#except with lawn sprinklers and ending up soaked from pushing through to get to class on time.

[asjjohnson]

Danny transformed with a stumble in the alley near the school, not even looking for possible bystanders, and ran as fast as he could. He was just so tired. He’d been up until dawn chasing both Technus and Desiree, along with all the appliances and wish-monsters that had been roaming the city.

He was so, so tired. His eyes ached, and his head felt staticy. He’d woken up late, and really needed to get to class on time, because one more tardy would mean a letter being sent to his parents.

He reached down to pat his pants, making sure he’d remembered to change out of his pajamas. He barely remembered to grab his backpack on the way out of his window. But he kept thinking there was something he was supposed to remember.

Something about today specifically…?

Or maybe he’d just forgotten his pencil. He could just ask Sam for one later.

He blinked, and the feel of closed eyelids felt so wonderful, he had to focus on making his eyes reopen before he could fall asleep on his feet. He saw double for a split-second, before the scenery in front of him lazily drifted back into focus. A large yawn followed, his eyes watering and mouth opening so wide that he was left with narrow, blurry slits of vision.

He slammed face-first into something as hard as a wall.

After a second or two, he started to tip backward. Not understanding what was going on, he just stared at the sky as he landed on his back.

That was when he noticed the laughter.

He could feel his face heating up as he pushed himself to his feet. Dash and a few of the other jocks were pointing his direction as they laughed and continued walking toward the front doors. And, of course, there was also Paulina among the crowd.

The other students walked around him—and right through the glowing green dome that now surrounded the school.

Ah. That was it. This was the day the school was supposed to switch on that new ghost shield his teachers had been talking about for the past week.

The laugher faded as the last of the students entered the school. Then the first bell rang.

He had to get to class!

He desperately pressed his palms against the shield.

He pushed hard against it, a strained whine escaping his clenched teeth. His tennis shoes started to slide, scrapping against the sidewalk beneath him.

He stopped, breathing heavily as he leaned his forehead against the shield, trying to figure out how to get to class.

He glanced at his bare hands, seeing that he was definitely Fenton at the moment, so that wasn't it.

Backing up a few feet, he craned his neck to see that the shield disappeared over the top of the school. He walked a few feet to the left, into the grass, before walking back to the right and doing the same on the other side of the sidewalk.

The front doors of the school opened, and Lancer walked out, and marched toward Danny.

“The Tell-Tale Heart! What are you doing?!”

“Um… Trying to get to class.”

It was kind of obvious, wasn’t it?

“You can explain your reasoning after school, in detention.” Lancer grabbed Danny’s arm and pulled him forward.

Danny again slammed into the ghost shield.

The laughter was back, though not as loud. Danny traced the sound to the school’s second-story windows.

He sighed.

Lancer turned and came back through the shield. He gestured toward Danny's backpack. “What do you have in this?” he asked, taking the backpack and setting it on the sidewalk. He tried pushing Danny through the shield, and again Danny was only pressed up against it.

“Empty your pockets.”

“I don’t have anything!” Danny insisted as he pulled his pockets inside out.

After fifteen more minutes, and Danny removing his shirt, and then his pants, the shield was temporarily taken down for him.

The next morning, Danny kept his head down as he walked toward the front doors with Sam and Tucker.

It took awhile to realize the hushed whispers following him weren't at his expense, but because everyone had come to the conclusion that he was Phantom at some point during the night.

At least the school decided against sending a letter to his parents.

#DPREVELATIONS2022 #It counts as comical if there's laughter right? #danny phantom #danny fenton #asj writing #asj post #The new shield that's installed to help put a stop to ghost attacks in the school is a little too sensitive. #I was looking for a story with 'cage' in the title but The Tell-Tale Heart was near the top of a famous short-stories list #I thought it seemed to work. Danny is experiencing something no one else is. And his dead heart/core is giving himself away. #This partially draws from me being tired; and partially from something that happened to me once #except with lawn sprinklers and ending up soaked from pushing through to get to class on time. #I think someone was about to turn them off for me but all I could think of was how to get around them. I'd walked off the sidewalk to dodge #and hadn't realized the spray was even worse but invisible in the grass.