π°πππππππππππ 2021_Day 23 [Trick]
~Original~
Category: TUE AU, Heavy Angst, Major Characters Death, Catharsis, Redemption Arc, Hopeful Ending.
Trigger Warning: Dead bodies, Mention of (canonical?) Genocide/Body Horror/Murder/Corruption, Mention of (canonical?) Suicide.
π―ππ ππππππ πππππ: π½ππππ
Ida Manson stopped her scooter before the ruins of the Fentonworks, gazing sadly at the once glowing letters of the neon sign now scattered on the ground.
She had been tuckered in the anti-ghost shelter along with the other elderly, women and children, while the last hunters were fighting against the Calamity that had been destroying the world for the past 10 years. At last he had taken siege of Amity Park, the last human stronghold thanks to the ghost shield the Fentons had left behind before their demise few months before the appearance of the ghost that had declared war against humanity.
The siege had been loud and earthshaking, but once things had quieted down and no-one had come to warn them, many had despaired.
The hunters must have been defeated or worse and now it would be their turn.
Ida Manson however was non wuss: she had survived the Holocaust, the death of both her granddaughter and the (unconfirmed, since they had transferred out Amity Park before the invasion began) demise of his son and daughter-in-law.
She was a fighter, a rebel, so she had hopped on her scooter and got out the underground shelter: she would face death head on, not like a trapped rat.
The town had been littered by rubble and the ghost-shield was no more.
The statues erected in honor of the people perished in the Nasty Burger Explosion were blackened but still standing, while at their feet laid the lifeless bodies of the Huntress Valerie Gray and her father, as if they had been part of the memorial.
How⦠honorable of their enemy to do so.
Ida had mourned for them, before moving to where she was now.
Without the Fentons the town had lost part of its shine and with them even Phantom (who witnesses said that he had done the impossible to save the victims) had left.
(Rumors said that the Calamity bore the same symbol on his chest, but no photo had been clear enough to confirm it.)
The old woman dismounted from her scooter and wandered inside the once standing building, walking among a flock of geese*, which didn't react at her presence, merely turning intangible if she had to pass through them.
Fatigued, the old lady sat on the decrepit couch and reached for a broken framed photo (left on the coffee table) of the whole Fenton family.
Ida stared at the youngest member with sadness. Her Samantha had loved him, even if she had been too stubborn and prideful to admit it. She wondered how Danny was now. Had he tried to fight back like his parents would have done, or had depression taken over?
The woman sighed, but in that very same moment, the geese began honking at an intruder, alarming her. The sound of a building up Ectoblast seemed enough to scare the birds off, because the honks faded away in the distance instead of being abruptly silenced. The crackle of ectoplasmic fire stayed for a while, before extinguishing.
Footsteps crunched the debris and after few seconds their cause emerged from around the corner as the fabled mass-murderer ghost.
He was a boulder of muscles, blue skinned with flames for hair and a cape swishing behind him, crimson eyed and, as dreaded, the "DP" symbol on his chest.
β Phantom. Just as I feared. β She murmured, taking in his surprised expression at her presence.
β Ida Manson. It's been 10 years, how did you manage to survive this long? β The sass (even if more malicious than his past standards) was unmistakable, making her chuckle.
β Spite, I suppose. My son decided to move away from Amity after the incident, but I wanted to stay were my Sammy was. Seems like it was the right choice, seen that you razed to the ground the rest of the world. β She replied calmly.
β Yes, I wanted to keep the best for the end. The last pocket of resistance. And it was no incident, it was me. I killed Sam, the Fentons, Tucker and Mr. Lancer. The responsibility was mine! β He slapped a palm on his chest, covering the logo.
β Perhaps. But if my memory is still sound, the reports said that you strained yourself so much, almost destabilizing yourself to save them from a timed bomb, while an enemy of yours pounded you to the ground. You barely survived something that could have erased you and came so close to reach themβ¦ I know that feeling intimately Phantom. Survivor guilt can tear you apart. β Ida gazed directly into the ruby eyes, searching for emerald. β Wiser men had been driven to madness for events like this. You're just more powerful than humans. Your version of coping had been to lash out against humanity itselfβ¦ I don't know if I can resent you, after all. No one could have brought you back from your decline, you've always fought alone and never really lost anyone before that moment. β Crimson flickered, but then flashed in madness.
β Alone? Do you really think you can't resent me?! Foolish old woman, you have no idea of who I really was! β Bluish white rings washed over the ghost, replacing him with a face she knew all too well.
β Danny! But how? β The Calamity cackled in response, still glaring at her with red eyes.
β My "adored" parents' Portal killed me halfway, making me a halfa, a cursed existence between life and death! β He gestured with grandiose movements. β I became the only one capable of defending this miserable town and no one that knew me ever acknowledged how this responsibility was eating at me, not my know-it-all sister, not my oh-so-called best friend Tucker and your granddaughter! Oh, your Sam was the one who made me die, daring me to enter the inactive Portal! Day after day, Maddie and Jack Fenton threatened to "tear apart molecule by molecule" Phantom right before me! And Mr. Lancer? Oh, poor Mr. Lancer, he had been my favorite teacher before the C.A.T., but all that suspicion and pressure on me after the answers stuck accidentally on me were the last straw! Did you ever wonder why they were all at the Nasty Burger before being taken hostage? Because under the pressure of impending failure I caved in and cheated! Lancer wanted to talk to them about this and it led to their DEATH! I just wanted to make them proud, to ace the test like my sister, to be like her since she was my parents' favoriteβ¦! β¦I just cheated once for the first time in my lifeβ¦! β During his rant Danny's voice cracked and his eyes filled with greenish tears of anguish, making his irises bleed into a maroon shade, as if green and red were combining.
Taking pity of him, Ida patted twice the couch beside her and the grieving ghost robotically dragged himself to sit beside her.
β It was an impossible situation. Too many people were assuming what would have been the best for you and were mistaken. Yes, you could have talked with Mr. Lancer about your problem; yes, you shouldn't have cheated, but a desperate person can find themselves in the deepest darkness even under the brightest light. β Ida carefully rested a hand on his shoulder and it wasn't rejected. β You may hold part of the responsibility, but it wasn't your fault. Their deaths weren't your fault. β She repeated, to make the point across.
She paused as the "boy" remained frozen under her oh-so gentle touch (when had been the last time he had received comfort?). β Being under the care of that felon hadn't been the right choice. You should have never been under Masters' custody. If anything, this apocalypse has happened because of the Social Services.
That startled a snort from the "shapeshifter", who looked up at her, eyes more green than red. β Apocalypse by Social Services. Yeah, that seems about right. If they hadn't been corrupted by Vlad's money, I would have probably ended with my aunt. Out in the country, away from civilization, but with animals as companionsβ¦ Still better than the fruitloop. β He chuckled more darkly, as the ruby rose in percentage. β In his drive to make me a compliant "son", he tried to comply to my every whim, included ripping away with clawed Gauntlets my ghost half from my human one! Vlad wanted to get rid of ME because that wussy human-half couldn't bear my existence! As if I had been the culprit, the poison that was killing him from the inside! But after merging with Vlad's half-ghost side, I killed my remaining half from the outside as repayment! β The calamity snarled, eyes almost totally back to crimson.
β You were betrayed. And this "merging" surely didn't help your mental stability, so you obviously lashed out. β With a thumb she tried to massage his shoulder in comfort. β Danny, are you sure that what made you snap and kill yourself had been really you? That the one who was resenting the Phantom "you" wasn't Danny Fenton, but Vlad Masters?
That seemed to catch off guard the "boy", because he startled and looked back at her with maroon eyes. β What? What do you mean?
β What did Masters really think of the accident, Danny? If he really wanted a "prefect son" and the accident "damaged him", don't you think that he would have resented your hero-persona? That if you had been more like him this wouldn't have happened? Who would have lashed out to the nearest "Danny-shaped" person after the merge? β She pressed.
β Vlad. The incident killed the love of his life. β The traumatized ghost whispered. β β¦His rage and my guilt made me explode. All this time I thought that I had taken over completely during the overshadowing, but he must have managed to infect me with a last parting gift! Like a leech or a thick! I haveβ¦ I have to get rid of it! β With more green in his irises than she had ever seen since the start of the conversation, Danny stood, looking around as if frantically in search of something. He dived into the floor before Ida could say anything, then few seconds later he re-emerged with a giant Dream-Catcher-looking artifact. The threads glowed and the ring holding them was humming with energy.
He locked his almost completely emerald eyes with her and without further hesitation, he "caught" himself in the net.
Nothing seemed to change in his appearance, sans for not having freckles of ruby in his eyes anymore and something fell on the ground.
Both looked at the object and saw a huge blood-red cockroach-like thing trying to roll over from his back, with little success.
Still brandishing the Dream-Catcher, Danny leaned forward and grabbed the bug, raising it up to take a better look. It bore Plasmius's face and screeched in frothing rage at the "boy".
The next instant it went down in ectoplasmic green flames that lit around Danny's fist.
Silence reigned in the room after the sizzle died down.
β β¦How do you feel now Danny? β Ida asked gently, feeling hopeful.
β β¦Lighter. The rage and hate are gone. β He looked away. β But heavier at the same time. Now that the fog has lifted, I just realized that I almost driven humanity to extinction and I killed the only friend I had left. I thinkβ¦ Valerie recognized me in her last seconds. β Greenish tears started to fall once again and Ida opened her arms with an understanding expression.
The invitation was accepted and, even if a bit roughly, Danny hug her, crying away all his guilt, anguish and pain left behind.
Had he really had the time to grieve his loss? Both of his loved ones and himself?
Ida doubted it.
So she let him cry himself to sleep, comforting him all the while.
After all, he was still the boy her granddaughter had loved and he still deserved a second chance.
* Reference to the famous Campidoglio Geese legend, in which a flock of geese warned the Romans of the incoming of invading Gauls during the night, allowing the defenders to fight them back and save Rome.
A/N. This was really dark and depressing (and I hand wrote it by hand in less than 3 hours in the dead of the night! I was really inspired, I don't know what is says about meβ¦ (ΰΉβ’οΉβ’)), but I felt that Dan in this AU deserved a Redemption Arc.
(And I almost succeeded in making me physically cry with this, so I count it as a victory.)
In this, Clockwork never interfered, so Dan successfully conquered the Ghost Zone AND the whole Earth, leaving only few humans here and there (most of them were elderly and children because they were hidden in shelters and "somehow" he never raided them, since they weren't "worth his time").
However⦠Now Dan suffers from the Megamind-post-victory Syndrome: he doesn't know what to do with himself now that he won and there's no Fright Night as his subordinate to spur him into anything.
This is why he wandered back to his old home, maybe to remember, maybe to destroy everything, but instead met Ida Manson.
The reason why Ida was so open and understanding is because she recognized a fellow survivor in Dan and because she knew him before the Nasty Burger tragedy. She saw him despair after and, as described, he's the boy that Sam loved. He's the only memento left of her granddaughter and sometimes age lets you let go of minor things like, I don't know, Apocalypse in favor of clinging to an element of familiarity.
Besides, now without the Vlad-Cockroach influencing him with world domination tendencies, he won't do crimes anytime soon, so for now he deserves a break. Who knows what the Future will bring?
Hope you liked this, look out for the Double Tap, type ya tomorrow!
Will Day 24 be Nightmare or Sweet Dreams? Check in "Domestic Phantoms" and you'll find out!