WOW. It has been a LONG time since I posted last... woops xD You must hate me. I kinda just lost interest in the story. But, now, when I should probably be doing homework, I had an urge to write again. So here it is.
I changed the rating of this story from T to M, just to be safe. This chapter is one of the reasons. I briefly write about the death of Sam's parents which includes some cussing from Danny, a lot of blood, and vivid images of disfigured corpses. You have been warned.
Also, I picture Danny looking kinda like Dark Danny, but no fangs, his eyes are still green, no goatee, and his hair is normal, not flaming. Basically it's just a different timeline bringing him (slowly) closer to his evil self :)
"I'm not going back." Jazz let go of Danny at his sudden statement. She took a step back and stared up at him. Her mouth hung open and her face was wet with tears.
Danny stepped away and set his jaw. "You came here to find me, to bring me back, right? Well I'm not going back. Why should I? I'm more powerful right now than I ever have been. 5 years of constant exposure to the ghost zone has given me strength I never dreamed of having." He let an ethereal green flame burst to life in his palm. They watched as it took on the form of a snake. It began flying in the air around them. It slithered and wiggled. It was calm and beautiful. It was hypnotizing. Jazz couldn't take her eyes off it.
"I don't have to hold back, either. I don't have to worry about my parents tearing me apart molecule by molecule." He chuckled at his dad's catchphrase when it came to Phantom. "I don't have to worry about Valerie or the Guys in White. I don't have to worry about Vlad or Sam. I don't have to worry about hurting any bystanders or missing 2nd period. I don't have to worry about my secret getting out because everyone here already knows my secret."
The snake split in two. One found it's way to Tucker and the other to Jazz. Suddenly, the snakes changed. They were no longer green. They were a sickly, blood red. Each hovered in front of Tucker's and Jazz's face. Without warning, they leaped forward to bite. Jazz stood her ground, mesmerized by the snake, even though it was trying to bite her at the moment. She didn't feel threatened by it. Tucker jumped back, but as soon as the snake made contact with their skin, they disappeared. Jazz found herself sad at the absence of the odd snake-like flame.
Danny laughed at the look on Tucker's face. "And I don't have to worry about his cowardice."
"Cowardice? When did you start using big words?" Tucker asked, incredulous.
"When I was framed for murder!" Danny snapped, the danger back in his eyes. "When Sam gave me this scar. When I spent 5 years in the ghost zone doing whatever the hell I wanted." Danny's voice raised as he spoke. "I'm not the hero I used to be, Tucker."
Danny stood inches away from Tucker. Even though they had both grown, Tucker had to bend his neck to meet Danny's gaze.
"In fact, I'm no hero at all. I haven't been human in 5 years, Tucker, and I've only been doing things for me. It's selfish, I know, but I don't care." He turned and walked to one of the windows. "4 years. 4 years of giving up my life to protect Amity Park. 4 years of protecting my family, friends, and even complete strangers. I've almost died several times. I've saved every single life in Amity Park on more than one occasion. What did I get in return? A label. I'm Amity Park's number 1 enemy. They wanted me to leave, so I left, and I sincerely doubt they want me back. And I don't want to go back. I don't want to protect them anymore." He turned his head so that only his left eye and scar were visible. "They don't deserve my protection."
"You can have your stupid protection, we don't want it." Tucker blurted out. "I just want my best friend back."
"Your best friend? He died 5 years ago. I am no one's friend."
"And what about my brother?" Jazz hiccuped. "Did he die 5 years ago too? Is Phantom all that's left of you?"
Danny waved away Jazz's statement. "Phantom is a part of me. Phantom has been a part of me since I was 14. Fenton and Phantom are one in the same. But people change, and heroes only exist in comic books."
Nobody spoke. Danny had always been proud that he was different, that he could help people and actually make a difference. He was proud to call himself a hero. Now he was completely denying the existence of heroes. But something stuck in Jazz's mind. Danny kept bringing up Sam's parents. Jazz knew he didn't kill them, he would never do such a thing, but why did he keep bringing it up? She believed him. Tucker believed him. Did he feel guilty? But why would he feel guilty if he didn't do it?
"Danny, Sam's parents-" Jazz started, curiosity getting the best of her.
"I didn't kill them!" He barked. "I was framed. But it didn't matter. I was found at the scene, hands drenched in their blood, so of course it had, to be me, right? No one believed me because I am a ghost, and there was nothing I could do about it. No one believed me when I said I thought they were still alive and I was trying desperately to stop the bleeding. No one believed me and what could I say? Some of the wounds were caused by intense blasts of ecto energy. What other evidence did they need? No, I'm not going back to that unforgiving world!" He never turned away from the window. It was easier to face the ghost zone than it was to face Jazz.
Jazz started to tear up again. She was so close, she couldn't leave without him. She had to bring him back. She would never forgive herself if she didn't. But what could she do? She couldn't force a ghost to do anything.
But...
She could force Danny. Human Danny.
Jazz's eyes landed on the Specter Deflector secured around Tucker's pants. If she was going to do this, she had to do it fast, while Danny was lost in his memories. As quietly as she could, she removed the belt from around Tucker's hips. He let her, with a confused frown on his face. Danny would probably be extremely pissed, but she didn't care. He was going home with them and that was that.
Jazz sniffed and walked over to Danny.
"Stay away from me." He said. She froze. If he knew what she was planning, he would have moved away. This was just Danny being resilient.
She made it to him and pretended to hug him from behind. She snapped the belt on him.
"What the-" She pressed the on button. Danny screamed as he was shocked repeatedly. He fell to his hands and knees. "I won't-" He struggled. "I refuse!" He sat there for about a minute, writhing in pain as he fought the transformation. She almost regretted putting it on him, but then she saw the rings form around his body and watched as her Danny took his place.
"Danny..." She breathed. With amazing speed and strength, Danny ran to Jazz and picked her up off the floor by her shirt.
"That wasn't very nice." He growled. His eyes were so blue. She hadn't seen those blue eyes in 5 years. Suddenly, Jazz wasn't sad or happy or frightened or relieved or worried. She was mad.
"Put. Me. Down." Danny blinked at the sudden ferocity in her voice. "Daniel Fenton, put me down!" He put her down.
Without another word, she grabbed his hair and started dragging him towards where the Specter Speeder was.
Danny sighed angrily and followed, meanwhile Tucker was laughing a few feet away.
"If I didn't have this stupid ass belt on, I'd zap you." This only made Tucker laugh harder. Partially from nervousness, partially from relief. Because no matter what Danny said, Tucker heard his best friend in that one sentence.
Jazz tightened her grip on his hair and yanked him forward.
"OW. God, Jazz, is this necessary? You realize I can't protect you now if any other ghost comes along." Tucker smiled and briefly met eyes with Jazz. They both heard it. Danny had said he was done protecting people, but he just admitted he wanted to protect Jazz and Tuck. Their Danny wasn't completely lost to them.
Tucker watched as Jazz dragged a 22 year old Danny out of his ghostly lair and pushed him onto the Specter Speeder. Tucker climbed into the Specter Speeder next, and when he was finally in the odd ship, he noticed Danny sitting in the corner with his arms crossed across his chest. He was muttering to himself. Tucker couldn't understand everything he said, but he definitely picked up on a few... choice words.
For the first time in 5 years, Tucker was looking at his best friend again. Danny's hair was scruffy and desperately needed to be cut. His shirt had dirt and tears in it. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked extremely malnourished. His cheeks were sunken in and his bones were easily visible through his thin layer of skin. Had he looked like that as Phantom? No, he definitely hadn't. Tucker frowned. Danny looked... sickly. Like he hadn't eaten-
Tucker slapped his forehead. Duh. Like he hadn't eaten in 5 years. Danny's ghost form was easily supported by the ecto-energy of the ghost zone, but as soon as he turned human, all those years of no nourishment caught up to him. Tucker pulled his hand down his face and was met with bright blue eyes boring into his brown ones.
"What?" Tucker blurted out.
"You have a beard." He muttered and turned away.
"Well, while we're pointing out the obvious, you have scar on your left-" Tucker found himself frowning again. Phantom's scar had been under his left eye, but now, it was under his right eye. I guess his scars are inverted just like his hair. Tucker surmised.
Looking back at Danny, Tuck laughed as he was flipped off by his malnourished friend.
Jazz noticed Danny's current state and paled. No one said a word on the ride back to the ghost portal.
Danny watched as the green of the ghost zone zoomed past him. He wondered if he would have trouble finding his lair again. He realized he was missing it. It had become his home, his safe haven. And it was the closest he would ever get to being an astronaut.
Danny stifled a groan and tried to cover up the incessant noises of his stomach with a yawn. The ghost zone had given him all the energy he needed. Well, when he had been in his ghostly form. Even if he had been in his human form, being surrounded with such large amounts of ecto-energy should fuel him. But the Specter Deflector seemed to be preventing that.
He gritted his teeth. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to face Sam. He couldn't face Sam, knowing she hated half of him. And if she found out that Fenton was Phantom, would she hate all of him? He stared down at his hands that currently rested in his lap. Human hands. No white gloves, just... skin. He flexed his hands into tight fists and was engulfed in a memory.
Blood. It pooled around his feet and splashed as he fell to his knees.
Blood. It splattered onto his black and white jumpsuit and clotted in his hair.
Blood. It shined and shimmered on the pavement, and none of it was his.
He had never seen so much blood. It was everywhere and on everything. It was splattered on the walls of the alleyway. It seeped into the cracks in the asphalt below him. It drenched the surrounding trash and bleached it red.
After all the battles he'd been in, after all the things he had seen, he wanted to throw up. He hadn't known a human contained so much of the cursed red liquid. Why couldn't it just stay in their veins, where it was supposed to be?
"No, no, no, no!" The ghost boy muttered as he fell to his knees before the couple. Their bodies were disfigured and broken. Their arms and legs bent at unhealthy angles. The skin torn from their bodies so that muscle and tendons were visible. Ribs broke through the skin on their chests. Flesh pulled back and dangling. Putrid looking burn wounds that revealed the white of bone.
"Please be ok, please be ok!" Danny's eyes filled with tears. One time, when he was 6, he accidentally cut himself on some broken glass. He remembered his mom pressing down on the wound to stop the bleeding. With that memory giving him confidence, he reached out to press down on a wound only to realize he didn't know which wound to press on first. There were so many... He reached for a chest wound but thought that, with their ribs broken and visible, the slightest touch could puncture their lungs. He was too frantic and in shock at the moment to realize they weren't using their lungs. He reached for a burn wound on the thigh, but realized his hands couldn't even cover the wound.
"STOP IT! You can't die! Are you that fucking selfish?! Think about Sam you assholes!" He put his ear to the man's chest.
"BREATH DAMN IT!" He started pounding on the man's chest, trying to start his heart, completely forgetting about his earlier thought of puncturing lungs. Another thought crossed his mind as he pounded on the man's chest: a heart's function is to pump blood throughout a creature's body, and there was simply no more blood to pump.
He was hysterical.
Even though he just had a completely rational thought, he had the completely irrational thought to try and stop the bleeding yet again. He reached to press down on a wound on the man's neck only to realize his head was almost completely severed. He could see the bone was cut through. The trachea was split. He finally realized how utterly dead the couple was.
He scrambled away from the pair until he was pressed up against a wall, staring at the mangled corpses. They barely even looked human. Tears spilled down his cheeks. He stared at his hands, coated in their blood. He tried to wipe it off on his clothes only to find that they were drenched as well. He choked on a sob. "Get off, get off me!" He screamed at the rancid fluid. He tried to wipe it off on the ground, but only succeeded in putting more blood on his hands, if that was even possible. He tried to wipe it on the walls, but it refused to come off. He removed his gloves and threw them as far as possible from him, but when he looked at his hands, they were a dark red.
"NO!" He screamed and fell to his hands and knees, staring at the pooling blood. Tears left paths on his cheeks and fell into the puddles, momentarily diluting the substance. The metallic smell invaded his nostrils and pushed the air out of his lungs. It filled him and consumed him and made residence in him. His stomach turned and he finally gave in to his body's wishes. He hurled. The contents of the previous night's dinner swirled in the blood, making him want to vomit again. He glanced to his right, devastated by what he saw. Their faces had been left untouched. Their mouths hung open in an eternal scream, their pale faces contrasting their brightly colored hair.
Blood.
Danny shook his head, removing himself from the unwelcome flashback. He lifted his hands to his hair, only to find they were shaking. He quickly shoved them into his lap, glancing up to make sure Jazz and/or Tucker hadn't seen. He sighed with relief, but he couldn't stop his eyes from traveling back down to his hands. He couldn't stop picturing them drenched in blood. Their blood. Sam's parents' blood.
They had been gone by the time he arrived. There was nothing he could have done. He should have just left, not sat against the wall cowering and staring at his hands until the police showed up. And, of course, they broad casted it all over the news. It was just the evidence they needed to prove that Danny Phantom was evil.
Once Sam found out Danny Fenton was back, surely she would come running. He could hug her, tell her he was sorry he left.
Danny pulled his knees up to his chest and rest his chin on his knees. Who was he kidding, he wouldn't even be able to look her in the eyes.
"Almost there." Tucker muttered as he fiddled with different buttons and trinkets. Danny had no clue what he could possibly be doing, it's not like it was hard for them to point the Specter Speeder toward the portal and go through it. As they approached it, he realized what Tucker had been doing. He was entering all sorts of pass codes to unlock a set of very impressive doors that blocked the portal. They were a huge improvement from the black and yellow automatic doors he remembered.
The doors opened and Danny suddenly felt extremely anxious. He didn't want to go back to all the problems that world brought. The ghost zone had few problems and he could just... be. He didn't need to worry about being captured and experimented on. He didn't have to worry about Sam killing him. He didn't have to worry about hiding his secret.
He watched as the doors opened and the swirling green vortex appeared. The vortex that would bring back years of memories he did not want to remember.
"Yeah, um, this has been great, but I think I'll pass." He said nervously.
"You aren't going anywhere." Jazz glared at him.
"Screw you." He almost felt guilty when he saw her eyes flash with sorrow.
He prepared himself. He prepared himself for the bear hug he was sure to receive from his dad. He dreaded it. He prepared himself for the questions his mom was sure to ask. He dreaded it. He prepared himself for the accusing stare he was sure to receive from Sam. He dreaded it.
But he couldn't have prepared for what happened next. As soon as they traveled through the portal and found themselves in the lab, Danny's body was suddenly too heavy to hold up. He was used to the light airiness of the ghost zone, not the intense gravity that blankets earth. He wasn't prepared for the crushing pain in his stomach. He wasn't prepared for the sudden bout of exhaustion that consumed him. Danny groaned and collapsed in a large heap on the ground.
Tucker was not too happy. "Oh, come on!"
Danny had not been prepared at all.
His father did not bear hug him. Jack was extremely cautious and his voice was filled with wariness as if Danny would disappear any moment, proving Jack to be the fool.
His mother didn't throw question after question at him. She looked at him, at his emaciated state, at the scar on his face, and her hands shook. Her voice cracked just from trying to say his name.
It overwhelmed him, all of it. Even bringing himself to eat was a struggle, no matter how hungry he was. Couldn't he just go back? Couldn't he just ignore all of humanity?
But a little voice in his head reminded him that it wouldn't change anything, and that he couldn't ignore humanity. He was part of it.
To be honest, he was afraid of Sam. Whether he was afraid of hurting her or her hurting him, Danny wasn't sure.
"D-Danny?" The ache in his mom's voice made him cringe. She was in pain because of him.
"Son? Is it really you?" The longing in his dad's voice made him cringe. They were both in pain because of him.
No, they weren't in pain because of Danny, they were in pain because of the ghost kid. After all, it was the ghost kid who killed the Mansons. It was the ghost kid who robbed and ruined. It was the ghost kid, not Skulker or Technus or Walker or Desiree or the Ghost Writer or the Box Ghost or the Lunch Lady or Nocturne or Undergrowth or Aragon or Spectra or Vlad Plasmius. It was the ghost kid's fault.
And no one believed him when he said otherwise. He couldn't possibly be telling the truth because he's a ghost. So why didn't anyone believe Danny? Why didn't they believe him when he proclaimed Phantom's innocence? Because he's just a kid who doesn't know any better. Well, he wasn't a kid anymore.
Anger bubbled up inside him. He refused to look them in the eyes. He wouldn't. He couldn't.
He heard his mom swallow and take a step closer. He thought she was about to say something when Jazz stepped in. "Could you two please stop gawking at him? He's tired and weak and I'm sure he doesn't want to talk right now." The harshness in her voice comforted Danny, but he pushed the feeling back.
His head was spinning and he couldn't focus. Tucker and Jazz ran around bringing him food, water, and blankets while Jack, Maddie, and Sam floated at the edge of the room looking dumbfounded.
As much as he hated it, the smell of cooking food made his mouth water. He hadn't eaten in so long...
Sam was jolted awake by the incessant beeping of her phone. She grudgingly sat up in bed. In the darkness of her room, her hand fumbled on her nightstand, searching for the cursed cellphone. Finally, her fingers wrapped around the metallic object. She pressed the decline button, but the rapid beeping did not slow. She frowned. Did I set my alarm wrong? She looked over at the red numbers on her clock. No, it's not that.
She resentfully stood up and began searching her drawers for the unwelcome noise. Walking to her dresser, she stubbed her toe on one of her ghost hunting books and stumbled. As she frantically reached for something to keep her steady, she accidentally knocked over one of the many shelves on her walls. She groaned and laid on the floor for several seconds before she realized the beeping sounded closer than it had before. She sat up with her legs pointing out and let her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She blinked a few times then turned her head towards the sound. There was something on the floor, flashing a bright red.
My ghost radar? She reached out for the object and held it up for her to see. She pressed a button and the device started speaking. "Phantom, located. Phantom, located. Phantom, located." Her eyes widened. She had set the ghost radar up to set off an alarm if it ever detected Phantom. After 5 years, she had almost given up. But here he was. A small green dot on the screen. She glared at the screen. That small green dot had taken her family. That small green dot had torn her life apart. And she'd been wanting to tear it's life apart for 7 years. The Fentons said that a ghost can't die, because they're already dead. Well, she had plans to test that theory. Phantom deserved to die a thousand times over for what he took from her.
She hurriedly pulled on her black jumpsuit. It was similar to Phantom's, but simpler; all black. It allowed her everything she needed to properly kick ghost ass: secrecy, flexibility, and mobility. She shoved her feet into her boots and her hands in her gloves. She pulled it's hood as far over her head as possible. The suit, gloves, and boots all enabled her to fly, as long as they weren't damaged too badly. Something about displacing the air particles around her. She hadn't paid attention. She didn't care. As long as it worked and allowed her to keep up with Phantom, it was fine with her. She wrapped her gun holster around her hips and place an ectogun in it. She placed her Deathly Dagger (an invention she 'borrowed' from the Fentons; it only hurt ghosts) in her boot. She didn't need an arsenal. Valerie taught her martial arts and the gun she carried was extremely powerful.
She choked down a sob as she was reminded that she wouldn't have to worry about her parents finding her missing from her bed. She pushed down the thought with her anger and opened her window. Hurriedly, she grabbed her ghost radar. The blinking green dot that represented her target had not moved. She prayed he didn't move anywhere before she got there. She prayed it was actually him.
Opening her window, she jumped out without hesitation. Her suit did it's job and she stayed afloat. She ignored everything except the consistent beep of her ghost tracker. She told herself that today would be the day justice would be served. The logical part of her begged to differ. She thought of every time they fought and he always managed to escape. She was optimistic though, as optimistic as you can be when you plan on killing your parents' killer who just so happens to be a ghost.
As she followed the little green dot, she became worried. She started looking around at the buildings near her. She knew where she was. She was in Danny's neighborhood. One of the many cracks she had formed deepened at the thought of her high school crush. The best friend. The 'lovebird'. The boy she thought she was falling for. The boy who left when she needed him most.
She became even more worried when the ghost tracker led her right to the Fenton's front door. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She heard scuffling coming from inside, and the worst images popped into her head. Phantom, going after Danny's parents. Danny's parents laying on the floor, mutilated just as her parents had been. Panic filled her. What if Danny came back only to find that his parents had been killed? She wouldn't let that happen. She couldn't let that happen.
The beeping stopped and the computerized voice said, "Signal, lost." She hit it with her palm. "Phantom, loca- Signal, lost."
"Dammit!" She muttered and attached the tracker to its spot on her belt. As much as she wanted to bust in with guns blazing, she calmed herself down. What was the likelihood of Phantom being in Danny's house? Not much. It was more likely that her tracker was malfunctioning, which angered and relived her at the same time.
She settled for checking in windows. She saw no blood, no signs of distress. After looking into a few windows, she finally found one that allowed her a view of the kitchen and what she saw shocked her. Danny, slumped over, emaciated, at the table. His parents standing off the the side shell shocked, and Jazz and Tucker running around like maniacs. Sometimes they would yell at him and force him to sit up in his chair. Probably trying to keep him awake.
Against her better judgement, she stood there for several minutes just staring. It must have looked incredibly suspicious to anyone up at such a godforsaken hour. Regardless she stood there until she was sure Danny was safe and that they didn't need her help.
She didn't want to think about what had caused him to look so sickly, so she settled for flying around the neighborhood hoping that Phantom would show up on her radar.
Why was Phantom back?
...
Why was Danny back?...
Why did they disappear at the same time...
Why are they back at the same time?... In the same place!
The realization came to Sam with a jolt. Why hadn't she noticed the connection before? Had her grief blinded her? Whatever, it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that Phantom had something to do with Danny's disappearance and his reappearance. She was sure of it, and she was going to find out what that connection was. She would protect him.