Sighing, Danny finished his modifications to his parent's Specter Deflector, eyelids heavy as he sat it to the side. Though he loathed to admit it, especially at a time like this, he was tired. Not only had the halfa not gotten much sleep that morning to begin with, but his constant worry was beating him into the ground, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep it off. But he couldn't, not right now. Not when there was so much left to do.
He'd gotten a text from Tucker earlier, saying that his parents went out to get them some pizza after weaving an elaborate excuse that the ghost hunters, somehow, bought, which would have relieved some stress, had Danny not realized that his parents were now out of the house, and at greater risk to harm. It took a long time, but the teen's friends had managed to calm him down enough to keep working, and he couldn't squander the opportunity with sleep, especially since Dark could attack at any time. Plus, Danny had a feeling that his nightmares would be far worse if he fell asleep now, and that would be of no benefit to him.
So, he took on the task of the Ghost Gauntlets, now that the Specter Deflector's damage had been increased. And this, he realized, would be incredibly difficult. Though he'd use those very gauntlets to defeat Dan before, now it was terrifying to touch them. He could almost picture how much pain they could cause to a ghost… How much pain they had, probably, caused him.
Shaking his head, Danny shoved them onto his hands to reassure himself that nothing was wrong with them. And he was fine, until the claws came out.
He hadn't seen it before, when he fought his future self, but now he did. The blood and ectoplasm of himself and Vlad, from the future, stained the claws and didn't appear to be easily gotten rid of. And that made Danny scream and fall to his knees.
"Danny!?" Tucker ran downstairs, while Sam screamed his name through the Fenton Phones, asking what had happened.
"T-the Ghost Gauntlets…" Danny pointed towards them, eyes wide with fear, as his friend turned his gaze to them. Tucker was surprised at the sight, and slightly unnerved. "They… they created…"
Danny was practically hyperventilating, as he stared at them. "Danny, calm down! It's okay, man!"
Tucker reached for the gauntlets, ignoring the dried red and green mixture as best he could. He fumbled with the gauntlets for a bit, before he managed to retract the claws. He then looked at Danny, who was slowly getting a hold of his emotions and breathing. Sam eventually joined them downstairs as well, and proceeded to comfort the halfa with Tucker.
"Come on Danny, pull yourself together. You can't become him anymore. He doesn't exist-" Sam tried to reason, but Danny interrupted her.
"It's not him that scares me anymore!" He shouted, before he took a breath and looked down at his reflection, in the shining metal floor. "Well, he does… He always will, at least a little bit, but he doesn't scare me as much as the idea of him."
Danny shut his eyes, allowing them to glow green behind his eyelids, while reminding himself that his eyes were not red. "It's the idea of him that scares me. The idea that I could become evil. I know I promised I wouldn't, and I don't want to, but what if something changes? What if Dark messes with the past so I become evil, or what if he does something when I'm born, or what if- what if-"
"Danny!" His friends shouted, making the halfa quickly fall silent. Sam then spoke up. "Danny, you won't become evil, so get that idea out of your head! You're a hero. And you'll always be one as long as you want to be."
"Yeah," Tucker added. ", you fought your evil future self and didn't turn evil then, and you can fight Dark and not turn evil now."
Danny gave a small smile. Though he still had his doubts, he was able to put them aside and nod, before he cautiously took the gauntlets into his hand. "Thanks guys… I think we can do this."
His friends smiled, but then Danny yawned. "Are you okay, man?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah, just a little tired, but I'll be okay." Danny said, standing to pick up the gauntlets, and place them on the table.
"Danny, you can't fight anything if you fall asleep in the middle of a battle." Sam told him, but Danny shook his head.
"Even if I wanted to sleep right now, I can't, and you know why." Danny picked up a screwdriver, and started undoing the panel on one of the gauntlets.
Tucker frowned. "Come on Danny, a couple hours of sleep won't kill you."
"Yeah, well it's not me I'm worried about losing." Danny muttered, pulling the panel off.
Sam placed her hands over Danny's, a stern but concerned look on her face as she took the screwdriver from him. "Danny, it's okay. We'll finish up the weapons, and you get some rest. Like I said, you can't fight if you fall asleep in the middle of a battle. We'll be there when you wake up."
Danny shifted under the gazes of his friends, before he looked into Sam's eyes. "You promise?"
"Promise." Sam said, smiling when Danny turned and walked to his room. "Come on Tucker, let's finish up on the Ghost Gauntlets."
Tucker, though slightly concerned, nodded and stood in front of the table with the goth, ready to help.
Then the clock ticked a minute ahead.
An unconscious Danny was unaware of this factor. He was unaware of the portal opening in his room. He was unaware of the hand, waving over his head to deepen his slumber and entrap him. Even worse, he was unaware of the ghost that had trapped his friends in a soundproof box at the foot of his bed, waiting for the halfa to awaken.
And the worst of all, he was unaware that his newest future was about to become far worse than the last one ever could.
