Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny shouldn't have gotten his hopes up for a restful night of sleep.

He awoke with a chilled breath escaping his lips in a whisp of cold air. It was slightly colder in his room due to the autumn weather making its appearance, but Danny knew that wasn't what had woken him.

Danny groaned in exasperation as he rolled out of bed. In the time it would have taken him to hit the ground, he had transformed and allowed himself to fall through the floor. The white rings enveloped his body in a flash, replacing his pajamas with a sleek black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes in an attempt to rub the sleep out of them as he instinctively followed the pull of his ghost sense further down. Danny passed through the first floor of the house and continued into the basement where his parents' lab was located.

Invisibly, he floated soundlessly into the large open space that was as cluttered as he remembered it being the day before. The green glow emanating from the active portal cast a sickly light onto all the scattered gadgets and open counter top space. The one thing that clearly did not belong was emitting its own glow on the surrounding objects.

The tall green-skinned ghost hummed in his delight as he rummaged through a box that sat on the far side of the room. His long white hair fell past his shoulders and his equally as white trench coat clumped around him as he crouched next to the box.

"Alright, Technus. What's in the Fenton junk heap that you couldn't wait until a decent hour to come steal?"

The ghost whipped around and shot up into a standing floating position to face the teen. His black rectangular windowed eyes somehow didn't hide his shock, "You! How did you find me?!"

Danny crossed his arms and raised a brow, "Uh, ghost sense. Same as always. Did you really expect to just waltz in here unnoticed, just because it's nearly 3am?"

"What? Of course not! I'm no fool!" Technus reached into his left pocket and pulled out a small metal disk with stray wires haphazardly poking out of every gap on its surface, "This was supposed to shield my presence from you! Why isn't it working?!" He studied the device in his hands as he shook it around carelessly.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Danny mocked.

"Huh?" Technus looked up at him as if taking a moment to process what he had said and then looked back down at the device. He pressed a button on the underside once, allowing it to power down, and then pressed it once again. A light beeping sound chirped rhythmically and Technus grinned, holding the disk over his head in triumph. "Success! Now, ghost child, I will be hidden from your detection and free to do as I please!"

Danny lowered his arms to rest his hands on his hips, not taking his unamused gaze off of the intruding ghost. Technus didn't move.

"You can still see me, can't you."

"Yup."

"Right..." Technus slumped slightly and they both remained frozen where they were for a few more moments.

Without a second to lose, Technus suddenly sprang into action. He grabbed the overstuffed box of scrapped gadgets and mechanical parts and bolted for the portal.

"Hey!" Danny shouted and sped after him, only pausing for a moment to quickly grab the Fenton thermos that had been sitting on its charging dock, "Get back here with that, you lanky, overgrown packrat!"

Danny shot an ectoblast from his hand and missed the escaping thief as he disappeared past the swirling mass of the portals opening. He gave chase, entering into the ghost zone moments behind him. Despite Technus seemingly not having that much of a head start, he was already well ahead and out of Danny's reach by the time he came through to the other side.

The tech savvy ghost took advantage of his greater knowledge of the ghost zone to zip between floating islands and around the various scattered doors in an attempt to lose his pursuer. Even with Danny slowly gaining on him, every time he came close to even touching the ghost, Technus made a sharp turn and gained back what little lead he could.

This continued for several more minutes, passing ghosts simply watching them speed past with mild amusement. Eventually, Danny became tired of the chase and charged up another ectblast. He fired it and hit Technus straight on, causing him to spiral out of control and for him to lose the grip he had on the box of Fenton parts.

Before Danny could change his course to go after the box, Technus had corrected himself and fired his own ectoblast directly into the halfa's face. Danny was flung back with the impact and was disoriented for a few moments.

Technus began charging up more ectoblasts, "Why must you be so persistent?!"

"You're stealing stuff from my house!" Danny retorted, righting himself just in time to dodge the fired blast.

"I'm only taking what is no longer wanted! One man's trash is another ghost's treasure!" Technus shot yet another blast that Danny dodged.

"Just because it's in the junk box doesn't make it trash!" Danny threw up a shield to block a current of attacks before sending back a few blasts of his own, "Besides, I've seen what you can do with literal trash, there's no way I'm letting you have this slightly more functional junk!"

Technus deflected the first blast, but wasn't quick enough as the second hit him square in the face. His head flung back and the black screens of his rectangular eyes started to crack, revealing the red glow of his real eyes underneath.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to end this so I can go back to bed!" Danny called as he reached for the thermos and realized his mistake. The thermos had no effect while in the ghost zone and now he really regretted not grabbing something more useful like the Fenton Grappler or Fenton Ghost Fisher.

Slightly distracted, Danny didn't notice the object careening towards him before slamming his body into the floating island below. Danny rubbed his head and turned his attention to find a wooden box had been the object to take him down. He looked back up to find the Box Ghost floating triumphantly above.

"Box Ghost?" Danny rubbed his side, feeling the start of a bruise, as he got himself up, "Seriously, I don't have time to deal with you too!"

"Yes, it is I, The Box Ghost!" The short overall wearing ghost proclaimed, "And I saw you fighting over this magnificent square cardboard container and wanted in on the action!"

Danny looked at him dumbfounded before shaking his head, "No, there's nothing to be 'in' on! Buzz off or I'm beating your butt next!"

"Yeah, I was here first! Don't you know anything about proper etiquette!" Technus chimed in, starting an argument between the two.

Danny took this moment to quickly look around. It wasn't long before he spotted the box with its scattered remains on the same island about twenty feet away. He only spared a glance at the two still arguing ghosts before simply floating cautiously towards the scrapped gadgets.

He worked as quickly as he could without making too much noise as he refilled the beaten up box with the parts. A lot of it really was just spare parts but there were still a few items in there that were only half disassembled and could end up being very dangerous in the hands of Technus.

Something grabbed him from the back of his neck and he was lifted into the air. Before he could properly react, a jolt of electricity coursed through his body. Pain stabbed through his body all at once and he screamed. It had only lasted a few seconds, but that time felt like it had dragged on for hours. Danny barely registered when he was dropped carelessly back onto the ground.

Danny was able to regain his senses rather quickly as he propped himself onto his hands and knees to glare up at Technus. The tall ghost grinned maliciously down at the teen as the mechanical components were manipulated around him. The blue skinned Box Ghost had a grin just as wide, though his weapon of choice, the beaten up cardboard box, was far less threatening.

It didn't take long at all for a device resembling a gun to be formed. There were still plenty of smaller pieces floating around without a use, but Technus seemed pleased with what was produced so far.

Still shaking from the last attack, Danny floated himself off the ground to better face his enemies, "Do you even know what thats gonna do?"

"I have a vague idea," Technus began, "But why don't we test it out just to be sure!"

Technus' coat flurled around him as he grabbed the gun in his dominant hand and fired it at Danny. He rolled midair and managed to dodge the beam of energy as it left a scorch mark on the ground below them. Danny didn't have time to charge up his own attacks, too concentrated on narrowly avoiding the constant shots being fired at him in quick succession.

"Hold still so I can hit you!" Technus yelled in frustration, amping up his fire rate.

"Only if I get to hit you first!" Danny quipped back only for his vision to be obstructed with a box over his head.

He quickly yanked it off his head and threw it to the side, mentally reminding himself that it would be a good idea to at least keep track of where the Box Ghost was during this fight. Danny caught glimpse of him flying off to retrieve the box he had tossed away and turned his attention back to Techus right as another shot was fired.

Danny's eyes widened as he didn't have time to block or dodge the beam of energy and it hit him directly on his left temple. The halfa fell back with a yell of pain and hit the ground with a thud. The firing thankfully stopped as Danny tried getting his thoughts back into chronological order. After a few moments, he was able to sit up as he rubbed the side of his face with a gloved hand.

"Really? Thats all it does!?" Technus complained, "That hardly even counts as anything dangerous!"

"Well you succeeded in giving me the worlds worst headache!" Danny groaned, now floating back up into a fighting stance.

"Not good enough! Let's try another setting!" Technus turned a dial and the glowing tip changed from green to purple, "Now this feels more promising!"

Technus fired the charged up weapon at Danny once again and he was able to roll out of the way just in time as the shot whizzed past him and planted itself in midair. The purple energy pooled where it was, becoming larger and larger until it reached its max size at around three feet in diameter. The flat swirling circle caused Danny's face to pale, realizing what it was as it started pulling him in like a black hole.

"The portal gun was in there?!" Danny cried in disbelief as he fell and dug his hands and feet into the ground below him.

If this was the human realm, it wouldn't of mattered so much since it would just spit him right into the ghost zone. But already being in the ghost zone changed things. There was no telling where or when portals created in here would spit you out at. And worst of all, there was no telling how long the portal would even stay open after crossing through.

Overhead, Technus and the Box Ghost seemed to also be struggling to escape its pull and Danny decided to use this to his advantage. He ducked out of the way as ghost shrubs and rocks flew past him and fell into the portals opening and disappeared. Making sure nothing else was about to hit him, he aimed his arm forward and shot an ectoblast directly at Technus.

The tall ghost lost some of his concentration and his hold on the gun slipped, "Nooo! My masterpiece!"

Danny smiled as it flew past him and through the portal, no longer a weapon to be used against him by Technus. However, in a fit of rage, Technus had released his hold on all the other scrap parts and aimed it directly at Danny's head.

Danny lifted a hand to try and produce a shield but wasn't quick enough. The pieces pelted him causing small cuts and bruises to cover his face. When he thought it was over, one final piece hit him directly on his left temple, exactly where he had been hit with the weapon a few minutes prior.

The pain shocked him out of his hold and he quickly found himself being pulled backwards. Danny attempted to get another grip, but nothing held and he was hauled into the portal.

The transition was instant, but even so, the feeling of passing through the portal was distinct. Pain shot through his temple just as quickly as the bright sunlight caused him to squeeze his eyes shut.

Things only got worse from there as Danny remembered gravity was a real thing outside the ghost zone and every passing second it was bringing him closer and closer to being a splat on the sidewalk. He turned his body midair and squinted out of one eye before barely stopping himself from hitting the ground at full force.

It wasn't enough to fully stop his fall, and he did multiple somersaults before finally losing the momentum and landed on his back. Taking time to adjust wasn't an option, however, as something heavy landed beside his head.

Danny quickly rolled to the side and sprang to his feet. He winced as pain shot through his head once again before taking a proper look around.

There was chaos everywhere. Buildings were falling apart, there was screaming all around and... there were monsters attacking?!

His eyes widened as he frantically looked up to where the portal stood. It was still open, but it was rapidly closing. Danny narrowly avoided a tree branch hurled at him as he jumped into the air, racing towards the portal.

What he thought was a tree branch now twisted and seemed to come to life as it chased after him, grabbing onto his ankle and pulling him away from the portal. Confused, he looked for the source to find one of the monsters. It had a tree like appearance with what looked like black mold covering the base of its trunk. Its branches reached out again and Danny screamed in a panic, firing ectoblasts at it and turning his leg intangible to escape its grasp.

Danny raced once again for the portal, adrenaline pumped through his ghostly veins and he could even hear his human heart beating into his ears. He reached out in an effort to reach it even a millisecond sooner. Yet it wasn't enough.

"Nononononononono!"

The portal vanished in a blink and barely a second later Danny was flying around the area it had been, frantically waving his arms in the air in a desperate attempt for it to reopen.

"No!!!"

Chapter Text

The portal closed, and for a moment, it felt like Danny's heart had finally stopped. Though only a split moment later and he could feel his heart beating faster than ever.

A glimpse of hope washed over Danny as he remembered the portal gun just below him. His heart rate didn't go down as he pushed himself to get to the portal gun quicker. If it was able to get him into this mess, it could very well get him out of it.

A force from the side sent him spiraling and he once again was reminded of the monsters still attacking him. The tree thing really freaked him out. He knew how to fight ghosts, but his ghost sense wasn't reacting to this thing at all.

For a tree thing, it was much faster than he expected. It used its two largest branches to grab onto surfaces and launch itself up closer to Danny. Its piercing white hollow eyes had single black pupils that looked right at him. It started to speak something he couldn't understand and he thought he saw a gaping maw protruding from the black moss covered trunk filled with razor sharp wooden teeth.

He wasn't sure how tasty he would be, being half ectoplasmic ghost and all, but he wasn't going to take any chances around a monster he had never seen before. For all he knew, everything around here enjoyed the taste of ectoplasm.

"Hands to yourself, you mutated whomping willow!" Danny yelled as he threw up an ectoshield to deflect multiple of the tree monsters attacks.

The monster growled something he didn't understand again and this time a response came just down the street of them. Danny turned his head to see the new monster.

This one looked like some kind of cryptid you would see snatching people in the woods. It was heavily muscled all over and had yellow and black striped bands around its wrists, neck, and waist. This one also had hollow white eyes with pin prick pupils and in addition, it had white spikes protruding from its head and long pointed teeth sticking out of its mouth.

Danny faltered, disturbed by the appearance of this monster with its bones somehow poking out past its muscular skin. The two monsters were communicating with each other, coordinating their attacks. They were much smarter than they appeared.

Just as Danny was about to retaliate with an attack of his own, another splitting headache stabs through his temple. He clenched his teeth and pressed the sides of his head between both of his hands. The tree monster took this opportunity to break through his open defense and Danny was sent flying through the air, too disoriented to correct himself.

He only came to a stop when his back slammed into the side of a building. A ripple of pain spread along his spine and the wind was completely knocked out of his chest. His eyes were wide in pain but his body had been momentarily paralyzed by the attack. Gravity soon took its hold back on him and he fell to the ground below.

Danny pushed himself up and locked eyes with a new individual. A woman, slightly taller than him with green eyes and short messy black hair. Then, in a blink, she had moved a few feet to his right just as a piece of rubble had landed where she just was.

Danny wasn't sure what he was seeing but looked back to see how close the monsters were only to become more confused. There was still a tree thing with crazy long branches able to move at will, but now he looked more humanoid. The tree man wore a black outfit that had a blue shine to it and the cryptid guy looked even more human than the first, though his outfit choice of road barriers had him stumped.

The two weird looking individuals standing next to each other didn't remain still for long. The very muscular road barrier guy had picked up the tree man, and in one swift motion had him hurling through the air directly at Danny.

He screamed in surprise and threw up another shield around himself. The tree man managed to correct himself in time to kick off the barrier and flip to land behind him.

"Wait wait wait! Let's just calm down for a second!" Danny tried to explain as he rolled to dodge another attack from the tree and muscle man, "If you'll just let me grab my things, I'll be out of your-"

Danny pointed behind him towards the scattered gadgets with a thumb before turning to face it. He stopped mid sentence as he saw the lady from earlier picking through the ghost tech like they were new shoes on a flash sale.

"Hey stop! That's mine!" Danny whizzed past tree guy to chase after the thief.

The lady looked up as she heard his shout and proceeded to pick up the items faster. As she did so, Danny noticed that the items would disappear as soon as they were in her hold. It was only a matter of seconds before everything was gone, including the shrubs and rocks that had originated from the ghost zone.

"Stop! STOP!" Danny wasn't surprised when he was ignored.

Danny started the chase but is once again stopped when branches are wrapped around his body and he was slammed into the ground. After taking a moment to regather his thoughts, he effortlessly phased through the branches with an exasperated grunt.

"Listen, I don't have the time, nor do I really want to fight, so let's postpone this for another time." Danny said pointedly as he used an ice blast to freeze the tree man to the ground and flew off in the direction he last saw the lady flee while activating his invisibility.

Danny zipped past buildings, flying above the streets trying to spot his target. He was so focused on spotting black hair, it took a few minutes of nonstop flying to realize something was off.

He didn't find the unnatural hair colors weird at first, but now that he was looking more closely, it seemed like almost everyone had dunked their heads in a bucket of paint. What was even stranger, the weird looks didn't stop at odd hair colors.

Danny's eyes dashed around as he stared at all the people walking along the streets and coming in and out of stores. One person had orange skin, another was covered in feathers, another had toasters for hands, and another had the head of an otter. He turned around and found even more on the other side. Horns, fur, feathers, eyes that weren't eyes, hands and feet that weren't human. There were a few who looked normal but they were far outweighed by all the people who looked like they'd ticked off an evil witch.

Danny turned to a building sporting a flashy sign he couldn't read and flew to its roof. He suspected it was either Chinese or Japanese, but at this rate, he wouldn't have been surprised if he found out he was on a completely alien planet.

He dropped his invisibility and sat to the side of the roof access door. Danny was feeling more drained than usual which had him thinking there was yet another thing that was off about this place. Though, he had also only gotten less than 2 hours of sleep before Technus woke him up, so that could've been all that it was.

Danny pinched his neck between his fingers and winced, "So much for this just being a dream. Where in the world did I end up!?"

No answers came for him as he sat and regained his lost energy. Danny was hurting everywhere. The scratches on his face stung and had yet to heal, and his back and sides were sore from all the abuse they were put through. Worst of all, his head was still killing him. He didn't know what that weapon did to him, but he was sure he'd at least need something for the headache he still had.

The sun was reaching towards the horizon and Danny guessed it would dip and set in a little over an hour. He really hoped he could make it back before his parents noticed he was missing and blamed his disappearance on a ghost. Or more specifically, the ghost menace Phantom.

He wouldn't have minded if they blamed another ghost such as Technus though. After all, it was his fault Danny ended up there. And if they didn't, then Danny was just going to give some pay back once he got back.

Regardless, Danny was grateful to at least have some peace at last. It was hard to think about his next course of action when he was constantly being bombarded by attacks. Right now, the portal gun was his only way back home and so he really needed to get it back from that lady. If not, he supposed he could always try jerry rigging the thermos to create a temporary portal back.

Danny froze as he patted his side to feel for the container, "What- where'd it go!!?"

He frantically turned to each side in hopes it had fallen off on the roof somewhere. He had no such luck.

"Uuugh! It must have fallen into the pile that woman took!" Danny slammed his head into his hands as he pulled at his face in a downward motion, "I'm such an idiot!"

Danny stood up and started walking to the edge of the roof where he was getting ready to take off again. The longer he took tracking down that lady, the longer it would take getting home. And he was really looking forward to going back to bed.

Just as he jumped into the air, his momentum was halted when something thin and flexible wrapped itself around him and slammed him back down.

"Again?! Seriously?!" Danny complained as he phased through the material and floated up once again.

The one who tried to catch him wasn't one of the other two attackers this time. Instead it was a man who looked the most normal out of all the people he's met so far, other than that one thief lady.

The grumpy looking man with shoulder length black hair seemed very surprised and spoke a single word of shock that sounded like "nanny" to Danny. The restraining fabric hung around the man's neck and splayed on the ground in front of him and Danny was surprised the thing was functional at all.

The man didn't seem to have any other contraptions on him and Danny has not in the mood to humor him with a game of cat and mouse. He turned for the final time to get back to what was really important.

Danny expected to fly into the air, turn invisible, and find the thief. Pain was not what he had expected.

It started with him falling and losing touch with his core as his body detransformed back into his human self. His body became stiff and rigid in electrifying pain before his body hit the ground. It was as if he was in his parents broken portal all over again.

The pain was worst along his lichtenberg scar that ran from the palm of his left hand all the way to the middle of his chest. Danny squeezed his eyes shut in hopes the pain would stop and tears began forming behind his lids. The waves of pain were hot and the cold of his core felt blocked by some unknown force.

And then he realized he couldn't breath. Danny's hands shot up to his throat as he felt around his neck and chest. Something was preventing him from taking in a breath, or at the very least, something was missing that used to help him take a breath. Danny didn't have enough air in his lungs to even push out a sound as his vision started fading to black around the edges.

"Don't be dramatic. I've only erased your quirk." The man in black said in an annoyed tone.

Danny couldn't process the fact the man had spoken English with the blood rushing to his ears. His hands were in fists as he made a motion at hitting his chest, but his movements were so slow and weak, it didn't accomplish anything. The beat of his heart in his ears was slowing down but Danny couldn't even hear that past the growing panic in his mind. It was as if he was running from door to door trying to find water for a fire but each room was empty and he had no escape.

The man watched in confusion as the teens movements slowed and eventually stopped completely. He raised an eyebrow at him before noticing his chest had stopped moving as well. The man gave in and blinked. As soon as he did so, the boys chest rose and filled with air like a balloon being inflated. The boy, however, remained on the ground unmoving.

"Well, that's a first." The man spoke, switching back to his native language.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since Danny had felt so well rested. His body was telling him that he still needed more sleep, but his mind couldn't let him rest any longer. This was longer than he normally slept, which obviously meant something was wrong.

In Danny's tired mind, he couldn't fathom why something would be wrong. He knew he was laying in a bed, and what other bed would he be in but his own? That's what he wanted to believe, yet things weren't adding up, which only left his brain with the conclusion that something was terribly wrong.

He was comfortable on his mattress for once and the sheets smelled cleaner, like his mother had just washed them without telling him. But the texture and weight was off. And once he noticed that, he could also hear sounds he wasn't familiar with. The sounds of the street right outside his window sounded normal enough, and the beeping could possibly be his alarm he was so used to sleeping through, but there were just too many sets of footsteps and voices he didn't recognize out in the hall walking around and Danny couldn't think of any reason why his parents would have guests over this early in the morning.

The door quietly opening finally had Danny sitting up as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He squinted more so because of the headache that pounded behind his eyes and he lifted his right hand in an effort to rub away the pain. Though, his hand never reached his head and was instead stopped with an abrupt yank at his wrist. 

Danny looked down in confusion, seeing white sheets, bed rails, and most importantly his wrist secured in a pair of handcuffs. That's when the events of how he got there came back to him. A shiver went through him as his anxiety picked up and the beeping sound next to him increased slightly. He needed to get out of there to find that portal gun so he could return home as quickly as possible.

"I wouldn't try phasing out of those, if I were you." The familiar voice caught him off guard and he jumped with a short yell as he turned to face the speaker.

"Why not?" Danny asked, trying to piece together where he remembered that voice.

"Because then I'll be forced to intervene, and based on what happened last time, I doubt it's going to be a pleasant experience for you." The man spoke with a somewhat annoyed tone as he turned the lights fully on and Danny recalled where he had heard his voice.

Danny's left hand shot up to clutch at his chest as the memory of the pain came back to him. He could remember not being able to take in a breath, like a plastic bag had been tied around his head, and how his scar from the lab accident burned as if it were happening all over again.

The man clad in black with weird goggles over his eyes stepped forward and Danny's instant response was to scoot as far away from him as possible, nearly falling off the bed itself if it weren't for the bed rails in place.

"Stop! Stay away from me!" Danny's hand left his chest and he held it in front of him as his voice shook. He almost created an ectoshield before stopping himself - he wasn't sure if the man would react to the barrier in the same way he would to phasing through the cuffs and he really didn't want to risk that chance.

"I'm not here to hurt you, kid." Much to his relief, the man stopped in his tracks.

"Bull crap! You nearly killed me!" Danny snapped with anger he didn't know he had. Somewhere in him, he figured it was better than sounding scared. He already had a taste of death once, and it wasn't a flavor in his top ten.

"That wasn't intentional." The mans voice hadn't wavered and he paused as he realized Danny didn't believe his words, "Look, I'm not here to be your friend. I don't care if you believe me or not. But I've got a job to do and the faster you cooperate, the faster I can get home and go to bed."

Danny eyed him skeptically, still not ready to make any big moves around the guy in case he did whatever he did before to him again, "Cooperate with what? You a cop? You're pretty weird looking for a cop."

"I'm not a cop." The man replied in his same tired tone.

"Then what are you?" Danny was half dying to know what kind of person could do the stuff that he did - and how he did it. This guy had captured and nearly killed him only to be there when he woke up to start asking him questions. So what was he if not a cop?

"I'm the Pro Hero Eraserhead."

There was a split moment of silence between the two as Danny looked at the man with a confused and dumbfounded look.

"Sorry, you're a what now?" Danny shook his head slightly as he tried to understand what he was just told.

"A Pro Hero." The man who called himself Eraserhead repeated.

"Yeah I heard you the first time-" Danny pinched the bridge of his nose as his headache increased momentarily, only now realizing there were multiple patches on his face that he chose to ignore for now, "Like, what, are they just giving away licenses for saving people now?"

"There is a bit more nuance to it than just that, but yes. I am legally licensed to preform hero work." Eraserhead breathed out his words with a sigh as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

Danny stared at him in utter bewilderment, "WHAT??!"

"How many times did you hit your head, kid?" Eraserhead was clearly exhausted and very not in the mood for any of these questions.

"Do you want the literal answer?" Danny tried to joke before shaking his head, "Never mind. You said your name was Eraserhead?"

"That is my hero name, yes." The pro hero gave a brief nod, "My legal name however is Aizawa Shota."

Danny looked at him even more skeptically, "Why... are you telling me your real name? I thought you said you were a hero pro or whatever?"

The man was definitely done with the questions, "Because its polite and I'd really appreciate it if you could give me your name in return so we can start the process of contacting your parents or guardians."

"Uh, its Danny. Danny Fenton." He didn't dare give his hero name in the event that word of this did somehow get back to his parents.

"Right. I'll pass this along and have the detective come in. He's got some questions for you." The man seemed to glare at him from behind the weird yellow goggles. "Don't even try to go anywhere until I get back. You'll just cause more trouble for yourself if you do."

"Wait, I thought you said you weren't a cop?" Danny questioned.

"All Pro Heroes work with the police. It doesn't make us cops." He dully replied as he stepped out the door.

Danny could hear voices in the hall, though he still couldn't understand what they were saying since they weren't speaking in English. He thought for a moment about fleeing, but quickly dismissed the thought. The eraser guy had said a detective had wanted to ask him questions and maybe that meant he could ask some of his own as well. 

The first thing Danny needed to figure out was where he had ended up so he could hopefully have an easier time trying to get back. One step at a time. Once he had that figured out, then he could get out of there to start his search for that lady that stole his only way home.

As he waited for the detective to arrive, Danny took notice how he was no longer in his original pajamas and instead now wore a light blue hospital gown. It left him feeling more uncomfortable and with even more questions.

It wasn't even a full minute before the door opened once again and the hero and one other walked in. The new man who entered wore a long tan coat with a matching hat. It was clear what his role was, but he looked a bit friendlier than the gloomy hero at least. The detective took a seat parallel to the bed while the tired eraser guy stood a bit farther away to lean against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Fenton, yes?" The man spoke, "Or you like Danny better?"

"Just Danny is fine." He replied, the monitor beside him giving him away for how anxious he was.

The man chuckled to lighten the mood, "No worry. I only here for ask few questions. My name Tsukauchi Naomasa. You can call me Tsukauchi."

"Nice to meet you." Danny said a bit hesitantly. He didn't dare and try to pronounce his name. It was more complicated than the other mans name and he had already resigned himself to calling him the eraser guy in his head. 

The detective smiled, "Good, good. I ask you questions, and you answer true, okay?"

Danny glanced briefly over at the other man still leaning against the wall before turning his eyes back on the detective, "I can try."

The man nodded, "You American, yes?"

"That's right." Danny replied easily and the detective wrote a quick note on his notepad.

"When you come Japan?" He asked next.

Danny thought for a moment while he took in this new information. At least he now knew where in the world he was and that it wasn't an alien planet.

"I guess that depends. How long was I out?" He replied a second later.

Instead of the detective, it was the hero who responded, "Initially, you were only out for a minute or two before waking up briefly. But you were so out of it you practically fell right back to sleep. Its been about five hours since then."

"Oh dang. Well then I guess I arrived about five hours ago, give or take." Danny answered, happy to have gotten another answer of his own.

The detective looked at Danny in confusion for a moment before turning and speaking to the hero in what Danny now knew to be Japanese before writing down another note. 

The hero mumbled something else in Japanese but the detective didn't acknowledge it, "Your family, they come with?"

Danny faltered. He wasn't quite sure how to answer and any kind of hesitation wouldn't look good. Knowing he was in Japan was a good start, but he was pretty sure Japan hadn't suddenly gained superheros overnight without him knowing about it. That brought up the possibility of this being a different dimension and just based on the many comic books he had read, he wouldn't put it past the universe for there to be some other version of his parents here in this world too. And that lead to the question of what to say?

"What's a family?" Danny could feel the rest of him die inside the moment the words left his lips.

"You should be taking this seriously." Eraserhead spoke up once again, "If you didn't want your parents finding out about the trouble you've been getting into, you shouldn't be causing it in the first place."

"It's not like I try to get into trouble!" Danny defended himself, "I didn't ask for any of this to happen!"

"Would you-" The detective hesitated as he tried to find the word before just turning to the hero and speaking to him in Japanese.

"Would you elaborate on that?" Eraserhead finished for him. 

"This has all just been a huge misunderstanding." Danny motioned with his hand, "I'm not supposed to be here."

There were a few more words spoken between the pair before the detective wrote another note, "We talk that later. Now, I ask about your quirk?"

This time it was Danny's turn to be confused and he turned to the hero to hopefully receive a better translation.

"He's just asking what your quirk is." Eraserhead seemed to understand the unspoken question but it didn't seem to help Danny understand any better.

"Uh, well I like space? I can tell you all about asteroids and meteors and stars if you'd like?" Danny wasn't sure what this had to do with anything.

"No, like your abilities. We just want to confirm what we've seen already." The tired man explained further.

"I don't think I'm comfortable talking about that." Danny said truthfully and the features on the detectives face shifted.

"You know name Kurogiri?" The detective asked in a soft yet serious tone.

Danny just shook his head, "No, never heard of it."

"How about Shigaraki?" He asked next.

The young boy shook his head once more, "Again, no. I've never met anyone from Japan until today. Unless that was the lady I saw who took my stuff? Did you guys catch her too? I really need my things back. She was a bit taller than me, green eyes I think, and her hair was-"

"We can take a police report for your stolen property later." The sleep deprived voice of the hero broke him off, "It's more important that you be completely honest with us while we try to piece together what happened. The faster we get this done, the faster we can all get out of here."

"No this is important!" Danny suddenly snapped, his anger coming back as the adults in the room brushed away his concerns. He wanted to continue trying to explain himself, but bit his tongue before he could say anything else stupid.

"We aren't saying it isn't." Eraserhead replied, his tone not rising with Danny's, "We just have our own list of priorities we need to get through."

"Other question now." The detective cut in, "Witnesses see you fall from portal in sky. Can you explain?"

Danny sat for a few moments as he thought about the question. His first instinct was to lie and cover it up, but with how weird this world was, he couldn't think of something that might have been even more remotely believable than the actual truth.

"It was an accident." He admitted, "Like I said, this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"Could you enlighten us a bit more on this supposed misunderstanding?" Eraserhead asked for the detective.

"I don't think you're going to believe me." Danny told him plainly.

The hero raised a challenging eyebrow, "Detective Tsukauchi has a lie detection quirk. If you're actually telling the truth, we'll know."

There was that word again. Quirk. They had explained it earlier as an ability.

"Does that make you a hero too then?" Danny asked, trying to make sense of the information he was being given.

The man in the tan coat shook his head, "No, I just detective."

Danny's brows furrowed in further confusion, "But you have a quirk ability thing. Like eraser guys is to make people stop breathing."

Said eraser guy frowned as the detective burst out with laughter.

"I already said that wasn't intentional." The hero reiterated, "My quirk is to temporarily erase other peoples quirks."

Danny didn't quite believe him but turned back to the detective who had calmed down from laughter, "Right, well that still doesn't tell me why you have an ability and aren't a hero like him. Doesn't having an ability qualify you for something like that?"

They both just looked at him with concerned confusion.

"Didn't you say you were from America?"

Chapter Text

Danny couldn't quite understand what was so confusing to them. With what little information he had to go off of, his conclusion that the detective should also be a hero made perfect sense. He worked with the police so he assumed the detective wouldn't be a bad guy. Those were the only roles he could think of for people with powers, at least where he came from. You either caused problems or you were one of the few who stopped those causing problems. It was as simple as that.

"Yeah, I am from America. Amity Park Illinois if you want specifics." Danny gave them more information that the detective quickly wrote down. If there really was another version of his family here, this would be the easiest way to find out. The dilemma of there possibly being a second him was also a concern, but that would be future Danny's problem if it came down to it.

"Then why don't you seem to know a single thing about quirks and pro heroes?" Eraserhead questioned as he stepped closer to the bed, "I know for a fact that America has a similar quirk education as well as their own list of top pro heroes."

Here he was in a world were other people also had super powers, and he was still the weird one. He had a sneaking suspicion that wouldn't change regardless of what he said either. Even with this guys supposed lie detecting ability, they might not believe what he told them. So it was either lie, and them supposedly knowing he lied, or tell the truth and them thinking he belonged in a mental institution.

Danny decided it was worth a shot, "I'm pretty sure I'm from another dimension. Or like an alternate reality of some kind."

Just as he expected, the two men started talking back and forth in Japanese once more.  Though this time seemed to mark the limit for the eraser guys tolerance. Danny awkwardly waited until they were finished and the hero turned to him, looking even more unpleased than before.

"First off, we don't believe you are lying to us, but let's get the facts straight." The man pulled the weird goggles down so they rested around his neck and he pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes, "Based on what you've told us, you came from another dimension through that portal in the sky just over five hours ago, correct?"

"Pretty much sums it up." Danny shrugged, "Like I said, this has all been just a big misunderstanding. Now can you guys let me go?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that." The bags under the hero's eyes were much more prominent now that the goggles were out of the way, "For starters, you're still a minor and regardless of where you came from we can't just let you run off on your own without a guardian. We also have a few things we are still confirming on our end plus the media is going to want to take a bite out of you the first chance they get. They are going to expect you to receive some kind of punishment for the stir you caused when you happened to show up in the middle of a villain attack, allowing multiple suspects to escape, not to mention you blatantly fighting the pro heroes on the scene."

"That wasn't my fault!" Danny sat up straighter, "They attacked me first and I accidently mistook them for monstrous creatures that wanted to eat me! I swear it won't happen again!"

The two men exchanged words in the foreign language once again with a couple of sighs mixed in for good measure.

"We stop here now." The detective stood from his seat, "Good night Danny."

"Wait, we're done already?" Danny had thought interrogations lasted longer than that.

Eraserhead spoke a few words to the man in Japanese as he continued to leave before returning to English to speak to Danny, "It's a quarter past eleven, kid. Exceptions were already made for him to come and question you on such short notice, but now that we've determined you're not as much of a threat as we initially assumed, he's going to go home and get some rest."

"So no more questions?" Danny asked skeptically. He couldn't imagine things going this smoothly for him, especially for it being only eleven o'clock which was normally the hour ghosts liked causing the most problems.

"We've still got questions, but I don't think we need to have an official interrogation for the rest of them." The hero walked closer and sat in the now empty chair, "Detective Tsukauchi will talk to the lead on the case. Until they give the all clear, however, you are to remain here. After that, we should have a good idea on what to do with you."

"Oh." Danny sat for a moment, still surprised by how easy he was getting off all things considered, "Does that mean I can at least be uncuffed?"

"No." Eraserhead didn't even hesitate, "And I'm being very serious when I tell you not to even try running off. I've only seen a glimpse of what you can do, so I'm fairly confident you have it in you to pull a vanishing act, but trust me when I say that things will only get worse for you if you don't let this play out accordingly. So don't even try it."

Danny grumbled in reluctant agreeance and they fell into an awkward silence. A few minutes go by and a nurse came in, talked briefly with the hero, checked the machines that were hooked up to Danny, and then left. 

To say he was uncomfortable would have been an understatement. He wanted to fly out of there as quickly as possible to start the search for his portal gun. At this point, he was pretty sure the police and heroes weren't going to be of much help to him with how much they were brushing him off. But he also knew that having these superpowered people after him if he broke out would really hinder his search. Not to mention, he just didn't want to get on the eraser guys bad side and risk being quirked to death.

Now that he was thinking about it, he couldn't understand why the hero of erasers hadn't left too, "So, why are you still here guarding me like a hawk anyway? Isn't that more of a cops job?"

"Normally yes. But normal methods weren't an option with you." The man spoke like the reasoning was obvious.

When the hero didn't seem like he was going to continue explaining, Danny pressed for more, "And what are the normal methods?"

Eraserhead sighed and tilted his head slightly to the side, "Typically a pair of quirk suppressing handcuffs would be secured on an offender and the police force would be able to take care of it from there. But we weren't sure how you would react to them after how you reacted to my quirk and we weren't interested in taking risks to test it out. Which left me being the only person suitable to actually keep an eye on you."

"Oh." Danny could hear how he sounded even less thrilled as he said that last part, "Sorry about that."

"Keep your apologies for when you actually need them, kid." And just like that, he went back to sounding completely unbothered.

"Uh, sure. Okay." The awkward silence came back and Danny was starting to get bored, "Do you know what time it is?"

"There's a clock right over there if you're so curious." The hero pointed to the other side of the room where a clock did indeed hang on the wall, "Does your dimension not use analog clocks?"

Danny flushed in embarrassment and brought his uncuffed hand up to rub the back of his neck, "N-no we do. Thank you."

Danny decided it was probably better to save himself from further humiliation by keeping quiet, no matter how boring it was. It hadn't even been a full thirty minutes since Eraserhead had last mentioned the time.

The halfa tried to keep his thoughts off of his missing portal gun and his own dimension by attempting to stare out the window which had a curtain blocking 95% of the view to the outside. Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken when a ringtone chimed out, originating from the grumpy hero himself. He pulled out a device that Danny barely recognized as a cellphone and glanced at the screen.

Eraserhead stood up and walked toward the door, "I'm going to take this call outside. I'll be right back."

Danny simply nodded, still not willing to take his chances of accidently pissing off this guy by doing something stupid. He just wished he had more to his character than just a bunch of stupid decisions masquerading as a boy.

Aizawa took one more glance at the boy as he exited the room. He didn't know this boy, but he hoped that his warning would be taken seriously. Normally, he wouldn't have risked leaving the room to take the call when the boy clearly didn't understand a single word of Japanese, but Aizawa believed that any kind of trust that he'd slowly build up with the boy would have to start with himself.

The overworked hero gave a polite nod to a nurse walking past as he accepted the call and put the phone to his ear, "Principal Nezu. I wasn't expecting a call from you tonight."

"Mr. Aizawa! My deepest apologies for calling so late, but I heard you were still at the hospital and wanted to check in on you." The principal's chipper voice didn't do much to lighten his own mood and the fact he was even calling this late at night when it wasn't an emergency probably meant he had somehow found out about Tsukauchi leaving, putting together the pieces of him still being awake and also still at the hospital.

"Yeah, the mystery kid woke up." Aizawa told him, "We got through a few questions before deciding to call it a night."

"Oh yes, I wanted to ask you about him! What have you learned?" Nezu revealed the true reason for calling which didn't surprise him.

"We haven't gathered enough information to form a complete picture yet." Aizawa admitted, though he was pretty sure they didn't even have half the picture either.

"I'm sure you at least have theories. Go ahead and tell me what you know."

The Pro Hero sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get out of this, "For starters, we know he dropped from a portal about four to five stories high around five pm and that he has shown at least seven different quirks. He is American and we are still double checking to see if he's in any known database. However, since he believes he is from a different dimension, that might turn up fruitless. If that's the case, we can at least be thankful to have avoided an international incident."

"From another dimension, you say? Now that is quite interesting!" Nezu sounded even more intrigued.

The man continued, "We are still going by the books to fact check his story, but as far as he believes, he is not from this world."

"And what do you think, Mr. Aizawa?" Nezu was sincere with his words.

Aizawa glanced back at the door which blocked his view of the boy, "If it had been anyone else, I would have chalked it up to fowl play with a brainwashing quirk or them being insane. But this kid has got too many weird things going on with him that a different dimension actually sounds plausible. He had no clue what quirks or pro heroes were."

"Fascinating! I think I'd quite like to meet this boy! Bring him down to the school tomorrow when he gets released!" The principal said enthusiastically.

"Principal Nezu-"

The chipper voice interrupted him before he could protest, "I won't take up any more of your time. Have a good night, Mr. Aizawa!"

The call abruptly ended and the hero sighed, "Great. Just what I needed."

He placed his phone back into his pocket and reentered the room, looking toward the bed as he did so. To his pleasant surprise, Danny was still sitting where he had left him, handcuff still secured and everything.

"With it being after office hours, I doubt they'll have things cleared up until tomorrow. You might as well try and get more sleep." Aizawa watched him as he shut the door behind himself.

"I take it you're not leaving to go back home then." Danny said it more as a statement than a question. 

"As much as I'd like to, no. Someone still has to keep an eye on you." His observant gaze remained on Danny.

"I don't need a babysitter." The boy frowned.

"Trust me kid. I don't want to be here either, but you are an unknown anomaly. So until we can know for sure that you can be trusted, and when we can convince the media everything has been handled, you're stuck with me." Aizawa chose his words deliberately, "So tell me, can I trust you enough to let myself get some sleep or would you rather I call in a nurse to give you a sedative?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. I won't go anywhere." The boy was clearly displeased with the situation, but the hero was satisfied with the response.

"Great." He gave a short reply before he dimmed the lights and got comfortable in the chair once more.

Aizawa partly wished he had his yellow sleeping bag, but since it was still at the school he would just have to do without. Instead he had settled for closing his eyes and folding his arms with his head down as he started taking in calming breaths to lull himself to sleep.

Not even a minute later and Danny was talking again, "Can I ask you something?"

His tired voice reflected his mood as he replied gruffly, "No."

The boy continued to talk anyway, "Is it because you need to keep me in the dark about this world because I'm not from this dimension?"

Aizawa's tone didn't change, "No, it's because I'm exhausted and don't feel like answering a bunch of pointless questions."

Chapter Text

When Danny awoke the next morning, he felt the most rested he had in months. It was like a bunch of his sleep debt had just been paid off. At first he wasn't sure he would be able to fall asleep after just waking up and being interrogated, but once he got comfortable, he slept like a rock. Though not a rock from the ghost zone, as those had a tendency to move themselves around whenever they saw fit. 

The clock on the wall was much easier to see now with the curtains drawn back to illuminate the room with the morning light, marking the time as about a quarter to seven. Seeing the time sent him into a momentary panic that lasted only a few seconds, his instinct telling him he was about to be late for school. It was the tug on his wrist from the handcuff still securing him to the bed that reminded him that school was the least of his worries.

The darkly dressed guard dog was still there, but was no longer sitting down and had likely moved around a bit more before Danny had woken up. However, he didn't look any less tired than the night before. 

This had been the first time he had ever stayed overnight at a hospital. Actually, he hadn't even gone to a hospital for his own injuries in years. But the experience he had so far wasn't nearly as bad as he imagined it to be. Disregarding the handcuffs, it was far from the needles and heavy restraints he initially feared.

The morning seemed to go by rather quickly with people coming in and out of the room to either talk to the still exhausted Eraserhead or to check on the medical instruments next to the bed. Despite not being able to understand what they were saying, he thought he heard his name said at least a few times and was able to work with other context clues to figure out they were simply talking about his condition. With the calm voices and relaxed faces, he was fairly certain everything was as fine as it could be.

At one point, someone entered that wasn't a doctor or a nurse and Danny couldn't help but stare. The person was wearing a police uniform but they very clearly had the head of an orange cat with the voice of a man. He had to remind himself that he had literally seen someone with toasters for hands the day prior and shouldn't be as surprised by something like this.

After the cat man and eraser guy talked for what felt like hours, the officer left and the hero walked closer to Danny while pulling out a small key, "Well, they were able to confirm your story. There is no record of a Danny Fenton that matches your description. Nor is there a town anywhere in America called Amity Park for that matter. Which means you are now officially no longer considered in police custody. That doesn't mean you no longer have any consequences for what happened though. But you can at least now have this removed."

Danny happily allowed the cuff to be removed and he rubbed at his wrist the moment it fell away, "Dang. At least I don't have to worry about having a doppelganger."

"Yes, thankfully you don't have do deal with doppelgangers." the sarcasm in Eraserhead's voice was thick, "But you do have to deal with Social Services. Since no record of you exists, that means no legal guardians exists that can claim you either. Because of this, they are going to want to place you into foster care or a group home."

"What are the chances of me just being allowed to disappear?" Danny looked up at him with a less than hopeful expression.

"While I'm sure you are very capable of doing so, I wouldn't recommend it." The man backed away after removing the other cuff from the bed rail, "The media will be breathing down both of our necks if you aren't given proper consequences for the events that took place yesterday. But before all of that, there is someone who has requested to meet you."

Danny rubbed at his wrist, his face twisted in confused skepticism, "Someone wants to meet me?"

"Don't act all surprised. You're an interesting case and he's just curious and would like to ask you a few of his own questions. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long." The hero seemed rather unconcerned, which at least had the effect of not raising Danny's anxiety.

Despite the lack of danger he was sensing, Danny was annoyed that he was still being held back from what he really needed to do, "And what if I don't want to?"

Eraserhead's endless frown deepened with the lack of respect in Danny's words but his also endlessly tired voice barely reflected it, "While I can't make you do anything, I believe going will be a benefit to you. If you need an incentive to go, then I'll help you fill out a stolen property form and hand it over to the police afterwards." 

Danny paused with a grumble, knowing it would be a good idea to at least have another source looking for the portal gun and other tech that happened to fall through with him, "Alright fine. I guess I can at least answer a few more questions."

"They should be bringing in some food for you here soon and then they'd like to look you over one last time before you can be discharged. After that, we will leave." The hero informed him.

Danny was about to say something else when, just as predicted, a nurse came in carrying a tray with small bowls of food. She had a smile on her face with her brown hair pulled into a bun on top of her head. She seemed to be around the same age as his own mother, but it was hard to tell when people started looking the same age between thirty and forty. At any rate, he wasn't about to start guessing ages. He knew that could end badly.

The nurse carefully set the tray on his lap and he could now better see that she had a pair of interesting feathers or wings of some kind in place of normal ears. Nothing else about her seemed to be out of the ordinary and she spoke a few quiet words in Japanese. Still not able to understand the language, Danny just smiled back with a short nod and gave her a "thank you" in English.

The nurse left and Danny looked down at the food he had been given. The bowls were all roughly the same size, one containing plain rice, one filled with a soup of some kind, another with something that smelled like fish, and the last one being filled with a mix of different vegetables. He was provided a napkin, some utensils, and a glass of milk. It was far from what he was used to, but he was glad it at least wasn't glowing green and trying to eat him back.

Just as he picked up the fork, Eraserhead spoke up, "It's arigato gozaimasu."

"What?" Danny turned his attention away from the food that was making his mouth water.

"If you want to genuinely thank someone. Arigato gozaimasu." The hero repeated the term.

Danny gulped, now unable to avoid saying something in the foreign language, "Uh, could you maybe say that a bit slower?"

The two went back and forth as Eraserhead sounded out each part of the phrase for him until Danny had it down. It wasn't perfect, but it was the fact that he at least tried that counted. Though, the fact that he had even helped him at all with something so small made him feel guilty for not bothering to recall his actual name. At this point, however, he was afraid to ask and decided it would probably be better to just wait until someone else said his name first.

Danny didn't waste any more time to dig into the food, "Aren't you going to eat."

"I've already eaten." Was all the hero said as Danny continued to try and not make it any more awkward.

The food was gone in a matter of minutes and the same nurse happened to return just in time, though this time with something else in her hands. Danny didn't think much of the ordinary paper bag until she came to his side and held it out to him, speaking some more words in Japanese before remembering Danny couldn't understand her and switched to talking to Eraserhead instead. Danny took a peak into the bag and was shocked to find clothes neatly folded within.

"You reminded her of her son so she brought some of his old clothes for you to have. A few of the other nurses also pitched in and got you a pair of sandals and some new undergarments when they heard you had no one to claim you." The hero explained.

Danny was stunned into silence. This was by far one of the nicest things someone had ever done for him. He didn't even know these people, in fact he seemed to have only been causing them problems, and yet they were being some of the nicest people he had ever met. It felt weird to him. He was so used to being shot at with different projectiles and insulted in very creative ways that his head was trying to tell him it was some kind of trap.

"Argottoe gozaimis." Danny recalled what he was just taught a few minutes prior and gave it his best with a short nod of his head.

The woman smiled warmly as she retrieved the tray from his lap and spoke a few more words to the watching hero.

"She also wanted you to know that your blood was very intriguing and unique." The eraser man's words caused Danny's stomach to drop.

"They took my blood?" The sudden fear of their kindness being a trap sprang back full force as he realized they must have taken a sample when he had arrived.

Eraserhead regarded him for a moment before turning to the nurse to translate and received an answer, "It was necessary to run some tests because of the circumstances in which you fainted. It was also good to know what blood type you were in case of future emergencies."

The logic was sound, but it still had him on edge, "Nothing else?"

"We can grab a full report of things they tested for on our way out, if you'd like." The man offered, not knowing all the details himself.

Danny thought about it, but then realized he would need to have it all read to him anyway and he didn't want to bother the hero any more than he already had, "No. I guess it's fine."

The two adults talked briefly once again and the nurse left for the final time after disconnecting the tubes and wires sticking out from Danny's arm. A few minutes passed and a doctor came in. He did one last check and asked a few questions in English before telling him they were all done. 

Danny was more than happy to be done with that place and even though the eraser guy didn't show it, he suspected he was glad to get out of there too. He quickly got changed into the clothing he was given, finding that it fit nicely. The red shirt and black sandals were a little big but at least the pants weren't falling down. He was also happy to find the pajamas he was originally wearing were folded neatly in the bag as well. They didn't hold any real sentimental value to him, but it was nice to know he didn't have to worry too much about what he was going to wear tonight, especially when he didn't know how long he was going to be in this world looking for the thief and when he was definitely planning on ditching social services the first chance he got.

There were minimal words spoken as Eraserhead lead them down the hallway toward the main elevators. Danny butchered his "thank you" once again as they passed by the other nurses and wished he'd just die completely so he wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment of saying it wrong. The darkly dressed man didn't seem to take notice of his inner turmoil and continued on as normal down to the ground floor.

Danny followed a step behind the hero as he was lead around a corner before coming to an abrupt stop. The front doors were just ahead, but beyond them there was a crowd of people with cameras and microphones. He had seen enough reporters to know who they were and it was clear from the sudden stop that Eraserhead knew this too. For now, it seemed they were still oblivious to their presence. 

The hero took out his phone and typed away at the screen as he turned and started walking in another direction, "Looks like we're not taking the front entrance."

From their earlier conversations, Danny knew the man was likely just trying to avoid the media, "We don't have to take the long way. I could use my invisibility to get out."

"Absolutely not." Eraserhead didn't slow down, "You may not be from here, but there are quirk restriction laws. That means no using them in public without the proper license. Especially when you're hanging out around me. I don't need some rumor floating around that I'm playing favorites with a rule breaker. We can just use one of the other exits."

Danny groaned, wanting to argue that his powers weren't technically a quirk, but knew it probably wouldn't do him any good. He'd just have to wait to break these rules when he got a break from his babysitter. 

The detour took them to another side of the building where there were thankfully no reporters or cameras around. It was extra walking that Danny would rather have not done, but tolerated the exercise as he thought about his plans to catch the thief. Said planning was cut short as Eraserhead walked straight toward a sleek black car that had just pulled up.

"That's you're car?!" Danny stared in shock, unable to comprehend that someone as sleep deprived and homeless looking as this man could own something so expensive.

"No, it's my colleague's. I asked him to pick us up." Eraserhead slid into the passenger seat as Danny awkwardly got into the back seat.

After a few moments of Japanese, the hero switched to English to introduce them as the halfa secured his seatbelt, "Toshinori, this is Danny Fenton. Danny, this is Toshinori Yagi." 

"Nice to meet you, young man." The driver and owner of the car turned in his seat as he greeted Danny, looking even more sickly than the insomniac hero. Danny thought for sure that the skinny man would fall over and die if the wind even so much as blew the wrong way.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." Once again, Danny didn't dare to try and pronounce his name without practice first, "And, uh, thank you for the ride."

"I was already on my way to the school, so it really wasn't an inconvenience." The blond man with long bangs started pulling away from the hospital.

"The guy who wanted to meet me is at a school?" Danny leaned to the side slightly to get a better view of the road ahead.

"Yes, Nezu is the principal at UA and since he is quite busy, it's easier for you to go to him rather than him come to you."

"That's... Okay then." Danny was going to say odd, but he honestly wasn't sure what he was expecting. Even so, his thoughts had been more aligned with the guy who wanted to meet him being a business man or scientist or maybe even another hero. A school principal hadn't even crossed his mind as a possibility.

Danny couldn't even recount how many times he had been called to the principals office, it had happened so often. Though he knew the majority of the time it was for things he had no control over or didn't even do. Just the thought alone of meeting with this principal guy made his heartrate increase even though he knew he couldn't possibly have gotten into trouble with him since it wasn't even his school. The half ghost forced himself to take a few deep calming breaths, focusing on his breathing and the rumble of the car instead of the meeting ahead.

There was nothing to worry about. He would have a brief chat with this principal guy and then get out of there as fast as possible to start his long overdue search. He could possibly even squeeze in questions and directions back to where the portal initially spat him out at so he could retrace that lady's steps. It was a start at least. He just needed to survive this awkward and boring car ride.