Dash remembered when he and Danny used to be friends.
They were the best of friends. They used to play together all the time. They'd play with legos at Dash's house, and then they'd build space rockets when they were at Danny's. They spent so much time together that their parents joked about how they were inseparable.
One of their favorite things they used to do was watch as the thunderstorm clouds would roll in. They liked watching as the sky turned colors and how it got so dark even while it was still the middle of the day. They'd listen to the thunder and try to guess how far away it was when it boomed in the air throughout the city.
But the lightning was their favorite part. They loved watching it shoot down to wherever it would land. The way it would branch out from its main course, covering a good chunk of the sky before it immediately disappeared. They loved all of it. They thought it was so cool.
So what happened to make Danny so afraid of lightning?
They were sitting on the comfy couch in the library. Neither of them wanted to forfeit their half of the couch and so they wordlessly decided to share it. Dash could see Danny watching the rain hit the window quietly. But then Dash saw a flash of lightning out of the corner of his eye.
Danny jumped out of his seat, nearly falling onto the floor. When Dash looked at him in confusion, Danny was holding a hand to his chest, his eyes wide as he stared out the window. He looked like he was pretty close to hyperventilating.
What had happened to make him jump like that? Dash had wondered. There wasn't anything particularly scary happening right now. Maybe if the wind was going a little faster and the tornado sirens went off, that'd be kind of scary. But today was just an average, ghost free day.
Another flash of lightning lit up the clouds outside and Danny jumped again. He was definitely hyperventilating now.
It must be the lightning, he had thought. But why? What changed about it?
Danny had left after that. Dash didn't know where he went. Maybe he went to go find a spot to sit in that wasn't right next to the windows. Or maybe he was cutting school again just like he always seemed to be doing these days.
Dash thought it was his fault. Maybe Danny hated watching thunderstorms now. Maybe it just reminded him of his best friend turned bully.
But that still seemed like it was such a strong reaction, to be so badly afraid of something just because it was associated with someone he didn't like anymore.
It wasn't until Dash had seen Phantom one night that he understood.
Phantom was sitting in an alleyway on his own. Dash had stumbled across him just to find the ghost crying on the ground as he tried to nurse his own wound. His head shot up when he heard the sound of gravel under Dash's shoes, a panicked look in his eyes.
A bright flash lit up the alley and a ring appeared around Phantom's waist. This wasn't a move he had ever seen Phantom use before. It wasn't ever used in battles against the other ghosts. It split just a little bit, revealing a white tshirt between two rings before they melded back to one. Whatever it was, it looked like Phantom was struggling to hold it back. He didn't want it to happen.
Dash walked further into the alley and knelt on the ground next to Phantom. He told him how he'd do anything to help, whatever he needed.
Phantom's expression seemed to change. It went from fear to something that looked sort of like resignation and relief. He stopped struggling and finally let the rings pass over him.
Danny Fenton sat there on the ground in front of Dash, holding the wound on his stomach. It started to seep through the white fabric of his tshirt.
He decided right there that it didn't matter what had happened between him and Danny. Sitting right there in front of him was both his hero and his childhood best friend. He needed help right now and Dash was the only one around to give it.
Dash gingerly picked Danny up and held him to his chest. He was going to take Danny to his house to get him patched up. Dash had a pretty big first aid kit in his room. He should have enough in there to help Danny.
He started jogging down the streets. He didn't want to run too fast with Danny injured, but he had to hurry. He didn't know how long it took to bleed out but Danny didn't seem to be doing too great already.
That was when the first drops of rain started falling. They landed in Dash's hair and hit him in the face. It helped to cool him down, but it was getting hard to see when it quickly turned into a downpour.
They were almost to Dash's house when the first bolt of lightning flashed across the sky right above their heads. He could feel Danny jump in his arms even before the thunder boomed in the sky. Danny clutched a hand in the fabric of Dash's shirt and flinched again when another bolt of lightning appeared.
Dash finally reached his house. He struggled to get his key out of his pocket while holding Danny but finally managed to jab it into the doorknob.
He quietly opened up the door and crept up their stairs, listening to make sure the snoring that came from the living didn't stop. He made it up to his room and shut the door behind him and locked it. He set Danny down on his bed and pulled the first aid kit out from underneath it.
He started cleaning the wound and applying disinfectant to it. Danny didn't flinch as he cleaned it, but he did flinch every time a flash of lightning shone through Dash's curtains.
After wrapping gauze around Danny's stomach, he sat back and took a deep breath. He was still immensely curious about what happened that made Danny so afraid of lightning. There'd be no better time than now to ask.
"You used to love watching the lightning when we were kids. What happened?"
Danny took a deep breath and held up his hand. The faint remnants of a lichtenberg scar ran from his hand up his arm and under his shirt.
"It's how I died."