Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is grumbling as she looks at a familiar boy* Andy… are you sure there is nothing you can do to take this cursed necklace off? I tried taking it off on my own, but for some reason I can't pull it up past my neck… *Whines and pouts*
Andy: No, I can't take it off. I've already tried. Maybe if I still had my ghost powers I could, but I don't. This necklace seems to be protected by some kind of magic anyways. I think only Fox can take it off.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Of course she would do something like this! Some birthday gift! I prefer having scales and wings! Seriously, who gives a transformative gift to someone for their birthday without making it so they could take it off if they don't want to?! It's like buying someone a piece of clothing and forcing them to wear it and not take it off!
Andy: Calm down… this is a birthday gift? She told me she had something else in mind for your birthday gift.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': She said this was both an early birthday gift and a late Christmas gift.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, but now I'm thinking about a different birthday gift~ *Walks in* Are you still complaining? Come on, being a kitsune isn't bad, it's fun.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Why do I have to be the same size as you? The only kitsune character I have is about the size of Andy.
Andy: Hey, hey, maybe you can try asking Fox to take the necklace off instead of complaining to her?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I doubt she would even if I said 'pretty please'…
DarkFoxKit: Sure I would. I just made it that way to see your reaction. *Giggles*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Narrows her eyes at Fox* You would…
DarkFoxKit: You going to ask me to take off, Onyx? Or would you rather be stuck in it longer?~ Oh, and your birthday gift should be ready by your birthday week, so no late gifts this time.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Sighs* Fine… would you please take it off?
DarkFoxKit: Well, since you've asked so nicely… *She taps the necklace* There, now you can take off.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Thank you. *Proceeds to take the necklace off*
Andy: Uhhh….
DarkFoxKit: *Snickers*
*As soon as Onyx removed the necklace, she grew back to her original dragon size, and she was a dragon again, but she still had fur, she still had fox ears, and her maw looked more similar to a fox's snout*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': And now I'm a giant kitsune…
DarkFoxKit: Well, more specifically, you're now a dragon kitsune. Now you get to be both a dragon and a kitsune, we both win~
Andy: You do look… uh… kind of cute like that, Onyx.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Glares at Andy* You realize I could easily squish you right now, right?
Andy: Yeah… but then you'll have to cancel the story. Besides, why are you mad at me? Fox is the one who turned you into a dragon kitsune.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Because you're the one who just called me cute.
DarkFoxKit: Well you are cute, you're an adorable cuddly furry dragon kitsune~
Andy: Yeah, I'm leaving now before things get ugly. *Looks at the readers* I suggest you all leave to the chapter as well, you don't want to see what happens next here.
Chapter 84: Vivid Nightmares or Dark Futures?
The festival ended a couple of days ago now. Danny was working on a school project with Tucker and Sam at home, Jazz was reading a report on what Danny and I had seen at the festival and analyzing it. Surprisingly, we haven't gotten the book that was supposed to teach us about the ghost culture yet, but I suppose Scarlet and Juliette wanted to wait a little bit, or they ordered it off of some ghost internet and the books hadn't come in yet.
I decided to go talk to Clockwork myself, since this only involved me and my visions. I also didn't want Danny coming into the Ghost Zone with little protection due to Vesper. I know Vesper promised not to pull any sneak attacks, but if she decided to challenge us while we were out in the Ghost Zone without Scarlet, I didn't feel very good about our chances.
When I reached Clockwork's tower, I talked to him about the visions I've been getting and the watch that's been helping me get these visions.
"So Scarlet suggested that maybe you could help train me or something? To better understand or control these visions perhaps?" I asked.
"I am sorry to say, young Andy, that I cannot train you," Clockwork informed. "Nor can anyone for that matter. Time powers are a very complex and fickle subject that there is no one form of training for it. For instance, I could teach you what I know and you might end up finding that none of what I taught would help you with your situation. There… is also another reason I cannot train you, however I believe the first explanation should suffice."
"Is the other reason that I shouldn't let these future visions dictate what I should do in life?" I asked.
"Yes," Clockwork answered as he shook his head no.
I blinked at the contradicting answer.
"Although, because you have the ability to see into the future, you are aware of the potential dangers that could happen. But it's not a guaranteed thing as I'm sure you're already aware by now. You've been seeing different branches of the future, meaning no one future is set in stone. Unfortunately, like I said before, this is something you'll have to figure out for yourself," Clockwork continued before he turned into an old ghost.
"Aren't these time powers yours though? I only got them because of the Time Medallion I used to defeat Corrupted Danny," I pointed out.
"Perhaps originally they were a copy of mine, however the powers have evolved and altered, becoming your own time powers," Clockwork explained. "The powers you have now are vastly different from my own."
"Isn't there anything you could tell me that might help? Any advice or suggestions?" I asked hopefully.
Clockwork gave a thoughtful look. "Be careful of how you act and use your powers. You do not want to gain the attention of the Observants."
"Observants?" I asked.
Clockwork turned into a child ghost and gave a small frown. "They are my… employers. They were the ones who wanted me to get rid of your brother when he was in danger of turning into the evil adult version of himself. They are also one of the main factions in the Ghost Zone, as I'm sure you and your brother just recently learned about."
I blinked, surprised at this.
"The Observants have unfortunately been getting a little more 'hands on' in the past few centuries, moreso in the last decade," Clockwork continued. "Originally the group came about to observe and record the flow of the Ghost Zone in an attempt to create a database that others could access to make the Ghost Zone a better place. Now though, they try to… assist the Ghost Zone in the ways they believe are best, despite the fact that many others would disagree."
"Sounds… complicated." I frowned.
Clockwork gave a chuckle. "It's okay, Andy. You're only 15 years old, I don't expect you to get involved with something like this. Just be careful around them. If they suspect you of having time powers, they might try to pull something."
Clockwork frowned at the idea, and looked a little ticked at the possibility.
"They may even try to control you…" Clockwork added softly.
"They… would?" I shivered at the thought.
"Don't worry, it's not a very likely future," Clockwork said, as if he was trying to reassure me, before he turned into a young adult. "Just try your best to keep your future visions as quiet as possible. Share them only if you feel you have to."
I gave a nod. "I promise I will, Clockwork. I'll see if I can better learn on how to control these visions. By the way, why does this watch help me see the future?"
"The watch has been infused with some time magic as well, so it must've reacted with your own time powers," Clockwork answered. "It was also why I told you to keep it. It should help you learn better control over your own time powers."
I could see Clockwork giving a grin at that.
"Remember, there are certain things you should keep secret," Clockwork reiterated. "Your visions and that watch."
I nodded to Clockwork.
I came home after my talk with Clockwork. Although, Danny was less than appreciative that he found out I left for the Ghost Zone without him.
"Why did you go off without me?" Danny asked in an annoyed tone as he frowned, pacing back and forth in our room.
"You looked like you were busy with the school project, and I didn't want to bother you," I said.
"Uh-huh, that's a weak answer, Andy, and you know it," Danny pointed out. "What's the real reason?"
I sighed. "Okay, look, I didn't want you coming with me in case Vesper was out there."
Danny facepalmed at that. "Do you realize how counterintuitive that is? Instead of taking me with you, where we would have 2 on 1 against Vesper, you would rather go out on your own where you could easily be captured by Vesper yourself. If she did capture you, then she would have ransomed you in exchange for me, giving her exactly what she wanted in the first place."
"Sure, she could do that, but Vesper didn't strike me as an underhanded challenger. I doubt she would capture me just to get an easy prey out of you," I pointed out.
"That's the thing, bro, capturing you would make me more difficult prey," Danny grumbled in annoyance. "You, and probably her, know that I wouldn't just hand myself over on a silver platter even if it did mean getting you back to safety. I would probably do something dumb and try to form a rescue plan to break you out so Vesper could get neither of us."
I gave a sigh. "Alright, alright, you've made your point. You are known for doing stupid and hasty things after all, it's best if I kept an eye on you."
"H-hey! I didn't mean it like that!" Danny snapped, blushing a little.
I chuckled. "Well, at least I know I can count on you if things get bad, you stubborn brother of mine."
"Takes one to know one," Danny shot back.
"Well, we are Fentons, stubborness is pretty much in our blood," I pointed out.
Danny just shook his head with a chuckle.
"By the way, Danny… you ever thought about telling Mom and Dad about us being half ghost?" I asked softly as Danny sat down on his bed.
"You ever think about staring at the sun or jabbing your hand with a needle just to know how it feels?" Danny grumbled.
"Well, those aren't a fair comparison." I frowned.
"Really? What possible ways do you think our parents would react if they found out about us?" Danny questioned. "And no cheating and using your visions to try and find out."
"I can't control my visions to that extent anyways," I sighed. "Well, I know that there are several different possibilities that could happen, but-"
"Think of it from Mom and Dad's point of view," Danny interrupted. "How would you react if two of your children came up to you and out of the blue told you that they were part ghosts, creatures that you had been fighting against for decades?"
I looked at Danny and sighed. "Okay, I may not have been a ghost hunter like Mom and Dad were, but I have a pretty good idea about what their reactions might be if we straight up told them that we're half ghosts."
"I know that the most likely option is that we'd be tied up and experimented on as Mom and Dad tried their best to 'free us from the ghosts overshadowing us'," Danny responded.
"Wouldn't they use the Ghost Catcher for that?" I pointed out.
"They might try, or they may not think of it or might be worried that the ghosts are somehow too deep inside of us to reach with the Ghost Catcher," Danny replied. "You know how they are, they tend not to go with the most obvious answer first."
"It's just… they're our parents, I don't think this is something we can keep from them forever, and… would you really want to if you could? They think our ghost halves are dangerous, and malevolent. I may not be a psychologist, or Jazz, but aren't you worried how this could affect our relationship with them down the road?" I asked.
"I am of course worried, however I don't think there is a way we can tell them right now without them overreacting…" Danny sighed. "I mean, I know they love us, but they might love the chance to experiment on us more, or they might hate our ghost sides more than they love us, or maybe they'll convince themselves that we're not their sons anymore or something."
"Danny, calm down and take a deep breath," I said before I walked over to him and sat down on the bed beside him. "I understand, I know that it's scary. I have the same fears myself. But lately I've been thinking… it might benefit us more if our parents knew, and accepted us."
"What if they don't?" Danny questioned. "If they don't accept us for who we are… we'd either have to end up running away from home for good or we'd end up strapped on a couple tables and have all sorts of excruciating experiments done to us."
"They're our parents, Danny, not the Guys in White. I don't see them doing that to us, future visions or not, unless they didn't know it was us." I frowned.
Danny sighed. "Just… just give it some time first, bro… I rather try to change their minds about our Phantom forms before we even try to tell them."
I wasn't sure if that was the best way to go about it. As long as Mom and Dad continued to have that mindset that all ghosts are evil, unfeeling beasts, then no matter what we do as our Phantom forms, they're not going to change their minds. One of them will have to be open enough to get the other to try and be open as well, but they would never listen to outsiders, nor would they listen to children.
"Okay, Danny, we'll wait for now. But… just remember what happened the last time you waited to tell a member of the family your secret," I said softly before I stood up and went over to my own bed, where Hope was watching us.
It was a nice day. A little bit cloudy, but that made it cool on this hot summer day. Danny and I managed to capture Skulker, and we were about to fly back to the Nasty Burger where Tucker and Sam were waiting for us. Then suddenly, something sharp pricked the back of my neck. I gasped when I saw Danny suddenly falling from the sky and landed on the road. I tried to fly over to him, but I suddenly felt weak. I couldn't stay up in the air and fell down myself.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up to seeing the ceiling of the lab. I couldn't move. My wrists and feet were pinned by something cold and hard. I managed to lift my head a little to see I was on some kind of cold, metal table. I heard a gasp from beside me. I looked over to see Danny strapped to another metallic table.
"You're finally awake?" Danny asked worriedly.
"Did… did we get sedated?" I frowned.
Suddenly, two shadows towered over us. I recognized the shadows; it was Mom and Dad. They were both wearing their goggles, and carted over a bunch of tools. Sharp looking tools. I suddenly felt worried and scared. Even though Mom and Dad were wearing goggles, I could see the callous interest they had in their eyes as they looked hungrily down at us.
"To think that we were able to capture the two of them. Twin ghosts, Mads!" Dad said excitedly.
"Mom, Dad, please stop!" Danny pleaded. "We're not ghosts! Do you really want to experiment on your sons? Are you okay with that?!"
Mom suddenly slapped Danny. "Don't you ever call yourself my son again, ghost!"
I could tell that hurt Danny, emotionally rather than physically.
Danny slowly looked back to Mom. "I am your son, not a ghost. Do you think that if I was a regular ghost that I'd just be laying here, trying to convince you to let me go instead of escaping?"
"Oh please, that's what we expect you would try to do to escape; lie to use and try to convince us to let you go," Mom stated.
I tried to go intangible, or even transform myself back to human to show them the truth, but to my growing horror, I wasn't able to. My core felt weak, but also stuck.
"I'm not lying, Mom, it's me, Danny!" Danny raised his voice.
I winced when Mom slapped Danny again.
Danny hissed a little, a strange bit of red mist coming from his mouth. My eyes widened at the mist, suddenly getting another type of unease in the pit of my stomach.
"Do that again, I dare you…" Danny growled as his expression changed. "Go ahead and hit your child one more time. After all, you two are such awful parents that you apparently can't see the truth when it is right in front of you and told to you!"
"D-Danny…?" I asked worriedly.
"I mean seriously, you two call yourselves ghosts experts and great parents, but neither of that is true!" Danny continued. "Hell, you two never even thought about how the Ghost Portal was activated or how I got hurt."
I heard Mom and Dad saying something, but for some reason I had trouble understanding them. I didn't know if it was because of the sedative, or if it was because I was more alarmed at what was going on with Danny.
"You are not our son, and don't you ever talk about him again!" Dad finally snapped.
"Wait! Please!" I spoke up quickly, hoping to amend the situation. "Don't hit him anymore. He's not lying, he really is your son."
"Don't waste your breath, Andy," Danny scoffed. "Mom and Dad are such idiots that they would never accept the truth. Hopefully their idiotic strength will be enough to help them not go insane when they find out that they murdered their children."
"Danny, what's with you? You're not helping!" I snapped.
"This is why I told you not to tell them, bro…" Danny chuckled. "Because now we're going to end up as full ghosts…"
"Don't you see? This only happened because we didn't tell them!" I cried.
"Enough! Jack, let's sedate them, I can't stand anymore of their talking," Mom hissed.
Danny smirked at that, his hands beginning to glow a deep dark red. "Yeah… that's not going to happen."
There was a sudden blast of red light that blinded me. There was also the sound of two people screaming, one man and one woman.
Danny and I were standing in the kitchen. Mom and Dad were looking at us in shock. Danny and I finally did it, we finally gathered enough courage to tell them that we were half ghost. Both of us stood there nervously, anxiously waiting for their reaction.
"You two… were those Phantom kids all along?" Dad finally said, snapping out of his shocked state.
"Y-yeah…" Danny softly confirmed. "I'm honestly a bit surprised you two didn't piece it together… After all, Fenton and Phantom sound similar and we always disappear right before Andy and Danny Phantom show up."
"Not that I could blame them, I mean it's not immediately obvious," I pointed out.
"That's… how did we not see it before?" Mom frowned.
"To be fair, most people didn't," I stated.
"But you two are our sons, we should've known," Mom replied.
"It's alright, Mom and Dad," Danny assured. "I'm just glad you two know now."
"Yes, it's good that we do. So now we can work on curing both of you," Mom said.
Danny and I frowned at that.
"Mom, there is nothing to cure," Danny informed. "We don't have Ecto Acne or any kind of disease that could be cured. From all the research I did, our DNA was altered at a molecular level."
"For the record, I was the one who did that particular research," I mumbled.
"I helped…" Danny pouted a little.
"But boys, it's not possible for human DNA to coexist with ectoplasm. It would kill you. That's why we believe it's best we work on a cure now… unless you've both been overshadowed all this time." Mom frowned.
"We haven't been overshadowed, Mom," Danny quickly stated. "Don't you think all of the tech in the house would've noticed if we had been overshadowed?"
"And if we were overshadowed, what reason would a ghost have to tell you or live the life of a teenager?" I added.
"We don't claim to understand what goes on in a ghost's mind," Dad said. "All we know is they cause chaos, and we want to help our sons."
"We're not in danger." I frowned. "Please, if you try to 'cure' us, that would definitely put us in danger."
"How about this, Mom and Dad?" Danny began to bargain. "We let you take blood samples of us to show you that we do have DNA that is a combination between human DNA and ectoplasm. If we were simply being overshadowed, our DNA wouldn't look like that, it would look normal and just have extra ectoplasm in the bloodstream."
Mom and Dad looked at each other for a moment.
"Alright, Danny, Andy, we'll take you up on your offer," Mom said.
Danny gave a smile before his expression turned to one of curiosity. "You aren't just saying that so you can tranquilize us, are you? Because we came to you out of hopes that you would trust us and we could trust you with what we've kept as a secret."
I suddenly had a bad feeling.
Everything just went by as a blur, and all of a sudden, I found myself having a needle inserted into my arm. Danny slumped over, and I felt drowsy myself. I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, I gasped when I found myself strapped to a cold metallic table. This felt familiar somehow.
"Oh come on…!" Danny groaned. "I knew we should've taken turns and made sure the needles were the right type to take blood samples…"
"Wait… Mom, Dad, what's going on?" I asked anxiously.
"What do you think…?" Danny sighed. "They tricked us so they could knock us out and strap us down…"
"But WHY would they do that?" I asked.
"Because we needed to ensure you two wouldn't try to escape while we worked to find a cure," Mom spoke up.
"Seriously Mom, just take a blood sample and look at what you find!" Danny stated.
"We can see your blood just fine. Infected with ectoplasm, we need to get them all out," Dad said.
"Look at it on a genetic level, Mom and Dad, look at the DNA sequences," I responded. "If you do, you will notice that we aren't 'infected with ectoplasm'. If it was a simple case of ectoplasmic infection, we would have symptoms like Vlad's ecto acne."
I frowned. Mom and Dad weren't listening. They were mashing up some kind of red flower. It almost looked like a rose, but I could tell it wasn't a rose. There was something about that flower that made me more uneasy. Mom then turned around, holding a syringe with red liquid inside.
"Don't worry, this will help you two get better quickly," Mom assured.
"No, stop! Please, you don't know what that would do to us!" I begged as Mom put the first needle in Danny's arm.
What happened next was horrible. Danny started to shake shortly after the injection, he started to scream in pain. Mom and Dad backed up, seeming to be shocked at what was happening.
"What did you do to him?!" I found myself yelling.
"We injected him with Blood Blossoms, it should be trying to clean out the ectoplasm in his system, not hurting him." Dad frowned.
"You've just essentially injected acid into his system!" I snapped.
"Jack, please tell me there is a counteragent or nullifier of some kind!" Mom shouted.
Danny's screaming, however, got louder. It got so loud that green waves of ecto energy started to come out of his mouth. I recognized it as the Ghostly Wail. The entire lab started to collapse. I heard two people screaming, one male and one female.
I groaned as I hit the road pretty hard. My ghost form may be tough, but that didn't mean I didn't feel pain. I pushed myself up to my hands, trying to use my arms to push my body up. I knew fighting Vlad head on was reckless, but I had to do something. I didn't understand why Vlad decided to attack us though. Not only that, but he got our parents involved. Dad may have been a lousy shot, but he shot a lot, and Mom's aim was a lot more precise. With them and Vlad attacking us at once, Danny and I didn't last very long out there.
Danny! I quickly looked up, trying to see where my brother went. I was sure he got shot down too.
I managed to crawl myself out of the alleyway I had landed in. I saw a crowd of people gathering around. I heard them talking to each other, asking questions about the 'ghost boy'.
"Hey! Don't touch that, you Wisconsin Ghost!" I heard Dad snapping.
I saw Vlad, still in his Plasmius form, floating up in the air, holding an unconscious Danny Phantom, and a helmet in his other hand.
"Don't mind me," Vlad said in a cheery tone, trying to seem friendly. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm simply here to take care of the problem that is Danny Phantom, as he has caused reckless chaos for all the great people of Wisconsin."
With that said, Vlad took off into the sky, still holding onto Danny and the helmet he took from Dad.
"He took the Fenton Personification Helmet…" Mom frowned.
"What? What does that do!?" Jazz demanded.
"In that friendly acting ghost's hands, probably reform Danny Phantom into something that will help instead of cause harm and chaos," Dad responded.
"Friendly!? When did you start calling a ghost friendly!?" Jazz snapped. "What if that ghost plans on making Danny Phantom evil!? He could send Phantom to destroy us!"
Mom raised a brow at that. "Jazz, honey, why are you defending such a vile ghost like Phantom? And what do you mean by 'make Phantom evil'? That ghost child already is evil personified."
"I don't know where you two got the idea that Wisconsin Ghost is friendly, but he certainly isn't, and Danny Phantom isn't evil, I can't believe you two!" Jazz hissed before she started to storm away.
"Jazz! Where are you going?" Dad frowned.
Mom stopped Dad and began to whisper something to him which made his expression become much more serious.
Jazz rushed over in my direction, likely seeing I had fallen somewhere around here. "J-Jazz…?"
"Andy! You need to turn back!" Jazz quickly ordered as she glanced over her shoulder. "Then we need to head back home, get the Specter Speeder, and go after Vlad and Danny."
I gave a nod to that. I wouldn't be able to fly after Vlad in the state I was in, not to mention I would risk getting shot down again by Mom or, by some dumb luck, Dad.
I suddenly found myself standing in Vlad's secret lab in his mansion in Wisconsin. Jazz, Tucker, Sam, and I had taken the Specter Speeder to get here. Unfortunately, Vlad was prepared for us. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam were trapped in domes of 'human shields' as Vlad called it. I found myself back in my ghost form, facing Vlad. Danny was lying on a table with the Fenton Personification Helmet on his head. I saw a screen next to Danny that said 'reprogramming: 89%'
"Don't worry, Andrew~" Vlad smirked. "It'll be your turn next. And perhaps afterwards, you sister and your friends. I may even want to try and recreate the accident with them, make them into halfas like you~ However, I would be perfectly fine with seeing what other results may occur."
"You'll kill them if you do!" I warned. "Not everyone would be able to survive that kind of accident."
"Especially without the gift of protection from the Ghost Zone, from what I have heard," Vlad responded. "It would be interesting to test if that 'gift' was given to the whole Fenton family, to those closest to them, or to just you and your brother."
"Vlad, I know that you want a family of your own, but why must you go to such extreme measures? Don't you see what you're doing? If you 'reprogram' someone, they'll change forever, you don't even know if Danny will want to be your son after this!" I hissed.
"I'm not reprogramming Daniel, young Andrew," Vlad informed. "I am simply switching all the signals in his head that tell him something is 'bad' to make it so that everything 'bad' is 'good'. Of course, I have implanted a few memories of him asking me to be his teacher and father as nobody could understand his struggles like I could."
I was trying to fly to Danny, to fire a ghost ray, to make a plasma rod or a plasma gun, but I felt weak. I could hardly move, I was struggling just to remain in my ghost form.
"The process is nearly done," Vlad remarked as he looked up at a screen with a progress bar. "Should only be a few more…"
'Reprograming: 98%' I noticed the screen beside Danny say.
"Vlad, please stop. It's not too late. You don't know what this would do to Danny," I softly begged.
"You could've stopped this from happening, Andrew, had you not betray me before," Vlad coldly replied.
There was a ding, like the sound of an egg timer going off.
"Looks like it's done~" Vlad grinned as he walked over and took the helmet off Danny. "Rise, my son, greet your brother properly~"
Danny slowly opened his eyes. My own eyes widened as his eyes were a crimson red instead of green. But Danny wasn't in his Corrupted form, that's what made this more eerie. Danny looked at me with some pity before he looked around and smiled.
"Finally decide to come join us, bro?" Danny asked with a hopeful expression.
"Wh-what?" I looked at Danny in shock.
Danny sighed a little as he stood up and walked over to me, the helmet laying on the table. "Have you seriously forgotten all our conversations, bro? Vlad is the best parent for us. If Mom and Dad ever found out about us, they'd experiment on us or wind up killing us, making us full ghosts. They could never understand our unique situation and wouldn't be able to help us train or get stronger. However, Vlad both understands us and can teach us. He's been turning over a new leaf as well. After all, he's running for mayor of Amity Park and stopped those assassins that were sent to kill us."
I looked at Danny, unable to process what I was hearing from him. I knew Vlad said he implanted memories into Danny during his 'reprogramming', but I didn't know it was to this extent, and to hear Danny saying those things, it didn't feel real. This can't be real…
And yet, it was all too real.
"No! What have you done to him, Vlad!?" I shouted in anger before I managed to get enough adrenaline to fire ghost rays at Vlad, and destroyed some of his lab equipment.
Vlad frowned at Danny. "Perhaps we should help him, Daniel, before he causes any more destruction."
"You change him back right now!" I demanded.
"Sorry, Andrew, I can't do that even if I wanted to. The change is permanent," Vlad stated to me. "Guess you'll just have to welcome Daniel as he is now. After I check the damages and replace anything important, he and I will welcome you to our family. After all, it would be wrong of me to keep twin brothers separated from each other for too long."
"I'd rather be a full ghost over becoming a part of your messed up, brainwashed family!" I growled before someone grabbed my shoulders and moved me up into the air, then they held onto my waist tightly.
"Take him somewhere he can't hurt himself or escape for now, Daniel," Vlad instructed.
"Yes, Father," I winced when I heard Danny say that from behind me.
I struggled in Danny's hold as he went intangible and went through the lab's wall. "Danny! Stop! You can't honestly tell me you believe Vlad is actually the best parent for us, do you? He messed with your mind! He used that helmet that was on your head to implant memories in your head, and messed with your mind!"
"Andy, calm down," Danny stated as we continued to move.
I stopped for a moment. Wait, is Danny… did he somehow trick Vlad? Maybe he's still Danny, and he's trying to get us out of here.
"Fighting me is only going to end up wasting your energy," Danny continued. "I'm not going to let you get hurt, I promise."
"What? Danny! You're not Vlad's son! You don't even like him!" I snapped, getting desperate.
Danny then put me down in a room. I looked up to see it was a smaller looking lab. Then Danny pushed a button on the wall, and we were surrounded by what appeared to be the Ghost Shield, but if Vlad tinkered with it, it was also a human shield, meaning I wouldn't be able to escape as either a ghost or a human.
"You're right on both counts," Danny agreed. "I'm not his son, nor do I like him. He has yet to fill out the appropriate adoption paperwork and he needs to go to court to get custody of me. And as for the whole 'not like him', I admire him as a mentor and a father figure. Jack was an alright Dad, but he was also a bit of a klutz and ended up injuring us or him or Mom just because he added a button in a spot he forgot or removed a safety feature. He's honestly a danger to be around. It's a surprise he hasn't ended up creating an explosion that would wipe out all of Amity Park."
"But despite that, you still love and care about Dad," I pointed out. "Or you… used to…"
"Andy…" Danny sighed.
"Don't argue with me. Your head was messed with, nothing you say will ever convince me that Vlad is 'the better parent'," I snapped.
"Fine, then I won't talk," Danny shrugged as he walked over and sat down.
I walked away from Danny and sat down in a corner. I ended up reverting back to my human form as I didn't see the point in staying in my ghost form anymore. I also wanted to cry, to mourn for the brother that no longer existed.
I have failed. I couldn't save Danny… now he's gone. All that's left is this husk of him who's now Vlad's perfect son. I can't escape. I can't find Tucker, Sam, or Jazz. My parents have no idea what's going on. I'm all alone now, and there's nothing I can do… I thought to myself in despair. Was there really no better timeline for this? No better way this could've ended? Can Clockwork not interfere this time? Can… I do anything this time?
I heard footsteps moving around. I looked up from my position in the corner, and turned my head to see Danny walking over to a table, reaching out for a container that had something in it. It looked like the container was holding several little glowing orbs of some kind.
"What is that?" I found myself asking without meaning to.
"It's a snack," Danny answered as he picked up the container, opened it, then reached in and took an orb before he brought the orb to his mouth and inserted it in whole before swallowing. "Ahh… delicious."
I blinked, then furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I tried to figure out what he just ate. It didn't look like any pieces of candy I've seen. Or was it some kind of supplementary pill? It didn't look like any pill I've seen either.
I saw Danny eating more orbs in the container before he looked at me.
"You want one?" Danny offered. "They're pretty yummy and are essentially like oversized grapes. But instead of chewing, you swallow them whole."
"What are they exactly?" I questioned first. "They're glowing."
"From what I understand, they're ghost cores, except ghosts that no longer deserved to live," Danny responded. "These were ghosts that caused chaos or hurt other ghosts just because they could."
"What!? You're eating ghost cores!?" I shouted in shock and horror. "How could you eat ghost cores as if they're just grapes!?" The last time he ate ghost cores was when he was… he was...
"They serve a better purpose this way," Danny said as he ate yet another of the ghost cores, making me cringe. "This way, instead of causing chaos or harm, they're helping me to get stronger so I can better protect Amity Park."
"You can't do that! You're eating the ghost, Danny! That's wrong!" I pointed out while freaking out.
"What's wrong is throwing them in jail for a decade or two and letting them out to just continue what they were doing before," Danny responded. "Jail doesn't help people or ghosts change for the better. This way helps reduce the necessity of ghost jails and helps make the Ghost Zone a safer place for all ghosts."
Serving a better purpose? Making the Ghost Zone a safer place? That's just what Corrupted Danny would do and say! I realized.
"Vlad and I are going to go after Skulker later, considering he has killed countless ghosts for his 'collection'," Danny informed. "Not to mention, Skulker really ticked Vlad off, so Vlad's going to fire him and then consume him."
I felt like I wasn't even looking at Danny anymore, I was starting to see Corrupted Danny.
Danny yawned a little as he put the lid back on the container. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take a nap."
I just stood there, frozen, feeling scared out of my mind at this point. Danny didn't seem to notice or didn't care, as long as I was here, he was content. Danny floated in the air before 'laying' down and closed his eyes. I stared at Danny, I didn't even know he could sleep in midair.
I need to get out of here! Vlad is going to turn me into THAT! It doesn't matter if Danny is in his Corrupted form or not, Vlad… corrupted him beyond repair. I can't stay here. I have to get out. I just hope that Vlad won't do anything to Tucker, Sam, and Jazz.
I didn't know how long I spent trying to find a way out of the lab. But I grew desperate, I knew Vlad would be here soon with that accursed helmet. I should've aimed for that helmet and destroyed it. I reached into my core and forced myself to transform despite how tired and drained I was. I began to ram into the walls, trying to break my way through the dome. I began to wish I had Danny's Ghostly Wail to break this horrid shield.
"Let me out! Let… me… out!" I shouted as I kept ramming the walls with my body.
I fell to the floor, injured and exhausted. I could barely move an inch as my body shifted back to its human form. After a few moments, Danny walked over, holding a ghost core in his hand.
"I can't watch you kill yourself, bro…" Danny sighed as he kneeled down, bringing the ghost core towards my mouth. "I know you may not enjoy this, but it's what is required right now because of your fruitless attempts to escape."
I couldn't move, but I kept my mouth sealed tight.
Danny frowned before his hand turned intangible, the ghost core going intangible as well. "I don't need to feed it to you, bro, it's just the more preferred method. The other option is a bit… unsettling and makes you feel strange all over."
My eyes widened as I realized what he was about to do. I desperately started to struggle. "No! Get away from me!"
I felt something soft in my arms, and it was moving. What is happening to me…?
"Don't worry, bro, I got you," Danny said in a tone that was meant to be assuring, but was doing the exact opposite for me.
"Stop! I don't want to be like you!" I screamed as I shut my eyes and kept struggling as much as I could.
I felt a strange cooling sensation and felt completely drained. I somehow fell back down, but the floor didn't feel so cold and hard, it felt like I was lying on something warm and firm. The soft thing in my arm kept moving though. I slowly began to open my eyes to see what Danny had done to me.
"Andy, wake up!"
"Come on, bro…"
I gasped as if I had been drowning and started inhaling much needed air. I saw Danny standing over me, strangely in his human form. My eyes widened in alarm when I realized I wasn't in the lab anymore. Where am I!? Did I pass out? Did Danny take me to his new room to get me brainwashed!?
"Andy, are you-" Danny started to reach out to me, but I quickly flinched away.
"Stay back!" I shouted.
"Andy, calm down!" Hope spoke up. "You're safe now!"
"Hope!? Why are you here!?" I asked in a panic, before realizing that there wasn't a Ghost Shield blocking my escape route anymore.
Danny picked up Hope. "She's worried about you, like I am. Andy, you need to calm down. Everything is okay, bro."
Seeing Danny picking Hope up, I realized that either Hope decided to stay with Danny and Vlad, or they brainwashed her somehow. I needed to get out before they get to me. For some reason, my core was all better now, I didn't feel drained or exhausted anymore. How long was I out!?
I quickly transformed into my Phantom form, which seemed to have shocked Danny and Hope. Did they think I wouldn't do this as soon as I was able to? Or did they think I was already brainwashed but it somehow failed?
"Andy, please calm down, you were having a-" Hope started, but I didn't give her a chance to finish whatever nonsense she was going to say.
"Just stay away from me!" I snapped at both of them before I turned intangible and flew out the window and into the night sky as quickly as I could.
"Andy! Wait! ANDY!" I heard Danny calling out after me.
I turned myself invisible and flew into the city, knowing it was my best chance to stay hidden from Danny.
Reviews
Auguste the Clown: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's really fun to flesh out the culture of the Ghost Zone and ghosts. I got the idea for the Newcomer's Guide to the Ghost Zone from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While we will be adding more culture and background and history, we won't be making it a separate story.
DarkFoxKit: Even with the guide book, the brothers won't know everything, just the basic stuff. Because it wouldn't be fun if they can just pull out the book and know something right off the bat. As for the culture of the Ghost Zone, I actually decided on that after reading another Danny Phantom fanfiction, they focused a lot on the Ghost Zone's culture which inspired me to add some myself. You ever read Mortified? My ideas are an inspiration from that story.
Anime lover 3593: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, there's probably going to be quite a few of those kinds of chapters. We're not just going to write out the plot of Danny Phantom, we're also going to have original 'episodes' and slices of life chapters to make the story feel more alive, which is ironic since it's about ghosts. XD
The weather ghost in season 3 is indeed Vortex, but there's a reason why he's called Tempest here and not Vortex. We won't say yet as it is spoilers.
Yeah, the holiday was a good way to show more culture in the Ghost Zone. After reading another Danny Phantom fanfiction called 'Mortified', which focused heavily on Ghost Zone culture, I decided to add some in of my own. My ideas are inspired from Mortified, but I also try to keep it my own so I wouldn't be copying them too much. And yes, Andy and Danny are really young, Well, their ghost age is the same as their normal ages, it's just their core is very young, being only about a year old or less for Danny, even less so for Andy. Danny technically never lost his core when Desiree granted Sam's wish, she just made it go inert, the second accident woke it up again.
As for how old you need to be to not be considered a ghost child anymore, I'm not sure if I should explain it here or not. That is a question that plans to be asked later, but I don't really think it's all that spoilery either. An adult who dies a ghost could already be considered an adult, but are in need of an education to learn about the Ghost Zone's culture. A child who becomes a ghost is considered a true ghost child, and their minds easier for ghosts to mold. It's why they're considered rare, and why adult ghosts want to snatch them up. A ghost also… ages much slower than a living being, so depending on how young the ghost child was when they died, or if they were born a ghost, it could take hundreds of years.
Box Lunch and Youngblood were born as ghosts, so they're natural ghost children. Or Youngblood could be an adult ghost wanting to look like a child. The core usually tells ghosts if he's actually a child or not. At least that's how it will work in this story.
Reality Trip is a one hour special, so it's going to be quite a long one from us, we'll also be doing original content as well as slices of life chapters, just a heads up.
Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'm glad you enjoyed the flower festival, it was a blast to write. And I shall ignore your treachery because that pun was quite… *Is trying not to giggle or reveal just how funny it was* average.
RedHood001: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I was surprised at how many people were interested in the lore we gave the Ghost Zone. I'm glad we could show ghosts who are kind hearted, so they're not just ghosts who love to make mischief and cause panic in Amity Park.
We thought it would be easier to write out actual holidays in the real world but put a ghostly spin on it instead of making up a whole new holiday. There might be a few holidays only ghosts can celebrate though. The food menu part was pretty funny, it was like writing for a Halloween menu.
Yeah, Danny and Andy have been to the Ghost Zone a few times, but this was their first time actually just experiencing it instead of going through it with a mission in mind. It was nice to show how curious they were, and when they're in a more relaxed environment, how childish they could be.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I've never played any of the Devil May Cry games but I do know the general attitude of it. Andy's training will definitely be fun to write out. We might skip more of the mundane parts and just write the interesting portions. Yes, we do have lore on ghost cores in the works here for WAP. We don't have any lore for a Ghost Fruit right now or anything like that. And yeah… you probably shouldn't review when you're fresh in the Devil May Cry mindset, otherwise you may give me or Fox horrifying ideas.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Oh, no, the finale for season 2 is Kindred Spirits, the episode where Danielle was created. Hehe, seems a lot of people became interested in the Ghost Zone culture. We'll be adding more to that in the future. I feel like Butch was trying to add more culture to the Ghost Zone in season 3, what with the Far Frozen, and the Infi-Map, and the whole portals that go into different time periods in the real world. There was even a court that Vortex was in. So yeah, there probably was plans for a Ghost Zone culture when the show was cancelled.
Yes, his name is Vortex in the show. But he called himself Tempest here for reasons that we will not be revealing due to it being spoilers. As for what the Observants said about Vortex… again, spoiler stuff we can't reveal right now. The Observants are a bit weird, perhaps they can still arrest those that cause trouble in the Ghost Zone, and they just can't interfere with the living world. Or maybe Butch just forgot about that detail like he so often did in Fairly Odd Parents. As for why the Observants care about what happens on Earth, they obviously cared about Dan going on a rampage on Earth, so it might be their duty to watch over time on Earth as well, not just the Ghost Zone.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Double Cross My Heart, but it is a slice of life episode, so we do need to revamp it up a bit since we have our own slices of life chapters. And considering how things will turn out in our version of Reality Trip, there's more of a reason to change the episode itself. And yes, I do agree about Sam spying on Danny and Valerie, while she got mad at Danny for spying on her and Gregor/Elliot. Danny didn't seem to mind it much while Sam got mad at him. At least we know Danny is calmer than Sam most of the time.
As for Elliot pretending to be a foreign exchange student, I'm guessing he was just an average kid in Casper High who admired Sam from afar, then he changed his hair style, got it dyed white, then gave himself that fake accent so he could get close to her. That's my guess as to why Elliot did what he did anyways. And while it would've been cool to have Elliot turn out to be a spy for the GIW, I kind of appreciated that they didn't take that route, because it's been done to death at this point already. Sometimes you just want to have a character you want to hate for being a jerk rather than being a secret spy or something. Personally I kind of wished they made Gregor genuine, it would've changed the group's dynamic, and Danny would have to face the possibility that Sam may have a boyfriend who isn't him.
Raidentensho: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': In the wise words of John Cena, are you sure about that? That being in response to Tempest no doubt being a brother or duplicate of Vortex. You are right on where we got the name for the guidebook from. I loved the movie and could help but make a reference to it. That last bit about getting a piece of Vortex or Tempest's powers got Fox thinking about stuff. She really liked all the ideas you had.
DarkFoxKit: To be fair, I already had ideas like that for the brothers when we get to Vortex's episode. But getting more ideas can't hurt~
haloguardian452: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's fair to call it a special in that regard.
Jarjar100: DarkFoxKit: Okay, hello new fan, I must say I'm impressed and commend you for being able to read all of the chapters from My Brother's a Ghost to the current chapter in We Are Phantoms. I fear my long chapters might scare away new readers though, so I thank you for being able to stick with the story for as long as you did. And now I will answer each of your reviews…
1: Heh, the Dustin arc could've easily been a messy one, since Dustin was a character Key2DestNE created, and intended to use throughout the story, but since he left, I had to figure out a different purpose for Dustin. Since I was just fresh off of Undertale at the time, I found out the perfect role for him, and I'm glad to see how it turned out.
2: We didn't originally intend to make Hope, but it just sort of happened. After watching Danganronpa 2, we loved Usami, so we made Hope who was pretty much Usami but more sassy. Hope is meant to be as a minor character who talks to Andy from time to time. But who knows, maybe Hope might play a more important role later.
3: Oh yeah, I've always planned on Dash and Valerie to finding out about Andy half ghost status. Though the 'when' is still being planned out.
4: Season 3 was definitely different from the rest of the show after Steve Marmel left, but I wouldn't say it was horrible. Yeah it became less of the show we came to know and love, but there were ideas and things about it that showed potential, and I did enjoy some of season 3. But I will admit, the 'ending' was not really an ending, it was more of a 'let's hurry and give this show a finale before it gets cancelled' thing. D-Stabilized did promise there was going to be more, only for them to break that promise and stomp it down with their feet. So yeah, I usually don't watch Phantom Planet after finishing D-Stabilized, so I could at the very least pretend that the show just ended there. That would've been preferable than it being ended the weird way that it did. But on the plus side, we do have something planned for Phantom Planet here~
5: Heh, then you should read Mortified, another Danny Phantom fanfiction. My idea for the Ghost Zone culture mostly came from that story.
6: Oh? You liked that parody chapter? Most people said it was confusing, or were irritated we made a filler chapter there. I don't know if we'll make another one since it does mess with our chapter numbers. I think if we did, it would be separate or something.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': For 7; while I understand you felt those arcs were dragged out, we didn't feel that way. We really wanted to flesh out the episodes that felt like they had so much potential. We do have future arcs which will likely seem dragged out as we wanted to add more substance to the episodes and have more character and relationship development. As for switching to Danny's POV, that's pretty much exactly what is happening. Andy asks Danny to write in the events he wasn't there to witness himself.
8: We may mention that at some point but Andy really doesn't plan to share his journals just yet as they are just that, journals.
9. Yes, we are indeed making a season 4 and hopefully more. We have a lot of ideas for the future that we want to bring to life here.
DarkFoxKit: Chiming in on number 8, Andy does plan on getting his journals published at some point since you're all reading it. XP
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': He is holding off on it at the moment as he is debating whether or not his work is good enough to be published.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': What we do may be a bit cliche but we've been testing out the idea elsewhere and feel that it works well enough to bring in here.
DarkFoxKit: Originally it was due to genetics and other things that they survived, as it was sort of addressed during the movie in My Brother's a Ghost, and early on in We Are Phantoms. But we decided on something else as well.