(Chapter 1: Duality)
It had been weeks since Danny had defeated his evil future self and while you'd think that mean good things would start to happen it couldn't be any further from the truth since he was already on a razor's edge before, but now he felt like he was going crazy. As ever since that fight of where he saw what would've happened 10 years down the line, all the lives ruined and that he was told that no matter what happened he'd inevitably become like him.
As soon enough he found himself not remembering periods of times with them being small and far and few between at first prior towards his fight with his evil future self, but now they were becoming much much larger and more prominent as well. With hours and bleeding into days were now disappearing from Danny's memory all the while he'd wake up covered in blood or an enemy ghost or some metahuman pleading with him to show mercy something of which began to frighten him.
(June 24th 2015, Amity Park, Washington, 1:35 Pm)
Danny was with Tucker at the Nasty Burger since the glasses wearing nerd felt his friend could use some company due to having seen his mental and emotional state gradually deteriorate making him more reckless among other things.
"So Danny you never answered the question of what the hell has been going on with you?" Tucker asked looking at his friend who wasn't looking so well
"Tuck to be honest I'm getting a little bit scared." Danny admitted as he knew that he was falling apart
As physically it showed with his skin paled a few shades to an almost unhealthy tone, his eyes were now bloodshot, he always felt cold no matter what despite him having to wear sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt even when it was above 90 degrees in the summer heat not to mention his hair way starting to gray at the sides.
"What do you mean Danny?" Tucker questioned wondering why his friend who was usually carefree now had a look of paranoia on his face
"I mean the fact that I keep waking up in places around town or in the Ghost Zone with people torn to shreds or dead around me and it's in ways that make a Friday the 13th movie look tame. No matter what I keep having to wake up in my bed to find all these messages on the walls that I have to get rid of otherwise my parents would freak." Danny revealed as ever since the middle of May since that fight with his evil future self he's been more and more unable to go a single night's' rest without these incidents
"That sounds horrible man." Tucker spoke as what else could he say to what
"You don't have to remind me as hell it makes sleeping a hassle since I'm practically at my wits end wondering if during any of these blackouts that I'll go over the edge and do something regrettable." Danny spoke feeling paranoid at the fact that him having these blanks in his memory would lead to him being in over his head
"How bad is it getting Danny as these blanks can't be all that bad can they?" Tucker asked as Danny sighed before giving his answer
"The minimal they gone to his 11 hours straight and the longest has been 18 and a half as I've been keeping track and the worst part is that everyday it's getting worse." Danny said with dread in his voice as the blanks in his memory were getting longer and longer
"Well Tucker didn't you say that you've been working on surveillance drones to help out with all the ghost fighting and some of the metahumans that have been popping up?" Danny questioned having remembered that Tucker had brought this up in a past conversation
"Yeah as don't worry I should have those up and running within about two weeks or so." Tucker revealed having been working on drones to help track down ghosts so that way it'd make things a bit easier on Danny
"Thanks Tucker I appreciate it since at least now I have a chance to what the hell is going on with me." Danny thanked Tucker for helping him during this time where he felt backed up against a wall more than ever
"It's fine as Sam and I always have your back Danny." Tucker assured him however, when he said that Danny's pupils suddenly dilated and contracted as they darkened to a more royal blue instead of the normal sapphire colored ones they always were
"At least you're trying to make effort to help unlike Sam, as all she does is just bitch at me that fucking tramp." Danny spoke but if you noticed closely his voice had taken a deeper pitch more in line with a deep baritone or a high bass
"I know she has her faults but don't you think that you're going a little bit overboard?" Tucker asked as Danny never usually talked like this about Sam
"Why should I all she does is just badger and nag me about how I should be more of a hero and not misuse my power….hmph the hell does she even know about being a superhero. As I'm the one that has to pull the weight while she just does the whole damsel in distress routine over and over again that it makes me want to backhand her so hard she can't talk anymore. At least then I won't have to hear her gripping all the time since her mouth would be permanently wired shut." Danny said as his knuckles popped
"Alright Danny I know that Sam isn't the best to work with but, you're getting out of line as she doesn't deserve all of that too happen to her." Tucker spoke as this wasn't like Danny to be talking like this
"She deserves it and more acting all high and mighty when she couldn't last a day being me. Having to save all these worthless maggots that just shit on me for all that I do and all the lives I save and for what just so they can spit it back in my face. As maybe I should just stop in watch this whole place burn since they don't care about me at all so, long as they have a beloved scapegoat." Danny ranted as Tucker's eyes widened ever so slightly as he saw his friends nose start to bleed
"As all these maggots deserve it; Sam included as all she does is just tell me what do with my powers, have me go along with everything she want to do well what the hell she wants to do, always stopping me from getting with any girl that's even remotely interested in me because she's so fucking jealous for no damned reason. I swear if I have to hear her bitch and moan at me one more time I'll cave her goddamn mouth in so I won't have to hear another word out of that controlling and worthless tramp!" Danny exclaimed as he punched at the wall behind him
Tucker saw his friend soon shake his head as if he were coming out of a haze blinking his eyes that were brightening back to their original color as Tucker saw ice forming out of the hole until it covered it in a inch and a half thick and several inch wide sheet of ice.
"Hey Tucker what the hell happened...and why is there a hole in the wall?" Danny asked wondering why Tucker had a slightly fearful look on his face
"Danny what's the last thing you remember doing?" Tucker asked wondering if Danny remembered anything
"Well we were talking and then you mentioned Sam and then all I can remember was just a haze and…..damn it happened again." Danny cursed as this was the reason why he was worried considering that these were happening more and more frequently
"Well at least now I have a reason to finish up doing those drones." Tucker spoke before looking at the ice
"By the way since when do you have ice powers?" Tucker questioned looking at the sheet of ice on the wall
"Oh that. I've got that about like 6 days after my blackouts started happening as I can use them and all, but the thing is that for one until I can get better control my new ice powers like to have an unstable hairtrigger." Danny noted having gotten his recently unstable ice powers that they had a tendency to go off
"What do you mean they've got an unstable hairtrigger as what's the worst that's happened?" Tucker asked wondering how bad this could be
"Well it's lucky that Desiree is nice to me and is actually really friendly once you get to know her as I had to wish for their to be a coverup story considering when I was on one of my night runs. I'd accidentally turned two blocks in the south side of town into a damn glacier as luckily I managed to blast it apart with the help of some clones but you get the idea." Danny revealed as to what was his worst incident yet
"Yeah that sounds really bad man and I didn't know you and Desiree were a thing." Tucker brought up with a proud smile that his best friend was with the hottest ghost ever
"Were not a thing Tuck besides why would she want me anyways as no girl in the city would be bothered to go near me and just thinks I'm some sackless dipshit." Danny responded in a defeatist tone of voice at the fact that no matter what no girl in Amity Park would be bothered with him
"Come on Danny you can't keep beating yourself up about this you'll find someone eventually." Tucker assured his friend who looked unconvinced
"Yeah right Tucker as about 3 quarters of the girls at school won't go near me, a good chunk of the women here in town won't go near me because they no of how much of an embarrassment my parents are on a daily basis. Then to top all of that off no girl will go near me because Sam constantly cockblocks me in the rare chance I do manage to get a girl to like me." Danny ranted before continuing with his reasoning
"Then on top of that we've got two examples of how even if I got in a relationship it won't fucking work because let's see there was Paulina who on the brief chance I got to date her when I made that stupid wish last year it backfired. Because all she is, is just a spoiled tramp who's been with the entire football and basketball team and that right there just made my stomach turn and ruin my image of my dream crush since 7th grade. Then we have Valerie who hates my other me which makes it impossible for me to ever get close to her on the fact that if she ever found out about me being Danny Phantom then she'd tried to kill me and I'd rather not get blasted or blown up to death. So you know what Tuck know matter how many ways you slice it I'm incredibly and laughably fucked in ever being in a Goddamn relationship!" Danny raved heatedly before exclaiming the last part out that it gathered the attention of the other patrons
"Alright Danny just take a minute to cool it alright, as just take a minute a breathe ok." Tucker told his agitated friend who took a few deep breaths
"So you good?" Tucker questioned the half ghost who nodded
Ok then, as look Danny I've had my fair share of rejections more than anyone else however, I haven't show much as given up on finding a relationship but gone out of Amity Park to do that. As luck may have it I've done the impossible and actually met someone." Tucker revealed making Danny look on in surprise
"Really you met someone." Danny said in a good deal of surprise over his friend actually having met someone
"Yeah I actually did and it's going to take awhile for her to get her with it being around next spring which is right around prom which is around the time I'll introduce you to her." Tucker told Danny who was quite happy for his friend
"Great for you Tuck that's wonderful." Danny said as despite his sullen mood was quite happy for his friend
"Thanks Danny and hey it goes to show that even I can get a girl." Tucker told Danny trying to lighten up his friends mood
"I appreciate it I really do but it's going to take sometime before I actually have a chance at ever getting someone." Danny spoke still in a defeatist mood
"Alright I understand anyways I gotta go man since besides those drones I'm working on I still have some other things I've been working on to finish up so I'll see you later man." Tucker told Danny as he got up
"I'll see you later too Tucker and thanks for hanging out with me since I need it." Danny thanked Tucker before the two parted ways
(Ghost Zone, 8 hours later, Devil's Playground,10:28 Pm)
It was 28 minutes after 10 at night as Danny was at the widely known and popular bar in the Ghost Zone known as the Devil's Playground where if you wanted to come and get drunk and let out some of the demons you've been keeping in all throughout the week by getting drunk. As Danny had been coming here a little after he got his ghost powers and even more so since his blackouts as he could honestly say that he found happiness at the bottom of a bottle evident by him being here and drinking for nearly 2 hours straight.
"Give me more Marcus." Danny spoke his voice taken on a sludge like slur by having drunken himself by what would killed a grown man thrice over
"Look you've been here for awhile and you're a great kid and all but you should stop since you've got a hell of a drinking problem." Marcus told Danny as he hated seeing the half ghost who looked like had a great head on his shoulders drink himself into oblivion
As Marcus was a ghost that looked like a bartender during the 50's with him having thick dark slicked back hair, a squared off jaw that had a fading 5'o clock shadow on it, his skin a pale green due to him being undead as well as him being broad shouldered and haggard looking due to in his past life having served in the army as a marine as he wore the stereotypical outfit for a bartender of the time.
"Look Marcus I've been having a very couple weeks that haven't got better by a long shot, so forgive me if I just want to drink." Danny told the bartender as he wanted to get shit-faced until he couldn't feel a damn thing
"You've been coming here for almost year and I get that you've got problems, but try to lay off the drinking since you still got a chance to live a life since not many are like you." Marcus spoke having had Danny come here for nearly year
"All I want to do is just drink until I can't drink anymore, so just keep them coming alright." Danny told the bartender who simply passed Danny another glass which made it 4 and a half dozen he's had this night
It would be minutes later before Desiree sauntered her way in as she saw Danny drinking himself into oblivion as she went over beside him as it killed her inside to see really the only male that treated her as a person and not as a sex object drink himself sick.
"Danny please stop you've had enough already." Desiree said in concern of the young half ghost
"In case you haven't noticed I've past that point a long time ago." Danny responded as he downed another glass of hard liquor
"Please will you just stop and look at me." Desiree said as Danny continued to get wasted as he ordered himself another drink
"Danny please stop it already, you've had enough." Desiree said in an almost pleading tone as she grabbed Danny's hand to prevent him from downing another glass
What Desiree saw was vastly different from all the other encounters she's had with Danny as in his drunken state he seemed to have aged a full decade with his usually upbeat and snarky demeanor was now replaced by a beaten down and defeated look on his face. His usually bright neon green eyes were now a dull absinthe green and bloodshot with his face looking slightly sunken in as even his hair that was usually white as the driven snow seemed to dull down looking to be a grayish white like rotting bone.
"Have you come to pity Desiree is that it? As have you come to look at the great Danny Phantom drinking himself into a disgusting mess and too see him in a bar fallen so far from grace because if you are then just leave because I don't want none of it at all." Danny questioned bitterly because he didn't want to be pitied at all at this moment as all he wanted to do was just do what he always did when he was here and that was drink himself into sweet unconscious oblivion
"I haven't come to pity you at all Danny I'm just worried about you is all." Desiree responded in concern for Danny
"Then what have you come here for exactly?" Danny questioned through his sludge like slur in his voice
"I'm concerned about you as, I want for you to at least talk to me about what's going on." Desiree said having noticed Danny had been a paranoid wreck as of late
"I don't what you're talking about as I seem to be doing just fine last time I checked." Danny responded as he was unconsciously struggling to keep still
"No you aren't Danny as you've been falling apart and you and I both have seen it." Desiree spoke as Danny still refused to look at her in the face
"I hate seeing you doing yourself like this, as it breaks my heart everytime I see you everyday just falling apart and getting worse and worse as every day goes by. As please tell what's going on because I want to help you get through whatever it is you're going through." Desiree said as she wanted dearly wanted to help her only male companion and friend
"...This is something that you wouldn't even understand Desiree, as you can't even begin to imagine that everyday I'm under so much pressure that it feels like I'm being crushed and suffocated. As you can't even begin to fathom how crushing it is to know that the only thing you're even remotely good at doing has everyone hating and wanting to hunt you down no matter how much you try to be their hero." Danny lamented over his being Danny Phantom
"As sure I save lives and help people but no matter what I'm public enemy number 1 because of what I am because no matter how much I try to be the good guy and try to be their Superman nothing works at all. Because it's so hard sometimes for me to even walk out the door because everyday that I'm me, is another day where I'm hated for doing the right thing, another day where I have to watch my back in case even my parents will turn on me and it's another day where I wake up hating myself." Danny spoke as bitterness and self-loathing were etched into his voice like how artist carves a statue from stone
"Danny I'm here for you, you don't need to face the world alone, as let me help you. As let me be there to shoulder the weight you have on your shoulders so that I can lift you up." Desiree spoke as she wrapped her arms around Danny
"I don't know if I can as I don't want to have to ever burden anyone with being involved with me." Danny said through his sludge like slur as he tried to push Desiree away from him but his drunken state prevented him from fully doing so as she continued wrap her arms around him holding him in a gentle embrace as his face was flush against her large bosom
"That matters not to me at all, as I wish to help you through whatever you're going through and nothing you say or do will stop me." Desiree told him with sincerity in her voice as she continued to hold the drunken and emotionally distraught Danny close to her
"I guess that just this once I'll take Tucker's advice and let someone in." Danny thought as he didn't bother to struggle or push her away instead just letting her hold him in that embrace since God knows he needed someone to comfort him
(3 days later, June 27th 2015, 9:45 Pm, Amity Park)
Danny was flying through the streets of Amity Park on nightly patrol staying ever consciously vigilant not just for ghosts but in the off chance that he'd go on one of these blackouts that he's had as he knew it was never good.
"Alright so far so good." Danny thought to himself as so far he's yet to blackout
"All I have to do is just last till midnight and then I'll be in the clear." Danny said to himself before being shot out of the sky by a blast of lightning
"Just my luck it's him of all people." Danny thought to himself seeing Technus there
"Finally I will show you the power of the almighty Technus." Technus boasted as Danny stood back up
"Listen you don't want to do this alright as you have no idea of how much danger you're in right now." Danny warned Technus as he didn't know how long or when he would blackout again
"Is the protector of Amity Park afraid of me? I should've known as even your power pales in comparison to mine as all will soon feel the power of the great and magnificent Technus." Technus said in his usual prideful manner as soon enough Danny was trying to stay awake as his nose started bleeding
"I don't usually tell you this because of how much of a loathsome douchebag you are but for your own safety you need to get away from me right now." Danny told Technus as his body felt like it got hit by napalm as he was struggling not to blackout but was becoming increasingly difficult
"As if I'll run away from you ghost boy as you will soon know the power that is Technus!" Technus declared as he summoned his lightning rod that began to spark and crackle with lightning
"I'm warning you Technus you don't want to do this." Danny spoke as his nose continued to bleed except more heavily as Technus continued to charge up his attack
"Technus get the hell out of here while you still can as the moment you fire that thing I have no control over what will happen to you, so for all that's good get out of here right now." Danny warned Technus as his upper lip was stained red as the heat he was radiating was so strong that it was causing the ground beneath him to smoke a dark grey
"Now then feel the power that is Technus!" Technus shouted as he sent out a powerful bolt of lightning that struck Danny in the chest hard enough to send him and nearly knock him into a brick wall
"Damn it….I tried to warn him." Danny thought before succumbing as unconsciousness took hold of him
Technus would've gloated had he not felt the sudden rise in temperature as Danny's body ripped itself out of the wall as suddenly instead of the neon green energy that surrounded him normally it was now more reminiscent of a high intensity flame like that of a wildfire as it was a dark ruby on the outside while it had a more rose color on the inside that a mix of rose, bright amethyst and magenta. (Think Super Saiyan Rose Aura if you can't get an accurate representation)
As soon enough Danny began to change as the color scheme for his ghost form soon inverted becoming primarily white and the gloves, boots, symbol and collar became jet black although the ends of his boots and gloves as they went past his forearms and near his mid calf like normal became more in design like that of flames. As the white on his costume was more of grayish white like that of bleached bone, his hair was now a mix of iron gray and obsidian as the whites of his eyes were now a pitch black with them now darkening to become an deep emerald that seem to suck out all available light.
"So what you think that just because you've went through a costume change that you can beat me don't make me laugh ghost boy." Technus spoke as the entity was still covered in that malevolent flame like aura of power
"You do realize that he and I aren't the same person right." The entity told Technus as he floated upwards
"Really then who are you then if not the ghost boy?" Technus questioned as the entity adopted a thinking posture
"That's a good question since I never really thought of giving myself a name." The entity said to himself trying to think of a name as he never really had time too given the limited instances he could come out and that he usually went on murder sprees when he did
"As what to name myself hmmm." The entity murmured to himself as he backhanded a energy beam away courtesy of Technus as he continued to do so launching energy beam after energy beam at him
"Hey will you cut that out already I'm trying to figure out a name for myself." The entity told Technus as he punched Technus into the ground so hard that small chunks of asphalt and debris rained back down to earth
"Let's see it can't be nothing that makes me sound like a dick like Ashton or Kevin." The entity thought as he saw a slightly battered Technus tried to bash his head in with his lightning rod
"Hey how do you feel about the name Jason?" The entity questioned as Technus struggled to land a solid hit against him since he kept blocking with his knee
"I don't care what you name yourself as you can't compare to the might that is Technus…" Technus spoke before suddenly feeling his shoulder dislocated evident by the dark discolored bruise that was forming
"Yeah Jason doesn't sound right either, as dang it I had a name in place for this occasion but damn it all I can't remember it worth a damn but I know for sure it started with an M." The entity stated as he proceeded to sucker punch Technus so hard into a building that it collapsed
"Now I got it I finally remember what my name was gonna be it was…" The entity spoke before suddenly a mechanical hand made of various electronics caught him in a deathgrip seemingly crushing him
"Finally I've caught the ghost boy in my trap and proved that I Technus am superior." Technus boasted as he had the mechanized hand continue to crush his target until there was a burst of blood to signify his death
"Yeah I'm pretty sure that you'd be thinking of me as superior and by the way I finally remembered what my name was going to be for myself." The entity told Technus as it burst free from it's metallic confinement with relative ease in a burst of spectral flames
"As I now name myself Maynard, so please to now make your acquaintance as now that introductions are out of the way I'm going to tear you in half." The newly named Maynard spoke as he had picked the name after his paternal grandfather since from Danny's mind he was a considerably decent man
"I don't care about your damn name as soon enough you'll be gone and out of my way." Technus declared as Maynard yawned
"Oh I'm sorry I couldn't hear you over the sound of your broken leg." Maynard told Technus with a devious grin on his face
"You must clearly be mistaken as my leg isn't broken." Technus spoke however, he soon regretted saying those words
As Maynard soon kicked him hard in his left leg breaking the bones in his knee cap and lower femur evident by the small bone fragments that jutted out of his bleeding leg as Technus howled with pain. However, his howls of pain were soon silenced as Maynard grabbed him by the face and dragged him across the ground tearing apart his flesh as it was scraped off across the road before Technus's face was soon thrown across the street into a nearby car that was nearly flattened from the back on impact.
"So then on a scale of 1 to 10 how fucked would you say you are as, I say it's about an 11." Maynard stated as he looked at Technus who limped out of the car
"Just because you got a lucky shot doesn't mean you stand a chance against my awesome power." Technus once again boasted as he limped out of the car
"Wow you really have an inflated sense of self however, I can fix that by incinerating you." Maynard responded as a fireball sparked to life in his hands before he fired out a volley of them all headed towards Technus
As Technus responded by summoning a circuit board shaped ghost shield that soon cracked apart and subsequently broken as he as Maynard came rushing in with a Spartan kick that came in with such force that the tires popped off as Technus's sternum fractured like glass. As Maynard soon stood over him and soon made a uncontrollable mass of flame that he unleashed point blank causing a sizable explosion in the process as Technus with his clothes on fire and second degree burns covering his person rocketed out of it.
Maynard soon flew after Technus surprising him with a right cross to the forehead that split the skin and before Technus soon found himself grabbed by the head as in one single motion Maynard squeezed until with a gut churning pop and a spray of blood and optical fluid Technus's eye throughout the night.
"Congratulations Technus now you officially look like the eyesore that you are." Maynard teased at Technus's missing eye that bled ectoplasm down his face
"How dare you mock the great and powerful Technus." Technus sneered as his missing eye stung in the warm summer air
"You do realize that you're talking to something that's part of the half ghost that's been kicking you around for the better part of a year and a half right?" Maynard questioned since he wore the mad scientist ghost forgot that he was apart of Danny albeit much more malevolent and homicidal bordering on genocidal
"That doesn't matter to me at all, as I'm going to destroy you and prove my supremacy as the strongest ghost in existence!" Technus declared as Maynard rolled his eyes
"Are you done yet, because I want to go back to ripping you apart right now." Maynard spoke as he lifted up his hand that began to smoke as flames began to form an unstable mass of fire that began to grow larger by the minute
"You insolent brat I'll show you the power that is Technus!" Technus shouted unleashing a energy blast bright blue at Maynard only for him to backhand it aside
"Wow apparently you don't know what an attack is, so allow me to correct that for you." Maynard responded as he threw the unstable large house sized mass of flame at Technus
Technus in his arrogance decided to try and bat the mass of flame away with his lightning rod that proved to be his undoing as the mass of flame exploded in a powerful fireball that lit up the sky as a burning Technus came screaming out of it as the majority of his lime green skin turned black as he crashed to the ground. Technus tried to rise up however Maynard soon rocketed downwards with such force that the snap of Technus's spine could be heard rendering him unable to walk as the mad scientist ghost tried to retaliate with an energy beam however, Maynard's hand clamped down on his forearm
"You know you really are out of your depth against me." Maynard spoke as he planted his foot firm on Technus's chest that caused a pained wheeze to escape him
"Just what do you think you're doing to me?" Technus demanded as he tried to struggle from the half ghost's grip only to inevitably fail
"I don't have to tell you since you'll be finding out in a few moments." Maynard spoke as with a simple flick of the wrist ripped off Technus's right arm sending large spurts of ectoplasmic blood all over the place
"HOW DARE YOU TEAR OFF MY MAGNIFICENT ARM!" Technus screeched out in immense pain as his arm at the upper tricep was torn asunder as jagged shards of bone and flesh remained as ectoplasmic blood continued spurt out
"Quit your blabbering as I haven't finished tearing you apart as just give me a minute." Maynard spoke as he grabbed the one armed ghost by the hair and pressed his now aflame hand between the middle of his ribcage and his upper stomach
"Now then I hope you're ready for one wholy experience." Maynard told Technus as white hot flames sprang to life in his hand
The result was Technus's mouth opening to let out a wordless scream as a fist sized hole was blasted into his being as his internal organs had been flash fried evident by the smell of burnt flesh as Maynard punch him so hard in the face that his bottom jaw flew off his mouth. Maynard then proceed to open up a manhole cover and drop the bleeding body of the mad scientist into the sewers below as a grin of malevolent bloodlust was on his face.
"Now then all I need to do is get rid of one of the dickhead A-listers that's been dicking around with Danny and then onto mayhem and murder." Maynard thought before blasting off into the night sky to use what time he had in control of Danny's
(The next day, 1:45 Pm, Amity Park, June 28th 2015)
Danny and Tucker were walking through the streets of Amity as Danny last night had gotten a good night's rest which was weird considering when he had his blackouts he usually woke up surrounded in blood and although him waking up in a ice cold sweat with his body feeling like it was on fire, but he wasn't going to question it.
"Man I'm telling you Tuck I feel better as finally I've managed to get a good night's rest minus the whole me waking up in sweat soaked sheets." Danny spoke feeling better than what he normally would after blacking out
"And yet you aren't freaked out by the fact that your bed sheets are soaked through with sweat or that you have no recollection of the past 12 hours of you blacking out." Tucker stated as the fact that this didn't disturb him about these two things happening slightly had him worried
"Oh no as the whole me sweating thing is something I've grown used to but the me having no memory for extended periods of time still scares the absolute hell out of me." Danny responded matter of factly as while the excess sweating didn't bother him the blanks in his memory did
"Ok good then since if you weren't worried then I was gonna probably bitch slap you for having gone out of your stinkin mind." Tucker told Danny since he would bitch slap Danny for not being worried about having blanks in his own memory
"You wouldn't dare." Danny said not believing Tucker would bitch slap him
"Bitch please. I will smack the taste out of your mouth because don't think that just because we're friends I won't use the almighty pimp hand on you." Tucker retorted as Danny stuck out his tongue at him
"Anyways what are you gonna do about your new ice powers though?" Tucker questioned as to how Danny would be handling his new ice powers
"I don't know considering that it's gonna a hassle to control considering they have a hair trigger." Danny spoke as he laid his hand against a wall as suddenly his hand pulsed a icy neon blue and a thin sheet of ice that steamed in the summer heat spread a good two and a half feet outwards
"And as if to illustrate my point this happens." Danny spoke looking at the ice covered wall
"Fair enough point but still Danny you should consider getting help with that considering when we'd go back to school I'd rather you not sneeze all of P.E into an iceberg." Tucker advised as while the scene would be comical to see would still prove to be disastrous
"I know Tuck which is why I'm gonna be looking around in the Ghost Zone to see if anyone can help me out." Danny answered back since if there was anyone or anything that could help with his new ice powers it'd reside in the Ghost Zone
"Well I do wish you luck with that." Tucker said wishing Danny the best in trying to control his powers
"Thanks I appreciate it, but the question is where would I even go to do this because the thing is that the Ghost Zone is a massive place Tucker and so far we haven't even scratched a one-hundredth of the place yet." Danny said to Tucker as to where he could go to master his new ice powers
Because the thing was that during their sweeps throughout the Ghost Zone they'd come to the realization that the supernatural dimension was much more vast than what they realized with it not only being the residency for ghosts. But also the fact that when Danny by accident had went too far into the depths of the Ghost Zone found out that there were more ancient parts of the realm of the Ghosts and pathways that led to even Hell itself since he has the scars to prove it from an initial encounter with one.
"I agree therefore until you stop having these blackouts you are going nowhere near those demonic pathways because we still have no idea what's out there." Tucker said as anytime Danny went near them it went with a near certainty to get attacked by demons or worse yet a possibility to get sucked into Hell
"Come on Tucker I handle it just fine." Danny assured Tucker who rolled his eyes
"Danny if you're definition of handling it is you fighting of large groups of demons by yourself then you really are crazy." Tucker spoke thinking that Danny was in over his head when fighting demons
"Well maybe my getting my ice powers under control lies in using those demonic pathways since we still don't know what's in the Ghost Zone. Besides you'd think that there would be at least one demon willing to help me since I have to at least believe that there's good in at least everyone." Danny told Tucker who then proceeded to backhand Danny across the face
"Ouch! What the hell was that for Tucker?" Danny questioned as to why Tucker backhanded him like a prison bitch
"Because I told you that I'd bitch slap you if you started talking crazy and since you just did, you just earned yourself a damn bitch slap." Tucker spoke in irritation that Danny would consider getting help from fucking demons of all things
"Come on Tucker what's the harm as I could handle it just fine." Danny responded as Tucker only stared him down
"Danny you do realize the fact that demons are notorious for never doing anything for free right? As you do realize that the moment you ask a demon for help considering the scope of what this is that it's going to cost you something and you don't even know what that is." Tucker told Danny as throughout folklore and history demons rarely if ever did anything for free and expected a deal to be made if they were doing something for you
"I'm well aware of that Tucker and I'm prepared for the consequences of if I may have to make a deal." Danny answered back in resolution
"Danny are you insane you don't know what they'll take from you as who knows what will happen to you or what they'll get from you once the deal is made." Tucker spoke to Danny trying to get him see that making a deal with a demon in exchange for helping to control his powers was dangerous
"What can they take from me Tucker as let's look at the following shall we; a crappy social life at school where I get picked on and beaten up constantly, parents who neglect their own children because they're obsessed with ghost hunting, and a goth friend who constantly cockblocks me from getting with anyone. So yeah Tucker I sure got a lot to lose that some demon can take from me which from a personal standpoint is not all that much at all." Danny responded considering that in the grand scheme of things he didn't have all that much that anyone could really take from him
"Look I understand where you're coming from in all this. However, just take it easy Danny as I know that things haven't been the best for either of us but just take a moment to realize that eventually things are gonna get better Danny." Tucker spoke trying to assure Danny that things will turn up brighter later down the line
"Honestly Tucker making a deal with a demon sounds better than anything in my life because ever since and even before I became Danny Phantom my life has just been one fuck up after the other. With their ever only being small commercial breaks in-between but they never last too long, so what's one more to add to the pile of shit that is my life? As I'm just dying to hear an answer because I'm tired of hearing that self righteous nonsense of doing it because it's the right thing from Sam so don't even bother peddling it to me either." Danny questioned since he truly felt at the end of his rope a good portion of the time
"Look just promise me that you won't go towards those pathways to make a deal until you've tried every option you can, because let's face all Sam does in the grand scheme of things is boss us around. But you're my only best friend and I don't want to lose you because you didn't try every available option which is why I want you to promise me something." Tucker spoke not wanting to lose his really only best friend because he didn't use every possibility he could
"Sure what do you want me to agree to?" Danny asked wondering what the promise was about
"I want you to promise me that you won't go near a demonic pathway to make a deal about getting help to control your ice powers until you've taken every option to learn how to control them. Because I do not want to have to hear on the news about some catastrophe that happened because you didn't try every possible way before going to do the most reckless last resort imaginable." Tucker said making Danny promise since he didn't want his best friend to do something drastic when he hasn't at least done any alternatives that didn't result in him making a deal with a dangerous entity
"I promise I won't make a deal until I've taken and looked for all alternatives. There are you happy Tucker?" Danny said as Tucker smiled that Danny would honor the promise
"Yes I am and also I'm going to run a test on you to see if I can find out if you're ice powers being so unstable could be linked to your blackouts or you're ghost core" Tucker told Danny as he wanted to see if there was anything wrong with Danny's ice powers from a more scientific perspective
"You think my ice powers having such a hair-trigger to them could be related to my blackouts and ghost core?" Danny asked having never considered those two things as an option
"It's a possibility after all as I'll have some tests ran on you this week and get back to on the test results as soon as I can." Tucker spoke thinking the problem might be biological or physical in nature
"Just thanks for all the help lately as it means a lot for me." Danny thanked Tucker
"It's what I'm here for after all so, with that being said let's go to Popeye's since I'm starving." Tucker spoke directing Danny to go with him
"Whatever you say besides I could go for a bite to eat as well." Danny replied as the two headed off to get food
So then with a malevolent alternate personality the cause of Danny's homicidal blackouts and newfound and unstable ice powers on the rise can our hero rise once more to the occasion of being Amity Park's protector or will he succumb to the suffocating pressures within. Find all this out in future chapters of My Phantasmal Lateralus
So this concludes the debut to my replacement Danny Phantom story for The Blood Phantom 2.0 as I hope you like this since I do plan on it surpassing its predecessor as trust me this story is gonna take a lot of turns that will have it go dark in some places and there will be character deaths since this does take place in the D.C universe. That being said let's get down to what's gone on.
First off we've got the part with Danny and Tucker at the Nasty Burger since this does take place after Ultimate Enemy which shows the after effects of what's happened to Danny since then and it ain't pretty. Because Danny as you can see it has been affected by his evil future self with the fact that no matter what he does he'll always turn into him which as you can see has made him more emotionally unhinged and paranoid not to mention him going into blackouts that leaves him with memory blanks that will be touched upon more as the story progresses.
Next up we've got the scene that shows that Danny is an alcoholic in this one since with the pressure of having to be a hero to Amity Park but wind up being it's pariah as well, not to mention having neglectful parents who if having found out his secret identity would kill him, on top of the fact that he's had failed relationships as mention briefly with Paulina and Valerie causes Danny to be a hardline drunk. Also this won't be a Danny and Desiree pairing but they will have a deep friendship since she'll be there to help Danny get through life and the immense pressures that strain him and Danny to comfort and be there for her as the person who can see through her as a sex symbol.
Next up we've got the following scene where it's revealed that Danny's blackouts are the result of an alternate personality that calls itself Maynard which for most of this prelude arc before Part 1 will serve as sort of a pseudo antagonist since he's Danny's conscious mind having split all off his negative emotions such as rage, hatred, greed, nihilism, fear and other such emotions into one being. As Maynard is and will serve throughout the story to be Danny's opposite in many regards evident by him being much more vicious than Danny evident by his brutal dismantlement of Technus and the fact that from his inverse costume to his powers which are fire based instead of ice will be a contrasting dichotomy to him with his motives being revealed further down the line.
Lastly we've got Tucker and Danny discussing how to go about him controlling his unstable ice powers which is going to be quite hard due to them as Danny stated having a hair-trigger not to mention this also opened up a plot point of how Danny goes to control his ice powers. Since in canon we never do see all of the Ghost Zone and it can be safely assumed that since ghosts exist and that they're in-between a state of neither heaven nor hell that there would be pathways to hell itself or heaven for that matter with Danny having found the roads to hell via demonic pathways something of which will be explored more and play a part in Danny's ice powers.
With that being said please remember to favorite, follow, review and share this story as much as possible as I really want for it too do good and let me know what you thought of this in the reviews and any suggestions or thoughts you'd want to leave please leave in the reviews.
That being said this is Pravus666 signing out until next time as the next chapter will show some more of how Danny is becoming more emotionally and mentally unhinged as trust me what you've seen is only just scratching the surface.
Prelude Arc Theme Song: 46 and 2 by Tool
Random End Song: Elvis Presley Circle Pit by Devilskin