Chapter Text
After a very eventful lunchtime at school, Team Phantom found themselves at the Amity Park mall, sitting over a table at a café.
“…so let me get this straight…” Sam noted in between her sips of green tea, “There’s a whole other world out there that apparently has nothing to do with ghosts.”
“Yeah.” Danny took a sip of his milkshake.
“…and it exists inside of tvs.”
“Yep.”
“You gotta be kidding me!” Tucker slurped his own frappe a little too loudly, “The Ghost Zone on its own is enough trouble!”
“Yeah, well…apparently, this ‘TV World’ is full of monsters there called Shadows, and in order to fight them off you need to have this power called a ‘Persona’.” Danny replied.
“…and that’s what the A-Listers have?”
“Well, some of the A-Listers” Danny corrected, “and Weston, and Mikey. And me too, now.”
“Wait, really?”
“…yeah. In that other world, when they came to save me, they had to fight off this monster that represented my inner feelings, or something. And when I accepted it, I got a Persona.”
Tucker put a hand to his forehead dramatically.
“This is too much for me, man…! You gotta slow down!”
“Well, I’m sure Jazz would have a field day.” Sam remarked, “Maybe you should ask her about this sort of stuff? It could have something to do with conventional psychology.” Danny frowned.
“Star did mention one guy from like, a hundred years ago or something, but I can’t remember.”
“It wasn’t Freud, was it?”
“I dunno. Don’t think it was, though.” Danny frowned. “Who the fuck is Freud?”
“Some psychoanalytic whackjob who chalked up every possible issue under the sun to a sexual fascination with somebody’s mother.”
His features widened into a grimace.
“Uhh, eww.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
“And now you see why I was annoyed at Maisy for trying to use him as a source for her English report.”
“I think it started with a ‘Y’…”
“Ohh,” Sam stopped drinking to speak more, “You probably mean Jung.”
“That…sounds like it actually, yeah.”
“It starts with a J, actually,” she said, “he was Swiss. He was one of Freud’s contemporaries, but as far as I know he didn’t necessarily endorse any of the sexual nonsense. I probably should’ve thought of that, given Jung was the first one to write about the concepts of Shadows and Personas—not these powers, mind you, just the theoretical idea of how people function. He mixed his ideas a lot with eastern spirituality and came up with ideas on the workings of the unconscious mind.”
“Wow…sound super deep. I didn’t know you read up on that kind of stuff.” Tucker frowned. Sam shrugged.
“What can I say? I had a phase, once.”
“Anyway,” Danny began, “Weston and the others have formed this team to jump inside the tv and save people kidnapped by the murderer. A whole group for people with Personas.”
“And let me guess? They asked you to join?” Sam asked.
“You’re not actually thinking of that, are you?” Tucker scoffed, “Joining with the A-Listers of all people?” Danny frowned hesitantly.
“…I don’t know, Tuck. I haven’t made a decision yet. I’m thinking about it, but…I mean, it’s not all the A-Listers, just Dash, Paulina, Kwan and Star. And maybe it has something to do with the TV World, but it’s like they’ve mellowed out a bit. I mean, why else would Dash just straight up quit bullying us?”
A frown spread across Sam’s features.
“…I suppose all this Persona business must’ve rattled him somehow. But that still doesn’t excuse what he’s done.”
“But yeah, maybe teaming up isn’t such a bad idea if he’s not going to be hostile anymore.” Danny suggested.
“If you say so…”
“Besides…” Danny’s gaze narrowed, “We need to catch this killer. On top of everything they’ve already done, I’m almost certain they know my secret now.”
Sam and Tucker both stiffened.
“What?”
“Why didn’t you lead with that, Danny?!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Danny threw his hands up, “Everything else was just so loaded I felt like it had to come first! But seriously…” his voice turned grim, “The killer is targeting people they see on tv. I was on tv as Fenton and the killer went after Phantom. They even stole my parents’ weapons just to get me.”
“…but hold on…” Sam frowned, “You weren’t on tv as Fenton until after the killer stole your parents’ stuff. So that means they were already focused on Phantom first. Besides, how on earth are they supposed to have found out who you are in the first place?”
…oh.
“I guess…I guess you have a point.” he replied. “But still. I got knocked nearly unconscious before he sucked me into that thing. The killer might’ve seen me change. And he was hanging around the streets near Fentonworks before he found me. How do you explain that?”
The atmosphere went grim.
In the Amity Park mall food court, the Investigation Team sat huddled around one of the bigger tables, abuzz with conversation.
“We’ve joined with Phantom—” Dash’s hands grasped at his face…his face fell. “Guys. Phantom is part of the team now.” His voice lowered to a hiss “Phantom!”
“We know, we know.” Star patted him on the arm. “We were all there for it.”
“He’s only promised to keep our secrets, for now.” Wes corrected. “He said he needs time to think over what we’re doing.”
“But he didn’t say no!” Dash pleaded. “Which means he could be—!”
“If he says yes, then we’re in a lot of luck.” Star said. “Having a ghost on our side gives us a massive advantage.”
“It’s only natural.” Kwan agreed. “He was searching for the murderer, we’re searching for the murderer…why not put our efforts together?” A bark of a chuckle left his throat.
“Can you believe the irony of all this?” he asked. “We had him as a suspect this whole time, and he was one of the victims.”
“I can’t believe I was bullying my hero!” Dash wailed, tears comically streaming down his face. Kwan gave his back an awkward pat.
“Do you think he actually likes me? I mean, I’ve spent all of this time being a shithead to him—”
“Dash—"
“What if he says no because he doesn’t want to be near me—?”
“Dash—”
“Oh my god we could get the town hero to work with us and I could’ve ruined it for us all—!”
“Dash!”
The jock almost jumped at the sound of Wes’s tone.
“Relax. You gave up picking on him, right?”
“Yeah, weeks back.”
“Well, that’s the best you can do. All you can hope for is that he maybe forgives you.”
“Do I really deserve to be forgiven though?” Dash rubbed the back of his head, “Would he ever?”
Star shrugged with a frown.
“Who knows. Given who he is, he’s dealt with a lot of shit worse than you. Maybe what you did doesn’t matter as much from a matter of perspective?”
“Like that makes me feel better!” Dash grumbled, head in his hands.
The trio finally picked up their drinks and headed out of the café, into the wide-open space of the food court, scattered with stands and tables. From a distance, Danny nearly stopped mid-stroll at the familiar scene his eyes caught.
A group of teenagers sat clustered around one of the larger tables near a food stand.
“Hey Danny, what are you—oh.” Tucker stopped before he could even finish, as he turned to glance in the direction Danny had.
...
“That’s it. I’m going over.” The halfa said. Tucker and Sam startled behind him.
“What? Wait—Danny—!”
Awkward but following the braveness welling in his chest, Danny turned and strolled his way over to the crowded table—Sam and Tucker trailing reluctantly behind him.
“Uh…hey. Fancy seeing you here.” The whole table full of heads turned at the sound of his voice.
Weston was the first to speak.
“Fenton.” He remarked, an eyebrow raised. His gaze shifted to the two other kids accompanying him, “…you brought company?”
“…I’ve told them everything you told me. At school.” Danny continued.
“Danny’s our friend.” Sam said, “And we help him with his…other duties. So any of his business is our business.” Weston nodded carefully.
“Gotcha.”
“What are you guys doing around here anyways?” Danny asked “You’ve basically moved into the food court at this point.”
“This is where we hold team meetings, in order to figure stuff out.” The redhead shrugged. “It’s basically our little hideout.”
“Not a great place for a hideout, in the middle of public.” Danny pointed out. Weston shrugged.
“It works—as long as nobody catches on to what we’re talking about.”
“You been thinking about our offer?” Weston asked. Danny nodded.
“That’s what we came to talk about, actually.”
“You want to join us?”
“I’ve been thinking about it…” he admitted. “Given this whole debacle and where it’s headed, I honestly don’t feel like I have much of a choice.” He heard Sam and Tucker’s whispered protests behind him.
“You do still have a choice,” Weston offered, “you could just try and tackle this on your own.”
“But there’s no point to that.” Said Danny. “If we all have the same goal in mind, and the same powers, now, then not teaming up is basically crazy.”
Sam sighed reluctantly.
“…fine. Danny’s not wrong. But I still don’t trust you.”
“Oh come on!” Paulina exclaimed, “We saved Danny’s life! Can’t you be a bit more grateful?!”
“Honestly, I’ve been with them for a while, and they aren’t really that bad anymore! I swear!” Mikey quickly reassured, throwing his hat into the ring with desperation.
“It doesn’t change the fact that they used to be a bunch of pricks.” Sam pointed out bluntly.
There was a moment of grim silence, as nobody dared to speak up in jest.
Finally, Dash spoke.
“…I…I’m not gonna make any excuses for myself.” He frowned.
Paulina hummed, finding her words sluggishly.
“Well…we were following the crowd. The school…well…you know how people are.” She fiddled awkwardly with her fingers, “There’s…a sort of hierarchy to it. You act and look a certain way, and you end up falling into a certain category because people box you into it. I guess, the way I looked fell in with social norms and people put me up on a pedestal.”
“Don’t say that like it’s a misfortune.” Sam snarked. Paulina’s gaze darted downwards in shame.
“…no. You’re right. I’m not gonna pretend we didn’t benefit from any of it.” She replied sullenly, “but don’t mistake that for an easy life. As much as it gave us popularity and privilege, being at the top comes with a whole lot of expectations. You have to match what everyone thinks makes you belong there in the first place. You have to earn your place to stay there…put on the kind of mask that everyone wants you to fit into, and lose yourself in the process…”
“That doesn’t excuse what you did.” The goth interrupted.
“I know…but it’s the reason why. Being at the top…it was superficial. It was all about impressions, about standards. We judged you guys for not meeting those standards…we even judged ourselves. I guess what I’m trying to say is…the people you think we are isn’t who we really are, deep inside. It’s just what we put out there for everyone else to see. That’s why…we quit picking on you guys. We were just perpetuating a stupid farce, and hurting other people in the process.”
“…and pray tell how that epiphany just washed over you?” Sam snarked. Dash frowned and shook his head.
“Going into the TV World…it changed things. It forced us to take a good look at ourselves. Showed us everything beneath what we were faking, y’know?” he sighed, hands clasped on the table. “Look…things are serious now, okay? Star’s sister got killed, we’ve been fighting in another world for our lives…all that stuff at school? It’s just…petty bullshit now. What does the popular girls, or jocks against nerds, matter when people’s lives are on the line?” Paulina, Star and Kwan all nodded in agreement.
“So you’re willing to risk your lives for this?” Sam said.
“If we don’t do it, then who will?” Paulina pointed out. “If Wes and Star didn’t come for me in the TV World, I would’ve died there. It’s the same with Dash. We can’t just sit here knowing what’s going on and doing nothing about it. We need to make sure nobody else dies. The police sure as hell won’t believe in anything that isn’t ghosts!"
That got a small chuckle out of Danny. His chest barked with a short burst of sardonic laughter.
“That sure as hell sounds familiar.” His gaze pinned into hers, laden with a sense of grim understanding. “You guys have a duty now, whether you like it or not. You’ve stumbled into it, and now you can’t go back. Is that it?”
Sam and Tucker exchanged hesitant glances.
“…sure is, when you put it like that.” Kwan said.
Sam turned to Danny first, her hesitation shifted into subtle, but wary, approval.
“…alright. I think get it now. You wanna do this? I’m in.”
“Me too. We got your backs, man.” Tucker decided. A small smile breached Danny’s features.
“Alright then. Well, you heard them. We’ll join this little team you’ve got going on here.”
The whole group’s faces brightened up.
“So it’s a deal, then?” Weston stuck out his hand. Danny took it in stride.
“It’s a deal.” They shook on it. Wes froze mid-gesture, as a wave of warmth washed through his body.
A familiar voice echoed in his mind.
I am thou…thou art I…
…thou hast established a new bond…
“Oh yeah, and can you just…not call me Fenton? It’s weird and distant. Danny is fine. If we’re gonna be teammates, I mean.”
In his soul, Wes felt the Arcana of the Hanged Man, the Justice and the Moon spark to life.