A/N: Alright, sorry to make you wait so long. I have two words: Robinson Crusoe. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, consider yourself lucky. The book takes forever to read and if it weren't for my sadistic Human Event teacher, I'd be reading Spark Notes. (Oh, and I'm sorry if any of you like the book, but I just can't get through it).
Anywho, just a few notes for this chapter. I'm making this chapter slightly AU in regards to the end of The Ultimate Enemy. I'm just assuming that the whole thing between Danny and Jazz never happened, so he still doesn't know that she knows. Second, Vlad found out about Danny's future self. I don't know how, and it's really not important, but Vlad seems to know everything that goes on, so it's not that big of a stretch. You can assume that he goes into Clockwork's lair and sees the future or something, or however else you want him to find out. He just does.
Oh, and thanks for all the reviews for the Lancer chapter! I'm so glad to hear that so many of you like Lancer as well! And I even swayed a few! Yay!
Note to Kairi7: Go for it! You can totally do a spin-off and I would love to hear it! Sorry not to get back to you quicker, but I didn't really have any way to contact you. And I would love to read it if you don't want to post it. I don't really want to give my e-mail out here, but if you want to pm me your e-mail or put it in a review, then I can send you mine!
Chapter Seven
The Best Thing that Ever Happened
The next week passed in a blur of sleep to Danny. His parents wouldn't let him out of bed until he was completely healed, so he was stuck in his room while his parents went back to work (meaning downstairs in the lab) and his sister and two best friends went to school. So he ended up spending most of his time sleeping.
Danny didn't know what they were doing in the lab, but he knew that it had nothing to do with him. He was no longer nervous that they would try to attempt anything. Sure, he knew that his father would want to test some inventions out on him, but he knew that it wouldn't be anything that would seriously hurt him. Probably just little things like the Fenton Boomerang or the Ghost Gabber.
His parents mostly spent their time catching all the ghosts Danny should have been out catching. There were countless times where he was tempted to go out and help, but he decided against it. His parents knew what they were doing, and no one knew better than Danny, so he figured his parents could handle it for awhile before he took over again. Plus, he figured it would work out better this way. They were just getting used to the fact that he was half ghost, and he figured he'd let them get used to it before he immersed himself in ghost fighting again.
During the week he had received many more visitors than just Mr. Lancer. Of course, Sam and Tucker visited daily, finding ways to entertain him in his boredom. But to Danny's great surprise he had a lot of other visitors as well. Mr. and Mrs. Foley stopped by and brought him their famous chocolate cake, which Danny always had a sweet tooth for. Even Mr. and Mrs. Manson stopped by and they brought him a new video game. Valerie stopped by with flowers and told him that Casper High wasn't the same without him. Dash and Kwan showed up, telling Danny that high school was boring without him and that he considers each day he can't shove Danny into a locker a waste. Then Paulina even showed up with Star and complained to him that he needed to get back to school quick because she hadn't seen the Ghost Boy all week.
Finally, after a week of laying in bed his parents pronounced Danny fit to get up and walk freely about the house. He felt no more pain from moving or being touched and could go ghost without any pain. He had full access to his powers and could use them without feeling tired, so his parents couldn't deny that he was better.
That night Tucker and Sam came over for a party to celebrate. The party was a lot of fun with cake, music, punch, and a lot of laughter. Danny especially enjoyed himself because he was out of bed and could laugh, joke, and have fun with his family without being limited to the confines of a bed. Most importantly though, he could stand and walk around, which he cherished after being stuck in a bed for so long.
His mirth was short lived however when his ghost sense went off. His mother saw him stop and gasp,
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"Ghost sense," he stated simply. They looked at him quizzically. "It goes off when there's a ghost nearby. I'm going ghost!" The white rings formed around his waist and separated, transforming him into his ghost form.
He went intangible and flew through the floor into the lab. His mother and father just continued to stare for a few seconds, not really expecting what just happened. Then they ran down to the lab to watch the fight with Jazz following right behind them. They were eager to see what he could do and Jazz wanted to finally see him without having to peek from behind a tree.
As they walked down the steps they heard Danny talking to what they figured was a ghost.
"Why did you have to show up? I was having a party up there! I've been ill for the past week and the day that I'm finally better I have to spend down here fighting you again! I mean, I only fought you a week ago! Can't you give it a break?"
They stopped at the bottom of the stairs to see Danny floating in front of a short ghost who was dressed in blue overalls with a blue cap and dark hair. He floated over some old boxes that Jack had left down in the lab.
"Because I am the Box Ghost! It is my destiny to control this spherical world and have dominion over all boxes."
"Yeah yeah, I've heard this before. Can we just get to the part where you throw the boxes at me, then I ecto-blast you, and then I suck you up into the thermos so I can get back upstairs?"
"Not today, for I have since perfected my battle plans. Today, the boxes shall destroy you, and I, the Box Ghost, shall take over this earth! Beware!"
The Box Ghost lifted his hands up and all the boxes in the pile rose up into the air. Danny turned intangible, expecting the boxes to fly at him, but instead they piled up around the Box Ghost and formed a large ghost made entirely out of boxes.
"Hey, have you been talking to Lunch Lady, because that's usually what she does," Danny smarted back.
The Box Ghost's eyes shifted nervously. "Beware!" he yelled as he ran towards Danny. Danny flew backwards and up towards the ceiling and put both his hands together as he shot an ecto-blast at him, sending him backwards a little. Then Danny charged at him, knocking him backwards. He punched him in the chin, kneed him in the stomach, and grabbed his arm and flung him onto his back.
The Box Ghost stood up and blasted an ecto-blast at Danny as he pulled up an ecto-shield, which absorbed the blast. Danny charged at him again, continuing to hit him. Each time he hit him a box flew off and landed helplessly on the floor. Then Danny got an idea. He flew backwards and started firing ecto-blasts at all the individual boxes, but there were just too many and it would take forever to blast them all away. Why did his dad have so many boxes in the lab in the first place? Finally, Danny swallowed hard and knew there was only one solution.
He took a deep breath and released his Ghostly Wail at the Box Ghost, which dissolved all his boxes, along with some of the lab supplies. Crap, he'd have to apologize to his parents for that later. Then Danny grabbed the Fenton Thermos and sucked up the now weakened Box Ghost. He flew over to the portal and emptied it, sending the Box Ghost back into the Ghost Zone where he belonged.
He turned around, ready fly upstairs when he saw his parents and Jazz staring at him from the stairs. He grinned sheepishly and then remembered the broken lab equipment.
"Mom, Dad, I can explain about the equipment," Danny started to apologize. His mother noticed that he lowered himself to the ground while talking. She racked her memory and never seemed to remember the Ghost Boy ever doing that before. Usually he would just remain floating, in fact, she hardly saw the Ghost Boy touch the floor at all. So why was he doing it now? Is he still uncomfortable about using his abilities when they're around? She half expected to see him turn human again, but he didn't show any indication that he was going to. He just kept babbling on about the broken lab equipment.
"I didn't mean to destroy it, but there was this big box monster and nothing would work and…"
"Danny that was amazing!" his mother exclaimed. Danny immediately stopped explaining his situation and blushed.
"What was that? That scream thing," his father asked. "I've never seen you or rather any ghost do that before!"
"I call it my Ghostly Wail. I just recently learned it. I don't really like using it that much, since it kinda destroys a lot of stuff, but sometimes it just makes everything a lot easier," he explained as he continued to blush.
"Well, well Daniel. You sure disposed of the Box Ghost quite quickly, even after his new power. I'm impressed," a vicious and smooth voice spoke from behind Danny as his ghost sense went off.
"Plasmius," Danny growled as he turned around to face his mortal enemy.
"The Wisconsin Ghost!" Jack and Maddie both shouted. They ran to get their ecto-guns and pointed them at Vlad.
"Please, do you really think you can do anything to me?" Vlad asked as he laughed.
"You're in our lab and unwelcome," Jack answered. "So, needless to say, we're angered enough to do some damage."
"Well, in that case I should just leave," Vlad joked. "I'll just take young Daniel here and we'll be on our way."
"You're not taking me anywhere!" Danny yelled, floating into the air into attack position.
"Dear Daniel, you don't want to fight me. You never win. Why even bother?"
"Because this time he's got us!" his parents yelled, charging their guns and pointing them at Vlad, who looked taken aback by this sudden twist. Weren't these two against Danny?
Danny could see Vlad's surprise and confusion. "You see Plasmius, you don't hold as much power as you thought," Danny taunted. "My parents know, and they don't care. You can't use them against me anymore."
Vlad obviously looked annoyed that Danny had told them. Now Danny had leverage over him, and he knew it.
"Well, if you want to fight, then so be it," Vlad threatened as he shot a dark pink ecto-blast at Danny. He drew up his ecto-shield to deflect the blast, but by then Vlad had already teleported behind him and shot one at his back. Danny started falling to the floor, but he went intangible and phased right through it. Danny turned invisible and floated up through the floor right behind Vlad while he looked around, wondering where Danny could be. He turned visible and blasted an ecto-blast at him, pushing him into a nearby table.
Vlad flew fast at Danny, knocking him in the stomach before he could go intangible. While Danny doubled over, Vlad shot an ecto-blast at him. Danny quickly recovered and shot multiple blasts at Vlad while flying towards him. He punched him in the jaw and then multiple times in the stomach, chest, and head. Finally Vlad managed to grab his arm and started twisting it back as Danny screamed in pain. He concentrated through the pain and went intangible so Vlad's hand fell right through Danny's. Vlad recovered and started shooting ecto-blasts, which forced Danny to fly around the lab, dodging the blasts while shooting a few back in return.
"Enough of this!" Vlad yelled as he copied himself multiple times so that there was a line of six Vlads, all staring at Danny.
Crap, I hate it when he does this. They all started shooting ecto-blasts at him, which caused him to fly around the lab at his top speed, his specter tail flowing out behind him as he dodged as many blasts as he could. He was just dodging a large amount of blasts when he ran right into one of the Vlads. He grabbed him and threw him into the middle of all the Vlads. They all fired ecto-blasts at him at the same time, causing Danny to scream in pain, a scream which sounded very similar to the constant one his parents heard while they were torturing him.
"No one hurts my son like this!" Maddie yelled and blasted one of the Vlads away. She knew this was Danny's battle, but she couldn't stand the thought of her son getting hurt again, not when he'd just gotten better, and not when she could protect him this time. Jack followed in suit and they continued blasting Vlads until only one remained, the one right behind Danny. He grabbed him and threw Danny at the wall, where he hit hard and fell to the floor. He hit the ground with a large thud as the two white rings appeared and changed him back to human.
Danny stood up and looked at Vlad. The white rings formed around his body once again and transformed him back into his ghost form. He flew up to be level with Vlad and took a deep breath and let out his Ghostly Wail. Vlad was thrown against the wall and fell to the floor. Danny floated down to just above the ground as Vlad stood up very slowly, obviously weakened by the wail.
"What was that?" Vlad asked.
"That's my Ghostly Wail. Like it?" Danny breathed, obviously weak from the attack.
"How did you do that?"
"You think I'm going to tell you?"
"But how do you have it while I don't? I've had these powers for twenty years and I never even knew that was possible!"
"Well, I guess it's only a power for good ghosts then," Danny mocked.
The Vlad smiled evilly. "Are you sure it's only for good ghosts? Maybe it's reserved for incredibly evil ghosts."
Danny looked daggers at Vlad. He knew where he was going, and he didn't like it.
"Shut your mouth," Danny warned.
"Why? You know it's true. Why else do you think it's so powerful and destructive? Plus, the only other ghost I've ever known that's able to do that is, well, your future self. Interesting, isn't it?"
"I said shut up!" Danny yelled as he fired a large ecto-blast at Vlad.
"So you obviously have noticed the similarities," Vlad said weakly as he stood up. "Maybe you're a step closer to your future self than I thought."
"No! I'm nothing like him!" Danny yelled again, his bright green eyes glistening with anger.
"Danny, what is he talking about?" his mother asked concerned. Danny looked over at his parents and Jazz on the steps, their eyes wide with wonder and guilty curiosity. Danny's face paled even more as he looked at them.
"Oh, they don't know Danny? Did you conveniently forget to tell them what will happen in the future when you explained everything else? Did you forget to tell them what you will become?"
"Shut up Vlad!" Danny yelled, tears in his eyes. His parents had just accepted him, just realized that he was a good ghost, fighting to save the world. What would they do once they found out the darkness that lurked inside him, waiting for Danny to become weak so he could take advantage and be released?
"Well, I think that answers my question then. Well, if you won't tell them, then I guess the burden is on me to tell them."
"No!" Danny screamed.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, your son will destroy the world and reign supreme over both the ghost zone and the rest of the world. Your son will be the most powerful and malicious enemy the world has ever seen, the Ultimate Enemy. No one, not even the most powerful ghost or human can defeat him."
"No! That's not going to happen!" Danny screamed towards Vlad as he charged up an ecto-blast, but he had already disappeared, leaving Danny alone with his family. Glowing green tears were pouring from Danny's eyes as he realized he was lost. He fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands. He was afraid to look towards his parents, afraid to see the look of disgust and revolt that would show on their faces.
He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Jazz kneeling next to him, tears in her eyes as well. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as he continued to cry.
Then he felt another warm hand on his shoulder, and then another. He turned around and his teary green eyes met those of his mother and father. He looked down at the floor, ashamed. His mother grabbed his chin and lifted it so it met her eyes, but he kept his glanced downward. She was surprised at how cold his face felt, but then again, he was a ghost, so it should have been expected.
"Danny, look at me," his mother commanded. His bright green eyes looked into hers as more glowing tears fell from them. She brought her other hand up to his face and wiped away his tears. "Listen Danny. We know you'd never do anything evil. We know…"
"No, you don't!" Danny yelled, wrenching his face away from his mother's hold. "He wasn't lying, he was telling the truth. I met this ghost named Clockwork who took me to the future and showed me my future self. I was evil…extremely evil. And…I had…killed…everyone. You, Dad, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam," he cried, tears falling at an even faster rate than before. "It was horrible! I was horrible!"
Maddie and Jack didn't know what to say. They just sat in silence, not knowing what to do.
"Now wait a minute Danny, you left out the rest of the tale," Sam stated as she walked closer to them, having run downstairs after hearing Vlad's voice. "As I seem to recall, when we traveled to the future you saw your future self and tried your hardest to fight him, but he ended up trapping you in the Ghost Zone and then took your place in the present to assure your turn to the dark side. But you escaped from the Ghost Zone and fought your future self, saving all of us from the horrible accident that would kill us."
"And plus, now you know about it, so you continuously choose good over evil, even in the most miniscule decisions to prevent yourself from turning evil," Tucker added.
"We've said it before Danny, and we'll say it again, there's no way you're going to turn evil. You won't let yourself," Sam comforted.
"That's right Danny," a voice said from the direction of the ghost portal. Everyone turned to see a ghost with a clock dressed in a purple cape floating towards Danny. He carried a scepter with a clock perched on top of it and he had a scar across his left eye. His appearance kept changing from a little boy, to a muscular man, to an old man with a long white beard.
"Don't move!" Jack threatened as the ghost approached. "My son has just been attacked by two ghosts and I am in no mood to let another one attack him!"
"Relax Mr. Fenton," Tucker advised. "This is Clockwork. He's a good ghost and a friend of ours."
"I am not here to harm anyone Mr. Fenton. I'm just here to talk to your son. He seems like he needs a pep talk right about now," Clockwork stated as he kneeled down to Danny's height. "Your parents and friends are right Danny. You will never let yourself turn evil, not after seeing what happened. Trust me, I spend a lot of time with your future self while he's in captivity and I can tell you that he is not pleased that you saw your future. That's why he's so anxious to get back to the present and mess with things, because he knows that if you stay on your current path without his interruptions he won't exist. He is filled with doubt and grows nervous. The fact that you fought him further unnerved him, as does your staunch position to stay away from this fate. Do not fret Danny, for you are on the right track. I have full faith and confidence in you and I know you won't let me down. And I believe your parents feel the same way."
"Of course we do Danny! I can't say that this didn't come as a surprise, but we're here for you. We know that you'd never allow this to happen. Just watching your reaction to the whole thing when the Wisconsin Ghost was talking gave us all the proof we needed that you were trying your very hardest to avoid this fate."
"Remember Danny, the future isn't set in stone, and I above all others should know. People can change their future, especially someone as dedicated as you Danny."
Danny started to cry again and rushed towards Clockwork and gave him a hug. Clockwork looked surprised, but then looked pleased and happy as he patted him on the head. Then Danny rushed towards his parents and threw himself into their arms as they hugged him tightly.
Clockwork rose and started floating towards the portal, his work finished. Before he entered, he turned around and looked at Danny surrounded by his family and friends. "I see a very positive outlook for you Danny Phantom, or should I say, Fenton. The support of your family, their knowledge of your secret and this burden greatly angers your future self. Your parents discovering your secret may very well be the best thing that ever happened. Well, aside from gaining ghost powers in the first place that is." He nodded his head towards them and then exited through the ghost portal smiling, leaving them in the room, hugging and comforting Danny.
A/N: So yay, finally some action! I told you there would be some. Not directly, but I told some of you in replies. So, I hope you enjoyed it. Wow, now I have two awkward situations for Danny to bounce back from, the after-effects of his parents discovering his horrible future in this one, and the press conference in A Secret Uncovered. I'm not very nice to him, am I?