Danny was not fine.

He walked through Amity Park in his human form, ignoring the ghosts while the ghosts ignored him. He couldn't, however, ignore the copious amount of screams and blood surrounding him. More specifically, he couldn't ignore the lack of empathy in his head, and his startling lack of interest in saving them. It had him feeling incredibly worried.

In place of his hero complex was emptiness, and no matter how hard the halfa tried to fight it, he just couldn't find a means to save the people who needed him. He just kept walking, and only reacted when some of their blood crossed his path, leaving a nauseous and sad feeling to settle in the pit of his stomach.

Actually, now that Danny thought about it, this had been going on for awhile now, ever since his loved-ones were taken away from him. It was almost as if he cried out his protective nature alongside his worries, and the worst part was that he didn't have anyone else to turn to. The only person that was guaranteed to understand his problem was killed by the only ghost guaranteed to understand his problem.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Danny continued walking down the street, only to freeze in place. Before him was a building, completely destroyed, with the neon red sign lying in the parking lot. Packets of sauce were spilled on the pavement, and half-eaten, charred, burgers and fries were splattered everywhere, along with another red liquid that Danny chose to believe was ketchup.

The Nasty Burger.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the halfa stepped inside of the building. He ran his hand along the remains of the tile walls, numbly searching for food that wasn't burned or on the ground, leaving few options. The voice of his nightmares then returned, seemingly speaking over his shoulder, as memories of a sight, just like this one, flashed in his mind. "Strange how one massive fireball of highly combustible condiments can ruin your whole future."

Danny frowned, finding himself replying back, sorrowfully. "Even weirder is that, in a timeline where none of that even happened, everyone still died… What did I do wrong? How do I fix this?"

A small voice in his head told him that he couldn't fix this. That even if he could, he shouldn't fix this. It told him that this was meant to be, that the inevitable was inevitable for a reason. And that made Danny want to cry, because it made sense.

"Oh, somebody kill me." Danny groaned, collapsing to his knees to hold his head in his hands, tears slowly streaming down his face. How something could hurt so much, and feel so empty at the same time, he didn't know.

"You know, as much as I'd like to fulfill that request, Master Dark would be very unhappy if you died." Danny jumped, eyes wide as he looked around for the source of the voice.

Turning around slowly, Danny was taken aback by the appearance of the Observant behind him. His eye was red, and the collar around his neck, marked with a time medallion, was very ornate. He also sat in a floating chair, his spectral tail not moving at all, much like most of his body, as he seemed completely relaxed.

"Uh… Who are you?" Danny asked, before he blinked. "And why do you want to kill me? I never did anything to you."

"I am the first Observant that Master Dark… altered for his benefits. Often times I'm called slightly-less-disposable-pile-of-goo, but you can call me Concave. Now, come along." The Observant, Concave, pulled a glove out from beneath his cloak that looked, creepily, like Wulf's hand. Danny didn't think about it too much as Concave donned the glove, and opened the portal. "Oh, and as for why I want to kill you; you are part of him, and I deserve something nice after this mess."

Danny gulped, before he followed the Observant through the portal, and into the tower. "So, uh, what does Dark need me for, anyway?"

"I wouldn't know; ask him yourself, ghost boy." With that, Concave turned Danny towards the Viewing room and floated away in his chair.

Shaking his nerves as best he could, the halfa turned into his ghost form as an extra precaution, though he was sure it wouldn't do much against a ghost who knew everything, and entered the room. Once inside, he was surprised to see the dark time master, lounging on a couch with his tail hanging off the side, and eating pizza, while one screen played an old Packers game, another played some natural disasters, and a third was showing a space documentary.

"Umm…" Danny asked, floating over to the comfortable ghost. "What are you doing?"

"Sating the lingering needs of my counterparts. Vladimir didn't see this Packers game, Dan just liked destruction, and, well, you know the space one; it's your favorite too. Though the Packers and NASA are a lot less prevalent in me since the two of you were fused together before becoming me, it's still there." Dark explained, eyes never leaving the screens. "Also, we all like pizza. Would you care for some?"

Danny was about to say no, but his empty stomach took control of his hand, and he quickly found himself reaching for a slice out of the box as he sat on the floor. Said box made Danny frown, as he and his friends would go there sometimes, but he quickly turned his focus to eating, hardly even realizing that he and the dark time master shared the same taste in toppings. Once he finished his slice, he looked up at Dark. "So… Why did you ask me to come back here again?"

"I wanted to bond with my apprentice. That, and you wouldn't have found any food at the nursery, so staying there was a waste of time, and you really don't want to waste it." Dark said, looking down at Danny now, eyes full of mischief.

The halfa was almost too afraid to ask. "Uh…, nursery?"

"You know, the nursery. Where your despair and suffering is taken care of and nurtured so that it can grow and spread through you until you explode. I would have had you come here earlier, had you not gone to the Nasty Burger, but I had to see your progress. I'd say we're almost ready to start fixing you. In fact, I think you've naturally started a little already, considering the way you look now." Dark's mischievous look was now one of, pure, malevolent glee, as he bared his sharp teeth with a smile.

Danny shivered, inching away slightly. "W-what do you mean by that?"

Gesturing to the polished floor, Dark continued to stare at the young halfa, clearly wanting to see the boy's reaction. His NASA, Packers, and misery were all but forgotten, in place of what would be the greatest moment of his afterlife.

The moment where red eyes replaced green, and a scream sounded through the tower.