Jack Fenton stared at his latest invention with awe.
Triticum aestivum, sus domesticus, and casein, along with a few other choice ingredients, had melded to create a truly miraculous concoction.
In short, a ham and cheese sandwich. A triple decker ham and American cheese sandwich with mayonnaise and hot peppers, to be precise.
He was alone in the house. All three kids were at school, though only Ellie would return at the end of the day; Jazz and Danny still had about a week of finals before they came home for Christmas break. Maddie was visiting her sister Alicia.
"So it's just you and me, darling," Jack whispered to his sandwich. He had been tinkering with the Anti-Ghost Shield all morning, and he was finally ready to enjoy a lunch break.
Just when he was about to take his first bite, however, the doorbell rang. Jack frowned, then decided to ignore it. When it rang another three times before he could even get his mouth around his creation, he sighed and put the sandwich down. He would see what the person was selling, decline, and get back to his lunch.
Jack opened the front door to reveal a woman in a orange pantsuit standing on their porch. She had bright red hair pulled back into a bun. Her lips were painted with purple lipstick to match the eyeshadow around her green eyes. Purple hoop earrings hung in her ears.
Something seemed familiar about her, but Jack couldn't place it. Smiling politely, he said, "Yes, hello? You've reached FentonWorks and Jack Fenton specifically! Can I help you?"
The woman beamed at him. "Hi! I'm Persephone Shade, a psychologist from the adoption agency. You can call me Dr. Shade."
"Oh. I see," Jack replied. He tried to remember if Maddie had mentioned anything about a visit from the adoption agency they'd dealt with to get custody of Danielle.
As if reading his mind, Dr. Shade said, "I know this is unexpected, but sometimes the agency likes to send professionals out without appointments, to see the family in its natural state, you know? I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
Jack's sandwich was waiting for him on the table, but this was important. Still smiling, Jack replied, "Nonsense! Please, come in. Ellie's not here at the moment - she's at school, where she should be, of course. We take education very seriously in this house." Jack moved aside to let Dr. Shade enter the house.
"I'm sure," the doctor replied as she stepped inside. She glanced around briefly, then sat down on the chair facing across from the couch. "We can start the session here, if that's alright." She crossed one leg over her knee.
"Yes, that's fine. Can I get you anything to eat or drink, doctor?"
"No, no, I'd like to get started as soon as possible. I'll be much too full afterwards for anything," Dr. Shade replied, grin stretching across her face, nearly pulling it taut.
Jack blinked, then shrugged. The sooner they were finished, the sooner he could get back to his sandwich. He sat down on the couch. "Alright. Let's begin!"
Dr. Shade clapped her hands. "Wonderful!" She produced a small black notebook and a pen from her pocket and held them at the ready. "First things first. How has it been having Danielle around the house? She's been living with you for nearly two years, correct?"
"Yes, that's right," Jack confirmed. "And it's been...well, it's been great! Danny and Jazz are pretty much out of the house now, so it's great to have another kid around for a couple more years." He leaned forward. "Just between you and me, but I've always wanted another daughter."
"Mmm...interesting," Dr. Shade replied, writing something in her notepad. "So you're fine with having children that are so different from you - biologically speaking?"
Jack blinked again. What an odd question. "Well...yeah, I guess so. I mean, Jazz is our firstborn, so I was...used to it, I guess."
"I see. You know, from your pictures on file, I noticed that Danielle looks so much like your son Daniel." Dr. Shade waved her pen around. "But then again, Danielle is family, isn't she? A distant cousin, right?"
"Yeeesss..." Jack answered. It was a small white lie to cover up the truth, that Ellie was a genetic clone of Danny.
Not too long after Jack and Maddie discovered that their son was actually Phantom, Danny told them about Danielle. He had explained that it happened in the Ghost Zone one day and Danielle had found him through the Fenton portal, but was now living on her own. While they were still reeling from that surprise, Jack and Maddie immediately agreed to take Danielle in - she was technically their daughter, too, after all. To make everything legal and official, they'd claimed that Danielle Fenton was Jack's second cousin's daughter.
"Always nice when family can step in to take care of things," Dr. Shade said airily. "How is Danielle doing in school?"
Jack breathed out, relieved for the change in topic. "Ah, well, poor Ellie, no one really made her go to school - my, um, second cousins, they were, uh, very laid back - so she's a bit behind on things. But she's making great progress! Maddie tutors her every night and sometimes Jazz helps when she's home. Ellie'll be fine, I'm sure, she's a Fenton, after all!"
"Yes, yes, she is," Dr. Shade agreed, nodding. Then she set her notebook and pen on a nearby coffee table and leaned forward. She clasped her hands together and looked at Jack expectantly. "But, tell me, honestly now, Dr. Fenton. How has Ellie dealt with all the bullying?"
Jack frowned. "Bullying? What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know. At school. In town. Because Ellie is so...different."
Jack's frown grew deeper. He shifted in his seat, his large body making the couch groan slightly. "I - I don't understand. What bullying? I mean - I know schools have them but - she hasn't said anything to us." Had Ellie been in touch with Dr. Shade without telling Jack and Maddie? Was that how she knew about this supposed bullying? Maybe he should talk with Danielle when she got home. "And what do you mean, so different?"
Dr. Shade tutted. "Oh, come now, Dr. Fenton. First off, she's the new girl in town, adopted - "
"That's nothing to be ashamed of!"
"- and by the Fentons no less, those crazy, incompetent ghost hunters - "
Jack shot up off the couch. "What's the big idea here? I won't you let you sit here and insult my family under my own roof - !"
"- which is so incredibly, tragically ironic, considering two-thirds of your children are part-ghost themselves!"
Jack, who had been reaching out, ready to throw this infuriating woman out of his house, froze. His blue eyes grew wide as saucers as he stared at the doctor.
"Wha - how do you kn - I mean, what are you talking about? I - I - I have no idea what you're saying at all!" Jack stammered.
Dr. Shade smiled at him, purple lips spread wide, teeth gleaming. As if she was about to devour him. "Oh, but I think you do," she crooned. "Poor Jack and Maddie. Spend your lives studying to kill ghosts, only to learn your own flesh and blood had become one." She adopted a look of sympathy. "Tell me, Jack. How much did it hurt when you realized your only son was an abomination?"
Jack's hands clenched into fists. "Don't talk that way about my son!"
"Why not? I'm sure you must have thought it - you probably still do. Am I wrong?"
Jack flinched - just like those first few times when Danny would transform in front of them, the change between boy and ghost so startling. "I - I - yes, you're wrong! No matter what I think about ghosts, or did think - there's nothing wrong with Danny! He's the best son I could ever ask for!"
"Ah, I see." Dr. Shade tapped her chin thoughtfully. Then she brightened, her wicked grin returning. "Well, in that case, he deserves a better father than you, doesn't he, Jack? I mean, what kind of parents go around trying to kill their own son?"
Jack blanched. He stumbled backwards, grasping at the air for something, anything, to steady him. Memories flashed into his mind - nights spent in the lab researching ways to kill "the Ghost Boy", the swell of anger and bloodlust whenever he caught sight of "that damned Danny Phantom", the certainty that this ghost was evil and simply playing the part of the hero.
"I'll tear you apart, molecule by molecule, ghost kid!"
All that rage, directed at his own son.
It was nothing he hadn't thought before, months after Danny revealed himself to his parents. But to have a stranger lay it out like this for him...
"Who - who are you?" Jack sputtered finally.
The woman's face lit up with malicious glee. But before she could answer, the front door swung open. Both Jack's and Dr. Shade's heads snapped over to see Danny enter the house. He had a black backpack on and a red mesh laundry bag hung precariously over one shoulder. Phone in hand, he looked up briefly to announce, "Hey, Mom, Dad, I'm home!" He glanced over into the living room, blue eyes meeting his father's own, and smiled. "Oh, hey, Dad."
"Danny - " Jack gasped, unsure what else to say.
But then Danny's gaze landed on Dr. Shade. His phone clattered to the floor and the bag fell off his shoulder. Danny's body stiffened, then melted into a fighting stance. His face was hard as he glared at the psychologist.
"Spectra," he snarled. "What are you doing here?"
Dr. Shade had also stiffened, and for a brief moment Jack thought she looked afraid.
But then she laughed. "And that's my cue," she crowed. Then, before Jack's eyes, the pretty woman in a pantsuit disappeared. In her place stood a creature made of pure shadows, with glowing green eyes.
"Gh - ghost!" Jack cried. Of all the days for him to be working on the Ghost Shield and protection systems! Immediately he looked around for a weapon.
The Dr. Shade ghost cackled. Then she rushed towards Jack and - as he braced himself for an impact - slipped inside him.
"Oh...oh no," Jack gasped. A burning pain exploded inside his body and static buzzing filled his ears. Then his limbs began to contort. He tried to make them stop, but his body wasn't listening to his brain; he felt like a puppet on a string. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a woman was laughing. It was just like three years ago, in Wisconsin, when a ghost tried to use him to destroy Vlad's mansion.
"Dad!" cried Danny. There was a flash of light, no doubt transforming his son into his superpowered ghost side.
Jack felt his body swivel towards Danny. The boy looked conflicted, glancing nervously between his glowing green fist and his father.
"Danny," Jack groaned, trying to fight back against the ghost's control. She was trying to lift his arm, she wanted him to hurt his son. "I - run."
And then everything went black.
...
"Spectra!" Danny howled, glowing green eyes narrowed in rage. "Leave my dad alone! Get out of him right now!"
Spectra twisted his dad's face into a sneer. The overshadowing had changed Jack Fenton's eyes purple, and a strange purple glow emanated from his form. "Why don't you make me, Phantom?" she said in a mix of her and Jack's voices.
Danny grit his teeth, letting his ecto-energy fade away. He didn't want to his hurt dad while fighting Spectra. So that left...
"Fine. You asked for it," Danny growled. Then he shot forward, surprising Spectra with his speed, and - taking a page from his enemy's book - entered Jack Fenton's body.
...
Jack was floating. Or was he falling? He couldn't tell. There was darkness all around him.
At first, there had only been silence. But then the whispering started.
"You're a terrible father," the whispers said. The words echoed all around him, surrounding him. Jack wanted to curl up and get away, but he couldn't move.
"Your children are afraid of you."
"You think you know all their secrets now? You don't know the half of it."
"It's your fault your son is a monster, did you know that? You and your experiments and your portal. If you hate him you have only yourself to blame."
Jack managed to rouse himself at that. "No - no, I don't hate him! I love my son! And Danielle! They're not - monsters!"
The echoes turned into laughter. "You tried to kill your own son! Many times."
Shame burned inside Jack at the reminder. "I - I - yes. Yes, that's true."
"Just because he was different from you. Just because you didn't understand him. You, the mighty ghost expert."
Jack began to flail, turning and twisting in the darkness, trying to ground himself on something solid. "I - you're right. I may not always understand them and - I know they're different and okay, yes, maybe that scares me. Maybe I thought - I wish it wasn't true. I wish it wasn't true, okay? Is that what you want to hear!"
The laughter grew. The sound invaded Jack's head, grating. "Maybe it's you who's the monster," suggested the voices.
Jack shrank into himself - much easier to do trapped inside his own mind and body than in the real world. But then he clenched his jaw. He was Jack Fenton, ghost hunter. More than that, he was Maddie's husband and Jazz, Danny, and Ellie's father. Maybe not always the one they deserved, but if there was one thing Jack could do right, it was defeat a ghost to protect his family.
"Maybe you're right," Jack yelled into the void. "Maybe I am a monster. For what I've done to Danny, and ghosts like him. But...just because I don't understand him and Ellie, it doesn't mean I don't love them. Even more than that, I accept them, or at least I'm trying to. Maybe I'm not there yet. But I'll keep trying until the day I finally get it right, because that's the least they deserve from me!"
The voices began hissing at him, displeased with his newfound confidence. And now, Jack could see it wasn't completely dark - flashes of sickly green and purple light flashed around him. Then, a shining white light appeared in front of him. Its brilliance made Jack hold up a hand. The light was warm and intimately familiar.
"Dad," said the light, in Danny's voice. Ah, had Danny possessed Jack, too, trying to drive out the other ghost? But this presence felt like it belonged here, like it had been here before. But Danny had never possessed him before, so that couldn't it.
"Dad," Danny said again. "Wake up, come on."
Jack smiled, putting aside his questions, and reached a hand out towards the light.
...
Danny was relieved when his dad blinked his eyes open. He wanted to make sure the older Fenton was okay before he dragged Spectra - who he was currently holding in a chokehold - back to the Ghost Zone.
"Danny?" asked his dad weakly. He sat up slowly, holding a hand to his head and wincing. "Wha...what happened?" His gaze traveled to the the shadow creature that was Spectra, writhing in Danny's grip. "Wha - ghost!"
"It's okay, Dad, I got it," Danny assured. He smiled soothingly, and then phased through the floor with Spectra, landing in the basement. Tightening his hold, he opened the Fenton portal and hurtled into the Ghost Zone at top speed.
Once he was satisfied with the distance he had put between them and his home, Danny threw Spectra down onto a floating rock. The ghost bounced and rolled on the ground, groaning as she did so. Danny floated in the green-colored sky, glaring at her.
"Red Huntress has wanted to destroy you so many times," Danny seethed, eyes flashing. "But I've always talked her out of it, thrown you back here. Maybe I need to rethink that, Spectra."
Spectra coughed a bit, but managed to match his glare. "Ah, yes," she sneered, "the boy who would be a ghost, the ghost who would be a hero. Still can't get that dual identity down right, can you?"
"Shut up. You can't bother me with that anymore. I know exactly who I am," Danny countered.
"Are you sure?" Though she cradled her arm against her chest, half-curled into a fetal position, Spectra still leered at Danny as if she was the one with all the power. "Tell me, Phantom, have you ever wanted to be king?"
The start of a Ghostly Wail bubbled in the back of Danny's throat. He was so tired of Spectra's mind games. "What does that even mean?"
"Sure, it sounds good at first," Spectra began. "The trappings, the pride, the power. Oh, so much power, little halfa. But there's the rub, isn't it? You want to have your cake and eat it, too. You want to be a human and a ghost. You want to be friends with your enemies, to use your destructive powers for good. But you'll have none of that if you accept the Crown and Ring. None of that at all." She threw her head back and laughed then. It sounded on the edge of maniacal.
Danny had had enough. He opened his mouth and released his Ghostly Wail. It burst out of him, screeching and whirling in an unearthly dance of sight and sound. It struck Spectra dead on, sending her flying far away into the Ghost Zone and thankfully drowning out her laughter.
To think, today started out so well, Danny thought as he ended his attack. His last two finals had become take-home at the last minute, so he'd been able to drive home a couple days earlier than his parents were expecting. He'd hoped maybe they could have some normal family time before the annual Christmas argument got going, or at least hang out with Ellie.
But to come home and see Spectra there, no doubt harming his dad with all sorts of word games and manipulations...
Danny shook his head. Spectra would think twice before coming after his family so soon after this. He should get back and make sure his dad was still okay. With that, he turned around and headed back towards home.
A.N. - Remember when I said I wanted this to stay a light and fun little story? Apparently I was just saving all the angst to emotionally torture Jack Fenton. Who knew?
But let me know what you think about this one! I have a lot of other ideas and a (hopefully) interesting story arc planned for later chapters, so I hope you'll continue with me!
Also, I know Danielle's creation is not what Jack thinks it is in this chapter. I'm going with the idea that Danny still hasn't told his parents all about Vlad because he wants something to hold over him, so he had to make up a different story for Dani. Might explore that more later. Also, Spectra is an unreliable narrator. Make of that what you will.