Archive of Our Own ^beta

For Danny’s own sake he always tried to avoid paying attention to the whispers. Or simply not being around for people to start making them. They always made his paranoia war with itself. If he paid attention their hushed words it would make him paranoid. If he ignored them he’d be paranoid about what they could be saying and wanting to find out. And sometimes he actually did need to know. 

So, if he’s honest, sometimes super ghost hearing kind of sucked. 

In the beginning they weren’t so bad. Always about simple things or things that didn’t matter all too much. Sure sometimes they hurt or annoyed him, but what did Danny care that everyone thought his parents were weird and crazy? They weren’t really wrong and Sam’s right, weird’s good. Danny considers himself an example of that. 

‘I still can’t believe those lunatics were even allowed to keep those kids’.

‘I heard they perform weird experiments, probably only themselves too’.

‘What if they kill someone to prove their theories?’.

But like all young teens, eventually he stepped out of his parents' shadow, the whisperings around town became more about him. But when it came mostly from teachers and judgemental adults, Danny couldn’t even attempt to bring himself to care. Sure he wanted people proud of him as Fenton, but being the hero always came first. If his grades and ‘good kid’ status had to suffer then so be it. 

‘He used to be so bright, now he’s just another problem child’.

‘Oh look it’s the little ‘baddie’ thinking he’s cool or whatever for breaking stuff’.

‘I think the weirdo Fenton kid is missing a bladder or something...experiment gone wrong you think?’.

When it really started to bug Danny, is when people started noticing he was seemingly involved in ghosts without being involved in ghosts. 

‘Why’s he always around? Does he just like seeing the end results?’.

‘I’m pretty sure I saw Fenton running AT a ghost fight actually’.

‘I overheard some ghosts talking about him. Thought it was about Phantom at first but they mentioned his ‘hunter parents’. Pretty obvious who the town’s hunter parents are’. 

But that sort of thing was easy enough to pass off, to explain, and for people to simply shrug off. They were the curious kinds of whispers not the concerned or secretive kinds of whispers. But when his body became the focus, that’s when he knew there was going to be trouble and when he started pulling away from people, from the public. After all, there’s only so much baggy sweaters and loose clothing can cover. And wearing that all the time was suspicious in and of itself. What was worse was that he was actively proud of what all his hero work had earned him in both physique and scars. And sometimes bodies just naturally wanted to show off, even if he pushes it down as best as possible.

‘Dude, did you see Fenton stretching? The Hell has he been doing all summer to look like that?’.

‘I saw Todd throw a pencil at the back of his head, he caught it without even turning around’.

‘I saw down his shirt and there’s this nasty scar. It’s like someone tried to murder him or something. Think he’s in a gang or some shit?’.

And it was obvious at this point, to Danny, that people were only going to notice more. Which they did. People were curious things, they were hooked on his oddness. He always did his best to hide his more ghostly features. Grew his hair out to cover his tapered ears, started a habit of wearing beanies. But hats couldn’t always stay on and hair moved. Made a habit of always covering his mouth when he yawned, only ate small foods in public, drank through straws. The thing his friends found the saddest is that he had to stop laughing so damn much, though he’d often just covered his mouth instead. But people notice when behaviours change like that and people will always be able to catch glimpses. His nails were the easiest, simple trim every morning. But even trimmed they were still just a little too sharp. So he developed the habit of not touching people, but a hero’s fighting instincts and ghost instincts were strong things. Sometimes he really couldn’t help grabbing Dash’s arms when he tried to choke him or drag him somewhere. That didn’t go unnoticed. 

‘The little freak scratched me. And look at this shit? It looks like a damn cat scratch. The Hell?’.

‘I managed to get the cafeteria to serve burgers right? Fenton loves those things and, I swear to you, he had FANGS’. 

‘So I punched the locker next to his face, yeah? Teach the loser who runs this school. But I think his ear scratched me. HIS EAR. How is that even possible?’.

At least stuff like that, he really could pass off as body modification. People did that. Which his how he quelled his paranoia back then. So long as he had an easy excuse it was easy. But it was inevitable that people would eventually notice his ‘angry eyes’ problem or his ghost sense. It was honestly a miracle they didn’t in the very beginning. Though both him and even his parents, simply passed off those rumours as being because of his strange ecto-contamination. People still whispered. Especially about his eyes. 

‘Walked into the bathroom and I swear, the kids' eyes were glowing as he stepped out of a stall’. 

‘Half the time I go after him he does that damn eye-trick thing for a split second. It’s like he’s trying to be some scary ghost or something. It’s pathetic really’.

‘Honestly, I just avoid looking at his face now. It’s just so creepy. Especially if you think over how he probably got that. His parents are scientists! He’s probably, like, Frankenstein’s monster or something’.

But when people started whispering about behaviours, pointedly not human behaviours, that’s when Danny’s paranoia really came to a head. He couldn’t just not snarl and growl. It came too easily. And being around Sam and Tucker more than the rest of society came with its down falls. He could be himself around them, he got comfortable being himself around them. But that made it easier to slip up in public. Sometimes they tried to call him on it, but often that just ran the risk of people being more likely to notice. Then there was the compounded problem. Snarls required showing teeth. Sounds made people look. One thing getting noticed leads to other things getting more noticed. Whispers compounding. 

‘He holds his hands like claws half the time, pretty sure he actually extended claws once’.

‘He came in this morning snarling and bearing those damn fangs at the floor for, like, two whole periods. Even my dog doesn’t do that’.

‘I bumped into that Fenton kid on the street, you know the one. Short and kind of acts like a feral animal. Yeah, well, pretty sure he growled at me and there’s was this weird glow to his face’.

But at least even those whispers could be passed off. Teens acted weird, that was considered a fact by adults. The fact that there were wolf packers, kids who like to pretend to be werewolves and in a pack, helped. Everyone knew those kids ran around howling and would growl at people. But it didn’t help him that they kept trying to make him ‘one of them’. Sure it would be a nice cover story but it would draw more attention to him. Especially since people already thought his snarls and growls were more ‘real’. 

‘Okay dude, look at this. So I recorded Fenton when Dash tried punching him yesterday. And look, I put it next to my dog snarling. Fenton sounds more animalistic, and like, look how Fenton holds his mouth? It’s the same, more aggressive even’.

‘My night was not fun, I got woken up but what I could have sworn was coyotes fighting, but no. It was that creepy Fenton kid and some biker dude getting in each other’s faces’.

‘I’m positive he was just about to bite you. And not like those cringy kids with the weird lunging bit they do’.

But of course, of course, that lead to them really noticing. Noticing things he himself didn’t. Which was far far more worrying. How could he hide something if he wasn’t even the first to notice? Sam and Tucker too used to him to notice the gradual change themselves. And once others picked up on it, even one, it was pretty well too late. It fell into the gossip mill and then everyone was looking for it. About reflexes and senses. Even his paranoia was being noticed. 

‘He literally never opens any doors while in-front of them. Like he’s about to be attacked or something’.

‘We need code words for the freak. Pretty sure he can hear us. And look! See! His ears damn twitched! He totally can’.

‘I’m not sure if I’m happy or terrified. I nearly ran over the Fenton boy, should have slammed straight into his back. But he fucking backflipped over my car, the entire damn thing, at the last second. How the Hell’.

But when the whispers became dangerous. Got him fully avoided. Got the G.I.W. to come knocking. He knew he didn’t really have much of a choice anymore. He had to leave. Not fully, no, just a town away. Just hide, a name change here, style change there. Seems people could deal with weird. Didn’t really care about it other than it was good gossip. Until they started putting things together, until they started to feel like you were a wolf and they were sheep. The bad part was, they weren’t wrong. And like all ghosts, Danny has pride. He, by his very nature, wanted fear, to scare, to alarm. And that always got harder to hide, to ignore. But the body and mind have ways of getting around its own barriers. Doing things so subtle you might not notice at all. All it took was slight changes in posture, how his eyes looked, how he moved. And he became a predator amongst prey. 

‘Is it just me or does Fenton look like he’s actively stalking people? Like a cat or something? It’s really damn creepy’. 

‘He stares, like constantly. He just doesn’t blink enough and he seems to scan rooms. Like there’s some threat, it makes me feel uncomfortable. But what’s worse is how he looks over everyone, scans them over, it’s like he’s picking out prey or something’.  

‘I swear the freak can tell when people are looking at him. Like just watch, his posture will change. Slightly tense like he’s about run off. And you can easily see his face and hands, he’s being threatening. It pisses me off that it works’.

Of course, his friends would never let him skip town on his own. It was only a lucky thing they were off in university by this time and he was perfectly content to keep them in the dark. Besides, if they up and ran off too. People would whisper. 

And looking around, that’s one thing he likes about bigger cities. Even more so when you looked all for the world like a battered, easily ignored, poorly dressed, homeless man. When people whispered it wasn’t anything to be alarmed about. 

‘Poor man, wonder when the last time he washed was’.

‘Gross, I really wish this damn city would clean up the filth. How can I let my daughter walk around with people like that just sleeping on the sidewalk’.

‘Hmpf, probably just another damn druggie’.

But of course that would change. 

‘Wait...he’s not actually sleeping? Weird’.

He’d have to watch himself more.

‘Oh holy shit, that bastards got fangs?!?’.

He’d have to move around more. 

‘Don’t go downtown, there’s some creepy predatory guy there. He hasn’t hurt anyone from what I hear, but it’s all in how he moves. In his eyes’.

People would eventually actively start seeking him out, a mystery to solve. 

‘Dude, we have to steal his bag. I heard some kids from the park did and he reacted like a feral dog or some shit’.

Connections would be made, people would start to feel unsettled or scared

‘Destruction seems to follow that one. Keep your distance’. 

And he’d have to pack, leave in the dead of night.

‘His eyes, you can see them in the dark. Pretty sure they’ll follow you too. Whatever he is, he sure as Hell isn't a human’. 

Of course, he made sure he found his way back to Amity, as Fenton, here and there. Especially when his friends got back. But the downfall of leaving, of running off. Is that it was impossible for people to not notice his return. And being alone for so long would make anyone act less human, less socially normal. For someone who wasn’t actually entirely human, you might as well just write normal off as a lost cause. 

‘James! James! That Fenton boy’s back! He snarled at someone’s dog. Should we do something?’.

‘How is he more off? He’s so...twitchy. Like he’s constantly on the edge of trying to murder someone or something’.

‘He came into the cafe and he just stared around for a while. Then he drank nothing but espresso shots and I’m sure he ate a spoon. He even clacked his teeth at me after ordering’.

So yeah, the G.I.W. would come. He’d wind up getting tracked. But Amity was his and that wasn’t ever-changing and he was a goddamn force to be recond with. And his friends would come back, they would take him by the arms and all three would slingshot at the future. Like always. Because, after all, Fenton wasn’t the only one people whispered about. 

‘Okay, I’m pretty sure that goth is actually a witch. Summoning ghosts and shit. ‘Cause they’re always near her’.

‘She has a pet Venus-flytrap in her purse, it bit me’.

‘I swore she ran through a fire just to throw her boot at someone for insulting that freaky Fenton’.

‘If that technofreak is visiting the bank then no way am I. I heard he got put on a watch list for hacking a plane, twice’.

‘He scaled a thirty-story building just to clean his windows, who does that?’.

‘I walked in on him making out almost aggressively with a PDA...he growled at me’. 

Because really? If you spend enough time around the glaringly inhuman, you’ll lose your human aspects too. So Danny’s not exactly surprised when they decide to hit the road with him. They’ll always come back, of course they will, and maybe they’ll find some other towns they love as they go. But at least being able to make portals now will mean they can go as far as they like, without Phantom ever being far away from the town he protects. 

Jasper bops Levy on the nose as she hops to sit on his lap. “Now that you and your folks have finally moved to Amity Park with the rest of the family, want to hear a tale?”.

Levy nods and bounces around slightly, grinning with a few teeth missing. 

Jasper clears his throat, “now this is a legend of Amity. But not just of our strange ghostly home, no, of America herself”, pointing out the window to one of the many images of Phantom’s logo that the town was decorated in with pride, “I’m quite sure you know of Phantom. But this isn’t about Phantom. But rather a boy, a living mortal boy, the son of two ghost hunters actually”.

Levy giggles, “so ghosts are still involved”.

“Indeed they are, though not really. You see their son, the Fenton boy, Daniel or Danny I believe his name was. Well you see, he was a strange one”.

Levy tilts her head, “like the kid who eats glue sticks and thinks soap tastes good?”.

Jasper laughs, “oh so much more than that, little one. People say he was like a feral animal, all snarls and bared fangs. Could move like a lithe cat and wounds never seemed to stay as long as they should. I’ve even heard it told he once broke his leg only to walk off as if nothing ever happened. Some folks even believed he could hear you across town or would walk in time with people's heartbeats”.

“Oh that is really weird”.

“Indeed, and it’s a sad thing, because you know how people are about weird. They don’t like it and end up chasing it away”, Jasper pats her head as she frowns, “yes it is unfortunate. But he came back, always did. Sometimes he’d stay for days only to disappear after government agents showed up”.

Levy goes wide-eyed and gapes, “wow! Was he some kind of mutant or something? Alien?”. 

Jasper chuckles, “hard to say. But it wasn’t just him who was strange. See he had two close friends as well. One was known for being creepy and hitting on everything even before Daniel had become strange. The other was a goth girl with more fondness for plants than people”.

“Plants are better than people though?”. 

“You’re not wrong. But I heard it told, her plants would bite and attack people. That she could even control them. A witch they said”.

“Aunty Shade is a witch! She makes so many pretty smelling bags”.

“That she is, but I’m certain no one believes Shade’s summoning ghosts or putting curses on people. One story tells how the goth girl, I believe her name was Sam, had transformed into a dragon once because a girl insulted Daniel”. 

Levy giggles at that and mutters, “good. Deserved it”.

Jasper smiles slightly and pats her head, “you have quite the taste for justice don’t you?”, readjusting in his chair, “anyway, none of the rumours about her could really be verified. Though she had many the same as Daniel, growling and being threatening. But the other friend, Tucker was his name, we can verify some of the rumours about him. You can even look it up, see he could hack anything. Even ghosts. He’s on most government watch lists because of that. And I remember how you were so impressed when Lex jumped that river. Well, Tucker supposedly jumped across roofs and would fall down people's chimneys, only to apologise and climb out their windows. And another strange thing I’ve heard, apparently he dated his electronic gadgets”. 

Levy snorts and starts laughing, making Jasper smile as he continues, “now all this is just quirky of course. Where things get truly strange is after all three left Amity, only to return. As I’ve said Daniel never stayed away too long, but these two friends seldom visited and they only did with Daniel with them”.

“So they were really close friends, what’s weird about that?”.

“Oh nothing. What’s weird is how they were all weirder every-time they returned. Or at least the weird was more noticeable. They were feral through and through. On the prowl, looking for danger; putting everyone in the town on edge”. Leaning down and whispering to her, “now the real story begins after their visits had been going on for years. The two friends started doing the really truly strange things Daniel was known for. Eyes glowing in darkened alleys, fangs and pointed ears, unnatural shows of strength and healing. Whatever had made that boy strange had happened to them as well it would seem”, whispering even quieter and almost menacingly, “and every so often another teen would be seen hanging around them. Acting strange but not nearly as much. Except for the ones who would show multiple times, they’d be feral too. Like whatever was up with Daniel was actively spreading”, grinning darkly, “and sometimes it was an Amity teen who would wander to them, start hanging out with them. Start changing, and eventually leaving Amity with the boy. Sometimes they come back with the boy, feral and wild. Some say Daniel’s a monster snatching away teenagers and making them like him”. 

Jasper chucked at her wide-eyed expression as he leans back, “but the absolute strangest thing. The nail in the coffin for the boy, and those who followed after him, not being human. Was that none of them seemed to age. And even to this day, I hear it told you can still occasionally spot Daniel visiting Amity, some of the missing teens visiting Amity, feral teens from other towns visiting. Even though for many that shouldn’t be possible. Because, tell me, how long have the ghosts been around?”.

Levy tilts her head and makes a face, “six hundred and something?”, scrunching up her face, “but that means Daniel’s older than that!”. 

Jasper bops her nose, “exactly. And yet...”, Jasper chuckles as he points out the window, Levy following where he points. 

Looking back and forth from Jasper and the boy outside. Black hair, blue-eyed, short and skinny. Flanked by a purple-eyed goth, a orange-haired boy with freckles, and little black-haired and blue-eyed girl barely older looking than Levy. Levy watches as the black-haired boy talks with a dark-skinned bleach blonde girl that Levy recognises from Casperhigh. The boy laughing, revealing fangs; making Levy squeak and look back to Jasper. 

Jasper just nods at her, “seems he’s here today”, patting her head as she looks back out the window, “now I know he’s an interesting one, but you best stay away. Him and his children never seem to cause harm, but danger always follows them and they are all wild things”. 

Levy looks back at Jasper, “but what about the dark-skinned girl? She’s from school?”. 

Jasper sighs, “I’m sure her folks will keep her inside, away from the boy and the other two. But he may spirit her away all the same. He’s taken a shine clearly”.

Levy frowns, “but doesn’t she know he might take her away? Everyone knows this tale right?”. 

Jasper chuckles and pats her head, “she knows, everyone does. Especially in Amity. But it’s said that those who follow the boy are meant to. Some fear he spirits them away as he pleases, but most agree that every single teen choose to go with him”. 

Levy looks back out the window as the four walks down the road, the goth tossing a burger to the dark-skinned one and flashing a fanged smile. Black hair tucked behind her pointed ears. Looking back to Jasper, “must not be bad then”.

Jasper frowns, “still best to not tempt fate dearie”, smiling again, “and there’s still more to this tale to tell”. 

Levy tilts her head, forgetting about the strange boy potentially leading astray a high schooler, “oh?”. 

Jasper nods, “you see these feral teens, Daniel’s teens, Daniel’s ‘children’; they show up in towns all over America. But each city sees one of them more often than any of the others. Amity sees Daniel the most of course. New York sees one named Peter. Chicago has Wes. New Jersey, Bruce. Las Vegas has Lily”, pointing out the window, “the goth, Sam, her city’s Elmerton. And the little girl, who some suspect is actually Daniel’s biological child, her place is Michigan”, leaning back, “and another thing each of these towns has? A ghostly protector. Some say that these teens are sacrifices, created into something not so human as anchors to the mortal world for a good ghost. That Daniel and Phantom were the first”. Bopping her nose, “and you know what really supports this? Michigan’s ghost protector is a little girl who looks nearly the same as our Phantom”. 

Levy mouths ‘wow’ before speaking, “couldn’t they just be ghosts? Daniel be Phantom?”.

Jasper laughs, “now there’s a theory! I’ll leave that up to you to decide. There are plenty of theories about those teens, the feral children, the wild ones. But you want my opinion? A ghost is dead and no matter how strange or not quite human. Fenton clearly isn’t dead”. 

Levy tilts her head, “what do you think they are?”.

“Oh? Fair folk, fae, fairies. My guess is that Daniel was a changeling, a fairy child swapped with a human child”, rolling his hand in the air, “and that the exposure to ectoplasm from the Fenton parents changed him into a conduit from here to the Ghost Realm. Connecting to Phantom”, tapping his chin, “I believe Daniel takes all the teens who follow him to the land of fairies equivalent in the Ghost Realm”.

“Why?”.

“You see, it’s said if a person stays in the land of fairies for long or eats their food, they’ll become fairies themselves”. 

Levy shrugs, “I guess that makes sense, but they don’t have wings? Fairies have wings”.

Jasper laughs, “not all of them, and certainly not changelings”.   

Levy huffs, “I think my idea makes more sense”. 

Jasper pats her head, “I’m sure you do dearie, I’m sure you do”. 

End.