AN: Sorry for the long wait, I've just had a lot going on with family recently. Longest chapter yet! Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Guess what y'all! I still own nothing! Whoo!
When we get back home, Ember and I say goodbye to Sam and Tuck and proceed to cart her things up to her room. While we are putting her things away, my ghost sense goes off.
"Hey Em, can you handle things here? I'm going to go check out the ghost that just showed up," I tell her. I get a nod and I smile. I proceed to transform and fly through the wall. "Now, where is that ghost? Probably just Box Ghost or Skulker again," I muse to myself as I go towards the area where I think the ghost to be. I find myself over the park when I'm hit from behind.
"Hello Whelp! Did you miss me?" I hear from behind me. "Oh great, you're back. What do you want Skulker?" I sigh, turning around. As I turn, I feel dread creep up. Oh no… "Why do you look like that?" I ask fearfully, looking around hoping to not see anyone else.
"You like it Whelp? I, Technus, the greatest inventor, combined my superior knowledge into Skulker's superior firepower!" I hear as Technus pops up on a display on Skulker's armor. Oh thank fuck. I thought they somehow bled through from that reality.
"I think it's going to be even easier to beat both of your asses now!" I quip, readying an ice blast. "Though I am curious, what gave you the idea for this fusion?"
"Don't you know Whelp? The thing broke out of Clockwork's tower. He came to us and told us how to do this. Clockwork erased him afterwards but he still had some good advice. He left a message… for you," Skulker grinned, sadistically. I watch a screen pop up and I'm filled with fear for the first time in a long time.
"Hello younger me. Hope you haven't forgotten what can happen. I told Skulker and Technus about this lovely combo to remind you I was here. I won't be around much longer but it was worth it. Just remember, if Plasmius comes back, he will be pining for blood. Even more than me. And with that reminder, I hope you get what's coming to you soon. Bye," Dark Dan says as the screen goes black and disappears back into the armor.
"We'll leave you to think about things and thanks for making it easy to destroy Ember's realm. Helped us out a lot. See you later ghost-child," Skulker says as they disappear. I fly off, breaking the sound barrier as I launch towards Sam's house, hoping Sam and Tucker are both there. Please let Skulker be the only one Dan got to! Dammit I need to go faster! I pour on even more speed until I see her house, I go intangible and almost hit the wall anyway. I make it into her room to see both of them half undressed on her bed. I'm so using this later.
"Yo, lovebirds! We got a problem!" I yell as I watch them jump apart.
"Danny! What the fuck! What happened?" Sam asks as she picks up her bra and tank top. "Yeah bro, what's wrong? Was that you that made that loud-ass bang we heard like five seconds ago?" Tucker asks.
"Yeah I kinda broke the sound-barrier. That's not important right now, Skulker and Technus combined into one form. They got a tip from an enemy I thought I had put away for good. I just needed to make sure you two were okay. I panicked," I tell them as I rub the back of my head. I think it's time I tell everyone just who Dark Dan was. "After you two are done fucking, which, not in my house, ever, please, meet me at my house, I've been hiding this enemy for a long time from y'all. I'll apologize later but right now I just want you to listen, okay?" I get a nervous nod from my two blushing friends and I turn and fly away. I fly home dreading what everyone's reaction will be. I wonder what Ember will think of me when she hears what I did. I make it home and head down to the lab.
"Hey mom, dad? Can you meet me up in the kitchen soon? There's something I need to tell you. Sam and Tucker are coming too," I inform them.
"Sure Danny-o! We'll be up there soon! I wonder if we have any fudge?" My dad trails off as they finish up what they are working on. I chuckle and go intangible to reach the floor with mine and Ember's room. I knock on the door and it opens almost immediately. I lose my train of thought when I see that she must have gotten hot moving everything and changed into shorts with a sports bra. "Damn Em, I never knew that you're human side was this hot, how did you never get noticed before? Anyways before I do something neither of us are anywhere near ready for, I need you to come down to the kitchen, there's something you need to know," I tell her as she blushes.
"Alright Dipstick, I'll be down soon, sure you don't want me to just come down in this?" She asks seductively with a wink and a smirk. "Trust me, I need to be able to think," I say as I go intangible and use my ice powers to calm down. She's going to be the half-death of me. I make it down to the kitchen in time to see Sam and Tucker come bursting into the room.
"Hey guys, we are going to wait for mom, dad and Ember. I should probably tell Jazz too but I think I'll let mom or dad tell her, I'm only going to be able to stomach this once," I inform them as we sit down at the table. Mom, dad and Ember all come from their respective directions and to my relief and embarrassment Ember put on a Phantom t-shirt.
"Alright Danny, what's wrong?" my mom asks as they all sit down and dad grabs the fudge.
I sigh, getting ready to tell them about my biggest failure, "You guys know how I have never been defeated completely before? Well, that's not entirely true. There is one enemy I've never been able to beat and I still consider that battle a loss. Remember a couple years back when I almost cheated on that CAT? Well, originally I did cheat, but the consequence to me cheating was that the Nasty Burger blew up, with everyone here and Jazz inside, except for Ember, that's a different part that I am getting to. The explosion drove me to Vlad, who felt bad enough for me that he ripped the human part away from my ghost-half. Well, when he did that my ghost-half took his half. They combined. The new ghostly Dan had all of mine and Vlad's strength and "none of the human weakness" as he put it. He killed my human half and almost killed Vlad's," I tell them. I trail off, remembering Vlad's haunting look as he informs me of what happened. "After those two combine, he proceeds to go on a rampage in the Ghost Zone and the Mortal world. The form that Skulker and Technus took today was the one they had in the other reality to try and combat my evil self, to no avail. Box Ghost become buff and got with Lunch Lady and had a daughter named Box Lunch. And you Em, I'm so sorry, you had your vocal cords ripped out and your guitar broken and had taken to eating everything in sight to try and cope. Even Walker had been destroyed. Amity Park was protected by a ghost shield made by Valerie and her father. I made it to Amity in time to watch the shield fall and Dan start razing everything to the ground. The way he killed, the way I could only sit there, bleeding while I watched him murder, it scares me to this day that I could even potentially become that. If it wasn't for Clockwork helping me out, I would've cheated and caused all of that to become the actual reality. I managed to learn how to make copies of myself and how to use the Ghostly Wail successfully when I fought him. That's how I managed to get him into a Fenton Thermos and make that reality not exist," I say. I remember the slaughter and shiver. Everyone around me is pale and shaking, staring at me.
"If it wasn't for Dark Dan breaking out of the Thermos and making it to Skulker and Technus before Clockwork erased him, I probably would have never told any of you this story. I consider this as my greatest loss and my greatest shame. Ember if you want to find somewhere else to go, I understand. Sam, Tuck, if you want to leave, I'm sorry. Mom and dad, please know I'd never do any of that, become that ever," I say, tearing up finally looking at each of them in the eyes. I'm shocked into silence as, as one, they all get up and surround me in a hug. I feel a kiss on both my cheeks from Sam and Ember with a kiss on my head from mom. "We thought you were too quiet the next few weeks after that test, no wonder as to why now. We understand why you hid this son but you should have told us. I just hate you went through this alone," mom tells me as they let go. I look up to Ember, nervous to her reaction.
"I guess I know why the ghosts that came to Amity were returned so beat up that week, you were wanting to be left alone. Don't worry baby-pop I'll stick around, you've grown on me. Just never let yourself become that and we will all be alright," She says, giving one of her rare, true smiles.
"We did kinda wonder why you were so damn clingy afterwards, I guess we know now. Relax dude, you have us now and always, we aren't going anywhere," Tuck tells me as he and Sam slug me on the arm. I feel a weight lift off my shoulders that I had gotten used to for so long. I smile at all of them and wipe away the tears. "I love you mom, dad. Thank you guys for always being here, all of you. Sam and Tucker, you two have always been here for me and for that I am grateful. Ember, I know we never thought this would end up happening, but honestly, I wouldn't change what happened to you on that day with Skulker, well except you almost dying, that was definitely a horrible thing, but I am glad you are here now. Thank all of you for staying," I say as I hug each of them in turn, lingering in Amber's embrace. I glance at the clock and see that my story took almost four hours and that it is almost midnight.
"Damn, who knew time flies when pouring out your soul, huh? If y'all want you can stay here tonight, Tuck with me, Sam with Ember if you want?" I ask them, getting nods in approval. We all hug one last time before heading upstairs and going to bed.
AN: Hopefully the next chapter, Double Date Day, won't take as fucking long to get here as this one did. See ya!