I did something a little different with his story... I used both past and present "wording" to mix it up for once. Hopefully I don't confuse too many people. Enjoy.

DP Day of Angst 2009

Whenever he's in the room, my breath becomes wisps of pale gray rising through the air and my skin crawls as the temperature drops radically. I try to ignore his cold expression and harsh demeanor, but… lately it's become too much for me. I can't even talk to him like he's my best friend anymore. When he's Phantom, it's more professional than anything, and it's like he pretends not to know me. We hunt ghosts together like the old times, sure, but it's… it's not the same. Nothing is anymore, and my heart aches too much whenever his azure eyes meet mine for me to say anything about it.

I know Danny's not going to college, unlike the rest of us. Jazz left Fentonworks two years back for some fancy private school in the mid-US. Tucker found a technology-centered school, big surprise, and I… well, I actually picked something nearby. It's not big and fancy, and if anything it's more of a community college. It's nice though, and I don't want to leave Danny alone. I know how that can turn out, and things are bad enough as they are.

I think it started back when he hit his sixteenth birthday. The second year of having his ghost powers. I'll be honest- they were absolutely glorious by this point. He was so skilled in what he used to struggle at and ghost fighting was so easy to him. He laughed so much this year…

I miss the sound of his laughter. I miss it so, so much.

And then it happened.

It was during a simple fight with Technus, nothing too crazy or anything. He would babble about his plans and Danny used his witty remarks, or puns as I prefer them to be called, just like two years prior. It was all routine… and then…

Something happened to Danny. Whether it was some sort of new power, or all the stress mounting on top of him, I don't know, but… he was different all of a sudden. He wasn't goofy or… well, odd while he fought. He was cold and malicious. He looked as though he was in pain- like something was being stabbed into his chest.

And then he snapped.

That was the last day Technus existed. That was the day that Danny, single-handedly, had managed to destroy a ghost all together. He had killed. Every moral he had stuck by, every promise… it all dissipated in the wind.

Simply put, it was terrible. By now, Danny was a celebrity, known world-wide for his brand of benevolent justice. Now… that was completely gone. All the faces of the people watching him, entirely horror struck. His parents… Tucker and I… we could only stare at him as he stood in a pool of ectoplasm, his head hung.

Finally, after several moments of heart-breaking silence, he laughed. It began as a small, weak chuckle, and escalated into full hysteria. He threw his head back towards the sky, his eyes wide and glowing as he roared continuously. It was a sick, cruel sound, and for a brief moment I forgot it was still Danny. The clueless raven-haired, scrawny freshman who was only trying to fit in with the crowd. The one I had forced into the portal.

The one I had turned into a monster.

He killed every other ghost he fought after that. His parents said his grades were slipping, and he wouldn't talk to them about anything. Not even casual conversation at the dinner table. He would disappear for hours at random intervals during the night, leaving no note or anyone with any idea of his whereabouts. I worried about him during this whole time, especially when he hadn't called me for a week straight. It wasn't like him to keep me out of the loop, and Tucker as well. He was just as concerned as I was, and it was painful for me to watch.

I did see him occasionally at school and tried to talk to him. He seemed to tolerate me, but was never in the mood for long conversations. Every time I tried to mention his sudden change of behavior, he would glare at me, his bright emerald eyes flashing vividly once before turning on his heels and leaving. It was hopeless.

This is where I am now. I've done my best to overlook Danny's inner darkness, but I'm at the breaking point. I have to talk to him now…

I feel my blood turn to ice as I receive a call from a familiar number.

"It's Danny," I breathe in bewilderment, paralyzed in place for several seconds before rushing to the phone. "H-Hello?" I blurt out as I press the device to my ear. On the other side there's crying from a woman.

"Sam, he's gone. He's been gone all day. And… this is different, it's really bad. Oh please, Sam, tell me you've seen him!" His mother, Maddie, begs.

I swallow hard. "No, I'm sorry… what's up with him?" My words are hardly over whispers.

"He… he was so angry. It wasn't normal, not even for him now! He was so violent… we tried talking to him and he stormed the lab. He destroyed so much equipment, and… he attacked us."

I feel my shoulders tremble. I'm too far in shock to realize I had been crying for the past few minutes.

"I'm fine, but Jack has a really bad burn from ectoplasm on his chest. Oh, Sam… I don't know what to do… I was hoping you-"

I hear a muffled click as the phone plummets to the floor, but I don't care. I rush out the door immediately afterwards, not even bothering to grab my coat to fight against the icy breeze of autumn.

Danny is already there. Or I should say, Phantom is. He's at my doorstep, his fingers digging against the brick walls that had been guarding me. For the first time in a long time, he looks scared.

"Danny!" I cry out through my sobs.

"S-Sam, I… I'm…" he stutters hoarsely, "I'm becoming a monster."

I shake my head and go to grab his shoulders. "Y-You're not, Danny. You're just… going through…" My fingers wrap around his shoulders and freeze in place. Almost literally. He's so cold… and touching him feels so… fake, that it makes me feel like my hands are about to slip through his torso at any given moment.

I was beginning to understand.

"I'm so sorry. It's too late, Sam… I tried… God, I tried," he chokes out, squeezing his eyes shut. A strange mist is rising from his body.

"Danny…" He pulls away from me and takes two paces back.

"You need to run, Sam. Please. Get as far away from here as possible… go away." He looks up at me, a strange light sparking in his eyes. His desperate expression is changing.

"I'm not leaving, not now, Danny. I have to help you!" I shout, stepping towards him. He flinches and takes another step backwards and closer to the street.

"Get away, Sam. Run," he warns again, a sharp edge building in his voice.

"Danny! Stop this! Please, I just want to help!"

"You can't help me!" He roars, throwing his arms out. I'm struck by a small shockwave, which knocks the wind out of my lungs and sends me back over the concrete steps and into a wall. I cough and attempt to breathe, saliva clogging my airway. At this point, Danny's eyes are flashing red and a vicious aura is radiating from him.

"You can't help me! None of you can! You all keep trying and trying… you're just getting yourself killed!" He reaches up and digs his gloved hands through his hair. "Nngh… you're all… you're worthless! You're all such idiotic… I spent so much time trying to save you and it tore me apart! I went through so much trouble just for you… it hurt so bad… I'm not even me! I'm not even human anymore! You all killed me! You fucking killed me!"

I vaguely feel a hand wrap around my throat before I'm sent hurdling across the asphalt. The rough surface skins the surface of my flesh, causing it to sting even worse in the icy wind. A broken scream escapes my lips, but it's abruptly cut off as Danny phases into existence in front of me, this time wrapping both his hands around my neck. My breathing halts immediately as his hands tighten with crushing pressure.

Out of instinct, I slap and claw at his hands in an attempt to break free from his choking grasp. He wants to kill me… he's actually trying to…

There are screams. Who are they from?

My vision is spinning.

Danny glares intensely at me with raging crimson eyes. No… Phantom does. This isn't Danny. My friend, the old Danny… clueless little dweeb…

My hands fall uselessly to my sides.

He's been gone for a long time now… there's nothing of him left…

My eye flutter closed.

He's been dead for two years.

Danny...

Darkness.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

They screamed when they found him. They cried when they saw her.

"Phantom takes his first victim!" All over the news.

Everyone knows. They're all scared.

He's nothing more than an angry spirit. He kills. He destroys.

They're still screaming.

Phantom is a terrible murderer.

Little Daniel is pronounced dead.

His last memory was of holding the body of a girl.

A girl, whom his heart ached for.

A lifelessly limp girl he embraced as he sobbed the rest of his humanity away.