We're very near the end, I think. And yet, something else comes to light: will Vlad's plan even work? (I suggest listening to the flute version of "Fallen Leaves" from "Star Ocean: Till the End of Time" while reading the first part of this.

Twenty-Three: Dan Phantom and Danny Fenton


"Come on…" Danny put a tentative hand on his future self's shoulder and felt the numbing coldness spread down his limb, "This isn't the time or place to talk about this sort of thing. We can sort it out after I don't have to worry about my DNA falling apart, huh?"

Dan chose not to answer, whether because he didn't want or didn't trust himself to Danny wasn't sure. The older ghost picked Danny up again and started moving back to where Phantom was still sitting, looking around in curiosity, wondering where his human half had vanished to.

Danny suddenly became very quick friends with the floor.

"Ow! Dan! What the heck!? You dropped…me…" Danny's snarling retorts faded on his lips as he stared at Dan.

Something was wrong.

Dan's red eyes had glazed over and he was standing in a slack-jaw sort of way, staring randomly at nothing. Dan wasn't the kind of person to stare randomly at nothing, whether he'd just had a ghostly mid-death crisis or not.

Then he blinked a couple of times.

Three times to be exact, and after he opened his eyes the third time they were no longer the blazing and angry red that they had been for so long.

They were brilliant neon green.

"D-Dan?" Danny stuttered and was suddenly dragged backwards across the floor by a cold hand under his good arm. Clockwork, with a pleasant smile on his face, had pulled him away from Dan. Every eye in the room was on Danny's future self; even Vlad and Tucker had put down the extensive technology at their finger tips to see what was going on.

A red mist started to seep out of Dan's skin and he stared at his hands in wonder as it rose into the air. A strange gust of wind that none of the others felt blew the red mist to the side and as it went, they were able to see what was happening.

As the crimson haze stopped blocking their field of vision, they saw that as it streaked away from Dan's face, it changed the sickly bluish color of his flesh to a pallid skin tone. The tips of his gloved fingers melted away from the clawed ends they had been to regular humanoid digits, his cloak tossed itself around and suddenly filtered into a black silk cape, his jumpsuit faded into the familiar design that Phantom wore, and his flaming neon white hair slipped down in front of his eyes like the snow white color it had become.

The newly reformed Dan Phantom blinked at himself as the last of the red mist was blown away from his body and then tilted his head to look beside him. There hovered an after image of Plasmius, made completely of the spiteful red energy that had fueled Dan's rage for so long. The hazy Plasmius looked at peace though; he sighed, blinking slowly at Dan, and gave a small, sad smile, before breathing out slowly and evaporating into nothing.

"What…just happened…?" Sam whispered, eyes wide as she stared at Dan.

"He realized the truth," Clockwork murmured and Danny looked up at him.

"What truth?" Dan asked; his voice was warm chocolate, no longer the cold, hate-filled thing it had been.

"You tell me." The Time Ghost smiled, leaning on his staff.

Dan scowled at him and then flicked his glowing greens eyes that so resembled Phantom's to his hands, "I…never hated…the world…" He spoke softly, like he wasn't even sure about the truth of his own words, "I wanted something to be angry at but my selfish pride wouldn't let me blame myself so I turned it on the world and blamed them for taking away what was precious to me…" He didn't stop the green tears that started running down his cheeks, "I thought I was helping Clockwork because it would guarantee what I wanted for one; guarantee my freedom! But I didn't hate the world…I hated myself…for everything I'd failed to do…for the failure I'd become…" He looked up at the group who was still staring at him, "I…I…I'm…sorry…"

Jazz sighed and smiled and then Sam was smiling and then Fenton and Phantom both broke into identical grins and even Tucker cracked a tentative smile.

"Okay, enough water works!" Danny stated, "You're ruining our image!" Dan made a watery growling noise at him but rubbed his eyes dry, "Good! Now go help Vlad and Tuck finish that thing!"

"And who are you to order me around?" Dan ran a hand through his white hair to get it out of his vision but walked over to Tucker and Vlad to help anyway.

"Hey Clockwork," Danny muttered in a low voice and the Master of Time bent down so he could hear the young Fenton boy, "You knew, didn't you? That's why you let him out."

"I did know," Clockwork replied, "But Dan had to find it on his own. He finally let go of the hatred that was controlling him and faced the truth about himself." Clockwork's red eyes traveled over to watch Dan, "But I doubt the hole in his heart will ever completely mend. He will forever be scarred by the explosion that took his past."

"Just…like me." Danny said idly, his thoughts elsewhere as he twisted around to watch the trio work. Then he yawned loudly, "I'm taking a nap, Clockwork, all this drama wears me out. Wake me up when the machine's finished."

Clockwork unclasped his cloak, carefully folded it up, and lay it on the floor. Danny smiled his thanks and lay his head on it, shivering at the cold before closing his eyes and attempting to fall asleep. Phantom dragged himself over (with one arm working, that's quite a feat) and lay his head on Danny's chest. Danny opened an eye to peer sullenly at his other half and then closed it again.

All of this chaos would be over soon enough.

What? Did you really think it would end that way?

What would end?

You won't get off so easy, Danny.

What if I said sorry?

Sorry doesn't change a mistake. Or destiny.

This is a dream…this is all a stupid dream! Wake up, Danny, wake up!

He found himself, once again, standing in front of those thousands of faceless kids he'd never known. Sam, Tucker, ZeE, and Alex stood in the front of the crowd, glaring at him with hurt and angry eyes…

…The image suddenly melted before his eyes and he fell into something like a fantasy. His home, everyone happy. Everyone smiling and laughing. The way things had been.

It wasn't a mistake.

He was holding Sam. His Sam.

It was an accident. And it wasn't my fault.

And he was kissing her. Just like he used to.

It's only a dream.

That was what he wanted to protect.

So I can set it right.

Danny cracked his eyes open and abruptly realized that Phantom was not the only one who had fallen asleep on top of him. Sam was snuggled up to his other side with her hand resting gently at the base of his neck and Tucker was curled up by his feet like a loyal dog. He turned his head carefully and saw Clockwork watching them with an amused expression.

"Bet you think this is funny, huh?" Danny huffed in a whisper.

"Actually, yes." The Ghost of Time gave a low chuckle and started spinning his staff around and around in his fingers, "The second containment unit is almost ready but I suggested to Vlad that you have something to eat before you and Phantom are fused together again. Jasmine is in the kitchen at the moment, making a meal."

"Good, I'm starving." Danny stretched, carefully pulling his good arm out from underneath Phantom, and popped his jaw, "Say, Clockwork, when I'm Danny Phantom again will this," He waved a hand at his chest where his shirt covered the damage done by his broken DNA, "Go away?"

"Mmmmm, I believe so."

"That's not very encouraging." Danny frowned.

"Yes, Danny, it will go away. You're DNA will, once, again be as it should be." The Time Master's eyes suddenly became shadowed, "And I think those Observants will need to be taught a…lesson."

"I thought those guys only observed and never acted." Sam had woken up somewhere along the lines of the conversation but had not moved her hand off of Danny.

"They are not supposed to act." Clockwork responded, probably a little sharper than he meant to, "It is against their creation. Their displeasure is mirrored in the events they have triggered." Animosity emanated from Clockwork and Danny glanced worriedly at Sam. Phantom suddenly sneezed, making Danny jump away with a yelp.

"I smell…something gooooooddd!" Tucker was up in an instant, looking expectantly towards the stairwell. Jazz appeared a few moments later carrying a tray loaded with bowls of steaming soup.

"I didn't know if the ghosts wanted some so I made up bowls for you and Dan," She said to Clockwork, holding the tray out of Tucker's grasp with a smile that didn't show in her annoyed eyes.

Clockwork's anger vanished and the warmth returned to his red eyes as he smiled back, "Thank you for the thought, Jazz, but I—."

"I get Clocky's!" Dan lunged at the tray and swept away two bowls and took a place hovering near the ceiling where he would not be disturbed. Tucker scowled at him and Clockwork shook his head. The techie took the bowl Jazz offered to him and sat, cross-legged on the floor with a huff. Vlad grudgingly took his own bowl and hid himself behind one of the containment units so that no one could see him enjoying it.

Sam and Jazz both finished their own off quickly so they could help Phantom and Fenton eat. Having one working arm made a lot of things difficult.

Afterwards, Jazz stacked the empty bowls on the tray and dropped them back upstairs while Vlad added the finishing touches to the second containment unit. Danny felt a nervous sort of excitement building up inside him; this was it, the end. He would be Danny Phantom again and that would be the end of this stupid mess.

He hoped.

"Done…" Vlad said with a sigh as he wiped his hands clean on a rag. Amazingly, there was not a single smudge on his perfect black suit. His turquoise gaze locked with Danny's brilliant blue one, "Are you ready, Daniel?"

"Um…yeah…" Danny found he'd almost lost his voice and swallowed thickly. Sam put a hand on his shoulder.

Vlad glanced at Clockwork who gave a small nod of approval and the millionaire hauled Phantom up and helped him into one of the containment units. Phantom squirmed in the man's grip but didn't struggle too much. He did, however, make faces as soon as Vlad turned his back. Danny watched, slightly bemused and wary. Yes, he wanted to live, yes, he wanted to protect his friends and family, and yes, he cared about the people of Amity Park but…that was all for nothing when he thought about the thousands of lives that had been lost due to his stupidity and cluelessness.

Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Dan, Vlad, Phantom, and Clockwork all looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to step into the second containment cylinder and become Danny Phantom once more. The millions of different thoughts spinning through his mind made his brow crease and hesitation sparkle in his eyes.

"Danny." Dan Phantom suddenly towered over him, not looking quite as formidable in his new form, "Danny look at me." Dan grabbed the boy's chin and forced him to look him in the eye, "Listen to me, okay! What happened wasn't your fault!" He released him but kept his green eyes locked with those blue ones, "You can't always save everyone and you know that! People die all the time, it's a part of friggen' nature! War! Disease! Famine! Mistakes…" The older version shook himself and continued, "All that stuff you read about in your history books! You can't stop that! It's going to happen and there's nothing you can do about it so stop throwing this pity party, get off your lazy, whiny, little rear, and save yourself for once!"

Danny blinked at him, a little shocked at the speech he'd just gotten from his older self, and then glanced at Phantom who shrugged. Danny smiled.

"I rest my case…" Dan muttered and stomped back over to stand beside Clockwork. The Master of Time hid his approval by tinkering with the clock at the end of his staff.

"Alright…" Danny took a deep breath, "I'm going to do this. I'm doing this for my family. And for Amity Park." His blue eyes locked with Sam's lilac ones, "And I'm doing this for you guys." He nodded at Vlad who rolled his eyes but helped the young boy into the second containment unit.

Danny smiled at Sam as Vlad stepped back and threw the switch.

You'd think I'd be nicer after not having updated for so long but then, I'm pretty much know for leaving my readers with rotten cliffhangers. XD Still, I'm sorry for not updating in…a long time. Can you guys forgive me?

It's probably going to be really slow from here on out because I'm obsessed with Chaotic and I've been working almost non-stop on 'The Other Side' since I posted it. Yeah, and this and 'Shadows Are Supposed To Stay Sleeping' are sitting on my thumb drive…gathering dust…giving me a guilty feeling every time I see them and don't open the files…(gulp)

Well, thanks for putting up with me and, as always, thanks for reading, please leave me a review, and have a great day!