Chapter 2: Home is Where …
"Welcome to your new home, Danny," Vlad pronounced proudly as he walked the boy into his Wisconsin Castle.
Daniel brushed Vlad's hand off his shoulder, turning to the older man sharply. "Don't talk to me, don't touch me, and – actually, don't even look at me," he thundered before he wheeled around and stalked off up the stairs, his backpack slapping against him.
Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected. Danny had been silent for the entire drive, glaring at the floor and occasionally Vlad with his arms crossed in front of him. Of course he wants his distance, Vlad mused. Be gentle; you have an entire lifetime with him. There was plenty of time to mold Daniel into the perfect minion … or destroy him.
But Vlad wasn't really in the scheming mood. Madeline Fenton – the final prize of so many of his schemes – was dead. What was the point any more? World domination could only bring so much joy, after all …
There was a soft cough from upstairs. "Uh, Vlad?"
Vlad looked up to find Daniel shifting uncomfortably. Vlad smiled, trying not to look too evil. "Yes, my boy?"
"Uh … which room is mine?"
"Second door on your right," Vlad answered, and he smirked outright when Daniel slunk towards said room. Embarrassment could be such a tool.
And so could grief, Vlad mused. He himself felt ill at the very thought of Maddie, but he could control that sadness and use it, just as he'd used his jealousy. Daniel was still untrained in such things. Perhaps that could be … exploited.
"I'm certain the boy has brought along certain ghost-catching items invented by his idiot father," he said to apparently thin air. "Remove them from his luggage. If Daniel is going to live here … he'll have to live by my rules."
"Vatever you say, Vlad, vatever you say," intoned a voice, and three ghost vultures flew off.
Daniel, however, was worse than reticent. Vlad arranged for them to share dinner that evening, but the conversation was incredibly one-sided.
"Well, tomorrow I'll have to see about enrolling you in the local school."
"Mm." Daniel didn't even look up, chasing a pea around his plate with a fork. He'd eaten maybe three bites, and all of them from his mashed potatoes. Not that Vlad minded the waste of food.
"I'm certain you'll like it. It's a private school, primarily funded by yours truly."
"Great."
Vlad sighed. "You know, the grief does pass. I—"
"The last person I need a lecture on grief from is a lonely old man with no friends," Daniel growled, but he didn't look up from his plate.
Vlad brushed off the comment, smiling to himself. Perhaps it could be considered progress. He picked at the wound. "I took the liberty of having your old man's ghost-catching inventions removed from your things. After all, here in Wisconsin—"
"You what?"
Now that was progress. Daniel shot to his feet, his hands slamming down on the table and his eyes flashing green. Ah, the scary eyes! How I love that temper. "Now, Daniel. Here in Wisconsin we hardly have any ghosts – except yours truly, of course – and you and I both know you don't need those things to fight them anyway, hmm? And you certainly don't need anything to remind you of your dearly departed family."
Daniel was visibly fuming. "I didn't bring that stuff to memorialize Dad – I brought it in case you pulled any stupid tricks! And—" he broke off, his eyes widening slightly as he straightened, raising a finger. "And you knew that, didn't you?"
Excellent; the moment of realization. Vlad lived for that. "Very good, Daniel! I knew you were bright," enthused, clapping even as he stood, towering over Daniel. The boy scowled. "No more of those pesky toys interfering with me … and as we both know, I am the stronger hybrid here." He raised an eyebrow. "So let's keep the antics to a minimum, yes?"
Daniel glared at him, but he slowly sat back down. "I knew you had some reason for agreeing to take me in."
"Well, I was rather taken by surprise by your father's will," Vlad admitted, "but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?" He paused. "But don't worry; I don't have any nefarious plots in store for you. Although you may be skeptical, I do share your pain."
"Sure," Daniel said darkly, his gaze again on his plate.
"Trust me," Vlad continued, "I wish as much as you that this tragedy had never happened. There is no point to having you without Maddie."
Daniel stiffened at that, but said nothing.
Vlad's lips pressed thin as he watched the teenager, feeling a little ill at how he was using Maddie's memory like a tool. Perhaps it would be best to let Daniel simply stew in his thoughts for a while. "Sleep well, Daniel," he said, and left the boy to pick at his meal alone.
But Daniel didn't sleep well. He hardly slept at all, between tormenting dreams of the Nasty Burger exploding and knowing that Vlad Plasmius was three rooms away, probably waiting for the first chance he got to destroy Danny or plotting something nefarious, no matter what he said.
He was trying to stop constantly thinking about his dead friends and family, but just about everything reminded him of them. They had been his whole life, after all … and without changing who he was, he couldn't let go of their sudden deaths or forget them so easily.
Changing who I am. Right. That, he realized, was exactly what he'd been trying to do – or would be trying to do? – when he let Vlad separate his ghost and human selves. Yet, he could admit to the temptation of it. Right now it felt like the pain was eating him alive.
He thought back to his conversation with Phantom. Now that his two halves had been rejoined, he remembered the conversation from both ends – and he understood what his ghostly self had meant by 'I don't do emotion'. He remembered vividly what his ghost had been concerned with, and that was primarily continuing to exist, preferably as he currently was. There was no sense of fear, and the grief had been like a ping on a radar, small and easily ignored.
If he could live like that …
But Daniel knew he wouldn't live like that. His ghost half would take the chance to rip Plasmius out of Vlad and would try to destroy Plasmius by overshadowing him, only to combine with the evil ghost. So it was stupid to even dream of it.
He needed to talk to somebody about this. But who could he talk to? The only person still alive who knew his secret was Vlad. And wow, that is one depressing thought.
Danny felt a sudden chill, his breath coming out in a puff of mist. "Oh, great … either Vlad is running around being evil, or his ghost vultures are messing with my stuff again …" He threw back the covers, ready to go give his new guardian a piece of his mind, when he heard a voice.
"Why, hello there, sonny, been a little while, don'cha know!"
"Gyah!" Danny jumped, and turned around to find the Dairy King. "You! Uh … hi," he said lamely.
"You seem a little upset there," the portly ghost said, smiling widely. "I recommend cheddar. It'll put you right to sleep, don'cha know."
Danny smiled thinly. "I don't think cheese is gonna solve my problem," he sighed. "I just have a lot to think about."
"Maybe you need someone to talk to, then?" the Dairy King suggested.
"Are you offering?" Danny asked, crossing his arms in front of him. He wasn't sure he wanted to divulge his problems to the Dairy King, who would probably suggest gorgonzola bleu cheese as a solution, but anyone at all was better than Plasmius.
"Oh, no! Kings just point people to other people to talk to!" The Dairy King laughed. "But I think you should talk to someone who understands your problem, don'cha know. And give them some Swiss for the help."
"But that's just it, I don't know anyone who understands my prob—" Danny cut off. There was one person involved in this mess who was neither a horribly evil future self nor dead. "Clockwork!" Well, technically he was dead, but. "But he kind of tried to kill me before," he allowed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Don't worry about it! Being dead isn't so bad!" the Dairy King declared.
"Uh, pass," Danny answered, his mind wandering. What he wanted to know, more than anything else, was whether or not he still turned into an evil version of himself – and Clockwork would know the answer, since he could see the future. Danny had already changed some things; for instance, he already had the Ghostly Wail, and he hadn't come to Vlad's out of desperation – he'd been forced to come. Was it enough? Could he avoid becoming evil?
And just before the accident, hadn't Clockwork been sending all those ghosts from the future to destroy him? But since the accident, he hadn't sent anything at all. In fact, there hadn't been any ghostly activity in Amity Park – which was pretty odd, come to think of it.
"I'm gonna go see Clockwork," he announced. "Thanks, Dairy King."
"Sounds like a great idea!" cheered the Dairy King. "And we kings don't need thankin', don'cha know. It's our job!" The ghost floated off towards the ceiling. "Don't forget to get your daily helping of dairy products, now-!"
"I won't," Danny muttered. "Going ghost!"
A moment later Danny Phantom stood where Danny Fenton had been. He floated off the floor. Now, I know that Vlad has a ghost portal. And I bet I know where he keeps it!
He dove through the floor.
Danny was almost surprised when he didn't encounter any ghost shield preventing him from crossing into the not-unexpected lab in the basement of the castle. But, he reflected, that's the advantage to living with an evil archenemy that has the same weaknesses as me. If Vlad put up a ghost shield, he'd be just as trapped as Danny. At least, until he put up shields that he could activate, but Danny couldn't.
"I should probably be careful not to get caught," he mused aloud. He didn't want to give Vlad a reason to make any shields, after all.
The portal was open, which surprised Danny a bit. But maybe Vlad didn't have any reason to keep it closed. Hadn't Vlad said that they didn't have any ghosts in Wisconsin? He probably blasts them back into the Portal before they have a chance to get anywhere. Regrettably, Danny had to admit that Vlad was a lot more powerful than himself and could probably take care of unwanted ghost problems a lot more quickly.
Well … who was Danny to look a gift horse in the mouth? He smirked, and shot through the portal.
The Ghost Zone was a pretty creepy place, and probably always had been. Danny knew it always would be – at least for the next ten years. He made a face as he floated along through the ectoplasm. He could be in here a while, after all – he didn't really know where to even start looking for Clockwork's lair. "Oh, well," he sighed. "Not like I have anything better to do … except mope …"
He wandered for a while; Danny had no idea how long, having lost all sense of time. This is stupid. I need to find someone to ask about Clockwork, or I could be here for years.
"Will you be my friend?"
Danny jumped and spun around to find himself facing quite possibly the most clingy ghost in the afterlife. And that is just what the doctor ordered! "Klemper!" he cheered, and threw his arm around the hunchback's shoulders. "I'd be glad to be your friend," he grinned falsely.
"Really?" Klemper's face lit up, and Danny felt guilty for using him for all of three seconds before the ghost grabbed him in a bear hug, squeezing Danny so tightly he almost felt his ribs crack. "I'm so happy!"
"Ow, ow, let go!" Danny gasped, but the ghost only squeezed harder until Danny was forced to go intangible to escape. "Okay! Okay, I love you too," he panted, hugging his aching chest. "But no more hugging, okay?"
"Okay." The ghost sounded a little disappointed.
"All right." Danny caught his breath again. "So, new friend … friends do each other favors, right?"
"Right," Klemper nodded enthusiastically.
"I need you to do me a favor. Can you tell me where Clockwork lives?"
Klemper gave him a horrified look. "We're not supposed to go there," he warned unhappily.
Danny waved him off, forcing another grin. "It's okay! You don't have to come with me. I just need to … talk to him, you know?"
"He doesn't talk to strangers," Klemper answered.
"Well, we're not strangers. We've me—oof!"
Danny was unable to finish his sentence when Klemper hugged him again. Oh, right. Short attention span, forgot about that. "But you're my new friend and I don't want Clockwork to destroy you!" the specter wailed.
"He – ow – he won't destroy me!" Danny strangled out. "I promise! Please let go," he pleaded.
"Oh, sorry," Klemper drawled, apparently remembering that his new friend couldn't handle hugs. He watched Danny wheeze for a bit.
"I promise he won't destroy me," Danny panted. "I'm just going to go say hi, okay? He's my friend too." Which was … well, more than stretching the truth, but he really needed Klemper to tell him how to get there.
"He's your friend? Wooow. I didn't think Clockwork had any friends," Klemper breathed, obviously impressed by Danny's conquest.
"Yeah, well, he's got at least one, right? Me," Danny lied. "But he forgot to, uh … give me his … address. So I need you to tell me how to get to his home."
The hunchback clearly had no problems with this explanation. "It's that way," Klemper pointed. "Can I come too?"
Danny winced. Unfortunately, though, this was his charade, and this was Klemper's home territory; if he made the lonely ghost mad, it would just be a battle he didn't need. Besides, what if Danny got lost? "Sure," he said – and dove out of the way when Klemper tried to hug him again. "Woah! No hugs!"
"Oh, right. I forgot," moaned Klemper.
"It's … it's okay," Danny stammered, brushing himself off absently. "Just take me to Clockwork's place."
"Okay, new friend," Klemper enthused, and the two apparitions wandered off into the ghostly void.
After a while the emptiness began to look familiar, cogs floating in the ectoplasm, until Danny recognized Clockwork's castle in the distance. Klemper was slowing down, though.
"It's not safe," Klemper moaned.
Danny saw his chance to dump the ghost. "Then you just wait here while I go to say hi. Or you can go someplace else. Uh … either works," he shrugged, letting out a choked half-laugh.
"Do you think Clockwork would be my friend too?" asked Klemper.
"I – I dunno," Danny said honestly, looking out at the castle. "He seems kind of reclusive." He looked up at Klemper. "Seriously, I promise I'll be back soon if you just want to wait here."
Klemper was actually trembling a little. He nodded. "Okay. Promise?"
"Promise," Danny said sincerely, feeling a little bad for Klemper. He kind of knew what it was like now, after all – being all alone and wishing he wasn't.
He floated down towards the castle.
Despite Klemper's claims that the castle was not safe, Danny didn't encounter any ghostly guards, ghouls, or specters as he flew down the halls. It was so empty as to be a little spooky. "Uh, Clockwork?" he called nervously. "It's … me. Danny Phantom …?"
"Ah, Daniel Fenton," came a voice from the shadows, and Daniel whipped around to find himself face-to-face with Clockwork's constantly changing form. He'd long ago learned that his ghost sense didn't work in the Ghost Zone, but it still threw him for a loop when ghosts snuck up on him.
"Gah!"
Clockwork smirked at him. "You're right on time. Come with me." He floated off down the hall.
Daniel followed him, nonplussed. "Er … you're not going to try to kill me?"
"Should I?" Clockwork asked mildly, pushing open a doorway. It led into a cavernous room that was strikingly familiar. "Last I checked, Daniel, you were not evil." He smiled.
"Actually … that's what I came to talk to you about," Danny admitted, settling his feet on the floor. "It's all happening, just like my future self – and future Vlad – said it would. I mean, it's not all exactly the same, but I'm stuck at Vlad's house and it keeps looking better and better to just – you know – split myself apart, even though I know what will happen." He took a deep breath and let it out. "You know what will happen in the future, so … I thought I should ask you … do I still turn evil?"
Clockwork was watching what appeared to be an entirely unrelated timeline on one of his several portals. "I could tell you," he said, not turning towards Danny, "but the truth is, the future isn't set in stone. Whether I know what happens or not."
Danny tried to wrap his mind around that statement. "You know, I'm not the brightest person around, but … I don't think that even makes sense," he protested.
"Well, you're only fourteen," Clockwork said, turning back to Danny. "I didn't expect you to understand." He floated away from the teenager. "What you're most concerned about is whether or not the future Phantom exists. Am I right?"
Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah," he admitted. "I mean, if he exists, then I still turn into him, don't I."
"Perhaps." Clockwork pulled back a curtain. "See for yourself."
Danny floated over, and gaped at what he saw. "Hey! That's the Fenton Thermos!"
"With your evil self inside," Clockwork confirmed. "He exists outside of time now, so it's my responsibility to watch over him – and you."
Danny drew up his shoulders, a pit of despair forming in his stomach again. "Well, great. All that … and I still can't change my future." He rubbed his face miserably.
"Ah, but you already have." Clockwork's smile widened slightly. "Come here." He guided Danny over a portal, and waved his staff.
The portal opened, and Danny gaped. There he was – well, it looked like him, anyway – watching a late-night movie at Sam's house with Tucker and Sam both, pigging out on popcorn and tossing kernels at Tucker while Sam hissed at them to stop and pay attention. "This is what you're doing right now," Clockwork said.
Danny looked at the ghost out of the corner of his eye. "Uh … I'm standing here talking to you. How can I be in two places at once? And how can this be what's happening now anyway? Tucker and Sam are –" he choked, unable to say it.
"Dead? Well … only in one reality." Clockwork waved his staff again, and the portal swirled, revealing the Nasty Burger just before it blew up.
Danny looked away. "I don't want to see that," he snapped.
"Watch, Daniel. It's important you see this," Clockwork answered.
Danny took a deep breath and let it out, clenching his fists, but he looked back up. And blinked.
"This is what really happened," Clockwork said, and Daniel gaped as he saw his family and friends – and Lancer – all floating, safely protected from the exploding Nasty Burger. "I saved your family, friends, and teacher, because I felt that you deserved a second chance." The scene faded from view. "Sometimes humans just need a nudge – or in your case, a shove – to get them going in the right direction again." He smiled.
"Wait a minute," Danny said. "I'm … confused. I saw everyone blow up, and you never saved them." He scowled.
"That is because, Daniel, you are living in an alternate timeline," Clockwork explained. "Unfortunately, I am unable to interfere with Time without creating such offshoots. However, alternate realities are only temporary things. They eventually remerge with the original time stream, and are of little consequence."
"How can you say they're of little consequence?" Daniel snapped, sudden fury welling up in him. "I'm – I'm what? I don't matter just because you interfered with Time? My family and friends are still dead!"
"But only to you," Clockwork answered, seeming unconcerned. "Not to him." He pointed at the Danny Fenton still visible in the portal, poking Tucker and laughing.
"That's – not – fair!"
"Life isn't fair. And that, boy, is something I have no control over," Clockwork said mildly.
"Argh!" In a fit of anger, Danny charged Clockwork. "I'll show you who doesn't matter—"
"Time out!"
"Argh!" In a fit of anger, Danny charged Clockwork. "I'll show you who doesn't–" he blinked, screeching to a halt. "Okay, that was weird."
"Daniel, I could abuse this in ways you could never imagine," Clockwork's voice was even. "But I like you too much for that." He floated over to the far wall, and took down a medallion – one Danny recognized from his journeys through time. "I realize this is hard for you, Daniel, so I'll give you a little gift." He placed the medallion over Danny's head. "Grief, since it is spawned by love, is perhaps one of the strongest human emotions there is. So … I'll give you a chance to say goodbye to your friends."
"Say goodbye? Wait, are you going to let me go back in time to—" Danny began to brighten. He could fix this whole thing if he went back in time to the Nasty Burger!
"Oh, no, goodness no," Clockwork laughed at him, and Daniel scowled, hopes instantly crushed. "That would only create another alternate timeline in which another Daniel, once again, experienced that crushing loss. And that, child, is not an option. In fact, it does not happen."
Daniel clutched the ribbon the medallion hung on. "So what does happen?" he asked bitterly. "I go back to Vlad's and eventually give up, and I turn into an evil Phantom? How is that helping anything?"
"Ah, that's right," Clockwork remarked. "You believed Vlad's story about how Phantom was created."
Daniel blinked. "Wait … should I not have believed him?"
"Daniel, I merely control time, I don't dictate your life," Clockwork informed him. "Now, use your time wisely –"
And before Daniel could ask another question, he was being chucked into one of Clockwork's portals. "Aaah!"
He landed on his butt in the middle of Samantha Manson's movie room amidst a sea of spilled popcorn, and found himself facing three sets of eyes – Sam, Tucker, and … his own.
"Uh, hi," he said sheepishly.
Clockwork, back at his lair, smiled.
tbc
