Old and New Love
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon, etc.
Merging
It was now late evening. Sam and Tucker had been sent home with much on their minds, casting nervous looks Danny's way. Would he be alright? Phantom, in the aftermath, was still reeling in the newness of his halfa-state and with examining the mirror and the possession of the mortal boy he was soon to completely merge with.
Phantom circled the mirror, staring at his human image in the reflective glass. "This cannot be me."
Why not? This is how we've always looked.
Phantom froze, one hand clutching the mirror frame for support. "Excuse me?"
Hey, I'm just shocked by all this the same as you. Oh, and I'm Danny, by the way. The human half of us.
"You're actually aware of everything that is going on?"
Of course, as you will be, when I get control of my body back.
Phantom scowled at his human appearance. "I hate this."
As do I, but these were the cards Life dealt us. We must make the most of it. Being a ghost is kinda cool if you think about it.
Suddenly Phantom fell to the ground with a sharp cry, pain twisting his guts from the inside. He hissed through his clenched teeth. "No, not now."
What's going on? I can't. Too much pain. AHHH!
"Stop screaming," Phantom muttered, "it's just our two halves merging into one."
Seconds later, his own screams echoed into reality.
King Plasmius slammed the door and turned angry red eyes onto his wife. "Alright, Nicole, where is our son?"
"I know not where the magic has sent him, my lord," she said, "but I can feel his pain."
"As can I," came the quiet whisper. "I know you wanted an alliance with Aragon and his people. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings."
Queen Nicole shook like a leaf as her husband advanced on her. He grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her roughly. "Woman, you have gone too far this time. I should lock you up like your father."
"Vlad, please no!"
"Have you tried searching for him?" the Ghost King asked, gesturing at the mirror.
"Yes, but something blocks my vision."
"I can only hope Desiree can find him before something truly terrible happens."
"Jack!" Maddie heard the hard thump from overhead.
"What?" her goggled husband asked, looking up from the machine he was tinkering with. "Tell me this isn't about letting Jazz go to that Bookworm's Symposium in Atlanta. I thought we'd discussed this."
Danny's screams drowned out his next words.
"DANNY!"
Both parents dropped what they were doing and ran up the stairs.
"I knew that portal did something to him," Jack muttered to himself.
Maddie said nothing; her thoughts were focused on reaching her baby boy in time.
"Time Master?" Desiree's voice echoed through the hallowed halls of the most revered figure in the Ghost Zone. "Please, be here."
No one appeared to be at home, when she floated into a chamber filled with all manners of ticking devices, no furnishings save for three glowing portals at one end of the room.
"Past, present, and future," Clockwork's cold calculating voice said from behind her, causing her to jump. "It's like a parade really."
"Time Master, I need help finding Prince Phantom. We had just begun his right of passage, when he was taken. Dark magic was the source, we believe," Desiree explained.
"He is where he is supposed to be," Clockwork said, indicating the middle portal. Two ghost hunters were in the act of moving a comatose mortal child in his early teens to his bed.
"He's taken a human form," Desiree whispered. "It is rumored that King Plasmius has one, so theoretically Prince Phantom should have one too."
"Not quite," Clockwork said. "He's merged his essence with that child. In that world, he is known as Daniel. At birth, his soul was split into two. When Queen Nicole cast the dark spell banishing the child from your presence, courtesan, I intercepted it and reunited them. What was two are now one."
"Then I will go and bring him home," Desiree replied. "The king has charged me with this task."
"I will not forbid this," Clockwork said. "He may return home if he completes the rite of passage."
The portal into the past showed Prince Phantom stumbling out a portal, then receiving his first kiss by a mortal girl. "Ugh!" Desiree muttered in disgust. "How revolting."
Clockwork chuckled. "I will send you into the timestream a few months after these events have occured. It will give the prince some time to have healed from the merger and gain some control over his emerging powers."
"Thank you, Master of Time," Desiree said, kissing the old man, causing him to blush. It had been quite awhile since someone had done that.