In one universe, Danny's toxic green eyes open in the human realm to see the shocked faces of his two friends.
In this one, his friends stare shocked at the empty space where their friends silhouette crackled moments ago, and Danny's green eyes meet an equally green expanse of the twisting, swirling abyss of death.
"Welcome to the Ghost Zone," a voice says behind him, startling the boy, causing him to whip around and face the creature smothered in shadowy cloth.
"Who are you— what is this—" Danny cuts himself off. "I must have just passed out."
"A typical response," the being notes, clinically, mechanically. "To put it in simple human terms, I am an ectoplasmic message and program appearing for every new ghost to make your journey to the afterlife easily." Its voice sounds (fittingly) dead. "You're dead. Wait," it pauses, awkwardly. A robotic voice takes over the more cynical one— "you shouldn't be here. Not fully." It dissolves into a static screech, robe-clothed head twitching spasmodically.
Danny slaps white gloved hands over his ears— something in him notes his ears are sharp. Before he can think too much on that, Danny watches terrified as the creature dissolves into static that melts into the background, and shudders.
xXx
He's not let go of the dream theory, but Danny has discovered two things:
1: His body is largely the same, save for floaty white hair and an inverted jumpsuit. Danny suspects his ears and canines are sharper but without a mirror, he cannot confirm (nor can he discover his eyes).
2: The place (he's refusing to call it the ghost zone because that would imply he was a ghost, and no) is gravity-less and he'd been floating… with no way to move.
For a moment the whole anti-gravity deal had pleased his space nut heart… then the reality of I might be dead or at the very least I have no way to move from this awful place set in.
"I want to go home," he stated softly, brokenly, staring at the drifting expanse.
It's silent.
Against logic— and as an astronaut-wannabe oh how he knows anti-gravity shouldn't work as such— he tries to swim in the air.
It works.
He gives a whoop for one thing that worked.
Now if only I could wake up.
xXx
In drifting, a door appears before Danny.
A very familiar door.
Danny figures that the fact his bedroom door is floating in green-swirl-space (his much better name for the Zone) as points towards the whole dream idea— other points are the simple nonsensicalness of everything else, of course.
Ghosts don't exist. I don't have white hair. My bedroom door can't be in this… place. I can't be… I'm not…
Electricity races through his veins before the word can even form.
I'm not awake.
He enters his room.
White rings— his hair turns black, his eyes blue. Danny passes out on his bed.
All is right.
xXx
Danny wakes.
His room is surreal, dreamlike. Smeared.
Something is not right.
No. All is right.
(Danny does not leave, just in case).
xXx
His parents have not woken him up for school. Something nags in Danny's head that he shouldn't have been able to be in his room alone as long as he has been.
...This isn't right.
Outside, through the door, he catches green light. It luminesces in his eyes, and for a moment he catches a flicker of white-black-green in the mirror.
I'm not… that.
Electricity.
It doesn't matter. None of that happened.
(Except it did).
xXx
in case you're confused danny wakes up in the ghost zone on being made a halfa (rather than waking in the human world like the show). from there he just goes and hides in his lair. idk what happens next and if people are interested i might write more.
this isnt actually my fav au (phanniemay prompt) but it was the easiest to write a oneshot for since it didn't need a super big backstory— its a small, straightforward change that still could have big impacts. i should write more junk for aus generally tho!
one day.