Chapter 1: Three years
Shadow: I am Shadow the hedgehog and I am the CyberActors15 representative and I have been tasked by CA15 to give you some info about this story. First of all this story takes place 3 years after The Ultimate Enemy and yes Clockwork never saved Danny's family. In other episode news the other episodes after TUE took place with the exception of a few but all the episodes that did happen happened differently than the way in which they happened in the show. This story will also have a slightly more mature tone to it than other CA15 stories, not by too much however but more mature none the less. For now that is all the information that you readers need so now for the disclaimer, CyberActors15 does not own Danny Phantom or any of the Nickelodeon properties that might or might not make cameos in this story or me but he does own the OCs.
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Despite the fact that the sun had long since illuminated the room the two people in the bed who were sound asleep. Normally one of these two never really got a chance to sleep in but it seems life had decided to allow him to take it easy today and sleep longer than usually. There was also the fact that he was able to awake to one hot girl made it better.
Unfortunately life wasn't that great and it had to remind him of that.
"Danny its 10 o'clock already! Would you wake up?" a feminine voice called from outside the locked door.
"Crap." The girl cursed silently after being awoken from the voice. "Dammit Dipstick, if I'm found in here I'm dead."
The dipstick, also known as Danny Fenton, stared as the blue skinned ghost girl hopped out of his bed completely devoid of clothes, much like he currently was, and began her clothes from the ground.
"Oh come one I could explain the situation and both of us could get out of here no problem." Danny said.
"Look dipstick we are both 18 year old teens and sure I like a little wild from time to time what happened last night was a onetime thing." Ember said before she paused and winked. "Not that is wasn't fun but I have a rep to keep and spending the night with goodie goodies like you won't do much to keep that reputation intact so no one learns about this. Besides…"
She didn't finish her sentence and left it hanging in the air as she teleported away in a fiery vortex once she had all her belongings. It didn't matter however as Danny got the message.
The teen sighed in exasperation before he looked towards the door.
"Alright I'm awake. I'll be out just now." Danny said.
The teen hopped out of his bed and observed the room that was filled with band merchandise and star charts alongside pictures of his family. He smiled, even after all this time, after everything that had happened he was still the same as that same 14 year old that was struggling with ghost powers. Okay sure he had changed quite a bit in terms of his physical body and maybe 14 year old him wouldn't be caught dead, no pun intended, in bed with one of his enemies but he was still the same.
Physically he was several times taller, he noted as he looked into the mirror, with a much more developed muscle tone. His raven black hair once short had become longer and spikier like it had been pulled off an anime character. His hair also blocked one of his two icy blue eyes that still shone with vibrancy but remained ever dull like all teenage eyes. Obviously there were also the multiple scars that riddled his body from battles both new and old.
Sam and Tucker would never have believed his changes physically he thought with a sad smile.
Shaking the memories from his head the teen went into the shower and got ready for the day ahead.
Coming out he was quick to put on his usual clothes which consisted of a black and white Dumpty Humpty undershirt and a red short sleeved button up shirt, which was open, on top. He also had dark navy blue jeans and black and red J's or Jordan's with the iconic Michael Jordan logo in red.
He was about to leave his room when he was pleased with his appearance but then he stopped to look at a picture of his parents, sister and two best friends. With a sad smile he picked up the picture frame.
"Three years ago today…" he muttered to himself. "I really miss you guys."
Placing the picture down he walked out of his room and downstairs.
"Someone enjoyed their time of sleep." The woman said with a knowing smile.
"Yeah I did Ms Carter." Danny said with a smile. "At least until I was forced to wake up."
"Danny how many times have I told you to call me Carol?" Ms Carter asked the teenager with an amused smile.
"Every day I've lived with you for the past three years." Danny replied with a chuckle.
"Exactly, you'd think you would have learnt by now." She replied.
Carol Carter was a young woman, around her late twenties, and an agent of a Government Branch alongside a Child Services employee. She had long straight black hair and green eyes that she commonly hid behind a pair of dark sunglasses. She usually wore very formal clothes consisting of a white button up shirt, a black tie, a black jacket, a black skirt, black transparent stockings and black high heels. Despite her appearance she was actually a very light hearted individual.
Three years ago when Danny's family, friends and teacher had died in the Nasty Burger explosion, Carol had been assigned to Danny to get him a new home and adult supervision because he was still a minor. At that time she planned to send Danny to Vlad Masters as that was what his parents asked for in their will and Danny had refused. Carol tried to convince Danny that this was the only way and that led to Danny revealing his secret about being Danny Phantom. He had explained everything, including the evil future that would be created if he went to live with Vlad. As a result Carol decided to adopt him herself. Naturally this had led to complications as Vlad tried to get the rights to care for Danny with a law suit but Carol was able to keep him.
Afterwards the two created a cover story that the Ghost that attacked had a grudge against the Fentons and attacked, with Danny Phantom only managing to save one of the Fentons and that being his namesake Danny Fenton. The report also said that the idea of having failed one family had drove Phantom into depression causing him to vanish while in truth it was really Danny struggling to be a hero after everything. However after a few months he returned knowing that his family would want him to continue his work as a hero and as a result the teen had been saving the world again over the past three years while gaining clear differences both mentally and physically.
"So what are you planning on doing today Danny?" Carol asked after sipping a cup of her tea.
"Depends on how fate decides my day should go." The teen replied as he grabbed a slice of toast.
Carol simply chuckled. In truth she had already guessed what he was going to do, it was kind of obvious considering what day of the year it was.
"Well you enjoy letting the hands of fate dictate your life." Carol said as Danny stood to leave. "Just make sure fate allows you to buy groceries. We're running low."
"Okay, see ya Ms Carter." Danny said as he proceeded to leave.
"Oh and Danny before you go…" Ms Carter said with a sly smirk, "If you choose to bring a girl over try not to make as much noise. I have guests coming over and I don't think they want to hear the sounds of teenagers going at it upstairs."
The raven haired teen turned completely red in the face and he silently swore that this was the last time… probably not… that that would happen again.
"IT WAS A ONE TIME THING!" Danny yelled before he dashed out of the room.
When outside the teen was able to regain his composure but in fear of further embarrassment from his guardian the teen wasted no time in getting as far away from the household as fast as possible.
~00000~
Danny walked into the mall and once again had to give a sad smile at what he saw on his way to his destination. Why? Because as he walked through he was lucky enough to bear witness to a whole bunch of 15 year old teens as they stressed over their CATs that they would be writing in a few days.
Looking at the 15s stressing over the CAT reminded him of days building up to his CAT when he was stressing out with Sam and Tucker. It had been pretty hectic preparing for the CATs with all the ghost fights that happened prior. Then with the Nasty Burger Explosion on the day didn't help one bit.
The raven haired teen wiped a tear that was sliding down his cheek out and continued on his way. He knew it was no use crying over their deaths now that wouldn't bring them back. He had finished his mourning years ago, all he could do now was celebrate the lives lived not cry over the lives lost. So he ran his errands quickly knowing exactly what he had to do.
~00000~
Within half an hour Danny had left the Mall and now stood in the Cemetery.
"Hey guys… it's been a while hasn't it." Danny said. "Mom, Dad sorry for not visiting earlier, it's been a crazy the past year with ghost hunting and keeping Fenton Works up and running." Tears appeared in his eyes as he lifted up a bag. "Hey Dad I brought fudge, square pieces with the little jellies inside from Chocco's Fudge & Co just like you like them. I was also able to update the Spectre Speeder and my ghost Files. I call them the Jack Fenton Ecto Files, because I know just how much you like blabbering on about ghosts."
He placed a rose on the grave of his father. Holding the piece of fudge he let his ecto energy surround it and it burned in the usual ghostly green before turning into a gold colour and flying down into the grave.
"Hey Mom, I brought tickets to that mother son festival that you wanted to go to. I also have some news, I… I managed to find your sister and deliver that letter you wanted her to get. She cried when she read it, I never thought I could see a smile that big."
He placed a rose on the grave of his mother. Holding the ticket he let his ecto energy surround it and it burned in the usual ghostly green before turning into a gold colour and flying down into the grave.
"Hey Jazz, I've been taking care of Bearbert Einstein like I promised but I thought you might want him back after all this time so I brought him along to say hi. I also got the new book in that series you like. I've got a bit of news to tell you as well, I uh I started getting better marks at school… and I started applying for scholarships to universities too. They seem really interested in letting me join."
He placed a rose on the grave of his sister. Holding the book he let his ecto energy surround it and it burned in the usual ghostly green before turning into a gold colour and flying down into the grave. He then placed the bear on the grave next to the rose knowing he couldn't just let it slip away to the beyond just yet.
"Hey Sam, hey Tucker, you guys won't believe all that's happened this past year. I was able to actually get the A-Listers to do some charity work and be less mean to others. I got into a sort of on again off again relationship with someone, you'd freak out to learn who." He gave a sad chuckle. "The new Dumpty Humpty album released a few weeks ago and I got concert tickets, it won't be the same without you two but… I heard that this one would be pretty cool. I wish you guys where here to enjoy it with me. Tucker by the way, you'll be pleased to know that Veronica is doing well; she's still functioning as if she's brand new but I think she misses you and I know you miss her too so I'm giving her back to you. Sam…"
He left it hanging there, he didn't complete the sentence. After all this time he still couldn't.
He placed a rose on the grave of his best friend, Tucker. Holding the PDA he let his ecto energy surround it and it burned in the usual ghostly green before turning into a gold colour and flying down into the grave.
He placed a rose on the grave of his best friend Sam. This rose however was different from the others; it was a rare purple rose with a note attached.
"A one of a kind for a one of a kind." He muttered as he stared.
For what seemed like hours he stared at the graves not even bothering to do anything about his tears.
He smiled sadly.
"Jack Fenton, the Goofy Inventor, Maddie Fenton, the Heroic Scientist, Jazz Fenton, the Intelligent Socialite, Tucker Foley, the Flirty Geek, Sam Manson, the True Goth." Danny said as the flood gates opened and every good memory washed through his mind. "I miss you all, and I'll be back later to talk again… but first…"
The teen was quick to turn around and put up an ecto shield as a blast collided with it.
"You've improved whelp."
"What would have happened if you hit the graves?" a cocky smirk appeared on Danny's face.
"I knew you wouldn't allow that." Skulker said. "Be glad that I waited for you to finish. But now I would like to join you with your family."
"You never learn." Danny said as his eyes began to glow green. "See ya guys, I just have to take out this idiot. I'm Goin Ghost!"
The familiar twin white halos appeared around his waist and travelled up and down his body changing him from Fenton to Phantom.
As Phantom he now had snow white hair, still in the same style as his human forms, and glowing toxic green eyes. He wore a large form fitting long black top that only had one sleeve on the right while his left arm was bare. The top had deep vertical slits in the bottom at the front, sides and back alongside white lining on the edges. On his bare left arm however there were glowing green markings. He wore black pants that were complimented with a pair of white boots. Around his waist he wore an emerald green belt and as a result of the long top the parts with the slits were on the underside of the belt. On his arm with the sleeve he had a silver crystalline gauntlet and glove alongside his forearm and finally to complete the look he had his iconic DP logo on his chest.
Phantom grinned to Skulker.
"Alright Skulker, both of us are ghosts so we both know to respect the dead." Phantom said. "Let's take this battle away from the place where the dead rest."
"I couldn't agree more Whelp." Skulker said as his Jetpack appeared on his back.
Phantom then shot into the air prompting the hunter to follow after. Despite the day he still had a grin on his face at the rush of a ghost battle. He had long since accepted what had happened to his family and sure it was sad that he'd never be able to embrace life with them again but he knew that they wouldn't want him to hold onto those negative emotions.
They would have wanted Danny to live his life to the fullest and move on from their deaths. And that's what he did; he didn't allow himself to be completely tied down by his emotions. He allowed himself to enjoy the thrill of laughter and happiness. It would be an insult to the memory of his family and friends to remain in a state of morning and depression so he simply enjoyed life for them. Even today he would enjoy life and all aspects of it.
Phantom made an excellent display of his prowess as he avoided a lot of Skulker's attacks.
"You've improved whelp. I'm impressed." Skulker commented as he continued to fire his guns at the hero.
"Aw thanks metal head." Phantom taunted. "But my dodging skills aren't the only thing I improved upon."
"Is that so?" Skulker asked as he replaced his guns with a mean looking ecto sword. "Let's test that theory."
The mechanical ghost then dashed towards the teen hero with his blade drawn. Phantom simply smirked and made no effort to dodge. With a mighty swing of his blade, Skulker was surprised to see that he made contact. However what happened next was far more surprising.
Instead of the sound of flesh tearing and the sight of the toxic blood like ectoplasm, cracks appeared where the blade it. The crack's spread across Phantom's body almost as if volcanic pressure was building bellow his skin.
Phantom then exploded in a flash of green light and when Skulker regained his composure he was surprised to find himself captured in a strong net.
"Game set and match." Phantom said with a grin as he pulled out the Fenton Thermos.
"Good job whelp." Skulker said. "It seems I need a new strategy. Next time your pelt will be mine."
In truth the hunter ghost wasn't entirely sure he even wanted to capture his long time adversary anymore. Battling him was more out of sport than anything else and Skulker found it hard to imaging hunting any other prey than this one. Sure he could capture any other ghost or animal out there but Danny Phantom, the one who had eluded him for four years, was the one he could not catch and probably never would. Danny Phantom was a rival not an enemy one that Skulker respected.
"Yeah maybe next time iron hide." Phantom said with a laugh. "I'll be waiting."
He uncapped his Fenton Thermos and watched as the familiar blue vortex sucked Skulker in.
With a satisfied smile the teen ghost hero flew back down to the ground before he changed back into Fenton in a secure location.
Knowing he still had quite a bit of time before lunch, Danny decided to walk around and find something of interest. Sure he had been living in Amity Park for 18 years and knew pretty much everything about the town he still knew that things never remained the same and there was bound to be something new in the town.
Turns out he was right as he walked he noticed a whole bunch of moving vans parked in front of a pretty big house. It took a second to realise people were moving into Sam's old house that had been vacated for about three years.
After Sam's death the Manson parents, strangely enough, didn't blame Danny or his family. As it turned out a few days prior they had finally come to accept Sam's personality and her friendship with Danny and additionally his family. After Sam died however they did go into a sort of state of depression and after ensuring that Danny was alright they moved out of Amity Park. Probably the memories of the town brought back too many painful memories of their late daughter and probably reminded them that they hadn't been the best of parents.
By the looks of things now it seemed like they had finally sold their house and there was another rich family coming to live here… or they could have decided to come back. Either way it was good to see Sam's old house regaining some life after all this time.
Had Danny been paying attention to what was in front of him and not the various moving vans and house he wouldn't have bumped into someone and fell onto the ground. Even after four years of being a hero and training turns out he was still clumsy.
"Sorry are you okay?"
He knew that voice. Looking up Danny was saw a pair of eyes shaded in a rare colour. Eyes he recognised and would always recognise.
"Sam?"
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Dani: Wait what?
Shadow: You're surprised to see Sam again?
Dani: No. What was Danny doing with Ember?
Shadow: *Face palms*
Dani: I'm kidding. But seriously isn't Sam dead?
Shadow: Who knows?
Dani: But she was caught in the midst of an explosion.
Shadow: Yes she was and you melted into goop. Danny was in the middle of a dimensional rupture while being struck by thousands of electric volts.
Dani: … So what will happen next? Read, Review, Favourite and Follow to find out.