Opening A/N: Hello again everyone! Now, I would like to take just a moment and say THANK YOU! At least those of you over on Ao3. (This is cross posted across Ao3 and FFN. Probably should've mentioned that earlier… oops.) Specifically: Master_CuteCoyote and Devilzxknight86. So far you two are my biggest supporters. Anywho, it's nice to see that the consensus on this story is positive overall. I hope you enjoy the chapter! -DraconicAnarkhy
Dear Ability King KK on FFN: You're forgetting two things. One, this is a fanfiction. Not canon. So, while Danny's parents became more accepting of him being a Halfa in canon (And in this fic as well), it doesn't mean they became more OPEN MINDED towards ghosts as a whole. As for Spectra, I said in my first ending A/N I believe, but while all of the events that happened at the same TIME in my story, it doesn't mean that they played out the same WAY. Regardless, thank you for the feedback, and I hope to keep you coming back! -DraconicAnarkhy
Chapter Synopsis - Danny finally comes face to face with Ember for the first time after his revelation, will he manage to get through to her? Will she outright attack him while telling him to get lost? Read to find out! This chapter delves ever so slightly into not only the tragic backstory of one Ember McLain, it also reveals a few facts about our beloved Halfa. Also, I'm replacing Ember's signature "dipstick" remark with "dipshit". Why? Let's be honest. We all know the real reason it wasn't "dipshit" originally is because it was a kids show. Plus I rated this fic "M" for a reason, if a little swearing bothers you, you may not want to stick around for further chapters.
"Two quotation marks means speech or emphasis on a word."
'One quotation mark means thought.'
Italics means heavy emphasis on a word or written/digital text
Chapter II: The Talk
"No, it's uhh… Danny… Phantom?" He manages to respond
His body tenses as he waits for her to respond. Suddenly he can hear a loud thud and rushing footsteps on the other side of the door before it's yanked open, and he comes face to face with a very irate rock star.
"YOU!" She snarls, her face contorted in anger, her blue hair still billowing out behind her from her haste.
Something Danny doesn't expect, is to see her wearing something other than her signature rocker outfit. Ember stands in the doorway, hair flowing down her back and over her shoulders, not up in its usual ponytail. Her makeup is still the same, black lines enhancing her eyes and lips, a black choker drawing attention to her slim neck. She's wearing a similar top to the one Kitty was wearing, a cut off black tank top that ends just below her ribcage. Her normal black pants are replaced by black shorts, which come down to her mid-thigh. And her platform boots are gone altogether, leaving her almost a head shorter than Danny.
Danny, out of instinct alone throws up an ecto-shield. "Ember wait! I just want to talk!"
Ember pauses, but her anger doesn't fade. "Talk? What the hell would I want to talk with you about, dipshit? Actually, how did you even find me? Did you just wander around the GZ until you got lucky?" She asks, her hands glowing with gathering ecto-energy.
"Well, that was the plan- nevermind that, no, Kitty actually showed me how to find your realm." Danny explains, his shield still shimmering in front of him.
This causes Ember's anger to falter. She knows all about the little truce Kitty and Johnny have with Phantom. "Kitty? Why would she-?"
"Because I explained to her that I just want to help you." Danny says, dropping his shield, arms falling to his sides.
Her expression changes to one of utter confusion, her arms crossing. "Excuse me? What could you possibly help me with?"
Danny looks around, noting that they were still out in the open of the GZ. "It's not something I think you would appreciate talking about where anyone can eavesdrop."
Ember chews on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Fine." She sighs, moving out of the doorway to allow him access. "But remember what happens when you piss someone off when in their realm."
Danny feels a shiver run down his spine. One of the few things he's learned about the GZ, and the ghosts within it, those who own a realm have complete control over it. It's almost like a living breathing extension of them. The owner of the realm can change anything within it with nothing more than a thought and a snap of their fingers. In other words: say someone unwanted was in your realm, if you were feeling cruel, you could create a pit of fire or something similar, and just will it to appear beneath the intruder. Or you could create something to contain them such as a prison cell. Regardless, one thing Danny knows is to not anger a ghost when you're in their realm, especially if that ghost is Ember McLain.
He follows her into the realm, the layout of which is similar to that of a large apartment or small house. Ember leads him down a narrow hallway and into what Danny assumes is a living room, a conversation pit comprised of light blue cushions and small pillows being the main piece of furniture instead of an alternative. He can see another hallway and more doors leading into other areas.
The dark gray walls, which are contrasted by a deep purple carpet, are lined with posters of rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, etc. Danny spots Ember's guitar sitting on a stand next to an amplifier and other various music equipment in a nearby corner. He notices a severe lack of anything electrical or technical aside from the lights and her music equipment.
'I guess if the only source of TV or internet within the GZ is Technus, I wouldn't go through the trouble either.'
She flops down in the sea of cushions, leaning back against one of the corners of the pit. "Well? Spit it out Phantom. Why are you here?"
Danny sits on the edge of the pit. "I want to try and help you."
"Yeah, you said that already. But what you didn't say is what you want to help me with." Ember said pointedly.
'You've already come this far Danny, just spit it out.' He takes a deep breath before looking into Ember's toxic green eyes. "I know how you died. I know what you want, the reason you keep coming back to Amity, I mean. Or at least I think I do."
Her eyes narrow, and a snarl forms on her lips. "You know NOTHING!" Her voice comes out almost like a hiss.
Danny shrugs, desperately trying not to falter under her acid filled gaze. "Maybe I don't. All I have is a theory, it's up to you to tell me if I'm wrong or not."
Ember crosses her arms, still glaring at Danny as if willing her eyes alone to make him disappear. "Why do you care anyway? You've never tried to help any of us before."
Danny holds up a finger. "Actually, that's not entirely true. I've helped Kitty, Johnny, Spectra, and Desiree. As well as a few others."
She chuckles bitterly. "Yeah, after two years, the great Danny Phantom decides to stop blasting first and ask questions later, just to help a handful of ghosts. Thanks a lot, dipshit."
Danny feels his temper swell at the jab. "Do you really think I wanted to do this? To fight ghosts?" He growls, standing and turning in a circle as he changes to his human form and back. "I never wanted ANY of this! I was just a normal fourteen year old who had dreams of working at NASA and becoming an astronaut! Then this happened!"
He starts pacing back and forth along the edge of the cushioned pit. "Back then I was the only one who could do anything about the ghosts that were attacking my city! What was I supposed to do? Just let them wreak havoc? Let them kill innocent people, potentially my friends or family, while destroying Amity Park? Besides, it's not like many of you gave me the choice of talking. You say I blasted first and asked questions later? Tell that to the ones like Skulker."
He sighs, his temper cooling. Sitting back in his previous spot, resting his head in his hands. Looking back up as he speaks. "Ember, I've made mistakes. I know I have. Dan Phantom was a prime example of that. And I know I may not have tried hard enough, but I've always cared about the ghosts. Especially the ones like you, Kitty, Johnny, Youngblood…"
That catches her attention. "Me? Why the hell would you care about me?"
Danny looks up into her eyes once again, all traces of anger within them are gone. All that he can see is curiosity, confusion, and… gratitude? "Let me answer that question with one of my own. How are ghosts made?"
Ember looks offput by the seemingly random question. "Ghosts are created when living things die, duh."
"Exactly." He says. "It's something that I started ignoring not long after I started fighting ghosts. You asked why you? Ember, you don't look much older than me, if at all, and I know ghosts don't age."
Danny feels that same uncomfortable clenching feeling in his chest again, except now he has a name for it. Empathy… or maybe remorse. "The idea that someone, anyone, died while they were a teenager… or even younger, it bothers me. Especially when their ghost seems to want to do something with their afterlife other than cause mass chaos or world domination."
"Well what do you know, Danny Phantom might just have a heart in there somewhere after all." Ember says, smirking, but the usual bite is missing from the verbal jab.
His lips quirk up ever so slightly. Danny has always enjoyed the verbal sparring between him and Ember. Yet, his tone is somber as he speaks. "Anyway, you said earlier that I know nothing about you. Maybe that's true, but let me tell you what I think I know; you died sometime in September, after something happened between you and a boy or girl. You died in a fire, but most importantly, you just want to be remembered. It's why you keep coming back to Amity Park, or the human world in general."
Ember's face is slack, her jaw hanging open ever so slightly. "What? How did you-?"
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't actually have the IQ of a rock. Plus, it's pretty easy to dissect the lyrics of a song when you don't have some force causing you to like it and not actually listen to it. Not to mention you literally have fire for hair." Danny remarks.
"Remember." Ember whispers, grabbing a lock of flaming hair and twisting it. "No one was ever supposed to be able to figure that out. I just wanted to make a catchy song… I thought that if I used my brainwashing powers, everyone would just ignore the lyrics. Or maybe people would just take the lyrics as just being made up for a song…"
"There's just one thing I couldn't figure out though." Danny says, breaking her out of her reverie.
"What?" Ember asks.
"One thing remains, you say it again and again in the song, but what exactly are you referring to?" He questions.
"Me." She says softly. "Even after everything, I'm still here. Even after the fire, even after a lot of the people from my old life are dead and gone, I still remain."
"So I was right then?" Danny asks.
Ember sends him a glare. "Yes." She says acidly. "You're right. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Danny frowns. " Actually no, part of me was hoping I was wrong, that this was all just me grasping at straws to put some cohesive fictional story together."
Ember looks confused. "What? Why would you want to be wrong?"
"A few different reasons." He shrugs. "One of them being that no one should have to go through that. But the biggest thing that bothers me? Why would you want to be remembered so badly in death, if you were remembered in life."
Ember opens her mouth to speak, but closes it when she remembers who exactly it is she's talking to. Chewing on her lip she debates on answering.
"You don't have to say anything." Danny responds.
"I know I don't!" She bites back, giving him another glare before sighing. "Because I wasn't."
"What?" He asks, confused.
"You said "Why would I want to be remembered so badly in death, if I was remembered in life", it's because I wasn't." She shrugs
"Oh…" Danny says eloquently.
"Yeah." Ember mutters grabbing a nearby pillow and pulling it to her chest, seemingly out of habit. "Who would've guessed that the uber rock star ghost was a nobody when she was alive?"
"I know the feeling." Danny mutters, unwillingly vocalizing his thoughts.
Ember snorts. "Pfft, yeah right. You, Danny Phantom, a nobody? And I'm the next queen of the GZ."
"You're half wrong. About me being a nobody, I mean. Danny Phantom IS someone. A hero, a role model, a symbol. But Danny Fenton?" He responds, changing into his human form. "He was just some nerdy kid who had only two friends. Someone whose parents were so fixated on ghosts, that they would literally forget that he was around at times. Someone who was bullied mercilessly by people who started worshiping him once it was revealed to the world that he was half dead."
Ember flinches lightly. That story sounded all too familiar to her. "Sorry about that." She mutters.
Danny shakes his head in response. "It doesn't matter, almost everyone knows the story anyway. Let's get back on track to the reason I came here in the first place. I want to help you, Ember."
She groans in response, throwing her head back. "You keep saying that, but you STILL haven't said what you want to help me with yet."
"Why do you use your compulsion and/or brainwashing when you play your guitar and sing for people?" He questions.
Ember raises an eyebrow in return. "What does that have to do with this?"
"Humor me." He pleads.
She sighs, before answering. "Whatever, dipshit. I use it to make them like me, to make them like my music."
"But why?" Danny presses. "Do you honestly think they wouldn't like it otherwise?"
The look on Ember's face literally screams: "Well, duh!"
Danny shakes his head in disbelief. "Did you know that I was a fan of yours?"
Ember places a finger on her chin, mimicking a thinking pose. "Y'know, between all the punching and ecto-blasts, it never really came up."
He rolls his eyes at the sarcastic response. "And you know that you can't force me to like your music because of me being a Halfa."
She annoyedly rolls her hand in a "get on with it." gesture.
"My point." Danny says, with some frustration. "Is that you don't need to resort to supernatural voodoo to draw a crowd. If I, one of your biggest enemies, can be a fan of your music without being brainwashed to do so, I guarantee that non-brainwashed people will love your music as well. Not to mention that if you aren't mind controlling anyone, I have no reason to stop you."
"You're saying-" Ember starts, her face expressing nothing but shock.
"Ember, how would you like to be a legitimate rock star?" Danny interrupts with a smile.
Ending A/N: FUUUUUUUCK this was so much harder to write than I thought it would be. Well, "hard" is the wrong way of describing it. I found it so difficult, not because I couldn't think of anything to write, but because I didn't want to screw up I guess. But in the end, I feel good about what I've written. Could it be better? Probably, but as I get more into writing again and once this story is complete, I'll take the time to go back and overhaul it. But with my current skillset, I'm willing to leave this (and the previous chapters) as-is.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! As always, thank you for checking out my story and supporting me. I hope you have a wonderful day! -DraconicAnarkhy
P.S. I have no set "Schedule" for updates on this fic. So far I've just been writing whenever the urge hits. As long as nothing comes up, I should be able to put out at LEAST one chapter per week.