Chapter 9: The Halfa
Wow this took me longer than I thought. Sorry for the wait guys. Unfortunately, next chapter will probably be just like this wait. I expect the next one to be first week of April. I apologize if this chapter seems rushed, the next one will be better.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Nor was I part of the staff that created the idea of these Danny Phantom episodes.
Clockwork POV
I pointed my staff at the orb in front of us, willing it to change to the past. The day Danny became half-ghost.
"Remember, we are only observants. The past cannot be changed, understood?" I asked the Titans.
They all nodded.
"I will explain whatever you do not understand after each event is played."
I turned towards the orb and allowed it to pull all of us into the Fenton's basement.
"These were Daniel's best friends. The one wearing the red hat is Tucker, the girl is Sam."
"Were?" Robin asked.
"Yes, Robin, were. You will see their end later," I said.
Without further delay, I pressed play on my staff and waited for the scene to take place.
Third Person POV
"Okay, I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents can be back here any minute. Besides, they say it doesn't work anyways," Danny said.
"C'mon Danny, a ghost zone? Aren't you curious? You gotta check it out," Sam persuaded.
"You know what? You're right. Who knows what kind of awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that portal," Danny said.
Danny walked to the right of where the portal was supposed to be and grabbed a white hazmat suit complete with black gloves, boots, belt, and collar. The invert of his ghost suit.
Tucker's attention was focused on his PDA and seemed to have missed the previous conversation. He also missed the next part of Danny and Sam's interaction.
"Hang on," Sam grimaced, walking to Danny. She pulled the head of Jack Fenton off the suit.
"You can't go walking around with that on your chest," she stated.
"But this…" she trailed off, slapping another symbol on his chest.
The Titans gasped.
"Please, is that not the emblem of Phantom?" Starfire asked?
"It's more of an insignia, but yeah, Star, it is," Robin answered.
"It's almost like she…knew," Raven whispered.
"All in due time, Titans," Clockwork told them.
The six focused on Danny once he responded to Sam's invention and his eventual logo.
"Uhh, what is that?" Danny demanded.
"Just…trust me, okay? Sam smiled.
Danny shrugged and stepped into the gap where the portal would soon be.
Sam watched in anticipation. Tucker, who finally put his PDA away, in confusion.
Danny placed a hand on the wall, using it as a guide in the dimly lit tunnel. He tread carefully, searching for anything that could make the portal work. He didn't tread carefully enough.
One of the several cords laying on the bottom of the tunnel tripped him up. Danny caught himself against the wall, but unknowingly hit the "on" button that was installed on the inside.
The portal beeped, then whirred as electricity was pulled and converted to make the portal.
Green energy burst from the end of the invention designed to hold the portal. Danny had no time to move. The ecto-energy hit him full blast and everyone (except Clockwork) cringed when they heard his scream of agony as Danny's DNA was coated and, in some cases, replaced with ectoplasm.
Danny stumbled out of the now working portal in his Phantom form.
Sam and Tucker ran to him, gently lowering him to a sitting position.
"You okay, dude?" Tucker asked, eyes wide upon the transformation.
"Y-y-yeah, I think so," Danny answered.
Sam smiled mischievously, eyeing the insignia on his chest.
"Here," she said, offering her hand to help him to his feet.
Unfortunately, his hand turned intangible halfway through and he fell back to the floor causing Beast Boy to chuckle until Raven elbowed him.
"W-what's going on?" Danny asked, noticeably confused and scared.
Sam started to answer, but Clockwork pulled the Titans back into his castle.
Raven POV
"She knew?" I asked, as soon as my feet hit solid ground.
"Yes," Clockwork answered.
"How could she? The portal didn't work. Danny wasn't half-ghost yet," I said.
"It will be easier to answer that after this next scene," Clockwork said. "Come here, Raven."
I stepped forward, confused as to why Clockwork wanted me away from my friends.
Clockwork pointed his staff at my head and pressed a button. I immediately felt a tugging sensation and a few seconds later, he pulled it away.
"I sped up the healing process on your wound, it won't scar," Clockwork informed.
"Thanks," I said, grateful that I wouldn't need to heal once this was over.
Clockwork nodded and turned away, summoning a new event in the orb in front of him.
"Samantha knew he would be Danny Phantom because she had seen it happen before," Clockwork said. "I sent her back in time, before Daniel's ghost half was created. I shall explain more later. This is Daniel's first time being controlled by Freakshow."
"You mean the guy Danny says he's looking for?" Beast Boy asked.
"Yes, Garfield."
Everyone gaped when Clockwork used what could only be Beast Boy's real name. Nobody would have guessed that Beast Boy shared the same name with a cat. Cyborg laughed which earned him a glare from Beast Boy.
"You will notice a difference in this mind control and the mind control you experienced. Daniel's eyes will be red. I cannot tell you why it was different between the two incidences. Now observe and I will share Samantha's story," Clockwork said.
Again we were pulled into the orb, this time into a clean and spacious kitchen.
Third Person POV
Danny walked into Sam's mansion waving a heavy metal album.
"Hey Sam! I got you that Azarath album you wanted… Am I interrupting something? he asked upon noticing the glares her parents were giving him.
Raven raised an eyebrow upon hearing there was a band named after her home, but didn't comment on it.
"No," Sam said, moving to drag him out of the house but stopping when a commercial started to play on the TV.
"Do you want to see your nightmares come to life?" a voice asked.
"Then come visit Circus Gothica!" Freakshow yelled, finally appearing on the screen. "The perfect place for freaks, goths, and horror fanatics to unite," Freakshow continued while various videos played, showing different members of the circus and their stunts.
"Circus Gothica! Cross over to the dark side," Freakshow said, holding a sphere with a red orb attached to it.
Raven's eyes widened, slightly. 'That's why he regained some of his memories in my room.'
"Cross over to the dark side," Danny grinned, eyes red.
"Ha ha, Danny. Now c'mon," Sam said, shoving him out the door.
"My parents already think I'm a troubled teen, Danny. I don't need you fueling their thoughts," Sam said once the door was closed.
"Sorry, Sam. I don't know what came over me."
"It's okay. And thanks for the album!" Sam said, grabbing it and walking away.
"Let's move forward. This is unnecessary to your understanding," Clockwork said, pressing a button on his staff.
"Here, Freakshow has control of Daniel," Clockwork stated.
The Titans were now in a circus tent with a tight rope high above them. Someone dressed as the grim reaper was on the platform, Sam was in front of him.
"…Her first and final act! HAHAHA!" Freakshow laughed, finishing his introduction to the act.
Sam took a few hesitant steps, struggling to keep her balance on the rope. Then the grim reaper swung his scythe, cutting it.
"No!" Robin yelled, jumping from the stands and firing his grappling hook. However, the hook passed through everything it could latch onto because he was an observant.
Raven grabbed him with her magic before he hit the ground and pulled him back to the group. Starfire immediately embraced him while Clockwork apologized.
"Sorry, Robin. I didn't think this would have brought back memories from your past."
Robin was shaking, face white. Starfire still had him embraced and Robin eventually returned it. He didn't leave her side the rest of the scene.
While the Titans were dealing with Robin's outburst, the grim reaper was revealed to be Danny when his hood flew back while flying to save Sam from her death.
"Consider this a warning, girl," Freakshow spat before turning walking away, Danny following.
Clockwork forwarded through the memory again.
"This is the last scene in this particular part of Daniel's past," Clockwork informed the Titans.
They were now floating above a moving train where Sam and Tucker were fighting Freakshow for his orb.
The train jolted and Freakshow lost possession of the staff.
Danny caught it and then a battle of wills commenced.
"Give me my staff. Be a good minion," Freakshow cooed, making kiss noises.
"No, Danny! Give it to me. You can beat him!" Sam yelled.
"Shut up! Both of you! Let me think," Danny said.
"Fine, but it's a criminal or your friend, Danny," Sam said, stepping back.
What she didn't know was that there was nothing but air behind her.
"I didn't mean that literally!" Sam screamed as she fell off the train, towards the canyon below.
"Sam?" Danny asked, throwing the staff away and jumping after her.
The staff fell off the train, causing the orb to shatter on impact and allowing Danny to regain full control of his mind as he grabbed Sam.
The two started to talk, but like last time, Clockwork pulled them back out so they didn't hear what was said.
Clockwork POV
"Now," I said, making sure I had the Titan's attention. "When you saw Daniel save Sam after she fell off the train, that was the second timeline.
"What?" Cyborg asked.
"This happened after a month of Daniel being half ghost. The first time this happened, he didn't save Sam. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. The result was her becoming a ghost and a catastrophe. The Observants charged me with fixing it, so I sent her back in time, to a few weeks before Daniel stepped into the portal. Of course I left her with some of her memories…" I smirked, remembering how I allowed her to remember Daniel's first few fights.
"So why didn't you save everyone from the explosion?" Raven demanded.
I sighed. "Because they would have died anyways. Their end was inevitable. At least that way they went quickly and all at once. It will save Daniel from more pain in the long run."
I grimaced when I remembered the dreadful ways Daniel's friends and family could have died.
"Robin, I know your wrestling with your thoughts. Let the Titans hear them," I said, turning to him.
"Its just…the two times he regained control in that scene reminded me of some of our fights. I was wondering if that's what was happening."
"Yes," I said, inwardly smiling.
'They're finally understanding,' I thought.
"You'll learn why he regained his mind in time. I cannot tell you, just like I cannot tell him. Is there anything else I need to clarify or are you ready for the next scene?" I asked, more as a courtesy. After all, I knew nobody had nothing else to say.
Robin was waging a war on the inside. What he has seen thus far and what he has experienced were battling for the upper hand in what he should do about Daniel. The rest of the Titans wanted to help him.
In order to get through to Robin, I decided to show them Daniel's first true act as a hero. That would convince Robin and then the remaining scenes would just be catching the Titans up on why Daniel is the way he is at the moment.
"Alright. This is Daniel's first 'true' act as a hero. He put his life on the line to save his town and the human world from enslavement," I told them.
"Who did he fight?" Robin asked, skeptical but curious.
I smiled, knowing Raven would react to my response.
"Pariah Dark," I answered.
"And he won?" Raven asked in disbelief after a moment had passed.
"Yes, he won. Or at least outsmarted his opponent. But he did have some help," I told her.
"Pariah is the Ghost King…what help could he possibly have gotten?" Raven asked.
"Observe," I said, simply.
I whisked us into the third event I wished to show the Titans.
Not my best chapter but it's a chapter right? Again next chapter probably wont be until April, but it should be worth the wait. I hope so anyways.
'Til next time.