"Are you OK, dude?" Tucker asked, waving his hand in front of Danny's face, breaking him out of his stupor.
"Huh?" Danny said. "Oh yeah, I'm fine"
He had been so busy talking to Dark Danny he forgot where he was or what he was doing. His conversations with Dark Danny almost cost him in class.
"You've been day dreaming all day" Jessica said. "What's on your mind?"
Danny debated on whether or not he should tell his friends about Dark Danny.
"What's the worst that can happen?" Dark Danny asked in response. "The worst that can happen is they don't believe you"
He had a point. Danny decided their was no harm in letting his friends know the reason behind his lack of focus.
"I'll tell you about it after school" Danny said.
After school, the trio went to Danny's house to talk. Danny's parents were away at a meeting for the day and Jazz was still at college for a debate team meeting. They clicked on the TV and ordered a pizza.
"So Danny, what's with you?" Tucker asked.
"I think I'm going crazy" Danny said.
"Wait, what?" Jessica asked.
"It all started a few nights ago when I had this nightmare where I was confronted by a figure claiming to be my dark side," Danny started to explain "he said it was my fault Sam was dead before attacking me. Ever since then, I've been hearing this voice in my head. Jazz says it's probably just stress and guilt, but something's telling me it's much more than that."
"Yeah, that something is me!" The voice yelled.
Danny ignored Dark Danny.
"So, now you're hearing voices in your head? Maybe you're just schizophrenic" Tucker mused.
"Tuck, this is serious!" Danny said. "This voice claims to be responsible for my recent blackouts and ruthless, vicious change in attitude"
"Like the incident with that robber at The Golden Burger?" Jessica asked.
"Yes, in fact he explicitly told me he was behind that and that he would've killed the robber if I hadn't regained my senses and stopped him" Danny said. "What's more, he said he has always existed and only gained sentience when I got my ghost powers"
"Let me get this straight: this "Dark Danny" has been taking you over in brief periods and is behind your newfound mean streak?" Tucker asked.
Danny replied "Yes, how many times do I have to repeat myself?"
"Crap, I'm running out of time" Jessica thought. "Danny's dark side is already starting to grow more powerful. If I can't help Danny get over his guilt soon, Dark Danny's going to take over permanently."
"And gaining your powers is what brought him to life?" Tuck continued.
Danny nodded.
"Does he affect your both your human and ghost halfs or just one of the two?" Jessica asked.
"I don't know, but in my conversation with him, he implied that he can control me in human and ghost form, although he has more of an influence on my human half" Danny said.
"Are there any differences to distinguish you from Dark Danny?" Jessica asked.
"My hair is messier and my eyes glow dark red" Danny said.
"Why don't you let Dark Danny take over for a few moments so we can see him?" Tucker requested.
"What?!" Danny asked, taken aback by the request.
"I like that request" Dark Danny said.
"I bet you do" Danny replied, rolling his eyes.
*"Come on, what's the worst that can happen?" Dark Danny asked, rhetorically.*
"Seeing as you are the personification of my negative emotions you could attack them" Danny reasoned.
"They're my friends to, you know" Dark Danny argued.
"I don't know" Danny said.
"Come on, just for a few minutes" Dark Danny said.
"Fine, but if you hurt them, I'll-"
"You'll what?" Dark Danny challenged.
"I'll kill myself which'll kill you to" Danny finished his threat.
"Dude, you have nothing to worry about" Dark Danny assured him.
"Danny?" Jessica asked, waving her hand in his face.
"Alright, I'll let you see him" Danny agreed, starting to pass out as he let Dark Danny take over. "If he tries anything, use the thermos"
Tucker and Jessica watched as Danny's hair slowly started to become messy and wild, moving as if it had a mind of its own. His eyes changed to a dark shade of red with a deranged look in them. His whole face in general looked deranged with eyes almost bulging out and veins clearly visible. Danny's skin was becoming paler.
"Well don't just sit there" Dark Danny said with a evil smirk. "Don't you have any questions for me?"
"So you're Dark Danny?" Tucker asked.
"Bingo" Dark Danny said. "So, don't you have anything to say?"
"Yeah; what/ who the hell are you?" Tucker asked.
"I'm Danny's dark side, born from his anger, grief, guilt, and sorrow" Dark Danny revealed. "Call me what you want, his dark half, his yami, whatever; they all fit my description. Just don't call me evil."
"Why are you controlling our friend?" Jessica asked.
"Technically I'm not controlling since I've only taken him over a grand total of three times" Dark Danny pointed out. "As soon as my mission is finished though, I'll be leaving"
"What exactly is your mission?" Asked Jessica, even though she already knew the answer."
"To take my revenge on Plasmius and put an end to the bastard once and for all" Dark Danny said, his maniacal grin growing larger as he thought about committing the deed. "I want to see his beg for his life the way I begged him to spare Sam and kill me instead"
"So all of this is about revenge? Killing Plasmius won't bring Sam back," Tucker said. "You won't gain anything but problems from doing so you'll probably just end up feeling empty if you do"
"I know we play a lot of video games, but come on be real" Dark Danny snorted. "That's like saying the family of a murder victim wouldn't be at least a little happy when the killer is sentenced to life in prison or death. Sure, that person won't come back, but they'll be happy knowing that the killer was served justice and won't be hurting anyone else anytime soon. This is basically the same thing"
Dark Danny continued.
"That's the thing with you and my counterpart, you're always so optomistic and you like to believe the best will happen, but that's not the case"
The sick smile on Dark Danny's face vanished momentarily and was replaced with a look that seemed… sad.
"You meet someone who you instantly feel attached to and the two of you become the best of friends. Later in your life, you realize that you love this person and that you'd die for this person," Dark Danny continued to monologue. "You gain a lot of power and because you were bullied for most of your life decide to use your powers to defend those who can't defend themselves. Then along comes this smug prick who tries to kill your father and turn you to his side."
"You turn him down but he refuses to give up and stalks you like a jilted ex. He constantly reminds you how much more powerful he is than you and almost every time you fight, you only barely win by the skin of your teeth. He loves to remind you of how has that "killer's edge" and you don't. And in the end, that lack of the killer's edge is what leads to your love's death. All because you couldn't end your rival. Try thinking about that and then maybe you'll understand how I feel"
"You think I'm not angry at Plasmius for killing Sam or sad about her death?!" Tucker replied furiously. "I'm just as upset about this as you are!"
"I know," Dark Danny replied, "but understand that Plasmius didn't just ruin my life. Did my light side tell you about his encounter with Danielle?"
"Who's Danielle?" Jessica asked.
"She's my opposite gender clone created by none other than Vlad Plasmius himself" Dark Danny told her.
"What happened to her?" Tucker asked.
"When I talked to her, she said she had to dress like a prostitute on the streets of Chicago to steal money from perverts and pimps" Dark Danny said. "She came back to Amity Park after she heard of Sam's death to try and cheer me up"
"Where is she now?" Tucker asked.
"My landlord convinced Valerie to let Dani stay with her until this whole situation blows over so Vlad couldn't get his hands on her" Dark Danny said.
"Alright, time's up" Danny said to his dark side.
"Just a few minutes longer?" Dark Danny replied mentally.
"No, you've already explained yourself" Danny said.
"Aw, you're no fun" Dark Danny said.
"It appears my 'hikari' wants his body back, so I'll talk to you two later" Dark Danny said to Jessica and Tucker before Danny started to take back over. "Bye"
Danny slowly began turning back to normal. Once his eyes changed back to his original blue color, they knew it was him.
"So, do you guys think I'm crazy?" Danny asked.
"Only a little" Tucker said, getting his a slap on the back of the head from Jessica. "What?! You say and heard Dark Danny; the guy gives me the creeps"
"The guy gives me the creeps and he's me" Danny said.
"Aw, that really hurt my feelings" Dark Danny said. "I don't know why you're so tense around me, if we worked together, we'd be unstoppable"
"Let's see; your track record so far includes savagely beating up Skulker and almost *burning a man alive*" Danny reminded him.
"You just won't let me live that down, will you; how many times are you going to use that against me?" Dark Danny asked, agitated.
"After those incidents, I don't know if it's safe to let you take over" Danny said.
"Hey, I played nice with your friends, didn't I?" Dark Danny replied.
"Yes, but if I work with you; I could very well end up like Vlad Plasmius" Danny said.
"Why do you say that?" Dark Danny asked.
"Because you said it yourself that you gained sentience when I first got my ghost powers, maybe the same applies to Vlad" Danny reasoned. "Maybe he lost control to his dark side or just gave up and worked together with his dark side, which is why he's so evil today"
"That's a possibility, but Vlad started robbing banks and stealing from people almost immediately after he got his ghost powers" Dark Danny pointed out. "Either he gave in to his dark side without a second thought or he was so much in despair that he couldn't fight his dark side"
"But why would he be in despair?" Danny asked.
"Hello, remember when we first met him and he was obsessed with your mom?" Dark Danny replied. "He's a man who can't handle rejection"
"Danny?" Jessica said, interrupting his conversation. "Were you and Dark Danny having another talk?"
Danny nodded.
"About what?" Tucker asked.
"About Vlad" Danny told them.
"Man, that guy just won't give up, he's obsessed with revenge" Tucker said.
"No, not about that, but about the possibility of Vlad being under the influence of his dark side" Danny said.
"What?"
"Think about it, he was turned down by my mom in favor of my dad and spiralled into a rapid depression. And my dark half said that he was born from my negative emotions. Maybe he was so upset and heartbroken that his dark side grew powerful enough to take him over" Danny said.
"But if that's the case, then wouldn't succeeding in his plans make him happier and content, making his dark side grow weak enough to the point he could take back over?" Jessica reasoned.
"Maybe, but we don't know if he even fought back against his dark side" Danny said. "He might've actually worked with his dark side, for all we know."
"So what does that mean for you?" Jessica asked.
"I don't know" Danny replied.
College is actually a lot more lenient than I expected (And a hell of a lot easier than I expected). On Mondays and Wednesdays, I only have three class, the first of which starts at 11. On Tuesdays, I have three classes, but a two hour forty five minute gap between my second and last class. Thursday, I only have two classes and a four hour break between them. And on Friday, I only have one class at 11. Why am I telling you all this? Because it means I have time to work on my stories before and in between class and that they most likely won't be put on hiatus (provided I'm not up to my neck in homework like I've been this week). Hell, I'm updating this from the school as we speak.
Today is the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is important that we never forget the tragedy, but also never forget the people killed, injured (both physically and mentally), or otherwise affected by the attacks. It's been 13 years but people are still dying from the aftermath of the attack and their bravery. Rest in Peace.
I was kind of watching Yu-Gi-Oh while writing this if you couldn't tell. Anyway I will be writing a side story one shot based on the concept of Vlad's dark side either during or after I finish this story. As always I've been Timothy D (Jack Moxley/ Peter Nasir/ Edgar "Eddie" Vercetti) and have a wonderful day.