Breaking Dawn
A Danny Phantom Fanfic by Quill N. Inque
I do not own Danny Phantom.
"You truly are incorruptible!"-The Joker, "The Dark Knight" (2008)
Chapter 17: Crossing the Line, Part Four
Prologue
Downtown Amity, half an hour ago…
It was just as fortunate that Sims had opted to take the back seat of Jazz's car, for if he hadn't, it was quite probably that Agent Thomas Brody would have emptied the clip of his sidearm into his torso. The venerable cop had to struggle to maintain his focus on driving as he and Danny's sister listened to Sims' account of what had transpired, and Brody's fingers itched to punch the self-serving coward's goddamn teeth in as he clenched his jaw in rage.
"I should dump your ass out into the street, Sims," Brody growled. "And plea bargain or no, I hope the judge throws the book at you. What kind of person invades someone's privacy like that?"
"I was out of a job, okay?" Sims snapped back. "The Society offered me a bundle to snap a few photos of Fenton and his girlfriend, so I took the offer. I had no idea it would lead to all of this, and I certainly didn't think they'd beat the crap out of the girl!"
"Don't try to play the victim," Jazz snarled. "It doesn't suit you."
"Do you two want to rag on me all night, or do you want to find Fenton?" Sims replied. "I know several Society hangouts; chances are that if the Manson girl's attackers are there, your brother will be, too."
"And why should we bet everything on your word?" Brody narrowed his eyes in the rearview mirror. "You haven't exactly proven to be an upstanding citizen."
"You don't have a choice," Sims shrugged. "I'm your only lead and I offered to help; whether you take it or leave it is up to you guys."
"You did that only because you thought you'd benefit by it!" Jazz was outraged at Sims' pomposity.
"What can I say? I'm an opportunist," Sims shrugged unapologetically. "And if I were you, Brody, I'd hit the gas pedal. Otherwise we'll never get there in time, and we'll be scraping up what's left of the vigilantes in Ziploc bags."
"Fine," Brody gritted as he veered sharply into another lane, ignoring the honks and obscenities of startled motorists. "I'll see what I can do about getting you a lighter sentence, but in return you tell me everything you know about the Society of Light: who their leader is, where they get their money, and anything else I can use to bring them down."
"Of course," the ex-reporter grinned. "It's just good business."
"However," Brody growled, his tone laden with menace, "If you play me false, Sims, I swear to God I'll have you shipped off to Leavenworth maximum for rest of your miserable life. Am I clear?"
"Implicitly," Sims nodded, a thoroughly intimidated expression on his face.
"Good," Brody snorted as he switched his turn signal on.
"Do you think we'll get there in time?" Jazz asked hoarsely.
Brody's nostrils flared as he took a deep, apprehensive breath.
"I hope so."
Now…
Danny Fenton's feet left trails of smoldering footprints as he slowly advanced on his prey, and his fingers glowed with eldritch energy as he carelessly tossed aside a nearby table, sending poker chips and liquor pints scattering everywhere.
A flurry of playing cards fluttered slowly to the ground of the now-vacant bar, and only the vengeful ghost boy and his awestruck and terrified victims-to-be now occupied the empty room. Danny relished the smell of their fear, the thundering of their frightened and cowardly hearts, and he kept his tone slow and deliberate as he played idly with a ball of searing ectoplasm.
"Tell me," Danny said, in a haughty and arrogant voice that seemed almost as though it belonged to another person entirely. "What kind of person attacks a girl and beats her senseless like you did to Sam? What possible justification did you use to make your consciences clear? You remember, don't you? You thrashed my girlfriend into a near-comatose state and almost killed her!"
"Well, let me tell you, that sword cuts both ways," Danny hissed, looming over the huddled bigots like the Angel of Death himself, "And if you're so convinced that I'm plotting to destroy humanity-"
Suddenly and without warning, the ghost boy grabbed one of the three attackers by his neck and swung him aloft as if to throttle him-
-"I think I'll start with you!"
The man's feet kicked wildly in a frenzied dance as his fellows watched in horror, and Danny felt a vengeful joy rise in his chest as his victim's cheeks turned an unhealthy blue. The half-ghost thrust a palm of eldritch energy less than an inch from his prisoner's left eyeball, and all it would take was one simple push to melt the assailant's head right off of his shoulders.
But then, as the man's legs jerked, something fell carelessly out of the left rear pocket of his jeans. Overcome with sudden curiosity, Danny knelt, his grip still firm, and disdainfully picked it up.
The object was, in point of fact, the man's wallet, and inside it was a picture of himself…and his family, of a wife and three daughters, all smiling in the plastic frame. A wedding ring confirmed this analysis as he grasped feebly at the hand that was choking him, and the realization of what he was doing hit Danny like a thunderbolt. Conflict raged within him for a second time as two halves, good and evil, light and dark, grappled with each other in the arena of Danny's mind.
What have I done? Danny screamed, shaking his head as his inner goodness fought to banish the fog of rage and anger that had clouded his world for the past few hours. I can't do this! THIS IS WRONG!
Foolish weakling! A darker, more sinister tone that reminded the ghost boy of Dan Phantom, Danny's evil future self, made Danny flinch visibly as his eyes altered rapidly from green to red and back again. You wanted this and you know it! You vowed blood for blood; don't deny it! You wanted revenge just like anyone else would! Well, what are you waiting for, then? The dark whisper said smugly, as Danny's eyes met those of his terrified hostage. See how he squirms like a worm on a fishhook? Squash him like the insect he is! FINISH IT!
I can't do it! I WON'T!
You did it once, don't you remember? The evil voice snickered. You can do it again.
Danny gasped at the memory of Vlad's demise, at the awful recollection of what he had been forced to do to finally vanquish his old enemy, hit him like a bolt of lightning, and for a moment he relived the scene in terrible, merciless clarity. The blood on his hands seemed to return as Danny's eyes blurred with tears of guilt and anguish, and his ears heard once more the sickening SHKLUK that the iron rebar had made as it entered Vlad's body. The thunder, the rain, and, most of all, Vlad Plasmius's dying taunt boomed in Danny's ears.
"Well done, Daniel. Well done, indeed."
Danny's eyes glowed a ferocious green as he stood on legs that quaked with exhaustion from the war that raged inside his brain. But even as his balance faltered, determination and plain stubbornness made the blood turn to fire that coursed in his veins. The nobler nature within him stirred at the memory of Vlad's last deed and word, and Danny roared his defiance in a silent, heart-rending scream that burst forth like an explosion from the depths of his heart, a heart that until now had been stained with blackness and been pushed to the edge of the dark abyss.
NEVER AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME? I WON'T TURN INTO VLAD, AND I WON'T GIVE IN TO YOU! I. WILL. NOT. KILL!
The gasping man slipped from Danny's nerveless grasp as the half-ghost staggered against the bar, clutching his head as though stricken with a monstrous migraine. Bottles and glasses were sent crashing to the floor as Danny, in a blind panic, swept them to the ground, and when he next raised his head, his voice was almost pleading.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
The trio of attackers needed no further encouragement, and promptly sought shelter under any piece of furniture they could find. As they watched in horrified fascination, what resembled a scene from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" played out right before their widened eyes.
Danny gritted his teeth as his head throbbed, and in his soul the two sides of him grappled ceaselessly for dominance.
I promised I wouldn't turn into you!
You've already taken the first step!
Not yet I haven't! It's not too late, both for me and for them! They're good people who have been deceived by the Society's lies!
They hurt Sam, did you forget about that?
No! They'll answer for what they did, but not to me!
You'd turn them over to HUMAN justice? They'd be back out on the streets in a day!
I'd rather they go free than willingly turn into YOU! You're going back in your box, and you're going to stay there!
TRY AND MAKE ME! Danny's dark side roared as the boy's feet carried him to the now-ruined doorway. One slow, staggering step at a time, Danny emerged into the pre-morning hours. The hybrid swayed almost as though intoxicated as he swerved into the middle of the abandoned street, and his very pores glowed green whilst every cell in his body hummed with pent-up energy.
Then, with a great, heart-rending screech, Danny gave voice to weeks of pent-up anguish and frustration as tears rolled down his face.
"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Then there was light, brighter than any seen before or since, a solid column of green energy that was heralded by a mighty thunderclap which made the skies shake and the earth tremble as it shot endlessly toward the heavens in a massive, swirling maelstrom. Its blinding, eldritch glow would have outshone the noonday sun and forced all who gazed upon it to turn away, and its roiling, searing heat turned any gravel or loose dirt within a six-yard radius into blended sheets of shimmering, silver glass.
Danny slumped, smoldering, drenched in a cold sweat, and more exhausted than a spent battery, and his iron grip on an adjacent streetlight made the wrought metal hiss as it bubbled and melted under his searing palm. Danny clung to the lamp as though it were a life raft, his knees quaking and his breath a hoarse, grating gasp, and his chest heaved in and out whilst he shivered and shook like an aspen in the wind.
But despite the fact that he now found himself weaker than a newborn kitten, the sudden expenditure of energy seemed to have served its purpose well. The dark, brooding presence that had clawed at the back of the young man's mind seemed to have vanished, and the red tinge of fury that until now had clouded Danny's eyes and muddled his sense was rapidly receding. Though he had no tangible proof or evidence other than a gut feeling, Danny was suddenly and gloriously aware that he had shoved his darker nature back into its cage. The young man felt as though an enormous, black shroud had been lifted away from the world, with every sense hyper-aware and crystal-clear, and yet…
Though Danny's better nature had claimed victory over the black entity that would one day be Dan Phantom, the hybrid couldn't change what had already come to pass.
Clockwork's words, the warning he had given Danny during his brief venture into the void, echoed through the half-ghost's mind with awful clarity:
"If you let thoughts of hate and malice cloud your judgment and color your actions, you will follow in Vlad's footsteps and fall into the depths of evil. Should this happen, you will ultimately become everything you swore to fight against…to the ruin of all."
Anguished, bitter tears began to squeeze out of the corners of Danny's eyes. I have failed, he moaned silently, cradling his head in his hands as sobs racked his sodden frame. All I've done is prove that the Society was right about me all along.
Danny opened his mouth in a silent scream, shuddering with the force of the cries that made his shoulders hitch. I SCREWED UP! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? He cried, though whom he was addressing, he did not know. I CROSSED THE LINE, JUST LIKE THEY DID, AND NOW I'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! SATISFIED?
"You see no hope where there is plenty to be found," the sound of a very familiar voice caused Danny to glance up.
"Clockwork?"
The Master of Time nodded genially as the swirling nexus from whence he'd come closed behind him. "Hello again, Danny."
"Come to yell at me?" the ghost boy asked bitterly. "Everyone else probably will, before I'm hauled off to prison."
"I'm never one to kick a man, or boy, when he's down," Clockwork replied. "I only came to offer you a piece of advice."
"You mean about how I'm turning evil? I figured that one out by myself, thanks."
Clockwork shook his head. "I came to tell you not to despair, Danny. You think the end of your world has come, but it hasn't. Hope is not lost upon you; though you think you have fallen into darkness, you could not be more wrong."
"Do explain," Danny made no attempt to hide his skepticism.
"You pulled yourself back from the brink of the abyss tonight," Clockwork grinned sagely. "And, in time, you will become all the stronger for it. You have shown, in the most dramatic of ways, your true determination to walk the right path."
"But…I was going to kill them," Danny sobbed.
"And yet you didn't," Clockwork murmured, leaning in close. "Why might that be?"
"Uh…"
The ghost shifted into his baby form and hovered close to Danny's face. "The reason is because there is good in you, Danny Fenton, more so than in men three times your age. You see the world in black and white, and you realized that what you were going to do was wrong. That's why you fought back and gave those men time to get out of harm's way. Even in the spell of darkness, you were looking out for others, and it is that quality of compassion and heroism that saved you. You saved yourself from yourself tonight."
"Then what…what do I do now?" Danny wiped his eyes. "What can I do now?"
"You can learn from this mistake and avoid repeating it into the future," Clockwork whispered. "And then you must confront your dark half once and for all. I can help you do this…but only when I think you are ready."
"I'll make sure to find out how to do that from a prison cell."
"You're not going to prison, Danny."
"Says who?"
Clockwork twirled his staff idly. "Master of Time, remember? All-seeing and all-knowing. Those fellows over there will be too terrified of you to say anything other than asking which cell they'll be sharing, and Sims will probably agree not to testify against you in exchange for a plea bargain or something."
"Always remember," the ghost finished leaning close to Danny's ear, "that there's still good in this world, Danny, and it's worth fighting for…"
Then, with a swirl of his cape, Clockwork vanished amidst the screeching of brakes as the glare of headlights made Danny hold up a hand to shield his eyes. For a moment, fear overtook him as he became convinced that more Society thugs had showed up, but fright turned to joy as he beheld a very concerned-looking Agent Brody slamming the car door shut before rushing to his side.
The old cop approached with something resembling caution. "You in there, Danny?"
"I'm fine," Danny gasped. "I'm…better now."
Brody then took that opportunity to slap Danny upside the head, hard.
"What was that for?"
"Being a teenage idiot," Brody growled. "What on Earth possessed you to go off and start picking fights like that? Jesus, kid, I thought you were actually going to off somebody! I oughta cuff you right now just for taking ten years off what's left of my life!"
"Glad to see you, too," Danny groaned. "And that thing wasn't me. It was…something else."
"It was him, wasn't it?" Jazz's tone was soft.
"I think…it was what would eventually become him," Danny shuddered. "I could…I could hear his voice in my head."
"Whose?" Brody asked.
"You're better off not knowing," Danny shook his head as his voice cracked. "But I do want you both to know that I'm sorry…for everything."
"You fucked up, kid," Brody nodded. "Royally. But everyone does that once in a while, so it'd be unrealistic to expect perfection from someone who's gone through as much as you have."
"Just don't let it happen again," Jazz warned. "Otherwise, you might really get into trouble."
"It could've been a lot, lot worse," Brody agreed, lending Danny an arm to help him to his feet. "So where are the punks who clobbered your girlfriend?"
"Over there," Danny pointed to the three men cowering behind an upturned table. "They're all your, Brody."
"Damn straight," the agent replied, fishing a pair of handcuffs off of his belt as he approached them.
As the old cop read the three attackers their rights, Danny found himself comforted by the reassuring hand Jazz placed on his shoulder.
"Tomorrow's a new day, Danny," she murmured quietly. "And with it comes the opportunity to do better."
The ghost boy gave her a watery smile. "I won't miss it."
And all the while, outside the bar, the sun began to rise.
A/N: WHEW! That was just a little too close for comfort, but then again, that was the purpose of this story arc: I wanted to demonstrate that Danny wasn't infallible, and that he could still mess up sometimes. But will the prisoners and Sims provide Brody the leverage he and Danny need to take down the Society? Will Skryme get away scott-free? And will Danny ever win the hearts and minds of the people? Find out in coming chapters! And PLEASE REVIEW! If YOU have ANY ideas or suggestions, LET ME KNOW!
Your humble servant,
-Quill N. Inque