after that."
"Okay, okay, I get it, I wasn't the best at keeping secrets." Jeez, he had slipped that much? It was sort of okay now, but… Looking to Valerie, Danny saw her roll her eyes and shake her head and oh, yeah, that obvious. Jeez. "I guess I stopped seeing the point near the end."
"I think it's good." Star smiled, bumping her shoulder against Danny's and he really should get to know these four better now that they weren't making his life a living hell. Star, especially, was sweet. "It kind of meant all of this could happen, you know?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." That was a good way of looking at it. That was a great way of looking at it. Star was definitely the brightest of the A Listers.
"Wait. Wait- This means you really are fucking Mr. Riter!" Oh, god, he took it all back this was the most horrible thing in his life.
The sharp sound of someone clearing their throat had them all looking to where Andrew was standing at the end of the aisle, eyebrows raised. "You all are aware that I'll be returning to teach next year, yes?"
While most of them looked suitably chastised, Paulina only narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two of them. "Sir… Danny's seventeen-"
"Okay, gotta go, see you guys later, have a nice summer!" Danny grabbed Andrew's arm and pulled him along at once, the both of them almost dropping their books and Andrew complaining about rude teenagers under his breath in either French or Ghostspeak. It was actually rather hard to tell.
"That…" Danny trailed off before laughter started bubbling out of him. "That was great." At Andrew's look, Danny laughed even more, shaking his head. "No, just… They treated me like Danny. Not Fenton or Phantom or anything, but just- Just Danny." That had for a while, but Danny just hadn't noticed.
"Of course they did." Andrew gave him an odd look, ruffling his hair. "Who else would they treat you as?" Danny only laughed again and oh, yeah. This summer was going to be great.
Except things in his life tended to not stay good for very long.
::
"Whoa, guys, chill. I know you don't really need to breathe and all, but still." Danny had been watching Sam climb a tree to prove she could hang upside down from it, Tucker cheering her on when Johnny and Kitty had flown up to him, looking out of breath. "Where's your bike, anyways-"
"At this point? A bunch of scrap metal at the bottom of the Ghost Zone." Considering how Johnny loved that bike only a little less than he did Kitty… Danny's ghost form snapped around him, eyes narrowed.
"Tell me what happened." Johnny and Kitty were troublemakers, but no one in the Zone would make them look this panicked. No one friendly, at least. "Everything."
"It's the prison!" The prison? Walker's prison? "We were checking on everything at home and on our way to a party here and then we saw the prison and it looked like it had been torn apart, man!"
"All the guards are gone, Danny." Kitty worried nervously at her lip, Tucker and Sam quickly moving to stand on either side of him. "We ran into one that got away and he was rambling on about Walker."
"So much for him not surviving," Sam muttered, sharing a dark look with Danny. They knew what this meant for the ghosts and humans alike. "Walker took the prison back, then?"
"No. He just went there to gather guards, but get this, he had new ghosts with him. A whole bunch, too."
"New ghosts? Where-" Fear. Fear and anger and rage and a need to come back… Oh, no. "Section 13." The ones that were alive had escaped. The ones that were alive.
"Not all of Walker's old guards escaped, either," Johnny swallowed. "Only half a dozen and they ran straight for the Observants. We were flying closer to see if we couldn't get more information and, well, it's a good thing Kitty has that kiss of hers."
"We hightailed it out of there fast, but my kiss is only temporary, you know. The few I got will be back and something tells me Walker is going to be pissed we got away."
"I think he's going to be pissed about a lot of things," Tucker snorted, pulling his phone out. "I'm calling your parents, dude, and anyone else I know to get the word out."
"Good idea. Sam, wanna go with Johnny and Kitty? Get the word out that hell is about to break loose again?" They all exchanged a tense laugh, Sam bumping their fists together before running off after Johnny and Kitty, the two ghosts swearing to blast the news to the mountains and back.
"Fuck." Danny ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it sharply before sighing and changing back enough to grab his own phone out of his jeans pocket, dialing up a number at once.
"If you're calling me then you're either stuck in a building or the world is about to end again. Which one is it?"
"Ouch. Not even a hello?" Danny grinned slightly at the laugh before his smile fell just as quick. "It looks like it's time for us to get our justice, Val."
A long silence crackled over the phone, Danny vaguely hearing something that reminded him of Randy when he was fiddling with his guns. "I won't let you down."
"Spread the word. This time Amity Park is going to be ready for whatever Walker can throw at us." He wouldn't let anyone get hurt this time.
"I'm on it. Stay safe in the meantime, yeah? I'm getting sick of changing these damn bandages."
"Think of it like a mark of heroism," Danny grinned, feeling a hint of guilt anyways. "I'll have Randy look at it later. See ya, Val." Exchanging one last goodbye, the two hung up and Danny floated in the air, bumping fists with Tucker who was rambling into his own phone.
He had a Ghost Zone to warn and some mates to prepare because this time Walker was going to be fighting on their terms.
::
"It's hard to believe how much has changed in a year." After a few eventful hours of warning the town and getting everyone used to using weapons confidently, Danny was floating in the air next to Clockwork, the two staring at the time mirrors that were playing events out from the beginning of Danny's school year. Right now it was stopped on a scene of Danny and Andrew studying on a couch with Randy frowning at a French textbook.
"You've grown quite a lot." Yeah… He had, hadn't he? Sure a lot of bad shit had happened - a lot considering Spectra and that trip to the past, but just as much good had happened. "It's all lead up to where you are now."
"It felt like so long ago that day Andy came in to teach for us." It felt like a small little joke. Something that would be there and gone in a flash, but Andrew becoming a substitute had led up to so much in that year. It all would have probably led to this in the end no matter what, but that truly felt like a catalyst. "God, Randy wasn't even with us back then."
"Well, he was always with you in a way," Clockwork chuckled, the scene changing to Randy tucking a blanket around Danny as he and Andrew talked, Randy looking so fond when Andrew looked away. "It just took a while for all the pieces to fall into place."
"They did, though." And there was that Valentine's day, Randy alone in the kitchen and smiling distantly at something he had baked with an expression that could only be called longing. And then Danny and Andrew had tumbled in and it had all clicked together as it was always meant to. "It's been a pretty crazy year, but I don't think I'd change any of it."
"No?" The fear, the worries, the death, the hatred, the bitterness, all of it had been so hard. No, though. He wouldn't change it. Not when it led to love and victory and joy and happiness and this sense of everything being right. "You, Daniel, are something else entirely."
"Yeah. I'm learning that." He was unique like no one else and he was the echo of the worlds he had grown to love. It was messy and complicated, but, well, that was life. "I won't let him harm my town."
"Oh? So what are you going to do, then?" Clockwork was smiling and sounding fond, Danny watching an image of him and his mates laughing together on the couch flicker by. Amity Park in danger, huh? Well. Only one thing to do.
"I'm going to protect them."