Chapter Text
A lone knight walked across an empty plain. What few strands of sunlight made it through the omnipresent clouds glistened against his black armor, his dark figure cutting a striking silhouette against the gray horizon. Dry, lifeless soil crunched beneath his heavy boots. In his hands, a shimmering sword glowed an unearthly green. It was drawn. He was ready for battle.
Before him was his quarry, a beast easily fifty feet high. Its long, snakelike tail gave way to a humanoid torso, massive pecs flanked by four bulging, muscular arms. Sitting atop it all was a head with a nose like a gorilla and a mouth like a tiger. Its body was as colorless as the landscape around it, but for the red boils dotting the backside of its decaying skin.
The knight approached slowly, taking a crouched position, as though hoping to sneak up on the creature despite the abject lack of cover. The sword was in swinging distance before the monster noticed, some unknown stimuli alerting it to the knight’s presence. The knight charged, sword swinging, as the monster swung its tail in an attempt to knock him prone--
The phone rang.
The knight went flying.
Danny sighed as he glanced down at the caller ID. Answering would be a headache, but letting it go to voicemail would cause a bigger one later. Besides, he’d already racked up two missed calls. Three was probably the limit.
Reluctantly, he swiped the call through.
“Hey Jazz,” he said, doing his best impression of someone who was not only awake but out of bed.
“Hey Danny!” She was trying to hide it, but Danny could tell she was a little surprised he’d picked up. “You busy?”
“Yep.”
“Glad to hear it!” Danny could hear her smiling through the phone. “What're you up to?”
“Uh...” Danny said. “Video games” wasn’t gonna cut it. He glanced around his room for a helpful hint. NASA memorabilia on a shelf by his window. Syllabi haphazardly swept across a desk he wasn’t going to look at for another week. Clothes piled up on the floor. “Laundry?” he said. No way that sounded convincing.
“Okay, well, I won't keep you long,” Jazz said, her voice dipping into the “concerned“ register. “I was just wondering if you were coming to Mom and Dad's thing this afternoon.”
“Do I have to?” Danny asked, knowing as the whine left his mouth that it was the wrong answer.
“I mean, you don't have to do anything,” Jazz said gently. “But I think it'd make them really happy if you were there.”
“I think what'd make them really happy is if whatever this is actually worked.”
“I mean, yeah, but...y'know. They could use the moral support.”
“For when it doesn't.”
“...yeah.”
“I just...” Danny glanced up at his TV screen, where his knight was inexplicably still being thrashed around by the giant monster thing, hitpoints ticking down like seconds. “I dunno if I can sit through another FentonWorks anticlimax. And you're better at the whole 'you'll get 'em next time' thing than I am.”
“It's not about what you say. Mom and Dad just...wanna see you care, y'know?”
“I still live here. I'll give 'em a pep talk or whatever when they get home.”
The line buzzed for a moment. Danny winced. He knew what he had to do. “You're going, right?” he asked, grabbing the edge of the mattress and pulling himself up off it.
“Yeah.”
“Great. You mind giving me a lift?” he asked, already regretting it as he swung his legs over the side of his bed.
“Of course not! I'll be there at 3:30?”
“Sounds good,” Danny said. “Talk to you then.”
“Talk to you then!” Jazz said. “Love you!”
“Love you too,” Danny said, sighing as he let the phone drop back onto his mattress.
The words “YOU'RE DEAD” flashed across the TV.