CHAPTER 43: ICONOCLASM, PART 6
A common complaint brought by the critics of religion say that many faiths borrow elements from each other, committing acts of plagiarism and appropriation against entire cultures to keep their faiths new and interesting. For instance, Christianity has made its greatest claim to fame with Jesus, the son of god, who himself was also god, being sacrificed on a cross with a spear piercing his side, a god making a sacrifice to himself...
...but Norse mythology also depicts Odin hanging himself Yggdrasil, a tree, with a spear piercing his side, a god making a sacrifice to himself.
Whether it be the Romans appropriating the Greek gods, Voodoo appropriating both Catholicism and African folk beliefs, or whatever other example of similarities you could point to in multiple mythologies, there is always a point to be made that no belief is as original as one might think, nor purely created of its own culture.
An argument could be made that perhaps it is merely a form of memetic reproduction that these similarities may be found, a case of 'imitation is the best form of flattery' put to practice, no different than your favorite film or comic book paying tribute to a past work, like the De Palmas or Tarantinos of the modern day...
...but there are also the ambitious ones who would attempt to mold all manners of genres and tropes together to create something entirely new; paradoxically combining input from all manners of different mediums and sources to innovate and invent something completely outside of the norm of what is known.
There is no better analogy than the preceding which describes what has happened with Demon Phantom, the evil doppelganger of Danny Phantom from another, now non-existent timeline. The word 'fortunately' would have been added to the list of adjectives regarding the time from which he came...
...but not only has he returned, he has destroyed the Earth, and done so by bringing every god that the human race has created and brought them to unlife as ghosts, turning them into weapons to use against the planet. Their efforts were thwarted by Danny Phantom and the Fentons, who trapped the undead ectoweapons into a lone Fenton Thermos.
Following a thorough defeat in both body and goal, Demon Phantom acquired the Thermos, opening it and releasing his gods once again. Unlike before, where he had set the gods loose to destroy the Earth, the gods of his creation instead carried out a new task set out by their creator, allowing him the chance to defeat the Fentons:
Combine with him, creating a new ghost entirely.
Just as Demon Phantom himself was born from the ghosts of Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius, then known simply as Dark Danny, and no longer resembling either of the two, this new creation resembled neither Demon Phantom nor any of the gods that melded with him, creating an entirely new being beyond human description.
So it is lucky for Danny Phantom and the Fentons that they themselves are no longer human, for any human trying to comprehend this being, even the scientifically genius minds of the Fenton family, lest they would be unable to do anything but stare at this newborn being with mouths and eyes agape.
Now, they can tremble in fear, especially when the new form of Demon Phantom spoke its first words:
"I... am... supergod." Demon Phantom said.
The voice in which he spoke was something akin to a chorus of voices, coming together in an inhuman choir that brought an overwhelming discomfort in the Fentons' minds and a trembling throughout their bodies. Pure power is what emanates from every emission of the new being, and it is strong enough to make the Fentons fall to their knees in unconscious surrender.
But the power is not enough to hold down all the members of the family, for the newest, and by definition the youngest, is the most brash and willing to take on power where it presents itself as a threat. Danielle charged forward with the intent on attacking the so-called supergod, drawing back a fist in preparation to punch with it.
"I don't care what you call yourself, I'm not letting you hurt my family!" Danielle shouted.
Her target appeared clear and present a mere few feet away from her, giving Danielle more than enough time to plan out her attack and make the first strike upon the enemy. Such a strategy is what she had used before in the fight against Demon Phantom previously, and human instinct is what leads her to repeat the action.
She expects to find success in the strategy once again, but what she found instead is her target immediately appearing directly before her at a less than an inch away. The time spent in travelling the distance is beyond what even most ghosts were thought capable of making, and Danielle is but the first to see Demon Phantom's new capability of speed performed.
Put to a stop just before impacting into him, she is also given a performance that demonstrates his new power. Raising a single finger in a wave, dismissively chastising her affront with a smile, Demon Phantom gently laid the lone finger on Danielle's forehead, lightly tapping against it...
...which sent her flying across a full half-mile of land, carving out a crater trail in the wake of her flight.
Even with the display of power made before the Fentons, clearly shown that their enemy has power unlike any other they have seen, they are still a family who protects and look out for its own, and the offense brought against them by seeing Danielle harmed is one they cannot allow to be forgiven.
"Danielle!" Danny shouted.
Danny Phantom is the one to lead the charge against Demon Phantom, flying forward and charging up his fists with ectoplasm, with the other Fentons behind him.
[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - Godlike (Doglike Mix)]
The charge is brave and valiant, but it comes to an unceremonious end as Demon Phantom raised his hands up, opening his fingers to show his palms. The very gesture of his movement caused the ground to shake and tremble in a massive earthquake, surpassing any measurement of the Richter scale.
Logic is what would have warned the Fentons that such an attack could have happened, but none were focused on nor operating on logic during their initial strike. Therefore, they are left at the mercy of Demon Phantom and are caught in the blast of his attack, whatever they could comprehend the attack itself as, as they were sent flying back to the ground.
The Earth's ground not only shook under Demon Phantom's command, but the gravity of the planet seemed to increase as well, bringing the ghosts all pulled to the ground and crushed against their own terra firma. They all soon found the strength to come to their hands and knees again, but it is as high off the ground as they can manage, and all too appropriate a pose in response to the supergod.
For not only did Demon Phantom's attack increase the gravity which sent the Fentons to the ground, but also seemed to invert it as well, sending chunks of dirt, concrete, and other forms of land falling up into the sky. Additionally, Demon Phantom himself also began to float up above the Earth itself, slowly making his way towards the downed Fentons.
To see them brought to their knees is not enough for him to be satisfied; Demon Phantom also calmly waved his hand towards the family and brought forth an invisible force upon them, sending them all flying back with the impact and force of a bomb by a simple hand motion.
Each Fenton was sent back to crash into the Earth again, but Demon Phantom was not satisfied with the treatment he was dealing on them. Reaching out his hands with his palms facing up, he spread out his fingers to each point to the Fentons, immaterially gripping them and raising them up into the air against their wills.
The Fentons were all spread out before him, with Danny Phantom in the middle. Closing his hands and turning them towards all Fentons besides Danny, he opened his hands again, sending each member of the family flying away as far as Danielle was sent with his first attack.
Curling his fingers in one open hand, Demon Phantom brought Danny towards him, still keeping him in an invisible hold that he could not see nor escape from. Struggling back against his non-physical restraints, Danny's defiance yielded no results against the new enemy, leaving him at his doppelganger's mercy, despite how much he attempted to resist it.
"H-How are you doing this?! That's impossible!" Danny struggled.
"Mind over matter, Danny Phantom. Atoms and molecules become part of my consciousness, of my self, and I rearrange them as I see fit. That is the power that the gods have exerted over their worlds. They existed once as social constructs, as mental concepts that influenced whoever so believed in them, and, in turn, remade the world in their images. The Ghost Zone has given us access to those thoughts, collected into one universe, and allow direct control over the world. The science we brought forth has given us the keys the universe, control of our world beyond mathematics and logic. Each god was a master of a certain domain, but I am all the gods man has created as one!" Demon Phantom shouted.
Clenching his fist, Demon Phantom crushed Danny in a gravitational hold that bordered on becoming a black hole. The power exerted over him was plenty enough to make him scream under the metaphysical torment, but it was not enough to break Danny in spirit, still pushing through the pain to ask further questions.
"What are you even trying to accomplish now? Revenge? What's going to be here for you after that? You failed your mission! There's no one left you can save! There's not even a world for you anymore!" Danny shouted.
"Wrong. I will take this power, and I will use it to make a new Earth, a new world, in my image." Demon Phantom said.
Demonstrating his new goal, Demon Phantom waved his hand across the barren land, turning it all into a lush, green world of grass, plants, trees, and other natural beauties, all recreated under his control. The sight of the natural land is breathtaking, but the power exerted to create such a land is something that Danny has no words to express in how it makes him feel to see.
"I can make this world a beautiful, perfect world where no one need suffer any longer, where man can live forever in peace..." Demon Phantom began to say.
Demon Phantom then waved his hand again and changed the natural lush into a cold, cloudy, depressing world of metal and concrete, with engines of fire and war powering up everywhere; a city that functioned as some kind of massive war factory, for a war that no one could know what it would be fought for.
"...or I can make a total and complete hell on Earth where liberty, life, and happiness have been eradicated, and I am its sole ruler." Demon Phantom finished.
Demon Phantom waved his hand a final time, changing the surroundings back to the way they once were.
"This world is entirely mine to do with now. I can not only make a new society as I see fit, but a new human race. A human being is essentially nothing but the right mixture of DNA and RNA; material objects. I now have control over all material, over the building blocks of the universe itself. I could perfect where evolution has failed, create a perfect creature that knows no pain nor truth nor choice. A being that is perfectly content." Demon Phantom said.
"You're out of your mind! You go on and on about how you want to fix the world, but you never admit the obvious! You're doing this all because you still miss your family! You still feel the pain you felt when they died all those years ago, and death never gave you the escape! You're still just chasing ghosts!" Danny shouted.
The accusation seemed to make Demon Phantom pause in reflection for a brief moment, but his pause was just long enough to pain Danny again, making him scream.
"Irrelevant. You also lost your own family by my hands, and it also became what brought you here to me, again. Even if that is my driving force, I will use it to make a better world where there are no more losses like what Danny Phantom had suffered." Demon Phantom said.
"And what's your idea of a better world? A planet full of assholes who only care about themselves?! You couldn't make the world half the way it used to be!" Danny shouted.
"Wrong. I have the wisdom and power of all the gods of man at my disposal, and I have forever to exist and create the perfect world, for as long as it takes. Perhaps I will begin with creating a an example for my new people!"
Demon Phantom then materialized a crucifix behind Danny, pinning him against it. A noose appeared around his neck and held him against the cross, while nails drove into his hands and knees. The traditional spear not only pierced his side, but also did many spears and other blades pierce all over his ethereal body, covering him in all manners of torturous weapons...
...and making him scream out in the appropriate loud response, which Demon Phantom watched on and listened to in satisfaction.
"The human race has shown itself to be incapable of leading itself, even when given the perfect opportunity to do so. If I fail to create a new man that can think and act for itself, then I will personally lead them to enlightenment. I will be their one true god, because, now, I am the one true god." Demon Phantom said.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Danny Phantom suffers his punishment alone; the Fentons are not front and center to help him, nor even present to watch him suffer, unable to give even the slightest show of pity or sorrow in emotional support of his woes. The slightest display of punishment from the new supergod has left them battered and beaten already, barely able to stand on their feet as they try.
Vlad is the first and one of the few to get on his feet again, forced to look at the torment going on from afar. Unlike the previous attempt on Demon Phantom, Vlad stays back and tries to look on the problem with logic and objectivity, rather than the failed attempt of trying to mindlessly attack.
Nonetheless, his choice of careful planning is not easy to make when watching the cruel and needless torture of Danny Phantom before him. For the past few hours, he has been made aware that Danny is his biological son, fathering him after a night of accosting an unwilling Maddie Fenton by force.
To even think of the event is enough to make him feel sorrow and anger, desperately wishing that what he did could be undone. He knows that such a wish is not possible to achieve, and the only thing he can do in hopes to balance out his misdeed is to fight and serve Danny and the Fentons, binding him by a desire for redemption to undo his mistakes.
He also knows that it is inappropriate to be thinking about his own mistakes and his grief over them at a time like this, and his focus should be on defeating Demon Phantom and only on defeating him. His thoughts return once again to the task of beating the ghost and saving Danny in attempt to come up with a plan.
Thinking over what avenues are available to him, Vlad still cannot think of how to go against a being so powerful as this creation. He knows that it is the amalgamation of not only every god ever invented by man, but also the future ghosts of himself and Danny, and it is more powerful than either of the two combined.
But then, the idea occurred to him.
He feels an unrelenting pain and desire for goodness knowing that he is the illegitimate father of Danny Phantom.
He know that Demon Phantom is partially made up of his own ghost, and is not aware of this fact.
So, then, what would be to happen if Demon Phantom were aware of this knowledge?
The answer is his solution to the problem of defeating him, or at least it is worth a shot. Confidently standing on his feet again, he began to calmly step towards Demon Phantom, making no attempts to be threatening or pose a danger to the ghost in order to stay and attempts of defense.
The Fentons all watch as he moves towards Demon Phantom, none knowing of his plan, and fearful over whether or not he will survive whatever suicidal idea he has.
"Vlad, wait! What are you doing?!" Maddie asked.
"Demon Phantom said it himself. He got weaker when we divided him. Those gods added to him multiplied his power. If I can get one of those ghosts out of him, then that should give us at least some chance of taking him down." Vlad said.
"But what god could you get rid of that would weaken him? No offense, Vladdie, but I can't tell one god from another." Jack said.
"No. Not a god. Just a man. Someone I know all too well, and I can get out of there. And if he goes, I imagine a lot of Demon Phantom's control goes as well, and he won't be nearly as good a fighter as before."
More cries and screams come forth from Danny Phantom, but they grow weaker and weaker by the second. The pain he has suffered is more than enough to end the life of any mortal man, and it leaves even more for a ghost to process and experience, making his torment something beyond any one human being could endure.
Indeed, it is pushing the limits of human understanding of pain, but Danny has now found his limits. Unable to keep fighting back against the pain, to keep his mind aware and his consciousness focused on the job of defeating Demon Phantom, his eyes began to roll back in his head, signalling a loss of his mind placed on the current world.
At last, he fell unconscious under the distress, hanging his head in defeat.
And Demon Phantom smiled.
"So, this is the way Danny Phantom finds defeat. Dying on the cross for nothing. At the hands of his ultimate enemy." Demon Phantom said.
"Oh, he's fought plenty of tough customers before. I don't know if I'd call you his 'ultimate enemy'. More like a fan-favorite, at best." Vlad said.
To hear Vlad speak so confidently and fearlessly was a sound shocking enough to Demon Phantom to draw his attention away from Danny and towards him, but to see him casually walk closer confidently and fearlessly is another surprise that allowed Vlad to keep his full attention.
Disregarding the now-unconscious Danny, Demon Phantom flew down to Vlad, keeping an elevated position above the ground to maintain his show of superiority.
"What is this? Vlad Plasmius, I knew your sense of superiority gave you a good sense of bravado, but I didn't expect it to make you stupid. You were supposed to be the smartest one of the group, the most cunning and plotting. Unless, of course, this itself is a plot, isn't it? You're going to try something. What are you hiding?" Demon Phantom asked.
"Nothing. I know that I don't have anything that can take you on. You're far too powerful now for anyone of us to stop." Vlad said.
"Yes, I remember Clockwork sharing some similar lines while also refusing to fight. Do you know what I did? I ripped his heart out of his chest and left him to perish into oblivion."
"Did you really? Well, that's funny you bring him up, because I actually met this Clockwork not too long ago."
"You lie. I saw him die."
"Oh, I don't deny that I'm a liar, but I know the truth hurts worse sometimes. I do know who Clockwork is: Wears a purple cloak, shifts between young and old, carries a staff. I'd call it coincidence, but, after seeing what he's capable of, I don't believe that anything involving him is coincidence. Besides, it's you I'm talking to. Why would I have any reason to lie to you?"
"Because you and I were enemies for a long time before you took me in. Did you think I would let our many years fighting go forgotten?"
"I'm not talking to you, Danny. I'm talking to myself."
The comment left Demon Phantom slightly confused, but realization came soon, remembering the other of the two ghosts that first comprised him.
"Oh, I see. You want to talk to him." Demon Phantom said.
"Yep." Vlad said.
"And what, pray tell, do you have to tell him that you think would change things?"
"What Clockwork told me. He happened to share some information that I consider vitally important, and gave me a... paradigm shift on life that I needed. Danny's our son."
"Yes, yes, we both know that you took me in after my family perished. That's not new information."
"No. I mean that I'm his father. By blood."
At last, the message was received in Demon Phantom's mind, spread across the multiple consciousnesses that comprised him, including the one specific target.
"No. That's not possible." Demon Phantom said.
"Really? Then what are all those dreams we had about coming to bed with Maddie with Jack's face? You think that those were just my wet dreams? Or Danny's worst nightmares? Maybe they are, but it happens to be the truth. How else do you explain two people having the correct genetic mutation to survive stepping inside a Ghost Portal?" Vlad asked.
Demon Phantom stood silent in contemplation of the news, looking on Vlad with a disturbed face.
"And I bet that the only reason Danny and Vlad managed to merge at all is because, deep down, I still had that desire to take over the world. Your mission was to free the world from itself. A perverse mixture of my own desires for power, and Danny's desire to save people. But I don't have that anymore. Not after I know what I know now. It's true what they say: Having a kid of your own can change you. So how well does that bear for the two of you?" Vlad asked.
Again, Demon Phantom stood in quiet in thought, trying to make sense of the new information that he was given. The information brought forth a new belief and thought process running rampant in his memetic body, leaving an unsolved equation to linger; a free radical that floated about to cause ruckus from within; a contradiction in law; a conflict with no resolution.
But Demon Phantom did not allow the thought to sway him from his mission, attempting to swat it aside to focus on his current task once more.
"It doesn't matter. I don't care where I came from. What matters now is what I do here, how I-" Demon Phantom began to say.
Then, the thought began to take hold in the one ghost it was intended for, giving it a louder voice out of the many in the choir of minds now comprising Demon Phantom. It made the supergod now appear distressed and anxious, lowering his head into his hands in shame of his crime, and speaking in a more human voice.
"No... This is wrong... I didn't want this... Not for my son... I made him something he wasn't... I just-" Demon Phantom tried to say.
Attempting to take control once again, Demon Phantom raised his head and growled, trying to ward off the rogue consciousness.
"NO! Shut up, Vlad! I will not be distracted from my goal! I have a world to create! I want to be god!" Demon Phantom shouted.
Again, the rogue consciousness took control, speaking out through Demon Phantom, only for the two to fight back and forth through their one vessel.
"No, Danny! I don't want it anymore! This was all wrong!" Demon Phantom shouted as Vlad.
"What difference does this make for us to stop?! We've come so far! We can be victorious together!" Demon Phantom shouted as Danny.
"You were controlling me! You were making me your slave! I'm not playing along anymore!"
"Stop it! You've always wanted to rule the world! We can do so now as father, son, and many holy ghosts!"
"Damn you, Danny! I am your father, and I say stop this madness!"
"You are my father only by blood! You were nothing but my enemy for all my life! What right have you to command me now?!"
"I'm taking the right! I'm taking the responsibility, like I should have done years ago!"
The verbal argument came to a brief pause, brought to a temporary stop as Demon Phantom clasped his head and threw his head down in pain. Falling to the ground, landing back on his knees, his screams no longer carried words from either party, but instead just their yells of pain.
Once holding himself together as a single ethereal form, the body of Demon Phantom then began to liquefy into an amorphous shape of ectoplasm, showing many gods and other mythological beings swimming about in the sentient shape and all trying to keep form, with no luck past a few seconds of distinction.
But the two that do are Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius in the muck, appearing mostly as heads, splitting off each other like amoebas in reproduction or conjoined twins, with Vlad attempting to find freedom and independence again, and Danny doing whatever he could to prevent him from doing so.
For the Vlad of present to witness the fight going on in the primordial thought-liquid is an incomprehensible horror to witness, like watching a schizophrenic hallucination of a man of two minds fighting among himself. It is no easier to bear witness to when knowing he, or at least one version of himself, is one of the two fighting.
The two fighting parties continued to argue with each other, screaming out their polarizing positions in a discordant voice spoken in unison.
"I/I/will/need/not/you/be/with/controlled/me/by/to/you/stay/anymore/sane/I/please/am/don't/ending/leave/this/me/madness/alone/for/again/good/father!" Demon Phantom screamed.
Finally, the once and future Vlad split off from the mess, flying straight out from the mass of consciousness and up towards freedom. Feeling the primary component of control leave his being, Demon Phantom began to constitute into a more humanlike shape again, but did so without a clear single form to his name. Images of different gods mishmashed together sprawled from his being, trying to decide on a single form to be.
The enemy is down, though not yet defeated, but this development of news is good enough for the Fentons to return to the side of Danny with the danger now gone. Immediately flying up to the cross he was hung on, they began removing his bindings to the crucifix, all while removing the many blades in his body.
While the Fentons take care of their own, there is still the matter of not one, but two Vlads to see to. One has only recently regained his freedom after becoming part of a being which brought death and destruction to two separate Earths, and the other has given him that freedom with the coming of new information regarding his relationship with Danny Phantom.
It is in accurate to call him free in spirit, for though he himself is a spirit and free, the once and future Vlad's own being does not feel free because of the crime that he has committed. He realizes the severity of his crime, the long time spent fighting a boy who turned out to be his own son, and how much of a waste it all seemed in hindsight.
The present Vlad shares that concern with his future self, and he flew towards himself in order to make sense of this news. The future Vlad is not so capable of looking at his past self, no more than he is capable of looking at himself in a mirror. Nonetheless, the present Vlad does not accept his future self's attempt to deny himself, remaining in place while continuing his look.
"I... I did something horrible. I am horrible." Future-Vlad said.
"We all do horrible things. Some less forgivable than others. It's a question of what we do after that which matters." Vlad said.
"Seems too little and too late now."
"It's never too late. The time is always right to do what's right. And you've done your fair share of right, too. You were a father to Danny when he needed one."
"I turned him into a monster. He killed billions, and I helped him."
"That wasn't your intention. That wasn't your doing. You just did what you thought was best for a boy that in pain."
"It was my actions that brought us to where we are. I made things worse by trying to make them right. What good is all that when what I've done destroyed the world?"
"Because I forgive you."
Future-Vlad scoffed at his present counterpart's comment after a brief pause, unable to accept the forgiveness.
"That's it? You just forgive me? You think that's all it takes to fix it?" Future-Vlad asked.
"No. But it'll make moving forward and trying to do better easier." Vlad said.
"I've fallen so far after what I've done. I'm at rock bottom."
"If you are, then there's nowhere to go but up."
Future-Vlad seemed to come around to his own reasoning, nodding along in response and finally able look at himself again.
"You're right." Future-Vlad said.
"Of course I am. I've been on an alien prison planet for hundreds of years. That makes me the older sibling, and the wiser one." Vlad said.
Future-Vlad let out a chuckle at his own joke, finding the strength to smile again. The resolution of his internal struggle was found at last, giving him the freedom that he required, and the peace that was missing and needed. The equation is solved, equaled out, even, and balanced.
Lowering his head and closing his eyes, Future-Vlad began to dissipate into nothingness.
"Thank you." Future-Vlad said.
Given the peace he needed from himself, the ghost of future past vanished, gone as if he were never present.
Future-Vlad has gone in peace.
And Vlad of the present has found some element of peace or wholeness in letting this part of himself go, but not enough. His job is not yet over.
Turning back on his past, he moved to the future.
Removed from the cross, Danny Phantom is in the arms of Sam, Jazz, and Danielle, who all cradled him in hopes of bringing his mind back to the present. Their care and support they give in order to help him heal from his wounds, and they can give no less until he is strong again.
Vlad joined with Jack and Maddie in observation, all silently hoping for him to heal soon, in the innocent belief that their hopes will aide him.
"Is he alright?" Vlad asked.
"Took quite a licking. He's still got a ways to go." Jack said.
"He'll be alright, you two. Just give him time." Maddie said.
And it seems that mother knows best, for Danny does indeed show signs of healing with his wounds all closing, and his eyes beginning to flicker in blinks. His eyes soon slowly opened, allowing him to return in full consciousness to the battleground. The sight of all his family before him is a relief to see, but there is still the awareness of his enemy that catches his full attention.
"Danny? You okay?" Sam asked.
Rising up from his resting place, Danny does not waste time answering his wife, for he knows that there is no time that can be spared against this enemy. He knows how powerful his ultimate enemy is, how the very thought of him has lingered over his head for so many years, how many lives he has taken without care for his own fanatic beliefs...
...but, upon reaching a small crater where Demon Phantom could be found, the ghost was no longer recognizable as the terror he once posed on this world and his own. Danny Phantom had come with a hand raised up, charged with an ectoplasmic bolt ready to fire on sight...
...but the creature before him is far too pitiful to fire on, staying his hand. Demon Phantom, devoid of the ghost of Vlad Plasmius, was now reduced to a smaller, scrawnier size, like Danny himself was when he was 14, and had huddled in a corner, crying alone to himself. His corporeal form no longer shifted between different images, now settling on a single shape, which Danny expected to be as his old self...
...but that is not what he sees when Demon Phantom turns towards him. Instead, what looks back at him is a pale creature dressed in all black, with green eyes lacking any scalera or irises (though nonetheless still crying), fangs and pointed ears, with hideous wrinkles laid all across his face. Danny's first instinct was to open fire on the ghost and eliminate it forever...
...but upon seeing how sad, pathetic, and lonely it was, he could not. Lowering his hand, decharging it of hellfire, he looked at the creature with disgust and pity, knowing that what cowered before him was no longer anything of Vlad, but now himself, and deformed beyond recognition of the person he once knew.
All he can muster to say to the creature is a simple question, asking...
"What the hell are you?" Danny asked.
The question is clearly rhetorical in nature, but Demon Phantom answers nonetheless, because it has only one thing to say left in a final moment of honesty.
"A boy who wanted to be a superhero... then changed his mind." Demon Phantom said.
[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - Ikons]
Flying up into the air once again, Demon Phantom landed himself on a high mound above the ground level, taking a position to attack. It is only when Demon Phantom raised his hand once again to the Fentons, after his face of sorrow turned to one of a demented smile and the ground around him began to shake and erode as energy began to congregate around him, that they realize he is about to attack...
but the realization is not quick enough to stop the attack from happening.
However, it is enough time for Danny Phantom to fire his own attack back at Demon Phantom, who raised his hands up in preparation to fire. As Demon Phantom fired from his sole raised hand, firing a beam of ectoplasm from it, Danny Phantom fired his own beam from his hands.
Their mutual blasts met in the middle, resulting in a stand-off of power against one another. Willpower is what acts as energy to both blasts, fueling the hellfire on to project towards the other target, all in a show of power to see who possessed the greater will and greater strength to better the other.
Unfortunately, it seems as though Danny is not the stronger of the two, as his beam began to decrease, with Demon Phantom's blast beginning to overtake it and progress forward and reach its target. Laughing out loud, Demon Phantom declared his superiority from the apparent gain in strength, shouting...
"That's right! I'm still stronger than you, Danny! If I can't make this world better, THEN I'LL JUST DESTROY IT, AND YOU!" Demon Phantom shouted.
Struggling under the power pushing back on him, Danny dug his feet deep into the ground, attempting to push more power into his own blast, forcing everything in his soul out into a single, concentrated blast. The effort is yet still not enough to force back the blast of the enemy, leaving him near defeat with the imminent blast.
Watching his victory come soon, Demon Phantom laughed again. Loss for Danny would be all but apparent now were he fighting alone...
...but he is not.
"Hang on, Danny! I'm coming!" Danielle shouted.
Running up to the side of her brother, Danielle raised her hands up and fired out a blast of ectoplasm alongside his, conjoining their projections together into a single beam. The effort is enough to give the beam enough gain to creep back up against Demon Phantom, but the one increase is little more than a shot of adrenaline.
Just like Danny, Danielle, too, gives all her strength to this attack, hoping that her willpower is enough to overcome this threat. More does she put into the beam, focusing all of her consciousness and being into the blast, all with the sole goal and focus of pushing the enemy blast away from the planet.
The increase gained is once again reduced to a slow treading their way, just made all the slower by her efforts, and making their defeat all the more painful as they watch it come to them with all the time in the world to process it. The two half-ghosts are not enough on their own to push back the beam, despite how much they give, but they still do not give anything less than their all.
And, soon, they are not alone in pushing back the beam. Joining with them is Vlad Plasmius, stepping in and firing out a blast of his own projection into the beam. Now, there are three ghosts all coming together to fight this one, all pooling in their psychic projections with one another to face off against the other.
At last, there is no more descent of the beam towards the heroes, but the villain still has gained much ground on his own, and has all the will and strength to push forward and overcome, not stopping until he has seen victory. Again does he cackle out, but his laughter began to sound less of a sure sign of victory, and now simply sounding like the laughter of an insane man.
The three ghosts standing in defiance against him all are holding back the blast, all carrying their own form of insanity driving them on. They know that defeat will spell death beyond death for themselves, and destruction for whatever remains of their home planet Earth. Dead and barren as it is, they will not let its corpse be defiled, and still they continue to fight.
"This is... too much... I wish... my family... was here..." Danny strained.
And soon, his wish is granted. Just as Danielle and Vlad came to help, the rest of the Fentons then approached as well, all coming to the side of Danny. All together do they raise their hands forward and fire out ectoplasm out from their hands, joining together as a family to conjoin their beams.
As he always does, Danny cracks his own joke, attempting to forget his troubles in this current fight.
"What... kept you guys?!" Danny asked.
"A little discouraging to see a big-ass ectoplasm beam come towards the Earth, especially when you've just got ghost powers, but we figured it was unfair to let you do all the work!" Jazz strained.
"And this is not something we are used to! Care to give us a little advice on what to do?!" Maddie strained.
"You have to focus everything you have into your blasts! Give it all your focus and attention, like there's nothing else in the world!" Vlad strained.
"Because if you don't, there won't be a world left!" Danielle strained.
"Trying, Vladdie-boy... I'm not what I used to be... Those damn Fenton Fudge Pancakes were just too delicious..." Jack strained.
"This goes beyond matter and physics! This is about your heart and soul! Give it all you got and don't give up!" Danny shouted.
Sam, still remaining close to her husband under any situation, began to phase her hands into his, allowing the two to be connected in a way where their attacks could truly be made as one. The touch and connection is one that is beyond intimacy, a touch that neither are averse to, but the touch nonetheless brings both a small gasp.
"Then we need to really do it together!" Sam shouted.
The rest of the Fentons saw the action that the lovers took, taking notice of a sudden spike of energy going within the beam. Realizing the unity as a key to their success, the family began to huddle together to reach their hands together, trying to overlap and connect with one another.
The process led the group to not only connect by their hands, but also completely in body. Their ethereal forms all began to step into one another, conjoining the entire family into one single unit. The unity, intentional or unintentional, brings the group beyond any human connection like intimacy or love, and instead takes them to the furthest and perhaps last step in understanding:
Becoming the single, same being, a being that is whole and knows and loves itself.
And together does the single entity come together and fire, shooting out its single, focused beam of hellfire towards Demon Phantom. Now, the beam no longer met the other in a stalemate, but instead began progressing forward with great speed, recovering the distance lost and gaining up on the enemy quickly.
Noticing the sudden burst in power, Demon Phantom's laughter came to a stop, forcing him to hold out his other hand and fire from it as well, attempting to push back against the incoming beam. All of his concentration and focus now went into the task of fighting back this one attack, hoping that he would survive.
But as the beam crept up and overtook his own, his concentration broke and he ended his attack, forcing him to watch as the attack moved towards him.
"No." Demon Phantom lamented.
Raising his arms up in defense, he attempted to block the beam, hoping that his own willpower would be enough to simply overcome the blast and survive the hellfire beating back against his body. His initial defense is enough to grant him a few more seconds in standing against the blast, but his feet began to give way from the ground he stood on, sliding back as the beam pushed him.
"No... NO...! NOOOOOO!" Demon Phantom shouted.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Finally, Demon Phantom was pushed off from his post completely, and, from the sheer willpower of the beam, was pushed off the planet itself and launched into space. The push is not the only force he was made to endure, but the beam began to dissolute his body, tearing away meme from meme, idea from idea, belief from belief until the enemy was completely gone.
Demon Phantom's will to exist still persisted throughout the assault on his body, attempting to fight back and withstand it, trying to regenerate what parts of him were lost, but the blast was simply too much and too strong for him to recover from, even with the power of all of mankind's gods on his side.
Slowly now does he disintegrate under the blast, forced to feel his body and being stripped away under the attack, losing the battle he had begun. He has fought for so long to exist beyond death and attempt to bring others along with him in a bid for eternal life, just as many humans before have done...
...but even when he himself was no longer human in form, he was still human in spirit, and susceptible to failure.
"DANNY PHANTOM!" Demon Phantom shouted.
His last utterance of his enemy is let out with a scream of pain as his body was finally broken down in the beam, tearing away the last of his being until nothing of his form was left. No trace of him is left in this physical plane nor in the Ghost Zone, the anomaly that should not have existed in this time is finally removed, the stain on the timeline cleansed and gone...
...and, most importantly, human compassion and community have overtaken the gods which did nothing but destroy them.
Demon Phantom is gone forever.
Gone, gone is the perversion of man, no longer is there a Demon Phantom.
The unity that has vanquished the threat is now well aware of this victory, and it sighs in relief after its work is done. The reason for bringing this unity together has now passed, and it has no longer any driving force to keep it together. In its sigh, the unity spreads out into the many ghosts that comprised it, leaving the Fentons separate once again.
Danny can only take pleasure in the victory, having nothing on his mind but the victory over his ultimate enemy...
"Hey... We did it! We won! We beat him! We finally beat him!" Danny cheered.
...though the realization soon comes after that there is no one left to celebrate the victory with him. For years, he has been hailed as a hero to the world, protecting it from threats of the undead and the unknown, helping bring science to mystery and negate what horror it once shed on the world.
Now, he no longer feels like a hero.
"But... there's nothing left. The world's all gone. Everyone's dead. Everything's gone." Danny said.
The statement is not completely true, a fact which Danny Phantom knows, because his family is still present in their ethereal forms, existing as ghosts to still provide him with the support and care they once gave as human beings. But the Fentons themselves know that the statement will soon be very true as they step away from Danny and march off elsewhere.
In search of the support and care he needed, Danny turned to watch them begin walking away, leaving him confused over their choice of action.
"Wait. Where are you guys going?" Danny asked.
"It's time for us to go, Danny. We did what we were supposed to do." Maddie said.
"What? What are you guys talking about?"
The emissary chosen to explain their actions is Jazz, the first Fenton to return, who, after looking to the others in displeasure, carried that look to Danny as she spoke.
"Danny, don't you remember what we were saying before? They came back because you gave them a reason to come back. You brought us back to help you take down Demon Phantom. We beat him now. That means our job is done, and our time's up." Jazz said.
"Says who?" Danny asked.
"Said you. You don't need us now. We fulfilled that need, and now it's gone. We have to go now."
Jazz turned from him and prepared to depart, but Danny pursued and grabbed her, turning her around to face him, while repeating the motion with the others.
"Hang on a second. If you only existed because I willed you into existence, because I gave you a purpose, then here's a new one: I need you here with me now. I need you, because you're my family." Danny said.
"Everyone needs a family, Danny. That's never enough to bring them back. You brought us back before because your life depended on it. There's no force like that keeping us here now. The equation's been solved." Jazz said.
"'Equation'?! You're my sister, you're all my family, you're not just some math problems!"
"Everything's math, Danny. It's the keys to the universe."
Danny's distress was not calmed down from Jazz's unhelpful words, but Danielle stepped in to give her own input, knowing that she could do nothing to stop what was about to unfold, but could possibly explain the process in a way that could make more sense for him.
"Danny, listen. What she's trying to tell you is that she found peace. You needing their help was just one half of it. They weren't at peace yet because you lost against Demon Phantom, and they had to help you. We beat him, and now they've found peace." Danielle said.
"But there has to be some way to make them stay, right? Please tell me there's some way to make them stay!" Danny pleaded.
There has never been a time when Danielle has been so desperately wishing she could provide some way of help for anyone, and never before regretting helping a soul find the chance peace, wishing instead she could help them linger on in the world once again and continue to do so...
...but she still cannot delude herself to lie or try anything in vain, especially not when the happiness of her brother is at stake.
"I'm sorry, Danny. That's the way it has to be. I know it's not fair, but it never is. That's just how it is, from the cradle to the grave. Nobody can just linger around forever. That's not really living. If they were to stay with you, it wouldn't be all of them. They'd still just be ghosts, and you wouldn't be doing but keeping someone around for no other reason than for yourself. Do you want your family to continue existing like this for selfish reasons?" Danielle asked.
"So what if it's selfish?! They're my family! I need them!"
Pushing Danielle away, Danny ran back into the arms of his family, desperately holding them tight for a hug. The Fentons are all quick and certain to return the hug to their favorite son, but none are able to hold onto him forever, so they do not allow the hug to last long.
Instead, the family bids their final goodbyes to Danny, each taking their own time with him. Maddie is the first to say her departures, saying...
"Don't worry, Danny. You'll do just fine. You're my big boy, all grown up. You're a superhero. You'll figure it out. I love you." Maddie said.
Maddie hugged his head against her chest, giving him a kiss on his forehead before departing, allowing Jack to take his turn, saying...
"You did great, Danny-boy. I'm as proud of you as ever, and I'll always be proud of you. You really are your father's son." Jack said.
Jack grabbed his son in a hearty hug, patting him on the back, before then departing as well and letting Jazz go next, saying...
"I was always there to watch over you, but I could never be there forever. You've got to move on sometime. You can't be my little brother forever." Jazz said.
Jazz gave her brother a hug and a kiss on his cheek, stepping away to allow Sam to take her turn next, not beginning with words, but with an embrace and a kiss.
The kiss is allowed its time to last, allowing Danny a final departure, before the two concluded the kiss, with Sam saying all that was need to be said.
"I love you, Danny. And I'll always love you, no matter where I am." Sam said.
Stepping away, Sam joined the rest of the family, now ready to depart away from the mortal realm and move on to something greater. Taking each other by the hand, the Fentons rose up in the air, proceeding to fly away from the planet and take to the sky in order to depart.
Danny, once again, made his attempt to follow, but Vlad held him back with a firm, but sympathetic hand.
"Don't be stuck in the past chasing ghosts, Danny. That was my mistake." Vlad said.
Forced to watch his family depart once and for all from the physical plane, Danny watched as the Fentons all flew up to the sky, still holding one another by the hand. Their spirits continued to move upwards, as if reaching some heaven that only they could see, but no one else could think to fathom.
Perhaps they do see some sort of new, undiscovered country of an afterlife at last, these challengers of the unknown, reaching a place where they had tried to touch so many times in life. In death and peace, do they at last see something new beyond the purgatory of the Earth or the Ghost Zone, seeing something new beyond it all.
And to reach it, they must no longer exist.
Particles of their corporeal bodies began to dissipate, their eternal forms giving way to a universe that is not eternal, surrendering their individuality and arrogant humanity to find a greater whole and belonging beyond the known world. Together do they separate, moving across the sky no longer in human form, but as pure thoughts and ideas, allowing themselves to be everywhere at once.
Allowing themselves to be god.
And the world mourns for its loss with tears from the heavens, coming in rain from the clouds and falling to the ground. The rain is often welcomed by all life on Earth, needing water to promote growth, for life to flourish and continue upon the planet, one of many layers of an ecosystem that comprise the body of the Earth...
...but the Earth is dead now, and there is no one left upon it save for three ghosts. They are the only ones to know what has been on this empty Earth. They each hold but a sliver of their world's past, a sliver of the world's people, and all of the world's future, of what can be called a future for it.
Danny knows best that all that made this world a world is gone, the permanent loss of his family but a personal reminder of what is now gone. All the world he once knew, both of the living and the dead, he is one of the last carriers of the human race and its home planet...
...and, though he is eternal in ghost form, all the moments he knew of this world are gone, like his tears in the rain.
Time has passed over this world and seemed to be brought to a stop, with no more life for time to pass through, no longer able to make new events or lead to any creation, all time itself coming to a standstill on this poor little planet, the third from its sun in its solar system...
...but time has a way of sneaking up on anyone, and time is not always on one's side.
A clock hand materialized in the air just behind Danny Phantom, before Danielle and Vlad. The two observing the event in person know what will soon occur, but there is an inherent instinct for Danielle to come to Danny's side. Word of mouth is all she knows of this event, but Vlad has seen it firsthand, and stopped her with his hand blocking her way.
"Don't. Let it happen. This is supposed to happen." Vlad said.
The clock hand turned into a full sweep, emitting a burst of light, and out from the light came the master of all time himself, appearing before the three remaining ghosts. The new arrival to Earth is caught in the ear of Danny Phantom, leading him to step up and look behind him, forgetting to shed any more tears.
And before him stands Clockwork.
"Hello, Danny Phantom." Clockwork said.
