HSR 5
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I sighed landing back in front of my house, Sam was up in my room on my bed, Tucker was in the living room watching TV with is wife. Valerie was pacing stunned in the kitchen, her boyfriend or husband ( i wasn't sure which, I hadn't seen a ring so I assumed boy friend, but you know what happens when we assume…) was watching her. They were all waiting for me to come back. Still Phantom I phased back inside and changed back all eyes were on me Val coming into the living room, Tucker and his wife looking up. I sighed.
"So… I left kind of dramatically before so… I thought I'd come back, I owe you all answers to questions." I looked down sheepishly.
"How?" Valerie asked, I looked up.
"How what?" I asked confused, how did I survived, how stay sane, how did I become half ghost, how did I like my eggs?
"How did you become half ghost?" Val asked, I sighed.
"Remember the accident?" I asked.
"When you're ghost portal first exploded… yeah." Val nodded.
"Well it turned on while I was inside it." I said, "I'm still not completely sure how it works, I have a few theories, but nothing conclusive, nothing I can test anyway." I sighed, "Long story short I went in, got zapped, and came out half ghost."
"Why didn't you come back?" Tucker asked.
"I don't know, I'm not sure exactly. After the battle I felt I had to stay, like I couldn't leave, I've never tried to leave before so… " I looked way, "I don't know." Tucker sighed.
"So… if you're half ghost, you're also half alive." The guy Valerie was with asked.
"Give the man a prize." I said sarcastically.
"Danny?" I looked up, Sam was at the top of the stairs, my heart ached. Why? She was still so beautiful, after all these years, and here I was twenty-eight in life, but fourteen in body.
"Sam." I sighed. She came down the stairs giving me a hug, taller than me. I awkwardly hugged her back, it was like hugging my mom, or an aunt, but at the same time I was hugging the girl I'd loved… still love.
"You're alive." She breathed pulling back to her full height pushing strands of black hair behind her ears.
"Yeah… sorta." I said. My heart was pounding. I was still expecting Valerie to jump me any second.
"Ok, when you said replicas…" Tucker left the end of totally ignoring the weirdness between Sam and me.
"I manifested life size, fully functional, sentient beings that looked, acted and for all intents and purposes were my two best friends." I sighed rolling my eyes.
"That's just creepy." Tucker said, I shrugged.
"It kept me sane." I sighed. "If I had to endure day after day, month after month, year after year, especially knowing that I could indulge myself in a fantasy of my own creation, and not have been able to, then I would have gone crazy a long time ago."
"Danny?" I looked away from Tucker to Val.
"Sorry if I sound snappish Val, but aren't you ready to end my half afterlife about now?" I asked.
"Maybe you did go crazy after all." Valerie said. I looked at her my eyebrows coming together.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"It means you're crazy if you think I'm going to hurt you, Danny Phantom or not. You were one of my truest friends, I can understand why you would have kept that from me. Mind you I'm still peeved you couldn't trust me with that, but still… I can understand." Valerie shrugged.
"Ok…" I said, "I thought your hate for Phantom would blind you to your friend ship with Fenton."
"I know it's probably not my place in this, but Valerie is one of the most loyal people I know." Said the man behind her.
"Excuse me, but I don't believe I caught your name." I said I held my hand out, "I'm Danny." He took my hand.
"Derek." He smiled, I nodded.
"Pleased to meet you." I looked at the woman on the couch, "And you would be?"
"Angie." The woman said I little put off, but I guess talking to a half ghost would do that to you… well if you knew they were half ghost.
"Well, nice to meet you to." I smiled, I looked back to Sam, "How's my family."
"I don't think you're parents ever got over losing their only son, but over all I hear they're doing pretty good. You're sister has gotten pretty famous over the years." Sam smiled. I nodded.
"During one of my brief excursions with insanity, I watched TV and found some of that out by myself." I sighed, "They all think I'm dead don't they."
"Danny, everyone thinks you're dead." Valerie said. I sighed. Great, wouldn't tomorrow be fun then. I looked outside; it had been dark for a while now. Tomorrow was in just a couple hours wasn't it? I sighed.
"Well… I'm not going to miss my reunion now am I?" I looked up; the adults around me were gapping. I sighed, "Stop looking at me like that."
(Hey, you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE….)
Paulina sighed falling onto the bed. Tomorrow as the reunion, tomorrow she'd see everyone again, every one who hadn't died of course. Thinking about this Paulina didn't even know who was alive and who wasn't, she sighed kicking of her shoes and sitting up, pulling the high fashion shirt over her head. Sitting there in her bra and too tight pants in the overly priced hotel room. Paulina really wanted to make an impression on her former peers. Serves them right for not worshiping her more. Pauling flipped her hair and lay down on the bed. Danny Phantom. Paulina thought, well it may make her a pedophile and a necrophiliac but she was going to check him out. Was the infamous ghost boy even still there? With a sigh Paulina laid her head down on her pillow. She'd worry about everything tomorrow.
(I think Paulina was a little bitchy here, but hey, I really don't like her, and she was quite a shallow bitch in the TV show too.)
I looked up at the ceiling, today was the day, not just the day of the reunion, but the day I finished the last block in the town… I didn't know what I'd do after that. I told everyone I'd go to the reunion but now that I thought about it, did I really want to go? What would people think about Danny Fenton coming in, most likely they'd think GHOST. Would I tell them my secret? My phone started ringing. I sighed rolling over to pick it up.
"Dude!" my eyes went wide.
"Tucker?" I asked.
"I can't believe your phone still works." He laughed, god he sounded old.
"Well, it's only because you're in Amity, lots of things happen you wouldn't believe." I rubbed my eyes, "Do you even know what time it is?" I asked.
"It's like noon, why?'
"My point exactly, it's noon, on a weekend and I'm a growing teenage boy." I said. Tucker laughed.
"Really?" he asked, "Growing."
"Hey don't rub the fact that you grew up into my face now, I'll overshadow you before you can count to ten… what do you want anyway."
"I was wondering if you wanted to eat with us, I already invited Sam over." Well this would be awkward to say the least.
"I'll be over in a minute." I sighed rolling out of bed and falling on the floor.
"Hurry up or all the food will be gone." Tucker laughed.
"If you still eat the way you did ten years ago I don't doubt that." I smiled, it was strange, joking with Tucker, just like the old days, but he was twenty-eight. Granted I was to, but you know what I mean.
"You bet I do."
"Much to the embarrassment of his wife!" Said Angie in the background. I sighed, being brought back down to earth again. Tucker was completely alive with a wife and everything… I… I wasn't.
"I'll see you when I get there." I said. I stood up getting of the floor and pulling clothes out, running to take a shower really quick. I hummed in the shower to an old Dumpty Humpty song. Then I phased the water off and got dressed, going ghost and flying out of there. I landed in front of Tucker's house changing back and knocking on the door. Tucker opened it looking at me.
"That is still so weird." He said with a frown.
"Back to you." I said folding my arms. This was way to weird. I kept wondering how Vlad had aged while I hadn't. Angie looked up at me as I walked in.
"Hi." I waved, she waved back.
"It's hard to believe that you really existed like this ten years ago… two days ago I really didn't even believe it there were ghosts."
"Just close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream, that's how I get by." I smiled.
'Pirates of the Caribbean." Tucker said pointing at me, I pointed back.
"Yes!" then I lowered my hand, "When did you get so excited?" I asked, Tucker was acting really hyper and jumpy. What was up with that?
"Well my best friend isn't dead, I am about to devour this steak, and I have a beautiful wife, why wouldn't I be excited." Tucker smiled, I looked at him, why did he have to be so old… I know I'd said it before, but I'd probably say it twenty times more.
"I notice you put your wife last." Angie said raising an eyebrow.
"I wasn't going in any particular order." Tucker kissed Angie's temple. I looked away.
"So… where is Sam… and did you invite Val?" I asked shifting my weight nervously. Tucker looked at me.
"Sam said she was on her way, and Val said she was flying solo on this one."
"Really?" I sat down at the table and looked around. "I half figured she'd come after me guns blazing. I know my parents would have been cool about knowing my secret, but I was never sure about Valerie." I sighed, "I just wish I could go back and do everything over." I sighed.
"For what it's worth, it think you're a good kid." Angie said looking at me. I smiled.
"Thanks… " I frowned, "but you don't even know half of it." I sighed.
"Well… tell me." Angie said, "Since Tucker won't." I looked up at her.
"It's a really long story… I… " I sighed, "I'm not sure I can give you the most accurate account."
"I guess the most you can do is try." Angie shrugged. I sighed.
"I…" I looked down at the table, "Can't." I looked back up at her, "look, it was a long time ago, and it's something I really don't like talking about, it makes this all real. As long as I can pretend it's a dream I'll wake up from I'm ok… for me, my dreams are now my reality, I can't think about what happened, why it happened, or how long ago it happened. I know it's not healthy, but honestly, it keeps me sane. And trust me, you don't want to see me insane." I sighed. Tucker put his hand on my shoulder. Why did he have to be so old?
"Dude, stop beating yourself up over it, that was nearly fourteen years ago… I mean, he was from ten years in the future, since then… right?" Tucker asked.
"I don't know Tuck." I sighed, "A part of me will always have the capacity to become him, I can't let myself for get that."
"I'm more than a little confused." Angie said looking at the two of us, "You know, it's more than a little rude to leave someone out of the loop like that."
"We're talking about my evil future… past… something self. Dark Dan." I sighed, "He completely gave up him humanity after my family and friends died in an alternate timeline. I had to fight him to keep him from becoming my future, not really something I like to talk about." I sighed.
"Danny?" Sam came in, "Are you here yet?" she looked around the room locating me and smiling.
"Wow Sam, didn't figure you'd venture into a meat conosour's lair." Tucker smiled.
"Only for an old friend Tucker." Sam said then smiled, "It's been a while since we've all been together." Sam sighed; I rested my chin on my hand.
"You don't have to tell me." I groaned then looked away. Why was this so hard? I mean it was easy, like riding a bike again, but hard… my heart tried to pull away from my chest, and my fight or flight response had long since kicked in growing more insistent as time went on.
"Danny?" Tucker said looking down at me. Ugh, why? Stupid, stupid, non-aging thing.
"I'm fine." I forced a smile, my eyes suppressing a twitch. Tucker lowered to my level one knee on the ground the other bent proposal style.
"No, no you're not." Tucker said. Sam came up behind him.
"We're your friends Danny, no matter what, we know this is bugging you. Do you think it's walk in the park for us?" Sam asked hands on her hips, "Because it's not. Ten years, I hoped you were alive, but to tell you the truth, a part of me always thought you were dead. Then, well you haven't aged, and that's kina freaky."
"Man, you still act fourteen, then you go and say stuff completely wrong with the age your body is. It's more than a little unsettling." Tucker said. I sighed.
"Honestly, sometimes I wish I'd never become half ghost… but thinking back to all the people I've saved, it all seems worth it you know… if I have to spend an eternity as a teenager, I think it's worth it. I wouldn't give up the lives of anyone just so I can feel normal. I really wish I could have grown up with you guys, but that's just life… my life anyway. I wouldn't trade it for the world." I sighed, doing something out of character I hugged Tucker and Sam, "You guys are my best friends, and I'd do anything for you." I let them go. Sam looked at me.
"Would you leave?" She asked me. I looked at her.
"Sam…" I started.
"Would you leave?" Sam asked again, "When this is all over, the reunion and everything, would you leave town and come with me?" she asked.
"Sam… I don't know…"
"You said you'd do anything Danny." Sam said throwing those words back at me, "I thought about it on the way here, what I'd do if you were still here… I have to get you out of here Danny; you can't spend the rest of your life in here. You have a life to live." Sam insisted.
"I kinda think my life has passed me by." I rubbed the back of my neck, "I have a block to finish Sam… then I can go… but…" I looked at Sam, "I… I'll think about it." I told her. Sam just nodded. I sighed. Tucker went back to the kitchen; he was shuffling around and getting out utensils. Sam wanted me to come with her… leave Amity Park… possible forever. But what about he portal… and all of the stuff left behind… the weapons, everything. I couldn't just replace it, and I couldn't just move the entire house now could I?
But this was my way out, for good. Out of the broken memories and the taunting structures, out of my self-inflicted torture and back in to life. Among real people, humans, real living breathing humans that were not just manifestations of my past. The idea was tempting, very tempting. I knew I couldn't resist, but I couldn't just leave either. There was one more block to finish… I couldn't leave here till then. But after it was done… what would I do? Could I leave? I thought so, but at the same time I had been sure at this time a week ago that I'd never leave Amity Park, even if I did finish.
What about my family, I had a family out there, one who was missing a son… could I go see them, what would happen if I did? Would they be happy to see me? They would still love me I was sure, but could they handle that? Could I handle it? Things had changed almost as suddenly has they had when I'd been left… but I could make the decision now… and I was pretty sure I would leave… but the portal… and the equipment. One can't move an entire house could they? I'd lived in that house for twenty-eight years; I could just leave could I? Did I want to find out?
These new possibilities danced in my mind. I could leave, but at the same I couldn't. Tucker put a steak in front of me and I jumped.
"Oh… uh thanks." I jumped out of my thoughts. This was it… the last day to make up my mind, the last day to figure it out. What would I do? This could be the end… the actual end of my isolation. This was a new almost disturbing thought. But if this was the end… then where was the beginning? And where did this beginning lead. I really wanted to know.
So… who wants Danny to go home… well see his family again? VOTE!
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