Chapter Text
“I have great news!” Mr Lancer was unusually cheery for a Monday morning. Danny certainly was not feeling the same.
Danny's feet dragged as he stumbled into class, fifteen minutes after the bell. Desiree had decided to go on a wishing spree during lunch and he had to track her down. She was easy enough to defeat- just wish she would go into the thermos- but this time she had taken to wearing earmuffs so she couldn’t hear him, and he had to knock those off first.
It was a hassle he had not been looking forward to this early on a Monday.
Lancer sent Danny a scathing look, but it was quickly wiped away and replaced by a smile.
…weird.
Tucker looked concerned as Danny as he took his seat with a slight limp. But Danny waved the concern away. He was fine. Nothing he hadn’t suffered through before. He’d just taken a hard landing. Totally his own fault.
“Well, there is a touch of bad mixed into this news. The senior trip to Washington DC has been canceled.” Lancer announced. A chorus of complaints rang out. Danny was relieved. He hadn’t been looking forward to spending a long weekend away from Amity Park. No, he did not have attachment issues. (Lie.)
“Sh-Shh! That’s not all!” Lancer looked vaguely annoyed. The class barely quieted down at all. He seemed to resign himself to the chaos he’d created.
“It has been replaced .” Oh, no. That couldn’t be good. What, were they gonna go on a field trip to the Ghost Zone or something?
…
No, no. Danny could see that actually happening. He wiped the thought from his recent memory, pretending it had never existed in the first place. Best not to tempt fate, for it was cruel.
“A wondrous chance has arisen.” Said Lancer, sounding like he’d walked right out of one of Shakespeare's poems. Or wait, was he a poet? Or did he write something else?
Danny had sat through far too many of Lancer’s classes with raging concussions to remember such minute details.
”Instead of Washington DC, we are going to New York!” Lancer grinned. The class broke out into whispers yet again. Though they weren’t really whispering anymore. Lancer seemed to have given up. He collapsed into his desk chair, head cradled in his hands. If he was already this defeated, how would he handle this many teenagers in a whole other state?
‘ That might be even worse than the Ghost Zone.’
See, Danny (Phantom) and New York did not mix very well.
New York was the home of superheroes, and well, that was really the most accurate title for Danny and his ‘ghostly protector’ MO. It wasn’t really all that likely he’d stumble upon an Avenger on the street, but he didn’t want to chance it. He had no interest in being a part of that band. Or worse, they might think he’s a criminal like the GIW do. His inner, childhood Iron-Man-fanboy wouldn’t be able to handle that.
Maybe with the change of plans Danny could fake an excuse? His parents had already signed the Washington DC permission slip, but they hadn’t checked off on this one yet. He could still weasel his way out.
Paulina raised her hand.
“You mean, like, New York, New York, right? The city that never sleeps?” She asked. Danny could hear the stars in her eyes. Lancer seemed relieved to actually be being paid attention to.
He nodded vigorously. His widened smile was almost disturbing.
“This school has been giving the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually tour Stark Tower! The base of operations for Stark Industries in New York!”
‘Oh Ancients, kill me now.’
“Moooom! Daaaad!” Danny called down the lab stairs. There was no response, but Danny wasn’t really surprised. The GAV was in the driveway, so his parents had to be home. And he could hear their heartbeats in the lab. They probably just had hearing protection on.
Danny’s footsteps echoed heavily as he descended. (On purpose.)
Sure enough, there were his parents. Dad had on a welding mask and earmuffs, and was loudly yelling. On the other side of him was Mom, who sat on a rolling stool that was pulled up to a workstation. Danny could feel that she was buzzing with annoyance.
The portal glowed dimly from the other side of the room. Danny tried his best to avoid staring at it for too long. The eternal swirling and dance of ectoplasm had a mesmerizing effect. He’d lost hours of his life right after The Accident, fixated on the surface of the portal and yearning just to touch-
“Honey!” Mom exclaimed. She slid past Dad and wrapped Danny up in a hug.
“How was your day?” She asked. Which clued Danny in to the fact that something was definitely up. She never asked him anything like that. Usually they just shooed him out of the lab when he paid them a visit. It had been a hassle to get them to sign the original permission slip.
“...what’s going on?” Danny asked. His suspicion was plain to hear.
Dad finally removed his earmuffs.
“Oh,” He chuckled sheepishly.
“We have good news!” Mom said cheerily. After the day he had, Danny didn’t need any more ‘good news.’ Not to mention that what was ‘good’ for his parents was usually ‘horrifically bad’ for him. Usually it had to do with new inventions. And if they were this happy, it had to be something especially dangerous and/or lethal. (Either worked.)
“We’re chaperoning your trip!” Dad exclaimed. Mom shoved him playfully.
“You weren’t supposed to tell him yet!” She chided. But the smile didn’t leave her face.
Danny’s first thought was, ‘ I’m going to die (again) on this trip, aren’t I?’
“The New York trip?” Danny was already traumatized. And they hadn’t even gotten on the bus yet.
Dad nodded his head. His smile was shockingly similar to the one Lancer had been wearing earlier.
“They sent out an email last night, asking parents not to spill the beans. They also asked for any chaperones, since your entire grade is going. So we volunteered!” Mom looked up at Dad and he shared her grin.
Dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Danny begged his knees not to give out under the force. Sometimes his Dad forgot his own strength.
“Aren’t you excited?”
Danny tried not to let the terror show on his face. Not too much, at least. He’d never been very good at telling his face what to do.
“Yeah!” His voice shook.
“Sure- sure am. Can’t wait.” For this to be over already.
Which was how Danny ended up here.
He and his classmates took up a whole two cars on the Subway. Why the school decided to stuff a bunch of teenagers on public transport was beyond him. Mr. Lancer was having a hell of a time trying to navigate. He squinted down at an app on his phone and tried to figure out where they needed to be going. He’d already led them astray twice. They must’ve traveled under half of New York by now.
Oh, and they were officially ten minutes late for their tour of Stark Tower. Would they cancel the tour if they were late enough?
Dad stood behind Danny, taking up the entire width of the doorway. He looked queasy, and was holding onto a pole for dear life. Mom was trying to comfort him, but he looked like he was gonna hurl. They drove the GAV over curbs and took out cones like they were bowling pins, how did this make them sick?
The subway car screeched to a stop and Dad’s face turned a sickly shade of green.
“Next up is our stop, everyone!” Lancer announced suddenly. There was about a… 17% chance of him being right. If Danny had to guess. Just picking a random number.
Classmates around him buzzed into action, collecting their things and themselves. Dannywas surrounded by laughter and smiles. Kids happy to be away from their parents and home, with their friends.
It was a stark (heh) contrast to Danny’s own loneliness.
Tucker was having a big family reunion- the first in years- so he couldn’t come. He would’ve been able to go to DC, but there was a date change and he couldn’t just ask all of his family to cancel. And his parents wanted him there to help out and socialize.
Sam’s mother Pamela had just straight-up refused to let her go- “to that rubbish bin of a city! What could happen to my little Sammykins?! So far away from home!”
It probably didn't help that Pamela wasn't allowed to be a chaperone. Not after what happened last time at the Zoo .
Danny shuddered at the memory. Giraffes could be surprisingly vicious.
Valerie was the only familiar face around, but things were still iffy between them. Danny had finally come clean to her about his identity last fall, but ever since then things had been… stiff. Awkward. When they were both out ghost fighting at the same time they’d work together, but aside from some fight banter they’d barely said a word to each other.
Which was fine with Danny, usually, but he was finding himself wanting someone to talk to that wasn’t his parents.
They weren’t very good conversationalists, unless he asked about ghosts. But he wasn’t in the mood to hear about all the ways they’d tear his ghost half apart ‘molecule by molecule.’
Danny had tried to sneak off at the last moment before they got on the bus out of Amity Park, but it was Sam and Tucker who convinced him to go. They had shown up to see him off. Which he greatly appreciated, seeing as the sun hadn't even risen yet. It was a nice gesture. If a little inconvenient, because Tucker showed up with his new-and-improved ‘Foley Gauntlets’ and physically refused to let him go. It was the most evil hand-holding he’d ever experienced.
His best friends- no, traitors- weren’t about to let him dip. They said he needed a break and some time off from being a ghostly protector. But how was spending half a week in another state with his parents supposed to be a break? If anything, it would be more stressful than staying home. But they seemed to be convinced that this was best for his well-being, and they wouldn’t give up.
Sam and Tuck assured him that things would be fine, and they could handle any ghostly threats. Danny wanted to have faith in their abilities. After all, they’d been at this just as long as he had. But he couldn’t help the worry, the nagging feeling at the back of his head.
Danny weaseled them into promising they’d give him a call if things got out of hand. It was only a two-hour flight! He could probably shave off 15 minutes if he really pushed it. But Danny didn’t really trust them to alert him. His idea of safety and theirs were vastly different. And yes, Danny knew how hypocritical that was. But he couldn't find it himself to care enough to change it.
Danny had already checked the Amity Park News a dozen times since he got on the bus.
All of this to say, Danny was alone. Alone and with his parents, to be exact. Danny took a picture of Dad looking ready to puke and sent it to the group chat titled ‘Loser Trio.’
The doors opened and everyone around Danny hopped into action. Welp, here it went. Danny slipped his phone into his pocket. He hoped nothing disastrous happened on the tour.
He probably just jinxed himself there.
Ugh.
“ Boss? ” Asked FRIDAY. Tony looked up from the hologram he’d been staring at for the last two hours.
“Yes?” He replied. He grabbed a smoothie from DUM-E's waiting claw, checked it for motor oil, and took a sip. It wouldn’t be the first time he made that mistake.
“ Danny Phantom has entered the building. ” She informed. Tony grinned.
“Let’s get the show on the road then, yeah?” He clapped. Tony had a personal intern to coerce to and a tour group to stalk.