Danny ran his fingers across his face in exhaustion, "Look, I'm sorry okay! I didn't know you were a human! It's not like you said anything anyway."
Tony Stark stared up at Danny with a blank expression, before abruptly punching him in the sternum with a gloved fist.
The air forcefully left Danny's lungs. Keeling over, he wheezed, "What was that for? I said I was sorry!"
"I just wanted to see if you would do that little intangibility trick again. Which, by the way, I am thoroughly impressed by. Mind telling me how you do that, ghost-boy?" Tony carelessly glanced over at Danny.
The halfa slowly stood upright, gasping, "You just answered your own question, you tin-can. Is your head metal the whole way through?" Danny asked, peeved.
"Okay, okay. I admit it. The paranormal does exist – yadda, yadda, yadda. I was wrong. Can we move on already?" Tony's face was set in a deep frown, "Besides, aren't you one of the Fentons' kid? How can you be a ghost?"
Danny hesitated, before squeaking out, "My parents? The Fentons aren't my parents! I just, uh… use the portal for travel convenience!"
Tony looked suspicious, before shrugging it off, "Okay, whatever you say, Captain Cadaver."
Danny ignored the jab, favouring to look around at the destroyed lab, "My question is why hasn't mum and— I mean, Maddie and Jack shown up yet?"
"Oh, that? I may have sent them and your sister on a little field trip with my colleague a while ago. A good old ghost-hunt, in the city that calls its school 'Casper High'. How original. I mean, seriously? Bit of an overkill don't you think?" the corners of Tony's mouth were tipped upwards.
Danny grimaced, before sharply replying, "The school was named that way before the ghosts came along, okay? Don't ask me why," Looking down at the green monster laying on the floor where Danny had dumped him, he asked, "So what do we do with Doctor Banner? Maddie and Jack will rip him to shreds in their excitement if they find him."
"Well, do you know how to carry several hundred pounds of semi-conscious green muscle inconspicuously?" Tony remarked sarcastically.
Danny ignored him. Tony frowned, "Hey, are you listening to me?"
Danny had leant down next to the hulking mass on the tiles, his intangible hand hovering over the monster. Danny flicked his eyes towards Tony, "I think I've got a plan."
/ / /
"Okay, this is far from inconspicuous!" Tony stage-whispered, as he followed Danny. Well, it was sort of Danny. The corpse-kid had somehow taken control of Bruce's transformed body and was wandering through the house highly imbalanced, "People are definitely going to notice!"
"It's fine," Came the deep slurred response. Danny seemed to be having a hard time using his vocal chords, "It just means that they're gonna leave us alone. Besides, they've seen worse." Danny faltered slightly in the monster's body, leaning heavily on a wall to regain his balance, the drywall cracking under the strain.
"Worse? How can seeing a big green Gamma-guy walking down the street not be scary?" Tony was half-jogging to keep up with Danny's much large steps.
Danny didn't respond as he reached the front door. Reaching for the doorknob, he delicately pulled the door open, wrenching it completely off its frame.
"Wow. This guy's at his basics and is this strong? I'm glad I only had to go against you instead of him."
"Hey, at least I don't go wandering around in a skin-tight one-piece!" Tony said defensively.
"Usually, I'd turn both of us invisible, but not even this guy has enough energy to handle that sort of pressure at the moment," Danny leant the door against the wall, before crouching at eye level with Tony, "So what's the plan?"
"Ignoring the fact that you are allegedly capable of turning yourself completely see-through, we should head to the outskirts of town. Preferably with a lot of vegetation for coverage. At least until Bruce comes to."
Danny grunted affirmatively, "We'll take rooftops." Forcing his way through the doorway, he turned and grabbed Tony by the torso, who gave a shout of surprise as he pulled him out of the house, flinging him on the monster's back.
"Hold on," Danny muttered, before leaping up into the sky, landing on top of the large silver UFO-type extension perched on top of his house.
"You know, I can just fly myself," Tony nauseously stated, "There's no need for me to ride with you."
"Too conspicuous. A flying android is still a little out-of-the-ordinary in this town," was Danny laughing at him?
Tony didn't have time to mull over it when Danny suddenly jumped again.
/ / /
Natasha was feeling bored and guilty. Not a good combination. Death by Bruce could possibly be less painful than listening to Jack Fenton ramble on about the paranormal. Was this karma for going against all of her training and letting her curiosity get the best of her?
Despite all the claims of ghosts made by the inventors and the citizens, Natasha had yet to see anything actually resembling a ghost. She felt horrible that a boy had died over a city-wide hoax. How was she going to tell his parents that they had accidentally unleashed a monster on him? She supposed she could run. Bring as little attention to herself and leave the state. It would barely leave a mark on her already red-soaked ledger.
As Natasha wallowed in her culpability, her phone began to vibrate. Flipping it out and ignoring the Fentons' ravings, she whispered, "Tony?"
"Not even close," came the short reply.
"Clint? I'll call you back? I'm busy now," Natasha muttered.
Clint continued on, as if he hadn't heard her, "Uzbekistan sounds like a nice place for a holiday. I was hoping we could catch up while I was there. But maybe we could meet for coffee once you're done with your mission?"
"Seriously Clint, I have to go. There's a bit of a situation and I need to keep my line open in case," Natasha glanced at the odd couple at the front of the car. They hadn't noticed that they'd lost their audience as Jack pointed out a suspicious-looking lamp post.
"Fine. I'll pick you up from the airport tonight. No more games, Natasha," Clint hung up.
Natasha was in big trouble. She had made a childish mistake by coming, risking both the safety of both the townspeople and Bruce, and she was going to suffer the consequences when either Clint or SHIELD found out.
Sighing heavily, she pocketed her phone and raised her head reluctantly, only to find the wary blue eyes of Jazz Fenton staring back at her.
/ / /
"Just to let you know Dan-Dan, I think I hate you." Tony said coolly, as they wandered through the thick underbrush of the forest, the Ironman suit clanking with every step.
"The big guy is beginning to wake up. I can feel it," Danny, still in his borrowed body, proclaimed.
"Great. We'll find a place to run and hide when He comes to," Tony replied, analysing the surrounding trees to assess their visual coverage.
"Hide?" Danny asked confused, "Why would we need to do that?"
"Well just because you're dead, doesn't mean that I want to be, too," Tony finally looked into the monster's green eyes, which glowed unsettlingly in their deep-set brow.
"He must be strong to have you so worried," Danny countered.
Tony gasped dramatically, "Was that a compliment?"
Danny rolled his eyes, "Ugh, you're wasting my time," He didn't wait for Tony as he stomped further into the woodlands, "How deep should we go then, for it to be safe for me to release him?"
"Another couple of miles I think. The further from civilisation the better," Tony called, jogging to catch up to the beast's large steps.
Danny frowned, "Not too far then. We don't want to risk going over the Wisconsin border. I don't know the area very well but I know Uncle Vladie's house is too far away to trash," with that, Danny leaped into the trees, bounding deeper into the forest.
Tony glared at the green back, vanishing from sight, before charging up his thrusters and following. He wasn't going to let some smart-mouthed kid have the last word.