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[Compost] Monitor Duty
Title: Monitor Duty
Fandom: DC Comics + High School Musical + Danny Phantom + Kingdom Hearts crossover
Universe: Compost (post-SCA)
Relationship: Darren "Wildcat" Bronson + Elise "Phantom" Fenton
Summary: Darren normally loves monitor duty - when else can he do his homework and save the world at the same time? - but the one time he has to dispatch someone who's not actually on the team? It's almost enough to make him wish he hated it.
Notes: A present for my friend Lisa! ♥ I don't remember my initial thought process for this beyond "it would be fun to team Darren up with someone, and who better than Danny and Olette's baby girl?" Since Darren has a girlfriend at this point in the 'verse, they're not really doing more than friend-things, but they might get to ship level some day.
Every so often, Darren was assigned to monitor duty. It wasn't the worst job in the world: he just listened to news feeds across the Northeast and dispatched JSA members to various crime scenes. Plus, he could use all that time to do his homework! What else was he supposed to do? News feeds and police scanners got pretty boring after a while, and the world didn't end every night. Although the crime rate sucked, most of it could be handled by the local police department; they didn't need to stick around for basic muggings and bank robberies.
He'd made the mistake of telling Mom just how much he liked monitor duty once. She'd stared at him with a blank face for a few minutes, struggling to keep that neutrality there, before she said, "The whole thing sounds really boring."
Her neutral face had given way to that vaguely displeased expression that crossed her face every time he mentioned Aunt Gabriella - was she mentally wondering if he were also a nerd? Because quite frankly, Aunt Gabs was pretty cool! Darren never had understood the intense rivalry between them, considering that Aunt Gabs and Dad spent way too much time exchanging corny math jokes.
Before Mom could judge his life choices (again), Darren shrugged at her. "I get to finish homework. On time."
He couldn't focus on his normal day-to-day activities during any other aspect of hero life. When he was on infirmary duty and field duty, he had to focus all of his time and energy on his current tasks; if he slipped up there, people could potentially die. His homework just couldn't take priority over those, whereas during monitor duty? As long as he kept an ear open, he could finish his English papers without worrying about the next Apocalypse.
Dad would've been proud of him - though he suspected that if Grandpa were still alive, Grandpa would've definitely dissented with him. "Homework schmorework! Saving the world is more important!" Yeah, saving the world is important, but what if you don't have your homework done after you save it? His teachers wouldn't have cared that he stayed up all night preventing a demon from rising from the Underworld if he hadn't also prepared a free-response question.
God, why did he have to start superheroing in high school? Had he been a sadist? Darren seriously hoped not. Monitor Duty was the most boring part of the gig: he was guaranteed a night in front of the computers where he could do nothing but homework. That was some solace, at least.
After dinner that night, he headed down to the Brownstone. Instead of the usual crowd of people (Ash, Uncle Bart, maybe Aunt Kendra if he were especially unlucky), he spotted an unfamiliar brown-haired girl standing by the murals. She was significantly shorter than him - if he had to guess, he'd say 5 feet. And that was being generous.
She intently stared at the mural, with her fingers closely tracing the lines of each teammate. Uncle Bart had outdone himself this time. The mural changed every time they added (or lost) a member; all twelve members stood proudly in costume, their poses reflecting their personalities as well as their powers. The minute everyone had discovered Ash could fly, for example, Uncle Bart had quickly repainted the mural to add a flying Nightwing in the background.
(Ash, for the record, had not been impressed.)
Darren watched her for a few seconds, before remembering his manners and standing beside her. "Hey."
She pulled her gaze away from the painting to look at him. Her smile was warm and genuine, more like some girl next door or one of his classmates than not a fellow hero like himself. "Hey yourself. You're the new Wildcat, right?"
Huh? Did Ash spill the beans? Or Syl? Maybe Traci? Darren had just met her! There was no way she was able to deduce his secret so quickly, especially since it wasn't shedding season. Worst part was, he and Dad shed at the same time, and Mom always got pissed at them for things they couldn't control. It wasn't their fault that their hair got all over her precious couch. If she cared so much about it, she shouldn't have spent so much!
He nodded, struggling to keep that smile plastered on. "Right. I'm Darren, by the way. You are...?"
"Elise." She shrugged, placing her arms behind her back. "Dad and I haven't quite figured out a codename yet. He wants me to go by Elise Phantom, but I think that's a little too obvious."
Her dad was Danny Phantom? He should've guessed that she was also a Legacy. Most Brownstone visitors were, if they weren't also members of the JSA. Ash was Batman's grandson, Syl's parents were Stargirl and Captain Marvel, and even Traci was raised by Plastic Man and his wife Sue Dibney. Darren wasn't an exception to the rule, considering his father and grandfather held the Wildcat mantle for some odd number of years. Weirdly enough, Mom's metahuman powers didn't count. Dad said that her powers didn't exist, and that they should never mention them at the dinner table.
Darren always got the sneaky feeling that it was precisely because Dad never told Mom. On one hand, Mom should technically know she's a metahuman? On the other, some things were best kept secret. Mom would've probably used her pitch-perfect voice and choreography to conquer the world or something - and frankly, being the child of a dictator really didn't appeal to him.
He snorted at Elise's words, knowing now that his smile was way more genuine. "Hey now, I'm like Wildcat IV. I think I win for uncreativity over here."
Elise giggled. "It's a pretty nice prize sometimes." She wasn't much for sarcasm, Darren suspected, but he oddly didn't mind.
"So uh... are you from around here?"
She shook her head. "I'm from Amity Park. You're probably not too familiar with Illinois, are you?"
"Can't say I am." Darren felt just a little bit guilty, even though she was probably used to the numerous responses of the sort. "I've been to Chicago a couple of times. Does that count?"
"It's close enough." Elise sighed wistfully, her gaze moving back towards the mural. "Who painted this? Green Lantern?"
Darren chuckled, shaking his head. "Nah. Uncle Kyle's cool, but this is more Uncle Bart's forte. He's the only one with enough energy to keep something like this going." Now that he thought about it, the members were a pretty creative bunch. Uncle Bart worked for Disney, whereas Uncle Kyle mostly drew for superhero and indie comics... Aunt Maxine designed costumes for Broadway... even Syl could string together a well-written novella or two.
"That's pretty cool. I'm okay with cake decorating, but I really wish I could draw."
"Decorating's a kind of art too," Darren pointed out wryly. "I can't draw worth for beans." He could play the guitar - a skill Dad taught him - and a bit of the piano, though. Musical talent had to count for something, right?
Elise's expression turned grateful. "Yeah? I hope so. It's kind of fun, sculpting all that fondant and making something amazing out of stuff we normally eat."
Maybe she should come to JSA functions more often. The food'd certainly get a lot better - no offense to Aunt Cissie! - and maybe the conversation would drift more towards their side. As much as Darren loved his uncles, he was still learning the ropes, and the adults tended to shelter the kids from the harsher aspects of hero life. Frankly, Darren hated the kid gloves. He wouldn't have signed up for the gig if he didn't think he could handle it!
"Thinking about joining the JSA?"
Darren regretted the words the second they escaped his lips - Elise had stared at him, with the color draining from her face, before she shook her head profusely.
"N-no, not exactly..." She bit her lip. "I don't think I'm ready to work with a team. Dad says I'm barely getting the hang of it at home."
He tilted his head slightly. "Then why're you here?"
Elise gestured towards the meeting hall. "Dad had to speak with the Flash. He said it'd only take a couple of minutes, but I think I've been here for close to 15 now."
Figures. "I'm on monitor duty, so I should probably head out, but... if you want to hang out with me, I think it should be okay." After all, she'd gotten through security. It wasn't as if she were someone's evil twin, or alternate universe counterpart, or even a shapeshifter that stole her identity. They'd checked for that kind of stuff.
"You sure?"
"Very sure." He motioned for her to follow him. "I mean, it's not every day you get to see the inner workings of the Justice Society of America, right?"
The very boring inner workings of the JSA. He should've clarified, but he kind of wanted the company. In hindsight, he wasn't sure what he was going to show Elise: the monitor room was a medium-sized place tucked behind the meeting hall, with large flatscreens set up on every wall. The police scanner was already on - it was never turned off - and various news stations were discussing the local election campaigns.
Darren set his backpack down on one of the empty chairs and took a seat. Elise cautiously stood beside him and observed as he turned the computer on. "You're not going to get into costume?"
He shook his head. "I don't get to leave the room when I'm on monitor duty. Technically, I should, but I'm more comfortable like this."
"Oh." She flopped down onto the nearby swivel chair. "So what do you do?"
He thumbed towards the news stations. "I dispatch people to places. If there's a fire in Connecticut, we go there - or if there's some huge bank robbery, people get to go there too. Since we usually need to beat the news, I listen to the police scanners. This one's a more private feed. I don't think they even know we're on it."
One of the scanner frequencies was always open to the public - and that one was also in the room - but Uncle Bart and Dad preferred the more private ones. "It makes life easier," Dad had said once, when Darren asked about it. "Just trust us on that."
While he didn't exactly get how it made life easy, he figured he'd learn how sooner or later. Elise nodded in understanding, resting her hands under her chin as she leaned on the table. "So you're kinda like a police dispatcher, but for heroes."
"That's one way to put it, yeah." Darren flashed her a grin. "Best part? I don't have to do much most of the time."
The JSA primarily operated out of the Northeast. If they were in other parts of the country for various reasons (visiting family, vacationing, traveling on civilian business), then they helped out where they could. Otherwise, the JLA primarily handled it. Uncle Bart said that at one point, they did tackle most of the country, but Uncle Kyle had firmly put his foot down when he took over the reins.
Thank god.
Darren couldn't imagine what life would've been like if Dad had left to distant parts of the country every night - watching him head to different parts of the Northeast had been bad enough! Even with the zeta tubes!
"That IS kind of nice." Elise glanced over at his schoolwork. "Hey, you're a junior? That's cool."
"What year are you?"
"Freshman."
He should've guessed - she did look pretty young! - but in this line of work, physical ages rarely meant anything. Heroes died and came back to life so often that Darren had long since given up on figuring out how old anyone was.
"Liking your first year of---"
The police scanner immediately buzzed. "Suspect on 49th and Broadway! I repeat, suspect on 49th and Broadway!"
Darren flashed her an apologetic smile. "Hang on." Pressing the intercom button, he then called, "Anyone able to go to 49th and Broadway? It looks like we've got a suspect, guilty of... stealing... boxes?" He paused, listening more intently to the police scanner.
"We have a box thief stealing school lunches?"
Even for them, this guy (girl? it was hard to tell) was kind of bizarre - but Elise immediately sprung to her feet. "I think it's the Box Lunch Ghost!"
"The whata-what?"
"The Box Lunch Ghost! She's this girl that followed us from Amity Park, and I'm betting that she's terrorizing the people there because she can." Without warning, she snapped her fingers, and light radiated from her. Darren shielded his eyes - god, what was that light show? - before nervously removing his hands and staring at the now white-haired girl before him.
Elise (Phantom?) floated mere inches off the ground, but she was now dressed in full costume - and she looked pissed. "You said you can dispatch people, right? Dispatch me! I can take her on."
"I thought you said--"
"She's hurting innocent people!" Elise's nostrils flared as she jutted a finger into Darren's chest. "I don't know when Dad'll be done, and even if I kind of suck at this heroing thing, I need to do something and you can't clearly leave this room, so it's gotta be me."
When she put it that way... Darren's shoulders sagged, and he bleakly took his hand off the intercom. "Fine. Elise Phantom, go take out the... Box... thing-person..."
"Box Lunch Ghost!"
"Yes! That!"
She gave him her best salute, before floating straight through (wait, through?) the door. Darren bleakly rubbed his eyes. For someone so cute, she really didn't look dead! Or intangible! Was this a Phantom thing? Or just an Amity Park thing? Did he even want to know the answer to that?
He coughed, turning his gaze towards the news channels.
"Oh! Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like there's a new hero on the scene! I think her name is---" A muffled whisper. "Phantom! Elise Phantom!"
She wasn't half-bad at fighting either! Darren silently cheered for her, his schoolwork entirely forgotten. Just when the battle was getting good, someone knocked loudly against the door.
Darren almost fell out of his chair. "Who is it?"
"WHO TOLD YOU TO LET MY DAUGHTER OUT ON THE FIELD?"
Shit.
Darren could hear Uncle Bart struggling to hold him back, "Danny! Relax! Darren wouldn't have put her on the field if he didn't think--"
"That's my daughter, you genius! What's Olette going to tell me if she dies on the field?!"
"... Isn't your daughter already dead?"
There was a phenomenally loud thump against the door. Darren briefly thought about opening it before deciding against it - if Danny Phantom was just as dead as his daughter(?), no solid object would prevent him from inflicting his ghostly wrath upon the world.
"Does this mean I'm no longer on monitor duty?" He yelled back at them. "Because I've got a paper due tomorrow, and I'd really like to---"
"Yes!" Uncle Bart called exasperatedly. "Take the night off!"
A ghostly hand flew through the door.
Before Darren even knew what he was doing, he'd already escaped - with his schoolbooks! - out the window. Note to self: tell Mom about tonight. If she still thought monitor duty was boring after the death threat from a dead guy, then she really needed to stop living in a Broadway musical. Not everything could end neatly with a perfectly choreographed dance number.
Though if it did, Darren thought as he neatly dodged some ghostly bolts Danny had thrown at him, he really wouldn't have minded! Maybe then he would've gained some coordination - and a fantastic Stag Leap - along the way.
Fandom: DC Comics + High School Musical + Danny Phantom + Kingdom Hearts crossover
Universe: Compost (post-SCA)
Relationship: Darren "Wildcat" Bronson + Elise "Phantom" Fenton
Summary: Darren normally loves monitor duty - when else can he do his homework and save the world at the same time? - but the one time he has to dispatch someone who's not actually on the team? It's almost enough to make him wish he hated it.
Notes: A present for my friend Lisa! ♥ I don't remember my initial thought process for this beyond "it would be fun to team Darren up with someone, and who better than Danny and Olette's baby girl?" Since Darren has a girlfriend at this point in the 'verse, they're not really doing more than friend-things, but they might get to ship level some day.
Every so often, Darren was assigned to monitor duty. It wasn't the worst job in the world: he just listened to news feeds across the Northeast and dispatched JSA members to various crime scenes. Plus, he could use all that time to do his homework! What else was he supposed to do? News feeds and police scanners got pretty boring after a while, and the world didn't end every night. Although the crime rate sucked, most of it could be handled by the local police department; they didn't need to stick around for basic muggings and bank robberies.
He'd made the mistake of telling Mom just how much he liked monitor duty once. She'd stared at him with a blank face for a few minutes, struggling to keep that neutrality there, before she said, "The whole thing sounds really boring."
Her neutral face had given way to that vaguely displeased expression that crossed her face every time he mentioned Aunt Gabriella - was she mentally wondering if he were also a nerd? Because quite frankly, Aunt Gabs was pretty cool! Darren never had understood the intense rivalry between them, considering that Aunt Gabs and Dad spent way too much time exchanging corny math jokes.
Before Mom could judge his life choices (again), Darren shrugged at her. "I get to finish homework. On time."
He couldn't focus on his normal day-to-day activities during any other aspect of hero life. When he was on infirmary duty and field duty, he had to focus all of his time and energy on his current tasks; if he slipped up there, people could potentially die. His homework just couldn't take priority over those, whereas during monitor duty? As long as he kept an ear open, he could finish his English papers without worrying about the next Apocalypse.
Dad would've been proud of him - though he suspected that if Grandpa were still alive, Grandpa would've definitely dissented with him. "Homework schmorework! Saving the world is more important!" Yeah, saving the world is important, but what if you don't have your homework done after you save it? His teachers wouldn't have cared that he stayed up all night preventing a demon from rising from the Underworld if he hadn't also prepared a free-response question.
God, why did he have to start superheroing in high school? Had he been a sadist? Darren seriously hoped not. Monitor Duty was the most boring part of the gig: he was guaranteed a night in front of the computers where he could do nothing but homework. That was some solace, at least.
After dinner that night, he headed down to the Brownstone. Instead of the usual crowd of people (Ash, Uncle Bart, maybe Aunt Kendra if he were especially unlucky), he spotted an unfamiliar brown-haired girl standing by the murals. She was significantly shorter than him - if he had to guess, he'd say 5 feet. And that was being generous.
She intently stared at the mural, with her fingers closely tracing the lines of each teammate. Uncle Bart had outdone himself this time. The mural changed every time they added (or lost) a member; all twelve members stood proudly in costume, their poses reflecting their personalities as well as their powers. The minute everyone had discovered Ash could fly, for example, Uncle Bart had quickly repainted the mural to add a flying Nightwing in the background.
(Ash, for the record, had not been impressed.)
Darren watched her for a few seconds, before remembering his manners and standing beside her. "Hey."
She pulled her gaze away from the painting to look at him. Her smile was warm and genuine, more like some girl next door or one of his classmates than not a fellow hero like himself. "Hey yourself. You're the new Wildcat, right?"
Huh? Did Ash spill the beans? Or Syl? Maybe Traci? Darren had just met her! There was no way she was able to deduce his secret so quickly, especially since it wasn't shedding season. Worst part was, he and Dad shed at the same time, and Mom always got pissed at them for things they couldn't control. It wasn't their fault that their hair got all over her precious couch. If she cared so much about it, she shouldn't have spent so much!
He nodded, struggling to keep that smile plastered on. "Right. I'm Darren, by the way. You are...?"
"Elise." She shrugged, placing her arms behind her back. "Dad and I haven't quite figured out a codename yet. He wants me to go by Elise Phantom, but I think that's a little too obvious."
Her dad was Danny Phantom? He should've guessed that she was also a Legacy. Most Brownstone visitors were, if they weren't also members of the JSA. Ash was Batman's grandson, Syl's parents were Stargirl and Captain Marvel, and even Traci was raised by Plastic Man and his wife Sue Dibney. Darren wasn't an exception to the rule, considering his father and grandfather held the Wildcat mantle for some odd number of years. Weirdly enough, Mom's metahuman powers didn't count. Dad said that her powers didn't exist, and that they should never mention them at the dinner table.
Darren always got the sneaky feeling that it was precisely because Dad never told Mom. On one hand, Mom should technically know she's a metahuman? On the other, some things were best kept secret. Mom would've probably used her pitch-perfect voice and choreography to conquer the world or something - and frankly, being the child of a dictator really didn't appeal to him.
He snorted at Elise's words, knowing now that his smile was way more genuine. "Hey now, I'm like Wildcat IV. I think I win for uncreativity over here."
Elise giggled. "It's a pretty nice prize sometimes." She wasn't much for sarcasm, Darren suspected, but he oddly didn't mind.
"So uh... are you from around here?"
She shook her head. "I'm from Amity Park. You're probably not too familiar with Illinois, are you?"
"Can't say I am." Darren felt just a little bit guilty, even though she was probably used to the numerous responses of the sort. "I've been to Chicago a couple of times. Does that count?"
"It's close enough." Elise sighed wistfully, her gaze moving back towards the mural. "Who painted this? Green Lantern?"
Darren chuckled, shaking his head. "Nah. Uncle Kyle's cool, but this is more Uncle Bart's forte. He's the only one with enough energy to keep something like this going." Now that he thought about it, the members were a pretty creative bunch. Uncle Bart worked for Disney, whereas Uncle Kyle mostly drew for superhero and indie comics... Aunt Maxine designed costumes for Broadway... even Syl could string together a well-written novella or two.
"That's pretty cool. I'm okay with cake decorating, but I really wish I could draw."
"Decorating's a kind of art too," Darren pointed out wryly. "I can't draw worth for beans." He could play the guitar - a skill Dad taught him - and a bit of the piano, though. Musical talent had to count for something, right?
Elise's expression turned grateful. "Yeah? I hope so. It's kind of fun, sculpting all that fondant and making something amazing out of stuff we normally eat."
Maybe she should come to JSA functions more often. The food'd certainly get a lot better - no offense to Aunt Cissie! - and maybe the conversation would drift more towards their side. As much as Darren loved his uncles, he was still learning the ropes, and the adults tended to shelter the kids from the harsher aspects of hero life. Frankly, Darren hated the kid gloves. He wouldn't have signed up for the gig if he didn't think he could handle it!
"Thinking about joining the JSA?"
Darren regretted the words the second they escaped his lips - Elise had stared at him, with the color draining from her face, before she shook her head profusely.
"N-no, not exactly..." She bit her lip. "I don't think I'm ready to work with a team. Dad says I'm barely getting the hang of it at home."
He tilted his head slightly. "Then why're you here?"
Elise gestured towards the meeting hall. "Dad had to speak with the Flash. He said it'd only take a couple of minutes, but I think I've been here for close to 15 now."
Figures. "I'm on monitor duty, so I should probably head out, but... if you want to hang out with me, I think it should be okay." After all, she'd gotten through security. It wasn't as if she were someone's evil twin, or alternate universe counterpart, or even a shapeshifter that stole her identity. They'd checked for that kind of stuff.
"You sure?"
"Very sure." He motioned for her to follow him. "I mean, it's not every day you get to see the inner workings of the Justice Society of America, right?"
The very boring inner workings of the JSA. He should've clarified, but he kind of wanted the company. In hindsight, he wasn't sure what he was going to show Elise: the monitor room was a medium-sized place tucked behind the meeting hall, with large flatscreens set up on every wall. The police scanner was already on - it was never turned off - and various news stations were discussing the local election campaigns.
Darren set his backpack down on one of the empty chairs and took a seat. Elise cautiously stood beside him and observed as he turned the computer on. "You're not going to get into costume?"
He shook his head. "I don't get to leave the room when I'm on monitor duty. Technically, I should, but I'm more comfortable like this."
"Oh." She flopped down onto the nearby swivel chair. "So what do you do?"
He thumbed towards the news stations. "I dispatch people to places. If there's a fire in Connecticut, we go there - or if there's some huge bank robbery, people get to go there too. Since we usually need to beat the news, I listen to the police scanners. This one's a more private feed. I don't think they even know we're on it."
One of the scanner frequencies was always open to the public - and that one was also in the room - but Uncle Bart and Dad preferred the more private ones. "It makes life easier," Dad had said once, when Darren asked about it. "Just trust us on that."
While he didn't exactly get how it made life easy, he figured he'd learn how sooner or later. Elise nodded in understanding, resting her hands under her chin as she leaned on the table. "So you're kinda like a police dispatcher, but for heroes."
"That's one way to put it, yeah." Darren flashed her a grin. "Best part? I don't have to do much most of the time."
The JSA primarily operated out of the Northeast. If they were in other parts of the country for various reasons (visiting family, vacationing, traveling on civilian business), then they helped out where they could. Otherwise, the JLA primarily handled it. Uncle Bart said that at one point, they did tackle most of the country, but Uncle Kyle had firmly put his foot down when he took over the reins.
Thank god.
Darren couldn't imagine what life would've been like if Dad had left to distant parts of the country every night - watching him head to different parts of the Northeast had been bad enough! Even with the zeta tubes!
"That IS kind of nice." Elise glanced over at his schoolwork. "Hey, you're a junior? That's cool."
"What year are you?"
"Freshman."
He should've guessed - she did look pretty young! - but in this line of work, physical ages rarely meant anything. Heroes died and came back to life so often that Darren had long since given up on figuring out how old anyone was.
"Liking your first year of---"
The police scanner immediately buzzed. "Suspect on 49th and Broadway! I repeat, suspect on 49th and Broadway!"
Darren flashed her an apologetic smile. "Hang on." Pressing the intercom button, he then called, "Anyone able to go to 49th and Broadway? It looks like we've got a suspect, guilty of... stealing... boxes?" He paused, listening more intently to the police scanner.
"We have a box thief stealing school lunches?"
Even for them, this guy (girl? it was hard to tell) was kind of bizarre - but Elise immediately sprung to her feet. "I think it's the Box Lunch Ghost!"
"The whata-what?"
"The Box Lunch Ghost! She's this girl that followed us from Amity Park, and I'm betting that she's terrorizing the people there because she can." Without warning, she snapped her fingers, and light radiated from her. Darren shielded his eyes - god, what was that light show? - before nervously removing his hands and staring at the now white-haired girl before him.
Elise (Phantom?) floated mere inches off the ground, but she was now dressed in full costume - and she looked pissed. "You said you can dispatch people, right? Dispatch me! I can take her on."
"I thought you said--"
"She's hurting innocent people!" Elise's nostrils flared as she jutted a finger into Darren's chest. "I don't know when Dad'll be done, and even if I kind of suck at this heroing thing, I need to do something and you can't clearly leave this room, so it's gotta be me."
When she put it that way... Darren's shoulders sagged, and he bleakly took his hand off the intercom. "Fine. Elise Phantom, go take out the... Box... thing-person..."
"Box Lunch Ghost!"
"Yes! That!"
She gave him her best salute, before floating straight through (wait, through?) the door. Darren bleakly rubbed his eyes. For someone so cute, she really didn't look dead! Or intangible! Was this a Phantom thing? Or just an Amity Park thing? Did he even want to know the answer to that?
He coughed, turning his gaze towards the news channels.
"Oh! Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like there's a new hero on the scene! I think her name is---" A muffled whisper. "Phantom! Elise Phantom!"
She wasn't half-bad at fighting either! Darren silently cheered for her, his schoolwork entirely forgotten. Just when the battle was getting good, someone knocked loudly against the door.
Darren almost fell out of his chair. "Who is it?"
"WHO TOLD YOU TO LET MY DAUGHTER OUT ON THE FIELD?"
Shit.
Darren could hear Uncle Bart struggling to hold him back, "Danny! Relax! Darren wouldn't have put her on the field if he didn't think--"
"That's my daughter, you genius! What's Olette going to tell me if she dies on the field?!"
"... Isn't your daughter already dead?"
There was a phenomenally loud thump against the door. Darren briefly thought about opening it before deciding against it - if Danny Phantom was just as dead as his daughter(?), no solid object would prevent him from inflicting his ghostly wrath upon the world.
"Does this mean I'm no longer on monitor duty?" He yelled back at them. "Because I've got a paper due tomorrow, and I'd really like to---"
"Yes!" Uncle Bart called exasperatedly. "Take the night off!"
A ghostly hand flew through the door.
Before Darren even knew what he was doing, he'd already escaped - with his schoolbooks! - out the window. Note to self: tell Mom about tonight. If she still thought monitor duty was boring after the death threat from a dead guy, then she really needed to stop living in a Broadway musical. Not everything could end neatly with a perfectly choreographed dance number.
Though if it did, Darren thought as he neatly dodged some ghostly bolts Danny had thrown at him, he really wouldn't have minded! Maybe then he would've gained some coordination - and a fantastic Stag Leap - along the way.