Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1) Story Title: Phantom Melody
Summary: Maddie and Jack go out to hunt for ghosts when they see the ghost boy in a tree. In the park. And singing? Whatever for? That’s what they aim so find out. Featuring Famous by Skillet.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Family, Friendship

2) Story Title: Heads Up 7 Up
Summary: Mr. Lancer decides to let his class have a free day without school work. So they play Heads Up 7 Up. Dash decides to use the opportunity to mess with Danny. The only problem? Danny’s apparently really good at it.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Humor, General

3) Story Title: The Gift
Summary: After Maddie and Jack are offered to examine the old abandoned house on 917 Maple Street, the ghost hunting couple jump at the chance, even dragging their kids along to soak up the family business. But when the camera catches their son talking to thin air, the spotlight turns to him. Now he’s suddenly thrusted into a world of gifted supernatural kids. How’s he supposed to squeeze his way out of this one?
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Humor, Family

4) Story Title: Woven Stitches
Summary: Curses and ghosts aren’t all that dissimilar. The only real difference being how they’re made. In spite of that, neither mix well together. But no one told Danny this. DPxJJK Crossover.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: Action, Humor

5) Story Title: Dueling Dentist
Summary: Never had Danny hated bikes with such ferocity before. Especially after a certain greasy-haired blonde ghost used his to damage Danny’s perfectly fine teeth. Leaving him to get braces. Now he hates both bikes and braces.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: Humor, General

6) Story Title: Haunted Ride
Summary: Danny and his family take a trip to Disney Land and wind up taking the Haunted Mansion ride. Oh sure, sounds like a swell idea for a family of ghost hunters.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Humor, Family

7) Story Title: Lair Sweet Lair
Summary: Clockwork believes Danny’s old enough to start learning more about the Ghost Zone and their tradition. The first step, getting his own lair.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: General

8) Story Title: Hospitality
Summary: Danny gets hurt after a fight with Spectra and Bertrand and passes out. Meanwhile, a woman is driving by and witnessed the fight. Good thing she’s a doctor and calls the hospital. How will Danny get out of this when he wakes up?
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Family

9) Story Title: Ghostly Trick or Treats
Summary: Danny is fighting a ghost in the woods just outside of town when he gets badly injured. Meanwhile Jack, The Pumpkin King, stumbles upon a white haired teenager in the Hinterlands. What is one of his town’s denizens doing so far from home? And since did ghosts look so... human? DPxNBC Crossover.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: General, Adventure

10) Story Title: Ecto-morphosis
Summary: Summary: Everything in life goes through change. Even the afterlife. So when Danny, being the late bloomer that he is, begins to go through puberty, his ghost powers take it to a whole new level.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: Humor, General

11) Story Title: Woven Stitches 2
Summary: Things were looking up for Danny. He was learning a lot and was excelling at his new curriculum formatted by his new teacher. He didn’t even have to deal with Dash and the pressures of Casper High anymore. This new balanced life was doing wonders for him. Naturally, that’s when Gojo decided it was time to shake things up. DPxJJK Crossover.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Genre: Action, Humor

12) Story Title: Dancing Fever
Summary: Honestly, Danny didn’t even know why he tried anymore. Someone captures a video of him dancing and having fun with his friends and suddenly everyone’s going wild. And what’s this about Dancing With the Stars wanting his ghost half as a contestant?
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Humor, General

13) Story Title: The Gift 2
Summary: Dealing with the aftermath of being caught on camera, Danny now has to deal with the label of a gifted kid able to see and talk to ghosts. Normal was never an option for him.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: Humor, Family

14) Story Title: Lair Neighbors
Summary: In a rush to get back home from a day spent in his lair, Danny bumps into a familiar face. One predating his days spent as a half ghost. Sequel to Lair Sweet Lair.
Rating: General Audiences
Genre: General, Friendship

Chapter Text

Maddie slowly parked the anti-ghost RV into an empty spot by the park. She was grateful for being able to convince Jack to let her drive. And by convince, she gave him cookies.

As always the two were out and about on their usual patrol routine, hunting ghosts when the Fenton Finder picked up on a specter. And by the looks of the radar, it was inside the park.

“Come on Jack. Let’s go catch that ghost.” The statement drew her husband’s attention from his plate of cookies, his smile brightening instantly. Crumbs falling off his face at the movement.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to try the Fenton Ghost-Proof Net on it!” The large man exclaimed, his excitement evident.

“But first.” She took a napkin and happily wiped his face. “Gotta look presentable for our ghost fights. First impressions are important.”

“Thanks Mads!”

The two of them then step out of the assault vehicle, entering the park. Going by the radar, it looked as though the ghost hadn’t moved from its spot. Good. If it was occupied and they stayed quiet, they might get the drop on it.

It wasn’t long before the Finder showed that the ghost was directly ahead. They had only been walking for about less than a minute, and yet neither hunter could spot the ghost. Maybe the thing was busted again. It did go off around her son again this morning, after she had adjusted its wiring for like the umpteenth time.

Well, looks like there were no ghosts to catch today after all. Time to head home (And fix the Fenton Finder... again). But just as she was about to tell her husband this news and to pack it up, a shimmer of white caught her eye.

It took a second to locate what her eyes had registered, but once she did, boy was she glad to have caught it.

There on the branch, was the ghost their device had traced. So the thing wasn’t broken again after all. There was a ghost in the park. And not just any ghost. Danny Phantom.

It was no wonder she and Jack had almost missed him, with him sitting so high up on that branch surrounded by twigs and leaves, anyone could’ve missed him.

Signaling her husband, the two took cover behind a few bushes. Bringing out their ecto-guns to prepare an ambush.

Jack grinned as he aimed his gun, bouncing in excitement. “That Phantom punk is a sitting duck. We’ll definitely catch him this time.”

“Wait,” Maddie quickly halted her husband, gently grabbing the arm resting on the trigger. “Perhaps I should take the shot, Jack.”

“Aww... but Mads.”

“No buts. This requires stealth, if we’re too loud when taking the shot he’ll end up escaping. We’ll practically be warning him. So I’ll take the first shot. If I somehow miss and he starts to make a getaway...”

“Then I shoot.” Jack finished with a smile. “Gotcha.” He then got into position.

Maddie smiled as well, nodding before taking position herself. She zeroed her gaze on her target. Phantom having not moved from his spot in the tree, reclined back against the large trunk base with his legs stretched out on the branch. She was honestly surprised they were able to get so close. Normally whenever they showed up, Phantom high-tailed it out of there. Only when there was another ghost and on other rare occasions did he stay. Just what was he doing up there that kept him from noticing her and Jack?

Giving the ghost another once over, she found her answer. In his hand laid a music device with ear buds connecting from it, to his ears, blocking any sounds he might potentially hear. His eyes were also closed as if to help immerse himself into the song. Odd, what on earth could a ghost benefit from listening to music? By her research, ghosts didn’t care about or registered such things, they only sought to terrorize and cause havoc.

She shook her head, no time to be thinking about that now. Once he was captured she could learn all she wanted about him back at the lab. Taking her gun, she aimed at his head, finger resting on the trigger.

3, 2, 1... wait, is that his mouth moving? No, it’s closed now. Oh wait, it opened again. Was he talking? No, her mind then supplied. He was singing. And now that the wind had stopped for a second before going back to its calm breeze, he wasn’t just moving his lips either. He was actually singing. Producing sound.

“Mads?”

Maddie blinked, turning toward her husband.

“You okay?”

“Jack, he’s singing.”

“Huh?”

“Phantom. He’s singing.”

“What? Why?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” And with that she pocketed her gun and stepped out of the shrubbery.

“Wait, Mads!” Jack whispered harshly. “Come back, what if he sees you?”

“If that was the case, he would’ve seen us before we took cover.”

“I guess.” Was the tentative response she received as her husband followed suit. “But isn’t it dangerous to get this close unarmed.”

“If he’s listening to music and singing, he won’t be able to hear us. And his eyes are closed so he won’t see us walk up.” Maddie reasoned. “Besides, this is our chance to observe Phantom in a natural environment as opposed to a controlled space.”

Nodding in understanding, Jack followed his wife up to the tree. Now that they were right next to him, they were able to hear and understand him much more clearly. So the two stood still and listened silently.

“I testify, this is not a secret meant to keep
Your love like fire, spearing from my heart straight to my feet,”

That was how the song started, calm and at an even pace. But within the next second, Phantom voice picked up the tempo.

“And when I was dead, you gave me new life
I’m lifting you up with all of my might
I don’t care who’s to the left, to the right
You’re all that’s on my mind
Don’t really care what they say, what they think
I feel so alive,

“I’m unashamed, I’m wide awake
Not gonna hide, can’t deny, you’re my everything
Here’s to the free who still believe
You’re the star of the show that we came to see,

“With all my heart, all my life, gonna live it loud
I wanna make, make you famous
Light up the night, let it shine, never burning out
I wanna make, make you famous,”

Now she recognized this song, Danny was blasting it on the stereo in his room (She was surprised at how he wasn’t deaf by now). A song from one of Skillet’s new albums as she recalled. The minute that album came out her son was all over it, playing those songs over and over. Commenting and complimenting at how well written they were, how catchy the tune was and what each and every song meant. This was one of the few songs Danny went into a full explanation over. So she understood the meaning.

For a ghost to be singing that song, it made her wonder.

Maddie sighed as Phantom continued on singing. Whatever debate held inside her head coming to a resolution as she made her decision, turning to her husband. “Let’s go Jack.”

“What?”

“We’re leaving.”

“I meant why? That Phantom punk’s in our grasp.”

“He’s not doing any harm Jack. He just relaxing on a nice Saturday afternoon, like we should be.”

“But he’s a ghost. A menace. Remember when he stole our son’s face? Ghosts only cause mayhem. Shouldn’t we be at least trying to capture him so he doesn’t destroy anything else?”

“That’s another thing. I think we need go through some of those theories of ours. I have a feeling a lot of them are wrong.”

Jack blinked, having no idea what could’ve brought this on. But one look into those purple orbs and he understood (At least somewhat). “Okay, Mads.”

“Good. Now go ahead and power that ecto-gun down. Seems like we won’t be using it today.”

Nodding, Jack switched the gun off, the device giving off a whir-like sound as it powered down.

“Gah!”

The two hunters jumped at the exclamation, a collection of snapping tree twigs, rustling leaves, and mild curses following suit as they both suddenly got a eye-full of a dangling ghost boy. It seemed that as the song had ended. Leading to Phantom having apparently hearing the sound of the gun powering down spotting the two hunters upon investigation. Needless to say he was startled, promptly causing him to loose his balance.

“Uhh... hi.” Was the lame response Phantom gave after that catastrophe.

Well... this was awkward.

None of the three knew what to say, nobody was moving, no guns or blasts ready to fire. Instead, they stood in silence (Or in Phantom’s case, hung). Until finally, Phantom broke the ice.

“Mo-Maddie, Jack,” He addressed in a surprised voice, not making any attempts to move an inch. It was clear to Maddie that the ghost boy was afraid that in doing so.

She frowned, was he always this afraid of them? She never would’ve guessed with the cocky, confident attitude she was used to seeing. Yet another piece of evidence suggesting their research was wrong.

And she never would’ve noticed had she not stopped to listen to his singing.

Sadly, the frown was taken the wrong way. “Wh-what are you two doing here?”

There were honestly a lot of things either her or her husband could respond with. But none of those replies seemed to fit the situation, especially after her judgment doing a complete one eighty. She only just changed her mind, how was she supposed to back that up or suddenly know how to articulate it? She barely even knew why she chose to leave him alone.

Well, at least Jack was still following her lead in not attacking. Rather than taking advantage of the opportunity.

And speaking of her husband, taking a glance a him, it appeared that he felt the same way. She could’ve told the ghost kid what their initial goal was, or maybe come up with some science nonsense in an attempt to lift this awkward weight on all their shoulders, but there was one thing nagging at the back of her mind that she just had to ask. Something that had been bugging her since the start of their encounter.

“Why didn’t you just phase through the branch to avoid getting tangled?”

“I uhhh... I didn’t... I just...” That lame response was all Maddie needed to deduce that the thought never even crossed his mind. She smiled, it seemed so illogical, compared to their research, or off the behaviors they observed from Phantom before, and yet... it seemed so like him.

Sensing that there wouldn’t be an ecto-bazooka pointed to his face in the immediate future, Phantom finally moved to phase through the branch, untangling himself from the tree and floating back to the ground.

“Umm... but back to my first question.” He prompted, wiping of some leaves and tree branches that seemed to have attached to his hair and suit.

“Well we could ask you the same thing,” Maddie countered. “Why were you singing up in that tree?”

A light blush dusted the teen’s cheeks. “S-Singing?” His echoed words stumbled. “I wasn’t singing.”

Maddie raised a brow. “Oh? But I could’ve sworn I heard singing. What about you Jack?”

Jack blinked turning to his wife. One look at those eyes suddenly filled with mischief, and the man smiled. He then gave a nonchalant shrug.

“Pretty sure I did as well. I probably would’ve put my bazooka down and danced along if that were the case.”

“Same here. Such a shame really.” Maddie side. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to capture this ghost instead.”

Really, this was just too fun. Though why they suddenly found it in themselves to joke like this was anyone’s guess. Especially since this was the same way they joked with their kids. Perhaps it was seeing Phantom fall from the tree. Or maybe the serene way he relaxed as he divulged in something he more than likely would have been embarrassed to do in front of others. Who’s to say.

But no matter the question of rationality, it all became worth it when they turned to see the object of their teasing. And they were granted with a sight they probably would’ve never seen under normal circumstances.

A pouting Danny Phantom.

And the words that followed only made it better.

“You guys are messing with me.”

They couldn’t help it, really. The couple burst into an explosion of laughter. After all, this looked all to similar to a memory in the far distant past of a pouting raven haired boy who wanted to go to NASA for his birthday and they took him to the baby rocket ride sitting in front of the super market.

All this going on while Danny continued his pout fest to the side. He had at first worried over their presence and the possibility of them capturing him. But they hadn’t done anything yet, and they were his parents so there was a chance, right?

He waited for them to calm down.

“Sorry,” Maddie finally spoke, containing her giggles. “It’s just that... you looked just like our son for a moment there.”

Danny gave them a nervous smile. “Really, I wonder why?”

Jack gave his last huff, wiping off an imaginary tear. “So, you into Skillet?”

“Something like that.”

“Well imagine that, our son does too! Who knows, maybe you two could be good friends! I’m sure you both would get along great!”

“Swimmingly.” Danny muttered. This was getting a little too close for comfort. “Should I be running or...”

The other two paused, as if suddenly aware of the full situation. Right, they were ghost hunters. And he was a ghost, not a boy. Not their son.

Maddie looked into Phantom’s green eyes. Seeing their hesitance, their nervousness. Emotions she never would’ve imagined conveyed by a spectral entity.

But it’s not just that is it. Her mind added. There was something else, something familiar. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Maybe...

And in a mind’s eye, she looked at him again. Only this time, she changed his look. From white to black, from green to blue...

Her eyes widened. No...

She shook her head, clearing the thoughts. Not now, she needed to answer. But...

She turned to her husband. “Should we?”

“We don’t... have to.” He suggested.

“But,” She hesitated. “We’re ghost hunters. It’s what we do.”

“You never have to.” They both turned to look back at the ghost. With a tentative swallow, the boy continued. “You always have a choice. A choice than can be pressured, but a choice. It’s yours to make, in the end.”

The couple didn’t respond.

“I think, it all depends on what you want to do.”

What they wanted. Why would a ghost ask that of them? Whether they wanted to shoot it on sight. Whether they wanted to tear it apart. Why even bring it up?

Yet another thing that was so strange about this ghost.

What did they want? They became ghost hunters to learn about the supernatural. They built the portal to explore the unknown. Sure, ghosts escaped and they had to learn to protect their kids and the town. And after all the studies, they had prepared for the worst of the unknown. But that was never their goal. They were just, curious.

They wanted to learn.

Maddie looked at Phantom. His stance was stiff, as if ready to run at a moments notice. But his eyes were sincere, true to the words he had spoken.

Finally, she opened her mouth.

“We want to learn more. About ghosts.”

Phantom blinked, then nodded. Urging her to continue.

“We want to know more about the ghost dimension, where ghosts came from, what your society and government are like.”

“How you can stretch yourselves in crazy ways!” Jack added.

“And why you need ectoplasm to survive and not blood and how those two differ or compare. We want to learn all those things.” She sighed. “I suppose we might’ve lost sight of that.”

Phantom took a breath. “I can’t answer all of those questions.”

They both kept their heads down. Dejected, apologetic.

“But I can try answer some.”

Both heads snapped up, surprised.

Phantom smirked, once again his cocky heroic self. “Oh come on. You didn’t honestly expect I’d have leave you empty handed after hearing all that. Especially considering you don’t have me strapped to table already.”

They winced. Had they really given him that kind of impression?

But Phantom’s sincere smile waved off all of that. “All you had to do was just ask.”

Just ask. It was that simple.

“Can we ask now?” Jack tentatively spoke.

The ghost boy nodded, almost enthusiastically. He then plopped back on the grass, padding the spot beside him. The two hunters followed suit.

From there, it was a simple Q and A. No guns, no shouts, no blasts. Just two eager scientists asking whatever they wanted to learn, and the subject of their wonder answered to the best of his ability.

Danny smiled, already starting them off on the Ghost Zone and the lairs that dwelled within. This was nice. He knew how much his parents truly wanted to learn, but always felt scared at the ways they attempted to get those answers. Or rather assumed theirs were correct and the truth were lies.

And now, he could truly share what he believed, what he knew. And maybe someday, he could share a little more.

Chapter Text

Danny sighed. Another boring day in a boring week of a boring month. What was up with that lately? Nothing was going on in the form of events, no updates in the games he played with his friends. The lessons were dull and boring. Even ghost attacks have been minimal at best. Which normally Danny would be over the moon about. He just wished wanted them to not attack whenever he was busy or doing something.

Now though, well, anything to kill this monotony.

He slumped in his chair, arms splayed over the desk as his cheek smushed over the surface. The bell’s ringing not even breaking the boredom he felt sinking into his bones.

Mr. Lancer stood up, closing the classroom door and getting to work. “You’re in luck today, class.” He started. “A review over this semester’s curriculum revealed that we’re actually quite far ahead of the other classes in terms of the project of Shakespeare. In fact, all that’s left for us is to gather everyone for the big presentation at the end of the month.”

Wow, even Mr. Lancer’s class had nothing going on. What was the world coming to?

“So, I’m going to cut a deal with you. From now until the presentation, you are allowed to use this class as a designated free period. For studies, socializing and the works. On the condition,” The teacher stared hard at his students. “You keep things quiet. While some may want to goof off, others will need to study, and our neighbors will certainly be cross with us should we make too much noise. So to test the waters, for today, we’ll play heads up seven up.”

Many groaned at the boring choice from their teacher.

“Isn’t that like for little kids?” Star asked bluntly. “Like preschool?”

Paulina scoffed in agreement. “Yeah, we’re too old for stuff like that.”

Mr. Lancer deflated at the news. “But it was a favorite when I was your age.”

That’s when Dash raised his hand. “I’ll play!”

Dash, playing? He actually didn’t mind participating in a game blacklisted by his peers? Now that Danny was looking, the jock was smirking. Back at him? Oh no.

“Oo, oo! I’ll play too!” Kwan jumped on board. Eager to play anything with his best friend.

They were met with silence from their classmates.

Frowning, Dash punched his fist.

And just like that, everyone hopped on the support Dash train.

“Awesome!”

“Yeah, that sounds fun!”

“Can’t wait!”

Tucker leaned over to whisper among the three of them. “You know, if Dash kept that kinda pull after high school, he could seriously shake up the political climate.”

Sam frowned, not impressed. “You actually want that doofus to vote?”

“...And now I retract my statement.”

“Let’s just be thankful we have a few more years before he’s eligible.” Danny quipped back. They were all a bit to young to know much about politics anyway, much less care about it.

“Alright,” Mr. Lancer settled the class down. “Dash and Kwan are it. The rest will put your heads down.” He then directed the two jocks on their assignment. “You two will pick and tap a small number of students. No more than three each. Anyone who has been tapped, you will give a thumbs up. Once all students have been selected, you two will stand at the front of the classroom. As for the ones selected, you’ll each have a chance to guess who tapped you. If you guess right, you’ll take their place. Guess wrong, and you’ll simply sit back down for the next round. I’ll determine the order of the guessing, but whoever among those picked guess first will get that spot. We’ll keep it at only two up here at a time. Does everyone understand?”

Sounds simple enough. The fact that only maybe two out of the six picked got to be it was bound to tick some people off. Especially if they were beat out by someone guessing before them. And Dash’s suspicious eagerness did not bode well for Danny.

“What happens if no one guesses right?” Mikey asked, raising her hand.

Mr. Lancer hummed in response. “Then the one who’s it gets to stay for the next round. There won’t be a score, but if you all wish to make this a competition I’m sure there’s something you can find to have bragging rights over.”

That got the class excited. But now it was time to actually play. Mr. Lancer directed everyone to get into position. Each student putting their heads down and hands out. Danny, reluctantly, followed suit. He heard Dash snicker as he did so.

Alright, well if Dash wasn’t going to play fair...

Danny tapped just a smidge into a ghost powers. Not transforming. Just enough to get a sense of the room. More than the average kid that is.

He could see everything. Not like a human. More than that. In detail the eyes couldn’t pick up. Hiding his own smirk beneath his arms, Danny waited for Dash to take the bait.

And he sure didn’t miss it. Practically dashing over to his desk as quietly as he could, before smacking Danny over the head.

Yeah, this was all just an excuse to whale on him.

“Alright, that’s enough now.” Their teacher scolded in a bored tone. More than used to his students’ antics.

He waited until the picking was done, see who was tapped by both jocks. But it wasn’t like that information was important to him. When Lancer called for everyone to raise their heads, the guessing began.

“Alright, we’ll go alphabetic order. Mr. Fenton?”

Prompted, Danny made a show of indecision. “Hmmm... Let’s see. Eeny, meeny, miny, Dash.”

“What?” Dash’s gobsmacked face was so worth smirking evilly to. “How’d you know Fentoid?! You must’ve cheated.”

“In retrospect,” Sam started. “Maybe picking the one guy in this class you pick on the most, wasn’t a great idea.”

Tucker laughed. “For once being a victim gave him an advantage.”

That was true, Danny probably could’ve guessed just fine without his powers. He was just feeling extra petty today. And bored.

“Or,” Wesley added slowly. “He could be using his ghost powers to cheat.”

There were collective groans throughout the room.

“Not this dumb Fenton is Phantom theory again.” Another jock complained.

“Yeah,” Paulina readily agreed. “There’s no way this loser could ever be the ghost boy.”

“It’s not a theory!” Wesley stood up in protest, pointing his finger aggressively in a smirking Danny’s direction. “He’s been fooling all of us and you’re all too blind to see it!”

Valerie also gave an exasperated sound. “Wesley, I’ve seen it myself. Phantom and Danny have been seen in two places at once, multiple times.”

“Duplication is a thing!”

“Alright, enough!” Mr. Lancer intervened. “If you’re going to be disruptive then there will be no free period. And I will assign extra worksheets for everybody.”

That did it, the threat of homework was quite strong. Danny was bored, but not that bored.

“Mr. Fenton, come up to the front. And Mr. Baxter, as per the rules, go take your seat.”

Grumbling to himself, Dash shoved his way past Danny as the two swapped places. All that was left was for the remaining guesses. Which as it turned out, no one could guess Kwan. The three he picked all assumed it was Dash, and the remaining two Dash had selected lost their chance. So only Danny became it that round.

His eyes panned over the class as everyone got situated for round two, wondering who he’ll go with. Then his eyes locked on Wesley. The ginger not letting up on staring him down suspiciously.

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

“Pst, Kwan.” Danny whispered, getting the jock’s attention. With a motion, he got him to lean down so he could share his plan.

Unlike Dash, Kwan was actually a pretty chill guy. He still participated in the blonde’s shenanigans, and still gave off the superiority of a A-Lister, but outside of that he was cool with just about anyone in school.

Sam’s time spent bonding with him opened up the jock to a little more socializing to the outcasts, realizing that many of them were rather fun to hang out with. Danny especially though, was the favorite. And with all the ghost chaos that occurred around him, it was hard not to like him. You never could guess what was going to happen with him around.

So Kwan listened eagerly, paying close attention to the genius plan conveyed to him. Finally he pulled back. “Oh man, Fenton. That’s evil!”

The teen grinned back. “Thought you might like it. Alright, let’s trade then.”

And the two continued to conspire silently. No one able to pick up what was being discussed. Though the round being dragged out was not something Mr. Lancer particularly enjoyed.

“If you’re not going to pick someone, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Lee, I will choose someone else in the class to take your places.”

Both stopped immediately. “We’re ready.” The taller of the two assured.

And off they went. Kwan already beginning to select his three. But it was when Danny moved that left the jock speechless. And even their teacher’s eyes to widen a little.

There was no sound in his footsteps. He walked certainly. But no a single click, tap, or squeak emitted from those shoes hitting the linoleum floor. It was almost as if he was floating. And yet it was all with the movement of a normal human being. Just another thing to add to the ongoing list of creepy things about Danny Fenton.

When it was all over, both moved to the front, and the guessing began again. Among the students who stood, it was Paulina, Dash, Sam, Mikey, Nathan and Wesley.

“Alright Mr. Baxter, you get to guess first.”

Grinning, Dash gave his answer. “Obviously it was Kwan. Why would the loser ever choose me. Unless I made him.”

Danny just smirked right back. Completely unaffected at how Dash gave his usual fist in the palm incentive. “Funny you should mention that.”

“Sorry Mr. Baxter,” Their teacher announced. “Your answer was incorrect.”

“What?!” Dash exclaimed, then immediately turned to his teammate. “How could you betray me like that?!”

Kwan gave apologetic. “Sorry man, you were already picked before I got there.”

Sam caught how Danny’s smirk widened. Something was up.

More guesses and still no one had managed to figure it out. Paulina was appalled to learn that it wasn’t in fact Kwan who had chosen her for the round, insisting on having to wash her hands now. Mickey was more surprised a jock had picked him rather than someone closer to his ranking on the social grapevine. And Sam, well she couldn’t have been more wrong. If her idea was correct, then it should’ve been Kwan. But apparently they were both more devious than that.

Next to guess, Wesley stood tall and proud. “Fenton.”

Danny made a buzzard noise with a cross of his arms, making an ‘X’ shape. “Wrong~”

The ginger never looked more confused. “But, but it has to be you!”

“Sorry, try again.” Yep, Danny was in full gremlin mode now.

As Wesley continued to sputter. That just left Nathan to guess by default, taking Danny’s place. And even a few rounds later, Kwan was also dethroned.

But even still afterwards, Danny continued to be a menace to the classroom, and especially for Wesley. No one knowing how he kept guessing correctly with a perfect hundred percent accuracy. While simultaneously making it nearly impossible to guess him without everyone else guessing wrong first. Even when they learned the trick of him trading his picks for whoever his current partner wanted, he still kept changing the formula. Making it nearly impossible to anticipate his choices. It led to a few complaints on the supposed fairness of the game, or the idea of Danny cheating. Tucker and Sam might’ve resigned to it. But Wesley was still determined to convict his classmate, somehow.

Needless to say, they never played heads up seven up again.

BONUS:

“Nathan.” Valerie gave her answer in front of the classroom.

Said boy gasped. “How do you always know it’s me?!”

Chapter Text

“Gah! These problems are too hard. Algebra sucks.”

The black haired teen slammed his head into the old dining table, groaning to himself in frustration. There haven’t been any ghost attacks lately and he wanted to catch up on his school work. He’d done a decent job so far. But math? That was out of the question.

He originally planned on just doing his homework at home in his room like always. But his parents have been all weird as of late. No bragging about inventions, no ghost hunting patrols, not even working maintenance in the lab. It was suspicious. And driving him crazy paranoid. Jazz didn’t seem bothered by it. But he just knew something had to be up. Wouldn’t be the first time they’ve working on a big project in secret just to avoid Phantom learning about it so he could counteract. Not that they realized they were in fact the ones directly telling him, but that was beside the point.

So Danny instead retreated to the old abandoned Townson place after school. Where he spent his last Halloween. It had started gradually, but he began frequenting the place more and more just for some alone time. As just about everyone in town avoided this place outside of the fall festivities.

Hey, when you’re one of the most notorious ghosts in question, you more or less have the inside scoop on what places were actually haunted, and which were just here-say.

Not that the old building wasn’t technically haunted. Case in point, an old woman who was so transparent she was practically invisible hovered just a across the dining table from him. She took another glance at his paper before sipping her tea.

“I wish I could help Little Casper, but I don’t remember problems like that back from my high school years.”

“I wouldn’t expect you too.” He replied politely. “But thanks for trying, Mrs. Guarder.”

The woman only smiled before going back to her paper, choosing not to comment on further. Yes, she was a ghost. But not like the ghosts he always fought day to day. No, this was a woman who had lived in the retirement home until about a month ago in July. The heat had been rolling through the town in waves and eventually became too much for the poor woman to take. However, she didn’t want to leave just yet as her granddaughter was almost done finishing college. She wanted to make sure the girl had her life settled with a job and forming a family before she moved on to joined her husband on the other side.

Young as he was, Danny could understand the sentiment of wanting to watch over loved ones to make sure they were settled in, especially seeing as how your own was cut short. That’s why upon running into her, he offered her a place to stay here. It was well furnished and out of the way from most of their noisy town, ghost fights and all. Like the dining table for example. A relic piece of furniture, that had been returned to its rightful place after the haunted house every year.

In fact the whole house still retained its original decor. The building might have started as abandoned. But with the new influx of ghost tourism mixing with long standing local legends, it had become something of a small town landmark. Something quaint and historic for the town hall to take care of. It started as a halfhearted effort, but it soon became one of the few things their new mayor Vlad Masters took great care in to restore it to what it looked like back in its prime.

Now from what Danny understood when he first met her, she had never been into the Ghost Zone. That meant she was attached to no ectoplasm whatsoever and was completely invisible to everyone. Everyone but Danny that is.

Which was another reason Danny paid frequent visits to the house. No one was even able to talk to her. Not that being seen would’ve allowed for that either. Anyone would’ve alerted the his parents about a ghost attack in a heartbeat.

But Mrs. Guarder was such a sweet old lady. Rather reminding Danny of Sam’s grandmother. So he took it upon himself to give her company on occasion. Bringing tea, snacks, and the local newspaper. Sharing stories of his day and ghost adventures, while she reminisced about her old life and give updates on her granddaughter’s wellbeing.

And as for the name, that was a little something she had come up with to tease him about his ghost powers. You know, Casper the friendly ghost? Yeah, as if attending Casper High wasn’t ironic enough. Danny didn’t really mind it, though. Certainly an upgrade from Inviso-Bill.

“Oooo... look at that.” She took a better glance at the paper, her voice bringing the ghost child back to earth. “Danny Phantom saves preschool hostages from ghost attack. Looks like you’ve made front page news again, Little Casper.”

Danny blushed. Why did this town make such a big deal out of every little thing he does? “It was nothing. I just wish they didn’t make such a big deal out of it.”

“I know this town better than I know my own son and granddaughter. They’ll make a big deal out of any little thing.”

Danny laughed and began putting his stuff away in his backpack. “I guess you’re right. But I’m not really one for the spotlight.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Was the witty comeback he received. She then saw what he was doing. “Leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, it’s getting late and I’m pretty sure my parents are wondering where I am.” He explained, hefting his bag over his shoulder. “Plus I’ve got all weekend to finish the last of my homework. I can come by tomorrow, though.” He said walking toward the door and opening it, the ghost lady floating behind.

“And bring some more of those cookies you brought last week, will you. They never let us have anything like that in the retirement home.”

“Is that place really as much as a nightmare as everyone makes it out to be?”

“Perhaps you’ll find out if you survive all these ghosts attacks up to eighty five.”

Danny laughed. “Goodbye, Mrs. Guarder.”

“See you tomorrow, Little Casper.”

Danny stepped outside and summoned the blue-white rings as they split in two, transforming him as he lifted up into the air and flew home. It wasn’t too long of a flight, though. Once he saw the large neon ‘Fenton Works’ sign, he turned invisible and dropped between a couple houses further down the block. Reverting back, he left the cover of the two buildings and jogged up to his front door, slipping inside.

There on the couch sat his sister, reader another one of her books. She looked up to see him when she heard him come in.

“Oh, Danny, you’re home.” She said. “Ghost fight?”

“Actually no. Amity’s been rather quiet today. I went over to see Mrs. Guarder instead. Get some homework done. Had a lot of worksheets to fill out.”

Jazz widened her eyes. “You’re falling behind already!? It’s still in the beginning of the school year!”

“Don’t blame me! Blame the ghosts!” Danny shot back defensively.

Suddenly a green blast ran passed Danny’s head and blasted a small scorch on the wall above Jazz’s head. Both kids recoiled from shock, screaming. Jazz taking cover behind her book while Danny made a dive for the floor.

Coming up in their classic teal and orange hazmat suits stood Maddie and Jack Fenton with guns positioned. Seeing no threat, the parents put their guns away and took their hoods off.

“Danny, are you alright?” Maddie asked. “We heard you scream ghost so we came rushing up here.”

Danny quickly scrambled up. “W-What no! There’s no ghost. Right Jazz?” He looked to his sister nervously for support.

“Yeah! Yeah Mom, Danny only said that because of all the attacks that’ve been happening lately. There’s been so many that it’s been interrupting Danny’s study time.” Jazz said backing up her brother. That was close enough to the truth.

“What? You’re falling behind?” And the female ghost hunter fell into her mother role. “I thought you’ve been doing better.”

“I am Mom. But with all the ghost drills and evacuations at school, it’s really hard.”

“So, there wasn’t a ghost?” Jack asked becoming a little sad.

Jazz crossed her arms at that. “Dad, not everything can be about ghosts.”

“Of course not sweetie.” Their mother swiftly agreed. Though her tone didn’t seem to match her words. “By the way, where were you? Did you go to see your friends after school today?”

“Oh, yeah.” Danny answered playing along. “We worked on some homework so we could knock it out early.”

Maddie smiled. “Well, I’m glad to see you taking school more seriously this year.”

Her son smiled at the praise.

“Anyway,” Jack suddenly chirped. “Speaking of ghosts...!”

“We were talking about Danny’s studies.” Jazz corrected. “Not ghosts.”

That didn’t stop their dad, though. “You’re mother and I have finally hit it big! We’re going out tomorrow to explore the Old Townson Place. You know, that creepy abandoned house sitting on 917 Maple Street.”

Oh timing, how Danny despised thee. He broke into a sweat. “But haven’t you guys already cleaned that place out of ghosts? Back during Halloween?”

His mom chuckled. “Oh, Danny. That was forever ago. Places like that always need a revisit.”

Her husband nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, like pest control!”

“But it’s not abandoned.” Jazz reasoned, now her turn to try. “The school uses it for their annual haunted house. Remember? Danny was part of the community last year.”

Now that had their dad dropping the happy-go-lucky act. Raising an eyebrow. “Oh? You mean that out-of-detention project you got roped into?”

Danny gulped. Oh well, she tried. He could at least appreciate the effort.

Maddie place a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Come now, Jack. That’s old history. We already reprimanded Danny enough about that night. And on him swiping our weapons so he could cheat to win.”

Yes, let’s please move on. He already paid his dues for that night. Please don’t make him relive it.

Jack said nothing, but his body language clearly conveyed him dropping the subject.

Their mom then turned to the kids. “In any case, we plan on paying that house another visit for a sweep. You could be right about it no longer holding a ghost, but it’s more for a collaboration project than a routine check.”

“Collaboration?” Danny echoed.

“Yep!” His dad answered excitedly. “We’re doing a ghost hunting tour all over town!”

“The house is just a starting point since it’s the most notable location. Gotta start with the attention grabbers first.”

“But it’s good experience in ghost patrols, even if nothing shows up. And we’ll become famous! That’s why we’re inviting you kids along.”

Another ploy to get them into the family business. Oh joy.

Except, Mrs. Guarder was there. Whether or not she had ectoplasm was irrelevant. If she appeared even once on their radar, then his parents will end up chasing down an innocent old lady. And he wasn’t a fan of that.

“Okay,” He spoke out quietly. “Sounds fun.”

Jazz looked mildly surprised for a second. But it passed quickly as her genius mind filled in the gaps with the help of certain knowledge only the Fenton siblings knew. Knowing he was out to protect Mrs. Guarder.

She then made a show of sighing, resigned. “Fine, guess I’ll go too. I’ve been meaning to expand on my thesis anyway.”

Ghost psychology or ghost envy? His sister did so much extra credit it was honestly hard to keep track.

Their parents grew elated.

“Oh, Jack!” Their mom cheered. “We used to have to wrestle you two into doing anything ghost related. And now look! Our very own little hunters!”

Her husband wiped a tear from his eye, growing emotional. “They grow up so fast.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions.” Jazz spoke sternly. “I’m not about to go running around in a jumpsuit with a ecto-blaster any time soon.”

“Trust me, she really sucks at it.”

If looks could kill, Danny wouldn’t be a halfa anymore. But it was worth it. She still owed him for all those hours trapped in the thermos.

“Well, we’ll take what we can get.” Maddie said sagely. “You kids are more than free to choose your own careers. We’re just happy to have you both showing an interest.”

“And bonding!”

Whoops. They might’ve been more stand-offish from their parents occupation than they realized. It wasn’t on purpose. Danny would just prefer to bond with them a safe distance away from anything harmful to his ghost half.

Oh well, they were locked in now. No getting out of this. He just hoped whatever this collaboration entailed wasn’t too risky to Mrs. Guarder.

The following morning was a blur. Being forced to wake up far too early for a Saturday, practically shoved into the RV as his parents drove him and his sister to the location. Danny honestly wondered how he hadn’t flopped over in his seat back into dream land.

It wasn’t too long a drive to the Old Townson Place. And by the time they pulled up he was starting to feel more alert. Dread in the fact that Mrs. Guarder might be in danger from his parents eccentric activities.

Everyone stepped out, making their way towards another van that was being handled by another group. The collaborators.

He then noticed the equipment. A TV crew?

A woman, long sleeved with a vest and beanie to match, turned upon hearing their footsteps. Smiling ear to ear. “Oh good, you’re early!”

Maddie greeted the other warmly. “Hello Beth, it’s so nice to finally meet you face to face.” She extending a hand, which the other graciously shook.

“Likewise,” She complimented, giving them a once over.

“You two must take your ghost hunting seriously if you’re showing up in jumpsuits.”

“Actually, they always dress like this.” Jazz answered. “And isn’t it a little warm out?”

Beth smiled upon seeing the younger Fenton. “And you two must be Jazz and Danny. You’re parents told me a lot about you two over the phone. As for my choice of fashion, my husband and I are from North Canada. Never raised above fifteen where I live. Not that it doesn’t get warmer, but that’s just my own experience. I honestly can’t wear anything less without feeling completely exposed.”

Jack gasped in awe. “You understand how I feel! I can’t go anywhere without the healing touch of my orange glow spandex.”

Jazz groaned, smacking her face with a facepalm. Whereas Maddie simply shook her head smiling fondly. Danny meanwhile, had a very different reaction.

If he had water, he’d do a spit-take. So instead he had to settle for his eyes bulging out of their sockets. “Fifteen degrees?! How are you alive!”

Beth giggled.

Jazz huffed. “Danny, she meant fifteen degrees Celsius. Not fifteen degrees Fahrenheit.”

Danny blinked. “There’s a difference?”

“Are they teaching you nothing at that school?!”

If possible, Beth laughed even harder. “Oh, now you have to meet my husband, Ethan. You two sound just like him and Edward.”

Upon hearing his name, a man approached them. Just as bundled up as his wife. “You rang?” He then gave a kiss on Beth’s cheek before extending a hand to the married hunters. “Hey there. I’d be Ethan.” Once the offered hand was shook, he then gestures behind him. “So what’s this about my dork of a brother?”

Beth smiled. “How seeing the Fentons’ children arguing reminds me of you two. Don’t you remember? You’d both always find something pointless to nag about at one another.”

He gave a playful raised brow before turning to the kids, lowering his voice down as he cupped his mouth. Like he was prepared to tell them the biggest secret on earth. “Don’t listen to her, I think that hat of her’s is cutting off the circulation in her brain.”

That earned him an elbow to chest, emitting a laughing grunt from him.

“Then shouldn’t you be suffocating too?”

Another grin. “Touché.”

“Beth and Ethan called us one day, after news of the latest ghost attacks started breaking the news.” Maddie explained to the kids. They’re a paranormal show that studies myths behind ghost stories and haunts.”

“And they asked if we could be on their show since we’re ghost hunters and live here!” Jack exclaimed in enthusiasm. “Isn’t that great?”

“I’m so glad you two agreed to appear on our show.” Beth said smiling. “We thought it’d be best to have a few of the local citizens give a survey of what they think of Phantom. Especially since he’s popular with the kids.”

“Hold on,” Danny interrupted. “No one said about us going on TV.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” His mother waved off. “You’ll be the talk of the school when they see the live broadcast. And it’ll be educational in showing that Phantom is just a ghost menace pretending to be the town’s hero.”

Wow, pessimistic much? Not that assuming the worst out of his ghost have was anything new with his parents. And besides, he had bigger things to worry about.

“The goal today is to cover the whole town where the ghosts have regularly frequented, namely Phantom.” Beth laid out their plan. “But before heading over, we did some research and some kids tweeted recently about seeing something inside this old house. So we thought starting here would be best. Strike while the iron is hot and all that.”

Adjust the explanation, a notification appeared on Danny’s phone. He pulled it out. Looked to be a text from Tucker already catching wind of the show coming to Amity Park to shoot an episode.

Little late there Tuck.

The husband, Ethan, made a disappointing noise. “Sorry, kiddo. But phones need to be away of mute while near the cameras. Messes with the sound feed, you know?”

Yeah, Danny could understand that. Same reason you didn’t let your phone ring during a movie. He moved to silence the device before pocketing it.

Beth then continued on. “Anyway, as far as we know, the town only uses it in an annual Halloween haunted house every year. So this seemed out of the norm.”

Danny froze. They were going to film the haunted house because of Mrs. Guarder! But, that didn’t make sense. No one can see her. So then the person they actually saw was... him.

Crap.

His mother hummed to herself as she studied the photo pulled up on Beth’s phone, the owner showing her the image. “It could be a ghost. But the movements are strangely human. Though Phantom has been known to mimic human behavior the most, and the most accurately.”

“I knew it! So that’s where that spook’s been hiding all this time!” Jack exclaimed, whipping out an ecto-blaster. “Well he’s not getting away from me, Jack Fenton!”

His wife immediately place a hand on his shoulder. “Hang on just a minute, dear. There’s no guarantee Phantom is inside right now. And we’re still lacking solid evidence he’s the one using the house as his hideout. Let’s use the show to do a preliminary sweep. Then we’ll cover the rest of the town. If he believes we’ve written off the house as a one time thing...”

“He’ll come back while we’re staking the place out and then we nab him! It’s brilliant!”

“Exactly.” She smiled, then turned to the crew. “Does that sound like a good idea to you?”

Beth smiled as well. “A chance to see Amity’s most famous ghost? I’ll admit the chances of rigging a sighting ourselves have always felt slim. But this might actually work.”

Maddie held up a finger. “Again, I’m not convinced yet that it is Phantom. But once we see the interior I’ll have a better idea. Let’s assume it’s a different ghost for now. If it does turn out to be Phantom, we’ll loop back later tonight.”

“And then we got him!” Jack finishes. “He won’t suspect a thing if we say it’s some random ghost! Ha!”

Danny watched as his sister held back a snort, resulting in a dry look from her brother. Yeah, sometimes this eavesdropping thing is too easy. He almost felt bad.

Almost.

He walked up and tapped his mom on the shoulder. “Hey, Mom?”

“Hmm? What is it, sweetie?”

“Is it alright if I go explore the house a bit? Since you guys are still setting up.” That was really the only excuse he could think of to get away and warn the old woman. Whether they assumed it was his ghost half or not was irrelevant. If they found any trace of her...

Maddie hummed in thought. “...I suppose you could. But make it fast, Beth and Ethan are getting ready to film soon.”

With a nod, Danny sped inside the old house to look for the ghost. Leaving any other damage control to his sister outside.

“Mrs. Guarder?” Danny called out. A bit more quiet than normal, but still projecting his voice to be heard. “Mrs. Guarder?”

Nothing. Maybe the second floor. “Mrs. Guarder?”

“In here, Little Casper.” A familiar voice responded just a few rooms down.

Sure enough, when Danny opened the door, the white faded figure of Mrs. Guarder sat floating just above a chair by the window.

The woman gave a kind smile. “That’s quite the party you’ve got going on out there.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I honestly had no idea that my parents were planning this, or that the someone spotted me.”

“It’s not your fault, Little Casper.”

“Not my fault?” Danny accused. “It was my idea for you to stay here while you waited for your granddaughter to settle down. It’s my fault that I got spotted in the window when I should’ve been more cautious and it’s my fault that I dragged you into all this ghost craziness.”

“And I’m telling you it isn’t your fault.” The woman responded, her voice sturdy as ever. With a kind smile, she floated over and grabbed Danny’s hand. Enveloping it with her own two transparent ones in a gentle grasp. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me since we first met. The fact that you’ve always brought me the paper and snacks when visiting proves it. So what if someone spotted you, you had no control over that. People would’ve just found out that I was here another way.”

The kind woman then guided Danny to the window. The curtains were still covering it, but he could still see outside. Amazing how despite knowing this was how they found out someone had been inhabiting the place, they still didn’t think to look up to see his shadow by the window.

He sighed. “Guess you’re right. Thanks.”

“Anytime, Little Casper.”

It was then that Danny perked up, remembering something. “Oh, that’s right.” He dug out a small packet. “I brought those cookies you wanted.”

She clapped her hands together. “Wonderful! Let’s break into them now.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “You sure? I’d feel better if we got you away from the house until all this blows over.”

“But they’re still setting up right? Otherwise they wouldn’t have let you in. And besides, kids come out here to hang out all the time. That whole test of courage. I’m sure any left behind crumbs could be easily written off.”

“I guess you have a point.” He followed her to sit down by the window. Each taking a chair. The cookies opened between them on a small coffee table.

He smiled as he took a bite. Mrs. Guarder had a point. She didn’t have ectoplasm. So none of his parents tech would go off around her anyway. So what on earth was he worried about?

“We got everything set up?” Beth asked, to which her crew gave another thumbs up. “Ok then, let’s start shooting.”

“Wait, what about Danny?” Jazz interrupted.

Maddie hummed, looking around. “Hm, he must still be inside. I hope that’s alright Beth. We usually allow the kids to freely explore and I had forgotten to check with you.”

“It’s an old building so I don’t have a problem, especially if the kid’s been inside before without issue.” The woman answered. “But maybe phone him real quick to come out.”

“Maybe get him to exit out the back?” Ethan suggested. “We need to stick to our schedule and start rolling.”

Both ghost hunting parents agreed and got ready. But not before the mother addressed her daughter. “Jazz, go ahead and text Danny. Tell him to go out the back door.”

The redheads nodded. Pulling her phone out to do just that. Then also silencing it as per the rules.

The crew got together. “Alright! On the air in five, four, three, two...” With one final point, they were officially live.

“Hello and welcome back to Haunted Discoveries,” Beth spoke. “I’m Beth.”

“And I’m Ethan.”

“And today, here in Amity Park, Ohio, we have two very special guests with us today!”

Unbeknownst to Danny, his phone pinged silently in his pocket. The teen far too distracted by the conversation he was having.

“So, I’m not convincing you to leave while they explore the house, huh.”

“They could tear the place apart for all I care.” The ghost laughed. “Not like the building was in good condition beforehand.”

“It’s gotten better,” He then took a glance around the small room to spot the warped bookshelf and splintered floorboards. Looks like Vlad still had some more renovations to do. “...ish”

That drew a laugh out of the both of them.

“So, you make any progress on that homework of yours?” The elder woman changed the subject.

“Nah.” Danny brushed off. “I decided to sleep on it when I got home. I was planning on doing it today, but Mom and Dad dragged us out of the house before I could even grab it.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” The ghost reassured. “You are a rather smart child.”

Jazz double checked her phone. Noting that Danny hadn’t even read her message. Both her parents and the TV crew had went inside already. Did he not realize they were starting?

“Bring up the sound a bit.” She turned to see the remainder of the group surrounding a small monitor and some various machinery. Likely to edit whatever they need with the raw footage. “Good, keep it there.”

She walked over, excusing herself as she took a peek over the director’s shoulder. Catching his attention in the process.

“Pretty cool, huh. They’re still exploring the first floor but the tech we’ve got is capable of handling any spooky lighting. Wicked expensive, but totally worth it.”

“That’s neat.” Something then caught her attention. “What’s that small box right there?”

“Oh, this is our spectral vision. Just a simple radar telling us if a ghost is in the area or not. Nothing fancy but it does its job.”

That drew some concern from Jazz. If Danny was still inside, would he accidentally trigger it? She moved to text him again just in case.sighing when it wasn’t even read.

“Come on, Danny. What are you doing in there?”

“Let’s check the second floor,” Beth suggested after they searched all the rooms.

“Good idea,” Maddie readily agreed. “First floors are usually the most common spots for ghost activity. But never rule out the other levels.”

“Then it’s settled.” Ethan declared. “Up we go!”

“Ha, ha! Better watch it, spooks!” Jack announced excitedly.

Excessive? A little. But they were on TV. Playing it up was part of the gig.

The group then all head up the steps and onto the second floor. Once up there, they all began to look around.

Ethan was the first to speak. “Which room should we start with first?”

Before anyone could answer, another voice was heard.

“Me, smart? As if, have you seen my grades?”

The sound caught everyone’s attention. All turning Their heads toward the room down the hall. The door left ajar. At the same time, the ghost radar in Jack’s hand began to buzz to life.

“Danny?” Maddie questioned quietly. Why was her son still doing in the house?

“Danny, you mean your son?” Ethan elaborated for the sake of the camera. The ghost hunting couple nodded.

He was supposed to have left the house by now. Him and Jazz were arranged to come on the show later in the tour. But if he was here...

Guess they were winging it.

They all continued to walk silently to the door. Beth opening it just enough for them and the camera to peek through. The youngest Fenton, sat in a chair facing the window, his back to them. With another vacant chair across from him and a packet of cookies on the sill.

Jack’s ghost radar continued to buzz silently, only the signal seemed stronger this time. There was definitely a ghost somewhere in that spot. He signaled as much to the others.

Danny however, seemed too engrossed in his ‘conversation’ to hear it.

“Come on, stop. No way that’s true.” Danny spoke again, nibbling on a cookie.

“I’m serious.” Mrs. Guarder persisted, though Danny was the only one who heard her. “You’re a very intelligent boy. They never taught the stuff you’re learning now to me when I was your age. You’ll get this assignment done before you know it.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.” She said with assurance. Picking up a cookie herself. Something the others must definitely saw.

Well, more like they saw a floating cookie.

A touch bashful at the praise, Danny sought to look for a subject change. And turned his gaze out the window, only to spot something. Or lack thereof. “Huh, looks like Mom and Dad started exploring the house.” He turned to Mrs. Guarder. “I should probably sneak out before they get to the second floor. You go a find a place to hide.”

The woman let out a laugh. “Hide? Last time I checked Little Casper, you’re the only one who can see me.”

“Yeah, I know I’m the only one who can see you.” Danny said rolling his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean Mom and Dad’s equipment can’t still pick up on you. I don’t want to take any risks.”

Maddie gave a light gasp. Was her son, talking to a ghost? It certainly explained why the radar in Jack’s hand was going off. But she couldn’t see anything other than Danny. Yet the cookie, she couldn’t disprove that. There was definitely a ghost in that room.

It wasn’t uncommon for some ghosts to be so underpowered that they were invisible to the naked eye. And it certainly wasn’t uncommon either that there were certain people that had the ability to see those ghosts, namely kids. So did that mean her son was one of those gifted children?

Danny suddenly laughed. “Wow, you really like those, huh. Okay, I’ll be sure to bring some more next time I come over.”

Next time? Has her son been here before? Was he visiting this ghost? Why? He knew ghosts were dangerous. Her and Jack have stressed enough to the kids so that they’d remember it. But if he was visiting this ghost, did that mean it was her son those kids saw and not the ghost itself?

It would certainly explain his sudden interest in ‘exploring’ the place before they started shooting. He was trying to get rid of any evidence of him being there before.

“Well, she can’t really see you so meeting her would be hard. I’d be the one doing all the talking. But yeah, I’m sure Jazz would love to meet you if given the chance. She’s a lot more open to the idea that I can see ghosts she can’t after that one incident.”

Wait, Jazz knew but not his own parents? Why? And this ghost wasn’t the first one Danny had met that only he could see? Who else did he...?

Maddie then began to feel extremely guilty. Of course, the camping trip. The trip Jazz had so adamantly persuaded them into going. She went on and on about how the anti-ghost environment and the stress that came with the school was making him hallucinate and see ghosts. So the hypothetical ghost Danny kept claiming to see was actually there. And they didn’t believe him.

No wonder he hadn’t brought it up again. son must’ve thought that they wouldn’t believe him. The only one who did was Jazz. It would certainly make sense she knew after she had suddenly demanded that they head home when they only just arrived at the campsite.

Now Maddie really wished she had believed her baby boy then. To be the only one to see those ghosts and have to deal with them all by himself, it must’ve been hard. And it explained his trouble in focusing on his studies. But now that she knew, things were going to be different.

Danny stopped talking again as he grabbed the packet of leftover cookies. “I’ll be sure to ask her if she’s free to come over. She’s been busy with her college stuff lately, but I’m sure she’d love to visit.”

“I’m sure I’d love to meet her as well.” Mrs. Guarder answered. “I think I’ll take this opportunity to go see my granddaughter now.”

“So now you’re okay with leaving. I though you didn’t care about the ghost hunters.” He joked.

“Oh, I don’t.” She replied with mirth. “But if you’re so insistent I might as well take advantage.”

Danny chuckled. “Alright. Be sure to tell me how’s she’s doing.”

“I will.” She then gave a kind smile before flying up through the ceiling. “See you late, Little Casper.”

“See you.” Danny waved back. Once she disappeared, Danny turned towards the door to sneak out the back before his parents came up. Well, that was the plan.

But what he saw by the door made him stop. For standing at the entrance, were his parents along with the TV people he was introduced to earlier. And the camera in the guy’s hands was recording.

Danny chuckled nervously. “Heh, heh. Uh... you didn’t see that, right?”

Chapter Text

“Oh~?” A voice drawled inquisitively. “Koko ni wa nani ga aru no ka~?”

Danny stiffened as he capped the lid on the Fenton Thermos. Ghost already fought and dealt with. Rings just about done transforming him back to human. Turning, he could see an older guy down the alley. Which he didn’t even notice before the fight. When did he get here?

What’s worse, no doubt he saw everything. Was gaslighting even a possibility now? Danny doubted with that smirk the man was sporting.

Man? Teen? He was certainly older than Danny. Lean figure, nice clothes. Button up and slacks. Asian features. And a pair of sleek black shades. With stark white hair.

Danny frowned. Better not be another ‘Gregor’.

“Uh, can I help you?” He hesitated in greeting, treading slowly. Did the guy even understand him? He was speaking gibberish earlier. Another language?

The man seemed to realize that at the same time he did. “Ah right, English. Sometimes I forget what country I’m in with all my hopscotching around. Not that I bother to learn every language for each one. But English by itself sure does wonders.” He walked toward him. “I came to say hello, and compliment you on that swift fight. Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.”

That’s usually how it goes for the Box Ghost. But that wasn’t important right now.

“You... saw everything?”

The grin he received was all teeth. Wide and manic as he leaned forward, nearly bumping him in the head. Danny actually took a step back in response. Uneasy by the attention.

“Every last bit. Even the flashy transformation sequence.” The guy finally gave him space, instead choosing to strike a pose. “Precure! Go go ghost!”

Danny glared, fear of his secret forgotten momentarily. “It’s going ghost.” He wasn’t some magical girl.

The man just laughed, giving an easy motion. “Wari, wari. I just couldn’t help myself. Felt like I was in an anime there for a second. Well, actually that’s every day. But now that just feels boring. Same old episode, same old exposition, same old tropes. Maybe those crazy people who say western animation is better have a point.”

“Huh?” Okay, now Danny was lost.

“Never mind that!” He suddenly shouted. “I’ll go on my own western binge another day! But you, you’re the protagonist I’m more interested in.”

Danny was starting to feel really weirded out. First the no concept of personal space, now he’s yapping about cartoons and anime? Just how crazy was this guy?

“Let’s start with an easy one.” The man began, pointing at himself. “I’m Satoru Gojo. And what is it that you think it is I do?”

That settled it, the man was definitely a foreigner. Likely Japanese. Not that Danny knew what he said earlier was Japanese or not. But the anime references and name were a definite clue.

“Umm...” Danny stalled for his guess, dreading that he might be correct. “You’re a ghost hunter?”

“Almost~” Another smirk. “A better word for what I am would be sorcerer.”

Danny blinked at that. “You... do magic?”

Gojo shook his head. “Think less shōjo and more shonen.” He then paused. “You do know what those words mean don’t you?”

Danny nodded hesitantly. This had to be the strangest interrogation he’s ever had.

“Good!” With a thumbs up, he continued. “I’m basically like a super-powered ghost hunter. I use my paranormal skills to find and exorcise cursed spirits.” The man missed how Danny’s eyes widened in alarm at that. Stuck in his own little world of exposition. “I don’t need to rely on any gadgets as a crutch. I’m pretty much ninety percent talent, ten percent ingenuity. No doubt you could already tell. I mean, I am the strongest!”

It was now or never. If this guy was a supposed exorcist, Danny had to get away. He didn’t wanna stick around and find out how dangerous the guy was. Well, if his secret was already blown...

During that explanation, when Gojo turned away briefly, Danny took the chance to turn invisible while out of his line of sight. When he turned back to find no one there anymore, the man grew silent. Only a small noise of interest making it past his lips. No doubt taken aback by him vanishing.

The teen smirked. Perfect. Now all that was left to do was escape. He flew down a couple blocks.

Left alone in the alley, Gojo put a hand to his chin in thought. Clicking his tongue. “Shitsurei na.”

Turning back to visible, Danny made a break for it taking off down another alley down the block. He could’ve flown, but if his parents can track him, then this guy probably could do the same. He’ll have to get Sam and Tucker to try and do some research on him later. If the man was some kinda medium or whatever, he’ll need every advantage he can get.

“Going somewhere?”

“Wha-Oof!” Danny didn’t even realize he had just run into someone, having looked behind him to make sure he wasn’t followed. Turning to the guy to apologize, his words suddenly died in his throat as he gapped at the very same guy standing in front of him. “When did...? How did you...?”

Gojo scratched his head. “You know, if you had just been a little patient, I could’ve already told you running would be pointless.”

Okay, screw subtly. “Yeah? How about flying?” He didn’t even waste time calling out his catchphrase, changing quickly into his ghost form to get as far away as possible. Hitting max speed as he flew out.

Unheard from down below, Gojo hummed. “Getting better. But still a wasted effort.”

Danny was sure he was clocking in at his top speed of hundred and twenty. Waiting for about ten blocks before slowing down. He’ll have to find some place to lay low. Maybe Sam’s?

“Suge! I can definitely see why you enjoy flying. The view up here is amazing! I’m so jealous! All I can do is levitate or propel myself.”

Danny screamed as the man appeared before him again, sure he was gonna crash into this pursuer. Phase! Phase!

He then felt the back of his jumpsuit snag. Gojo having grabbed him midair, immediately using his own strength to essentially kill his momentum. Danny was actually surprised to find he stopped rather easily.

How’d he do that?

Danny heaved a sigh. “Fine, you win.” He admitted, defeated. “Just get it over with.”

Gojo just raised a brow in confusion. “You’re wanting to rush this? But we just met.”

“You said it yourself, right. You’re an exorcist. So take your best shot. Just... Don’t make it hurt.” He was playing up the kicked puppy act, but hopefully it’d be enough to knock the guy off balance, unexpectedly getting no resistance. Then maybe Danny could shield himself from whatever power Gojo had, or think up a better plan.

“Okay, wow. You really weren’t paying attention were you? If I wanted to eviscerate you, I would’ve done it already.”

“...What?”

“Wait, you actually thought you were gonna get blown to bits?! That’s hilarious!” Now the guy was laughing. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I just wanted to talk. Sure I’m here on business. But there’s no need to pull the whole cop routine on you.”

He then finally let go of the teen. And now that Danny was looking, floating apart from him, he could see that Gojo wasn’t really ‘floating’ at all. There was movement, but it was just his clothes blowing in the wind. As far as his body went, there was no push or pull from levitating idly in the air like Danny was. Just still as a statue, not supported by any force. It was starting to hurt the science part of his brain’s logic.

“How’s about you and I go back down and get a bite while we talk? I’m sure you guys have some kind of café down there somewhere. I mean, America’s just chock full of those. Though I’m cool with anything that has a high sweets stock.”

Danny just blinked back owlishly. What was even happening right now.

About ten to fifteen minutes later, both found themselves sitting at a table at an ice cream parlor Danny sometimes frequented with his friends. Danny with a vanilla chocolate chip. And his new friend, having gotten the biggest sundae he’d ever seen. With an overflow of chocolate syrup and toppings. Gummy bears, sprinkles, whip cream, and also chocolate chips. You could barely tell there were multiple flavors under all that. Too many for Danny to remember.

At least the guy was nice enough to foot the bill.

“So, to summarize. I’m what you would technically call a jujutsu sorcerer. My job, is to hunt down cursed spirits and exorcize them. You know, your usual run of the mill shonen plot with a little extermination service mixed in. Oh, we also deal with bad jujutsu sorcerers too, but they’re typically labeled as just curse users to simplify things, seeing as many of them never attended our school or don’t even live in the country.”

“School?” They actually taught this stuff?

“Yep, think of me as like your resident Kakashi. The wise humble mentor molding young impressionable minds in the art of jujutsu sorcery.”

Danny refrained from commenting on that by taking another bite. Humble, him?

“If you’re a teacher, then what are you doing all the way out here?”

He then blinked at the finger poking him in the forehead. The supposed adult smiling mischievously.

“If you had been paying attention to begin with, you would know that I’m the strongest sorcerer of the modern era. See, those that can see and interact with cursed energy are a rare breed. But in Japan, there are some big clans with family members producing kids inheriting what we call techniques that allow them to do just that. I’ll gloss over the details for now, but try to visualize it as a special power only that person or family is capable of doing. Using cursed energy as its power source.”

“As opposed to ecto-energy?”

That had the teacher grinning. “You got it. Different energy, same principle. Sad to say though, there isn’t any tech that could use it as an energy source like those ghost hunters have with that green goop.” He took an eager bite of his own ice cream. “For my family specifically, there are two traits that are seen as the most powerful techniques we can inherit. Only catch is, it’s once per generation. Meaning I’d have to die before another relative can be born with them.”

Danny took another bite. “So you have two techniques?” That sounded like some broken feature in a video game the devs never patched.

“Well, one’s more like a genetic trait. It’s pretty rare, but normally one isn’t born with them both. Usually they’re split between two kids. Though once in a blue moon, that lucky combo hits. And yours truly is that blessed baby.”

He watched as Gojo stood in his seat, striking a pose. Catching the eyes of the other patrons. Danny was fairly convinced this guy wasn’t an actual adult. He sure didn’t act like one.

The sorcerer sat back down. “Anyway, all that is to say, among all the clans and their generations, I’m the strongest sorcerer in existence right now. So that puts me at the tippy top of our secret internal government.” He then groaned aloud. “Which means heaps of missions the others are nowhere near equipped for. Cursed spirits are measured by grade for their power and threat level, and you’d be hard pressed to find a sorcerer able to deal with anything grade one or above.”

Now seeing where this was going, Danny gave a dry chuckle. “So naturally it all falls to you.”

“Unfortunately. I basically get sent all across the globe to deal with this kind of stuff.” Pouting, he scooped a couple bites from his sundae. Then resumed the conversation, oblivious to that fact that his rapid eating left a small bit of chocolate syrup on the corner of his mouth. It was hard to take him seriously anymore. “Which leads us to now. I get briefed on all kinds of unusual activity and here’s no different. We may not have anyone here on the ground, but I can assure you that the last few months definitely caught our attention. So I’ve been assigned to assess the situation.”

“And Phantom.” Danny finished.

“And Phantom.” Gojo agreed. “I gotta say, you were pretty quick for someone your age.”

Bashful at the compliment, Danny rubbing his neck. “Well, I am able to top at a hundred and twenty.”

The older white haired man shook his head. “Not your speed, your reaction time. Even a cursed spirit acting on instinct isn’t that fast. That’s a difficult skill to train up. Not even some of my own students have gotten that good yet. And you’ve already mastered it in what, half a year? Imagine if you honed it even further.”

Danny stared at the teacher’s praise, amazed. No one had really noticed or complimented him on something like that before. Everyone at school and even his parents saw him as a slacker. Did he really have some talent like the guy claimed?

“Too bad for you though, I saw right through it.” Gojo revealed, pulling his glasses down to show his eyes. A shade of blue that almost seemed to glow like a small nebula. It reminded Danny of his own green eyes whenever he caught his reflection in the mirror. “With these, I can see far beyond the average person. Cursed energy, physics, the laws of which bind our universe. Basically math, so much math. And up here,” He pointed to his forehead. “I calculate all that math, and apply my actual cursed technique to adjust what I see. Not even the different rules of your little ghost world can change that.”

“Zone, it’s more of a zone.” Danny corrected absently. Then the rest of what he said caught up to him. “Wait, you were still able to see me while I was invisible?!”

“Yep! Pretty bold of you to do that in front of my face. It made tracking you so much easier too. Also you’ve got way more of that green ecto-energy than anyone here naturally exposed to it.” As the teen panicked and inspected himself, the teacher assured him. “Don’t worry, normies can’t see any of that. And you’re parents’ tech can only pick up so much of those traces.”

“You... You know my parents?”

“Oh yes.” With a grin, Gojo whipped out his phone. “Danny Fenton, age fourteen, born and raised in Amity Park, attending Casper High. Hilariously ironic by the way. Parents are Maddie and Jack Fenton, their occupation being professional ghost hunters and inventors. Has been observed by family and school staff to be flighty, clumsy and a slacker. Often missing or sleeping through classes, with borderline below average grades. Though there are recorded grades from previous years detailing a A to B average. This new drop in performance coincides with the timeline of the local ghost hero, Phantom’s appearance, at the start of the year.” He then whistled low. “Even with the overseas handicap, Ijichi really outdid himself.” Putting the phone away, Gojo finally smiled. Smug. “See, it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots. And when I saw you in person, it only proved me correct. Seeing you transform and fight was just the nail in the coffin.”

Well that answered most of Danny’s questions. This man knew from the start who he was. Actively seeking him out with full intention of confronting him. It really was pointless to run. “So, you found me. What exactly did you wanna see me for?”

Gojo hummed, leaning back in his seat. “Well, like I said. As a sorcerer, I get called to investigate all sorts of anomalies. Just your glorified cursed spirit attack dog. But, ghosts aren’t cursed spirits. Yet here I am, on a hunt for a recording of a large amount of cursed energy, only for it to get buried under that ectoplasmic knock off. So, I did a little digging. What sort of recent changes could have affected the town so drastically? Turned out to be your parents’ portal, and subsequently, you zipping around playing hero.”

“And you needed to talk to someone who knew more about both.” Danny supplied. “Not sure how much help I’d be though. You keep talking as if cursed energy and ecto-energy are two different things.”

“They are.” He nodded.

“But I only know about the ghost stuff. The whole reason I ran in the first place is because I thought you meant ghosts and you said the word ‘exorcise’.”

“Ohhh...!” Gojo sounded in realization. “Okay, now I see the confusion. Lesson time~!” He stood abruptly, grabbing his sundae and Danny’s wrist. “Brace yourself.”

He barely had time to react. One second he was sitting in the shop, the next, nearly falling over on his butt in a classroom. Having lost his balance as his chair had practically vanished from under him. Or rather, he vanished from the chair. And his ice cream? Dropped onto the floor admits the commotion.

“What, where...?!”

“Where else? Your school. What better place for a lecture?” Setting his ice cream down after another few more bites, the bowl now empty, Gojo snagged a chalk piece and began writing on the board.

“How did we get here?!”

“I told you, math. Keep up kid.” The teacher was barely acknowledging the teen as he worked.

Standing up, Danny dusted off the invisible dirt on his pants. Then moved to the teacher’s desk to find the necessary supplies to clean up his ruined dessert. “Couldn’t you’ve just told me back at the ice cream shop?”

In response, the grown simply blinked back at him innocently. “I needed something to write with.”

Of course. Danny just ignored him as he finished cleaning up the mess and throwing away the trash.

“Okay, done!” Stepping back, Gojo admired his work. And Danny could see what he’d written.

Not much, just a line dividing the board. The labels were in Japanese, but there were little doodles to help identify which was which. The one side had a little ghost character, while the other had some malformed creature. Leading him to assume that’s what some cursed spirits looked like.

The teacher of today’s lesson then swiftly turned to face him. “We’ll start off with what you already know. First question! What makes up a ghost and how are they formed?”

A convoluted but easy answer, for Danny anyway. “It depends, but they always involve coming into contact with ectoplasm. Usually after someone dies, they latch onto the energy if the death is... impactful enough. There’s also blobs and more highly concentrated beings formed within the Ghost Zone without any human contact involved.”

Gojo idly wiggled the chalk in his hand. “Your answer’s different than the standard belief. At least what’s known publicly. You’re parents believe that it’s just ectoplasm that’s developed a consciousness and imprinted onto people who’ve already passed on.”

“It’s sorta true. The ectoplasm melds and adapts to the soul after death, while the soul imprints into the ectoplasm what it already knows. But the idea of it never having been the original person is wrong. The center of a ghost is a core. Their heart and brain. Which also provides and generates energy from the ectoplasm it absorbs. The amount of exposure or how concentrated the energy determines how long they can last away from that surplus in the Ghost Zone.”

“Hence why only a small amount make appearances into our world. Amity Park being the sole exception with your parents portal providing the perfect all you eat buffet.” Gojo then turned to write all those things on the board. All in Japanese of course. Why stop now? He then threw a grin over his shoulder. “And I’m willing to bet that’s how you’ve got your freaky powers.”

Danny shrugged, not wanting to look at him. It felt like it happened so long ago. But it still hurt to talk about. “More or less.”

The man hummed in response. “Well, in any case. How cursed spirits are formed, and what they’re made of, are completely different.”

He appreciated the subject change. “You said people couldn’t see them.”

“Yep, completely invisible to all the normal boring people. Unless you have cursed energy, which is completely and one hundred percent innate. Meaning you can’t normally obtain and produce outside of possession, which in that case would go away afterwards once the curse is lifted. The only other time someone would be able to see a cursed spirit without possessing any cursed energy on their own, is during near death experiences, or with the help of a cursed tool that has cursed energy imbued into it.”

Danny took to leaning on the desk behind him. “I thought you said inventions like what my parents make can’t use cursed energy.”

“You’re right, it can’t. What I’m talking about are weapons or objects where someone imbued cursed energy into them. Take for example glasses. If I were to infuse my cursed energy into them, whoever wore them would be able to see cursed spirits without a problem. And a normal sword would not be able to hurt them unless it has cursed energy inside it.”

“The way you’re phrasing it, it sounds like only something with cursed energy can hurt a cursed spirit.”

A snap of the fingers. “Now you’re getting it! Just like how ghosts can only be harmed by ghost energy or anti-ghost weaponry, cursed spirits can only be exorcised by the usage of cursed tools or cursed techniques. Of course, pure cursed energy can work as well, but depending on the grade, it’s not always a guarantee.”

“Grade?” Gojo had mentioned that before. “You mean like a rank?”

“Yep, grades four to one. Four being the lowest and one being the highest and most dangerous. There’s special grade too, but those are an extremely rare case. It all varies on the way they were formed. Now, any guesses as to how they do?”

“Umm... no? But you’re gonna tell me anyway?”

“Hmmm...” The teacher made a show of contemplating over the decision. “Alright, I suppose I can give you a freebie. But that’s it. Everybody gets one only.” He then started writing some more on the board. Almost running out of space on the cursed spirits side as opposed to the ghost one. “Cursed spirits are formed generally everywhere. All humans leak just the tiniest amount. The higher the population, more frequent and stronger cursed spirits are formed.”

“But you also said people can’t see cursed spirits without cursed energy. How can they have it and still not see anything?”

“Interesting question. Cursed energy technically exists in everyone. It’s only the part where that amount is increased and capable of control by the user that’s innate. Normies have no actual idea or control over it. And when it leaks out and accumulates, that’s when a cursed spirit is formed. Negative emotions, fear, rumors, superstition, haunted locations. All of these humans perceive as dangerous or terrifying, creates an atmosphere that can potentially bring cursed spirits into existence.”

“Like the abandoned town house at the edge of town?” Danny remembered that place being creepy even to him when he saw it last Halloween.

“Exactly, that’s a prime candidate. The only reason nothing’s formed there is because of all the ghost energy in the atmosphere. See, this town, and that portal your parents built, are flooding this area with so much ecto-energy, that it’s just straight up impossible for any cursed energy to form, much less a cursed spirit. We’ve known this for quite some time.” He finally stepped away from the board, mulling the chalk in his hand. “That is until that portal of yours actually activated. For a brief moment. There was such a large amount of excess cursed energy that it even caught my attention. And then it just disappears into thin air as if it never existed. Crazy right?”

Yeah, it was unusual. Though Danny didn’t notice anything like that when it happened. And he was actually there. Too busy being electrocuted. “If you noticed it back then, why wait until now to investigate?”

“We did, but it was just a window we sent. Someone insignificant to observe and report back. All they found was the portal and an influx of ghosts. So they just assumed any cursed spirits in the area were driven out and left it at that. Another problem with our outdated system is the old geezers running the joint don’t seem to care until it gets bad enough to warrant their attention.” Well wasn’t that just irresponsible. “I personally was curious enough to wanna see myself, but like I said before, I got bogged down on too many missions and completely forgot about it.” He then smiled as he looked at Danny. “Then the Ghost King incident happened. An entire town disappearing into another domain? I just had to come check it out.”

Figures it’d be Pariah that’d caught his attention. Danny crossed his arms. “Well you missed the party.”

“I know!” Gojo bemoaned. “And it sounded like a blast! From what I read online anyway. Anyway, that’s when I decided it was high time I saw the situation for myself.”

“Okay, great.” That settled that. Gojo was a friend, and once he got what he needed he’ll leave Amity Park alone. And his group had no desire to go after him. They just needed information. “Still... I’m not sure how I can help you look. I only know what what happened to me that day. I was in the portal, and I never saw or felt any cursed energy. I don’t even really know what it looks like.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I already know what happened.” The adult assured him, smiling without a care in the world.

Danny blinked once, then again. Hold on... “Wait, you already know? How?! When?!” Then what was even the point of all this?!

“I told you, I have really good eyes. So I found out the minute I arrived. It was easy. They really should’ve known better than to send someone other than me. Had I visited back then, I would’ve saved everyone so much time. I don’t blame them though. With all this ectoplasm in the air, finding that cursed energy is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Was it really that difficult? “Because there’s just so much of it in comparison?”

“Hmm... not exactly. Cursed energy and ecto-energy just don’t mix well together. Let me show you.” Taking the piece of chalk in his hand, Danny watched as it lit up with a blue flickering energy surrounding it. Almost like a flame. Noticing his reaction, Gojo smiled. “Ah, so you can see it.”

It clicked then that the teacher was imbuing his cursed energy into the object. And that it wasn’t typically visible to the naked eye. “Maybe because of my ghost powers?”

“That’s a definite possibility.” He then walked over to the rows of desks and placed it on the very last one at the end of the room. Then walked back, guiding Danny to stand by the blackboard. “Go ahead, fire an ecto-blast at it.” When Danny gave him a look, he waved his hand. “It’ll be fine. Think of it as a science experiment. I’ve got my infinity to protect me. And you can always just phase through it.”

That didn’t reassure him at all. And he had no idea what Gojo meant by infinity. Still, Danny turned intangible, firing a small blast from his pointer finger.

Knocked back, the chalk flew. And promptly exploded upon impact. The reaction was much more intense than expected. Causing a chain reaction in shattering all the windows. Some shards and even remnants of the explosion along with the desks and chairs scattering about the room. They passed through Danny harmlessly, despite the fact that he still recoiled as he had been hit. But Gojo couldn’t turn intangible.

He quickly turned to the adult, assessing any potential damage. Only to find anything that would’ve hit him stopped just before, hovering midair. An index finger pointing upward as if it was the very thing keeping the debris there. It probably was.

“Wow! I wasn’t expecting the desks to move. Shattered glass maybe. But for it to be strong enough to push furniture? Well, I guess we now know why mixing that stuff’s a bad idea.” With with the drop of the hand, everything levitating fell as well. Crashing to the floor and drawing a wince from the teen. Gojo was hardly affected though, as if this happened on the regular. He then turned to face him, leaning sideways in a rather jovial manner. “You seem to manage just fine in spite of that though. It’s kinda crazy cool to be honest.”

“What?” He didn’t understand.

Gojo laughed, “I mean you have both those energy sources mixing inside your body in a volatile cocktail, and you haven’t even blown up once like that piece of chalk.”

It took longer than it should, but now everything Gojo had been telling him up to this point made a lot more sense. He turned to look at where the chalk once was. “You mean, I’m the source of the cursed energy?”

The grin that appeared was all teeth. “Remember when I said that people who can use cursed energy are hard to come by? Well, back during the Heian Period, that’s right as our year number entered the quad digits by the way, they were a lot more common. But naturally as the years have gone by, people stopped preserving those little traits they had on cursed techniques and started having kids with non-sorcerers. So we have maybe about zero point one percent that are aware of jujutsu sorcery and are involved with the clans, about zero point five percent of people that are also aware of such lineage but aren’t affiliated with the clans, roughly a guesstimate of zero point eight percent of those who have the ability to produce or see cursed energy but aren’t aware of anything regarding jujutsu sorcery, and then you have the rest of world, who strike out with no knowledge or ability of cursed energy.”

Those numbers weren’t all that impressive. “And you’re saying I’m among that point eight percent?”

“Just about. Ijichi’s in the process of checking your family tree now. It’s a lot easier to look at such records for Japanese citizens, since they’ve remained in the country for all these centuries. But tracking an international branch is gonna be a little tougher.”

“I didn’t even think I’d have any Japanese blood in me.” Tucker and Sam were certainly gonna flip. Tucker likely would make all kinds of anime jokes now, while Sam would most likely enjoy another aspect of Danny’s uniqueness coming to light.

“I never said you did. There are plenty of sorcerers that aren’t affiliated with the clans or criminals. And those are mainly just foreigners. Our system is pretty outdated so we don’t really have a category for that.”

“Oh.” Well there went that idea. But another thought came to his mind. “But I’ve just been using my powers all this time.”

Gojo rubbed his chin in thought. “No, you definitely are using it. You just don’t realize it yet. My current theory, from what I’ve been able to see thus far, is that you’ve always had cursed energy, albeit a small amount. Probably never enough to inherit a technique. We have a few sorcerers like that. However, when you turned on the portal, that cursed energy reacted to both the lethal amount of electricity and the ecto-energy being poured into you. Or the mixture of those two energies caused the electrical shock to form. Unclear.”

“How do you know I was electrocuted?”

To that, the teacher held up his phone. Likely referring to the background check his friend did. “Hospital records. Says you were admitted under electrical burns. Strange, how there doesn’t seem to be a mark on you.”

Danny shifted. Very uncomfortable at the mention. “They’re on my ghost form. Under the jumpsuit.”

“Figured, but that just confirms my theory.” Getting close, Gojo showed his expression under the blacked out lenses to be entirely somber. “That portal did in fact kill you. Your cursed energy saved your life.”

The silence in Danny’s ears was overpowering. You could hear a pin drop.

Standing back up, he continued. “The thing about cursed energy, is that with enough control and influence, we can use it to take some pretty hard hits or even heal wounds. It really just depends on the level of skill and capabilities. That said, we’re still human. Living here in an area rich with ectoplasm, even before the portal, probably resulted in a slight damper on your own cursed energy output.”

That would explain how Danny never noticed a difference. It’s also possible Danny might’ve mistaken cursed energy for his ghost powers as well. There were always subtle differences in how he used them verses the other ghosts.

“But that changed when your life was put in danger. It’s like fight or flight. Something is thrown at you and you put your arms out to shield yourself and lessen the impact. Your body reacted to the infusion of ectoplasm and adjusted itself so it could dampen the effects and obtain a non-lethal outcome. Its solution, absorb said ectoplasm and replicate that very same energy into your system as a supplier rather than poison. Likewise, your body needs to naturally produce cursed energy as its used to doing, so your body transfers it back and forth as needed. Now I wouldn’t go as far to say that producing cursed energy is vital. But for some able to naturally have it suddenly depleted, it can be draining on one’s life force.”

Most of what Gojo was talking about was theoretical, given that they don’t know truly what happened with him and his eyes actually being there. But still, everything lined up. Almost too precisely. There was just one catch though.

“What about Vlad? My parents’ friend from college? He had the same accident I did twenty years ago. And is also half-ghost. If you’re saying my cursed energy is what saved me, then how did he survive?” Or did Plasmius not even make it onto their radar? “He doesn’t have cursed energy too, does he?”

Bringing levity back into the conversation, Gojo laughed. “Oh no, we’ve already known about Vlad Masters for some time. Clean as a whistle.” With an ‘okay’ gesture of the hand for emphasis. At Danny’s confusion, he elaborated. “I told you, we get alerted on everything that goes bump in the night. A hospitalization over ecto-acne is no different. And think about it. His exposure was completely external outside the portal as opposed to you, and on a much more minor scale. His condition was hardly lethal. Near crippling maybe, but not lethal.”

“If you guys already knew about him, why haven’t you gone after him at all? He’s a crazy frootloop!”

“Frootloop?” Gojo mulled over the word. “I like it, I’ll have to remember that one next time I banter with my students.” He then gave Danny’s hair a good ruffle. “And don’t worry. We didn’t go after Vlad for the same reason we don’t hunt ghosts. Using cursed energy to take down someone able to use ectoplasm will only result in the same explosive reaction that chalk had. We just monitor the ghost activity to keep ourselves informed. They’re usually a good indicator on where cursed spirits actually are. Besides, he hasn’t killed anyone yet. If he were a curse user, then it’s a different story. But ever since he moved here under your watchful eye, he’s been way more manageable. Way to take one for the team!”

That drew a wince out of him. Remembering how it was a prank war that drove him to become mayor in the first place. “Glad I could help.” He grumbled. Then brought the conversation back on track. “You said you went after curse users. People not tied to those clans back in Japan. Does that include me?”

A smile stretched across the other’s face. “And now we get to the crux of the issue.” Now stepping away to erase the evidence on the board. “I’m gonna be honest with you. I have no reason really to act on jujutsu law if you technically haven’t done anything.”

“I’m sensing a but there.”

“Temo,” He stressed, reiterating. “The elders have a disdain for anyone that doesn’t fall in line with their way of doing things. They take one look at you, and they’ll label you as a cursed spirit.”

Just because he was half ghost. Didn’t matter who it was. They weren’t any different than the Guys In White, or any other ghost hunter. But if that was the case, why hadn’t Gojo just gone after him in the first place?

Sensing this question, the teacher smiled. “Fortunately for you, I classify this more as a kid with a very unique cursed technique. One I’d personally love to take under my wing and teach.”

Danny blinked. “Me, learn jujutsu?” Gojo hadn’t changed his answer, or sounded like he was joking. “I don’t know, you’ve seen my grades. Ask any of my teachers, they’ll tell you the same thing.” That he was a slacker, clumsy, flakey.

As if seeing the protests coming, the adult scoffed. “I could care less what some pencil pushing snobs have to say.” The younger choking upon hearing those words, taken aback. “I know your grades aren’t that terrible. You had a good average before the accident. My guess that ghost fighting’s been taking up your homework time.”

Hit the nail on the head.

“And besides, they’re hardly a good judge of someone’s intellect. I mean, I know the America’s education system has gone downhill, but it’s hardly a fair comparison when you’re giving a one size fits all curriculum.” He then leaned in, once again intruding upon Danny’s space. “I know genius when I see it.”

“The Fentons are a family of geniuses!” His dad once proudly said. And that might’ve been true for his parents and Jazz. But Danny hardly felt like a genius.

“I think you’re overestimating me a little.” He said, trying to downplay it. “My sister inherited all the brains, not me.”

He leaned back, drama on full display. “Oh man, learn to take a compliment kid! Now I gotta deprogram all this negative talk! Guess I got my work cut out for me.”

Instead of humoring him, Danny chose to hold his ground. “Look, I really appreciate the offer. It’s just, no offense to my parents, or any of the other ghost hunters, but Amity Park would be left defenseless without me here to protect it. And besides, what about those elder guys? You said it yourself, they’d come after me the second I stepped foot onto your campus.”

“Hmmm... Guess you got a point there.” That’s when he stopped, looking down at him through those blacked out lenses. Suddenly he laughed. “Okay~! You just leave it all to me!”

Danny grunted as Gojo ruffled his hair a little too hard. Now being grabbed by the other as he dramatically pointed ahead.

“Now, off to Fenton Works!”

“What? Hey-!”

And in the blink of an eye, there was no longer any trace of life in the classroom.

(The Next Morning)

Mr. Lancer unlocked the door to his classroom, ready to set up the new worksheets and mold young minds for today’s lesson.

As it opened, he was greeted by the sight of broken windows, strewn about desks and chairs, and an empty bowl of ice cream from the local shop.

“No Longer Human! What happened to my classroom?!”