Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom nor Blinding

A/N: I know that I should be working on Sacrifice but seriously, that thing takes a lot of emotion. I need to freshen myself up with a lighter, more entertaining story. No worries though, Sacrifice is still going. The title is inspired from a song by Jakwob ft. Rocky Nti called Blinding which is very deep. This story is dedicated to my three most frequent reviewers:

Azawrath and Dusk

maltese

CHiKa-RoXy

Thank you my friends, because of people like you all, stories keep flooding the fanfiction page. I hope you three will love this quite anomalous version of Danny. Thank you as well to all the reviewers that I did not mention in here, you guys know that I love your reviews but just don't have time (or too lazy) to reply to them all. But seriously, I always read all your reviews. Not replying doesn't mean not loving it, right? And also to my penpal that always accompany me during my insomnia hours, interchanging witty conversations and interesting topics, ichiruzuka you are the best penpal ever. I hope that you're feeling better now.

The cover picture is from Deviantart and I stupidly forgot who the creator was. If you know it, please tell me so I can credit them for their work. Though I made a slight change on the picture, the original one is here by unknown artist - oi36. tinypic qn49iu. jpg

I don't have any beta and English is my second language, so pardon me for any grammatical mistakes.

Blinding Flashlights

Start: 12 April 2013

Done: 23 April 2013

CHAPTER 1: THE START

There were sounds of shutters clicking wildly- their lenses capturing the desired object that was in their main attention. Dozens of cameras emitted white lights, blinding everyone, blinding the night. Those lights could really give you an early myopic if you weren't born to fulfill its purpose in capturing fame and beauty. Oops.

People were shouting for more pictures, different poses, and-

"Smile over here, please!"

The mass of heads- may it be black, blonde, brown, red, dyed- flocked around the entrance to the cinema. It was night time where the billboards were all lit up and various neon signs coming to life. It's New York City at its peak.

"Look over here!"

"Here, here!"

"This is for Star Weekly!"

"Give way! You're blocking my view! I'm taking pictures for Celeb's Breeze Magazine!"

Paparazzi jostled in chaos; each elbowing the others out to expose their way foremost. Pedestrians that were milling around started nearing the building in curiosity, their heads held up high to catch glimpses of who might be residing inside the extensive rows of limousines and sport cars. Some others were already holding photos, blank papers, shirts- those are to be signed. That is, if the celebrities would sign it for them.

From one of the limos, a young woman emerged- leaving her companion inside, still tying up his tie with exasperated attempt.

She swiped a hand, the diamond bracelet on it shining prettily when the flashes hit it. "Don't take too long, everybody's waiting for your presence."

"One minute! I swear; people made ties to choke all men up." The young man grumbled in distress, retying the offending material over for the third try, "Next time I'll just use a clip on." He grouched unhappily.

She shook her head and patted his shoulder in mock sympathy.

Closing the door, the woman discreetly slipped a spare key into the lock and turned it. She internally smirked. He would make a grand opening what with the chauffeur helping him out like a prince being escorted out of a carriage. She covered her lips to stifle her laugh and whipped around to face the waiting fans and paparazzi.

She waved, she smiled- white rows of teeth flashed beautifully; her face easily slipping into the appropriate facade for this occasion. Desperate photographers started snapping for pictures, hollering on top of their voices for her to look at their cameras. She glanced around and started to pose. Both hands on hips, eyes squinted cutely and red lips pursed into a tell-tale sign of a blow kiss. She had to look sexy. After all, being one of the main stars in the movie premiere held there in the establishment, it was her job to be so. The glittering dress she wore swept the carpet below, blonde hair held up in a neat chignon. The limousine behind her still held its lone occupant, struggling with his tie as yet.

Coalesce of people started begging for said occupant to arrive into the waiting view.

After what seems like hours the young man was finally done with his tie. Satisfied, one hand reached for the handle and turned it. The door didn't even budge. He tried again.

Still nothing.

"Carl, can you please open the door for me? It's jammed."

The chauffeur silently got out and rounded the limo. He took the handle of the door, jiggled it once and sighed. It was locked. He was suddenly glad that he always kept the keys with him. He fiddled for a while and finally opened the door with a motion of practiced ease.

Jags of unruly black hair peeked from the opened aperture, the chauffeur holding it wide.

Daniel Fenton stepped out of the vehicle.

His body was clad in a fine suit with a blinding smile set upon his face- his tie perfect with not even a single hint of it being askew prior his arrival.

The crowds went into uproar while the flashlights became brighter.

I'm tired of empty smiles, and nights alone

I'm sick of these paper stars, illuminating this hollow globe

Surrounded by your eyes, I almost wanna float

Away, away

School had been hectic.

With all the seemingly never-ending ghost hunts, failed dates, bad tests, lectures, all those mundane things Danny faced everyday for the three most agonizing years of his high school life- it's a complete surprise to himself that he had managed to pass them all while still staying intact. The bullying never stopped, but it did lessen. Dash eventually lost interest in him when he started returning back some of the punches.

He'd gotten into trouble for that.

Of course, Dash Baxter lied; telling that it was Danny that had started the fight, the one that had threw the first punch. Nobody dared to infringe Dash, so they all stayed quiet while one fuming black-haired Fenton was escorted into the teacher's room to be scolded for his ill-behavior. Dash was let loose, being the jock and all.

He started targeting others after that though. The kick Danny delivered to his ribs left purple painful bruises. Who knew that Fenton could kick that hard? He was only a geek after all.

Danny gained height throughout the years- now standing at 5'9 feet and not the embarrassing 5'2 he was. Thank God for genes. He thought he was going to take after his mother in the height department. But he did take after her frame. He stayed looking as thin as ever.

He tried dating Sam. Truly, he did. Everybody had thought that they will get married, have a great house with kids running around and be madly in love with each other. But things just didn't work out that way. All the stolen glances, the fake-out make outs they did; it was all just a passing interest. Nothing more, nothing less.

They broke up after two weeks trying to be in a relationship. Things got a bit awkward after that, but they managed.

Both stayed being the weird trio along with Tucker.

Valerie stopped hunting ghosts. Her father found out about the risky occupation and forbade her from doing it ever again. She tried sneaking out several times, oh how she did; only to get caught in the end and resulting in Mr. Gray to have a heart attack. She finally gave up ghost hunting for the sake of her dear daddy's health.

One problem down for Danny. He didn't have to worry about her anymore, both for attacking him and for endangering herself in ghost fights.

As for Vlad…

The man simply disappeared without leaving any trace whatsoever. He gave up pursuing the love of his life and chose to move out of Wisconsin instead, obscuring himself from the people who knew where he lived. He still appeared on the newspapers and televisions occasionally, but none of the news ever told about his living place.

He had to admit that he missed the fruitloop.

However though, he also had to admit that his life did become easier without Vlad's interferences in it.

On his 17th birthday, Danny received a gift from the man, along with a card attached to it.

It said-

Dear Daniel,

(The teen rolled his eyes. One and a half year and the man still insist on calling him by his given name.)

Happy 17th birthday. Wish you well.

Vlad M.

He was slightly confused after reading it. Only that? Maddie gave a strained smile while Jack Fenton kept gushing about how great of a friend Vlad is.

He took his still wrapped gift to his room and locked the door. The card was still held precariously in his hand. He could feel Vlad's ecto signature on the back of it. He was suspicious, so he froze the card, instantly making Vlad's essentially hot signature to glow behind the thin crust of ice. So Vlad didn't only write that crappy birthday wish. He must have figured that both Maddie and Jack would be present when he opened the card.

Daniel, don't forget to study for your oncoming exam and please cease your stupid ghost hunt. You wouldn't want to fail your test, seeing how bad your grades are. (He growled a little at this part.) Don't worry about Skulker and the others, I've told them to stay away from Amity Park, ("for the moment," he mumbled to himself) for the moment (see?). I have no obligation to stop them for doing what they want, after all. Take care of yourself, son. (What the- the audacity! Calling him son!)

He scoffed and flung the card to his bed. The gift was wrapped in blue, with no bow, not a single decoration. He ripped it open idly.

Cool.

Danny unconsciously smiled when he saw what Vlad had given him. Encyclopedia of space, a very expensive one he remembered. He had wanted to have it for so long, but it was just too far out of his ability to buy one. He lifted the book- and found another thing. Some kind of… device, he didn't know for what though. Perhaps there's an instruction to it?

It was only a black square gizmo, with an oval screen adorning the middle and a green button at the bottom right corner of it. Foregoing for thinking over his action (the man did fool him several times), Danny pressed the button.

The screen flickered to life. A bright flash of light shot up and a video hologram was bared before his eyes. Black spandex, tan skin, silver hair… it was him! It was himself in his ghost form! Danny squinted his eyes to concentrate on the small hologram figure. There were replicas of buildings underneath, the night sky, complete with the stars and a crescent moon. The small Danny figure laughed and flew around the edifices, looping its body agilely. It flew with an air of languidness and did a twirl in the air, green ectoplasm dancing around.

Danny felt a small twitch at the left corner of his lips. That was… very kind of Vlad.

Wait. How did Vlad manage to make such realistic hologram of him? He wanted to smack himself in aggravation. Of course, give it to Vlad to disappear and the man still spied on him. Oh well, at least something good came out of his illegal activity.

Danny suddenly remembered this movie he once watched in his childhood. The Little Mermaid 2, he thought it was. The main character had this necklace that shows a hologram of Atlantis.

Funny. He wondered if Vlad had gotten the idea to create this object from that movie.

He pressed the button again and the hologram vanished.

Weeks after that, the Fenton family got a wedding invitation coming from the man. Danny wanted to laugh at the suddenness of this all. How things have changed along with the flow of time. The girl Vlad intended to marry was a fine woman. She'll make the perfect wife for Vlad. They both looked like two creepy Dracula couples. Her name was Marianne Varvara Kozlov. Marianne Varvara Masters now. She has long blonde hair and pallid skin. Her eyes are hazel. Typical Russian features. Marianne was a pianist and a ballet dancer.

Anyway, people also started talking more to him; their small gestures spoke of respect and admiral. He estimated the reasons as to why they wanted to be friendly to him all of a sudden. Perhaps because of the height gain?

Danny didn't realize it, was not aware of how the thoughts surrounding him had changed. Things will not always stay the way they are, everything will eventually change; may it be for the bad or the good. As for his case, it changed for the better. Danny had grown into a somewhat intriguing, oddly charismatic figure. An ugly duckling turned swan. A worm evolving into a butterfly.

He wasn't considered as a total outcast, more of a mysterious being. Everything about him seemed veiled, unclear, confusing. People got those vibes from him.

If Danny were to walk down the hall to his class, nobody would try to trip, joke, or even call him names anymore. They all left him to his own devices. Nobody tried to pick trouble with him.

And no, he didn't wear his usual white shirt and baggy jeans anymore. Grew out of those.

Now what Danny wore to school were mostly long sleeves and jeans. Not tight fitting jeans, no, he didn't think he could stand other tight-fitting clothes besides his ghost form's spandex outfit.

But not baggy either, he tripped on those.

Why long sleeves? Guess because he felt too thin wearing the short ones. And they hide the unhealed scars he got from the fights.

Paulina once teased him for being such lanky boy.

"You can surely become a model, Danny." She had said mockingly, her Latina accent coloring the taunting words. It was a blow to his man pride.

Danny had scoffed and walked away after that, Sam and Tucker on both his sides. The football team and cheerleaders all jeered at his declining form.

Two months after that was the graduation exam. He pulled it off just fine, graduating with mostly B's and several A's adorning his report card. He still got C for English though. Never got around finishing Hamlet and The Secret Garden. Oh well, at least with all the ghost hunting, it was a miracle he could still pass the exam with little to no real trouble.

After that was college. Danny got into an argument with Jazz. His grades were not enough for him to enter Master of Science- the first path should be taken in order to become an astronaut. He was frustrated to no end. He didn't have any other plan. Didn't have any other dream.

In the end he enrolled in a liberal arts college away from Amity- went to live in New York City, leaving his friends and family behind. Tucker took IT while Sam pursued Environmental Studies, both colleges in Amity.

He got fed up with Amity Park. The people in it didn't appreciate Phantom, didn't appreciate him, it just wasn't his place. Somehow, Amity Park wasn't home anymore. It became a liability.

He decided that for this once, he wanted to do things for himself. He couldn't just live to serve the people of Amity for all his life, could he?

New York City was the complete opposite to Amity Park. Whereas his hometown was a small city where everybody knew everybody, NYC was a whole new world. The gleaming billboards, the buzzes of people, the 'mind-your-own-business' attitude-

-The crimes.

He'd learned not to become overly concerned regarding whatever is happening around him. After all, he couldn't possibly save everybody at the same time. Besides, keeping his identity a secret must always be a top priority.

And lucky that he was Phantom, or else he would have gotten lost in the metropolitan.

Liberal Art wasn't so bad, but Danny sometimes wished that he could still become an astronaut. Though being a half-ghost did satiate his thirst to be able to view the beauty of space.

In the third month of his stay in New York, his parents decided to cut his income into half.

"WHAT? Why are you suddenly doing this! The usual is not even enough that sometimes I have to cut my meals!"

"You have been cutting meals?"

"Well if you send the rightful amount I wouldn't have to do so! And now you're cutting it up in half?"

"Honey, you know why we do this… your father blew up the portal and we have to rebuild it again." Maddie twirled the cord of the phone between her fingers, "Besides, sometimes you have to experience the arduous side of life so-"

"My life is already hard enough!"

He then slammed his phone down from the beige living room of his small apartment. He wanted to pull at his hair. Why couldn't they postpone the rebuilding of the portal. That damn thing was always trouble, trouble, trouble. Sometimes his parents just don't have the sentient of what's more important and what's not. They think that their work was more important? He swears, sometimes for two genius beings, they could be so stupid. Lack of human sentient- for their own son, no less!

Think, Danny… think.

Three days and he still hadn't had the slightest idea about what he should do. He doesn't want to work as some store clerk; that would only waste his time. The money wouldn't be enough.

He palmed his face and gave a long despondent sigh. Why was it always him? Jazz nearly never had these kinds of problems. Ever. In her college year.

Come to think of it, the portal never blew up in her college years.

Guess it was just his unlucky star shining down upon him with twisted mirth.

"You can surely become a model, Danny."

Wait.

He could feel the revelation lighting up his once bleak mind. The hell with his man pride, this situation calls for a major ego killer. As long as he gets the money he needs (and as long as it's legal) he would do it. Yes, modeling. Of course. He could do this. From what he heard, the money pays well too.

He was about to get up and search the internet for some information when he suddenly remembered that he hadn't paid this month's rent. Darn.

This is the life that you prayed for

But now all the lights are blinding you

These are the moments people live for

But your heart is hard to what's surrounding you

"Yo, Danny-boy! Come over here!"

His long legs took wide strides and he was already in front of the flamboyant man in seconds.

"Look at that! They had done your hair wrong!"

The man in pink fussed and smacked his head lightly. Danny mussed up his hair again. "No Mark, it was me. I don't like it being slicked over."

"Well you better have it slicked over or you'll ruin tonight's show! Now go back to Shelley and fix it!"

The internet had given him long lists of possible modeling agencies. He had first opened the very top link in the list- the EM Agency. Short for Emilio Munchin. He thought the name sounded stupid, but he casted the idea quickly aside. After all, he was about to jump into the fashion industry. There will be lots of other stupid, too-elaborately extraordinary sounding name. The registration form was fairly easy to fill; except for the photos inquired in it. He suddenly felt camera shy.

He hadn't known that such many photos will be required. All he thought he should do was to send a picture of his face, along with his data, height and weight. Nobody ever told about waist line, hips line, shoulder up 3/4 profile picture, best angle, and all those confusing shits.

But he endured the process. A friend of his had agreed to take his pictures. Oh how he felt so stupid for posing in front of the camera. His friend had laughed too.

"Danny, you sure you want to be a model? Ha ha!"

"Shut up, Kim!"

Okay, so Kim wasn't really his friend- more of an acquaintance. But she was the only person he thought could help him take all those pictures he needed, so he had to accept all the humiliation he felt for posing in front of her. She lives next door.

"Okay, here said, 3/4 profile pic. That means you have to look to the left a little, yeaaah… that's right! Now give me your best CHEESE!"

Danny angled his face and gave his blandest look. He already hated all this. He wasn't so sure anymore about becoming a model. But damn! He needed money! And Kim's jokes were just grating on his nerves.

"Are you done taking it?"

Kim threw the small digital camera. He caught it in reflex. Good thing or he would have to repeat all the posing again. Or maybe that was just what Kim wants. Damn Kim and her evil intents. Humiliating him more.

"Oh! Look at the tiiiime! I better go; Jeremy's waiting at the cinema. We're going to watch this new thriller movie! Ya wanna come?"

He put down the camera and glared at her. "No thanks, I still have to complete the form. Besides, I wouldn't want to interrupt on your date and see you two kissing all night like last time. That was just ew."

"Aw, you're just jealous." Kim gave a mock huff and put on her ankle boots. Danny rolled his eyes.

"By the way, how's your girlfriend Sam?"

"I've told you! Sam is not my-"

"Buh-bye Dan! HAVE A GREAT FORM-FILLING TIME!"

She slammed the door and Danny was left with his uncompleted form. Kim knew it that Danny hated to be called Dan.

After the form was sent, Danny waited for two weeks. He had to borrow money from Jazz for his rent. Thank God for Jazz.

In one fine afternoon, he was washing his dishes when the phone rang. He nearly dropped the plate he was holding.

They wanted to meet him! On his first try and he was accepted! His unlucky star must have fallen from the sky and hit rock bottom.

Disregarding all the hassles, Danny was met with his agent. A woman in her early thirties with sharp nose and lips always thin with frown- Miss Kayla Bayern. Why Ms. instead of Mrs.? Maybe because there were no men ever wanted to marry such a woman of steel.

"I accept no nonsense, Mr. Fenton. All the models under my care are always ready and practical. They should always be reachable in case of contacts from designers for any jobs. It is you who needs me, not the other way around. So I expect you to always be devoted to your job, and to always be on time. I expect you to leave whatever it is you're doing and come immediately whenever contacted."

Danny could only nod in every end of her sentences.

"Can you do catwalks?"

"Huh?"

So it turns out that Danny had to learn how to walk first. It's a sin for models to not be able to do catwalk. His trainer was a black man with a thick Brooklyn accent and tattoos all over his left arm. Not really the epitome of someone who teaches people to walk with grace.

"You walk like a chicken- put up longer strides and don't move your arms like some damn robot!"

After all those training, he was finally ready.

Mark Jasper was the first designer that hired him. Mark was a somewhat the typical depiction of male designers. Flamboyant manners, a lot of fussing.

Pink shirts.

After Mark, there were long strings of other designers that hired him, but Mark had taken a liking to the hybrid. He always included Danny in every of his shows. But boy; did that man fuss a lot. And always mess around with his hair. Mark hated his disorderly hair. He once asked Danny to shave off his whole hair.

Being a model limited his role as Phantom. Not that he was Phantom anymore. He had sworn that he would never use his power like Vlad did- to trick people. And of course, he couldn't be in two places at once. Using his clones sometimes helped, but it roused suspicions. Like this one time where he had to be in a test at his college when Kayla suddenly called in.

"Miucca Puchelli herself asked for you to walk in her show!"

Kayla had even left the usual Mr. Fenton appellative when talking to him that time. Whoever this Puchelli is, she must be a one hell of very big designer to make Kayla this happy, though he doesn't know much.

"Uh… Kayla, when do you want me to be ready?"

"Now of course! Go to the Poulli Emporium Building now and I'll meet you there. Just wear casual jeans and a V-neck white t-shirt. Another model will be accompanying you; you'll meet her in the seventh floor in front of Miucca Puchelli's store."

"What?! Do you know how far it is from my college to that building?"

Kayla gave a long pause and Danny just knew that he had made a mistake by saying that. He shouldn't have said it. He was a half-ghost; he could be there in only minutes after all. Mark's habit for fussing must have rubbed off on him.

"I don't particularly care about that, Mr. Fenton. You come or there will be no more jobs."

"Yes, I understand."

His phone was clicked shut after that and Danny just wanted to bang his head to nearest wall.

His test was important, he couldn't just leave it. So he put this crazy half-cooked idea into action. He made a clone of himself.

The Danny-clone stayed inside the classroom while the real Danny quickly turned into Phantom and flew invisibly to the destined building. He arrived there in no time. Oh wait, he forgot to change his clothes first. Danny gave a groan and flew back to his apartment to change.

The ride on the elevator to the seventh floor was excruciatingly long for him. He couldn't just appear in the seventh floor. There were security cameras everywhere and everyone could have checked that he wasn't in the elevator before arriving at the floor. Yes, he could be assumed to have taken the emergency stairs, but that would just be viewed as redundant and utterly ridiculous.

He walked to the intended store and was flabbergasted when he saw who would be accompanying him.

"Paulina?"

The Latina gave a likewise reaction.

Great. Now Paulina and her big mouth will make him the talk of the town. He wondered if she was still dating Dash. Did they even date back then at high school?

"What are you doing here, Danny?"

"I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here?"

Paulina scoffed and raised her nails to inspect them. Damn girl and their nail-checking habits. It made him feel disregarded.

"Miucca Puchelli is one of papa's relative. She asked me to be her campaign model." Paulina gave a satisfied wide grin, "She also asked me to walk in her show! Though I'm sure you don't even know who she is." The girl finished her sentence in a bland tone.

He scoffed inwardly. Sure as hell that he doesn't know one jack shit about Miucca Puchelli, but the woman hired him nonetheless. Eat that, Sanchez. Danny was sure that it was Paulina's father himself that had talked into the designer to put the girl in her show. Paulina Sanchez was fairly short, standing only at 5'6 feet.

"Oh. I see."

"Now I'm asking you again, what are you doing here?" She gave a condescending look at him. Danny crossed his arms. "Looks like we'll be working on the same stage huh, Paulina."

She gasped.

"You're a model?"

"Your derision back then gave me the idea to become one."

Paulina blinked twice, mouth hanging open slightly.

Kayla soon arrived and tried introducing the two models to each other. She had her sandy blonde hair pulled up rather hastily into a pony tail. Perhaps to impress Miucca Puchelli the designer. She was also wearing a rather more expensive outfit than she usually wore. She took Paulina by the shoulder and pushed her closer to Danny, flouncing her hand in an introducing manner.

"Mr. Fenton, this is Paul-"

"I know her Kayla, we went to the same high school."

Kayla gave a slight frown and nodded, ordered the both of them to enter the boutique. Apparently, Paulina's father had contacted the woman to look after his 'little angel' in New York City. Kayla was a well-known agent, so it was really of no wonder that the coincidences happened and resulted in him meeting the Latina.

"Now, Miucca didn't just ask you to become her model in the fashion show, but also to be her campaign model. She likes your face." Kayla gave a small proud smile and patted Danny's shoulder. Danny wanted to cringe. What? So he will be in a photo shoot as well for the advertisement? Oh man, Tucker and Sam would be so pissed that he hadn't even told them that he was a model now. They will find out about it themselves when the campaign was already published.

"I will be in a photo shoot with him?"

Paulina screeched in surprise and glanced in bewilderment at Danny.

I'm filled by raising hands, until the skies

But these moments are so rare, are like diamonds in disguise

Although my mind is here, my heart just wants to fly

Away, away

A/N: READ THIS FIRST

So, what do you think about this Danny? Like it? Hate it? Love it? Worth to continue? I wrote this chapter listening to Constant Conversations by Passion Pit. If you're bored and in need of good songs, check the two songs I mentioned in this chapter. Tell me what you think of them and I might make a chapter inspired by your favourite song. You can PM me or give me a review about it. Writing chapters will be more fun that way.