End
(Alternate ending to Phantom Planet)
It's the end of the world.
Somehow, against all odds, a huge meteor that has bits of some weird element known as ectoranium – which, of course, is a natural ghost repellant – is hurtling toward Earth, and is due to make impact within the week.
It's their fault, and the two halfas know it; one of their petty fights over the Infi-Map led them to outer space, and a rouge blast sent the asteroid flying from Saturn's ring. Luckily Vlad's monitoring station there had gone undamaged, and transmitted news to the man that the asteroid was, in fact, made of the material that could be deadly to ghosts.
His first thought was to go to Skulker, the Fright Knight, and his other allies in the Ghost Zone – at the very least to warn them of the imminent danger, but he was also hoping that one of them might have an idea on how to circumvent this disaster. A powerful stray ecto-blast had caused the asteroid to break free of the gravitational pull of Saturn; maybe another one could divert it from Earth? But Skulker didn't think that would be possible, if only because of the speed it was now approaching Earth.
So now Vlad was pacing in young Daniel's room as the younger hybrid glared at him, eyes glowing a dangerous shade of green.
"So," Tucker Foley said, breaking the tense silence. "So, if ghosts can't touch this asteroid at all…and since it's unlikely that anything short of a massive blast will divert the asteroid, but with the speed it's moving I don't even know if you could do it – we're basically doomed?"
"Oh, come on, there's gotta be something we can do!" Samantha argued. She turned to glare at Vlad. "Why can't we just pool your money and my family's money and construct machines to make a giant ghost shield around the Earth?"
"It's highly unlikely that a ghost shield will repel something made of a material that is also meant to repel ghosts," Vlad hissed, stopping to consider it. "Although, Samantha, you bring up an interesting point."
"How so?" Daniel asked, suspicion written all over his face. Tucker, however, blinked, eyes widening as he understood.
"Well, the ghosts could potentially turn the entire Earth intangible," he explained slowly, "if we could find some way to transfer the intangibility across the entire Earth. I suppose we could set up a central hub somewhere, have cables reaching across the entire globe. I don't know if it would affect the oceans and rivers and stuff though, or how the atmosphere might be affected by the asteroid passing through, but – but unless you have some other plan, it's about the best option we've got."
They pull it off, somehow, miraculously.
Danny went to his ghost allies, who in turn went and spread the word to their ghost friends, and those friends told all of their friends. Vlad got a bunch of his allies and associates to agree and spread the word, too, and they end up with pretty much the entire Ghost Zone ready to roll. The only ghosts Danny knows of but don't see are the Observants, though he's pretty sure he saw Clockwork hovering by Dora and the Ghost Writer.
In the meantime, they've also successfully pitched the idea to the press and the nations of the world. Funding is streaming in, and the world comes together in Antarctica to set up the control center for this ridiculous idea. But they manage to get it done, somehow, and the control hub is fully ready and operational just 24 hours before the expected impact. Just 2 hours later they get word that all the cables stretching across the Earth's surface are finally in place, and they hook up the cables to the control center.
The ghosts gather around the center 12 hours before impact. The humans are definitely unsettled, and Danny can see both his parents and Valerie have weapons on them at all times, ready to act if necessary. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz also have weapons, but that's more for the ghosts that have been their enemies – in case one of them decides to try and sabotage everything.
There's a clone of Vlad walking around, too, in his human form so that people don't question where the billionaire is. Danny had attempted a few clones but he still wasn't able to keep them in a human form, so they'd improvised and reprogrammed the old Tuck bot to look, sound, and act like Danny Fenton whenever he had to go parade around as Phantom. Somehow it worked, and Danny wasn't quite sure how; he knew his dad was thick, but the fact that his mom bought it was almost disappointing.
He'll tell them after all this, he decides. Assuming that the Earth – and consequentially, the Ghost Zone – survives the next few hours.
2 hours until impact, and the ghosts begin dispersing around the control center, claiming spots for themselves along the structure. 1 hour, and they start saying their goodbyes, as do the humans, just in case.
(Danny risks a quick transformation back into Fenton, and hugs his parents and sister and friends goodbye. They have to survive, though, he tells himself. He's going to tell them, after this. They have to survive. They have to.)
30 minutes, and the ghosts begin to buzz with both excitement and fear. 20 minutes, and the tech gurus start booting up the final programming.
10 minutes, and the ghosts place their hands, paws, tentacles, or whatever appendages they have available on the cold surface of the machine.
5 minutes, and they start to prepare themselves for the incredible strain they're about to put on themselves.
3 minutes, and they go intangible.
The intangibility spreads through the entire machine, running along the cables that crisscross around the world. By 1 minute and counting, the intangibility spreads throughout the land and the water, even seeping into the lower atmosphere, if only a little bit.
0 minutes, and the asteroid passes straight through the Rocky Mountains.
It zips through the Earth in less than a minute, and doesn't even come close to where they set the control station up on Antarctica, but until the asteroid finally passes through the other coast of Antarctica, the ghosts can't stop screaming.
They're not even physically touching the asteroid themselves, but their power is being spread across the globe, and with the asteroid passing through the planet it is touching their power and still affects them. They scream in agony, scream to make it stop, and as soon as the asteroid passes and they're given the "all clear", the ghosts collapse collectively into a heap on and around the control center.
They barely have a moment to catch breaths that they don't really need (in most cases, anyway) before a swarm of humans, led by the Fentons and a few other Amity Park residents, comes crashing outside, cheering. Phantom and Plasmius look up, panting, and at this point Danny's glad he went with the robot instead of a clone, because the human Vlad looks just as worn out as Plasmius does.
Most of the ghosts scuttle back out of pure instinct, despite the fact that they far outnumber the humans, but soon relax as they regain their strength and float up, some waving to the humans and drinking in the glory, others slipping away to access whatever portals they can find to get back to the Ghost Zone and get on with their afterlife.
Surprisingly, Valerie is the first person who manages to find the two halfas in the swarm of ghosts. Danny perks up at the sight of Danielle floating wearily next to her; he'd lost track of her amidst all the other ghosts earlier.
"Nice save, Phantom," she says curtly, studying the two of them for a moment. "Y'know, if you put this much effort into your school work, you probably wouldn't be failing as many classes."
Danny blinks at her; for a moment he can't tell if he's figured it out or if she's baiting him into revealing himself. But then he catches Danielle's nervous look, and he smiles.
"Well, Val, I'd love to, but I'm usually kind of busy rounding up ghosts while simultaneously avoiding your very impressive arsenal," he shoots back. He's glad when she grins, and she holds out a hand.
"Truce, Danny," she murmurs. "Although, let me tell you, I want to hear the whole thing from you when we get back to Amity."
"Fine," he says easily. "Keep an eye on Danielle for me?"
"Always have been, dork," she replies, a smile finally breaking through. Danielle just grins up at him and gives him a thumbs up, before blinking and glancing warily at Vlad.
He's staring at her, feeling a little awkward but not quite sure if he should leave yet or not. He can't merge with his clone yet because of all the people, and he doesn't really have the strength to do much else right now with the strain he's putting on himself to maintain the duplicate. But Valerie doesn't give him time to even try and say anything to the girl.
"You," she hisses, venom lacing her voice, "will stay away from her from now on. I figured out who you are, Vlad – I went back that night, I saw. Unless you want your little secret getting out, I suggest you watch yourself."
With that, she turns and stalks away, Danielle on her heels. Vlad glares after her, eyes blazing, and Danny almost chuckles but manages to stop himself.
People are boarding the airplanes, now, ready to head home and worry about the cleanup later. Danny makes to follow, but is stopped with a hand on his shoulder.
It's just Vlad, again, but the man is biting his lip now, almost unsure of himself. Then he speaks.
"Truce, Daniel," he says, so softly Danny can barely hear it over all the background noise. "I don't know how long it will last, but for now, I'm calling a truce. No fighting, no threatening your family, none of it." And with that, Vlad turns and flies off toward the private jet he brought for himself and his crew. He turns invisible near it, and Danny can only assume he's gone to merge with his duplicate and go home and rest.
Boy, does sleep sound like a good idea right now.
But first, Danny decides, he has to tell his family. They've got their own little Fenton jet that they used just for the occasion; he'll have Jazz and Sam and Tuck to back him up when he does the big reveal.
Maybe, he thinks, it's a good time to end all the secrets and start a new chapter in his existence.