Darkness. No matter where he floated, no matter how long he floated, all Danny saw was an empty void of black. All he could remember was putting the ring that he made on Embers' finger and in-fusing his own ecto-plasma and even his own life force into the ring in order to bring her back safely into his arms. Now though, he believed he would never see her again.
By some act of a higher being, as soon as Danny thought of Ember, Her unconscious form appeared before him through the darkness; only problem for him was that she was not the only being to appear. Floating next to Ember was a black hooded figure with bones for hands and a large silver scythe in one of the boney hands. There was only one thought going through Danny's mind; 'This is Death.' "You're not taking her away from me!" He yelled at the hooded spirit. "But is it not her time? Did she not die? I have merely come to collect her soul, that is until you interfered." The power that filled the voice of Death did not deter Danny at all. Instead, he stepped forward until he was only a foot away from Death. His eyes flashing red briefly, "You will NOT take her away from me." Death chuckled lightly. "And just how do you propose to keep me, the emissary of the end, from simply taking hers as well as your own soul for disrupting my work?" Danny smirked, "All of your work will be for nothing if Dan Phantom continues to disrupt the natural balance." Even this made Death growl in frustration. "It appears that you are correct about one thing. He does need to be removed in order for the world to be put back into the natural balance." Danny raised a brow at that. "So how come you haven't jumped in and stopped him yourself? Why not simply take his soul now?" "I cannot leave this plain of existence unless it is to leave and bring back the soul of someone who has passed on." "So how is Dan going to be stopped?" Danny questioned. Death pondered that thought for a minute before speaking again. "How badly would you be willing to fight for this woman?" he asked fixing his gaze towards Ember. "How much would you risk to save her?" Instantly, "Whatever it takes to get her back in my arms alive." Deaths 'eyes' glowed a blood red for the briefest moment. "I will make you a deal Daniel Fenton, and if you accept it, I will return this woman's soul and she will be among the living once again." Raising a brow Danny asked "And just what exactly is this 'deal' of yours?"
Real World
Danny's parents and friends watched as Danny put the ring on Embers' finger. One moment he was touching the red gem and making it glow by in-fusing his ecto-energy, and the next moment his body slumped back while still holding Ember in his arms. Everyone, except Clockwork, gasped and his parents were the first to step forward, worry written all over their faces as they ran for their son. Clockwork raised a hand, halting both parents before they could completely reach the young couple. "No need to worry, they will both be fine. This type of process has happened only once before and even though it was not as complex as this, the two had died immediately died. These two however are still breathing and will both wake up soon. Until then, might I suggest finding a place where they can be comfortable until they awaken?" Maddie nodded and looked at her husband. "Jack, you grab Danny and I'll grab Ember and we can take them to the couch in the living room." Jack only nodded before they once again advanced to the two lying on the ground. When Maddie tried to remove Ember from Danny's hold, he subconsciously let out an animalistic growl and tightened his hold on Ember. "Maybe because Danny is doing all of this for Ember, it would be better if you didn't make him angry by separating them." Jazz quipped. "An excellent observation Jasmine, yes it would be wise of you not to remove the two from one another unless you want your son here to become a mindless killing machine." Jack looked worried at this point. "How do you know if he would do that?" "I am Clockwork, Master of Time. I can see every outcome that can and will happen. I am merely trying to prevent a bad outcome at the moment. Now if you would Mr. Fenton, could you please take young Daniel and Ember to the couch? They should both wake up in an hour or two depending on what HE wants to do with them." Now it was Maddie that was getting worried. "Who is HE?" she asked. "You shall find out soon enough. I will now be taking my leave but before I go…" with a push of a button on top of his scepter, the damage to the wall of the Fenton home started to repair itself "I have returned your home to its former state. Until next time." With that, Clockwork turned and floated through the portal back to his tower in the Ghost Zone.
After recomposing herself, Maddie asked her husband to take the unconscious couple to the living room and to lay them down on the couch. When that was done with, everyone else moved into the kitchen when Maddie had asked Sam and Tucker to help 'fill them in' on some of their sons' adventures. To say that Maddie and Jack were shocked was an understatement. They had been sitting there listening to Sam and Tucker about how Danny had gotten his powers from the ghost portal accident, all the way up to when Danny had 'borrowed' the ecto battle suit to defeat the Ghost King Pariah Dark. It was now about two hours into the stories and Sam had just started to tell them about the dark future Danny when the group was almost thrown out of their seats by the most terrible set of screams that anyone has ever heard. The screams were so loud that it was a miracle the house was still standing. But the screaming was nothing compared to the near death experience of what everyone saw when the screaming finally died down. Ember was the first to stand up from the couch followed a few minutes later by Danny. Everyone was shocked by the way the couple now looked. Embers appearance had not changed much. Her flaming ponytail now had two neon green stripes through it, her once black glove was now a glowing white, a flowing white cape burned as bright as her hair, and the Ring of Life was glowing on her left hand ring finger.
Danny, however, was a completely different story. His normal hazmat suit was now a dark midnight black in the parts where was once a normal black. His white gloves had a neon green stripe on each while his white boots had a glowing blue stripe each. His hair now had a blue lightning bolt streak going down the middle all the way to his now miniature flaming white ponytail. He also had on a cape but his was a black and white held around his neck by a series of small skulls and looked like it was made from the shadows themselves and was sucking in all light around it. On his ring finger is a pure black band with a glowing green gem on it. The last change was his eyes. They were still his normal green but they were now outlined by a pure blood red streak.
No one in the group could get over Danny's new ghostly eyes. Everyone, besides Ember, felt dread course through their veins, Tucker most of all due to the fact that he had almost wet himself. "Y-Yo Danny, what happened to you?" Danny smirked at the idea that his friend was being skittish now, not having seen everything Danny now had at his disposal. "Well Tuck, let's say that an out of this world spectator has given me and Amber here a few upgrades to help deal with our future problem." "What kind of upgrades Danny?" Sam asked. "I mean besides your new looks." She added. Danny smirked at his friends and family. "How about we just show you, and don't bother sitting down 'cause you'll just stand right back up." His mother gave him a look of assurance. "Ok sweetie, let's see it then." "Alright, let's get this thing started." By focusing his energy into his ring, it started to brighten to almost blinding proportions. When it subsided, Danny's fiery ponytail was now a raging untamed white and blue fire that went down to his back. The green stripes on his gloves erupted into bright green flames while the blue stripes broke out into sharp ice spikes. His cape was now pure black and was literally made from constantly moving shadows. His eyes were now a completely pupil-less blood red and he was holding a pure silver scythe with a glowing green blade with a spike on the bottom. "I've become a living version of Death himself."
Everyone had a different reaction to this news. Jack was honestly scared to find out that his son had turned into this being of darkness and death. His expression softened when he remembered that deep down, Danny had always fought to protect the people he cared for and even those that tried to hunt him in the past. Maddie and Jazz were wondering if Danny would ever be able to turn human again, or if he was stuck as a full ghost now. Tucker thought that Danny and Ember looked badass in their new outfits. Finally is Sam, who for her part was trying desperately not to drool over Danny's new almost Goth-like appearance.
Danny disregarded Sam's thought as he could feel her inner battle of trying to tell herself that he was now out of her reach because he was in love with Ember. "Dad, to answer you, yes even though I resemble a being of death I am still a protector of the innocent. Tucker, yes I do look like a badass and with good cause I assure you. Finally Mom and Jazz, you don't have to worry. I can freely change back to my new original ghost form as well as my human form, although, I'm not the only one anymore." With that both Danny and Ember each had a glowing ring appear around their waists which separated and started traveling in opposite directions. Danny's instead of white was black while Ember's was purple. When the transformations were finished, Danny looked exactly like his old self and Ember, well everyone was in aww. Her outfit was the same as her old ghost outfit except for the now normal grey combat boots. Her ghostly blue skin was now the same shade as Danny as a human. Her flaming blue hair was now almost an ashy brown with two almost glowing gold streaks but was still in its high ponytail. The last change was a small one. Instead of her glowing ecto green eyes, they are a normal bright emerald green. Jazz, who had sat down at this time due to shock, finally decided to speak up. "Well now that you're both up and moving, is there anything else that we need to know?" Danny moved behind Ember and wrapped his arms around her while interlocking her fingers with his. "Well while I was with Death he said that there were only two reasons why Amber could come back. The first was that I need to fight Dan Phantom to bring back balance in the world before he destroys it. The second reason and my favorite part…." He brought his and Embers rings hands out in front of them and both he and Ember said in unison, "we're married. Soon after, the entire house was in celebration.
Ghost Zone
In the castle of Pariah sat Dan Phantom on the throne. The Ring of Rage glowed brightly and the Crown of Fire was burning just as much. He stood, Fright Knight falling to one knee. "It is time to take what is mine and gather the ranks." Fright Knight nodded. "Yes Lord Dan." As they approached the coffin of Forever Sleep, Dan waved his hand for the Fright Knight to open the coffin. Charging up his most powerful energy blast, a mixture of dark red and black energy covered his hand. "Now to take full control over everything he has left at his disposal and make it better." When the coffin was fully open and Pariah opened his eyes, Dan released the energy blast, completely destroying the once powerful ghost king.
To all of my devoted readers, I wish to apologize for not having updated sooner but I WILL NOT abandon this story. It will get finished.