Happy thanksgiving to any of my fellow Canadians (that celebrate thanksgiving)!
Sophia the daughter of Nyx: Thanks!
Potterheads2016: Oh, yes. Reaction time
ShinyMudkipGal: Stupid Teenage Girl Voice "OMG I know! They are gonna be, like, sooo freaked out!
Luna von Rae: And update I shall
Echgrl: I would absolutely love for that to be true, but sadly I'm not, and thanks
Princessbinas: Not quite, but that's close. All shall be revealed, in the next chapter
Phantomfanforever: Ha, I was actually wondering about that. And it's great to know your loving/hating the cliffhanger
TheBoss3254: Yay!
LooneyAces: I thought it was a nice touch
Readingandstuff: Danny needs to chill to (not so much right now, but later, it'll get fun)
Katpet: Thanks, and it's great to hear the irony is effective
Mimi1012: Yeah, sorry about it being so short
Nesy Girl: I bet a lot of people thought it would be Dan, but nope! It's an OC. While I do have an account on youtube with this name, I haven't done anything with it yet. I also have deviantart (but have yet to post anything). Can't really think of anything besides that
Enjoy!
Danny was roused by the smell of burning flesh for the second time in his half-life, and he groaned as he shifted on the cold tiles. He forced himself up onto his hands and knees, struggling to remember what had happened. Kraeva, Sam was safe, Vlad was definitely still his enemy. And there was something about Skulker. Danny's hand slipped against a white tile, which was slick with blood, and he remembered. The sudden flare of pain, the crackling energy. He had been electrocuted. And not like the small shocks Walker liked to give him any time he could get his hands on Danny, but a massive burst of electricity. Enough to kill him, or finish killing him. It was then that Danny noticed his hand was not just his hand, but covered by a white glove.
"Oh, Clockwork, no," Danny hissed, eyes wide. He struggled to sit back in his heels and glanced down at his body. Black and white jumpsuit, white hair, probably neon green eyes. He panicked for a moment. Was he really, truly dead now? He closed his fist around the red stain on his palm, and focused on forcing his ghost core down. It work, and Danny slumped in relief when he was able to change back into Fenton.
Then he remembered where he was, what he had been doing, and who had been watching. Danny shot to his feet, stumbling as he did so, and whipped around to face the throne. Kraeva, Vlad, and the Fright Night were gone. The yetis, Frostbite included, were gone as well. Only Danny, the Speeder (with all its passengers), Dora, and Ember were in the room.
"Danny!"
"Dipstick!"
Ember and Dora ran forwards, the ghostly princess casting off all formalities in place of worry for her brother, and grabbed him before he could fall back to the floor.
"Wha's a matter?" Danny slurred, feeling the quick burst of adrenaline leaving his body.
"You, uh, kind of just experienced your death all over again," Ember explained quickly.
"Sounds fun," Danny muttered.
"You're the one who did it, you tell me," Ember and Dora started to walk Danny over to the Speeder. No one inside had moved yet, most of them too stunned by what had just been revealed to them to do anything.
"Oh…" Danny hummed idly, as if he were deep in thought. "It's not very fun."
As they reached the Speeder, Danny pushed his hand out to brace himself against the vehicle, and a spark of electricity jumped between his palm and the metal. The people inside the vehicle yelped as the lights suddenly flickered.
"Uh, maybe you shouldn't touch anything," Tucker stammered when the two ghosts carefully guided Danny inside.
"Maybe," Danny nodded sluggishly, and stumbled as he entered. Jack immediately reached out to steady his son, who was swaying precariously, head rolling around on his shoulders.
"They all saw, didn't they?" Danny asked, his question directed at Tucker.
"Yeah, dude, they kind of did," Tucker confirmed.
Danny nodded, then turned pleading eyes on his parents. "Please don't hate me, and please don't experiment on me. Pleasedontripmeapartmoleculebymolecule. Donthateme, donthurtme, donthateme, donthureme. Donthatemedonthurtmedonthatemedonthurtme-"
Jack's eyes widened as Danny descended into a state of panic. He looked to Maddie, unsure of what to do, but his wife was still recovering from the shock of their discovery. It was one word spoken from by a soft voice that stopped the halfa's rant.
"Danny," Sam breathed. Danny's mouth immediately snapped shut, there was a bright flash, and suddenly he was kneeling in front of Sam, hands hovering mere millimetres from her shoulder.
"I-I-I failed you, Sammy. And it hurts, it really hurts. My core, it won't stop aching, it feels like it's breaking apart. I wasn't supposed to fail. I'm the hero, I keep everyone safe, keep everyone from getting hurt. But now you're hurt, and Frostbite's gone and Pandora's done and Clockwork can't help and Kraeva's too strong and… and… it hurts so much," Danny's chin dropped to his chest and Sam quickly pulled him close.
"Danny, I'm fine. And not like you fine, I'm actually fine. A little bruised and worse for wear, but I'm actually okay," Sam spoke into Danny's ear as he pressed his cheek against her neck.
"But they're going to hate me, and call me freak, and test their new weapons on me," Danny rambled, his head shaking from side to side.
Sam looked around the Speeder, taking careful note of everyone present. Everyone, except for Star and Lancer, sat with mouths agape, shock and guilt apparent on their faces. Lancer and Star just looked really sad.
"They won't, Danny. They really won't," Sam reassured him. Danny simply continued to shake his head, and the Goth carefully pushed Danny up and guided him onto one of the Speeder's seats, careful to keep him from touching any exposed metal parts. Which was extremely hard in a vehicle comprised 90% of metal. She guided Danny' head back down onto her shoulder and soon the halfa was asleep.
"Tucker, take us to… uh…" Sam looked around helplessly. She had no idea where they were, besides the Ghost Zone, and didn't know any places that they could safely go.
"My castle. You can rest there, and return to your realm as soon as you are able," Dora offered, sitting down next to Sam. Tucker nodded and started up the Speeder, forced to navigate his way through Sable's wide halls since Dora and Ember couldn't phase through the specified walls like everyone else. They spent the next few minutes in silence, and it was only when they had finally returned to the open air of the Ghost Zone that someone spoke.
"It really does make a lot of sense," Lancer said suddenly, startling everyone out of their own thoughts. His eyes remained trained on Danny. "The tardiness, constantly missing school, turning in unfinished homework. He would always disappear in the middle of class, and an hour later you'd hear on the news about how Danny Phantom had just defeated another one of his ghostly foes. Phantom, Fenton. It's not really even very creative."
"I find that offensive," Danny muttered, and Lancer jumped. Everyone had been so sure he was asleep. After several seconds of silence, they were proven right.
"Sir Phantom has extremely sensitive hearing," Dora stated, as if that explained everything.
"The portal," Maddie abruptly sat up straight and looked at Jack. "Danny's accident, with the portal, the day that he fixed it."
Jack's eyes widened as understanding, and horror, dawned on his face. "Phantom appeared not too long after."
"And… and we've been hunting him," Maddie gasped, and started sobbing. "Every morning, I'd tell Danny my plans for what we would do when we eventually caught the ghost boy! How could we never even notice? The way our weapons trained on him, all the reclusive behaviour, hardly ever seeing him except when he returned home at night…"
"It's all a matter of perspective," Star spoke up. "You're his parents, you're too close to him. Manson and Foley, I doubt you guys ever figured it out."
Sam and Tucker shook their heads in skewed unison.
"You cared too much, and overestimated what you knew. Until Masters, or Plasmius, or whatever you want to call him, ghosts were ghosts. They couldn't also be alive, and humans couldn't also be dead."
"So, he is dead?" Kwan asked.
"No!" Sam snapped. "Well, not technically. I mean, he's more dead than we are, but… he's more alive than they are?"
Sam was once again at a loss.
"How did it happen?" Kwan asked.
"It wasn't actually that different from what you just saw," Ember started, only to be scolded by Dora.
"Ember, it is not our place to tell!"
"Dorathea, you know how the dipstick is. It'll make things a little easier when he wakes up," Ember stated. Dora frowned, but didn't stop Ember as she continued. "We can't give you all the gory details, only Sparky here can do that, but he died by electrocution."
"Sparky? That's actually a really mean name," Tucker interrupted.
"Oh, sure, I can't call the 'Great One' Sparky, but it's a riot if he calls me Pyre," Ember huffed.
"Your name is already a bit of a tell," Dora pointed out.
"It was my nickname before I died! Those bitches were the ones who thought the fire would be funny," Ember seethed, her flaming blue ponytail flaring up. Then she blinked and met the stare of everyone in the Speeder.
"Ask, and even dipstick won't be able to stop me from playing you into oblivion," Ember hissed. Several heads quickly bobbed up and down, and silence fell once again, leaving everyone to their thoughts, four people in particular.
Paulina and Dash had yet to move after discovering Danny' secret, both of them lost in a whirlwind of emotions.
Fenturd is Phanturd? Fenton is my hero? There's no way, I won't believe it! Phantom is cool, and strong, although I guess Fenton is strong too, I've seen his muscles. But Phantom saves people all the time, he doesn't run away from ghosts. But Fenton runs away before the ghosts arrive, and he did all this just to save that Goth chick. But Phantom is a hero, and Fenton is a loser! Dash's thoughts bounced back and forth. Fenton couldn't be Phantom, but he had proof, he had seen it, but Fenton was a nobody. It just didn't make any sense. He could have been popular if he told people, he could have gotten Dash back for every time the jock had beaten up him up, or stuck him on top of the flag pole.
It just didn't make sense.
Does this mean that I'm in love with Fenton? He had been totally in love with me, the stupid Goth girl is probably just a distraction so he doesn't have to think about me rejecting him all the time. Wait, does that mean that I've been rejecting my true love, future husband? No! But I don't love Fenton, I love Phantom. Although, Danny has gotten kind of handsome, and he's tall, and muscular. And he's totally in love with me! But I don't love him, do I? Paulina was lost in a torrent of conflicting emotions, over her desire for Phantom, and her dislike of Fenton.
She just couldn't be in love with him, could she?
Jack and Maddie were lost in their own world of woes, but several things remained constant in their minds. They were bad parents, not to have noticed. They threatened their son on a daily basis and didn't even know it. How could they not have realized he was half-dead, with his low body temperature, slow pulse, and decreased breathing, for a year? Would they have even known, had he not accidentally (and they knew Danny hadn't meant to do it) transformed in front of them? Unlikely.
I wonder how it happened. I didn't think there could be any scientific basis for this, but after Vladdie… they're accidents are actually very similar.
Am I truly this bad of a mother? No wonder Danny doesn't trust me, or want to spend time with me anymore. When we went to the Dalv convention, I made him where that belt. Did it hurt him? How did I not notice?
They sat close together, faces pale, tears streaming down Maddie's face, and the threat of them glistening in Jack's eyes.
"Why was Danny acting so… out of it?" Tucker asked, glancing over his shoulder, but respectfully keeping his eyes of the distraught parents. Dora gave Ember a warning glare before the rock star could start speaking.
"What? We aren't his therapists, there's no doctor-patient confidentiality, and do you really think Sparky would actually tell them himself?"
"He might," Dora said defensively.
"No, he won't, and you know it. We wouldn't know if he hadn't been forced to tell us, we wouldn't be… friends, either," Ember seemed to struggle with calling Dora a friend, and the princess gave her a small smile. Ember took this as permission to continue, not that she wouldn't have anyways.
"A ghost's death can be a really sensitive topic, and how we die can be the start of a major fear, usually tied to the specific pain felt during death. But, ghosts also can't really get hurt. Okay, that's not quite true. We can get hurt, but we can't really feel it that much. So, being dead, we can 'live' with the knowledge that we will never have to experience pain like that again. Babypop is a little different, he's not dead. Well, not completely. So, reliving that pain as a total possibility for him. He's sort of already not okay, mentally. Has a lot of panic attacks. And it doesn't help that his obsession is kind of a hard one to satisfy."
"How is that?" Sam asked, running fingers through Danny's raven locks.
"Sir Phantom's obsession is saving people, acts of heroism, keeping specific people from getting hurt," Dora gave Sam a pointed look. "If a ghost fails in their obsession, they become unstable. Failing for Sir Phantom can be going a length of time without saving people, or not being able to prevent someone from being hurt. You would think that, with all the ghosts Sir Phantom fights, his obsession would be overly satisfied, but ironically enough, people are often not in danger during those fights because Daniel is there. He has to physically save them from a dangerous situation, stopping the situation from arising simply isn't enough. But letting that situation happen also goes against his obsession. It is a complicated situation, and has caused a number of problems for Daniel," Dora finished the explanation.
"What kind of problems?" Lancer asked. Ember and Dora shared a look before continuing.
"It's usually just the panic attacks, and how he was just acting, although it's not usually that bad. The electrocution would have made it worse, there's also-" Ember suddenly snapped her mouth shut.
"And what?" The Ghostketeers were surprised when Dora asked this. Apparently Ember knew something that the princess didn't.
"I can't tell you, it's the one thing I won't tell you. I swore on my name," Ember gave Dora a challenging look, and the princess immediately backed down. Ember's name was an important part of her obsession. For her to have sworn on it, it would have to be a big deal.
"I'm gonna go get the pipsqueak, she doesn't know we aren't heading back to the Far Frozen. See you guys at the castle," Ember phased through the floor of the Speeder, and a blue blur could be seen flying away in the direction of the frozen land.
When the ghosts attacked, Jazz and Amber were still in the Fentonworks lab, going through as many security tapes as they could, as if seeing Danny Fenton turn into Danny Phantom the first time must have been some fluke. The cursor on the screen was hovering over the icon for the video the day of Danny's accident. Jazz had explained to Amber what little she knew about the event, and now they were deciding whether they wanted to see what really happened, or not.
Oddly enough, the ghosts didn't come through the Fenton Portal. In fact, the girls doubted they would have found out about the invasion for several hours, if it weren't for the sudden scream that came from outside, followed by Fenonworks' own ecto-exodus alarm going off. They quickly slapped their hands over their ears, abandoning the computer, and ran upstairs. Jazz threw open the front door to see wraiths swarming the streets and people screaming and running from their blades.
Thinking quickly, Jazz whipped aside a curtain on the wall and smashed her fist against a large button. A familiar feminine voice echoed throughout Fenton Works.
"Fenton Works Anti-Creep Mode activated!" The Fentons had redone the anti-creep mode after the invasion of Pariah Dark, and the defensives mechanisms that sprung from the walls inside the house now also emerged from the ground in front of Fenton Works. Metal arms lashed out at the wraiths and anti-ecto missiles streaked through the streets.
Amber stared at the door as she watched all this happen, and hardly even noticed Jazz running back down to the lab. When she returned, she was wearing a navy jumpsuit that had been made for her once she expressed an interest in ghosts. Several weapons were strapped to the belt around her waist. She pulled up her hood and goggles, hefting a Fenton Foamer. Luckily, Anti-Creep Mode no longer target ecto weaponry.
"Amber, get people to come inside," Jazz said quickly. As she stepped out of Fenton Works, the ghost shield activated, and the wraiths that had been approaching the house stopped abruptly. Amber stood for several seconds in stunned silence as Jazz ran into the street, yelling and firing the Fenton Foamer. She shook her head and got her bearings, then followed Jazz's instructions.
"Everyone get inside!" Amber yelled, running down the steps, but staying just within the ghost shield. There was no way she'd be stepping outside of the safety of the green barrier.
Jazz, meanwhile, felt no qualms about being out in the open. She charged through the crowds of wraiths, gun in her hands spewing green foam. The wraiths shrieked when he were hit and disappeared into the ground. It was chaos. Jazz hardly thought about what she was doing, she just did it. Fire at a group of wraiths, kick one that was getting too close, pull someone out of the path of a blade. At some point she had picked up a small child and was now passing him off to whoever was closest, pushing both towards Fenton Works. Jazz spun around, ready to fire again, but faltered when she saw that the wraiths all stood facing her, making no movements. It would appear that, any human that had been running in fear was now safely tucked away in Fenton Works, or hiding out in their own homes. In an eerie act of unison, the wraiths stepped aside, opening up a path to the green shield. The gun in Jazz's hands dipped, and she hesitated a moment, then ran through the opening and dove through the shield next to Amber.
The ghosts had let her live, and she didn't know why. In fact, looking over all the people taking refuge inside the shield, it looked like they hadn't actually hurt anyone. A few people seemed to be battered and bruised, but no one was bleeding.
"We should all get inside," Jazz instructed, pulling back her hood. She rose from the ground and waited until everyone had passed through the doors before following them.
"An army of skeletal ghosts?" Ishiyama blinked at the four students standing in front of her, comfortably holding the Fentons' weapons in their arms. They nodded.
"It's kind of like Pariah Dark, isn't it?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, but Phantom defeated that guy," Morgan reminded him.
"He could have gotten out again. That's what happened the first time, right?" Jason asked.
"Wrong. Plasmius let him out. The Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep can't be broken out of," Valerie shook her head, then met the confused stares sent her way. "I've, uh, spoken to Phantom a few times. He told me."
Technically, not a lie.
"Maybe we should wait for him," Jason suggested.
"There's kind of a lot of ghosts out there. I don't think even Phantom could take them all," Morgan scowled, shifting the Fenton Foamer to rest it against her shoulder.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Nathan cried.
"Children, calm down," Ishiyama snapped. "We can contact the GIW and the Fentons. Until then, we should remain here."
"But what about the people stuck in their homes? We can't just leave them out there!" Jason protested.
"Guys, come on," Valerie tilted her head and guided the Ghostketeers away from Ishiyama, who was shaking her head and sighing. When they were out of earshot, Valerie rounded on them and started whispering. "We've got lots of room in the auditorium. If I can sneak out, I can start to bring people here."
"What? How do you expect to do that on your own? You can't fight your way through that many ghosts!" Morgan hissed.
"Trust me, I can do it," Valerie counted.
"Why should we believe you? We let you go out there, and you could die! You can't run fast enough!"
"I won't be running!" Valerie snapped, then slapped a hand over her mouth.
"What?" She turned wide eyes on Jason, who had asked the question, and sighed.
"You guys can't tell this to anyone, got it? Or else you'll find yourselves in big trouble," Valerie threatened. The other three nodded quickly, although Morgan's silence would depend on how juicy the secret was. She may not have been an A-lister, but she loved gossip.
"I mean it, the only reason I'm telling you guys is because you won't let me go out there on my own if I don't." She received another round of nods. "Okay. I'm the Red Huntress."
Jason and Morgan's eyes widened, and Nathan grinned.
"I'm gonna take the Red Huntress to senior prom!"
"No you're not!"
"No I'm not," Nathan quickly shook his head, but he was still grinning.
"Now you know, and now I'm going to go out there, and bring back as many people as possible. And you cannot follow me. I've been fighting ghosts a lot longer than you have."
"Just to point out, we've never actually fought ghosts," Nathan added.
"Exactly. You go out there, you die. But me?"
"Home field advantage, plus awesome ghost fighting gear," Jason grinned.
"Wish me luck."
So what did you guys think of everyone's reactions?
Or Jazz's baddassery?
Or Val's own revelation?
'See' you next time
