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Danny Phantom was a hero. Few people in the town -heck, the world- currently protested that. He was put in a position where he could demand anything at all with no repercussions and all he asked for was the help he needed to save the world. This had left him respected and loved by most of the community, as well as made his efforts to save them even more appreciated. Still, that didn't mean everyone was comfortable with his presence. He was still a ghost, and a very powerful one at that. He wasn't exactly expected to act like a regular person outside of his hero work. They thought he just went back to his realm and joked around or something.
Which was why when he walked into the Nasty Burger with a little ghost girl at his side everyone gawked.
"Two Jumbo Nasty Burgers please, light on the sauce." Phantom said with a smile to the thoroughly stunned cashier.
"Make that two combos." Interjected the little girl, her stomach making a sound in agreement.
Wait, she was hungry? Since when did ghosts need to eat? Since when COULD ghosts eat? The people in the restaurant were seriously confused.
Still, the town hero got the best service around - no matter how surprised everyone was. The food was in his hands in less than a minute, and when he tried to hand the cashier a twenty the cashier responded that it was on him.
"A thank you for everything you do for us." Phantom just smiled sheepishly but thanked him and accepted the gift. Unbeknownst to them, his allowance was small. He saved everything he could.
The little girl all but tackled her tray. She flew to the drink station, had a full coke in hand and flew back to a seat before anyone could blink. Phantom just chuckled and followed after at a more...human pace. He walked to the station before getting an Orange Hi-C and sitting down across from her.
The situation was all so natural that it both spooked and calmed everyone at the same time. How were they supposed to respond to it? Ignore it? Acknowledge it? Well, his fans decided on that first.
Dash Baxter slid into the booth across from them, eyeing them both excitedly.
"So Phantom, you have a little sister?" He drawled out, trying and failing to make it sound casual.
Danny eyed him calmly while finishing and swallowing his bite. He took a quick drink before answering. "Cousin, actually. She's in town visiting, so I thought I'd show her around. The food here is great, so we stopped by."
"So you've been here before?" Kwan asked, sneaking up behind Dash.
"Of course, hasn't everyone in town? I know how to blend in when I want to, you know." He said with a smile, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ghosts can just walk among the living with no signs, apparently. The thought made the less fanatic of the customers shiver.
In the time they were talking, the girl had finished her food as well as the rest of his. Danny noticed this and chuckled before standing up. "Time to go I guess. So much to do, so little time. Seeya later." He said as he quickly dumped their trays and they both zoomed out the door.
That little moment of HUMANITY had the town buzzing for weeks.
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Phantom was making sculptures in the park.
It wasn't odd to see him IN the park, as his more casual visits around town had become more common as of late. No ghost hunters in their right mind would go after him now, not with his overwhelming public support. Even the Fentons had given him an uneasy truce. So seeing him around was nothing odd. The art though, was. Most people in town knew by now that each ghost had an obsession. The strength of that obsession affected the strength of the ghost. Sometimes they had side obsessions, but they always played into their main one.
Phantom's obsession was obviously heroism, which was another reason people were a bit more comfortable around him. The idea that his obsession involved keeping them safe made him a far less terrifying ghost. The thing was though, the sculpture had nothing to do with heroism. It was a giant rose surrounded by snowflakes, and the entire sculpture was made of ice.
His little cousin was circling him while he worked, obviously interested in how he was doing it. Every time he used his powers to create more ice to work with she watched his hands intently. It looked like she was trying to copy it, but with varying levels of success.
Finally, she huffed and flopped onto the grass.
"I just can't do it! I don't get it, it's a core thing, right? We have the same genetic core, so why can't I do it?"
Phantom laughed, stopping to sit beside her. He gently ran his hands through her hair, looking at her fondly. "It's not a genetic thing, it's a personality thing. I have an ice core because of my emotional state. I spent so much time trying to ignore when I was hurt, upset, or angry. I was always wearing a mask, trying to make everything seem great when it wasn't. I froze over anything that wasn't supposed to be seen. So eventually, I froze too. That's not to say I haven't gotten better at handling my emotions, but the ice core still fits me better.
You aren't cold. You are expressive, flamboyant, energetic. Instead of bottling emotions you express them as they come. Instead of limiting yourself to one place you explore the horizon. You are more likely to get a fire or wind core than an ice one. I'm frozen in place, you're bound to travel and grow." Even as he said this, his smile never wavered - a tinge of sadness barely there. She wasn't smiling back though. She looked up at him sadly before tackling him.
"If you ever feel too frozen you can always visit me, you know that right? If I get a fire core I'll help melt you so you can let it out and feel better, so that you can be free for a bit. If I get a wind core I'll just drag you with me so you can explore for a bit too." She mumbled into his chest.
He smiled down at her, any trace of sadness gone. "I'd like that."
The moment was too human, too open to the public. No one tried to interrupt it this time. It was hard to acknowledge how much the ghosts were truly like them.
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Danny Phantom didn't usually respond to reporters. He smiled and waved of course, but he rarely answered questions. Which was why Tiffany Snow was quite confused when he appeared at her office. He seemed a bit awkward, but cheery none the less.
"Um-I know this is weird, but would you interview me?" He asked. She jumped on the chance.
"Of course, I'd love to! What reporter wouldn't want to interview the famous hero? But, why now? Why here?"
He shrugged. "You seem honest enough, and take bad news better then some reporters. Besides; if I want the truth out there, I need to talk to someone, right?"
They go to her studio, and she turns on the camera. Like most reporters in this town, she had a list just for this. Not that she ever thought she'd actually get to use it, but who didn't have questions for this boy?
"Okay first things first. How old are you?"
"15."
"At the time of your death, or all together?"
"All together."
"When did you die?"
"Last year." She paused.
"Really, that recently?"
He shrugged. "I came out of the portal right after I died. I don't even remember being in the ghost zone the first time."
"Huh, okay. If it's not rude to ask, how did you die?"
He winced. "Electrocution. Ectoplasmic electrocution."
"Wait, a GHOST killed you?" She said, leaning towards the ectoplasmic part.
"No, ectoplasm killed me. No actual ghost was involved. It would give too much up about my past to go much further -and as I'd like to keep my old family as far from my new life as possible- let's stop there on that tangent."
"So, you remember your past though? Before you died?"
Danny signed, a tinge of sadness in his eyes. Still, he laughs a bit before saying, "Yeah, it's kind of hard to forget. Most ghosts at least remember some of it, if not all. The Box Ghost remembers he used to work in a packing factory, but not much else. Sidney Poindexter remembers a little too much for anyone's good. It all depends on what they want to remember, and how much of it ties into their obsession."
"Speaking of which, what's yours?"
"Heroism, I'd say. I died young; I was only 14. All I wanted was to make something of myself, do something to be remembered. Do something to help people. I had wanted to be an astronaut when I was alive, but a superhero works too I guess." He says with a laugh.
Tiffany smiles. He isn't as scary as she thought he'd be, he wasn't even intimidating. For such a powerful ghost, he really did act just like a teenager. A sad traumatized one, but still.
"If you want to be a hero, why did you rob a jewelry store? Or kidnap the mayor?" She said, finally getting to the tough questions now that the atmosphere was less intense. He groaned.
"I didn't! Well, I personally didn't. I hate mind control. With the jewelry store, this ghost controlling jerk had me hypnotized. I had no say. With the mayor, HE was overshadowed by a ghost who was trying to get me in trouble. Walker still has it out for me."
"Do all the other ghosts hate you?"
"No, just the more world domineering ones. If they want to cause trouble, they hate the trouble I cause them. Some ghosts are friendly, and others are just peaceful and want to be left alone. I've never had problems with any of them. Um, unless I accidentally hit their manuscript or something." Danny says with averted eyes, thinking back to Ghost Writer.
"So you have allies? Say, your little ghost cousin?"
He laughed. "I do have allies, but Danielle is more family and less teammate. She isn't much of a fighter. Her obsession is travel. She can fight, but she'd rather make friends and learn. She was...trapped and limited before she became like this, and is living out her dreams now."
"So was she your cousin in life, or did you meet as ghosts?"
"Um, it's a bit complicated. Let's just say a bit of both. We weren't as close in life."
"Why does she have nearly the same name as you?"
He gave her a deadpan look. "Her dad was uncreative." Somewhere in space, Vlad sneezed.
"Oookay then. What about powers? Have you always had them, or did you pick them up as you got used to being a ghost?"
"For me personally, I started with just invisibility, intangibility, and flying. I picked the rest up as I went. The stronger my obsession got, the stronger I became. It works that way for most ghosts."
He looked at the clock on the wall before giving her a sheepish look.
"Looks like that's gonna have to be all, I have somewhere to be at 10. Sorry to skip out on you after all that."
"O no, no! Don't worry! You just gave me the scoop of the year with just that. Thank you so much, and come back again if you have anything else you want to tell the public." She says as she arranges her notes and smiles his way.
He smiles back. "I think I will. Thanks." And then he just vanished from in front of her.
Invisibility, right.
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