Alright, finally! I've been letting this one stew in my head for a little while, and I finally think its ready. It took me FOREVER to figure out all the things I was going to do with this story, and I finally know! Yay! I upped the rating a bit, for this chapter, and chapters to follow. I am going to be evil, but I'll try not to break Danny too bad. No promises.
I Don't Own Danny Phantom. If I did, you would be able to tell.
"WHAT?" She seemed... upset. "You told your gym class, most of whom hate you, and you wouldn't even tell me? How could you?" She droned on about things like 'trust issues' and other nonsense. I swear, she's like Jack and ghosts sometimes when it comes to psychology... Danny waited patiently until she had to stop for air.
"Jazz, calm down. Ember phased into the gym, and attacked my classmates. I couldn't get out to go ghost. I had no choice. What would you have done?" She significantly deflated, and flushed slightly, embarrassed by her outburst. Danny went upstairs without a word; ready to climb into bed, but knowing he had a few things to take care of first.
When he got to his room, he sat himself down at his computer after gazing at his bed longingly, and opened his ghost files. He sorted through them and saved copies of all of them (except Clockwork, Dan, and the Observants). He then attached all of the information to an email, and sent it off to Valerie, knowing she had nothing of the sort. He logged on to Doomed for a little while, but after the fourth time being blown up by Hamlet42, he gave it up as a lost cause. He was about to go to sleep when he got Sam and Tuck started a video chat with him at the same time.
"Did you guys plan that or something?"
"Actually, yeah. Jazz called us to make sure we 'gave you time for the reality to sink in.' I think she should be bursting into your room in 3, 2, 1..." Sam trailed off as Jazz made her appearance. Danny rolled his eyes, and they talked about normal teen stuff (or as close to normal as they could anymore) for quite a while. The whole 'normal teenager' experience was ruined when Valerie joined the chat.
"Hey, Danny. How's it-" she cut herself off at Sam's impressive death glare. She sighed, and decided to get it over with. "Danny, I know I didn't say this before, but I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I hunted you obsessively, while crushing on your human half. I want to make it up to you somehow. Is there any way we could work together from now on?"
"Actually, yeah, that's what I was hoping for. That's why I sent you those ghost files. I figured you should know more about who you're fighting all the time."
"You sent her your ghost files?" Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all yelled at the same time at a sheepish Danny. Valerie was wondering what the significance was.
"Relax guys." Danny shot Sam and Tucker an IM saying he didn't tell her anything about Clockwork or Dan. Jazz read over his shoulder, and Sam reluctantly calmed down. Tucker was cool with it. Jazz nodded, but said nothing. "Anything you figure out that isn't on here, Val?"
"Actually, yeah. There's another half-ghost in Amity Park." She spoke carefully, but there was a certain edge to her voice that she normally saved for Danny.
"You know about Vlad?" To say she was stunned is a minor understatement. She was quiet for about a minute, jaw opening and closing wordlessly, before her brain caught up to her.
"You know about Vlad?"
"Well, yeah. My dad thinks he's his best friend. Plasmius, however, wants to kill my dad, marry my mom, and make me his evil apprentice. I've known for a while now. He's way more powerful than me, so we usually have an uneasy truce. He provokes me, I fight back. I don't expose him, he doesn't expose me. I generally lose when we fight. He's pretty much the biggest fruitloop in existence. And, he needs a cat."
"He has one. He named it Maddie." At hearing this news, Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz started cracking up. Valerie didn't get the joke, but had to wait for a little while before the others had enough control to explain that Danny had been advising him on the purchase of a cat pretty much since they knew about each other. Valerie was giggling too, but not much.
"Well, guys, I'd love to talk some more, but I'm just a little tired." Danny proved his point when he yawned. He smirked at the chain reaction of yawns ('But I'm not even tired!' Oh, Tuck...) and was about to turn off the chat when Val asked why.
"Like I said. Skulker keeps phasing me out my window at three o'clock in the freaking morning. Then, once I beat him to a pulp and got him in the thermos, the Box Ghost came and left. I almost had him when you came along." Val blushed and mumbled out an apology. "It's cool. You only got my leg a bit, and it's mostly healed by now. Anyway, I got the Box Ghost in the thermos and flew home, only to meet my alarm clock. It takes a lot of self-control not to blast that thing to pieces." With that, he said a quick goodbye, shut off his webcam, and shooed his sister out of his room. Without bothering to change his clothes (though he did phase his shoes off), he flopped on his bed and was out like a light.
He was running. He couldn't remember if he was running towards or away from something, but he knew that he needed to keep going. If he didn't... nothing would be the same. He looked up, and saw his goal. His family and Sam and Tuck, even Valerie and Lancer, standing together. They were peaceful, happy. Nothing could ruin this. Then, all of a sudden, the ground shook. The sky became a dull grey-green. The clouds swirled. And Danny knew that he was here. Before he could do anything, he took out Lancer, leaving nothing but ash where a teacher once stood.
He turned to his parents next. Danny ran even faster, scared for his life and theirs. He told them who he once was. He told them about Danny Phantom. His parents turned away from him. Jazz went to comfort him, but his parents held him back.
"Stay away from that monster," they said. Jazz shook her head and tried to get to Danny. He lifted her by her hair, and lit it aflame. The rest of her body soon followed. Maddie and Jack blamed Danny, not him. "You are not our son, ghost!" they said. They melted away, while he laughed. Valerie, Sam, and Tucker tried to stop him, but they couldn't. Tucker fell first, his lifeless eyes piercing into Danny. Sam died with tears streaming down her face. Valerie was thrown high into the air, and then blasted. And the worst part was, Danny felt it. He felt what it was like for him, to enjoy killing the people he loved.
"You were always going to become me. You don't need to fruitloop anymore to do it, either. Come, Danny. It is time to take your revenge." Danny didn't say a word. He couldn't. His body was not his own. He felt his eyes glow red, and his mind turn hazy. He watched as he killed thousands of people. He enjoyed it. He laughed as his ghostly enemies fell before him. Technus would no longer proclaim himself Master of Technology, nor would he use outdated slang ever again. Skulker couldn't build any new suits.
"Danny, wake up!"
Ember was forgotten. Walker would never make any more rules. Even Cujo was not safe from the destruction.
"Danny!" Soon there was no one left. Even Vlad had fled for his life.
"DANNY!" He yelped as he tumbled out of bed, his heart racing. He saw that it was Jazz who woke him up. A glance at the clock told him it was 7:00 PM. "Another nightmare?" She asked soothingly. She saw the tears streaking down his face, and pulled him into a gentle hug, rubbing his back in circles, comforting him like only big sisters can. Danny didn't respond to any of it, he just sat thinking. When his breathing had calmed down, Jazz left to go heat up leftovers for him. When she returned, he asked to be left alone for a while. She nodded, and left him to his thoughts. Something's going to happen soon, he thought. I just hope that whatever it is, I can stop it. Deep in the ghost zone, something stirred.
Alrighty then! Tell me what you think, ask me anything you want to know, and I'll try to answer.
