Day as usual

The day starts as usual. It's routine by now. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to school. Fight some ghosts in between. Be late for class (Detention, Mister Fenton), survive Dash's bullying, try not to fall asleep during lessons. It's normal.

Until it isn't.

Halfway through English with Lancer the bell rings. Loud and long. There's no visible breath, so it can't be ghost-related, which in itself is strange, because lately all problems are. He exchanges a short look with Sam and Tucker and shakes his head. The students are whispering amongst themselves while the teacher is trying to assess the situation.

"Lord of the Flies, students, pay attention! This alarm is unlike the ones signalizing danger, it very well could be a mistake. But remember-"

Before Lancer can finish his sentence, the door opens with a bang. A strange man jumps inside and closes it, taking a nearby chair and barricading it from the inside. He's wearing an old, dirty jacket and faded jeans. His back is stiff and a balding head shows throbbing veins.

"Hamlet, what on earth is…?"

The man turns around and is met by multiple gasps. His face is scruffy with madness shining through his retinas, but it is the thing he is holding that captures everyone's attention. It's a gun. A real live gun.

"Listen, brats, I don't have time for this. Everybody, stand by the wall." His voice is rough and he gestures with the gun in the direction he wants them to go. Nobody moves, they are frozen with fear. "Now!" He yells, flashing yellowed teeth and they follow his orders like scared rabbits. His eyes are filled with satisfaction. "And no talking or suspicious moves, am I clear?" He doesn't expect a response and turns his back on them.

Danny finds himself like the rest of the class with his back to the wall. Tucker and Sam are by his side, both with wide eyes and Tucker is beginning to hyperventilate while Sam is trying to discreetly hush him. Danny is way out of his depth. Skulker, Ember, Technus, even Vlad – it's easy compared to this. With them he knows what he's facing, but now? This madman is human. He can't punch him without doing damage, his strength is engineered to harm ghosts. Humans are a lot more fragile than them. He can't make himself invisible to steal the gun either – there's no way of knowing if it would misfire or not. Make the man's hand intangible? It could still fall to the floor with the safety off. And he doesn't really like the idea of touching a gun anyway. Overshadow him? For that he would have to transform to his ghost half, and the man would certainly notice the flash accompanying it. And is he ready to throw the proverbial cat out of the bag, letting everyone see that he's Danny Phantom?

He simply doesn't know what to do.

The madman is pacing, whispering something to himself. He's closed the blinds on the window, but is peering through the cracks from time to time. Suddenly there is a voice drifting from the speakers.

"I am sergeant Riley from the Amity Park Police. We're asking you, Stanley Roberts, to leave the building with your hands up, and nobody'll get hurt." The voice is calm and collected, but the madman, now identified as Roberts, only laughs. Hysterically.

"Sure, sure." He mutters and glancing towards the huddled students, sits on the teacher's desk. Danny blinks out of his reverie, when he feels a touch on his hand. He slowly turns his head and meets Sam's stare. She looks at him questioningly, already having some semblance of control but he doesn't have a plan. Usually his brain goes into overdrive in stressful situations, but this time he just can't figure out how to make this better. Sam squeezes his wrist and lets go, careful of the madman. After fifteen excruciatingly slow minutes the sergeant speaks again.

"You are charged with conviction of armed robbery taking place in the Amity Park Bank. If you come out now, there will be no consequences of threatening the school with a weapon."

"Of course." Roberts agrees with an easy smile. He looks relaxed now. He gets up and slowly marches toward the group. He stops with two steps between them and just looks for a while.

"They start negotiating, see? I bet that such a small city doesn't have professionals taught how to deal with things like that. After all, most crimes are committed by ghosts." He snorts. "I'm going to come out of this on top. I just need a hostage to make demands…" he trails off.

Danny looks at his classmates with the corner of his eye. The nerds are pale and shaking, Star and Paulina are quietly sniffing, the jocks are still and silent, as if terror is keeping them under its wings… and Roberts is looking right at them. His eyes flicker from one male A-lister to another and finally settle on Dash. He points at the blond with his gun.

"You are coming with me." Dash doesn't move an inch, his only reaction is a barely noticeable tremor. The madman takes a step closer and Lancer, standing nearby shaking Mikey, makes a move as if to intercept him.

"Don't." Roberts says and Lancer freezes momentarily. His eyes are glued to the gun. It's clear as day that he is struggling; wants to prevent his student from harm but at the same time scared to death.

"C'mon, move." But Dash doesn't obey. Roberts huffs impatiently and tries to reach for the boy's shoulder, but he backs away. Stanley's eyes turn into slits.

"Stanley Roberts, if you don't come out of this building, we're coming for you." A gruff voice speaks up, different from Riley's.

"What?! No no no no…." it's like a switch has been turned. Roberts turns on his heel and stalks forward. He holds his head in both of his hands. "It's not supposed to be like that! What are they doing?!It's your fault!" He shouts and looks straight at Dash, full of barely contained fury. "It's your fucking fault! If you weren't so goddamn slow!

Roberts aims at Dash and his finger on the trigger twitches. And just like that, Danny knows what he has to do. His first priority is, as always, to protect. Even people he doesn't like. He knows he doesn't have much time, with this distance it's less than a second. But it's enough. As the bullet is fired, he lounges in Dash's direction. He can't push him out of the way, because there are students hiding behind him. So Danny recklessly, knowing the consequences, stops directly in front of Dash, shielding him. And he knows the exact moment when the first bullet pierces his skin as well as the following ones. With a detached feeling he counts five hits and then a click of an empty magazine.

He falls, boneless, against Dash, who reflexively catches him. He feels a needle prick-like sensation in the entry wounds and then a full blown agony. It's like fire or, better yet, being torn to shreds. Like every nerve in his torso is being sharply cut and crushed and burned. There's a terrifying amount of blood on his body, he can feel it, warm, and quickly surrounding him. His vision swims and he can't focus on the sounds he's hearing. By the feeling of sturdy flatness under his back he knows he's on the floor. He tries to breathe, but it's like his lungs can't get enough air. He's never felt pain like this before. All his battles and fights… and it's the first time he feels like… he can die.

No.

He's felt like this once.

Almost a lifetime ago.

In the portal on the day of his half-death.

Nononononononono he can't die! He panics, but it's like his strength disappears along with his blood. He feels so weak…

Will he even die? Become a full ghost? Or is his ghost half going to be destroyed like his life? He doesn't know what'll happen. He's one of the three hybrids and none of them died completely. He's always thought Vlad will be the first one to die, being older. Funny how life turns out…

He can't feel pain now. Just numbness. He's slipping away. But one thought clings to him. People become ghosts if they aren't ready to move on. They stay, obsession being the thing that ties them to this world. He's not ready to rest yet. He has to protect his city and everyone in it. It's his sole purpose, more important than grades or social life. He has to stay.

He…

Just…

Has…

To...

End (?)