Complicated Mess

A Danny Phantom Story

-

What if Danny separated himself from his ghost powers? That's what this story is about. Which is pretty much a DUH if you've been reading this far. lol. It probably NEVER happens, and it's just for fun, so don't expect it to be perfect. I already know it's full of flaws. However, I hope you enjoy it!

I don't own Danny Phantom, and I never will. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickalodean. Or however you spell it.

-

Thanks to these incredibly helpful and awesome reviewers:

too-much-inspiration
Aooy
Artgirl4
mhmmm
-kyuubi11-
Thunderstorm101

You are my heroes. Thanks.

-

-

Changing: Part Three

Phantom's POV:

-

-

I might have started off with a crappy day, but three hours later found me laughing my head off with my friends as we took turns playing Doomed, cracked jokes about Danny being clueless, and made plans for the rest of the week. I completely forgot that I was really just Danny's other half, and for a while just enjoyed my time thinking I was best friends with everyone. Because I am. It was only when we began to cool down and think about dinner that I began to remember how strangely out of place I am in this situation. And my silence began to make the others stare at me.

"Anything wrong?" Sam asked, staring at me with her vivid violet eyes. Like Danny, I still find myself constantly pulled in when I look into them. It makes it hard to think sometimes. Heh. She calls me clueless. In reality it's because she makes me brain-dead. Or makes Danny brain-dead. Or maybe she makes both of us brain-dead. Whatever the case, we both like her. I guess it's cause we're the same person.

"Yeah, you're pretty quiet now. Ghost attack?" Tucker glanced at me with a smirk, which widened considerably after I managed to tear my gaze away from Sam's amazing eyes. He can see through me—and Danny—pretty easily. It still bugs me sometimes. At least I have the capability not to blush right now, seeing as I'm a ghost. I don't have blood.

"No," I answered, lying down on my back. I was levitating myself in the air, simply because it's easy to do, and it's kind of fun. And it makes the others jealous. Especially Danny. "I just…feel kind of depressed, I guess."

That had everyone's attention. "Why?" Danny asked. The look on his face betrayed that he already knew. "Because we're separated?"

"Well…yeah." I sighed, wondering why I kept doing that if I didn't even have lungs. "I mean…what if we're separated forever like this? What will happen to me? And what will happen to you? I just don't know what to think anymore. It's almost like I'm an entirely different person, and I don't even know how to deal with it anymore. What if….what if we can't go back to the way it was?" I felt my eyes widen, shocked at the words coming out of my mouth. I hardly even realized that it bothered me so much…that I was so scared. But I was scared, and I didn't know how to deal with being in this situation forever.

Apparently, no one else did either. They simply couldn't come up with anything to say. All they could do was stare at me helplessly, trying to convey that they still cared. But was that comforting?

"Look," Sam sighed, crossing her arms. I knew she was about to lecture me, so I turned my head and stared at her with unblinking eyes. "No matter what happens, we'll stand by you. You're a part of Danny, and he's our best friend. That means you're our best friend too. Heck, you ARE Danny. And yeah we all hope that this can go back to normal, but if it doesn't, then we're going to make do with what we've got. Don't even worry about it. Okay?"

"That's right! And we know you'll still be there to protect us, whether you're Danny or Phantom or both. And we'll always stick by you, even if you really are a split personality…" Tucker wheezed out a laugh at his joke, pointing at both Danny and me. "Get it? Split personality?" He sobered up at Danny's and my identical glare. "Sorry. But you get the point. You're the same thing, so we're here for you. Right?"

"Right," Sam nodded. She looked at me and Danny both, since the two of us were obviously experiencing the same doubts and worries.

"I guess," Danny mumbled. He glanced over at me blankly.

I winced upon meeting his eyes, and lowered myself to a cross-legged position on the inflatable mattress in Danny's room. Mom had given it to me to sleep on...not that I needed it or anything. "Danny…" I sighed as I spoke his name. "I know you miss your ghost powers…and I miss being human. I know we both miss having things the way they were. But what if we can't fix this? What if we're stuck like this forever? I mean…would you…would you hate me?"

I turned intangible just in time, barely escaping the heavy chemistry book he threw at me. "Don't be an idiot," he rolled his eyes. "I could no more hate you than I could hate myself."

"Which….you do sometimes," I reminded him with a grin.

"Listen Phantom," he threatened, his eyes gleaming green again. I have to admit the sight threw me off momentarily. "You may be experiencing some doubts and all right now, but that's because you're me. And I feel the same thing. But if we can't merge back into one person again, I'll still think of you as family or something, to say the least. Got it? So don't start feeling sorry for your self or I'm going to have to…" his voice trailed off. "Um…have to…." Suddenly, a sneaky grin appeared on his face. I didn't like where he was going. "I'll have to use the boomerang on you."

"Oh come on," I laughed, instinctively cringing. Man did that thing hurt. "You wouldn't!" I blinked. "Okay maybe you would. And you'd get a kick out of it. Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're thinking about all the ways you can pick on me, despite the fact that I'm you!"

Danny grinned and shrugged. "Who says I'm not?"

"You're actually thinking about picking on me?"

"It would be kind of funny, wouldn't it?" Danny's smirk just grew wider, and Sam and Tucker began to grin as well. "There could be advantages to being separated, you know!"

"You'd just be picking on yourself, weirdo," I rolled my eyes.

"Not until we…"

"Oh be quiet I don't want to hear it." I grinned and reached over, tickling him in all the spots that I knew I was most ticklish. To my delight, it worked. He collapsed on his back, laughing hysterically, and begged me to stop it. I did, cause he asked, but I couldn't help teasing him. "You pick on me, I pick on you," I told him. "Then you really WILL be picking on yourself."

He didn't have time to answer before someone knocked on the door, and Jazz walked in. "Okay guys," she stated. "Dinner is ready, so come downstairs. Phantom, you too." She sighed and shook her head. "You know, this is really weird to get used to, having you separated like this, Danny. It's not like all the other times. I keep thinking you're two different people now. Talk about messed up!"

"Tell me about it," I rolled my eyes. She left the room, and we all stood up. We'd been sitting on my inflatable bed. "Hey Danny," I mumbled, a sudden thought coming to me. "If we're separated, why do your eyes glow green sometimes? And how come you have the ghost sense? Does this mean that we're connected somehow? Or that even though we separated, your ghost powers are coming back?"

Everyone stared at me with shocked faces. "I don't know," Danny admitted. "Do you think that….that I still am Danny Phantom? And that all I did was create a clone of myself?"

I shivered. "That's creepy," I told him. "I don't want to be a clone!"

"But what if you are?" he persisted. "What does that mean?"

"That there's going to be two Danny Phantoms, that's what it means!" I couldn't help holding my head in frustration. "And Vlad is no doubt going to be trying to get ONE of us to join him. I guess we're lucky he doesn't know yet."

"Oh he knows," Danny growled. I raised an eyebrow at him. "He called Mom as soon as she reported to the news that she had Phantom in custody, and was running experiments on him. She's let the entire public know, and with our help, convinced everyone that you're here to help. It's a good thing too, cause otherwise the Guys In White would be after me! Or…you. Whatever. As long as she has control over you, everyone is fine with you going off and saving the day. So yeah, he knows. He just hasn't done anything yet."

"Maybe that's why it's so quiet lately." I crossed my arms in thought. "He's probably planning something big."

"And we'd better be prepared," Danny agreed. He glared at the floor, his hands balled up in fists. He hated himself for using the net, hated that he couldn't be the one fighting ghosts, hated that this was his mistake. My mistake. Our mistake. And I hated it too.

I hated to think that I wasn't….me. And worse, that everyone had just come to accept that we're separated. Only Sam understands, and she doesn't like it either. She's just too nice to make Danny feel even worse for his rash action. I glanced over at her, watching Danny with a frown. She didn't really know what to say anymore.

I wished she would just say it. That "you're stupid, Danny." That "it's all your fault." That "you should never have done it."

And I hated myself too. If I hadn't been so lazy, if I'd just split myself like Vlad does, then I wouldn't be here right now. I'd just be me. Danny. But I'm not.

"DINNER!" Jazz yelled from downstairs, and we all suddenly remembered why we were standing. All of us headed for the door and down the stairs. I flew, of course. It's much easier.

"What if it is true?" Sam whispered to us. "What if all Danny did was clone himself? What if there are two of him now?"

"Then we'll have twice the power?" Tucker joked. "Maybe?"

I winced again and tried not to think any more about it. Me….a clone. I wasn't Danny, I was Phantom….but then maybe I wasn't even that anymore. Shuddering, I joined the family for dinner at the table—or rather, I sat with them and watched them eat. It's already been declared that ghosts can't eat, nor do they have to, so I don't get dinner. But that doesn't mean I don't wish I could eat. Something as normal as eating seems so foreign now. So I sighed and tried to remain cheerful, while watching the others eat and enjoy themselves. They didn't pay as much attention to me. I was just…there.

I pushed away the anger that made me feel nauseas. It wasn't doing anything for me to hate myself for being separated. I guess the saying "you reap what you sow" really is true. I glanced over at my other half munching darkly on his food. He looked like he was struggling to do the same thing. Man, I thought, making eye contact with him. I just wish I understood everything. It's annoying to not know what to do or expect.

Yeah, tell me about it, Danny nodded sourly, while eating his food. But we'll figure this out. We're a team, remember? Besides, I have a feeling that I didn't just clone you. The Ghost Catcher separates ghosts from its powers, and that's what it did to me. The only reason my eyes flash is because we're still connected somehow. And it only happens when I'm around you. So don't worry about it, okay?

I nodded. I'll try, I grimaced. But thanks anyway.

Wow. I will never get used to talking to myself like I'm someone else.

Ha. Me neither. I mean, it helps to just pretend you're a brother, but… we stared helplessly at each other.

I know, he ended, and gave it up. I wisely followed his lead not to dwell on the issue anymore.

The rest of dinner I spent half-listening to everyone's conversations…wondering what I was going to do with myself…wondering what Vlad was up to…wondering what test I'd go through next…and then suddenly realizing that I'd zoned out again. I tended to do that a lot lately. Huh. I never really zoned out like this before I was separated. I glanced over at Danny to see what he thought, and blinked in confusion. What in the world was that sly smirk on Danny's face supposed to mean?

Oh duh.

I smirked right back, my mind going in the same direction. We both happened to remember that we're very easy to tease. And if he was thinking about playing a prank on his Ghost Half, then…well…

I let a plot of my own fill my head, thinking about all the ways I could get back at him. Pick on me, Danny, and you pick on yourself.

Except that if you fight back…

Oh don't bring Mom into this! It's between me and you, buddy!

Bring it on, Phantom!

I floated backwards a bit, flexing my hands with a grin. We stared at each other in silence, trying to come up with a plan without letting the other know about it, which was hard and easy at the same time. First, because we had a mental connection to each other. So although we couldn't know what the other was thinking unless we talked directly, we were the same. It was undoubtedly impossible for us to not think alike.

So I wasn't worried too much about the whole clone thing. We'd figure it out, somehow. For now, we'd just enjoy the game, and put self loathing on the back burner where it belonged.

(------)

Sorry it's short, and poor. But I have to get going again. Next chapter will be better, I promise.

Some food for thought… if you divided yourself in half, as two wholly separate people, and spent enough time that way…how do you think you'd handle being shoved back into one person again? And while you were separated, you got used to having only half of your personality, and gradually got back the rest as you continued to act like your normal self. You'd have two separate minds with two separate memories, being merged back into one. Perhaps you'd have changed…become something else. Maybe you'd be a split personality for the rest of your life.

How do you get a happy ending out of that?

Well, if anyone can do it…Danny can, right? ~_^

Rika195