Hey guys, Myst here again. This is another idea that my cousin and I have come up with. So read the warning.
WARNING: This is written on the point of view of an alternate version of Danny Phantom and the story itself is very different from the cartoon. If you don't like that then please do yourself a favour and leave. If you like it and have some ideas that you like to suggest then feel free to pm me or review.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Daniel Fenton was having a great day and there was good reason for it.
He aced the pop quiz that he hadn't studied for and pissed off Lancer in the same go, it was Friday and he had no homework, there was a discount at the Nasty Burger and he had new designs to grace the walls of the alleys with his restocked spray paint, the game he has been waiting for was coming out, and lastly his parents should be out of town and so was his sister.
Honestly if he were to guess, the day was going by too well and the last time the world was so nice to him he ended up half-dead with the inconvenient bonus of ghost powers. Something's bound to go wrong and judging by the time, it would be sooner rather than later.
Despite the growing anticipation of what may go wrong that day Daniel remained calm as he meandered outside the classroom. He found it a bit hard to worry about what may come, as the consequences of the last incident became a great skill— eventually. The ghost powers, though annoying, nerve-wracking, and delightfully ironic at first, he learned to control and had been incredibly useful in his subsequent revenge scheme for everyone that ever wronged him; he particularly enjoyed the invisibility, flight, and telekinesis skill. The pranks he pulled with those never fail to make him laugh even in his darkest days.
Especially that one prank he pulled with Ran—
Daniel was shocked out of his train of thought as he was shoved none to gently to the side by a familiar group of jocks.
"Move it Fen-turd!" The blond jock sneered before turning his attention to another student who was the unfortunate target. Poor guy was the infamous technogeek Tucker Foley, and from the looks of it he has already resigned himself to being abused and stuffed into a locker. Typically, Daniel did not interfere with anything that doesn't concern him or his plans but looking at Tucker now, he couldn't help but feels a bit protective. Out of everyone in the school Tucker was the closest thing he had to a friend.
Making up his mind and trusting that his weird luck will last, Daniel fixed his red plaid, backwards ballcap on his head before walking directly in between the domineering jock and the harmless nerd.
"'Sup Dash?" he says lazily, seemingly unaware that he got in the way of a one-sided beat down. Everyone stared at the teen in shock, no one had ever gotten in between Dash and his punching bag before at least no has attempted before much less the loner in coloured plaid. The flabbergasted expression on Dash's face fades into anger; he grabbed Daniel by the collar of his green plaid shirt and slammed him hard on the lockers behind them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Fen-toad?" He whispered furiously before grinning stupidly in triumph. "Are you volunteering to take Foley's punishment?"
Despite the rough treatment Daniel continued to maintain his lazy smile, unruffled and calm in the face of an angry bully.
"I just wanted to tell you that I think I saw your mom in the teacher's lounge talking to Lancer," he says, lazy smile turning mischievous at Dash's paling face. "Something about grades, summer classes and possibly cutting off your allowance?" he added innocently. There was an interesting play of emotions running through his face before deciding on barely hidden fear; with a growl he dropped Daniel unceremoniously on the floor and poking him hard in the chest.
"We're not finished here Fenton," he says before striding out hurriedly toward the teacher's lounge followed quickly by his entourage. Majority of the students left as soon as they saw that there was no fight to be had and the normalcy resumed. Daniel brushed the crease out of his plaid shirt and readjusted his bag, intending to cut classes and go straight to the Nasty Burger for a snack when Tucker Foley stopped him.
The boy's turquoise eyes stared at his icy blue ones in curious surprise, conveying with a look the question running through his mind before opening his mouth and verbalising it.
"Why did you help me?" he asks. Daniel contemplated it for a moment before answering simply.
"'Cause I consider you my friend Tucker."
The answer was apparently not what he was expecting because he stared at him in shock for more than a few seconds. It was as if being considered to be a friend by someone was a hard concept to swallow. After sputtering for a few seconds he finally spoke again. "But why would you risk yourself to Dash?"
"Because I wanted to," he says before looking behind him where Dash disappeared a few seconds ago then turning to face Tucker, "I should really go, I told Dash that I thought I saw his mom in the lounge. He isn't going to be happy with me once he shows up and sees that she was never there."
There was incredulous laughter and an amused grin from Tucker before patting him on the shoulder. He took out his PDA and tapped a few things before glancing up to Daniel again. "According to the school cameras you have about fifteen seconds before Dash shows up."
Immediately after that sentence they heard a furious yell from the hallway. "FENTON!"
Daniel shot a skeptical look at Tucker who raised his hands in defence. "I was being generous."
"You should probably go to," Daniel warns, it would've been a waste if he went through all that trouble only for Tucker to get stuffed into a locker anyway. "He'll take it out on you."
"Yeah, yeah," he says with a nod, stuffing his backpack in record time. "Thanks Danny."
Daniel's eye twitched in annoyance before giving a decidedly strained smile. "No problem but Tucker?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't ever call me Danny, Dan or any stupid shortening of my name," he growls, ignoring Tucker's terrified face. "Ever again. Clear?"
"Y-yeah, sorry I didn't know."
"That's fine just don't repeat it and we're good, by the way you might want to use the path near the library," Daniel continued as if the threatening aura he released a while ago never happened. "Dash probably doesn't know about it, stay safe Tucker."
"You too and Daniel," he half turned to wait for Tucker's message, "thank you, really."
Daniel raised his hand in a half-assed backwards wave as he walked off to the fire exit.
"No problem."
Unfortunately, his weird luck ran out once he got out.
The discount wasn't worth the terrible burger he got, the game he was planning on getting sucked him dry and when he tried to start spray painting on a beautifully blank wall his parents came careening out of the street and stopping inches before hitting Daniel.
"Danny-boy!" his biological father greeted cheerfully, unseeing of the scowl on his face. Daniel picked up his stuff and tried to ignore the yelling big man in the blaring orange HAZMAT suit. 'Tried' being the keyword, as soon as he turned his back he felt himself being lifted in a fireman's carry and unwilling dragged onto the death trap of a van.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he yells, unsuccessfully trying to get off as soon as he was dumped inside the Fenton RV. "GET ME OFF!"
"Danny-o, we've made a success! A new invention that can capture any ghost in the vicinity and the other to track them down!" Jack announced, while Maddie fiddled with the multiple buttons on the dashboard. "The Jack O'Nine Tails and the Fenton Boomerang!"
"Plus, there was a reported sighting in Oregon of a ghostly couple in a convenience store! This will be the perfect family bonding time for us ghost hunters!"
Ghost hunters, he thought irritably. That label only belongs to you and QUIT GIVING ME NICKNAMES!
Of course he only said that in his head, there would be no point in fighting back. He already tried all other methods before this, any sort of logical reason like school work and illness would be ignored, yelling, swearing and being the most disagreeable person in the trip results in being dumped in some no name town with a gas station (they swear it was an accident but no one believed them), basically anything that wasn't ghost related will be immediately shot down.
With a resigned sigh, Daniel braced himself against the wall as Jack's stellar driving skills caused the van to jump around unpredictably. He looked out of the window once and saw something worrisome.
"Hey, why are we going to Jazz's university?"
"This is family bonding experience Danny!" Jack says cheerfully, uncaring for the traffic rules and other miscellaneous objects that he kept 'accidentally' hitting like lampposts, trashcans, mailboxes, fire hydrants, and the occasional near miss of pedestrians on the sidewalk. "We have to pick up your sister!"
"It's Daniel," he mutters rebelliously before thinking deeply. Having Jazz in this impromptu 'family bonding' would be worse than the end of the world, he may disagree with his parents' obsessive belief of ghosts but at least he has learned to tolerate it to a degree but Jazz... She'd fight them tooth and nail for the unhealthy obsession that would end up in 24/7 yelling, as if he didn't have enough of that at home.
"What does your new inventions do exactly?" he asks, pointing to the weird metal whip thing beside them that had Jack's face and the metal boomerang. It was Maddie who answered.
"The Jack O'Nine Tails functions like a claw that catches ghosts!" she says, turning to face him. "It wraps around it and electrocutes, it could also transform into a buzzsaw blade and the Fenton Boomerang can lock on any ghost's ectosignature to make sure it always hits its mark. Doesn't it sound amazing?"
It sounds painful and troublesome, he thinks then contemplates. If it was anything like their other inventions then it should immediately react to any ghostly presence...
Daniel immediately used his last resort.
With both parents distracted they failed to notice his eyes glow ectoplasmic green but they did notice when the boomerang suddenly activated taking off in the direction in the east, the force of its activation shattered the glass of the windshield and halted the car.
"It activated Maddie!" Jack exclaimed after a moment of silence, his excited look matching hers. She hurriedly picked up the Fenton Finder and Jack took the weapons out of the car.
"This way Jack!" she says as she point to the east, she got out soon after and the both raced towards it.
"LET'S CATCH THAT GHOST!"
Soon enough they were both gone, forgetting their 'family bonding time' and leaving the van parked in the middle of the road. Daniel switched seats, cleared out the shattered glass of the windshield and drove home, deciding not to be a dick and leave the thing where they left it.
Daniel dispelled the low-level ghost orb he made to lead his parents into a wild goose chase after a few minutes. His ghost powers served him well when it came to distracting the ghost hunters he lived with when he wanted to, ironic as they were in regards to his family. Of course it was ridiculously confusing when he first got it, mixed with shock and irritation when their inventions actually worked and that they really hurt.
As much as he doesn't like new things out of his control especially in regards to his powers because he seemed to be gaining and discovering new ones everyday, he found that he didn't mind. It provided a good distraction on his boring routine, just yesterday he found out he could duplicate himself and produce ectoplasmic energy that could cut through most metals while he was scaring Technus into leaving.
He started scaring most ghosts away when they proved to be a hassle and inconvenient to his plans. He took to wearing an ominous cloak and leading out the ghosts, through traps and chases, to obscure locations and inflict psychological horror in their unguarded minds. It may not be kind nor heroic but the results were all he cared about; Daniel could barely tolerate his parents normally, he most definitely can't when they were raving about the corporeal ghost sightings shortly after the creation of the ghost portal that left him half dead.
Scare tactics and intimidation were lessons he learned long ago, and while they weren't perfect it was the most effective way to insure that the ghosts won't be coming back for a long time and that's all he really wanted.
As soon as Daniel reached the house with the gaudy sign bearing his surname, he parked the van flew up to his room, once he ascertained there was no one around to see him and took his bag that contained all he needed for an overnight stay, before flying off invisibly while sending out a text to his best friend Randall Cunningham.
"I'm coming over."
~LINEBREAK~
It took him ten minutes of straight flying before reaching Norrisville. It was a small city with a black modernized pyramid in the center bearing the McFist logo for the McFist Enterprises that dominated the city itself. As Daniel landed and willed himself to turn visible again he was at an empty bus stop adjacent to Randall's house. The house was a modest two-story house that was identical to every other house in the subdivision. White walls, red roof, somewhat dead garden, picket fence, wooden door, and moderate windows, a big one at the first floor and two thin ones at the second.
Overall, generic and plain but Daniel considered it more of a home than where his family lived. He walked over, unconsciously losing the tenseness on his shoulders while he fished for his keys that were given to him by Randall when he started showing up frequently, shortly after they met.
As he entered the house and closed the door, Daniel walked through the cluttered living room, and made a beeline for the spare room that was his at this point and carelessly threw his bag at the bed. In comparison to the room he had in Amity Park, that looked barely lived in save for the scattered notes on the desk and floor, here it was pretty obvious that it was owned by a teenage boy; a teenage boy in love with the galaxy.
There were posters about NASA and rockets, glow in the dark stars all over the room, a shelf filled with books and some Star Wars and Star Trek merchandise at the left of the room near the neatly made twin sized bed that had a chest at the foot of it. The dresser had a bedside lamp with an unfinished book nearby at the right side of the bed, and at the wall directly opposite of the bed was desk where his laptop rested.
Daniel threw himself on the bed and relaxed, after that stressful time spent in his parents' presence despite that fact that he barely had to interact with them for more than ten minutes, he felt like his calm self again.
Daniel was drifting off to sleep when his phone buzzed; a bit annoyed he fished his phone out of his pocket and checked the ID. It was a message from Randall. Sure thing, im assuming youre already there so i just want to tell you theres pizza in the fridge. Well wasn't that considerate?
He texted him back. I have bloodbourne, game night? The reply he got was immediate. ill bring food DONT START WITHOUT ME I STILL HAVE CLASS
Daniel had to laugh before getting up and going down stairs to the living room and set up the game system. It was odd, Daniel considers him his best friend, he knew very little about Randall, he didn't begrudge him of it because he hadn't told him anything about himself either. He didn't know Randall's reasons or why he considers him of all people to be friends but despite the fact that they didn't share any personal information regarding their families, he was oddly the only exception to all of Daniel's self-imposed rules.
Thirty minutes after the text message which was around 4:00 when Randall finally arrived. He looked a bit tired and his tyrian purple hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, likely running home as soon as school let out and he carried a plastic bag of food, take out from McCluckers. His sapphire blue eyes locked on Daniel's immediately.
"Did you start?"
Daniel silently indicated the TV screen in response to the question. It was displaying the menu and that was it, the continue option was blocked and the game hadn't even started. "Obviously," he says sarcastically with a look. Randall gave a sigh of relief, collapsing on the couch and placing the food none-too-gently on the coffee table.
"Honestly," he began, Boston-accent showing. "If you had started without me I would've kicked you out of this house."
"Damn, good thing I waited then." Daniel replied with honest relief, getting kicked out didn't cross his mind when he was tempted to play before Randall came back, now he was glad that he took a nap instead. "So, ready to play?"
"Damn right."
In less than three hours of gruelling fights and multiple deaths, they were about to kill the boss that they couldn't get past when the lights flickered and the power went off.
"NO!" they yell furiously. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"
Daniel was on his knees and banging his head on the floor while Randall was desperately checking all the switches and praying that they would turn on when he suddenly let out a furious growl. Daniel looked up to find him staring outside.
"What's wrong?"
"The only houses that are dark out is ours," he growled, Daniel felt his eyes widen as he hurriedly stood up to confirm Randall's statement. He was right.
"What the hell?" Daniel whispers while Randall paced around the living room like a caged tiger. "Something's wrong, you've paid right?"
"Of course I paid!" he responds furiously. "I always pay on time, someone's messing with us and they are going to pay."
He stalked off and Daniel was about to follow when he heard the sound of electrical sparks from the garage. He poked his head out the door and called out to Randall before turning on the flashlight in his phone and investigating the sound. They ended up in the garage where they found an odd creature gnawing at the power cables on the house. The thing looked like it could belong in a Pokemon game something like a blue and yellow pikachu but both of them could care less, this thing stopped them from winning and it is going to regret it.
Mindful of keeping his ghost powers secret, Daniel kicked the thing hard enough to crack the garage wall while Randall literally appeared right next to and pinned down by the throat.
"And what," he heard him whisper. "Do you think you're doing?"
The small thing was shivering in fright, and Daniel couldn't blame it. Randall was notoriously hard to anger but when you do... it was pretty intense. Daniel surveyed the damage while Randall let out his anger and noticed that aside from the power cable everything was pretty much untouched when the light reflected into his eyes. Squinting, Daniel picked up the object, which turned out to be a pair of scissors. It was a bit too sharp to be safe with black handles lined with thin neon green and a glowing emerald gem where the blades connect. Daniel was startled from his observations when the pokemon thing let out a loud whimper, he looked up to find Randall dropping it on the ground and staring up to a furious giant pokemon-like monster generating enough electricity to light up the garage.
"Is this yours?" Randall asks sharply, standing tall against the larger monster. The monster appeared to be angry before nodding its head and gesturing for the little one to come closer to him, surprisingly Randall put a stop to that. "No, I demand compensation."
Oh man, he thinks. Daniel hadn't expected Randall to be this angry but if push comes to shove, he was more than willing to expose his powers in his defence. Something he wouldn't do for just anyone.
The pokemon monster merely nodded again and spoke for the first time, voice gravelly and rough to the ears.
"I apologise for my son's terrible behaviour," he says formally. "I assure you his punishment will be great."
Randall was still irritated as seen by his hooded eyes but he nodded in agreement and let the kid go. The monster resumed his glowering expression while he handed Randall a sack of something heavy as payment for the damage or so Daniel assumed with the way Randall grunted, before teleporting away in a flash of lightning.
And then darkness resumed or so it seemed, darker than before but that might just be his eyes readjusting. Daniel pocketed the scissors and walked closer to Randall, the sack he was carrying was glowing faintly.
"What the hell is that?" he asked, taking it off his hands to share the burden and grunting by the sudden weight, "and what just happened?"
"I don't know." He took a deep breath and sat down, putting the sack on the floor. Daniel sat down with him and in an unspoken signal opened it.
"I'd like to believe that this is just one bizarre nightmare." Randall tried to say nonchalantly but he was still shaken up by the way his voice wavered just a little.
"Should we open it?"
He nodded and tried to open it.
"Oh what the hell?"
The sack was tied shut by some weird jelly material that they couldn't undo and the sack itself was made of something strong, likely the tough hide of an animal.
Daniel sat on his heels and contemplated while Randall sat cross-legged across him staring intently at the sack, he might by thinking on how to open it or he might just be squinting at it in the darkness as the only light they have is the streetlamps on the sidewalk that reach their open garage door.
"Do you think we should bother or should I call the electrical dudes and fix this thing?"
"How 'bout both?"
Randall groaned in exasperation, natural laziness coming through but he grudgingly dug out his phone while Daniel stood up and picked up a pair of garden shears to cut the sack open. Randall held the sack taught with his left hand while holding up the pbone in his right, silently helping.
Daniel cut it up with the shears and...
The shears broke.
"WHAT THE—?!"
"DUDE YOU JUST BROKE MY SHEARS!"
"THAT'S THE THING YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT?"
"WHAT—? No, no I wasn't talking to you. I'll call you back for the electrical stuff alright?" Randall turned off the phone and continued to stare at Daniel accusingly. "Dude. How could you."
"Wha—" Daniel squawked indignantly, setting the broken shears by his feet. "Really? Look Cunningham its not my fault your garden shears are old and weak."
"They aren't old."
"They are; how else could they be broken so easily?"
"They ain't old Fenton."
"They are."
"They ain't."
"Fine I'll prove it," Daniel challenged, remembering the scissors that he picked up before the weird giant monster thing appeared. He grinned at Randall and he grinned back, their play fight temporarily on hold.
"Suit yourself then."
Daniel took out the scissors and attempted to cut open the sack once again but what he ended up achieving was opening what appeared to be a cut in the fabric of the space and time. There was a colourful portal that swirled around in front of them and they stared in awe.
"This doesn't prove anything," Randall reckoned. "In fact, I'd say you just broke another thing in my house."
Daniel struck Randall at the back of his head in annoyance but neither of them expected Randall to lose balance nor grabbing Daniel's arm that dragged them both down the portal.
The portal closed as soon as they disappeared and the garage was plunged into darkness once again, aside from the light that reached their open garage door.
As both boys weren't there they missed the fact that the sack was opened and it contained an orb that glowed an ethereal white light that slowly floated towards the floor.
As soon as it made contact it glowed pure blinding light and a white dog-like animal faintly releasing an otherworldly glow lay on the floor fast asleep looking no bigger than a hand.
The boys on the other hand...
"Daniel this is completely your fault." Daniel sighed in irritation, hiding the guilt in favor of scanning their environment.
"Randall, I think there are more important things to worry about than who's at fault here."
"Just so we're clear," Randall continued over Daniel's voice. "It's still you're fault."
"Fine," he says tiredly before his eyes happened upon a purple pony. "Is that a—?"
"I think so...?" They exchanged glances before matching Cheshire smiles graced their faces. Magical ponies of Equestria never saw them coming.
And that was how the world ended or... multiple worlds in this case, with added parallel universes and alternate dimensions too.
AN:
A shout out for my cousin, who is my partner in this. Thanks cuz.