A Choice (MHA x Danny Phantom)

Shady Connections

Danny stared at his phone for what felt like hours. It was the evening of the following day, and he had spent the whole time wondering about the photo he had made. While at work he was absentminded, of which he was reminded by his colleagues multiple times. Enough for the half ghost to finally snap out of his thoughts and finally concentrate at sorting those veggies. But postponing the issue meant that eventually it would catch up with him, and he would be forced to address it. Phantom was spending the evening all absorbed in his thoughts. The half ghost was running out of time, eventually the cops would use the card he had left behind as a conscious citizen (still without a passport), and the man would either be caught or he would change his number.

The half ghost didn't care about the fate of the one making those business cards. He didn't have any illusions about the nature of the man's enterprise. The villain had that card in his pockets, which implied the criminal nature of that "Giran". There were only the name and the number. No company name, no address, nothing, as if giving away the number was the biggest concession the man could allow himself to make. And since Phantom never found any official information on the guy, it only confirmed the teen's suspicions. The boy's only regret if the man got caught was the lost opportunity for him to attain what he wanted. What did he want? The answer to that was very simple — he needed upgrades. The upgrades he was going to get only in the underground black market. After all, only proper heroes were allowed to gallivant with official support items. He wasn't one of them, so it left him little option. If it meant mingling with criminals, then fine. They were going to get busted anyways. Or maybe he was just putting too much faith in the local police force.

Phantom might have been a formidable opponent in that world of single-powered heroes and villains, but after watching Eraserhead the idea of his own powers one day betraying him didn't leave his mind. It happened before, and he was utterly helpless in those situations. It reminded the half ghost that for all his power there was probably some fish in the ocean that was bigger than him, that could beat him even while having only one ability. Phantom had to be conscious of his limits, even if he was getting too overzealous. The half ghost needed a preventative measure. Something that could save his backside in a pinch and probably aid his endeavours in other ways. While he doubted that the locals had something to assist a half ghost, he could, in theory, modify the tools to suit him. He just needed something to use as a basis.

It wasn't going to be his first time associating with the bad guys. Mind you, each Christmas so far they all went to a common party and had fun. And they also cooperated on multiple occasions, even if it was only to take down a bigger menace, be it the Ghost Investigation Ward or the undead tyrant himself. That thought brought some solace to the teen. Because he was going to involve himself with the criminals with one goal only — to be better at taking down said criminals. Since he had made such deals with his own conscience before, Phantom was willing to compromise now. But then the idea gained another layer. It went without saying that the teen was one step away from going broke. There was no possible way for him to actually buy the goods from the black market. So, the half ghost intended to harass the criminals until they gave him what he wanted. It was something very dangerous, for if he angered the wrong people, his peaceful life was going to end without even starting. He had left his world precisely to avoid that very thing. Nonetheless, he had a plan. First the teen needed to conduct his small investigation and find where the underground smiths worked. His first clue was the business card.

But then, what could he offer that man for the information? Money was out of the question, same as committing a crime for a favour. That left the ghost with nothing. Still, looking at his phone the half ghost decided that an attempt had to be made first. Whatever the outcome was, he wouldn't know it until he tried. Dialling the number from the business card, Danny started waiting, each ring making the teen more and more doubtful. Still, someone from the other end chose to respond to the call.