DP: Paint it Black
by Futuramakid
DISCLAIMER: I don't own canon Danny or its elements. But I do claim these AU versions.
Special thanks to Anthiena for beta-reading these last 2 chapters.
That morning...
Danny got up and actually felt worse than he had before going to bed. He hardly felt prepared for the task at hand; yet he wouldn't have to be, not all on his own. He had his friends. That strengthened him. He headed downstairs, to find Valerie at the breakfast table, sipping some coffee.
"Morning, Danny."
He was surprised to see her up this early. He took a seat across from her. "Hey, Valerie."
There was a silence.
"Danny-"
"Valerie-"
Another silence.
"Valerie-"
"Danny-"
"...You go first," Danny said finally.
"Danny... I have to get this off my chest. I know I said it, but... I've been thinking, and my grudge against ghosts was stupid," she admitted, "and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."
"Valerie, there's no need to apologize," Danny assured, "if I held anything against you, I wouldn't have held back in the fights."
"You held back?" she said, surprised.
"Of course," he said, "you were doing the right thing, fighting ghosts... well, even if it was for the wrong reasons."
"Thanks, Danny," she said, "I- I really needed to hear that."
"No problem," he replied, "so, you ready to save a life?"
"Of course."
"I realize this is a personal thing," he said, "and if you want to back out, I understand."
"Danny," Valerie said, "a life is in the balance. The life of someone innocent is never personal. I know that all too well- I'm a protector too, remember."
"Good," he said, "because this will be dangerous. I have no idea who is behind this, and because of that we can't really make specific preparations."
"I'm right behind you, Danny."
"Thanks," he said, "I really needed to hear that."
He went to prepare his equipment, and afterward, wait. The waiting killed him inside. Who knew what they were doing to her? But, then again, what could he do about it? He had no idea what he'd be facing, so he needed all the help he could get- just in case.
Elsewhere...
"No. This is not the way things are supposed to go. I need his loneliness, his suffering. Only then can my vengeance be perfect."
"You want to start the backup plan?"
"Yes."
"Let us unite the gems, then."
And with that, the world went black.
"Hello, Danny."
Danny awoke from blackness to a familiar voice... one he detested. "...you." He spat with pure venom.
A female form, with familiar red hair and a business suit stepped from the blackness. He noted that it had a floor but no apparent walls. No ceiling in sight, either.
"Aww, how sweet. You remember me." She cooed over him in that sickeningly sweet voice of hers.
"How could I forget?" He told her rudely. "You nearly killed my sister."
"Yes. Yes I did. Speaking of which, at this moment, the little brat is suffering exactly what she did to me." Her delight was impossible to miss.
"You monster."
Another familiar voice came. "They're all suffering, Danny; every last one of them because of you. Because you couldn't just be a teenager. You had to play the hero, save the poor damsel. Well, guess what, Danny?" A bald, pale white man, in a dark coat and red suit stepped close to the sadistic ghost. "You have enemies, now," Freakshow continued, "Powerful ones. We make the rules now."
They united their hands, each bearing on it two brightly colored gems. "And now... we are going to break you."
Spectra gestured, and a ghostly form rose from the blackness.... Sam. She was bound, and in pain.
"Keep your hands off her," Danny snarled, "She has done nothing to deserve this."
"We're all that's keeping her on this side, Danny," Spectra taunted, "you want us gone, she goes too."
"Get on with it and kill the brat, already..." Freakshow muttered under his breath.
"You don't wanna see him suffer first?" Spectra questioned.
"Of course I do but the longer we take the-"
This doubt was all Danny needed. He felt the restraining weaken.
"WE are GOD, you lackwit. He's NOT going to-"
He delivered a kick straight to their hands and the gems scattered. Danny dove, catching the gems of Form and Fantasy. "Time to even the odds," he said, and a hole opened in the blackness, depositing Valerie, Vlad, Danielle, and Jazz safely behind him.
Danny dove forward, laying into Spectra as the disoriented group regained their bearings.
"Get the gems!" he shouted to them, "I can handle Lucy and Ricky Ricardo here."
"Oh can you?" Spectra retorted, "thanks to your feelings about dead-girl over there, I'm stronger than ever, gems or no." She shifted to her true shadow form, and delivered a clean uppercut to Danny, sending him across the blackness.
"Hands off of my brother!" Danielle blasted Spectra from behind, surprising her.
"Gems," Vlad mused, in the midst of the chaos, "... of course. The legendary Reality Gems. Form, Fantasy, Life, and the power source. Quickly, Danny- what color gems do you have?"
"Little busy at the moment," Danny said, avoiding an attack from Spectra, "but I think it was blue and yellow."
Jazz and Freakshow were grappling over the other two. We have to keep him distracted, Vlad realized, otherwise he could kill us at any time- He has the gem of Life. He could take it from us at any moment.
"Valerie. Help Daniel and Danielle. I'll handle the clown." He quickly knocked Freakshow with a well-placed ecto-blast, and grabbed the gems. "Daniel! Catch!"
Vlad tossed the gems and Danny rose to catch them. He concentrated, and the world around them faded to the grounds of Vlad's mansion. He waved his hand, and Spectra was contained in a thermos, and Freakshow handcuffed. He looked towards Sam's ghostly form.
A flash of light came from behind Danny and he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You can't keep her here forever. You're disrupting the natural process of death and that's a part of my domain."
Danny turned around. Sure enough, an all-too-familiar specter in a blue cloak was there, in a child's form. "Clockwork?"
The ghost seemed in deadly earnest."Hear me out, Danny. A soul stays on this plane because of unfinished business-or another purpose. She was the only of your family and friends to have any. In the normal, natural process, a soul is reborn. Spectra, and Freakshow- and now you- are interfering in this process, and every moment it is forestalled only hurts her. If you really want her free... you must let her go."
Danny was conflicted. He walked up to Sam, who was oddly silent.
"...Is this true? Are you... in pain?"
She nodded, grimly, her eyes sorrowful.
"...Then that settles it."
He hugged her, and willed off the lock they'd put on the process. She floated out of his grasp, into the air, glowing. She curled into a fetal position. The light enveloped her. It was, quite possibly, the most beautiful thing anyone onlooking had ever seen and very definitely the first time human eyes had watched such a process. She emerged from the cocoon of light, looking the same but... purer. Her hair cascaded all the way to her waist. She was adorned in flowing, light purple robes. She seemed to radiate an air of wisdom and innocence that was almost palpable. But there was no glimmer of recognition in her eyes- she did not know them, not as she had known them before.
"Danny Phantom," she said, when she saw him, "you have done much good..."
"You.. you know me?"
"It is... Kismet. I know only the sum of your deeds in this life... I must go, I have a purpose to fulfill..."
Tears welled in his eyes. Danny lifted his hand, the gems in it. The thought of changing it- righting what went wrong- crossed his mind. He couldn't hurt Sam... but changing the past would be to everyone's benefit. No harm done.
Almost as if to show him, the gauntlet glowed and he saw images. Fragments of an alternate timeline. One that, despite not being his, existed. His family saved... his life continuing... his first kiss, but he noticed one image, one fleeting image, that left him feeling so cold, it cemented him not to. Vlad cut off from the world and Danielle on her own. Cold and alone. Doesn't he realize? He couldn't let that happen to her.
Even if it meant accepting what had happened. That the dead would stay dead.
He vanished for a moment. Just a moment, and returned. He threw up the gauntlet, and destroyed it.
"Why, Daniel?" Vlad asked, "you could have brought them all back. Didn't you love them?"
"Yes. Yes I did," he says, "But... I came to terms with something today. I have a responsibility that I need to live with. Whether it's my fault or not, they died because I am who I am. I need to accept it and move on."
"That," Clockwork, now in adult form, commended, "is a sign of true strength, Daniel. They would be proud. My duty here is done. I must go."He vanished.
He felt a hand in his. He looked up at one of the few remaining vestiges of his old life. The only friend to survive his moment of weakness. "I'm sorry, Danny. I know that must have hurt like hell to go through." She told him softly.
He sighed, but he remained resolute. "Valerie, it's fine. It's in the past. We just need to keep moving forward."
Another when, another world...
Danny and Sam sat on the bench watching the snow fall. Amity Park was beautiful in the winter. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of them. He bore a clearly recognizable emblem and an uncanny resemblance to the seated teenage boy.
"You," he said pointing to Danny. He looked serious, almost angry... but not hateful. Almost... resigned.
"Can I help you?" Danny retorted, shifting to ghost mode.
"It's nice to see you're treating her well," the other said, nodding in Sam's direction, "but there's another girl out there you need to remember, Danny. Someone less fortunate than you. She's cold, and alone, Danny. She doesn't know you're public, so she's suffering alone, in a life she doesn't deserve, you jerk. Fix it. And you better be grateful every day that Clockwork was merciful to you." As soon as he had appeared, he was again gone.
"..girl... alone..." Danny said, trying to piece together what the other had said. His eyes widened in realization.
"Danielle."
He grabbed Sam."Come on. We've got something to do. My cousin needs a home."
