Archive of Our Own ^beta

"I'm so glad we could hang out today!" Wally said, reaching an arm around Danny's shoulder and pulling him close as they walked toward the fountain at the center of Amity Park's biggest park. "Is this park really called Amity Park Park?"

"Yeah, that's the name." Danny smiled at his friend. He had met Wally on a Discord for Doomed players that he, Sam, and Tucker had started, and this was his first time meeting him in person. So far, he seemed exactly as outgoing and energetic as he portrayed himself online.

"Is the park named after the town, or is the town named after the park? If the town's named after the park, why wouldn't they have just named the town 'Amity' so the park would be Amity Park? Or maybe if they named the park after the town, it should have just been named 'Park' since you would already know the town's name if you were in it, theoretically-"

Danny held back a laugh. Wally talked so fast it was hard to keep up sometimes, but Danny was used to it by now from all the Discord calls he'd had with him. And he already knew the best way to shut Wally up.

"Hey look, there's a hot dog cart. Should we get some?"

Sure enough, Wally beelined for the cart. "Totally, I'm starving!"

By the time Danny caught up to him, Wally had already ordered a massive amount of food, scouted out a picnic table, and was in the process of eating his third hot dog. He handed one of the hot dogs from his pile to Danny, which Danny accepted after he sat down.

"Thanks! These are so much better than the ones at home. I'm tired of having to fight off the ecto-weenies."

Wally froze mid-bite. "Ecto-what?"

"My parents accidentally made ghost hot dogs, and now they terrorize our fridge."

"I guess that's not the weirdest thing I've heard." Wally shrugged and crammed the rest of the hot dog in his mouth. "I remember you said your parents are like ghost scientists or hunters or something. Have they made any cool inventions? Or actually, have you seen any ghosts? I'm honestly not sure if I even believe in ghosts."

"Well, most of my parents' inventions blow up. But, uh, I have seen ghosts." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "They sure do exist."

Wally seemed to consider this as he chowed down on yet another hot dog. Danny had lost count of how many he'd seen Wally eat already, but it was an impressive amount. He'd probably already passed Tucker's record from last summer of 13 hot dogs in a row. Danny had never been so glad to leave a hangout early to fight a rogue ghost, because he'd missed Tucker throwing up afterwards.

"That's cool! Man, this day is so astrous. The only way it could be better is if I could see Danny Phantom. I wish I could meet him."

Danny had barely registered Wally's statement before he felt his ghost sense send a chill up his throat. He groaned when he heard a familiar ghostly voice.

"So you have wished it, so shall it be."

"Woah, who said that?" Wally asked as he looked around. "What was up with your breath? Why is it colder all of a sudden? And why did the sky change color? What the heck?"

Danny wasn't paying much attention to Wally's spew of questions, because as soon as Desiree's wish magic had activated, the glowing white rings that almost always appeared when he went ghost showed up without him triggering them. Sweat formed on his brow as he fought back his ghost form, but he only managed to slow the transformation.

"Danny? What's that light? What's happening? Are you okay?"

Sighing, Danny relaxed and let his transformation slide over him the rest of the way unimpeded. There was no point trying to hide now. At least it was only Wally looking in his direction, and he wasn't blowing his secret to anyone else.

"Wait, you're Danny Phantom?" Wally's jaw hung open, and he dropped the hot dog he was holding onto the picnic table.

Phantom waved awkwardly. "Hi. Yeah, that's me."

"Wow, that's so cool! So like, you're a ghost? And you're a hero, right? How long have you been doing that? I want to hear all about your origin story and the villains you've fought and the powers you have and-"

"Hold on, Wally," Phantom held up a finger, "I'll answer your questions, but I gotta stop Desiree first. She's a ghost that grants wishes."

"Can I help? Wait, let me get in costume first!"

Before Phantom could question what Wally meant by that, he disappeared in a blur of speed. Less than a second later, a kid in a familiar yellow and red superhero outfit appeared where Wally had just been.

"Kid Flash?" Now it was Phantom's turn to pick his jaw up from the floor.

"At your service!" Kid Flash, who Danny now knew was his internet friend Wally, said with a wink.

Phantom grinned. "Awesome, let's take Desiree down!"