Disclaimer: I don't own either of these particular universes- I just have nothing better to do with my life.

Malevolence

Chapter 1- Every Night

by: TheColorsofSand

The choking claustrophobia and cloying, rancid smell cut off all his air. He couldn't breathe. And yet, somehow, the observation caused no panic, no fear. He hurt all over, but his arm and shoulder throbbed in a constant and consuming ache. And yet, the pain was merely fact. Music, constant as the pain, drifted through his shuttered mind, poured into it like water. It didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything and yet there it was.

Over

and over

and over

again.

He was himself, and yet he wasn't. Not anymore. The longer he was wrapped in the suffocating darkness the more his horrific prison had become his home. The smell was fact, the darkness, the pain, the vacuum. All nothing but fact. No need to fear, not anymore, because he no longer needed to draw breath. The pain no longer slowed him. In the darkness, somehow, he could see. He felt sick, but that didn't seem to matter either- there wasn't any room in his cramped prison for feeling. There was only room for one thing now-

Open the door

Open the door

We know where you are

We know where you are

We know where you are

We know who you are

Knock-knock, who's there?

It's me.

It's six am.

Danny struggled awake- blankets and sheets wrapped around him, tangled in his arms and legs. His shoulder ached, as though he'd over extended it. The smell still choked him. But the dream was fading faster than he could reconstruct it. It took him a moment to realize that he was not being strangled. He didn't have to look at the clock to know that it would be exactly six o'clock in the morning. For a solid week the disturbing nightmares had woken him at exactly six. Like they were on some kind of schedule. And now, so was he.

God he was tired. He couldn't think of why. After the whole 'Armageddon' scenario, things had actually calmed down quite a bit. He'd earned enough respect that most ghosts considered Amity Park his territory, and gave it a wide berth. Those that didn't have much respect learned pretty quickly. And the whole town knowing his secret identity had made life that much easier. There were no more lies, no more excuses, no more hiding. And despite a solid six weeks of dodging mobs of 'phans' he became old news really fast. Life wasn't perfect, but it was as close as he could count on.

The dreams were throwing a giant wrench into the whole thing. It was like going back to his freshman year, falling asleep in his English class, handing in only half-finished homework in his math class, and drawing looks from both teachers and class mates when they noticed his condition. He'd thought up a few good excuses for his parents, but pretty soon his mother was going to figure out that something was wrong. And then he'd have to come clean about the whole thing.

He had the strangest feeling that he didn't want to do that. He absolutely did not want to do that.

The sudden sound of the smoke detector finished what the nightmare started. Danny fell out of bed, sheets constraining his ankles. He was certainly awake now.

"Danny, Jazz, breakfast is ready!" His father called above the screeching of the smoke alarm. Danny sighed heavily and let his head hit the floor. It was little wonder he became some kind of superhero- the stress of his everyday life was the perfect basis for dealing with a crisis.

Danny untangled himself and made his way downstairs to the smoke detector right outside of the kitchen. Jack Fenton was busy struggling with a smoking waffle iron. Finding nothing handy to fan away the smoke with, he saved time by freezing the device solid. The awful noise ceased at last.

"Daniel James! You'll break that thing, and then what will we do it there really is a fire?" He jumped a little at the sound of his mother's voice just behind him. She gave him a little glare, a square section of cardboard in her hand. Exactly what he had been looking for.

"Mom, I think I'd rather die in a fire than have this thing as my alarm clock." He said, snatching the frozen cover off and prying out the battery. She gave him another look, but seemed to feel it was Jack that needed the most supervision. Danny followed suit, opening the kitchen windows while his parents pried bits of burnt waffle off the smoking appliance.

"So we're having waffles?" A sleepy voice asked. Jazz stood at the bottom of the stairs, still in her green pajamas dotted with little sleepy basset hounds.

"What gave it away?"

He'd been whistling the same tune for about three days now, and it was starting to get on Sam's nerves. Danny never whistled, or at least he did very rarely, and normally she wouldn't care what song was stuck in her boyfriend's head. But after three days, the novelty was wearing.

"Did you know that you've been whistling that since Wednesday?" She asked. Danny gave her a funny look out of the corner of his eye. He'd forgone lunch again and instead spent the time with his head in one hand and his eyes closed, half asleep.

"It's been stuck in my head sin(e Monday. I've been trying to remember where I heard it."

"It's from an opera." Tucker supplied through a mouthful of what the cafeteria called 'tuna salad'. Both Danny and Sam gave him a mild look. "What? I know stuff." He continued. "From Carmen. I don't know what it's about or any thing, I just read it somewhere." Danny shrugged.

"Well, I didn't go see any opera recently." He replied with just the slightest bit of sarcasm. His wit wasn't quite as sharp as usual-and his slight smile not as bright. He looked tired and worn- like thread-bare clothing. His face seemed even paler than usual, and both his friends had noticed his fuse was growing shorter and shorter.

"Are you doing alright? You look tired." San said as casually as possible. Tucker didn't dare breach the subject- but girlfriends were always scarier than best friends. Sam had a better chance of surviving. Of course, Danny only shrugged again, this time with even less commitment.

"Haven't been sleeping very well." He muttered. He didn't how why he couldn't bring himself to say more. But that strange feeling in his gut was fairly certain he didn't want to tell her. He couldn't tell her. He yawned to cover-up his indecision. "Dad's been working on something for a few days. The noise has been keeping me awake." Sam scooted closer to him and put her arm in his.

"Well get some sleep tonight, remember I have you all afternoon tomorrow." She lay her head on his shoulder briefly in a rare display of affection. Tucker wrinkled his nose a little.

"Are you guys hanging out without me again?"

"It's called a date Tucker. And no, you can't come with us." Sam answered quickly.

"I always knew you two would end up together."

Gym was no longer the nightmare it had once been. In fact Danny found himself starting to enjoy it. No more getting picked last, or getting picked on. Even as tired as he was, Danny was looking forward to his one hour a day no one would ask him to solve a problem, find 'x', write in full sentences, hand them a 'c' clamp, or tell them why he looked like crap. He changed slowly in the locker room, listening to Baxter and his friends discuss their strategy for that afternoon's activity- dodge-ball. The strategy was always the same; destroy the underclassmen. Now seniors, it was both their duty and privilege to cause as many bruises as possible in as short a time as possible.

Danny gave himself a little tome to let everyone else clear out of the locker room. For a full year after his whole identity was blown, gym class was trying. People took it as an excuse to get too close to him. Or they just started to assume he was someone they wanted on their team. He started to feel like a piece of meat torn indifferent directions. So he learned to take his time on the locker room, get into the gym just before he was late, and let the teacher decide where he went. It was less necessary now, but he'd gotten into the habit. Today though, he needed to be sure the game was at least alittle headed out into the gym, and watched the door swing shut.

The hinges on the door made a soft, high pitched sound. It sighed as it swung past the door jamb and back again.

The sound of the heavy latch latching and locking was not foreboding; it was like a secret.

The heavy steel door rattles on its track, and bangs against the ground, the sound echoes.

Danny shook his head to dispel the thoughts. He was still tired

As Tetslaff called for two teams out of the class, the room split rather predictably. Seniors and student athletes on one side: fresh meat on the other. Danny made it a point to stay opposite of Dash Baxter. He had a hard time calling Dash his friend, but a harder time calling him his enemy. He'd come to act as a temper to the slightly larger teen's harsher way. Which meant stepping in front of a few dodge-balls and giving a few threatening looks now and then.

"Alright! Everyone follows the rules! You get hit you're out! You're team makes a catch- one of you gets back in! No head shots- you got it seniors?!" The large woman dumped a few dozen balls onto the gym floor and blew the whistle.

Chaos ensued. The kind of chaos he'd grown to expect from his classmates. With balls whizzing in every direction, Danny spent his time avoiding pot shots and bad throws. And of course making sure his teammates got the chance to get theirs in while they had the chance. Dash and the rest of the jocks were enjoying themselves. And Danny kept his eye on one of the jocks in particular.

He never liked Terrence Booker. He came to Casper High just one year ago as a sophomore. Now a junior, and one of the rising stars on the varsity football team; he could do no wrong in the eyes of most administration. But not exactly because he wasn't doing wrong. Dash was mean, but Terrence was cruel. Danny knew the moment they locked eyes that something about him was not quite right. He could not explain what it was that made him think so, but he knew without any doubts. He could not be left alone to his own devices. So when he had the chance to keep a close eye on Terry Booker, he took it. The young man made his skin crawl just because he was near.

White balls whizzing by his head, distracted him for just long enough to loose track of Terry, and instead he took a few shots at Dash, who had locked eyes with him for a moment too long. He wasn't trying to hit him. Gym game or not, one accident would be too many- it was easy to forget the difference between 'fighting for life' and 'winning a ball game' when the motion was exactly the same. The fact that he wasn't hitting anyone was still lost on the majority of the students. Tetslaff seemed to be the only one who'd notice the discrepancy. She didn't say anything about it. But she had other things to worry about.

"Booker! I said no head shots! Watch it!" She bellowed, and blew shortly on her whistle. The game didn't stop, but the young girl, a freshman Danny didn't know, was out. She shuffled off the court holding her head. And then another ball hit her in the back. She fell forward harshly on her knees, and Danny was fairly certain he heard a strangled sob. From the other side of the line, Terry was wearing a rather cruel sort of smile. He frowned and stepped in front of the girl, knocking one more ball out of the way. Terry was starting to get on his nerves, and that wasn't a place he wanted to be.

"Hey, are you okay?" The girl was drawing heavily from a battered inhaler and wheezing. Her dishwater blonde hair frazzled all around her head as though she'd spent the entire day in a game of dodge-ball, and she wasn't winning. She blushed heavily when he stopped to help her up. Danny wasn't sure if it was the asthma or the fact that he had her by the arm.

"I'm okay." She wheezed. Her breathing was coming under control, and he helped her away from the flying projectiles- one of which followed her even off the court. Danny caught it easily and glared at the young man across the room. Their eyes locked for a moment and Danny knew exactly what he wanted to do. Blood boiled everywhere in his veins. He was suddenly too angry to contain it. He saw, somehow, in the reflection of his eyes exactly what he desired most.

He was glad that he'd paid attention in chemistry- because Danny knew now that a sudden drop in temperature would cause the air in the ball to compress. Meaning that the ball would deflate slightly making it especially easy to throw, and especially hard on the body parts it came into contact with. It was no accident when the slightly deflated ball cracked Terry Booker right in the face-breaking his nose and knocking him back across the gym.

His cry of pain was even louder than Tatslaff's whistle, which stopped the game. Terry was on his back, holding his face and groaning. Some of his teammates had gathered, one or two of them looking a little green at the sight of blood. And there was plenty of blood. The ball had already mixed with the others, and Danny was fairly certain their gym teacher hadn't seen it happen. Whole the rest of the class began to crowd around the injured, Danny made sure the Freshman girl on his arm could still breathe.

"You didn't have to do that." She wheezed. "You'll get in trouble."

"I've been in trouble with Tetslaff before. It's no big deal.'' He sat her down on the bleachers. She was almost breathing normally, but the heavy blush remained.

"My name is Grace."

"Danny. " He replied, shaking her hand. "I should probably get over there before she figures it out on her own." He turned to leave, but paused. "Listen, if you ever have a problem with him again, let me know. I get the feeling he's more than the normal problems you deal with in high school. Don't let him get away with anything." Grace nodded, but her eyes were slightly glazed with infatuation.

He wasn't usually so aggressive. At least not so openly. He couldn't even be sure what had made him so angry. Sure, Terry was a jerk, and he deserved all the broken bones he got- but he probably shouldn't have been the one to break them. He was especially regretting the decision now that Tetslaff had a hold of him. She wasn't a huge fan of detention, but she was a firm believe in the disciplinary power of wall- sits. which was what she decided he should spend his next class doing.

He could have cheated- but with Tetslaff watching over him like a hawk, he didn't dare incur her wrath anymore. He couldn't be there all day after all. At the very least it gave him some time to think. So he watched the next game of dodge-ball, in which his best friend Tucker was not holding his own very well, and started to feel just a little bit guilty.

So Terry was a jerk. What else was new? It wasn't that long ago that he thought Dash was unusually cruel and sadistic. They always picked on those smaller and weaker than themselves. It didn't sit right with him because it was a girl, but they used to pick on Sam too. The more he tried to explain it away the more he was sure. Something was wrong with Terrence Booker.

He still shouldn't have broken the guy's nose. His reaction was so immediate he didn't even think about it. It didn't feel like revenge- it didn't feel like payback. Grace needed to be protected, but that didn't mean a pre-emptive strike was called for. Still, he mostly just felt guilty because he didn't feel guilty.

Then, all of a sudden, there want any time to think. A familiar chill crawled up his spine, and frost plumed out in front of him. His senses were becoming more and more practiced- he reached out to try to find the ghost remotely. His sixth sense was now almost as accurate as some of his parent's equipment. Danny couldn't see the ghosts, but he could sense both of them. One large, looming, and angry; and the other smaller, familiar, and not nearly as frightened as she probably should be. The larger ghost had a troublesome stamina only just below his own, and an animal sort of nature that wasn't going to give up easily or listen to reason.

On the bright side, Dani was home.

And, in proper Dani fashion, she'd honed in on his signature and was leading the ghost right to him. And the gym full of school children. He stood and stretched. He was probably about to need the muscles that were currently starting to cramp. He could feel them getting closer, when a very familiar figure popped in through the roof.

"Hi Danny!" She waved, and her voice drew a few eyes to the ceiling. The game started to die down as the high school students were suddenly engrossed by the presence of Phantom's female counter-part. Danny didn't wave back at her, just gave her a look. The look she returned was a little guilty.

"So, do you think you could help me out with something real quick?" She said, thumbing behind her.

A roar suddenly shook the whole building. Both Phantoms covered their ears. The noise was so keening, so large, that it shook their insides as well as the building. The students were shaken, but didn't seem nearly as effected by the noise. Which wasn't a great sign.

"Dani, get out of the way!" It was coming through, barreling intangibly through the gym roof, just as Dani had. Tetslaff, acting just as quickly, blew hard on her whistle and lined the students up against the wall. Realizing now, that she'd had Fenton line up next to their doors.

The creature, a bulbous, morphing, mass of legs, claws and teeth fell intangibly through the roof, just as Fenton became Phantom, and Danielle slipped behind him. He constructed a shield just in time for the ghost to make that horrible roar again. The sonic properties of ghosts was not usually taken into account during a fight, as the ability was often quite rare, and in most cases not very destructive. However, in the cases a Shriek was effective, it was devastating. His own ghostly wail was strong enough to cause physical damage. This roar was not so strong, but ghosts, made of material vulnerable to intense sound, could be ripped apart in the right conditions.

"What did you do to make so mad?" Danny shouted above the sound, huddling behind his shield. He didn't get a response- the ghost was lunging at them, and it was time to take to the air. He tried to lure the larger ghost away from the horde of teenagers- but it just wasn't interested in him. It had eyes only for his 'cousin'- or it would have, if it had eyes.

Already tired from what was surely a long flight, Danielle was having trouble maintaining speed and the energy to keep up the fight. Which would explain why she'd made a beeline right for him, dragging the angry ghost along.

"I thought a bigger ghost might scare it away!" She shouted. Danny wasn't sure if he should be angry, or flattered. With Dani wearing out, a very focused ghost, and high-school students in danger, he didn't really have a whole lot of time to waste. If it roared again, he would have to be in front of Danielle, in this state she wouldn't be able to construct a shield strong enough. And his own wail would be far too destructive to use now.

A leg lashed out in his direction, sending him careening for the back wall, just above the students. Intangibility didn't seem to help- it could phase through him, but he couldn't seem to phase through it. Meaning he was on the opposite side of the room and Dani, not even bothering to try to fly anymore, was cornered. The creature opened his mouth- and he really had only one way left to get to Dani in time.

He'd been working on teleportation for a while now. Vlad could do it- had a good style about it too. Clockwork could do it, he'd even seen an observant or two do it, so he was pretty certain he could figure it out. There had been a lot of trial and error. But he finally got it down just less than a month ago. He closed his eyes, and pulled himself into that strange, tiny vortex that he knew he'd never get used to.

He could feel almost the whole of the ghost zone, even though he couldn't see. Even if he opened his eyes, he knew there would be only darkness anyway. He could feel Danielle, and his own familiar haunt stretching out around him. And all he had to do was concentrate hard enough to pull himself there. He felt the pull just a moment too late- he was already traveling through compressed space. Like gravity, he fell away from Dani's familiar signature. It had happened before, and with the adrenaline rush, he couldn't be too surprised if he was a little off.

But this was ridiculous.

"Where in the hell am I?" Nothing seemed familiar. He was higher in the air now, somewhere over a building of moderate size. He could smell food wafting up to him, and on a Friday, the parking lot was moderately full. He could feel the slightest tug- he wanted to go inside. But while he was here- Dani was not. He lingered for less than a second, before tearing himself away. If he was too late to get in front of her...

He felt his whole being compressed and shot through no-space, and he could feel her again. He reappeared in front of her, just in time. The creature, jaws open lunged for her, not yet noticing that the more powerful ghost had reappeared. For one horrible, terrifying fraction of a second Danny realized he would not get his shield up in time. And the ghost-

Swallowed them.

The crowd of students watched with wide eyes and open mouths. Danny Phantom, the same Phantom they'd watched save the world, the same one they saw every day at school, the same one they'd watched rise time and time again- was just gone. Tucker couldn't speak. The creature turned toward them, and he found that he couldn't even move. Denial was at the forefront of his mind, after all, they'd seen much worse than this. But somewhere, down in the darkest reaches of his brain, the doubter was fighting. Where was Danny?

The crowd seemed to inhale collectively, and as one all tense to run as the ghost turned towards them, bearing his many teeth in his not-quite mouth.

And then it exploded.

Pink goo splattered all over the gym, sticking to the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and yet missing the students- phasing through them harmlessly. And there, in the center of the goo-blossom; Phantom. Danielle sat in his lap, clinging to him. His arms around her tightly, looking just as confused and grossed out as the rest of them.

"Oh gross!"

"Yuck!" The two phantoms said in unison. Their hair plastered to them in pink goo, covered head to toe in it.

"That was so disgusting!"
"It's in my mouth!" Tucker seemed to recover first, but was reluctant to offer his friend a hand.

"Dude, are you okay?" The two phantoms stood, a little wobbly after the ordeal.

"I think we're okay. That was just, the grossest thing I've ever had to do." Dani was quickly brushing herself off, Danny was trying to spit the stuff out of his mouth.

"What did you do?" Tucker asked, keeping his best friend at arm's length. "I've never seen you do that before." Danny shook his head.

"I have no idea. I got swallowed and I kind of freaked out." He helped Danielle out of the mess. She smiled and waved at Tucker, who smiled back. The rest of the students were sidestepping the mess, now fully capable of sticking to the full humans. They were all staring, and the two phantoms became suddenly aware of the eyes.

"Uh, sorry everybody." Dani said with a sheepish smile. "I didn't mean to interrupt." Intangibility didn't seem to dislodge the goop, and Danny attempted instead to freeze it.

"It freezes just fine, then you can break it off." The clods of frozen ectoplasm dropped easily to the floor as he brushed them off. Dani, unable to freeze them herself held still for her 'cousin' to do it for her. Finally, both clean, the students picking their way through the mess towards the door- the two phantoms had the time for a proper hello.

Dani jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. Danny was just as eager to hug her back- squeezing her briefly, then hauling her up onto his shoulder. She had a high-five for Tucker.

"So, staying for a while?"