Okay the last part ended up pretty long, so I'll have one more chapter after this.
Chapter Three: Building a Jenga Tower (It's a lot of fun)
Sam held up a long, light pink... scarf?
He stared at her in confusion, not bothering to hide the emotion.
"Here you go," she said. "We'll start with this."
Phantom felt disappointed, to say the least.
Danny was with Phantom in the Fenton Works' basement.
"Mom and dad are out right now," Danny said as he got the speed gun and the remote for the obstacle course. "They've been doing something till late pretty often recently, so I think we'll have plenty of time." Danny turned to face Phantom. "So. Go ghost, and let's take it from there."
Phantom stared at him for a moment. Before saying, "Part of the 'unwieldy clone' situation is not being able to transform."
Danny felt his mouth fall open as he tried to process that. When the portal accident first happened, he'd come out of the portal in ghost form. So...
"Huh, that's weird. I was able to transform from the very beginning!"
Danny startled. That'd sounded really condescending. Hang on, he's pretty sure his mouth hadn't formed those words! "Wait I didn't say that! I was not going to say that!" Danny exclaimed. "But how did you—?!" Had Phantom voiced his thoughts?!
Phantom rolled his eyes. "We have the same memories. At least until the CAT. Of course you were thinking that. I would."
"Well... It's not really the same situation, so we probably shouldn't be comparing it to back then. And, at least you're not melting into a puddle of ectoplasm," Danny said with a wry smile.
Phantom screwed his face up in confusion. "What?"
"Oh. Ah. Vlad's first set of clones. They had a small melting problem. But don't worry! Some Fenton Ecto-Dejecto will fix that if it comes up! It probably won't come up, but just let me know if it does."
Phantom wore that unreadable look of his.
...He was probably thinking about having a talk with Vlad later.
"I'll need to introduce you to Dani next time I see her, by the way. Dani Phantom. I think you'll like her."
Phantom looked at Danny in curiosity.
"But for now... We'll just work on using your powers in human form. It'll help your body get used to having ghost powers, and they should get easier to control."
Phantom nodded in agreement.
"See," Tucker said, sitting beside Phantom at lunch, "if you eat at our table, Dash won't bother you. It's basic 'safety in numbers'. However... if Dash were to head this way..."
Sure enough, just as Tucker said that, Dash spotted them and started toward them.
When Dash reached exactly five feet from the table, a toy helicopter lifted off from its spot under the table and flew for Dash's head.
Dash screeched and ran erratically around the cafeteria, bumping into tables and people, the helicopter continuing to follow him.
Laughs sounded around the cafeteria.
"And that's how you handle a bully," Tucker told Phantom proudly.
Then Dash grabbed someone's food tray. And whacked the helicopter with it until the toy fell to the floor, and then he proceeded to stomp on it repeatedly.
"My baby!" Tucker cried.
"Mr. Foley!" came Lancer's voice. "Detention."
"Aw, man."
Phantom stretched the scarf-like elastic band as far as he could take it, feeling the slight burn in his arms.
Despite his misgivings at first, using what Sam called a Resistance Band actually did feel like exercise.
And he felt like he really was achieving something; getting stronger. The exercises becoming easier for him with each day.
"You're doing really well," Sam praised. "I think you're ready for this one." She held up a yellow band with a grin, and he grinned in return.
Phantom walked down a school hallway with Sam and Tucker.
"Okay, so," Tucker said, "Danny put a tracking device on Dash's varsity jacket. Which means..."
Tucker pulled his smart phone out of his pocket.
Phantom and Sam leaned over to look.
The screen was mostly black, with green lines that resembled the maze walls of a Pac-Man game.
"All you have to do is avoid the hallway that has this flashing dot," Tucker said and pointed at the mentioned yellow dot. "Right now it's way on the other side of the school, so we're completely safe."
Dash came around a corner.
"Wait, that shouldn't happen." Tucker fiddled with the phone as Dash approached, but, each time Phantom glanced at it, it still showed Dash's jacket on the other side of the school.
"How in the world—" Tucker looked up as Dash stopped in front of them. "...Wait. That's Dale's jacket."
And, indeed, when Phantom looked, the embroidered letters on the jacket did spell Dale.
"What?" Dash said in surprise and pulled at the jacket to see the name. He blinked dumbly at it, before letting go and looking back at them with a glare. "So?! You have a problem with that? I'll cream all you losers!"
"Time to go," Tucker said, grabbing Phantom's arm and running.
Well, Sam did say he should take walks more often.
Phantom stumbled along after Tucker, glancing at the hand Tucker still had on his arm.
"Hey, get back here!" Dash shouted after them.
Tucker had touched him. Without a second thought.
Like a friend.
"Aaand... Stop," Danny said.
Phantom came back to visibility.
"That was over five minutes," Danny said, holding up the stopwatch. "I don't actually have the patience for a longer test," he said with a laugh, "but I'll go ahead and say you've re-mastered that power."
Danny turned to lean over the lab table, making a mark with his pencil. Then he held up the paper for Phantom to see.
It was a list of powers that they'd made several days ago—now with check marks next to a lot of the items.
Phantom was proud to see there were only a few left.
Soon this body would be accustomed enough to ghost powers to let him transform.
Phantom and Sam stood close to a wall in her home gym.
"I think today we'll try some bodyweight exercises. Walking jacks, jumping jacks, push-ups," Sam listed.
"I'm good at push-ups," Phantom said with a smirk. "How many? Twenty, fifty? Maybe do them one-handed?"
"...I don't think you're ready for that yet," Sam said.
"I'm like a Red Belt in Resistance, right? I can handle it."
Sam's eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty. "Well... okay."
Phantom got into position on the floor and started downward.
The closer he came to the floor, the more effort it took to keep a smooth descent. Until he gave out on the last few inches.
Then... he couldn't move. No amount of tensing and pushing got him back off the floor.
He rolled onto his back and breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. "I... don't think I'm ready yet."
That was a blow. He thought he'd been making progress. But he still couldn't do a simple push-up? Even without any tanks or buildings involved? He wasn't going fast enough. He needed to go faster. He needed...
"It's not a contest, you know," Sam said softly. "You don't need to prove anything." She offered her hand and helped him up. "You don't need to get back to your previous strength if you don't want to. Or even match your ghost-side's strength. Just go at your own pace and have fun with it."
He tried imagining what having fun with it would mean.
"Also," she said, and used her thumb to point at the wall behind her, "I was actually going to suggest some wall push-ups to start. It'll be easier than trying to lift your full weight right away."
Phantom bared his teeth and blasted at the three ghost-shaped targets in the obstacle course.
Each hit landed dead-center. But the targets weren't completely destroyed.
"That was pretty good," Danny commented.
"It's the same as the last five times," Phantom growled.
Why wasn't he getting any stronger? Even in a human form, he should be able to destroy those targets.
Danny hummed thoughtfully. "What's your purpose?"
"My what?"
"Your drive; your goal; why you do what you do," Danny tried to explain. "Vlad's was power. Is that also yours?"
Phantom thought on it.
"I don't... think so."
Power was important to him. But it didn't feel quite right. Was it 'to destroy'...?
"I think... It's 'to win'."
Early on, he'd wanted to protect the town, and fought ghosts in order to do that. But at some point, he'd started getting wrapped up in winning those fights. And then came the CAT. A test he knew he would fail. He felt he had to pass it somehow. And then there was the Nasty Burger explosion. It had felt like he just kept losing. All he did was lose.
So... He'd focused on winning.
"I wanted to win against anything and anyone. Whatever came within my sight, I wanted to win completely."
The memories faded from his vision, and again he was in the old Fenton Works' basement with the new version of Danny.
"But I don't want that now," he told him. He sighed wearily. "I realize now that I was only hurting myself and my chances by destroying everything in my path. That wasn't going to give me the happy ending I wanted. It never would have." Phantom searched Danny's face for some kind of answer. "I don't know what my purpose is now."
"And that's okay. But you'll never be at full strength until you figure it out."
"...How do I do that?" Phantom wondered.
"Well... maybe it would help to talk to Jazz? She's the one into all that emotional stuff. Wanting to be a brain surgeon."
"Psychologist," Phantom corrected. "...She wanted to be a psychologist. A brain surgeon is something different."
Danny waved a dismissive hand. "She could do both if she wanted to, you know. With her grades." Then Danny's eyes widened and he suddenly straightened. "Wait. Do you need help with classes?"
Phantom scoffed. "I'm in my twenties. And part of me has a bachelor's degree and is a skilled businessman." He sneered. "Your pitiful 'high school' coursework is like nursery school to someone like me. I—"
"Alright. I'll see if Jazz can tutor you," Danny said and started toward the stairs.
"I never said I needed tutoring!"
"You always go into a tirade when you're embarrassed about something."
"I... I do not!"
"Ja-az!" Danny called in a sing-song voice as he sprinted through the kitchen toward the living room. "I have someone who needs your tutor-ing." Not seeing her in the living room, he started upstairs, with Phantom chasing after him. "He's fil-thy rich and can pay you any-thing!"
"Stop!" Phantom called after him.
Danny opened her door, and Phantom ran into him from behind in the doorway.
Jazz looked up from a large textbook and blinked at him and Phantom.
"Danny... who is this?"
Danny glanced at Phantom, whose eyes started glowing red as he straightened his shoulders, then smirked. "Hi, Jazz."
"Phantom? Why are you—?! When did you—?! How did this—?!" She looked toward Danny. "How long has he been here?!"
Danny frowned. "Do you mean 'How long has he been coming over after school'"—he gestured to one side—"or 'How long has he been in Amity Park'?" he said and gestured to the other side.
She yanked at her hair, shouting, "Both!"
Phantom had been invited to hang out with the trio after school, and though he felt he'd been taking up a lot of their time already, he'd still found himself agreeing.
He and Tucker were walking toward the theater, where a movie he'd never heard of was playing.
"Danny and Sam said they'll meet us there," Tucker explained.
As the theater came into view, so did Dash.
"If it isn't my favorite freak," Dash said. He aimed a punch as he ran for Phantom.
Phantom smirked, and pressed a button.
The Fenton Peeler—once used against him by Jazz—now moved across his body protectively.
Dash's fist hit solid steel plating.
Dash cried out in pain, pulling his hand back.
But Phantom reached out and grabbed the hand.
Dash looked up at him in horror, fear in his eyes.
And Phantom grinned.
He could feel his ghostly strength activating. And he squeezed.
Let him see what it felt like. Fitting repayment for before.
"Wait! Don't break his hand!" Tucker called out.
Startled, Phantom loosened his grip and turned to look at Tucker.
"...Not that I wouldn't want you to," Tucker said. "But..." He didn't say anything for a few seconds. "You know what? I can't think of any reason not to. Go ahead."
But Dash already got his hand free.
"Why do you keep helping him, Foley?!" Dash said, cradling his hand against his chest. "You have to know he's a ghost in disguise! He even bleeds green! Don't you care about Danny Phantom at all?! How the town turned against him because of his kind?!" Dash jerked his uninjured arm out to point directly at Phantom.
"Danny Phantom's a ghost too, Dash!" Tucker shouted back. "Have you thought about that?! That maybe a ghost in disguise could be your 'hero'?!"
Phantom saw the exact moment Tucker realized that he'd just given away that Danny Phantom could have a secret identity—Tucker's eyes widening and his face paling.
But Dash wasn't going to put two and two together that easily, Phantom was pretty sure. Danny's secret would still be safe.
Dash turned his head. "Are you Phantom?!"
Phantom jerked at the name.
How was he supposed to answer that?
But... no, he realized.
Phantom was a hero.
"If he were," Tucker said, "he wouldn't tell you."
...He wasn't Phantom.
He wasn't Phantom.
He was just... Tom.
"Yeah?! Then as soon as I find out for sure he isn't Phantom, I'll pound him extra for missed time!"
Ph— Tom... realized Dash had left.
Tucker sighed. "I guess Dash will turn his sights on me and Danny again," he said and leaned an arm on his armored shoulder. "Well, at least we learned the Fenton Peelers make a good defense," he said with a smile.
Tom didn't return the smile, too preoccupied by an odd hollowness inside.