I am Phantom
by Futuramakid
DISCLAIMER: I own neither DP or I am Legend.
March 18, 2011.
Just barely. I look at the clock. 1:00 AM. I hear them. I don't know how, but they got past my defenses. They're IN Fentonworks. I concentrate and maintain a ghost shield. Can't risk them getting to us if they get past the doors. There's a loud thump. Vlad jolts awake.
"They're trying to get in here... I don't know why. I can shield where we are and the pod, but I can't go bigger without risking its stability."
The barricades buckle. There's a loud roar, and then a louder crash. The barricades collapse. The room fills with the monsters. One comes to the front. He looks at me, and roars angrily. I look a little closer. On the beat up, ragged remains of a t-shirt he's wearing, I can make out a faint, light red circle.
"That's Daniel!" I realize. He looks from me to the pod. It's incredible. I never saw evidence for anything like this. I go to the pod again. I look at our specimen. Then to Daniel. Then back to the specimen. I open it for a closer look. It finally dawns on me. Our specimen was Sam. It all makes sense. They got hostile once we got her... Daniel led them in here... But I can't just give her back...
"This could be a great chance to cure them, if they'd stop," Vlad comments.
"But the cure only works when they're on..."
It hits me.
You idiot, you have ICE powers! I let down the shield and cover them in a very thin ice layer. I take a few syringes, and begin distributing the cure, while keeping them cold. It works. The creatures are changing. I have saved the town, if not yet the world. First, I let Daniel thaw out. He is justifiably disoriented.
"What... happened?" He hold his head in a hand. He notices Vlad.
"Plasmius!"
"No, Daniel, he wasn't a part of this... Until he found the cure."
Daniel is amazed.
"Plasmius? You cured us?"
"No, Daniel," he says, "I only developed it... Phantom was the delivery boy."
He turns to me.
"I think it's time we became a halfa again, rather than just half," he says. I nod. I lift the Fenton Ghost Cather from its dusty corner. Side 2- Merge. It lowers. It's an odd sensation. He gets my memories, I get his. In the past year, I've lived 2 lives. I approach Sam, out cold in the pod. I disconnect the IV, and lift her in my arms.
"Sam?"
She stirs a little. She groans.
"...Danny?" she says weakly.
"Yes, Sam. I'm here."
I look into her beautiful eyes of violet, and do something neither Daniel nor Phantom had done for the length of their existence- I smile a loving smile.
"I'll always be here."
I hold her close.
"Sam, the past year has taught me that at any time, the world we live in could crash around us both... So I want to get this done before it does... Will you marry me?"
She looks at me. She smiles.
"You're serious?"
I nod.
"As if there was ANY doubt!"
She pulls me down to her level. We kiss.
"Sam, I'm going to see if you're strong enough to stand, okay?"
She nods. I slowly lower her legs. I help her to her feet. She leans lightly on my arm. I move my arm. She manages to hold herself up.
"Good. That means the town won't need bed rest."
The people are slowly coming to.
"Danny!"
There's no mistaking that voice.
Mom rushes up to me and nearly chokes me with a hug.
"You're safe..."
"Yeah, I am," I tell her, "unless you count my constricted airways..."
She slowly eases out of the hug.
"I'm just so glad you're alive..." she says. Over my shoulder, she notices Vlad.
"You!?"
"Relax, Mom. He's changed. He made the cure that saved us all."
She looks from me, to Vlad.
"Then I owe you my thanks," she says begrudgingly.
All across the room, various townsfolk were beginning to return to normal. I look across the crowd.
Himself... Sam's grandma... Sam... Mom... Dad.. Jazz... Kwan... Star... Tucker... Valerie's dad... Valerie... Lancer... There had to be more, I think. Then I realize that this really is all that's left.
"...The Andromeda Strain! What happened?"
I decide I owe some explanations. I get in front of the crowd.
"Citizens of Amity Park," I address them. I wait. Within half a minute, they are all looking to me.
"You may remember getting a vaccine for cancer. Well, that vaccine didn't work. The vaccine evolved into a hyper-contagious virus that killed most of the world, and turned the rest into monsters. My ghost half, which I managed to split off, and my companion, Vlad Masters--"
There is a collective gasp. Figures. He did hold the world hostage.
"--worked tirelessly for over a year and found the cure. However, if it wasn't for Vlad, and his contributions, you would all still be primitive, aggressive beasts. I suggest this pardons his past actions."
There is some protest, but one other voice rises above the crowd. I instantly recognize my father's voice.
"Three cheers for Vladdy, the hero!"
Then, for the first time since I became whole, Vlad speaks up.
"A kind suggestion, but I've only been here the past few days. My breakthrough wouldn't have occurred, if not for Daniel's groundwork."
"Agreed," I say, "but what you did was more than enough to earn a pardon for your past misdeeds. You saved the town, and possibly, the world by your help. Thank you, Vlad."
2:45 P.M.
Now that everyone's immune and rested, I take a list of our people and their skills. Oddly enough, Mr. Lancer is the proud possessor of a marriage license.
Sam smiles at me. She whispers something into her grandmother's ear. Her grandmother nods. She says something softly, in Hebrew.
"Mr. Lancer?" Sam speaks up.
"Yes, Miz Manson?" he says.
"Could you... marry Danny and I?" she asks.
"I'm flattered, Miz Manson, but I don't know how to perform a Jewish wedding..." he tells her.
"I think God would be fine with a fair, traditional ceremony. After all, we don't have enough Kosher witnesses alive for a Jewish wedding," she replies.
I blush slightly. She's compromising her religion, for me?
"Then I would be glad to," he responds, "though I expect you 2 need some time to prepare..."
5:00 P.M.
The town is quiet. In the area around city hall, we have made a makeshift stand for Mr. Lancer. Sam and I are in the best we could manage with the city in its current state, our dress clothes from that first dance all those years ago. Gathered around us are all the people who survived.
"Do you, Daniel Fenton, take this woman, Samantha Manson, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?"
"I do!" I say, not a single doubt in my voice, or my mind of this truth.
He turns to her.
"Do you, Samantha Manson, take this man, Daniel Fenton, to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?"
"You BET I do!" she responds. Typical Sam. Fiery, the way I like her.
"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband, and wife. You may kiss the bride."
I lean in. Our lips touch. But it feels like so much more. In that moment, our souls seem to connect. I feel more whole then I ever did. I hear gasps of amazement. I realize that, unconsciously, in my joy, I've lifted us several feet from the floor.
"Start the dance music, Vlad!"
Vlad turns on a cheap boombox I scavenged.
"Don't worry bout a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"
"Heh, wrong disc..." he says sheepishly. He opens it, and replaces the CD.
A nice, light piano begins.
"I was born to make you happy.
I think you're just my style.
Everywhere I go,
Tellin' everyone I know,
Baby, I love to see you smile."
We dance in midair. No ground beneath us, just us.
"Don't want to take a trip to China.
Don't want sail up the Nile.
Wouldn't wan' get too far,
From where you are,
'Cause I love to see you smile."
We danced. It's like nothing I'd done before. I'd flown, but this is entirely different.
"Like a sink without a faucet.
Like a watch without a dial.
What would I do if I didn't have you.
I love to see you smile."
"In the summer, in the springtime,
The winter, or the fall,
The only place I wanna be
Is where I can see you smile at me."
"In a world that's full of trouble,
Y'make it all worth while.
What would I do if I didn't have you.
I just love to see you smile.
I love to see you smile."
As the music ends, I take her in my arms. We spiral into the sky.
"I love you, Danny."
"And I love you. More than anything."
At that moment, I know precisely why humanity endures. We endure because we love. That, is the lesson I learned as Phantom.
The End.