Chapter 26
Ended
Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville
"So, Vlad Masters is..." Clark whispered, trying to break the eerie spell that Ember's voice had cast on the barn loft.
"Vlad Plasmius." Ember spat caustically. "And you just handed him Danny Phantom on a silver platter!"
Line Break
Clark gaped, staring aghast at the blue haired ghost. "What...?" Clark whispered stunned into near silence. But in his mind things were slowly falling into place. Danny had told Clark about all his enemies, every single ghost that Clark asked about. Every ghost recorded that Chloe had dredged up; from the meanest octopus ghost all the way to the King, Pariah Dark. And Danny had answered his questions honestly, using his own experiences as a compare and contrast against Clark's experiences with meteor freaks. Sometimes he would be hesitant to speak, but he always obliged in the end with every ghost. All but one.
There was one ghost that Danny always skirted around, and no matter how hard Clark pressed Danny would never give much of an answer. In retrospect it was clear; Danny avoided talking about this ghost in much the same way he avoided speaking about Masters. The reports of confrontations between Plasmius and Phantom were near colossal. In one of the later articles Chloe had pulled up they had been compared to the battle between Zeus and the Titans. The two had a peculiar animosity, and anything written about clashes between Phantom and Plasmius was always significantly more immense than the regular ghost fights.
The first report was fairly tame; a small journalist from the Milwaukee journal had presented a story about the 'Wisconsin Ghost' coming to ruin a College Reunion. She had of course been dismissed from the field of journalism for her lack of scientific evidence. But the article remained, and the terrifying image of a blue skinned vampiric ghost had spread through the internet like wildfire. The ghost floated proudly in the air with a red lined white cape billowing across his shoulders. Cold crimson eyes glowed out of shadowed sockets, contrasting against the pale blue skinned face. His black hair stood in twin peaks in a startling reflection of Lucifer. And as he grinned his incisors jutted out as sharp fangs, completing the image of an unstoppable demonic vampire. It was some months later that the ghost identified himself as Vlad Plasmius, and Chloe had been the first to liken him to Vlad the Impaler.
But if Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius were one and the same then Clark had made a huge mistake. And he'd walked right into Vlad's trap. Even Lex Luthor had yet to sink so low as some of the depravities Ember had just described. Lex had never infected someone, let alone children, just so that he could force someone's hand. Lex had killed people, which was morally dubious at best, but wasn't nearly as manipulative and downright evil as Plasmius was. Lex killed when he didn't get what he wanted, Vlad took control and forced his victims into action, like some twisted puppeteer. The path of the sadistic manipulator sounded far worse, and something told Clark that he had only been given the abridged version of the story.
"We're not all the uncivilised scum that you humans make us out to be." Ember replied. Her voice was still icy, but her eyes were less steely at seeing Clark's obvious epiphany. "As much as he bugs us, most of us at least respect Phantom. If he weren't so keen on looking out for you humans he'd fit in well enough in the Zone. But very few of us want to be anywhere near Vlad. Most of us have heard at least some part of that story; and it's safer to just stay far away from Vlad if we can."
Ember sighed, her arms clutched almost protectively across her chest. "The truth is, most of us are terrified of Plasmius. He's a monster, and the only one who had ever stood up to him was Phantom. He's probably the only one of us that could. Plasmius has only ever been human; even if he does have a ghost half we still can't touch him. Sure we can mess with him a bit, like we can with any of you humans. But when it comes down to proper justice, we have no power over him."
"More than that, we're all terrified of what he could do with Danny Phantom at his side. Before babypop and I started getting on I was scared that he'd become vengeful like Plasmius did. For ghosts it's so much easier to hold a grudge than it is to move on. But now I know him better I'm scared what Plasmius will do to him. Danny doesn't talk about Plasmius if he can help it, but..."
Ember released a long suffering sigh, and it was somehow clear that she was doing her best to reign in her misery and her anger. "Babypop doesn't like talking about any of his fights. But the best way to make him shut up is to mention Plasmius' name. The stories we hear 'round the Zone are probably nothing to what Plasmius has really done to him, but he won't talk about it. I've learned to try to listen to his silences. They say a lot more about what he's thinking than what spills out of his mouth."
She shook her head, focusing her narrowed green eyes on Clark. "But you've gone and handed him over to Plasmius." She paused, her green eyes glowing almost menacingly between narrowed slits. "Now, what you're gonna do is tell me where Plasmius took Danny. And then I'm gonna go and fix your mistake."
Clark frowned. "I'm coming too." He asserted, quietly assessing her reaction. Because Ember was right. It was his mistake, and he needed the one to be in there to save Danny.
"Look," Ember replied scathingly. "I get that you're pretty big in the small town, but up against Plasmius you don't stand a chance. And I'm not carting you cross country just so you can be a pretty piece of furniture when the ectoplasm starts flying. Now tell me where Danny is." She demanded, her green eyes flaring with a type of unrestrained fury that Clark had never seen in Danny's ghostly eyes.
"Wisconsin." Clark replied quickly, keen to dissipate her anger since it wouldn't help either of them. "Chloe is good at tracing phone calls. But I can help. This is my mistake, and it's my responsibility to fix it."
"Unless you're telling me you can fly then you're stuck here, meathead." Ember retorted. "Thanks for the help, but I've got me a babypop to save."
Ember floated backwards, her figure disappearing through the wood of the back wall of the barn. Clark watched her go, her path seemingly in slow motion as he weighed his options. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like Danny hadn't told Ember about his Kryptonian heritage. So now Ember was discounting him as any help. But in this case it was likely that Clark could be useful. Vlad may be an expert on ghosts, but nobody knew about Krypton. He had an advantage, and he wasn't about to let Ember fly off on her own when he could help her. Danny was at stake, and if that meant sacrificing his secret to a ghost that Danny trusted, well there wasn't really a choice to be made.
In an instant Clark was outside the barn, pausing just beneath Ember as she came out on the other side of the barn wall. His super-speed had him outside; blinking at the sun in the time it took for Ember to fully emerge from the red wall of the barn.
"I can't fly," Clark commented, calling up to her. "But I can run pretty fast." He smiled inwardly as she looked down at him in shock. For a moment she was frozen, eyeing him in such an intense way that he felt as though he was under a microscope. But it was for Danny, to keep his cousin safe. So he waited patiently as she seemed to come to a decision.
"Okay." Ember whispered, floating down so that her bright green eyes met him at eye level. "Okay, I think we can work with this. You're one of those... meteor infected kids Danny was telling me about?"
"Do we have the time?" Clark pressed, his sense of urgency mounting. He had revealed a part of his secret, but she didn't need to know the extent of it. And they would just waste time discussing everything about it instead of doing what needed to be done.
"Point." Ember conceded, her jaw set as she scanned the horizon. "Talk on the way. Let's go." Without looking back she tore away, flying at top speed across the driveway and out towards the freeway. She was flying low enough that it was easy for Clark to catch up to her, and Ember was not able to fly any faster than Danny could run. They kept pace for a minute before Ember stole a curious glance at him.
"So what can you actually do, farm boy?" She asked, her eyes calculating. If the situation were any different he would never tell her anything. But it was an emergency, and he just hoped they got there in time before Vlad did something truly terrible to Danny.
"Quite a bit." Clark admitted, beyond the point of humility. If it would help Danny he'd tell her whatever she needed to know about his powers. But they really didn't have time for a full explanation. "But probably the most helpful is that I'm super-strong and bulletproof."
"Ecto-guns?" Ember pressed, her lips pressed tight. It had barely been five minutes since they had left the barn, but the world around them had blurred from the green cornfields of Kansas into lush forest.
"Hurts, but I can manage." Clark replied quickly. "If Vlad is as bad as you say, I want to keep Danny away from him."
"Good. So do I." Ember retorted tersely. Their run lapsed into silence, neither willing to say anything more. It was clear that Ember didn't really have a plan, and if she did she wasn't letting Clark in on it. Clark was never one to plan ahead; his tactic had always been to rely on brute strength. Going into Vlad's lair half cocked was probably not the best idea, but Vlad wouldn't be expecting him to be able to do anything and so he had an advantage. With any luck it would be as simple as barging in, looking for Danny and then breaking down a few walls until they could get Danny out.
The trip was short, and soon Clark was relying on Ember to direct him towards Masters' house. Chloe may have traced the phone number, but that didn't tell him how to find the house. Ember seemed to know roughly where she was going, her eyes were set dead ahead with a glimmer of grim determination. So Clark followed a pace behind her. The two of them were moving at speeds only just faster than the normal eye could see, it would be easy for Clark to pull ahead, but he couldn't disregard the value of Ember on this. He never liked bring other people into his fights, but this was for Danny. And bringing a ghost to fight a half-ghost was no doubt a good idea.
The two continued on in silence, the tall forests surrounded them completely as they tore across the asphalt of the highway. The sun was just kissing the western horizon when the forest dwindled. A large sandstone driveway suddenly cut deep into the forest. But Clark's attention was not on the driveway. Nor was he focused on the high flying towers that spiralled off into the sky, like a fairy-tale castle brought to life. Instead his attention was on the sole sour note in the otherwise picturesque landscape.
A piercing screech of agony ripped through the air. And somehow Clark knew that the pained shriek was his cousin's. Clark's heart clenched, his last hope in Vlad vanishing in a haze of anger and betrayal. Vlad had used him, played him for a fool. And now Danny was suffering for his idiocy. Clark exchanged a grim glance with Ember before the two of them raced into the house.
Line Break
Danny gasped, his breaths coming in short pants as he tried to collect himself. He had been at this for hours, repeating the same task over and over, but never able to meet Vlad's impossible demands. His own core was preventing that. Every second he tried to use his ghost powers was agony. He knew he hadn't recovered enough, that every hour he was with Vlad he was weakening critically. But more than that, his core wouldn't stop producing electricity. When he was resting it was okay, just a stinging tingle like pins and needles in a deadened limb. But trying to use his powers was like stepping into a lightning bolt.
At first he had tried to push through the pain, his fear of Vlad's retribution and his determination to weather things out had allowed him to ignore it. But it just kept getting worse. He could still feel the constant throb of the flesh wounds wrought by the GIW, every slight movement pulling at feeble stitches. But Vlad was forcing him to use his powers and he couldn't. It was all he could do to hold himself standing in the large training room that Vlad had pulled him into. He felt exhausted, as though the slightest breeze would send him toppling down.
The only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that he couldn't give in. If he did he would lose himself entirely, he would become little more than Vlad's weapon. So as his body roiled against him, betrayed him, he retreated into the depths of his mind. His strong will the only thing he had left, the only thing preventing him from submitting to the elder half-ghost.
"Again!" Vlad demanded, jerking Danny's attention back into the room. Danny stood in the centre of the large white walled room. It was tall, probably an appropriation of an old ballroom or underground cellar. But Vlad had fitted it out as a training room, sliding panels of weaponry moving behind the walls to simulate attack conditions. But that wasn't what they were doing now. Vlad had decided to try and teach him to use Ectoplasmic Energy Constructs, but it was little more than an opportunity for the elder half-ghost to beat Danny senseless.
Danny was too weak to stay in his ghost half, even trying to shift had left him so dazed that even Vlad had to concede that forcing him into his Phantom form was counterproductive. Hidden behind a mirrored window Danny sensed the presence of the two doctors. Both were watching his progress at such close quarters that Danny wondered if their continued presence was simply to ensure his own obedience.
His eyes moved involuntarily over to the elder half-ghost. Vlad stood tall and proud, his cold grey eyes glinting at him with twisted conceit. Danny fought the urge to flinch, to rebel, to roil against his captor. But there was nothing he could do. He could scarcely control his normal powers, everything was beyond his reach and concealed behind a veil of electrical agony. Vlad smirked, waving his arm in front of him and conjuring a thin square of magenta coloured glassy ectoplasm.
Danny tried to push his energy out the same way Vlad had, to emulate the glassy square that Vlad had demonstrated to him. But he couldn't. He gasped as the small breath of energy snapped, his core screaming at him. He needed to stop, he needed to breathe. And suddenly he was coiled on the floor as his muscles collapsed in on him. Vlad snarled at him, the sheet of glass shifting to press against him. He was sandwiched between the hard floor and an unforgiving plate of ectoplasmic glass.
He tried to move, to escape from this prison. But he couldn't. And the space between the floor and the glass was closing in on him, pressing against him until he could barely breathe.
"You asked for this." Vlad's voice pierced through the pain, an icy spear against a pool of fire and electricity. "Just remember that. When you rejected my offer you asked for this. You belong to me now. And I don't care what you think; you will learn this. I will not have faults in any of my property."
Danny glanced up as the glass vanished. Vlad's cruel gaze bored down into his own pained eyes. Danny gasped as Vlad's foot came to press hard against his stomach, sending a wave of pure agony through him as the stitches tore open. Danny stared up at the sadistic man, feeling stinging tears lancing down the sides of his cheeks. He needed help. He knew that now. He couldn't fight against Vlad anymore. Not when his own body was destroying himself.
"Now try again." Vlad demanded, the foot moving away and leaving Danny gasping against the floor. His breaths came in gasping pants as he struggled to find any sense of control. But already his consciousness was waning, and the electricity in his core was mounting. The world swam thickly around him; his mind fading into a swirling circle of white and blue and green. He felt dazed, struggling to regain any sense of balance. He felt as though the tightrope he had been walking had been cut, and he was in that brief period of safety before the rope fell away from him.
He struggled to his feet as the world closed around him. He couldn't concentrate anymore, and Vlad's cruel voice had faded to a distant blip on his consciousness. All he knew was pain, electricity rising through him to boil in his blood. He couldn't control it anymore; the white agony was tearing his insides apart. Like his Cyrokinesis before he learned to control it, this was too much. He couldn't contain it anymore and he was tired of running from the pain.
He focused, unsure even of where he was. He gathered the electricity, pulling it in. He was screaming, the electricity didn't want to obey him. But he had to, he had to control this otherwise it would destroy him. So with the last vestiges of his self control he gathered in the reins on his core. He was in control, not his powers. And it was time he reminded himself of that. He pulled the electricity tight, drawing it in and intensifying it. Mental hands closing in on a tiny ball filled with so much raw power that it burned. But he kept pressing, intensifying it further and further, tighter and tighter; the electrical force within him tightening in unyielding coils of relentless energy.
He kept pressing, and when he couldn't push the electricity anymore he released it, turning the agony that had ripped through him outwards into the world. There was a flash of white and a piercing screech, but he couldn't tell if it was his own. The final onslaught lanced through his body, and he felt it as his flesh was scorched away. For an instant he was nowhere, everywhere. Riding a wave of electrical consciousness as it raced up into the sky, through the complex network of the electrical cabling of Vlad's mansion, rushing through the wires shorting every fuse and racing down, down, down; deep into the earth and dissipating into weak nothingness.
Then everything snapped back into place, and he could feel his body once more. The strange cool whispers of his spectral form welcoming him back home once more. Idly he noted that he was in his ghost form, the soft white cloak resting reassuringly against his shoulders. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he felt as though something drastic had shifted. He could still feel his human half, but he couldn't access it just now. It had been damaged by the electricity, by Vlad, by the remnants of the experimentation of the GIW, and it would be a while before his body was content to pretend to be human once more.
But that didn't matter. For the first time in days he felt stable, like his body wasn't going to destroy itself. He pulled himself in; his senses settling comfortably back into his still battered for the first time in days. He drew in a deep calming breath, embracing the comforting feeling as air flooded into his lungs as he opened his eyes.
Line Break
Ember froze for the barest moment, flinching in the sheer power that had just been unleashed from Vlad's mansion. But she couldn't afford the time to stop. Her suspicions that Vlad had a shield up had been confirmed the second they arrived; the green arc clearly cutting through the sky and surrounding the whole house; visible to only the ghostly eye. For a moment Ember had worried that she wouldn't be able to get inside, but she had met with no resistance when she touched it. Vlad had upgraded his technology again, and Ember was willing to bet that the only being on the planet that couldn't get out of there was Danny.
Then she had heard the noise. It was an agonising scream, pain filled and all encompassing. Ember had felt her mind flash back to the day of her own death, her first rude awakenings in the never ending greenness that had been her home ever since. But this scream was so much more. It was raw, agonised and relentless. Birds leapt from the trees around them, turning the sky into a darkened shadow as the first wave of energy struck. She felt it, tingling all the way down into her core. The energy was so powerful, so unrestrained, and it held something that was so uniquely Danny that she couldn't bear it.
She frowned, staring down at the house, unsure of what to do. She hadn't really had a plan, all she knew was that Danny had been hurt, humans had hurt him. And now he was stuck with his arch-enemy. All that had mattered was finding him and then taking him as far away from the Real World as possible. But now she was here and faced with the fact that she was up against Plasmius without a plan. Looking across at the palatial mansion she realised just how impossible this all was. The knight-in-shining-armour bit was Danny's thing, but she was here. And Danny needed her.
She briefly looked over at Clark. She had been shocked to find out that he too had powers. But she shouldn't have really been surprised. He was related to Danny, and that kid was clumsier than a baby giraffe on stilts. Since they were cousins it made some sort of sense that Clark would have gotten into some kind of accident, and if ectoranium was able to give kids in Smallville powers then it only made sense that Clark would end up with powers. He was related to Danny after all. Well, he was raised by Danny's mom's sister.
Ember was still doubtful that Clark could be any help. Not in a full frontal collision between Clark and Plasmius. The only person who stood a chance there was Danny, but by the sounds of things he wasn't going too well. And that scream, that scream would haunt her until her ending day. Gritting her teeth she sent Clark a determined look before charging into the house. She had to find Danny; she had to make sure her friend was safe.
She had never been to Plasmius' mansion before. Sure she'd seen the eldest half-ghost before, but she'd never set foot on his turf. Skulker may accept his coin, but Ember had never had anything to offer the madman. But somehow she couldn't help but see Plasmius in the castle itself. A twisted symbol of power, built to replace the fairytale life that he believed babypop's dad had taken from him. But there was something deeply unsettling about walking into Plasmius' house. There was no security, no one stopping either of them. And all the hallways were dark, reduced to dim shadows with every light resolutely off.
Ember was not one to be scared of the dark, no ghost ever truly was. Her own glow cut through the darkness, shedding light across the darkened hallways. But just knowing whose hallways these were set Ember on edge, she floated through the hallways silently as she looked for any sign of her raven haired friend. She froze, flicking to invisibility as she heard a loud clatter just behind her.
"Clark!" She whispered angrily, realising that it was just the large farm-boy who had managed to knock into a small sideboard.
"I can't see anyone on this level." Clark whispered, somehow managing to come close enough to whisper right in her ear.
Ember blinked, looking down at her still invisible form. "Wait, can you see me?"
"If you don't go intangible, yes." Came Clark's shortly whispered reply. "X-ray vision, comes in handy. Can you do the Ghost Sense thing to find Danny?"
"No." Ember replied, quickly adding x-ray vision to what she already knew of Clark. It was probably a useful skill, but redundant against Plasmius. "Danny's the first ghost I've met that has a Ghost Sense. Keep looking. I know that Vlad's got Danny somewhere using his powers, we just need to find out where."
"Okay." Clark replied, walking beside her as she floated still invisible. "We should probably split up."
Ember froze, turning around to block him off. She flickered back into full visibility so he could see her properly. "What kind of moron are you? We are in Plasmius' home. If we split up now, he'll more than likely trap both of us before we can even find Danny. If we stick together then we can watch each other's backs. It's what babypop's friends used to do."
"I usually don't bother with backup." Clark replied. "Besides, we'd cover more ground if we split up."
"And I don't particularly care what you usually do." Ember shot back between gritted teeth. "This time we're up against one of Danny's enemies, and you're the one who put him here. You lost your veto rights when you left Danny to Plasmius. Now shut up and try to keep up."
Ember led the way through the longest hallway. The castle was so massive, and there were corridors jutting off of corridors and narrow staircases leading up and down. If it weren't for Clark she'd be moving intangibly through the walls to make the trip much faster, but she was lumped in with a human. In a way it was probably a good thing; Plasmius would've set traps around the place for ghosts and with Clark here she might be able to get out that bit faster.
Ember huffed, sending a cold glare towards Clark. They were wasting time, and arguing wasn't going to help either of them find Danny any faster. She was already regretting the decision to let the farm boy come along, but at the time having a second set of eyes had seemed like a good idea. She just hadn't expected that a cousin of babypop could be so whiningly impatient.
"Come on" she urged, giving Clark a none too gentle shove onwards. "We're wasting time, and I don't k now how many people Vlad has crawling about in his mansion." Not looking back she floated on ahead, listening carefully against the darkness for any sign of Danny or one of Vlad's traps. After the pained screech she and Clark had heard outside she had hoped that it would be simple to find where the noise had come from, but there was nothing.
"I think he soundproofed the place." Ember commented after a minute, if only to break the encroaching silence.
"Soundproofed, and lead lined rooms. He didn't leave much space for guesswork." Clark added from behind. "This is impossible. We're supposed to be saving Danny, not snooping about in Vlad's back corridors. Why don't we just barge through, save Danny and be halfway back to Kansas before Vlad even knows what's going on."
Ember's fists clenched, her teeth gritted as she paused in midair, her own impatience growing. "Not gonna work meathead. You don't know Plasmius like we do. He wants Danny here, and he'll have this whole place set up to make sure that he can't get out. And anything that'd keep Danny trapped is gonna count double for us. Just keep quiet and keep your eyes peeled. We only have one chance at this."
But Clark wasn't listening. Ember didn't even get a warning as a breeze blasted past her, sending fiery tendrils of her hair flickering through the darkness in the temporary vacuum. Ember frowned, her feet touching softly against the floor as she stared after Clark. "Clark wait!" she called, but the only reply was her own echo against the long stone hallways. Clark was already gone, chasing after something that Ember hadn't even heard. Irritated, she ran her fingers through her flaming ponytail. No doubt the meathead would get himself caught in some trap and Ember would be the one that had to rescue him.
It wasn't as if she cared about Clark, but Danny wouldn't forgive her if Clark got hurt on her watch. And she was the one that had brought a human into that monster's lair. And now, now she actually cared what the babypop thought of her. So of course leaving Clark behind wasn't an option. She let out a long suffering sigh, her bright green eyes piercing through the gloom. Fading back into invisibility she traced Clark's foolish steps through the darkened corridor.
Two minutes later she shuddered. The darkness was far more oppressive now, closing tightly in around her as she tried to hold her composure. Even the slight reassurance of Clark's company was gone and her mind was playing tricks on her. She was a fool to think it would be so simple, it was so naive to believe that she could just waltz into Plasmius' home and reclaim her babypop. But she pressed onwards, steeling herself against the clinging shadows of Vlad's eerily silent house. Steadily she floated, passing through a narrow archway and into a winding staircase. Slowly she drifted downwards, spiralling down through the narrow stone steps until she found herself in a dark subterranean cellar.
It was strange, the darkness seemed colder here, and there were shards of glass scattered across the floor from a shattered light fitting. But somehow she knew she was closer to Danny, so she had to keep going. She bit down her nerves, her friend was more important and she needed to keep an eye out for his fool of a cousin too. There was something menacingly surreal about Plasmius' castle that existed entirely free of the Zone, and Ember could feel her nerves mounting at the thought that she had willingly walked into Plasmius' house, even though she wasn't forced to.
Suddenly a loud screeching pierced the deep silence, the horrendous whir of ectoplasm hitting human flesh and the tortured cry of her dark-haired friend echoed through the cellar. But she finally had a direction. Ember paced her way quickly through long aisles of wine bottles and covered portraits, picking her way through the gloom until she came to an out of place metal door. It jutted out of the stone wall, slightly dented but still firmly closed. Ember didn't care. Her babypop was on the other side of the door, and she needed to see him. Needed to know that he was gonna be okay.
A second screech cut through the air, and Ember threw caution to the wind. It took only the barest amount of focus and she was through the door, the thickened metal frame passing through her intangible body as though it were made of air. But it felt strange, and left an odd tingling sensation running through her limbs. Ember frowned, but didn't have time to take note of her own situation. Ember froze, her green eyes widening in shock as she took in the brutal scene before her.
The room itself was huge, large white walls and a tall white ceiling. But each wall was layered with thin silvery panelling, laced with the visible traces of Plasmius' compact ecto-weaponry. The only light source in the room was a thin running column on the ceiling, glowing a shade of spectral green as it pulsed with ectoplasmic energy. The room itself was intimidating, despite the power surge that had torn through the house it was eerily untouched, and the silvered walls glittered menacingly down at her.
But it was the three men in the centre of the room that grabbed her attention. Danny was pinned down on the floor, Vlad Plasmius standing above him and pressing the dark haired boy's chest down with his heel. Silver and magenta handcuffs were fastened around Danny's wrists, strung tightly behind the raven haired boy's back as Plasmius' foot pressed deep into his chest. Clark too was trapped, bound by glowing pink chords that tightened around his wrists and ankles as he struggled for freedom. His mouth was gagged by a thick blob of magenta ectoplasm and his eyes looked fearfully between Danny and Ember.
"Ah," Plasmius emitted, his head turning to face Ember. "The young Miss McLain. How nice of you to join us." Ember gasped, attempting to phase back out at the sight of his coldly sneering eyes. But she couldn't. Ember looked down, finally noticing what her passage through the door had begun. Her limbs were all coated in a thin silver pink sheen, a metallic casing that had crept up her like armour. But she couldn't move, couldn't touch any of her powers. Her eyes widened in fear as she lifted her eyes once more to face the blue skinned monster.
"What have you done?" She spat, covering her fear in a veneer of false bravado.
"Very little, dear child." Plasmius smirked, his bright red eyes glittering in victory. "Simply an adaptation of the Spectral Energy Neutraliser, which I believe your contemporary Skulker helped developed. It appears it is quite useful for containing young ghost nuisances, isn't it Daniel?"
"Let... let them go." Danny replied, his voice feeble. A glimmer of crimson leaked from his lips, pooling in a sticky patch against his cheek. "They have nothing to do with this."
"Quiet, boy!" Plasmius ordered, kicking the boy heavily across the room. "You may think you have friends, that you can find a place with them. But you never will. You belong to me, and I am not about to let these two children steal you away from me. But don't worry, if you want either of them to get out of here with their lives all you have to do is listen to me."
"Don't!" Ember cried, watching as Danny struggled to bring himself to a standing position. Her eyes stung at the sight of his bruised and battered body, and she wondered how much of his torture had been at the hands of the monster in front of him. "Danny don't. Don't listen to him."
"Silence, girl!" Plasmius screeched, sending a blast of ectoplasm towards her and suddenly Ember found her own mouth gagged. Her eyes widened as she stared at the monster, now helpless to anything he wanted to do. She sent a fleeting glance to Clark, still struggling against his bonds. They were both trapped, and Ember despaired at the thought that their rescue attempt had only brought Danny more pain. In that one glance she saw that Clark felt the same. They had both screwed up, and now it was Danny, her Danny that was paying the price.
"Now, Daniel." Plasmius soothed oily. "I think it is about time we continued on with our lesson. What do you say, Little Badger?" Vlad sneered, pacing smoothly across the floor to pinch Danny's cheeks. His black gloved hand pressing deeply into the all too pale flesh of Danny's cheeks, the trail of drying blood smearing across his chin at the domineering contact.
"See, the marvellous thing about this technique is that it is so very versatile." Plasmius commented airily, and for a moment Ember could have sworn hers and Clark's presence was forgotten. But that was clearly not the case. "Take your young cousin here. See, while he is now bound by ectoplasmic cords, he has the ability to struggle against them. But, it is all too easy to contain him entirely, cage him completely and cut off his air."
Ember jerked at the sudden appearance of a large pink cubic box around Clark. The walls of the chamber were pink, solid and glassy. And from Clark's startled appearance had completely cut off his air supply. "Let's see how long your fool cousin lasts against a proper half-ghost." Vlad sneered, his crimson eyes glaring darkly at Danny. Ember struggled, trying everything she could to free herself of the strange Ecto-Neutralising Armour, to get a sound out from around her gag. But she couldn't do anything other than stare pleadingly at the young boy who she had once detested with all her being.
"Ah, ah, ah my dear." Plasmius tutted and his crimson eyes turned back towards her. "Don't think I have forgotten you." He paused, his hand dropping away from Danny's cheeks as he crossed the room to stand right in front of her. And suddenly that gloved hand was softly pressed against her cheek, sending jarring shivers across her skin.
"You see, you wouldn't be the first ghost to cross me." Plasmius sneered coldly, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "And my dear Miss McLain you have absolutely no useful talents to offer me. Clark here is of some value, a living relative to my boy and the son of a Kansas senator. Being who he is, he would be missed too much to be worth the effort of disposing of him. But you, my dear" He paused, those terrible crimson eyes filled with vengeful hate. "You could be erased only too easily."
Plasmius' hand dug into her cheek drawing thin trails of ectoplasm as he cut away at her flesh. She screamed silently against her gag as something else moved. She felt dizzy, completely dazed. Her own eyes widened in panic as she felt her core lurch. The fire that always fed her, kept her conscious was dwindling. Even as she stood frozen she could feel her ectoplasmic energy being drawn away from her, and she panicked, long tears trailing down her cheeks as she tried to throw the monster off. But she was trapped, and she was fading.
Her whole existence she had wondered what it would be like to be ended, if it would be a simple fading out like a light vanishing in the dark. But this pain was so much worse. Plasmius' energy tore deep into her, lashing all the way deep down into her core and she felt as her own energy was leeched away and into him. She could feel it, and she didn't know how to stop it. She felt her internal fire flare, rallying against the intrusion. But it meant nothing. Plasmius was somehow able to lance through her defences, push right through into the deep well of flame that was her and take it. Her vision blackened for an instant, and in that moment she felt as though she could just let go and pass through the final veil into the endless nothingness that awaited her kind.
Closing her eyes Ember stilled. She wasn't going to run and she wasn't going to show him her fear; it was time for her to face her ending on her own terms.
Line Break
Danny seethed, shaking against his bonds. As soon as he had released the electricity in his core Vlad had slammed them on him, instantly stripping him of his ghost powers. It was like wearing the Plasmius Maximus, his powers locked away deep within him. Still present but completely unreachable. But then Clark had barrelled in and become trapped, shortly followed by Ember. Danny's eyes flickered helplessly between the two. Both of them had come to save him, had risked themselves for his sake. And now both of them were trapped in Vlad's claws, and it was all his fault.
Clark was suffocating, trapped inside that box, and Danny didn't know how long the Kryptonian could last before the lack of air got to him. Did he even need to breathe? Had Clockwork ever told him about Kryptonians and their ability to survive without oxygen? He was panicking, and his core was screaming at him to save his cousin. But he was powerless, and could only watch as the life was starved out of Clark's body.
But it was Ember who he couldn't turn away from. He was forced to watch as Vlad dug into her, one hand pressed against her cheek and the other digging deep into her chest. He was ending her, he could see. He was watching as the life force was robbed from Ember, pooling around Vlad's hand in dancing blue flames before it was absorbed into Vlad's own vast resources. It was sickening, and Danny's core was screaming for him to stop him, for him to PROTECT!
But he couldn't do anything and it was killing him. This one act was pushing things too far. It was fine for Vlad to threaten, to intimidate people. It was fine for him to threaten to end Danny himself, he could abide that and wait. But now he was stuck watching as his cousin and his friend were murdered in front of him. The cuffs binding him suppressed his powers and he couldn't save them. His eyes fixed on Ember's bright green ones. He was shocked to see not fear or hate, but calm acceptance. She had just accepted that she was going to end, and that would be it.
Something in Danny snapped. He couldn't handle this anymore. He couldn't watch as Vlad stole away two of the people that gave his life meaning. Danny snarled, feral instincts taking over as the primal urge to 'PROTECT!' took over.
He felt his own core surge, swelling with unrestrained power.
He felt his eyes flare, shifting into a burning silver hue that he hadn't felt before.
He felt twin rings erupt across his waistline before passing across his body as he shifted into his ghostly form.
He felt the energy-neutralising cuffs drop heavily to the floor, resounding with a loud clunk in the silenced room.
He felt the screaming demand as it pressed against his core, screeching at him with a demanding 'protect, Protect, PROTECT!'
And he felt the world shift as all his worldly concerns fell away, leaving him with nothing but the soothingly demanding urges of his obsession.
He moved, whether physical or by teleport he didn't know. All that he knew was that he was suddenly in front of Plasmius, throwing him away from Ember with a heavy punch.
"You. Will. Not. Hurt. Her!" He heard himself snarl, sending an icy stare at his nemesis. Sending Vlad all the righteous fury that he had held contained for so long. Plasmius sneered, but would not give up.
"Foolish brat!" Plasmius sneered "You will pay for your impertinence!" And suddenly he was on Danny, a firm chokehold pressed deep into his throat. This he could handle, Ember was safe now and Plasmius was not going to be able to end her. That was fine. Phantom lashed out, throwing the elder half-ghost off him with an ice charged kick. Plasmius was sent flying, crashing into Clark's cage and shattering it in a shower of magenta dust.
Clark was free, and Phantom watched as Clark quickly jumped to his defence, blocking and buffeting the worst of Plasmius' attacks away. And Phantom was grateful for the assistance, his own obsession had granted him the energy to push through his pain but now that both Clark and Ember were out of immediate danger his energy reserves were rapidly dwindling. This needed to be ended soon, they needed to escape Plasmius and make a safe retreat and fast.
Phantom eyed Clark, he was tired but recovering. He would probably get better faster if he could be out in the sun, but Plasmius had taken all precautions in designing his training room, and Clark was starting to lose ground against the elder half-ghost. Phantom took in a deep calming breath, struggling desperately to think of any way to resolve the situation safely so that all three could get out. It didn't help that Phantom knew the two doctors were still waiting somewhere in the wings. They couldn't have gotten far enough away from the house for him to take any risks, and that severely limited what he could do. And Clark was just blindly attacking with brute force, not looking for any advantages he could press.
But Phantom couldn't afford to give up. Not this time. Vlad had proved time and time again that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Phantom needed to stop him in his tracks, and there was only one way he could think of that would both get them out safely and drastically impair Plasmius enough that he would be forced into submission. This time it wasn't enough to threaten him with exposure; he had already seen Clark's powers. And Phantom had no doubts that Plasmius' contacts in the Zone could track down Ember and end her before Phantom even knew it had happened. No, there was only one course of action left open that could stop him for any length of time, and Phantom hated that he was even considering it.
"Clark." Phantom called, temporarily attracting his cousin's attention. "I need you to use your heat vision on him." Clark nodded in acquiescence, and soon Plasmius was screeching as he was bombarded with an onslaught of solar heat energy. Phantom gulped, staring across the room at his enemy as he accepted what had to be done.
Phantom's feet touched heavily down on the floor, his white cloak billowing around him as he gathered his own spectral energy around him. Plasmius had been thrown into the far wall, battered and bruised and barely conscious. But he would never give up, and he was a danger to anyone in his way. Phantom sent him an emotionless look, it was the only way he could bear what he needed to do. He summoned an icy blast, encasing Plasmius' limbs in spectral ice and trapping him as solidly as he had bound Ember.
Plasmius glared at him, red eyes piercing through narrowed slits, unflinching as Phantom crossed the little remaining distance between the two. In his weakened state Plasmius couldn't hold his ghost form, and twin black rings erupted as he shifted back to his human half. Phantom frowned, sadly regarding the man who should have been like a father to him. Who could have been the role-model he had so desperately needed, if only he hadn't let hate and greed guide him. But Vlad could never change, he was too small for that.
"Vlad." Phantom said; his voice emotionless. "You are the man who should have been. There is so much you could have done, so much good you could have brought to the world. You could have been a part of my life, someone who I really looked up to. You could have been my mentor, could have had my respect and been someone that I truly loved. But you gave up on yourself, forgot who you should have been."
Phantom sighed; this was one of the toughest things he'd ever faced. But he knew what was right, and in this case he had to do what was best for the greater good. He accepted it, but didn't like the fact that it had become necessary.
"Instead," Phantom continued, shaking his head slightly as he tried to absolve himself of any guilt. "Instead you used what could have been a great gift for vengeance. You have killed, murdered and ended denizens of both worlds, you have proven time and again what you are. You can no longer be allowed the free reign you have experienced, and I can't let you harm any others in your pursuit of unfounded vengeance."
Phantom's shoulders dropped as he exhaled deeply. Vlad stared silently at him, the whole room strung taught as they awaited his next words. "You are human, Vlad. But the abilities you were given have destroyed your humanity. So I'm giving you a second chance, I'm giving you something that I can never have back. You are human, and I'm giving you a chance to be human again."
Phantom reached out, touching his hand against Vlad's chest, feeling the steady beating of his heart. Phantom looked in the grey eyes of the man who should have been as big a part of his childhood as his parents, forcing back tears against what could have been. He closed his eyes, feeling his own spectral energy draw in around himself. He felt the strange pulse as an echo of his human heartbeat intertwined with the spectral energy of his ghostly core. Two energies in balance, working in perfect synergy to create a cohesive whole. The rules of the human and ghost worlds pounded through him, knowledge of both realities swirling through him until he could barely stand it.
He felt his eyes flare bright silver, felt the scorching burn as the contrasting flecks of silver and green shone with more power than ever before. And Phantom pressed out with his consciousness, his senses touching against Vlad's tainted aura. Mental fingers prodded it, reaching out and feeling it, coming to know every aspect of what made Vlad who he was. And then he pressed deeper, searching deep into the depths of Vlad's being, delving between the threads of human and the parasitic ghost half that had destroyed a once good man. Phantom searched, pulling at anything that felt vaguely like ectoplasm and feeling it slowly draw away from the human strands under his guiding touch.
It was not a simple process; Vlad had been half-ghost for so long that the ghost half was interwoven near inseparably with the human strands of his being. But Phantom kept going. And every strand he touched reminded him of who Vlad should have been to him. Vlad never could have taken the place of his dad, but he could have been something else. A second father; someone who both he and Jazz could have gone to for friendship and advice. Not a replacement, but another integral member of the family. But Vlad had let himself be corrupted, and Phantom felt tears sting in his eyes as he saw touches of the man his parents had known in college.
Vlad had once been a good man. A man who truly deserved the doting praise Phantom's dad had given him. He had once been kind, foolish, young. He had been a person with so much potential for good, with big dreams and a big heart. But he had let one wound fester, and that tore Phantom apart. It was so very hard to see, to know what Vlad should have been so intimately and yet know what he had let himself become. But Phantom knew, had seen in his own future a Vlad who had come to terms with himself. In that world fate had given Vlad a second chance, and this time it was Phantom who was giving Vlad his fresh start. After all, maybe all he needed was a second chance.
Phantom's eyes opened as he felt something release, and he watched as a pool of spectral energy manifested under his fingertips. He pulled, freeing Vlad finally from the parasitic ectoplasm that had festered in his system for over two decades. But then he froze, staring at the ectoplasmic form in his hand. His mind flew to a memory of a story, a horrifying tale, told by a withered form of the man in front of him.
Phantom recalled the whole story; it would haunt him until his end. But the snarling ghost form of Plasmius he held in his hand was too familiar for comfort. In that alternate reality he had absorbed Plasmius, had let the corruption and vengeance become a part of him. But this time he knew better, and he had to do the right thing not just by himself, but by Vlad and the rest of the world too. He steeled himself, pulling the ghostly form of Plasmius as far away from its former host as possible before he let it go.
Plasmius was already destabilising, thin wisps of ectoplasmic energy were dissipating off the edges of his form into the aether. Phantom steeled himself, knowing that this was little more than an ectoplasmic parasite. It didn't have sentience and without Vlad to stabilise it, Plasmius would be destroyed. But he couldn't risk this parasite latching onto someone else, couldn't let what had so ruined Vlad fester in anyone else's soul. So Phantom gritted his teeth and felt the ectoplasmic energy in his core swell once more. He felt his cloak drifting in an ethereal breeze as he forced as much energy as possible into his hands.
It was done in a flash of blinding light. The pure green ectoplasmic blast hit Plasmius and obliterated the parasitic ectoplasm from the plane of existence. There was something poetic in it, Phantom thought; a bright flash of ectoplasmic light had made both Vlad and himself into half-ghosts, and now it was a flash of bright ectoplasmic light that took Vlad's powers away. Phantom sighed, guilt and self loathing crashing against him. Now he truly was the only half-ghost in the world. And it was by his own hands that it was so. Stinging tears prickled in his eyes and he found he couldn't bear to look either Clark or Ember in the eye.
Instead his gaze turned back to Vlad. Not Vlad Masters, not Vlad Plasmius, just Vlad. Vlad looked dazed, dancing somewhere on the edge of consciousness. Phantom frowned, releasing his hold on his ghostly half. Now was a time to be human, and as he stared in the eyes of the man who was once his enemy he couldn't find anything but sadness reflected back. Danny dispelled the icy bonds, catching the limp form of the billionaire as he fell bonelessly towards the floor. Danny shifted the weight until the thin, silver haired man was resting limply between his arms.
Silently Danny walked across the room, making his way over to the door. As he walked past he released Ember, a short wave of ecto-electricity shorting out the armour that had bound her. But she kept her distance, and Danny was grateful. He needed this time to think and come to terms with what he'd done. He'd stopped a threat, managed the situation. He'd done something not only to protect people now, but also to prevent future harms. It was his first act to fulfil the decision he'd made in taking up the sword in his strange dream world. And he hated himself for what he'd had to do. But it was the right decision to have made all the same.
And now was the time for Danny to reflect on what he had done. He had taken away something Vlad had used to define himself, something that Vlad had considered vital. He could justify it all he wanted but that was the truth. And in so doing he had destroyed the only other being truly like him. It was not something he regretted, but he mourned the loss of what Plasmius could have been, what Vlad should have been, all the same. It weighed heavily on him as he carried the Vlad's boneless body up the narrow staircase and through the long empty hallway.
He knew it was dark, but that hardly mattered. It was his duty now to take care of Vlad. So Danny carried Vlad through the palatial mansion, knowing his way to the man's bedroom already. He had thought he hated the man, but it was so much more complex than that. Part of him had always wanted Vlad in his life, embraced all the small lessons that Vlad gave him. And it was true; for all that they were enemies there had been so much that Vlad had taught him. But now things would change. Danny had given Vlad the chance to embrace his humanity once more, but the decisions Vlad made were up to him alone.
Danny sighed, pushing the large mahogany doors to the master bedroom open, moisture stinging in his eyes as he laid the limp, human man down in his bed. There was nothing he could say. Not really. But the man in front of him was no longer the enemy he had known. Plasmius had been destroyed, brought to a sense of justice that the entire Zone could understand. And now all that was left was the man in front of him; pale, fragile, weak and altogether human. Shaking his head Danny gazed down as stinging tears pooled ever deeper in his eyes.
A hand clasped firmly on his shoulder, tearing his attention from the former half-ghost.
"Come on," Clark said solemnly. His voice was a steady calm against Danny's roiling sense of guilt. "I think it's time to head home." Danny looked over Clark's shoulder to the palely glowing form of Ember. Sending one last glance back to Vlad he nodded, quietly following the other two out the door.
He paused in the doorframe, gazing silently over the sleeping form of Vlad; the man who had once been his arch-enemy. Danny nodded once in silent acknowledgement, a heartbeat of unspoken mourning, before he closed the door and turned away.
Line Break
Clark's eyes creased as he looked across the barn loft at his cousin. As soon as they had gotten back to the farm Danny and Ember had headed straight up into the barn and Clark was quick to follow. He had sent a quick message to Chloe saying they were all home safe and sound now, but it was clear that neither Danny nor Ember were up to talking much. Danny was still in a lot of pain, every movement he made was tense and repressed. And the silence of the three of them stretched out against the evening light.
Danny had positioned himself by the barn window, staring out at the darkening fields. Clark stared at his tense back, just observing the young man as he struggled to deal with what had happened. Several times Clark opened his mouth to say something, to offer some small comfort. But he couldn't find the right words. Instead he sent Ember a querying glance. Ember who had come with him to save Danny. Ember who had looked at Vlad with determined acceptance as he tried to destroy her. Ember who was still weakened from the torture Vlad had inflicted on her.
Clark frowned, knowing that the wounds both Ember and his cousin had sustained would be hard to heal. And he didn't know how to help either of them. Danny had endured so much in just the last few days, had faced one of Clark's own worst fears and endured horrifying tortures. And yet the thing that seemed to affect him the most was what he had just done to his worst enemy. Clark didn't exactly understand what had happened, but it had looked as though Danny had stripped Vlad of his ghost half before destroying the ectoplasmic remnants. But Clark wasn't positive. What stuck with him were the words Danny had spoken as he was delivering judgement.
"So I'm giving you a second chance," Danny had said "I'm giving you a chance to be human again." The echoing memory of Danny's voice whispered in Clark's mind. The steadiness in his voice and the power of the words resonated down to Clark's soul. The pain Danny was in at that decision had been tangible, guilt and self loathing clear in his face. In all his life Clark had never imagined too see someone face that sort of choice, couldn't recall ever seeing that sort of pain in anyone's eyes; let alone someone two years his junior. But in the end Danny had made a decision, and Clark couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.
He was reminded of Frosbite in the Far Frozen all those months ago, telling Clark about Danny's destiny in the Ghost Zone. In that moment Clark had seen, had witnessed a small part of the young man who would be King of the Ghost Zone. He had heard the power behind his judgement and seen the justice in his eyes. And he was merciful, offering Vlad a chance for redemption even after all the misery that the man had brought Danny personally. It was an astounding choice, and one which Clark wasn't sure he could have made. Vlad Plasmius had been a cruel monster, and would have continued to be so. But Danny had delivered so much more than punishment to Vlad. And Clark had to wonder just how Danny had found a solution that gave Vlad such an opportunity.
Clark's mind turned to Lex and everything he had done. All the crimes that Clark had forgiven, all the trespasses he had let slide until it all became too much. But Clark had given up on Lex, had turned away from the darkness that was consuming his friend. Clark had abandoned Lex and had thrown away their friendship, and rather than give Lex an opportunity to save himself Clark had just let him continue on his terrible path. In this Danny was a greater man than Clark could hope to be, offering mercy where none was deserved and redemption when none was wanted. It was a strength of will that Clark couldn't fathom, to be able to deliver such a just judgement while still in his own emotional turmoil.
Danny may not know what he was destined for, may not know the duties that he was now bound to. But it was clear to Clark that Danny would make a great king, he was someone who looked out for all, guilty and innocent alike. And in this one decision he had proven what kind of man he would be. Danny may be powerful; he may not be fully human any longer. But his mercy and kindness showed his humanity. And the tears he had shed for a man that had been so cruel to him only proved the true worth of his soul. Danny may not be king yet, that day may not come for a long time. But Clark could see that when that day came he would be ready, and Danny would be able to shepherd the Ghost Zone into a new era of peace and safety.
Clark pulled himself away from the sofa, dismissing Ember's questioning glance with a wave as he came to stand by his cousin. Danny's shoulders were shaking, his whole body trembling as tried to contain his pain and the silent sobs that Clark saw wracking through his body. Clark made no comment, laying one hand comfortingly on his tensed shoulder. Danny didn't pull away, but his shoulder tensed under the slight pressure. Clark could see the guilt framed in his silver eyes.
"You did the right thing." Clark voiced, staring out over the fields through the barn window. The night was drawing in, but the moon hung low in the sky; a bright silver orb hanging in the night sky, a sign of hope against the darkness. "It was a hard choice to make, but you made the right decision."
Danny turned to face him, his narrow frame drawn tight as his eyes searched Clark's. "I know." Danny whispered. His eyes averting to stare back at the darkening fields. "I know it was the best decision, but..." Danny paused, his whole body drooping as he sighed. His shoulders slumped heavily across the windowsill until the window seemed to be taking all of the raven haired boy's weight.
"But you still wish things could have turned out better." Clark finished. Danny nodded slowly, his whole frame leaning out the window. It was clear he was exhausted, and he still hadn't had a chance to recover. But the mental anguish of his choice was distracting him, and Clark could see that he would need some sort of closure before he could start to allow himself to heal.
"It's just... I know that I did what I had to do. But I hate the fact that I had to. Vlad..." Danny sighed, turning away from the open window and looking through the barn. "There's just so much that there could have been, he wanted to be a father to me, a mentor. But what he wanted in return was too much. And I know everything he's done; I know that better than anyone. I just..." Danny sighed coming to sit down heavily in the sofa. Ember was watching him with soft green eyes, floating close enough to offer comfort. Clark pulled the desk chair out so he could sit opposite his cousin. This was important; Danny needed this time to sort things out, and it was the least Clark could do to give it to him.
"When I first met him I was so... happy." Danny finally admitted. "It felt amazing to know that there was someone else like me out there. Sam and Tuck were always there for me, but they never could understand what it's like. And then I met Vlad, and suddenly I wasn't alone anymore. But he wanted me to renounce dad, to follow him in everything he did. He wanted an apprentice more than a son, and he didn't want me, just what I could do. And I couldn't do what he wanted; not without giving up everything that I'd ever believed was good.
Danny looked down, his silver eyes fixed on his clenched hands. "For so long I hated him; hated everything that he did and everything that he meant to me. He hurt me, tried to kidnap me more than once. He trapped mom and I in the Rockies without my ghost powers and left us to his mutant ghost animals. He infected Sam and Tuck with ecto-acne, nearly killed them, just so that I'd save him. He locked me up and tried to get me to kill Jazz myself. With everything that he did to me, it was just so easy to hate him. To push him as far as possible away from me and try to forget he even existed."
Danny let out a harsh laugh, startling Clark with his ruefulness. "It got to the point where I wanted nothing to do with him. Wanted to find anything that made me different from him. But the more I looked the less it made sense. I'm more of a ghost than he was, but he was obsessive in the more ghostly way. He didn't care what got in his way; he just took whatever he wanted. And I hated him for it. He had so much more than I did, do. He never died; he never had to wonder what world he belonged in. I never cared about his money, all I saw was a man who had been given a gift and was throwing it away on something as stupid as vengeance. He just made it so easy to hate him."
Clark's eyes creased in sympathy as he watched the younger boy. "The thing is," Danny added quietly. "I still miss what he could have been for me. He hated dad, blamed him for the accident. And in a way that's true. But, I hate that he chose vengeance... I can't help but wonder, if he'd just moved on, if he couldn't have actually been a part of my family. If, when I had my accident, if he couldn't have been there for me."
Danny shook his head. "But he didn't, and now because of everything he's done I had to take away his ghost powers. He was like me. And I had to do that. Sure, we were never the same and he was never a halfa, but he's had to deal with so much of what I have. And now that's over. I'm the only half-ghost left now, and it's my fault for taking Vlad's ghost half away."
"It's not your fault." Clark denied, trying to capture Danny's far off gaze. "Vlad made his decisions, he chose his own path."
"Clark's right." Ember added in, suddenly sitting next to Danny on the sofa. "Plasmius... Vlad, was never like you, Danny. He never had your heart. He was ruthless and cruel and saw everyone as a means to an end. But you actually treat us as people. He may have been half-ghost, but he abused it. He never understood what that meant, and he lashed out at everyone because of it. I'd say thanks, but I know that's not what you want to hear. So instead I'm gonna say this. You pride yourself for being our protector, human and ghost alike. And I get that."
Ember paused, her black gloved hand clutching Danny's own. Clark just watched the dynamic between the two, knowing that this would mean more coming from Ember who had known Danny for so long as she had. "Take heart from the fact that you've protected us. All us ghosts are gonna be free from the terror of knowing that Plasmius is out there. And the humans who would've gotten hurt in his plots are now safe. But I watched you, and I think you know that the person you've helped the most, the person you've protected best in all this is Vlad. And that's what you need to know."
Danny looked across at her, his silver eyes meeting her bright green and Clark couldn't help but appreciate the simple feeling of understanding that passed between the two. Danny nodded slowly, his whole posture shifting into something akin to acceptance. Clark smiled; this was a first step to recovery for Danny, one he drastically needed. These last days couldn't have been easy on him, and no doubt there was a lot that he was leaving unsaid. But this first step would help him to begin; now the worst of the mental wounds had been dealt with they could work towards getting Danny recovered physically and emotionally. After what he had been through, it was the least Danny deserved.
"What do you say to something to eat?" Clark offered, glancing across the trunk at Danny. The younger boy squinted his eyes closed in disgust, shaking his head.
"No thanks." Danny replied, shaking his head. "I think... maybe a night's sleep is in order."
"Not good enough, babypop." Ember scolded before turning to face Clark. She was doing better than Danny at the moment, but it was clear that what Plasmius had done had left her drastically weakened. "He does need something human to eat. But I think what'd be best for him, for both of us really, is to spend a couple of days in the Zone."
Clark nodded, acknowledging that maybe in this Ember knew better than he did what was best for Danny. "Okay, but I think we need to check in with my mom first. Think he'll hold out for half an hour?"
Ember nudged Danny's shoulder. Danny sent her a half-hearted glare but stayed quiet. It was clear now that he was struggling against the pain, and Clark could see that he was fading fast. "Half an hour and a hot chocolate and we'll be right." Ember said decisively.
Clark nodded, heading out of the barn and into the farmhouse. It felt surreal to be stepping into the house after what had just happened. It was all so normal, and yet so much had changed. He called out to his mom, hoping that she was still up. Danny may need to go to the Zone for a little while, but that didn't mean Clark's mom wouldn't worry for him. He quickly put the kettle on, rummaging through the cupboards for the tea and the hot chocolate.
"Clark?" His mom called, coming down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Where've you been?"
Clark frowned, unsure of what to say. There was so much that he ought to tell her, but the whole truth was more stress than his mom needed. Ultimately Danny was in safe hands now, and between Ember and Clark they would see him to recovery. If Danny wanted to explain about what had happened to him then that would have to be his prerogative. His mom would only ask and open up painful wounds if she knew the full extent of what had happened. And Clark didn't know if that would do Danny any good. So instead Clark opted for an abridged version of the truth.
"Danny's been doing a ghost thing for the past few days, and he wound up hurt." Clark explained succinctly as he poured out two cups of tea. "One of his friends from the Zone is here, and she's suggested that Danny spend a few days in the Ghost Zone to recover. At this point, I'm inclined to agree with her. School doesn't go back for him for another week, so it's not like he'll be missing anything."
His mom frowned, eyeing the two tea cups and the two hot chocolates that Clark had prepared. Her lips pinched tight she sighed. "Well, I'd like to meet her first. And I want to see Danny before he leaves. Between the two of you and work, it feels like we never see each other anymore."
Clark flinched, acknowledging that part of that was his fault. He had put Danny in Vlad's hands and he needed to deal with that failing for himself. But that was a guilt that would have to wait until Danny was recovering properly. He pulled out a tray and set the four steaming mugs on top of it. Unsatisfied, he fished through the pantry until he found a couple of chocolate chip cookies. It wasn't the healthiest offering, but if there was one thing that he had learned from Vlad it was that chocolate did Danny good.
His mom opened the kitchen door and led the way up into the barn, automatically knowing that Clark would have kept Danny in his 'Fortress of Solitude'. Clark picked up the tray, following close behind her. He didn't really know what to expect; this was the first time his mom would have met a ghost other than Danny on friendly terms. Still he followed her up the steps closely, pausing as he realised that neither Danny nor Ember had moved an inch since he left. Danny had slumped further into the sofa, and his exhaustion was clearly showing. His eyes were twin pools of swirling green, blue and silver now, flickering closed every few seconds before he would jerk them back open.
Ember opened her eyes fully, casting a cursory glance over the two of them before nudging Danny gently. Danny's eyes flickered open fully, settling into a strange mix of silver and cerulean. "You must be Martha Kent." Ember commented, her eyes fixed on Clark's mom. She extended a hand and his mom shook it, smiling slightly at her. "I'm Ember McLain, Ember for short. Nice to meet you."
Clark's mom smiled, clearly willing to accept the young female ghost for the time being. And soon the four of them were settled in. It took a bit of encouragement, but Danny eventually managed a few sips of the hot chocolate. Although Clark got the feeling it was more for his mom's sake than anything else. Still, a tiny bit of colour came back to his cheeks as he drank so Clark felt justified in giving it to him. Even Ember looked better for the chocolate she drank, something which both Clark and his mom noted. Still, it was clear that both ghost and halfa were fading and so Clark was quick to urge them onwards.
Danny was clearly on his last legs, and it took all his strength to summon a portal. It was a muted farewell as Ember carried a limp Danny through the swirling green vortex and into the Ghost Zone. But it was strangely cathartic. This time Clark felt as though he had trusted Danny to the right person, and as the portal closed on them he knew that Danny was finally safe. He had been hurt badly, nearly killed by the agents at the GIW before Vlad had taken hold of him. But Danny was a survivor, and his greatest strength was his compassion. Clark knew that Danny would recover in time, and that was what really mattered.
But as the darkness filled the barn he couldn't help but think. Danny had been badly hurt, but it was Clark himself that had made it worse by trusting the wrong person. Danny may not have told him about how dangerous Vlad was, but the truth was that Clark should have picked up on it. He had been disillusioned by billionaires before, so he should have been more wary. And his obliviousness had nearly gotten Danny killed, ended as he would say. When they had taken Danny in they had sworn they would keep him safe, but Clark's poor judgement had put him at greater risk.
As he settled into bed that night he couldn't help the creeping doubts. So many times he had trusted people only to be proven wrong. While Danny may be well on the path to becoming a great king, Clark couldn't help but wonder where his path lay. He had always striven to make the right choices and do the right thing, but so often he was proven wrong. It should be easier now, to see things for how they really were and yet he was so often misled. There was still so much he needed to learn, so many failings that he had yet to face that he wondered what his true purpose was.
But at the end of the day he was still left with more doubts than answers, and he had so many problems that he needed to solve for himself. In the end they had all pulled through, and the imminent threat of Vlad was dealt with. Clark was encouraged by Danny's moral strength; he didn't know what he would have done in the same situation. It was a terrible choice to have been faced with, but if Danny, a boy of only sixteen was able to see through his own emotions and come to a conclusion like that then maybe he could learn from that.
Things in the world weren't always clear cut. He had known that for a while now. Vlad, a man who should have been like a father to Danny had only fostered hate. And Danny's birth father, someone who was fully human had held Danny's allegiance simply for his compassion. And maybe that was the most powerful lesson. For all that Danny said he was no longer human he proved it every day. It took more than genetics to make you human, it took more than DNA to show you belonged to the human race. The thing that proved Danny's humanity was his heart.
Danny had for so many months put up an impenetrable facade, showing to the world that he was invulnerable. But it was clear now who he was. He loved and looked out for all; his compassion went out to everyone. He had been hurt, and yet he still managed to stand tall. He continued on with courage despite the challenges that the world threw at him and he was somehow able to overcome every obstacle. He had strengths and failings, lessons to teach and more to learn.
When he had first met Danny, Clark had wondered how he was going to keep his secret from the younger boy. And yet now that concern seemed so small. In a few short months Danny had become an integral part of his life; for all that he was two years younger. Danny was similar to him in so many ways, and yet so very different. The boy had been there for him when he needed it, offered council from the perspective of someone who could truly understand. But that wasn't really what mattered. What did matter was who Danny had proven himself to be.
He wasn't the troubled child, black sheep in a family of geniuses. He wasn't the foolish klutz who bubbled through problems as only a fool could. He wasn't a delinquent who shirked responsibility. Those ideas had been disillusioned on the first day. But equally he wasn't an impenetrable force; he wasn't the unequalled ghost that could beat any enemy. He may be destined one day to be a great king, but he was more than just a title. He had failings, he had insecurities. He had strengths and he had weaknesses. He was just Danny; the kid who had come to the farm in his hour of need and opened Clark's eyes to so much more.
He was calm and collected, he was goofy and aloof. He was incredibly intelligent and impossibly clueless. He was clumsy and gracefully coordinated. He was a whole onslaught of paradoxical opposites all wrapped together into the strange bundle that was his cousin. Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom; both undeniably Danny. And that was all that mattered. While it wasn't what he'd expected when he was told his orphaned cousin was coming to live with them, he wasn't sure he would change that for the world.
And it was for that reason that his cousin, someone related to him only through his adoptive mom's sister, was so much more. This whole year was far from anything he had expected, and there was still so much unresolved. But what he did know was what was most important. His quirky cousin; dark haired with bright blue eyes or white haired with glowing green, had come to fill a role that Clark hadn't even known he was missing. And the revelation was as comforting as it was startling.
For all the strange uniqueness that was Danny, he had become Clark's brother. And for that Clark would defend him until the very end.
AN: C'est finis? Did that make sense?
Um, Vlad and Plasmius have been separated and Plasmius destroyed. But that doesn't necessitate that Vlad's out of the picture. I just hope it felt believable... Please tell me what you think.
This was really tough to write, I couldn't quite get the dynamics right. But now I'm happy enough with how it went. It wasn't the colossal confrontation I had initially envisaged, but this way is more meaningful to the overall progress of the story.
Oh well, so finishes the 'Season Finale' for the Danny half of this season.
'Till next we meet again,
Bluerose