Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows and reviews!

I have to say that eventually, things will get interesting between Danny and Tadashi and I don't mean romantic either (though that will happen soon). As for those who don't normally do slash, thanks for giving this fic a chance! This is my first time writing slash so I hope it works out!

~CWA


CHAPTER TWO


Danny Fenton

I didn't get much done on my lab today. Mostly because I had gotten here so late so I plan on really getting my area of the lab fixed up tomorrow. I'm thinking a small glass tank that's reinforced to contain Blood Blossoms in a way that won't bother me if I'm near the tank. I think I have an extra HAZMAT suit in one of the drawers I had just packed away. I can easily put that under my clothes and handle the flowers with ease so they don't bother me. Though strangely enough, they've only been causing me mild irritation and rashes instead of blinding pain. Maybe I'm just getting more powerful to a degree that they don't affect me anymore. Though I'd hate to see what would happen if some of it accidentally ended up in my food because if that happens, I'm sure I'd be good as ended and turned into a full ghost. I'll fix it up with a sign that says Toxic Do Not Touch Without Proper Equipment and Permission to discourage people (namely Fred because something tells me he's a hands on type of guy) from messing with them.

Though I still have to thank Clockwork for getting me seeds of the flower so I can do this. Currently, they are in the same drawer as the thermos in my desk. Safely confined for now, but that does remind me that I really have to reinforce that drawer soon so not just anyone can open it. I have blueprints already for experiments and inventions that could use Blood Blossoms. Some are medical. Possible cures for illness or new medicine to help with simple things such as memory and pains. Others are for more ghostly purposes. Possible serums that could prevent the average person from being possessed. Decorations that could make it so no ghost could enter a home. It's all in theory for now, I suppose, but the hope for making such things are still bright in my heart. Because if I can make all the stuff that I wish to within the few years that I'm going to be here at SFIT then I can make it so that if there is every a second ghost invasion, whether it be in just one town or possibly even a national or worldwide invasion, so many more people would be able to survive. Not to mention the medical benefits of having new medicine that can help people with Alzheimer's and Dementia.

I sit at my desk with several notebooks, textbooks, and calculators around me. My main focus is on the large blueprint plan that's spread out. The plan for the portal. With Wasabi sound asleep with no chance of waking up, I can safely display this blueprint in the open and since now that I have my other college homework done I can work on this. I look over the blueprint with furrowed brows. I'm thinking of maybe switching the power source of the portal. If I remember correctly, my parents used a type of hazardous chemical to power their portal as well as lots of electricity and a dash of pure ectoplasm. But I can't do that here. It would be too dangerous for anyone else that's in the lab. Maybe I can switch the power source to something renewable? Or possibly power it all on pure ectoplasm that's possibly mixed with a serum that can make the ectoplasm less hazardous. There's a few other changes here and there that I will have to fix as well. I chew on the end of my pencil slightly.

But I'm saved by the bell. Quite literally actually. My phone goes off, vibrating so hard on the desk that it's actually making the blueprint slip and slide across the surface. I quickly snatch my phone up, barely even seeing that it's a skype call from Jazz, and answer it instantly.

"Hey Danny," Jazz's face comes up on the screen as she speaks, "how's the college so far? Didn't get yourself into too much trouble on the first day, I hope?"

She has a don't tell me you got into trouble expression on her face causing me to stick my tongue out at her. I'm almost hurt she doesn't have faith in me. But it's all in good fun. I know there's no venom behind her words, only teasing. Her eyes are twinkling in amusement as she looks at me with a small smile. I laugh slightly,

"No. Not yet anyway. It's pretty peaceful, surprisingly. Not a ghost so far, but it's only the first day. I'm sure there are some lowkey ghosts hanging around somewhere."

Lowkey ghosts. Definition- a 'typical' ghost that's so low in power that's only seen by psychics and other ghosts. Usually the spirit of someone who has passed and hasn't gone to the Zone yet (or even heard of the Zone). It's a term that was coined by Sam when we went to the graveyard on a dare and ended up meeting a few of said ghosts. The memory brings a minor string to my chest, remembering my old friend. Granted she was an ex girlfriend too, but she was still one of my best friends. Swallowing slightly, I try to refocus myself on the present, as difficult as it is.

"There's always lowkey ghosts," Jazz states blankly, "But when actual ghosts from the Zone show up, you know what to do."

I make a face, but don't disagree with her. I'm retired from the 'real' hero business. I don't just go around saving people- I mean, I help people out when I can but that's just who I am. I don't go looking for trouble and starting fights. I don't attack any thug I see, though I will stop them from mugging someone if I catch them. But I don't have the spark to make just go fight any 'villain' I see anymore. I like to think that now I'm a bit more neutral and have my own morals I follow rather than just being chaotically good.

I don't 'go ghost' anymore, though now a days, there really isn't a ghost form. I mean, my hair stays the same due to the dye I used and my occasionally change green in human form when I'm under a lot of stress/intense emotion. I have a good grasp on my powers in human form that I just… don't need a ghost form. If that even makes sense anyway. Jazz thinks that because I'm getting older, my forms are merging and since, technically speaking, I have a better grasp on my ghost powers than Vlad, my ghost form and human form are just slowly merging into just one solid form.

Though if a ghost from the Zone shows up, I will take care of it. Swiftly. Quietly. Without being noticed. Without drawing any sort of attention to myself. Pft. Easier said than done considering I'm on a college campus. I mean, there's always people wandering around. Though if the ghost ends up showing up at an insane hour of the night/early morning, it may work to my advantage. At those times, it's likely the only people wandering around will be drunk/drugged/high off their ass (e.i. incapable of actually comprehending what's going on).

"Daddy!"

The voice snaps me back to reality as I see a familiar face pop up on the screen and instantly a large smile graces my face. She's practically climbing all over Jazz to get seen on camera, the large smile never leaving her face. She's even cuter than I remember. Ellie's long raven hair is pulled back into two pigtails and her bright eyes are shining with the innocence of a child. I'm overjoyed to see her wearing one of my many t-shirts that I left behind for her. She tends to like my shirts better than proper pajamas. Considering she's so small, the t-shirt drapes over her and goes past her knees. It practically devours her. She looks absolutely adorable as she grins at me, waving enthusiastically. I wave back, cooing slightly,

"Hey there Princess. You're being good for your Auntie Jazz, right? Brushing your teeth every night? Taking your baths?"

She nods at each question, her head going up and down erratically with excitement. Her little self is practically puffing up with so much pride. I coo at her just a bit more, causing her to babble as she tries to form words. Sometimes I get mildly concerned about her lack of speech development- aside from basic words such as daddy, me, get, here, come. Etc, she's not really saying as much as I think she should be. Most of the time she just uses her hands and makes us play some form of charades to find out what she's trying to say. With my patience and understanding, I can work with her easily, but I know Jazz gets a bit frustrated at the lost time and how long it takes for Ellie to even get one simple According to Jazz and the many books I read on parenting, this should be when Ellie is trying to form more words, talk, and do things for herself. Like getting dressed. Using the restroom. Etc. While Ellie is becoming more independent (enough that I spent a whole day crying about to Jazz about how she's growing up too fast and she's only two years old), there are a few concerns…. The main one being her use of Ghost Speak.

Ghost Speak is, basically, the universal language of the ghosts. It comes as naturally to us as humans to breathing. Living people tend to not understand the language, hearing it as groans and moans, sometimes even as wailing, screaming or noisy static. There's no thinking behind it. It just slips out. I occasionally slip into it when speaking, though I have gotten much better. Most of my notes tend to be in Ghost Speak, appearing as random scratches and scribbles to people according to Jazz, but to me it makes more than perfect sense.

And Ellie is no exception to this. Whenever she can't explain what she's trying to say using her hands and gesturing, she slips into the language. Her words are usually small whines that make sense to my ears as it is Ghost Speak. Not so much sense to Jazz.

Jazz gently handles Ellie so she can manage to be seen on screen, though it's clear from her expression she's a bit uncomfortable. I can never thank my sister enough for taking care of Ellie, but in my heart I know that Jazz isn't suited to take care of Ellie. I am. I need to be there for her. I need to take care of her. But a large part of doing so is going to college so I can get the money that I need to take care of her myself.

"Daddy come home," Ellie motions toward the area around her with a confused, slightly pouting expression.

My heart breaks hearing the pleading in her voice. She wants me home. I know she does and I don't blame her. She must miss me terribly. Just as much as I miss her. My expression softens as I place my hand over my heart,

"Don't you worry, Princess. Daddy will be home soon. But has to do things here first."

She cocks her head to the side,

"King things?"

I can't help but smile at that. Kids, especially ones her age, have a hard time telling real life from fantasy. It makes for a lot of make believe games. One such game is that she is truly the princess of ghosts while I'm the king. Though she's not exactly wrong. Shaking my head, I give Ellie a smile,

"Yes. Very kingly things. But I promise I will be home soon. I promise you and I never break my promises. Love you, Princess."

She nods at me, grinning as she babbles about loving me too, before she wanders off again, leaving Jazz a bit relieved as she is free from Ellie's grasp. My older sister looks a bit thoughtful, causing me to wince just a bit. I hate that look. The same look that gets me in trouble a lot of the time because she gets an idea. My sister's ideas, unless they involve deep psychology or laws, tend to be bad ideas. Well not so much as bad ideas as just ideas that always tend to go wrong.

"One day we will have to come up and visit you. Do you have any roommates I should be considered about? Any friends yet?"

I shrug slightly, a bit flustered at her question. I know the tone behind her voice is a any crushes yet type of tone. For a moment, I think of Tadashi. He's the most interesting so far. Easily the cutest too. But I just can't be in a relationship right now. I have to think of my daughter. She comes first. She is my world.

"No," I whine a bit, "but I think I have made some friends. My roommate, who just goes by Wasabi around here, is really cool. He showed me around the campus and helped me a lot today. I met his friends too. Fred, Honey Lemon, GoGo, and Tadashi. Fred's a bit too fan boy, but seems to be a nice guy under all of that science fiction obsession. Honey Lemon is as sweet as her name. GoGo reminds me a lot of Sam, but she's pretty cool so far. And Tadashi is…. Cute. Interesting at least."

"Hm-mm," Jazz gets a slightly sly look on her face, "Cute huh? I hope you're not thinking about dating anyone yet, Danny, it won't end well."

Pft. Such faith she has in me. I wave her comment off a bit with a small snort,

"Just because I can't order, doesn't mean I'm not going to look at the menu. He's cute, sure, but I'm not looking for any relationships. Or hook-ups. Even if I was, he'd have to meet Ellie first. You know she's practically my wing man."

The sad truth. My little two year old daughter is my wing man. She decides who stays and who goes, who to like and who to hate, because especially since she has a sixth sense due to being half ghost, she has a very pure, untamed intuition. So far, she hasn't liked a single person I've brought home. There's only two people she liked that I dated that wasn't her mother (Sam). She liked Dash, back when he and I dated for a short time when we got over the whole bullying thing; he liked her as well and it was actually pretty cute. She also liked Valerie. I guess some things don't change even after she got de-aged.

Jazz rolls her eyes at me,

"I know Danny, I know, I'm just reminding you…. It's getting pretty late so I'll let you go. Night, little brother."

I barely even have time to tell her goodnight before the screen goes black. Leaning back in my chair with a small sigh, I run my fingers through my hair. God I miss them. I miss Ellie. I miss tucking her in at night and telling her bedtime stories. But I… I just have to do this. Shaking a bit to shake off all the thoughts, I look toward the clock. It is getting pretty late and while I would love to stay up to work on my blueprints, I need to get up early so I can set up my area of the lab.

So with a slightly irritated sigh, I put everything away safely before plopping down on my bed with a small thud.


I stand in the middle of what was once my town. My home. Now it's just a battle ground. A field of fire. The remains of buildings lay scattered like scraps. The smell of blood and death are almost too much to even bare. Everywhere I look, it's just...death…. Ectoplasmic puddles that once were ghosts. Bodies of people I once knew as friends. Teachers. Exes. I have to physically bite back any bile when I see Dash, Sam and Valerie among the deceased. Tossed aside as if they are nothing.

I don't know how it got this bad so quick. Vlad suddenly got worse and before I knew it, he snapped. He lead an entire invasion at us, hellbent on taking my position as Ghost King. Apparently, he just received news that I am to be King since it was I who took down Pariah. I say 'take down', but I ended up destroying him after I locked him away, therefore securing my right as King. Not that I really wanted to be King. I just thought that leaving him locked away was a dumbass idea because he could always get free again. This year is the year that I officially took the title so now whomever defeats me can become King. No one is stupid enough to do that… No one except Vlad that is. And his plan is to take everyone I ever cared about to get to me.

I can feel my anger pulsing through me as my fists clench just at the thought.

An invasion of ghosts such as Ember, Skulker, Technus, and many others. Many, many others. Most I don't even know the name of. But all of them are bad. All of them causes this damage in just a month. Just a month. My parents tried their best to fight back and so did I and many others, but we could only hold them all off for so long. My powers got weakened. Drained. From just how often I was fighting, I didn't really get the chance to 'refill my batteries.'

We rallied together, formed a unit, a team. But it just…. It just didn't work. At first, it seemed like it did. We got information. Allies. Weapons. Ghost Shields. But in the end, it just wasn't enough and now… Now almost everyone is dead. Just… gone. Ashes to the flames.

But there are still some that are alive. Jazz. Danielle. They stand in the safest place I know. Behind me. I glance back behind me at the two people I have left in the world. Jazz. Danielle. They're in such bad shape. Jazz has cuts and scapes everywhere. Bandages over some of her wounds. Her skin is dark with dirt and blood. Her hair is just as bad. There's bags under her eyes. She looks… dead. As if she's going to collapse at any second. For all that I know, she very well could be on that edge. Danielle isn't in much better shape. Granted, she's in the best shape of all us because I refused to let anything happen to her. She's still dirty. Has dried blood. Her hair is practically a nest. There's a few bandages covering up her minor injuries that could still be pretty bad. She's only a year old after stabilizing deaged her. God she's so young. She's just crying as she clutches to Jazz, her little arms wiggling toward me as she wants to just be held by me. It kills me knowing that after this, I may not make it.

Jazz is looking at me with so much fear that it breaks my heart. Danielle has a similar look on her face that makes me gulp thickly as I stand a bit straighter. For her. For them. I have to do this. I have to end this. I can't take much more and neither can they. I just have to take Vlad out. It doesn't matter if I die/end or not. If it gets rid of him, it's worth it.

I'm only eighteen. And yet here I stand in the final battle. With myself, Jazz and Danielle on one side with the few allies we have left (sadly it doesn't include Clockwork, who refused to take part in the battle on either side, even if he does give us the offhand tip every now and then), facing the odds against Vlad and the other ghosts as they stand across from us. Vlad stands in the front, floating above the ground with a smirk that says he's convinced he's practically won this battle. But then he notices it. The crown.

It's my last resort with nothing to lose, I finally did something I'm not entirely proud of. I put on the Crown of Fire along with the Ring of Rage. Both amplify my powers so strongly that I can feel it running through my veins almost as strong as my anger. The ghostly artifacts are my weapons in war now. I can feel the power hunger of the previous King and a part of me just wants to keep wearing them. Never take them off. But I know that as soon as this battle is over, I will never don these two artifacts together again.

For a moment, I see fear in their eyes. In all the ghosts' eyes as they see the artifacts. Even in Vlad's eyes. He knows that the likelihood of me doing this were slim to none. That I'm too 'good' to do something as risky as this, to put myself in the mercy of power. That I have a firm belief that too much power is a good thing. But I guess he underestimated my love for my daughter. And Jazz for that matter.

As he's taken off guard, I make my move. With a large static-like cry as a signal, I motion for my allies to attack as I waste no time in attacking Vlad for myself. Each hit of mine is equal to several of his and are causing damage to him. My wounds are already healing from the power overload, though I know they'll leave scars. Each time I so much as breath, the power seems to grow. My vision is turning red and I have no doubts that my eyes are changing to that color as well, but at the moment I can't seem to think about it.

As the night grows old and our battle ranges on, I grow tired of just fighting him. I have to end it. Really end it. But as much as I want to end Vlad, kill him. I can't do that to Danielle. I can't let her see me actually kill someone. I can't teach her that vengeance and revenge are too strong to resist. I have to show mercy in the face of death to show her that grudges get no where. So as Vlad quivers on the ground, beaten and defeated in human form, his own allies and army pause in their battles to see their leader be defeated. I show him mercy in the form of not just killing him now. Mercy doesn't stop me from stepping on his leg with all my weight, my foot burning with ectoplasm that scorches his flesh as he screams.

"Leave," my voice comes out distorted and dark "Leave and never return. If I see you again, I will kill you. If you meddle in my life, in Jazz's life, in Danielle's life, in anyone else's life, I will kill you. I refuse to let you think you can take what you want that your actions do not have consequences. So leave now before I change my mind."

I turn my foot harshly on his leg, causing him to scream once more before I finally get off of him. I can tell that I've damaged his leg beyond repair. Good. Let it be a reminder. For a moment, I stand there, glaring harshly at him as the ectoplasmic fire dances on my finger tips. A warning that if he doesn't move soon, I will be changing my mind about showing him mercy. He spits at my feet causing my eyes to narrow, but he wobbles away before one of his vultures carries him off to safety.

With him gone, I turn to my sister and my daughter as well as my allies. Frostbite. Wulf. Cujo. Princess Dora. Box Ghost. All of them stare at me with a seldom look. A look with underline fear. I straighten my shoulders and stand tall like a King, my head held high. All of those who fought with Vlad that still remain seem nervous and frightened as if I will end them. I'm almost tempted to. After a moment, I finally speak, my voice thunderous in Ghost Speak, sounding more like screeching noise,

"Let it be known that treason against the King will not be tolerated."


I wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air as I clutch the bedsheets. My heart is pounding erratically in my chest as I try to regain control. Looking down briefly, I can see the ice forming on the sheets from my hands and it takes a minute before I regain enough control to get the ice to retreat. I can still remember that day so clearly. Kind of easy to when I have the same nightmare every night of that day.

Even now the idea of having that much power scares me to the core. I hate the idea of it. That I could easily become too powerful. Easily destroy everything. End everyone. Red eyes and white flaming hair come to my mind. Dan. I shiver a bit when I realize just how easy it would be to become him if I wear both the artifacts at once. And the idea of Dan, or me becoming Dan, with that much power is down right horrifying. How easy it would be with that power and that attitude to just destroy the world. Too easy for my liking.

Which is one of the many reasons I only wear the Ring of Rage- a warning to other ghosts that I am King. But the crown is taken care of. Safely stored away in what was once Pariah's Keep (now it's Phantom's Keep as it is my palace in the Ghost Zone). There's so much security there that I doubt anyone aside from myself could even get to it. I don't trust Fright Knight to protect it, but Clockwork has sworn to keep an eye on it himself so I don't have much concern for it. I finger the ring around my finger in thought, my breathes turning to heavy wheezes.

I hate thinking about this. I hate that it plagues me every night. I hate that I'm far from my little girl. The one person who can bring me back down to reality in moments like this. And I hate that I have to be so far from her where anything can happen to her, even with Cujo and Jazz protecting her. But I have to do this for her. I have to go on. I can feel the tears starting to slowly drip down my cheeks and I frantically wipe them away with the back of my hand. On the off chance that Wasabi wakes up, I don't want him to see him crying.

It's only my first night here after all and I'd hate if the questions started this early on.