How had it come to this?
Danny swore violently as he snapped into a 90 degree turn to avoid the blast that would've taken his head off. Furious shouts from below him were closer than he would have liked, and he pushed himself a little faster. Each shot was getting more on target and it would only be a matter of time before Danny was struck unless he could shake his pursuers.
After all, it wasn't like he could hurt his parents.
...
Things had been rough lately. More ghosts had been appearing than ever before, and Danny was hard-pressed to stem the tide. It meant more absences from school, more arriving home after curfew and more hours spent awake at night fighting ghost after ghost until even floating was too much effort and he had to drag himself home. His wounds were more numerous too, and seemed to take longer to heal than they had two years ago. Danny's exhaustion was taking its toll on his relationships too. Not only were his parents angry and disappointed by his lacklustre grades and apparent disregard for his curfew, but his temper was shorter around them. He disappointed them, and it stung bitterly until the ache became too much and he snapped at them.
Not even his friends and sister were exempt from the tension that was springing up. Danny knew they cared, but it was like they didn't even appreciate the stress he endured every day. Jazz had been dropping heavier and heavier hints about breaking his secret to his parents when she wasn't trying to analyse his aggressive refusal to do so. Tucker's jealousy had returned with a vengeance as Danny's powers grew, and the halfa could see the dark, envious glares every time he went ghost. Danny didn't have the energy to explain to Tucker that being half ghost was nothing to desire. The cold ache behind his ribs that was his core seemed to bleed into his emotions more and more as his weariness dragged all the joy and happiness out of his life.
And Sam…
Danny had liked Sam. Maybe even loved her, if he was being honest with himself. But he'd slowly realised that what Sam Manson liked about him was not his looks or his personality, but the fact that he was "different". Almost unique. Once, when he was so tired he had begun to silently cry as he floated back down to meet his friends, Danny had quietly expressed his desire to be human again. The utter vehemence she had responded with had been an eye-opener, to say the least.
"Why would you ever want to be normal, Danny? You're the luckiest kid alive!", Tucker's quiet "almost alive" was ignored, "You can do so much more than the rest of us! You're special, Danny."
"Lucky? Special? There's nothing lucky or special about this Sam! It's fucking painful and exhausting! Just because you can't stand the thought of liking the same things as regular people doesn't mean you can act like this is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" His anger had surprised all three of them, Sam's mouth opening in a tiny "oh" of surprise while Tucker dropped his newest PDA. Danny had fled, too hurt and embarrassed to apologise. It had taken a week for things to return to an uneasy friendship for them all.
If he'd had time to think, Danny would've pegged that moment as the catalyst for his entire predicament. Unfortunately for him, Time was unable to be on his side until it was drastically too late.
...
More shots flew through the sky around Danny as he used every single trick he knew to dodge the deadly blasts. It seemed almost impossible for him to shake his parents and not for the first time in his half-life did he curse Jack's ridiculous driving and Maddie's near impeccable aim.
"Would it be too much to ask for a cease-fire so we can talk?" He shouted desperately down at the Fenton RV where it had swerved dangerously around a corner to keep on his spectral tail. His only reply was another blast that came close to singing his face. Danny swore again and in a fit of panic, phased straight through three houses to break the line of sight. By the angry calls he could hear, the manoeuvre had been successful. Allowing himself only a moment of triumphant reprieve, Danny continued his frantic pace onward. He had just begun to consider where exactly he would be able to run to when a bolt of pink ectoplasm slammed into his side and sent him careening into the street below. The impact knocked the wind out of him and a familiar sharp pain told Danny that at least one rib was broken.
"Going somewhere, little badger?" A familiar smug tone made Danny groan.
"I really don't have time for this today, Plasmius! I'm trying to keep hold of the other half of my life right now, so go back home to your cat!" The jab was half-hearted, Danny too busy rolling onto his feet to spring back into the air. Whatever comeback Plasmius had was lost as the teenager sped past with urgency. He didn't get far until another bolt of ectoplasm struck him in the back.
"If you don't pay attention to me then I'll be the one finishing you off!" Plasmius snarled.
"Vlad, please! I need to go!" Danny's voice was frantic enough to give Plasmius pause. He didn't have time to question Danny before his mechanical ally slammed into Danny with full force, sending him flying with a yelp.
"Not so fast, whelp!" Skulker said, a menacing grin on his face. It wavered slightly when Danny turned to them, clear terror in his eyes.
"Will you both just cut me some slack for one day? I'm trying not to get killed by my-!" Whatever Danny had planned to say was cut off as a blast of ectoplasm tore through his middle. The force of it snapped his body forwards, splitting his tail into two limp legs again. Time almost seemed to slow as Danny's eyes widened comically in surprise. He coughed, thick green ectoplasm spilling from his mouth as he lowered his head to gaze horrified at the smouldering hole in his abdomen.
"Got you, you filthy ghost!" Maddie's triumphant voice screamed from below.
"Agh." It was more of an exhalation than an exclamation but the pain in Danny's voice was so thick that both of the ghosts in the air with him flinched.
"Daniel, no!" Plasmius said, reaching out helplessly as Danny began to sink toward the ground. Just before all hell could break loose, something seemed to snap in the air itself.
"Time out." Danny's limp form froze in mid-air, his expression locked in resigned horror. A ripple of confusion spread to the onlookers until a cloaked ghost appeared to gently cradle the halfa's body. Skulker recoiled in shock.
"Clockwork?!" Plasmius glanced sharply at his ally before turning back to glare at this newcomer who seemed to be more acquainted with Danny than he would have preferred.
"And just who are you?" He asked snidely, attention split to keep an eye on the still hunters below.
"I'm sorry, Danny. But the future calls, and I cannot keep you from it any longer. This was the kindest path, I promise." Clockwork soothed Danny as he lay locked in the embrace of frozen time. As Plasmius approached him, Clockwork glanced up with a neutral expression.
"Know this, Plasmius. Skulker," He declared, his voice deep with the weight of his prophecy, "Destiny and Fate have waited long for the ushering in of a joyous new age. With the coming of that age will come sacrifice and suffering. But the one who will lead it forth is kind of heart and has faced trials enough to prove their worth. Though they may seem weak, you would be wise to know of their core of steel for they will know to use it when necessary. Soon, the Ghost Zone as we know it will be no more. Long may the true King reign!" With that, Clockwork opened a portal and stepped inside, cradling his burden gently as he did. Plasmius shot forth with an indignant yell but was too late to reach the portal before it snapped shut again.
That seemed to be the catalyst for Maddie and Jack as they immediately began to shoot at the halfa and Skulker above them. With a frustrated shout, Plasmius grabbed Skulker's arm and teleported them safely away from the hunters' range. He didn't bother waiting for his ally before shooting off towards the Fenton house, where the closest secure ghost portal was.
"Skulker, you knew that ghost, yes? Take me to him, I need to ensure Daniel's survival." Plasmius called back to Skulker, angling himself down to phase through the Ops Centre above the building.
"Plasmius, wait! It's impossible to reach him now, the whelp is as good as gone." Skulker's nervous tone didn't seem to sink in as the halfa turned on Skulker with a growl.
"I will not just leave Daniel to die in the clutches of some unknown ghost, Skulker! He may be an irritating little thorn in my side, but unfortunately for us all he is also the only other one of my kind in existence and I will not see him slaughtered!" Plasmius said in a low hiss. Skulker flinched, but to his credit he did not stand down.
"You may be powerful, Plasmius, but you do not know everything about the Ghost Zone and its history. The ghost that took the whelp was Clockwork, the Master of All Time. He is infinitely more powerful than any other ghost out there. You wouldn't stand a chance." Skulker said, already resigned to the fact that Plasmius wouldn't give a damn about his chances. True enough, the halfa was already shaking his head in denial.
"Don't be ridiculous, Skulker. I haven't met a ghost yet that I couldn't defeat, whether by wits or strength!" Skulker wisely decided to remain silent about his employer's near-drastic failure to defeat Pariah Dark by himself and instead heaved a weary sigh.
"Even if you could defeat him, it's impossible to reach him. Clockwork's lair exists outside of time. Only those he allows entry to can make it to his tower."
There was a moment of silence between the two as this fact sank in. Then Plasmius let out a wordless cry of rage, swinging around to fire a ball of ectoplasm at a nearby tree. Skulker watched silently as Plasmius vented his rage before slumping dejectedly in the air.
"So there's no way of getting Daniel back, is that what you're saying?" He murmured, swiping one hand over his face. He felt so weary all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, Plasmius. I don't know why Clockwork would take such a sudden interest in the ghost child, but considering his prophecy I'm guessing it isn't something good," Skulker paused at Plasmius' questioning glance.
"Perhaps Phantom was the first sacrifice of this new age."
...
She'd turned the sound off, but Jazz couldn't turn her eyes away from the news footage that kept replaying the same awful moment over and over again. The way Danny's body was forced forwards by the blow that blasted through his guts. The horror in his face. The way it slid into bleak acceptance before the nightmare started anew. She would be seeing it in her dreams for a long time to come.
Jazz didn't even hear the door open at first. Only the sounds of her parents talking and laughing broke her from her shell-shocked state. Haunted eyes turned to watch as the pair barrelled into the living room.
"I just wish we'd managed to get the remains, Jack. Think about what we could have done with them! So many experiments I had planned out…" Maddie sighed wistfully.
"At least we took him out, Mads! One less ghostly menace for the world!" Jack said with a smile. It faded as he saw the expression on Jazz's face.
"What's wrong, Jazzerincess? Did you get attacked by a ghost?" Both Jack and Maddie sprang into action, multiple guns springing from their jumpsuits as they searched for the non-existent ghoul. Jazz choked at the sight of the gleaming barrels, tears finally spilling from her eyes.
"Oh God. You killed him. You killed Danny." With a sob, Jazz clapped her hands over her mouth as she tried to hold back her anguish. Her parents looked at each other surprised for a moment until Maddie let out a gentle laugh and went to comfort her daughter.
"Oh sweetheart, that wasn't Danny. That was Phantom pretending to be Danny. We would never hurt your brother! Where is he, anyway?" Maddie's comforting expression morphed into a look of mild confusion. Jazz slapped her hands away and backed up into the corner. Jack and Maddie stared at her in surprise.
"Are you telling me he showed you the truth and you still shot him?" Her voice was a deadly whisper. Jack gave an uneasy laugh.
"It wasn't Danny, Jazz. We would've known! No ectoplasmic filth can pull the wool over our eyes!" He said, brightening up a little as he convinced himself of his truth. Jazz looked torn between horror and rage.
"Are you stupid, or are you just blind? Danny is Phantom! He's half ghost! Your stupid portal electrocuted him and merged ectoplasm with his DNA! And now, on top of killing him halfway, you finished the job!" Jazz rose to a scream, stamping forwards towards her parents furiously. They retreated back, bewildered and more than a little concerned.
"Sweetie, that's… that's impossible! Ectoplasm and DNA wouldn't be able to mix like that, it wouldn't be able to merge without a tremendous amount of… power…" Maddie trailed off slightly.
"Murderers." Jazz hissed as she stormed past them to the door. Neither Jack nor Maddie could utter a word before the door slammed behind their distraught daughter. In the silence that followed, the couple glanced at each uneasily.
Behind them, the television showed Danny being shot again.
...
"What do we do, Tucker?! He's out there, bleeding to death and it's all our fault!" Blank eyes watched Sam as she paced her room. Her face was streaked with black as her mascara ran but she didn't seem to notice.
"I… I never thought they'd actually… do it, y'know?" Tucker whispered. His mind kept replaying that horrible moment. They hadn't even been near to help, not that it would've mattered.
"Oh God, what if he's actually dead, Tucker? It went right through him, you saw it, right?" Sam dug her fingers in her hair and pulled as though the pain could stop her from seeing the grievous wound again. Tucker gagged and snatched up the trash can next to him, but nothing came up. After a moment of gasping for breath, he glanced up to Sam.
"He got caught by Clockwork, right? Maybe… Maybe he came to save Danny? He's bailed him out in the past." Sam froze, then span around to face Tucker with a hopeful gleam in his eye.
"You're right! We just gotta get to his tower and make sure Danny is okay! Then we can get Clockwork to turn back time and undo everything!" She let out a slightly hysterical giggle. Tucker smiled wanly. He wasn't so sure it would be that easy to undo their traitorous mistake.
Why had they ever thought that revealing Danny's secret would work out?
...
The sun had set an hour ago, but Valerie felt no inclination to move from her position on the rooftop. Her feet dangled over the edge and for a brief moment she thought about what would happen if she fell off. Would she die? Or would her suit turn her into the same unnatural creature as Danny? She shook her head angrily. That was unfair. Danny wasn't unnatural.
Valerie sighed. Well, Danny Fenton hadn't been unnatural until this morning when his secret was revealed for the world to see. The look of shock on his face as Sam and Tucker had told the news exactly who the town hero was had been funny for the briefest moment before all hell broke loose and every ghost hunter in the town had gone after him. Excepting herself, of course. The news had been a shock to the system. She'd slumped down behind the counter at the Nasty Burger when she'd heard, unable to combine the irritatingly smug Phantom to the endearingly kind Fenton. The manager had had to send her home when she started to hyperventilate. By that point, it was all over. The Fentons, Danny's own parents, had dealt the blow that had eradicated Phantom for good.
It should have felt like a triumph, but Valerie just felt numb. She'd spent the rest of the day on the roof, mentally going over every interaction she'd had with both sides of Danny's persona. It hadn't gotten her anywhere though.
The faint prickle on the edge of her consciousness that was the suit's way of alerting her to a ghost attack barely made her flinch. How many times had she sprang into action after feeling it, hoping that this would be the time she took down Phantom? She shuddered at the mental image of Danny lying broken on the ground, first as a ghost and then as his human self. It had been bad enough watching the news and seeing the footage of his death earlier that day. When she'd seen it, Valerie had felt revulsion at how easily Danny's body had given way under the blast. She could've done that to him. She'd tried to do that to him.
"B-Beware?" A quiet voice broke Valerie from her musings and she snapped her head up in shock. The Box Ghost – the easiest ghost to remember because he always seemed to be around – hovered before her, hat clasped in his hands and a sorrowful expression on his face.
"What do you want, spook?" Valerie's voice was rough, and had to clear her throat after speaking. The ghost looked down for a moment, seeming to search for the right words before he spoke.
"Is… Is it true? Is the ghost child… dead?" The Box Ghost's voice sounded as small as Valerie felt in that moment. She blinked as her vision began to blur.
"Yeah." Her voice was barely a whisper, but the ghost before her flinched as if she'd struck him. She was surprised to see the grief in his face.
"I-I never thought that… I mean, I know that he could never best me! But…", The Box Ghost let out a shuddering laugh that made Valerie's skin prickle, "I never even thought that he could be killed so easily. None of us did." There was a pause as both ghost and hunter struggled to compose themselves.
"He was well-liked by the ghosts then? It never seemed like it." Valerie asked, almost conversationally. The Box Ghost laughed again, a mournful sound.
"He was kinder to us than we thought, I think. He didn't just protect the town from us," He looked at Valerie with meaning, "he protected us from hunters too. He could have torn us apart with ease, but he never did. He will be missed."
"Yeah. Yeah, here too." Valerie said, the lump in her throat growing thicker. The Box Ghost gently floated to sit on the roof beside her. The silence was only disturbed by Valerie's swallowing and a soft sigh from the ghost next to her.
"Would you like to hear about the first time I met the Phantom?" He asked quietly. Valerie nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
The pair sat almost companionably as the ghost spoke in a low tone so unlike his usual exuberance. It was dawn before they parted, and though the weight of loss had not left Valerie's shoulders, she felt the relief of knowing more about Danny. Waving goodbye to the ghost that had been her common enemy, she activated her suit and flew for home.
...
Lives are shattered in more ways than one, and those left behind must pick up the pieces and try to rebuild a sense of normalcy. But despite the grief and anger, the pain and loss, time moves on. And as the saying goes…
Time heals all wounds.