After working on "Final Threshold" and "Incomplete", I have decided to show you a little more about Future Danny's progression to Grim Reaper from Danny Phantom. This is his story. ~ Zone
I
Terror. That's the last thing Danny Fenton felt before those gloved hands were ripping into his chest, red eyes glaring down into his blue eyes as breath and sight came to a slow, painful, agonizing end. Red, that horrible, horrible red…and then black.
And then there was a ticking sound, just echoing all around. He was afraid to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see.
"Hello again, young Fenton! I wondered when we'd be seeing you, after your family came through here. 'Course, you were supposed to have finished your walk a year ago, but you know what happened to prolong your life. Anyways, time to open your eyes. Come on."
That voice… "…Mr. Grim Reaper?" Danny slowly opened his eyes, looking up at the cloaked figure leaning over him.
"Ah, there's our boy! And I see you remember your last walk. Good! That means less annoying questions!" The Grim Reaper nodded and offered him a hand. "I gotta say, though, not sure which cause of death is worse. Death by electrocution or death by getting your heart literally ripped out of your body? And by the ghost who prolonged your life, no less. Oh well! That's in the past, now, and you know how this thing works!"
Danny slowly pushed himself to his feet, looking at his chest. "No wound…"
"Well, did you expect one? Your physical body may have one but you, my young friend, are just a soul now. So, let's go on your long walk!" The Grim Reaper nodded to him. "After you, of course."
Danny nodded, stepping forward and walking down the cobblestone path. "You seem more…jovial than before."
"Well, that's 'cause I'm in a better mood this time. You technically weren't MY assignment last time, the actual guy ended up not being able to do it, but Clockwork specifically sent me this time because we've met before and he thought you would like the familiar." The Grim Reaper replied. "Besides, you're more than just a moody little skeptic teenager that died way too soon now. You've done a lot of stuff, big stuff, so it's a much more interesting trip!"
"You already know about my life?" Danny asked as they walked together. "Why even bother with the walk, then?"
"The walk isn't to educate us about your life, kid. And I don't know all of it, just the big part. Y'know, the Danny Phantom part. The half-ghost kid that beat Pariah Dark back when he came out again. Clockwork was real impressed by it, but don't expect any special treatment from him." He chuckled. "He's usually only impressed for a day or two and then he's back to his moody self."
Danny nodded. "So, this Clockwork guy…who is he? You mentioned him before."
"He's the Master of Time, governor of life and death, and my boss." The Grim Reaper replied. "I figured you would've heard of him by now, but I guess you didn't keep up on ghost lore, did you?"
"No…" Danny admitted, shaking his head. Images appeared around them, but he didn't look at them. He didn't want to see the family he'd lost. "I was honestly flying by the seat of my pants half the time."
"And yet you got involved with the Fright Knight, Pariah Dark, and the Crystal Ball Staff?" The Grim Reaper chuckled. "You're one unlucky kid."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Just call me 'Danny 13'." Danny said sarcastically.
The Grim Reaper chuckled. "So, I asked you this before, and I'm sure your answers have changed. Any regrets?"
Danny looked down. "…Yeah. Loads of them. I never got to say goodbye to my family, Sam and Tucker, or Mr. Lancer. I regret surviving, while everyone else died around me. I regret lying to them, never telling them the truth about me and Phantom. I regret hurting Phantom by splitting from him with Uncle Vlad's help. I regret never trying to get along with Uncle Vlad. I regret never telling Valerie how I felt about her…or Sam. I liked Sam, too. I just never admitted it, even though it was obvious to everyone. I regret never trying to make peace with the older ghosts, never apologizing for hurting them, never trying to negotiate with Walker about the stupid sentence."
He paused, finally looking up at the images. They'd passed his life before the accident, and he was now seeing his life as Danny Phantom go by. "I regret…never getting along with anyone, distrusting everyone, and never once considering if they even wanted a hero around."
"Well, you seemed to be well-liked enough." The Grim Reaper remarked. "From what we heard, at least. Then again, we don't exactly have time to stay and chit-chat. We only go to the human realm to do our jobs."
"Just a few months ago, my family walked down this path…" Danny looked at his sneakers as he walked. "Did they…did they move on? Become ghosts? What happened to them? To my friends? To Mr. Lancer?"
The Grim Reaper sighed. "I'm afraid you're not allowed to know that stuff. Grim Reaper information only." He replied. "Besides, you'll know sooner or later. You gotta make a choice at the end, y'know."
"What if…I don't want to be a ghost?" Danny asked. "Do I have too many regrets to move on?"
"Not half as many as before." The Grim Reaper remarked. "You could move on, yeah."
Danny nodded, looking thoughtful. He looked up at the images and stopped. "Hold on. When did that happen? When did I rob a bank?"
"Oh, Clockwork said you might not recall it." The Grim Reaper sighed. "That was when you were controlled by the Crystal Ball Staff. See the red eyes?" He pointed to the image.
"I…I remember…red." Danny whispered. "Just a red light…and voices…Sam's voice…my voice…the ringmaster's voice…but I never quite saw…until I saved Sam when she fell from the train." He clenched his fists and looked away. "Sam…I failed to save her. Because I was a cheating idiot, she died!"
"Okay, not to be kind of impolite and insensitive, but weren't you cheating in another way, too?" The Grim Reaper remarked. "I mean, just a bit ago you confessed to liking both girls."
"I didn't mean like that!" He groaned. "Just…I used my ghost powers to cheat on a test, and that's why we were at the Nasty Burger when it blew!"
"Sorry, just couldn't resist." The Reaper chuckled.
"Well, you could've tried." Danny glared at him.
"Forgive me, I was truly bad." The Reaper held up a gloved hand. "I'll refrain from any more comments like that."
"…Thanks." Danny looked back at the images again. "Let's…move on." He walked on down the path.
"Sure, we're on your Threshold, after all." The Reaper shrugged as he walked alongside him. "We can go as fast or slow as you want."
"What, you don't have any plans after this?" Danny looked at him.
"Pft. I'm done when Clockwork says I'm done, and then I might grab something strong to put me to sleep." The Reaper replied. "So, what do you wanna do? I mean, you have the whole walk to think about it, but do you wanna move on, or become a ghost? You've still got friends in the Ghost Zone."
"Still thinking about it." Danny said, watching the images now as they walked. The images of him and his friends and him and his parents flashed by, and then he stopped short, tears welling up as he saw an image that was different from the others.
The Fenton Ghostcatcher had split him in half, and he had been limited to what "Fun Danny" saw and heard. Seeing Super Phantom flying off without him…he would never admit how much it ached to be without him, and distracted himself so he wouldn't have to think about it. But in this image, he was lying in bed fast asleep, with Super Phantom kneeling next to the bed, brushing his hair out of his face; little things that he never knew, because Phantom was gone by the next morning.
"Danny Fenton?" The Reaper spoke softly. "Do you…do you need a moment?"
"I don't understand what happened." Danny whispered. "He was so angry…he just…completely lost it…" He wiped at his eyes with his balled-up fists. "We had it so good…why did I ever want him gone? Why did I ever ask for Vlad to do that?"
"I don't know." The Reaper sighed, then looked behind them. "But…you really did great together, against Pariah Dark and Fright Knight."
Danny nodded, then tore his eyes away and walked on. Ghost fight after ghost fight…faces and names that he would've no doubt heard so many more times if he hadn't died…and then he stopped short again when he saw the Nasty Burger explode, taking his family and friends with it. Fresh tears formed and he closed his eyes, trying not to see, to remember.
He'd never really cried in front of anyone until now. He was always so full of pride, of emotional constipation…he turned away and walked on, wiping at his eyes. He'd already gone over all the "why"s, and the "if only"s and all the other things connected to that event. Now…he had another event ahead of him. And with it, a new horizon.
He thought that seeing it from an outside view would make it clear to him just why things turned out the way they did. But no matter how many times he watched that same scene over and over again, the moment of Phantom's merging with Plasmius and Danny's subsequent death, he just couldn't figure out how Phantom had lost it so bad. Why did he merge with Plasmius? Why did he attack Danny, and not Vlad?
"I can't move on." He said softly.
"Okay, so you're going to the Ghost Zone, then?" The Reaper asked.
"No. I…it doesn't feel right, becoming a ghost. He's my ghost, so it's…wrong." Danny shook his head.
"Oooookay, then." The Reaper sighed. "Well, you can't just live here on the threshold. You gotta pick one or the other."
"You remember when I asked how to become a Grim Reaper?" Danny asked, looking at him. "And you said 'most of us were created'? Well, 'most' doesn't mean 'all'…"
The Reaper was silent, and then he pulled out what looked like a cell-phone, dialing a number. "Hey, put me through to the boss. I got a problem. Yes, it's important. NOW." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I hate this hold music…"
"Grim Reapers have cell-phones?" Danny chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Kills the whole medieval image, but it's quicker than carrier pigeon." The Reaper huffed. "Honestly, asking to become a Grim Reaper…you must be insane. Either that or you're a glutton for punishment. You didn't have enough responsibility and trauma in life; you have to become a flippin' Grim Reaper. Oh, hey. What? Bring him IN?! But, sir—he hung up on me." He sighed, hanging up. "Clockwork has absolutely NO phone etiquette." He grumbled.
"Okay, so…?" Danny shrugged.
"So, you're coming to Grim Zone with me." He gripped his scythe and slashed at the air, making a glowing, purple hole. "You first, it closes as soon as I go through."
"Okay… me first." Danny cautiously approached it, and then yelped as he was shoved inside with a rough push at his upper back.
Whoops, Danny wasn't going fast enough so he got shoved in. Lazy brat, always late. Late, late, late!
Someone needs to give Clockwork some lessons on phone etiquette, it is not nice to hang up on people!
Wonder what the hateful hold music was? XD And does this mean that Clockwork has a cell-phone? Can Danny get his number after they meet in the present/past? XD Do you think he'll prank-call him like a brat?
I just can't picture him on a cell-phone, but apparently he's got one. Or at least some kind of phone. ~ Zone