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– Are you seriously going to be photographed in this, dude? Tucker looked at his best friend, who hadn't changed his suit, a protective white suit with black elements that completely copies his parents' suits, but smaller. Tucker has known Danny since the first grade, since he was seven years old, and Danny has always been in this suit, often only his size has changed. Sometimes, even often, his father's face is glued to his chest, and on his back is a large signature "Fenton suit". They were graduating from high school, they would turn fourteen very soon, and Danny still had to wear it, although even Sam was able to win back the right to black clothes.
– Mom says that while they are building the portal, I have to wear this. For safety's sake," Danny sighed, straightening his hair and looking at the white background and the photographer taking pictures of their entire class against this background. He's wearing the same thing in all the pictures, and basically the problem is that he doesn't have any clothes except for this suit and the clothes underneath it. You can't take off in a winter jacket, can you?
–Jazz has been wearing normal clothes for several years now," Sam turns up next to him, straightening his freshly dyed hair. It's still weird to see her not blonde. – Go, you're the last one left.
Danny sighed as he walked and sat down on a chair, trying to ignore Dash and Kwan laughing behind the photographer. He tried to smile, although inside everything was twisted with resentment, primarily at his parents, but also at his classmates no less.
– That's it, buddy, look, – after making a couple of clicks, the photographer called Danny to him. In the pictures, he hardly looked different from the previous photos, but Danny couldn't wait for his growth spurt to happen, which Jazz had recently had. Then he will definitely look better, without this stupid costume, but in real clothes, like Jazz...
They received the albums a month later, during the official graduation ceremony of the middle management. Danny opened it and flipped through the pages, admiring his classmates. Someone was in a sports suit and filmed with balls – Dash – someone brought a crown and chose a festive dress - Polina – and someone was able to create a gothic, vampire atmosphere – Sam. He's got it... In addition to the small photo that everyone took, his large photo in the album was, as always, in a laboratory style, this time with a Fenton pole. Danny thought that he had long ago come to terms with his stupid appearance in each album, but when he saw the result, his eyes stung with resentment. This year he had an idea how to make the image in a protective suit cool. The chemistry teacher even allowed him to take a white coat for a photo shoot, and Sam found steampunk glasses with huge optics. However, when his parents heard that he wanted to take a Fenton bazooka and for what exactly... He was given a pole, and his mother scolded him for his stupid behavior and misunderstanding what his costume was for and how wrong his idea of a "mad scientist" was.
– Danny? What is it, did the photos really move you so much? Jazz entered, putting her backpack at the door to the house and walking to her brother, frowning, feeling what emotions her brother was experiencing at that moment. She's always been an empath. "What is it, Danny?" Is it that bad?
– Everything is just terrible! He turned the album around, showing it to his sister, and let all the discontent and anger come out. "Why do I have to look like such a fool all the time?" They didn't let me make an image of a mad scientist, they didn't even give me a bazooka! Why can't I walk around in ordinary clothes like you?
Jazz didn't have the answers to these questions, but seeing how upsetting it was for Danny, she couldn't leave it like that.
– Wait here, – leaving Danny for a couple of minutes, Jazz ran into the room and took out the money she had saved in case of emergency. After counting them and nodding to herself, she went down, took Danny's hand and pulled him along.
– Jazz? Where are we going?
– To the store, of course! My brother deserves normal clothes, and they won't have our last name on them, Danny!
***
– Wow, dude, is this a new suit?
— Yeah. Dad didn't understand why I needed other clothes, and Jazz made up that my old suit was already too small. They made a new one, but they let me wear what Jazz bought, so as not to throw away good clothes, – Danny smiled, buttoning the suit and smoothing it over his chest.
–Uh, and ugly as always, – Sam came closer, ripping the sticker with Jack's face off his chest. – If it's in the photo, then I will personally burn the film.
–Whatever you say, – Danny grinned, not arguing with Sam and looking into the portal. – Are you sure about this? – If Mom and Dad see the photo, they will be very angry.
– I'll put it in my album, even my ancestors don't have access to it, – Sam waved at him, pushing him into the portal, and Danny gave up. After all, Sam is right, and what's wrong with one photo?
***
Danny adjusted his glasses, steampunk ones with blue and green lenses and a pseudo-leather strap. They fit easily on top of his head and his hair, which was placed in a nest because of them, seemed to him to perfectly complement the look of a mad scientist. The white coat, borrowed from the chemistry room this time, still fits him perfectly in size. This time he even managed to persuade his father to give him a bazooka, and a copy of his posthumous laboratory suit suited his idea even more than the old one, two years ago.
– Are you coming? – Tucker, wearing a Tutankhamun costume, politely borrowed from one of the ghost lairs, looked into a friend's room. He was taller, a whole year of fighting with signs pushed his body to develop, and Sam was actively consolidating the result with training. Now Tucker towered half a head over Danny, which did not stop teasing his friend.
– Yes, yes, now, – Danny pulled down the collar of his robe once more, and then ran out of the room. Sam and Valerie were already waiting for them downstairs.
– You look even younger in this than usual, – Valerie in a pirate costume grinned as soon as Danny came down. He remained the lowest in the company, having not gained an inch since the beginning of their high school.
–Ha-ha, how funny,– he snorted, narrowing his eyes in displeasure and making a face at Valerie. – Have you seen my father? One growth spurt and I will be taller than all of you.
–Yeah, dream on, – Sam grinned, putting her elbow on his shoulder and running her palm teasingly over the top of his head. – You can catch up with Tucker at most, but by that time he will become even higher if he does not give up training.
– Hey! I can hear everything, and anyway, I was injured last time! You can't blame me!
– You were locked in Sydney's drawer for only five minutes before we got you. This is not considered a valid injury.
– Oh, right? It was a serious blow to my mental health!
Danny, watching them, didn't know where to put the word, so he looked at Valerie for help. Seeing this and sighing, she pulled Sam by her cloak, part of the costume of the queen of plants.
– Come on, let's take your photo and go before the party starts. Polina so overcame herself to invite us.
Sam, after throwing some more taunt at Tucker, did not let him take the last word for himself, driving the Fentons into the living room for a shared photo. She set up the camera on the shelf of the bookcase and hurried towards them, managing to get into an imperious pose a moment before the flash. A few days later, Danny received his copy of the photo, where he considered himself quite successful. He was very slightly blurred, in bright light his eyes almost did not seem green, which is already rare for cameras, and the bazooka on his shoulder looked bombastic.
Danny added this photo to his album, thinking only about how happy the thirteen-year-old would be if this was the picture for the graduation album from high school.
***
– So, class, this will be the first mock exam in the subject of "Ghost Fighting", so if one of you fails, don't worry about it, – Mr. Lancer stood with teacher Tetslaf, glancing expressively towards Mikey and his nerd friends, who were shaking the most from–for not being able to handle this subject. They barely managed to pass physical education either. – You will have to go through an obstacle course, hit at least five ghost targets and then spar with a Fenton pole to get a certificate to wear them in public places. I'm sure you'll all do just fine.
The ghosts have not stopped attacking, and recently Mayor Masters announced that teenagers should be able to defend themselves while carrying guns officially, and not stealing Fenton inventions from battlefields where scientists have forgotten their guns and bats countless times. So, the third year of high school became the first testers of this idea, having been preparing for the exam for three months now.
– I would be much more happy about this if it weren't for these ugly costumes, – Pauline irritably pulled on her tight orange suit, too similar to the one worn by Jack Fenton, the least favorite adult among teenagers. Even Mrs. Fenton's costume seemed more attractive to the girls. – Why is Fenton the only one with a normal suit?
– Because he's a Fenton? – Sam arched an eyebrow sarcastically, then turned away, twirling the pole in one hand and grinning at Danny. – Pauline likes your costume, Danny. Are you happy?
Danny blushed, pulling back his black collar and shushing at his girlfriend.
– You know I don't like her anymore, stop teasing.
– Don't you like it? – Tucker immediately appeared from the other side, playing with his eyebrows even more expressively than he had been able to before. – Because she's too old for you? – in a whisper. – So you're going to get tired of us soon, too?" You're cruel, you know that?
– I'll never get tired of you, and you know it.
The stubborn, protective look sent in response to the joke made Tucker step back and raise his hands reassuringly. They tried not to bring up some topics, and yet such jokes always turned out to be too close to the line.
– Sorry, bro. I know. We're with you to the end, man.
Danny froze, seeming to realize that he had overreacted, and sighed, lowering his shoulders.
– It's okay, that's it. Come on, let's kick Dash's ass on this exam.
The obstacle course seemed like nothing compared to the real battles they had to fight to save the world every now and then. Even the teachers were no longer surprised by their skills, just setting the time and announcing it, letting these three compete with each other. Danny, remaining the smallest in the class, was rightfully proud of his results, trying not to use his powers, which became more difficult with each goth, because they literally became an extension of him, an integral part of his living and dead existence.
– Very good, class. Pair up and take turns going out onto the court, – Mr. Lenser wrote down Mikey's result and turned to the others. Most of them already knew who they would be sparring with, and began to move to each other. Danny was about to go out with Tucker, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him halfway to his friend.
–Hey, Fucker,– Dash yanked him around, turning him around. – You're with me.
– Are you attacking the little ones, Dash? I thought you were taller than that, – Danny didn't hesitate to point out their height, teasing. Recently, the Baxter code has become almost chivalrous, bullying other children has become taboo, but only if your first name is not Danny and your last name is not Fenton. But it was okay. Danny is so used to it that it would be more strange if Dash suddenly left him alone.
– Tc. We both know perfectly well that you are not a weakling, Fendurok.
– Do you admit it? – I'm very pleased, Dash, honestly, I never thought I'd hear such nice words from you. But then don't be surprised that I'll put you on your back.
–Over my dead body, Fenton.
– Well, you can't do without a ghost in a pole fight, right?
Dash frowned, turning away and walking towards the field, and Danny mentally patted himself on the back for a great joke.
They went out, simultaneously pressing on the poles, and they stretched out, one larger than the other, designed for the height of the opponents. Honestly, after Vlad, Stalker, and–rarely–run-ins with his father, Dash seemed like a very weak opponent. Nevertheless, the need to restrain his forces, the ban on flying and only certain weapons – all this made the fight for Danny, if not exciting, then at least interesting. Fast, though, because he didn't even let Dash show off, making a cut and pinning him to the training mats.
– Fenton, it's counted. Baxter, pair up with Foley and try not to fall in the first minute.
Danny laughed, covering himself with his fist and swapping places with Tucker, who was already walking onto the field. Dash deserved it, since he volunteered.
Tucker beat Dash in a minute and a half, but this time Lancer counted the fight for both, making sure that Baxter could fight, but not choose an opponent. The next fight was Sam and Valerie, and it dragged on until Lenser called a draw, deciding that they didn't have that much time.
It was the last stage of the exam, and they went to the locker rooms, but were stopped by Miss Tetslaf.
– After the change, do not disperse and do not change clothes! We're going to take a photo together.
– What? – Danny looked helplessly at the ceiling, while his friends were laughing on the sides, Sam nudged him.
– What is it, is there really going to be a laboratory boy in our school photo again?
– Ha-ha, Sam, that's funny. Now there will be more than twenty laboratory teenagers in our photo, so at least I'm not the only loser today.
– Yeah, but you're the only one in white, buddy, – Tucker adjusted his glasses, already calming down and teasing Danny. – You're still the biggest loser.
–Idiots,– Valerie sighed, looking at the three of them and trying to remember why she was talking to them at all. Oh, yeah. She liked Danny in the past, and Tucker and Sam are helping the Phantom.
Lenser called everyone in the photo area, and no matter how much Danny tried to hide behind the others, he was a bright spot in the black-and-red mess. That's why Tetslaf made him stand in the middle, right in front of Dash. Already knowing what a bad idea this was, Danny trudged to the middle, screaming in shock as he was picked up and thrown over the shoulder of a football player, sitting down the same way as cheerleaders after a successful game.
– Dash!
– You better not try my patience, Fenton, and be glad I didn't throw you out, – Dash sent him a strange look that Danny couldn't decipher.
– Eyes on the camera, cool! On camera! not wanting to figure it out and waving his hand to attract the attention of the other children, Lenser froze, taking several pictures one by one and then releasing the teenagers.
Later, Tucker was able to steal photos from Lenser's work computer, and together with Sam he laughed, as from frame to frame Danny's embarrassment and misunderstanding change to laughter from incomprehensible even to himself fun.
***
– What? Is this really necessary now? – Danny mumbled wearily, looking at Clockwork, who appeared in their apartment during breakfast. Sam and Tucker didn't even look up from their plates, just watching what was happening, and Danny turned into a ghost, nevertheless continuing to complain that the Observers couldn't leave him even now. He had already sorted out the most important papers, would he be forced to sort out the minor ones? Bullying!
– I'm afraid we can't stay too long, Your Majesty. However... Clockwork waved in the direction of Sam and Taket, forcing them to finally look up from their meal, squinting suspiciously. It seems that Clockwork promised that their student years would be much calmer than their school years, and therefore his sudden attention to their personalities was frankly undesirable.
– However? Danny also crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. Unlike his friends, he couldn't go to college, but moved in with them, provided with Vlad's money. He had been a child for too long, and it was impossible to continue to remain under the supervision of his parents. Those are not so stupid, they would have noticed that something was wrong.
– I suppose you'll have time to take a picture.– As far as I know, those words alone were stupid, they knew perfectly well that Clockwork knew everything. – You haven't had any joint photos with the Phantom in recent years. They would fit perfectly into Samantha's album, wouldn't they?
Danny frowned, not understanding, and the desire to start an argument boiled in his veins. Why can't a Clockwork just say what it needs? Why these mysterious speeches and stupid sentences?
Sam and Tucker exchanged glances, their youthful maximalism and fervor having long since left them, especially in matters concerning ghosts and Clockwork in particular. If this ghost was telling me to do something, then it was necessary. For a better timeline, of course, but sometimes for them personally.
– Actually, he's right, Danny. Wait a minute, I'll get the camera.
– Yes, I'll wear something better for now. It's going to look stupid in a T-shirt, right? – Tucker laughed, rubbing the back of his head and standing up. Under Danny's uncomprehending gaze, his friends quickly prepared everything necessary for a good photo. Sam did her makeup in record time, Tucker just washed up and put on a shirt and a plaid vest. Only Danny didn't have to change anything, hovering in the form of a Phantom and waiting for his friends.
– I'll give you some time and come back for you, Your Majesty, – Clockwork smiled patronizingly, giving them all pendants and pausing the time by pressing a button on the staff. After that, the ghost disappeared, leaving the three friends in seclusion.
– Tc, he's weird as always, – Danny sighed, sinking lower and hovering in the place opposite which Sam was setting up the camera. – Why would he do that at all? We have a lot of photos together.
– But none with a Phantom, – Tucker stood next to him, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulders and smiling at Sam. She snorted, but snapped them at that moment, at the same time checking how the light turned out.
– That's right, Danny. How can we then prove that we were the best friends of the world's lifeguard?
– Pf, as if people would know if I saved the world.
– Well, you've saved him many times already. If a Pariah or a Weed had gone outside Friendship Park, can you imagine what would have happened? And the Vortex? He managed to rage in a bunch of countries until you defeated him, – Sam thought, worried that Clockwork had given them such a task. Her gut told her that it was all for a reason. – Even if the others don't know that you saved them, we know that, Danny. Will you leave us a photographer? I'll brag about it to my grandchildren.
– And immerse yourself in memories so that these grandchildren can escape to the circus?
– Everything is according to the precepts of the best grandmother in the world.
They laughed, imagining what Sam would have been like in old age, and of course the teenagers were overtaken by calmness and interest. In ghostly form, Danny could change his body, stretch out, separate his torso from his legs, his arms from his shoulders, his head from his neck. He could become immaterial or partially invisible, and this opened up space for photographs. It didn't seem to make Clockwork time stop, they would have wasted hours just fooling around on camera and filming all sorts of nonsense. Ice was used, a variety of figures were created for a more interesting result, three crowns, a scepter, a frosted dress or a whole throne. Danny created a bouquet of frosty roses, and took at least twenty pictures of Tucker and Sam alternately proposing to each other, and then the camera changed hands until they all received an offer from each other. The most interesting thing for Danny seemed to be to create horns for all of them, imitating a variety of animals and demons from the Internet. They stopped when the camera ran out of space, and there was a film in the polaroid, and Danny jokingly signed some pictures like a real star or a superhero. Finally, they fell on the bed, and Danny let the transformation fall asleep, laughing as Sam showed them particularly funny pictures.
Clockwork did not interrupt them, giving them plenty to laugh, and only when all the teenagers calmed down, he reappeared in the apartment.
– We have to go, – he turned back the clock while the three removed his pendants, giving them to the old spirit. Danny sighed, nodding and reincarnating, waving to his friends one last time.
– I'll try to be back for dinner, guys! Just don't cook popcorn without me, okay? I'll definitely be there for movie night!
— Yeah. Go already, – Sam smiled, throwing a pillow at Danny, which he sent caught and laughingly sent into her, after hiding in an open portal. Clockwork lingered for a while, looking at the two no longer quite teenagers, but not yet adults. The uneasy feeling that had temporarily receded into the background rose again in Sam, and she anxiously clutched the pillow, looking at their friend's mentor, afraid to ask him a question that bothered her.
– He is... – Her voice failed, a lump rose in her throat, but Sam stoically swallowed it, continuing. – He's not coming back, is he? Are you taking him away?
Clockwork did not answer. His appearance changed from an old man to a baby, from a baby to a young man. However, the silence was enough, and Sam couldn't stand it anymore, jumped up, collecting the polaroid photos and quickly throwing the best ones into a folder. Leaving only two, she turned to Tucker, frozen with understanding, and, blinking back tears, asked for pens. Together they left the goodbye and threw these photos to everyone else, after which Sam handed the folder to Clockwork.
– I was looking out for him. And... and when he realizes that too... That it was the end, give them to him. You are welcome.
– You were great friends to His Majesty, – Clockwork accepted the folder and turned around, disappearing into the portal. It closed instantly, and there was silence in the apartment for a few more minutes before it was filled with quiet, desperate tears of farewell to an old friend they would never see again.
***
Later that day, the Fentons broke into the rented apartment of their son and his friends, the weapon was loaded and put on public display.
– Where's Danny? – Maddy screamed. – Where is this evil ghost that captured our son?
At this time, in the laboratories of the Fentons and Masters, the two remaining halfs in this world put self-destruct mode on the portals and went to the ghost zone on the orders of the king. When the ghostbusters discovered a photo of their son in the Jazz album through the years and finally realized the complete absence of changes, it was not safe to stay there.
There was not a single good timeline in which they would stay in this dimension.