UPDATE FRIDAY JULY 9: Apologies to all you 23 lovely readers that attempted to open this chapter within the first few minutes of publishing it. For some reason, the system linked the document for Recognized chapter 10 instead of Fire with Fire. I uploaded and deleted twice. Thank you for your patience.
Happy Friday to everyone! It's time for another installment about our favorite teen heroes. This one is longer than the last to help compensate for chapter 9's shorter length.
I think you all will enjoy this one. It has the Danny-May interactions everyone's been asking for. Wait…what's that? Almost no one asked? TOO BAD. WE'RE GETTIN' SOME BONDING UP IN THIS BIOTCH
General Notes
"This is dialogue."
"This is alternative dialogue, meaning whispered or spoken from a distance such as on the phone."
'This is thought.'
This and THIS and *this* are emphasis. The *this* emphasis is more along the lines of the snarky or sarcastic.
[This is digital text, such as notifications on a computer or smartphone. It also represents A.I. voices, such as Karen or F.R.I.D.A.Y./"Friday" (because I really don't feel like typing out the full acronym with periods every time she comes up).]
I do not own Danny Phantom nor Spider-Man.
Ch. 10 originally published: Friday, July 9, 2021
FIRE WITH FIRE
10 — Keeping Up Appearances
Millions of volts of foreign energy coursed through him as a grounding and scorched the panel under his palm. Hot green ecto-energy spidered up his left arm, burning its way through the hazmat material to the helpless boy's core. Danny could barely scream as an outlet for the pain, building, compounding, intensifying-
His scream echoed through the entire house.
"Danny!" they screamed.
"DANNY!"
Danny bolted upright with a deep gasp. He instinctively whipped out his left arm to check it for anything out of the ordinary, but it was perfectly normal. Slowing his breath, he looked around the open rooftop. A soft orange glow reflected off the partial cloud cover obscuring an otherwise perfect night. Danny shivered against the cold, wrapping the sleeping bag tighter around his shoulders.
"Danny?"
The boy turned and, peering around an HVAC unit, saw another figure in the dark. Sitting up in his own sleeping bag was none other than Peter Parker.
"Peter?" Danny asked. "What are you doing up here?"
"What are you doing up here?" Peter retorted, unzipping his sleeping bag and throwing the covers off himself, revealing his own shorts and t-shirt.
"I…saw a wraith. On my way home. From school," Danny said in spurts, mimicking Peter's movements.
"…Same," Peter replied. "Why are you on the roof though?"
"I don't like to worry my parents with the nightmares," the black-haired boy admitted as he stood to fold his sleeping bag. "You?"
"I don't like to worry May."
Both boys finished gathering their campout supplies and stood staring at each other.
"So…here we are," Danny said.
"Two bros," Peter added, "chilling on a rooftop."
"Five feet apart because-"
"-they're not gay," they finished together then high-fived.
Sunnyside — Wednesday, September 28, 07:05
A massive yawn and halfhearted wave were May's greeting.
"Morning, sleepyhead," she said.
"Mrn'n," her nephew mumbled.
"Rough night?"
After finishing a stretch, Peter shuffled over to the fridge for some orange juice. "Nightmares again."
May hummed pensively. "Are you sure you don't want counseling? I think I can get it covered under my HMO at the hospital…"
"Nah, just a side effect of being near a wraith," Peter dismissed. "I'll be fine."
"Famous last words," May muttered, mostly to herself.
Peter rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine," he repeated.
"Oh, before I forget: I'm sorry, but I can't chaperone you guys to the game tonight. I've got a double shift at the hospital."
"We don't need a chaperone."
"Just because you're a *secret superhero* doesn't mean you don't need someone to keep you in line every once in a while," she teased. "But I think I can trust you guys to make it through a football game in one piece. Right?"
"Yeh."
"Right?" she emphasized.
Peter sighed. "Yes, May, we'll be fine."
"Good. Oh, but I do get off at 10:00, so at least I can give you guys a ride home."
"Are you sure you're okay with me going? After last night, I figured…"
"Peter, one of the things you'll learn growing up is the importance of keeping up appearances, especially when there's something this significant to hide. And I'm…adjusting, I'll admit. But, after dropping so many extracurriculars, I think it's important you go out and do normal teen stuff again."
"If you say so."
Astoria — 07:45
"I'm tellin' you, Sam, it was super weird," Danny insisted as he fidgeted in his hoodie. He shouldered the phone and reached to open his locker. "Thank God Mom was too distracted by the broken glass to second-guess anything."
"Maybe it's just a ghost thing?" she suggested in reply. "Are ghosts just always colder and we never noticed?"
"I feel like we'd notice if Amity Park went from St. Tropez to St. Moritz with all the ghosts constantly flying around." He deposited his Spanish supplies into the locker and replaced them with his chemistry book. "I mean, my breath does frost over when a ghost is near, but I always figured that was a result of the ectoplasm in me activating or something."
"What about that Frostbite guy? I feel like he'd know."
"With the Infi-Map?"
"Yeah. He's all about ice, or don't you remember, *O Great One*?" she teased.
Danny rolled his eyes as he shut his locker. "I guess. But how would we even get to him? Mom and Dad haven't built a portal in Avengers Tower as far as I know. Though I guess there has to be one somewhere nearby with all these wraiths showing up."
"I dunno. Well, just keep track of it. And try not to freeze yourself solid, okay? I'm not there to defrost you or give you first aid."
Danny snorted. "You don't carry a hairdryer anyway," he retorted with a fond smile.
"SAM!" came Pamela's shrill cry over the phone. "Stop talking to that unpleasant fool and come down to breakfast!"
"Can I not have my own life…for TWO MINUTES?!" the girl shouted back.
Danny recoiled slightly from the volume.
"I need you to help me set up my new phone before you leave for school!"
"I told you not to buy another Note 7! It's just gonna blow up like the last one!"
"Just wrap it up, Samantha!"
Scoffing, Sam returned her attention to the phone. "Miss Umbridge demands my presence. Guess I'd better go."
"Alright," Danny agreed with reluctance. "Glad I got a chance to talk to you, Sam."
"You, too. Later, Danny."
"Later."
Just as the boy hung up and pocketed his phone, Ned materialized and fell into step next to him. "Hey, Danny, what's happening?"
"Nothing. You?"
"Nothing. Hey, you going to the football game tonight?"
"No. Should I?"
"Probably. It's L.I.C."
"L.I.C.?"
"Long Island City, dude!" Ned bumped into another student and slipped behind Danny to let the other kid pass. "One of our biggest rivals in the borough."
"Oh."
"C'mon, a bunch of us are going. So's Betty. It'll be fun!"
Danny shot Ned a skeptical glance. "Is our football team even good? I mean, isn't our school all about academics?"
"We scrape by. The on-field injuries are always entertaining, though."
Danny sighed. "Well, fine; sure, I'll go."
"Yes!" Ned cheered, but was cut off by the bell. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I gotta get to homeroom. See you in chemistry."
"See you."
The pair split, and Danny made his way to physics class for homeroom. Mrs. Warren stood at the board preparing a diagram for the day's lesson.
"Heeeey, Ghost Kid!"
Danny halted in his tracks, causing the student behind to collide with his back. He paled and his eyes widened.
Flash sat smirking at him from across the room with a pencil twirling between his fingers. "Did you bring enough disembodied souls to share with the class, Dr. Fenton?" the bully taunted.
Danny released a breath he hadn't realized had halted in his throat. "Very funny, Flash."
"His parents might be weird," Abraham interrupted, "but they aren't crazy. You have seen a wraith for yourself."
"Psh, I fought a wraith," Flash boasted.
"You wet yourself in the corner while Danny Phantom took care of it," Abraham corrected.
The students already in the room snickered collectively as Danny headed to his seat across the aisle from Peter Parker.
"Credit where credit's due, Danny is way better at hiding during an attack than any of us are," Decathlon teammate Charles Murphy, added. "He disappeared faster than a celebrity donor after the press leaves."
Danny smiled uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. When ghost attacks are a daily thing, you get really good at that after a while."
"Hey, competitive hide and seek tournament! Who's in?" Charles suggested, jokingly looking around the room for volunteers.
Danny glanced across the aisle to his neighbor. "Hey, Peter, how did you sleep after our open-air campout?"
Peter looked up. "O-oh, fine, I guess?"
"Cool. Me, too."
"How's your hand?"
Danny gulped and offered a halfhearted chuckle. "Still just a hand." He spun on his stool to face forward and felt MJ's burning eyes on him. He side-eyed the girl and subconsciously ducked his left arm under the workbench.
Long Island City High School, Astoria - 20:30
Rat… … tat… … rat..tat..tat-tat-tat-
The drumline burst into a thunderous staccato beat to the cheers of the growing crowds. The Midtown Tiger mascot danced in front of the band while the L.I.C. bulldog stood by, arms folded in judgment. As the setting sun ducked behind the towers of Manhattan, L.I.C.'s football field glowed under the brilliant stadium lights.
Anticipation began to build as students from both high schools filed into the stadium. Concession stands buzzed with frantic food preparation, and the referees joked around at the corner of the field. While the drum line continued their beat, the marching band took over the rest of the field and soon joined in on the performance.
Danny marveled at the spectacle which dwarfed any he'd seen at Casper High. He mounted the bleachers behind Peter and the other decathlon teammates. Each had dressed in Midtown's signature navy blue and sunburst yellow, Ned having gone so far as to paint each half of his face in the respective colors.
Danny glanced down at his typical red-bordered white tee and self-consciously zipped up his Casper High hoodie.
"Dude, do you not care at all about representing?" Ned chided.
With a teasing expression on his face, Danny replied, "I think you're representing plenty for the both of us."
As the students settled, Danny ended up between Betty and Peter while Ned sat on Peter's other side. MJ sat at the far end of the row past Ned while the rest of the decathlon team sat beyond Betty.
"I'm really glad you were able to come tonight," Betty said with a casual flick of her pale blonde hair.
Danny met her gaze. "Oh. Yeah, this'll be fun," he replied with a small smile. When the eye contact lingered, he awkwardly averted his eyes and massaged the back of his neck. "It's nice to be in the stands. Last time I went to a game, I had to fill in for Casper High's mascot because the usual guy got mono."
"Is it fun being the mascot?" Peter asked.
"Nah, I got trampled immediately."
Betty and Peter both snickered.
Coin tossed and ball in L.I.C.'s possession, the rivaling high schools settled into a routine of cheering and booing as the match proceeded. The decathlon team took turns running to get more drinks and snacks from the concession stand as the game dragged on.
Danny soon forgot the stresses of hunting wraiths and improving his grades. For once, he was just a carefree spectator, a part of the crew, not a bottom-ranking loser mocked by all. Danny found himself cheering louder for Midtown than he ever had for the bullies populating Casper's team.
"Whoa, Danny, you're really cold!" Betty suddenly said, wrapping her hands around Danny's nearest forearm to double-check the exposed skin's temperature.
Danny eyed her hands on his skin and gulped. "A-am I? I hadn't noticed."
"Here." Reaching behind her, she withdrew a blanket from her tote bag and shook it open. She wrapped it around Danny's shoulders and pulled him into a tight side hug. "This should warm you up."
"Yep," Danny squeaked, remaining tense under the embrace. He sat ramrod-straight and looked out at the field.
"GHOST!"
"Where?!" Danny asked, jumping out of his seat to look for a threat, only to see Charles and the other teammates cackling.
"Yo, seriously, Fenton, you gotta chill!" Charles shouted over the noise of the crowds. Turning to Danny's neighbor, he added, "Pete, you need to get him out of the house more! He needs a break from his parents."
Embarrassed, Danny sat back down. "*Forgive me* for being alert," he sassed.
"Hey, at least you won't be the first to die?" Peter offered half-sarcastically.
Danny rolled his eyes.
Midtown scored a field goal, interrupting their good-natured teasing. The blue-and-yellow-clad students jumped from their seats, arms thrown in the air as they screamed joyously. The Tiger mascot began breakdancing next to the team's jug of Gatorade, narrowly missing a kid as he attempted to refill it. Midtown's kicker sent the ball sailing back to L.I.C., and everyone watched the ball's trajectory as it sailed over the field into the-
-wisps of black void.
Danny's core pulsed, freezing the air in his lungs and inducing a full-body shiver.
Peter's nervous system flared, making the hairs on his arms stand on end.
Vacuum.
The stadium fell silent. A mass of wraiths ominously drifted between the goalposts and out over the field. Scattered screams crescendoed into stadium-wide panic as people cowered.
"I'll be right back!" Peter and Danny shouted in unison. The two briefly traded fleeting skeptical looks before they bolted out of their seats and, tumbling over other students and crowd members, escaped in opposite directions. Betty and MJ's gazes flicked between Peter and Danny while the rest of the decathlon team had their eyes locked on the approaching wraiths.
The two fleeing boys reached the aisles simultaneously and slipped between the bleacher construction to the space underneath. Danny landed first and, realizing Peter had chosen a similar escape route, immediately turned invisible and sank into the ground before he could be seen. He flew through the earth, seeing an equipment shed with a space behind it. Surfacing in the sheltered space, he phased back into the earth's plane of existence, and transformed into his ghostly alter ego.
Peter, meanwhile, checked to make sure he was alone before tearing off his shirt and jeans to unveil the spider suit beneath. He produced the mask and gloves from a hidden pocket to finish the change into Spider-Man. The hero sprinted to the opposite end of the bleachers from where he'd seen Danny run, shot a web at Long Island City's main building, and swung into the air.
As Spider-Man perched on the school roof to appraise the situation, Danny Phantom rocketed from over the river towards the teeming mass of beasts. He went in with his fists blazing and began tearing his way through the wraiths. Spider-Man used the distraction to leap off the roof and attach a web at the nearest goalpost, sticking to the top of one of its metal prongs with a metallic thunk.
"Hey, fancy meeting you here!" Spider-Man shouted.
"A ghost hero fighting ghosts?" Phantom parried as he arced past. "You must be truly shocked!"
"You gonna ditch me this time too?"
"Hey, I was running for my afterlife yesterday!" Phantom defended. Offing two more wraiths in one sweep, he floated up next to Spider-Man and held out a tensed arm. "Here, want a lift? I promise not to drop you."
Spider-Man glanced at the questionable hero's offered arm before appraising the number of wraiths and the large gaps between them as they dove to and fro amongst the petrified bystanders. "Yeah, alright." The hero shot a web at the ghost's extended forearm, its contact point spidering out for distributed support. "Thanks."
"No problem."
"Karen, activate splitter webs with tasers on standby," Spider-Man told his suit.
[Done,] the disembodied voice confirmed.
"Who's Karen?" Phantom asked.
"My suit's A.I.," Spider-Man explained, checking the web shooter's reserves on his augmented reality display.
"Oh, sweet! Tell Karen I say hi."
[Please tell Danny Phantom that I say 'hi' in return.]
"Later. Alright, Phantom, let's do this!"
With a confident smirk, Phantom launched out over the field, his free hand blazing with ectoplasmic energy as Spider-Man aimed his available web shooter. The local hero tensed his muscles to counteract the movements and make the pair's flight all the more graceful and controlled.
"Hey, everybody, it's Spider-Man!" the school's sports announcer cried over the stadium's P.A. system. "And he's teaming up with…one of the ghosts!? Wait, isn't that Denny Phantom?"
"It's 'Danny!' " the hero shouted indignantly.
As the crowds realized there were heroes present, their cries of fear slowly devolved into a chant of their local hero's name.
Spi-der-Man! Spi-der-Man! Spi-der-Man!
"Nobody ever appreciates me," Phantom facetiously complained to his companion.
Spider-Man continually shot multiple splitter webs, tethering several targets at once. After the wraiths' flailing had entangled more of their kin as they flew, Spider-Man ordered Karen, "Taser now!"
The webs strobed with crackling electricity, delivering the high voltage to the beasts strung together in the heroes' wake. All eight spasmed before evaporating as one. Having made quick work of the high volume of wraiths yet again, the heroes were reassured to find that the creatures indeed had less individual power when in groups.
Dipping and weaving amongst the otherworldly beasts, Phantom blasted them one by one as Spider-Man employed a succession of electrified splitter webs. Within only a couple of minutes, they had eliminated all but a single wraith. Spider-Man's empty web shooter misfired, prompting Phantom to prepare one last shot.
The stadium erupted with cheers at the final monster's evaporation. Countless cell phone cameras flashed, all focused on the heroes hovering high above the field. The two football teams took to the gridiron, hopping up and down with fists raised high as they celebrated the teen heroes' victory.
Phantom's soul thrummed from the crowd's support. Realizing they would be mobbed if they landed on the grass, he redirected to the goalpost at the opposite end of the field from which they'd begun. The ghost deposited Spider-Man onto one pole while alighting on the other himself. Looking down at his webbed arm, Phantom pulled a face. The sticky strands lit in flame as he charged the length of the limb with ectoplasm.
"Well, that was easy," Spider-Man mused.
"Dude, don't say that!" Danny Phantom protested. "Do you have any idea how bad my luck is?!"
The gates to the field burst apart as white SUVs rammed them out of the way. A procession of identical vehicles roared out, congregating on the edge of the grass. Within seconds, a legion of G.I.W. agents had poured out, one of whom carried a bullhorn.
"Do not worry, civilians. The G.I.W. is here to help," the man barked matter-of-factly.
"With what?" L.I.C.'s announcer replied over the stadium's loudspeaker. "The wraiths are already gone."
The agents faltered, showing a moment of uncharacteristic uncertainty. The white-clad figures glanced around the calm stadium before noticing the two heroes settled on the goal post.
Spider-Man nervously glanced over to Phantom and watched the cheery ghost offer a friendly wave to his frequent antagonizers.
The G.I.W. agents threw the backs of their SUVs open. One after the other, hordes of drones emerged from the cargo bays and arced through the air towards Phantom.
"Well, it's been fun, Spider-Man, but I gotta jet!" Phantom announced and whooshed away.
The drones were too fast, though, and quickly formed a perimeter which trapped the ghost in the stadium. Phantom frantically darted to and fro but ended up cornered with his back to the Midtown students' section of the bleachers. A trio of closer drones charged their onboard weapons as the perimeter tightened. The hero hovered, bobbing gently from the lack of gravity as he drifted closer and closer to the students.
"RUN, PHANTOM! RUN!"
Caught off-guard, the ghost twisted around to see who had shouted the encouragement.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Betty screamed, jumping up and down in front of her seat.
The rest of the Midtown students all had their phones trained on the ghost and surrounding drones. A number of other impassioned students began shouting support and advice, much as one would during a wrestling match.
[Attention ghost scum,] an automated voice echoed from all the aircrafts simultaneously. [Distance yourself immediately from the civilians so no collateral damage is caused during your detainment and/or eradication.]
Phantom looked back to the drones. Surprised to see them making no moves to fire, he chirped, "…Huh."
"…What!?" their remote pilot exclaimed from below. "Fire now!"
[Command invalid. Public safety protocol override required by system administrator.]
"No!" the man screamed. "Somebody get Alpha!"
Phantom offered a sarcastic yet enthusiastic salute. "Guess that's my cue." He turned intangible and backed up through the bleachers.
However, this freed the drones from their target locks and protocol restrictions, so they immediately pursued. The fleeing hero phased diagonally through numerous buildings in the northern Astoria neighborhood, pausing with just his head protruding from a brick-and-mortar corner as he looked to make sure he'd successfully lost them. As the coast was clear, he cautiously emerged from the structure.
A sudden and disorienting pain flared up his right thigh, as though his quad had been completely transected. Phantom screamed and reflexively grabbed the injury, looking for what had inflicted the damage so efficiently. The drones were rocketing over Queens and approaching rapidly, several via the converging streets below and others having followed the hero's diagonal flight path overhead. They encircled him once more, and their blasters hummed with building charges.
Phantom quickly looked around to check for bystanders, and fortunately—or unfortunately, given the drones' programming—none were nearby. He gritted his teeth and focused energy into his right palm, setting it ablaze with ectoplasm before faltering and letting the energy reabsorb into it. The hero summoned a domed shield which was immediately barraged with attacks. He grimaced from the effort but made it expand outward and bump into the weapons, destabilizing them and causing a pause in the attack. Seizing his opportunity, Phantom pushed off the ground with his good leg and darted away. He only had a few moments to get into position, but the plan worked.
As all the drones grouped together to pursue the hero, their effective radius had condensed enough to allow for one final attack above the Astoria skyline. Phantom took a deep, shaky breath and wailed. The energy virtually shredded the outer shells and inner workings of the weaponized aircrafts. Within seconds, they clattered lifelessly to the ground below.
Panting laboriously and still gritting his teeth, the hero surveyed his surroundings and was pleasantly surprised to spy Mount Sinai Hospital across the street. He jaggedly made his way to an upper floor's open window and flew through it, crash landing in a quiet hallway and shouting from the jolt of the impact on his injury.
Phantom moaned with every breath. The hero rocked back and forth from his prone position on the floor with an unbreakable grip on his thigh in hopes of silencing the nerves screaming at his brain. "Shit," he uttered. He even tried not breathing at all, but the agony made it virtually impossible. He looked up and down the vacant hall, hoping for some sort of sign or savior, but none came.
Phantom struggled to contort his body so he could reach the cell phone tucked away in his utility belt. Lifting it with shaking hands, he pressed and held the home screen button.
"C-call…Sam…"
The phone rang a few times before the girl answered. "Hey, what's up?" she greeted.
"R-remember what I promised? About not-" his voice caught in his throat "-getting hurt?"
"Oh, God."
Phantom blinked away a few tears. "Leg. Thigh. Quad thing. Shot."
"Shit. Uuuhhh…" Some stomping and rustling signaled her sprint to the first aid book and kit stashed in Sam's closet. "Can you get to a first aid kit?"
"Well, I'm at a hospital, so…"
"Okay, well, that's good at least. How bad is it?"
"Been better."
"Don't understate."
"Okay, it's fuckin' awful."
"Can you switch to video so I can see?"
Danny fumbled with the phone, never more grateful that his parents had integrated touchscreen compatibility into their hazmat suits.
"Holy shit!" Sam exclaimed. "Um, I mean…yeah, that looks bad. Thank God you called me and not Tucker."
"Heh." Danny winced and tried to readjust his position. "He couldn't even handle re-locating my shoulder."
"Ummm...Looks like you'll need stitches. How good are you at sewing your own flesh closed?"
"Uh, ew!?"
"Sorry. Coulda phrased that better. Just...panicking, since I can't help. Um...okay, you need to find an empty room or a-"
"Hey, ghost kid?"
Slack-jawed, Phantom looked up to see none other than his neighbor running down the hall in her work scrubs. "Mrs. Parker?"
"You're not supposed to know that!" Sam hissed.
May Parker faltered in her run as she neared. "How do you know who I am?"
"Uh, I, uh—ghost vision?" Phantom suggested. He glanced down, relieved to see a name badge clipped to her top. He pointed at it and said, "I could read your…you know, name thing? From afar?"
Sam groaned.
May glanced down at the badge in question before seeing the phone in the ghost hero's hand. "Who are you talking to?"
Phantom's eyes darted between her and the phone then back again. Not breaking eye contact, he said, "I'll call you back," and ended the video call. The ghost stood, using his uninjured left leg to get up and muting an outcry with a bite to the inside of his cheek. "Just a friend."
"A friend, huh?" The woman's gaze fell on the green ectoplasm lazily oozing from Phantom's thigh. "Lemme guess: a friend who knows first aid?"
"Well-"
"You're gonna need a little more than first aid. Here, come with me," May said and held open her arm, ready to wrap around his torso for support.
The teen warily eyed the appendage. "…I'll be fine. Thanks though."
"You'll be fine?"
"Been through a lot worse."
"Okay, then; walk."
"Um, you want me to what now?"
"Walk," she insisted, crossing her arms in bemusement.
Phantom cringed before focusing his levitation powers to hover just above the floor as he stepped forward with his right leg.
May rolled her eyes. "Without floating."
Hesitating, the ghost tried putting his weight back on the injured thigh and nearly crumpled from the explosion of increased agony.
May reached out just in time to stop him from collapsing completely. "Alright, you're coming with me now." The nurse wrapped her arm around Phantom's torso as originally intended.
As the pair hobbled down the hallway, Phantom sensed his neighbor's eyes on him constantly. Feeling her shiver, he dejectedly apologized, "Sorry. I'm kinda cold."
"No, no," she dismissed. "Not nearly as cold as when the heater broke last winter."
"Still, we ghosts are basically just blocks of ice."
"Well, maybe I run hot and like hugging giant ice cubes. You don't know me," she teased.
Phantom half-smiled at that despite the sweat beading on his forehead.
"So you're the infamous Danny Phantom everyone keeps talking about."
"Guilty."
"Funny. You don't seem like a supervillain."
"Probably 'cause I'm not. Just a ghost in way over his head."
"You're younger than I pictured. What's with all the teenage superheroes these days?" May asked, mostly to herself as doors passed by at a snail's pace.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Well, how old are you, anyway? You don't look any older than Peter," she explained. "My nephew, I mean."
"I'm—uh—who's to say? Some people think I was around in feudal Japan and ancient Ro-ome..." His voice pitched up at a particularly jarring step.
"Well, were you?"
Phantom's smile was far from innocent. "Well, I wasn't not?"
"And yet here you are looking like a normal teenager," May added, "apart from the bleached hair and built-in nightlight. Was one of your parents a bioluminescent jellyfish or something?"
Phantom chuckled. "No, the glowing is just a ghost thing." He sobered as they rounded a corner and continued down the next hall. "Why are you helping me?"
"You're injured," she stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, but…I'm a ghost. I'm, like, dead. Doesn't the hippopotamus—hippocampus oath only apply to living people?"
May laughed. "It's Hippocratic. Eh, you seem alive enough. Besides, I'm a nurse. The limits of that oath don't apply to me." She stopped at one of the many identical doors. "Here we are."
The pair hobbled into a typical hospital examination room with a bed at its center. The lighting was dim apart from a bright fixture above the bed, so Phantom's glow stood out more than ever.
"Hop on the bed and take off your pants."
"What?!" Phantom blurted. "I can't- but you're-"
"-A nurse," May drawled. "How else am I supposed to access the injury?"
Blushing, the hero fumbled with his boots but couldn't maneuver around his injury. May Parker paused her preparations and came over, kneeling down to help him get the footwear off. Phantom smiled his thanks then shuffled out of the hazmat suit, setting it next to him on the bed.
"Hey, can't ghosts go through walls?" Mrs. Parker mused.
"Yeah, it's called 'phasing,' " the teen hero answered as he settled onto the table.
"So couldn't you have just 'phased' out of your uniform?"
Phantom stilled.
May stilled.
The two stared wordlessly for a few tense moments.
"You know…" the ghost began, "sometimes I forget it's an option…"
May couldn't hide a smile as she continued collecting supplies from the cupboards and counter. "So what happened tonight?"
"Oh, just ghost stuff. Bunch of wraiths attacking a high school football game."
"Really? Which one?"
"Long Island City."
May stilled. Recovering from whatever had overcome her, she asked, "Was…Spider-Man there?"
"Spider-Man? Yeah, he was really helpful I guess."
"He's not—did he get—?" The woman gestured at Phantom's injured leg.
"Oh, he was fine, I think. I didn't really see much of him once I ran from the stadium."
"That's a relief."
*Ring ring*
Phantom paled.
May frowned.
*Ring ring*
"You gonna get that?" the nurse asked.
Phantom slowly shook his head. "I'll let it go to voicemail."
The pair stared at the phone vibrating on the bed next to the hero until it fell silent. Phantom breathed a shallow sigh of relief.
*Ring ring*
The suffering boy facepalmed then snatched up the phone.
[Call from: Betty B.]
"I guess I'd…better take this," Phantom admitted, then he answered, "Hey."
"Danny! Where the heck are you? The game is about to resume!"
"I'm, uh…busy."
"With what?"
"Who is that?" May asked curiously.
"No one."
"Who is that?" Betty asked.
"No one!" Phantom repeated into the phone. "Look, I don't think I can make it back to the…thing," he responded vaguely with one cautious eye on May Parker.
"I refuse to accept that something is more important than time with your friends."
"I…fell? …Down the bleachers. When I went for help."
May frowned skeptically at his response.
"Oh my gosh! Will you be okay? Are you at the hospital?"
"No!" he blurted. "I mean, I'll be fine, and I'm not at the hospital. I'm just going ho- uhhh, I'm going…goooiiinnng…to leave…early?"
Betty huffed. "Well, I hope you feel better. See you tomorrow?" Her voice drooped with disappointment.
"Yeah, see you." Phantom hung up and shoved the phone into the utility belt beside him.
"What's with all the lies?" May asked casually.
"I don'—I don't know what you mean."
"You definitely didn't fall down the stairs. What does a ghost have to hide? From whom?"
Phantom offered a cringing smile. "Don't like to worry people, I guess?"
May's eyes darted from his face to the injury, to the pouch containing the phone, and back up to his face. She continued disinfecting the wound. "Why is it green? Your blood, I mean."
"Oh, it's ectoplasm, not—not blood," the hero explained. "It's what makes up ghosts."
"Huh. Okay, we're at the point where I need to stitch it up. Fortunately, we only need surface stitches to close the skin. it looks like you have accelerated healing of some sort working on the internal injuries?"
"Uh, yeah, actually, I do. It comes in handy."
"I bet that's an understatement," May quipped. "Do painkillers or anesthetic work on you?"
"I dunno; I guess they do. Hey, kudos for not assuming I can't feel pain just because I'm a ghost."
"You couldn't walk when I found you. I'm assuming that's for a reason."
"Yeah, fair."
May then applied a topical numbing agent and began preparing a needle and thread while it worked. She wiped the area clean with alcohol and grabbed a large-needled syringe.
The ghost side-eyed the injection fearfully.
"Painkiller," May explained, holding up the lidocaine-epinephrine solution's label.
The second the needle met skin, Phantom yelped and immediately phased his right leg out of her grasp on instinct.
May huffed. "It works a lot better if you don't do that."
"It's not like I meant to!" Phantom protested. He removed his leg from where it had sunk into the bed and braced himself for her next attempt. "Just- The people that come after me with giant needles usually aren't trying to help."
May's heart sank before she could school her reaction, but it seemed Phantom was trying harder to trust her. He gripped the edges of the bed for support and stared unblinkingly at the needle. The nurse advanced with the medicine once more, only to pause just before making contact when she heard a metal crunch.
After a quick glance, May let out an exasperated sigh and wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. "You're breaking the bed."
The patient released his hold on the metal substructure of the bed and revealed four finger-shaped indentations on either side. "Er...sorry." He balled his hands into fists and pressed them into the mattress instead.
Mrs. Parker finally dispersed the medicine in a few places without further interruption. Phantom's nervous twitching gradually subsided as it took effect.
"See? That wasn't so bad," the nurse assured him.
"Speak for yourself," Phantom shakily retorted, but the tension bled from his shoulders regardless.
Mrs. Parker began stitching the wound while her patient floundered between watching intently and looking away. After a few moments of productive silence, she asked, "Why do you keep helping, even if everyone is against you?"
Phantom shyly shrugged. "Just…it'd be a waste not to use my abilities as a ghost to help, you know? Especially when the problem is other ghosts."
The corner of May's mouth quirked up as pride momentarily got the best of her before thoughtfulness took over. "You keep saying you're a ghost but never say you're dead…"
"I'm not. I mean, I don't. I mean…what was the question?"
One of May's eyebrows shot up before she shook her head in dismissal. "Nothing. Just one of the things I noticed about you." She finished the last suture and cut the excess string. Standing to tidy her mess, the nurse said, "Alright, Mr. Phantom, you're good to go as long as you don't...you know-" she gestured vaguely at his leg and where it had passed through the bed "-phase."
"Oh, phasing? Don't worry, as long as it's on me and I don't think about it, the stitches will automatically phase with me too."
"You'll need to come back in seven to fourteen days to get them removed. Well...if you were normal. In your case-"
"A couple days at most. I heal pretty fast. Plus, I can phase them out once it's healed."
May nodded. "You should avoid overusing your leg till then, so try not to walk too much if you can help-" May slapped a hand to her forehead. "Look at me, I'm telling a *ghost* not to *walk.*"
Phantom chuckled. "Well, we gotta land sometimes. But I promise I'll do my best. Thanks for the help, Mrs. Parker."
"Don't worry about it, kid," she replied with a dismissive wave. "I'm a nurse. It's literally my job. Now get out of here; I have to go finish my shift."
Peter stood alone at the curb as his aunt's aging brown Volvo chortled to a stop in front of him. He manhandled open the loudly squeaking door and plopped down inside.
"Hey, *Spider-Man,* how was the game?" May asked.
Peter cringed. "Don't call me that out of the suit!"
"Why not?" May asked. "It's just the two of us."
"I dunno; it feels…weird. Ugh," he finished with a full-body shudder.
"Where's Danny? Doesn't he want a ride too?"
"He disappeared after…uh…halftime."
"I know you fought more of those creepy wraiths."
Peter sighed. "How do you already know about that?"
"Danny Phantom told me."
Peter whipped in his seat to face her. "You met Danny Phantom?"
"Yeah, he crashed into Mount Sinai. Had a bad injury on his right leg, like he'd been shot clean through."
"Poor guy. Guess those G.I.W. drones got a shot in after all." The boy pulled back his sleeve to check his web shooters' reserves, taking note they were empty and needed to be refilled. Peter suddenly realized the implications of what his aunt had said. "Wait, he came to you? You helped him?"
"Why are you so surprised? From what I've seen on the news and talking to him, it sounds like you two were working together. Both today and yesterday over in front of Barclays."
"Well, yeah; for now, it's an enemy-of-my-enemy kind of thing. Mr. Stark doesn't trust him at all."
"And you just blindly listen to Tony Stark without formulating your own opinion?"
"Well, no, but the Fentons don't trust Phantom either. Heck, even the G.I.W. is trying to stop him!"
"Well, to me, he seemed like a kid who was just trying to help but was in way over his head. Sound familiar?"
Peter hummed noncommittally and slumped against the window, watching Queens pass by outside. "Can't blame me for playing it safe. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"You shouldn't judge people just by what other people say. In fact, doing that is so bad they made up a whole word for it," she teased.
Peter rolled his eyes. "There's a difference between being prejudiced and cautious, especially when it comes to a superpowered potential threat."
Sunnyside — Thursday, September 29, 07:05
Maddie was rinsing out her breakfast bowl when Danny hobbled in the next morning. "Good morning, sweetie!" she chirped.
"Morning, Mom!" Danny cheerily said as he tried to disguise a heavy lean against the counter. He zipped his school sweatshirt higher and bunched the hoodie around his exposed neck. "H-hey, is Dad around?"
"He's in the shower."
"Good. Well in that case, I have a question about ghosts?"
Maddie rolled her eyes. "I'll admit your father does get pretty emotionally invested when it comes to ghosts. What do you want to know?"
Danny awkwardly rubbed his elbow. "Do ghosts usually have, um...like a...freezing effect? Usually? Or, like, ectoplasm itself?"
"Well, yes and no," Maddie explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "Ectoplasm intrinsically saps different forms of radiant energy from its environment to sustain itself, which is why these wraiths are so troublesome to be around. Sometimes it's heat energy, sometimes it's electrical, sometimes it's more complicated like quantum or emotional energy. But ectoplasm still burns when it's being used to exert the energy it has collected."
With a frown, Danny eyed the singed pasta pot in the drying rack next to the sink.
"Does that help?"
Danny's eyes darted back to his mother. "So, like, there's no reason stuff should start randomly freezing around ghosts then?" the teen asked, despondent.
"Not really, no. Not unless significant amounts of heat energy were being absorbed," Maddie clarified. In a more comforting tone, she added, "Why do you ask, sweetie?"
"Oh...no reason."
Maddie squinted momentarily but quickly shook it off. "If you say so. Here, cereal's on the table," she said and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, holding it out for her son to take.
Danny pushed off from the counter and limped dramatically as he accidentally stepped with his right leg to get within reach of the bowl.
Maddie gasped. "Daniel James! What happened to your leg?!" Maddie asked, fussing over her son.
"N-nothing! What do you mean?"
"It's not 'nothing;' you almost collapsed coming to grab the bowl from me! Do you need to go to the hospital?!"
"No! I already- I mean, I just tripped on the bleachers last night and sprained my ankle."
After a quick check of his exposed face and forearms, she reached to undo his belt. "Come on, I need to check your leg."
"What?! Mom! No! Back off!" Danny protested, fighting against her maternal determination and strength.
"I'm trained in first aid, Danny! Let me take a look to make sure there's no hidden cuts that could get infected."
"I already checked it, okay!? I'll be-urk!-" The pair wrestled for a moment before Danny finally got her hand free of the buckle and stumbled backward. He grunted in pain from a misstep and wiped a few tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "I'll be fine by the end of the day!" he panted.
Maddie backed off. "Why do I not believe you?" the woman huffed to herself. "And what if it does get infected?"
"Then I'll amputate," Danny replied drily, sneaking around his mother to get some coffee.
"Do you want to stay home from school to rest and keep it elevated?"
"No, Mom, I promise. I'm fine," he insisted. "Just need a couple painkillers and I'll be golden."
Maddie huffed louder. "I don't like how much you're downplaying a potentially serious injury, young man." Something dawned on her. "Wait, was this a ghost that did this to you? Is that why you were asking about their temperature?! Were you near a ghost last night and didn't call us for help?!"
"Mom, relax! Danny Phantom and Spider-Man were there and then the GIW showed up! It's not like I was by myself; a bunch of wraiths ambushed the football game."
"Don't trust that Danny Phantom character to protect you!" Maddie huffed. "Honestly, sometimes I think you ignore everything bad about him just because you two have the same first name."
Danny's face contorted in suppressed, disbelieving protest.
Astoria — 14:00
"Danny, seriously, are you alright?" Peter hissed under his breath.
His neighbor, a permanent wince adorning his face, had his right leg extended in front of him on the gymnasium bleachers and rested back on his hands. "Just leave me alone, Peter. I'll be fine as soon as everyone stops freaking out over me."
"It means people care!"
"Parker!" Coach Wilson barked. "Anything you'd care to share with the class?"
Wide-eyed, Peter turned to look at his instructor. "Uh, no, Coach. I'm just worried about Danny's injury affecting his performance today."
"Seriously!?" Danny spat.
Peter sent him a glare of warning.
"Fenton, you need to sit out today?" the teacher asked.
"Um, n-no, sir, I'm—it really doesn't hurt that much. I-"
"Stay after class to help put away equipment and I'll excuse you for the day," the man interrupted, unbothered. "Go see Nurse Perkins if it doesn't improve. The rest of you: ten laps around the gym to warm up. Now, hustle."
Danny frowned. "Great. I love staying late. I always wished I'd get to spend more time stuck in school."
"Hey, I'll stay after to help if it makes you feel better," Peter offered with a friendly slap to Danny's knee.
"Augh! What the hell, man!" Danny cried and pulled his thigh to his chest.
"Sorry! Sorry."
Danny and Peter were the last two boys to enter the locker room, having taken a significant amount of time to clean up the class' mess due to Danny's reduced speed. Each felt a little fatigued as Danny turned down the first row of lockers while Peter continued to the second. Danny began entering his combination.
Vacuum.
Danny looked up, lips slightly ajar to breathe silently through his mouth. He tensed, readying himself for another attack.
"Danny?" he heard Peter call. "Do you feel—?"
The room was dead silent. Even the rush of air through the vents had subsided.
"…Yeah," Danny replied absently.
A wraith burst through the door from the showers, arcing through the air towards Danny.
Backpedaling, Danny exclaimed, "Why do the wraiths keep coming after me?!" He readied himself for a counterattack but saw Peter come rushing around the corner of the central lockers. Instead, as the wraith reached for him, Danny somersaulted underneath to get behind it, a groan escaping his lips from the tug on his stitches.
Just as the wraith soundlessly rotated to keep its eyes on the teen, Peter stepped onto a bench and lunged himself through the air to plant himself on the wraith's back. He hooked an arm around the wraith's throat and pulled back, attempting to upheave it. The wraith bucked Peter into a conduit powering the overhead lighting, causing the PVC to crack and sever the wires within. When the room plunged into near-darkness apart from what poured in from the open shower room door, the wraith refocused and gripped Peter's forearm. The boy immediately slackened, now prisoner to its energy-sucking nature.
"Hey!" Danny barked. He ripped off his t-shirt and, balling it up in his fists, tossed it as hard as he could at the back of the wraith's hooded skull. The beast shifted its attention off of Peter and hunched to glare at Danny from under its raised arm. Peter dropped out of its loosening grip, his head catching on the wood of the nearest bench as he fell.
Arms splayed and boney hands clawed, the infuriated monster began its menacing, deliberate approach. Its black smoke tail blocked Peter from view as the boy tried to get up from the floor. Danny's eyes widened in momentary fear before he jumped into action and dodged behind the central locker bay. The wraith oozed above it, perched to attack if Danny dodged in either direction. The teen realized he'd been cornered and wheeled around, pressing flat against the lockers.
With every passing moment, the futility of defeating a wraith without his powers while having an injured leg quickly became apparent to Danny. The direct contact of the cold metal behind him with his shirtless torso sent a chill to the teen's bones, running along his nerves until it pooled into his torso.
Peter stirred and saw his neighbor definitively cornered. He fumbled to stand then managed to get upright enough to lunge at his locker. He tore the door from its hinges and rifled through his belongings for his web shooters. Finding one, he quickly checked to make sure there was fluid.
'Damn it, I forgot to refill last night!'
All Peter could do was reassess the situation and figure out how to defend his friend. His eyes fell on the locker door which had fallen under the bench in his haste. He bent down to grab it, but the wooziness hadn't quite left him. Peter fell back against the locker bay and helplessly slid to the floor as he fought to find balance.
Core thrumming with nervous energy in such close proximity to a wraith, Danny let his eyes wander to the disoriented Peter. If he worked quickly enough, Danny could use a single small blast to disintegrate the wraith and come up with a cover story once he could focus. That, or…
Well, he had little choice besides simply outing himself to his distrusting neighbor and intern to the increasingly paranoid Tony Stark.
Bracing himself with his right hand, Danny extended his left and stopped suppressing the energy building in his core. Its unexpectedly freezing temperature and huge swell of power, though, caused Danny to wince as its strength overwhelmed him and broke free of his control.
The locker room…froze.
A frigid blue glow illuminated the boy's face from below and danced across the metallic lockers. An inundation of ice cold energy erupted forth and assaulted the wraith. The attack plummeted the air's temperature and prompted a tempest to form in the small locker room. The cloak of the wraith billowed, and the hairs on the boys' heads whipped as loose papers and stray clothing circled them. The wraith's movements slowed until it stopped fighting against Danny's strength.
The force became too much for Danny. The teen cried out under the exertion until his attack finally subsided and left him panting, energy pulsating beneath his skin with an unfamiliar arctic hue as the air surrounding his hand fogged and sank to the floor under the cold. Flecks of ice clung to his lower forearm hairs and skin.
"Why am I glowing?" Danny wheezed, staring at his exposed arm. "Why am I glowing blue?!"
"You—you're glowing!"
Danny whipped up to see a rapidly recovering, slack-jawed Peter halfway supported by a bench who was now focused on the splintering pattern. Danny then looked back down at his hand, arm, and torso. He noticed the luminescence emanating from his left half, spidering up his arm and centering around his chest.
Now fully standing, Peter asked, "Wait…you have ice powers?!"
"I have ice powers?!" Danny cried in disbelief.
The energy gradually bled away until the pattern had localized and disappeared around Danny's inner ghost core. Both boys turned their attention onto the wraith which had been suspended mid-attack. A jagged crystalline structure completely encased it, a supernatural monolith in the otherwise mundane setting. For a moment, the only sound came from the ice itself as it quietly crackled and settled, until...
Peter gleefully turned to Danny. "You have ice powers!" he repeated.
Admitting it mostly to himself, Danny repeated, "I have ice powers…"
This week's references, callbacks and Easter Eggs for those of you that like that kind of thing: (wow, quite a surprising amount this chapter, now that I look at it…)
- Keeping Up Appearances (chapter title): not only a common phrase/concept but also the name of what's probably my favorite British sitcom ever made. If you like seeing an endearingly snobby housewife constantly get her comeuppance, I cannot recommend this show enough.
- The word 'fine' was spoken 12 times in this chapter.
- Two bros, chilling on a rooftop: yet another iconic Vine reference ("Two bros, chilling in a hot tub...")
- St. Tropez: a famous Mediterranean beach town on the Riviera; St. Moritz: a luxurious ski resort in the Alps
- Sam not carrying a hair dryer: Clearly she's more Santiago and less Linetti. (Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Please watch it immediately if you haven't already oh my god it's one of my favorite shows (season 1-5 anyway))
- Ice powers: Hoo boy I've been setting this up for a while, and after the last chapter I'm pretty sure all of you saw it coming. I've included a smattering of hints since chapter 1, including: the suddenly chilly Dr. Pepper Danny gives Tucker; Danny's room being freezing cold, even colder than outside, when he has his first post-wraith nightmare; Maddie commenting on how cold Danny was to the touch when they went suit-shopping for Homecoming; more obviously, the frozen spaghetti and water glass; and others, I'm sure, but I can't recall offhand. And then there's the more obvious stuff in THIS chapter. I knew we all knew it was coming, but I did my best to try and set up a small rewarding surprise anyway. :)
- Pamela Manson's phone of choice: I'm sure we all remember the exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7's, which were in 2016 when this story takes place. Fun fact: I actually went to a party dressed as one for Halloween that year. Black foam core, fiery tissue paper, Android logo with soot smudged on its face…. Yeah, I felt pretty cool that year haha
- Miss Umbridge: HP reference. In honor of my friend and loyal beta reader (whats-up-everybody on tumblr) and her [unspecified for the sake of privacy] significant participation in the Harry Potter fandom
- Long Island City High School: a real high school a few blocks from Mount Sinai Hospital in Queens, because I'm extra like that. (And yes, their mascot is really the bulldog.)
- "Run, Phantom! Run!": Surprisingly I think this may be the first time I've ever referenced Forrest Gump in my fics... It's not a favorite of mine, but it's iconic and quotable.
- Tucker barely managing to relocate Danny's shoulder: A shoutout to one of my older, slightly experimental fics told from Tucker's perspective. It's called Iatrophobia if you're curious to go read it. (Fair warning: my quality has improved a LOT since writing that)
- Stitches trouble: Homage to one of my favorite DP fics ever, Roughing It by Haiju, which also helped inspire me to start writing my own fics. I've reread that fic so many times now…. ugh I'm such a sucker for Danny-Maddie bonding.
- Nurse Perkins: a tribute to Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones' character) on Parks and Recreation
As always, I'm open to your feedback. I love hearing your thoughts and reactions and what you think of the story so far. :)
There's some more Theorists fun coming soon, and I can now officially confirm that a Recognized sequel is on its way! So for all of you that thought I'd finished with the DP/Young Justice crossover universe, think again. ;)
Until next time!
-hiimian