A DANNY PHANTOM BIG BANG

“Do I know you?”

“Oh, very cute. I said I wish we’d never met and now you’re pretending we didn’t meet. You’re hilarious.” Sam rolled her eyes, hand on her hip as she waited for Danny to cut the crap.

“No, seriously, do I know you?” He responded in earnest confusion.

Before Sam could respond, Tucker spritzed something minty into his mouth and practically pushed the other boy away. “And more importantly, would you like to know me?”

He held out his hand for Sam to shake, “Hi, I’m Tucker. Tucker Foley. That’s T.F. as in ‘too fine’.”

“Oh, gross!” Sam’s entire body shuddered as she slapped his hand away, “Are you hitting on me?”

As this was happening, one of Casper High’s various nerds was being cruelly shoved into a locker down the hall. Even if it was a regular occurance, this particular nerd had had enough. “I wish someone would give you a taste of your own medicine!” He screamed.

And as if she could hear the calls of Murphy's law, Desiree materialized from the void to make everything worse, announcing– “So you have wished it, and so it shall be!”

Desiree smiled as she zapped the kid, ignorant enough to make a wish around her, turning him into a ghoulish, green monster. He leapt out of the locker excitedly and (deservedly) beat the snot out of Dash and Kwan. 

She smiled, proud to display her power and ready to move on to the next victim. But before Desiree took her leave, something peculiar caught her eye. She began moving cautiously towards the moody girl she knew as the ghost boy’s friend, but quickly changed trajectory and headed in Danny’s direction instead.  

Once she was close enough to tower over Danny, she smirked as she said, ”Boo.”

“G-g-GHOST!!” he screamed, throwing his scrawny arms over his head. 

Desiree was pleased with herself, and before any of the trio could stand up to her, she flew away, cackling and mumbling to herself. 

Sam was less than impressed at Danny’s shenanigans today. “That’s Desiree, the wishing ghost!” Sam grabbed Danny by the shoulders, and avoided the temptation to shake him a little. “Danny, you’ve gotta do something. Why aren’t you going ghost?”

Unfortunately there was zero recognition from her friend. Danny shrugged her off and backed away, “Look, kid. I don’t know who you are or what you’re talking about. All I know is I am out of here!”

---

All Sam could think as she watched Danny run off like a coward was how someone like that could have ever ended up a “fearless superhero”.

Sam was at a complete loss for words. Only two things in her mind were possible; either the boys were playing an asinine prank on her, or they really didn’t remember who she was.

She hoped it was the former, but the fact Tucker flirted with her (weird) pointed, hopefully, to the latter. He’d always flirted with every girl that moved– but was adamant he’d never flirt with Sam. And if he’s gone back on his word, it better be because he doesn’t remember her. No matter how stupid it sounds. Otherwise she’d have to strangle him. Probably.

But that train of thought would have to stay in the back of her mind– she had classes to prepare for, and a locker to visit. Her day, apart from this, should be completely normal.

Or not.

As soon as Sam opened her locker, she was smacked in the face with undeniable evidence that her friends (if she could even call them that anymore) truly didn’t remember her. Her favorite polaroid, one of the three of them on the first day of school, one she had only taken a few months ago didn’t have a single trace of her in it. Only Danny and Tucker standing with an awkward blank space between the two of them, as though she was erased.

This… this isn’t right– There’s gotta be some way to prove I was in the picture– I’m the one who took it!

Sam shook her head and pocketed the photo for later. The halls were emptying and she couldn’t risk being late, or worse– detention.

As she hastily grabbed all the books she needed for the first few periods, Sam’s hand brushed against the spine of something that was definitely not a textbook. Is this where this damn thing had been misplaced for months? She yanked out her old photo album. 

Well, it’s not that old, but old enough she gave up on finding it again. Hell, she was close to making a new one the last few weeks, seeing as she hadn’t seen it in months. It isn’t anything special, really. It started out with a few of her birthdays from before middle school Danny or Tucker were occasionally in the background, but once she gets to the pages from middle school onwards, the two become more prominent. The most recent pages were fresh after Danny’s accident and stopped around the time she misplaced the damn thing.

How convenient– this might actually work if she shows it to the bo–

Suddenly, the bell rings shrilly, making her want to cover her ears.

‘Dang– are you kidding me?? My parents will kill me if they find out I’m late again.’

Sam simply sighs, rustling around in her bag and producing a stack of hall passes, quickly forging a signature without a thought. 

What? She’s a responsible student. Usually.

---

The fake pass barely works, but Sam manages to slide home to her first period seat unaccosted. Tetslaff has a nigh unreadable signature, even to hawk-eyed Lancer.. She slumps down in her usual spot in the room. It takes her a moment but she notices Tucker and Danny are nowhere to be found.

Didn’t we always have first hour together? 

The three are inseparable, both at home and in the classroom– specifically by parental ‘suggestion’. 

When the three finally made it to freshman year, Sam offhandedly mentioned her worry of being alone in her classes, very loudly, within her mother’s range of hearing. Not even a week later, her parents made a call to the school to ensure the trio would have all their classes together. all day. Even when they drove each other up the wall.

She smiles fondly as she prepares for Lancer’s blabbing for the hour. She looks at her friend’s empty seats and feels the emptiness in her heart when she realizes there would be no passing notes or sharing whispers.

‘Now is not the time. I need to help Danny get his powers back. Or maybe even convince him to do it on his own. I wonder if the portal has even been opened yet…’

As Lancer drolls on about the book of the week, she finds her mind wandering to earlier that day. Specifically to what Danny said. More specifically, the thing about her being the reason he had ghost powers in the first place. 

‘Wait, if I gave him his ghost powers in the first place– that means… all the stress and responsibility,’

Sam frowns at the realization before her train of thought continues. ‘If I did that to him, to my best friend, doesn’t that mean I can do the same for… or to someone else?’

With that heavy train of thought, she starts to make a plan.

---

To be continued...

This comic ia a companion piece for @the-fenton-anticreep-stick 's genius fanfic:

Hold My Dying Breath

All the love and hugs to @invisobang and their beautiful mods for making this event possible. This is my second time participating and i can honestly say that IB has grown to be my favorite event in the phandom. I've met so many inspiring and amazing people because of IB and I will continue to participate for many years to come.