Author's note:
and replies to some comments
Scaehime: You had some good theories! I did toy with the idea of having a sliver of CW with Danny, but in the end I decided his feeling of things being right was just him picking up on CW's feeling while watching him.
kazikamikaze24 : Yeah, way too much spam for my taste, so I will be leaving this site. You can still read my works on AO3 though, and those chapters come with art sometimes!
Nathem : Critiques noted. I doubt you'll read this since it seems like you gave up on reading after chapter 15 (maybe) but it is 100% a self indulgent fanfic, and parts of it definitely have Danny speed running things. As for why Ember opened up so quickly, in my mind it is a combination of her actually being acknowledged by Danny, but also respecting his strength. I kind of headcanon ghosts as basing most of their social structure on strength, Danny beat her and had this eldritch pact thing going for him so he gained her respect quickly. But again, self indulgent fanfic.
Once Danny had been safely tucked away in the thermos, it was only a matter of moments before they could confront Freakshow. It was easy enough to take out the final ghost when she was otherwise occupied with tending to Freakshow, soup her in one of the thermoses and have all 250 pounds of Jack Fenton barrel into the man knocking him to the ground, after which Sam had kicked the fallen staff into the air, catching it, and slamming it, crystal ball first, into the ground, shattering the artifact. It was ridiculously easy in the end, almost funny how quickly they'd subdued the man and broken the artifact.
They should have realized things were going too well once they'd opened Danny's thermos and a fog of darkness oozed across the ground, pulling up into a semblance of a human form, but only loosely. His edges were blurred, his eyes nothing more than glowing orbs, fathomless depths of space echoed in his body. It was different from the creepy form with too many eyes and too long limbs that they had seen before, this was close to cosmic horror, and against their wills, they all averted their eyes. Claws in the vaguest sense of the word formed, digging into the ground as those luminous orbs turned to freakshow, the color warred between red and green as if it wasn't sure what to be. Then the thing that had to be Danny opened its mouth, the sound that came out was horrific, shrieking, the sound of Danny dying, the whining of electricity, screams of people being ripped to shreds, sobbing, metal creaking, ice cracking, no words could accurately describe the noise that it made… but the feeling? The feeling was all rage and accusation as the galaxy fog lunged toward Freakshow.
Jazz stepped up first. She must have been able to see her brother in there somewhere, even as he seemed to steal the breath from their lungs, like looking upon the true form of a god and turning into a pillar of salt. She stood firm in front of him, and the noise hissed, dissatisfaction, rage, darkness and ire.
"It's over Danny." Jazz said, her voice impossibly gentle and reassuring despite the abyssal horror in front of them.
"̵̡̡̦̝̱̹͛̊͋̆͗͆̍̂̊̋͘̕͠͠͝͝͝D̶̨̛̟̝̱͋̏͋́̽̐̔̿̓̔̔͋̑̏̚a̴̧̟͖̒ń̵̡̮̮̮̈́̓̀̊̌̂̅̀̀͝-̶̖̩̋͑̓̂͘͝n̵̢̧̢̞̰͇̖͕̞̲͖̤͇̿y̶̨̥̪͔̻͈̯̖̭̠͚͍͉͍͖͑̐̔̅̿͐̈́̃̀̅̃̓͒̈́͜ͅ?̸͓̀͆̒͒̀̉̈̉́͘͝͝"̸̨̥͎̟͔͕̲̝̩̼͔̟̯̬͙̑̓̀̓͑̐̑̓̅̍̈́̇̃ It asked, seeming to tilt the mass that was its head at its sister.
"Danny?" Maddie asked, stepping forward now too, looking into the eyes of the thing, they seemed to be endless bright stars in the face of the cloud of galaxies and then it blinked, folding in on itself, the room warmed once more as Danny slowly materialized out of the fog, his eyes becoming more human as they focused on Jazz.
"Jazz?" Danny asked, his voice small and scared as he covered his face, his body trembled slightly as he pressed his hands against his eyes. Jazz moved forward, taking Danny's hands away from his face gently and looking at him with worried eyes. While he was more human like now, a sense of otherness still lingered… he always seemed other in his ghost form, but this was different somehow… as if he'd barely stuffed himself back into his human shape. Stars danced across the black of his hazmat suit, his hair wisped around his hair as if it were dancing flames, his ears were pointed and longer and fangs could be seen in his mouth as he opened his mouth to speak again, his voice echoing more than usual, and a tinge of static to the tone.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I never… I never wanted to scare you." He whispered softer this time. They watched as he quickly snatched his hands away and floated up, above them, out of reach, despite his inhuman appearance and the cold aura around him, he looked scared. He was terrified at having scared them. Sam and Tucker couldn't speak, only watched as he looked down at his hands.
"̷I̵…̸ ̵I̷ ̸b̸r̸o̸u̴g̸h̶t̸ ̸h̷i̷m̶ ̴b̴a̷c̴k̵ ̸w̶i̵t̸h̵ ̵m̴e̷.̶"̷ He paused, his eyes widening with horror. "̸H̷e̴…̷ ̴h̴e̵ ̸i̴s̵ ̴m̶e̴…̸"̷ ̶He flexed his hands, the claws beneath his gloves evident and he looked back at them with horror. Tucker suppressed a shudder at those words. Though he wasn't quite sure what they meant, it sounded ominous. He stared for a long moment at his hands, horror etched on his face. Jazz and Maddie moved first, reaching out as if they could pull him down and back, to help calm him. Jack reached for him next while Sam and Tucker both took a step forward, trying to figure out how to help and how to comfort him. Sure they were a bit shaken by what had just happened, but Danny was still their friend and family, they weren't going to abandon him just because he got a little extra spooky.
"I… I cant… I need to go." He panicked, twisting his body impossibly and speeding through the tent roof leaving them all behind in the tent to stare dumbfounded at the place where he'd vanished. A small groan from Freakshow reminded them of why they were there and Jack turned, looking at the man who was still laying down on the dirt floor of the tent.
"We need to take care of him, you three should go back to the house and see if you can find Danny." Maddie said quickly, taking control of the situation. Sam, Tucker and Jazz nodded, turning and heading toward the exit in a hurry while Freakshow continued to cower on the ground, his hands over his head.
The three quickly hurried along pathways and out of the circus to Jazz's car, the journey was silent as they drove through streets and pulled up to Fenton Works. As they pulled into the back, it was Sam who was the first one to speak.
"What did he mean… he said something about bringing someone back with him… do you… what do you think that meant?" Sam asked as she stared up at the house, not yet moving from her seat.
"I don't know for sure…" Jazz said, her words hesitant as she cut the engine to the car. "I think he meant his evil future self though… somehow he brought that part of him back in time as well."
"What!" Tucker and Sam sat up straighter, leaning toward Jazz, their eyes both wide.
"Does that mean… Danny isn't Danny?" Sam asked at the same time Tucker asked, "How did that happen!?"
Jazz shook her head as she unbuckled and left the car, ignoring their questions as she went inside to look for Danny. Sam and Tucker stayed in the car exchanging looks.
"Maybe we should have talked about his whole going feral thing before now." Tucker said, looking guilty.
"You think!?" Sam asked sarcastically. "How do we stop him? The thermos again? Does that mean he's been manipulating us this whole time?"
"I don't know. He looked horrified by himself, I don't think he truly realized what had happened or who he was. Remember what happened that night he went feral? He was distraught that it had happened. We had to guide him back home, clean him up. He was despondent. I don't think he's completely evil… he's probably fighting to suppress that part of him."
"What if he loses?" Sam asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked toward the house. "I won't let my friend become a monster."
"I think for now… We just have to have faith in him… Faith that he can control his darker self." Tucker said.
"I hate that… I hate that he's going through all of this." Sam's hands clenched into fists. "How do we even help him? He's… he's been so different since the accident… since he came back in time. It's… its like he's become someone entirely different."
"He said he's been through a lot in the future… his past… It can change a person." Tucker tried to defend Danny, but the truth was he'd had a lot of the same thoughts.
"He's not even really here anymore, he's lived this life before, he's bored with it… like a video game he's already played through. Sure he's been trying to figure out the best options or whatever to prevent the horrible future where he dies or what not… but… he's just not engaged." Sam frowned. Tucker fell silent, not wanting to agree out loud, even if he did agree personally. They sat in silence for a bit before Tucker spoke.
"He still cares about us. He still tries." Tucker pointed out.
"But the people he cares about aren't the people we are! He cares more about the people we become, he's bored with us! He doesn't even need us! He could have taken those ghosts out! He fought off Freakshow's control long enough to let us capture him, why didn't he just fight Freakshow instead? Why involve us at all?" Sam asked. "He just wants us to become the people we were before his time travel bullshit. He doesn't actually need us, he just wants us to grow up already."
"You don't really believe that." Tucker frowned. He knew Sam could get emotional and accusatory, but to claim Danny didn't actually care was a stretch. Then again… he could see the way Danny would sometimes sigh and treat them like children, the times when the adult version of him shone through more and he'd seem to almost look down on them. Perhaps that wasn't what Danny was really thinking or doing… but it sure felt like it at times.
"I don't know anymore." Sam sighed. "So much has happened. I'm just… I hate feeling so lost, whereas Danny seems like he has it all planned out." She sighed. The two of them fell back into silence, quietly thinking as they waited for Jazz to return. It didn't take too long for her to come back out.
"I think… he's in the ghost zone." Jazz said as she opened the door and sat back down. "The specter speeder might be able to go in but… I don't know. I've never driven it before. I don't know anything about the Ghost Zone… I might get lost… What should we do?"
"Danny has gone somewhere we can't reach… again… why are you so surprised?" Sam grumbled. Jazz paused, a frown forming as she took in the atmosphere of the car.
"Look, you can have a crisis about Danny later, right now we need to find him and make sure nothing else goes wrong with him." Jazz frowned.
"You just said we can't do anything, he's in another dimension." Sam snapped.
"I personally can't do anything, but we can probably go in when Mom and Dad get home. They'll know a lot more about the ghost zone and how to use the specter speeder, do you want to come help me pack or are you going to leave? Danny needs us now, we can talk about everything later, right now we need to find him." Jazz said sternly.
"Does he really need us?" Tucker asked softly from the back seat. Jazz stared at him a moment then sighed.
"Just because he has powers and is from the future doesn't mean he's infallible. He needs us to be there for him. Even if it isn't to support him in fights, or help him figure out what to do in the future… he needs our support. He needs to know we still love him and care for him." Jazz said. "Even if there are multiple versions of him all mixed into one, he's still Danny and he needs to know we care about him no matter what." Jazz left no room for argument as she stepped back out of the car, calling Maddie as she walked inside to prepare to go after Danny.
Sam and Tucker exchanged a look, before looking back at the house and slowly getting out of the car to go help.
Danny sat on a small island, hands on his head and head between his knees and he tried to calm down and reign in the emotions and memories warring inside his head. Pain and anger and guilt blossomed and grew as he fought past the painful memories of everything he'd done, the person he'd become in the alternate timeline. In the past he'd had a hard time understanding how he could have become evil, how he would have let himself slip down such a path and done such horrible things. He understood now, the pain, guilt and rage he'd felt. He'd let his family die. Not only had he not been able to save them, it had been his fault that it happened in the first place. Splitting himself had been a way to avoid responsibility, but it had also been a cruel rejection of himself. He'd ripped himself in half and it had only brewed more anger, hatred, and resentment. Paired with the instability of doing so and with the insanity of adding Vlad's ghost half into the mix… the first few years of anger and destruction made sense. They had even been cathartic… what had happened after that… well… he'd just been leaning into his role. The world saw him as evil so why not embrace it?
That wasn't who he was though and most certainly not who he'd wanted to be. He shuddered as he took a breath and tried to keep himself from fracturing. His chest ached as his core warred with itself and he shook as he forced himself to take even breaths. He'd intended to go back to the Clocktower and see if Clockwork had left him anything to help, but he hadn't made it. His anger was too volatile and he knew he'd do something he'd regret if he went to the Clocktower now. He closed his eyes tightly and focused on breaths he didn't need, even as a ghost, forcing himself to breathe grounded him.
He felt like he was unwinding at the seams, the various parts that made him up all fighting to be free of each other, the various versions of himself all fighting for center stage. The teenage version of him just wanted this all to stop, the adult version wanted to figure out a way to fix everything, and the evil version of him just wanted to fill the hole inside him. Perhaps because the evil version was only a fraction of his soul, it didn't hold quite as much sway. Then again perhaps he was looking at it all wrong, they were all him, all his emotions, all Danny, whatever form he came in.
Even if he had a bit of "Dan" mixed in, he was still Danny, he still wanted to help people, protect people, and graduate college so he could get a masters in engineering (since his dreams of becoming an astronaut died with him in the portal) and eventually work in the aerospace sector of some company. He was still Danny despite everything, he just needed to take a deep breath, control himself better in the future, and keep from unraveling. He could manage that right? He wasn't so sure if he was being honest. The rage and bloodlust he'd felt before still scared him, especially because it wasn't the first time he'd let his rage boil over.
Despite the freaky static and double voice thing, your intentions were clear. It was about protecting the town, protecting us.
The memory of Tucker's voice echoed through his mind and he mulled it over.
If you went feral or whatever over protecting us, I doubt you would hurt us.
He hadn't hurt anyone this time either. He'd been so angry with Freakshow for taking control, for trying to bring out the worst in him… but even if Freakshow had done so, in the end Danny hadn't hurt him. He'd been close for sure, but it hadn't taken too much for him to come back to himself, to push aside the rage and control his temper. He still hated that he'd directed his ire at a human, even if the human had been an enemy. He worried about what he would have done if Jazz hadn't been there to bring him back to himself.
"That line of questioning will go nowhere." Said a familiar sage voice and Danny's hand snapped up, his eyes locking onto Clockwork.
"Where have you been?" Danny said with a panic as he rushed forward, wrapping his arms around the ghost he'd considered his mentor.
"Everywhere, and nowhere." Clockwork answered.
"Cryptic as usual." Danny sniffed as he buried his face into Clockwork's cloak and the older ghost wrapped his arms around Danny in turn.
"Alas, who would I be if I were not?" Clockwork said, his voice was kind and soft and Danny held tightly to the ghost, afraid he would vanish.
"Someone less infuriating?" Danny mumbled. Clockwork laughed as he rubbed gentle circles into Danny's back.
"I trust you've remembered almost everything?" Clockwork asked.
"Almost… I'm still not quite sure how… how I came to you or asked for your help going back to the past." Danny admitted. "But I remember dying… I remember what I did as… Him too."
"Then everything is as it should be." Clockwork said with a small hum.
"Really? It feels more messed up than ever before. How is that how things should be?" Danny whined as he pulled away, wiping his eyes and staring at the ghost master of time.
"The human realm stands, you are of sound mind, even if you are confused and upset, you have not gone entirely insane and begun a murderous rampage. Your friends and family are alive and safe, you've created allies amongst those you once counted as foes, and you have begun to accept your darker self, even if it still scares you."
"Can… can you get rid of it?" Danny asked.
"No." Clockwork said with a shake of his head.
"Why not?" Danny frowned.
"It is part of you, the same way your passion for the stars and urge to protect is part of you. Granted, it is a part of you that went through tragedy, pain, and the torture of being split in half, but it is part of you. Be assured, your soul is wholly yours, the portion of Dan that was part of Vlad no longer resides within you." Clockwork explained. Danny frowned.
"That doesn't… I still…" Danny shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"I know." Clockwork's voice was kind and understanding and Danny really believed he did know. He knew all the feelings and thoughts that Danny couldn't quite put into words. The guilt, the rage, the pain, the fear. Clockwork knew, he understood and he accepted it.
"What… What happens now?" Danny asked, his voice soft and meek.
"Now you must go home. Your family is planning an excursion to find you here, it will not be fruitful and may step on the toes of some of the denizens of the realms." Clockwork warned.
"Okay… right… okay." Danny mumbled and nodded. "Will… Will I see you again?" He asked.
"When I am assured you need me, I will be there. Perhaps I will be there if you just need a cup of tea, or would like to stop by the Clocktower for a chat." Clockwork mused. Danny managed a small smile.
"Thank you." He said softly. Clockwork nodded and gently ruffled Danny's hair in an affectionate manner.
"You are most welcome young King, now hurry." He said, gently pushing Danny in the direction of the portal. Danny swallowed and nodded before flying back through the realms, ducking and dodging various islands, doors, and the occasional ghost before he stepped out of the portal, shocking the assembled humans inside.
"Danny!" Both his parents shouted in relief as they ran to his side, hugging him close. Danny turned human to make it a more pleasant experience for them and held them close.
"Where have you been, young man!?" His mother demanded once she finally released him from the hug and looked him over.
"Um… thinking." He mumbled as he looked down at his shoes.
"For a Week!?" She asked, her voice pitching up more at the end.
"A week?" Danny's eyes went wide. "It's been a week?! I thought it was just a few hours at most… I'm sorry."
"We weren't sure what to do, we wanted to follow you in and find you right away, but then we got held up at the police station, and when we finally finished all the paperwork and statements, your friends were saying we should let you be for a bit, let you cool off. Then your father spilled coffee into the dashboard and short circuited the navigation and hovering systems in the Specter Speeder so we had to take it apart and rebuild it. We were finally packing up to leave when you came back. Don't ever disappear like that again young man! I don't care how old you mentally are!" Maddie said as she held Danny firmly by the shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize." Danny said, still staring at his shoes ashamed that he'd left for so long, worried them for so long. His parents pulled him back into a hug and held him close.
"Don't worry us like that again Dann-o, you can talk to us, you don't have to do it all on your own." Jack said as he held him tightly to his chest.
"I'm sorry." Danny repeated, holding his parents close in return. They stayed that way for another few minutes before Danny pulled back.
"How… How did the thing with Freakshow go after I… bolted?" He asked, worried that the circus master would get into more trouble. Maddie and Jack exchanged a look and Danny paled.
"Well… we had the creep arrested, his stolen goods didn't leave much room for his alibi…" Jack began, then hesitated.
"Okay… but what now? Is there going to be a trial? Do we need to testify? What about the other ghosts?" Danny asked nervously.
"No trial." Maddie said, her expression darkening.
"No trial!?" Danny balked, "Is the justice system blind? How is there no trial?!"
"He… He's dead Danny." Maddie said gently. Danny froze, blinking a few times as he processed the information.
"He…. he's dead? What? How?" He whispered.
"He committed suicide in police custody… he's gone Danny."
"What…. Why?" Danny whispered. Had it been his fault?
"We don't know." Maddie shook her head.
"He just left an ominous note and… hung himself." Jack said as delicately as was possible for Jack Fenton.
"Hung himself… note?" Danny echoed. Maddie sighed and pulled out her phone, handing over the grainy photo on the flip phone screen.
This isn't the end. I'll be back. I'll have my revenge.
"Revenge? But he's… dead." Danny frowned. Did Freakshow plan to come back as a ghost? Could that even work? What sort of problems would the ringmaster cause as a ghost? What sort of plan did he have?
"I don't know." Maddie shook her head. "We can figure that all out later. Let's get you something to eat first, and get you to bed. We also have to tell Sam and Tucker you're home. Jazz is upstairs making dinner."
"Okay… but… what do we do about Freakshow?" Danny frowned.
"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out together, as a family." Jack promised as he gave Danny a warm side hug and led him to the stairs.
"Right." Danny nodded. Despite everything they'd seen, they still supported him and loved him unconditionally. Even if Freakshow did manage to manifest as a ghost and came for revenge, he'd have his family and friends to back him up. It wasn't as if everything could be wrapped up in a neat little bow. There were always things to worry about, loose ends to tidy up, but most importantly he'd be doing it with his family.
He still needed to work through his identity crisis, needed to worry about the other ghosts and when they'd show their faces, not to mention speak with Sam and Tucker and assure them he was alright. Then there was homework to catch up on, and he'd missed his baking session with Pat, he'd have to contact her and reschedule. He could worry about that later, for now all he wanted to do was eat dinner and collapse into bed. All of his worries would be a problem for Future Danny to deal with… and deal with them he would.
Author's Note:
That my friends is the end of part 1! This is all that I will be posting on this site. The second and third parts can both be read on Archive of Our Own, I have the same pen name there as I do here.
I'm super fed up with the spam on this site, it's very frustrating and disheartening to see that there are new reviews, only for them to be spam comments. I don't get nearly as many views or engagement on this site as I do on AO3. While it's not just about views, reviews, likes etc, it is a factor. AO3 is also just easier to use, I can add more tags, longer descriptions, and I can add art to it.
Thank you for coming on this ride with me.