Chapter Forty-Nine: The Other Danny
The other Dan stared blankly at him, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, maybe Clockwork will let me go visit my own time if you accompany me…"
"So, if I ask Clockwork, we can go see him?" Dan asked.
"Why?" His mentor lowered his hand, frowning. "Why do you want to go so badly?"
"I wanna see…what Danny could've grown up to look like. " Dan looked down. "Clockwork said…he might not age in my reflection."
Dan nodded silently, then looked towards the old ghost standing nearby. "What do you say, Clockwork? Can I take him to see my world?"
"I will be watching closely." Clockwork said firmly, pulling out a necklace that Dan recognized as the one that allowed one to safely remain in a time not your own. "Keep this on you at all times, Phantom."
"Thank you. Oh, I better tell Plasmius I'm going on a field trip." Dan ran outside to tell Plasmius.
"Are you sure about this?" Clockwork asked the other Dan calmly. "He might not like what he sees."
"He's been there before, remember?" He replied. "He's just never seen him."
"That's what I'm talking about." Clockwork sighed.
Dan came back in and took the necklace, putting it over his head. "Plasmius has promised to kill you both if I never come back." He said, nodding. "I'm ready to go."
"Let's go." The other Dan took his hand and went into the portal Clockwork opened.
Dan held his hand tighter as they went through, and then he grimaced as they flew out and into the all-but-destroyed world that the other Dan had created. And somewhere down there was Valerie, with the other Dan's son…how old would the child be? They flew into one of the only intact buildings and his companion checked every room before pulling him along and flying out again. "What's wrong?"
"He's not in there. Must be at the graveyard." The other Dan said.
They arrived at the graveyard and he landed, Dan landing next to him. "Stay behind me, Phantom. He can be a little…unstable at times."
They walked in and Dan felt his heart break a little as he recognized some of the names on the tombstones they passed. 'Sam…Tucker…Mr. Lancer…' He closed his eyes and clung to the other Dan, clinging tightly.
"I lied to you for years…but you'll never know." He heard a man say and looked past his companion to see a black-haired man kneeling in front of a set of three graves, dressed in a black suit. "My life feels empty right now. You're not here…Phantom's gone away somewhere…All of my friends are all dead or hiding away."
"Is that…?" Dan whispered.
The other Dan made a "quiet" gesture and stepped away from him, leaning over the kneeling man. "Aww, did someone miss me?" He asked, smirking.
The man started and looked up at him. Even with his face leaner and his body taller and older, Dan could never forget those blue eyes. This was Danny, the Danny of the other Dan's world. He saw those eyes run though joy, fear, confusion, and then he clung to him desperately. "Phantom…you're back…" He said softly. "I thought…I thought I would be all alone again."
"Hey, relax. I brought someone to meet you." The older ghost gestured for Dan to come closer.
Dan nodded and walked closer. The closer he got to the older Danny, the better he could see scars on his arms that didn't look like they'd been caused by the other Dan. Actually, they kind of looked like…
"A fresh one?" The older Dan muttered, grabbing the human man's other arm. "Do I need to hide all the razors again? I do want you to shave, you know."
"Sorry…" The older Danny bowed his head, then looked at their young visitor. "Phantom…this is…Phantom?" He looked at him, shocked and confused.
"I've been in the past, Daniel." The other Dan – should he just call him Phantom in his mind? Gah, this was really confusing! – explained. "Ten years in the past. This guy needs training, so I'm going to teach him. Can you stay alive until I'm allo—until I visit again?"
"I don't have anything here." The older Danny—Daniel, Dan reminded himself—said softly. "Can't I just go with you? You're all that matters anymore."
"What about Vlad Masters?" Dan asked.
Daniel glanced at him. "He's not…close as family."
"About that." Phantom remarked, smirking, and he leaned in to whisper something. Daniel looked confused and then let out a harsh laugh that sent shivers down Dan's spine.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? Mom and dad are dead and we've clearly never seen each other as brothers before so why start now?" Daniel asked. "Twins…honestly, of all the silliest truths…" He chuckled a bit.
"We don't have a necklace…" Dan tried.
"Well, so go back and ask Clockwork for one. I'll stay here and wait." Phantom suggested.
Dan nodded and opened the portal, appearing in front of Clockwork. "Clockwork, we got a situation."
"I know." Clockwork held out a necklace. "He's not going to come back to teach you without him, so give them this so you can continue your lessons."
"Thanks." Dan took the necklace and returned through the portal.
"He's back, Daniel." Phantom said calmly, gently coaxing the man into standing up. Dan approached with the necklace and held it up and Phantom took the necklace and put it around his neck. Then he led the silent, clinging man to the portal and they all went through.
"What happened while I was gone?" Dan asked once they were in clockwork's place. From Daniel's panicked expression, they had never met Clockwork. "It's okay, relax. We're in the Ghost Zone, in my time."
"I'm living in this place." Phantom replied. Or should he call him "other Dan" since everyone called Dan "Phantom"?
Okay, this was getting tiring. "Before I go home, we need to figure something out, Dan, er, Phantom. Dan Phantom."
"Okay." Dan looked amused.
"We can't have two Dan Phantoms both being called "Dan" and "Phantom", so we need to think of what to call you by." Dan said firmly.
"Very well, do your thinking." The door to his room opened and he gestured for Daniel to go in, murmuring quietly about being in soon before he kissed him.
"Erm…okay, why do you do that so smoothly? I mean, he doesn't even flinch." Dan said, distracted from the name problem.
The older ghost smirked. "Let's just say that when WE split, we didn't just hang out and act like siblings."
Dan blinked, then went green in the face. "Oh. My. God. You…and him…dating?! And you were with all those others?"
"Everyone else was just for fun." The older ghost grinned. "So, about the name problem?"
"Oh, right. Uhm…" Dan wracked his brain. "I dunno…'Dark'?"
'Dark'?" The ghost chuckled. 'That best you got?"
"Well, I don't know what to call you then!" Danny threw his hands up in the air.
"Very well. For the sake of your unoriginality, I'm going to be called 'Dark' from now on by the people in this room." "Dark" smirked. "That is until you come up with something less cheesy."
"'Dark' suits a jerk like you just fine." Dan took off his necklace and handed it to Clockwork. "Am I excused, Mr. Dark?"
"Call me that again and I'll deck you across the room." Dark waved him off. "Go. I have some business with Daniel." He entered his room, closing the door behind him.
"Right. Business." Dan went green again and nodded to Clockwork. "Uhm…thanks."
"Take care, young Phantom." Clockwork nodded.
Dan nodded and flew out, returning to Plasmius' side.
"Did you enjoy your field trip?" Plasmius asked as they headed back home.
"Yeah. I also found out way more about Dark and his…uhm…Danny." He covered his face with his hands. "WAY too much. Why would…even without the newly-learned incest thing…thought he was the same person…so weird!"
Plasmius placed his hands on Dan's shoulder, simultaneously guiding him through and reaching his memories of the encounter. "Oh my. That is rather strange."
"Yeah, you think? I mean, if they were dating…just how many times did they split? How long before the Nasty Burger incident did they start?!" Dan groaned. "Danny and I aren't like that!"
Plasmius laughed, and was still laughing when they arrived through the portal.
"What's the matter?" Vlad asked as Dan grabbed the bracelet and ran out of the lab.
"He just found out more than he ever wanted to know about his possible future self and the Danny that he thought was dead." Plasmius looked amused.
"Will I learn what that is?" Vlad asked.
Plasmius grinned and moved closer, whispering in his ear.