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Yay I hit 20. I is proud
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- Ten Long Years -
Chapter 7
Cocktails
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Darkness in somber waves of silver gray, Ironic, silver and gray were the last things he saw before he died. Ripples of shining white pulsed through his vision, so beautiful, but upon hit making the pain that bit more unbearable. Throbbing darkness engulfed him, all his sorrowful thoughts entwining. But he held on, now unaware of any physical presence he had. All there was, was him holding onto what thread of life he had left
He held onto it, because he knew Vlad had her.
VLAD. Anger and rage pushed him further into what little light he had left, what stopped him from being consumed. He had been too weak to fight off his grasp, too weak at the time. But now he was driven
He had hope
Vlad had taken everything from him. His world, his life. His Sam…
Anger gave him the final push of strength
And he threw himself forwards into life, ignoring the strings that were trying to desperately to pull him back into the infinite abyss of death. He could save Sam, that was all he could so. He could not save the world, but he could save her from death
He had been there
He had been in death, and he had returned from it. He had seen the angel of death, even though it had no form.
It was a voice
A voice…
"Danny!" A voice swirled, becoming clearer as he was lifted into reality.
He opened his blue eyes, settling on a pair of bright lanterns covered by fog. He blinked, and the fog cleared, revealing the lanterns were actually Tucker's eyes. The soft fabric of his cloak brushed against his now freezing skin. And his figure shimmered again as he almost lost his grasp
He gasped in pain and anguish
Must maintain, maintain a form. Save her, Save her save save her save Sam SAVE HER!
"D-Danny…" A faint voice whispered. But he realized the voice wasn't faint because he was half-delusional, it was faint because it was disbelieving. The voice was smooth and familiar, and he brought warmth and comfort out of it.
He struggled to sit up, Tucker helping him. He stood for a few seconds, body shivering in a cold no one else could feel, then he collapsed onto his hands and feet, gasping and choking again as fire lit up behind his eyes.
A hand gripped his shoulder, a tough hand that didn't belong to Tucker. He felt his body being pulled up as if he were a puppet. His head lolled weakly, and he managed to lift his eyes upwards from under his dark hood.
And he stared lowly into the eyes of Jack Fenton
He was older now, and even though it only had been ten years he looked as if he had aged a life time. His face worn by time and grief, hair beginning to grow streaks of gray. But his eyes, they were deathly familiar, and filled with the strongest sorrow ever, only a sorrow a parent could have. But inside the sorrow, like a golden coin in a pool of murky water, their lay hope and love, that his son could have returned
"Danny…" He whispered. Danny's eyes trailed behind him, to see Maddie Fenton. She no longer wore her jumpsuit, only a gray raider's outfit. But her crop of wine red hair made her easy to recognize, but he would never forget her anyway. She too, had been worn by the war, dark grey bags manifesting under her sparkling eyes
He hung his head. He wondered how all this had happened, how he had gone ten whole years and now it had returned. As if he could not be rid of it, and it would even haunt him in his imminent state of death.
His parents stared at him. He thought maybe expectantly, for him to greet them and show them it was him. But he couldn't talk to them; he couldn't bring himself to do it. And eventually he would have to tell them, their only son did die ten long years ago. It would shatter them once more
Jazz burst into the room, orange hair bouncing as it usually did. She stopped, her body leaning forwards then springing back as she saw. Her father gripping a cloaked Danny's shoulder, and her mother standing beside.
"Is it really you?" Maddie asked him, surveying his blue eyes which were now lowered to the floor in some sick and demented mutation of shame. She reached out, like Jazz had, and lifted his chin with one of her soft fingers. They stared at each other for a minute, and then Danny unlocked his eyes and took a step back from his parents
"I'm sorry" He said, not really sure what he was apologizing for. He just hoped they knew what he meant, knew how he sympathized the pain they had to go through for years. But then again so did he
In the darkness Tucker watched their silent reunion with curiosity and pity, and somewhere inside him, resolve settled.
Danny turned to Jazz, tears suddenly in his eyes. He recalled he hadn't cried for ten long years. Since the day he died he hadn't shed a single tear, he was too preoccupied locking his mind on the killing of ghosts. And then he thought, he had locked his thoughts on the killing of ghosts to stop himself from crying
"I…need to find Sam…" He said, to all of them, but looking at Jazz as he did. He couldn't bear to see them any longer
She nodded grimly, understanding at long last
And, tears still running down his face, he sprinted to the window. Ignoring all pain in his body he kicked off the balcony, springing into the night air in a gust of cold. His body took flight and his cloak began to whip at the air again.
He gracefully sped off in the direction Sam and Vlad had fled to, letting the four old friends watch him go.
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She had only ever loved one person
Dated one or two or three at the maximum. And they all asked her, they were the ones who saw her. Probably frail and weak, She thought to herself. Probably good for a hot fuck and nothing else. So weak and fragile she'd claw herself towards to first sign of love she got. So she drank with them, more enjoying the company of alcohol then them. Sitting there with a gun slung over their shoulder, elegantly trying to sip brandy when at home they guzzled beer. She saw through it, Damn she was good at that. Good at analyzing, shit she was great at jigsaw puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles resembled her, at four, sitting down in her living room and putting one together for the first time. She was naïve, thought one day she was gonna be a hairdresser. Gonna make great designs, make other people look and feel good. A time when she enjoyed her solitude, and with stubby little fingers clicked together the image of the frog on the Lilly pond with great pride in herself.
Now she felt empty. She remembers her house, a nice front, seemingly boring. Inside beautiful furniture and possessions that her parents only valued for attention. Outback large vines that clung to the house like a giant hand with green veins. She had always hated those vines, always hated the house. Sometimes even hated her parents.
There was only one person she had ever loved
School didn't annoy her when she was with him. Neither did herself. She remembered undressing at eight; she looked at the pile of heavy clothes with an expression of fierce wretchedness. This being before she changed to her usual black attire. In the school library there was always a stack of back issues from the real girly and trendy magazines and often she leafed through them, pasting an expression of idiotic casualness on her face. The models looked so easy and smooth in their short, kicky skirts, pantyhose and frilly underwear with patterns on them designed for obviously attracting males in the feistiest way possible. She wondered why the world had become so…corrupt. But with him he made it better
She didn't know it was love though. It was there, but she was unaware of it. It hung like invisible wire before her face, binding her to him without even knowing it. She enjoyed his company, a lot than any alcohol could ever achieve. She remembers staring up, demented shock and fear lunging at her and gripping her tightly. She couldn't breathe. For a few seconds, the thought surfaced in her that he may have died. For a few seconds mindless despair hit her, then her logic returned. Told her he would be fine, it wasn't fatal. As he fell, she panicked and regained control. Because she believed
He would stay with her
He would never leave her
Be with her
Forever
Her eyes shot open, at first wide and alert. Then they gazed around at their surroundings, white and grey walls. Red lights shining like the lights of ambulances. Ambulances that she had watched with teary eyes from her hospital window. She looked up weakly, and was aware she was chained by metal to a wall, cold tiles making her spine tingle through her thin black nightdress. Her toes barely scraped the floor, and her whole body was covered in Goosebumps. Small hairs pricked up on her skin, trying desperately to coat her in warmth. Her eyes lowered tearily, to her relief and somewhat disappointment she was alone again
Hanging from a wall in a white chamber that reminded her of somewhere they surveyed nuclear tests
Memories swirled and settled in her mind again, and unconscious crept up on her and merged with her awake state in ripples. He was dead
She had accepted him being dead. She had lay there in the bed, eyes set on the roof determinedly because she didn't want to cry. She wouldn't let herself cry, it was her mental tethers, her state of pride that demanded her not to cry. And after a month, she had shunned the thoughts from her head. Every time they resurfaced she focused on something else, until they had faded and worn away into the back of her head like vague stains. There but forgotten
But a few days ago, she had locked eyes with his blue. And the stains had exploded and become bright and vivid again, some demented and mutated hope had resurfaced and returned. She had shot up slightly through her cloud of sorrow
And now she had fallen through it, hit the ground and broken her heart.
The cloud was hope. She loved clouds, the barrier between worlds
She let a cloud of darkness swarm over her and take her into oblivion again
She didn't want to leave either
And like being awoken from anesthetic, it seemed like only a second had passed. She became aware though it must have been hours, because she felt thirsty. What had awoken her though was ice cold water hitting her squarely in the face and chest. It trickles down her breast and she yelped. Seemed ironic
Awoken
She screeched in discomfort, writhing a little in her restraints. She stared into those cold red eyes, and her own narrowed
"Asshole" She spat into Vlad's seemingly ageless face. She kicked her legs forwards in a somewhat vague attempt to swing out of the restraints and lunge at him like an animal in a trap of metal. He smiled at this as if he knew she would, and her feet missed his chest by what seemed like a mile
"Sam Manson…" He said, and it reminded her of a Nazi addressing a Jew about to be sent into a gas chamber. Almost like administering a patient, but a hidden malicious and triumphant support to his voice. She grimaced and struggled again
"It's Samantha to you" She hissed, wiggling her arms and only succeeding in hurting herself.
He laughed, and his figure shook a little. Red light dappling and catching his white face eerily. She suppressed a shudder and maintained her stone hard 'hate-glare' she had perfected over the years.
"I love that face" He told her with satisfaction. "That face, so familiar. I've seen it so many times and yet it still entertains me. That's the face a pitiful gray raider will give me, just before I kill them. Trying to look strong but panicking on the inside"
And at this she actually smiled, because she knew he was wrong
"I don't care if you kill me" She told him grimly, eyes still narrowed
He laughed, and slowly flew across the room, his familiar cape falling by his heels. He looked down at a small panel, then down at the floor. She couldn't see his face
"You wouldn't, would you" He said, but not asking. She remained silent
"And I suppose the hate you feel for me has somewhat increased dramatically over the last few hours" He said "Even me, conquering all of humanity. Well almost" He commented, waving his arms and beginning to pace the room through the air as if mulling over thoughts, then returned his eyes to her "I still took from you, what you loved most"
She didn't move
"Danny Phantom"
"SHUTUP!" She screamed at him, trying to hard to stop her wellspring of sorrow to seep out through her mental barriers. She kicked her leg, in an attempt to release some surge of anger now pulsating from her heart. She raised her eyes to his face, his pale face, anger alight like beacons in her eyes. Hate bubbled up over the top of her sorrow like oil over water, and using all of her strength, she pressed the backs of her hands together, and slammed them outwards, breaking the metal barriers and releasing her
She fell into a crouching position, though not as gracefully as she intended. She swayed, feeling the pain in her hands as Vlad observed her efforts. She looked up at him, but instead of attacking him like she had previously intended, she merely stared at him
"Why, Vlad?" She asked simply, tears in her eyes "What are you achieving by ruining everyone's lives?"
He was still and silent, above her like a silhouetted sentinel, dark and unmoving.
"Equality" He told her darkly, but no humour or vengeance in his voice. Only a dark foreboding she had heard somewhere before. Of Danny Phantom as he was and is now
Tears formed in her eyes
Barely invading her thoughts, there was a sudden bang. A burst of noise that plowed into the thick silence. The two both turned, and saw that a metal door had been crunched down the middle like it was as frail as a juice box. A long jagged crevasse had appeared between the metal, and standing in it, eyes alight with hatred and fear was Danny.
But those eyes were also filled with panic, and he moved as if time was ominously against him.
Before Vlad could move Danny had sprinted forwards, his cloak folding over his figure and letting him slide away into nothing. Then beside Sam, a dark cloak unfolded, and Danny emerged from it. Eyes pure green and chest rising and falling maniacally, the eyes set on Vlad, as if warding him away with a threat he would take action.
He shot out his arm and wrapped it around Sam, inevitably touching her breast accidentally. She flinched at the sudden awkward movement and winced as she was yanked close to him and he prepared to disappear
Vlad merely laughed at them, long white teeth glittering in the red light. Sam rested her head in the small pocket of darkness between Danny's body and his arm, closing her eyes as safety washed over her aching bones and hands. Her ribs were aching again because of her rising heart rate, but in his grasp she was calmed. She was warmer
And as he became intangible, and as he kicked off the ground like a cat, a tear climbed out from under her closed eyelid and fell behind them. They zoomed upwards and outwards, through walls and towers until they were high in the blue sky. She hadn't been flying for ten long years, hadn't been in his arms for ten long years. She looked down at the black fortress; it looked something like a sinister concentration camp with glowing generators. She wanted to forget, so she turned her eyes to the stars. She though of the stars how massive they were, burning balls of fire that surpassed her body mass by the millions, the universe a trillion times bigger than them. If she was so insignificant in this world, a speck of dirt among glowing lights – why did she feel pain that could amount to the size of the universe? How could she handle such a burden of strong emotions?
She tried hard not to weep, and the last thing she saw before a large cannon aimed up at them and fired, Was Danny's bowed head, and tears flowing freely from below
A fifteen year olds dreams, so warped yet so full of meaning
"Hold me Danny…" She told the boy, resting her head on the groove of his shoulder in her dreamland. Her walking world between death and life
The large fiery shot of chocking pink hurtled through the cool night skies, gaining speed and precision as it flew like an arrow towards them
"Don't let go" She whispered
It drew within striking range of the two, Sam clinging so desperately to his side
Please don't let go
Danny Phantom whipped his head around a nanosecond before it hit him, and had just enough time to focus all of his energy into the Sam he cradled in his arms, give her energy to fly down to earth. He threw her forwards, and as the chain between their life forces was broke, all his energy evaporated into nothing.
It collided
The pink orb of flames smashed into his side, engulfing him in a beautiful array of red and gold sparks. Sam shot downwards through the air, her body suddenly gaining buoyancy in the air like a ball in the water. She gazed up at the explosion, her dormant wellspring overflowing at last. She screamed long and loudly as her toes landed softly on the ground like she was a feather, the sparks fell down and scorched into nothing.
Danny Phantom fell down, just like he had ten long years ago. Exactly the same!
The same absent and dazed look of unconscious playing along his face, but only this time his body flickered and zapped, phasing painfully between the two worlds he was caught in between. His cloak spun at the air like thin threads, and Vlad stared up at the falling figure from his fortress with a smile of glee
And then, his smile widened, as before the figure collided with hard earth, it simple vanished.
He had finally let go
"NO!" Sam screamed in utter defiance of what her eyes had just watched. She ignored the freezing temperature, the pain on her ribs. She threw her head back and let out an insane cry of betrayal, anger, dismay, sorrow, sadness, fury. All of them mingled together like alcohols to make a cocktail her system couldn't handle
She fell to her knees and beat the ground with her fists until they started to bleed
I said don't let go
I SAID DON'T LET GO, DAMNIT! Her subconscious screeched
Vague memories:
Sam Manson (sucks But Danny is gay, so top tha---
My report on psychosis
By Sam
A title, a heading, a comment by Danny, a comment she had retorted back. Her subconscious remembered
More memories:
In some cases a severe physical or emotional trauma can cause a temporary psychosis. The subject may even lose memory of their actions in this period, though temporary psychosis must take place after the subject has induced severe stress and pain levels, so is not very common in society
And right then was where Sam Manson lost a portion of herself to sorrow. She fell forwards onto the cold damp ground, hands tossed melodramatically by her sides
And her body refused to function
She slowly began to die
Relief…
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-αιвσυ
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