Hey everyone. Lord Pugsy here. Here is the latest instalment for A Phantom Apocalypse. I hope you enjoy it. I do not own Danny Phantom, only the story, and several annoying characters.
The following week was officially the beginning of Spring. In a world long forgotten, this would herald the return of migratory birds, plants getting a new chance at life and the gradual increase in temperature. However, the weather appeared to have forgotten this last detail. A thick, freezing fog blanketed the city, giving the residents of the school the distinct impression that they were in a horror film. Their lives already closely resembled a Stephen King novel, but the fog seemed to exacerbate their levels of fear. There were no fictitious ghost-pirates seeking revenge, or blood-thirsty supernatural creatures that wanted to tear them limb from limb awaiting them outside. They knew exactly what was hiding in their shrouded city. The only thing they didn't know was how the fog came to be in the first place. The last days of Winter had been crystal clear, but in less than a week, the city was shrouded in whiteness. The ones who had lived in Amity their whole lives use to be able to associate unusual weather with high levels of ghostly activity; as there were only six ghosts left, they automatically dispelled this idea. Little did they know, it was in fact due to ghostly activity; one ghost in particular. Said ghost was currently lying on the domed roof of the Observatory, green eyes gazing at the stars revealed by the night sky. If there was one thing Danny agreed with Sam more about, was the issue of light pollution and how it ruined the beauty of nature. Stargazing was a sure way of calming the Halfa down; at that moment, he couldn't have been calmer. The moment he had teleported out of the Cafeteria, he flew as high as he possibly could, until the town was nothing more than a speck with his enhanced vision, and Wailed to the Heavens, not caring how much power he was using. Once his pent up aggression was appeased, Danny had used his remaining energy to teleport to the Observatory, where he fell to his knees and tried to regain control of his breathing. It was at that point that when he became angry again.
"That's it." He had said to himself. "No more help. The humans are on their own." It was from that point on that his feelings towards the human race began to manifest in his ice powers, causing the unnatural fog over Amity. Back in the present, as he was mapping out the constellations of Virgo and the Hydra with his finger, his Ghost Sense went off. Flicking his eyes to the right, he saw Dani and Ember flying towards him. Coming to a floating stop, Danny noticed that both of them were looking at him warily. A pang of guilt ripped through Danny as he realised that Dani was probably afraid of him right now; disappearing after doing what he had done must have been traumatising for her.
He lowered his hood and floated up to meet the girls. "Dani, I am so, so-." He was cut off when the youngest Halfa suddenly flew at him and wrapped her small arms around him, shaking slightly as she began to cry.
"Where have you been for the past four days?" Ember asked, concern evident in her voice. "We've been worried sick."
"Mainly here." Danny answered tiredly. "After what happened, I had to get away. If I didn't, who knows what else would have happened."
"W…what did happen Danny?" Dani asked between sobs.
"Oh Dani," Danny said softly, stroking her hair comfortingly. "That, was someone I had hoped you would never meet. I'm sorry if I scared you."
Ember frowned at the two hybrids. "Care to explain who that someone was Baby-pop?" She asked. "Because if the rumours floating around the school and the look on Krystal's face are anything to go by, what you did in the Cafeteria that night could have been enough to make old Pariah piss himself."
"Hey," Dani said, wiping her eyes as she faced Ember. "That's what I said."
Ember shrugged. "Who cares? The point still stands. You've been holding out on us."
A pained look stretched itself across Danny's face. "It's not one of my prouder moments." He said sombrely, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "If I had it my way, no one would ever know. But you guys deserve to know."
"Does anyone else know?" Ember asked.
Danny nodded. "Sam and Tucker know pretty much all of it. They were there for most of it, so it was only right I told them the rest. Jazz only knows the basics." Dani and Ember nodded, but Danny missed Ember's look of annoyance at the mention of the humans.
"Anyone else?"
"Clockwork and the Observants." Danny answered. "It's because of Clockwork that no other ghosts know of his existence."
"Wait, his?" Queried Ember, confused now.
Danny sighed heavily. "Get Krystal, Johnny and Kitty together. It's best I tell it only once." He said, before looking down to Dani. "How bad were Mom and Dad after I left?"
"Pretty bad," she said. "Maddie was demanding answers and Jack just seemed shocked."
Danny sighed once more. "I guess they deserve to know." He admitted reluctantly. "Would you mind heading back to the school and let Jazz know that they can tell them? Maybe Val and Dash too. No one else though."
"They're not going to believe me Danny." Dani said sadly. "We already tried getting information out of them, but all three clammed up and refused to speak. We've been at them for the past couple of days, but they're not budging." Danny couldn't help the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at his friends' loyalty to him, but understood where Dani was coming from.
"Tell them that they are allowed to talk about the 'highly combustible condiments' and everything that came with it." Danny said cryptically. "And yes Ember. I will elaborate further." He laughed at the expression on her face; he knew she was about to ask.
"Smartass." She said mockingly, but Danny could tell she didn't mean it.
"Be back here in ten minutes." Danny said. "And I'll explain everything. Also, bring some food. I've not eaten in a while."
Ten minutes later, the six ghosts were all sat on the Observatory roof, five of which were gazing intently at Danny who had yet to start speaking. He didn't look to be in a hurry either; he was just staring at the five empty bowls sat in front of him. It was starting to make them feel uncomfortable.
"Um, Danny?" Johnny asked from his spot on the roof next to Kitty. "You alright?"
Danny sighed heavily, running his hand through his white hair. "Not really Johnny. This isn't exactly a topic I'm comfortable talking about."
"Can you just start with the basics?" Kitty asked.
Danny laughed humourlessly. "Oh I wish Kitty. What I'm about to tell you goes beyond the world of basic, but I guess I should start at the beginning."
"Beginning would be nice." Dani said.
Danny took a deep breath and looked at the three older teen ghosts. "Do you three remember the C. when you went to Caspar High?" They took a moment to think about it.
"Oh yeah." Johnny said after a while. "I remember those tests. Well, I remember skipping out that day with Kitty instead of doing them. I heard they were intense though."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Dani asked sarcastically. Danny was very thankful that Dani turned to face him again, rather than see the dark blush that arose on Kitty's face.
"I'll ask no further." Danny said with a wink, causing the blush to darken. "Anyway, the C. was where it all started. The week following up to the test was one of the hardest weeks I ever had to face as a ghost. The Box Ghost was breaking out of the Zone three or four times a day, Cujo kept trying to get back into Axion Labs to find his chew toy, and I can't even remember how many times I destroyed Skulker's armour."
"Ugh." Kitty said disdainfully.
"Tell me about it." Danny groaned.
"Oh not that," Kitty said, before turning to Ember beside her. "I just can't believe you dated that tin can." Dani burst out laughing.
"Seriously Ember?" She asked incredulously. "You dated Skulker? You do realise he's a little green blob with an inferiority complex?"
"Shut up." Ember said, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I was lonely and he told me he liked my music. He also wanted me to help get back at Baby-pop here. What's a girl to do?"
"Can we get back to the story please?" Krystal asked quietly.
"Okay," Danny said. "This is when things got a little weird. Sam, Tucker and I were hanging out at the Nasty Burger when the place was attacked by a ghost called Boxed Lunch. She was the daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady." There was a round of gagging from the ghosts who knew the pair.
"Yikes." Johnny said.
"Actually, it's more of an 'eww'." Danny said, remembering the conversation he had with Tucker after it had happened. "She was tougher than I gave her credit for, but I managed to beat her by throwing a sachet of Nasty Sauce at her head and shooting a small ecto-beam at it. The result: a sizeable explosion that sent me out through the wall, and through my English teacher's brief case, which happened to have the answer sheet in it."
"You didn't?" Dani asked, shocked. "You never cheat."
Danny looked at her sadly. "Where do you think that began?" Dani wisely stayed quiet. "It wasn't until later did I realise I had them. Sam and Tucker were trying to convince me to give them back, but I was hesitant. I was terrified that I was going to have a crap future. I had barely any time to sleep, let alone study. The next thing I knew, I'm facing another new ghost call Skulktech 9.9."
"Please tell me that's not Skulker and Technus?" Ember asked/begged.
"Unfortunately." Danny said.
"Now that's definitely a 'yikes'." Johnny said, trying to imagine what the two would look like combined.
"Carrying on, Sam, Tucker and I fought Skulktech and wound up in Clockwork's tower, where we acquired some of his Time Medallions. In his tower, he has a series of screens which show clips from different time periods. One of them showed my timeline, ten years in the future. Turns out, I was destined to become the most evil and most powerful ghost, this world has ever known. The three of us watched as I destroyed an entire army without breaking a sweat. I later learned that Amity was in fact the last city standing." Danny said, earning gasps from the ghosts. "Turns out, Skulktech and Boxed Lunch were sent from the future to kill me to prevent that future from happening." There was silence for a few minutes as the ghosts absorbed this knowledge.
"How exactly did you become him though?" Dani asked, somewhat fearfully.
Danny groaned. "I looked at the answer sheet."
"What?" Gasped Ember. "How come something so menial, cause something so evil?"
"I got caught cheating, which in turn caused Mr Lancer to call a meeting with my family to meet at the Nasty Burger to discuss it. I'm not entirely sure why Sam and Tucker were there in the original timeline. I probably called them." Danny said, his voice becoming heavy. "Without anyone knowing, the container which held the Nasty Sauce was being superheated by a naked flame. Do you guys remember what happened when a single sachet was superheated?"
"There was a small explosion, wasn't there?" Krystal answered.
Danny nodded. "Now imagine what would happen to an industrial sized vat, filled to the brim with Nasty Sauce, when it got heated up." The silence was deafening as the ghosts realised what would happen; all five gasped loudly.
Highly combustible condiments¸ Ember thought. "Did it…?" She left the question hanging.
Danny nodded, his head dropping. "It did Ember. And it took the lives of everyone I ever cared about."
A few tears escaped Danny's eyes before he continued. He was very thankful for Dani scooting closer and hugging him tightly.
"I was the only one to survive." Danny said, his voice breaking slightly. "The explosion took everything from me. There was only one place I could go. Vlad's."
"Danny!" Dani shouted, slapping his arm. "Why on earth would you go to his?"
"He was the only person I could go to Dani." He responded; the tears had started again now. "As he was the only other Halfa in existence, you had yet to be created Dani, he was the only person who could understand what I was going through."
Danny exhaled heavily. "But that was a big mistake."
"You're damn right." Dani huffed, which Danny chose to ignore.
"I couldn't stand the sadness and the guilt." Danny said. "They were eating me up inside. It eventually became too much. I asked Vlad to remove my humanity. Just so I couldn't feel anymore." Once again, the ghosts gasped.
"You can do that?" Kitty asked, surprised by this new information.
"Unfortunately." Danny replied. "With the Ghost Gauntlets. But Vlad bit more off than he bargained for. He ripped out my Ghost half, which was in just as much emotional turmoil as I was, and it turned on him. It seized the Gauntlets, ripped out Vlad's Ghost half, and merged with it. My half was overwhelmed by Vlad's evil half, and it transformed me into the most evil creature ever to walk this earth."
"What happened to your human half?" Ember asked nervously.
Danny sighed. "Some things are better left unknown." No one knew what to say to that. To be told that you had been murdered was not something you could easily get over.
"How do you know all of this?" Krystal asked, confused. "Your family are still alive, aren't they? There was no big explosion in Amity as far as I can remember. And I think we'd definitely remember if there was a mega-ghost flying around destroying cities."
Danny nodded. "Clockwork had it all planned out. He pretended to attack me so I would escape into my future, where I fought Him. Long story short, Dan, his name, beat me easily and fused my Time Medallion into my body and went back in time to ensure his existence by making sure my family died at the Nasty Burger. With a little help from Jazz, I found my way to future-Vlad to have it removed, which is also where I learnt about what happened. After he got rid of the Medallion, I returned to my own time and fought with Dan once more and barely won. If it hadn't of been for Clockwork, I would have lost everyone again."
"What do you mean 'a little help from Jazz'?" Kitty asked.
"She figured it out, somehow." Danny said. "She never told me how, but it doesn't surprise me. She is just about the smartest person I've met. When she figured it out, she tied a note about going to Vlad's to the Booooo-merang and threw it into the Ghost Zone; it tracked me down in the future and hit me upside the head." He rubbed the back of his head where it usually hit him. "I can't even begin to describe how much I hate that stupid thing. But it worked, so I can't really complain much." There was another moment of silence.
"So," began Dani. "When you, changed, back in the Cafeteria, that was what Dan looked like?"
Danny shrugged. "More or less. The hazmat was a little different, but essentially the same with the fangs and hair. And I guess that's it."
"What about us?" Ember asked, gesturing to herself, Kitty and Johnny. "You saw Skulker and Technus. Surely you must have seen us."
Danny flinched at the memory. "I did see you."
"Well?" Ember demanded. "What were we like in the future? Was I still singing? Was I still famous? I didn't get fat, did it?"
"Dan kind of ruined your lives." Danny said, looking up to see their reactions.
"Ruined in what way?" Kitty asked.
Danny sighed. "He broke Johnny's back and destroyed Ember's vocal chords. When you guys found me floating through the Zone helplessly, it felt as if you were trying to kill me all the way. Even the Box Ghost was terrifying." The ghosts' minus Krystal, felt their jaws drop at what Danny had told them. Then Danny's whole admission seemed to crash around them as they took everything in. Here, in front of them, was the Ghost-Boy they had fought countless times, and was always beaten by him. They always saw him as the selfless hero who would do anything to protect his loved ones, and never use more force than necessary in a fight. To be told that he had the power to literally destroy the world, was something they found extremely difficult to believe. But they had heard the pain and sorrow in his voice; that, combined with the reluctance to tell them, was enough to make them believe him.
They continued to sit there in silence for a while, but it eventually became too much for Danny.
"Do something." Danny said desperately, shooting up to his feet. "Slap me, punch me, blast me or throw me off the roof. Don't just sit there like everything is alright." The ghosts looked at him in confusion.
"What?" Dani asked, frowning. "Why would we do that?"
This time, it was Danny's turn for his jaw to drop. "Wait, you mean you don't hate me?"
"What are you talking about now?" Johnny asked as the rest of the ghosts got to their feet.
"Yeah," Kitty said. "Why would we hate you?"
Danny looked on in disbelief. "You're kidding me right? I'm pretty sure I just gave you the ultimate reason to hate me!" He exclaimed. He turned to Dani and Krystal. "You two saw me change into him back in the Cafeteria. You saw what can happen when my emotions go unchecked. I could have killed everyone in there."
Ember couldn't help but scoff at Danny's expense. "You really are a dipstick, aren't you Baby-pop?"
"Huh?" Danny asked stupidly.
"As far as I can tell, you aren't this Dan person." Ember said, walking towards the confused Halfa. "I doubt you could be, even if you tried. It was a combination of both you and Plasmius. And last time I checked, he's off checking out the Solar System. So what's the problem?"
"So let me get this straight," Danny began. "You don't hate me?"
Ember laughed. "I'll say it again. You really are a dipstick." With that, she closed the distance and, much to the surprise of everyone, hugged Danny tightly. Dani, Kitty, Johnny and Krystal weren't far behind her, and soon, there was a six-way ghost hug on top of the Observatory. Danny suddenly found his resolve dissolving rapidly. He hadn't quite realised how important it was to him that the ghosts didn't hold Dan against him. He remembered thinking that Sam and Tucker would abandon him as he was responsible for their deaths, but they never did; their friendship had been too strong for that to come between them. Danny was suddenly brought back to the present as he hugged his ghostly friends; despite not being friends with them as long as he was with Sam and Tucker, they were just as important to him. If they had rejected him, he would've been lost in a world filled with Zombies.
"I'm, er, going to take that as a no then." Danny said, finally finding his voice. This caused all the ghosts to laugh.
"Dude, we could never hate you." Johnny said as he pulled away, letting a more sensitive side of him make an appearance; he would deny it later.
"He's right." Kitty said in affirmation; she copied Johnny and leaned into him. "Even when you were always sending us back to the Ghost Zone, we never hated you."
"We only thought you were an annoying, little brat who kept getting in the way." Ember said. "But we never hated you."
"Gee, thanks Ember." Danny said, chuckling slightly. "That really warms my heart."
"Any time." She said nonchalantly, pulling away herself, but still holding onto his arms. "Besides, when we escaped to the Human Realm, we always expected to be sent back by you. We just kind of accepted it. Didn't we guys?"
"Yeah," Johnny confirmed. "We even ended up taking bets on who could last the longest out here."
Danny laughed a true laugh. "I take it Boxy was never a part of these bets?"
"Course he was." Dani said, giggling.
Danny looked down in shock. "How do you know about these bets?"
She shrugged. "Last time I was in the Ghost Zone, I stumbled across these guys making bets." She said, gesturing to Ember, Johnny and Kitty. "At first they were all nervous, me being your cousin and all, but when I told them my idea, they loved it and invited me to join."
Danny raised his eyebrow. "And what exactly was your idea?"
"I came up with the idea to bet on how fast it would take for Boxy to get sent back." She said, causing all the ghosts to laugh. "Did you know you made Walker very happy when you sent him back to the Ghost Zone after only escaping five minutes beforehand?"
"Great," Danny said sarcastically. "I doubt that'll put me in his good books. I'm pretty sure I've got like seven thousand years to serve before he'll be happy."
"You never know," Kitty said. "Saving the Ghost Zone might have made him a bit happier."
Danny gave her a disbelieving look. "Really?"
"Yeah," she said. "He might have taken three or four years off your sentence."
"Thank goodness for that." Danny said, chuckling slightly. "I was beginning to worry that Walker wasn't fair."
Dani slapped his arm. "Stop being so sarcastic." She said, but she was chuckling too.
Johnny just shook his head. "As touching as this is, in case you guys hadn't noticed, the sun is about to come up. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beat." As if on cue, the other five ghosts yawned simultaneously.
"Come on," Danny said. "Let's go down below and get some sleep. I've already secured this place. We won't get any unwanted visitors."
A few hours later, Ember stirred in her sleep. Sitting up, she noticed that Dani and Krystal were fast asleep, leaning against a desk, whereas Johnny and Kitty were lying side by side with Kitty using Johnny's chest as a pillow; Danny was nowhere to be seen.
Strange, Ember thought, looking around the room. I could have sworn he came down with the rest of us. Confident that he wasn't inside, Ember floated up through the domed-roof and saw him sat where they had been during the night, his hood up and facing away from her. He was also firing off small ecto-blasts towards the ground.
"Danny?" She asked. There was no response, so she walked up and sat down beside him. When she looked him over and saw underneath the cloak, Ember was surprised to see that he was in Human form. Ember watched as he fired off another blast from his fingertip, hitting an Infected's forehead, causing it to collapse. She also noticed that fog seemed to be lifting ever so slightly. They all knew it was Danny who had created it; probably out of anger. To see it lift made her think that something good has happened.
"You know," she began, trying to ease the tension. "It's rude to ignore a lady when she's talking to you." This got a chuckle out of the Halfa.
"When I see one, I'll be sure to be polite." He said, jokingly.
Ember slapped him. "Jerk."
Danny laughed as he fired off another green bolt. "Be honest Ember," he said, "Would you really describe yourself as a 'lady'?"
"That's beside the point." She said indignantly, but was struggling to refrain from smiling. "So, care to explain why you're up here shooting and not below sleeping? And why you're human?"
Danny shrugged as he took down his hood, revealing blue eyes and raven-coloured hair. "After training with Clockwork, I only need a few hours sleep now. As for why I'm human, I learned the hard way in the Ghost Zone what happens if I stay dead for too long. I once spent three days straight dead; when I turned human again, I passed out for a day."
"Wow." Ember said. "Sucks for you then."
"Yeah," Danny laughed dryly. "The wonders of being a Halfa."
"So come on. What's the real reason you're up here?" Ember asked, nudging his shoulder with hers.
"Aww." Danny said mockingly, reciprocating the nudge. "Is Ember going soft, worrying about little old me?"
"I could always kick you in the soft spot and make you sing soprano for a week if you'd like?" She asked innocently. "It would be no problem."
"I'm starting to think that's your favourite thing to do."
Ember shrugged. "That's because it works." She said simply. "Now are you going to answer me? Is it about the humans? And what that Fitz-guy did?"
"Partly." Danny admitted looking down, his bangs covering his eyes. "That still annoys me to no end. Especially with the crap we've been put through because they thought we were behind the whole thing. But mainly, it's about you guys."
"Us?" Ember asked, now greatly confused. "What have we done?"
"You've been there for me." Danny said. That was not the answer she was expecting; her mouth was a perfect 'o' shape. She was so surprised, most of her hair went out.
"Huh?" She asked unintelligibly.
Danny laughed. "Wow. The last time I saw you speechless was when Tuck started singing at your concert." Ember was too surprised to lash out at that comment; only tilting her head as her hair relit itself, wanting Danny to continue.
"You don't seem to realise this Ember, but you and the others mean a great deal to me." Danny said honestly. "I may not have known you guys as long as I have Sam and Tucker, but I think of you just the same. Maybe slightly more."
Ember looked surprised, and slightly touched at the same time. "Really?"
Danny nodded. "When I got back from the Ghost Zone, I was expecting everything to be the same as when I left. Same old boring life. Fight ghosts, go to school and fight some more ghosts. Maybe even have a lie in on the weekends and play some videogames. Instead, I appear in the middle of a nightmare and I am despised with a passion by virtually everybody. Not for just being a ghost, but for being the ghost who didn't help when everything went to hell, but I'm also blamed for the whole damn thing because I'm a ghost." He said, his voice becoming angrier with every word. "Then I find out that you're in the same boat, and are being attacked simply for being ghosts. It's like society suddenly regressed five years, and ghosts have suddenly become demonic."
"But here's the thing," Danny carried on, his tone becoming lighter. "Despite how much I enjoyed spending time with you three at the Wraith & Shade, I genuinely thought that would be it. I thought the next time I would see you, you would be back to trying to take over Amity. To come back, and find out that you had been trapped here because you wanted to see me, really hit home at how important you were to me. You didn't even blame me. I then tell you about Dan, and what I could become, and none of you care. You went out of your way to make me feel better. That's why I'm up here Ember. I've come to realise that as long as you five are by my side with my family, I'm happy."
Ember was genuinely lost for words. When she sat down beside him, she was expecting a (well deserved) rant about the humans and how much he hated them, or perhaps confirmation that the ghosts didn't hate him. Instead, he completely opened up to her and spilled his innermost feelings. It was enough to make her inwardly blush at his comments.
"Naww," she said after a few minutes, shaking out of her stupor. "Now look who's being soft."
Danny gave her an irritated look. "Thanks Ember. Thanks a bunch." He went to stand up but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.
"I was kidding Baby-pop," she laughed, leaning against him. "Lighten up will you. To tell you the truth, we care just as much about you, as you do about us."
Danny's eyes widen. "You do?"
"Course we do Dipstick," she laughed. "Don't forget, you accepted and stood up for us since you've been here. Dani told us how you scared everyone in that Cafeteria when you said we aren't the monsters, but humans are. It might have been easier for you to just ignore us and go about your life. Instead, you went out of your way to hang out with us and didn't care about what the humans would think about you. That's why we care about you. We look out for each other." Danny smiled widely as he leaned his head against Ember's, pleasantly surprised when her hair didn't burn him. Before Ember's eyes, all the fog over Amity just disappeared, so she knew she must have said something right.
"Thanks Ember," he said softly. "I needed that."
"Any time." She said, smiling. "But you dare tell anyone how mushy I was just then, I'll make your life a living hell; Johnny's shadow has been itching to cause some havoc. Plus, I know where your folks keep the thermoses."
Danny laughed. "My lips are sealed Ember." He said, yawning, which in turn caused Ember to yawn. "Aww, would Ember like a goodnight cuddle?"
"Get lost Dipstick." She said, shunting him but smiling nonetheless. "Come on. Let's go back to sleep. We've got a big day today."
"We do?" Danny asked, confused as Ember stood up.
"You bet your Halfa ass we do." She said, helping him up. "We've been bored out of our minds these past four days whilst looking for you. Today, we're having fun."
I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. I do apologise for the lack of action in it; it is acting as a filler chapter, but I felt it was important to show how significant Danny's relationship with the ghosts is. There will be plenty of action in subsequent chapters. One reader was eerily close when they guessed what was about to happen. Until next time.
Lord Pugsy.