A/N: It actually took me months to realize but turkey burgers are not very good. I'm going back to beef.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.
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Daniel was sitting around the table, his shirt having been removed for the sake of bandaging up his lower back. The stiches had come loose during his travel to get here, and he had overexerted himself in the Zone, making it so that his healing factor had ultimately slowed to a barely working level.
The pain was intense for the halfa, but he refused to show any weakness.
The pulsing, stinging, and sharp pain was causing him to clench his teeth harshly every couple of seconds. He wouldn't outwardly show any signs of pain, lest a weakness of his be exposed. The last thing that he wanted was sympathy or pity from any of the involved parties that he was forced to be with at the time.
He held a cup of coffee in his hands, the pale gray cup seemed to go with the overall color scheme in Skulker's cottage home. The walls were dark grays and blues with a splash of dark greens on adjacent walls. He wondered if Ember ever had the chance to decorate the home since it didn't have a 'woman's touch' anywhere.
There were miscellaneous decorations hung around the walls, mostly pictures of himself over his latest prey that he had caught. Adorned on the walls were also certificates and prizes for hunting, though Daniel could see that the dates were old – about fifty to sixty years from the current date.
Daniel assumed it was collected from Skulker's home from when he was still…alive.
"How is it?" Skulker asked, his arms crossed as he leaned into the back of the couch. Daniel perked his head up at being addressed, and then glanced down at the warm cup he was holding in his hands. The temperature of the beverage had decreased enough to drink the contents that was inside of it, but even if it hadn't, Daniel still would have consumed it.
Daniel didn't wait for a second invitation and took a little sip of the beverage.
It had been bitter – he wondered briefly if the hunter had any active taste buds left to actually taste what the ghost was making. To be honest – it tasted as though the ghost had went outside, scooped dirt from the ground, and splashed some hot water on top before stirring.
The teen swallowed, lowering the cup to rest on his lap – best to not outright anger the host.
He gave him a raised eyebrow, debating on the verbiage that he was going to say to the hunter ghost. "A little bitter…?"
Skulker grumbled, not a clear fan of the criticism from the halfa. "Better than tea, right?" He spat out, comparing his hospitality to being better than Plasmius'. No doubt he was reminiscing less than fondly on the forced 'tea time' that Vlad would constantly have back at the mansion for when guests had arrived.
Daniel also was forced to tag along on those social ventures.
I would have rather stabbed my eyes out with a butter knife.
"Anything is better than tea," Daniel replied with a small frown, looking down at the murky water that was inside of the cup.
Skulker mumbled underneath his breath, incomprehensively, before looking over at Danielle, who was looking at her brother with a wide smile. "Stop looking at the brat like he's amazing-!"
"He is amazing!" Danielle argued, her smile widening. She didn't seem to understand that this wasn't the same Danny that she had known and loved – this one was much different. "He survived with that big hole in his back!" She stood up with her hands clenched with excitement, raising them up in the air. "Did you see how massive it was-?"
It felt massive, too.
"The perimeter is clear," Valerie announced, walking into the cottage from the outside. She closed the door behind her and scratched the top of her head. She glanced around the living room to find that the hunter ghost and half ghosts were leisurely sitting around having what appeared to be coffee. "How are you all acting like this is normal…?"
Daniel didn't respond to her, but Danielle floated over to where Valerie was.
"Valerie!" She greeted with a beaming smile. "Welcome back!"
Valerie looked at the younger halfa with a curious look.
The urge to say something sarcastic was at the top of her tongue, but Danielle had never truly wronged her in the past. That, and she was essentially not even a year old at this point in her life, although she looked like she was at least twelve.
"Thanks…" Valerie spoke softly to her. Then, she looked at Daniel, who was still in deep thought as he was looking down at the coffee in the cup. "How are you feeling after a few days of rest?"
"Well enough to go to the Far Frozen," Daniel responded, placing the cup on the glass table in front of him. He glanced at Valerie, seeing the subtle glare, and then darted his eyes expectantly over at Skulker. "So?" He prompted. "Am I cleared to go…?"
Skulker stared at the teen with an unamused look on his face. "You still have a gaping hole in your back." At seeing the unmoving stare that Daniel was shooting him with, the hunter ghost let out a mocking sigh and shook his head. "No. You still need rest."
Daniel scoffed at his words, not hearing the answer that he had wanted. "I don't need to rest-!"
"Then, you aren't cleared…" Valerie agreed with the ghost harshly. "Get back to bed," she spoke with a sigh. It was though she was telling a child what to do – a child who only knew how to push forward and not recover and heal. "The faster you sleep and recover the sooner we can go to the Far Frozen."
Daniel narrowed his eyes at the cup with distaste. "Fine."
"Do I need to put up a small ghost shield to make sure you don't escape-?" Valerie pressed, knowing just how rebellious and head strong the old Danny was. She was glad to know that this one still had those qualities…though, now she was hating that small fact.
Daniel wasn't satisfied with his current predicament. He didn't want to be a burden on anyone else around him, and this injury of his was tearing him up –
He didn't like to be weak.
He was only wasting time as Vlad was organizing the final showdown.
Daniel sighed. "No…" he spoke, standing up from his spot on the couch.
He stumbled to the left, where Skulker stood up quickly to stabilize him. The hunter ghost grabbed his upper arm gently, careful to not hurt the recovering half ghost that he held in his grasp. Daniel glanced over, blinking his eyes a few times as a wave of drowsiness hit him.
"Thanks," Daniel spoke without any gratitude in his voice.
Skulker slowly let him go, but kept a watchful eye on him as he headed towards the back of the cottage, where the bedrooms were. After the teen was out of his sight, he turned to Valerie. "I'm…" Skulker trailed. "Concerned," he admitted out loud, causing Danielle to frown at her guardian's words.
"I am, too," Valerie sat on the couch where Daniel had been sitting previously. She placed her hands together and rested her elbows on her knees. "We all are," she shook her head and closed her eyes briefly. "I don't know what he's been through, but it's as if…" Valerie opened her eyes to stare at the floor. "Plasmius has erased him and left only the bad parts."
Skulker leaned back in his chair, letting out a heavy exhale. "I take it you don't know?"
Valerie pursed her lips in confusion, but she had perked her head up at his words. "Don't know what?"
"The extreme training regimen that Plasmius had put the poor kid on…?" Skulker let his question hang in the air. Valerie didn't know anything that had happened when Danny was locked up in the mansion. She knew that some terrible events had happened, but didn't know the extent of it.
Danielle hovered over to where Skulker was. "What did he do?" The twelve year old was unable to keep the anger and malice out of her voice. Even though Danny was older than her, she felt an undying loyalty towards her older brother. "What…What did Vlad do…?" Her hands were shaking from the pent up rage she had felt about her creator.
…
…
"Get up," Plasmius ordered, and Danny was left sprawled on the ground.
His upper right arm had been bleeding from where he had been scratched by an ecto-weapon, and his entire back had been burned from an ecto-blast. He didn't have any time to recover, or even stand to his feet. The only thing that he could do was minimize the mixture of green and red oozing from his open wound by placing his free hand on the top of it.
"No son of mine will be weak…" Plasmius added with a scoff – adding insult to injury.
Danny could hear the older halfas footsteps drawing nearer, feeling a small spike of fear with each step that he had heard. For every step that was coming closer to him, it might as well have been another injury added to his body.
The teen dug his hands into the ground and raised himself up to his knees. He looked up just in time to see a kick being delivered towards his face. Danny placed his arms out to cover his head, and so the kick managed to be targeted to his forearms instead.
He went flying across the training room and tumbled harshly onto the ground, creating a new set of bruises that would soon decorate his entire body. Letting out a pained grumble, he once more attempted to get to his hands and knees.
I hurt…
"Get up, Daniel."
It hurts…
The teen began to tremble – from the depleted energy…or the fear…he didn't know.
"V-Vlad-!" Danny yelled, desperate for the man to stop his onslaught of abuse. He looked up at the older halfa, his eyes widening. His entire body had felt sore…he didn't know how much longer he would be able to stay conscious.
His eyes were already seeing stars.
"Please, stop-!"
You're going to kill me.
Plasmius sent an ecto-blast towards the teenager as a response.
You're going to kill me-!
Danny put up an ecto-shield as a last resort.
He covered his head with his arms, not wanting to see the inevitable attack land.
Danny didn't want to feel the intense, overwhelming heat that accompanied each energy-blast. The horrid stench of his skin being burned and the residual pain that each blast left behind – the burning lasted for hours and Vlad wouldn't even let him access his ice powers privately to help with the painful sensation.
"Get. Up," Plasmius barked out, now directly in front of the teenager.
Danny couldn't help the unstoppable trembling as he stared up at the adult that was nearly about to kill him. Plasmius raised a hand out, another ecto-blast being charged mercilessly. Danny could see the pink being created in the palm of man's gloved hands and couldn't look away – couldn't look away from the next painful, skin tearing attack that would be directed towards him.
I'm going to die.
He could hear the faint hum of the energy being created, and could practically already feel the pain that it would cause him.
I'm going to die…
When the next attack landed – Danny screamed.
…
…
"Danny!" Danielle yelled, the first to hear the pain inducing wails coming from the back bedroom he was staying in. It had been like this for the past couple of days as he recovered – the nights would be drawn out with ear-screeching screams.
She went to go and comfort her brother but was prevented when Skulker's hand landed on her shoulder. The twelve year old halfa shrugged off the hand and glared up at him. "I don't want him to keep suffering, dad!" She argued, making Skulker's eyes soften. "He needs us-!"
Valerie was beginning to understand why Skulker wouldn't let anyone wake Daniel up from his trauma induced nightmares. "He'll only refuse our help," she spoke gently to Danielle. "He doesn't want to worry us, and these nightmares that he keeps having…" She shook her head.
Valerie rose her hand and rubbed her forehead.
"It's…" She let out a sigh. "It's only going to make him hate himself more than he already does."
Danielle's eyes widened, glancing at Valerie and then Skulker.
"We want him to keep resting here and get better. If we need to endure his nightmares for the next couple of nights then that's what we'll do," Valerie spoke, not liking the idea, but she knew this was the best thing for Daniel right now.
She would never be able to talk to him about these nightmares, or what he had been through if he wasn't in a sharing mood. Trying to get him to share his experiences would only push him away, and that was the last thing that she had wanted to happen.
"You knew?" Danielle asked, turning to look at Skulker. "Why didn't you tell me?" She was met with silence, since Skulker didn't know how to tell his surrogate daughter the truth. He only looked down at the carpet of the living room with a timid frown placed on his face.
Danielle seemed to understand and dropped the topic.
The echoing screams of a traumatized teenager loomed in the background, making the other occupants in the room tense with an uncomfortable dread.
…
…
Danielle couldn't stop staring at Daniel, who was looking out into the horizon of the ghost zone. From their position on Skulker's realm, he could see the faint colors of purple and green swirl together. Daniel was trying to remember the exact path to the Far Frozen but was finding it hard to concentrate with a stare pointed directly at him.
He eventually blinked his eyes, casting a raised eyebrow down at her.
"What?" He asked bluntly.
"Nothing-!" Danielle chided back, quickly looking away as she twirled her thumbs together. A couple of seconds passed before she opened her mouth again. "How…are you feeling?"
Daniel frowned slightly at the question. "Fine," he breathed out, taking a second to process her words. "Should I not be…?" He questioned, wondering what prompted the question.
It could have been a casual conversation starter, it might have been because he was a recovering patient, though the pain in his back was clearing up with each passing hour.
The halfa felt that he could definitely fly deeper into the zone and not be a hindrance to anyone else at this point.
"If you feel fine, Danny…" Danielle spoke, and the teen standing beside her became tense at the name that she addressed him with.
That's not my name – I'm not him.
He forced himself to relax and then turned himself around to enter the house again.
"But…!" She added, causing the halfa to stop in his tracks to look back at her. "If you aren't feeling….good…"
I'm tired of these games she keeps playing with me.
"Are you keeping something from me-?" Daniel began, narrowing his eyes in suspicion and accusation at the same time.
Danielle took a step back, recognizing that very same expression as one that Vlad used to use on her. She shivered, ecto-blasts forming in the palm of her hands as she desperately attempted to remain calm and keep her composure. It sent memories that she wished she could desperately forget rise back to the forefront of her mind – she was practically reliving being burned into goop over and over again before Danny had stabilized her.
It made her want to run far away from Daniel.
"Daniel," Valerie spoke, opening up the door. "Are you trying to jeopardize your health?" She kicked it open with her foot and waved him inside. Daniel scoffed at getting caught outside instead of resting in that room he was locked inside of. "Get. In," she pointed, seeing the unnerved state of Danielle.
Daniel didn't turn around to see if his clone was alright – he kept walking into the house, not making eye contact with anyone since he was being ordered around.
It was driving him insane –
He didn't like to be coddled.
He wasn't weak.
Once he was inside of the house, Valerie turned to look at Danielle. "Hey," she spoke, getting the young girl's eyes to dart towards her. "You okay?" Valerie asked gently, walking over to her. "You look…" She paused for a few seconds. "Shaken up."
"I-I…" Danielle stuttered, coming down from her frightened state. "I'm fine," she breathed out in relief. "He looked like V-Vlad just then and…!" She rubbed her arm with her hand – a subtle, unconscious movement to calm herself. "It was scary."
"Ellie," Valerie spoke. "You need to understand that…Danny…isn't the same person that you used to know," Danielle nodded at her words. "He was with that psychopath for months. He was brainwashing him for who knows how long of it," she crossed her arms and sighed. "Probably manipulated his words and actions against him – that's how Vlad is."
Danielle nodded again. "It's still…" She raised her eyes and looked at Valerie. "It's still scary…"
Valerie smiled. "Our Danny might not come back, and I know that might be hard to understand for right now…" She lowered her arms to her sides. "Pieces of him are still in there, though. It'll just take some time to see it."
"So…" She squinted her eyes, trying to understand what she was saying. "Pieces of him are still in there…?"
"I think so," Valerie patted the back of Danielle. "Let's go back inside. I think I already hear the start of Skulker and him arguing…" She let out a small sigh. "Again."
Danielle chuckled light heartedly.
…
…
"All patched up and ready to go," Daniel spoke grimly, walking out of the door. He didn't wait around to see if Valerie was going to catch up to him or not. As far as he saw it – he had a task to do. No one else was going to slow him down –
Not even himself.
"Brat!" Skulker called from behind him. He threw a bottle of glowing medicine towards the halfa, and Daniel caught it with ease in one hand. Daniel turned around to look at the hunter ghost with a raised eyebrow. "It's for the journey. Painkillers."
Daniel turned his head. "I don't need these –
They'll only slow me down and make me weak.
"Thanks, Skulker," Valerie thanked the ghost, accepting the medication on Daniel's behalf before heading out of the house. "He'll try not to get into too much trouble." Valerie locked eyes with Skulker – the two of them seeming to have a silent, telepathic conversation that only they could hear.
Skulker nodded and turned his head, his hand lingering on the door.
Danielle didn't see the two of them off, instead she watched by the nearby window. She was keeping a stern eye on Daniel, and thought that he would change into Vlad at a second's notice. It was terrifying how much of his mannerisms that the teenager now adapted to fit himself.
"Not going to say goodbye-?" Skulker asked Danielle, who had seen Valerie summoned her hover board with the click of her feet. She had seen Daniel shift with black rings around his mid-section, instantly causing a flinch from the young girl. "Elle," the hunter ghost spoke. "You just need to give him time. They just rescued him a week ago."
"I know…" Danielle spoke weakly.
She was scared of Vlad and everything that he stood for – he had wanted to kill her.
He wanted her dead.
"You know but you're still scared?" Skulker asked, sitting down by the girl that was resting on the couch. "It's okay to be scared," he patted her shoulder. Danielle looked over at him. "I get scared, too, sometimes."
"Of Vlad?" Danielle whispered.
Skulker narrowed his eyes as he turned away to glare at the wall. "Especially of Vlad…" He all but growled out. Danielle was quiet for a few seconds. "But, don't worry," he gave her a small smile, turning to look over at his surrogate daughter. "I won't let him harm even a hair on my daughter's head," he pointed a finger on her forehead.
This caused Danielle to smile with reassurance.
…
…
"You didn't say goodbye to Danielle…" Valerie stated, glancing lightly over at the halfa that was flying by her side.
"Hmm?" Daniel asked, taking a few seconds to interpret her words. "Oh," he nodded numbly. "Didn't see a need to."
Valerie glared. "Why didn't you see a need to?" She asked harshly. "She is like your little sister, Daniel…" She couldn't help the scoff that escaped from her throat.
"No," Daniel argued weakly. "She's Danny's little sister," he shrugged. "I don't know how to respond to her. I'm not him. I'm me…" He let out a small breath. "She wouldn't like me – not when I remind her of him."
"Plasmius?"
Daniel nodded at Valerie's question. "I'm still coming out of his control. It wouldn't be best if I was around her right now." He kept flying straight for a few seconds. "I don't want to be like this…it's just who I am right now."
I don't want to be weak, either.
I don't know what I want.
A small headache was forming at the base of Daniel's skull. "I don't want to be like this…!" He placed a hand up to his head, slowing down his speed. Valerie noticed and changed her velocity, glancing over at her friend with concern growing in her eyes. "I don't know how to fix…" He muttered, staring straight ahead, his eyes in a trance. "I don't know how to fix myself –
"You aren't broken," Valerie spoke loudly, causing Daniel to flinch at her tone. "There's nothing to fix," she gave him a small smile. "You're you – I don't care if it's this version in front of me, or the one before the world went to shit."
Daniel could only stare in shock at what she was saying.
She doesn't want…the old Danny back?
That can't be right-!
"You're my friend either way, alright?" Valerie asked softly. "Having friends and family – it doesn't make you weak." Daniel was stunned into silence. "It makes you stronger. I think you know that deep down but you still try and push everyone away…" She flew a little farther in front of him, turning her head to see that he was still frozen in mid-air. "News flash, Daniel, we aren't going anywhere," she raised an index finger and waved it in the air in a lecturing manner. "We're going to wait right here until you're ready to see us all again."
She gave another smile before turning around and flying straight.
Daniel couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face as he flew after her –
I am strong.
I am strong because I have them – people who accept me.
To be continued…
A/N: I am so sorry for my long absence. You wouldn't believe the writer's block I've had. It's so much easier to write my own stories than it is to write fanfiction these days. I can't deny, though, it is a little fun to twist a pre-existing story, so there's that.
Next chapter will feature the Far Frozen and Jack seeing Daniel for the first time since everything has happened.
Plot Twist: I do not know who I will update next!