Dark Side of the Moon
By. Anthiena
Disclaimer: I do not own either DP or Pink Floyd. I make no money whatsoever off this. I'm not worth suing!
AN: This took me much longer to write than the other two chapters combined. It was a nightmare... this chapter was originally going to be Brain Damage, but Time suits this chapter's feel far better. Enjoy. The lyrics this time follow the chapter instead of preceeding it. This chapter's gonna be the longest, by far. There are a number of things I changed between writing this down in hard copy and typing. I deleted the scene where Danny talked to Tucker over the phone. I deleted the end of the interaction between Vlad and Jazz. I turned up the freaky factor in the ghost scene and I gave the duplicates personality. This is what tropers call a Gainax Ending... of sorts. THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS!
Chapter 3: Time
The truce was very tightly held. Vlad was not a foolish man but he was a vengeful one. The arrest of Freakshow was all over the news and though he would have liked to kill the man, he had better goals in mind. Goals that would be compromised by murding a human, no matter how tempting. No, his attention needed to be and was on the siblings in his castle.
Was it ironic that Jasmine could deal with the more... unique ghosts better than he could? Perhaps. She would be heading back to college soon. He looked forward to her next break already, as that one would last longer. He had a great respect for her and no other living soul knew him as well as she did.
It had been so long, yet even though Maddie's betrayal still burned him, he would never take back the last two years. The mutual respect was something he was proud of and honored to his own surprise. He wasn't quite sure when he began to trust her. Was it when she told him that his being a hybrid was his secret to tell? He'd been quite sure that in that particular moment in time, sh'd been afraid for her life. Though he'd been impressed, he hadn't respected her then, not yat. She was a slip of a girl who was too smart for her own good then. When had that changed?
She did not condone his rather... unethical approach to business. He hadn't needed to use such an approach... as much. He relied on his wits, intuition and perhaps a few non-lethal ghost abilities that did not include overshadowing. The ability to remain unseen and walk through walls had many extremely practical applications that he could think of. Duplication also had its uses, as did teleportation, but he limited those for appearences sake. He would not blow his cover for something so petty as money; he could not and would not risk his other identity. It was perhaps the one thing the had agreed not to discuss. People might not fear for their lives around Masters as they might around Plasmius, but the certainly feared for their livelyhoods and it was just as gratifying.
There was no use in taunting a corpse, he'd found. Poetic justice was an interesting thing; Jack's technology had ruined lives and then took the life of its hapless inventor. It was a hollow, joyless victory however, with the barest of satisfaction. He found that as the weeks turned into months, now turning into years, it mattered less and less. His goal to ensure Jack's death had been fulfilled, yet it just wasn't didn't satisfy his still remaining anger and bitterness toward him. It made him feel foolish at times. What did Jack care now? Nothing.
He could not be bitter about Jasmine, nor did he see her as a piece on the board. She'd never been a player in his eyes, though she would be able to manipulate him if she saw fit to do so and oddly, he trusted that she never would. She had no interest nor reason to do such a thing; perhaps he wanted to believe. Certainly, a man of wealth, passion and power could believe he was not destined to be alone the rest of his life.
Perhaps it was that he was not sure if companionship and an odd sort of patronizing friendship was all he wanted out of her anymore. He had the impression that she too, was reflecting on their relationship. When did he go from sneering at her logical mindset to valuing it? The more that he questioned it, the more he found that it didn't matter now.
Monday, she would be back at campus, leaving him to deal with a mentally unstable, somewhat antagonistic ghost hybrid. He was as amused as he was horrified and alarmed by Daniel's mental instability. He would be in a sense easier to mold and manipulate at least. His idiot of a father being dead, his mother only God knew where and he hadn't even breathed the words hero, villain, archnemesis, good or evil. Nobody was a child forever, Youngblood nonwithstanding. Daniel, as it would seem, had changed and he wasn't alone in that little factoid.
He found Sam putting down the phone angrily, upset. "Stupid bull headed people!" She swore quietly.
"Your friend not as accepting as you'd like?" He spoke.
She looked at him, peeved. "He was happy to hear I was okay, but not Danny. I think he'll get over it, but he doesn't believe me that he had no choice."
"What now for you?"
"A GED. I can't exactly go home with Danny having nothing left in Amity Park. He'd follow me and he needs his sister... and as much as I don't like saying it, you too. You've been nothing but supportive of Danny and it's what he needs right now." She was certainly one to hold grudges, but she was more practical than Danny was.
"Yes, he seems rather enamoured with you." Vlad seemed thoughtful, yet distracted. "You know, I've seen ghosts obsessed with each other but Daniel and I seem to have the ah, dubious honor of being the only ghosts obsessed with living people. Perhaps it is that we're half-human as well as half-ghost."
"Who do you obsess over now? His mom ran off, right?"
Vlad visibly flinched, but covered it with a smirk. "You are too perceptive, my dear. That, however, is none of your business."
She crossed her arms. "Oh, please. I've been friends with the Clueless One for years. What you and Jazz do just screams denial. I may not be a future psychologist, but to me, it's pretty obvious; I've been there."
Vlad remained straight faced, but blushed and stood quite stiffly. "Jazz and I are not involved! I'm twice her age, woman!"
She raised her eyebrows thoughtfully at that. "Oh, yeah. You've got it bad. Even if Danny's clued in on me and him, he hasn't noticed you and Jazz. He's still the Almighty Clueless One. It's none of my business, I guess, but you better make your move while it's still mutual."
"You really think so?" He had a goofy smile one moment and glared at her the nest. "It's still none of your business!"
Danny tuned into different stations, frowning. "Jeez, don't they play Humpty Dumpty anymore?"
"No, they're kinda played out now." Jazz spoke from where she was writing her report, books and various papers spread out on the desk, with only enough space to put down a coffee mug.
"I really missed out on a lot, didn't I?" He switched off the radio, sitting on a chair beside her, his knees going off the side. "Not just music; all that time, gone."
She looked at him, putting down her pen. "You have to look on the bright side, Danny. You're still a teenager, you know."
He frowned at her, annoyed. "Like what, Jazz? My ghost side can overpower my human one, I probably lost Tucker as a friend and I'm a high school dropout. Hey, at least I missed most of puberty." He sighed.
"Danny, you need to call Tucker and tell him you're back. You could probably apologize to him, if you want to." This was not psychologist Jazz speaking, it was his big sister here. "He needs to hear it from you, not just Sam."
Danny winced. "Do I have to?"
Jazz favored him with a withering stare. "Running away from your problems will only make them worst. You're not helping Tucker by putting it off, you're only hurting him. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be."
He didn't speak for a while. "You have to go back to college soon, huh?"
"Yes. I'll be back and no, you and Sam can't come with me."
"Dang." He grinned sheepishly. He sobered. "I guess... I should call Tucker."
Jazz pulled out her cellphone. "Yes, Danny. You will."
A little later...
Danny sat on the roof, dejected. It had not gone all that well. Tucker didn't really yell, it had just been painfully awkward. It was almost worst than yelling. "So now you know what it's like, Little Badger, hmm?"
"Know what?" He didn't look, he knew it was Vlad.
"Why to lose, of course. Both of us lost out because of our powers. Life is strange, isn't it, Little Badger?"
"What do you want?" Danny spoke softly, looking at a completely serious Vlad in ghost form.
"From you? Nothing that you'd willingly give to me, nothing that hasn't been taken away and nothing I'll take. Nothing but the truce to be continued and perhaps to earn your respect."
Danny harrumphed. "Maybe we'll see how much of that you mean."
Vlad scowled. "Are you implying something? I have never lied to you, my boy. On the contrary, you have been the one to lie to me."
Danny looked down, angry. "No, you just let my dad believe you were his friend."
"Hah! Until that reunion, I hadn't spoken to him years! That was his delusion, not anything I encouraged."
Danny narrowed his eyes. "Of course, you blame everything on him."
Vlad sneered. "There is much in my life that is his fault, Daniel. Nobody is ever blameless, but I didn't come up here to argue with you over Jack, but to ask you a question. I don't expect an answer as I highly doubt you've even considered the question; what will you do with yourself?"
Danny was taken aback. "I... don't know. Can't exactly put ghost powers on a resume, now can I? I won't be overshadowing people to make them give their fortunes to me, either. I might not be a hero anymore, but I still draw a line somewhere."
"Ah, so you're done playing the the hero game, hmm?" Vlad raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.
"I can't call myself a hero... I've... done too much to call myself that." He spoke quietly, mild horror on his face.
Vlad studied him. "Let me know when you're done thinking you had any choice in the matter." Vlad phased through the roof, leaving the boy to sulk and hopefully consider his future.
Vlad Masters was pondering his own fortune, so to speak. He reverted to human form and walked the hall, finding Jazz taking a break from doing her homework. "Ah, Jasmine," he smiled genuinely; "Just the person I wanted to see."
"Afternoon, Vlad. What can I do for you?" She smiled back at him. Well, that was one loaded question...
It was easier, far easier. "Wow." Danny grinned.
"You're telling me." The mirror image of himself cracked in agreement. He split off another doppelganger and felt a little tug. This was harder, now... "This... is so cool." He'd been distracting himself by practicing this, but the copies actually looked right, not like something Escher could have drawn.
The second frowned. "I wonder if we could do another duplicate..."
"It's not a we, dude." The first reminded him.
Danny focused and another duplicate formed, who giggled inanely. He focused and the clones began flying around, using various abilities... and being a little... odd. One cackled as he blasted at targets, one looked extremely paranoid under his shield and the third whooped while flying and phasing through various things like a little kid. Danny went human and turned away, trying to see if he could do it. He peeked, finding the doppelgangers still working, even if acting quite oddly. "Finally got that ability down, huh?"
"Sam!" The Dannys exclaimed in unison, Danny 1 leering, Danny 2 looking extremely nervous and Danny 3 beaming. Danny absorbed them. "Uh... looks like I still need to practice that..." He blushed.
"Smooth." Sam deadpanned, waving her hand in a flat gesture.
"Right." Danny walked to her, embracing Sam tightly and kissing her playfully. "Is that better?"
Sam grinned. "Much." She saw his face go oddly blank as mist came out of his mouth. He went ghost with a scowl and sent out a duplicate. "What's wrong?"
He remained utterly calm but then an expression of rage twisted his face. "Spectra." He spat with venom.
He let go of her, going invisible as he phased through the floor, moving backwards. He found the lab, where Vlad kept his portal and a bored-looking Spectra tossing his doppelganger into a console, which made the doppelganger fail. Spectra's bored expression became a knowing smirk. "Oh, this is just too good to be true!" She crowed. She looked stronger and stronger, her going from her black ghostly form to her human one, looking youthful. "You're even better than I remember." She stepped forward, her hooded eyes never leaving him.
"Get out." Danny spoke evenly.
She tittered as she stepped close to him, leaning toward him, making him lean back. "Oh, but you don't have the moral high ground anymore, little boy. You're a regular monster, aren't you?" She was flushed, her eyes...
"Shut up!" Danny's expression was now one of horrified guilt. He looked away, ashamed.
"Murdering a human is so messy, isn't it?" She ran her hands through his hair, smiling almost sweetly. "Hmm... you even enjoyed it!" Her voice was husky, even as she laughed throatily.
He shivered and shook with barely suppressed sobs. "Do-don't touch me!"
She grabbed his chin with one hand, pulling at his hair, making him look at her. Her eyes now wide with excitement. "Your suffering is so sweet! There's so much guilt and shame!" He pushed her off, falling to the floor, only for the ghost to push him down to the floor, straddling him. "Your little girlfriend would be so disappointed if she knew!"
"It's a good thing Samantha knows better than that, now isn't it?" A familiar voice observed dryly. "Get off him."
Spectra sat up, grinning at Plasmius. "Ah, the spurned lover once more. Are you-" A magenta blast knocked her across the room.
"You've done quite enough, you piece of trash. Now get out before I decide to disfigure you."
Spectra's hands went to her face and she flew away quickly through the portal in fear. Sam and Jazz came running into the lab. "Danny!"
Vlad stood while the two girls rushed to Danny. "I knew you were foolish, but somehow, I'd thought that you were stubborn enough to not listen to that creature." Vlad spoke lightly. "You are not to blame for the last two years, Little Badger. You simply aren't capable of that sort of thing; not yet, anyway. It was never Danny Phantom's hands, but that wretch, Freakshow."
Danny didn't speak. A worried Sam put an arm around him and led him out of the lab. He frowned as Jazz approached him. "You've seen Spectra before, haven't you." It wasn't a question.
He hesitated momentarily. "Yes, I have."
Jazz grabbed his gloved hands. "You're thinking about my mom." He looked away, but she placed her hand on his cheek, making him look at her. "Mom never really saw this side of you, did she? She never would have, you wouldn't have allowed it. I already knew, but I like both your faces." She kissed him on the cheek.
"This isn't-"
"Vlad Plasmius is the same person as Vlad Masters. Neither is a monster." She insisted, interrupting him.
"Well, I should know better than to argue with the good psychiatrist." He smiled mildly, raising his eyebrows.
"Damn right." Jazz affirmed. She then smiled shyly at her own bravado. "I think I owe Plasmius a kiss."
"Jas-" Vlad was cut off as she kissed him. He found himself enjoying and deepening the kiss. This... this was nice.
"This can't be good." Sam muttered, Danny eyes burning green while in human form. "Danny, you know how Spectra is. She feeds off people's misery. She'll do and say anything, she's sadistic, you never had a choice."
"It was still me that did those things, Sam. I have to remember doing it!"
Sam embraced Danny tightly. "Sometimes, you are so clueless." She shook her head. "The only people in this world you owe anything to are your friends and family. Especially me, Mr. Sam-is-mine."
Danny smiled sheepishly. "I know how I can start making it up to you." He went ghost, kissing her and then grinning. "My favorite memories. Jazz and Vlad won't be back for a few hours, either."
In a house in Wisconsin, a young man and a young woman reconnected; a young woman and a man easily twice her age were finding their get together a natural thing in a town not too far from that house. Far from there, another young man was in denial. Even further was a woman lost and broken, the heat doing nothing for her heart. Closer and yet infinitely further, a ghost and her companion complained and contrived empty plots. Elsewhere, a ghost surrounded by the ticking of clocks observed events passing like endless poetry, everything having a place, a time, a scheme and yet, a choice. All a result of two small nudges.
Potential played before his eyes. A small child with oddly colored red (or was it pale?) hair clung to a happy (solemn?) Plasmius, who walked hand in hand with... Danny watching an angry Tucker walk away... an old Sam holding the hand of (her son?) Danny still looking like a young man.... Danny looking at a thermos, guilt evident on his face, Jazz looking horrified, Sam a bloody heap on the floor... an enraged Plasmius, hunting down Penelope Spectra.... a woman (which one?) in a wedding dress... a terribly strong ghost surveying a desolate ruin of a city, sick glee and satisfacton writ upon his face...
So many possibilities... so many choices and chances to be had. A thermos held a doubly averted future, silent only with the occasional muttering and insane laughter. It was harder and yet easier to see that creature in the young man whose sister he now observed. Neither she nor Vlad Masters even noticed nor would they care about the scandalized looks of shock being thrown their direction. It was a little funny.
So much potential was born and averted through the actions and choices of those four. Even as the clocks ticked away the moments, the day was not yet done. Plenty was left for chance and choice. What would be, time would tell. It was all up to them, now; as it was, as it should be, all as it could be. In time...
The was a cacophony of ringing, chimes and an odd sounding howl as dozens, if not hundreds of clocks struck the hour.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells