Chapter 5: Birth Of the Cruel
..
Sick, sickened, I'm sickening, I'm stricken by the fist
Blessed are the fires that have burned me
Listen to this, the lesson is, never underestimate the agony
Death of the fool, birth of the cruel
..
Danny hopped on the cold metal table. He eyed the metal cuffs built in and felt a shiver run down his spine. It wreaked of mad science, but he wouldn't let his qualms get in the way of what needed to be done.
Vlad from the other side of the operating table said, "Are you sure you want to go through with this, Daniel?" It was about the fourth time he had asked.
Danny glanced down at his hand as it unconsciously curled into a fist. He could feel the ectoplasm moving inside of him. He used to think it was just an extension of himself, but now it felt alien, like a foreign pathogen, or poison infecting him.
"Daniel?" Vlad asked again.
Danny twisted around at his waist, temper abnormally short, he glared and snapped, "Yes, I'm sure."
As soon as he said that, time seemed to stop, the slight worry on Vlad's face frozen there. And then a violent shiver ran up Danny's spine, a puff of fog billowed from his mouth. He whipped around where a blue ghost with purple clothes floated in front of him.
"Danny Fenton, I strongly recommend you reconsider your course of action," the ghost said.
Danny jumped off the table and transformed. "Who the hell are you?" he growled. He surprised himself with the amount of venom in his voice.
"Clockwork, the Master Of Time," he answered shorty. "And you're future will be soaked in blood and death if you proceed with this."
"Master Of Time?" Danny looked around the room again. The clock above the door had stopped. He looked back to Clockwork. "And you can see the future. Then why didn't you stop all of this from happening?" he said somewhat skeptical.
Clockwork gave him an apologetic look, but Danny read it as pity. He felt energy collect in his palms.
"I'm sorry—truly I am. There was only about a thirty percent chance for all the events to line up in such an awful way. My...employers decided it wasn't enough of a risk to intervene."
Danny felt his stomach drop. "You knew—you really did...and you didn't do anything? All this time...you could have stopped the accident that started this in the first place!" His voice steadily rose until he was screaming. "Why now?! I've lost everything!"
"Because you're about to make the biggest mistake of your life. There might not be any part of you left to save after you do this."
"No!" Danny shouted. "I'm taking care of this," he said, pressing a hand to his chest—to Phantom's chest. "I'm not Amity Park's hero anymore! I can't be! This thing—" he cut himself off, grabbing his head. "It's not the same—we're not the same," he said through clenched teeth.
"You'll learn to control it," Clockwork said, his voice lacking conviction.
"No, no, no! I don't want to control it. I want to move on!"
Without thinking of the consequences, he threw an ectoblast at Clockwork. Suddenly, time resumed. Clockwork was gone. The ectoblast hit the wall, leaving dark green scorch marks.
Danny heard Vlad gasp behind him and turned around.
"Are you, alright?" Vlad asked. "When did you transform?"
Danny looked down at himself at the black and white jumpsuit. He touched the stylized 'D' on his chest. He didn't feel sad at the sight of it anymore. He just felt empty.
"I'm fine," he answered quietly.
He dropped to the ground, and tried to transform back, the blue ring of light appearing around his waist but quickly dissipated. Panic made his stomach churn. He tried again and this time, though it was slow and difficult, he turned human again.
He avoided Vlad's concerned expression, and jumped back on the operating table and laid down.
"Let's just get this over with."
...
It was so late—or perhaps early—that they had started serving breakfast. A few people kicked about, and Dan suspected at least one or two people haunted the mess hall at all times. A TV hung on each side of the room, displaying the news. Dan even noted with amusement that all of the same old cast was present.
He looked away from the TV to Valerie. She stared off into the middle distance, slowly chewing watery scrambled eggs. Her right hand sat on the metal case holding her equipment. Dan wondered if she was paranoid of him or if it was just habit to have her battle suit within arm's reach at all times. Probably the former. He had a feeling she would be wearing her battle suit if they weren't in public. It was rather novel to see her in normal military fatigues, though.
He nudged her with his elbow. "Something on your mind?"
She jumped and cursed under her breath. Dan smirked.
She turned to him with a frown. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
Dan shrugged. "Just noticed you had a thousand yard stare," he said as he snagged a piece of bacon off her tray.
She looked at him funny as he took a bite. "You eat too?"
"Sure. Not that I need to, but I can."
He tried not to show just how much he savored the taste. He hadn't eaten in ten years, and had almost forgotten what food tasted like. He crammed the rest of the bacon strip into his mouth.
"So what where you thinking about?" he said past the mouthful of food.
She sent him an annoyed look. "What's it to you?"
"I'm just trying to start a conversation."
Valerie snorted. "'A conversation', right. I don't want to have a 'conversation'. Just about every time you open your mouth, it's either to say some maniacal supervillain bullshit, or some stupid innuendo."
He held up his hands. "I won't say any 'supervillain bullshit', I promise." He couldn't promise about the innuendos, though.
She rolled her eyes. "It's like I'm in an abusive relationship," she muttered.
His expression dropped. "You hold all the power in this situation."
She averted her gaze and squirmed a bit. Dan sighed and looked back up at the TV, letting silence hang between them.
He almost startled when she said, "I was just thinking of...'this situation'."
"Specifically...?"
"Specifically, why the hell did I agree to it?" she said wryly.
He chuckled. "Maybe you're a masochist deep down."
She gave him an unamused look. "Try again."
He looked up and pretended to rack his brains. "Maybe...because you're secretly madly in love with me and can't bare a world without the infamous Dan Phantom."
She actually laughed at that. "Yeah, fuck no."
He could guess the real reason she had agreed, and had pretty much already said it out loud, but he wouldn't bring it up again at this moment. He didn't want to start another argument at right then, which was admittedly strange for him. But they were in public anyway, and he didn't feel like causing a scene.
She added lowering her voice. "Also, maybe don't mention Phantom around—fuck."
Valerie suddenly cut herself off and became a little too engrossed in her breakfast.
Dan raised and eyebrow. "What?"
"Nathan Greene, twelve o'clock. You remember him?" She muttered a curse under her breath and said mostly to herself, "Damn it, he's early."
Dan looked up. A man stood awkwardly by the entrance to the mess hall. He was definitely taller than Nathan used to be, but was still somewhat stocky, and he possessed the signature red Afro, though it wasn't quite as wild as it used to be. He was staring at the pair before Dan looked up at him. Nathan quickly averted his gaze and scurried to the breakfast line, which was starting to fill up even so early in the morning.
Dan turned back to Valerie with an amused smirk. "He's really still at it?"
Valerie frowned and took a sip of her coffee. "He's persistent, I'll give him that," she muttered into her cup.
"Yikes," Dan said flatly. "Does he still chase you around like when we were kids?"
"No, no, but he definitely still holds a flame for me. I try to avoid being anywhere near the compound on Valentine's Day. But just about every time I run into him, he still tries to ask me on a date no matter what day it is. Unfortunately, since we're in closer quarters now, run-ins will probably be a lot more often."
Dan tutted and shook his head. "I should have killed him when I had the chance. I'm the only one that gets to torment you."
"Honestly, I'd take a fight with you over being cornered by him any day."
Dan dramatically put a hand over his chest. "Aww, really?"
"Yes. Also that's strike one."
He frowned. "What?"
"You said you wouldn't say any supervillain shit, and I'm holding you to that. You strike out and I'm sending you back to your room."
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. That wasn't supervillain shit. I was just joking. Although, if you want me to...you know..." He mimed breaking someone's neck, and making the appropriate cracking sound along with it.
Valerie gave him an unamused look. "That's strike two."
"Come on! I didn't say anything bad that time!"
"But you mimed it," she pointed out.
"But I said I wouldn't say any supervillain shit. I made no promises about miming it," Dan said, a grin working itself onto his face.
Valerie snorted, but was smiling now too. "I'm still counting it."
"Seriously though, if you want me to..."
"And that's strike three, buddy."
He raised an eyebrow. "So I'm your buddy now?"
She gave him a warning look and pointed to the exit.
"Okay, okay," he said chuckling. "I'll be good. I won't threaten anybody else's life."
"Oh, really? You're going to stick to it this time?"
"Yes really. Cross my heart and hope to die," he said, actually crossing over his chest where his heart would be.
She gave him an unimpressed look. "You don't have a heart."
"Alright, then cross my core and hope to...fade, I guess. Just give me another chance will you?" He gave her the most charming smile he could muster.
"What's the magic word?" she said, actively trying not to smile.
"Abracadabra."
She snorted. "No smart ass. Try again."
He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Alright," he said, heaving a suffering sigh. "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"
Finally, she let herself grin. "See? Was that so hard?" she nearly purred.
Dan's core seemed to rev at the same time Valerie blinked and turned away with a hint of pink on her cheeks.
Well, that was weird...
Dan cleared his throat. "So back to your stalker."
"Don't offer to kill him again," Valerie said tiredly.
"No, no, I just wanted to ask why he's here, and if you want me to run him off."
She said almost reluctantly, "No. He has an excuse to be here so early."
Dan gave her a dubious look. "Oh?"
"Yeah, he's in R&D, and they've been working double time to get the Militia's ghost sensor back up and running." She shot him a glare as she took another sip of her coffee. She said with a lowered voice, "You didn't just fry the Shield, you know. You fried our ghost detection system. We'd be sitting ducks if my tracker had been screwed up too."
He hummed, somewhat self-satisfied. "Oh yeah... I hadn't really thought about that, but it makes sense that the ghostly wail would knock out stuff like that too. Have any idea how bad it is?"
Valerie shrugged. "I'm not a tech person, but from what I've heard, really bad."
Dan started to retort, but something on the news caught his attention. The volume was turned way down, but he could still hear it just fine.
"...Masters, the elusive billionaire has finally 'come out of hiding'. Ten years ago his estate burned to the ground, and he barely escaped with his life. Not long after he had finished reconstruction of his mansion he retreated into it, and transferred most of his company to his business partners. But now he is willing to shed some light on those events. We'll have more information on that at five o'clock."
Valerie kicked his foot underneath the table. "Anybody home?"
He turned to Valerie with a frown. "What?"
"You're eyes are red, literally. You might want to fix that before someone sees."
He he shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What was that?" Valerie asked.
"Nothing," he dismissed. "Uh, what were we talking about?"
"The sensors," Valerie said like she was annoyed that she had to remind him.
He lowered his hand and turned his attention back to her. "Right. Right... So have they made any progress on it?"
She sighed. "Not much, it seems. Why do you care?"
Dan scoffed. "Again, I'm just making conversation. And why not? You built that thing from scratch. Why can't your people repair it?"
"My dad pieced it together mostly from the nearly indecipherable blueprints the...Fentons left behind. And we kind of don't have those blueprints anymore, because, oh, yeah, Fentonworks was completely destroyed."
Dan tutted. "Still. I could probably fix it, myself."
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "You? Fix things?"
"If you're referring to my literal capability of fixing things, I'll have you know I have a degree in mechanical engineering," he said. "Although, you're probably talking about my proclivity towards destruction, which is fair."
"You went to—?" She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, right. I keep forgetting you...fused with Plasmuis."
"I wish I could forget," he muttered.
"Why did you do it in the first place?"
He looked around. Nathan, the little worm, was still staring at them, though he tried to play it off by looking away quickly, but now from a table across the cafeteria. No one was close to them and a quiet chatter settled over the mess hall. He leaned an elbow against the table, resting his chin in his hand.
"I was still only half a ghost. I was unstable." He turned away from Valerie and closed his eyes as he felt them go red again. "They both knew full well I would be. They both wanted me to fade out—or at least Fenton did," he growled quietly.
"You're separating yourself from him again."
He opened his eyes and directed a frown at her. "Technically, we were two separate entities at that point. And our motivations had sort of...diverged even before then."
Ectoplasm (He was just a pile of ectoplasm wasn't he?) did what it did, and the ectoplasm in Danny Fenton's bloodstream was no different. It clung to all the anger and sadness, transforming it into something other than the hero of Amity Park. And Danny Fenton could feel it.
Valerie scoffed. "By your 'motivations' diverging' do you mean you wanting to destroy Amity Park, and Fenton wanting to stop you?"
Dan frowned an turned away from her. "I was playing nice," he said. "Why don't you return the favor?"
"Well, it's true isn't it?"
He shot her a glare and said a little louder than he should have, "Yes, because I learned that no matter what you do, the universe will still shit on you. Nothing matters."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you don't care about anything, huh? Because nothing matters. That's bullshit."
His hands curled into fists as his nails grew longer, cutting into his palms. "Is that so?" he said in a dangerously calm voice.
She leaned in an inch and hissed, "Yeah, because you obviously care about destroying my home."
So that was all she had on him? Dan uncurled his fists, mouth curling into a wry smirk. He let out a quiet chuckle as he said, "You know me so well, don't you?" His words dripped with sarcasm.
She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He snorted and turned away from her.
When he was first transformed to the being he was now and set loose on the world, he just wanted to destroy Amity Park in a petty act of spite against his already dead human half. But then he was shut out and became so furious—insane with it really. He thought he was obsessed with destroying the city. He didn't know if obsessions could change like that, but it was the only thing that made sense.
As years passed, Dan became resigned that he might never destroy Amity Park. And along the way, he eventually realized that he'd become a monster, and he hated himself for it. Destroying Amity Park became a desperate attempt to make himself fade out. In reality, trying to destroy his hometown had been an act of habit rather than malicious desire for years before he finally broke again—changed again and developed the power to finally feed his obsession.
But then Clockwork had to meddle. Dan felt his muscles tense just thinking of the time ghost. He'd go through it all over again just to piss off the Master Of Time. If he had to kill his friends (they weren't really his friends anyway), and his family (they would hate him if they knew...), so be it. He'd already killed them once. If Clockwork wanted to kill him, he'd have to do it directly, not with the underhanded bullshit he tried to pull.
"So you're not gonna elaborate on that? Not even gonna give a snappy retort? Just gonna ignore me?" Valerie asked.
Without sparing her a glance, he said, "Yeah, I am."
"Alright, fine," she muttered. Dan thought he detected a sliver of guilt in her tone.
There were several beats of silence before she spoke up again. "Just out of curiosity...what parts of you are...him?"
Dan raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"You know, Plasmius."
He snorted. "Oh. Not much. Mostly just stuff he knew, but I don't have concrete memories or emotions from Vlad like I do from Danny. Thank god for that."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
His mouth twisted into a grimace. "I'd rather not say."
Valerie looked like she would press him for further explanation, but she glanced to the side and put her face in her hands. "He's coming over here," she muttered.
Dan looked up, and indeed the little weasel was walking towards them with a determined look—and he was glaring at Dan.
Dan blinked in surprise, but surprise quickly turned to anger. That insect had the fucking gall to look at him like that? He could kill him with just a flick of his wrist. He could turn him into a pile of bloody chunks!
As Nathan reached their table, Dan started to stand, but he froze when he felt Valerie's hand on his thigh underneath the table. She shot him a look that said 'stay still and shut up' then turned to Nathan with a small, but cordial smile. It wasn't a true order, of course, but Dan was too shocked to do anything because her hand was still on his leg. Finally, she removed her hand and put it back in her own lap, and his brain could resume normal function.
Seriously, what the fuck was that? Couldn't she have just ordered him to stay down? And he couldn't understand why the hell was he so uncomfortable with the light contact.
And why was he still thinking about it?
Nathan sent him one more dirty look that he couldn't care less about in that moment then turned to Valerie, his expression doing a complete 180.
"Uh, Valerie, I just came over to make sure you're okay," he said, his nasally voice hardly changed from when they were in high school. "You looked pretty unhappy talking with him." Nathan punctuated his statement with a glare at Dan. Dan felt his core surge and had to turn away, so he didn't flash Nathan with demonic red eyes.
Valerie sighed. "Yeah, Nathan I'm fine. This is Dean, by the way. We're old friends."
In a spur of the moment decision, Dan laid his arm across Valerie's shoulders. He felt her go rigid, but before she could do or say anything, he said, "Don't be so modest, Valerie dear." He looked up at Nathan, staring him directly in his shocked eyes. "We're dating."
Valerie turned to him with a horrified look. He pulled her flush to his side and leaned in, pressing her cheek to his.
He whispered into her ear, "Play along."
She pushed out of his hold and glared. He was sure she would call him out, but at least he paid her back for touching him.
Instead she said, "Damn it! Scream it from the rooftops why don't you? Let the whole god damn town know."
Wow, that worked?
He chuckled nervously. "Well, we couldn't keep it a secret forever, right?"
Dan glanced at Nathan who gaped like a fish. He smirked. Make everyone miserable and uncomfortable: check.
Valerie stood up and slung her pack over her shoulders before grabbing her tray. "I'm gonna go put up my tray. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"Wouldn't dream of it, my dear," he said flashing her a grin.
She rolled her eyes and stalked off.
Dan stood and stepped over to Nathan who was still frozen in place. He clapped a hand roughly on the man's shoulder, making Nathan startle violently. He looked up at Dan with fear in his eyes. Good, just as it should be.
"Valerie's told me a little bit about you." Dan's voice was low and menacing even though he kept a pleasant expression on his face.
"W-what? I mean, what did she say?" Nathan asked, voice raising several octaves.
Dan snorted and smiled dangerously. "You've stalked her for over ten years. She's more afraid of you than Phantom."
"No, you're lying!" Nathan cried. "I've been nothing but nice to her!"
Dan shook his head. "That's not how she sees it." His grip on Nathan's shoulder tightened making the redhead wince. "And you better stay away from her. She's too nice to make you stop, but I'm not."
Dan would have gone on, but he saw Valerie walking back towards them. He let go of the other man, shoving him slightly. She passed a shrewd eye over Nathan, probably just to make sure he wasn't bleeding or missing any body parts, then said to Dan, "Alright, come on. I've got a lot of paperwork that needs to be done."
Dan tensed again as Valerie took his hand, halfway wrapping her arm around his. She led him out of the cafeteria. Immediately upon exiting the doors, Valerie stiffly pulled her hand away.
He awkwardly rubbed his arm where he still felt lingering warmth.
"That was good acting," he said.
She didn't respond or even spare him a glance. Her expression was neutral, but Dan noticed the tightness in her shoulders and her jaw.
He had crossed a line. It would be funny if this was her last straw—and so soon, too!
As soon as they got to her office—which was a Spartan little room, with only a desk, a couple chairs, and a bookshelf by the door stacked with a few books that he wasn't sure were just for decoration if she actually enjoyed reading—she immediately began closing all the blinds.
Dan watched her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, Valerie? What are you doing?" Dan asked even though he knew it was so there wouldn't be any witnesses. She would probably kill him, but he was at peace with his fate.
She ignored him until the last window to her office was covered. She then turned to him and promptly punched him in the face. He grunted and staggered back a step.
"What the fuck was that?" she hissed furiously.
Dan wiped under his nose, his hand coming away with atomic green ectoplasm. He would be mad, but he was more impressed by the force of the punch. Of course, his nose would be healed in a few seconds anyway, but still.
He sent her a glare nonetheless. "Not nice."
"You know what else isn't nice? Forcing me to be your fake girlfriend!" She let out a sharp sigh and put her face in her hand. "That's not a sentence I thought I'd ever have to say, but here I am."
"You didn't have to play along."
"Yes, I did! Do you know how suspicious it would've looked if I had called you out on it?"
Dan straightened out his shirt with a huff. "At least it'll deter Nathan from making anymore advances."
Valerie drew in a deep breath and ran a hand over her face. "But at what fucking cost?"
"Paulina already suspected it, and it's a good excuse for me being here. Why not play along?"
"That's easy for you to say."
Dan made a face. "What are you trying to say?"
She looked away and crossed her arms. "Well, you always seem so...eager."
He actually threw his head back and laughed. "Everything about that statement is just ridiculous. Simply the way you phrased it is precious, but you actually think...?" He chuckled. "We're bitter enemies, Valerie. All the innuendos and teasing was just to get a rise out of you. It's hilarious when you get all flustered and red.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're lying," she said matter-of-factly.
He blinked then frowned. "No, I'm not."
Her expression morphed into something akin to incredulity. "You actually believe that, don't you?"
He averted his gaze.
Sometimes he would...well, he wasn't blind, but, no, no, it wasn't like how she was implying. They hated each other. He could never really think of her like that.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Because it's the truth. Sorry I can't stroke your ego."
She snorted. "I don't have an ego. But you do. Still trying to keep up the big bad villain act? You don't care about anything right?"
He scowled. "I am the villain, and no, I don't."
Valerie tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Then why have you always held back?"
His expression became guarded. "What are you talking about?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about."
They stared at each other for several seconds, sizing up the other's conviction. As Dan realized she wasn't backing down, a hollow smile began creep on his face. "Are you finally admitting that I'm stronger than you?" It was supposed to be a joke, but his tone was sober.
"I've known for a long time. I wasn't going to bring it up, but then you had to say that bullshit."
Dan looked away, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Should he answer, or shouldn't he? Which would be worse. He could feel Valerie's eyes on him, waiting for a response.
He decided it would look like a concession if he stayed quiet. Finally, he sighed and said, "I don't know why, but I can't kill you. I hate you, but..." He looked away, frowning. How could he put it? His feelings for her didn't even make sense to him, how could he ever explain them with words?
"But...I'm the last person from your past," she supplied. That wasn't quite it, but it was good enough.
"Yes—nearly the last anyway."
He squirmed. She was still watching him closely. "But it is not because I have some secret burning desire for you. I'm just sentimental... I thought when I finally destroyed Amity Park, I could..." he trailed off shaking his head. "Never mind."
They stood there in silence for several beats. Then Valerie sighed and turned away from him. She rounded her desk and sat down. She immediately pulled over a stack of paper work and began reading the form on top.
Dan raised an eyebrow. "So that's it then?"
She glanced up at him. "You want to keep talking about your twisted, contradicting emotions? Did I misread the room?"
"No..."
"Then why don't you sit down? I hate the way you tower over me all the time," she said without even looking up.
Still somewhat confused, Dan sat down in the chair by the door.
"You know I saw that punch coming from a mile away," he said.
"Mhm," Valerie hummed, not looking up from her paperwork.
Dan sighed and pulled a book from the shelf beside him. He glanced at the title, The Prophecy by Kahlil Gibran. He opened it and began to read.