Identity Reveal - Tumblr Posts

Whumptober Prompt #19- Asphyixiation

...

“Are you cooking?”  Len’s voice startled him, making him nearly drop the spoon he was using to plate.

Barry rolled his eyes at him, showing his progress. He’d been able to create a grilled chicken masterpiece, only slightly burned, with an asparagus rice pilaf on the side right under Len’s nose.  Granted, the man had been napping but it still counted.

Len raised an eyebrow at him, expecting an answer.

“I wanted to do something nice for my partner.”  Barry shrugged, trying to stamp down his blush.

“And instead you cooked?”

Barry glared at him.

Len snickered, uncaring.

“I’m not a bad cook.”  He defended himself.  “I was able to survive on my own before you started cooking for me.”

Len almost never shared the kitchen, a remnant from his past, to be able to control everything that went into his body.  Barry understood that, but he did like cooking, even if his skills were rather limited in that area.

“You were living on instant ramen, microwavable meals, and protein bars when I met you, Barry Allen.”  Len said, unimpressed.  “You couldn’t cook to save your life.”

Barry frowned.  Len hadn’t known, couldn’t know, that Barry had no issues cooking but he hadn’t wanted to show Len just how much food he truly ate.  When they’d first met, he hadn’t been used to his powers, and kept everything of a high calorie count on hand, no matter how bad it was for him.  Now, he kept most of his caloric bars and extra food at STAR labs.  Caitlyn and Cisco didn’t mind, and understood his need to keep Len out of his life as the Flash.  He’d already ruined his friendship with Patty, he wasn’t going to ruin what he had with Len.  It was too important to lose.  His mother had once said true love only came knocking once, so he better answer the door.  And he was damn well answering Len’s knock.

“Well then, you’re just gonna have to try some.”  Barry said, holding out the spoon with some of the pilaf on it.  “After all, if my life depends on it…”

Len laughed, shoving his hand away.  “I don’t think it’s your life on the line here, Scarlet.”

Barry gaped, thoroughly offended.  “You bastard.”

Len’s smile made up for it though.  “Alright, Scarlet, finish up.  I’m gonna finish up my last project.  Meant to do it before I fell asleep.  Then I’ll brave dinner.”

Len leaned over and Barry met him in the middle, sharing a quick kiss.

“Dinner will be ready in five, you better be too.”  Barry said, smacking Len’s ass.  “Or I’m poisoning it on purpose.”

Len’s laugh echoed all around the kitchen as he went back into the living room.

Barry finished plating the chicken and pilaf as best as he could, stealthy watching a YouTube video on mute.  He had no sense of style but Len liked the more sophisticated stuff, his fancy job as an architectural engineer gave him plenty of cash on hand.  Barry would’ve thought it suspicious if he hadn’t met Len’s boss, a Captain Rip Hunter, a retired RAF.

Now with dinner finished and plated, Barry thought to himself that it looked pretty damn good overall.

“Lenny!”  Barry called.  “Dinner.”

“Coming, Scarlet!”  Len replied at the same volume.

Barry shook his head, thinking if only he knew that his partner was the Scarlet Speedster, instead of turning the color scarlet when blushing.  But he knew he had to keep Len in the dark, no matter how much Len hated lies.  Len couldn’t protect himself from the likes Thawne or Zoom so Barry had to do the protecting.

“Alright, Scarlet, let’s see what creature you’ve sewn together.”  Len said.  “I’ll try not to become deathly ill at the sight of it and grace you with a name.”

Barry rolled his eyes but his laughter bubbled up anyway.  He loved it when Len showed just how much of a nerd he was, it had taken him months to get past those walls.

Len cut into the chicken, admiring it.  “Not pink in the middle, promising sign.”

Barry stared with bated breath, watching Len try a bite.

“It’s good.”  Len smiled, looking impressed.

Barry couldn’t keep the sigh of relief inside him.  “I worked really hard on this.  This is my first time cooking for you on my own.  I wanted it to be perfect.”

Len’s eyes softened, and he took Barry’s hand.

“It’s not your fault I’m a control freak.”  Len sighed.

“You’re not a control freak.”  Barry protested.

Len raised an eyebrow in sarcastic disbelief.

“You’re not.”  Barry insisted.  “You had a rough time growing up, and you’ve got some defense mechanisms, some intense coping techniques, but you don’t try to control me.  You don’t say I can’t see Joe even though you don’t like him much, or that I can’t be friends with Cisco because he’s interested in your sister.  You like to control your surroundings, Len, you’re not a control freak.”

Len pulled him into a kiss, this one more passionate, more intimate.  He knew Len had a hard time letting down his walls, his abusive father, people who only pretended to care because it got them ahead, people who didn’t like Len’s love language, it had made Len very jaded and lonely.  Barry had been one of the only ones who understood why Len did the things he did, and didn’t judge him for it.  Len once told him that he’d never understood how someone as wonderful as Barry had put up with him for so long.  Barry hadn’t gone on patrol that night, thankfully Central City got along just fine without him, and had spent the night having a serious talk about how Len was the wonderful one and Barry was the problem in their relationship.  A lot of tears had been shed that night, on both accounts, and they’d come out nigh attached at the hip.  Barry had realized Len was knocking on his door, and he knew Len had realized the same.

“Scarlet, come back to me.”  Len said, already having pulled back.

Barry snapped out of his trance.  “Sorry.  Guess I got a little caught up in the moment.”

“We could always skip dinner.”  Len teased.  “I’m sure it’ll keep.  We could continue this in the bedroom.”

Barry shoved down all the ideas that came to his mind.

“No, I want a nice dinner with you.”  Barry said, clearing his throat and purging his mind.  “I put a lot of work into this and I’m not reheating it.”

“Then dinner it is.”  Len said, scooping up a bite of the pilaf.  “I would do anything if it made you happy, Barry Allen.”

A rush of feeling washed over Barry.  Len had made declarations of love like that before, but it always felt like the first time each time.  It always made Barry fall just a little more in love with Len.

A small gasp escaped Len’s lips.  Barry blushed, he couldn’t believe his first attempt at cooking for Len was going so well.  He couldn’t believe in the three years he’d been with Len he’d never cooked for the man.

“Scar- Scarlet?  What is this?”  Len cleared his throat, wiping his face with a napkin.

“Asparagus rice pilaf.”  Barry said, frowning at Len’s unusual mannerism.

Len pulled at his throat, clearly in discomfort.

“Are you okay?”  Barry asked, his own food abandoned.  He knelt beside Len.  “Lenny, what’s wrong?”

“Is- sesame seed?”  Len choked, unable to draw a full breath.

“I used some sesame seed oil.”  Barry guessed.  “Only a teaspoon.”

While the Flash may be what he loved most, he was still a CSI by day, and he knew anaphylaxis when he saw it.

“Do you have an Epi-Pen?”  Barry asked, his panic seeping into his voice.

Len shook his head.  “Know… how to… avoid.”

Len’s lips were turning blue, as well as the skin under his eye from lack of oxygen.  An ambulance wouldn’t get there in time.  Len needed medical help immediately or he was going to die.

So Barry did what he did best.  He scooped Len into his arms, and ran.

They arrived at the hospital within seconds, Len’s eyes realizing how they’d gotten there.

“Somebody please help, he’s dying!”  Barry shouted as they entered the ER.

The ER staff sprung into action, helping Len onto a gurney and a nurse fetching an Epi-Pen, slamming it into Len’s thigh.  With a gasp, Len’s breath returned to him.  The nurses wheeled him behind doors Barry wasn’t allowed into, leaving Barry to talk to the nurse now assigned to Len’s paperwork.  He explained dinner, saying that the Flash had noticed Len being unable to breath and whisked them both to the hospital.  He left out the part where Barry had been the cook, and implied the restaurant they had clearly been out had left out the sesame seed oil from the menu, making up a false name for the restaurant.

“He’s lucky Flash saw you, hon.”  The nurse said.  “An ambulance might’ve taken too long.  The Flash saves the day again.”

“Will he be okay?”  Barry asked, unashamed of the tears now running down his face.

“He should be.”  The nurse said.  “The Flash is pretty quick, he seems to have gotten here in time.”

Barry nodded and started to fill out the clipboard the secretary had given him.

“Are you next of kin?”  The secretary asked kindly when he gave it back.

“His sister but she’s in Coast City right now.”  Barry said, knowing Lisa had gone on an impromptu business trip for the Snart family business, needing to promote Len’s particular brand.  “I can call her.”

“Just write her number here.”  The secretary held out the form and Barry dutifully wrote down the number.  “Are you his husband?”

“Partner.”  Barry said.  Len hated calling Barry his boyfriend, said it made him feel like he was twenty again and he had long left the embarrassment of his twenties behind him.

The secretary nodded.  “Just listen for his name.”

Barry nodded and sat down, hugging himself so tight, if he didn’t have the healing factor he did, he would’ve left bruises.

Forty-five agonizing minutes later, “Family of Leonard Snart?”

Barry had to stop himself from flashing over there.  “I’m his partner, Barry Allen.”

“Well Mister Allen, you were very lucky Flash was there.  Leonard is going to be just fine.”  Barry nearly collapsed in relief.  “Now we’re going to keep him overnight, just in case, but the worst should be over.”

“Thank you.  Thank you so much.”  Barry shook the outstretched hand.

“I will be prescribing him an Epi-Pen after this, by the way.” The doctor added.  “The pharmacist will go over how to use it.”

“Can I see him now?”

The doctor nodded and began to lead him through the door.  “He’ll be very tired, the medication can often make a person drowsy, so don’t be afraid if he falls asleep.  This experience must’ve been very frightening for you.”

“I didn’t even see it at first, didn’t see it.”  Barry admitted.  “I’m a bad partner, I’m sure he knows all of my allergies.”

“Cut yourself a break, you’re not the first nor will you be the last.  You know now, that’s what matters going forward.”  The doctor stopped just outside of a “room” that had no doors, only curtains.

Barry nodded, thanked the woman, and headed “inside”, past the curtains.  Len lay sleeping in a flimsy hospital gown, bed raised up, nasal cannula wrapped around his face, an IV in his arm.  Barry sat down in the standard uncomfortable hospital chair, waiting for Len to wake up.  He didn’t have to wait long.

“Who knew I had you right on the money, Barry?”  Len mumbled, his eyes fluttering open.  “You did poison me.”

“I’m so sorry.”  Barry said, a few more tears slipping down his cheeks.  “I should’ve known, I should’ve been more careful.”

Len cupped Barry’s face gentler than he deserved, wiping away the tears.

“I didn’t tell you, it’s not your fault.”  Len said.  “I should’ve figured you’d get tired of me cooking all the time.”

“No, Len, don’t blame yourself.”  Barry said, scooting closer to his partner.  “You’re the one who could’ve died, and it would’ve been my fault.”

Len shook his head.  “You didn’t know.  I didn’t tell you.  Looks like we’ve both kept secrets from each other.”

Bary blushed, unable to meet Len’s eyes.

“I guess I really do know you, even if it’s subconscious.  My Scarlet Speedster.”  Len muttered.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’ve already lost so much to being the Flash.”  Barry admitted.  “My mother was murdered by a man from the future because he hated who I was going to grow up to be, my father was wrongfully convicted of her murder and I still can’t see him unless it’s behind glass, and I can’t have a normal life anymore.  I was given these powers for a reason, Lenny, not because of random chance, but because I’m supposed to be the Hero of Central City, the Fastest Man Alive.  But because I have these powers, because I chose to put myself on the line, it puts everyone I love on the line too.  Cisco and Caitlyn, my STAR labs friends?  They’ve both been kidnapped by villains who are trying to get to me.  Captain Cold once threatened Cisco’s brother to get him to build another gun for him and I just… I couldn’t bring you into that world.  I couldn’t do that to you.  You trusted me, you were supposed to feel safe around me.  And how am I supposed to do that if I’m the Flash?”

Len stared at him, his face mostly blank with a small frown, processing Barry’s ramblings.

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you either.”  Barry continued when Len didn’t say anything.  “I trust you with my life, Lenny.  I just wanted… I just wanted you to keep yours, without any of my problems putting you in danger.”

Something slid across Barry’s hand.  Barry nearly jumped in shock, before he realized it was Len’s hand, intertwining with his.

“That’s a pretty good reason, I guess.”  Len muttered, his eyes straight ahead.  Barry squeezed his hand, giving Len time.  He had trouble making eye contact in difficult conversations, so Barry just let him stare ahead.  “I… never really considered what Flash’s family would go through for what he does.  I don’t think many people do.  Our society takes heroes for granted, thinking that they’ll always be there for us.  It’s easy to critique and praise from afar, but you’re right in the thick of it.  And now so am I.  And I’m… surprisingly okay with that.”

“What?”

“Scarlet, you’re the one.”  Len pressed on, squeezing Barry’s hand like a lifeline.  “You’re the one I want to wake up to in the morning, and the last thing I wanna see before I go to sleep at night.  You make me laugh, you make me cry, you put up with my bullshit, and I put up with yours.  You make me want to go ring shopping, Lisa called it.  I’ve never wanted that before in my life.  I’ve never had anyone stick with me this long, let alone live with me who wasn’t a desperate roommate or Mick, and Mick doesn’t count.  I’ll admit, I’m a little freaked out, and I’m gonna be mad you kept it a secret a little later down the line, but for right now, with what I want… I’m good being the Flash’s partner.  I want to be the Flash’s partner.”

Barry stared at Len in amazement, unable to process Len’s words.

“That is,” Len hesitated, “if you’ll still have me.”

“Marry me.”

Len whipped his head around.  Both of them were surprised, even though the words had come out of Barry’s mouth.  But he wasn’t taking them back now.  Len knew everything and still wanted him.

“I know this is probably the worst time to ask, I don’t even have a ring or a speech, but I’m not an idiot.  You can’t say something like that and not expect me to react.”  Barry then proceeded to kneel on the ground.  “I love you, Leonard Snart, more than anyone I’ve ever loved in my life.  You’re my true love, my soulmate.  Marry me.”

“I’m taking your last name.”  Len whispered, his voice barely audible.

Barry gave a watery chuckle.  “Excuse me?”

“I’m taking your last name.”  Len said, his chest heaving, tears in his eyes.  “Always hated Snart.”

Barry felt tears well up in his own eyes.  “Is that a yes?”

“Of course it’s a yes.”  Len nodded.  “How could it be anything else?”

Barry laughed hysterically, emotionally exhausted with uncontainable ecstasy, the tears of happiness falling down his cheeks.  Even Len let a few tears slip.  Barry jumped up and kissed him, unable to control the heat and passion overflowing from the two of them.  Len pulled back sharply, coughing hard.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, are you okay, I’m so sorry.”  Barry threw himself back.

“Water.”  Len gasped out, trying to get his coughing under control.  Barry grabbed the cup on the bedside table and held it up to Len’s mouth.  Len drank slowly, the strain on his lungs easing.  Once Len was able to breathe again, Barry set the water cup down.

“Maybe we should pick this back up when you’re not recovering from a near-death experience.”  Barry said, wiping at his eyes.

Len nodded listlessly, his body slumping against the bed.

“You’re exhausted.”  Barry maneuvered around the machines and tubes to lay down beside his fiancé, and didn’t that thought send a thrill down his spine.  He wasn’t entirely sure if the hospital would allow him to sleep beside Len but at the moment, he didn’t care.  “I’m not going anywhere.  Go to sleep.”

Len adjusted so his arm was wrapped around Barry’s shoulders, their legs were intertwined, and their foreheads were almost touching.  There wasn’t really room on the bed for two people but they made do.  They always had before.

“Goodnight my hero.”  Len mumbled, already half-asleep.  “My future husband.  Husband hero.”

Barry chuckled.  “Goodnight, my darling fiancé.  I love you.”

A soft snore was his only response.  Barry allowed himself one more small smile, but snuggling into his fiancé and slipping into sleep himself.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54546727

Ladybug walks to Marinette's desk and is so tired she doesn't realize she's transformed. Everyone is flabbergasted and shenanigans ensue.

Wrote a funny one shot based off a comic by @hamsternamedmarinette which you can find linked in the opening notes of the fic. Hope you enjoy!

~600ish words - One-shot

Story four of my Refuge series is up on A03!

Venom comes back with a friend to finally try and rid the world of Peter Parker. 

TW: Violence, blood, attempted murder, kidnapping

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Things were quiet for another couple of months, and it was now the beginning of summer. There would be much more free time to work with and enjoy with family. Peter was also looking forward to going back to the Brice family land for the fourth of July in a couple of weeks. He had missed them for quite a while.

Not to mention, there was another new development. Gwen had made the first move and asked him out, and now she and Peter were a couple. A similar situation happened with Harry and MJ. Both couples were happy, and now they had the summer to spend together doing fun activities.  Plus, the friend group could talk openly with each other about Peter's identity. MJ had actually figured out Peter's identity on her own when he ended up saving her from a mugging and she recognized his voice.

They hoped to have a great summer.

~~~~~~

Eddie hummed in his cell at Ravencroft. They all thought that he was crazy, but he knew he wasn't. He'd been trapped in this place for ages, and the symbiote was near full strength again, but remained mostly hidden. He knew that the symbiote hadn't truly left him. It just disposed of most of itself in order to fool Parker and the others until it could regain its strength.

Eddie clenched and unclenched his hands. He hated Ravenroft. Once the symbiote reached its peak fitness, they'd escape, and he would be able to destroy Peter. These people at Ravenccroft trying to change him would be the first on his kill list after Parker.

Only, he hadn't noticed that every once in a while, parts of the symbiote would chip off when it emerged before it was strong enough to take him over, in need of new hosts, and so near his own cell laid a very unstable man named Cletus Kasady.

A lone bit of Venom spawn made its way to Kasady's cell, ready to gain its own strength, and ready for Hell to be unleashed.

~~~~~~

Peter laughed hard at a joke that MJ made after a particularly bad part of the movie that they and all of the uncles had made the decision to go and watch. He did his best to repeat the joke, and soon the whole group was rolling with laughter while MJ sported a huge smile. Harry had even laughed so hard that soda came out of his nose. Gwen had no sympathy whatsoever.

MJ smiled as she took int he group. She was the newest member to this rather odd group. Peter's uncles were a large group, but ever since they'd shown that they truly cared for Peter, she'd had no problem being around any of them.

They'd unfortunately been kicked out of the theater for being disruptive, but none of the group minded. Most people had already given them a wide berth anyway due to the fact that villain group were quite recognizable, though they couldn't currently be prosecuted for any crimes, as they hadn't committed any recently. MJ thought to herself as she watched everyone. Peter was good for all those guys.

~~~~~~

Eddie smirked and snickered as Venom purred into his ear after another couple of weeks of agonized waiting. It was almost time. Just another few days, and the symbiote would be ready. All it needed now to completely heal itself was a human brain. Eddie smirked. He couldn't wait for Kafka to come in. She'd taste glorious to the starving symbiote.

Meanwhile, in the cell over, Kasady was smirking as guards hovered outside of his cell. He'd bitten the ear off of one of them the previous day, so now he was restrained. He couldn't help but smirk under the mask covering his face. A little devilish morsel had greeted him last night and crawled on his leg and seeped into his skin. He could feel it pulsing within him. The two of them had similar wants and needs. He let his anger fuel it as he surrendered his body, but not his mind, to its control.

Soon, the guards were rushing around as a red substance spread all over Kasady's body as Kasady cackled behind his mask. He knew the first person whom he'd visit after killing everyone within this hellhole. He'd make a little visit to Peter Parker and thank him for rejecting the symbiote which spawned his own. Just the thought made Parker's brain sound all the more appetizing. Without his rejection, the beautiful rage of the symbiote would not be making him stronger.

Eventually, all of the bonds were broken, and the symbiote completely covered Kasady. Kasady continued cackling as he easily broke out of his cell and ripped the head off of those who had been guarding him. He continued within the hallway, killing every person he saw as he went. Patients or doctors, all tasted pretty good to him.

The only one left alive within the facility when he was done was Eddie Brock, now in his Venom form after breaking out and killing as well.

Kasady purred as he approached Venom and said "Hello, Daddy. Call me Carnage. Time to find Parker."

They shared a maniacal laugh as they both grinned.

Soon, they left the grounds of Ravencroft. It was about midday and it was the first time either of them had seen the actual sun in so very long.

~~~~~~

Peter smiled as May yelled to him "Don't forget the popcorn, dear! We need it for the family movie night tomorrow! Be careful!"

Peter replied "Yes ma'am! I'll grab them after I drop these books back off at the library."

He hummed as he walked along the street. He could just web sling, but it was nice to just take a relaxing walk once in a while. He couldn't wait for tomorrow's weekly movie night with everyone. It was finally his turn to host it at his house. Not to mention, it would be a little bit easier to fit in their living room than Montana's. Their living room was a little bit more spacious.

The walk to the library had taken a little while, but Peter had enjoyed it. Now all he had to do was stop by the store and grab a couple of things.

Only, as he started walking again, he started hearing terrified shouts from a block over, and soon his eyes widened as he was greeted by not only Venom, but another guy with a symbiote. Peter turned and went to run, but was quickly caught by one of Venom's tendrils. He grimaced and turned to glare at Venom.

Venom purred and said "Uh, uh, uh, Peter! You're coming with us!"

Peter then yelped and screamed as Venom restrained him with more tentacles and started running off.

Peter struggled in the symbiote's grip, but couldn't escape. it had somehow gotten stronger. He thought that he'd destroyed that thing, but he'd been wrong.

He grumbled and yelled "Let me go, Eddie! Where are you trying to take me?!"

Carnage was the one to look back at him and reply "We're taking you to a most public place to string you up high where everyone can see you, and then we'll eat you!"

Peter was disgusted as Carnage grinned and bared his long sharp teeth which were dripping with blood.

There wasn't anything that he could do to escape or call for help. He really hated symbiotes. He wondered how he was ever going to get out of this.

~~~~~~

Robbie rushed into Jonah's office and firmly said "Jonah, turn your monitor on! A new situation with Venom's come up. The thing's targeting Peter again!"

Jonah grimaced and turned his monitor on and curled his fists as a news helicopter followed the movements of Venom and a new symbiote person. He soon started barking orders to get reporters on the scene. He had to find someone else to do the photography since Parker was the hostage in the situation.

Jonah felt sorry for the poor kid. He just always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to crazy things happening.

~~~~~~

Peter could do nothing as he was strung up by Venom's tentacles. The tentacles put him in a very high up position where Peter knew the news helicopters could get a great view of his terrified face.

Along the way to this destination, he had been disgusted as Carnage just ripped the head off of whomever happened to be in their way.

Venom looked away from him and Peter decided to try to appeal to Eddie "E-Eddie, don't do this! We were like brothers, remember!"

Venom growled as he said "We may have been brothers once, Parker, but your actions ruined my career! You will die today!"

Venom then turned back around and put his arms out as if beckoning for the cameras to give their attention to him.

He spoke loudly "People of New York, I welcome you today for this presentation! Today you will have the honor of witnessing Peter Parker's death by my own doing!"

Venom grinned towards the news helicopters that flying and capturing every event that was happening. Peter looked down and could see that multiple news vans had arrived, and were surely catching every word that Venom spouted.

Venom was happy to have an audience as he continued "I have been trying to get rid of this little pest who resisted me and ruined my life for what feels like ages! No one paid attention to me when I revealed that this little pest is Spider-Man, and likely still will not! Either way, Peter Parker is Spider-Man! He rejected us and he wronged us, and for that he must die! He decided that he was too good for us! The time for his reckoning has come! Watch as I end the life of this meaningless imp!"

Peter struggled within the bonds of the Venom symbiote's tendrils. The thing had somehow strengthened. He still wasn't strong enough to get out of its grip. He struggled harder as Venom grew in size and used additional tentacles to raise himself to his level and stare him in the eyes. He was terrified and Venom could see it in his eyes.

Venom grinned as he yelled "Finally, my revenge on Peter Parker will be complete! I will bite of your head for everyone to see, and it will be delicious!"

Carnage was now beside Venom after crawling up the side of the building to the left, and growled "I thought that we were going to take him down together, Daddy! I thought that he was going to be my prize since he's the one who rejected you. You seem to be getting all of the glory and eating the one that allowed for our creation! Well, NOT THIS TIME! I AM CARNAGE! I AM STRONGER! HE IS MINE!"

Carnage then bared his long teeth and started ripping into a furious Venom. Venom was pulled downward towards the ground, and his control of the tentacles holding Peter began to slip. The tentacles restraining Peter had loosened, and Peter couldn't help but yell as he began to fall to the ground. He closed his eyes, ready for the worst. Not even Spider-Man could handle that drop and hope to live.

Only his momentum was carefully arrested as he and another person grunted. He slowly opened his eyes and laughed before sighing in relief. His uncle Adrian had caught him.

Peter could see news copters following their track as Adrian flew away with him. He could still see the two symbiotes fighting though. Adrian was slowing down. Adrian landed carefully on top of a roof close by.

Peter was gently placed on his feet and Adrian kept a steadying hand on his shoulder.

He spoke "Everyone was notified as soon as Ock's monitors captured the symbiotes coming into the city. We were a little bit late to try and get you to safety though. I'll distract the news copters for the moment though. Here's your suit. I know better than to try and get you to stay out of this fight. Montana and Quentin will arrive for back-up soon. At the moment, they're the only ones other than you with the tech in their suits to help against these things."

Peter smiled as he took his suit and watched Adrian fly away. The news helicopters followed him. He quickly suited up and perched on a ledge close enough for him to get a good view of the fight from.

Peter couldn't help but stare at the two as they fought. it didn't seem that either one had noticed that he'd been released. He wasn't quite sure how to proceed other than maybe using sound waves again.

The two symbiotes screamed as they battled each other. It was quite vicious. Venom's claws ripped into Carnage and went beyond the symbiote. Kasady could be heard screaming from within.

Carnage yelled "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!"

He ripped into Venom with his extended tentacle blades and managed to stab Venom through multiple points. The symbiote shrank back slightly, and Eddie could be heard screaming. Carnage didn't let up as he continued the fight. He continued making more tentacle blades and stabbing Eddie over and over. The Venom symbiote was doing its best to heal Brock and keep over his head and the most vital areas, but Carnage's attacks lived up to the name.

Soon, Eddie was vanquished, and only the symbiote remained. It was truly disgusting as Peter watched with fear and disgust when Carnage just scooped the symbiote up and consumed it. He was terrified for his life, but he had also just watched the one he had previously considered a brother die at the hands of that monster. He was angry at the loss of Eddie.

Peter's breathing was hard as he dropped down to the ground close to Carnage and activated the sound pulse. It hurt his ears too, but he knew that it would work on the monster. He was stunned as all it did was make the thing angry. It didn't harm it in any way.

Before Peter knew it, Carnage grabbed him by the neck. Peter struggled for air as Carnage held him up off of the ground and smirked.

Peter was grasping at Carnage's arm as he tried to get some air in. Carnage just purred and laughed.

He spoke "Awwww. Stupid little spider. That only worked against my daddy, and I'm not my daddy! I'm stronger! I bet you'll taste so much better without that mask on though!"

Carnage licked the mask as Peter tried to get himself out of his grip. Nothing was working, and Peter could tell that he was close to unconsciousness.

He barely felt it when Carnage ripped the mask off of his face, though he felt it when Carnage laid his bloody and sickening tongue on his face and licked him again.

Blessed breath finally came back to him when Carnage howled. One of Dock Ock's tentacles was piercing Carnage's chest and the end was spinning and cutting up Kasady's insides as Ock pulled it back out.

Carnage worked quickly to try and heal Kasady. He was breathing heavily and rasping as he growled at Ock and dodged the next attack. Only, it was worse, because the Shocker had finally arrived on the scene. He used his modified gauntlets, and though Carnage wasn't as sensitive to the frequencies, the modified blast from Shocker's gauntlets along with a different frequency that Peter had used caused Carnage to shriek in pain and start separating from Kasady.

Peter was laid on his back and could hear the fight, but he wasn't strong enough to do anything. He felt awful. His heart was pounding and his neck was hurting so much. It felt like Carnage may have broken something. It was still really hard to breathe. It was getting so much harder to avoid losing consciousness.

Kasady was screaming alongside his symbiote. Sooner, rather than later, Mysterio arrived and brought more sound along with fire to the scene. Peter had once told him that these things were sensitive to heat, so he figured that while the others slammed on their attacks, he could use literal fire against them. Ock easily weakened Kasady's body to near death, and the symbiote finally completely separated from his body.

They kept up the onslaught of attacks, doing their best to avoid Peter's prone body. Soon, the Vulture was back on the scene and the Carnage symbiote was scooped up into a secure containment unit that it couldn't get out of. It was going to go to one of the most secure facilities on Earth. The fighting soon stopped and Kasady was already dead on the ground from his wounds.

Soon, the Rhino, Sandman, Dan, and Ox arrived on scene. Their eyes widened as they took in the scene of death and saw the prone body of their nephew. They'd been in charge of helping civilians escape.

Soon, Montana was the first to kneel by Peter's side. He ripped off his own mask and gauntlets and threw them to the side. Peter's eyes slowly met his own and Peter smiled lightly.

The others soon joined Montana, but Peter solely kept eye contact with him as he let out a tiny breath and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body lose the tenseness that had still been there.

Montana started to hyperventilate as he checked Peter's pulse.

He shook his head and said "No. NO! I refuse to lose my nephew!"

He quickly started chest compressions. He wouldn't let Peter die. He couldn't. The kid had too much ahead of him to lose. He had too many people to leave behind.

~~~~~~

Gwen yelled in fear as she watched the fight with Venom and Carnage on television. She'd been happy when Peter had been picked up by the Vulture, but now she was utterly terrified, as she'd just watched her boyfriend be unmasked for the whole world to see, and with this, there was no way of going back to normal. Peter's secret was out, but that wasn't what worried her. What worried her was the fact that Peter was lying on the ground surrounded by what used to be the villains and Montana was doing chest compressions.

George soon raced into the living room where Gwen was watching the fight from and said "Gwen, what's wrong----" and cut off when he saw the television and cursed.

George steeled his face and said "Gwen, have they shown Peter's face while he's been in the suit?"

She nodded and then paused before questioning "Wait? How'd you know that it was Peter?"

George just smiled softly and replied "I'm not one of the world's best detectives for nothing, Gwen. I've known his identity since almost the first sighting. Only, now, everyone knows. I'm going down there to hopefully mediate the crowd. From the looks of the television, emergency medical services have already arrived."

Gwen bit her lip and looked back at the television as she listened to her father leave. She watched with sadness as one of the other Enforcers, Ox, had to hold Montana back as the paramedics worked on Peter and did their best to help him.

Her hands shook as all she could do was stare at the television in fear and ignore the texts she was no doubt getting from Harry and MJ. She only had eyes for Peter, and right now, she just hoped that Peter hadn't died.

~~~~~~

Jonah couldn't help but stare at the monitor in shock. The kid had fooled them all the whole time. He really was Spider-Man.

He'd be more worried about it if it didn't look like the poor kid may have just died. Jonah couldn't help but steel his jaw and watch as the footage continued. He hoped that the kid would survive.

~~~~~~

Montana and Quentin stood outside of the intensive care unit that Peter had been shuttled to once the paramedics had gotten his heart started again. Octavius was with the doctors to assist, as he had the most knowledge about working with Peter's unique biology. The others remained outside of the building to keep an eye on the perimeter and at as security in case any reporters or threats were to come up and try to get to Peter.

Before too long, Dan came in with May. Montana hugged her as she teared up and wiped her eyes as she sniffled.

It had felt like ages before Otto came out of the room and reported "Peter is currently critical but stable. He has a broken hyoid apparatus, cracked atlas and axis, and multiple broken cervical vertebrae. Surgery will have to be done. I will be assisting as I have the knowledge over dosage for medication and knowledge of human anatomy. The forms for the procedure are currently being drawn up. Ms. Parker, I highly suggest that the operation be done. It will give Peter the highest chance of survival."

May leaned heavily against Montana. Montana steeled his jaw and hugged her to his side while Quentin just clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly.

May sniffled and replied "I'll sign whatever needs signed! Just do whatever you have to to save him!"

Otto grimaced and replied "I'm afraid that even if the procedure goes as expected, Peter may be completely paralyzed."

May covered her mouth and turned her head into Montana's shoulder as he held her close. He too was sniffling.

Quentin's hands began to shake as he said "I'm going to join everyone outside. Call me if there are any updates."

Montana nodded and Otto agreed.

~~~~~~

The surgery took nearly twelve hours to complete. Otto had observed the entire procedure and assisted with a couple of the most delicate processes. Repairing the bones was quite hard, but it was rather fascinating to watch as the boy's healing factor was working on repairing the bones as they were placed back together during the surgery. Peter's enhanced healing was far more valuable than Otto had previously thought.

With how rapidly the healing was taking place, no screws or metal had to be placed, but it also made the reconstruction of the bones harder as some had already tried to heal and had to be rebroken. Every twenty minutes, more scans were done, and more X-rays were taken. His brain activity looked fairly normal every time it was checked.

Only twenty hours after the reconstructive surgery, most of the bones appeared to be close to perfectly healthy. It would still be a waiting game until Peter showed signs of waking up though. The boy had quickly fallen into a coma post-surgery.

Otto worried about whether or not Peter would ever be able to move his head properly again. If he ever regained consciousness, even though the bones appeared to have healed well, there could still be problems. The bruising on his neck was still rather prominent, but the swelling had gone down quite a bit. Normally, the bruises would go away fairly quickly, but it appeared that Peter's body worked on repairing the worst of the injuries first.

It was now a waiting game.

~~~~~~

Reporters did their best to try and get the scoop on Peter Parker, but no one would do it. Jonah Jameson had even put out a plea in his paper for people to leave Peter Parker and his loved ones alone. Detective Stacy had dropped by the hospital to talk with Montana briefly and express his grief at the fact that Peter was in such a bad state. Peter's friends were all terrified as they had all been updated that Peter was in a coma after having such grave injuries.

Gwen had even told off a reporter who had tried to interview her about her relationship with Peter. Her father had been the only one to keep her from decking the guy.

~~~~~~

It had been four weeks since Carnage and Venom had both been destroyed.

May hummed as she rubbed circles into the back of Peter's right hand. She and Montana had been there almost constantly. The others would stop by occasionally, and were ever vigilant around the hospital, but neither May nor Montana could bear the thought of leaving Peter for very long.

Montana was on Peter's other side. It hurt seeing the kid connected to so many machines.

Only, today would be different. Today, both May and Montana had immediately noticed when Peter's hand twitched and his eyes started to flutter open as the alarms on some of the machines started to beep.

Montana pressed the button to call a doctor in as he and May both worked to calm Peter down. He had seemingly been fighting the endotracheal tube until they calmed him. They also took note that he seemed to be grimacing.

The doctor soon came in alongside Otto. Unfortunately, an extubation had to be done right then. Peter was coached through it, but it was still quite uncomfortable. He was tearful as his vitals were checked. He grimaced as he turned his head towards Montana.

Otto soon gained his attention by questioning "Peter, does it hurt to turn your head?"

Peter shakily and raspily replied "A little bit, but it's mostly just achy."

Otto let out a sigh of relief and asked another question "Would you try to move your toes for me?"

Peter furrowed his brow and attempted to do as requested. Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief as Peter was able to move his toes.

Otto said "That's a very good sign."

Peter looked like he wanted to say something, but his throat was still aching. Otto handed him a small tablet that he could use to communicate with them.

Peter typed a question "What happened after Carnage choked me? Did anyone else die? Are all the others fine?"

Montana answered "Carnage has been destroyed. No others died after you were choked. Most of the fatalities from that day took place as the two were escaping Ravencroft."

Peter grimaced and said "My identity?"

May replied "Everyone knows, dear. It was broadcasted on the television when when that monster ripped your mask off. The reporters have calmed down slightly though over the past couple of weeks."

Peter grimaced and typed another question "How long have I been in the hospital?"

Otto answered "A little over four weeks. You nearly lost your life. Your neck was broken when you were choked. We were afraid that you would not make it or that you would be paralyzed even after the bones were repaired."

Peter steeled his jaw and typed another question "How are Gwen, Harry, and MJ?"

Montana answered "Worried about you, but good other than that. Same with all of the others. Everyone's been coming in too see you every once in a while. Even that Jameson guy's stopped by to check on you. We almost didn't let him in until May approved. You'll have more visitors soon if the hospital allows it, by the way. I notified everyone through the group chat that you came out of the coma."

Peter nodded. It really was extraordinary that Peter had little consequences remaining from the injury. It appeared that the main thing remaining from the worst of the damage was the slight atrophy of his muscles.

Peter smiled and typed "You know, I'm feeling pretty sad right now from the fact that things have changed so much concerning my identity. Can I have a hug?"

Montana snickered as Peter smiled. Both Montana and May gave him a gentle hug.

~~~~~~

Peter had to attend physical therapy for about a month until it was deemed that he was strong enough to return to his Spider-Man duties. He'd regained most of his strength and muscle mass within the week of waking up, but everyone wanted to be sure that he wasn't going to overtax himself. They were lucky that he hadn't suffered any permanent damage.

The worst part of everything though, was that Peter had ended up missing half of the summer break, and missed the trip to the Brice's for the fourth of July. The family had been told why Montana and the Parkers couldn't come, and they had sent their well wishes. Peter still hoped that they could at least get a trip in to see them sometime soon though.

The first time Peter had made a public appearance after the coma, it had been for another press conference and consult with his lawyer Matthew Murdock. Everything had gone well, and the reporters had been appeased. Not to mention, his uncles had all hovered and went into protect mode.

The first time Peter was stepped back out as Spider-Man though, that was a highly celebrated event. The people of New York City were happy that the hero from Queens was back in action. They knew that Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, would always do his best to protect them.

ML REVEAL

Guys! What if Ladybug and Chat Noir exchange numbers (for I don’t care what reason) and then call each other. And since they can’t see each other’s faces and only their voice, they call tell what their identity is?!?!?!

Chat Noir: Hey my Lady! You picked up!

Ladybug: What is it Chat…? Can’t this wait?Wait a second… he sounds familiar…

Chat Noir: I know this voice … Uh… M-Marinette…?

Ladybug: A-ADRIEN?!?!?

THINK ABOUT IT

Blah... Blah.. Blah.. Billy's Identity gets revealed and he is a poor sad traumatized 12 year old.

lame. old. angst ridden. we get it

consider

Captain Marvel is the ONLY Leaguer that has his identity secret. This goes on for YEARS before anyone find out and he fully in his mid to late 20s. I want Billy to reveal his identity a solid 15 years into being a super and well into adulthood.

Picture Billy Batson 25 nice beard, his body filling out and looking older and mature. College graduate and everything. Maybe he works at WizRadio as a full on newscaster persona / reporter so people know his face. Or maybe he embraced the magical side and is a known magic user in Fawcett that people go to.

After the - what 15 year? (if u want him to be a founder) or 20 year anniversary for the Justice League Founding. He's finally gonna do it reveal who he is. And its just a random 28 year old guy whom has been in the Sups business for how long? wait! Hold on-! Someone crunch the numbers. (TESSA ANALYSIS!)

The art style omg! The emotions? Dick looks so pretty?? This comic is incredible op

absolutely lost it over this fic by @neuro-psyche so. have this comic o(- (

go read it rn if u also love some Good identity reveal fic!!!!

freaky friday body swap bullshit

fanfiction

ao3

word count: 2164

Freaky Friday Trope- Danny and Dash @xscarletsakurax

hi max

Danny walked up to where his friends stood in front of their open lockers.

“Hey, guys, I know this is gonna be really weird but can you cover for me today?”

They both stared at him, exchanged a look between the two of them, and looked back at him. 

“I’m sorry, why would we do that, Dash?” Sam questioned.

Danny facepalmed. “No, sorry. I’m not Dash. I’m Danny. I need to go figure out where Dash went. He wasn’t in my room when I climbed in the window.”

“You climbed in Danny’s window?” Tucker asked slowly.

“Yes. Because I’m Danny.” 

Sam squinted at him. “You don’t look like you’re overshadowed. Is Danny really in there?”

“Yes!” Danny hissed out. “It’s not overshadowing. It’s some kind of freaky Friday body swap bullshit. And I can only assume Dash is in my body but I have to figure out where that is.” 

“What about right behind you?” Tucker pointed. 

Danny turned around and stared down at himself. His face had an expression on it that looked like a mix between anger and confusion. Like he was freaked out.

“Fenton.” Dash ground out. “What is going on? And why did your body sink me all the way to the bottom of your house into your parents weird torture chamber?”

“That’s where you were?”

“You didn’t look anywhere else in the house for him?” Sam hissed at him.

Danny threw his arms up in the air. “How am I gonna explain why Dash was in the Fenton’s house at seven in the morning?! It’s not like he’s exactly welcome to just walk in.”

“But why did I sink through the floor?” Dash waved his hand in front of him to get their attention again. The three of them looked back at him. They went back to talking amongst each other. 

“How did this even happen?” Tucker asked. He looked past Danny at Dash who was frowning at them. “Like, was it one of your parent’s weapons? Did Desiree do something?”

Danny smacked his forehead and groaned. “That must’ve been it.”

“What did you do?” Sam looked up at him with a stern expression. 

“I was walking home from school when he caught me somewhere. He messed around with me for a bit and when I left I kinda mumbled that… I, y’know, wanted him to know what it was like to be in my shoes.”

“So you said the W word.” Tucker crossed his arms and tsked. “Will you ever learn?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Well how are we gonna fix this? He can’t exactly-”

The three of them looked at Dash again. He had a deep frown on his face and his arms were crossed over his body. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about but can we go back to the part where I sank through the solid floor?” 

Danny fiddled with his fingers nervously. “I, uh, would rather not.”

Dash threw his hands up into the air. “What if it happens again? What if I sink into the ground below the school and I can’t breathe? What then?” 

“I-” 

Danny stopped talking as a bright ring appeared around Dash’s waist. His eyes opened wide and Dash looked down at it as if he was about to explode. 

Before they could separate, Danny picked Dash up off the floor and stuffed him in Tucker’s locker and shut the door. His mouth was pressed into a thin line and he held his hands in fists at his sides, his shoulders hiked up. 

Sam gestured at the locker with a look on her face and Danny shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do. And I knew he’d fit in there.” 

“What the fuck?! 

Danny’s own echoey voice came through the locker as Dash took in what had happened. 

“You’re dead?!”

A couple students were walking by and staring at them and the commotion. Danny’s mouth opened into an O shape.

“I, uh- no. You- you’re dead! You nerd!” He knocked a fist into the locker. The students walked away and Danny shook his hand out.

“We gotta find Desiree.” Danny whispered. 

“We might as well bring him with us now.” Sam hooked a thumb over her shoulder and pointed at the locker Dash was in. “We might need him to help us.”

“Yeah, I hate to admit it but-”

“Is this some kind of revenge scheme?” Dash wailed, interrupting Tucker. “Did I stuff you into one too many locker’s and kill you? Are you going to steal my living body because I ruined yours?!” 

Tucker stifled his laughter and Sam smacked him on the arm. Danny sighed. “We gotta tell him.” 

“Dash-” 

A bright light came through the slats in the lockers and Danny went to open Tucker’s locker again. Dash fell out onto the floor and he looked like plain old Danny Fenton again. 

“Did I kill you?” He whimpered. Danny sighed.

“No, you didn’t kill me. Let’s go outside and talk about it.” 

He pulled Dash up off the floor. The four of them started walking towards the exit of the school. 

“Did you like, sell your soul?” Dash asked once they got outside. “Make a deal with the devil and get some kind of ghost powers out of it?” 

“What?” Sam scrunched her face up at him. “No. Danny?” 

Danny sighed and shook out his hands. “Okay. Okay. During freshman year I was in an accident with my parents ghost portal that kept me out of school for a couple days. It turned on while I was inside it.”

“Inside it?” Dash whispered. “So you are dead?”

“I, uh, sort of. It changed me. I died but I think it also revived me at the same time.” Danny ran a hand through his hair. “Ectoplasm merged with my DNA and it turned me into a half ghost.” 

“Half ghost?” Dash frowned at him. “How is that possible? Are you sure you’re not just dead?” 

“He’s dead on the inside.” Tucker said. Everyone looked at him. “He’s depre-”

“We don’t exactly know how this happened. Why Danny ended up like this.” She interrupted Tucker and shot a look at Dash. “But no one can find out.”

“Why not?” Dash asked. “I’d be flaunting this all over the place if I were you. Everyone loves Phantom. You’d have an in with the in crowd.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that when people want to capture and dissect you or keep you in captivity forever and destroy you.”

“No secret, no Phantom.” Tucker nodded. 

“Hm.” Dash looked down as he thought about it. “I guess that’s fair. No Phantom would kind of suck.” 

“Yeah. So it has to stay between us.” Sam said as she leaned towards Dash threateningly. “Got it?”

Dash backed up and nodded his head. Danny had to admit that Sam wasn’t quite so intimidating from his current height so Dash must be feeling the heat from her for the first time. 

“First things first, we need to find Desiree. But how do we-” 

There was an explosion from down the street and they looked and saw literal flying monster cars. They were chasing someone down the street. 

“How much do you wanna bet that’s our ghost?” Tucker smiled as he pointed down the street.

“This is our chance. Sam?” He walked over to her and held his hand out. She pulled a wrist ray out of her backpack and dropped it into his hand. He attached it to his wrist while she pulled out two thermoses. 

Dash stared at them with wide eyes as Tucker pulled out his lipstick blaster from his pocket. “You guys are gonna go fight her?”

“Correction.” Sam walked up to Dash and shoved a thermos into his hands. “We are gonna go fight her.”

“Me?!” Dash squeaked out. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Sorry but you’re the only one of us that’s able to fly.” Tucker said over his shoulder as he started to walk away. “You’re gonna have the easiest time capturing her in a thermos.” 

“But-”

“This is the only way that we’re gonna get our bodies back, Dash.” Danny turned to stare at him. “If you do this just this once then you don’t have to do anything ghost related ever again.”

“But I don’t know what I’m doing! I’ve never done anything like this!” Dash waved his hands in the air. “I don’t even know how to do your transformation thing. It just happened before!” 

Danny started thinking. How would he describe the transformation process?

“Feel in the center of your chest. There’s a kinda… Cold? Feeling? I usually have to tug on that when I want to transform.” 

“Come on, guys.” Sam said from ahead of them where her and Tucker had walked away. “Figure it out on the way. We don’t want to lose her.” 

Danny started following her and Dash did a moment later.

“This like, ball of ice that you have in your chest?” Dash asked.

Danny nodded. “Yes. Try pulling on it. That’s my ghost-”

The transformation ring appeared around Dash’s waist and it passed over his body. Dash smiled as he looked down at himself. He floated up into the air. 

“Whoa-oa this is so cool.” His feet dragged their way up and flipped him upside down. “How do I prevent this from happening though?” 

“You just have to focus on keeping yourself upright. Your center of gravity-”

“Why hello, ghost child! I hope you’ve been enjoying your wish that I gifted to you!” 

Desiree was suddenly floating in the air above them. Danny scowled at her and Dash recoiled. Danny looked around them but didn’t see Sam or Tucker. He looked back up at her and aimed his wrist ray at her.

“You know, not all wishes should be taken so literally.” 

“But what other way would best get it across?” She smiled at them. 

“Maybe having him just go through a couple difficult situations that are similar to mine? Not body swapping us.” 

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that.” She floated onto her stomach and laced her fingers underneath her chin. 

Danny looked down and saw Sam and Tucker in the bushes ahead of him. They made shooting motions at him and he understood. 

“Cat got your tongue?” She asked as he looked back up at her.

“Not quite.” He aimed and shot her in the face.

She screamed and careened backwards. Sam and Tucker were shouting behind her shooting her with their own weapons. 

“How do we undo her spell?” Dash shouted.

“We just have to pull her into the thermos!” Danny yelled back to him as he shot another blast at Desiree with the wrist ray. “That usually undoes most of her magic!” 

Desiree turned around and hissed at Sam and Tucker. “Ill mannered children! You dare shoot me?”

Dash floated up into the air and uncapped the thermos. He flew up to her and she suddenly turned around.

“You think I’m afraid of you, novice? You don’t know what you’re doing.” 

“I just have to do enough to get rid of you.” He fumbled with the thermos.

“Ha!” She laughed. “You can’t even hold onto your containment device. How do you think-”

Dash’s last fumbled ended with the thermos pointed at her and his hand squeezing the capture button. She screamed as she got sucked into the thermos. Dash floated back to the ground with a big smile on his face. He landed on the ground and looked up at Danny.

“I did it!” 

Danny blinked and suddenly he was staring up at Dash. He was back in his own body again. 

Danny could tell when Dash realized he was back in his own body. He blinked a couple times and looked around them. He looked down at Danny and let out a relieved sigh.

“Glad that’s over.” He said.

“Yep.” Danny capped the thermos. “Good job by the way. I don’t know how you managed to catch her by almost dropping the thermos but it worked.”

“Yeah.” Dash chuckled nervously, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Sorry for everything, by the way. If I’d realized you were Phantom-”

“Bullying is bad even if you don’t like the person!” Sam shouted from behind him. Dash cringed. 

“It just put a lot of things into perspective once it happened to me. Like, I know you didn’t have any other option besides shoving me in the locker so I understand why you did it but it sure was cramped in there.”

Danny nodded. “It’s a lot easier to get out of them now that I have ghost powers though.”

“Don’t encourage him!” Tucker shouted. 

Danny rolled his eyes. “You’ll keep your mouth shut though?”

Dash nodded. “Can’t rat out my hero, right?”

He smiled up at Dash. “Right.” 

Ghost Boy? In my college class? It's More Likely Than You Think

[ao3 link]

Warnings: None Words: 6,031

****

College was crazy. 

Okay?

There was absolutely no reason why college had to be as insane as it was.

Alright, maybe there was a reason. A reason called, "We have four years to make these students professionals in their chosen field, and some even less time than that."

Danny understood. He really, truly did. He knew that to work in his dream job at NASA, he needed to learn not just how to locate the constellations in the night sky, but also about subjects like chemistry, biology, calculus, physics—a lot of physics.

But seriously, when the hell was a guy supposed to sleep?

Last night's problem set only had five questions, theoretically. But it was run by a completely sadistic site that Vlad himself must have designed—that bastard—because while submitting a correct answer seemed to mark one of the five outlined stars in gold, the site also seemed to be more than happy to remove the gold star if he got a problem incorrect. 

Which meant that the theoretical five-questioned assignment ended up taking Danny many, many more questions than that. 

Just when he had thought the hell was over, he realized he still hadn't begun his paper for his mandatory freshman writing class. So then, he got the absolute pleasure of writing an essay about a stupid, Victorian-era play he didn't read regarding the symbolism of a hat as it related to...foreshadowing, or something. 

He didn't read it. He only signed up for this dumb writing seminar because the timing worked better on his schedule. He'd much rather be taking the writing class about horror novels. But unfortunately, that one happened during his mandatory physics course.

When it was all over and he finally caught sight of his pillow, he was pretty sure he’d shed a single tear. Did he remember sinking into the mattress? Closing his eyes, and drifting off?

No. He didn't. 

He was fucking tired.

But apparently, the universe did actually hate him because instead of being roused by his alarm the next morning, instead he was shaken by his ghost sense.

Oh yeah, apparently Skulker found his dorm.

Joy!

No seriously, fuck that guy. 

What the hell kind of sick weirdo wants to make a rug out of someone else's skin, anyway? Not to mention that Skulker had no conception of what a good time to hunt was, considering he seriously was trying to start chaos at five in the fucking morning.

Again, fuck that guy.

He only just barely had enough time to fly home, shower, hastily read over and submit his essay (he'd long since learned from high school that he couldn't trust himself that late at night to be coherent), and make a mad dash to his favorite bagel spot on the way to class.

However, the bagel guy—he had a name, Danny was almost sure—must have been under the weather today because, for some reason, he could not stop staring at Danny.

The instinct to run his hand over his face to check for post-fight ectoplasm splatters was a learned reaction, at this point. But this time, he couldn't feel anything off. His skin was dry. Cold, like usual, but dry.

"Uh..." the bagel guy continued staring at him slack-jawed.

"Do I have something on my face?" 

That seemed to shake the bagel guy out of his stupor. He blinked, his eyes darting around to catch the eye of a few other customers who, for some reason, were giving Danny a really wide berth.

Did he smell or something? Had he forgotten to put his deodorant on?

Oh god, did his parents do something to make national news again? Did the news use a family photo when reporting the story or something? Why was everyone looking at him? Seriously, what the hell was going on today?

The bagel guy locked eyes with Danny once more, briefly, before darting back down to the register and handing Danny his change. "One everything bagel with cream cheese for the, uh—for—coming right up."

"Thanks," Danny said, trying to be as friendly as possible. Jazz always said that he shouldn't judge people for acting strange. That they could be going through something personal.

So, Danny shook it off. Maybe he missed a chunk of ectoplasm on his hair when he was showering. Skulker had nailed his shoulder pretty well. The green, ecto-infused smoothie he'd sipped that morning was working its magic to mend his skin, but who knew? Maybe a little bit of blood was leaking through his shirt. It wouldn't be the first time that happened, anyway.

Or the last.

Amazingly, he did get his bagel. But when the man handed it to Danny, his eyes were almost popping out of his skull. His heavily accented, "Ah, here is one—ah, your—your bagel," sounded especially halted today. 

But no. The big, gruff bagel guy wouldn't have stuttered. He wouldn't have been nervous to pass a bagel to a tired-looking college student either.

Danny must have misheard. 

He darted down the sidewalk. He was going to be late for class. And it was because of his internal panic that he didn't notice the girl with her nose buried in her cell phone at first. Not until she almost crashed into him, looked up, and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"HOLY SHIT!" she yelled, her hands flailing beside her. Her phone flew out from her fingers and clattered on the pavement.

"Sorry!" Danny scooped up her phone from the ground and handed it to her.

She stared at him as if he were completely insane, making no move to take the phone until Danny leaned forward a little closer and pointedly said, "Here."

Whether or not this girl was hungover or still drunk from whatever party she'd been at the night before, Danny did not have time to work around her brain. He was going to be late for class!

"Fuck," she said, eyes still glued on Danny. She did, however, finally reach out and gently take the offered cell phone.

Which was all he needed.

Mission accomplished, he whirled back around intending on continuing his fast-walk-nearly-run pace to the science building, but caught the eye of a biker who seemed to go into a similar trance as the bagel guy and ended up crashing straight into a parked car.

"Oh my god!" Danny darted over to the strewn biker. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Stay back!" the man yelled, struggling up and holding his hand out to block Danny from seeing his face.

Was this guy...cowering at him? Like he was some sort of ghost?

No, no. This was silly. Now Danny was just being paranoid.

"Just stay back!"

An oddly phrased demand, and a little biting at that, but the biker did just crash into a parked car because of Danny and that other girl—who was currently holding her phone up at Danny—so he guessed he could forgive this random dude for being a little snappish.

Danny didn't have time to dwell on this stranger anyway, because holy shit his class was starting in ten minutes and if Danny didn't get his ass to the room right now he was going to be screwed.

So with one more apology to the biker, and one more glance to the strange phone-obsessed girl, Danny adjusted the strap of his bag back over his shoulder and took off down the road.

Not literally took off. Though, he really wanted to jet through the air today. He'd had these urges to duck out of sight and fly to class before, but it never felt so compelling before. 

Unfortunately, the street was crowded as shit, and in between classes as it was, the building would likely be crowded too. Finding a discrete place to transform would probably take just as long as running to the classroom like his half-life depended on it. And so, the latter option it was.

Somehow, he managed to make it to class with five minutes to spare. Okay, maybe not somehow. Maybe he did risk using his flight to propel him forward a little bit. Could anyone blame him? 

College was crazy. And anyone who thought they saw a guy not quite touching the ground when he walked could have just as easily been sleep-deprived and were almost certainly hallucinating. Humans couldn't fly! Only ghosts could fly, and Danny Fenton was clearly a human college student just running to class.

Gaslight, gatekeep, ghostboss—or whatever the saying was.

Energy was buzzing in Danny’s veins, and he found it a little difficult to stay in his seat. An aftereffect of only barely using his flight powers, he was sure. His body got a taste of being airborne, and now it didn't want to return to the laws of gravity.

Danny could forgive his ghost core for that. Gravity could be very exhausting sometimes. Especially when he was in the middle of a ghost fight and his enemy was hurling him to the ground.

But he was in a lecture, and it would look weird if this random college student was hovering over his seat, so Danny forced his butt onto the chair as he dropped his bag beside him.

Whispers fluttered around him, which wasn't too unusual. People often talked in pleading freak-out whispers to their friends after an especially grueling night of homework.

Danny was about to turn to his chemistry lecture buddy and do the same—because seriously, he was going to have nightmares over that damn assignment for weeks—when he realized that his chemistry buddy was not in his usual seat.

And then, a whisper caught the attention of his enhanced eardrum.

"...ghost..."

"...Phantom..."

Ah, that explained it. 

Oh yeah, it was all coming together now.

They must have been talking about the ghost fight from this morning, the one with Skulker. This city wasn't Amity Park, so the students here weren't exactly used to ghost attacks. Of course, the initial fight was probably very exciting for them.

And, well, his parents probably were on the news that morning, but likely only to be interviewed about the attack. Maybe they ended up rambling about ghostly habits and migration patterns or whatever other bullshit theories they’d been churning with recently.

So then, the bagel guy must have recognized Danny as a Fenton, a child of Jack and Maddie, the infamous, kooky ghost experts.

The effects of that realization were delayed, but when they finally hit, he felt like his brain was hit by a semi-truck.

Because, shit. He didn't know if he could deal with his bagel guy knowing who he was. He was going to have to find a new bagel spot, wasn't he? 

Danny craned his neck over to the door. The lecture was supposed to be starting, but his chemistry buddy was nowhere to be found.

But then, to his immense relief that he wouldn't have to suffer through this lecture by himself, the door opened to reveal the tall, lanky form of Cameron, his chemistry buddy.

Danny eagerly moved his bag out of the way of Cam's seat, his woes of that fucking assignment hot on his lips, but before he could begin his trauma-dumping session, something strange happened.

Really, really strange.

As Cam began habitually walking over to his seat, he looked up, caught Danny's eye, and froze.

His mouth parted into a perfect 'o,' his lips widened, and his eyebrows disappeared under his hairline. Then, he backed up, caught the bewildered expression of another student near him, and moved to another aisle.

Danny sat there too stunned to call out to Cam, though the intent was at the precipice of his being. Hurt stabbed his gut, and the social anxiety the A-List had trained his brain for in high school started creeping up his spine.

Did Danny do something wrong? 

Why had Cam moved away?

What did that look to the other kid mean?

He tried to think of a reason why Cam might have suddenly decided that Danny was a weirdo freak that should be avoided, but the only thing he remembered doing between yesterday and today was the two texts he'd sent at eleven last night complaining about the assignment. But surely, everyone had complained, right?

Or was the assignment genuinely effortless for everyone? And Danny was just an idiot who didn't understand some really simple concept, and now Cam had suddenly realized that he'd picked the wrong chemistry buddy to sit next to in class?

That must have been it.

Why else had he moved away?

Danny turned around, looking to the back of the lecture hall. But all he could see was a sea of faces all looking at him.

Okay, honestly, what the fuck was wrong with everyone today?

He whipped out his phone, paranoia striking through his gut like a spear. Maybe he'd accidentally revealed himself during the fight? But he checked Google, searching for Phantom's human identity, but all he got at the top of the search were old Reddit threads theorizing about which historical figure he could have been, and celebrity news sites spouting completely absurd clickbait-type theories about his past.

Is Danny Phantom Napoleon's son?

Could Danny Phantom be Related to George Washington?

New Theory Suggests Danny Phantom is Alexander the Great!

Yeah, like Danny was leading legions of ghosts around Europe anytime soon.

As Danny wracked his brain for what the hell he'd done to deserve the wrath of having his class stare at him like he was some sort of weird alien species and his classmates were plotting on how to initiate first contact, the side door opened and the professor came darting in the hall with a stack of folders all but falling out of his hands and a muttering of breathy, "sorry, sorry," light on his lips.

The muttering broke out into jilted, uncomfortable laughter, and Danny still couldn't help the feeling that they were laughing at him. 

He tried to brush that off as just the remnants of his high school on him and keep his attention focused on his short, salt-and-pepper-haired professor who looked like he couldn't remember if he was going to the beach or Burning Man today, and decided to dress for both. 

Yang put the manila folders down on the front table, miraculously without spilling any of the contents inside, set his bag down on the rolling chair beside him, and picked up a piece of chalk to face the board.

He held a hand up and began writing Chemistry 101 — Stoichiometry on the board.

Behind Danny, the snickers grew louder. 

Was there some inside joke that he just wasn't getting? Had his classmates prepared some sort of prank for the teacher today and Danny hadn't read the email? Was it April Fool's Day, even though logic and reasoning told Danny that it was only October?

"Sorry I was late, everyone," Yang began. "Now if you don't mind, I want to begin by going over a few problems from last night's assignment. I noticed a pattern in the problems everyone was getting wrong..."

Someone coughed rather obnoxiously behind him.

Danny felt ice begin to build in his stomach. 

"...so as you can see here, I noticed a lot of people forgot to calculate the used excess of iron to find the amount of excess reactants. Remember, guys, you can't just subtract the bigger and smaller masses in the problem..."

Another obnoxious cough. 

Yang didn't break stride. "...you have to actually convert it to moles and set up your mole ratio, and then convert back to grams. I mentioned this in class but it seemed like too many of you—"

"Professor Yang?" the impatient voice of Brittany, one of his classmates, said from behind.

The class broke out in a fit of whispers and giggles, this time not even trying to hide their restlessness.

"What is it?" Yang turned around, his chalk still hovering on the board.

And then he looked at Danny. His eyes bugged out like a cartoon, sticking out beyond the rims of his glasses. His jaw opened and closed like a fish, and he dropped the chalk on the floor.

Now, the class was roaring with noise.

Danny stared eye-to-eye with the professor for ten seconds or ten minutes. He didn't know which, and it didn't matter anyway, because then Yang's thin lips opened to exclaim a word that may as well have electrocuted him all over again:

"Phantom?" 

Confusion and panic hit Danny like a sledgehammer.

How did Yang know he was Phantom? Had he been revealed? Did everyone know he was Phantom?

And then he heard the whispers. 

"It's really him! It's Phantom!"

"Why is he here?"

"It's Phantom!"

No!

No!

How did everyone know his secret?

Danny had to stop this.

He had over four years of hiding his ghost half from his parents, the world, and most impressively, his parents. Over the years, he'd honed his ability at lying and using his silver tongue to smooth over situations with such practiced ease, he was expecting his Oscar in the mail any day now.

Which is why, like an utter pro, he jumped up from his seat and shouted, "It's a lie, I'm not a ghost!"

The room went silent, and then was launched into a frenzy.

"Phantom!"

"Is he delusional?"

"It's really him! It's Phantom!"

His panic was bordering on hysteria as it stampeded over him, beating his core so furiously that Danny thought it was going to jump through his ribcage.

He stood, his gloved hands held out in front of him as he began his best at pleading with the masses, but before he could grovel too much, Professor Yang's voice sliced through him like a knife, calling out, "Phantom! What are you doing in my class?"

Wait...

Gloved hand?

Danny looked at his hands again. They were gloved.

And glowing.

The relief was so heavy on his shoulders, his back, and every inch of his skin. It was also mortifying.

Because here he was, in his Chemistry 101 class not as Fenton, but as Phantom. 

"Holy shit," Danny muttered. 

What. The. Hell.

No, really.

What the hell?

How was this happening?

Had he really been so tired that he'd forgotten to change out of his Phantom form that morning?

No, hang on—had he been walking around in his Phantom form all morning?

How had he not noticed?

Then all the memories came flying back to him at once. The bagel guy acting weird, staring at him like he wasn't sure if he should seriously give a ghost a bagel because "Do ghosts need to eat? Is human food poison?"

And then the girl. She hadn't screamed because she nearly crashed into a stranger, she screamed and threw her phone in the air because she'd nearly crashed into Phantom. And that's why she was recording him after, too. She was recording Phantom, a ghost that wasn't native to this college town.

Danny thought he'd die of cringe-fail right there because that meant she also recorded the biker crashing into a parked car and was probably uploading it to TikTok later. He was sure it would be trending in minutes.

That was, if she hadn't already uploaded it to Tiktok, and it wasn't already trending. His phone suddenly felt heavy in his pocket. 

He looked around at the faces of intrigue and excitement, feebly attempting to squash the anxiety that was currently tap dancing over his skin.  Okay, so his initial attempt at acting hadn't gone so well. That was okay; nobody could be perfect all the time. If he just channeled the inner cool and suave hero that he was, he could totally save the situation.

For sure.

He floated a few feet in the air. His legs felt awkward sprawled out, and he tried to form a ghost-tail, but somehow his sense of self was too strong for that today. No matter, to balance it out, he splayed his arms out wide and began doing jazz hands, saying, "It's me! Danny Phantom! Just here checking your classroom for ghosts!" 

There was a moment of collective pause before his brain caught up with what his mouth said, and then he scrambled, making a big show of ducking around the room to search for...ghosts, or something. He lowered to the floor to check under the auditorium chairs, flew to the front of the room to peek around the tables, and finally went up to the ceiling to glance around the four corners of the room.

Once he felt embarrassed enough, he stopped in the center of the room, puffed out his chest, and said, "Good news, citizens! There are no ghosts in this room!"

Whispers and mutters once again broke out from his classmates, along with a few giggles. In the front of the classroom, Yang's head was craned up to look at him, his expression showing pure bafflement. 

Okay, Danny was bombing this set. He was catching onto the vibe of the room, and had come to this very astute conclusion: there was no saving this. 

Time to abort the mission.

"Well, that will be all! Have a fun class learning about chemistry!" 

And then, without another word, he jetted through the wall and into the hallway of the building, turning invisible immediately. Fortunately, with classes having started several minutes ago, the corridors were mostly empty. Only a few stragglers remained, booking it down the halls and trying to duck inconspicuously into their classrooms. 

Danny cut around a corner of the hall where, thankfully, no one was standing. That didn't stop him from triple-checking over his shoulder (all that was there was the water fountain, Danny) before he let his ring wash over him.

Then, when he was sure he was human again this time, he ran down the hall and pushed open the auditorium door to his class which, by the looks of things, hadn't calmed down from their encounter yet.

The door hit the wall with a bang—oops, he thought he hadn't pushed so hard—and then every head was turned to him.

"Sorry!" Danny rubbed the back of his neck and gestured vaguely to the clock on the wall. "I lost track of time."

The room was...silent. Incredibly, confoundingly silent. 

That wasn't good.

On instinct, Danny glanced down again to make sure that he was wearing his red hoodie and blue jeans and not his Phantom black and white jumpsuit. He was, in fact, wearing the right clothes. And out of the corners of his eyes, he saw the glint of his black bangs.

So then, what the fuck?

Alright, there was no need to panic. He was human, his classmates were human, they'd just met Phantom, and now Danny was busting in the classroom late. It wouldn't be the first time he was late to class, anyway. Lots of students were late for Chemistry! 

With his brain sufficiently pep-talked, he pointed as inconspicuously to his seat as he could and said, "I'll just...take my seat." 

No one responded, so he took that as his cue to begin his walk of shame up the steps of the auditorium aisles to his usual seat near the front, which was still amazingly void of students anywhere near it.

"Phantom?" a voice rang out from the spattering of students around the room.

Danny missed the next step and ate shit on the floor. His bag hit his back heavily, and he could have sworn his shoe nearly flew off his feet. He scrambled to stand, his hand missing the railing only once, before he managed to stand back proud and tall. Sort of. His backpack had slid off one shoulder, and his body was hunched forward and he tried to regain his breath because holy shit, it actually really hurt for his torso to land on the corner of the step.

He rubbed his sternum, sure it was going to bruise, and coughed out, "Uh—what?"

"Phantom!" the voice, now too familiar, repeated. "You're him. Phantom."

Danny glanced up, and dread not only slammed into him with the force of a semi, but also backed up and floored it into his soul again. And again.

Because that voice was none other than his Chem 101 buddy, Cam.

No, Danny was a magnificent actor. He surely could save this one.

What did people always say? Something about the third try being a charm?

He could really use a charm right now. Unfortunately, Murphy seemed keen on watching him suffer instead.

"No—no way! I'm not a ghost! I'm totally human, guys! See?" Danny said with quite a lot of conviction, waving his hands beside his body like some sort of circus display.

It was so conclusive of a performance, that Cam simply laughed. 

Shit. This was not how he wanted today to go at all.

"I can't believe I never put it together before! Did people really buy that in your hometown?" 

"What act? I'm not acting!" Danny insisted.

But his classmates, it seemed, were even less convinced. 

"Seriously, it's so obvious."

"How did no one notice?"

"They're literally the same person it's crazy."

"What? No! No we're not the same person!" Danny insisted, trying not to sound desperate and hopelessly failing. "He's my—uh—twin? Yeah, that. He's my twin."

"He's obviously not," a classmate said.

"He is. He died in the womb," Danny refuted.

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous."

"Does it sound better or worse if I say that my mother drank ectoplasmic smoothies while she was pregnant and that's why he turned into a ghost?"

"Fenton!" Professor Yang called out.

Danny felt his blood turn so cold they started forming frost in his veins. 

And then, he refused to look down because he was pretty sure ice crystals were glueing his feet to the floor.

In his panic, he'd totally forgotten that this was, in fact, a classroom. With a professor. And not just any professor, his chemistry professor. As in, the guy that had the sole power of crushing all of Danny's dreams of working for NASA via the power of the curve.

Yang took a step back, colliding with the chalkboard behind him and smearing white dust all over his brightly-colored shirt. But he ignored this, instead finding it more pertinent to fold his arms and regard Danny with a look of pure incredulation. "Are you really Phantom?"

"What? No!" Danny said. However, as luck would have it, that gasping answer caused him to inhale the wrong way, and coughs shot up his throat to overtake his body.

And then like the valiant superhero he was, he began having a coughing fit. In front of his classmates.

He knew Sam and Tucker always called him a dork, but this was really unfair.

"You okay, Phantom?" one student asked.

Danny tried to argue, "I'm not Phantom," but unfortunately for him, he hadn't stopped coughing yet.

Taking his silence for a confirmation that he was in fact the elusive ghost known as Phantom, another classmate commented, "I didn't know Phantom breathed."

Not-so-quiet whispers and mutters broke out around the class at once discussing theories of his cardiovascular system.

All while Danny was doubled over, trying desperately to reclaim what little of his dignity was still left. As well as reclaim some of the oxygen that his body seemed more than willing to push away for some reason.

Seriously, was he out of karma yet? 

Okay, Universe, if this is your way getting back at me for reading the Cliffnotes of that book for the essay last night, I get it. Cheating is bad, blah blah blah. I'm very sorry in a deeply remorseful way, so can we please stop ruining my life now?

"...so he wouldn't need to breathe!" A classmate's voice had stepped above the rest.

"That's what I said!"

"Dude, he's literally fallen asleep on my floor once. I'm telling you he needs to breathe."

That voice must have been Cam's.

Danny took a deep breath, regaining control of his lungs. "Wait, guys!"

But it was too late. And, oh god, why were people now giggling over their phones? Had someone taken a video of him earlier? Was he trending online right now?

If this got back to Sam and Tucker, he was never going to live this down. 

"Okay, okay!" Yang's voice rose in volume. "Class, settle down!"

The class went silent.

"Alright, I know we are all curious to know about Fenton's secret double life—"

"I don't have a secret double life!"

"Sure you don't, Phantom," Cam said.

"—But please, we do actually have quite a bit of material to cover today, judging by the very impressive homework scores from last night. And, by the way, class, might I remind you all that my office hours are on Mondays and Wednesdays from two to four. I won't name names, but I'll just say that if you need to make it a point to come for some review, you know who you are."

Was Yang looking at him?

"Regardless, if Fenton is done screwing around with his ghost powers, we do need to get through the material sometime this year."

"But I'm not a ghost!" Danny protested.

"Dude, you're standing in a block of ice," a classmate argued. 

"Holy shit, he froze his legs to the floor!"

Danny felt frost on his cheeks. "The A/C system is broken! Everyone knows that!"

"The ice is glowing." 

"So? A lot of ice glows."

"Fenton, please." Yang had never sounded so disappointed in his life. "I'd expect anyone in this class to know that ice is made of which elements?"

Danny hated where this was going. "Hydrogen and oxygen."

"And please describe the bonds to me."

"The hydrogens have a double bond with the oxygen, and then there's two pairs of electrons leftover."

"What shape?" Yang pressed, pushing his wiry glasses up his nose.

"Bent."

"Good, thank you. So we have two hydrogen and one oxygen in an H20 molecule, yes? And so tell me, would that configuration with those two elements cause anything to glow?"

"Um, no." Danny had the sudden urge to die. "Water does not glow." 

"But, interestingly, ectoplasmic water does glow, correct? Because....?"

They'd touched over ecton science earlier in the semester. "Because ectons are larger and can sit closer to the nucleus which results in atoms fusing and due to the greater amounts of energy they emit, some this excess energy can be seen in our visible spectrum."

Yang smiled and then gestured to the seat devoid of any humans near it that Danny, previously Phantom, had been sitting in at the start of class. "Thank you, Mr. Phantom. Now, if we're all done dillydallying, we have some stoichiometry to go over."

It took Danny more than a second of the awkward silence that followed to realize that oh yeah, his feet were literally frozen in place.

"So..." He glanced around the room, meeting the expectant gazes of his classmates. "Just to be clear, none of you care that I might potentially be..."

A ghost?

Phantom?

Some sort of weird mutant hybrid thing?

"Danny, you're the only one making a big deal out of this," a classmate answered.

Danny guffawed.

"Yeah, it's whatever. You're dead, so what? We're all dead in college. You're not special."

"I have a biology lecture later right after this for my weed-out course and going to that is basically the same thing as dying, I'm pretty sure," Cam joined in.

Danny resisted the urge to smack his forehead with his open palm.

He turned back to Yang. "And if I were maybe the—uh—being that kind of has saved humanity from being invaded by ghosts give or take one or two times, would that maybe get me extra credit on the next test?"

"No."

Well, that was a brutally quick response.

Danny shrugged. "It was worth a shot." He reigned in on his core's fluttering, and the ice began to melt around his feet. 

He tried to ignore the obvious phone flipped his way as he did.

Shit, this was going to be all over social media later. How embarrassing. He could only hope that Tucker wouldn't find it. But who was he kidding? If he checked his phone, he bet he already had about sixteen messages from Tucker laughing at his misfortune.

Once he finished freeing himself from his ecto-ice like some ghost toddler, he began a very graceful and humiliating trek to his seat, complete with multiple instances of him bumping into chairs as he trudged down the row. When he finally reached his seat, it was just his luck that the rusty hinges let out an obnoxious creaking wail as he lowered himself down. He winced, hissing out apologies, but in the silent hall, the sounds of the withered metal were almost too much to bear.

It was for that reason that his entire body refused to unclench until the professor was well underway with his lecture about excess reactants and whatever else they were going to be quizzed on next week.

He tried his best to pay attention and not check his phone for the no doubt endless notifications. He'd already made his presence too obvious in this hall, anyway. Professor Yang would have been thoroughly annoyed if, after everything, Danny decided to spend the remainder of the class on his phone.

Miraculous as it was, he did manage to survive the lecture.  

After class when he finally was able to check his phone, he saw that the world was too focused on the viral posts about Phantom being spotted outside of Amity Park to give any attention to the little itty bitty post of Danny, in human form, frozen to his lecture hall floor.

As it turned out, that post only had two likes—one of them was Tucker—and one comment from a random user reading, "lol why phantom freeze that dweeby kid to the ground???"

Danny didn't resist the urge to facepalm this time, and in fact did it so hard he was surprised he didn't give himself a concussion.

Well.

At least his secret was safe.

****

"You really don't care that I'm Phantom, do you?" Danny asked, looking up from the barely clean dorm room floor that his back was currently stretched out against.

"No?" Cam glanced from his notebook. "Why?"

"Uh, I figured the whole part where I'm a part ghost would have been a little weird?"

Cam's thin brows shot up to his hairline. "You're only a part ghost?"

"Yeah? Why, what did you think?"

"Oh, I just figured you were legit dead or something."

Cam uttered those words with such nonchalance, that Danny reacted almost immediately, shooting up from the floor so hard, he accidentally switched into his Phantom form.

"You thought I was dead?" His voice echoed when he spoke, and his ghostly tail wiggled underneath him. 

Cam's pointed look and handwave were explanation enough.

"Okay, you know what? That's fair." Danny swiped his notebook off the floor and forced his adrenaline-spiked body back into human form. "That's actually super fair."

"Yeah I mean, being a ghost is sort of Phantom's whole shtick, anyway."

"Right but like...wait, you didn't even care that you thought I was a fully dead and deceased ghost taking college classes? And you still wanted to do homework with me tonight?"

Cam, once again, only gave a very lazy shrug. "Well, yeah. I just want to pass this class, dude, and we've already established that we should tag-team team this class instead of trying to rawdog it by ourselves."

"I mean...I guess?" Danny blinked at his friend, his mind reeling with astonishment. "You're weird, you know that?"

"Says the ghost-human person or whatever. Now, are we gonna finish this prelab assignment, or are you gonna keep having an existential crisis about your place in the Universe?" 

Danny slid back on the floor, propping his knees up to lay his notebook against. "No, you're right. We need to finish this prelab."

"Thank fucking god."

****

[read more of my stuff here]

Another fic for the books! Planning on about three chapters for this one.

Chapter 2 up now!

Ya know all those spider-man fieldtrip fanfics where his identity gets shocking revealed did not age well

Old Animation I found

Contains some slight dabihawks because I love them ❤️‍🔥 and enjoy, it's gacha time