#auroraphantasma

Happy Holiday Truce to @auroraphantasma , who requested void!danny

Writer: @dannyphandump

“You can do this, Nick,” Vic said with a (hopefully) comforting pat on the next phighter’s shoulder.

“Yeah.  I’m tough.  I’m cool.  I’m the best dang hot pocket-warmer there ever was!”

“...Not sure why that’s relevant, but okay!”  Vic flashed him a thumbs up.  “Now go out there and kick Aurora’s butt so my security team doesn’t get Vibe Checked halfway across the Zone again!”

The security team had lost G3, Cecilia, and Lori to the cursed Vibe Check.  Tali was going to have to reopen Denny’s job applications again at this rate.  Which would be kind of a let down, since the Denny’s was about to close after this match anyway.

From their place in the VIP box, Tali watched Vic nudge Nick out into the ring.  From the opposite side, Aurora was escorted in by Nero and Rin.

“Man, you guys sure are scared, huh?”  Aurora grinned.  “What do you think I’m going to do, waste my energy Vibe Checking you when Nick is right there?”

Nick gulped.

Tali started to wonder about the ethical implications of sending Nick into the ring against his constant tormenter, where the only rules were “phight until your opponent is incapacitated.”  But it wasn’t like they were going to cancel the Phinal over something as little as fear of permanent trauma.

“Alright frootloops and gentlehoes, phools of all genders, it’s the phight you’ve been waiting for!! Nick aka Ecto-American will face down the terror of the ring, the pillowcase-weilder from Nightmare Valley herself, Auroraphantasma!”

The crowd was split in its cheers, some chanting Nick’s name (and screaming about Hot Pocket Rights), while some chanted “VIBE! CHECK! VIBE! CHECK!” presumably in honor of Aurora.

“No running this time, Nick.”  Aurora grinned, holding her oddly-stabbed pillowcase like a sword.  It was only now that Danny saw it held still that he realized it had a picture of Denny Phantom on the front, the unofficial mascot of the Ghost Denny’s.

“What did they do to you, my poor restaurant-themed kin,” Danny whispered.

“...You’re gonna accept that Denny’s kinned you?”  Tucker asked.

“You know this isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened.”

“Fair enough.”

“And at risk of causing Nick nightmares for the foreseeable future…” Tali began, “PHIGHT!”

And Phight they did.

Aurora flew in swinging— or rather, teleported in swinging.  Her Denny’s application had warned that she could and would teleport behind you, and she intended to use that power to its fullest.

Nick, however, had experience in dodging the now-predictable attack.  He cartwheeled out of the way, stuffing his own secret weapon into his mouth:  the perfectly-cooked Magic Star Hot Pocket.

“No way,” Tali breathed.  “I thought that hot pocket was only found in legends.”

“...It’s literally just a hot pocket?”  Bug said behind them.  “What’s so special about it?”

“Nick’s been working on the recipe all month,” Tali confided.  “You know his vendetta against Mario Kart?  It’s partially because Mario Kart apparently ruins friendships, but it’s also because he had to play it for weeks straight in order to collect all of the Power Stars he needed to fuel his Hot Pocket.”

“...That’s some serious backstory you just made up there.  Mad props.”  Bug nodded.

“Thanks, I try.”

Regardless of the Magic Star Hot Pocket’s origins, it did its job: making Nick completely invulnerable to all attacks.  Including the dreaded Vibe Check.

“You have no power over me, Aurora!”  Nick called, grinning with the rainbow remnants of the hot pocket smeared across his mouth.  “I sacrificed my sanity to Mario Kart for this!”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how invincible you really are!”  Aurora challenged back.  She geared up to swing her pillow case, holding it back like charging up Ness’s Baseball Bat attack in Super Smash Bros.  She began to glow as the power collected in her crucified pillow case. **

She just had to wait for Nick’s star power to wear off… but she did have less stamina than the fattest cat in the world.

“This is… oddly anticlimactic.”  Bug said, resting their chin in their palm.

“Shh, they’re having a stare down,” Tucker said.

“Which would be a lot more intimidating if the Mario star music wasn’t playing in the background,” Sam countered.

Tali didn’t care; they were on the edge of their seat, staring just as intently to see which phighter would break first.  Nick began to sweat, not daring to try to strike Aurora while her pillowcase was charged.  Even star power could only take him so far.  He needed to wait for the right moment…

“Agh, enough of this!”  Aurora shouted, throwing her speared pillowcase like a javalin.

The fabric image of Denny Phantom flew through the air.  Came into contact with Nick’s chest— 

And was flung back just as forcefully, effectively Vibe Checking Aurora straight out of the ring.

“VIBE CHEEEEEEEECCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!”  She called as she flew out of the stadium, past the Denny’s, into the ghost zone version of the moon.  A tiny explosion could be seen on it.

“That… where did that moon come from?”  Danny asked.

Tali shrugged.  “Aurora’s desire to be dramatic.”

“And dramatic it was,” Bug admitted.  “Probably not as much flair as my win last year, but A for effort.”

Tali grinned before raising their kazoo to play the Mortal Kombat theme, while Lexx beatboxed in the Danny Phantom theme over it from across the stadium.

“And there you have it, pholks!  Auroraphantasma is unable to battle and is our second place winner!  Ecto-american wins the first prize!!”

Vic stepped into the ring to hand the shell-shocked Nick the trophy (which someone should design, because Tali had no idea how to describe it).

“I… I won?”

“You won.”  Vic said, offering her hand for a fist bump.  “Any words you’d like to give the crowd on your victory?

Nick bumped knuckles with enthusiasm.  

Writer: @ecto-american

There was nobody visible at the announcer booth. The seat was empty, and Danny stared. 

“...Who’s gonna announce the phight?” he asked. 

A hand shot out from under the announcer desk, feeling around on the table for the microphone but to no avail. Danny scooted the mic to the hand. The hand grabbed it and pulled it under the desk. Tucker peeked underneath. 

“...What are you doing?” Tucker asked. 

“Hiding. I can’t be vibe checked again,” Nick replied. He was huddled in a table cloth and napkin nest. “She can’t get me if she can’t find me.”

“Aurora’s not gonna get you,” Tucker tried to assure him. Nick glared. 

“You fool...anyway.” Nick cleared his throat and spoke into the mic. “It’s grimgrinningghoul up against auroraphantasma, and PJ. Please. I beg you. Take her down, yeet her out of Denny’s, I can’t take another vibe check,” Nick practically begged. “It’s JUST A PILLOWCASE, SHE HAS LESS STAMINA THAN A FAT CAT PLEASE YOU’RE POSSIBLY MY LAST HOPE!”

PJ puffed her chest out confidently. She got this far. She could get further, especially with her trusty music player by her side. 

“Of course. I’m a cryptid,” PJ proclaimed proudly. “I have many unspoken abilities as a litle creacher of the night.”

“Oh but you know what happens at night?” Aurora grinned. “You sleep.” She pulled out her pillowcase. “On a pillow. With a pillowcase.” PJ locked eyes with her. 

“Bold of you to assume I sleep,” PJ replied. She began to play her remix, an 80’s version of Numb by Linkin Park. “But then again, music often helps put people down for a nap. A DIRT NAP!”

Aurora swung her pillowcase at her. PJ dodged, and she blasted the music louder. It filled the arena, and Aurora swung again. PJ parried with a graceful kick, knocking Aurora back a bit. She opened her pillowcase, and she rushed past PJ. 

PJ gasped as their player was done. It was trapped within the soul of the pillowcase. Aurora smirked. 

“Oh PJ! Lemme sing you to sleep!” Aurora cheerfully chirped. She spun before swinging her pillow at PJ. In a sing song voice, she called out “Vibe check!”

PJ immediately flew out of the Denny’s at full force. Danny used his foot to nudge Nick under the desk, and he reluctantly peeked out. 

“God,” Nick swore under his breath as he called for security’s help. And with a deep, nervous breath, he retreated back under and was forced to announce, “Auroraphantasma...wins yet again...”

Almost as if on cue, he could hear Aurora’s voice being dangerously close. 

“Oh Nicckkk, I have a vibe check song for you!” 

Writer: @ecto-american

“How the fuck is she still here? It's a goddamn pillowcase! She beat minecraft and crayons! And after every round she just finds me to vibe check me!” Nick was complaining to his captive-uh I mean-reluctant co-announcer. Vlad looked in physical pain.

“I don't know what any of that means,” he told him.

“So a crayon is basically this colorful-”

“I know what a crayon is, you idiot!”

“You said you didn't know any of this, liar,” Nick accused. He glanced down at his sheet. “Anyway, it's pillowcase auroraphantasma versus reallydumbdannyphantomaus. Now Bug is legally obligated to win, because I put money on them, and also I wanna avoid another vibe check.”

“...You didn't put money on anything. They don't take money bets,” Danny reminded him. Nick forcefed him a hot pocket.

Aurora looked a bit unnerved. Understandable. Bug was looking pretty intensely powerful, holding up both a boombox and a shiny, shiny trophy from last year. This was not, in any simple terms, going to be a quick nor easy phight.

Bug pressed play on the boombox. The nightcore remix began to play, filling the arena with the song, and they smiled warmly at Aurora.

“Your pillowcase looks so nice,” Bug complimented. Aurora held her pillowcase up. She knew Bug's tactics, and she could not be beaten easily.

“Vibe check!” Aurora yelled, and she swung her pillowcase at the boombox. The music player went flying, the song slowly fading as it was yeeted out of the Denny's.

“Uh, security? Get that, just in case,” Nick quickly accessed.

Bug stared, dumbfounded as their primary weapon was gone. But no matter.

They held up the trophy, and they slammed it down. Only for Aurora to block it with the pillowcase. The phight was truly on. A flurry of clothes and metal were going crazy in the arena, and everybody watched intently.

“So, fun fact about Aurora, that I found out while trying to read for any weaknesses,” Nick spoke. Of course, after all the vibe checks, he had to do a bit of research. Vibe checks hurt. “While she's very strong, she has less stamina than a really fat cat. So this may be a phight of endurance.”

It took nearly three minutes of tense flinging of weapons before they both pushed each other back. Just enough that neither quite got out of the ring just yet.

“Bug?” Aurora spoke, as they both stood there, in a paused standoff. Both were obviously getting tired.

“Yeah?” Bug half-panted. Aurora grinned, holding her pillowcase like a bat.

“Say hello to Sans Undertale for me,” she spoke, before she sprinted right for them. “VIBE CHECK!”

Bug's eyes grew wide as the pillowcase hit them square in the stomach, and they were flung faster further than any other ghost that Aurora had vibe checked thus far. Almost in a blink, Bug was out of Denny's, and quickly drifting towards—uh oh.

“Get Bug, get Bug!” Nick yelled quickly. They were drifting fast and deep into the Zone. A few security naruto flew as fast as they could to hurriedly collect the ex-champion. “Um...auroraphantasma wins...?”

Nick unintentionally locked eyes with this phighter not even in his bracket that he's been apparently beefing with for rounds now. He was nearly shaking. Aurora...took down last year's champ. She had smitten down what he thought was his only saving grace from being vibe checked once more. In a blink, she was gone, and he already knew that she had teleported behind him.

“Do you really think that Bug could stand a chance against my pillowcase?” she asked. She was wielding said pillowcase, as one does. Nick used Vlad as a human shield/hostage, much to his wiggling protest, holding up a water gun full of reviewer fanfiction tears.

Writer: @ecto-american

“Look, can I just make sure there's security with me this round?...Yeah, she fucking vibe checked me, and it took you guys forever to come help me...No, I refuse to not make fun of the pillow...Because it's baffling that it won against minecraft!...Whatever, just send somebody please.”

Nick hung up a phone, and he glanced over to see Danny staring oddly at him. Nick sighed, and forced him to come over to him.

“You'll do,” Nick grumbled. And he finally actually announced, “And now! It's time for Aurora versus Ectolights!”

Since it worked for her last time, Ectolights began throwing her crayons like darts. Aurora used her pillowcase to block the attacks. Aurora swung her weapon at Ectolights, and the other dodged. She was still in high spirits, since she was absolutely just glad to be here, and she used the close encounter as a chance to stab Aurora with crayons when she could.

Aurora dropped her pillowcase, grabbing Ectolights's wrists. She twirled with her in a circle twice before flinging her out of the arena with the loud shriek of “VIBE CHECK!”

Ectolights went flying, out of the Denny's, and into the Zone.

“And uh...auroraphantasma wins...so guess I'll be seeing her again next round...Security please go find Ectolights.”

He felt a presence behind him. Ah, fuck.

Writer: @ecto-american

“Oh great, it's this dude again,” Nick grumbled. “But good news is that she's not fighting with the pillow today! So if she's really relying heavily on that thing, she should be going down!”

“...What?” Vlad stared at him.

“He's probably talking about Aurora,” Tucker half-whispered.

“This is the match she will be yeeted out of Denny's, and I can escape the vibe check!” Nick declared. “Anri is a tough competitor. But anyway, y'all probably guessed but it's auroraphantasma up against heyheyitsnotgay!”

Anri was wearing the Fenton Visor, an invention Danny instantly recognized. An invention he could never forget, as it caused him to have to watch his dad aggressively squat for two weeks before he sprained a muscle in his back. It was retired as another exercise tool for Jazz until apparently now.

“Prepare! For your doom!” Anri declared, and with the use of the invention, squatted to Aurora's eye level.

“...Hey Danny? What was that invention supposed to do?” Sam questioned. Danny sighed, never wishing more or harder internally that Tucker's family would adopt him.

“That's...that's about it. It helps you squat to be eye level with ghosts...to assert dominance...”

“Never underestimate the power of fear and intimidation!” Anri shouted.

Aurora did indeed look a bit shaken, but she would never admit this. She herself had an incredibly powerful invention, and it was time to show it off.

“Behold!” Aurora cried out, motioning to...What. The. Hell.

“That's the Fenton Portal!? How did she get the Fenton Portal!?” Danny asked. Nick shoved a hot pocket into his mouth.

“Shhh...they're phighting.”

Danny spit the hot pocket out. Aurora had, somehow, gotten the Fenton Portal into the arena. Granted, it looked like it was unpowered, and not working, so maybe it was just a copy??? Or something? Holy cow, how did she get the Fenton Portal!?

“No, like how the fu—”

Another hot pocket. Danny sat down, defeated and baffled.

“You really think that I'd just go in there, willingly?” Anri scoffed. They kept their squatting stance. You can't let a ghost become un-threatened by leaving the stance. Aurora grinned, and she pulled out her pillowcase.

“I don't need you to go in willingly,” she smiled. She darted past Anri, skidding and turning to hit Anri with the pillowcase. “VIBE CHECK!”

Anri was flung into the portal. Aurora hurriedly followed, and slammed the outside button. The portal powered up, whirling and electrocuting the ghost inside.

Anri screamed as a horrific sight immediately unfolded. Danny and Vlad both stared, dumbfounded, as they finally saw what the accidents looked like from an outsider's perspective. Though of course, Anri couldn't become half ghost. They were already dead. And thus, it was worse. Their skin separated from their body, tearing them to shreds and an explosion of memes fell out. “damn daniel!”, danno stick, pink pants, it's not gay if he's dead, they all flung out of the immortal form that was hosting them.

“FUCK YEAH! Finally, a mortal kombat worthy end!” Nick grinned, and everybody else looked on in horror, then at him in disgust. “Oh relax, they'll be fine.” Quietly and out of earshot, he called for the EMT because Anri was absolutely definitely probably not fine.

But a haunting realization...hit him.

“This, uh...means Auroraphantasma...wins...yet again...” Nick swallowed nervously. Aurora stared at him, grinning almost mockingly. As normal, she was gone in a blink, and Nick sighed tiredly. He already knew this routine.

“Wanna try the ghost portal?” she asked. “I bet your insides are just hot pockets.”

“Fuc—firstly it's be hot pockets AND skyrim shouts—secondly, fuck off! Security!”

“Go into the Fenton Portal, Nick, or face my Vibe Check.”

“NO, NOT AGAIN.”

Writer:  @ecto-american

“Ooo, it's time for the return of @ectopusses versus a newcomer, @auroraphantasma!” Nick announced. “Zach's socks are well known at Denny's, but looks like she brought a diamond pickaxe this year. Oo, it's getting Minecrafty now. And Aura brought a uh...is that a Denny Phantom pillow?”

Indeed, it was a Denny Phantom pillow case covering two branches, making it some cult-like sacrificial offering. Aura held it up proudly. Zach did the same with her pick axe.

“You'll last about as long as my cares about canon material,” Zach looked over her ridiculously oversized 420 glasses.

“Oh I'm stronger than I look,” Aura challenged.

“Well, we'll see if a meme pillowcase can beat Minecraft's most treasured type of pick axe,” Nick commented. “Phight!”

Zach swung her diamond pick axe at Aura. Aura blocked it with her pillowcase, pushing Zach back a bit. Zach threw the pick, Aura dodging with a grin.

“Ha! Missed!” Aura grinned. The pick hit her on the back of the head as it came back, boomerang style. “Ow!”

She swung her pillowcase at Zach, hitting her opponent hard enough to knock her off her feet. But of course, not enough to quite knock her out of her socks. That'd be just a physical impossibility.

“Vibe CHECK!” Aura shouted. She picked Zach up by the ghost socked feet, swinging her around twice before yeeting her out of the arena. A trail of green glitter shot from Zach as she went flying through the roof of the Denny's.

“Uh, can somebody fetch her? Before Walker finds her?” Nick requested. “Security?”

A few security personals shot after Zach's yeeted form. Nick felt a presence behind him.

“You dissed my Denny pillow?” Aura questioned. She had teleported behind him.