Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does, and I somehow doubt that will be changing any time soon. Since I'm not making any money from this, there is nothing for the law-ninjas to sue out of me.
Author's Note: cheers! I finally hit an average of ten reviews/chapter last chapter! Extra candy goes to CharmedNightSkye, who's review on the last chapter officially reached the 10/chapter mark! Anyway, ego-horn tooting aside, wow. Benediction is already about halfway over. Just five more chapters to go! As always, reviews are very much appreciated )
Chapter 6: A Moral Dilemma
"You're the hand that I rejected
But I can't forgive myself
I am selfish and not worthy
To think of, even to die for"
-"Mother of Light" - Epica
"You what?" Vlad scowled.
"You know I don't lie." Skulker snapped in response. He hadn't enjoyed his trip to California to see the traveling gorilla exhibit, and the hunter was in no mood for putting up with one of Vlad's tantrums.
"Did you at least get any images?" Vlad rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.
It had not been a good day for the billionaire. First another one of his clone attempts melted. Then Skulker arrived with a report that was only slightly better than Valerie's incomplete description of events from a week ago. The hunter's description left the half-ghost more confounded than before. Valerie said that the ghost looked like a distant relation to Daniel, only psychotic and deranged. Skulker was saying that the ghost looked like a surprisingly accurate duplicate of the billionaire himself, and that this spook was rational and clever. Trying to pull the truth from the mismatching descriptions was giving Vlad quite the headache.
"Yes, I recorded plenty of footage of the encounter." Skulker growled, fishing a computer disk from some compartment in his armor and handing it over. "And I had plenty of time to download it to a disk for you on the way to San Diego."
Vlad accepted the disk with no good grace. Not even he could figure out how to get that blasted PDA out of Skulker's armor without having to replace the suit entirely. For all the ghost's mechanical knowledge, the hunter had somehow done a bang-up job of meshing that stupid portable computing device into his armor.
"Thank you for your services." The billionaire dismissed Skulker with a slight wave of one hand. "If I require any further assistance, I shall be in contact."
Vlad paid the ghost no further heed; Skulker could find his own way out of the mansion, and the billionaire was eager to go through what data Skulker had been able to obtain. He heard the sound of Skulker's jetpack, and in a moment the noise was gone with the ghost, so Vlad slipped the disk into the large computer console against the wall. In a moment a face appeared on the monitor, smiling warmly at him.
"I am happy to serve you today, sweetheart." A fairly accurate rendition of Maddie's voice issued from the machine.
"Start analyzing that data disk and show me the results." Vlad crossed his arms as he watched the face disappear from the screen, immediately replaced by a flurry of numbers and letters- the disk being processed.
"Anything for you, muffin."
After a moment the computer jargon was replaced by the video footage Skulker had taken of the ghost. Next to it was the same footage, overlaid with various analytical notations denoting ambient energies and such. Several still images also appeared on the screen, displaying various analysis on the ghost. Vlad's eyebrows both shot up at the visual confirmation of Skulker's description. Whoever this interloper was, he was quite good at mimicking others. Without being told, the computer also brought up a few photos of Vlad himself in both forms to compare against the duplicate. It was almost disturbing how close the fake was to flawlessly copying the billionaire's ghostly appearance. Vlad was mildly baffled why the copycat looked to be several years older than he currently was however; he would peg the ghost's approximate age at somewhere above fifty, perhaps even pushing sixty.
"Ectoplasmic energy readings show no match to anything in my database, darling." The computer announced finally.
Vlad scowled at the image of his doppelganger on the screen. He knew some ghosts could very accurately mimic other objects. Spectra's assistant Bertrand was probably the most renown for such an ability, but it couldn't possibly be that formless ghost. The deranged psychologist and her short little helper had no reason to destroy his castle. Besides, he knew for a fact that neither of them was capable of that kind of destructive power.
"What's the closest match then?" He snapped.
"Checking for the nearest match now, pookie."
"Pookie?" I never programmed that into her list of endearments. Vlad noted to himself. Several of the images on the screen disappeared, making room for the search now running on the monitor. It skimmed through its entire database on ghosts, a veritable encyclopedia on the Ghost Zone and the spooks that inhabited it. Each image was accompanied by a graph below it and a percentage: how close a match it was to the mystery ghost.
"Closest match is ninety-eight percent, snoogiebear."
Vlad frowned. From what he had learned, there was generally at least a twenty-percent difference in ecto-signature between any two ghosts, even the most closely related. For the computer to say that the strange ghost wasn't in the database and then find a ninety-eight percent match was most intriguing. "Go on."
"It seems, woogums, that you are the closest match." The computer chirped, bringing up Vlad's mugshot alongside the footage.
Vlad stared at the computer for nearly a full minute as that little revelation sank in. "I'm what?"
"According to my database, your ecto-signature is a ninety-eight percent match to the data given, lovecake." The computer repeated, a helpful indicator arrow blinking next to the graph depicting the ecto-signatures in question.
"Fudge truffles!" Vlad exclaimed. "How can Ibe the closest match?"
The situation made no sense. There was plenty of information to be had, but clearly vital information to connect those facts was still missing. The billionaire knew what he had seen: a tall, muscular ghost with flaming white hair and Daniel's silly emblem. Valerie's description coincided with that; describing a tall, pale ghost with that same emblem and positively terrifying destructive power. But Skulker's report revealed a ghost that was a disturbingly accurate clone of the archvillain himself, yet far less powerful. Clearly there was a disconnect in the facts between the two.
"I'm sorry, sweetness, but I do not have an answer to that question." The computer replied.
"I know that already!" Vlad snarled at the cheerful device. Perhaps he made a mistake in programming the computer's AI system to resemble a cheerful, submissive Maddie.
He stormed out of the lab and back upstairs to the den, still going over what he had found out so far. It made no sense, and Vlad always found himself getting irritable when something didn't make sense. He didn't put much faith in mere coincidence; it was clear to him that the ghost from the castle and the ghost Skulker fought briefly with were somehow connected. It was the "how" that remained unclear. Plus there was the tangential matter of Daniel's involvement. The emblem firmly linked the fire-haired ghost with the child, once again it was the matter of "how" that was the problem.
"If you want something done right..." Vlad grumbled, the cliche unfortunately very true. "You have to do it yourself."
It would take a few hours to get all of his business in order, but clearly Vlad had one reliable option. He would be able to reach Amity Park sometime during the night. He would make the trip to Amity Park and coerce the information out of Daniel himself. By force or hostage-taking if such measures were deemed necessary. Vlad Masters was not the sort to take being played the fool very well at all. Indeed, it was a surefire means of getting the normally calm and calculating man's temper to show itself.
---
"Okay, we checked at what's left of the Nasty Burger." Danny frowned, going over the group's fruitless search.
"Check." Tucker nodded, looking through a list of locations on his PDA. "And we checked the mall, all our houses..."
"A bunch of locations in the Ghost Zone..." Sam interjected.
"You know, Mom and Dad are going to throw a fit if they ever find out how often you guys take the Specter Speeder without permission." Jazz noted, having recently joined the meeting.
"They're not gonna find out!" Danny protested.
"Well, yeah." Jazz conceded the point. "Still, you guys probably know how to work that contraption better than Dad does."
At her insistence, Jazz had joined several of the search expeditions, psychology textbook loaded and ready to go. When the idea had first been suggested to check in the Ghost Zone for the two ghosts, the redhead had almost expected that she would be stuck trying to drive the Speeder since she was the only member of "Team Phantom" with a license. Needless to say, she had been mildly surprised when it had been Sam to slide into the pilot's seat with an easy confidence that spoke of a lot of practice.
Granted, it didn't do the group much good. A little more than a week of searching, and there was still no trace of either half of the split spook. Not even any of the few ghosts that Danny was on good terms with had seen anything. Dora had promised that she would have her guards searching in the Ghost Zone after Danny had explained to the dragon princess what was going on, but so far nothing had come up.
"I don't get it. The guy was completely off his nut before Danny hit him with the Ghostcatcher. You'd think a couple of ghosts like that would be pretty hard to miss." Tucker glanced up from his PDA.
"Well looking hasn't done any good." Danny griped, munching on some chips. "There's got to be a better way to find them!"
Jazz got up, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I think I've got an idea. I'll be right back!"
The remaining three teens exchanged looks as Danny's sister ducked out of the bedroom.
"Y'know, she's been awfully insistent about finding those ghosts." Sam observed once it was certain that Jazz was out of earshot.
"Yeah." Tucker agreed. "She's had her nose in that psycho book of hers a lot all week."
"Tell me about it." Danny groaned, laying back on his bed. "Every night all she's been talking about is post-traumatic stressors, trigger events, dissociative identities, flashbacks and cigars."
"Cigars?" His friends asked in unison.
"Yeah, something about a cigar not really being a cigar or something." Danny shrugged. "I don't get it either."
The conversation was cut off as Jazz bounded back into the room, gripping a chrome and green device with both hands. Danny stifled the urge to groan when he recognized the gadget.
"There is a ghost three feet ahead." The machine chirped. "And slightly to your left."
"Oh, I'm impressed." Danny remarked, tone sarcastic. "Good work Jazz, you found me!"
"Very funny." Jazz started fiddling with the device. "Maybe this has a long-range thing on it, and it might make finding them easier! Dad did say it used satellites to track ghosts."
"Wait, when did he say that?" Danny blinked in confusion.
"About a month after the accident in the lab?" Jazz prompted.
"Dude, you actually remembered details about your dad's blathering?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow.
"That's beside the point." Jazz muttered as the device made a brief clicking noise. "There, I think I switched the settings."
"Welcome to the Fenton Finder. Please state your current search parameters." The device stated.
"Parameters-?" Jazz glanced at the younger teens who all shrugged.
"Search parameters, for the uneducated, include-" The scanner's tone took on a surprisingly mocking edge. "Range of scan, minimum and maximum ectoplasmic power level, number of targets-"
"Okay, I get it!" Jazz snapped at the device. "Hm... range twenty miles, minimum power level of... five."
"When did you get versed in ghost hunting?" Sam shot the redhead a weird look.
"I've been doing research. For my college thesis." Jazz scoffed, watching the scanner's little screen.
"There are three ghosts that meet the search parameters." The device declared, a trio of red dots showing on the round radar screen.
That got the group's attention. Danny, Sam, and Tucker clustered around Jazz to see what the device had to say. The dot almost on top of the screen's center marker was obviously Danny.
"Are we sure that's accurate?" Sam glanced from the screen at Danny.
"We can find out. See, I'll just use Danny to calibrate it" Jazz fussed with the device some more. "We can assume that the two ghosts are probably close to Danny's level or higher, and that there aren't many ghosts in the area that are above that."
"At least it should narrow the search down." Danny admitted.
The same three dots turned up scanning for level six readings, and again for seven. The marker representing Danny disappeared from the screen on eight, while the other two flickered faintly. It had to be the two spooks.
"One of them is moving." Sam pointed at the red blip moving in a seemingly random direction.
"But that one's just staying put." Tucker indicated the other one, which hadn't moved a bit since Jazz fired the device up.
"Sounds like a good place to start." Danny transformed, immediately floating a few inches off the ground. "Where is that, anyway?"
Jazz checked the screen's alignment, glancing out Danny's bedroom window. It took her a moment to approximate the distance, but she had to smirk when she realized where it was.
"The one place we haven't looked."
---
"And here I was planning on avoiding Casper High for the entire summer!" Danny griped to no one in particular as he flew toward the building.
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were several minutes behind the half-ghost, driving to the school instead of flying. Though Danny would be the first to arrive, the deserted school wasn't exactly a small building; it would take a thorough search to locate the ghost. Plus there was no telling if the ghost would be able to detect his presence, nor how it might react if it did.
Danny touched down in front of the school's front facade and repressed a shiver. He'd been inside the building after hours plenty of times before, and he'd long since gotten over the spooky factor of a dark and empty school. But a dark and empty school over summer vacation, without so much as a single janitor around? The place had an abandoned ambience, far creepier than the school was after hours during the school year.
The interior was more eerie than the exterior, the only light in the hallways provided by the dim red glow of the exit signs, daylight coming into the closed classrooms highlighting patches of the hallway in the murk. The silence was nearly oppressive as Danny began checking each room on the first floor, quickly moving through the sterile classrooms and empty offices. The first floor turned up nothing of the ghost, and a search of the building's basement level storage rooms yielded similar results.
"Whoever it is has got to be around here somewhere!" Danny griped, his voice echoing down the hallway as the half-ghost floated up through the floor from the basement.
Danny paused as he passed a stairwell, frowning. Were his ears playing tricks on him in the silence? He stood there, listening closely. No, there was something; a faint noise echoing down the staircase, garbled sounds that almost sounded like whimpering. Did a dog or somebody's cat get locked inside the building?
Well, I need to check the upper floors anyway. Danny flew up the stairs, listening to the faint sound.
Before long, the faint sound resolved itself. It was whimpering, but it was not someone's missing pet. Danny froze a few feet from a classroom door, listening to the broken sounds coming from within. It wasn't quite sobbing, the voice was too quiet and too raspy for sobbing.
Wait... that's the room I took the C.A.T. in! It didn't seem logical for Plasmius to be at the school, and the voice sounded like the twenty-four year old Phantom. Danny wasn't sure yet if he was relieved by that fact or more worried. He took hold of the thermos he had brought slung over one shoulder. Here goes.
The noise inside stopped about the same time Danny felt the chill of his ghost sense. It seemed that the split spook was able to detect ghosts after all. Danny prepared to make an intangible dive through the door and get things started. Sure, the others weren't there yet, but it was his fight. As much as he appreciated the support of his friends, he was quite worried that they would get hurt in the crossfire.
"Go away!" The door was blasted open, colliding with Danny before he could think to phase through it.
Danny recovered quickly, shaking powered bits of door from his hair as he got back up. Okay, guess he's still all freaked out. A quick groping in the dark for the thermos was interrupted by a flurry of small green blasts, lighting the dim hallway and striking lockers behind Danny as he darted through the barrage.
"Sorry, I'd love to, but somebody's gotta go back to time out for bad behavior!" Danny quipped, floating into the air and using the wall behind him for leverage to launch himself at the older ghost.
Phantom paused with a frown. "You used that one alre-oof!"
The pair tumbled back through the open door and into the classroom, upsetting several desks in the deserted room. Phantom screeched in panic at the physical contact, grappling with Danny until he was able to dislodge the smaller half ghost and fling him away. Luckily Danny recovered his trajectory before hitting the wall, and floated there as the older ghost got up, panting heavily.
"Why?" The ghost demanded, voice cracking on the demand. "Why did it have to be like this? Everyone... you... no, I, and they're all... GAH!"
Danny boggled at the apparently psychotic behavior. His alternate future self was paler than he recalled from a week ago. Pale, and looking incredibly high strung, like someone who'd had too many shots of expresso. Granted, assuming Phantom had been in a panic the entire week, it did somewhat make sense.
The teen half-ghost glanced around. The fight needed to be moved elsewhere, otherwise there was going to be a lot more damage to the school than one door, some lockers and a few overturned desks. Before Phantom could jump him a second time, Danny shot a medium-sized ecto-beam at the ghost. It worked, the spook yelped and got sent flying backward, phasing through the wall and plunging to a halt outside the school, Danny in hot pursuit.
"Over there!" Both ghosts glanced at the source of the sound, where Jazz's car was parked. Tucker now had custody of the Fenton Finder, while Sam was armed with another Fenton Thermos. Jazz was perhaps the most heavily armed, a large textbook in hand.
"Sam-!" Phantom squeaked, crawling to his feet." And Jazz-! And-"
He was cut off by Danny slamming into him from behind, sending the taller ghost tumbling to the ground. "Guys, get the thermos! Mine's inside!"
The group of teens all stopped in surprise when Phantom let out a piercing shriek, curling up on the ground and quaking terribly. Danny walked over, standing over his older mirror image, but got no response from the ghost. The shrieking gave way to pained whimpers, a seemingly exhausted Phantom quivering helplessly on the asphalt of the parking lot.
"Or, maybe we won't need the thermos." Danny quirked an eyebrow, readying another ecto-blast just in case.
"Uh, guys." Tucker piped up, watching the Finder's screen.
"What-" Danny was interrupted by a pink energy blast slamming into him from behind and knocking him away from Phantom.
"... I was gonna say the other ghost was heading this way-" Tucker stated lamely. "But I think you already know that."
"Daniel, stop!" The new arrival floated down, landing near Phantom.
"Oh great, the loopy half of the equation." Danny griped as he got back upright. It took him a moment to verify that the familiar form of Plasmius was in fact the older one, and not the present-day version.
"Fruit loop commentary aside..." Plasmius growled.
"Right, right. I was going to take care of him first, but I guess I have to deal with you, too." Danny grumbled, bracing for a fight.
"Oh stand down already!" Plasmius snapped. "I'm not here for a fight!"
That gave Danny pause. "I'm not giving you Mom's phone number."
"I wasn't going to ask!" Plasmius exclaimed, clearly irate. "I think I've had far more than my fair share of fighting and scheming, thank you. We need to talk, Daniel. This is important!"
Plasmius glanced down at the quivering form of Phantom, stern features softening just barely at the pathetic sight. Danny followed the ghost's stare, finding himself more than slightly disturbed by his alternate self's muffled cries. It sounded almost as if Phantom was in pain; serious, utterly debilitating pain.
"... What is wrong with him?" Danny finally asked, though he kept a wary eye on Plasmius.
"That is what we need to discuss." Plasmius turned to put some distance between the teens and the incapacitated ghost. "In private, preferably."
The others joined Danny as Plasmius rounded the corner of the building. Phantom still hadn't gotten up. If anything, he was curled up tighter.
"This is just getting weirder and weirder." Danny frowned.
"It can't hurt to hear him out." Jazz glanced in the direction Plasmius had gone, and then down at Phantom, a brief look of worry crossing her face.
"Want us to come too?" Tucker glanced at Danny.
"No, I think he wants to talk to just me." Danny's frown deepened.
"What about him-?" Sam gestured at Phantom.
"We've got a Fenton Thermos." Jazz responded almost too-quickly. "Don't worry about us, Danny. Go see what the fruit loop wants."
"Alright." Danny relented, starting for where Plasmius went. "You guys shout if something happens!"
"So we just trap him and wait for Danny?" Sam powered the Thermos on after Danny disappeared around the corner.
"No, don't!" Jazz averted the device's aim.
The teens looked at Jazz like the redhead had gone nuts. After all, containing the apparent threat posed by the two ghosts had been the agenda for the past week.
"Jazz, that was the plan, remember?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at Danny's sister.
"Does he look dangerous, Sam?" Jazz indicated the whimpering form on the ground.
"Everybody... I don't want..." The rest of Phantom's mumbling was muffled by his arms. His quivering had stopped; to the outside observer it seemed at least that the ghost wasn't in physical pain.
"But all that stuff before-" Tucker protested.
"He's traumatized!" Jazz interrupted the techno-geek. "He's not evil or hostile, he's scared!"
"Okay." Sam put the thermos away, resting one hand on her hip. "If we aren't going to trap him, what are we going to do with him?"
"How about try talking to him?" Jazz prompted. "So far everyone he's encountered since he got out of the thermos has been trying to hurt him."
"You really think talking to him is gonna do any good?" Tucker gave voice to the doubt that was evident on Sam's face.
"I don't think it will make anything worse." Jazz declared. "PTSD, remember? He hasn't gotten over the trauma that caused this."
Sam and Tucker exchanged doubtful looks. Jazz hadn't seen that terrible future; the redhead's encounter with the fused ghost had been extremely brief. Or perhaps Jazz was simply more optimistic about the situation than the two teens.
"After you then, Doctor Fenton." Sam stepped aside, the goth's tone lightly sarcastic.
---
"Okay, what do you want, Plasmius?" Danny snapped.
"Simply put, Daniel; I require your assistance." Plasmius replied calmly, perhaps even relieved to be on the receiving end of Danny's temper.
"My assistance?" Danny glared, recalling what had happened the last time Vlad had 'requested' his help. "Diet soda, problem solved."
"What?" Plasmius looked dumbfounded, not grasping the joke.
"Forget it." Danny grumbled. "What's this about him, and why do you need my help?"
"Well, as you are well aware, your ghost self and I have been fused as a single entity for the past decade." Plasmius explained. "And the end result has done some atrocious things."
Danny had to quirk an eyebrow at the sheer disgust in the older ghost's tone, and at the shiver at whatever the ghost was recalling of those atrocities. "Yeah. What's this got to do with me?"
"Simply put, if you're worried about either of us continuing in such destructive behavior, you needn't worry." Plasmius admitted, frowning. "It seems to me that now your other self and I have been split apart, we aren't going to be able to sustain ourselves for terribly long."
"Wait, what?" Danny's eyebrows shot up. "Not sustain yourself? Meaning-?"
"Meaning, boy-" Plasmius finally met Danny's gaze. "In perhaps just a matter of days, your alternate self and I are both going to completely cease to exist. Or to put it rather bluntly, we are both going to die."
"You're what?" Danny took a step backward in surprise at the revelation.
"Which is why I'm requesting your assistance." Plasmius continued. "The only plausible solution that I can see if I don't wish to end up dead and obliterated is that he and I must be fused back together. Now, I'm sure even your juvenile mind can see what the problem is."
Danny outright gawked at the pale ghost and what Plasmius was suggesting. "Are you insane?"
"I'll decline comment on that." Plasmius continued dryly. "The problem is that I don't care to go back to that madness. With things as they are, fusing together is not going to solve anyone's problems, certainly not yours, Daniel. Which is why I need your help to deal with your other self in such a way that perhaps the fusion won't be a destructive madman."
"Why should I help you?" Danny growled, clearly not liking the idea at all. "Maybe I think it's better if you two both just disappear? I barely beat him... you... WHATEVER the last time!"
"Do you honestly think I enjoy the circumstances of this situation, Daniel?" Plasmius retorted, the older ghost's tone laden heavily with a most thoroughly bitter anger. "I may be a villain and your rival, but I never wanted any of this!"
"Then why'd it happen, huh?" Danny demanded. "I saw what you two did. Vlad himself told me what happened!"
Plasmius opened his mouth to respond, but paused, massaging his temples briefly and forcing himself to relax. "So that's it then? You're not going to help resolve this?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Danny crossed his arms and shot Plasmius a dirty look.
"I suppose it is only to be expected." Plasmius turned away and shrugged as if defeated.
Danny was mildly surprised that Plasmius seemed willing to let the matter go without more of a fight. His expression registered confusion when the man started muttering to himself. The tall ghost's tone clearly indicated that Danny was supposed to overhear it.
"After all; in the future, your ghost self killed your human self. Why shouldn't the reverse be true in this new future you've created?"
Danny's expression shifted to surprise and then anger at what Plasmius was insinuating.
"Wait, what? I am nothing like him! Nothing!"
"Are you now?" Plasmius sneered, turning back to face the agitated teen. "Your inaction is going to kill your alternate timeline ghost self, you realize. Whether directly or indirectly, his death will be on your head, Daniel."
The worst part was that he was right.
Author's Notes: Amusing bit of trivia for anyone who's interested. The very end of this chapter, from about where Danny demands "Why should I help you?" was actually written months ago. May 22, 2006 to be specific. I was working on Anathema at the time, and being pestered by the plot bunny that would eventually turn into Benediction. So to torment one of my friends on DPO, I wrote up that little scene snippet and sent it to her. Months later, it required very little revision for use in the story that it helped spawn.
Anyways, lots of thanks and... Hrm. Done brownies, cookies, lollipops and Halloween candy already. Okay! Virtual cake to those of you who have been nice enough to drop me a line about the story: The Fluff Ghost, Pieling, PotterPhan21, MissMune (GO READ HER FANFIC, I SAY!) , i AM the Random Idiot, RhiannonGrey, Arabic Blessing, WTFWonder, Punker88, Tornada Silverwind, Sasia93, Sapphire Wolf Master, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, and CharmedNightSkye! You guys rock out loud!