It all happened so fast.
Hundreds of white suits appeared out of thin air, surrounding them. Trapping them.
She shook under Danny's hand on her shoulder as he pushed her out of sight, and she grabbed hold of his jumpsuit from behind just to keep herself standing.
She would feel bad about being a burden right now if her head would just stop swimming.
Maybe she should've held back a bit while using her relatively knew core based powers. She shuddered and her form gently rippled beneath her barely corporeal skin, but at least she'd stopped dripping.
But... she had to wonder about the fact that this veritable army had just… appeared out of nowhere. She knew that wasn't right or normal. She'd had to learn for herself that humans- full humans- didn't just appear out of nowhere after moving invisibly and intangibly into the best position.
And yet this big group of GIW agents had done just that.
Ellie forced herself to stop shaking as Danny talked to the lead agent guy, the only GIW agent that wasn't dressed in white. She could feel the palpable tension of the rebellion at her back, all of them gearing up for the next fight.
Ellie chanced a glance behind her and found Valerie and Danny's wizard friends covering their backs and the rebellion raising their makeshift weapons in anticipation. She almost grinned at that.
The GIW had done everything in their power to try and de-fang Amity Park and keep everyone in line. Valerie had told her of the weapons ban; the GIW had enforced a town-wide blanket ban on anything they'd deemed to dangerous or threatening. Only the GIW were allowed to be armed and ready you see, for the citizen's own protection in case the nasty ghost Phantom ever showed it's face again.
Naturally, the citizens of Amity Park collectively decided 'Nuts to that!' and armed themselves with anything and everything they could find. She'd seen golf clubs, frying pans, old rusting instruments and heavy textbooks, as well as baseball bats, hockey sticks and detached chair and table legs all used with brutal efficiency.
Once the GIW's stupid anti-ghost weapons were destroyed, the agents themselves were practically helpless in the face of Amity's fury. It's why the rebellion had been doing so well even without formal training or traditional weapons before they'd suddenly been surrounded.
Right.
They were surrounded still. Ellie shook her head and tried to tune back into the situation at hand, but in that instant, Danny stiffened. Before Ellie could even blink, she'd been pushed back by a horrifyingly familiar caped ghost and Danny was ripped away from her.
"Danny!" She screamed in both shock and fear, her cry echoed all around her as the rebellion cried out for their hero. The GIW took advantage of their moment of shock, surging forward and knocking people out with sizzling shots from ecto-guns and tasers, then trapping them in nets.
While not as painful for humans, ectoweapons were still effective. Ellie's vision was suddenly filled with shining red, and before she knew it, Valerie had scooped her up and was shielding her from any stray shots as the rebellion rallied around them. She tried to look up to find Danny but all she could see through the chaos was streaks of green and pink and a ragged white cape snapping through the air above them.
Vlad. Vlad was here. Fear and anger and... sadness welled up and confused her enough to send her mind spiraling.
But a thought brought her back to the present. Vlad fighting for the GIW? Despite how awful he was, that didn't seem like something he would do. Donate ridiculous amounts of money or slip them anonymous tips that would make Danny's life even harder than it already was, sure; but to fight for them as some sort of attack dog on a leash?
Vlad would never.
As Valerie ran, Ellie somehow locked eyes with the lead agent dressed in black, his hand clenched tightly around something she couldn't see. She was surprised to see his expression morph into shock at the sight of her.
"The clone!" The leader guy roughly grabbed a nearby agent and shouted in his face. "The clone is out of the Ghost zone! How is that possible!"
Hermione and Draco were suddenly beside them, blasting a slab of cement up to act as a makeshift cover. Valerie dove behind it and put Ellie down quickly so she could aim and fire around it's edge with a red wrist blaster. Ellie thanked her lucky stars for enhanced hearing as she peaked around the edge at the still sputtering agent in the face of the lead agent's fury and confusion.
"I- I don't-"
"Masters' little abomination was locked in the Zone after the Fenton's portal blew up!"
" Yes Sir- I-"
"I don't want your blathering! If Phantom's clone is here then that means there should have been two ectosignatures to track! Why did we only see one!"
"But there were two Sir! there was that massively powerful signal downtown!"
"But that was a stupid ghostly trick it couldn't really be-"
There was a pained shriek that split the air and Ellie had the great satisfaction of watching every single GIW agent pause, and slowly look up to see Danny and Vlad fighting above them. It wasn't Danny shouting in pain, that much was clear.
Ellie looked up too in the momentary pause, and got her first good look at her creator in nearly a year. Vlad looked a bit ragged as he took another glancing blow to the jaw, and a brutal kick to the gut that sent him tumbling through the air.
His cape was in tatters, and his usually horned hair was loose and greasy around his face and shoulders. He was moving weird too; jerky and unbalanced, nothing like the calm and smooth movement that he'd shown while training her and fighting Danny.
And then he turned just enough for her to see his eyes.
Oh. His eyes.
Vlad's eyes were their normal vivid red, but Ellie had seen those eyes enough in person and in her nightmares to know that there was something wrong. They were glowing too brightly, to harshly in contrast to how... lifeless they looked.
Something was very wrong.
Danny must have figured that out for himself, since he was obviously pulling his punches and holding back a lot of his power against the older half ghost. Like a lot a lot.
Just as Vlad snarled and rushed Danny with a sloppy barrage of pink blasts, there was a trembling roar that shattered the momentary lull.
The ground beneath Ellie shook as the other half of the rebellion's forces finally arrived from downtown Amity, taking full advantage of the GIW's shock at how useless their 'secret weapon' was against Danny.
As the rebellion overwhelmed the agents, the black suited leader agent snapped.
"No!" He shouted, flinging his dark glasses away in a fit of rage. Ellie could only grin at the agent's tantrum. She stood up, recovered enough to help finish off the last of the GIW with Valerie and the others, but something made her pause. An insistent nagging in the back of her mind very quickly pushing itself into the front.
She shook her head in confusion, and somehow found herself looking back to the lead agent, a nasty glint in his now uncovered eyes as he stared at her.
"If Masters is useless, then we'll just have to use another, won't we?" The agent raised his fist, and clenched in his hand was an enormous polished stone, blood red and swirling.
Ellie's mind emptied and she felt nothing but her core pulsing in her chest as a single formless command pounded through her mind.
'Bring Phantom down'
She was deaf to Valerie and Draco's cries of alarm as she shot toward the sky.
.
.
Danny bared his teeth with a growl as Vlad lunged for him again, trying to grapple with Danny instead of the usual taunt with a stupid flourish of his cape and then blast Danny back routine. Danny was desperately trying to keep a lid on his powers, but his mind was filled with the sounds of the fight raging below and he was confused and worried about why Vlad looked like such a wreck.
Vlad was no slouch, twenty years of experience was nothing to scoff at, as the old fruitloop had repeatedly told Danny with a fanged grin that oozed confidence and power.
So, to see Vlad now... suit torn and slashed, the skin beneath bruised and bleeding. Vlad's cape was ripped and stained, and his hair was loose and dirty, framing a gaunt and hauntingly blank face. His usually vibrantly blue skin was sallow and sickly looking and that wasn't even acknowledging his sunken cheeks and bruised eyes. And while Vlad's eyes were normally always a vibrant glowing red in his ghost form, they had ironically never looked as dead as they do now.
Danny may be clueless sometimes, but he was smart enough to put the pieces together.
"Badge- Little Bad- Adger-" Vlad muttered brokenly after Danny had shoved him back yet again.
"Vlad... What did they do to you?"
Vlad's neck snapped around painfully fast and he flew forward, hand sparking with pink fire and aiming to grab hold of Danny once again. Danny instinctually blasted the attack away and Vlad shrieked in pain. Danny cringed, but didn't have much time to feel guilty as he dodged Vlad's next volley of attacks and tried his best to keep from hurting Vlad too badly.
Of course, Danny could guess what they'd done to elder half ghost. That Agent had called him 'project Mastermind' after all, and he'd personally put Freakshow back into GIW custody after the whole Infinity Gauntlet mess. Freakshow, who had knowledge of ghostly objects and artifacts, one of which the ringmaster had personally used to control Danny and other ghosts to do what he wanted.
Danny internally facepalmed.
He was so stupid.
He guessed the GIW had managed to modify the effects to be stronger than what Freakshow had originally done to Danny, because Vlad would never let himself get into this state; getting pushed around by the GIW and Danny should have been enough to knock off the mind-control, since being half human made the effects finicky at best.
But Vlad was just a blank and mindless in his next lunging attack to grab him. Did Vlad have orders to capture him? It would make sense, since the GIW were obviously controlling him.
Of course, Danny would never let that happen. He could could flatten Vlad now, his newfound power simmering beneath his skin, and beginning to roil under the lid of his control. But trying to keep control of so much power in such a short time after gaining it was difficult, and Vlad was taking advantage of that, or at least, he was trying to.
Danny tried again and again to knock Vlad out as gently as he could, but the man kept avoiding his attacks just in time, slithering out of range before launching himself at Danny with the clear intent of grabbing him.
The not so distant rumble distracted Danny for just a moment, and he smiled when he saw the rebellion's reinforcements finally arrive from downtown. The agents were falling swiftly, and soon enough Vlad would be all that was left. Then all he would have to do is destroy the stone the GIW was hiding somewhere to break it's control and then it would all be over.
Newly determined and hopeful that the end of this mess was in sight, Danny turned back to his opponent.
"Alright Vlad, sorry about this, but it's time for you to-" Danny nearly bit his tongue as he was tackled to the side. Spinning in midair he wrenched the new attacker off of him and flew back.
He stopped dead.
"No..." His breathless denial was all he managed before Ellie and Vlad flew forward in tandem, energy crackling and hands outstretched, both of their eyes glowing red and lifeless.
Danny dodged and kept dodging, cursing himself.
Vlad, as hurt as he was, could take a hit. But Ellie? He wouldn't risk hurting her, especially since she was still recovering from using so much of her core's energy at once and he still only had shaky control of his new, increased power.
But he couldn't dodge forever.
Danny would have laughed at the absurdity of Ellie and Vlad tag-teaming him, one attacking while the other tried to grab and restrain him while he was distracted.
Of course, there was nothing funny about Ellie's cry of pain as she forced a too powerful blast that caught him in the chest as he'd instinctively flown towards her at the sound. Vlad was behind him in an instant, locking his arms behind his back. Then Ellie had her arms around his neck in a horrible mockery of how she'd playfully hung off his shoulders with laughter and smiles.
She wasn't smiling now, and he gasped as her arms tightened painfully around his neck and kept his head still. Suddenly, Vlad forced them all into a dive and drove them into the ground, leaving a cracked furrow in the cement where they'd crashed.
Danny coughed roughly and then grit his teeth in pain as Vlad forced him up to his knees, arms still locked behind his back. His heart and core jumped in panic when he spotted Ellie through the haze of dust and dirt that'd been kicked up from their hard landing. She was unconscious and in human form once more, lying nearby in the crater their landing had created.
"Not so fast Phantom." The whine of ecto guns slit the choking silence and Danny slowly dragged his eyes from his sister to the blazing barrel aimed at his face.
All thoughts fled his mind as he took in the scene before him. A mere six white suited agents remained, all of them standing behind the one black suited agent pointlessly threatening Danny now. All of their suits were coated in mud and dust, their eyes revealed now that their dumb shades had been thrown off and broken. Several had visible bruises on their faces and all of them looked panicked and pale at the hoard of the rebellion surrounding them.
The only thing keeping the rebellion back now were the guns now aimed at Danny and Ellie's heads, and the GIW knew it. The atmosphere was tense as the rebellion stared down at the last seven GIW agents left standing, threatening the two Phantoms.
Danny slowly locked eyes with his friends; Ron, Hermione and Harry nearest to the two agents standing over Ellie's prone form, Draco and Valerie barely restraining themselves from jumping on the agent now smiling wildly down the barrel of his gun pressed to Danny's forehead.
"Got you. Finally... got you." The lead agent laughed, breathless and insane. "You won't be getting away this time, Phantom. You're finally-"
"Really? You've got me?" Danny laughed, cold and mocking, and the agents before him tensed as the rebellion closed in a little further, fury and determination rippling through the tense masses surrounding the doomed men. "How do you plan on keeping me? I doubt my friends would let you get far."
"Friends? Oh, I doubt they'll think a freak like you is their friend once you turn on them like the ghost you are." The agent snarled as he pressed the barrel harder against Danny's head, while his other hand reached backwards, towards his belt. Vlad's hands curled tighter, locking Danny's arms painfully, but Danny didn't react.
"A word of advice." Danny said quietly, completely disregarding the agent and his threats. "That dumb red rock you have..." The agent's eyes widened as he paused, and Danny grinned wide, baring his fangs as his eyes blazed green, "You can try, but it won't work on me."
With a growl, the black suited agent thrust his hand forward, glowing stone filling Danny's vision with swirling red, but he was ready.
Danny slammed his mind into his mental thermos and let his power loose. A shockwave rocked the ground and the agents faltered. Danny tore himself from Vlad's grip and slammed the man into the ground, at the same time that his friends took the remaining white suited agents down as well.
Vlad struggled in his grip, but Danny was stronger, and growing stronger still. He flash-froze Vlad to keep him down and then slowly stood, his power surging.
Danny felt the chill of his armor fall over him like a shroud. His eyes blazed green as his crown lifted off his head to float above him, shimmering green mist rose from the cracks in ground, but did nothing to obscure the abject fear in eyes of the last standing GIW agent.
The man's shaking fingers dropped the red stone to ground and Harry was quick to crush it under his heel, Vlad immediately going limp and transforming as the stone's power dissipated, leaving behind the unconscious form of Amity Park's previous mayor.
Danny took a single step, and the ground cracked and splintered with the motion, and the last agent left standing was sent to his knees.
For a single moment, the space of a heartbeat, there was silence, before-
"What are you?"
Danny grinned, as he leaned in close to the agent's face. "A Phantom."
The man went down with one punch, and Danny looked down at the head of the agency that had taken so much from him.
"Danny?"
Danny turned to his friends, and smiled at them tiredly. "It's over."
Hermione, Draco, Harry and Ron immediately rushed forward and hugged him tight, armor and all.
"Oh Danny-" Hermione gasped, and Ron could barely muster a, "Well done mate," as they all sank to their knees. Danny locked eyes with Valerie over his friend's shoulders as she knelt beside Ellie. Danny sighed with relief as he saw Ellie's chest rise and fall with each breath.
"Hey Phantom," Danny looked back to Valerie, and her eyes purposefully flicked up to his crown before looking back at him, "Looks like you left some things out about your time away, huh?"
Danny chuckled. "Maybe a couple things."
Valerie sighed, but smiled as she picked Ellie up and held her close. "Let's get Ellie and Masters somewhere safe. Everyone else!" Valerie calls out to the gaping rebellion, "Get these agents tied up! And the agents downtown, too! Lexi, get word to the infiltration team, make sure they're alright and send them help if they need it. George, Mr. Lancer we'll need-"
As Valerie took charge, the shocked rebellion came back to their senses and got moving to do as she commanded. Danny gently extricated himself from his relieved friends and floated over to where Vlad lay.
The ice trapping him vanished with a thought, and Danny knelt beside the pale and starved looking man.
As Danny lifted Vlad up enough to get an arm over his shoulder, Vlad's eyes fluttered open.
"Daniel?" Vlad's head listed to the side, eyes clouded and dazed.
"Yeah, it's me. C'mon Vlad, we're going to get you patched up."
Danny hoisted the elder half ghost up and Harry was quick to help support the man on the other side, Ron, Draco and Hermione already helping to magically restrain a large number of downed agents.
Danny sighed as he transformed and followed after Valerie as they made their way past countless ruined white suits, and he was just relieved that one more fight was over.
.
.
"-open again, so we'll need a story to tell them."
"What if we said that the GIW were testing illegal chemical distribution but instead of being lethal it caused mass hallucinations."
"Valerie... That's brilliant. How long did it take you to come up with that?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I came up with it right now?"
"Absolutely not."
Hazy conversation filtered through Vlad's mind, and he became vaguely more aware of the fact that he was in a bed.
But that's not right. The last thing Vlad remembers is... is...
Vlad bolts upright with a harsh gasp, his vision swam with white walls and swirling red stones.
"Woah! Vlad! Easy, it's alright!"
Vlad knew that voice. He'd loved and hated that voice in equal measure... before. He only felt horrible dread at hearing it now.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah, it's me fruitloop, just calm down and don't pull out your IV."
It was then that Vlad finally registered that he indeed was in a bed. In a hospital in fact. Daniel was there, pale and tired, but whole and as healthy as Vlad could have hoped. The Grey girl was there too, as well as another two children he didn't know. A girl with sharp eyes and bushy brown hair standing beside a tall, freckled boy with flaming red hair.
"Daniel... what? Where am I?"
"Relax Vlad, we're in the hospital. You were in pretty bad shape after we took down the GIW."
Vlad was still confused and wary and the only thing that really registered was- "Hospital! Are you insane!? They'll-"
"Cool it Masters. Everyone already knows your deep dark secret." Valerie Grey interrupted sharply.
"Hard to miss it, really." The unknown red head whispered only to receive a sharp elbow to the stomach from the bushy haired girl. Vlad narrowed his eyes at the two, something pinging in the back of his mind that something was off about them, but... something was off about about him, too.
His core... was too weak. He couldn't access it! It was getting weaker by the second!
"Vlad..." Daniel's voice cut through this new and horrifying discovery, and Vlad grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt to bring him close.
"What did you do to me?" He growled furiously, so sure that the boy had something to do with his current state, even if a small voice in his head told him that that was wrong. Daniel wouldn't do something like this.
Daniel didn't react as Vlad thought he would. The boy's brow furrowed in sympathy and something too close to pity, while simultaneously raising a hand to calm the other teenagers in the room, who'd all tensed in preparation to come to Daniel's aid.
"Vlad, when we freed you, your body immediately began building up defenses against being mind controlled." Daniel casually removed Vlad's hand from his shirt as he sat back and continued. "From what I can tell, since you're, you know, more human than ghost, your body's idea of a defense against ghostly mind control is to just remove the ghostly stuff. We were afraid that the ecto-acne may come back as your two sides tried to reject each other again, but it turns out that the GIW keeping you in ghost form for so long weakened your core, so it wasn't able to fight against the rejection. In other words... your ghost half is fading."
Vlad's jaw fell open in shock. He wanted to rage, to deny, to reject the very thought. But as he felt his core shudder and falter further out of his grasp, he knew it to be true.
Vlad almost couldn't fathom the thought of being fully human again. He'd been half ghost for so long that the dimming hum of his core left his heart jumping harshly against his ribs.
But, he hadn't been half ghost... not truly. He'd been a human with ghost powers. He'd never actually died.
"All of your lab results are returning to normal ranges, according to the doctor. So, you aren't in any danger as far as we can see. But, if it's worth anything Vlad, I'm sorry for not helping you out sooner." Daniel offered a sympathetic look as he rubbed the back of his neck, but there was a certain looseness to his posture that spoke of relief.
Vlad said nothing, speechless in the face of his suddenly ghost free, completely human life stretching out before him. Everything had changed so quickly and there was nothing he could've done to stop it.
All because of those white suited idiots-
In Vlad's shock, unbidden images flashed through Vlad's mind, all tinged a bloody red. Sneaking an army of GIW agents invisibly towards a hoard of Amity Park citizens, his hand closing around Daniel's neck and then hitting and blasting the boy up in the air. Then, plummeting and impact and power overwhelming him before the red faded and he was free at last. A clear memory of spiteful hatred fueling his actions as he sent an anonymous tip of damning information-
He shook his head and instead focused on the uncomfortably familiar sight of a needle in his arm, the slow drip, drip, drip of fluid combining in with his shallow breaths.
No. All of this... it was his own fault.
"Vlad?" Daniel's voice floated back to him, as everything came together.
He slowly turned back to the boy. The boy he'd claimed as his own and then manipulated and hurt more times than he could even remember.
The boy that had freed him from the GIW and had then waited in a hospital room for him to wake up.
"Vlad, you oka-"
"Daniel..."
Vlad's voice was hoarse and painful, but now that he remembered what he'd done... everything he'd done...
He couldn't say it. Couldn't even begin to explain to the boy how badly he'd messed up. Everything that mistake had cost...
"If you're worrying about the Idiots in White, don't. Our infiltration team went into their base while we were fighting them and got all the evidence we needed to get the GIW shut down for good. With everything they did to Amity and the people here; those guys are going to be behind bars for a long, long time." Daniel tried to pass him a glass of water but Vlad couldn't even bring himself to look at the boy.
"We also had them delete all evidence that ghosts exist, and we're coming up with a believable lie to discredit anything the GIW may have to say about Amity Park and all who live here." Valerie Grey cuts in with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.
Daniel nods along with his ex-pawn before continuing. "We're in a private wing of the hospital now, while the rest of the town is being taken care of. The actual government and an army of reporters are currently swarming Amity, so my friends and I have been laying low for the last few days. We decided that you could decide what you wanted to do about your company and your life after you'd woken up."
Vlad forced his eyes up and gazed at the boy staring at him, waiting for him to say something. Self preservation and a wave of overwhelming guilt warred within him until the silence stretched uncomfortably. Eventually, Vlad's resolve crumbled and he couldn't bear to look the boy in the eye any longer.
"Daniel... I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
And oh, did that make this so much harder. He could simply not tell the boy anything, and he would be free from any scrutiny or blame. Safe from the wrath of a true half ghost. But... looking at the boy now, sharing confused glances with his friends, both old and new, Vlad knew he couldn't live with himself if he didn't come clean about this.
"It's my fault. All of it."
"Vlad, what are you talking about?"
Vlad sucked in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly.
"I- I'm the one who told the GIW about you."
The girl he didn't know gasped in horror, and the red-head's jaw dropped. Valerie Grey tensed, her dawning fury rolling off her in waves.
Daniel merely stared at him, before asking a single, dispassionate question.
"Why?"
"I... I was angry. You'd freed the clone and somehow kept her stable, something I was never able to do. She was staying with you and your parents and I knew then that you must have told them... you had to have told them everything for them to let the girl stay with you. Not long after that, Miss Grey refused to answer my summons and looked at me with such hatred and disgust when I next saw her that I knew she knew everything, too. I couldn't just let that stand. I knew I had to do something to keep you quiet, or even better, force you to come to me for help. So, I thought that since you'd sold me out, I'd return the favor... I went to the GIW."
Vlad kept his voice low and didn't dare look at the boy. He could still feel the icy gaze on him though, which pushed him to keep speaking.
"I didn't tell them outright of course. Just an... anonymous gift that proved half ghosts existed and that Phantom... that Phantom was one of them. I expected those fools to immediately go after you, to force you into such a corner that you would be desperate enough to come to me for help. But they didn't. Instead they took the information, and they discovered not only your human identity... but mine as well."
Here Vlad could only laugh at his own foolishness. Really... everything had been his fault.
"They actually figured me out first. My hospital records after college and then my swift rise to fame and riches was too much of a coincidence, it seems. The day they closed Amity's borders and set up those ectoplasmic siphoning towers... I tried to run. But they were ready for that. They raided my lab, destroyed my portal and discovered your clone's existence."
Vlad had to pause as Daniel shifted, hands slowly clenching. But now that Vlad had started, he had to finish.
"A few weeks later... I heard the explosion, felt the tremors, smelt the smoke and saw the GIW scramble to try and catch you. When you got away, they finally told me what had happened." Vlad closed his eyes and didn't dare mention how devastated he was when he'd heard of Maddie's death, he was sure that Daniel would not react well to it. "Agent A was furious, and demanded to know where you'd go if you had no one else. I refused to tell them anything, and the experiments with that damned stone Showenhower told them about began soon after."
Vlad held back a shudder, his core dimming to the barest speck of power he'd once held within him. After what felt like an eternity, Vlad finally dared to look up, meeting cold, cold eyes.
"I'm sorry Daniel. I'm... truly sorry."
Daniel merely stared at him. No one moved and the silence stretched until it was nearly unbearable. Finally, Daniel moved. He put the glass of water still in his hand on the bedside table and stood up slowly.
"I accept your apology... and I'm sure my parents, my Dad especially, would want me to forgive you." Vlad could barely hold the boy's gaze as the truth of that statement nearly tore him apart. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to."
Daniel stood there, and Vlad came to sudden realization that the boy was different. This was not the same Daniel Fenton that Vlad remembered.
Vlad let out a shuddering breath as Daniel walked to the door, his friends right beside him.
The boy paused with his hand on the handle, and didn't turn around as he quietly said, "Goodbye Vlad."
They left.
His core faded.
Vlad was left staring at the closed door, utterly alone.
.
.
"So you've been all over the Americas? North and South?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yeah! And Canada and Alaska, too!"
Ellie bounced excitedly on the cot, once again in the rebellion's base in Casper High's secret basement, Harry and Draco listening intently to her tales of exploration and adventure.
"Wow, Ellie. Why not just cross into Russia and then you would've been able to travel the whole world. Asia and Europe and Africa and everywhere else."
"If she's anything like Danny though, she might've stumbled upon Durmstrang by accident. Can you imagine, Potter? Victor Krum and all that lot having to deal with a Phantom's nonsense?"
"Hey!" Ellie cried indignantly as Harry and Draco chuckled. "I would've kept going, but I had to stop in Alaska because I started to go all goopy near the Arctic Circle! I got chased by a moose, which was terrifying by the way, and then started making my way back to Danny for help. I'll make it to Europe eventually to check out this magic school of yours, just you wait!"
"Oh I don't doubt it."
"Imagine it Malfoy, two Phantoms at Hogwarts."
"Merlin help us."
Harry and Ellie dissolved into laughter at look of mock horror on Draco's face.
Just as Draco joined them in laughing, the door to the school's basement clanged open, and they turned to see the Foley parents, Mr. Lancer and Valerie coming down the steps.
"Hey! Where are-"
"Right here." Danny, said as he, Hermione and Ron returned to the visible spectrum. "There were still some reporters milling around, so we'll be stuck down here until they leave."
Harry's amusement was swiftly overshadowed with concern at how... blank Danny looked. His worry only worsened at the looks on Ron, Hermione and Valerie's faces.
He wasn't the only one to notice the sudden change in atmosphere.
"Danny? You okay?" Ellie hopped off the cot and trotted over to the new arrivals. "Is... Is Vlad-"
"Vlad's awake." Danny said abruptly, making Ellie flinch. After a very tense moment, Danny let out a heavy sigh that seemed to make him completely deflate.
Danny sank to his knees and pulled Ellie into a gentle hug.
"Sorry." He mumbled just loud enough for Harry and the others to hear. "Just... Vlad being Vlad."
"It's more than that Danny." Valerie said in a shaking voice. "He-"
"I know Val. I know better than anyone what Vlad did. But he won't be able to do anything to us anymore."
Harry and Draco made their way over to Ron and Hermione as Valerie huffed, but dropped the subject.
"What happened? I thought you just went to keep Danny company while he waited for this Vlad person to wake up?" Draco whispered.
"Yeah well... Let's just say that, even after everything Danny told us about the bloke, he's even more unpleasant in person." Ron muttered, Hermione nodding in agreement.
Harry hummed as Valerie turned to the adults who'd been watching the scene play out in silence.
"So, other than Masters waking up, has anything else happened while we were at the hospital?"
Mr. Lancer cast one last glance at the half ghost siblings as Danny took Ellie to the side to have a private conversation.
"Well... With the school year over, and the airport and train station in Elmerton up and running again, everyone who'd been locked out of Amity park since the GIW shut us down have been returning in droves for the past few days. They've already been given the warning about keeping anything to do with ghosts and the like away from the out of town reporters, and are happily helping with damage control. The Manson's have already contacted us and are on their way back, since the entirety of the GIW have now been taken into custody. Clean-up around town has also been going remarkably well."
"Not to mention all the help we've been receiving from the actual government now that they've seen for themselves the damage that the GIW did here." Mr. Foley continued. "The looks on their faces when they saw the crater where FentonWorks used to be..." He trailed off with a somber look.
Mrs. Foley grasped the man's hand and they both shared a sad look.
"That being said, it leaves us with a bit of a problem." Mrs. Foley says.
"Problem?" Harry repeats.
"Those out of town reporters and the government help, they've begun to ask questions about what really happened here. We've been playing up the traumatized citizen routine to get them to leave it be for now, but they'll need a real answer soon. I overheard some of them laughing about the GIW's crazy claims about ghosts and monsters infesting the town, which is their reason for attacking the Fentons..."
"Actually, I had an idea about that-" Valerie cut in quickly, talking about experiments and hallucinations, very effectively drawing their attention away from the Phantom siblings, who, Harry realized, were hugging each other tightly, tears falling freely. He looked away hastily, heart clenching at the thought of what could possibly be hurting them so much after everything.
A quick glance between Hermione and Ron told Harry that whatever it was, had something to do with Vlad, the elder half ghost. Harry sighed sadly, but let his curiosity go. Danny would tell them all when he was ready.
"It's an impressive lie, Miss Grey, and it'll work perfectly. I'll let the rest of the town know tomorrow morning through the rebellion leaders. But that still leaves one last little wrinkle..." Mr. Lancer said, bringing Harry back to the situation at hand. "How to integrate Mr. Fenton back into the town."
Harry shared a confused look with Ron beside him while the Foley's nodded in agreement.
"What do you mean? I thought you said the town would be keeping his secret?" Draco asked, an edge of panic in his tone.
"Oh! No, no you misunderstand! Once we start circulating this cover story, we'll be able to reveal that Danny survived the GIW attack on his family. But once we do that, he'll be taken into protective custody, and then eventually placed in a foster home of some kind since he's still underage. That's not even touching the issue of how to explain Miss Ellie's existence." Mr. Lancer explained quickly.
"Maybe not, Mr. Lancer. Maddie told me once that they'd named their friend... Vlad Masters, as Danny and Jazz's godfather. They'll likely send Danny to stay with him instead. Since he's like Danny and Ellie I'm sure-"
"Not a chance." Danny cut Mrs. Foley off sharply. They all turned to Danny and Ellie as they walked back over, all of them ignoring the red rimmed eyes and Ellie still wiping tears from her cheeks. "Sorry to interrupt Mrs. Foley, but I'm not going to live with Vlad under any circumstances."
"Me either." Ellie said firmly.
"Well, there may not be any other option once we tell people you survived-"
"Then tell them I didn't."
A stunned silence fell at Danny's abrupt statement.
"But- But Mr. Fenton-"
"Trust me Mr. Lancer, it'll be better for everyone if we just... If we tell everyone that Danny Fenton died with his family."
"Danny, we can't just- What about school? Or college? Or a job? You're still so young and you can't live if you're already-"
"Dead?" Danny grinned wryly, making the adults frown. "Trust me Mr. Lancer, Mr. and Mrs. Foley, my life won't be over. Magic school has an amazing Astronomy program. But before that," Danny threw an arm casually over Harry's shoulder as Ellie climbed up and hung off of Draco's shoulders, "I have to help my friends here. Now that the GIW are gone, we'll be able to finish what we started, right guys?"
"Nice time for it. I'm sure the Ministry won't mind if we did their job for them again." Ron said, crossing his arms. Hermione tried and failed to disguise her derisive snort with a cough.
"You're... leaving?" Valerie asked quietly, eyes swiveling between Danny and Ellie. The adults seemed to be just as startled by the news.
"Yeah." Dany confirms, and he glances at Harry and the others. Harry nods and can't help but feel a little bad at how crushed Valerie and the adults look.
"When?" Mrs. Foley's voice shakes.
"Within the next hour." The resident Amity Parker's faces fall into shock at Danny's words.
"So soon!" Mr. Lancer's distraught cry echoes. "There won't be enough time for everyone to thank you properly! To say goodbye!"
"Honestly Mr. Lancer, it's probably for the best that no one but you guys know I'm leaving, I'd rather not get mobbed like after I explained the whole King of the Realms thing." Danny chuckled softly. "With Vlad awake and... taken care of, and the town in such capable hands now that the GIW are gone, there's really only one more thing that I have to do before we leave."
"What's that? Anything we can do?" Mr. Foley asked, valiantly trying to keep his voice level.
Danny shook his head with sad smile. "No, just... follow me." And with that, Danny led them all up the stairs and out into the deepening twilight of Amity Park.
Harry kept pace with Draco, who still had Ellie clinging to his back, Ron and Hermione following just behind them. They walked a fair distance behind Danny, allowing the Foley's and Mr. Lancer to speak lowly to their friend as they walked, clearly giving him their thanks and their goodbyes. Valerie was silent, but walked shoulder to shoulder with Danny, face set in a scowl.
Harry quietly took in the quiet streets as the day shifted to night, lights beginning to wink on in houses up and down the street.
Eventually, their little parade turned a corner onto a street that was startlingly still and dark. The houses up and down this street were clearly abandoned and there were odd cracks and blemishes on the road that all seemed to be centered around-
Oh.
Danny had stopped in front of a massive crater. The houses surrounding the massive hole were half destroyed, their walls crumbling and their roofs collapsing.
Danny stood at the very edge, silent and unmoving, his face cast in the shadow of the sun's dying light.
Harry and the others carefully crept forward, inch by inch revealed how deep and hollow the crater was. It hit Harry then that this was where Danny had grown up. Danny must've known this street and the house that once stood here better than Harry knew Privet Drive.
They all stood in heavy silence as Danny stood above what was once his home. Harry very carefully reached over and put a hand on Danny's shoulder, just wanting to remind Danny that despite everything... he wasn't alone.
Danny startled at the contact, and raised his eyes to meet Harry's. Tear tracks shone on Danny's cheeks, but his eyes were clear. Danny's lips turned up in a small, sad smile, before he finally broke the silence.
"It's alright Harry. I was just... It's just a lot." Danny turned and stepped away from the edge of the hole, wiping his face on his sleeve. "Thanks for coming with me you guys, I don't think I could've come back to see this on my own."
"Think nothing of it dear." Mrs. Foley said wetly, Mr. Foley nodding slowly as he wiped at his own tears.
"Alright then, it's time for us to get going." Danny pulled the Infi-map from his pocket, and the now darkened street was lit with a burst of silver light as Danny transformed into Phantom.
Suddenly, Valerie lunged, her red and black armor covering her in an instant and Phantom yelped as he was tackled to the ground.
"Val?! What are you-"
"You better come back soon Phantom! It's been way too long since I 've kicked your ghostly butt." Valerie's visor retracted to show her smiling down at where she had Phantom pinned.
Danny blinked once, before his face lit up in the first real smile Harry had seen Danny wear since he'd returned from visiting with Vlad.
The night was lit up with wild giggling as Ellie gleefully transformed as well and tackled Valerie off of Danny.
"You better come and visit too, squirt! Amity will be so dull without you guys."
Mr. Lancer chuckled, as he put a gentle hand on Danny's shoulder. "Come back and visit us soon Mr. Fenton. We'll plan to hold a proper funeral and memorial service for your family and friends for when you return."
Danny's smile saddened but remained in place as he nodded. "I'd like that, Mr. Lancer. Thank you."
As Danny said his final goodbyes to the Foley's, Mr. Lancer and Valerie, Harry was struck with a sudden thought. Something he'd never thought he'd be able to do.
But, looking over to where his friends stood, Draco awkwardly patting Hermione on the shoulder as she smiled and dried her tears, Ron grinning as Ellie told him of how she'd first met Sam and Tucker. Danny hugging the Foley's close and telling them he'd be back to visit soon, as Valerie and Mr. Lancer looked on with sad smiles.
Perhaps, after the horcruxes and Voldemort and the Ministry was all dealt with... he would make a trip to Godric's Hollow, to visit his own parent's graves.
"Alright guys, lets do this." Danny said determinedly as he drifted away from the Foley's. He lifted his hand not holding the Infi-map before him, his palm facing the empty space that once held his family home.
A spark formed and then spread outwards into a bright, swirling mass of greens and purples. Danny smiled in with pride as he looked upon the glowing portal, and then pulled the Infi-map open. With a final nod of farewell to Valerie and the adults, Harry took his place between Ron and Ellie as they all grabbed onto the ancient ghostly artifact.
Danny looked up and met Harry's eyes across the swirling vortexes of the map, the glow of the portal casting them all in a soft green light.
"Ready?"
Harry grinned.
"Always."
.
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Hey there! Sorry for the wait folks, but this chapter was surprisingly difficult to write, so I had a 'great' time rewriting this thing like three times.
But we're on our way back to the wizarding world! Hurray!
Also, to anyone going back to school I wish you all the best, and hope you have a wonderful year!