Greased Phantom, a danny phantom fanfic

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 8 February.

326 days to go.

Disclaimer: "Danny Phantom" and all associated characters and situations are created by Butch Hartman and used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit. "Great Balls of Fire" is performed by Jerry Lee Lewis and used without permission or intent to profit as well.

-o0O0o-

"Greased Phantom"
By; J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

No one was sure whose idea it had been, a school dance with a 1950's theme, but the idea had quickly caught on with both students and teachers; Lancer had even shown up to chaperone dressed in a suit and bowtie that he had probably bought back in the 50's. Not everyone, however found themselves happy with the theme.

Tucker Foley, dressed in a grey suit and red tie of his own, smiled as he greeted his arriving friend, "Hey Sam, nice poodle."

Sam Mason glowered back at him, the expression of mixed disgust and anger not fitting well with the while blouse and black poodle skirt she wore, "Don't even start with me, Tucker. Do you know how much black fabric dye it took to fix this skirt? They bought it pink!"

"I didn't say anything about that," Tucker blinked, "I just said the poodle looked nice."

"Whatever," Sam rolled her eyes, "Has Danny showed up yet?"

"Haven't see him," Tucker shrugged, "Maybe he's giving it a miss?"

"Not likely, not with Lancer giving extra credit for anyone who shows up at this thing," Sam answered, "He's bound to show up sooner or later."

"You're probably right," Tucker answered, "So, should we dance or something?"

"You dance if you want to, Tucker," Sam countered, "I'm going to go see if Dash has done the first decent thing in his life and spiked the punch bowl."

In a swirl of poodle skirt, Sam had turned towards the buffet table and walked off before Tucker could comment, leaving him standing there to shake his head.

-o0O0o-

Most of the girls had worn skirts with blouses or sweaters and the guys dressed in suits except for Dash, Kwan and the other athletes who had gotten away with wearing their letterman's jackets, so when Danny Fenton made his entrance, it was a show-stopper. It might have had something to do with his attire of jeans and a white t-shirt under a black leather jacket with his hair greased and styles, but it was probably more to do with the girl on his arm dressed in skin-tight black pants and matching open-toed heeled sandals with a blue top that left her shoulders bare, blue-black hair was fluffed and curled before behind held back with a blue headband that matched her top. Frowning, Lancer stormed over to the couple and an angry conversation ensued on his part, punctuated by several stern gestures until Danny made a calm counter-argument that received a nod from the teacher who stepped to the side and allowed them entry, a fact that caused several jaws to drop throughout the room. Danny tilted his head towards the dance floor, recieving a nod from his date, and the two started out onto the floor only to find their paths blocked by the sudden arrival of the other two-thirds of Casper High School's own 'Three Musketeers'.

"Hey, Danny," Sam shot off quickly, almost before the target of her greeting could fully register her presence.

"Yeah," Tucker added more casually, "Hey, Danny and Danny's date."

"Uh," Danny blinked for a moment, "Hey, guys."

"Now that we've got pleasantries out of the way, how are you getting away with that outfit?" Sam demanded to know, wishing she had known beforehand so she could have done the same.

"I'm a greaser," Danny answered, taking out a comb and running it through his hair, "It's a legitimate Fifties style."

Sam groaned, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Rocking a poodle skirt must've been a lifelong ambition," Danny's date joked.

"Not funny," Sam glowered, then frowned in thought at the girl on her friend's arm, "Who are you, anyway? I thought I knew all of Danny's friends."

The girl with Danny popped the gum that was in her mouth, "Call me 'Mac'."

Tucker looked at Danny in curiousity, "You didn't ask Valerie or even try for Paulina?"

Mac popped her gum again, "We both lost bets with mutual friends and this was their idea, let's just leave it at that, huh?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Mutual friends?"

"Yeah," Danny answered as he slipped his comb back in his pocket, "Mutual friends; I know a guy who's going steady with a girl she knows."

"How come this is the first I've heard of these mutual friends?" Sam kept pushing.

Danny groaned, "I gotta hang around someone when both you guys are busy, okay? It just happens that Trisk' is the kind of guy I can talk to for hours and neither of us have to worry about saying anything important."

Something about that name bothered Tucker, "Trisk?"

"Yeah," Danny answered, "His name's John Triskaideka, so?"

Tucker's brow furrowed in thought, but he answered, "Nothing, just wondering if we knew them."

"Probably seen them around," Mac informed him with another pop of her gum, "Him and Katie both, you've just never really met and talked to them, I bet."

Danny cringed, "Don't say 'bet', Mac, that's how they got us into this mess..."

"What bet?" Tucker asked, only for Danny to actually pull him into a headlock.

"Tuck', you know I like you, right? You know you're one of my best friends, right?" Danny smirked and pointed at the other teen's nose, "Don't ask that again, okay?"

"Okay," Tucker agreed and coughed a little when Danny let him go, "Geez, how many times did you watch 'Grease' to get that Danny Zuko attitude right, Danny?"

Danny looked at him and grinned, "Put it this way, Tuck' - I never want to hear that 'Greased Lightning' song again."

Mac looked at him evilly, "That mean you don't want a car that's systematic, hydromatic, ultra-"

"Not even from you," Danny cut her off, "There's no way even you could make that sound good to me now, Mac."

"Wanna bet I couldn't try?" Mac asked with wide, mock-innocent eyes and punctuated the question with a pop of her gum.

"Aw, geez," Danny groaned, "What do they expect me to do with you?"

"Well," Mac grinned, "You might try asking a girl to dance, y'know."

As Danny took Mac's hand and led her out onto the dance floor, Sam stared after them in confusion while her mind caught up with what her eyes and ears had gotten.

In disbelief, Sam had one very simple question for anyone that could answer it, "What just happened here?"

-o0O0o-

It was about half an hour of surprisingly enjoyable dancing later when Danny had to excuse himself and came back to find that he had no idea where his date had gotten to in his absence. He just hoped she hadn't cut out on him, that would be sure to ruin what was already shaping up to be a long night. It didn't help that he didn't even know where to start looking, but he had an idea where to start asking and so he made his way to the buffet table where Tucker was lurking with a plate in his hand and making quick work of the food on it.

"So, the punch been spiked yet or what?" Danny asked by way of greeting, causing Tucker to shake his head and grin.

"Nah, Dash tried earlier, but Lancer caught him," Tucker answered after emptying his mouth, "Too bad, I know Sam was hoping he'd succeed. I'm sure that's not what you really want to know, huh, Danny?"

"Not really," Danny agreed, "Where's Mac?"

Tucker grinned and nodded towards the stage where Mac was almost hidden by the curtains, sitting on the edge with a guitar, the amplifier cord laying on the floor beside her as her fingers moved across the strings silently to the song playing in her mind.

"She said something about 'they're putting the paying customers to sleep with all this jazz'," Tucker explained, "She looks comfortable with that guitar."

Danny gave Tucker a hard look, causing the other boy to raise his hands.

"Hey, as long as nothing happens, I'm not saying anything," Tucker continued defensively, "Besides, I don't know about 'paying customers', but she's right; all this slow stuff is putting people to sleep."

To emphasis his point, Tucker used his thumb to point over his shoulder at where Star and Kwan were dancing, slowly swaying back and forth with their eyes closed and foreheads pressed together. It would almost be a romantic sight if not for the thin string of drool coming from Star's mouth and the fact that Kwan was snoring softly but loud enough for Danny to hear.

"Anybody else gets caught like that and they'd never hear the end of it," Danny shook his head, "But get a couple of A-listers in that position and you can be sure all anyone will talk about is how much this party was a bore."

Tucker grinned and commented teasingly, "I'm sure 'Inviso-Bill' could lighten it up if he made an appearance."

Danny glared at his friend, "You want another headlock, Tuck'?"

-o0O0o-

There was one person who wasn't upset to see Danny without his date; Sam didn't know why, but there was something she just didn't like about this 'Mac' girl, especially with the way she had just seemed to come out of nowhere to be Danny's date to the dance. Something about it all didn't seem right to Sam, not the least bit. Whatever was going on, it definately involved Danny, so she had decided that she needed to keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, for most of the dance so far, he had been dancing with Mac and she hadn't been able to get close enough to them to listen in on anything they were saying without them moving away as though they were trying to avoid her. Finally, however, the two of them had seperated when Danny had to excuse himself and Sam watched as he returned and went over to where Tucker lurked at the buffet. The fact that she didn't see Mac anywhere around and the band was playing a series of slow songs gave Sam the perfect plan and the perfect excuse to get Danny out on the dance floor away from Mac and even Tucker for a question and answer session without any interruptions.

Sam came up on them quick and quiet before she announced her presence, "Danny!"

Danny and Tucker both turned around in surprise, Tucker wide-eyed and gasping and Danny groaning.

"Sam!" Danny groaned, "Don't do that!"

"Yeah," agreed Tucker as he got his breathing back under control, "Don't do that, Sam, okay?"

"Lighten up, guys," Sam chided in a casual tone before grabbing Danny's arm, "Come on, Danny, let's dance."

"Uhhh..." Danny drew out the sound, "I'd rather not."

Sam gave his arm a tug, "Come on!"

"I said no," Danny retorted

"I'm not going to stop until you dance with me," Sam warned.

Danny sighed, "Fine..."

As Sam drug Danny out onto the floor, Tucker shook his head, "Man, I just know this isn't going to end well. I guess there's only one thing for me to do..."

He frowned at his plate as he finished, "But first, I need more 'pigs-in-a-blanket'."

-o0O0o-

Sitting on the stage, Mac was doing her best to mentally drown out the band playing some slow song about just having to dream and wishing that she hadn't promised to behave herself before coming tonight so that she could do something to make things more interesting. As far as she was concerned, this wasn't a dance; this was torture. Then she saw something that made her grit her teeth and turned tortured boredom to a cold fire. Sure she was only here because she lost that stupid bet and her being here didn't mean she liked the dipstick she was with or anything, but he was still her date for the dance, that meant something and she didn't like the fact that the poodle-skirt-wearing princess was trying to hijack her dance partner.

'Forget it,' Mac decided with a hard frown on her face thinking of the promise she had made to her friend to behave tonight, 'She can forgive me later if she wants.'

Snatching up the amp cord with her free hand as she stood up, Mac forcefully plugged the jack into the hole in the guitar she was holding, causing an ear-splitting feedback as she did that earned her a dirty look from the band. Mac returned the dirty look to the band as she walked over and came between the lead vocalist and their microphone.

"What do you think you're doing?" The vocalist demanded.

"Keeping the dance alive," Mac looked at him like he was stupid, "Which is more than you seem capable of doing..."

Turning to the mic, Mac spoke into it, "Sorry, people, but we interrupt this utterly boring selection for something with a little more... kick."

As the room watched, Mac started playing the opening cords of a song on the guitar in her hands before breaking out with the vocals.

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain," Mac started singing, "Too much love drives a girl insane... You broke my will; oh, what a thrill... Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! I laughed at love 'cause I thought it was funny; then you came along and moved me, honey - I've changed my mind, love is fine... Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"

Most of the students out on the dance floor weren't sure how they were supposed to react to this sudden change in the evening's music. It wasn't until Star and Kwan, woken from their stupor by the louder volume and faster beat of the new music began to dance with newfound vigor that the others began to follow suit, more comfortable with the fact that if someone got in trouble, it would be everyone getting in trouble. It wasn't just the students feeling that way as the band began to get into it and join in along with the song as Mac sang and played the lead guitar.

"Kiss me, baby!" Mac then pressed her lips together and moaned, causing more than a few of the male listeners to tense up, especially Danny himself, "Feels good! Hold me, baby... Well, I want to love you like a lover should! You're fine, so kind, I would tell this world that you're mine - mine - mine! I chew my nails and then I twiddle my thumbs - I'm real nervous, but it sure is fun! Come on, Baby, you drive me crazy; Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"

-o0O0o-

Sam, however, wasn't happy with the change in tempo; she had been enjoying slow-dancing with Danny and had been just about to ask him some questions about this 'Mac' girl when she had gotten up on stage and taken things over. Now she was stuck trying to talk over louder music and Danny's attempts at the faster dancing that everyone else was doing, it didn't help that he keep switching between twirling her around and spinning around her every time she tried to speak.

"Danny," Sam started, only to find him behind her, causing her to have to turn around.

"Danny, I..." Now he had lifted her hand over her head and was twirling her in place.

"This 'Mac'..." Sam said, trying again.

"Yeah, she can really play, can't she?" Danny said agreeingly before Sam could finish her sentence, starting to twirl her again.

"That's not what I mean," Sam tried to elaborate, only to find that she was suddenly standing there alone.

During the instrumental, Mac had left the song fully in the hands of the band and jumped down to the dance floor, grabbing Danny's free hand as he twirled Sam and pulling him into dancing with her instead. Unlike Sam, Mac was completely into dancing with Danny as her partner, not concerned with distracting herself by trying to ask questions or get information. Sam knew that she and Danny were just friends, not a couple or anything, no matter how many times they had to pull fake-out make-outs on people, but that didn't change the fact that finding herself standing there while one of her best friends danced off with another girl... hurt.

"Kiss me, baby! Mm, feels good! Hold me, baby... Well, I want to love you like a lover should! You're fine, so kind, I would tell this world that you're mine - mine - mine! I chew my nails and then I twiddle my thumbs - I'm real nervous, but it sure is fun! Come on, Baby, you drive me crazy; Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"

Danny twirled Mac and this time ended up with his arms around her, her back to his front, "Don't know about you, but I don't plan on ever telling them that I'm actually enjoying myself tonight."

Mac looked back over her shoulder at him, "Me? Tell those two? Forget it, we'd never hear the end of it."

Tilting his head in the direction that they had left Sam, Danny clicked his tounge, "Eh, I'm probably never gonna hear the end of it anyway, you know."

Mac pulled out of his arms and spun around, grabbing his hands left to right and right to left before starting to Twist, "Why not?"

"I'm not sure," Danny admitted, "But I think Sam might've been trying to make some kind of confession."

"What?" Mac freed a hand and used it to pull out a new stick of gum out of Danny's jacket pocket and open the wrapping so that she could stick it in her mouth before reclaiming Danny's free hand, "Like the romantic kind?"

"Maybe..."

Mac popped her gum, "And do you?"

-o0O0o-

Out of sight of Sam or Danny and Mac, three figures were watching intently.

"Quit shoving," Tucker snapped at the guy next to him.

"Hey," Trisk snapped back, pointing his finger in Tucker's face, "You quit shoving, geek."

"Why's everybody sticking fingers in my face tonight?" Tucker complained.

"'Cause we can't get your head to a toilet yet," Trisk retorted.

"Boys!" Katie, the only girl in the trio cut in, "Do I need to give you a time-out?"

"No," both Tucker and Trisk answered.

"Then shut up so I can hear, okay?"

-o0O0o-

Back with Danny and Mac, Danny sighed before answering her question.

"Nah, I don't think it'll happen. Sam's great and all as a friend, but way too high-maintenance to date," he answered after a moment's thought, "She's always got to have some cause to support or something to work for... As much as I'd like getting into NASA, I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen the way things are with me, so I'm just going to take things as they come for a while."

"Uh-huh," Mac popped her gum again, subtly leading him away from the dance floor, "And how long'll 'a while' be?"

Danny caught onto what she was doing and dropped her hands, instead putting one of his on her shoulder as he made an admission, "Alright, I'll probably end up being some kind of slacker that can't hold down a job 'cause he keeps running off, probably live with my parents' until I'm forty and be known as a complete waste of potential... And that's if I'm lucky."

Mac scoffed, "You know what your problem is? You worry too much 'bout what other people thing of you. When was the last time you really did something for yourself?"

Danny froze and stared into space.

"Exactly," Mac continued, "You're so busy trying to be what people expect you to be that you ain't nothing."

Danny shook his head at her, "Look who's talking; the one-trick pony. Every time we meet, it's the same thing from you. What about you, when was the last time you really did something for yourself?"

When Mac didn't answer, Danny nodded, "Uh-huh, that's what I thought."

"Oh, god," Mac groaned, "We really are a couple of losers, aren't we? Everything in our lives is about that one thing and we just don't do anything about it. We ain't never going to get nowhere, neither of us, are we?"

"Not if we keep going the way we been," Danny agreed.

"So what do we do?" Mac asked.

"You know what?" Danny answered, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it, "I don't have a clue."

The look as Danny's face as he tried not to laugh was enough to make Mac laugh herself, which in turn ended up setting Danny off anyway.

-o0O0o-

"What are they doing?" Katie asked, trying to see past Trisk and Tucker.

"I can't tell," Trisk told his girlfriend, "I think they're laughing about something."

-o0O0o-

"I got a thought," Danny said as he managed to get his laughter under control, "Since you need to do something for yourself and I need to do something for myself, we might as well do it together."

Mac popped her gum as she looked at Danny for a moment, "What about your friends?"

"Sam's probably gonna want nothing to do with me for a while," Danny answered, "After I shoot her down and all, y'know, and Tuck'? He'll probably be too busy dating his PDA or something to say anything, I guess."

-o0O0o-

Clearly overhearing that comment, Tucker looked at Katie and Trisk, "I'm not that bad am I?"

Both of the other two folded their arms and slowly nodded at him.

"Maybe I'd better reduce," Tucker sighed.

-o0O0o-

"So, what?" Mac asked, "Tomorrow?"

Danny nodded, "I'll pick you up at your place around two?"

"Fine with me," Mac agreed, "So what do we do for now?"

"Well," Danny chuckled, "That depends."

Mac frowned at him and popped her gum, "On what?"

"Whether or not you want to give our friends something to talk about," Danny replied.

-o0O0o-

"Woah!" Tucker gasped as Mac answered by way of putting her arms around Danny's neck and kissing him on the lips, Danny's hands going to her hip and the back of her head.

"Good thing I'm seeing this," Trisk muttered, "'Cause I wouldn't believe it otherwise..."

"Woo-hoo!" Katie cheered, "I told you they'd make a good couple! I told you they just needed someone to play matchmaker! I told you!"

-o0O0o-

Author's Note: For anyone curious about my choice of song in this story, I let an internet radio player make the final decision. I put together a list of fifties songs I thought would fit and started listening and the first song on the list that got played was the one that would end up in the story. In this case, it was "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. Actually, I was starting to wonder if I was going to finish this one in time. It just kept going and going until it surprised my Love Hina story 'Reality or Bust' for longest entry in The 365 Project...