Choices
Hehe, so I seriously had to get this off my chest. I am sorry in advance. This is kinda depressing xD.
Summary-
Danny hated living two lives. In the end, there was only one choice... Rated for angst and suicide. One-shot
I don't own Danny Phantom.
"Heros are made when you make a choice."
~Hero by Superchick
For most, there is only life and death.
Nobody knew the hell that lies in between.
Danny knew that hell. He was a half-ghost. Half. Caught in between the veil of the living and the dead, he wasn't any more on one side than on the other. He was split so perfectly down the middle, it was cruel.
He hadn't known it was such a cruel fate at first. He remembered clearly the day he had stepped into his parents 'broken' ghost portal. Only to find out that it hadn't been broken at all. Leave it to Dad to have the on and off button on the inside. Although maybe Danny's own clumsiness was also to blame, but that's beside the point.
The night he discovered his ghostly half wasn't all too pleasant. He woke up to find his little 'accident' had really affected him afterall. At first, he wanted nothing to do with it. It was bad enough that his parents were hunting creatures that didn't exist to the public. Everyone at school already pushed him around for that. He didn't need to add to his misery by being one of them.
Then came the day another ghost came to school. She was called the Lunch Lady. When lives were in danger, something changed. He didn't care about what people thought of him. He didn't worry about being a freak or anything of the sort. He only knew he was the only one who would be able to fight the ghost on a level playing field. He defeated the ghost with his newfound powers.
It was a wonderful feeling, he remember. The feeling of (as cheesy as it sounds) doing something right. He knew he had a new responsibility. It compensated for the whole "you're a complete freak" thing. It was fun, too. He couldn't say that flying was anything but awesome. The way he felt when discovered new powers and abilities was similar to getting power-ups in the video game Doomed. And not to mention beating up ghosts (and -ahem- occasionally messing with certain popular kids). To him, it was all fun and games.
That was before Danny realized that playing 'halfa' is a terrible burden.
But you have to understand, he didn't mind being a ghost at all. Or a human. As a human he had the responsibilities of keeping up with school, avoiding bullies, hanging out with friends and family, you know, the average human lifestyle. As a ghost, he had to protect the town, his people and loved ones, the whole superhero gig. Both sides were equally important to him. It was when the two worlds collided, a problem arose. Keeping both worlds was not only exhausting, but impossible.
He would lose sleep after hunting down ghosts all night and in turn, lower his grades. His parents began to notice his lack of effort in school and gave him long lectures about it. And the fact that he never made it home by his curfew wasn't helpful. And let's not forget all the terrible injuries he would have to hide in a daily basis.
The list was endless. There were so many times he would have to choose on over the other. It was never at all a fair choice. He hated it. He hated having to choose saving a life or having one. And nobody could understand. Not even the only other half-ghost in the world. You see, there was a big difference between Vlad and Danny.
For Danny, each of his halves were the opposite of the other. Fenton was so shy and weak. He could barely defend himself from bullies, and he never interacted with others unless he absolutely had to. Phantom, however, could face Pariah Dark and his ghost army without a doubt. No one was to tough or to strong to overcome. He would constantly put his after-life on the line for others.
On the other hand, both of Vlad's halves were similar. Both Plasmius and Masters were power hungry and cold-hearted. They were known as powerful leaders and enemies in both the human an ghost world. There was little difference between his living and dead halves. For him, there was no double life.
In the end, there was no one to go to. Nothing would help Danny be able to live both lives to its fullest. One would always hold the other back. Always.
Unless… he changed.
That's why three days ago, he decided he need to make up his mind. He used to think that living as a half-ghost was something that he had to do. But now he saw it was a choice. Life or death. Human or ghost. Again, it was never a fair choice. He wanted to be sure that his decision was the right one. There would be no going back once he decided.
So here he was, up on the Fenton Works roof. He sat on the ledge with his back to the open air watching the sun touch the horizon. Today at sundown, he would finalize his decision. He still had time to change his mind. But he already felt solid in his choice.
Danny observed the sky as it was dyed purple and orange. It was beautiful, really...Gee, if Jazz heard him getting all teary right now... He sighed at the thought. He never really told anyone about his choice. He needed to make this decision on his own, unbiased. And besides, it wasn't death. By the time the moon would shine in the sky, he would be reborn as a whole new person. Whole and complete, unified and undivided.
Now the last rays of light were beginning to die. His time was up. But he regretted nothing about his choice. It didn't matter if no one understood. He was only concerned about doing what was right.
Maybe... Danny always knew. Maybe as early as when he first went ghost, he knew that he would have to make a choice. And what choice to make. Maybe it was the fact that he never bothered to work out how he would turn himself completely human...
His grip on the edge slackened and he drank in the cool night air.
He gave a small knowing smile...
...and tumbled backwards over the ledge.
That night, upon the fall of the youngest Fenton, arose Amity Park's greatest hero:
Danny Phantom.
What have I done... poor Danny. And the weird thing is that I wasn't really inspired by a song on this one (the song quote is just something I thought of after I wrote this).
Ha, anyways, please review. I hope you all forgive me for this. I will try to stay away from super depressing fics. in the future.
My next fic. is going to be an actual chapter story. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope I'll see ya there!