Transformers/Danny Phantom: Crossover Snapshots
1. (112 words)
“So,” Judy Witwicky said slowly, “this is a housewarming gift?”
“Of course, dear, what else would it be?” exclaimed Maddie Fenton, valiantly ignoring the fact that the Witwickys had lived in the same house since Sam was six years old.
Judy ran her fingers along the grain of the wood and traced the edges of the label pasted onto the baseball bat. “Fenton Anti-Creep Stick” it declared in brightly-colored block letters.
Well, one more would probably come in handy at some point. Judy smiled happily. “You can never have too many baseball bats when it comes to beating off undesirables.”
Maddie beamed. “And that’s a bat with the word ‘Fenton’ on it.”
2. (118 words)
“HaHA!” shouted Skulker as he jumped out from behind a bush on the Lennox property. “I will-AAIIEEEEEEEE!!” The bold threat ended abruptly in a girlish scream when Ironhide unfolded from his truck form and primed his cannons. The scream cut off just as quickly when the ghost vanished into thin air.
Ironhide lowered his cannons dejectedly and looked down at Will, who was picking himself and Sarah up from where he’d tackled her out of the way. “Where’d he go?” the weapons specialist asked plaintively.
Optimus Prime, you owe me for this, Will thought venomously. I did not sign on to give the “play nice or the other kids won’t like you” lecture to your trigger-happy subordinate.
3. (225 words)
Danny looked up and up and up at what looked like the ghost of a Transformer. Then he realized that he could fly and decided not to kill his neck. “And you are?” he asked warily.
“Jazz,” the mech ghost provided.
“Jazz,” Danny repeated obediently, then, “my name’s Danny. Danny Phantom, when I’m in this form. I think you knew a friend of mine when you were alive.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Sam Witwicky.”
Jazz gave him a very serious look. “I haven’t seen Sam or anyone else from my unit in the place I went to. Does that mean…?”
“Ghost Zone. It’s called the Ghost Zone. And yeah, they’re all alive. Megatron’s not. Sam’s told me all about Mission City. It worked, Jazz. It’s over.”
“For now,” Jazz said with an unmistakably grim look on his face. “It’s never over completely.”
Danny sighed. “No, it’s not, is it?” They were both silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts, before Danny spoke again.
“So, Jazz, anything I can do for you?” And he still had no idea how a being with rigid metal faceplates could grin like that, but apparently they could.
“Well,” Jazz drawled, “I seem to have gotten a bit lost on my way to the Matrix. Can you put me up for the night until I can find my way back home?”
4. (159 words)
This is not how I pictured spending my first weekend after Ratchet got me back in my body, Jazz thought with no small amount of exasperation. Jazz had a sheer rock face to his back, Robert Epps on the ground to his left and an army of ghosts spread out before him. All rumors to the contrary, this was not Jazz’s idea of a rocking party. Still, there were worse people to be stuck facing insane odds with. Jazz didn’t know where Epps had gotten that big anti-ghost gun from, but he couldn’t help but be impressed by the man’s resourcefulness. The ghosts began moving restlessly and Jazz powered up his weapons in response.
“You ready for this, Epps?” he asked his partner.
“Always,” the human replied with a grin. “Bring it.”
Two hours later, when they were the only two left standing on the battlefield, Jazz reluctantly conceded that yes, fighting ghosts was more fun than it looked.
(This next one is dialogue-only of Sam Manson calling Sam Witwicky. The thoughts in italics are Sam Manson's. Just in case it turned out a little confusing.)
5. (597 words)
ring, ring, ring, *click* ring, ring
Sam’s forwarding his calls? Why? To where? What happened?
ring, ring, ring, ri-
“Simmons, I swear to god, if you ever show your slimy face around here again I am going to make you fucking hurt.”
“Sam?!”
“Sam! Oh, god, I’m sorry I just-”
Hah. I do not need to know what you just. I’ve used that tone of voice a time or two myself. I know exactly what it means. “What happened?”
“It’s not-”
“What. Happened.”
“…Bee’s hurt.”
“How badly?”
“I don’t- They won’t- Everyone just keeps shoving me out of the way and telling me that he’s been hurt worse and no one’s meeting my eyes and I know they’re giant robots and my eye level’s way the hell down from theirs, but-“
“Sam! Breathe.”
“Okay. Breathing.”
“Good. Start from the beginning.”
“We were tracking a signal that we thought-hell, that everyone thought-was a new Autobot. We got to where the signal was coming from and there was nothing. Just miles and miles of desert-y nothing as far as the eye could see. And it was making us both nervous, so I got out so Bee could transform. As soon as he did there was this bright light from out of nowhere and he screamed. I don’t really remember what happened after that. I know I called the others somehow and I know they got there and loaded Bee into Optimus’s trailer to get home. The next thing I remember clearly is Simmons’s voice on Optimus’s radio saying that Sector 7 didn’t have any traps in that area that could hurt a full size Autobot. And I know he’s behind it, but we’ll never be able to prove it. And Bee…he sounded like he was crying, Sam. I could hear him the whole time, even when they said I couldn’t possibly because he was in the trailer and I was in the cab.”
“Sam.”
“Still breathing. They won’t tell me, Sam. Why-why won’t they tell me?”
When I get my hands on-on- I don’t know who I’m going to hurt first, but ooohh… “I don’t know why, but I know Bee will do his level best to pull through. And I think you know that, too.”
“I do. I do.”
That’s not it. What else is there? What would I be feeling if it were Danny hurt and I was waiting for news?
“You still there?”
Oops. Guess I spaced out, there. “Yeah, I’m still here.”
“Good, ‘cause I didn’t know if-“
“It wasn’t because you’re weak.”
“What?”
“Bee didn’t get hurt because you’re weak.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes I do, because I know that you’re not weak.”
“You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”
“Shut up. I wouldn’t, now listen to what I’m saying. You are not the Autobots’ weak link. You’re stronger than you think. You have to be stronger. It takes strength to stand beside your friends even when you know you can’t protect them. And before you disagree with me or tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about, you think real hard about what I’ve been watching Danny do every single day since he got his powers.”
“I…I…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer. Just hold it together until we get there.”
“We?”
“Damn right, ‘we.’ Danny, Tucker and I are one Specter Speeder flight away from Tranquility.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. We’ll see you soon.”
“We’ll be here. Both of us.”
“I’m counting on it.”
*click*
6. (334 words)
Will Lennox didn’t know where this particular ghost had come from, how he’d found them or why his henchmen were all animals. All he knew was the dead bastard had his baby girl and once he got her back, he was going to do a little unleashing of the power and fury of hell himself. Ironhide seemed to agree, if the low, constant growl from his internal systems and the high-pitched whine of his cannons were any indication. Just as they were about to shut the prattling ghost up the hard way, a voice rang out from behind them.
“Will, Ironhide, step aside.”
Will turned slightly to the side and caught the look on his wife’s face out of the corner of his eye. He blanched. Well. She should have first crack, he supposed. A look at Ironhide confirmed that he was thinking the exact same thing. The Lennox men stepped aside to allow the lady of the house passage. Will pulled out one of the smaller anti-ghost weapons currently on his person and offered it to her. She smiled tightly and patted him on the shoulder.
“No need, honey, but thank you.” Then she swept past them and right up to the ghost holding Annabelle. She locked her gaze onto his and he, too, flinched back. From his position, Will could just see the savage smile she gave him.
“You will give back my daughter right this instant,” she said in a low, dangerous voice.
“Or else what?” the ghost blustered, but Will could hear the quaver in his voice from ten feet away.
“There is no ‘or else,’” Sarah said icily, “because you will give me back my daughter.”
In what Will considered to be the only smart move the ghost had made since he arrived, he gently handed Annabelle over to her mother. Sarah smiled sweetly. “Thank you,” she said, then turned and walked back to Will and Ironhide. As she passed between them, she spoke again.
“Now they’re all yours.”
7. (72 words)
Sam stroked Bumblebee to calm himself down, running his hand almost teasingly over the doorframe and down to the hood. The nearly imperceptible shiver he got in response brought him forcefully back to the reason he’d come out here with his father in the first place. He left his hand resting lightly on Bee’s hood, took a deep breath and spoke quietly into the silence.
“Dad, let me tell you a story…”