A/N: Welcome to the rewritten second chapter of The Promise of An After Lifetime! By the way, the rating may change in later chapters, but for now, I will still remain on T rating for the some angst, blood and tragedy.
"I'm going ghost!" - Narration
"I'm going ghost!" - Thoughts
Chapter 2:
Wish He Wasn't Clueless
Ghosts are creatures that are odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness. They live in the Ghost Zone, a mysterious dimension where all of the solids, liquids and gases are composed entirely of various forms of a substance called ectoplasm.
It was said that ghosts, like the humans had assumed, possess supernatural powers such as the ability to walk through walls, disappear, and fly. They can possess people and lift heavy objects, as they were unaffected by gravity. They can be dangerous and powerful, and it was said that ghosts have strong obsessions, which can often lead them to their evil behaviors.
People thought that ghosts are nonexistent before, until one fateful day.
The day the Fenton Ghost Portal was activated for the first time.
Twenty-two years ago, Amity Park's resident ghost hunters, Jack Fenton and his wife Madeline 'Maddie' Fenton, had constructed an artificial Ghost Portal that could serve as a gateway to the Ghost Zone.
They finished it after many years of missed meals, sleepless nights, and tons of failed prototypes and researches. It was their life's work and pride, and they were ecstatic to build such an amazing invention. Many people thought they were crackpots, crazy people who still believe in nonexistent creatures, but it did not stop the Fentons from finishing the portal that can connect the two worlds.
Unfortunately, the Fenton Ghost Portal did not work at first, and the Fentons felt devastated over the fact that it did not work, so they had decided to quit investing in ghosts as a result of the portal's failure to activate. Before they could quit though, the portal was mysteriously activated and fully operational. Jack and Maddie were surprised at first, but later, they became very ecstatic and proud of their biggest achievement.
The two different worlds were now connected, the Human World and the Ghost Zone.
Unbeknownst to them, that groundbreaking event is the start of a HUGE trouble in their beloved hometown of Amity Park.
After the Portal had mysteriously activated, ghosts from the other side entered the portal and started attacking the town, scaring its citizens and destroyed a million dollars worth of properties. They became a menace to society, and because of that, Amity Park was already dubbed by everyone as the 'Most Haunted Town of America'.
As soon as the poor town slowly started to lose hope, a hero mysteriously appeared and started to fight ghosts and protected the town from them.
But there is a twist, for this beloved hero was not a human, but actually a ghost! He is a ghost boy by the name of Danny Phantom aka Inviso-Bill, as the residents of Amity Park had started to call him.
He is a teenage male ghost, with snow white hair, tanned skin and glowing green eyes. He wears a black jumpsuit with white belt, gloves, and boots, and an emblem, a P inside a D which shaped like a ghost. He glows and floats like any normal ghosts do, and can shoot ghost rays from his hands and go intangible and invisible at will.
But unknown to people of Amity Park, the heroic Danny Phantom has a shocking secret.
For he is not really a ghost, he is also a human. Well, he's a halfa, or a human-ghost hybrid due to an accident on the Fenton Ghost Portal.
Yeah, you heard it right. He was the reason the ghost portal mentioned earlier was activated. And what's weird about him is that he is also the son of Jack and Maddie, and the youngest Fenton.
"Wait, Danny Phantom is actually alive?" Matthew widened his eyes in shock. He can't believe it, that Amity Park's very own Danny Phantom is not only a half-ghost half-human hybrid, but a product of a human-made gateway to the Ghost Zone, or some place the ghosts lived in.
"Yup, he was half-human, he never started out as a full ghost, you know. You could say he was like any other fictional superhero out there, but he also has his share of teenage problems, like you had," Mrs. Tyler spoke, as she ruffled her son's messy hair.
Matthew made no move removing his mother's hand in his hair, as he pondered about what his mom had narrated, "Wait a minute, are you saying that Grandpa and Grandma's ghost portal in their lab was where Danny Phantom was 'born'?!"
Mrs. Tyler nodded in confirmation before she shrugged, "Yup, your grandparents' ghost portal was the reason why Danny Phantom exists. In fact, he was born a full human before he caught up in the ghost portal's first activation. I remembered that time the portal first activated, and that time, I was still obssessed of proving your grandparents that ghosts don't actually exist and tried to talk some sense into them."
"And you said that Danny Phantom was the youngest Fenton. But it's impossible you have another sibling, there is only you and Uncle Danny, the person which I was named after..." Matthew asked with a curious tone, before he widened his eyes in realization as his mother chuckled at the reaction.
"NO WAY! Uncle Danny is him?! The Phantom himself?! " Matthew screamed in surprise as his mother giggled and nodded, before she smirked, "Yup, he's the one."
The boy was gobsmacked at the news his mother had dropped on him. He had a lot of questions running through his mind, and as a curious teen he was, he was hounding his mother with questions, "How did he became Danny Phantom?! Did Grandma and Grandpa knew about it? Did he had some ghost friends or something? Did he-"
"Woah! Calm down, sweetie! Let me finish my story so you will find the answers you wanted to know, okay?" She gently spoke and chuckled, as Matthew sighed in resignation, arms folding in annoyance, "Fine."
Danny Phantom's actual human name was Daniel James Fenton or 'Danny', as he preferred to be called.
He was an average fourteen year old teenager who also goes to school like us ordinary humans, and has his share of friends and enemies such as bullies. He was a nobody in his school, always treated like a loser and was constantly bullied due to him being the son of the 'official' ghost hunters of Amity Park, who belongs to family of crazy people (that was before it was proven that ghosts are real) .
Danny Fenton was an inverted version of his ghostly alter ego. He has messy raven hair as black as the night, beautiful baby blue eyes that shines like a beautiful sapphire, and pale skin. He usually wears a t-shirt with a red oval on it, blue baggy pants, and red sneakers.
He has an older sister named Jasmine (Jazz for short), who likes to act like a full-fledged adult and aspired to be a psychologist someday. She is only two years older than Danny, but she can be an overprotective older sister sometimes to Danny and always gave him advice whenever he needs it. He has two best friends, Tucker Foley, a techno-geek and Danny's best friend since 'forever', and Samantha "Sam" Manson, a Goth girl and an Ultra-recylo-vegetarian. They always stick together like glue, and they help Danny in ghost attacks and school situations.
They had been best friends since they were just entered kindergarten.
Samantha, preferred to be called Sam, had no real friends at that time, considering the fact that her mom wants her to befriend someone who was from high status of living, and Sam hates them because they were spoiled brats who love to brag about how their Daddies and Mommies bought them a lot of new expensive toys.
She was alone like always, focused on her school work until someone had dared to get near to her. She looked up; her beautiful amethyst eyes had focused on the new kid in front of her. The kid in front of her was a boy about her age, and has raven hair and shining baby blue eyes. He had also brought his friend with him; a boy also about her age with chocolate skin, his turquoise eyes was covered by huge spectacles, and was wearing a red beret.
"Hi! My name's Daniel Fenton, but you can call me Danny. And this is Tucker Foley, my friend. What's your name?" the boy-eyed boy cheerfully introduced himself and his friend. Danny grinned brightly, his pearly white teeth showing as his eyes crinkled. Tucker waved at the girl, smiling brightly.
Sam shyly stared at Danny and Tucker, her amethyst eyes twinkling with life. "My name's Samantha Manson, but just call me Sam. Mommy always calls me Sammykins, but I hate it," she scrunched her face in disgust as she mentioned 'Sammykins', which shows she hated that nickname her mother gave her.
Tucker stared at Sam with a excited look, while holding Danny's shoulder, "Hi, Sam. Do you want to join us? It was going to be fun, I'm sure of it."
Sam hesitated at first not knowing what do at first, but she decided that befriending and mingling with other kids her age doesn't hurt anyway.
"Sure." Sam said, flashing a toothy smile, as she stood up and joined her new friends. She had wanted a friend that she could confide to, and it seems that the two male kids are a perfect match for her as a friend.
Since that day, they became best friends through thick and thin. They grow up with each other, always been there with each other whenever they need a friend to help them. Tucker and Danny supported Sam's goth nature, and Sam respected Tucker's love for meat and technology, and Danny's love for astronomy. They were even there when the accident happened, when Danny went inside the portal after Sam's insistence and got electrocuted, giving Danny ghost powers in the process.
They became closer even after the accident and been always helping him cope with his ghostly powers. They might have been small arguments and misunderstandings, but they can handle them with ease and their friendship was still going strong.
Every super hero has a great weakness and Danny has one.
He was actually a clueless person.
It seems like he inherited his parents' cluelessness. He was sometimes oblivious to everything, even though it was already obvious and clear to everyone. Because of his cluelessness, he was dubbed in Casper High as 'The Clueless One'.
And that is the real reason why he had never realized that someone has started to fall in love with him.
And that's not Paulina Sanchez (the most popular girl of Casper High whom Danny has his head over heels over with) or Valerie Grey (a former popular girl who is also the Red Huntress, who hates his ghost half and loves his human half), but it was actually his best friend.
His best friend Sam.
"Really? Uncle Danny's bestfriend likes him?"
Mrs. Tyler nodded, "Unfortunately, your uncle was too clueless to notice that his best friend had a crush on him. I dunno, maybe he did noticed her hints, but was just too afraid to confess out of fear of losing their friendship. I never asked your uncle about that."
Matthew looks at the floor and fidgeting with his hands when he had heard his mother's remarks, "We feel the same way."
Yes, Sam has a secret crush on Danny ever since middle school, but she is totally afraid that her friendship with Danny will be destroyed if she confesses her feelings to him. Because of that, she decided to hide her feelings for him, acting to be Danny's best friend, helping him with everything and always be there with him whenever he goes. She will just support him from the sidelines, and no one will know that she loved him.
So when she had heard the news that her best friend and secret crush had dated Valerie, her entire world crumbled to dust. Her heart had been shattered every time she saw them together, and she couldn't bear to see the lovestruck look of Danny when he saw Valerie smiling sweetly at him. She felt jealous at Valerie for taking Danny away, and she felt angry at herself for not telling Danny.
Sam silently wishes that she, and not Valerie, become Danny's girlfriend. But she just kept it to herself, since she had to be careful or a certain wishing ghost would hear her wishes and twisted them to the ghost's advantage. She wouldn't want to give trouble to Danny, not ever.
After school, Sam went home without waiting for her best friends, and grudgingly went to her room, as her dear mother looked at fuming Sam in surprise and worry. As she closed the door of her room, Sam sat at her bed, grabbed her diary, and started to break down, crystal tears flowing from her amethyst eyes.
"Why would Danny chose Valerie as his girlfriend and not me? We all know that Valerie only loves Danny Fenton, not Danny Phantom...She despised his ghost half, he may be in danger if she knew the truth. Oh, how I wish that he's not clueless, that he finally realizes how much I love him..." Sam thought to herself, as opened her diary and looked at her diary with photos of her, Tucker and Danny.
"I am really a coward... And I was supposed to be an independent and strong woman like they said I am. I hope that I could tell him how I truly care for him, how I trylu love him ever since. I hope he will realize how I truly love him as a whole, as Phantom and as Fenton."
She cried pitifully until she fell asleep, clutching the diary in her hands and unto her chest, waiting for another depressing day to dawn, another day to hide her feelings for him. She wondered if she could keep this up. She wondered if she would never give up hiding it.
She always did that every night, crying and wallowing herself in guilt and regret when no one's looking or hearing her, since her parents' room is far away from hers, but she always hide it to Danny or Tucker, especially Danny. Whenever they asked if she's fine, she just faked her smile, said she's fine and hastily tried to move on to another topic. She hated to lie to them, as they all promised to be honest to each other, but she can't tell this to them, especially to Danny.
After a few months, Valerie and Danny broke up due to certain circumstances, much to Sam's pleasure. She knew Valerie wanted to break up with him because she was afraid that he would get involved in Valerie's work as the Red Huntress, even though she never knew that one of her enemies is Danny himself. Sam slightly smiled, trying to hide her relief from Danny when he sadly confessed that Valerie and him broke up, she can finally have a chance with him! But there is one question that bothers her very much...
Will he also love me not just a friend, but much more?
Sam sighed deeply, wanted to contain the negative emotions she felt. She knew and felt that Danny still loves Valerie, and he just treated Sam as a best friend and nothing more, despite how many make-out fake-out they had. Hell, even their kisses were not real, they were just there so they would not be caught and have Danny's secret be blown. She was sure Danny has no feelings for her. How could she assume that Danny also has feelings for her? That he could return the love that she had given to him already, although secretly?
"Hello. Earth to Sam!"
"Huh? What?" Sam suddenly snapped out of her trance and looked at Danny, who was staring at her with worried eyes. It was so hard to look at him, those sparkling baby blue eyes that seem to penetrate through Sam's soul. Tucker was currently busy, as he was having a meeting with the technology club, and can't accompany the two at this hour.
"Sam, are you alright?" Danny asked, worry gracing his voice.
"Oh, I'm alright, I'm always alright," she replied hastily, waving her hand, as she is trying hard not to look at Danny in the eye.
"Are you sure, Sam?" Danny put his hand in Sam, who suddenly flinched at the touch. It brought chills to her spine, he heart fluttering and beating fast. He was cold, considering the fact that he's half-ghost, and ghosts are naturally cold.
"Oh yeah. I'm a hundred percent sure... Let's go home." Sam answered in monotonous voice, hiding her nervousness, as she quickly removing her hand from Danny's cold hand. Danny became confused over Sam's actions, but he ignored it and decided to rub his neck nervously.
"Okay, I'll see you later at 9 pm with Tucker. We had to do patrolling, so be prepared." Danny spoke, as he walked away, leaving Sam in her spot, who tried to hold back tears falling from her eyes.
"Goodbye...Danny..."
When the classes are over, she quickly went home without her friends, and she quickly went to her room, ignoring the worried look of her parents and some of their servants. As she closed the door of her room and sat in her bed, she finally broke down, finally releasing all the pent-up emotions she has been hiding all day. The depressed girl could not stop the tears falling from her amethyst eyes, her make up ruined by the tears in her eyes .
Who was she kidding? Danny can't love me. He still loves Valerie, not me. It's hard to fall in love with the person who had no feelings for me.
After a long deliberation, she had finally vowed not to tell Danny about her love for him, as she would bring all of her feelings for him in her grave. She will try hard to treat Danny only as a friend, to remove how she really felt for him. Even though it hurts so much, it was for the best of her and Danny. Their friendship is too valuable, and Sam didn't want that to break.
But she didn't know that something will happen that will change her and Danny's life for the worse, and only a certain time ghost only knew about it.
"Everything as is it should be."
A/N: And the second chapter is finally done.
There are actually changes in this chapter, for example, I put a scene of Mrs.Tyler and Matthew where Matthew was shocked that Danny Phantom is actually a human teenage boy with ghost powers, and actually his uncle! Yup, Mrs.Tyler was actually Jazz, that means Matthew was her son! And some descriptions were now extended and more detailed than the original one.
I am happy with the old second chapter, but I think some parts are not too detailed, so I decided to changed some to make sense. And even though I like to stick to canon, I love Danny's fanon middle name James, so I still kept it like I did 5 years ago, the time this fanfic was first published.
Remember, Matthew's full name is Matthew Daniel Tyler. That's the reason why he commented how he was named after Danny.
Trivia about this story:
On one of the earlier drafts of this story, Sam was supposed to be narrating this story to her son.
But as the idea was changed and now solidified, I decided that someone will be doing the narrating instead of her, and thus Mrs. Tyler was created to tell the tale to her son Matthew, as seen the last chapter.
Although, Mrs. Tyler is not classified as an original character of mine (as it was revealed it was actually grown up Jazz).
Will you do press the Favourite and Alert button, and Review the fic, Phans... Your reviews are widely appreciated, even after 5 years. Also, tell me if there is any errors. I apologize in advance if there will be an OOC or something.
With clockworks and time,
Alithea Korogane