After the dust settle, and the smoke cleared, the hero collapsed on the ground, exhausted and physically destroyed. The explosion had happened, he was right all along. He couldn't protect them, but now it was a painful truth. No bodies were left, barely anything from the victims were left, except for one thing.
A spiked bracelet, left by a girl of purple eyes, which now sat beside the teen hero.
All around, the townspeople came out from their homes to check what had happened, but when they saw the scene, it was mixed reactions. Some looked in horror at the sight, seeing the first real death in the town. Those who had hated the hero looked in sorrow and regret, feeling terrible for trying to make him look bad.
However, when the young hero still later upon the ground, he couldn't feel anything. Not the stares from the people, but the smoke and fire nearly a foot next to him, not even his faint heartbeat. All in all, he felt numb. Empty. Hollow. But what he felt most of all: Useless. Someone who was fast enough could've stopped the bomb, yet he didn't. Someone who was strong enough could've defeated the evil person sooner, yet he couldn't.
He was...lost.
However from the shadows, came more ghosts. All of them, old enemies and friends, and even neutrals, came out of the woodwork. The residents looked in worry, some running away, but none of the ghosts attacked. None charged. None even held a fist. They just stood there, and, for the first time for many of them, felt regret for their actions.
Then came forward the mayor of the city, not fearing the ghosts in anyway, shocking the civilians. In fact, they parted ways for him to walk, and he didn't stop till he was beside the hero. Once he saw the emptiness in his eyes, he saw that he finally hit the breaking point. Nothing else mattered, for he had nothing to go from. He lost he family, his friends, and his teacher. Nothing else could give him that spark again.
Feeling like the worst Uncle/Godfather, the mayor gently bent down and picked up the broken hero, as well as the spiked bracelet. Holding him close to the chest, he walked out, the ghosts parting ways for the duo, and he walked far to his mansion. The residents looked in horror, but then looked down in shame at the sight. When they arrived at the mansion, the ghosts who had came now created a perimeter for the pair, not letting anyone, dead or alive, inside.
Inside the place, the older man looked in despair at the teen, who had changed forms inside. His snow white hair changed to a raven black, his spandex shifted to a shirt and jeans, and his eyes morphed from a broken green, to a hollow blue. He laid on the couch, not moving, not shifting his gaze from the ceiling at all.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Little Badger," the mayor tried to plead, seeing that his smug attitude could wait. The teen didn't reply, not moving and barely breathing. The mayor knew that the teen couldn't stay here, not if he wanted to get better, so he did what he should've done. With a sad glance, the mayor walked to the phone and dialed it.
After a few rings, the voice on the other picked up. "Fujioka residents." A man's voice, but was sligslightly higher than many.
"Hey Ranka," the mayor took a breath, feeling the weight on his heart and core finally catch him. "it's...it's Vlad. Vlad Masters."
A small gasp came from the other end, "V-Vlad? W-What's wrong?" Now the other man had a slightly shaking voice, feeling the emotions from his older cousin.
"..." Vlad took a pause, not knowing how to proceed. After collecting his thoughts, he finally gained enough nerves to do it. "It's...Your sister, M-Maddie."
Another gasp came from the other end, but the man stayed silent. The silence was starting to kill Vlad, both the silence from the younger halfa and now Maddie's brother, who moved to Japan when he could. He did eventually speak again, but it was in broken sentences, so Vlad helped him and explain that she, he husband, their daughter had just perished in an explosion in town. A tear rolled down Vlad's cheek, feeling the years of obsession and near stalking finally get to him and pull him down.
"T-There's something else..." Vlad said after some time, turning and glancing to the teen, who was still laying on the couch with the same empty look. "One of the F-Fentons survived...M-Maddie's son, Daniel."
"What a-are we going to do?" Ranka sniffled, due to crying a ton on the other end of the phone.
After a long pause, and much reflection on Vlad's end, Vlad did have a solution. "He can't stay in Amity, or America in my opinion. It would never help him, which is why-"
"Yes." Ranka cut the older man off, already knowing what he would ask. Vlad let out a sigh of relief, feeling a small amount of hope rise for Daniel in his old heart. "When can you get him here?"
"I'll send my private jet," Vlad said, slowly filling with determination to help the last reminder of both the woman he loved, and the son who never backed down from it. In a way, it gave the teen a load of respect from Vlad, but he was never good at showing it to him. "He'll be there in three days."
With that, the line ended. Enough was said, and a plan was in motion, and Vlad was going to make sure it happened.
On the other end of the phone, a man (dressed as a woman) hung it back up and slowly sank onto a nearby couch. Tears were spilling out of his eyes, as well as a sniffle from his nose, but what was hurting the most was his heart. He loved his sister dearly, and was destroyed when he moved away to Tokyo for his wife, but he tried to keep in touch. The lock from the door unlocked, causing him to look up with tears in his eyes, as his daughter walked in from the store. Her short brown hair waved slightly in the wind, but he chocolate eyes looked in shock and horror at her father's grief-stricken appearance.
"Dad, what's wrong," She immediately asked, setting the groceries quickly on a counter top and rushing by her father's side.
"H-Haruhi," her father spoke, feeling destroyed, "R-Remember when I-I told you about my s-s-sister?" His chocked up attitude didn't help settle any nerves in his daughter's eyes. At her nod, he took a deep breath, "S-She just died. Some e-explosion at a restaurant. Her husband and d-daughter perished as well."
Haruhi was taken aback by the news. She never met her aunt, but when her father spoke of her, he spoke with utmost happiness and joy at their childhoods and their mistakes growing up. From what she remembered, her name was Maddie, and she was extremely bright in science. What she studied alluded her at the moment, but she was the top at her field.
"O-Only one person lived..." Ranka continued, wiping a tear away from her cheek. Haruhi stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt her father in this horrible moment for him. "Her son, D-Daniel. I was contacted by an old friend, and we agreed to let him stay here for some time. H-he needed to get away from his hometown, and this was the best way to d-do it."
Haruhi listed to her father's words, but was honestly surprised by her father's actions. Yet all she knew was that she was going to help someone in need. That's all she cared about.
The plane landed with a soft thud, coming to a quick halt on the runway. Inside, the pilots shut off the plan and put it into a parked mode (idk how planes work), before walking outside the cabin. Seeing the sight of a distraught Vlad Masters and a broken child tore at their hearts, but they pushed on and lowered the steps outside. Clean air and the soft scent from trees slowly filled the plane, helping to calm down Vlad, but it didn't have the same effect on Danny. For the entire flight, he just stared off into the distance, but his eyes held the memories of pain and strife for anyone to see. Occasionally, his eyes would shift to the spiked bracelet that sat on his left wrist, but that only seemed to make him worse.
"Daniel," Vlad gently called, causing the teen to look up. "We're here." A silent nod came from him, standing up and taking the duffel bag he brought and putting it against his back.
Walking down the steps, the workers saw the kid and felt the pain he went through, and that was just by looking at his eyes. A car was waiting for them, along with the driver, who held the door open for Vlad and Daniel. Both shuffled into the car, followed by the driver closing it behind them, and they were soon driving into Tokyo, all the while Danny stared out the window with a blank stare. A blur seemed to pass before him, and he didn't bother to stop it, instead fading into a wallflower instead, and just watched with no interest. After a silent car ride, they arrived at the apartment complex, and many people stopped when an expensive car pulled up.
Daniel barely noticed when the door opened, but slowly unbuckled and stepped out of it. The small crowd that had gathered beside the car let out some gasps at the sight. Not only was this teen not from America, but he looked with the horrors and pains that only soldiers seemed tog et after years of service. The adults all got a silent message from Vlad, who looked with a pleading look, and they pushed their children and others away so that they were alone in peace.
A thankful look fell upon Vlad's face, but it fell again when he looked towards Daniel, who was still empty in his looks. Almost as if his soul was the hallow of a tree, but with no spirit residing in it. Taking a nervous breath, Vlad gently pushed Danny up the stairs and into the complex. Arriving in front of the door, Vlad gave a reassuring squeeze on the teen's shoulder before knocking. Some footsteps later, and the door swung open, revealing a woman to Danny, but Vlad knew otherwise.
"Hello Ranka," Vlad spoke, still holding onto Danny's shoulder.
"Hello Vlad," The voice gave a slight shock to Danny, not expecting a man's voice behind it. Yet the shock near instantly faded back into the emptiness like before, causing the new man to look down. The man took a small gasp from shock, staring at the child. He didn't have Maddie's fiery hair, but he sure as hell had her eyes, but they looked destroyed. "I assume this is Daniel."
In the days leading up to their arrival, Danny had changed a small bit in appearance. In his human form (which is what he would try to be fore the rest of his life) he had his black hair, a white strip went down the center, almost like a mohawk against a black background. And, much to Vlad's surprise, he got a small piercing, a small black earring, in his right ear. He still wore the spiked bracelet on his left wrist.
"Yes, it is." Vlad looked down at the teen, feeling broken himself that Daniel was now looking more like a shell than a happy teen, not like the one he was before. The fire was gone, damp and dried out. "Daniel, this is your uncle, Ryoji Fujioka, but he prefers Ranka."
Danny looked up, not really showing any sign of life to the older man, but nodded his head to him. Ranka's smile slightly fell at the empty reply, but he didn't let it get down his spirit. Inviting them both in, Danny (from a gentle push from Vlad) entered and took of his shoes, as he saw from Ranka, and entered the apartment.
It was a nice apartment, clean and simple, and it didn't give Danny a sense of dread when he walked in. It wasn't lavish and flamboyant as Vlad's mansion, and it gave a small amount of calm in Danny's chest. Kneeling down at the table, the three men sat in a silence, quietly sipping tea as the awkward tension filled in. Vlad was uncomfortable, and didn't want to explain too much of Daniel's past, but he didn't know how far to go. Ranka didn't know anything about young Daniel, so he would start there.
"So Daniel..." Ranka began, putting down his tea and looking to the teen. Said teen looked up, but didn't have any emotion in his face. "How are you feeling?' A stupid question, both Ranka and Vlad knew that, but they had to start somewhere.
"..." Danny went quieter than before (which is saying something, since he was basically mute before), but a tear did finally escape his eye and fall down his cheek. Vlad's eyes widened in complete shock. In the days and hours from the explosion to now, Danny didn't let any sort of emotions or signs of life slip, instead adopting a blank mask and not letting anything slip. The fact that a tear now escaped showed huge signs to Vlad, who was hoping for a break in the façade.
Seeing the tear, Ranka shuffled to Danny's side and pulled the teen into him with a hug, holding the back of Danny's head against his shoulder. Rubbing slow circles in his back, Ranka felt his shirt slowly get a wet stain, hearing a sob come from the teen's mouth, soon gave way to the mountain of tears that followed from Danny. All the pent up emotions: Anger, grief, sadness, emptiness, loneliness (and many other -ness's), it all broke from the dam and now were released with cries and whimpers.
For the first time, Vlad was now happy for his Little Badger. He had all these emotions stored in his heart, and he knew it would soon affect his obsession or his core. He felt terrible for not being better help before, but now he had a chance to fix it and help make everything better. Seeing Danny cry was honestly the most relieving sight any of them had seen in days, especially Vlad.
Slowly the crying stopped and Danny went silent, but he had latched onto Ranka and wasn't planning on letting go, not that Ranka minded at all. He just sat there, holding the broken teen close, rubbing his back and whispering soft words to him. That was when the front door opened, revealing Haruhi in her uniform for school, and she immediately paused when she saw the three people. A new man, with a gray ponytail and looked a bit older, was sat in his suit and having a simple emotion face. Looking towards her father, she saw him holding someone close, like he did to her when they were younger. Then her eyes turned to the teen, who slowly lifted his head from Ranka's shoulder.
Now Haruhi had a small gift at reading emotions and faces of people, which is how she picked out the twins easily in school a couple of days ago (even if they switched hair color). She had also been able to hide her small outbursts when needed. But when she looked into that teen's eyes, she saw everything. The pain, the loss, grief, depression, but most of all: loneliness. Also seeing his physical appearance (from the hair, earring and spiked bracelet to his now stained and puffy cheeks), she made a silent vow to get to know and help him.
"Haruhi," Ranka called, snapping the girl from her trance. She put down her school stuff on a counter, and made her way over to the group at the table. "This," pointing to the older man, "Is Vlad Masters. He was the friend I told you about over the phone."
"Hello Vlad-san," Haruhi offered a small bow, which Vlad returned courteously.
"Good day, Haruhi." The older man replied, before looking sadly to Danny.
"And this," Ranka continued, pointing to Danny, "Is Daniel. He'll be staying with us for a few days."
The two teens locked eyes, but Danny saw something deeper. He had also a small gift in reading people, but he could thank his ghost half for that. Sometime ago, he gained a new power, which allowed him to see into people's emotions and cores through soft sphere's of light inside them. Haruhi was no different, but he saw something...familiar in them. Vlad's sphere was of blue (sadness) and a small of amount of yellow (joy), but the yellow was slowly growing. Ranka was yellow, blue, pink (caring) and purple (slightly nervous). Yet when he looked into Haruhi's, he got a flashback of Jazz's sphere. They were the same exact colors and amount of them: half pink, a quarter blue, a dash of purple, and the rest was of white (which Danny never fully found out what it meant yet). The memories flashed in his head, and he couldn't help but feel calmer with her nearby.
"Nice meet you Daniel-san," Haruhi said, bowing her head again. Vlad thought that Danny wasn't going to speak, but he was once again shocked when the teen shuffled slightly away from Ranka.
"Please...call me Danny."
It was the first sentence he spoke in the four days, and Vlad was nearly having a heart attack at the turn of events. From there on, he knew that Danny would be in good care with these people. Standing up and flattening out his suit, Vlad glanced at his watch and sighed.
"I must be off," he told the group, adjusting his tie. "I can't leave the town for too long, or else all hell breaks loose." His small joke got a smile from Ranka, and a barely noticeable one from Danny (but only Haruhi saw it), before he turned and looked at Daniel. "Be safe, Danny. Sometimes we have to travel in shadow to reach the light at the end of the tunnel." With that, Vlad started for the door, but stopped when he heard some feet shuffling behind him. He had turned around just in time to feel Danny latched onto him and give him a hug, something Vlad had never experienced before from him.
"T-Thank you, Vlad," Danny spoke, lifting his head up, "For e-everything."
Vlad, feeling a smile warm onto his face, hugged the teen back and patted his head. when they released, Vlad gave one last smile to Danny, before slipping on his shoes and walking out the door, letting it close behind him with nearly no sound.
Letting out a content sigh, Danny turned around and faced the two people he would be living with, and to shock them, he gave a small smile, showing his happiness and thanks to them.
Inside the room, Haruhi and Ranka had put together a makeshift bed on a couch. Danny had offered to help, but both of them waved him off profusely and told him he shouldn't be working. When they finished, Ranka said goodbye and had to leave for his shift, leaving only Haruhi and Danny in the apartment.
Feeling now was the best time to get to know Danny, Haruhi made him some coffee (which was extremely thankful for), and sat down with him back at the table. "So Danny, could you tell me a little about yourself?"
Danny, feeling at ease (either from Haruhi's presence, or the coffee) nodded and took a breath. "Well...I'm 16 years old, from a small town in Illinois, America. I...um..." He took a sip to settle his sudden nerves, "Sorry...I wasn't very social back home...I only really had two friends." At the mention of them, Danny looks down in sadness, remembering the small funeral service Vlad had set up for everyone. His parents were buried next to each other, with Jazz on Maddie's right, each with roses planted on their graves. Tucker was buried to the left of Jack, with a PDA carved onto his head stone. Then came...Sam's, who was to Jazz's right, with a leaf carved onto her headstone. Lavender flowers were on her grave, personally planted by Danny.
Haruhi, seeing Danny being down with sadness, spoke again. "I bet they were the best of people."
Danny smiled at that, remembering all the fun times they had. Tucker and Sam arguing over meat and vegetables, helping Danny fight ghosts, and even when they helped him when he was mind controlled by multiple people. "Them and my sister were the closest people I had at home, and they were always there to help me."
"Who were they all?" Haruhi gently pushed, feeling slightly nervous for asking that, but Danny gave her a smile.
"Sam and Tucker were my closest, and really only, friends," Danny laughed at that small fact, getting a grin from Haruhi. "Tucker was a tech genius, smart as could be, and was a meat loving idiot. Sam was a goth, tough, stubborn, a fighter, and a sacred vegetarian. Between the arguments over meat and plants, and the regular shenanigans we got into, they were the best people life could've offered."
"And your sister?"
Now Danny looked towards Haruhi, and saw the resemblance between them. Haruhi and Jazz didn't look alike, not in appearance, but in attitude and personality. "Jazz was...actually a lot like you. Not in appearance, but you two acted and talked the same way. She was a master phycologist, which she often used on me, and was planning on becoming one after college. A black belt in martial arts, that mom taught her, she helped me in nearly every situation."
Being told that Haruhi was like Danny's sister was astonishing, and she felt a sort of relief for that. They both were getting along fine, and Danny kept telling her about himself and his hometown. The entire time they talked, Danny felt the weight on his heart lift and he felt free again. Not entirely healed, but a fair chunk of him was slowly repairing itself. When it got dark out, Haruhi made some dinner, and Danny offered to help. When she denied it, he gave her a little grin and raised his eyebrow.
"I don't plan on just mooching off you at all," He said, crossing his arms, "I am always available to help. Blame it on American stubbornness, but I'm helping you."
She was used to doing everything on her own, but the fact that Danny was going to help her no matter what, Haruhi felt a happy connection between them. Almost brother and sister, and she was happy to have someone else with her in the empty apartment. After finishing the cooking, and cleaning up after it, they both enjoyed the dinner, which Danny praised her highly for.
"Hey you helped make it as well," Haruhi told him, which made Danny smile.
"I just followed your instructions," He shrugged, continuing his food, "You were mind behind it."
Haruhi did blush after that, which made her smile at him while he smiled back. Cleaning up, Haruhi sat on Danny's makeshift bed, while Danny went through his duffle bag and sorted through some items. Whilst doing it, Haruhi was slightly inspecting Danny, taking in his clothing and appearance. His hair was a new thing, seeing someone dye it like him, but it made him unique in that way. He wore on a simple white t-shirt, and some blue jeans, but the spiked bracelet and the earring were still a question to Haruhi.
"Well I'm going to go to sleep now, I got school tomorrow." Haruhi nodded to Danny, who nodded back, then they wen their separate ways. Danny turned off the lights and went under the covers of his bed. Slipping into a dreamless sleep, he felt calm from the day's events, loving how they helped him so far. However, the dreamless sleep soon faded in the nightmares. The same one recurred, as it has for three days now, and it always hurt him.
The next morning, about 5:45, Danny woke up naturally and began his routine again. Back in Amity, he would always go out running when he didn't have school, and the same thing applied here. Slowly, he got out of his bed, fixed and made it, then changed into a simple grey shirt and black gym shorts. Not those short shorts, but ones that reached about an inch above his knees. Writing a note and leaving it on his pillow, Danny quietly crept out of the door and gently closed it behind him.
Outside, the sun was barely peeking its head over the horizon, still giving the air a chilly under vibe to it, but still warm enough. Stretching his legs and arms, Danny began his routine and went out for the run. The sights quickly passed by him, some store fronts just opening up for business, but very few people were up in this part of the city. Some local vendors waved and said good morning to him, which Danny happily replied with his own greetings. A brisk wind brushed over the city, gently ruffling Danny's hair as he ran, but otherwise it was a quiet and peaceful run.
That was before he ran into someone, since he wasn't really paying attention.
On the ground, Danny rubbed his head before he looked to see what had hit him, but he felt bad about it. One the ground, a couple feet away, a kid was laying rubbing his own head, while an older teen knelt beside him and checked him over vigorously. Slowly rising to his feet, Danny walked over to them and knelt beside the older teen and the blond kid.
"Are you alright?" Danny asked, looking with worry and a caring undertone. The kid looked up to meet Danny's eyes, Danny was actually taken aback. The chocolate brown eyes that looked back at him were, in a way, angelic. They were soft, childlike, but also held a firm and strong stance. Strength and innocence, something Danny once had. His blond hair was nicely cut, waving slightly in a breeze, but Danny ignored the pull from his heart to get closer.
"I'm good," the kid replied, still sitting on the ground. Danny, feeling horrible, offered a hand to help the kid out, giving a smile as well. The kid looked at him, then the hand, before his own smile came through and he took the offer, pulling himself up with Danny's help. Standing up, the was quite short, reaching up to the base of Danny's neck from the tp of his head.
"Sorry," Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, sporting a blush as well, "I wasn't watching where I was running. I'm usually not this clumsy." The kid laughed at that, while the black haired guy stood by silently.
"It's okay," the kid said, his voice making Danny blush slightly darker (which the tall guy noticed, but gave not indication that he did). "Me and Takashi were walking and didn't notice you either, right Takashi?"
The teen only said, "yeah" then went silent.
"Well anyway," Danny looked at his watch, reading 6:14, "I should get back now anyways." Danny turned to run back home, but the kid stopped him before he could.
"Wait!." Danny turned back around, looking with some confusion as to what was going on. "What's your name?"
Danny smiled back at the little one, "Danny. Yours?"
The kid laughed, "Mitsukuni, but people call me Honey."
"Honey," Danny repeated, getting a nod from the child. "A sweet name for you. I hope we'll see each other again, Honey." And with that, Danny turned around and started his run home, not noticing the kid smiling and blushing whilst he ran away.
"I hope as well," Honey muttered, watching Danny run back away. He didn't know how to explain it, but a part of him hoped and wanted to see Danny again, especially see those blue eyes, which were beginning to show signs of life again.
Back to Danny, he was running while thinking abut the sphere he saw in Honey. It was mostly yellow, almost an innocent amount of happiness in him, but the rest was actually a pink, and it grew the longer Danny was standing with Honey. Slightly confused on that, Danny made sure to watch where he was running as he retraced his steps back to the apartment.
When he arrived back, he opened the door to find Haruhi in her uniform again, slightly startled that Danny had just returned. Seeing it was only him, she relaxed and smiled at him. "Back from your run?"
Danny had to take some breaths to form a simple sentence for her. "Yea...long run..." He coughed slightly, making Haruhi laugh. "And a new bruise to add to my head."
"What happened to you?" Haruhi still wore a smile as Danny closed the door behind him.
"I was clumsy, and ran into someone while I wasn't looking." Danny rubbed his head while he said that. Haruhi laughed again.
"I'm off to school," She grabbed her school stuff and headed for the door, "I won't be home for some time, the club I'm in is open for some time after school."
"All good, Haruhi." Danny smiled to her as she left, hearing the door close behind him. Sighing, Danny went to the shower, getting ready to wash off the sweat and thought about how he would spend the day alone.