I LIVE!
Sorry for the extended absence, but I've had quite the bad luck with my laptop. I won't waste time and words explaining, but I'm back with yet another DP story for your reading pleasure. This is a completed story so there won't be any updates on this unless I come up with a random one-shot thing about it, but the whole story in here.
I only went over it once or twice since starting so please excuse any mistakes.
I hope you enjoy my new brainchild!
Read. Review. Enjoy!
It had been a normal week. Well, as normal as his life could ever be considered.
Get up. Fight ghosts. Go to school. Fight ghosts. Go home. Fight ghosts. Sleep. Repeat.
On occasion, this cycle would be interrupted by a particularly difficult ghost, a day jam-packed with attacks, or even a day void of ghosts completely. This week, however, followed the schedule almost too closely, but he knew better than to complain. The last time he mentioned this type of situation, Skulker showed up with so many new upgrades that he just about lost the battle. So, no; there would be no jinxing this stroke of 'luck' if one could call it that.
Though, it wasn't as if the universe was taking it easy on him. No, the ghosts he faced were challenging in their own way, forcing him to think fast on his feet- or tail; whichever. Only cropping up when the schedule dictated, these ghouls were, at most, enough to make him think through his attacks, defenses, and tactics, but not so much that he was injured more than the average bruises and cuts.
It was a welcome change. The previous week had him limping before school had even begun on Monday. By Friday, he was so exhausted he considered ignoring his ghost sense just long enough for him to sleep for the first time that week. Yes, after that, this change of pace was more than welcome.
Of course, he hardly expected this to last. Taking advantage of any possible moment of rest he could scrounge, he let himself sleep in on Saturday morning in hopes of gaining the strength to face whatever the next week could throw at him. If his suspicions were correct- and they almost always were in some way -something big was coming.
Unfortunately, his plan to rest-up was interrupted by a loud, relentless knocking on his door. Glancing at the alarm clock that confirmed the early hour of the morning, he groaned in annoyance; why couldn't he just be left alone? He, at first, tried to ignore it in favor of feigning sleep, but it only worked until the door was forced open hard enough for it to slam backwards into the wall. Now wide awake at the harsh noises, he jumped up in bed to face the intruder…who was none other than his older sister Jasmine.
As expected, she was already prepared for the day. Dressed in her usual long-sleeve black shirt over-top a pair of light blue jeans that stopped just above her black flats, she was bright-eyed and ready to go; orange hair pulled back by a blue hairband. The expression on her face, however, was what pulled the boy's attention. She looked worried.
"Danny, I know you're tired, but you have to get up," she ordered, hastily walking about his room to gather his regular clothes. "Mom and dad have some new ghost-hunting invention and it doesn't look good."
The boy sighed, relaxing his tired muscles a bit. "They always have dangerous inventions, Jazz. They're ghost hunters and I'm half-ghost. I just have to keep away from them. It's not like I'm going to fight them or anything," he grumbled bitterly.
Yes, it was true. A few months short of year ago, Jack and Maddie Fenton created a portal that would connect the human realm with its spectral opposite. When their life's work failed to work properly, Danny- after the prompting of his closest friends -attempted to fix it. He suited up, went inside the device, and fell onto the 'on' switch that was left forgotten by his parents. Once the machine was activated, energy poured into Danny's system and forced his DNA to merge with the ectoplasm that flooded through the spectral world. This, in turn, gave Daniel Fenton otherworldly abilities as well as his ghost form he and his friends referred to as Danny Phantom.
From that day on, ghosts began to invade their home, Amity Park, after finding access through the newly-created portal along with the random energy fluctuations caused by said technology. Danny used his newfound powers to fight off the intruders, quickly becoming the 'hero of Amity Park'. All heroes, however, have enemies. Despite his good deeds, his parents' obsession with the evil of any and all ghosts blinded them into attacking the phantom, though they had no idea it was their son.
Danny wanted nothing more than to tell his parents of his ghostly alias, but it became harder and harder as each day passed with their monologue of the intended victory over the 'menace'. They boasted over the phantom's imagined defeat that would lead him to becoming their test subject in hopes of better understanding their ghostly 'enemies'. That is, of course, if his father didn't get his way and 'tear the ghost boy apart molecule by molecule'.
Say what you will about Danny's lying and falsities to keep his parents from finding out about him, but any 14 year-old would fear those words becoming reality; especially with them coming from their parents.
It would be better for everyone if his parents never discovered his secret.
At this point, the only people who knew of his ghost half were his friends, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, who were both present at its creation; his sister, who found out after a particularly difficult fight that battered against his emotions; and Vladimir Master- billionaire, business owner, and the mayor of Amity Park, but that story was one Danny didn't like to dwell on.
"Still, it will be easier to keep a look-out if you know what they're armed with. So get dressed and meet me in the kitchen," Jazz ordered, tossing the clothes at the still-sitting boy and leaving the room with the door shutting behind her.
Sighing, Danny went about his assigned task with a slight pout on his face. It only took him a couple minutes to finish dressing, but he didn't go downstairs right away. Instead, he opted to make a stop in the shared bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.
Eventually, he ran out of things to keep him occupied. Grumbling quietly, he slugged down the stairs and into the kitchen where- surprise –his sister waited tapping her foot impatiently.
"Finally," she sighed, "it took you long enough."
Danny didn't bother answering in favor of grabbing a bowl for cereal, but Jazz snatched it away, "No time. You can have breakfast after you dissuade our parents from doing something this incredibly stupid."
Before he could even consider asking what she was talking about, the boy's arm was grabbed and pulled after his sister.
They were in the basement/lab within moments. Unsurprisingly, the elder Fentons were leaning over one of the many counters that lined the walls as if engrossed by their project; in truth they most likely were. Upon hearing steps enter the room they glanced up enough to acknowledge their children.
Maddie smiled warmly as she greeted them, but returned to her work almost instantly.
Jack, however, lifted his welding mask to beam excitedly at his kids who were closing the distance between them. "Danny-boy!" the man called enthusiastically.
Danny smiled at the nick-name even though he hated it. "Hey, dad. What are you working on? Jazz says it's pretty cool."
The father brightened even further, "I didn't know you liked it, Jazzy-pants!"
She offered a quick smile before leaning up beside her mother.
"Well, son, we had this thought; all ghosts are evil, right? So if we switch their way of thinking, they'll all be good! That's what our newest invention will do!" the man was practically bouncing with happiness.
"I don't understand," the boy admitted, furrowing his brows.
It was his mother who explained this time without looking up from her work, far more logically than her husband. "When considering the mindset of a ghost, one must understand that they act purely on whatever malevolent energy had prevented them from moving on from this plain of existence. This is why they attack humans so willingly. In theory, if one could find a way to…convert…the ghost from that negative energy, then they can- in a way –cease to be destructive." She continued when it seemed her children still didn't understand. "Think of it this way; if you are angry at your sister, you do regretful things to hurt her. If that anger wasn't there, you wouldn't act so rashly. That, in consideration, is what this device will do to ghosts. It will take away their dark energies to replace them with less-dangerous tendencies."
Danny blinked, "So it will switch their personalities."
"Exactly!" his father boomed, "As soon as we're done, all our ghost problems will cease to exist! Especially that Phantom punk; he definitely needs an attitude change."
"What if, in theory, a ghost wasn't exactly…'evil'?" Danny asked slowly, "What if there's a ghost out there who's trying to be good? Will this mess with them too?"
Maddie chuckled a bit. "Don't be silly, Danny. There's no such thing as a 'good ghost'." She continued at her son's pleading expression. "Just to humor you, if there happens to be a moral ghost in existence, I suppose this will have either the opposite effect or none at all. It will turn towards 'evil' or it will remain untouched; I honestly can't say."
The boy gulped. What if they set this thing off and it turned him evil? He could still remember his run-in with his future self- Dan, the mistake of his and Vlad's ghost halves converging in a time of heightened emotional trauma- with great clarity. He couldn't let that happen under any circumstances. "When do you plan on setting this thing off?"
"As soon as we're done with the final touches," Jack burst, "It shouldn't be too much longer. We made it so that we can hook it up to the ops-center above the house and it will hit every ghost everywhere at the same time!"
Danny glanced at Jazz as soon as their father returned to his work. She looked a bit nervous as she met his gaze. Shifting her eyes towards the stairs, she seemed to silently ask him to talk to her; he obliged after muttering something about breakfast.
They rushed into the kitchen and shut the door behind them.
"What do I do?" he asked frantically, running a hand through his hair. "If I stop them, they'll be suspicious, but if I let them do this I could go dark side!"
Jazz places her hands on her little brother's shoulders. "Danny, chill out. Panicking isn't going to do much good. Now, I think you should just act like you don't care about it unless they try to turn it on. If they take too long they may wait until tomorrow and you can destroy it when they go to bed tonight, but if not, you can cause some kind of accident or we can distract them or something. If you start freaking out, they'll worry and start asking questions. Let's just wait up here. They'll have to pass through to get to the ops-center so we'll know when they're done."
Taking a deep breath, Danny forced himself to calm down, "Alright."
With both siblings in agreement, they set out to fix breakfast. No point in wasting a valid excuse.
It wasn't until they had finished their meal, cleaned the kitchen, and settled in the living room to talk that their parents finally emerged from the lab, but they didn't go out the normal way.
All over the house lay strategic "holo-pods" that would transport them into the ops-center in case of an emergency- or in this case an excited rush. After going years without using these transports, the siblings didn't even consider their possible use, but it was a miscalculation that they would soon regret.
Without hesitating for a moment, Jack and Maddie Fenton wired their new creation into the Ghost Energy Detector embedded into the large dash, increased the range to cover the globe as well as the ghost realm's parallel plain, and readied the system for activation. In just a few short seconds, the machine was ready to go.
Jack was all too excited to slam his large fist onto that big red button.
In the living room, Jazz and Danny were chatting away about whatever subjects came to mind. It had been a while since they last had a chance to bond without being interrupted by a ghost attack. They were currently on the topic of the strange goings on between the teachers at school. No one really liked to consider what they did on their time off, but it was always an unanswered question that needed to be asked. Plus, Jazz was the top student and many teachers' favorite pupil so she had the best inside scoop.
In the middle of their musing about Mr. Lancer's amusing habit of using popular literary titles as if they were curses, Danny's laughter abruptly cut off with a sharp inhale, leaving Jazz to blink in confusion; her own smile fading a bit at her brother's strange behavior.
"Danny? Is everything okay?" she asked, expecting him to shake his head with a slight blush as he normally did after spacing off, but he didn't.
He didn't even answer as his posture went completely ridged, hands suddenly gripping the cushion beside each leg like he was holding on for dear life.
Jazz scooted to the edge of the couch where she could see her brother's face only to gasp as what she saw.
The boy's face was completely blank. Any color he had in his cheeks was lost behind a pale mask as his mouth hung open just slightly. It was his wide eyes, however, that drew her attention. Call her crazy, but she knew Danny's normally bright, blue orbs had darkened substantially.
She called his name, shook his shoulders, slapped his cheeks, but he wouldn't respond. It was then that a random thought slipped into mind. What if her parents used the holo-pod instead of passing through the house? What if they already attached the device? What if Danny was fighting the urge to 'go dark side'?
Jumping off of the couch, Jazz bolted towards the center rug, lifted it up to reveal a large, metal plate, and stood on the middle calling out "One to the ops-center!" Instantly, she was beamed up into the large area where she spotted her parents viewing some kind of radar.
Oh, no.
Without wasting a moment, she ran to their side. "What did you do? Did you turn it on?"
The couple blinked in confusion at their normally level-headed daughter's hasty reaction, but answered with nods nonetheless.
"Of course, Jazzerincess, we told you two that we were going to hook it up as soon as we got done." Despite Jack's attempt to calm the girl, his words only seemed to agitate her further.
"Why?! We were waiting for you guys in the living room! Why didn't you come through? What have you done?"
Maddie stood from her seat to place her hands gently on Jazz's shoulders. "Sweetie, what's wrong? You two are never this interested in out inventions."
The girl's eyes narrowed a bit in anger. How could they be so blind? I mean, sure it took her some time to discover Danny's secret, but even if she hadn't seen him 'go ghost' she could have figured it out by now. These were his parents! Why wouldn't they see what was directly in front of them? Anger guided her next words as she gritted her teeth. "Let me show you what's wrong."
Without waiting for an answer, Jazz spun on her heels and stomped towards the holo-pod that would take them to the living room. It only took a moment for the adult to share a look and follow their daughter, though they were beyond confused.
"Three to the living room!" the teenager shouted.
Danny hadn't moved in all the time she was gone, though his eyes had darkened into a slight purple hue as his complexion lightened to shades that couldn't be healthy. He was fighting it. That much was clear.
The parents approached their child carefully while Jazz opted to stay back.
"Danny?" the mother called softly. When she got no reaction, she tried again; and again; and again; and louder; and louder still until she was all but screaming into her boy's face with an expression of pure fear painted on her own.
He still hadn't so much as twitched.
Jack seemed to back up a step while his wife knelt before their unresponsive child. It was a bit odd to see the man so unsure. "What is going on?" he asked quietly, "Jazzy, what happened to Danny?"
"There's something you two should know," Jazz began slowly. Her parents turned worried and confused eyes on her and waited albeit impatiently for an explanation. She didn't want to tell his secret, but what other choice did she have. Her little brother was fighting a losing battle against a darkness that their parents had brought to life. When- if –worse came to worse, they would need to know. Better she tell them now than when they were running for their lives. "Do you remember the day the portal started working? When Danny somehow fixed it?" At their confused nods, she continued carefully. "Well, he was inside the portal when it turned on."
Both adults gasped. He would have died! No human could survive that amount of energy coursing through them! They couldn't even enter the ghost realm without taking precautions! Let alone face an enormous amount of ectoplasm energizing around them all at one time!
Jazz didn't wait long enough for them to start asking questions. "Tucker and Sam were with him when it happened so only they can tell you the whole story, but it messed with Danny. We're not exactly sure how or why, but the ectoplasm from the Ghost Zone- or realm, whatever –somehow merged with his human DNA and…" It was getting harder to finish. The words seemed to be fighting to stay silent, but she managed to continue. "…and he kind of died. Half of him became a ghost while the other half stayed human. I don't know the science behind it because there's only one other person in the world in the same situation and he's not exactly up for interrogation."
The reactions she was getting were not expected. She could imagine them screaming in anger, cowering in fear, mourning in regret, sobbing in guilt, boiling in rage, or even jumping for joy for whatever reason. Any one of these options would have been better than what she was being faced with right now.
Silence; emotionless, unblinking, seemingly endless silence.
"Uhm…" she stuttered, unsure of what to do. The option, however, was taken away from her.
It was Maddie who spoke first, though it was impossible to guess her reaction. "Danny's a ghost?"
"No, only half-ghost. He's still Danny; still human, but he can morph into a ghost and use ectoplasmic energy," she explained quickly.
"Half-ghost and half human. Why would he not tell us?"
Jazz began plucking at the sleeve of her shirt, "He was kind of afraid of your reactions. I mean you guys are always talking about what you would do to any ghosts you catch and how much you hate his ghost half. I really don't blame him for not saying anything and you shouldn't either."
Still no reaction. "Who is he as a ghost?"
Despite her mother's strange wording, the daughter answered. "He's…Danny Phantom." She rushed on before even bothering to gauge any emotions. "Don't be angry! He's been fighting off ghosts who try to take over Amity and he's saved the world twice now! He is doing all he can to keep us safe and, ya he's made mistakes, but he's trying and he's suffering enough and you shouldn't hate him for it! Even now, he's fighting whatever effects yet another one of your invention is causing him in order to keep from hurting us! You can't hate him-"
"Jasmine!" Jack cried, effectively silencing his rambling daughter with gentle hands on her slim shoulders. "We could never hate Danny. We're his parents and we love him no matter what."
At his reassuring words, Jazz felt the tension in her shoulders melt away.
"Right, Mads?"
Just like that, the tension was back as she tried to guess her mother's response.
It took a moment. She removed her hands from her son's shoulders and stared into his blank eyes. It was as if she could see the war behind those darkening orbs; the war that was being fought to keep her safe. Finally, she nodded slowly. "Yes, Jack. There is nothing in this world that would ever make me hate my son." The gentle smile on her face as she brushed Danny's hair off of his forehead confirmed her words.
"Hold onto that," Jazz warned as she noticed her brother's eyes twitching slightly. "I don't know how much longer he can resist whatever he's fighting off."
"What if we just shut off the device?" Jack asked innocently, "Do you think that will make whatever he's up against go away?"
Maddie shook her head. "I'm not sure. We wired it to act independently towards the highlighted signals we programed just in case someone was to come along and disconnect it. It has already pinpointed all of the ghosts in existence. Even if we destroy it there is a possibility that the effects cannot be undone."
"We still have to try! Danny would be mortified if he hurt us in any way regardless of what made him do it. He won't even so much as blast your weapons away when you attack him. Not after he accidently shot you across the room when the mayor was 'taken hostage' though, it was really Danny who was being held against his will." Jazz scowled at the memory, but shook it off in favor of pulling her parents back towards the holo-pod.
It didn't work.
They disconnected their invention from the scanner, unplugged it completely, and even considered destroying the device, but nothing changed Danny's condition. If they were to fix this, they would need to rewire the machine in order to undo the changes. In other words, they needed to make the device do the opposite of what it was created to do in the first place. They needed to make the ghosts 'evil' once again.
In the midst of their panic, they had visitors.
It began with a knock on the closed, portal door that called the attention of everyone in the lab. After discovering the flaw of their invention and what needed to be done to fix it, they had moved everything into the basement; including Danny who was now sitting on a large examination table in the center of the room. It was a chilling decision to put him there, but they needed all the counter space they could find. Plus, the boy was still unresponsive enough not to care.
The knocking came again once a short time went by without anyone reacting. It was Jazz who finally pressed the button to open the doors reasoning that, if Danny was turning evil then perhaps the device was successful against all the other ghosts.
Several ghosts burst through the opening to face the female Fentons, readily pointing weapons at the specters. No point in all of them wasting precious time to take precautions.
Jazz fought a gasp as the faces met with names in her mind. Skulker, Ember, Walker, and several other ghosts who were known to attack Amity Park blinked at the cautious humans, but it was a completely unexpected being who gained the attention.
"Jasmine, what is going on?" a cool voice asked with a lot more compassion in the dulcet tones than any were accustomed to.
"Vlad," Jazz cried, dropping her gun. Her parents were blinking in confusion at the Wisconsin ghost's new name, but she ignored their reactions. "What are you doing here?"
It was Skulker who answered; his voice far more frightened than she had ever heard. "You are known throughout the Ghost Zone as inventors so when a strange energy passed over us, we came to see the reason behind it."
"We created a device to erase any malevolent thoughts within a specter's mind to prevent any more attacks," Maddie explained slowly, not bothering to lower her weapon despite her daughter's abandoned fire-arm.
Ember gasped a bit, "Something must have gone wrong! The most peaceful of the Ghost Zone are acting out against us! I was almost destroyed by Frost Bite before I got away!"
"My jails are full of those who've never broken the law prior to this," Walker drawled, "I've got Cujo, Wulf, and the Princess Dora in custody."
Vlad stepped closer to the humans, disregarding the tightened grip Maddie had on her weapon in favor of glancing over their shoulders at the motionless child sitting behind them. "What has become of young Daniel?"
Jazz almost tripped in her haste to spin around. She sighed at his still posture, but there was no denying the purple haze that had determinedly covered his once, bright blue irises. His left hand had also begun to twitch slightly as it held tightly onto the edge of the table. "Something is wrong with Danny," she admitted, "He's been like this ever since they activated their invention and I'm worried that he's fighting off whatever effects it had on him."
"The whelp is turning evil?" Skulker breathed, hesitancy evident in his voice.
"So it seems." Vlad cautiously approached the boy whose hand continued to twitch. "Can you hear me, Daniel?"
At his words, the hand froze. His eyes widened ever so slightly as their color dramatically flooded into a dark, purple- more like red -hue. Jazz took a step back. She couldn't remember the alternative timeline version of her brother very well thanks to Clockwork's interference, but what little memory remained had her backing away. This brought unwanted attention to her from both her parents and the ghosts who were becoming all the more uneasy.
Knowing that they had to learn at some point, Jazz gifted her 'audience' an explanation for her actions. "Only a few months after Danny got his abilities, he had a run-in with his evil future-self. I can't remember much of it, but what I do know is that when Danny had to face the alternative version of himself, it was as close to losing as he's ever gotten. If whatever Danny's fighting against right now is anything like that…we are in big trouble."
Wide, fearful eyes met the form of the young hero. Danny's eyes began to shutter as his other hand joined the first in its twitching.
They didn't have much time.
Going against her guilty conscience, Maddie dashed over to the computer console and pressed a few buttons in rapid succession. Instantly, a ghost shield came down from the ceiling above the examination table and entrapped the boy. One more switch was flipped to add a tinge of blue to the green walls. "After we found out that ghost shields don't hold Phantom in, we swiped some of his DNA while we were chasing him. We then used it to create a better-fitting cage for when we…caught him." The shame was evident in her voice, but no one made a comment, though Vlad scowled a bit at the glowing dome between the two halfas.
It was then that Danny blinked. When his eyes reopened, the purple had faded along with the blue that had been soaked out of them. All that was left was red; blood red. His dark brows lowered slightly as his lips were pulled into an almost undetectable frown. The harsh gaze began raking over the surrounding forms as an expression of pure hatred lined the child's face.
No one moved.
Danny's eyes finally landed on his stunned parents, slightly behind him, who gulped at their intensity. The boy tilted his head, letting his features morph into confusion that he played with forced innocence.
Jack blinked. "Don't worry Danny-boy, we're gonna fix you right up. Just give us a second." With that, he spun around and poured himself into his work.
Maddie, however, was not so easily torn away from her son's gaze.
The boy's dark orbs seemed to widen in horror when he turned to his mother, knowing that nothing would hurt the woman more than the fear of her child.
"D-Danny, I-I'm so sorry," she breathed. Seeing her little boy so hurt by her ghost-hunting obsession that they had to trap him within a cage brought tears to her eyes. She was overly grateful to her husband who pulled her towards the counter where he was currently working.
The young halfa glared hatefully when the hunters ignored him.
He turned his heated gaze elsewhere. Unfortunately, it was Jazz standing off to his side who caught his attention next. His deepened voice was deep and accusing as he spoke in clipped, sure words. "You're going to stand by while they do this; try to 'fix' me. I'll try to act surprised, oh sister mine."
The girl blinked back tears. "Danny, that's not what's happening. You're being affected by their invention and they're going to help make you better."
He scoffed hatefully. "What has diluted you into thinking they won't 'cure' me of Phantom? If nothing else, the data their scanners are currently collecting is going to benefit them in their future of hunting me."
"Is this true?" Jazz asked carefully, "Are your scanners really working?"
Jack hesitantly nodded, though he didn't turn from his work. "We can't turn 'em off sweetie-cakes. We wired them to be automatic whenever we put up the ghost shield. It would take time to turn them off, but we should focus on this first." He turned to his daughter. "Jazzy-pants, you know that we aren't going to go after Danny. Now that we know…we will do everything we can to keep him safe and if he wants to keep his ghost powers we'll support him. It's our fault he has 'em anyway."
The teen smiled at her father, "Thanks, daddy."
Danny sneered, but he understood that nothing on his part could tamper with his sister's mind after the relief her father's words gave her.
That is when the boy's eyes drifted behind the girl where a small group of ghosts huddled; tensing at the attention he was giving them. Their fear brought a smirk to his face wide enough to show a hint of sharp fangs. His dark eyes promised pain and misfortune to each of them, causing every single ghost to retreat out of the portal that remained open behind them. While the device only took their anger and hatred, not even the remnants of their bravery and confidence were enough to keep them from running with their tails between their legs.
Danny let out a deep chuckle at the scene, but was interrupted by a scoff from in front of him.
Vlad pursed his lips at the young-halfa's display. "Now, Daniel, that was uncalled for."
The boy raised a mocking brow. "Try to rein your jealousy, Plasmius."
"What do I have to be envious of? The only reason they fear you is due to the remaining effects of your parents' invention. Should they be in their normal mind-set, they would not be so hasty in retreat; especially from you. I, on the other hand, already command their respect regardless of their emotions," the billionaire teased.
Red eyes darkened in rage as muscles tensed, but Danny didn't bother answering.
Vlad took his silence as a victory and smirked. He would have continued his taunting if not for Jack's loud cry of excitement that gained the attention of the room's occupants.
"Did you finish?" Jazz asked hopefully, trying to peak over their shoulders.
Maddie turned around with the device in her hands; new wires and parts sticking out of it. "Yes," she beamed, "we did. By following the opposite cross-wiring plans we previously studied, this should be enough to undo the effects we put into place. Unfortunately, we will need a much larger-scale power source due to the modifications we had to use in such short notice."
Jack answered their questions before they could even ask. "We plan to use the radio tower. If we hook up our doohickey and cast a signal at the same time, we'll have enough juice to fix everything!"
The enthusiastic humans continued their semi-celebration while the halfas remained silent in their observation. It was easy to tell, however, the difference between their reactions to the news. Danny's eyes watched every movement, every reaction, and every word while his face remained void of emotion; as if he was studying them. Vlad, on the other hand, had his brow raised mockingly at their display.
Jazz regarded them curiously. The change within her brother was obvious, but the mayor's was almost nonexistent save for a slight hint of emotion that he would otherwise hide behind sarcasm and insults. Of course, she reasoned, what harm would it be to ask? "Why are you…normal?"
The ghost hunters looked on confused by her question. How well did their children know the Wisconsin ghost anyway? Surely he didn't leave his state that often. Then again, they never saw much of the specter themselves aside from a few duels between him and their son who- come to think of it –was always so different in his presence. Strange; who was this Vlad Plasmius (as their children had called him) anyways?
"Whatever do you mean, Jazmine?" the older-halfa asked with an annoyed sigh.
The teen scowled, but elaborated. "Those other ghosts are running in fear while Danny's…" One glance at her little brother's piercing gaze made her shudder before continuing. "Anyway, you're the only one who seems unaffected by all of this. You are still acting like you usually do. Why aren't you...?"
"Good?" Vlad offered with a raised brow, "Is that you question? Why am I still 'evil'?" At the girl's nod, he scoffed bitterly. "Leave it to a group of children to label their contenders based on such a limited view of the world."
"Will you just answer?" Jazz sighed.
"Evil doesn't exist." The voice that answered was not the one she was expecting. Nor was it one she wanted to be reminded of. Danny's tone sounded so…so careless and dark; so similar to that of his alternative-self. His words finally hit home, though, causing her brow to wrinkle in confusion.
"Of course it does," she argued, "that's what's happening now; mom and dad's machine amplified the evil in all those who are good while taking it away from those who are not."
It was Vlad who filled in the gaps. "Jazmine, there is no such thing as 'evil'. The term is simply used to express things too dark to put into a more explanative light. What your parent's device did was a simple- albeit adequate –neural signal that prevented certain emotions to pass through ghosts. A 'mind-flip' if you will. Your reference to 'evil' plays no part in this."
She sighed again, but didn't bother starting a philosophical argument about the existence of such notions. "Okay, then how do you explain how it didn't mess with you?" she pressed.
"My only explanation is that my mind works differently. The inhabitants of the Ghost Zone are based solely on emotion to guide them; so it is no surprise that a tampering with such has caused a bit of a personality change within them. Daniel and I are not as reliant on abstract feelings; however, it is rather how we view ourselves in tandem with our emotional restraints. Your bother believes he is a 'hero', a 'protector' of sorts and avoids his darker, more sinister thoughts so when his mind is displaced, all those precious morals of his are taken away. I, on the other hand, have no base-line morals nor do I evade any particular type of thinking. My reaction to a neural switch is nonexistent due to my…I guess you could call it immunity of a lack of inner turmoil."
Maddie raised a brow, "You don't believe you're a villain, but you also know that you're no hero."
"Precisely."
Gathering their tools and newly formed machine, the Fenton parents offered a quick 'be right back' before heading over towards the previously used holo-pod.
"Just think," Jack cut distantly in as if trying to ease the tension on his way out, "my Danny-boy is a hero."
Jazz nodded enthusiastically while Maddie smiled warmly. Vlad chuckled at the boy who growled in annoyance.
Danny scoffed hatefully, watching the light from the transporter fade. "Look what good it has done; all this time protecting you spineless humans only to become your ultimate demise."
"Danny, please. I know the real you is in there somewhere. You've got to hold on!" Jazz pleaded, stepping as close to the shield as she dared.
"Haven't you realized it yet? This is not mind-control. I'm not being forced. There is nothing making me this way. Yes, our parents'," he snarled the word, "machine diluted those useless morals, but what you see before you has been here all along just under the surface." His lips stretched into a terrifying smile. "Vlad saw it. That's why he wants me to learn from him; to become his puppet. He knows that I can be feared if I'd just let go."
A quick glance at the billionaire proved his words true as the man remained outwardly emotionless towards the accusation. Aside from the idea of the boy being 'his puppet', the claim was true.
Jazz shook her head, "You're just trying to mess with me. I know better. I know my brother!"
"Do you?" The young-halfa stood suddenly and stepped up to the border of the shield, just before of his older sister. "Do you really?" Another step phased him through the energy and standing right in front of her.
Vlad instantly went on defense and snatched the girl away from the close proximity. Without hesitation, he shoved her towards the holo-pod, taking a fighting stance between the siblings. "Now, Daniel, that was just rude. Are you trying to scar the poor girl?"
Jazz didn't wait for an answer as she quickly transported herself into the ops-center to warn her parents. They had to hurry.
Danny didn't respond to the man's taunting as he normally would. Instead, he attacked without mercy.
Lunging forward, led by anger and hatred, he threw several punches at the ever-dodging billionaire who settled into a dance-like flow of movement. Getting frustrated at not being able to land a hit, he morphed mid-swing before infighting his fist with red energy and blasting Vlad in the chest. The older-halfa was unable to move in time for the blast, but he managed to shift enough for it to glance off his chest rather than shoot him across the room.
Now at a slight distance from each other, the half-ghosts readied their powers. Knowing the boy had a problem being patient, Vlad waited for the inevitable attack from the boy which soon came in the form of several red energy spheres coming at several different angles.
The man simply phased through the floor and came up just in front of the boy who was instantly thrown back by the punch to his stomach. He landed on his feet and pushed off the ground towards the man until they were, once again, locked into hand-to-hand combat. Throwing his punches and kicks too wildly to predict got Danny a few hits, but they were returned with just as much strength as Vlad decided it was time to clone.
With three against one odds and the original standing aside, Danny normally wouldn't have stood a chance, but with the darkness hazing over him he refused to hold back. The room grew steadily colder as the boy froze anything and everything he managed to hit with his ice-ray. Eventually, Vlad's clones were all but immobile and easily shattered by Danny's attacks.
Each clone's demise was a slight drain on the man's power, but he returned to the fight without pause. The boy moved quickly as he darted back and forth between the clones, though, he was not quite fast enough to get away before his upper arm was grabbed roughly by a firm grip that soon turned white-hot. Danny screamed in pain as the electricity coursed through him, but Vlad didn't let go until the boy weakened in his grasp.
Letting go of the energy along with the child brought Vlad standing over Danny's crumpled and panting form, forced human by the sheer power behind the attack.
"It's almost disappointing that you cannot defeat me even with your full power unleased," Vlad mocked, hoping to anger the boy enough for another thoughtless attack.
It did not, however, work out in his favor as Danny's gasping turned to laughing manically. The noise grew louder and far more demented as the red-eyed boy stood tall, facing his enemy. Halting his laughter for a quick breath was all the warning the man was given before he was being surrounded by red light and slammed into by powerful waves of energy produced by the boy's Ghostly Wail. Gritting his teeth, Vlad did all he could to fight the relentless torrent, but was soon thrown off his feet and into the wall behind him until he was pinned without movement. He gasped painfully as his ghost form was stripped from him and he was left to face the attack as a human.
Danny didn't stop there. His strength was depleting rapidly with the demands of this ability, but he pushed on until Vlad passed out completely. The moment the wail was silenced, the billionaire slid listlessly to the floor in a heap completely down for the count. From his current position on his knees trying to resist blacking out, the boy blinked the spots from his vision.
One down three to go.
They could hear the raging battle all the way up to the ops-center and shivered in partial worry. They could only hope Plasmius could give them enough time to finish the final preparations for the devise. It would only take a few more minutes.
Jazz had been pacing endlessly since the moment she joined them shouting about Danny's escape and Vlad's saving her. She was more than worried. Sure, her brother had never been able to defeat Vlad, let alone while he was angry, but this time he wouldn't hold back. Maybe, neither of them would and someone would end up…No! Shaking her head, she banished those thought form her mind. Vlad was more experienced than Danny and he would be able to hold him back.
These thoughts were just settling into her mind when she heard a terrifyingly familiar scream resonate through the building. That was Danny screaming. It sounded like he was hurt. Jazz chanced a quick look towards her parents where the two adults seemed to be fighting every instinct they had not to run towards their hurting child. Maddie looked as if she herself was the one in pain while Jack had never looked more haunted.
Silence fell in the lab that had their hearts stopping. What if…was Danny…did Vlad?
Forcing themselves to focus was not an easy task, but Maddie managed to pull Jack back into the work along with her.
The sudden quiet was interrupted by a quiet laugh that echoed around the large room. Jazz shivered uncomfortably at hearing her brother's voice like that. All thoughts towards that were forgotten as the building shook and a haunting red light seeped up from the floor. They could hear Danny's attack flooding around them as Jazz panicked and the Fenton parents doubled in their efforts to fix what they had done to their son.
Another bought of quiet fell, but they ignored the dark implication.
One more button
The light ding that interrupted the tense air was relieving beyond compare.
They had thought it was over when they entered the lab. The devise had been finished an activated, but upon stepping off the transport, they were proven wrong.
Danny was on his hands and knees panting and snarling like a wild animal. Vlad was slumped against a far wall appearing unconscious as the younger-halfa fought a whole new battle.
It only took a moment for the second youngest Fenton to jump into action. Jazz darted over to the downed billionaire, careless to her parents' confusion at why their old college friend was here. Waking him didn't take long, but he reaction was to gasped painfully before placing a hand over what was more than likely broken ribs.
Nodding a the teen for waking him, he stood unsteadily and stumbled his way over towards Danny who was now writhing on the floor as if being attacked from the inside. The humans kept their distance, knowing that, whatever happened, they needed to keep safe or Danny would blame himself.
Vlad instantly took a steadying grip of the boy's shoulder as if holding him to this world before speaking as firmly as his aching lungs would allow. "Daniel, you must stop this. Fight it. I've said before and I will say it even through the next life; you are not a monster. You are stronger than your anger."
Horror latched onto the watching parents, though Jazz seemed resigned to the mantra being repeated by the older-halfa. Danny though himself a monster even after all he had done? This was their fault! They had convinced the boy that ghosts were evil so much that he hated himself for becoming one. What had they done?
Careless to their reactions, Vlad did not stop calling for the boy's return. "I know you can hear me, Little Badger and I know you will not give up. I need you to fight this! Your family has accepted you; your friends would be devastated to lose you; you have something to live for, my boy, so fight for it. Do not let them down."
To everyone's amazement, the words were slowly getting through to the boy, now arching his back in pain. His mind was in turmoil as if it was harming itself and Danny was becoming paler and screaming more brokenly with each attack. Soon, he was left only with pulses of his mind's war. Laying before the only other of his kind, he gasped breathlessly and tensed with each blow to his subconscious, but his hazy eyes were fading back to blue.
His breath soon caught in his throat as if the darkness inside him was giving one last shove before he slumped limply onto the dusty floor.
Vlad sighed in relief as he continued running one hand through the boy's dirty hair as the other kept its grounding grip on his shoulder. "You've done it, Daniel. Just rest now. The darkness is gone. You fought so well, I'm very proud, Little Badger."
Much to even Jazz's surprise, Danny calmed to those words as if they were long awaited and tried for. While the girl knew of most of the battles between the two halfas, she was then settled to the fact that there was much more going on than she realized. Her parents, however, were completely confused, but resigned to finding out later.
With the fight over and done, the humans' view was taken to the destroyed lab around them. The counters were upturned and smashed against the walls; their portal was smoking slightly though somehow still intact, it did not seem to be activated; all of the equipment was destroyed beyond repair; and even the door leading up to the kitchen was blow off its hinges. Dents could be seen in every wall including a large, person-shaped indentation that closely resembled Vlad along with several other smaller sized that looked as if the two had thrown each other around. Of course, that wouldn't be a surprise with all the noise they had caused.
This would not be an easy cleanup.
How could their boy cause all of this?
The thought brought their attention back to the halfas. Vlad was still calming the boy through words and gentle hand motions while Danny was laying as still as possible, pale, and breathing slightly heavier than normal, though that was calming with each intake of air.
"Breathe slowly, Daniel, I know I cracked at least one rib. I would apologize, but you broke two of mine so let's call it even," Vlad said lightly, reveling in the small bounce of the boy's chest indicating laughter. "Come, now, my boy, let's get you somewhere more comfortable." With that, the man effortlessly lifted the cringing boy off the floor and casting a slight glance over to the waiting humans. "I'm going to take him to the couch. He will need medical supplies and something warm to drink. Could you gather the m and meet me there?"
There was a moment of hesitation as they almost forgot the answer, but Jack finally gasped out a yes before Vlad nodded and carried their son up the stairs, careful to avoid the destruction.
An hour later found the group all sitting around the living room.
Jack sat in his large recliner by the TV, Maddie was perched on the arm of the recliner with her husband's hand tightly held in her own, and Vlad sat in the one-cushion chair close to the couch with the unused medical supplies in easy reach just in case. Danny was lying on the couch with Jazz sitting on the floor by his head forcing him to stay still despite his begging to be allowed up. The adults chuckled at the interaction, but left the caretaking to the older sibling who refused to let her brother strain himself after being so hurt.
"It's not even that bad, Jazz," Danny complained, trying and failing yet again to sit up without Jazz pushing him back down.
The girl would hear none of it. "You are hurt, Danny. I don't care how bad you think it is. You're staying put until I say so."
Just as her words died off, a stream of blue air escaped the ghost-boys lips. He froze suddenly, casting nervous glances to his parents even as Jazz sighed sadly and took her restraining hands away. There was no stopping Danny from protecting the city from ghost attacks.
Noticing this, Vlad cleared his throat slightly and offered Danny a smirk. "I'll return in a moment," he said simply before walking out the front door. Nothing could be heard as several minutes passed, but Vlad soon appeared in the doorway once again. Retaking his seat his smirk once again found the young-halfa as he briefly explain the situation with nothing more than 'Box Ghost'.
Danny nodded with a restrained smile as Jazz outright laughed. They both recalled the one time the Box Ghost faced Plasmius. It was comical to say the least.
A tense silence fell on the group until Danny, being impatient, broke it. "You have questions." The words themselves were a statement, but Maddie nodded nonetheless. With nothing more than a waved hand, the boy gave them the 'go ahead'.
"Jazz said you were in the portal when you turned it on?" Maddie asked gently.
Danny answered bluntly, feeling both relief and worry that his parents now knew. "Ya, Sam and Tuck dared me to go in. I tripped on some wires and hit a button on the inside that must have turned it on. It…hurt, but when I woke up I had ghost powers."
Jack spoke next, his question slightly accusing, "Why didn't you tell us right away?"
"I didn't really understand what was going on at first," Danny began honestly glancing over at Vlad as he went on, "I mean this has only happened once before and I'd never heard of it so I was far too confused to explain what was happening to me. By the time I understood, you guys had already formed your views of Phantom and I…I was…afraid of how you'd react." He looked a bit guilty, but not as remorseful as the parents would have assumed.
"You know we would never hurt you, Danny-boy," Jack said, "Why would you think we would react badly?"
Bitterness seeped into the boy's eyes as he pursed his lips. "Oh, I don't know. Would you like to help illustrate Jazz?"
Jazz lit up at the dark humor and spoke in a higher pitched voice to replicate her mother. "Let's study the ghost boy, Jack!"
"No, Maddie, let's tear him apart molecule by molecule!" Danny finished with a deep voiced flourish to imitate his father's over-excited tones.
Vlad chuckled from his spot beside the siblings, but didn't speak.
"Did…did we really sound like that?" Maddie whispered.
Jack suddenly looked like a rebuked child. "I'm sorry, Danny, we wouldn't have said that if we knew-"
He didn't get to continue as sharp scoff from the billionaire interrupted him. Before Maddie could defend him, Danny spoke up.
"No he's right." The two adult humans gasped at this, but the boy went on anyway. "Even if something in me knew you wouldn't hate me, I also knew that you wouldn't pass up a chance to study a ghost. I'm not saying that you're going to dissect me or anything," a dark, threatening glare from the older-halfa promised pain should they try just that as Danny shivered at the idea, "but you guys can't sit there and honestly say you're not planning on asking me questions about my ghost half."
They had a moment to look guilty before Vlad, surprising them all except Danny, broke the tension. "Should you have questions, I will not be against answering them in Daniel's stead as I have been around far longer than he, though I know he will not hesitate to submit to any or your tests or inquiries. That being said, if I hear word of you abusing him in even the slightest fashion, I will follow up with my own methods until I am confident that it won't happen again."
Danny blushed slightly at the thought of his once-nemesis defending him, but he was more humbled by the idea to argue. He trusted his parents, but he also knew that this was their obsession and, at times, they could get a bit carried away.
"Thank you, Vlad," Jazz said sincerely from her spot beside him at Danny's head. "I'll be off to college here soon and it'll be conforming to know he's being looked after," she turned her wise-eyes to her parents, "I know you won't hurt him, but you guys can be oblivious sometimes and he won't tell you if he's hurting inside or out." The last comment earned Danny a slightly rebuking glance from the girl, but he simply scowled a bit and played with the fringe on the blanket set over him.
Jack smiled at his children's interactions, though his heart was heavy at the idea they didn't fully trust them. His thoughts were soon distracted by another question. "How'd you get your powers, Vladdy?"
The innocence in the question was almost forgotten at Danny's cringe and hasty glance at the older-halfa whose expression was forced to be vacant. Jazz didn't know that story, but she could tell it was a sore subject.
"It was the proto-portal," he said simply causing Maddie's eyebrows to rise.
"It's been so long! You've had power all this time? Why didn't you-"
"Hey, mom, let's skip that one, okay? Got any more?" Danny almost shouted over his mother's voice before she could complete the question.
She looked a bit insulted at the interruption, but resigned to asking her son about it in privacy. "How did you can Vlad meet?" she asked instead.
The boy looked to Vlad to answer, unsure of how much the man wanted to reveal.
Vlad obliged. "I had heard rumors through the Ghost Zone about Danny Phantom, but we didn't meet until the reunion. As you can recall, we did not begin our relationship well nor did it mend soon after. It took some time for us to agree, but I believe we are better off for it.
Maddie scowled, being the only one aside from Danny to recall what had happened that day and all of their other Vlad-interactions, but left the comments unspoken for which her son looked all to relieved. Amazing how intuitive he was. Had he always been like this or had he developed it over time? She deemed that for another private question.
More time passed with simple questions regarding Danny's status in the Ghost Zone, why Vlad was so feared, how the two became allies, what other ghosts were not malevolent, and many more. The answers were honest and as revealing as much as the two halfas thought necessary for this point in time. With the final question requiring a lengthy answer from Vlad describing the exact sciences behind their 'halfa' state as well as where the name itself came from, Danny yawned.
It had gone dark outside some time ago and Jazz was already asleep on the couch beside her brother who demanded her take a cushion after he was finally allowed to sit up. Vlad chuckled at his fatigue, though his eyes shown his own low energy after the long fight they had. Maddie offered a quick, light meal before they were all sent off to bed.
As Vlad was forced by threat of ghost shield to stay for the night, he was set up in Danny's room on a fair-sized cot. The two, though tired, stayed up talking quietly for some time before agreeing to go for a late-night fly over town. For some reason, Danny felt that he needed to 'go ghost' before he exploded. Vlad explained that it was the healing factor included in his ghost powers that was calling his to morph so it could mend his injuries.
It was a quick and uneventful flight though they kept up a reasonable conversation. In one of the many pauses, Danny took a deep breath.
"Vlad," he began, almost unsure if he wanted to continue, "I just wanted to thank you…for earlier. You didn't have to defend me like that, but I…I'm glad you did. It's a relief that I don't have to keep this a secret anymore, but I'm still worried that they will push these questions too far."
Understanding lit the man's currently-red eyes as he took in the boy's nervous movements. "If it would make you feel better, Daniel, I will stay in Amity Park until I can help you perfect your teleportation. Once you've mastered that ability, you will be able to visit my mansion in Wisconsin whenever you need. I already planned on speaking with your parents about allowing you to stay over some weekends should you agree to let me train you. I assure you that I have no ulterior motives as I haven't since the beginning of this alliance, but it is ultimately your choice."
There was a slight hesitation in which Vlad was sure the boy would refuse the offer, but to his surprise, Danny laughed and threw his arms around the man. "That would be awesome! Thank you!"
The older-halfa chuckled and placed gentle arms around the boy's shoulders before the parted and raced back to the Fenton household.