It's strange to see how perfect everything has become.
Only a month after the asteroid incident that nearly caused the destruction of the world, and Danny is living his best life. Or, well, half-life, technically. He was the superhero everyone loved, he was getting amazing grades, his family was open and accepting of his ghost half, no more ghosts trying to destroy the town…
It's perfect. After everything he had been through, it was good to finally be getting a break for once.
"Danny, are you going out?" His mother notices him going for the door. She's finally taken some time to cook in the last month (to try and make up for her threats of "dissecting" the resident ghost boy), and she's elbow-deep in a batter mixture of cookies. "Could you pick up some milk and sugar? I under-estimated how much we had. And how much I was going to make."
"Sure, Mom." He says and doesn't hesitate anymore as the rings wash over him as soon as he gets the front door open. He doesn't have to be afraid anymore, and it is the best feeling in the world. Intangibility washes over him as he rockets into the sky, the thrill of flight overtaking his entire being.
He's not biased when it comes to his powers. That's what he says, at least, in interviews with news stations and late-night talk show hosts. But if he could only have one for the rest of his life, it would have to be flying, because nothing beats the feeling of wind in your hair and the sun shining on your skin, and the feeling of being completely, free.
The sky is a beautiful shade of blue, reflecting his human-form's eyes, and is clear of any kind of weather. People are waving at him from the street, and he glances down and waves pack at them.
There are people who love him, who cheer for him, everything is perfect.
Until.
Suddenly.
A cloud blows in. He freezes, mid-flight, glancing up at the strange cloud. It's a strange color, somewhere between a purple, green, and black color, and it is the biggest cloud he's ever seen. His battle with Vortex immediately comes to mind, with memories of Vlad not too far behind, but Vlad is lost somewhere in space and the treaty with the Ghost Zone is still going strong.
The wind is howling loud enough that he doesn't hear anyone in the crowd under him. He glances down, to make sure that the people are okay, and there's no one there. Whatever happened to the crowd below him, no one is there anymore. He glances back up to the cloud, and it's gone, too, in its place is an inky black void.
"What's going on—" He asks, but something pulls at him, down, into the void that has surrounded his entire being.
When he opens his eyes again, he's surrounded by black. Almost the same sort of black that Sam always wears, but it is much darker, darker than everything he's ever seen. And he's been to the edges of the atmosphere, in space, and different dimensions at some point, which says something about the strange place he's in.
He runs a glowing hand through his hair—he's still in his ghost form, but the glow that usually emanates from him doesn't help him much in this situation.
Until he sees someone. Their back is turned on him.
Maybe I can sneak up—
Just as he thinks that, the person turns around in a hurry. Their face—they are familiar to Danny, but he can't place who it is. Definitely not a ghost he's ever encountered. Their body is a golden hue, almost as if it was made from pure gold. They've got shaggy hair covering their small face, a round one that makes them look years younger than they probably are. They wear an elegant cape that falls to their elbows, a tunic-and-vest underneath that looks like it came from the Renaissance era, and pants tucked into boots. Everything about their outfit is gold, except for a white pin at their shoulder of a sheep.
"Danny?" Their voice echoes, almost like a ghosts' would, but not quite there. It was not as hollow and dissonant as a ghosts' would be, it was warmer. Lighter. "Finally, I got you."
He holds his fists up, charging them with ectoplasmic energy. "Who are you? What did you do to Amity Park?"
The person cocks their head at him in confusion, before nodding. "Oh, that? That wasn't Amity. Or, not the real Amity." Their eyes flicker from his hands and then back to his face, before they take a deep breath. "Okay, let's see if—if I can summarize this quickly enough. So you probably don't know me, but my name is Beo—I was the new kid at Casper High?"
No. Danny couldn't recall anyone with the name bae-o at Casper High, because if there had been, Tucker would have made so many jokes about it.
"Alright, so the dream affects your capacity to access recent memory, too." They—Beo—swipe their hands and strands of golden smoke release from them.
Suddenly, it clicks into place, and Danny remembers. Beo, the new kid, who nearly embarrassed himself in English class in front of everyone. Beo, who stood up against Dash when Dash got too close to him. Dash is afraid of him, everyone is afraid of Beo… "This is just a really weird dream."
"You've got that right, but—" Beo falls to his knees with a curse. Danny freezes, before jolting over, wondering what was happening. A stream of strand is leaking from a wound in Beo's side. What Danny had thought was just smoke turned out to be sand. Golden sand, lighter than air, leaking through Beo's fingertips. "Ah, crap, I'm destabilizing a bit in here. I need to get this over quickly so we both can get out of here." Beo stands up, a bit shaky, and Danny stretches out an arm to help him.
"There was a ghost. I don't know his name, but he came in the other night—I think a week and a half ago?- and trapped everyone in a weird sleep. I think he feeds off of dreams, and no one could wake up from it. Anyone who gets too close to Amity Park gets caught in this, too. I have weird powers so I could wake up and wander around, but I didn't stay long or else I'd get caught again. Are you following me so far?"
Despite the hurried, rushed and panicked tone from Beo, Danny was able to follow him. Somewhat. Ghost eats dreams. People trapped. "What about me? I'd know about this, if anything—"
"Well, that's the thing—" Beo winces again as another jolt of pain seems to go through him. "—Alright, I can't stall this any longer. You're asleep, too, but I can wake you up and probably explain it easier to you if we're not in the weird ghost-realm or whatever."
"Ghost realm—the Ghost Zone?" His previous memories, if they could even be considered memories, were fading like a dream. Everything had been just that—a dream. There was no Disasteroid, there was no reveal to his parents and epic world-saving, there was no kiss with Sam, it was just a dream. It explains the weird feeling, then, he's had in the back of his mind for the entire thing, because it was too perfect.
Wait, they're in the Ghost Zone?
"Okay, I have a lot of questions. But if you're able to wake me up, do it already, so we can talk properly."
Beo nods. "Sounds good." He hisses as more pain shoots through him. "Um, sorry for this, by the way, but there's really only one good way to wake up from a dream."
Beo disappears, dissolving into golden sand, and it moves and dances around the black void, washing over Danny in an instant, and he's not in the black void, he's outside the Nasty Burger, and no, no, no—
An explosion wakes him up.
The Ghost Zone's swirling green emptiness is more welcoming than whatever he just woke up from. Tendrils of it still hold onto him, fading quickly as his body and mind adjust, the blur of reality slowly becoming clearer as he sits up, rubbing his head.
"Thank God that worked." Beo's voice says from next to him, and Danny turns. The same form of Beo that had appeared to him in the dream sits before him now, except a few things are different. Two golden wings are growing from Beo's back, but he's missing a few things. Both of his legs, past his thighs, are gone like they never existed, and half of his left hand looks like it's been chewed through. "So, a lot to explain, right. But first, can we get out of here?"
Before he can continue, Danny jumps in. "Are you alright? You're missing your legs. And some of your left hand."
Beo glances at his thighs, and his left hand. He sighs and hums. "Being in this form in a different realm far from my actual body is definitely using up a lot of energy. I'm fine, I'll probably get my hand and legs back the closer we get to home."
Danny nods. "Right—wait, how did you even find me?" The Ghost Zone was fluid and always changing, small lands floating about carelessly through the ectoplasm-colored void. The bigger islands were the ones that stayed still, with smaller ones floating around them like a planet in orbit. Beo is a complete stranger, there was no way he could have found Danny that easily, this deep in.
(Though, Danny recognized a nearby island being Skulker's hunting grounds, which made a shiver run down his own spine, and at least, he knew where he was.)
Beo watches as Danny stands up and stretches, leaning a hand toward him. He takes it, flapping his wings until his body floats off the ground, almost like a pixie. "Um. Luck, mostly. A weird blue ghost did give me some directions, though. I didn't catch his name."
Weird blue ghost? That's about half of the Ghost Zone… He nods, hoping it was one of the ghosts that liked him, not one of the ones who was actively gunning for his pelt or his head, or something.
Beo's hand is small, and it's the complete hand that holds tight to Danny's own as he leads both of them to the ghost portal at his edge of the Ghost Zone.
A/N: Wow, now a Danny Phantom fanfic, too? Who AM I?
Well, my name is Theo, so that's a start.
Anyway.
This is a semi-season 3 rewrite (one day I'm just gonna say "screw it" and rewrite the whole dang series) with, yes, an OC. Semi-self insert. Beo is me if I was a bit more anxious, had narcolepsy and ~weird dream powers~. I love the idea/trope "It's Not Just Ghosts Anymore" so I'm 100% content in writing this. Ah.
Also, don't worry, Beo is a nickname. His mom loves ancient classics and loved to read Beowulf to the kiddos when they were younger and he loved the story of Beowulf. His full name is "Bartholomew Winston Clark Jr.", his father being "Bartholomew Winston Clark Sr.", because his dad wanted to have a kid named after him, hahaha.
See you in then next chapter!
3 Theo ;)
