Edit: 5/21/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.
Let's get to it already!
zzz- normal separation
ooo- dream or vision separation
Mental thoughts or distant speaking
"Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right" ~ Theodore Roosevelt.
zzz
The four friends walked home together after gym class, talking about Danny's performance in front of Mrs. Telstaff and the other students.
"Dude! Did you see the look on Dash's face!? Priceless, absolutely priceless!" Tucker howled in glee.
"I've got to say, totally made my day to see that," Valerie smiled brightly.
Danny was just smiling until Sam wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Feel good not having to hold back as much?" Sam smirked. Normally she was very conscious of making sure Danny didn't pull many pranks with his powers, but this one she'd openly agreed to because of Telstaff's ultimatum.
Danny puffed out his chest a bit and grinned, "Sure, I just can't help but wonder what Dash's face would've done if I'd really thrown it."
"I bet his eyes would've bugged out of his head!" Tucker wheezed from his laughter and wiped away a tear from his eye. He was enjoying this way too much.
"He's going to be pissed though," Valerie replied.
"I guess since he somehow figured it out that I haven't been using my all, though he's off about how much so, he might try to prompt me to fight back next time he corners me. I'm going to have to be even more careful than before." Danny sighed. "I know I just couldn't watch them torment Brandon like they were. I think my obsession is getting stronger than it was."
"Obsession?" Valerie asked.
"Every ghost has an obsession they harbor after death. Half Ghosts have them too. Danny's is protecting people. Balancing your obsession helps keep one from becoming corrupted or lacking humanity. A ghost's obsession roots them to their humanity, especially for full ghosts." Tucker expressed.
"As if I don't already have enough on my plate as a human," Danny muttered, though everyone heard it.
Valerie's look turned thoughtful before she glanced at Danny. "Do you ever wish your life was normal?"
Danny paused for a moment. "Sometimes… but… I don't think, as things are now, that I'd want to give up my ability to protect people." Sam squeezed his hand and he squeezed back in return.
-Bing-
"Whoa," Tucker spoke up.
"What is it?" Sam asked and Danny and Valerie turned to look at Tucker.
"I just got the invite for the four of us to that party Paulina wants Danny at," Tucker replied. He looked up at the others. "What should we do?"
"I say Paulina can shove her party up her-" Sam started and Danny glanced at her.
"I agree with Sam on this one," Valerie replied and crossed her arms.
"Aw come on! We finally get really and truly invited to a cool kid party and we aren't going to go?" Tucker whined. "I could've found a girl!"
Sam had to hold back a chuckle at the somewhat irritated look that came to Valerie's face. Danny saw it too and furrowed his brows in confusion at her sudden change in behavior. Sam saw Danny and shook her head at his still chronic cluelessness.
"I just think we could check it out. Who knows, maybe it'll be fun. Besides this party doesn't just have A-listers. Paulina said it's a class party, everyone in our graduating class is invited," Danny spoke up.
The other three turned to look at him.
"I'm siding with Danny on this one!" Tucker blurted out and raised his hand.
Sam and Valerie glanced at each other and sighed.
"Alright…" They both replied at the same time.
"Yes!" Tucker grinned.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides we can leave at any time." Danny smiled at them both and they seemed only half satisfied with that.
Regardless though, they were going to the party.
zzz
The beginning of November. The day of the Party. Paulina's house.
After a somewhat calm day, if you don't count Danny having to suck the Box Ghost into the thermos of total of five different times and a surprise visit from Youngblood who only stopped to ask Danny if he thought his Astronaut suit looked cool, the four friends got ready that afternoon and arrived at the party together that evening.
The party was being held at Paulina's house while her parents had offered to go on a trip at the time to give the house to the graduating class. It was a bit sketchy since there was supposed to be some kind of chaperone, but no one complained.
Honestly? They four friends made a pretty darn good entrance. Danny was wearing a toned-down version of his party outfit, namely a black shirt with a white opened jacket, though he was wearing blue jeans with them. Sam was wearing her new dark green shirt with the rest of her normal day clothes. Valerie was wearing her typical outfit and Tucker was wearing a red polo with the rest of his typical attire. Danny and Sam walked in holding hands as the four friends looked around.
"Looks hoppin' to me!" Tucker grinned excitedly. He locked eyes with a group of nerds he knew, consisting of Mikey, Brandon, and Norman. Norman had brown hair and thin round glasses; he was taller than both Mikey and Brandon and was dark-skinned. Tucker smiled at Danny "Come-on, let's go. Sam and Valerie could use some girl time together, right?"
Danny glanced at Sam and she nodded contently. He smiled back and let go of her hand before walking off behind Tucker. They approached the three nerds and greeted them.
"Saluton mia popolo," Tucker spoke first in Esperanto for fun. (Hey, my people!)
Brandon was about to turn and translate for Danny, since he thought perhaps he didn't know what was said but was halted by Danny's voice.
"Vere mian popolon? Sendistinge, saluton infanoj," Danny added (Really, my people? Regardless, hey guys.)
"Mi ne sciis ke vi povus paroli Esperanton, Danny," Mikey replied. (I didn't know you could speak Esperanto, Danny.)
"Tion, tri lingvojn? Kiel vi faras tiel malbone en iuj klasoj?" Norman added. (That's what, three languages? How are you doing so poorly in some classes?)
Danny chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's complicated."
"Hey Danny, I just wanted to thank you, you know… for the other day," Brandon mumbled.
Danny smiled, "No sweat, Brandon."
"I've got to say, fifty plus feet is an impressive distance. Certainly nothing to laugh at," Mikey spoke nasally and adjusted his glasses.
Danny shrugged. "I've never thrown a shot before, so I didn't know."
"Maybe you should be in Casper High's Track Team!" Norman spoke with a kind smile.
Danny got slightly nervous. "Well uh… sadly I don't think I have the time."
Brandon had grown quiet and was staring at his shoes as Danny talked with Tucker, Mikey, and Norman about a variety of things. He happened to glance over at a raised stage that had been set up in the large foyer of the home for dancing and saw Dash and Kwan peeking out from behind some stage curtains. They were glaring at Danny. Brandon started to sweat and gulped before trying to gain control of his worry. He looked over at Danny and spoke. "Hey Danny-"
Danny and the others turned to his voice and Danny tiled his head but gave a welcome smile. "Yeah Brandon?"
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you…"
"Oh Dannnnyyyy!"
The five people turned to see Paulina, Star and a third girl with slightly slanted eyes and dark wavy hair with tan skin, named Megan, walking towards them.
Norman frowned slightly. "What in the world are they up to?"
"Who knows," Danny murmured.
Tucker leaned in, "Keep your eyes peeled. Last thing you need is a mad Sam."
Danny gulped, "Yep that's true."
Right after that, Paulina spoke again.
"Hey Danny, nice outfit. You look great."
Danny shifted uncomfortably. "What is it you want, Paulina?"
She continued to smile. "Me and the girls were just wanting to get your opinion of some ideas for decorations we have for the second party later in the school year. They're ghosts and we wanted to make sure we got every detail right. You being the son of Amity Park's best human ghost hunters, can help, right?"
Danny sighed and glanced across the room at Sam and Valerie who were enjoying the punch and chatting happily. He turned back and nodded. "I guess it couldn't hurt."
Paulina clapped her hands together. "Perfect, right this way, Danny."
Danny walked off, following the three girls.
Brandon gulped and looked back at the stage even though the jocks weren't there anymore.
"Whelp. I'm glad I charged my PDA," Tucker shrugged and pulled out the device.
"Who's that?" Mikey asked.
Tucker replied, "Because I will bet there's a decent chance that this night might end with a cat fight between Sam and Paulina and Paulina will defiantly loose. That's a fight I want on camera."
Norman rose his brows. "Wait are you saying-"
"Paulina's totally hitting on Danny for some reason. I don't she actually wants to date him for real; besides, she's done something like this before. " Tucker grumbled some as he tapped a few buttons.
"Oh," Mikey responded.
"Shallow, shallow, shallow," Norman shook his head. He glanced at Brandon who had been staring at the stage still. "Hey man, you okay there, Brandon?"
Brandon snapped out of his trace and gazed at the others. "Oh… uh, yeah. I'm fine, don't worry about it."
The other three glanced at each other before shrugging and going back to talking.
zzz
"That really happened?" Valerie smirked as she took another sip of her drink.
"Yep, those first few months were scary. Danny kept slipping through everything, even the floor. It's a miracle no one saw," Sam replied.
Valerie laughed a bit.
Sam frowned and then smiled. "Hey Valerie?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks, uh… for not wasting Danny for starters after you found out and uh for being a good friend to me."
Valerie seemed surprised.
"I've never actually really had a girl that was a friend before. I mean me and Jazz get along well enough but she's older than me and at college at the moment," Sam added.
Valerie smiled. "You're welcome to both things. I'm glad to be your friend too." They both smiled at each other before Valerie spotted something behind Sam. "Huh-oh."
Sam turned and looked over her shoulder. "What?" She figured out what, after she'd turned. She saw a final glimpse of Danny's back as he disappeared into a hallway, following Paulina, Star and Megan.
"What do you think that's about?" Valerie spoke with suspicion in her voice.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Sam hissed under her breath.
Valerie replied, "Yeah, Paulina's up to something."
Sam cut her eyes away in anger. While most would see a jealous and angry person, Valerie could see the tiny bit of worry Sam was hiding.
zzz
They got to a room, which turned out to be one of the bedrooms in Paulina's massive house. The room had cut-outs of various ghosts scattered about in it. One was of the Box ghost, another was of Skulker, Desiree, Technus, and then one ironically of himself.
"Well, what do you think?" Paulina asked.
Danny turned and tried to force a kind smile. Maybe they were being honest. "Well Skulker's mohawk is green not blue and Desiree's clothes are blue not red, but other than that they look pretty accurate."
Paulina grinned happily. "Wonderful!" She turned to look at Star and Megan. "Would you two mind going to get the other two cut outs? You know, the Lunch Woman and the Spooky Knight ghosts."
The two girls nodded and left the room.
"Uh, it's the Lunch Lady and Fright Knight."
Paulina twirled around to look at Danny and gave a smile. "Oh! Oops, thanks for the info. People mis-name them so often…" She replied and put a hand to her mouth in semi-embarrassment.
Danny deadpanned in his head. But you always mis-named Danny Phantom.
"Hey Danny, would you mind moving that Skulker cut-out to the other side of the bed to make room for the new ones?"
Danny looked over and nodded before walking over and bending to use his legs to lift the cut-out. It was pretty heavy for wood, but of course Danny could've lifted it with one hand easily if he didn't need to always continue his charade. He walked over and placed the cut-out were Paulina said she'd desired it. It was then he felt arms snake around his waist.
"Danny… Are you suuure you don't wanna kiss or anything?" Paulina drawled. She had immediately felt him stiffen. Tch, I didn't want to do anything with Fenton of all people.
"Paulina." Danny started, almost sounding angry, as he reached to grab her hands and pull them from his waist. He froze completely when she whispered in his ear.
"It'll be fuuuun." She teased in a quieter tone, slipping her hand up under his shirt and resting it on his stomach. She paused in surprise when she noticed he was leaner than she'd guessed. Danny's eyes had gone wide at her remark and he'd literally forgotten to breathe for a few seconds longer than normal. There was a pregnant silence before Danny started to shake a bit.
"What's wrong?" Paulina asked, slightly annoyed.
Danny almost ripped her hands from his waist and glared at her, surprising her.
"I should've listened to Sam a lot sooner. I figured you were shallow, but this…" Danny grit his teeth. "You don't care about me. You never did. I don't think you get it or something, Paulina. You made fun of me, taunted me, defamed me in earlier grades. Why would I want to show any kind of love towards you afterwards?"
Paulina kept a flat face.
Danny frowned. "Paulina, you'll never find satisfaction or true happiness this way. Please, for your own sake, try to rethink the way you look at things. Try to find someone special. Try to make friendships that matter and have meaning." Danny walked past her. "I'll see you later, Paulina. Have a good night."
Danny was halfway to the door when Paulina finally spoke.
"You aren't worth the effort anyways. Someday Inviso-bil will fall in love with me. He at least has good taste in girls."
Danny paused and turned to face her again. "Sam is wonderful and beautiful. Don't dare talk like she isn't again or we'll have a problem. Second, Danny Phantom won't love you."
"How do you know!" Paulina increased her volume, in defense of her hero. Danny paused not sure how reply until-
"I know him and he'd say the very same thing I did," Danny replied simply and left the room. He didn't see Star leaning against the wall to his left, outside the door. He walked towards the stage, which could also be reached from the hallway he was in, to get down from the other side. Star was frowning and looked into the room to see Paulina staring out the bedroom's window with an irritated look on her face. Paulina whipped around and walked outside and found Star.
"Inviso- I mean Danny Phantom loves me, right?" Paulina asked Star.
The young blonde was still frowning. "I think you need to talk to him more to figure that out, Paulina. Not every love story starts with love at first sight."
Paulina gave her an impatient look, before Kwan ran past. Paulina noticed the jock's urgency and stopped him.
"What are you doing, Kwan?"
Kwan spoke hurriedly, "We're about to spring our trap for Fenton. It's revenge for upstaging us in gym before."
Star frowned slightly and Kwan actually seemed a bit worried at the blonde's reaction.
"Perfect. That dweeb needs to be put back in his place," Paulina replied. "Tell me where the best view will be."
Kwan replied hesitantly, "Probably… the rest of the main room, bellow the stage you know? I gotta go like right now, Dash will kill me if I'm not in place." The jock then took off. Paulina smiled and motioned for Star to follow her.
zzz
Sam, Valerie, Tucker, Norman, and Mikey had all joined up into one group to talk. Brandon had disappeared somewhere and they all turned to follow Sam's gaze when she spoke.
"There's Paulina, but where's Danny?"
The group saw Paulina and Star walk out from the hallway where'd they'd left with Danny before. The two girls then found a seat and seemed to be looking at the stage. Star had on a frown and Paulina seemed happy. It wasn't too much longer before Megan came and joined them.
It was at that moment they heard a commotion and looked up at the stage.
Danny had been heading across the stage and was two thirds of the way across when Dash jumped out from the curtains and shouted.
"Gotcha, Fen-toad!" The blond jock then pulled a rope.
"Danny look-out!"
Danny was shoved away from where he'd been standing and fell to his rear a bit farther across the stage. From the ceiling or the rafters, came a stream of some kind of sticky tar-like substance and feathers. The mixture landed on, Brandon.
The entire room was quiet. Danny looked up after he'd hit the ground and saw Brandon standing where'd he'd been with tar and feathers covering him. Oddly enough, for once, no one was laughing at the band geek's expense.
"Damn it, nerd! Fenton was supposed to get that!" Dash growled and picked the dirty Brandon up by the front of the shirt.
"Put him down, Dash."
The jock looked up and almost flinched when he saw that same serious look in Danny's eyes like he'd shown in gym.
Dash quickly reclaimed his cool. "What are you going to do about it, Fenton?"
Danny then started to march forward and then he shoved Dash, hard. The jock was so caught off guard that he let go of Brandon and fell backwards onto the wood floor of the stage with a hollow thump, flat on his back. Danny reached out and caught Brandon's arm to keep the boy from falling over.
"You okay?" Danny asked.
Brandon nodded. "You were right, it can be as scary as facing a dragon."
Danny smiled but then noticed Dash had pulled himself up and was marching towards them again. Danny directed Brandon away right as Dash landed a right hook on Danny's jaw. It made a loud smack noise. Danny stumbled back a step. He then heard Sam's voice.
"Oh Hell, no!" Sam started marching towards the stairs to join the three boys on stage. "I'm going to kick you in the family jewels so hard-"
Danny was about to tell Sam to stand back when Dash snorted. "Goth geek, you're really settling for less than great with Fen-turd. I kinda actually pity you. Let me show you a trick or two." Rage erupted in Danny's gut when heard the implication in Dash's words. He punched Dash in the gut, hard. The wind flew from Dash's lungs swiftly.
"Shut-the-hell-up, Dash!" Dash swung another punch at Danny's head and Danny grabbed the jock's fist very quickly and squeezed. Dash could actually feel a little pain from Danny's grip and stared at the boy.
"How?"
Sam grabbed Danny's shoulder and yanked him back from Dash before Danny could speak. She marched over and grabbed Brandon's too, who had been watching numbly and left the stage with her cargo.
"Let's get out of here, before I lose my cool," Sam growled.
"This isn't over, Fenton!" Dash yelled.
Danny whipped his head around and for a split second, Dash thought he saw Danny's eyes glow green. "Get over yourself, Dash! Grow-up!"
Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Norman, Mikey, and the sill dirtied Brandon, all left the party together.
zzz
"Brandon, how'd you know about the trap?" Danny asked as the seven people walked down the practically empty and quiet street.
Brandon smiled nervously and looked away. "After gym, that day you stood up for me, I overheard their plans. I was really afraid to do anything, but then I remembered what you'd said about how anyone can be a hero." He looked back and smiled at Danny. "You'd helped me at gym and after all that I thought I should return the favor, no matter what."
Sam smiled and looked at Danny. "Did you really say that? That anyone can be a hero?"
Danny blushed slightly and smiled. "Might have slipped out." He winked at her and then looked at Brandon. "Thanks Brandon, I really do appreciate it."
Brandon smiled back with more joy on his face.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" Danny asked.
Mikey and Norman shared a look of slight confusion and Brandon beamed. "Good is an understatement."
Ultimately, Norman and Mikey walked home with Brandon and was going to help explain to his parents why he was practically tarred and feathered.
Danny and Sam decided to walk home together alone and Tucker and Valerie did the same.
zzz
Truth be told, Danny's always been a terrible liar. So why he thought he could weasel out of telling Sam what Paulina had wanted from him during the party, confused even him.
Sam fumed. "That witch!"
"I honestly thought she just needed some help since Star and Megan were there at first. I think she's given up on me though, if that's any consolation. I just can't believe she was willing to do that just to prove a point," Danny replied. He scratched the back of his neck, looking a bit dejected, "I mean am I… am I that un-?" He shivered when Sam rubbed the back of her left hand against his left cheek as they walked.
"You were cute before Danny, now… well you're attractive."
Danny swallowed and then smiled. "Thanks Sam." Soon after though his faced darkened and Sam noticed.
"Danny what's wrong?"
Danny looked up at her and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's just… Dash. The things he said to you."
"He's jealous, Paulina's jealous."
He looked at her.
"He tastes like failure, okay? You smell like cinnamon and a forest, he smells like football gear. You two don't even compare."
Danny smiled and pulled out one of his hands from his pockets to squeeze her hand. "You're more beautiful than Paulina by far, in my humble opinion."
Just as they were nearing Sam's house, Danny and Sam leaned in close and shared a long kiss.
"Hey… You do realize we can do the Spider-man kiss much easier than other people," Danny spoke after they'd parted.
Sam smacked him on the side of the head lightly. "You, dork."
Danny smirked a bit.
"This is just fine… in my humble opinion," Sam replied before she swiftly kissed him again. He deepened the kiss and finally they broke apart once more.
"So, you have wished it, so shall it be," Danny replied with a smile.
zzz
"I can't believe Dash tried that stunt," Valerie grumbled.
"I can," Tucker shrugged with his hands in his pockets as they walked. He had his earbuds out and was listening to music from his PDA but only had one bud in one of his ears, so he could hear Valerie out of the other.
"And Brandon, he really helped Danny like that just because he told him anyone can be a hero?"
Tucker smiled at that. "You have to understand, Danny's been that way for forever. He has that effect on people. He's always been mostly righteous and every great now and then he'll let his temper get the best of him or he'll maybe take something or someone for granted, but everyone does that. He was even that way before his powers. I think that's why his obsession became heroics and the like." He glanced at Valerie. "Do you know the story behind why Dash likes to pick on Danny the most? I remember you weren't a part of Casper High until seventh grade."
Valerie shook her head. "I always wondered though."
"It's because Danny would always try and stop Dash from picking on others. Eventually Dash grew tired of it and started wailing on the only person that wouldn't bow. I'd known Danny for a while and I felt he was doing the right thing so if I got shoved in a locker due to association, then I suppose it was my little contribution to the cause."
"I guess then... Danny's been a hero for a long time, even before Phantom."
"Anyone can be a hero, it's true ya know? Maybe not a superhero, but a hero."
"I guess Phantom made it easier and harder at the same time."
"Yeah, definitely more complicated, like school, and parents, and curfew, and my crush on yo-" Tucker froze and then stuttered, "And school, and ghosts-"
"Wait, what was the one before school?"
"More complicated?"
"No, you said school twice."
"Curfew?"
Valerie put her hands on her hips and noticed Tucker was sweating nervously. "No."
"School?"
"Tucker!"
He cringed thinking she was going to hit him. "My crush on you!?"
Silence.
"You have-had a crush on me?" Valerie asked softly.
Tucker twiddled his thumbs nervously after taking out his one ear bud. "Well I really liked you for a while, until you started hunting my best friend. Then you and he had a thing for a while… I don't know…"
Valerie sighed, "I'm really sorry. It's seems ever since I started hunting ghosts I've messed things up."
"You haven't been recently."
"Except apparently because of me, Vlad's mugging Danny on the street at night."
"He didn't rob Danny though."
"You know what I mean."
"That would've happened eventually anyways. Vlad's always trying to find reasons to get mad at Danny since he won't become his creepy perfect son. I always think of Stepford Wives when I think of that… I wonder if Vlad would be happy with a robot Danny. That would make things easier." Tucker mused.
Valerie chuckled softly and shook her head at Tucker's imagination. A silence then passed between them.
"Do you still have a crush on me or…"
Tucker looked at her and blushed. "Oh well… I mean… Maybe?"
Valerie cocked her head and rose a brow.
Tucker sighed and gave a crooked smile. "Okay okay, I would be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about it. I was thinking… that maybe-"
Valerie leaned over and kissed his cheek lightly. "I'd love to see how it goes."
Tucker beamed as she walked ahead and smiled at him before entering her home. After she was gone, Tucker pulled both arms down and one knee up in a victory-like motion and spoke out. "Yessss!"
He practically skipped home.
zzz
The next day at school was awkward to say the least. People kept staring at the four friends when they walked the halls and once or twice Danny could overhear people asking each other how wimpy Fenton could push Dash to the floor with one shove. More importantly though, Danny heard a couple jocks talking about Dash… saying that he'd thought he'd seen Fenton's eyes glow green. The good news was most people weren't caring about that, saying it was a trick of the party's lights.
They saw Dash once or twice, but he seemed to only glare at them.
During lunch, the nerds swarmed. Danny was like a superhero to them; if only they knew.
"Imagine, having the upper body strength to push Baxter to the ground!" One wheezed as they stood around Danny and his friends' table. Valerie had a slightly annoyed look on her face, Tucker was basking in the glory, and Sam was simply smiling at Danny from time to time. This was the kind of praise he needed. Not some over crazed sort of praise that messed with his ego as it had before a time or two, but real respect, not true hero worship. Though Danny was nervous and trying his best to smile and be kind, she could tell he was truly filled with pride; it shone in his eyes.
"I think he was kind of off his guard though," Danny added with a little nervous laugh.
"According to several different rules from organized sports and activities I've looked up, one is not off their guard if there is eye-contact!" Mikey declared triumphantly. Several others nodded in agreement.
"Brandon was the real hero, anyways. He was willing to take the hit for me," Danny spoke up and looked over at Brandon who shifted nervously under everyone's gaze.
"I just wanted to repay you."
"And you did, tenfold."
Brandon gave a happy smile.
At a different table, Paulina was angry. Dash and his crew hadn't even come to the lunch room today and practically everyone that normally bowed down to her was giving Danny and his friends all the attention.
She stood and walked over to the trash can and threw her meal away.
"Paulina?" Star asked worriedly.
"I'm not hungry." She left the cafeteria. Star pulled her bag-lunch together and followed after her hurriedly.
After Lunch and final period, Mr. Lancer stopped Danny as the bell for the end of the day rang.
"Yes Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked with a slight frown.
Mr. Lancer weaved his fingers together and looked at Danny evenly. "Daniel-" He noticed the tiny flinch that came with the boy being called that but continued.
"Something has come to my attention…"
He could see sweat start to form from nervousness.
"I'm concerned that you aren't working as hard as you could in your classes. First you start speaking another language in my class-"
Danny tried to speak but Lancer stopped him. "And then you out preform Dashell at the shot put." He seemed to become a bit worried which surprised Danny. "Is there something that's preventing you from preforming at your best, Daniel?"
He saw a light in Danny's eyes, like the beginning of some truth coming to the surface as if Danny wanted to say something before it dimmed and Danny shook his head. "They were both just flukes, Mr. Lancer. There's nothing special about me."
He looked into Danny's eyes for the longest time, quite certain that statement was a lie, but in the end, he relented. "Alright, then… go on." Danny frowned and nodded before disappearing out the door. Mr. Lancer leaned back in his seat and sighed. He knew two things, he ultimately wanted to help every student he had regardless of how he behaved outwardly and he also believed there was something special about every person, even Daniel Fenton.
zzz
Danny, Sam, Tucker and Valerie walked down into the lab in FentonWorks that afternoon.
"Finally, they had another meeting at Axion. I thought we'd never get the chance to slip into the Ghost Zone with the Specter Speeder with how often my parents have been in the lab recently," Danny spoke up before walking over to a control panel to turn the Spector Speeder on its panel so it was facing the portal.
"So, they're at another meeting at Axion not a convention or something? Geez, any idea what they're up to, Val?" Tucker asked and looked at Valerie with a slightly different look to his glance than normal. Danny and Sam glanced at each other in slight confusion or hesitation before both decided to not ask questions yet.
"No, daddy hasn't told me much of anything," Valerie replied.
The four friends were heading into the Ghost Zone so that they could hopefully talk to Clockwork and ask about the weird Ectopus thing and maybe even about what the words, Danny had spoken in Latin before, meant.
"I guess we'll find out eventually, no doubt." Danny smirked and everyone nodded in agreement. The three boarded the Spector Speeder while Tucker took the wheel. Danny transformed into Phantom and led them in.
After several minutes, they reached Clockwork's lair and entered the large double doors.
"Hello, children."
The four friends saw Clockwork float into their view and nod at them. The spirit switched to his old man form from his middle-aged form, making Valerie flinch in surprise. That would take some getting used to.
"Hey there, Clockwork," Danny replied. "I'm just gonna cut to the chase, since you know… What was that Ectopus thing?"
Everyone looked at Clockwork expectantly. The old ghost sighed. "I was hoping that the timeline would choose to wait another few years, but alas…" He motioned them closer as he begun to explain.
"Do you remember that the Ghost Zone takes in all the lost items from the real world and that it's endless because thoughts and ideas are endless in the real world, hence the Infinite Realms?"
They nod.
"Well… excess emotions are another thing that is syphoned into this realm from the Human World quite easily. How else would it be such a suitable place for ghosts? Most emotions are easily diluted by the ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone or are devoured by other ghosts… only two things aren't as simple to account for. There's the emotion of Hate and the state of Purity."
"Huh?" Tucker asked a scratched his head.
"There is plenty of hatred and bitterness in the Ghost Zone, mostly because many ghosts have lingered for unsavory or deeply sorrowful circumstances. Because of this, Hate doesn't easily diffuse into the Zone because there's so much of it, often excessive amounts in the Zone and the Human World both sadly. We found out what happens when too much accumulates… many years ago."
"What happened?" Sam questioned.
"Long before Pariah Dark was a problem, a dark creature formed from the bowels of the Ghost Zone from the remnants of hate from the Human World and Ghost Zone combined. It was nothing but pure hate and rage, wishing nothing less than the destruction of both worlds. Its name, was Malus."
All four teens looked at each other in worry.
"You are concerned since young Daniel spoke of this Malus, in Latin, correct?"
They looked back at him.
"Indeed… Malus is returning, but he has no fate per say, seeing as he isn't… or wasn't ever a true living being. He is quite literally merely residual energy from all kinds of creatures and practically a portion of the Ghost Zone itself… so I can't follow him through time."
"What do you mean? You can see everything. That doesn't make since," Danny spoke worriedly.
Clockwork frowned. "Let me explain what exactly I mean with terms you may understand better. How do astronomers find the locations of Black Holes in space, Daniel?"
"By looking for their influence on everything around them, x-rays, electromagnetic radiation, clouds of interstellar matter, and stars are all common methods," Danny replied.
"Indirect detection…" Valerie whispered.
"Correct, both of you, I can still find Malus and figure out his motives… It simply isn't as immediate of an answer as normal. I must assess everything he effects and then figure out his course through time from that."
"Okay then, was this Malus, the one that affected that Ectopus?" Tucker entered.
Clockwork nodded and a strangely dark look came to the normally stone-faced ghost. "His hatred… It is so deep and powerful that it halts the hearts of the living and corrupts the souls of the dead."
"Then… what about-?"
"That is where Purity comes in," Clockwork interrupted. "All creatures, dead and alive, hold some tiny fragment of Purity or Humanity, as named by humans. It helps guide our decisions and affects how we treat each of our emotions. Do we love deeply and with fairness or do we become obsessed and cause emotional harm to the one we claim to love. Do we hate for all time and only whom it is that made us angry or do we hate the thing that caused them to show cruelty to us? Do you see how this works? Emotions should all be used in moderation even the good ones like love and everyone has a different amount of Purity at times. Most often a human will lose half when they die and hopefully the humanity that remains will guide them to a peaceful place of rest or if it cannot overpower their obsession or hate in the end, oblivion."
"Then why wasn't I ki-?"
"I'm getting there. You see, because you are human and ghost, you keep all of your humanity. Your humanity also is no longer hidden within your soul like in humans. Much like Hakan spoke of, your entire soul is on the outside now and powered by your core, which is different from humans and ghosts both. It is for this reason that the Ectopus eventually was destroyed by touching you and you weren't permanently damaged by it either. Humanity or Purity immediately nullifies Hatred, like pouring water into an acid to weaken it. However, the Ectopus did still damage your human body. You aren't completely impervious to its effects. It's almost a bit like matter and anti-matter combining if you want to simplify it. Both are damaged or destroyed completely."
Danny looked down at the ground in thought. "Then does that mean, only Halfas can easily fight Malus and anything related to him?"
"Indeed, you have a grand advantage. Malus is the reason we had only a few ancient and powerful ghosts left over able to do battle with Pariah Dark. Ghosts and humans can battle Malus, but they must show extreme precaution."
"How would humans and full ghosts attack though?" Valerie asked
"That's hard to answer."
"How can Malus be stopped? How long do we have?" Danny added.
"He can only form as collection of material once he has enough hatred, then he must find things to possess so to speak. If you can break through all the things he's taken and then vaporize his equivalent of a core, he can be destroyed for another millennia or so. The Sword of Souls can pierce his core and accomplish this. As for the time we have to come up with a plan? Months. He's weak right now and so far, isn't causing enough damage anywhere so I can't see him. We can do nothing for now. Return to your lives, things will happen as they should."
"Because you can see all the timelines after Malus' time here, right?"
"Indeed, Samantha."
They all glanced at each other worriedly. Danny looked one last time at Clockwork before they left. "What about the Zone? The Human World? Should we start warning everyone somehow?"
Clockwork closed his eyes. "I cannot answer that because I can't interfere with the use of my knowledge. I can't go around warning people and ghosts when I see something bad approaching. Neither can you though now."
"Why?" Tucker whipped around.
"Because, I'm already pushing things by answering your question in the first place. Like I said, just live your lives and things will happen."
The four looked at each other again before walking out of the tower. Clockwork gazed into several of his viewing portals and saw they had large spots of black all over them.
"It will be a good amount of time before I can see clearly again. I just hope… things go in the way I nudge them." The old specter looked over at the dented thermos which was abnormally still and quiet.
zzz
Deep in the Ghost Zone, a purple humanoid shaped mass of gaseous material floated through the green void. It drifted silently along and eventually floated through the walls of the Observants' domain before sliding into the shadows of the dark room it was now in. In the middle of the room, was the Ring of Rage sitting on a fluffy pillow which rested on a pedestal. The Observants had used some of their technology to pull the ring from the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep after Pariah had been sealed inside with it. They were still trying to find the Crown of Fire, which they believed was in Vlad's possession. The mass grabbed the ring after drifting quietly up the minuscule shadows on the pedestal. It pulled itself away from the pillow, floated above the ground and then slipped the ring on his left ring finger. Immediately the arm turned into something with more definition and form, like a real arm. It was skinny, still purple and not really powerful looking though.
"Curse… curse him… He took…" The mass could no longer speak and instead slipped away back into the void of the Zone.
zzz
A couple weeks later. Fenton residence.
It was a couple weeks later when something new happened. The four friends went through those days, fighting ghosts, going to school, and the norm, until the middle of November.
Danny had just gotten home and had picked up the mail from the mailbox since his parents were still in the lab since that morning. He saw a letter from Jazz in the bundle and smiled before walking inside. He opened the letter and read it, finding out she was doing well and she asked about how everyone was. He decided to email her later; for some reason she seemed to feel the need to write hand written letters while at college. He put everything on the table in the den and walked over to hear his parents working downstairs. He started making his way up to his room, wanting to take a shower and get some homework done.
After finishing up in the shower he threw on some clothes for inside the house. He was almost out of his room when his ghost sense went off.
"I swear it better not be the Box Ghost."
He walked over to his window and looked into the alleyway nearby to see none other than Vlad Masters standing there looking at him. He growled and transformed before flying through the wall and down to his arch-nemesis, hands blazing green.
"Okay Vlad, what do you wan-ECAK!"
Vlad had reached out and grabbed Danny's throat before he could respond and turned to slam him into the wall behind them. Danny's hands snapped up to Vlad's arm, instinctively trying to get the hand off his throat.
"I'm trying a new plan."
"You mean a new spin on the typical, make me your son and take mom as your wife gig?"
"Generally speaking, yes," Vlad replied and then squeezed Danny's throat tighter, making the young man lose his voice and start to kick his legs out in desperation. Each time his legs almost struck Vlad, the billionaire went intangible in those places. "Just sleep, Daniel." He saw Danny take a breath, most likely to try and breathe fire, since one he'd switched to his hot core and two, he'd blow his own home up with Vlad if he used the Wail. Vlad slammed his other hand over Danny's mouth and nose. "Ah ah ah, little Badger."
Danny's eyes widened as he fought for air. Vlad smirked as Danny's muffled cry of pain came out from behind Vlad's hand as the older Halfa used his Ghostly Stinger. Eventually Danny's eyes slid closed and his body went limp as he transformed back into Fenton. The multi-millionare had noticed that it was becoming a bit more difficult to knock the younger Halfa unconscious. His Ghostly Stinger only did the trick if prolonged, or if he was already knocked out, to keep him unconscious. Vlad transformed into Plasmius and tossed Danny up over his shoulder just as he heard the whine of an Ecto gun.
zzz
In the Lab. Ten minutes prior.
Maddie and Jack were fiddling around in the Lab. Jack was working on trying to fix the Ghost Gabber still and Maddie was tweaking the Improved Ghost Gauntlets. She heard Danny come in and head upstairs and a smile came to her face. She was so proud to be protecting her city, to make it a safe place for her little boy and daughter. She frowned however when she remembered some time ago when Danny had almost become white as a sheet when she showed him and his friends the Ghost Gauntlets. Why would he become so upset? Though Danny had oddly gotten his grades up a tad recently, not that she was complaining, she was wondering what was really on her boy's mind.
Her thoughts were broken by the small beeping on a nearby monitor. It was their ghost field detector that they'd just finished installing that day. They had wanted to test it soon. At the moment, the device could only reach a few meters parameter around their home since it required tons of energy to run. She had actually just turned it on a few minutes ago on a whim. She saw the appearance of one ghost bleep outside her home that disappeared, then another appeared immediately afterwards in her own home.
"Jack, get the Bazooka!" Maddie shouted and grabbed up a few weapons before running up the stairs. She had seen the ghost head for the alley nearby on the radar and so she flung open the front door as Jack barreled after her. She had to halt him when they heard voices. Was there still more than one ghost? How were they showing up and then disappearing on the radar? The Fentons peaked very carefully around the corner and saw something that completely blew their minds.
Vlad Masters was holding a struggling Ghost Boy, squeezing his throat. They heard their college friend speak.
"I'm trying a new plan."
"You mean a new spin on the typical, make me your son and take mom as your wife gig?"
"Generally speaking, yes," Vlad replied and then squeezed the Ghost Boy's throat tighter, making the young man start to kick his legs out. Maddie was certain Vlad would be hurt by the Ghost Boy's struggles but was confused to see the ghost's legs seem to pass through Vlad.
"Just sleep, Daniel." The pair of ghost hunters saw Phantom take a deep breath, most likely to attack, but Vlad slammed his other hand over Phantom's mouth and nose. "Ah ah ah, little Badger."
They watched as the Ghost Boy passed out after Vlad somehow electrocuted for a period of time. They had no idea how to react when they saw a bright white ring appear around the Ghost Boy's waist, separate, and slip up and down the specter's body, revealing… their son. They had to hold back a gasp when their college buddy transformed into the Wisconsin Ghost. He threw what looked like their son up over his shoulder and seemed to be ready to fly away. Maddie reacted, mostly on motherly instinct and not rationality or logic. She leapt forward with her Ecto guns drawn. The whine came to her ears and she growled.
"Drop him, spook!"
zzz
Vlad whipped his head around and cursed. "Butter biscuits." He grumbled under his breath and ignored her, taking off into the sky.
"Come back!"
He heard Jack yell out. He did enjoy hearing that though. He eventually disappeared into invisibility and flew off. He needed to get to his mansion. It wasn't like those two had seen him transform. Even if they had somehow, they'd probably think it was a ghostly rouse of some kind.
It was only moments before he found himself in his mansion that was just outside of town, the same one he'd tried to destroy Danielle in last. He touched down and walked inside the large home. He kept going until he reached the dark lab space, underground. He placed Daniel in the same place Danielle had been; he'd altered the slab and the machines around it since then, but the location was the same. Vlad shackled Daniel's arms and legs in place, smirked and walked away. He needed to test some things and get some gear together. He had all the time in the world now. Daniel's friends would take much too long to figure out what had happened, Maddie and Jack wouldn't know where Plasmius goes, Daniel would be stated as missing and Vlad Masters would do everything in his power to find him, the same didn't apply to Plasmius. Vlad Masters was a man of his word after all.
He gave one last glance back at the unconscious Daniel. No one would hear his screams and no one would miraculously save him this time. Vlad left the lab and shut the heavy metal door behind him, leaving Danny in pitch black darkness.
Well this is quite the situation…
What do you think?
Thank you all so much for your reviews and support of all kinds! It really means a lot to me. Sometimes it even surprises me how much just the right review can motivate me :D
~NoSignal
Edit: 5/21/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.