Jazz is the first to get up after setting her laptop off to the side before pulling Danny closer. "What's going on? Mom, what are you doing?"
Danny shrugs Jazz off and curls into Dan, who is doing his best to shield the small halfa. The action just makes Jack and Maddie more fierce, as both of them continue to aim their weapons at the full ghost. Maddie repeats herself. "I said get away from our son!"
Dan stands up and in front of Danny. "Maddie, calm down and expl-"
Dan is cut off by Maddie's shot to his shoulder. The blast has him collapse to the floor in agony, body writhing as he screams out while clutching the wound. And Danny, terrified beyond belief, runs to help the man-only to scream as he's picked up by the back of his hoodie.
And then Dan's disguise begins to peel away, revealing his pointed ears and sharp fangs. A blue-green color creeps up his skin as his dark hair erupts into roaring white fire. Claws stretch from his fingers as his clothes are replaced with his suit and cape. And the final bit to change were those blue eyes, that turned red as blood and filled with pain.
Jazz backed away, her hand over her mouth as she stares at the ghost. Once his disguise is no more, he lies there. He didn't breathe anymore, but his eyes blinked and his body twitched as he tried to heal. But then he freezes, and Jazz looks over to see Maddie now holding the squirming halfa-who was crying out.
"Come on Danny, it's me. It's your mommy, remember?" Maddie tried to be soft-spoken, but Danny didn't hear a word. He needed to get to his father, and so he let energy build within before sending it forwards and sending the Fenton's into a wall. The young phantom then raced towards his father with tears in his eyes, begging him to get up.
Jazz felt her heart break at the sight of Danny, and turned back to her parents. "Someone, please tell me what's going on!" Her voice cracked as she stood, shaking her head and trying to pull some semblance of thought together.
Maddie grunted, sitting up. "I found that beaker Dan broke in the garbage, coated in a thin layer of ectoplasm while throwing some papers away. I didn't remember hearing him react to any pain- he just threw something away... He clearly brainwashed our poor boy. It's why he doesn't remember us! That timeline is probably where he did it too!"
"Get away from that ghost, Danny!" Jack bellowed, but that did nothing but worsen Danny's sobs.
The sound made Dan growl lowly. His eyes brightened in color as he forced his body to sit up a bit. Danny huged him tightly, never wanting to let go as he pulled the man up a little more. "Please, dad! Get up! Please, please, get up!"
Jazz couldn't believe what she was hearing. She slowly looked at Dan with slightly teary eyes, and when hers meet his she feels weight press on her shoulders. Her throat dries as she asks him. "Were...Were you the one that destroyed your timeline?"
Dan stared at her with a frown, but Jazz saw something in his eyes. Behind the hate, the anger, and all of the pain... She could have sworn she saw an apology. One that was hidden in the darkness once more as he turned back to Danny, struggling to place his hand in the boy's hair. But just as he does so, Danny is once again ripped away, this time by Maddie.
"Sweetie, please!" Maddie begs, but the halfa refused to listen, and screamed even louder when he sees Jack aiming a gun at his father.
Dan meets the man's harsh gaze with one of his own, only for a smirk to form on his face. He heard the gun charging, but as soon as it did he felt it. A burst of energy from the anguished halfa as pitch black rings transformed his body. His hair turned to roaring white flames, as his eyes turned pure red. All in Maddie's arms.
He then pushes them back, tears still flooding down his face as he looks down at them. Deep red energy forms in the halfa's palms and continues to grow brighter and brighter, causing electricity to fire sporadically and damage walls. Jack and Maddie could only watch in fear as their own child prepared to end their lives.
"Stop!" Jazz's voice made Danny shudder. "Please, please don't do this Danny! Please!"
The halfa watched her cry and collapse to her knees for a moment before turning to Dan. The ghost was struggling to sit up further and look at him. And Danny found himself calming down. For a moment, his eyes even appeared to be green-only to turn when he heard a weapon being charged. He then cried out as he was blasted into a wall. Jazz's scream was the last thing he heard before slipping into unconsciousness and transforming into his human self.
Dan meanwhile, was speechless. He then turned to the Fenton's, watching Maddie lower her gun with stray tears rolling down her cheeks. He continued to stare at her, while Jazz ran over to Danny and did her best to help him.
But then she looked up. The air felt heavier, as Dan struggled to his feet and watched them. Their weapons powered up once more, but Dan merely waved a hand and trapped them against a wall. His mind was a constant ringing, as he raised a hand up.
Jazz's voice then rose above the ringing. "No! Don't kill them! You can't, they're all I have! J-just like Danny is to you! Don't take that away from me!"
Dan looked at her, before his gaze moved back to the ghost hunters. He then felt bindings wrapped around his body and burning metal against his back. The Nasty Burger was about to blow and he would die... Then he sees through the eyes of Vlad, who was cowering in a corner from the monster in front of him. He wished it killed him... And finally, he sees through the eyes of Jack and Maddie. Scared, and confused. Wondering just what they did wrong...
Dan shakes his head and approaches them, hearing Jazz's pleas get more desperate. He ignores them in favor of reaching through Jack's forehead and Maddie's stomach . He then removes his hands and steps towards Jazz, who backs away and lets the full ghost near Danny.
The older phantom then picked the halfa up, and flew away, with Jazz looking after him.
"I- I can't see!" That made Jazz snap out of it, as she rushed over to her father and mother, who were released once Dan was far enough away. She then shrieked, seeing Jack's blurry and unfocused eyes. She then looked to her mother, who couldn't stand up.
"I can't feel my legs!" Maddie cried out, tears flowing down her face once again.
And though Jazz stared in horror at what Dan had done to her parents, deep down... She couldn't blame him.
A/N: Well that was intense. Guys, little PSA. If you ever meet a ghost some day, do not take their child.
But seriously, this is probably my favorite chapter. I also want you guys to keep in mind in the future that I like mentioning little things that play a factor in the AU but either don't get brought up much, or are so minor you miss it and then it plays a big part. (You know, I say that, but then some of you might look a bit deeper at my writing and notice the glorious spelling mistakes I make... I dunno, guess you could make a drinking game out of it-specifically with Raising the Future. Unless you're under age. [Drink responsibly...])
By the way, Acidwing I am going to be using your "How in the seven hells" from now on, and hrisi292 that quote is going to be a T-shirt... Or at least something I can think about while watching Bitter Reunions for the 15th time.