up to date dance, whoot whoot!
Took three years, but new chapter!
Just wanted to warn ya'll I do have one other open story right now, so I'm setting up a writing schedule...sort of.
It'll go What Happens When You Forget, then Ghostly Ambitions ( Danny Phantom/My Hero Academia crossover) and will go on ad Infinium until one finishes and I can focus solely on the other.
It takes a while for everyone to calm down after Vlad's outburst.
They moved solemnly from the Viewing Hall to a much more comfortable sitting room. They all tried to ignore the ticking of many clocks in the place, all telling different hours and minutes. Gears floated between the couches and chairs, some even stuck in place amongst the floor, turning and clicking for no apparent reason.
Sam and Tucker took a couch together near where Clockwork and Phantom stood, smiling at the thought of having some form of their friend back. Phantom now back in his more comfortable Ghost form was standing closer to Sam then Tucker, nervously eying his hands for fear of another attack. Vlad took a chair facing the two Ghosts but as far away as politely possible, while Jazz stood leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, looking anywhere but at Phantom.
"So..." Vlad began before stopping and running a hand down in his face in exhaustion. "So." He said again, the words heavy with sorrow and defeat.
Phantom looked between his Mentor and Vlad, his mind struggling with the information he had been given today, grasping onto a tidbit Clockwork told him when he was terrified and panicked.
"You're the other Halfa." He realized, awe dripping from his tone as he turned back to Vlad, eye wide with a grin on his face. The Halfa grimaced, turning his face from Phantom to look to the human Jazz. He folded his hands in front of him, leaning on his knees as he glanced at Clockwork.
"He told you about me?"
Phantom felt his Mentor place a hand on his shoulder and looked over his shoulder to find him smiling gently at him. He smiled back.
"My apprentice was having a crisis over what he was. We've been having... issues with some other Ghosts trying to tell Phantom Humans are evil." Phantom watched him cast a scornful glance at Tucker who sunk into his seat. "An issue I thought we had resolved." He turned back to Vlad, " So I told him he was once a Halfa, one of two to naturally exist."
Vlad scoffed at that, " I wouldn't call our existence 'natural'." He glanced at Phantom again, appearing to think over his words, "It was more of a colossal fuck up by one Human, each time."
"Even so," His Mentor started again, waving a hand as if to say the details didn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, " He needed to know he wasn't alone. And that he wasn't Human, not entirely, just like you aren't a Ghost, not entirely."
The other Halfa nodded, seeming to concede to Clockwork for a moment.
"Wait, what do you mean by natural Halfa?" Phantom questioned, realizing that the phrasing was slightly off. Why not just say two halfas?
At that, all the Humans in the room winced, quickly glancing back at Vlad who was rubbing the bridge of his nose and turning a nice shade of red.
"Let's just say, Phantom, that Daniel and I weren't on the...best of terms for a while." Vlad started only to be interrupted by Sam.
"Yea, he used to kick your ass."
"Samantha!"
"You did!" She defended herself, waving a hand in the direction of Phantom, "You don't need to sugar coat it, you fucking kicked his ass on a regular basis!"
"You did?" Phantom's quiet voice broke through their argument. They both looked towards him, watching as he retreated into his cloak like a ghostly turtle.
He watched Vlad sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose again before sending a glare Sam's way. " That was before Daniel and I reached an amicable truce." His anger seemed to deflate, leaving the same world-weary expression he's had for most of the night. "As your Mentor said, I loved Daniel like a son. A bit obsessively before out truce."
Phantom looked up to his Mentor, confused. He seemed to grasp what the young Ghost was struggling with and decided to help the struggling Halfa explain. " You had a cousin, Phantom, who was not born in a natural way. Vlad created her from your DNA and made a new being, Danielle Masters. You will meet her soon."
"I will?"
"He will?" Vlad demanded, sitting up straighter and eyeing the Ghost wearily. He reached for a small square in his pocket, bringing it out and tapping at it before sighing in relief. Jazz, who looked over his shoulder, huffed out a laugh.
"You have her phone tracked?"
Vlad glanced over his shoulder, giving her a wry smile that seemed part sheepish at being caught and part proud that he knew where Danielle was, "Correction, I have her tracked. How do you think I found Samantha and Tucker so easily?"
Tucker sat up at that, wide eyes staring at the Halfa, "You implanted a tracker in your daughter?" He half shouts, mind going through the unethical connotations all that entailed.
Vlad once again looked sheepish, "Well, I did when I first made her. I just...never turned it off." Tucker just shook his head, mumbling something about a crazed paranoid old man, which earned him a half-hearted glare from said old man.
"I don't understand," Phantom interjected, not understanding half of what just happened but opting to ignore it for answers, "What do you mean I'll meet her soon?"
"To answer that question, Phantom, I need to talk to Vlad Masters." Clockwork gestured for the Halfa to lead the way out of the room. Vlad, in turn, stood up with a groan and glare directed at the vague Ghost.
"Jasmine, I trust you'll watch over them?" Vlad asked, turning his head over his shoulder to smile at the girl. She gave a quiet nod, still refusing to look at Phantom.
They left together through the only door, leaving a nervous Phantom and three quiet Humans.
"So..." Phantom began, trailing off when Jazz's eyes whipped to him with a cold glare before looking away. Sam and Tucker just shifted, noting that Jazz obviously wanted the silence to prevail.
This will be fun, Phantom sighed hoping his Mentor we would be back soon. He's not sure how long he can stay in such a room.
Vlad followed the silent Ghost until they were well out of earshot of the children. They walked further down the hall, Vlad desperately trying to ignore the ununiformed ticking of the clocks surrounding him. When they did stop several doors down, Vlad leaned against the closest wall between a clicking gear and a clock that was faster then any clock had a right to be, folding his arms as he waited for Clockwork to get on with whatever he wanted to talk about.
The time Ghost looked down the hall to the room they just left, a wistful expression crossing his wizened face as it rippled to that of a young adult.
"I need you to take Phantom to the Human Realm," He said with no preamble still looking down the hall. He turned his face to look at the shocked Halfa across from him before sighing and trying to explain further. "He's no longer safe here. The only place the Observants won't look is in the Human Realm." The Ghost leaned against his staff, hoping Vlad would gather how important this was.
"Why wouldn't they look there?" Vlad reasonably questioned, ignoring for the moment that Phantom was essentially being hunted down. "Daniel loved the Human Realm, if he hadn't been human, I would have called it his obsession."
Clockwork quickly looked down the hall again before resting his gaze on the Halfa again, "They believe him scared of Humans. And they aren't wrong. It seems I haven't kept as careful an eye on them with my apprentice as I would have liked." Vlad noted his tone was laced with bitterness, it practically dripping off his words.
It brought many questions to mind. The main one being, what did those one-eyed creatures gain from this? He had a few run-ins with those Ghosts, each time they only seemed like power hungry things who would use whatever they had on hand to gain it. They tried to recruit Vlad shortly after Daniel's death. It didn't end in pleasantly, for anybody involved.
Skulker had been with him at the time and still loved bringing up the fact he blasted one through his portal before sending the rest running.
"Ah." He said instead.
"I would not ask such a thing if I didn't think it was the only way to save Phantom. I know how painful it is to see him like this."
Vlad held up a single hand, cutting off the Ghost from saying any more. His heart was a storm of emotions, each one fighting for the driving seat. He settled on ignoring the hurt at what Clockwork has done the past five years and the anger at the audacity of this Ghost to think he knew what Vlad went through, seeing a look-alike bearing the marking of his greatest mistake. He opted instead to let apathy take the forefront, agreeing with the emotion that the other feelings will just lead to more heartache.
"This is a huge favor you are asking of me, Clockwork. I will need something in return."
Clockwork looked at him curiously, before the realization of what the man wanted hit him. " I can't bring him back, Plasmius," He whispered, "It's not in my power."
The apathy gave way surprisingly quickly to anger. "Like hell, you can't!" He hissed, feeling the electricity surging through his body, "Samantha and Tucker told me how you brought them to the future! How you brought Ghosts to the past to kill Daniel!" Vlad pushed himself off the wall, storming into Clockwork's personal space and glaring at the forlorn looking Ghost. " The only difference is you have a version of Daniel you like!"
Vlad felt his back slam against the wall he was just leaning on, all the air escaping his lungs as Clockwork held him up only by his throat. He gasped for breath, mind dulled by the pain as Clockwork growled back at him.
"Do not think for one moment, Vladimir Masters, that I prefer Danny like this." The Ghost squeezed the Halfa's throat, causing him to scramble for the hand blocking his airway. "My core broke the day I found Phantom! I would do anything to have Danny Fenton back and alive!"
At that, Clockwork let go, letting Vlad drop to the ground in an ungraceful heap gasping for breath. He stepped away, straightening his cloak and staring at Vlad with nothing but contempt.
"I have told you I spent countless days searching for a way to save Danny. His death is a fixed point, be glad it was this one and not one where you killed him."
Phantom was tapping his foot, eyes going in an endless motion of staring at the door, waiting for Clockwork to return, to staring at the Humans. They all seemed just as uncomfortable with the silence but refused to be the first to break it.
It was torture.
Phantom never had so many people nearby. It was usually just him and Clockwork, with the occasional Observant or two. But three new people? It was the most exciting thing that's happened to him since his Mentor taught him to view time!
And none of them wanted to talk to him.
He watched as the Human called Sam pulled out a small square, tapping at it for several moments before putting it down. She sat patiently before Tucker gave a low ping like sound. Confused he reached for his own small square, he tapped it a few times before giving a little chuckle at whatever was on it before tapping some more and then staring at Sam, waiting for her to give off her own ping.
This weird silent oddity went on for several minutes, each of them getting louder with their huffs of laughter before Sam hit Tucker in the arm with a grin on her face and laughter in her voice.
"You asshole! He's like a baby now!" She exclaimed while Tucker tried to hid behind his small square, giggling all the while.
"It would be kinda illegal now," Tucker laughed out, smiling at Phantom who looked completely confused.
"For many reasons! The main one being necrophilia!" Sam replied, mock yelling at him.
Phantom looked to Jazz for help, hoping she'd explain something, literally anything, about what was going on, but she seemed resolute in ignoring whatever they were doing with a pained expression.
Phantom let his head thump against the wall, closing his eyes to ignore Sam now beating up a giggling Tucker with a couch cushion.
Today was not going how he had thought it would, at all.
Vlad glared up at Clockwork, still fighting for his breath and a little annoyed he hadn't thought to "Go Ghost" as Daniel called it. At the moment he was too busy struggling on instinct and not worrying about being able to blow a hole in the side of the Ghost.
"This isn't ingratiating yourself to me," He croaked out, rubbing his sore throat with mild annoyance. He pulled himself up the wall, wearily eyeing his assailant as he unsteadily got on his feet. " I see no reason for me to take Phantom. I'm sure you can keep him safe for those one-eyed cretins." Vlad attempted to straighten his clothes, giving up after a moment when he remembered they were wrinkled before he got attacked anyway.
"Plasmius, I ask out of the love you hold for Danny," Clockwork said which such disdain, Vlad was sure he was questioning if he ever loved Daniel.
Vlad narrowed his eyes, finally letting go of the wall to start walking back to the room they left the children in. "Phantom is not Daniel, you said so yourself." He called over his shoulder, completely done with this entire situation.
"Then do it in his memory." Vlad stopped and looked over his shoulder to the suddenly weary child formed Ghost behind him. It looked like the entire world was resting on his shoulders, and this was his final chance to unburden the load. "They will use Phantom to destroy your world, Danny's world. Sam and Tucker told you about Dan. About his destruction. It will be worse then that is the Observants get their way. Plasmius...Vlad, this is the only way to save Danny's home."
Vlad stood still for a moment, almost afraid that if he moved, his emotions would come crashing down on him for a second time that day. Instead, he took a deep breath and faced forward again.
"I'll take him in, but I'm doing it for Daniel, not Phantom." With that, he began the trek back to the room with the very Ghost in it, leaving Clockwork alone in his lair.
Yall don't understand how elated I am to be writing for this again
I am overjoyed!
Also! Come chat with me at my tumblr, .com, I might post some art I have laying around of what Phantom and the gang look like now...
