A/N: Hey! The new fanfic is out! However, I only have the prologue done and it's pretty short. I'll try to keep the updates more frequent though! Sorry for the late update by the way (Again)! You'd think I'd be more productive now that I have a month off of school. :)
Oh and 1k reads?!?!? That's awesome, you can't imagine how happy I am! :D I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying them!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, I simply only own the plots.
[[[ [[[ [[[
"Who elected you to be my guardian again?" Danny groaned, phasing his arm into his locker and grabbing his school binder.
"Funny. I'm just giving you advice, no need to act so salty about it," Sam shot back, pursing her lips in distaste and crossing her arms. Danny sighed and turned to his female friend, rubbing his neck.
"I- Look, I'm sorry. It's just that I've been another victim of my dad's crazy inventions from last night's patrol and my head really hurts. You know how I am when I'm tired," he explained before starting to walk to his favorite class; English.
"It's fine, doofus. Just tell me when you're in a bad mood and I'll stay far away from you," she teased as Tucker joined in, grinning.
"Not to mention he has Lancer right now. On a Monday morning," the techno-geek added before going back to paying attention to his PDA.
"Thanks for reminding me Tuck. Hope you're really happy now," Danny grumbled sarcastically as his other friend chuckled in response but said nothing back, shaking his head.
"By the way, what invention were you experimented on this time?" Sam asked, a bit curious to know what the Fenton's had created.
"Oh, I don't know? Something to dissect me with? On second thought, I don't remember it really hurting me too much. The headache was caused from my parents' squeals at early in the morning," he said, frowning at the memory as Sam raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to continue. "I don't know, it just felt weird. Like the machine was supposed to... investigate me? Collect information about my body? Now that I say it out loud, that just sounds a bit suspicious."
"Man, that does sound creepy! What do you think they were searching for?" Tucker asked, taking his eyes off his PDA for a second, now interested in the following conversation.
"Who knows, It was pretty late and I was tired. All I remember is something sticking on me and then leaving ten minutes after with a little zap," Danny explained, recalling the odd experience.
"Didn't you pay attention to that thing? At all? It could've been dangerous! For all we know, the pain could kick in any minute now," Sam exclaimed.
"Don't jinx it," Danny warned but let his friend continue.
"Yeah man! Why would you let something stick on you without knowing what it is? I understand that they are your parents, but they don't know that you're their son. Let's just say the feelings are not mutual," Tucker pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"I already told you guys! I was too tired and not really paying attention to my surroundings. Plus, I'm fine now, I think. I don't feel weird... aside from the light burn I got from Skulker a couple of days ago."
"Ouch. Promise me you'll tell us when you need help. Don't be so stubborn," Sam said with a not-so-pleased frown.
"You guys were sick! I didn't want to bother you both, especially since I was the cause of it," he said but attempted to mend the situation when Sam directed a cold glare at his direction. "But I'll tell you when I need help, I promise."
"Both of us," Tucker corrected, raising an eyebrow as Danny rolled his eyes with a nod.
"Anyway, me and Tuck gotta go. I believe we don't have classes in the morning so we'll see you at lunch, right?" she asked, smiling sadly as her ghost friend nodded, smiling back.
"Yup," he said, stopping right in front of Mr. Lancer's class. "But the best thing is that I'm not even late-"
Before Danny could continue his sentence, he was interrupted by the screams of students in the hallway of Casper High.
"Why'd you jinx it?" Sam groaned as Tucker chuckled but gave a sad smile, placing his backpack on the floor and pulling out the Fenton thermos.
Danny looked around, noticing how many had left the hallway they were standing in. In the distance, Danny could see a blurry figure... At first, he thought it was Skulker back to terrorize him with another dangerous gadget, but as the ghost ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶e̶d̶ floated further, his appearance started to become recognizable.
Blue face, overalls with a dark blue matching hat and gloves, and the same old phrase. Of course. Who else would it be? The perfect ghost to get on anyone's nerves. Especially on a Monday morning. Why did that stuff always occur on Monday anyway? Was it a cursed day or something?
"Beeware!! I am the booox ghoost!!" The ghost wooed in the most ghostly cliché haunt to be ever heard. Danny knew the voice too well by now. He sighed tiredly, noting that he might not even need to transform to his ghost half. So he motioned to Tucker who was holding Fenton thermos and nodded, telling him to aim it at the ghost already.
Tucker understood the task and aimed at the annoying ghost before blasting the bright blue laser and sucking him into the thermos. Danny rolled his eyes and thanked his friend before walking back to his English class.
He didn't even notice that the bell had actually rang and that everyone was in their seats, including Mr. Lancer who was looking a bit annoyed.
"Ah, Mr. Fenton. What is it this time?" the teacher asked frustrated, holding an old book (presumably one of Shakespeare's).
'So I guess even Mr. Lancer hates Mondays too. What do you know?' Danny thought to himself, resisting the urge to break into a grin. And here he thought there were no similarities between himself and his teacher.
"Uh, I ran into a kid that wanted my attention and it took me a long time to get him what he wanted. It's fine now, he won't bother me again," Danny said, using a poor but workable excuse. The now annoyed teacher sighed, but didn't pry further, gesturing the pupil to his seat.
"Don't repeat it again, understood?" Mr. Lancer warned, tired of Danny's excuses as the half-ghost nodded, mumbling a quick 'yes' and walking over to his desk.
Danny really hoped today would go smoother and that it would just be a normal day. But he had a feeling that it was going to be far more than normal.
[[[ [[[ [[[
"Fenton!" the familiar voice yelled out, flooding the school hallways.
'Oh no, not again.'
"Great, I'm about to get fried," Danny grumbled to himself as Sam raised an eyebrow.
"What did you do to him this time?" she asked, Tucker listening along.
"Nothing! I did absolutely nothing! I was just minding my own business when I stepped on gum that Dash purposely placed beside my desk chair and when I tried getting it out, I accidentally pulled too hard and ended up pushing Dash's desk from behind. Which fortunately stubbed his toe," he truthfully explained, snickering a little. Karma really was the best thing sometimes.
"That's karma, if you ask me," Sam chuckled, grinning along with Tucker.
"So are you running away from him now?" the techno-geek asked, wearing the same look.
"I wouldn't say running. More like 'avoiding'. He'll probably forget about it tomorrow which should be nice," Danny said and turned around to see Dash's group approaching them dangerously close. "But what would really be nice right now is that we get out of here and as fast as possible."
Danny basically held both his friends and rushed them out the door, receiving confused looks by some of the students walking by. He ignored them, however, and pushed open the doors, finally glad to be outdoors.
But he didn't stop there, as he had to play safe. His friends trailed behind him, speed-walking even further out of school grounds and onto the sidewalk.
Danny looked back to see that Dash's angry mob was fortunately not behind them anymore. He sighed and went back to walking at a normal speed as his friends copied, shooting him annoyed glances.
"You do know that he's gonna get us involved in this again," Sam started.
"Yeah, and I don't want to be stuffed in a locker another time. It's not pretty in there, I tell you!" Tucker exclaimed with a worried look.
"Guys, guys, it's okay. I have it all under control," he attempted to calm the situation.
"Yeah, that's a lie. I can't believe you fight ghosts like Skulker but you're afraid of a school bully that could easily bow down to you if you'd just reveal your secret," Tucker shot back, smirking. Danny said nothing but rolled his eyes, not really finding a good response.
The trio continued to make their way back home and chatted over the usual. Video games, homework, etc. When Danny finally reached his front step, he said his goodbyes and entered the suspiciously quiet house. He peeked into the livingroom to find his sister, reading a book on the sofa. She always came earlier because she had a car. Even though she usually drove him and his friends to school and back home, today was a nice day and he had told her he wanted to hang out with his friends longer.
At first, she didn't realize that there was a second presence in the room until there was a loud bang downstairs. She jumped a little and looked around, smiling when met eye contact with her brother.
"And how was school today?" she asked casually.
"Glad I still exist. You know, I'm not in my ghost form right now," he grumbled, tossing his backpack at a nearby corner and plopping onto the opposite couch.
"You didn't answer my question," she said with a now raised eyebrow.
"Fine."
"You really expect me to believe that?" the girl rolled her eyes, but said nothing after that, going back to her psychological book.
Another loud bang was heard from underneath the ground and it was Danny's turn to raise his eyebrows at his sister.
"What are they doing down there?" he asked, referring to his parents.
"I don't know," his sister shrugged, eyes still locked in her book. "Why don't you check it out? You know I'm not a fan of that ghost stuff. No offense to you, of course."
Danny sighed, ignoring his sisters last comment and decided to check it out. He got up and walked out the room, going down to the lab his parents spent most of their time in. He turned around the corner and walked right into the room, now growing more curious.
In the lab stood both of his parents, looking strangely serious about something. They were leaning over the counter, their eyes focused onto the small plate and chip beside it. At the side was also a familiar ghost weapon; that was the same one that got attached to him last night!
Danny was now even more intrigued as to why his parents were so focused, though he knew from previous experiences that curiosity was never good. It literally killed him! Well, half anyway.
He decided not to bother them and stood a good distance away, preferring to not mingle around with the eerie chemicals. Especially the ones that could easily harm him without his parents knowing what exactly was going on.
He waited and waited, studying the multiple other inventions that his parents have created (most of them successful, in their own ways) until he heard a victory clap from his father who was looking beaming with joy.
"We did it Maddie! We finally figured out who the ghost boy is!!" his father yelled out as his mother grinned in the same excitement as her husband.
At his father's words, Danny's heart almost stopped. 'What did he just here?'
Jack turned and grinned even wider when he finally noticed his terrified son. However, he didn't notice the scared expression and attacked him with a tight hug, raising the poor boy up.
"Can you believe it Dannyboy? We finally figured that ghostkid out!" he yelled again as Danny remained still, forgetting how to breathe for a second
'Is this it? Is this the end?' (A/N: I know this scene is supposed to be serious but I can't help but mention these are going to be my exact thoughts when I go back to school)
"W-what do you mean?" Danny stuttered out, not finding the proper words to properly convey how he was feeling in this situation.
"That the ghost kid is human, of course. And a teen to be exact!" his mother answered instead of his dad, excitement apparent in her voice as well.
"WHAT!?" Danny yelled in horror and in less than a second, his sister was downstairs, her face shocked by the news.
"Mom? Dad? Am I hearing this right?" Jazz asked, still not believing her parents. 'How did they find out?'
"Oh, we're positive. Wait till the people find out about this!" Maddie exclaimed, hugging her husband as the two continued to share their excitement on the discovery.
Oh boy.
[[[ [[[ [[[
"Guys, we're in a big problem. Well, I am, actually. What am I supposed to do? Pretend like nothing ever happened until my parents figure out who exactly the ghost boy is?!" Danny cried out on the phone as he heard worried sighs from the other line.
Danny had immediately gone to call his two friends since it was too late to visit them (he would've gone flying but due to the circumstances, he was even afraid to use a single one of his powers in his house). They both seemed concerned, especially since the whole world knew by now what this ghostboy was.
"Okay, but let's first all calm down and we'll think together," Sam answered in a cool manner, successfully hiding her nervousness over the situation.
"Yeah man! The more panicked you become, the more things will get worse for you," Tucker stated weakly, his voice laced with worry too.
"Worse? Worse?! How are things supposed to get any worse than they already are?!" Danny screamed, not caring at all over he was saying at the moment. He wanted to dig a hole and just hide in it until people forgot.
"Well, your entire identity could be revealed-"
"Don't jinx it, Tuck! Every time you say it like that, it comes true. And we're talking about Danny's identity here," the goth warned, not having it.
The half ghost hybrid groaned, jumping onto his bed carelessly, his face coming in contact with his pillow. His friends couldn't understand what came out of his mouth after that except for a bunch of inhumane muffles and a few cries.
After calming down a bit, Danny moved his face away from the pillow and sighed once more. He was now feeling worried rather than angry
"You done?" Sam asked in a sarcastic and worried tone.
"Yes, I'm just a bit uneasy now," he answered back, his lips pierced tightly together.
"I don't know man, you still seem a little ticked off. Maybe we should call you back later, does an hour seem good?" Tucker asked, a bit unsure.
"No, no, it's fine. I'm not mad at you guys, more at myself actually. If I've only paid more attention to my surroundings last night, none of this would've happened," Danny explained, rolling on his back.
"Wait, so what did it do exactly?" Sam asked curiously.
"A microchip was harmlessly inserted in me using the tool gun which launched it. That chip was supposed to study my body and it looks like it did a pretty good job. After that, it was removed and the machine found in my parent's lab took out the information out of the chip and calculated the results," he explained, repeating a few things that his parents told him afterwards. He didn't listen to the rest after that, too busy panicking.
"Wow. Looks like their invention worked this time, for their own purposes of course," Sam said, buying the information.
"Well, now that they know what you are, what do you think they'll do?" Tucker asked, preparing to hear the worst.
"Do you want the good news or bad news?" Danny asked, answering his friend's question with another question.
"Good."
"Bad."
"I was asking for one answer," Danny replied annoyed.
"Fine, let's go with good," Sam grumbled, not really caring at this point.
"Very well. My parents claimed that they wouldn't hunt me down. At first, I couldn't believe them but I decided to try something very reckless. I switched to my ghost half and hovered outside our house and they actually didn't. Unlike last time, dad didn't react when he saw me float by while taking a shower. Instead, he just smiled at me? It was very confusing, I've never seen dad smile at a ghost before," Danny explained, feeling kind of better after recalling the recent event. "But there's also the bad news that left me panicking for a whole hour with Jazz while we tried to come up with something but couldn't."
"I'm afraid to ask," Tucker said worriedly.
"Oh no, what is it?" Sam asked eagerly.
For a minute, all there could be heard was heavy breathing from the other line and low grumbles.
"Why'd you get so quiet? Come on, don't keep us waiting!" Tucker finally said, breaking the silence.
"I- Okay. So since I'm still a teenager, I'm still required to attend school... as Danny Phantom," he quietly finished.
"What!?"
"Yeah, I know it sounds bad but-"
" You've got to be kidding me, tell me that this is a joke please. You have to go to school even while you're dead? Well, half-dead in your case. Who made these stupid rules?," Sam grumbled.
"How are they even gonna manage this. You're literally a ghost. Ghosts don't go to school. And aren't you considered a threat to them?" Tucker added.
"Will you guys hear me out first?" Danny tiredly interrupted as the questions stopped and everyone got quiet. "Thank you. First off, I'm not fully dead. They now consider me as a human too; translation, a kid that needs to get an education."
"But what makes them think you aren't attending school already. Surely you're just a teenage boy, struggling to keep up with school and hiding an identity."
"Because I'm always outside during school hours, duh. You'd think I miss classes and skip homework while not getting enough sleep a normal thing for me? They most likely think I'm some sort of rebellious child or something," Danny explained. "And to answer your question Tuck, they are already starting to warm up to me. I'm a hero now, remember? Except to my parents and GiW. But my parents aren't hunting me down anymore, and the GiW have been ordered to not harm me, or so I hope. And to ensure that I'm indeed genuine and won't try anything at school, there'll be a few guards."
The two friends nodded, starting to understand the situation fully. Until another thought crossed Sam's head.
"But wait ..." she started, worried again. "How can you be at two places at the same time? Don't tell me you plan on skipping a Danny each day. You're already far behind on your studies and exams are two months away."
"You aren't going to split yourself in half again, are you? Because if you are... I call dibs on Fun Danny™!" Tucker quickly said.
"Ugh! You do that every time! It's not fair!" Sam growled.
"Uh guys, don't you remember the last time I split myself in half? It was a complete disaster!" Danny exclaimed, rolling his eyes at his friends' behavior.
"Yeah, yeah. You're right, it's best we don't repeat that same mistake again," Sam understandingly said as Tucker responded with a 'yes' in return.
"But then what are you going to do?" the techno-geek asked.
"Well, I can duplicate myself obviously. And if there's a ghost attack during school, I'll just merge my two halves together and fight the ghost. If anyone asks where Fenton is, you'll give them any excuse like you usually do. It'll be the same except Phantom will be attending school," Danny explained as Tucker chuckled.
"I can't wait for the reaction of the other students though. I've checked your fan website and man, every single student is going nuts," Tucker grinned with amusement.
"Oh, and the minute 'Phantom' decides to hang out with us we'll get to witness Dash and Paulina dying on the inside," Sam snickered, imagining the scene.
"Thanks for the hype guys. I'm about to get run down by the whole school and both of you will just stand there and record the whole thing I bet. Great friends," Danny sighed, the last comment dripping with sarcasm.
"Nah, you'll be fine don't worry. If your fangirls get too violent, we'll step in," Tucker joked.
"But I doubt you'll need the help. You're a ghost after all and you can just turn invisible or intangible," Sam added, grinning from ear to ear.
"I feel much better, thanks," Danny replied dryly. He really couldn't believe the amount of support he was getting. However, his smiling face was soon replaced with a look of absolute distraught. And suddenly, he wished he really had been cautious of his surroundings that night.
"Guys! Oh my god, why didn't I think of this before," Danny bawled, his voice full of pure agony.
"What, what!?" both his friends yelled in unison, confused at their friend's abrupt behavior.
"Do you understand what it means to attend school in two different people?"
"Uh, you have different friends and teachers?" Tucker responded.
"You have to act in two different personalities?" Sam added, also as confused as her friend.
"No!! It means I get double the amount of homework! As if Mr. Lancer wasn't enough! I'm barely passing my studies right now, how am I supposed to fit this in my schedule?" Danny yelled, his face paling more than it possible could at the new horrifying fact.
"Wait, you're right! It also means you have to listen to the lessons and instructions at the same time! You'll obviously get overwhelmed and have both halves confused at the end," Sam added, thinking about the arisen problem.
"Oh man, that's hard. I can maybe help? Plus it's probably temporary-" Tucker said.
"It's permanent," Sam interrupted in a matter-of-factually tone. "It said so in the news, 'until the boy graduates high school, it's mandatory for him to continue his education'."
"Great. This a nightmare, someone wake me up please," Danny groaned, going back to having his face plopped straight on his pillow.
"Oh, cheer up Danny! Things can't be that bad. We'll help you focus since we might share classes with 'Phantom' and so only one duplicate will need to pay attention. And we'll make sure nobody gets too close to you. As long as you lay low and pay attention to your surroundings," Sam tried to help, for once letting the caring side of her take over.
"Yeah man! We'll always be here for you, no matter what!" Tucker stated encouragingly.
"Thanks guys. I appreciate it, I really do," Danny replied in a sincere tone.
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"As much as I want to believe you guys and stay positive, I don't think things will turn out that way. At all," Danny confirmed, standing in front of the school doors with his friends by his side. A week had passed and the council finally decided it was time for Phantom to attend school. On a stupid Monday.
"Yeah, you're probably right-" Tucker agreed but was interrupted by Sam nudging his elbow, shooting him a deadly glare. "Buuuuut we shouldn't judge how it looks on the outside, I bet it's much better inside."
"Come on, Danny. It really can't be that bad. Plus, we agreed you'll show up in your ghost form last minute so that there aren't many students crowding you in the hallway," Sam reassured him as the boy nodded, trying to believe the goth's word.
"I don't know guys. I have a bad feeling I'll screw things up right on first day," Danny admitted, scratching his raven hair nervously.
The trio looked in front of them again, still surprised. The whole school had been decorated with welcome banters and positive posters. All of them were filled with love from the halfghost's fans, some with appreciation and others simply welcoming him into the school. And everybody looked really excited, which was unusual in any highschool.
"Look on the bright side. You're making people feel happy about attending school now, imagine how much the absence rate will decrease this year," Tucker chuckled.
"I guess... but have you seen how much they worked to decorate the outside? Imagine what it would look like on the inside," the hybrid remarked, astonished.
"Well, enough chit chat. Let's get inside and head to class. You have english again and from Phantom's timeline, it looks like he has the same class as you," Sam smirked as Danny rolled his eyes.
"You're speaking as if we're two completely different people," Danny groaned, pushing open the door and letting his friends enter first.
"You don't expect me to reveal your identity like that, do you?" Sam pointed out with an amused look on her face, raising an eyebrow.
"Damn, we really must keep an eye on you. We want to keep your identity a secret for at least a few weeks," Tucker added jokingly.
"That's funny Tuck. I don't recall you being careful about his identity either," Sam snickered but stopped unexpectedly, having the technogeek and half ghost bump behind her.
"Hey! I'm totally reliable- Hey, why'd you stop," Tucker asked confused.
"Sam?" Danny asked too, waiting for an answer and when he received nothing, both boys walked in front of her, taking a look at what made their friend freeze.
The scene was shocking. The whole school was decorated in a green and black theme with posters and welcoming signs everywhere. Students wore black shirts with the ghostboy's emblem in the front, whispering excitedly and waiting for the entrance of their idol.
"Woah. This is insane," Tucker exclaimed walking further down the hallways. "I almost don't recognize this place!"
"They've put so much effort in this," Sam whispered, eyes wide.
"And that's what makes me feel worse. Now I'm even more forced to attend school. I was actually thinking of ditching," Danny grumbled, uttering out the last part quietly so his friends couldn't hear.
"Yeah, but let's all go to our classes before Lancer decides to give you detention for the tenth time this month," Sam muttered, rushing past the crowded hallway with her friends tugging along.
Danny decided to now command his other duplicate as soon as the bell rang.
Danny Phantom observed from above, invisible as he watched the swarming students scatter to their class, hoping to have the famous celebrity enter their class. The half ghost sighed, turning visible as soon as the last of them had been gone. He slowly floated back onto the ground, his glowing white boots now touching the dirty school floor.
'Now, how do I make an entrance without gaining attention?' Danny pondered the impossible to himself as he walked slowly to his designated classroom, every minute feeling like a second closer to his doom.
He really despised Monday's.
Danny sighed, now standing in front of the same closed door he'd passed by in the past. Except this time, he wasn't going in as Fention, but Phantom. His hand hovered above the knob nervously. He hesitated, unsure of how to walk inside even though he'd entered this unpleasant class many times. It was just his luck Phantom was going to have Lancer as his first teacher.
He smiled knowing his friends at least be there in his next classes, and that only one Danny would need to pay attention in this one. The only problem would be homework, however he knew it wouldn't be too bad. Especially since he was the new student.
Danny opened the door cautiously, as if a hungry lion was waiting behind it. He stepped in, making sure to not make any eye contact while the wide pupils stared at him with amazement. He slowly closed the door behind him, and from the corner of his eye, the admired gazes he was receiving was starting to make him blush. He willed his ice powers to cool him down so nobody would notice.
He adjusted his pose to appear much more confident than Fenton and Mr. Lancer smiled, crossing his arms.
"Ah... Mr. Phantom. I was expecting you- say, what would you like us to call you? Danny, or would that mix things up?" the teacher said as the ghost Danny opened his mouth.
"Call me Dan-" Danny stopped halfway, taking time to think about. He couldn't tell them to call him Danny; that would raise suspicion, especially since his human half was in the same class as him. And he could never call himself Dan, especially after what happened with that one encounter with his evil self. "Uh, just call me Phantom."
To his luck, not only were his friends not in the same class, but the ones that shared this exciting course with him were Dash, Paulina and every A-lister to exist. So when the teacher gestured him to sit in the seat in the middle of the class, Phantom internally groaned, noticing that on his right side were all the jocks, and the other side included all the cheerleaders. He had a feeling they were the ones who arranged it because they weren't seated like this last week. Or the week before that.
Phantom reluctantly sat down, sighing heavily as his body stayed stiff. It was quite uncomfortable to have everybody staring at him like that. You see, he wasn't used to such attention and even when he had fans attend his fights, he always escaped before they came too close. Not to mention he was too busy actually fighting that he didn't have time to worry over what everyone else thought of him.
This was a different case, however. Every few seconds he would hear the murmurs and whispers (thanks to his hearing ability) of his classmates, the name 'Phantom' displayed in every conversation. He wondered if anybody was actually listening to the man's lesson.
And the annoyed guard in white standing silently at the back was giving him major goosebumps. What did they think he would try? Ditch school? Bully a kid?
Mr. Lancer clapped his hands a few times to calm the energized students, turning back to start his lesson. The only thing Danny liked about his teacher was that he wasn't treated differently from everyone else. He was just any normal teenage student, and if it weren't for the constant stares, he would've believed he wasn't in his ghost form.
Danny hoped the class would end soon. And that was only period number one. What was he supposed to do for the rest of his three years?
[[[ [[[ [[[
During lunch break, Danny decided to merge his duplicate so that he wouldn't be attacked by his fans. He didn't see the point in hanging out as Phantom, he could always dismiss himself as being invisible or out to get lunch like some of the other students. Plus, he was hungry and any food sounded good to him. Even if it was Sam's vegan diet.
"How was your first day of school?" Sam asked amused as the trio sat in their usual table, eating their lunches quietly.
"Shh! People can hear you," Danny hushed her and went back to eating his sandwich. The truth was that he wanted to eat in peace and forget what occurred in the classes after English. He still had goosebumps from all the stares and conversations going on about him. For the first time, he cursed his enhanced hearing abilities.
Sam rolled her eyes, stabbing her fork into a piece of sliced lettuce.
"Nobody's paying attention to us, they're all talking about Phantom, right Tucker?" she replied with a grin. She was clearly enjoying this. Tucker however, was too occupied with his PDA and only hummed in response, focusing on his game.
"Just pretend it's a normal first day of school. And that you're just luckily liked by everyone, except Wes, of course," she commented as Danny groaned, placing his sandwich back on the styrofoam plate.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's getting stalked by the GiW, or has people giving you googly eyes while walking down the hallways, or can hear fangirls talking about you all the time. Even Dash stopped wailing on Fenton because he was too busy admiring Phantom which says a lot, considering he still didn't get his revenge on me yet," he pointed out, picking up his sandwich and taking another bite. Sam only gave him an encouraging smile.
"Don't worry Danny. Tucker and I will always be here for you," Sam grinned and turned to Tucker with a short glare. "Right Tuck?"
The threatening underlying tone in her voice was able to pull Tucker away from his game and bring his attention to his friends.
"Y-yeah! We're always here!" the boy smiled as Danny giggled quietly.
"Wow, thanks for the support Tuck. I feel much better now," he sarcastically said as Tucker grinned.
"That's what I do, man!"
"Now enough of that, what do you have next?" Sam asked as she held her hand, waiting for him to hand over his timeline.
"Um, I don't know. Here," he passed the paper over to her as the goth inspected it with a frown look.
"Oh great, you don't have classes with neither of us. Except for 'Fenton' of course," she sighed as the hybrid groaned.
"So Phantom's also doomed in having double Lancer. Can this day get any worse?"
"Don't jinx it," Sam warned Danny. "But at least only one of you will have to pay attention."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's last period right?" he asked as Sam nodded. "Okay then, I just have to get through this period and I'll be fine."
" Wanna play Doomed after school?" Tucker offered as Danny grinned, knowing they were close to the final level.
"You bet!" Danny agreed.
"As a treat for you to surviving the day, why don't we all play it in my house? I also have some new snacks and we can watch a movie afterward," Sam suggested as the boys nodded happily, liking the idea.
The bell rang, breaking the trio out of their trance as Danny sighed and summoned his duplicate, willing him to become invisible.
"Well, see you after school?" Tucker said before they left as Danny gave both of his friends a weak smile.
"Yeah, see ya later," he responded with a nod and watched his two friends walked out of the cafeteria and disappear from view.
"I wonder where the ghost boy could have gone," the female cheerleader pondered as he saw Paulina and Star walk past him.
"Maybe to fight some ghost? He's always busy," Star sighed as Paulina nodded sadly but then her eyes lightened.
"Oh, I can't wait till Valentine's day! Maybe then I can confess my love to him," she whispered excitedly to her friend as Danny cringed internally and quickly headed over to his classroom. He totally forgot that Valentine's day existed and that since his ghost-half will be present, he'll be receiving way too many love notes and chocolate in his locker. He pushed past some people and walked into his final class, noticing Valerie was there too.
"Hey Danny," she said, but today she sounded less cheerful than she usually was.
"Hey Val. Are you okay?" he asked concerned, taking a seat beside her.
"Yeah, I'm just annoyed how the ghostkid is in our class this period," the ghosthunter bitterly grumbled, glaring at the door and waiting for a certain someone to enter the classroom.
"U-Uh, why? He's only just a kid like us," Danny stuttered, gulping nervously. He also forgot about this small problem. To his surprise, the female sighed in return rather than breaking into a full-on rant on how much she hated his non-existent guts.
"I know... I know he's also human but I'm just suspicious of him. We don't even know who he is! He could be a serial killer for all we know and this might be one of his latest schemes. And yet, I feel like I'm somehow wrong for thinking that way... maybe I should cut him off some slack in the meantime until I can figure out his motive..." she continued and immediately froze the minute Phantom entered but raised an eyebrow at the nervous look he was wearing. "Why does he look so jittery?"
"Maybe because he heard you? My parents told me that ghosts have good hearing abilities and he could be worried that you don't like him, or something," Danny quickly answered before she could demand a theory from him. Meanwhile, Phantom made sure to find a desk a few seats back.
"Uh-huh. Anyway, did you finish the math homework Lancer assigned to us yesterday?" she asked as she turned to search for her notebook in her backpack, turning back and shooting a quick glare at the ghostboy.
"N-no, but you already know that," he replied, feeling even more uncomfortable. Maybe he should've let his ghosthalf ditch this one class. School was almost over anyway and-
Before Mr. Lancer could start his dreaded math lesson, screams erupted in the school and everybody froze, including Phantom. Who was it this time? The box ghost? He hoped not, that ghost came by every day!
Mr. Lancer quickly locked the door to keep the students safe. Phantom was about to phase out of the door to look for the terrorizer when someone, a ghost specifically, appeared before their eyes.
"Greetings, whelp! Did you miss me?" the ghosthunter grinned as Phantom crossed his arms, smirking.
"Definitely. I was even wondering when you would pay me the next visit, but I think we should take this... somewhere else," the ghostkid surveyed the students staring at him in excitement. He needed an excuse so that he could merge himself back to his original as he didn't think he'd have enough power to fight the ghost separately. Who knew what surprises Skulker had prepared for him?
"No, no. I find this the perfect place. I heard you started going to school here and I wanted to check up on you. Imagine my shock when I find both of you here. Oh well, two is better than one!" Skulker exclaimed with a predatory grin as the students gave each other confused looks. When Skulker noticed that everybody seemed confused by his declaration while Phantom was starting to act uneasy, he decided to continue the conversation.
"Oh, they don't know? I thought they'd have figured it out by now. Well then, ladies and gentlemen, this one here is a duplicate of the original, which is human right now and has been attending your school for a while," the ghosthunter wore an amused look as Phantom growled and Danny shot him a glare. The students stared at each other in pure shock, inspecting everyone in the classroom to try and uncover the human identity.
"I thought you came here to cage me up. You were never the type to start conversations, what happened? Are your weapons no use anymore that you have to use words to fight me?" Phantom tried his best to look confident and under control as Skulker frowned.
"You're right. I can torture your little friends later, after I hang your head up my wall," the ghost said with a smirk as he pulled out his new weapon from behind and blasted the ghostboy to the wall.
The class screamed as they watched their hero fall to the ground in one shot. However Phantom didn't give up yet. He quickly got up despite his aching body and gave his enemy a good ectoplasmic shot that made Skulker drop his weapon. Although he was a duplicate, he still had enough energy to take down a ghost.
The ghosthunter laughed, getting up again as Phantom shot him a confused look. Before he could say anything, he felt an unpleasant tingling in his body, forcing him to slowly hover to the floor.
"What are you laughing at?!" he yelled out, the sensation growing stronger as the ghosthunter continued to cackle evilly.
"Don't you know what I hit you with? Oh, then let me explain my newest masterpiece," the ghost replied confidently as Danny groaned. "This is used to drain half a ghost's energy for about an hour, which is enough time for me. I was going to use it on the original, but now that you already duplicated yourself, your duplicate is expected to vanish in a couple of minutes."
Phantom stared at his original self in panic, feeling the process already taking effect. He forced another blast at his enemy which fortunately knocked him down and interrupted his evil laughter, but he felt himself become even weaker until... he turned into ectoplasm, the green liquid dumping onto the ground.
The terrified students screamed as they watched their hero collapse to nothing more than a glob while Skulker laughed.
"Don't worry, kids. I wouldn't kill him, yet. I'm the ghostzone's greatest hunter, I collect prey. This one is simply just a duplicate of the original, who is currently in your class, staring at his own self in horror," the ghosthunter declared with a grin as the screams calmed down and changed to whispers of surprise and anticipation.
"Oh my god, I can't believe this," Valerie whispered to Danny as he nodded slowly, gulping down his fear. "I have to do something!"
Danny knew what she was referring to but didn't ask, as she didn't know that he knew she was a ghost hunter. Plus, he had other problems to handle. Like what he was going to do now before Skulker got anymore crazy ideas!
Now that the whole class knew that Phantom was just a duplicate, they were aware of the fact that the original was someone in their class who had been attending their school for a while like any normal teenager. Danny didn't really have a choice in the problem.
"Now whelp, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I prefer the hard way as it's more fun, but it's your choice. Either you come out of your hiding place willingly, or I start firing at these weak mortals," the ghosthunter warned, grabbing a random student in class by the arm, the weapon resting at the side of his head. Just one shot was enough to kill him.
At that, Danny had finally had enough. He wasn't going to let someone get hurt just so he would be able to keep his secret identity hidden for longer.
"Leave him alone, Skulker. It's me you're after, not them. You have enough prey in your collection, why settle for a human?" Danny demanded as the ghosthunter smirked at his future trophy, dropping the kid.
"Ah, ghostchild. I was wondering when you would intervene but I didn't expect you to expose yourself so soon," he said before using the same weapon to blast Danny with. However this time, the halfa was prepared and quickly moved out of the way whilst pushing Kwan away who was right behind him. He quickly transformed to his ghost half without his battle cry and ignored the shocked gazes he was getting. He flew at Skulker with full force and phased them both out of the classroom.
"You made a big mistake coming here," Danny growled darkly as he fired a shot at his enemy followed by a bunch of others. Skulker crashed into the wall forming a crack, his weapon dropping right beside him. The ghosthunter was about to quickly get it back when someone caught it before him.
"Valerie?! What are you doing here?" Danny gasped as the female holding the hunting gear smiled at him sadly.
"Helping you, duh. You aren't the only one with secrets," she said as Danny nodded, wondering if today was going to be any crazier.
"Yeah, I know. You're the red huntress that's been hunting me down since forever," he casually replied as Valerie transformed into her red and black suit, shocked as well.
"What?! But how'd you know-"
"Watch out!" Danny yelled quickly as he pushed Valerie out of the way before Skulker could knock her out. They both rolled to the side and the half ghost changed back to a fighting stance, firing a shot at the ghost using the same weapon that was previously aimed at him. Before Skulker could react, it was his turn to feel a tingling feeling in his body and he felt himself slowly get drowsy. Danny flew right over to Valerie to check up on her, worried that he might've accidentally inflicted injuries on her.
"Valerie? Are you okay?" he asked desperately as the ghosthunter slowly opened her eyes and then frowned.
"What-" the ghosthunter aimed her electrifying weapon inches away from Danny's head and fired, creating a loud sound. Danny froze and shut his eyes, thinking it was aimed at him. However, when he opened his eyes cautiously and looked over his shoulder, he found the ghostzone's greatest hunter knocked out. Or at least for now.
"That's what you get for last time," she growled at the unconscious ghost and her gaze immediately softened when she turned to face Danny. "I wasn't going to hurt you, you know."
She commanded the system to remove the suit which left the startled boy still confused. Seeing that she made no attempt to hurt him, he also transformed back to his human self.
The boy scratched his head nervously, recalling what had happened in the past. "Look Valerie, I'm sorry about-"
"No, no, you don't have to apologize. I can see why you kept your ghost identity a secret and I think it's my turn to apologize for hurting you all the time. I must've given you a rough time, which I guess explains why you're always so exhausted during class," the ghosthunter sighed, feeling guilty over her previous actions.
"That would've never happened if I stopped that dog from entering Axion's lab so I can understand why you felt that way. It's not your fault," he stated as she smiled warmly at him.
"Eh, forget it. I got to realize who my real friends were," she waved it off and got up, helping Danny up along since he still felt tired from the effects. He groaned, feeling a headache begin to surface and it continued to increase now that he realized his whole class knew who he was.
"Great. Now wait till tomorrow and the whole school will know who I am," he said as Valerie chuckled weakly, feeling a sting on her arm.
"Well, at least you don't have to go to school in two different people," she said, trying to cheer him up as he nodded. The bell then rang, signaling for last period.
"Yeah, I guess. What do you have now?" he asked.
"Science. We have the same class dummy," she said jokingly as he laughed.
[[[ [[[ [[[
"So we heard..." Tucker started as soon as the trio met after school, smirking. The decided to get out as soon as possible, knowing that news travelled fast and everybody was probably looking for Danny.
Sam rolled her eyes, grumbling to herself as she searched for something in her skirt pockets.
"Here," she snarled, handing twenty bucks to Tucker as Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Um, what's this?" he asked.
"We made a bet. I said that your identity will be revealed the first day while Sam was thinking it will last for over a month. As you can see, I won," Tucker explained as he kissed the money and tucked it into his pockets. "I owe Skulker a favor."
"Seriously? No support? I told the school that they need to keep my identity a secret, but I don't think they will!" Danny exclaimed as the technogeek nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. Girls can't keep secrets," he said in a matter-of-factually tone as Sam shot them an unimpressed look. "Except you, Sam. You're different."
Danny chuckled and watched how Tucker started fidgeting nervously with his yellow shirt as Sam shot him another glare.
"So you think they will keep it a secret?"
"Nope. But rest assured that when the whole world is informed about it, we'll be by your side."
[[[ [[[ [[[
Published: August 24, 2019
Edited: September 9, 2021