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dannyphantom-rewrite · 3 years

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Timekeeper's assistants AU

Alright y'all! This is gonna be my info dump post for the Timekeepers assistant Au- buckle up cause it's gonna be a long one!

Inspired by @queendibz post here

The entire purpose of the assistant squad is to keep all the time lines running smoothly- this can range from stopping a world ending event to making sure things misplaced by natural ghost portals get put back into the right time and place.

So First up on the crew list,

Dan:

-Dan definitely isn't a homicidal maniac anymore but he's not 100 percent "redeemed" either.

-I mean he's probably still a bit of sadist but he tries not to be?

-The best description I can give is that he's in recovery, basically.

-So, Clockwork knew that Dan would eventually bust out of the thermos just because it wasn't built to hold a ghost of his power level for a prolonged period of time. But beyond that?? He has no idea about anything in regards to Dan. Since Dan's creation was averted, his timeline doesn't exist anymore. He's a paradox that exists outside of time, and unfortunately, that means he's the one entity in the multiverse that exists in Clockwork's blindspot. There's no way for him to know what Dan's going to do next.

-Anyway, Dan eventually breaks out of the thermos fully intending to Fuck Shit Up, And Clockwork makes a point of informing him that if he leaves the clock tower he will cease to exist. (Like Dan, the tower exists outside of time, so he's safe there.)

-Dan is the first member of the assistant squad. Granted, it took a while for him to come around to the idea of helping Clockwork but he got there eventually.

-Dan is an entity that was born out of the rage and grief of two very broken people and he has so much shit he's working through as a result

-One of the first things he had to do was recognize and accept that he's an entity that's completely separate from Vlad and Danny. He might have all their memories and the weight of their mistakes on his shoulders, and on top of that, the atrocities he himself committed because of them. The first step is realizing that he doesn't have to be defined by the people that made him.

-It's a really fucking difficult thing to do tho and he's got a lot of weird emotions in regards to Vlad, Danny and the Fentons as a result. A near constant identity crisis, self loathing, daddy issues, something that could arguably be called an Oedipus complex, (FUCKING THANKS, VLAD)

-Cannot stand the smell of fast food, it makes him nauseous and the sight of Nasty Burger sauce alone is enough to make him vomit Ectoplasm.

-He's just a hot mess all around y'all

-He tries to keep his interactions with the Danny's as minimal as possible at first bc of this. The first time he meets them in person he shape shifts into Danny like he did in TUE and just pretends to be one of them. Some of them have had interactions with their respective Dan's already and would be super wary of him and probably pretty freaked out otherwise.

-Dan is eventually allowed to leave the clocktower for supervised "Field missions" with the aid of a time medallion to keep him from poofing out of existence, but it takes a while for clockwork to build up that level of trust.

-Dan's shapeshifting ability Actually comes into play a bit on a lot of those missions, since he can Mimic Danny it also makes sense that he'd be able to impersonate Vlad in the same way. Granted he's not incredibly comfortable taking on either of their appearances but it does help him hone his shapeshifting ability to the point where he's able to pick and choose features from both Vlad and Danny and sorta make his own human disguise.

-Most of the time he acts as the eye in the sky from the tower, monitoring for timeline anomalies and then notifying the appropriate member of the assistant squad.

-He has a room under the clock tower that he operates from. I kinda like the idea of there being like, catacombs down there? Anyway he's got all kinds of monitors and view screens and he very rarely leaves. It also doubles as his "living space." He doesn't need to sleep but he's got a big mess of a pillow fort that he crashes in regardless bc sometimes you just NEED to be unconscious for a while. The catacombs are also absolutely full of those little blob ghosts that wander around the zone bc They're attracted to the ecto energy the tower gives off. He's really annoyed by them at first but they grow on him after a while and now he just dotes on them.

-There's a specific throw pillow sized one that likes to hang out in Dan's room a lot and he ended up getting a little over attached to the stupid thing. His name is Dorian. Bc he's a gift.

-SIR THATS MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT BLOB

-Dan's appearance has changed slightly. He wears his hair loose now and it's kinda just this big fiery mane when it's not contained. His cape is more of a cloak now, it has a hood and he wears it sorta pinned together at the shoulder so the DP logo is covered.

-Dan's relationship with the rest of the Danny's is kinda weird, and a little strained. He has a hard time being around them for very long because, well, he used to sort of be them? Except not really? He does care about them tho, and the last thing he'd want is for one of them to end up like him.

-His relationship with clockwork definitely starts out pretty familial, after he becomes his assistant, anyway. There's room for that to develop into meddling minutes but I'm not entirely sure if I'm gonna go that route yet.

-The Danny's only ever hear his voice for a while before he finally let's them meet him for real, so they end up calling him Charlie for a while as a joke. Cause Ya know. Charlie's angels. Even after Charlie still ends up being his designated name on missions.

Mer! Danny:

-Was recruited bc a lot of the shit that gets sucked through natural portals ends up in a body of water somewhere and when that happens he's on call to retrieve it.

-Is Actually not at all ghostly! Mer Danny's situation is basically the plot of H2O (just add water), or if you haven't seen that, Aquamarine. And by that I mean he's only a merfolk in water.

-He's an electric eel

-His Jack and Maddie are marine biologists, with a particular interest in marine cryptids

-We're taking sea monsters baby!!!

-Not entirely sure how this Danny ended up half mer yet but I'll figure it out, lmao.

-14 years old

-His nickname/ designation is "Moray"

Crown Prince! Danny:

-Nickname/designation is Prince / Princey

-16 years old

-Not allowed to go anywhere in the zone without the Fright knight bc of some ancient ghost law bullshit, so he has a constant babysitter.

-He's next in line bc he sealed away Pariah, but can't take the throne until he is both, A) at least 18 years and B) Completely deceased

-Vlad is his Regent bc he did have a part in the whole sealing the previous king thing, but he's also not completely dead so his power is super limited there.

-As Prince Danny has the crown of fire in his ghost form, although now the name is kinda ironic seeing as it's completely frozen over. It's blue now and it smokes like dry ice.

-As Regent, Vlad has the ring of rage for "safe keeping"

-Vlad and Danny are pretty much constantly at each other's throats, fright knights probably had to shut down more than a few of Vlad's attempts to usurp the crown from Danny through combat.

-Princey deals with the timeline issues that involve the ghost zones' internal / political affairs, and he's gotten very well versed with dealing with the Observants.

Winged! Danny :

-15 years old

-Mallard duck wings

-His Vlad is a swan

-Comes from a family of waterfowl, Jack is a goose, and Maddie is a white swan. Both he and jazz are ducks bc of their grandparents.

-As Fenton his wings are white, like jazz, and as phantom they turn black with a green iridescent sheen.

-He's trans

-Nickname/ designation is inviso Bill. Bc ducks have bills haha get it-

-Ghostly wail?? Nah son he's gotta killer QUACK

-Absolute besties with Mer!Danny/ Moray, sometimes they go swimming together after a mission.

Clone! Danny:

-Physically he's a 12-year-old, but he's only been alive for a few months.

-Alt universe where Vlad manages to stabilize the perfect clone with his own DNA.

-Dani still exists, and the original danny from his time line also rescued the other problematic clones.

-Doesnt like the fact that he's a clone, and very much wants them all DEAD. Bc them running around is a reminder that he's not the real danny.

-Human half looks the same aside from the widows peak and the mallen streak. His ghost half takes after plasmius. Blue skin, and the Hazmat kept it's original white colors.

-Probably has fangs and a forked tounge.

-Not so much a member of the squad as he is someone that they need to be keeping an eye on.

-Does NOT get along with them.

-Dan enjoys making him uncomfortable.

-Designation is Masters / the brat (not to his face tho)

Family Breakfast AU! Danny:

-A BABY

-The boy is a fucking overpowered todler okay. He's an 8 year old.

-The biological son of his Vlad, was born a Halfa. Jack, Vlad and Maddie got their shit together and are in a healthy poly relationship.

-Got separated from Vlad one time in the zone and inadvertently adopted by the assistant squad and clockwork.

-His Vlad is aware of the squad and just. Dad's the crap out of the Danny's as a result. It makes for some..... interesting interactions.

-I can't think of a nickname so I'm just gonna be lazy and say he gets to be the one Tru Danny bc cute little kind privileges lmao.

Full ghost! Danny:

-15 years old, will always look 14.

-Nickname/designation is Toast

-Died in the portal accident and got fucking FRIED.

-He always smells like somethings burning.

-He's really bright and sorta sparks a bit, you can see his bones glowing through the hazmat.

-He still leave the zone to protect his version of amity, but lives with clockwork full time.

Canon Danny (NOT PHANTOM PLANET COMPLIANT) :

-Basically show Danny, except phantom planet never happened fuck you

-Joined the crew after the events of de stabilized

-Also he's trans fuck butch

-Franken! Danny

-Yall remember that Headless Danny Au? This is my take.

-Is Actually 20 years old, but physically stuck at age 14. Bc he's a walking corpse :)

-Came from a timeline that was directly parallel to Full ghost! Danny. He dies in the portal accident, but jack and Maddie are in the lab when it happens and manage to sort of bring him back using a combination of science and freaky ghost junk.

-So he's basically possessing/ stuck inside of his own dead body. Which, is thankfully not rotting or going into rigor mortis bc Ectoplasm is rather similar to formaldehyde, but he's not the most durable thing and bits and pieces fall off from time to time.

-Like his head. For example.

-He's pretty desensitized to it at this point and if he loses a leg after a ghost fight he doesn't see anything wrong with sitting down on the curb of a main street to stich it back on. His being dead isn't exactly a secret.

-Don't ever ask him to "give you a hand" bc he can and will not hesitate to pop one off and Chuck it at you.

-Said hand and any other body part will continue to function just fine even if it isn't attached to anything, btw.

-Nickname/ designation is Adam. Bc. Ya know. that's the name Frankenstein's monster gave itself.

Post Phantom Planet! Danny:

-A very jaded 22 year old who is driven only by spite and enough caffeine to kill a horse

-Very, very tired of the hero thing.

-Being a global celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be.

-Decided to follow Vlads lead and fuck off to space for a while. Partially to get away from everyone and also partially bc he kinda feels responsible for the fact that the only other person like him and probably floating DEAD in the void somewhere? And yeah Vlad fucked up all on his own but what if he'd tried harder to get through to him things could have been different-

-Joins the crew after a natural portal opens up in space and decides to help out and use clockworks resources to try and track down his Vlad.

-Nickname/ Designation is Polaris, aka the north star.

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shinygoldstar · 3 years

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'You are what you eat' if Danny ate contaminated foods since he was very young then he is already on his way to being literally half ghost (half ectoplasmic half organic).

i had this random tab open for some reason and found this passage:

So going by real world mechanisms, Danny would not survive the portal accident (if he was fully human). Even if he did fall out of the portal alive, the damaged tissues would eventually kill him. Intro song explanation doesn't make sense, electricity in the portal launch would kill him before GZ ectoplasm is available to do whatever is 'rearrange his DNA' -> that would make Danny a full ghost stuck in a burnt human body or full ghost Danny who thinks he's still human (subconsciously used shapeshifting ability to change into human form by instinct) / this goes into AU territory so cutting it short.

..or 'rearrange his DNA' could be read as 'congrats you've been converted into ghost equivalent of you' as if he's a pokemon or digimon or some other anime transformation but I'm getting off tangent / PMMM comparison counts too maybe. pulls ur soul out, upgrades it, then sticks it back inside the dead body to reanimate it. Someone once described PMMM as lich.. Danny does count as a lich too.. maybe.

The only possible way for him to be alive is if his body is already more durable than normal human. And 'ghosts' are durable. And adaptable to certain extent. If every cell in Danny's body is already more or less contaminated with ectoplasm, then it's possible that the ectoplasm in his body held him alive long enough through the electric shock until it gets the extra ectoplasm boost from the newly open portal which the contaminated cells greedily absorbed to boost its power to ensure its survival. Enough power and ectoplasm to temporarily convert every cell into a more durable 'ghostly' form.

yeah i know there's a similar theory posted somewhere, sorry i cant remember who did. this is just my musings on the possible explanations on how Danny's 'halfa' biology might work

#danny phantom #tw electrocution #tw dp portal accident #headcanons #goldpost

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datawyrms · 4 years

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Prove it with one hand behind your back

Dannymay day 12: Gloves There is reference to the events in Hypothesis, but can be read stand alone. Now Ao3′d “Uhhh, Danny?” Jazz called up the stairs, laundry basket under her arm.

“What? I’ll get my stuff when it’s dry!” Her brother yelled back down, apparently not interested in leaving his room so they could speak semi-normally.

“Normally it would be my duty as your sister to throw your wash on the floor. Were you aware your laundry is glowing?”

Her frazzled brother appeared at the stairs then, taking them two at a time. “Geeze Jazz, tell the whole neighborhood why don’t ya?” he hissed as he passed.

“Mom and Dad aren’t here, and you’re welcome.”

“Obviously. Jerk.” he made an exaggerated frown at her before ducking into the washer, dragging out handfuls of the expected tee-shirts and jeans followed by an impressive amount of mismatched lightly glowing gloves.

“You’re taking trophies now?” she raised an eyebrow, unsure what to make of it. Not a single one had a pair, and none of them were even his ghost form’s hazmat gloves. Quite a few of them looked rather elaborate, some very interesting embroidered patterns making it obviously not something of her brother’s making. Delicacy was not his strong suit.

“Huh? No! These are-” he paused, taking a breath as he covered the glowing handwear with several shirts. “You remember that whole Sam got dragged to the ghost zone because Aragon’s an idiot thing?”

“The self important dragon shapeshifter with some serious hangups and anger issues?”

“Yeah, that one.” he nodded, rubbing at his chin. “Did I mention Dora sort of knighted us for helping drive him out of power?”

“No, but I’m pretty used to you leaving out important details by now.” Jazz smirked as her little brother rolled his eyes.

“It was nice of her and all but apparently they have a sort of tradition in her Kingdom? Where to show you’re worthy of joining the Queen’s guard you challenge one of the newest knights to a duel.” Danny paused to fish out one of the gloves. “Giving over a glove is basically how they ask for that duel. All very formal, I’d write it down if I could explain how I know without completely blowing my cover.”

“So you’ve got a bunch of medieval ghosts throwing gloves at you and wanting to duel...and you decided to wash them. At home.” Jazz crossed her arms. “Seriously?’

“Where else was I gonna do it? I thought they’d make decent proof so show Dad ghosts have society and rules.” He paused, throwing the glowing thing back under his regular clothes. “Then I remembered there’s no way I could explain how I got these. So now they’ll just smell nice in Sam’s closet or something.”

“Your closet a little too risky this time?”

“Nope. All of these belong to Sam. She’s the one getting all the challenges, not me.” he glanced down at his basket. “I think she named some of these.”

“It’s it a little unfair for a ghost to fight a human? That goes against the whole honourable and fair thing it seems to be going for.”

The half ghost grinned. “That’s what they think! Challenged gets to set the rules, and it turns out ghost knights are really, really bad at adjusting to ground only combat.”

Jazz blinked, the part that had been bothering her clicking into place. “Wait, so there’s that many because you’re still the newest knights?”

“Wasted every single challenger. I keep trying to convince them they’ll have a better shot against me, but noooo, they insist on trying to best the ‘breathing banshee’.” he shrugs. “Most of em would absolutely wreck me in a proper fight, I don’t usually need to fight ‘fair’ or anything.”

“So why don’t they go after Tucker? Getting all the way out here for a tradition can’t be easy.”

“He still insists he’s Friar Tuck. You don’t swordfight the clergy. None of them have actually called him on it, so maybe he is?” his brow furrowed, thinking on that. “Maybe I should ask Dora that sometime. Find out if we need to worry about some ghost pope later. Would not want to be the guy who punched the dragon queen’s ghost pope.”

Jazz couldn’t suppress a snort, easily able to picture such a mishap. “A year ago if you said that I’d say you should be committed. Now I’m just nodding along.”

“Even if you were saying it now, I’d get out.” A wicked grin accompanied a flash of green eyes.

“Very funny, dork.” Still, the idea was worth thinking about. “Well I can see why you wanted to try using them as proof.” The project was rather important to Danny, seeing as it was his best shot to get their parents to re-evaluate their ‘ghosts are mindless’ stance. “Maybe you could get Tucker to film a fight? Sam keeping ‘contaminated’ gloves wouldn’t seem that weird, and the variety can prove it’s not just one ghost mindlessly repeating the same behaviour.”

“I’d still be stuck explaining how Sam became ‘Sir Manson’ in the ghost zone. Which seems like a disaster waiting to happen.” his shoulders sagged. “They’ll think I made it up or Tucker did some video editing.”

“I still think it’s worth trying. Sam’s got a rich family, you could probably think up an excuse that she’s practically ‘royalty’ and that’s why they come.”

“Eh. Maybe. Don’t tell Sam but I’m giving the challengers tips now. The sooner they stop coming, the sooner I can stop getting all antsy about a ghost attack where I find out it’s another steel welding glove thrower.”

Jazz set her shoulders, determined to get some of that humour back in her dispirited sibling. “Use that. They owe you if you help them out, don’t they?”

“Well, I guess they do. Like I’ve had them tell me stories about what it’s like for them, if they remember stuff or have always been ghosts, they’re pretty chatty to a ‘fellow of the sword’...but it’s all stuff I write down. I can’t prove a ghost told me. I can’t film it, or have Dad listen in. The second they call me ‘Sir Phantom’ I’m toast.”

“He said he’d at least listen to what you found, right? It can be a starting point, and if you have some really specific detail it’s less likely that you made the whole thing up.” she stopped to ruffle his hair. “That, and if you were going to make something up, you’d have some star ghosts or ecto-aliens.”

“I would not!”

“Yes you would. And you’d draw them little space ships and everything.”

“...Okay maybe I’d make up some ships.”

“A lot of ships. With long complicated names. With scientific reasons for those names. Cus your my dorky little brother.”

“Well you’re my nagging big sister. You get to be the black hole equivalent.”

“Just don’t give up on the idea so quickly, okay? It’s a good one, and it really can’t hurt too much to try.”

A small smile returned as he elbowed her “Careful, or they’ll think you’re being influenced by ghosts too.”

“It’s not like their theories can have any more concrete proof than yours does. What are they?”

“Dad thinks ectoplasm naturally ‘homes in’ on stuff over here, and that’s how they’re finding the portal.” he closes his eyes, foot kicking at the floor. “He’s got this box thing? A lot of box things with different kinds of ectoplasm to see if they move towards ‘our world’ over time. I keep forgetting it’s floating right next to the portal and almost kick it.” his face turns into a grimace. “Dad thinks ‘that ghost kid’ is messing with his experiment on purpose now, so that sucks.”

“Well you could mess with it on purpose, that would be intelligent.”

“Nope. That would be the ‘natural aggressive action’ towards human materials. Tried it.”

“What’s mom’s hypothesis then?”

“That the portal always being here makes this part of Earth more ectoplasm rich so they’re drawn to enter here instead.” he waves a hand. “She’s half right? I don’t think strong ghosts can go all that long without ducking back home to recharge. She’s using the frequency of ‘higher level’ ghosts as proof that they ‘need’ a certain level to function outside of the ghost zone.”

“Another theory you’re accidentally stomping all over.”

“Since they almost never spot ‘Phantom’ going back to the Zone, yeah. I apparently account for ninety four percent of all ghost sightings. Yet only three percent of that is being spotted outside of a fight. Which sounds really bad! No wonder they think I only think about fighting other ghosts.” he rubbed at the back of his head. “I think she plans to test that by uh. Sticking a ghost in a place with no ectoplasm to see how long they hold out, if at all. So I’ve kinda been...making sure she can’t do that.” he swallows, his glance towards his sister more timid than anything. “It'd be a really, really nasty way to die. From what I heard.”

“Good for you. She’ll thank you once you prove that sort of thing would be unethical.”

His frown didn’t move. “If I prove it. So far I’ve just proven they really don’t like that ghost kid.”

“From what I’ve heard you’re the one with the most solid proof. Once you’ve shown everything you’ve collected, then you could try convincing them to see for themselves you aren’t making it up.” Jazz urged, not wanting to watch her little brother give up again.

“Even if I could convince Dad to come in the specter speeder with me we’d scare most ghosts off. The ones we don’t might want to beat me up, or not use a name I can’t explain away.”

“Sam gets to set when one of those challenges happens right? Invite him to one of those.”

He blinked. “...I guess that might work. If Sam made it clear that they couldn’t say my name under any circumstances. There’s one lady who keeps coming, insists she’s going to be the one to get to succeed after ‘Slapping Sir Manson with her glove’, she might be down for that…” he caught the weird look Jazz was giving him. “Oh. Apparently if you’re rivals hitting the person with your glove is ‘provoking your betters’ into a fight? So it’s a respect thing? I don’t really get it. Sam thinks it’s great, which I didn’t see coming but I didn’t think we’d still be having ghost knight fights either.” he let out a breath. “I’m rambling again.”

“You know, if Mom and Dad could see how you talk about this stuff they’d know you aren’t making it up. Looks like ghost research does run in the family.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “I’m a ghost hunter if anything. It’s just nice being able to chat instead of fight sometimes. The ghost zone is pretty neat. If you know, half the stuff in there wasn’t trying to skin me alive.”

“I still think you have a good shot. You know it’s true, so they’ll have to see it given enough time.”

“Maybe. Can’t really talk about this stuff to them though. Gee dad, how do I know about Frostbite? Well when I stole the Ecto-Skeleton and shoved back Pariah Dark this whole tribe of yetis decided I was their Great One. So now we’re pals. Oh what’s that dad, you say the ghost kid did that? Funny thing!” he dropped his arms with a scowl. “That’d go over like a lead balloon.”

“Maybe stick to the dragon queen society for now. It’s not like anyone over here saw that. Then you can expand into the rest of the friendly areas.” she put a hand on his shoulder. “One step at a time Danny, you’ll get there.”

“I hope so. If it doesn’t, I blame you if I’m torn molecule by molecule.”

“Ew Danny! Don’t be so morbid, it’s not good for your development.”

“Is it morbid if I’m dead?” he winced from his sister’s whack to the head. “Ow! Half!”

“Better. Now scram with all those gloves before someone thinks you robbed a ghost antique boutique.”

“You’re such a busybody Jazz.” the half ghost teased before darting off with his half spectral laundry. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to convince their parents, but he did seem to be on the right track. So of course it was her job to make sure he stuck to it. Siblings had to look out for each other, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

#dannymay2020 #Danny Phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #my stuff #the best thing about fanfic is you can ignore all the stupid parts of an episode #catfight beauty contest? never heard of it #dragon ghost society? heck yeah lets go #danny's trying really hard to get usable proof!#More positive fenton bonding #dang it!

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ladylynse · 4 years

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Implications: [FF | AO3] Jack doesn’t intend to be fooled again, especially by blatant ghost trickery, and it’s high time this ghost learned not to underestimate him.

For @cryptidloids as a thank you for donating to my ko-fi. They wanted an angsty reveal fic, so I wrote one that includes ambiguous character death. No one dies, but it’s a distinct possibility, if action isn’t taken.

-|-

“Leave my son alone,” growled Jack.

The ghost glared at him and spat some ectoplasm in his general direction, but even he wasn’t strong enough to get out of that containment unit now that Jack had finally gotten him into it.

Well.

It was more than just a containment unit.

Jack had made some modifications on it just this morning, after the kids had gone to school.

But it was clear enough from the ghost’s cocky attitude that he didn’t know that.

Not that Jack would expect him to.

“I have no interest in your son,” the ghost hissed, and Jack didn’t bother to bite back his laugh at the obvious lie. He’d seen them in the same area, albeit rarely together—had he ever actually seen them together? Maybe once?—too often for it to be coincidence alone. He knew his son. Danny wouldn’t willingly seek out this ghost. He wouldn’t seek out any ghost, really—he actively tried to avoid their hunting trips—but he wasn’t foolish enough to go after one this powerful on his own if he’d changed his mind.

And Jack knew very well why Danny might draw a ghost’s interest. He was even less experienced at ghost hunting than Jazz. He was the easiest target of them all. True, Jack doubted this ghost was foolish enough to try overshadowing Danny and expect them to not notice that their son was a ghost, but—

“I’m not threatening your family,” the ghost insisted. As if that weren’t exactly what he was doing—or, rather, planning, before Jack had intervened.

This ghost had underestimated how much he cared for his family.

“I’m going to make sure of that,” Jack said, and he reached for the giant red dial on the side of the containment unit. The ghost’s eyes went wide, and Jack saw fear settle there. He wasn’t sure if it was real—he and Maddie were still trying to determine whether or not that emotion might remain, if only to explain the Fright Knight’s power over other ghosts—but it didn’t matter right now. If it was real, all the better. If it wasn’t, he was used to ghosts attempting to fool him, anyway.

He didn’t bother to acknowledge the implications in the ghost’s desperate assertions that he’d be free soon enough anyway, that Jack might as well let him go now and save them both the time and trouble. He ignored the carefully controlled panic lurking in the ghost’s voice, behind a plea not quite disguised as a command that Jack stop, when his words had no effect. Jack didn’t blink as the ghost’s voice rose a fraction and demanded to know exactly what he was doing.

He just turned the machine on.

The screams were startling real, even though he knew perfectly well that ghosts didn’t feel pain. Against his better judgement, he turned the machine down to low and waited. He expected the ghost to take the opportunity to direct his power at the machine and try to break free, that desperation might push him past his façade of innocence.

Instead, the ghost dropped the floor, gasping as if he really needed air to breathe.

“I don’t take threats to my family lightly, ghost. You should know better than to underestimate me.”

The ghost might have whimpered. Or Jack might have imagined that. Either way, the ghost didn’t face him.

“Do you understand me?”

“What—?” The ghost’s voice was raw, raspy. “What—what was that?”

Jack turned the machine back on. He couldn’t see the anti-ecto-radiation that was flooding into the ghost, but he could see its effects. The way the ghost’s suit started to shift and melt like wax. The way his skin, though more resistant, began to bubble and blister and burst as if burned.

And, of course, the way the ghost promptly gave up all acts of defiance and whole-heartedly turned himself over to the act of screaming and writhing in pain.

Jack stopped when there was a distinct shimmer of ectoplasm on the floor of the containment unit. The ghost looked up at him. His features were still defined, still distinctly humanoid, but now he looked as if he’d gotten a face full of caustic chemical. It was….

It was unnervingly similar to something Jack had seen once before, back when he was in college.

“You imbecile!” the ghost shrieked. “You absolute buffoon!”

That was familiar, too. The way pain and rage seemed to be what motivated the ghost to force the words from his throat, the way—

“What are you trying to do to me, you blundering oaf?”

The ghost struggled to his feet, ectoplasm smearing the glass as he pressed against it to push himself up.

The way his suit hung on him now, it reminded Jack of a lab coat.

Even his hair had been shocked out of its stylized horns, looking more like—

“Do you really want to finish what you tried to do the first time?” the ghost snarled. “Do you really dare try?”

There should be no way for the ghost to break out of the containment unit, but Jack turned the dial again anyway. Just in case. He didn’t…. He didn’t like that this ghost knew enough about his past to make those implications. Those accusations.

Especially when those very thoughts haunted Jack’s darkest moments.

Vlad had been his best friend. Vlad and Maddie. But after the accident with the proto-portal—

The ghost fell, its knees buckling as the radiation hit it and once again began to destroy the cohesion of the ectoplasm it controlled. Jack ignored the screams. It was easy, especially now that the ghost was past the point of words.

Ectoplasm oozed from its form, but it was still maintaining its shape. An indicator of its strength, no doubt. Jack didn’t relent. The anti-ecto-radiation…. It should be strong enough to destabilize a ghost entirely. And Jack wanted this one gone. It had no business threatening his family, trying to find a way to destroy it and use his son in the process.

Besides, it should have never been able to follow them from Wisconsin.

Wisconsin.

Where they’d met up with Vlad at the reunion after years of silence, after—

The ghost’s skin didn’t look as blue as it had moments before. It looked…redder. But a distinctly human red, like someone who’d been sunburned, or—

The cape dissolved into bubbling ectoplasm entirely, and the rest of the ghost’s costume melted away to reveal a dark suit that was quickly becoming stained with the ghost’s ectoplasmic remains.

Jack wasn’t sure when the hair had lost its dark colour and become matted grey.

He didn’t know when the ghost had stopped screaming, either.

He didn’t notice the silence until he realized that all he could hear was the high-pitched whine of the machine, the hum of a computer fan, and the deeper drone of the portal—all interspersed with the occasional beep that warned that they’d need to change the ecto-filter soon.

Jack shut off the anti-ecto-radiation and powered off the containment unit entirely.

The ghost maintained its imitation of his best friend.

Former best friend.

Jack knew he shouldn’t open the door, shouldn’t give in to an obvious ruse and allow the ghost to escape, but he still did it.

Ectoplasm squelched underfoot.

It was unpleasantly sticky.

Jack knelt in the mess anyway.

It…it looked like Vlad. He could give the ghost that much. It looked so much like his old college buddy. He hadn’t known shapeshifting was one of Plasmius’s abilities, but ghosts had surprised them before.

Jack prodded the ghost’s arm. Still solid. Surprising, given how much ectoplasm it had lost. It should have been reduced to goo. It should—

“You always were a fool.”

Its voice was weak, more breath than anything else, but Jack reacted immediately, pulling back and drawing an ecto-gun. The ghost’s lips twitched into the briefest of smiles—or perhaps a grimace; Jack really wasn’t sure if it could be called a smile—and it focused its blue eyes on Jack’s face.

It looked too much like Vlad.

Even shifter ghosts tended to get things wrong, and eye colour was a common mistake.

“But you were right.”

Ah, there was the mistake. The ghost had betrayed itself with its whispered words, and Jack found it that much easier to prime the ecto-gun and hold it steady. As much as Jack knew Vlad was surely be proud of all his accomplishments—they spoke for themselves—he had never heard Vladdy admit it. Vlad had always preferred to defer to Maddie’s judgement and acknowledge her skills. She was the one to double check all of Vlad’s calculations. She was the one with whom he had always compared notes, the one he complimented and praised, even to this day. Never Jack.

“I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”

The ghost closed its eyes instead of attacking.

Jack wished he could close his, too, and wipe away this image of Vlad, but he knew better.

Knowing better couldn’t keep his usually steady arm from shaking, though.

“I’ll tear you apart, molecule by molecule,” Jack said, resorting to an old standby in an attempt to keep the threat in his voice. “For what you tried to do.”

The ghost’s eyes opened. This time, it found the strength to grin at him. The expression looked so wrong on Vlad’s face. It was humourless. Cold.

And it showed off impossibly bloody teeth.

Jack didn’t realize he’d dropped the ecto-gun until it hit his knee and bounced into the ectoplasm all around them.

“You already have.” Even weak, the response held the telltale note of a taunt. Jack no longer found it so easy to explain away the similarity between Vlad’s voice and Plasmius’s. He’d always ignored it before, because ghosts could only imitate humans, but—

But there was too much ectoplasm on the floor of the containment unit for any ghost to still retain its form so solidly, even one as strong as Plasmius. And it knew too much, looked and sounded and acted too much like Vlad. And…the blood. Ghosts didn’t have blood.

But humans….

If humans were exposed to enough ectoplasm, then theoretically….

No. This was a trick. It had to be.

Except the ghost wasn’t taking advantage of his lapse in judgement, and the illusion didn’t waver.

Because it wasn’t an illusion.

And the ghost in front of him…. It wasn’t a ghost. If it ever really had been. If he ever really had been. And Jack knew he should do something about that. Help him. Call Maddie. Follow their protocols for isolation. Deal with this. Do something.

But he couldn’t move. He wanted to. He knew he should. But he couldn’t.

I’ll tear you apart, molecule by molecule.

He just stared at the ghost.

You already have.

At Vlad.

He watched as his old friend’s ragged breathing got slower and slower, remembering everything Plasmius had ever said or done to threaten his family. To threaten him. Pieces that he’d never realized were missing were suddenly falling into place. He didn’t know everything, but he now knew enough.

And he knew this wasn’t something that he could fix.

He really had been a fool.

(see more fics)

#danny phantom #jack fenton #vlad masters #dp fanfiction #phanfiction #fanfiction #ambiguous character death #angst #tw torture #tw implied death #my writing #ladylynse #snippets #dp snippet

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ghostsray · 4 years

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Ch8: Lost

(late chapter...again. turns out after updating daily for a week it gets pretty draining so i probably wont be doing that anymore. i wont abandon my boy! just update more slowly from now on)

(first - prev - next) (AO3)

It had been about a day since Niel began wandering through the Ghost Zone. It was hard to tell for sure, especially when there was no sun and his watch was only visible in his human form, but it certainly felt like it.

Niel knew that Skulker could have easily found him ages ago. He had tracked him down once and probably had his ecto-signature to track him again, yet so far the hunter never appeared in his path. That meant either Skulker was letting him go in spite of Vlad's orders (unlikely), or Vlad decided to give Niel some space.

That was fine by him, Niel thought as he kicked a stray pebble floating in the air. He didn't even want to go back to Vlad.

He was hungry. Even though he was a ghost, he was still part human, and that human part was aching for food. Niel hadn't eaten anything in the Ghost Zone because he wasn't sure if the ghost plants he found were edible or not and he wasn't in the mood to commit his first act of cannibalism.

Despite his sour mood, he still refused to return to the human world. He would rather outrun monstrous ghost whom territories he accidentally stepped foot in than face Vlad again. Sure, he already missed a day of school, but that problem seemed small from his point of view.

Well, that, and he was utterly lost. He knew the location of neither the Fenton portal nor Vlad's portal. It wasn't his fault he didn't realize that wandering out so far would eventually lead him too far away from either portal to spot by eye. Okay, so maybe it was his fault.

A shuddering, deep moan entered his ears and vibrated his guts. Niel sighed and readied himself to fight or flee from whatever ghost decided to attack him this time. Not even a second passed before said ghost appeared in his vision. It looked like the skeleton of a humongous whale.

Niel flew back and lit his fists with pink ectoplasm, but before he could act, a small figure whizzed past him toward the skeletal whale. The ghost was short, had green hair, wore a silly pirate outfit...and he was a kid! There was no way he could have been any older than nine before he died, yet he held up a toy sword and puffed his chest out at the much larger ghost animal.

"Avast! Begone, beast!" he shouted and stabbed at the whale's thick bones. Niel watched with inquisitive horror. He had no doubt that the whale could crush the tiny ghost boy with one swing of its flipper--and yet it appeared to make a great show of turning over and lying defeated after the boy thrust his sword, even somehow raising a flipper over its head melodramatically...were the two ghosts playing?

The ghost boy's eyes darted to Niel, only then noticing the halfa's existence. His eyes widened and he said with a grin, "A new playbuddy!"

Niel floated back in surprise as the boy suddenly threw away his toy sword and brought himself up to Niel's face. The whale looked disgruntled, like it was unhappy with being so quickly ignored.

Now that the boy was up close, he seemed to be studying Niel's appearance. "You look a lot like that Phantom guy. Are you a fanboy or something?"

The first question humans often asked Niel when they noticed his similarity to Danny was whether they were related. The first question ghosts asked when they noticed the similarity was...that. Genes rarely mattered for a ghost's appearance--instead, that was largely influeneced by how they viewed themselves. Niel had even passed by a more modern ghost earlier who had asked if he was a Phantom kinnie.

"I'm not," Niel answered with a huff. "This is just how I looked like before I died--minus the blue skin, red eyes, and fangs, of course."

The boy rolled his eyes exaggeratingly and said, "Dude, it's okay. I love to play pretend, too!"

"I'm not--" Niel began, but he was interrupted when the ghost thrust his hand out and said, "I'm Youngblood! I fought the real Phantom before, you know--but then again, who didn't?"

Niel didn't know why Danny would have fought a child, but he gingerly shook Youngblood's hand and said, "I'm Niel. Not a Phantom kinnie."

"Whatever you say, Niel." Youngblood beamed and added, "Hey, even if you didn't choose to look like Phantom on purpose--which I still don't believe--this is perfect for a game! I can pretend to be a ghost attacking the humans, and you pretend to be the nasty Phantom stopping me."

"Is that really a game ghosts play?" Niel asked, smiling in spite of himself.

"It is now," Youngblood responded with a grin. He turned to the skeletal whale and shouted, "Bones! You be the human I'm about to kill!"

Niel subtly grimaced at Youngblood's suggestion. If he really found it normal to kill humans, at least Niel now knew why Danny might have fought him before.

Just as Niel was wondering how a whale would play as a human, the skeleton began to disassemble and shift into something smaller. A minute later, Youngblood's friend was now a human skeleton.

"I told you to be a human, not a human skeleton!" Youngblood whined. "Lots of ghosts look like human skeletons!"

The skeleton rolled his eyes and said, "You know my shapeshifting doesn't allow me to have skin."

Youngblood puffed his cheeks angrily but didn't argue. Then he lit up and said, "Wait, I have a better idea for someone Phantom would fight!"

As Niel watched, his pirate outfit disappeared to be replaced by a fancy suit that looked exactly like the one Vlad wore. His green hair was magically slicked back. Bones seemed to have known what Youngblood wanted him to do before he could tell him, because he turned into a cat skeleton that looked like how Maddie the cat might have been without flesh and fur.

Niel felt his stomach churn. Here he was in the Ghost Zone to avoid meeting Vlad, and now Youngblood made himself look like a kiddie version of the man. Before Niel's dread could grow, Youngblood released a comically evil laugh and said in a fake British accent, "So we meet yet again, Phantom."

"Vlad doesn't talk in a British accent," Niel said before he could stop himself.

"Who the heck is Vlad? I'm just pretending to be a cliche evil rich guy."

Was Vlad really that cliche? Sure, Sam had told Niel that rich people were evil (which was a weird thing to say when both she and Niel were rich themselves), but he never thought of Vlad as a British Bond villain.

"Well?" Youngblood prompted. "Are you going to attack me or not, Phantom?"

Niel's body felt like freezing up. Even if Youngblood didn't intend to look like Vlad, the similarity was still there. Niel didn't like being called Phantom, either. It made him think of all the ways Vlad compared him to Danny.

Fake Maddie the cat swished his boney tail and said, "I don't think he wants to play with us."

"What!" Youngblood exclaimed. "Why not? I get to pick the game and everyone has to play with me!"

"I don't want to play," Niel admitted once his throat managed to work again.

Youngblood scowled. Niel half expected him to start attacking him, but instead he turned his back to him with crossed arms and loudly stated, "You're even more boring than the real Phantom."

Niel was trying to find a way to respond to that when a loud growl approached them. It couldn't have been Bones because he was still in his small cat form. The skeleton arched his back and hissed, "There's a ghost beast approaching."

Rather than react with fear, Youngblood lit up with excitement. "Finally! I get to hunt down something real instead of you pretending badly to die when I hit you!" His "evil rich guy" outfit was replaced by a hunter's outfit, and his skeleton friend shifted into a grayhound. Youngblood held up his shotgun (the kid had a shotgun?!?!) and flew eagerly to where the noise came from.

Niel cursed under his breath and flew after him. Evil or not, he wasn't about to allow a kid to get mauled by a ghost beast under his watch.

The beast turned out to be a fish. A very large fish that stretched a mile long. Whatever goldfish died to form this ghost, it must have had a big ego when it was alive.

When Youngblood saw that the ghost was an aquatic animal, his outfit changed into a fisherman's, and his gun became a harpoon. He eagerly approached the huge fish and aimed his weapon.

The spear hit the fish--and was promptly knocked off one of its scales harmlessly. The fish turned one large eye to stare at Youngblood, and Niel somehow got the feeling it wasn't happy with the child.

Youngblood finally seemed to realize that maybe angering a ghost ten times his size wasn't such a great idea. He gulped as the ghost fish began to glow.

"Uh...nice fishie?"

The fish's eye glowed red before shooting out a beam of ectoplasm. Youngblood screamed. Niel jumped into action and shoved him out of harm's way just in time, the fiery ectoplasm grazing the end of his cape.

"Dead fish with lazer vision," Niel muttered. "Sure, why not?"

He looked down at Youngblood only to see that the boy wasn't there. He turned around and saw that Bones was now a cheetah, and Youngblood had ridden on his skeletal back and was now riding far away from the ghost fish.

"Bye Niel thanks for saving me have fun with the fishie!" Youngblood shouted as he and Bones shrunk to a distant speck.

"Hey! Are you really going to leave me?!" Niel shouted back angrily, but Youngblood was gone. If the kid weren't already dead, Niel would definitely have killed him.

Niel gulped and looked back at the fish, whose glow hadn't become any dimmer. Were fish teeth always that sharp, or did ectoplasm make its teeth sharper?

Niel screamed and fled as the ghost pursued him with more lazers. He was just about to accept that he was going to die via dead mutant fish when the animal released a pained sound. Niel looked back and saw a spear embedded in a chink between its scales that Youngblood had failed to find. At least, Niel thought it was a spear, but he looked closer and realized it was actually a long, sharp shard of glowing ice. More ice appeared from nowhere and impaled the fish, and Niel turned around to see where it had come from.

A group of furry humanoids with white pelts and icy-blue snouts approached. The fish flailed around, ectoplasm leaking from its wounds, but eventually it stopped and...Niel would say "died", but he wasn't sure if that was an accurate description when it was already a ghost. Its glow did dim to nonexistent, though.

The furry ghosts--Niel decided they looked like yeti--came to the fish and grabbed the ice out of its ectoplasmic flesh. One of them wearing a cape turned around and looked at Niel. He (Niel assumed it was a he) looked terrifying. His eyes were yellow, his teeth looked sharp between his lips, and his arm--his arm was a bunch of bones frozen in ice!

Niel trembled under the ghost yeti's gaze, ready to flee, but the ghost didn't attack. Instead, he squinted his eyes and asked, "Great One?"

"Huh?" Niel replied.

"No, that is not right," the yeti said, still observing him. "Your skin is different. You must be someone else--but you look just like him."

"You mean Danny?" Niel asked. He didn't know why someone would call Danny a Great One, but the yeti's expression seemed to confirm his guess.

"You know him? Ah, but of course. You must be a fan."

"I'm not a Phantom fanboy," Niel protested, but the ghost threw his head back and laughed.

"Do not worry! You could say we are fans of him, too. After all, he was the one who defeated Pariah Dark and saved the Ghost Zone!"

Niel didn't know who Pariah Dark was, but he guessed that answered the question of calling Danny a great one.

Niel's eyes darted to the doubly-dead fish. The ghost followed his vision and smiled. "A succeful hunt, if I may say so myself."

"You guys are hunters? Like Skulker?"

"Skulker?" The ghost seemed appalled at that comparison. "Goodness, no! We only hunt animal ghosts--and for food, not prizes!"

"Ghosts need to eat?"

The ghost smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, we do not need to...but ectoplasmic meat does taste pretty good." He waved an icy hand and added, "Anyway, it is fine. Ghosts cannot really die. The animal will reform after we eat it."

To Niel, the idea of being eaten and then reforming sounded worse than simply being eaten once, but he was too intimidated by the yeti to say so. While his friends began pulling the fish carcass to where he guessed was their lair, Mr. Ice Arm lingered by Niel and said, "If you do not mind me asking, what were you doing in the middle of nowhere by yourself?"

I wouldn't have been by myself if that little brat hadn't betrayed me, Niel thought, but he pushed down his bitterness and answered, "I'm lost."

"Lost?" The yeti stroked his chin and said, "We have a map back at our lair. Perhaps you can borrow it long enough to return yourself home."

"You want me to follow you to your lair?" Niel asked, then narrowed his eyes and added, "This isn't a trick so you can eat me, is it?"

The yeti's eyes widened, and he said, "Of course not! I already told you, animal ghosts only. And besides, any friend of Phantom's is a friend of ours."

Niel was beginning to realize that these yeti were the only ghosts he'd come across so far who had neither attacked him nor flipped him off, which meant they must be a rare breed of good ghosts. It seemed a little strange that a nine-year-old child would be Danny's enemy while a towering heap of fur and muscles was a friend, but that was how things were.

"Yeah, okay," Niel answered. "I'll follow you, I guess."

The yeti smiled, then said, "Oh! But you cannot follow a stranger to their lair, can you?" He offered his icy arm and introduced, "My name is Frostbite."

"Niel," Niel said and accepted his handshake. Frostbite's hand was cold, but his smile was warm.

Frostbite's lair was in a freezing part of the Ghost Zone--and considering how cold the Ghost Zone generally was, that was saying something. Niel shivered as the coolness seeped past his ghost form, but he hid his discomfort as best as he could. Frostbite's friends had cut the ghost fish apart and served its pieces in dishes on a long dining table outdoors. Many similar-looking ghosts had come out of caves and seated themselves around the table excitedly. Niel was surprised to see that some of them looked like children--little yeti children, of course.

Niel was starving, but he wasn't sure if eating ghost food would help. Would it satiate his half-human stomach, or would he need human food to be full?

"Is something the matter?" Frostbite asked, noticing his hesitation.

Niel ran a hand through his hair nervously and said, "This is a weird request, but do you have any human world food?"

He expected Frostbite to look at him weird, but instead the ghost chuckled and said, "Ah, you are a young ghost, are you not?"

"I'm not that young," Niel said, automatically growing defensive of his age.

Frostbite chuckled again and placed a hand around Niel's shoulders. "It is all right, I know it takes some ghosts a long time to adjust. Luckily for you, I do have human food!"

"You do?" Niel said, equal parts relieved and surprised.

"Of course. I told you we are Phantom's allies, did I not? Sometimes the Great One visits with his human friends, so we are always prepared in case a human visits us."

Just like Frostbite promised, the yeti tribe did store a stash of fruits and bread from the human world, which they placed upon the table on Frostbite's request. None of the ghosts seemed that interested in the food, but Niel scarfed it down hungrily. He had been allowed a seat at the table, and if anyone found that strange, they didn't show. Most of the adults ignored him, although a few children asked him questions curiously.

"Why do you look like Phantom?" one of them said.

"Genes," Niel replied.

The ghost scrunched her face up and asked, "What do pants have to do with anything?"

"No, not jeans. Genes with a G, as in DNA."

"DNA is made of pants?"

Niel decided that describing genetics to a ghost was too hard and let the subject drop.

After the meal was over, Frostbite led Niel to a cave. He wasn't kidding when he said they were fans of Danny--the walls were covered with paintings depicting his great defeat over Pariah Dark. Some of them were poorly scribbled and honestly looked a bit funny (there was one drawing of his face in particular that seemed to stare into Niel's soul).

Still, standing inside a literal shrine for Phantom, Niel felt a pang of insignificance. Vlad had expected Niel to become better than Danny, but his original had done so many amazing feats that Niel was certain he could never overcome. How was he supposed to compare to the "savior of the Ghost Zone" who defeated the king of ghosts? Yes, he knew he was his own person, but he still couldn't help but feel like a rip-off of someone greater.

"Young ghost?" Frostbite called from where he stood by a tunnel leading to a deeper cave. "Come, the map is this way."

Niel swallowed back his emotions and followed the ghost. They emerged in a room full of maps and compasses, but Frostbite ignored those in favor of a glowing chest in the center. He opened it and pulled out a scroll that unfurled to reveal a complete map of the Ghost Zone.

"A ghost artifact," Niel said, sensing the map's power.

"Correct," Frostbite confirmed. "The Infi-map can take you anywhere in the realms. All you have to do is tell it where to go."

Niel stepped forward to hold the map, but he stopped and hesitated. He thought about the cave next to them showing Danny's greatest achievements. He thought about those times Vlad spent training Niel, barking at him with contempt about how much he needed to improve to even be near Danny's level, how Danny was better than him unless he worked harder. He thought about Youngblood dressing like Vlad because he thought that was how a villain looked, and he thought about Vlad's uncaring eyes as he watched Ellie destabilize.

"Well?" Frostbite asked when Niel hadn't moved to take the map. Niel lowered his head and rubbed at his arm.

"Um," he said with a small voice, "do you think I could stay here a while longer?"

Frostbite softened, and he put the map back into its chest. "Of course. You are free to stay here for as long as you like." As he closed the chest's lid, he tapped a claw against it then said, "You are not just lost in location, are you?"

"No," Niel admitted sadly.

Frostbite wrapped his non-ice arm around Niel and gently brought him to his chest. His fur was incredibly soft, and Niel found himself melting into his pelt comfortingly.

"I will not pretend to know what you are going through, but just know that my people are always kind to our guests. You can stay with us here at the Far Frozen until you find yourself."

"And if I don't?" Niel asked, his voice mumbled through Frostbite's fur.

"Then you can still stay with us for however long you wish."

Niel held back his tears so he wouldn't cause Frostbite's fur to become wet. He squeezed his arms around the ghost and mumbled, "Thank you."

Frostbite smiled at him. Even though his teeth were still big and sharp, Niel no longer thought he looked terrifying. He was an incredibly kind ghost, and Niel trusted him more than he trusted Vlad.

Frostbite led them outside of the maps room and the Danny shrine, and into a different cave covered with skinned pelts that Niel guessed must have come from the animals they hunted. Niel didn't know ectoplasm could be warm, but when he sat on a pile of furs that looked like a bed, he found that they warded off the harsh cold of the lair and made him almost sigh in relief.

Frostbite explained to him that they had several cave spaces for sleeping (more like resting, since ghosts didn't need to sleep, not really) and that this one was free for guests to use. He left Niel alone while the smaller ghost nestled himself into the furs greedily. Niel didn't even remember drifting to sleep, only that he closed his eyes and found himself in his dreams...or rather, nightmares.

He couldn't remember everything from his dream, but he remembered enough to know there was Vlad, a lab, a pod breaking, melting and crying. Niel jolted awake with a gasp. At first, he thought he was shuddering from the nightmare, but then he realized that he was freezing cold.

It took him a second to remember that he was in the Far Frozen, and another to notice that he felt even colder than yesterday. He looked down and realized why. His human hands were exposed, the tips of his fingers turning blue. The clothes he was wearing in his human form were not meant to be worn in snow at all.

Niel's teeth chattered as he wrapped the furs around him to keep himself from freezing his limbs off. He was about to transform into his ghost form when a shadow appeared at the cave's entrance.

"Honored guest? I heard crying--" Frostbite said before he froze (heh) at the sight of Niel. Niel looked guilty as he stammered out, "I can explain--"

"You are human," Frostbite said. Then he raised his eyebrows and said, "You are not only similar to Phantom in appearance, are you?"

Niel shrugged sheepishly and admitted, "I'm...his clone."

Niel didn't know how he expected Frostbite to react, but Frostbite just said, "Why did you not say so? We could have served you much better knowing you were a half-ghost!" As Niel watched, the ghost pulled back a curtain and grabbed what looked like a heavy fur coat. He really was prepared in case of human visitors. Frostbite offered Niel the coat, fussing over him all the while.

"I just said I'm a clone," Niel pointed out after wearing the coat (it did stop making him feel like his toes were about to freeze off at any minute). "You don't think that's weird or anything?"

"Weird? Of course not. The Great One has already introduced us to one clone of his--Danielle, I believe."

"Ellie visited this place?"

Frostbite nodded and explained, "The Great One wanted this Danielle to know of what places in the Ghost Zone were safe for her to visit in case she ever needed to leave the human world." His eyes gently met Niel's, and he added, "I know not of who may have cloned you, or if your relationship to Phantom is the same as Danielle's, but I believe that offer of protection extends to you as well. I meant what I told you yesterday. You can stay here whenever and however long you like."

Niel's eyes teared up with emotion (or maybe it was just the cold) and he repeated, "Thank you."

He wanted to thank Frostbite a thousand times more, and he probably would have, but just then one of Frostbite's tribemates entered the cave and said, "Someone has entered our territory."

Frostbite looked back at him and asked, "An ally?"

"The metal hunter."

Frostbite's expression hardened. Niel gripped his coat shakily. He didn't know if there were many metal hunters in the Ghost Zone, but he was almost entirely certain that the yeti was referring to Skulker.

Frostbite must have sensed his unease, because he cast a worried glance at Niel, but Niel kept his face neutral and straightened himself, trying to look courageous. He didn't want to hide behind the Far Frozen tribe while Skulker came for him. He transformed into his ghost half and met Frostbite's eyes, silently telling him that he would be meeting this ghost.

Frostbite broke their eye contact and walked outside. Niel followed him.

Sure enough, Skulker stood waiting in the snow. His suit appeared to steam slightly, and Niel wondered if he had a heating system installed to protect the suit from freezing over.

Skulker's optics landed on Niel, and he grumbled, "Whelp."

"Just whelp? Have I upgraded from knockoff whelp?" Niel retorted.

Skulker didn't reply. Instead, he said, "Plasmius wants you back."

"Took him long enough. I've been away for two days."

"He thought giving you some...time alone would be necessary."

"Are you sure you just don't want to admit that you sucked at tracking me?" Niel said with a taunting smirk. Skulker growled and fisted his hands, but Frostbite snarled at him as if to say, Try to hurt him. I dare you.

Niel loved Frostbite.

Skulker huffed and turned back to Niel. "You and I both know that is not the case. Although, if you ask me, I don't see why Vlad even wants you around."

"Thanks," Niel muttered.

"You could let me return you to Vlad, or I can ignore his orders. Your pelt won't have as high a quality as a natural halfa, but it would be close enough."

"Flattering offer. But no thanks."

"Or there is a third option," Frostbite spoke. "He could stay with us."

Skulker eyed Frostbite like he was trying to think of an insult to throw at him, or maybe he was judging the quality of his fur. Niel knew that Frostbite would fight to protect him if needed, but that thought didn't give him as much comfort as it should have. He clenched his jaw and swallowed, then said, "No. It's fine. I'll...I'll go back to Vlad."

Frostbite stared at him in surprise. "Are you certain?"

He wasn't. But he also didn't want to stay among a tribe that worshipped Danny forever while he spent his nights having nightmares about Vlad without ever confronting his father.

Clockwork had told him that he would be part of a family someday. A part of him had hoped it would be Frostbite's tribe, but something in his guts told him that wasn't the case. Whatever family he would meet, it wouldn't be here. Niel wondered if Clockwork was watching him right now.

He forced a reassuring smile onto his face at Frostbite, then frowned at Skulker and stepped forward.

"I'm certain."

Skulker's faceplate hadn't shifted from its scowl as he brought forth a handcuff and linked himself to Niel. Probably, he needed to be sure the clone wouldn't run off during their trip but thought that holding his hand would ruin his image. Niel turned back to Frostbite and wanted to say some heartfelt goodbye, but what came out instead was a yelp as Skulker impatiently tugged him away from the yeti's home. Frostbite understood what he wanted though, and he waved to him as they left.

Skulker spent the entire journey grumbling about how his job isn't to babysit, and Niel spent the trip dreading his upcoming face-to-face with Vlad.

He doesn't remember when he stopped feeling afraid and started to feel furious instead.

#Danny Phantom #dannymay #dannymay2020 #niel masters #youngblood #frostbite #skulker #fic #fanfiction #writing #mine

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ecto-american · 5 years

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DannyMay 2019 themed story, I’m not late I’m just going my own pace pls be nice to me

Day 11: Shapeshift

"It's going to be a long night."

Those words never rang truer for Maddie, who simply nodded in response. Dr. Carrington flipped through her notes as she jotted down the latest updates before she began to shuffle papers around in the file. It took very little time to do progress notes. Not a whole lot could be documented about Danny, or well Phantom. What was there to record? Nothing that could be comparable to a human. Was Danny still human?

Maddie watched her son as he idly doodled on his board as the doctor did her duties. She could recognize the vague shape of a spaceship and some related doodles as he sketched wildly out of obvious boredom. What was Danny even considered? Was he human? Would it be actually worthwhile to test his vitals? Why did he look like this?

"Buuut we're pretty much all set. In a half-hour, I'll be back, and we'll get you prepped for surgery," the doctor spoke cheerfully, clicking her pen before putting it back in her coat pocket. "Do you have any questions? Danny?"

Danny's head snapped to attention, and he shook his head. She nodded.

"Alrighty, then when I come back, we can finally get you all fixed up." She smiled warmly at him, and Danny nodded eagerly. "And Maddie, you're still going to join?"

"Yes," she replied quickly, ignoring the instant terrible feeling. Operating on Danny...No. She had to make sure everything went alright in this situation.

"Good, then I'll see you in a bit!"

The door closed, and Maddie sighed softly. She began to dig through the bag Jack had left with her. Chargers, her kindle, Jazz's kindle, Jack's tablet, a notebook and pencils. He had also packed some fudge cookies and chips for them. She noticed some glass bottles of green liquid, and she curiously pulled them out. They looked nothing like what she had in the lab, and the tape on them labelling them was nothing like she typically used. Ecto-Dejecto Energy Drink. She turned them in her hand, listening to Danny's marker squeak.

Danny's board nudged her shoulder, and she glanced over to read what he had written.

My Greenbull!

Greenbull? Danny wiped off the board with his forearm before writing more. She turned the vial around in her hand, hoping for some kind of details to be written somewhere. Nothing.

"What is this?" she asked aloud, and Danny held up a finger before continuing to write.

Maddie glanced at the labelling again. Ecto-Dejecto? That was what she and Jack had used before to weaken a ghost, to make it easier to fight them. Did Jack accidentally bring some along? Danny nudged her again, and her eyes scanned his sloppy writing.

Your ecto dejecto had opposite effect so it makes ghosts stronger, I changed it so it's an energy drink. It helps me stay a ghost longer. Jazz knows where I keep it.

"You modified our Ecto-Dejecto?" Maddie was surprised. Danny nodded, and he wiped the board to write more. "Danny, just the fact that you were able to successfully modify our formula is amazing. How come." She cut herself off. How come her son was failing chemistry when he could make this with no guidance?

Because Phantom was seen all hours of the day and night fighting ghosts. During school hours. During bedtime. Past curfew. That's where Danny always was. Hunting ghosts. Fighting them. Getting hurt. Ending up in the hospital so badly injured that he practically lost half of his teeth. And if her math was correct, her understanding of a possible timeline...just about the time Danny began to flunk was when Phantom began to show up.

Yeah, I can't stay a ghost too long, and all the ghost hunting really exhausts me. I drink this to give me a boost to help me. Tuck helped, we call it Greenbull.

Phantom was seen all hours of the day and night fighting ghosts. He showed up to nearly every ghost incident to fight. To the point that Jack and Maddie happily began to let Phantom take on the ghosts, especially during the later hours. From their observations, he was only interested in fighting other ghosts. "Let them tire each other out," she remembered telling Jack. She had been letting her son take on the slack and responsibility that she was supposed to have done. To the point that he was chugging a homemade energy drink that he had to engineer himself to keep himself going because taking a break wasn't really an option. Maddie was a terrible mother.

Wait.

"Tucker knows?" she asked. Danny flinched, and he nodded. He jotted on the board something she already guessed.

Sam too.

He told his friends over her and Jack? Well, made sense. They were all very close. But she was his mom. If he had told her, she could have helped him. She could have fixed this. She could have taken the ghost powers away or found a way to remove the ghostlyness. But by now, his ghostly form had to be stable after having shifted and such for so long. It was likely too late to do anything now.

"When did you tell them?" she wondered. The marker hovered hesitantly over the board before quickly writing.

They were there.

There for what? How did this even...The portal. It had to be. There had to be no other way. Nothing else they could have made or produced would result in something like this, in this weird ghostly powers. And Danny lied to her. He lied to her face about where he was when the portal had apparently flickered to life while she and Jack were out of the house. That the portal had turned on when nobody was home. But how did it happen? She needed to know. Her mind was racing with all the things that could have gone wrong, the many possibilities. How could this entire situation even be real? How could she even be assured that Phantom was telling the truth? What if this was a big lie? No, no. Jazz wouldn't have gone along with it. Jazz had to have known. Her behavior, her reactions. She knew. This was Danny. This was her brother. This was her son.

"What happened?" she whispered. Danny shook his head, wiping off the board and leaning back into the pillows. Right. Right...now was not a good time to discuss this. Phantom, her son?, his face was still swollen, and the IV of medicine was slowly dripping. The only thing keeping him pain-free. Because she failed to do anything to help keep him safe. She was nearly doing the opposite come to…

She leaned into him a bit, reaching out to gently stroke his hair comfortingly. His hair didn't feel like it had been bleached or dyed. This was natural. But how? Could Danny shapeshift? How the hell did she not know about this? Danny looked at her with such a content, yet exhausted look. Now that she knew...how could she have suspected nothing? All she could see now when staring at the ghost boy was how much he resembled her only son. What kind of mother didn't recognize her own child like that? Even if he was...

What else had he not told her?

Danny pointed to the glass vial in her hand, and Maddie glanced at it before looking back to him. He made a drinking motion, and she took the cap off before letting him have it. Danny glanced at the bottle, and he quickly threw his head back, pouring the contents into his mouth quickly. Maddie winced at the half-choked coughing and struggles to swallow before Danny finally handed her an empty bottle back. He wheezed a bit but smiled, giving a thumbs up. Did this work that quickly?

The Ecto-Dejecto, like everything they made, was meant to only work on ghosts. No wonder they always targeted Danny. Or was it? Was Danny a ghost? Did Danny...die?

She froze completely at that idea as she watched Danny take up doing more doodles. More spaceships and stars. Was she that neglectful of a mother that she didn't notice her own son passing away? What else could he be? Did Danny die, and she didn't notice? How could he look so differently when masquerading as Phantom? Was this his true form now? Did Danny die?

This wasn't the time to discuss that. Not when Danny couldn't even say a single word. But she could feel her hands begin to shake. Did her child die without her even noticing? What kind of fucking mother could not notice that? Ghosts could shapeshift. And there was still so much unknown about death. Did Danny have to force himself to shapeshift into what he used to look like so he could be around? So that she would continue to love him or something? Didn't he know that she'd love him no matter what? Why was he even around if he had died? How, why, what.

"Danny, did you die?" It came out so quietly and softly. Her son stared at her with wide, frightened and confused eyes.

She could see Danny visibly swallow anxiously. It did nothing to help her own worries. He slowly wiped away his doodles, and once presented with a blank slate, he began to write. Slowly. Constantly stopping to briefly wipe away the words and rethinking. Maddie could do nothing but stare intensely as she waited for an answer.

A knock interrupted them, and Dr. Carrington came into the room with a smile, followed by a nurse.

"Hey, we can finally get this show on the road," she chirped cheerfully.

They walked up, and Danny absentmindedly handed Maddie the board and markers. They began to shift to where they could move the hospital bed. Maddie paid little mind as she read over what Danny had begun to write. All that was written was

The portal

Her worst fears were confirmed, and she hated it. She stayed painfully quiet as she wiped the board, shoving it into the backpack along with the markers. It stuck out the top, and she left it on the chair. Maddie not only was so oblivious that she had missed that her own child had died, but was so neglectful that she was the reason he had died.

"Just to avoid some drama, we're gonna sheet you again, okay? Standard procedure like we been doing," one of the nurses told Danny, and he gave a thumbs up. She smiled warmly at him, pulling his sheets over his head to hide the ghost from any possible publicity. This had to remain as quiet as possible.

Maddie pocketed two more vials of the homemade energy drink as she began to follow the others in a fog. What kind of mother...what kind of person could miss...would be oblivious… Her eyes welled with tears. A horrible mom wouldn't have noticed, too busy in the lab looking for ways to destroy ghosts instead of being a good mom who was active in her son's life. Where did she go wrong? When did she begin failing as a parent? What did she do to make her son believe that he had to keep this from her?

They wheeled him into the surgical room without incident.

"Come get some scrubs and wash up," Dr. Carrington instructed Maddie, motioning for her to follow.

"Alright. I have something that should help Phantom while we're operating," Maddie said, and she held up the vials. Dr. Carrington smiled.

"Perfect!" she chirped. "What's its purpose?"

"It boosts his power, meaning it should also boost any healing effects and keep him stable," she replied. At least, that was the impression she got from Danny. Dr. Carrington simply nodded. "We can mix it into the IV bag."

"Sounds good. Let's get washed, and then you can do just that."

Maddie took a deep breath. For the first time in her life, it was giving her anxiety to, essentially, dissect a ghost in some capacity. Hopefully Danny wouldn't shapeshift back. Is that how this worked? This night was going to burn into the mother's memory forever for all the wrong reasons.

She slowly washed up and donned her gifted scrubs, anxiously following Dr. Carrington into the room. Danny was still awake for now, nodding and confirming things with the surgeon.

A version of her biggest dream was here. Surrounded by a company of doctors about to operate on Amity Park's greatest menace, discovering his unique biology and being able to contribute to her field of study. But this was nightmare fuel of the highest degree, and she felt sick. She was regretting not asking Jack to do this. It wasn't too late to-oh yeah it was. It was so late for everything. Just everything.

"Maddie do you wanna get the IV set up with Nurse Sanchez? She can help you mix in your stuff."

"I can," was all Maddie could bring herself to say. Her mouth felt so dry. She went over to the nurse.

"You can just give it to me," the nurse told her. Maddie didn't argue, and she handed the vials over. She hoped it would be enough to keep Danny's...form like this. The nurse thanked her, and she set to work.

Maddie found herself standing right over Danny as he stared off to the side. Towards the tray of medical tools, with anxiety written clearly on his features. She lightly stroked his hair, and he glanced up at her.

"I'll be here the whole time," she said. Though at this point, was it a threat or a comfort?

The later it thankfully seemed, as Danny visibly perked up and nodded. He held his hand up, and she took it, giving it a light squeeze as her heart sank a bit. How could she be here, doing this? Could she just get through this pretending he was only Phan-no. No. No, no, no. She couldn't do that. Not anymore. Not just blindly pretend. This was her son, and a possible chance to finally do something good for him as a mother.

She watched his IV bag get changed out, and she prayed that the mix kept him together. Prevented this secret from becoming exposed. The new mixture soon was slowly dripping in.

"Alright, Danny, we're ready to get started," the anesthesiologist spoke, and Danny let go of his mom's hand. He put the mask over his face gently. "Count backwards."

Danny made a noise of sorts, and in less than thirty seconds, he was out like a light. Maddie's breath caught in her throat as she fearfully anticipated his form to change. It did not.

The surgeon's words were muffled in her mind as she watched them make the first incision, then slowly, for the next six hours, begin to make the careful and painstaking task of wiring her baby back together. The process felt like it would never end.

#danny phantom #Maddie fenton #my phics #phics #broken ectoplasm #history #dannymay #dannymay19 #my dannymay #my dannymay19

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goliath-de-senfina-sango · 4 years

Link

Danny takes a look in the weapons vault for something useful, Tucker gets some info, and Sam has a moral debate in her head instead of out loud.

To say that the situation between Danny and his parents was tense would be to say that space was a little dark and a touch chilly. Ending an argument by passing out was dramatic, yes, but not conducive to following that argument up with maybe something calmer, more reasoned out. On one hand, Danny was never going to be reasonable about the idea of committing genocide on the dead, a feat he was almost entirely certain was impossible and yet even if it was possible, it would be akin to setting off all the nukes on Earth at once. It was a horrible idea, and if he thought about it any further Danny knew he was going to start causing things to float and go icy cold and dark. He may have accidentally frozen part of his room when he got home from the hospital.

So, instead of asking his parents ‘hey Mom and Dad, have you made any tools or weapons to expose a shapeshifting ghost?’ like he would’ve in the case of a slightly less tense relationship with his parents (he could see the threads that bound him to them, and they were strained, thinner than before, and that frightened him), Danny had to check himself. Which meant going into the kitchen and heading through the door, down the stairs and ignoring the second flight of stairs that’d lead to the lab (to the portal, to his Death, to his Undeath, to all the hurt he’d ever experienced compounded over itself all at once). He instead kept going down a hallway, one that held two doors, both sealed up. One was the Cursed Artifacts vault, and it didn’t surprise Danny that he could see light pulsing at the edges of the door, calling out to him in a way that he could see but not hear and yet knew was a cry all the same.

“I bet there’re dolls in there. Not even because they’re actually cursed but because they think they are.” Instead of finding out how cursed anything in there actually was, Danny turned to the other door, opening it up and looking out across rows and shelves of weapons. The walls were honeycombed with drawers like file cabinets. The ones that were open were typically the more experimental ones, while the rest were connected to the Portal Pockets so that they could be summoned on the fly whenever needed. Checking over the experimental shelves, Danny tapped his fingers against his arms and legs, trying not to think too hard about any of these things being used against him.

“The Fenton Ghost Gloves,” Danny read from the notecard written in his mother’s patient script. “When activated the gloves release a steady current of metaphysical energy (hereby referred to as ecto energy) across their surface, facilitating tactile interaction with a ghost regardless of the ghost’s selective tangibility. Concept derived from the Specter Deflector™ as suggested by Tucker Sazad Foley.” He put the card back and sighed. “Not what I needed but good to know about. Maybe Tuck and I can make some of these of our own - if it’s in the experimental phase then it’s fitted to Dad.”

Danny walked over to the Next New Thing. He groaned, running a hand through his hair and tugging on the curls. “Looks like we need a new mixer. That was mine! Just cause Mom can’t make anything but cookies or fudge doesn’t mean that they should just. Argh.” He huffed and then picked up the card for whatever his precious mixer had been sacrificed to make. “The Fenton Ghost Peeler. Oh, wow, they couldn’t get a potato peeler for this one? Capable of… stripping a ghost layer by layer, peeling them like an onion, so as to weaken it for capture or for examination post-capture. Yikes.” Setting down the card, he picked it up and examined the buttons, keeping the obvious business end away from his face. “That sounds painful, probably even sadistic, but I guess this is what I’m after.” He pocketed it, placing it not with standard weapon storage but his own private little pocket that only he had access to outside of emergencies.

Making sure the door was locked, Danny walked to the stairs and ignored the plethora of colors radiating from the tiny seams of the Artifacts vault, and the star-like pull tugging him downward, deeper, toward a world still unseen. He had this world to worry about, and the next one could wait.

Flying his way to Agatha’s soup kitchen would’ve been faster than using his skateboard but if Hunter had taught him anything, being subtle could be a life or death thing. With that shapeshifter on the loose, Tucker felt being subtle was the right path to go down while alone. Tucker moved with an ear and both eyes open for trouble, which he felt like he was going to get. When he got within 2 blocks of the kitchen, however, that feeling vanished, replaced with an acute awareness of how hungry he was and how little ectoplasmic food Danny had eaten. That surety that he was being watched and hunted faded away and Tucker stopped, looking around. “Note to self, shifter won’t approach Agatha’s territory.”

When he actually got there, the volunteer at the door was one of the same ones who had to be convinced to let Agatha in without calling the Fentons. She had dark skin, bright brown eyes, and long curly hair done up in a bun. She smiled when she saw him, waving. “Hi, there! Tucker, right? You were one of the kids that brought Aggie to us?”

“Yeah, though most people call me TF for Too Fine.” He shot her a pair of finger guns with a grin and a wink, not even flinching when she laughed at it all. He was hardly serious about that right now, and even if he were everything took time.

“Kid, I’m 21. That’d be the creepiest thing under the sun for me to call you.” Tucker laughed with her then and they shook their heads together. “What can I do for ya?”

“I uh need to speak with Ms. Reece. If she’s available.” Tucker knew he wasn’t Danny and that Agatha had no explicit reason to talk to him, but he hoped that his being best friends with the kids who’d gotten her into this place would be enough. He wasn’t a researcher on Sam’s level but he knew she’d need some description beyond ‘malicious supernatural entity’ to figure out what Spectra was.

Daisy - and that was her name, he remembered now - blinked and shrugged before patting Tucker on the shoulder and leading him over toward a door marked Staff Only. “You wait here and I’ll see if Aggie can meet with you.” Tucker nodded and leaned against a wall, scrolling through his phone and looking over Spectra’s staff profile again. His eyes narrowed at the mention of an assistant, wondering what a school counselor needed with an assistant.

Before he could look into this Bertrand Baxter, however, a white holographic head poked through the door and Tucker jumped to attention, Wrist Ray™ aimed and charging. He took a deep breath, put away the weapon and offered a shaky smile at Agatha, who managed a sheepish one herself. “Sorry about that, child. I’ve just been in the habit of it and everyone round here has gotten used to me doing that. How are ya deary?”

“Hello, Ms. Reece,” Tucker said with a wave. “I’ve been better. And you?”

“Oh, I’m doing well! I just wish I could do more.” She frowned. White rippling edges began to tint green. “So many people are out there just like these dears, who can’t get a good meal.”

Tucker frowned as his brain worked double-time to figure something out. He didn’t want Agatha to grow unstable and dangerous because she realized the limitations of being in one place. What did he learn by proxy as Danny’s best friend? Ghosts can do things to satisfy their desires in efficient ways on scales grand enough to terrify. They curse objects to spread their malicious machinations beyond their haunts do things they normally can’t. They- “What if… you made lunch boxes that always restored themselves? Always have a healthy meal inside of them? Then you can give those out to people all over as fast as you can make em, and feed just about everyone.” Tucker had no clue if she could even do that but he dearly hoped so. Not only because he was worried about his own immediate safety - though he was - but also because if she could do that and managed it, then that would be unbelievably great for pretty much everyone in the world. He may not have Sam’s grand, overarching passionate goals as he was very much grounded in the real world not the ideal one, but ghost powers made everything possible.

In any case, Agatha stopped turning green. Instead, for a moment, Agatha didn’t look like a ghost the way Tucker knew them to look. Her skin was a warm brown, her uniform pink and white with thick yellow rubber gloves and her eyes were full of life in a way that Tucker hadn’t ever seen in her or Sydney.

For a moment, Tucker got a clear glimpse of what Agatha was like when she was alive.

She flickered back to that holographic quality and beamed at him. “Oh, Tucker! That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll get to work on that in my Cafeteria! But you came for more than solving my problems, didn’t you?”

“I’m happy to help, Ms. Reece, but I did need to ask you about someone.” Tucker cleared his throat and braced himself. “Do you know about Penelope Spectra?”

Agatha’s hair ignited, eyes turned into red pits of fury and her body shone lime green. “What bout that ishka? ” Oh, Tucker almost disliked that icy cold tone as much as he did the sound of Agatha’s fiery and immediate rage.

“She isn’t human, but she is back at Casper high and Danny, Sam and I need to know what she is to get rid of her.”

“ Hod that filthy, joy suckin- ” Agatha went on a list of what Tucker could only say were old Minnesotan Not Swears. He was impressed that she was refraining from swearing up a storm with how long she went on, but a lack of lungs made ranting names about someone pretty easy, he guessed. “ -get back without my notice? ”

“You were a touch busy with us,” Tucker soothed. “Do you know what she is?”

Agatha took a breath and closed her eyes, the fire that was her hair snapping around waspishly. When she opened them they were focused on Tucker like a microscope. “The Infinite Realms are called that cause they’re endless and infinite. Every kind of world you can imagine and all the ones you can’t exist, and some of theirs end up here. Spectra ’s from what ya call the Abyss. The Ocean of Dark.” Agatha shuddered.

“ Penelope Spectra is a rippling, inky darkness that pulls your greatest fear, your greatest sorrow, the darkest worst thing within you that you resist day after day, or even that you don’t up to the surface. She makes you face everything you think is wrong with you, even the tiniest flaw in the back of your head that you know better about yourself, and spits it back at you with all the force of a wave crashing down and drowning you in misery and self-doubt. And then she feeds on it like a festering parasite.” Agatha’s face twisted up in disgust. “ She is suffering and fear and misery, and she wreaks it upon her victims to feed herself.”

“That’s… quite the description.” Tucker didn’t dare take his phone out to take notes just yet, all too sure that’d look like disrespect to the ghost.

“That Ishka got me and half of the school killed! I’m bein rather generous in how I call her.”

“Understood.” Tucker nodded and took a step back. “Thank you for your help, ma’am.”

“And thank you kindly for the idea, Tucker. Stay safe and aim well.”

“Damn, that’s a description,” Sam muttered, pages flipping in her hands and herbal tea resting half drank next to her. She was slowly recovering from both a bug that seemed to be going around and the drain from her spell. Still, she had a feeling that unless she found some powerful artifact straight from the Infinite Realms it was back to her martial arts and Fenton Weapons for all defenses. Fine against a meathed like Dash, but not so fine when it came to dealing with an emotional vampire.

“It sounds to me like she blames Spectra for what Sydney did,” Danny said, “Which is probably something Sydney might need to hear. After all, if Spectra’s track record is something to go off of then…”

“Let’s save that for later, please and thanks.” Sam sighed. “I don’t need to think about that right now. What I do need to think about is… aha! Alright, thanks to a bunch of internet searches and checking through a few translated books, I think I have an idea of what Spectra is.” She finished her cup of tea and made a face at the strong taste. Regardless, it should help. “Agatha said something about the Dark Ocean, right?”

“Yup.”

“So, while she could be a few things I think the closest match is a Fomorian from Irish myth. Seafarers from the Middle East that came to Ireland centuries before Tuatha Dé Danann arrived there. The Tuatha De Danann are gods,” she answered before Tucker could finish asking. “With our admittedly limited knowledge on ghosts, I’d say that a group of monstrous entities from a dark ocean finding their way here through a portal of some sort and becoming part of legends makes sense.” Sam sighed, leaning back against her wall of fluffy lavender pillows. “If the Infinite Realms are really that and beings from other realms can just make a portal here whenever they feel like it, how many myths, legends, and religions can be traced back to something from another realm hopping over to Earth?”

No one said anything for the longest moment and Sam sneezed into a tissue. Tucker cleared his throat and pushed through a near palpable wall of awkwardness that Sam had established. “What kind of things do the myths say we need in order to hurt her?”

“Well, fighting a Fomorian effectively sort of requires you to use a magickal weapon of some sort. I’m pretty sure that magick is just ectoplasmic energy at this point, so we’re good there.”

“Now we just need an excuse for me to shoot a staff member with an experimental weapon made by the town crazies.” Danny huffed and Sam sucked her teeth at that. How would they corner her without anyone stopping them? Finding her at night sounded like a horrible idea if she was from the Dark Ocean, and dealing with her during the day likely meant at lunch, which would mean the entire school would be available for her to use against them.

Tucker grinned on her screen and puffed out his chest. “Well, that part’s actually covered by Spectra’s own bullshit planning. She has an assistant registered with the school, and you’d think someone with such great planning skills wouldn’t have an assistant with living family members come with her to the school where his grandson goes to.” Sam’s eyes widened and she leaned forward as Tucker sent a link and a picture of a man captioned as Bertrand Baxter. “Yes, that Baxter.”

“Holy shit,” Sam whispered. “All we need to do is get Dash to expose his grandfather as dead and we’d have Spectra dead to rights as either an accomplice in a haunting that’s been hurting the school at the very least. If we can line up the shot right we-” Sam cut herself off with a violent fit of coughing and sneezing and leaned away from the screen with the force of it all. Once she was done attempting to cough up her entire lung, Sam wiped her face with a fresh tissue. “Ugh, I guess I mean if you can line up the shot right. I feel utterly useless like this.”

“Well, if it’s alright I may be able to help with that.” Sam didn’t have the energy to jump like her body wanted to, but she did turn quickly to see Sydney Poindexter floating sheepishly in front of her, head turned to look off into the nearest corner. “I uh. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, and after you and Danny showed that he can heal people with a little effort, and after a little talk with Jazz, I thought maybe. Maybe I can try? I have more energy to spare, at the very least.”

For a second Sam considered telling Sydney to leave. After all, he’d flat out admitted to what the rumors about him had stated: he snapped and shot up the school. That was inexcusable. And yet, a soul-sucking misery demon looking to feed on every ounce of negative emotion that she could had been an influence, hell might’ve even been the whole driving force. And Sydney had basically been put through torture before and after. Part of her felt that he should be pushed away, shoved in a thermos and returned to the Realms and the other remembered that Agatha, one of his victims, blamed Spectra for what happened to him. Sam would’ve let this moral debate in her head go on forever if she could, really.

But then her lungs had another fit and she decided that pragmatism won out here. So she held out her hand and sniffed when she could. “Go ahead, not like this can get any worse.”

Sydney beamed, his form sliding further into focus and opacity, and he took her hand. His tongue stuck out of his mouth as he concentrated, so much like Danny she wanted to laugh. But then she felt how different from Danny he was. Danny’s energy was vast light bright protection and Sydney felt more gentle cautious guilt warm soft in a way that Sam was hard-pressed to define. But then that warmth spread slowly and steadily through her body and it was like a fever but five times as intense. And then the energy cooled, stealing away the extra heat to soothe her, and Sam felt bone tired. Her sinuses were cleared and all that, she could almost certainly tell, but she was so tired . “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I guess I was able to knock out your flu but you’ll need your own energy to handle any sort of restoration?”

“Let Sam rest a couple days, Syd,” Tucker said at the edges of her awareness. Sydney pulled her up in her bed and her protests died on her lips as warm comfy blankets were tucked around her. “We’ll take on the shadow lady when we’re all at 100 percent.”

“Fine, I’ll rest, but I want a new weapon to compensate.” With that demand gotten out, darkness overtook Sam and the sound of Tucker instructing Sydney on how to turn off her laptop correctly faded out.

#Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #Tucker Foley #Agatha Reece #Lunch LAdy Ghost #The Lunch Lady #Sam Manson #Sydney Poindexter #School shooting mention tw #fanficition #Phanfiction #fanfic #Phanfic #fanphiction #fanphic #phanphiction #phanphic #Monstrous to Supernatural #Rexy Writes

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darks-ink · 5 years

Note

“Blind” for the prompt

This prompt was just asking for angst so who am I to deny it? On a somewhat related note, is it just me or do these prompt fills get longer every time I write one?

Hard bark pressed against Danny’s back. Soft grass underneathhis hands. The park was quiet, bar the soft rustling of the breezestirring the plant life.

The sensations were grounding. Stopped Danny from feeling likehe’d lost all connection to the world.

Because he saw nothing but black. Despite the relatively earlytime of day… he saw nothing.

He kept his eyes closed, knowing that he would only cause himselfmore pain if he tried to open them. It would do him no good anyway.It was better to wait until they had healed. If they wouldheal.

But he couldn’t think likethat. Of course theywould heal! All his injuries healed, sooner or later. This- thiswould be no exception. It couldn’tbe. He- he needed hiseyes. He couldn’t- he couldn’t be blind.

The warm blood still spillingdown his face made an unpleasant reminder of the fact that he wasn’thealing yet. His ghost form, theoretically, would offer him betterhealing… But he needed to get home. He needed… He needed help.

Danny stuck his hand inside hispocket, blindly searching for his phone. Oncehe found it, he flipped it open. His fingers traced over the buttons,blindly selecting one. He crossed his fingers and hoped he’d chosenwell. Then he held down the button until the other end answered.

“FentonWorks, this is Maddiespeaking,” a clear voice rung out from the other end. Luck wasonce again not on his side –he had hoped for one of his friends or Jazz – but he would takewhatever he got.

“Mom,” he said, or tried tosay. His voice cracked and his breath caught. Danny was vaguely awareof the hot salty tears that streamed down his face – when had hestarted crying?

“Danny?” She sounded far morealert now, apparently picking up on his distress. “What’s wronghoney?”

“I- I-” he stammered, beforestopping to collect himself. He tried to wipe away his tears with hisfree hand, but only pushed them into his open wounds. He hissed atthe unexpected pain.

“Danny?” his mom repeated,worry clear in her voice. “Danny sweetie, please tell me what’swrong.”

“I’m- There was a ghostattack,” he finally managed, voice shaky and cracking. His facehurt, he was scared. He wanted it to stop.Despite everything he hadbeen through since he had become halfghost… he wasn’t prepared for this.“In- In the park.”

He heard his mom shift. “Areyou hurt?”

Yes, he thought.

“I think so,” he said. “Ithink- I think I’m bleeding.”

He licked his lips and tastediron and copper. The distinct taste of his ectoplasm-infused blood.

He wished he wasn’t familiarenough with it to recognize it by taste.

“Okay.” A sound like his momlaid her hand over the phone receiver, then muffled yelling. “Jack!Danny was attacked by a ghost in the park. He’s hurt!”

He couldn’t make out what hisdad yelled back. More rustling as his mom uncovered the phone again.“Okay,” she said again. “We’re on our way now, okay sweetie?Just stay calm.”

“I’ll… I’ll try.” Hetried to sound confident, certain…But he was sure that he failed.

“We’ll be right there,” hismom assured him.

Then a beep sounded as she hungup the phone. Heput his phone back in his pocket. Ithad done its job. His parents didn’t carry cellphones, so itwouldn’t do him any more good.

Dannypushed himself flatter against the tree. He wished he knew where,exactly, his Thermos was. He would’ve felt safer holding it.

That, andhe didn’t want to risk anyone accidentally letting out the ghostsinside. Not after- Not after what he had gone through to catch them.

Spectra was awful as always, ofcourse. But he had managed to get her first, for once.

No, it was Bertrand that hadcaused this.

Danny had gotten the ghostlyshapeshifter trapped in the beam of the Thermos, but the ghost got ina lucky strike in the last minute. Threw a sharp weapon of some sortwithout Danny noticing.

He had already capped the Thermoswhen the weapon hit, and he hadreflexively flung his arms in front of his face. The Thermos hadslipped from his hand in the same motion, landingsomewhere nearby.

Close. Butnot close enough to find without sight.

After that Danny had scrambledbackwards until he hit a tree. Then he had sat in silence for a fewmoments, trying to listen for anyone nearby.

When he heard no one, and knowingthat no one had been there during the fight, he had shifted back tohuman.

Which was how he had ended uphere in the first place. Human,with blood pouring down his face. Waiting for his parents to arrive.Hoping that somehow, somehow,they could fix this.

An unmeasurable amount of timelater noises started coming from the distance. The cacophonous noiseof his parents busting their way through the bushes of the park –and their yelling.

“I’m here!” he tried toyell back, but his voice faltered and came out far too quiet.

“I’m over here!” he triedagain, but once more his voice failed.

He shoved his face in his handsand growled in frustration. Then he simply listened, waiting for hisparents to get a little closer.

Finally he tried a third time.“Mom, dad?” he yelled, and while his voice cracked, it came outloud enough.

The rustling of his parentsquietened, and then his mom spoke up again. “Danny?”

“Over here!” Finally hemanaged it at the volume he was trying for. He would just ignore thepained undertones – he thought that they could be excusedconsidering the circumstances.

Withan enormous amount of noise his parents broke through into the openarea where Danny was waiting. Their steps audibly faltered when theysaw him. Or, well, he assumedthat that waswhen they saw him.

“Danny?” his mom asked, voicequiet and sad.

He turned to face theirdirection, repressing the urge to open his eyes. He highly doubted hecould see anything anyway. Instead he offered them a shaky smile.“Hey mom.”

“Oh, Danny,” she whispered.Then suddenly she was next to him, gently touching his face.

He flinched back automaticallyfrom the unexpected contact, opening his eyes to see-

Nothing.

Still nothing but black.

His mom pulled him against her,her arms wrapping around him. He dropped his head onto her shoulder,feeling the shaking of her body. Was she crying?

His mom never cried. Whywas she crying? Surely itwasn’t that bad?

Lie, he thought. But heignored the quiet inner voice. He didn’t want to believe it. Wantedto live in his fantasy a little longer, where he couldn’t be hurt.Not for long. Not permanently.

“Mads,” his dad said, alsofrom closer than Danny had expected. He didn’t think the man couldsneak up on him, but somehowhe did. Maybe Danny was moreout of it than he thought. “We need to get him to the hospital.”

“Right,” she sniffled. One ofthe arms around Danny left, probably so she could wipe away hertears.

“Wait.” Danny shoved away theremaining arm, automatically glancing around the space he was sittingin. Not that he could actually seeanything, but maybe…

Well, he wasn’t sure what hewas hoping for. “I- My Thermos. It should be around heresomewhere.”

“Your Thermos?” his dadrepeated, his jumpsuit crinkling a little as he moved. Lookingaround, probably. “We can fetch it later, Danny-boy. We need to getyou treated first.”

“No, but-” Hepushed himself further upright. Tried to cast his ghost-sense out inthe hopes of picking up the faint ectoplasmic energy Spectra andBertrand emitted evenwhile captured. “-I got the ghost. He’s in the Thermos.”

“You caught the ghost?”his mom questioned, sounding rather skeptical. He would feeloffended, but he supposed that it was a fair point. Danny Fentonnever showed any interest in ghosts, let alone any competence incatching them.

“I think I see it,” his dadsaid before Danny had a chance to defend himself. He supposed it wasfor the best. He didn’t think that he could make a very gooddefense with how badly his face was hurting. Sharppain stabbed through him every time he blinked. He should probably…close his eyes again. Itdidn’t matter if they were open, anyway.

Armshooked underneath his knees and arms, and suddenly he was lifted offthe ground. He, in turn, wrapped his own arms around his mom’sneck.

“Sorry sweetie.” She soundedfaintly apologetic, but not much. “We need to get you to thehospital as soon as possible.”

She remained quiet a littlelonger as she carried him off, presumably in the direction of the RV.“I think… I think that ectoplasm got into the injury.”

He hummed, a neutral answer. Heknew ectoplasm was inthe wound- it was his own. But he couldn’t tell her that.

“Danny, I…” She sighed,sounding incredibly tired all of a sudden. “I don’t think thatyou’ll ever see again.”

It wasn’t what he wanted tohear, but… He was pretty sure she was right.

And he didn’t know how he feltabout that.

He supposed it was for the best.He would have toretire Phantom – if he couldn’t see he couldn’t fly orfight. And that way no one could recognize the scar that he wouldsurely get. It would’vebeen asking forsomeone to connect the dots.

But that didn’t make him feelany better.

#danny phantom #phanfiction #phanfic #dp fanfiction #dp fanfic #danny fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #goldenpheonix5 #dark writes #prompt fill #i had an idea for a happy-ish end but it was long enough already #plus i dunno how i would've gotten the fic there anyway #angst

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phantomphangphucker · 5 years

Text

He’s Shifting The Shape Of Possibility - DannyMay - Day 11 ShapeShift

Summary: Awareness of change is the most powerful change of all.

(Continuation of my fic Fenton Is That Broken Character)

“Phantom! Hey!...Phantom!”, Jack shouts and waves at what he’s just assuming to be the long black and white silhouette of Phantom, as he flies against the backdrop of the night sky. Waving his hands a bit more as the form loops around and stills in the air, floating in place for a bit before slowly flying down.

Jack watches with an eager grin as Phantom lazily wraps his ghostly tail on and around a tree branch. Resting his torso on the branch as he puts his chin on his hand, “please tell me there is not some other small fry ghost running around? And could you even tell that was me up there?”. Jack can feel the humour in the ghost's words even if Phantom looks a bit annoyed, “not a lot of ghosts are black and white you know! Besides! If it was some other ghost then I’d get to shoot it!”. Jack laughs a bit and Phantom laughs along but much quieter, “true, you are a Fenton after all. Not some groupie”. Jack nods strongly, “yup! Us Fenton’s are a tough bunch”. Digging in his pocket as he continues speaking, “developed some new tech actually! It’s not a harmful one or anything so was wondering if you’d feel up to playing test subject? Help advance the field of ghost hunting and all that”.

Jack can clearly see Phantom’s chuckling as he waves the, officially named, Fenton SpookSense in his direction. Phantom rests his cheek on the branch and replies with a smirk, “and now what does this one do? And just what sort of advancement could you mean? Pretty sure you hunters are advanced enough”.

“Nonsense! There are always improvements to be made! But this ones more for cataloging, you guys can be a bit tricky to keep track of and figure out how to deal with”, Jack taps on the device, “so this little baby just reads a ghosties ecto-field and tells us how strong you are. How much of a potential threat, not that you’re really a threat though”.

“Many of us are not, strength doesn’t determine if someone’s dangerous”, Jack can tell Phantom’s a bit unimpressed. Shrugging at the ghost, “honestly, Phantom. You really are the only friendly I know I’ve met. I’m sure there must be others but something tells me they don’t come out of the Ghost Zone to play, much. You really are an anomaly”. Phantom smirks down, words laced with sarcasm, “wow, you’re just great at convincing me to offer up my glow for testing aren’t you?”.

Jack grins goofily and rubs the back of his head, “well, you haven’t ran off so I must be doing something right! Plus, this is really more for knowing what kind of action to take if there actually is an issue. Needs touch ups of course”.

Tilting his head at the Spook as he realises Phantom really shouldn’t know that Jack pretty much needs permission to test this, “though, how’d you know I needed you to let me near your ecto-field to test it?”. Jack just barely catches Phantom looking a bit nervous before that emotion flickers away. Phantom rolls his eyes, “because the only way Jack Fenton would ask before testing something on me, is if it was either, harmful or needed a willing participant”. Jack would feel insulted if it wasn’t for the rather affectionate tone Phantom used. Jack sits down on the bench beneath the tree, leaning back to look up at Phantom, “you’re not wrong, Phantom. But you’re also not exactly the easiest to get a hold of to even ask. This little guy needs to actually be touching your ecto-field to scan you”. Phantom laughs loudly at this, “well that makes it pretty useless for any non-friendlies then! Sounds like it needs more than just some touch ups!”. Jack joins Phantom in laughing lightly, “well that’s only for the full strength one, still need to rebuild the little one. But I’m sure I’d need the full strength one to get a result off you. No point blowing up another mini!”.

Phantom snickers as he lowers himself down a bit, “what can’t handle all this raw power?”. Jack shakes his head amusedly, Phantom always has quite the sense of humour about him. Even at the expense of himself or in frighteningly dangerous situations, it’s admirable really, “no clue really, I know you were a seven years ago but no way you haven’t grown stronger. Besides this one’s already made and we get along now, right? So it’s feasible enough that you’d agree”. Jack’s not exactly sure why Phantom stares at him funny for a few seconds before responding, “I always got along with you and the rest of Amity. You just needed to get along with me back. Which, if I’m honest, took longer than it should have”.

Jack can’t help but feel a bit guilty, Phantom, from nearly day one, seemed to be making a point that he was the good guy. But it took him saving the entire town for anyone, well any adults at least, to see him as anything other than a menace. And Jack knew he and his wife were the worst for that, having only stopped hunting him in the past two years. Nodding up at Phantom, “yeah, yeah it did. You really were a case of the kids knowing better, my son especially. Just like you, he always seems to just know things. Both of you are little anomalies, maybe the “Danny” name is cursed or something”. Jack can’t help but laugh at the mixture of embarrassment, amusement, and out of place paranoia, on Phantoms’ face. Phantom rolls his eyes, crosses his arms and slides his tail out of the tree; before changing to his legs. Floating slightly above the seat of the bench, “you have no idea”. Phantom flicks a finger at the device, “so what in all does that thing tell you, exactly?”.

Jack turns the screen on and points out the fields, leaning a bit towards Phantom but making it clear he has no intention of getting the SpookSense in range to test him without permission. “PL for power level, which us hunter’s rank from one to thirty. Technically there’s a zero level but that’s just for plain ol’ ectoplasm. Though I doubt you don’t already know about power levels”, chuckling at Phantoms’ knowing smirk as he continues his explanation, “class is more something Fenton made. Tells me how much of a potential threat or danger you could be. It’s based on a bunch of things from power level to powers and age. The title section really only applies to ghosts given some specific duty by the Zone. Like being a Ghost Zone cop or the highest knight of some ghost kingdom”.

Phantom laughs and leans back, letting himself stop floating to come into proper contact with the bench, “well, for telling you only three things, that little guy will give you more information than you think”. Jack has no idea what to make of that, because how could this give any further information? And he fully expects Phantom to be strong so, “can’t say I know what you mean, ghost. I expect your PL to be high and since my son says he wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a class six, then neither would I. And even with the title section, you’re well known and who knows just how powerful of things you’ve faced and won. You also clearly have a sense of justice and protection, so I fully expect you’d be a cop or maybe even a knight”. Tapping at his chin, “maybe even a title related to Amity. Like Amity’s keeper or protector”.

“Wow, you’re opinion of me sure has changed. I’m pretty sure I’d have had a heart attack years ago if you even implied I was Amity’s protector”. Jack can’t help but smirk at that unusual Phantom humour poking its head up, though he can tell Phantom’s not really joking around here. He means what he said and Jack does feel a bit guilty at that, “yes well, I was wrong”, chuckling a bit, “though if you have a heart attack, none the less a heart, that is a flat out scientific marvel. An utter impossibility, since you’re a ghost”. Jack can’t help but feel more amused as Phantom tilts his head back and laughs heartily, “I am a totally impossible enigma!”. Jack is always impressed at how Phantoms’ smirks and smiles seem to fill his face, that’s ultimately what disproved the Fenton idea that ghost didn’t feel. No way anyone or thing could fake a smirk as playful and shit eating, as what Phantom was currently displaying, “and that is precisely why that little machine will give you answers you never expected. Even if they’re not the kind of answers that show up on screen”. Jack only grows more confused as Phantom says through a laugh, “you could say it might just shapeshift you perspective. Transform your known reality. Really change exactly how much of a little anomaly the local town enigma is”.

“Phantom...I'm not really sure you could be any more unusual”, Phantoms further laughter is both confusing and mood lifting to Jack. Jack can take being a bit confused, especially if he gets to see just how much of a powerhouse this Spook really is. “Oh I wouldn’t go writing me off just yet, Jack”, Jack’s a little startled as Phantom seems to instantly become more serious and looks him straight in the eyes. Jack’s glad Phantoms’ toxic green eyes carry friendliness at all times, otherwise it might be hard not to flinch back from his intense ghostly gaze, “but who needs all the answers, and you might find that some secrets are better left untold. A shift in the shape of your reality may not be ideal to you, in the end. I’d hope otherwise, but I make no claim to what the future holds”.

Jack clues in that what Phantom is getting at here is that somehow, the reading this machine gives him is going to reveal some mystery about this anomaly of a ghost. Which honestly excites him more than anything else, “when it comes to ghosts there’s nothing I don’t want to know!”. Poking at Phantom, “especially about you! You’ve been a constant anomaly, the odd one out in every piece of research, and somehow do things that ghosts shouldn’t be able to do. Heck! I’m pretty well positive that you somehow don’t even need to be in the Ghost Zone at all! And that doesn’t even get us started on how you become randomly immune to sensors and shields?!” Jack knows full well he’s rambling a bit but how could he not be excited at finding out even one little mystery of Phantom?

Grinning wide at Phantom, who’s eyeing him both amused and with something like pity, “even your ectoplasm samples mysteriously disappear. I’m a scientist Phantom, I want to know”.

“And what would you do? With this new found knowledge? Whether it’s something that only mildly shifts the shape of some theory; or utterly obliterates every idea, belief, and thing you thought you knew. Reinvents your world view”, Jack admits he’s close to worried now, just how massive of an oddity is Phantom? Or is Phantom just riling him up, like he so clearly loves to do to pretty well everyone. Even if it’s always good-naturedly, as Phantom continues speaking but in a more soft tone, “I know you carry some guilt over our past...interactions, which you understandably should; though you really don’t need to. I worry that, should you understand, truly understand, that guilt might elevate crushingly”.

Jack blinks a bit, thrown off by the genuine concern and worry. The kind he’d often steal away for only family, especially his strange son. Seeing this from Phantom is incredibly odd but somehow understandable, “you really do care for everyone in this town don’t you? But I’m certain, whatever your little, or more likely big, secret is; this Fenton can handle it”. Jack adjusts himself to face the, slightly taller than him, ghost. Even Jack gets that secrets often need to be kept, “I’m not going to tell though. Excluding us Fenton’s”.

Jack’s not sure why that makes Phantom smirk, “Oh I know you won’t. No, you might just protect what you know more fiercely than I do”. Jack has no clue what that means, but can tell there’s some deeper meaning as Phantom looks up to the starry sky, “protection of others is always stronger kept than self-preservation”.

“Pretty sure you’re talking mostly about yourself there, Phantom. But you’re also not wrong. I’d give anything to protect my family”, Jack follows Phantoms’ gaze, “and I guess I would protect you too. I think you’ve more than earned it. Starting to think you never even needed to earn it, that if something happened I’d help you, truce or not”.

Phantom nods and offers his hand/arm to Jack, “you’re right, I would know. It’s happened, after all, you just don’t remember”. Jack is blatantly shocked but decides not to question the strange ghost, who’s clearly thought of something rather funny in his sky focused musings.

As Jack is lifting up the device, Phantom chuckles, “ah ah ah, we’re doing this my way”. Phantom covers up the screen with his other hand as Jack is just plain confused, “you’ll get your results”, Phantom shrugs with a playful smirk, “just one at a time”. Jack’s confusion is cleared and he can’t help but laugh as Phantom makes his fingers invisible one at a time, revealing each section one by one.

“If that’s the game I have to play, then I’ll play it for science! And Fenton curiosity!”, now both of them are laughing, though Jack does notice that Phantom is slightly nervous; as he puts the device inside Phantoms’ glowing ecto-field.

Jack has to restrain himself from nagging at Phantom to reveal the first section, which Phantom is clearly snicking about baiting him with.

Laughing, “Fine Fine, behold and marvel at my stupidly over-powered butt”.

Jack definitely is marvelling, because holy cow, as he reads the screen.

PL: 25

“Wow! That is way over-powered! You would have busted the mini for sure!”, smirking at Phantom, because holy hell was he glad this ghost was a good guy. And thinking of all the ghost craziness in town, “Amity is pretty well lucky you’re so strong though! Who knows just what sort of nightmares you’ve protected us from! And consider me very glad that the old theory of ghost all being evil, being wrong. Especially about you”. Jack’s not sure what about that makes Phantom frown, “yes, well, you do not know how true that is. An evil Phantom would be your, and everyone else’s, worst nightmare”. Jack is not about to question the knowing and almost haunted look in Phantoms’ eyes, not wanting to sour the previous happy mood. Smiling at Phantom, “I’m doubting you even have a bad bone in you. If you had bones that is”.

“Pfft, that you know of”, while that makes no sense to Jack he’ll take it. Poking at Phantoms’ fingers, even if he’s positive on what his class reading will be. Because honestly, if his son, a human being, with a subdued rating of twenty-three, classed as a six, there’s no way a full-blown ghost with a level of twenty-five wouldn’t. Jack damn well knows Phantoms’ got some kind of super-powerful power, but whatever it is, he rarely or just doesn’t, use it.

Phantom chuckles, “well I doubt there’s any surprise here but...”. Phantom trails off as his finger becomes invisible, revealing, to no one surprise, his class.

⚠️ Class: 6

“Yup. Class six alright. Now the question is what crazy strong power you hiding. Cause you’re not exactly old, are you? Heck! You used to look like a teenager! Which really is another oddity about you. Ghosts don’t change so gradually”, that really is something that’s confused Jack for a while. It’s not like ghosts who look young are actually young or “grow up”. Heck, just look at that Youngblood ghost!

“Well, I was a teen! I just grew up”, Jack shakes his head at Phantoms’ smirk, clearly giving away that Phantom is not going to enlighten Jack as to how that’s even possible. “Like I said, Jack. I’m an enigma, an impossible enigma”.

Both of them are looking down at Phantoms’ fingers, covering the last section, “and know this is where things get interesting. So let me just say that however unusual, powerful and important; to you, Amity or the Ghost Zone; you think I am. I am drastically more so. If you do not understand what this means right now and wish to think on it, then feel free to seek me out when you do understand. If you really understand, you will know where to find me”.

As Jack is wondering just what kind of title Phantom could hold to be so enigmatic, Phantom removes his hands entirely; revealing the screen in its entirety.

Title: ghost king

Jack stares down at the screen dumbfounded and utterly confused. Here’s Phantom showing not only the, arguably, most powerful title a ghost should be able to hold but also the same one as his son? Jack was pretty much sure that his sons’ title must have been meaning that he’d become the ghost king upon his death, but this clearly proved that wasn’t the case.

Looking up from the screen to squint at Phantom, before looking back at the screen to make sure it still reads the same thing, “ghost king? How? Can...can there be more than one? Or place holders?... I’m confused”. He feels Phantom pat him on the back, “told you I was much more of a mystery. But to answer your questions. I gained the title by defeating the previous Ghost King, and there can only be one. I am the only one who bears that title unless someone defeats me as well”. While Jack’s pondering how that’s possible, because he has blatantly had two different people show up with that title, Phantom laughs lightly, “but since I’m no lair destroying power crazed madman, it’s doubtful any would try to usurp me from power. I’m pretty well liked, even by those who met me in fights”.

“So you, you think fondly of even those who are clearly a danger, an enemy? And they, of you?”

Jack listens and watches Phantom, a bit stunned as he hears the same words come from Phantoms’ echoy voice as have come from his son many times, “why wouldn’t I? Ghosts, like humans, are not wholly one thing or another. Every bad quality has a good to follow suit. Besides, fighting is just part of how ghosts socialise and come to understand each other”. Jack turns his head to look out across the park as Phantom watches the night sky. Jack’s not sure what he’s thinking but even the grass looks like it’s shifted under the weight of some profound world shifting secret.

“I think...I need to head home and talk to my son, Phantom”

Jack barely hears Phantoms’ reply as he walks off, noting how everything has a slight out of focus blur as he thinks, “yes, I think you do. Something tells me he’ll be up”.

Walking into his home, Jack easily spots his son shoving an overfilled fork of sauceless spaghetti into his mouth. Hearing the clink of his sons' teeth on the fork as he approaches, still a bit dazed.

Standing in the kitchen doorway, with Danny’s back to him, he glances down at the SpookSense’s screen, rereading Phantoms’ results before look back up to his sons’ sitting form. Something tells him, his son knows he’s there but is just waiting for him to speak, so he does, “you were right son, about Phantom”.

Jack can’t help but feel lighter and a bit amused as his son tilts his head backwards and speaks with the fork and noddles stuffed in his mouth, “hmm?”. Jack sits, places the SpookSense on the table and knits his fingers together as Danny’s face follows him with a raised eyebrow. Jack speaks as he taps the screen and looks to his son, “you...and Phantom. You read almost identical”. Images and words filter though Jack’s head, unfiltered, of all the behaviours and things said that are oh so similar of the two Danny’s. Blinking a bit as the lines between who said or did what blur and shift their shapes, “it’s not just that, it’s all identical”. Shaking his head a bit, “no, that’s not quite true. One reserved, one bold. One gentle, one strong. One fades to the background, one stands in front. Like...” Jack trails off not quite sure where his own mind is going, “like...”. Jack blinks and slowly goes wide-eyed as he speaks, while images of shift-shaping and blending blues and greens swirl in his mind, “like to sides of the same thing. The same...”, looking up and whispering at his son, “person”.

Jack’s mind has pretty well completely stalled as he watches a wide smile inch its way across his sons’ face. He can’t help but place the image of Phantoms’ face, from the tree, over top of the mirroring playfully bold smile now plastered on his sons’ face. Not a line of his face, hair or even the slight twinklings of amusement and embarrassment in his eyes; is out of place. Danny chuckles and rubs his neck, glancing away, “and so everything transforms now”.

“How?”, Jack’s not sure why his question earns him a smirk. “Everything transforms or shifts its shape in some way. Sometimes it’s just a bit more...literal”, Danny’s tone is soft, though Jack can sense there’s some nervousness there.

His heads still a fair bit muddled so he repeats himself, “how?”. Scrunching up his face, “you?... and Phantom?”, but then shaking his head a little, “are Phantom?”. Jack watches as Danny nods and rests his chin on his palm, again like Phantom in the tree. Mentally changing out black hair for white, Danny’s doesn’t move with gravity-defying floating but otherwise, “not two but one. One person...how?”. Now Danny looks a bit concerned and Jack realises he must have missed something here, as Danny sort of repeats himself softly, “think werewolves. Shapeshifting. But with ghosts”.

“So you can change into Phantom? How? You’re not a ghost?”, Jack mutters at the table, “is Phantom not ghost? What?”. He feels Danny poke him in the arm so he looks up at Danny’s equal parts amused and slightly worried face, “what are werewolves dad?”.

“Not real?”, Danny bursts out laughing at this. Jack’s glad to hear the laughing though far too confused as Danny wipes at his eyes a bit, “dad, obviously. What I mean is, what are they? What makes someone a werewolf in mythology”.

Jack’s not entirely sure where his son is going with this, “a person being half wolf?”. After a couple seconds though, something dawns on him as he repeats himself rather excitedly, “half ghost? Half ghost!”. Jack watches as his son struggles to hold in a laugh while nodding. While gears are turning in Jack’s head, no wonder his son sets off everything! It all senses ghosts! And he’s one! Sort of one? Part one? Exactly half? Or is it like all ghost and all human but able to switch? Somehow? Whispering at him both confused and excited but with some affection, “what are you?”.

Jack instantly regrets that though, as his son looks rather paranoid and cringes a little, “Danny, your son?”. Jack’s, again, confused by this response and not sure why Danny looks to be boring holes of worry and pleading? into Jack’s face. “Well, of course?”.

Danny facepalming was not the reaction Jack was expecting. Jack’s pretty sure his answer was an obvious one, of course his son is his son. Watching Danny rub his face and noticing that he’s actually blushing a bit, “um yeah, of course. The word’s halfa. Half human and...half ghost”. Jack can practically feel the caution in those last two words, but he’s a bit too excited to really dwell on that. Being a scientist faced with a brand new discovery, not only that but one that solves nearly every mystery he’s ever had about Phantom or, and?, his son. “Are there others?! Like a unique species?! Fusion?! Hybrid?! Could it be genetic?! Or...”, Jack trails off, losing his steam, as his son looks progressively more and more paranoid and stiff.

The two just stare at each other for a bit before Danny looks down and plays with what’s left of his food, with a frown, “I’m not an experiment and I’m not going to be”.

“What? Of course not! You’re family not a... oh.. OH”, Jack can see Danny cringe as Jack remembers how Danny is always avoidant of and off-put by the inventions. How Jack’s been suspicious that some hurt him. And...how he talks about ghosts around his son. Feeling extraordinarily guilty over all the very excitable times he’s gushed over experimenting on them, realising his son probably felt like that included him.

Judging by how his son is clearly looking around at exits and trying to make himself smaller, less of a...target. Jack’s positive he used the wrong words again, putting his hands on the table to hopefully ease his son up some, “you’re family, Danny. And if you’re Phantom then Phantom’s family all the same. Ghost or not”. Jack’s not sure why that makes Danny look more awkward that comforted, as Danny rubs his neck a bit, “yeah, I know. Always did. Glad to hear it though”. Jack decides to wait for his son to talk, but his son apparently has the same idea. As Danny finishes up his food while Jack runs his fingers across the SpookSense, he’s honestly a bit amazed at how right Phantom, his son, was. This little thing had pretty well solved two of the biggest mysteries in his entire life. The oddness of the Danny’s, which turned out to be just one Danny. He’s feeling a bit guilty again, having not noticed. How could he, one of the most ecto-knowledgable people in the world, not realise his own son was one? Half of one? And he hunted him, tried to kill his own son. Jack jerks his head up at Danny, as Danny interrupts his mental self-berating, “I don’t want you to feel bad about the past. It’s ok, it was expected. You never would have or could have done me real harm”. Jack frowns a bit knowing full well that he really had been trying to destroy Phantom, but he doesn’t get a chance to comment on that, as Danny keeps talking, “like I said, I know I’m family. And I know because you’ve found out before. You just don’t remember”.

Jack blinks at that, reminded of his conversation with his son, as Phantom, before, “you said that, earlier. Still confusing, how could I not remember? Heck! How are you even half ghost? you're not...dead?”. Jack’s not sure why that’s funny but he’s glad to have successfully fixed the mood. Even if he still feels guilty, while Danny tilts his head back and laughs, “my deadness is debatable. Half human and half ghost. Half alive and half dead. Sometimes I go with half dead, and other times I go with fully dead and fully alive but at the same time. For all accounts and purposes, my very existence is impossible. I go against the laws of nature. A little impossible enigma, like I said”. Danny shuffles a bit, “and as for the not remembering thing, time is a strange thing. And time travel makes it even weirder. You’ve found out at least three times, I made you and the rest of the world intentionally forget though. Kind of had to, for my own safety”.

This makes Jack clue in that his son has been up to some seriously dangerous stuff, deadly kind of dangerous. But at the same time, his scientific curiosity nags to throw safety out the window. “Ok first off, you shouldn’t be doing such dangerous things. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Phantom get impaled more than once”, Jack can’t really maintain the glaring as he gets a bit excited, though he kind of wants to keep glaring, as his son waves off his worry over his injuries, “second, are you sure about the half-dead thing, what about your organs? Heart? Breathing? If you exist, and are half dead, then clearly it’s possible. But yes it shouldn’t be, so how?”

“I’m durable dad, questionably so. And well no, not really possible. It’s considered factually impossible to be both dead and alive. Those two things are the most mutually exclusive things out there. And yet...”, Danny snickers a bunch to himself, “as for my organs and what not, most function to half the degree they should. My heart beats half as much and pluse is also half. My natural body temp is way below hypothermia. I have no clue if most of my organs even do anything anymore. My heart is pretty well the only organ that I haven’t lost at some point, so they’re all kind of useless. I breathe but I don’t really need to. My bones are just plain confusing, sometimes I have bones and sometimes I don’t”. Danny shrugs, “all very impossible. Not to mention illogical”.

Jack’s a bit shocked by the info dump, though he can’t help but find it amusing that his son obviously checked this stuff, and yeah, it makes pretty well no sense, “how the? How does your human body? Form? State?, maintain itself at all? And I’m still not happy you’re getting hurt so much”. Jack can tell Danny’s getting a good kick out of this now, obviously he finds humour in causing mild confusion. Watching Danny smirk as he responds, “I go with human form and by defying reality and all the known laws of nature? Being able to shape-shift into a ghost is already downright nutty, so makes sense that everything else is weird too”. Danny rubs at his neck and Jack can easily see the rather apologetic look on his face, “it’s really better to not try and figure out just how the hell my body can even function. The other, much older, halfa is a major scientist himself and he hardly knows how this all works. Though he gets the genetics of it to a scary degree”. Jack mutters, “so it is genetic”, before noticing Danny’s rather intense gaze. He can’t help but ponder on how differently Danny’s blue eyes convey an intense stare than his green ones, probably something to do with ghostly energy or maybe it’s because his green ones glow. As Danny is clearly trying to make a point, “don’t worry about the injuries. It’s part of the job, protecting people and Amity, the occasional bigger thing. I expect it, I know how to handle it and wounds aren’t the same for me. I heal from most things in minutes. There’s even a very good chance that I’m flat out indestructible”.

Jack’s not sure whether to find that worrying or to be happy. But he’s pretty sure his son’s exaggerating a bit, he doesn’t even have to say anything though. Since his son is clearly good at reading people, judging by how he comments on Jack’s mild disbelief, “my ghost protects my human and my human protects my ghost. The standing theory is that both sides of me would have to be instantly and simultaneously destroyed otherwise my sides would shield and heal each other in an unending loop. It would be like trying to count to the end of Pi”.

Jack’s surprised that actually makes sense, though still shouldn’t even be possible. Deciding to take his sons advice on not trying to figure it out though. “Wow, well I’d still you rather not get hurt. Speaking of jobs though”, Jack taps on title section of the screen, “do they just not care you’re part human? And something tells me your life is way more complicated than I thought”.

“Halfas are by our very nature stronger than regular ghosts. And ghosts respect strength, so the king being a halfa is actually a source of pride for many. I’m pretty much viewed by them, as a ghost who’s able to exist on the human plane. None really see me as a human, but rather a ghost who can shape-shift into a human”, Jack’s not sure why that’s funny to his son, because Jack finds it concerning. He’s glad his son’s respected but he’s more of a human than ghost, right? While Danny laughs, “just like how every human who knows, views me as a human with ghost powers. CW is really the only one, besides me, who truly sees me as equally both. Which is what I am. I’m not more ghost than human nor more human than ghost. Just like how a coin isn’t more heads than it is tails. It doesn’t matter what side you can see or what side was made first, they’re equal”.

“But you live a mostly human life, right? And you live here, not in the GZ”, Jack feels he doesn’t even need to mention that Danny’s family and friends are all humans. Though he’s certain Danny has ghost friends, which is rather weird.

“I spend most of my time in human form yeah, but what I do as Phantom takes precedence over everything. Phantom’s what I do in life, my purpose. The hero, the protector, the watchful eye, the saviour, the king. There’s not really anything human I could do that would ever be more important, so lifestyle wise; I’m more ghost than human”, he knows his sons’ got a point there, even if he doesn’t really like it. Danny was human first, had a human life first; this ghost stuff was just forced on him, wasn’t it? But he lets his son finish before commenting on that, “I guess while I view myself as equally both species, I don’t really hold them at equal weighing. I know if I had to choose, I’d choose ghost every time. I could begrudgingly tolerate being full ghost, but I couldn’t tolerate being full human again”. Jack can tell that Danny knew he wouldn’t be happy to hear that, even if he does like the rare honesty from his son. Jack really can’t grasp how anyone would rather be a ghost than human, even if they had powers. It makes him a bit worried that his son’s power-hungry or that his mind has been altered by all of this. Which now that he thinks about, of course his sons’ mind has been altered; it would actually be really weird if it hadn’t. “You like the power of it that much? Which I guess the ghost aspects of your mind would. I’m not sure how you couldn’t resent something forced on you though”, Danny looks a bit confused but apparently figured out whatever was confusing him, judging by the slightly embarrassed smile.

“Becoming half ghost was unintentional in the beginning yeah. But the accident that made me a halfa actually got reversed at one point and as soon as I found out I intentionally made it happen again. So I chose it ultimately. And while yes, I like the power, it is rather useful. It’s what I do with that power, that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate giving up. Fighting ghosts, protecting people, resolving ghost skirmishes, teaching and guiding new generations of either species, occasionally saving the world. It’s who I am, failing to be that would destroy me, not literally”.

Jack’s honestly a bit in awe at how mature his son is now. It’s pretty clear he’s thought about this too, Jack still doesn’t really like it though. Even if he’s glad his son is clearly proud and happy with it, “you could do that human, but...I guess you couldn’t do it the same. Could you?”. Danny shakes his head a little sadly, “no. I really do need my ghost everything. CW likes to say I’m an old soul who could only ever exist as a guardian. A guardian to both sides of the world and the world needs me that way. Though I wish it would stop reminding me of that”. Jack finds it a bit amazing how Danny makes this all sound so mundane, “so the “saving the world” thing, was pretty literal then. And I’m going to guess this “CW” is a friend? Ghost friend?”.

Danny’s knowing smirk makes it clear to Jack that he’s right, before Danny even opens his mouth, “you have no idea. One second GIW idiots are trying to blow up the entire Ghost Zone, which would also destroy the earth by the way. The next second some future jerk destroys almost all of humanity and ghosts. And then on Tuesday some moron releases a chemical weapon into the earth's core. Some times I swear, the world actively wants to be destroyed”. Even Jack can’t help but laugh, “well thanks then!”. Danny humorously stabs his finger on the table and chuckles, “I’ve got my licks in too though. Had to stop my future self from destroying everything no less than three times. And that’s why the Observants hate me, too much power they say. Which they’re not really wrong about, but I don’t like them either so”. Jack’s not really concerned by that, since it’s pretty obvious his son’s overpowered. Throwing in shapeshifting just makes him more so. Plus there’s no way his heart of gold son, would ever intentionally destroy the world. He’s practically still a kid, he’s going to mess up; even if his mess ups, apparently, have major consequences.

“And CW, or ClockWork as he's actually called, is more than a friend and more than some ghost. He’s my mentor, might as well be family really. He’s one of the only ghosts who can truly hold a candle to me power wise. He’s a guardian, so to speak, himself. He controls time itself and is responsible for making sure the time-stream doesn’t get damaged or destroyed. I watch over earth and zone, he watches over time, and the Observants watch over existence. We all do jobs for each other sometimes, though both me and CW make a point to annoy the hell out of the Observants if they ask us to do anything”. Jack’s not sure if he feels more impressed or worried about his son intentionally pissing off clearly powerful ghosts. But if his son sees this ClockWork guy as like family, then he wants to meet him. Though wait a second, “did you just imply you’re the most powerful ghost?”.

Now Danny just looks embarrassed, “technically, I am. But CW’s power is basically a real-life ultimate cheat code. There’s no real way to win against him in genuine, which is why he has restraints and rules pretty much binding him. He can’t act or interfere unless absolutely necessary for the sake of the time-stream, existence or reality. On top of that, he’s got a bit of a trump card on me as he’s actually responsible for me. He majorly cheated so I could exist and continue existing; if he wanted to, he could just erase me from existence”.

Jack doesn’t even get a chance to voice how much he does not like that and how he’s officially not so ok with this ClockWork guy. As Danny waves off his worry, “CW has a massive soft spot for me. And he can see every single possible future, the only way he’d erase me is if there was absolutely no possible future wherein I didn’t need to be. In which case, I’d fully agree with his choice and actions. And he knows that, so chances are he’d give me a heads up. Everyone calls me a self-sacrificial idiot for a reason”.

Jack’s still not impressed, at all, “there’s nothing you could say to make me ok with that son. And this guy has way too much power”.

“And I don’t? All power needs checks in place. CW’s restraints are his and CW is mine. I’ve seen what happens if I don’t have him and it’s majorly bad. Likewise, CW doesn’t do well alone. Two overpowered weirdos with odd senses of humour need a brother in arms. And if you think my death jokes are bad, listen to his time ones”, it’s kind of hard for Jack to be bothered now, what with Danny’s mischievous snickering, that looks to be verging on flat out laughter.

Blinking, Jack realises this is the most he’s seen his son laugh in months, maybe even years. Well, as a human anyway. Which is more than enough to make him decide that all of this was a good thing, that his son being this way is a good thing, and that ClockWork might really be good for him. Though he’s not sure he could handle being around two pun machines, “you’ve got a point there son. And I guess I can’t find this bad, since it clearly makes you happy. You never laugh or smile this much”.

Danny rubs his neck awkwardly, “well, a good chunk of my Fenton time is spent keeping things a secret and maintaining appearances. Plus I’ve made a bit of a show of Phantom being a jokester, I can’t have Fenton acting the same as Phantom. In just the same way, I overact the whole “hero” thing as Phantom. No one can see Phantom ever appearing weak, so I make sure they don’t”, gesturing to himself, “so only those who know what I am, really get to see who I really am as a person. Which I realise is kind of shitty but it’s out of necessity, not me being mean or anything. My sides have to be separate to the public and any who don’t know. But who I am as a person, is both. So I guess, you’re kind of meeting me, the real me, for the first time in a very long time. Uh, sorry?”.

Jack knows kids often hide part of themselves from family so he’s not really bothered by that. More bothered that his son is way too grown up and clearly has been for a while, “what even was your childhood?”.

Danny blinks, Jack’s guessing that was not the response Danny was expecting, “most kids wildest dream? I’m a literal superhero, that’s most kids greatest fantasy. Sure it’s serious and painful but I enjoy it. Always did. When I first changed, I pretty well hated being half ghost and I wanted to be normal again. But one real ghost fight and I was in love. Saying everything clicked into place is cliche, but very true”. Snickering now, “who knew hundreds of pounds of cooked meat would be what slapped destiny into my face. Well, that and the Fenton Thermos. Which literally slammed into my face”. Jack can’t help but laugh a bit himself, “that is ridiculous. Still though, kids are supposed to play around and goof off”.

“Sneaking into the girls bathroom, prank wars, jumping inside of video games, pelting the Box Ghost with styrofoam circles. I’ve goofed around plenty, still actively do. My mundane fun is just a bit more ghostly”, Danny pauses as Jack yawns, which is apparently funny to Danny, “my fun is also a lot more used to sleep deprivation”. Jack really doesn’t care that he’s tired, this is way better than sleeping. He’s tolerated lost sleep in the name of science plenty of times and he’s far more willing to do the same for family. “The biggest mystery of my life just got solved and you’re being, well, you! That’s worth some missed sleep Danny-boy”.

“I’m not going anywhere, dad. I’ll be here tomorrow for you to pepper questions at. And the day after that, and the next, and so on. Though everyone could use some reality-defying before bed”, Jack’s not really sure what Danny’s thinking or why he’s smirking like a devil. A face he’s all too used to seeing on Phantom, and yeah Danny’s right, if his sides or forms acted the same he’d get caught. His sons’ goofy grin and how he’s lazily resting his chin in his palm makes it seem more like he’s talking to Phantom. But that kind of makes Jack feel good, it means his son is happier than he used to think. He was just pushing his joking nature and silly side all onto Phantoms’ persona. Which leaves him wondering which persona is more accurate to the real Danny, he’s got a gut feeling that Phantom is closer.

“I’m not sure what’s got you grinning like that, but I’m glad to see the humour!”, Jack chuckles to make it clear, cause really he just wants a happy son. Even if he has to be the pretty well strangest thing in the world to be happy.

“I’m a funny man. A funny punny man. A shockingly shapeshifting one at that”, well at the very least, Phantoms’ humour is a real Danny thing. And yeah, Jack still finds it admirable, “I can see, now anyway. But I guess that means you really are ok. Though I hope to see a lot more of my son, the real one”. Jack’s almost a bit excited to know how much of Phantoms’ over the top personality is actually real, but he’s also a bit sad over missing out on it over the past years. Danny obvious is a bit guilty about that even if he clearly is still finding something quite amusing, “Oh you will, mind you, old habits die hard. Even if dying comes pretty naturally to me. I do it all the time and I’m damn flashy about it”. Jack squints at that, which prompts Danny to talk again, “Death jokes, lots of death jokes. My whole shapeshifting thing is basically dying on command, so how could I not?”. Jack has to admit his sons’ got a point there. Ghosts are dead and he literally becomes a ghost. Still weird to know his son is partly dead or only sometimes alive. However it works. Yawning again as Danny glances at him, clearly a bit nervous but also snickering, “so, care to see? Insult the laws of reality by bearing witness to a dose of half death before bed?”. Jack’s confused for only a few seconds before clueing, smacking the table and nodding excitedly. Danny runs a hand through his hair before drawing Jack’s attention to his waist by pointing. Jack quickly gets the “flashy” comment at the sight of the pretty darn bright rings. Instantly curious as to what the hell they're made of. Some kind of ghost energy? Ectoplasm? Or is there literally life or death energy? Human cells? Even more stunned as his son literally shape-shifts body parts as the rights spread over him, while looking like this is utterly natural and easy to do the whole time. Which Jack guesses, probably is easy and natural to his son now. Zone knows how many times he must do this in one day, let alone over the years!

Jack can’t help but chuckle a bit as Danny instantly starts floating, Danny rubs his neck, “yeah the floating is automatic, which is actually very convenient. And I can change the position or direction of my rings. Up and down, side to side, make mini ones over my limbs. Managed to change a couple times without the rings at all. And before you ask, they’re composed from my cores energy”.

“Core! Not a lot of ghosts have those! That’s like a whole new organ! Half ghost core? Half of a core?”, cores are a pretty unique thing, Jack really didn’t know a lot about them. He figured Phantom had one but there’s no real good way to check those out without dissection and no way is he even considering going there, not now. Danny pats at his chest, “all halfas have one, snuggled up next to our hearts; mine’s an ice core. Hence my cold body temperature and ice powers. A core has to be formed with a mixture of ghost and human DNA to be able to make the halfa rings. My core is complete and fully mature, so it’s not literally half of a core”.

“Why would every halfa have one? Does being part human make them easier to form? And I guess your core is a constant then? You’re always cold to the touch, not just as Phantom”, snapping his fingers, “that’s why your breath fogs up! A ghost being around makes your core act up!?”. Jack’s flat out proud that Danny looks impressed as he nods, “that’s exactly right, a chill passes through my entire body and yes, both my core and heart are there regardless of form. As for why all halfas have them, you’re pretty close. Halfas are more stable ghosts, have more stable ectoplasm, because of the support of our human side. Stable ectoplasm is what makes it possible for a core to develop”. Danny’s snickering again but Jack’s too curious to care why, “if I’m near seizure inducingly flashy, I can actually make my core visible while shapeshifting. Other ghosts find that mildly terrifying”. Jack hopes he doesn’t even have to mention he wants to see that, his son is clearly good at reading people, so him excitedly clapping Danny’s shoulders should be more than enough. Clearly, it was and his son wasn’t kidding, this is hard to look at. Like his son just became a black void with an intense light blue light in his chest. Blinking a bunch at his, human again, son, “wow that is bright. Not too mention big, how does that even fit in there?”. Danny laughs, “well some of the bright light is literally just energy coming off of my core, so it’s not that big. It’s around the same size as my heart and my heart sits a fair bit more to the left than a regular humans, to make room for my core. Like you saw, my core’s in the exact centre. And my lungs just move around it”. It’s pretty obvious to Jack that his son likes his core, as Danny pats his chest rather affectionately, “you know how you can feel your heartbeat or hear it if you pay attention? Well, cores have something like a humming and faint vibrating”. Jack tries his damnedest to stifle a yawn, full stop his son is probably the only way he’ll ever learn about cores. Clearly, he didn’t do a good enough job, as Danny puts his hands on his hips playfully, “if I let you hear it, will you go to bed?”. Jack’s way to excited to say no even if he would far prefer to keep talking through the night, “ok ok, yes. But you knew cores were something of a complete mystery to me didn’t you?”. Judging by Danny’s smirk, Jack’s right, not really surprised though.

“It was my get-dad-to-actually-sleep trump card, yes”, Jack gapes a bit incredulously as his son just phases a stethoscope out of the table. Realising Danny must have put that there before Jack even got home, “and I thought you were good at reading people before. Do you just hide stuff in things all over the house?”. Jack takes the stethoscope while Danny blushes, obviously, he has been doing that. “Lets just say, you should warn me if you ever hire someone to do major house Reno’s. Unless you want to really confuse and possibly scare them. Especially my room”, Jack’s laugh turns into a yawn as he waves the stethoscope a little. A bit caught off guard as his son changes again, “it’s more noticeable when I’m a ghost”.

That makes total sense to Jack so he puts it to his chest and yeah, no wonder Danny refuses doctor check-ups. The deep powerful hum, like being inside a massive cave with drum reverberations all around, is very noticeable. It’s honestly eerie and the occasional deep solid thump, which Jack is assuming is Danny’s deathly slow heartbeat, only makes it more creepy. Perfectly suiting for a strong ghost, really weird to hear from his own sons’ chest though. Pulling back, “that might just give a doctor a heart attack, sounds strong though. Which I’m assuming is a good thing?”.

Danny laughs a bit, “the school nurse hounds me because I never let her give me checkups ever. And yes that’s a good thing. Soft or quieter core means I’m hurt, bad. Just like a weak pulse”. Glancing at his sons’ hand, as Danny pokes him with a gloved glowing finger, “so now you sleep. With the sound of my impossible existence in your head”. Speaking of sound though, “people can hear their pulse and heartbeat hammering in their head when they really exert themselves! Your core?!”.

“Dad, bed. But yes, if I exert a bunch of ectoplasmic energy”, Jack was going to comment but Danny is clearly having none of that and uses a powerful commanding, and very Phantom, tone, “bed”.

Jack will admit it’s pretty hard to say no to him whenever he uses that tone on people, especially with the echoy power laced in his voice. So he nods and rubs the back of his head a bit embarrassed at his son pretty much playing the role of parent here, “alright, but that’s a heck of a voice you’ve got”. Danny chuckles as he follows Jack up the stairs, “you have no idea”.

End.

#danny phantom #phandom #dannymay19 #dannymay #danny fenton #jack fenton #danny is op #phantom is op #reveal #shapeshift #part 2 of another fic #phantomphangphucker #have a fic suck my dick #phanphic #fanfic

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scientifically-strange · 7 years

Note

Could you please write a thing where Danny finds out that due to his time with the venom symbiote, he can do ghostly-versions of some of Venom's powers? (ecto webs, able to shape-shift his ectoplasm into blades, etc?)

"So...What does that mean?" Danny asked Tony and Bruce, unable to refrain from squirming at the feeling of being attached to the various machines around him.

"What he means is," Bruce started, "Is that because you've been attached to Venom for so long your ghostly abilities have learned to do the things he can."

"Like being a rip-off of Spidey?" Danny asked. He was upset. While he did think Spider-Man's powers were cool and all, he didn't exactly want them. Ecto-webs weren't as cool as they sounded.

"Yeah, because our little wall-crawling friend gave that ability to Venom the very first time they bonded."

"If this is happening to my powers how come none of this has happened to his?"

"Because he has different powers," Bruce explained. "Venom, in lack of better words, came here with no powers except the usual host bonding situation. So he was able to gain stuff from Spidey, so when it bonded with you for the first time it left a residue of some of that power."

"Like a superhero STD?" Danny cocked his head to the side, Tony snorting from amusement before answering.

"Not really, but close enough, I guess. How do you feel?"

"Normal," Danny was unsure as to why he should feel any different just because of some new ecto-based powers. Really the only powers he's been able to physically feel was the discovery of his ice powers.

"Try doing the web thing again, at that wall," Tont pointed to the one past the holo-screens. He wasn't really sure if he could do it or not. Maybe it was a one time, heat of the moment type thing. But he held out his hand anyway, willing the ectoplasm in him to come forth as a web rather than his normal blasts. But what happened next surprised them all.

Instead of webtoplasm, it was a sort of blade. It wasn’t anything to fancy, just a basic hilt and a sharper than possible edge that was slightly curved at the end. Danny dropped it in surprise, and it turned into a pure ectoplasmic puddle at his feet.

“What the hell was that? Spider-Man can’t do that!” Danny said. It was all so surreal, and he almost felt like he was going to collapse from to many surprises in one day.

“No, but Venom can,” Tony said, trying to calm the kid down. “He can shapeshift his molecular structure into anything with any texture, solidity, and shape.”

“So I can make swords with ectoplasm now? Not just ice?” Danny sounded kind of half worried, half confused, and he didn’t know how to handle this situation. Ghost powers, sure. But ghost powers unwillingly inherited by an alien symbiote? He felt violated to say the least.

“I think it might be permanent,” Bruce said. By the look in his eye Danny could tell it was more to himself than the ghost boy, who was now looking even more worried than before.

“Permanent? No, it can’t be permanent! I don’t want it to be!”

“Well did you want the universe to do a half assed job in killing you just so you could get ghost powers?” Tony asked, busy studying the data.

“Not at first, no. Dying isn’t fun.”

“Well, those are permanent. This is too. You’ll grow up and get used to it. Hell, maybe even learn to use these new abilities. We’re still trying to figure out how much you can really do with your powers since you seam to have so many of them.”

“That is true. Maybe these were always there and just got kick-started by Venom?” Bruce suggested. There was a twinkle in his eye, the kind Danny only ever saw when he was working in the lab. The gears in the Doctor’s head were turning and it was obvious. This whole situation, from a scientist point of view, made the two older men downright giddy.

Danny wouldn't admit it, but Tony did have a point. Maybe he could learn to like these powers. He could have Frostbite teach him how to use different kinds of blades, and he could one-up Spidey. Though his new power was sort of cool, he couldn’t see himself using the ecto-webs very often.

“Bruce come look at this,” Tony said, waving the good doctor over. Tony had moved from the screen to the microscope, and judging by the tone of his voice, whatever he saw was pretty exciting.

“What is it?” Danny said impatiently. “Let me see.”

“It’s a blood sample, Danny,” Bruce explained as he turned a knob on the microscope. “There’s Venom in it.”

“So the powers are from him,” he realized. “Isn’t that bad, though? Can’t Venom grow inside of me and shit?”

“Not you, kiddo,” Tony sat down, his hand sliding through his unkept hair. “See, it’s running around in your ectoplasm and technically ectoplasm isn’t really living. It’s a power source like human blood, except, you know, dead. So your very system is keeping Venom from growing. You won’t have anything to worry about.”

“Is there any way you could flush him out, though?”

“Not likely,” Bruce answered. “It’s not like a drug you can wait out. It may not be growing but it’s alive...in a sense....and won’t leave. Even if it wanted to I don't think it could. Your ectoplasm is thicker than most other substances, on top of being mixed with your human blood.”

“So it’s inside of me? Forever?”

“I’m afraid so. Will it make you feel better if I buy you a pizza?”

“No but do it anyway, I’m starving.”

“Brat,” Tony said, but there was no fire behind it. He pulled out his phone and left the room. Bruce turned to Danny and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’ll be fine, Danny,” he spoke gently. Danny sighed.

“But what if it isn’t? What if it does grow inside of me and I turn into some gross ecto-venom dude who can’t be stopped?”

“We have a plan for that,” Bruce promised, pushing his eyeglasses up.

“Already? What is it?”

“It’s called the Avengers. Whatever happens, you’ll be fine.”

“Fine.”

“You’re gonna call Spider-Man now aren’t you?”

“Well, who else is gonna beat him at his own game?” Danny was grinning now as he headed for the door. Right before he left though, he turned around.

“Hey, Bruce!”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” Then he left. Bruce smiled to himself, looking back up at the blinking screens once again.

“No problem, Danny.”

-------

Sorry if it’s kind of late, I have been a very busy bee. But the idea of Danny having venom-ish powers kept me excited to write this all day long! The concept is astounding!

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datawyrms · 4 years

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Dannymay2020 Day 31: Free Day (ghost sword fight lets go)

It was for science, a good cause. His life would be so much better if he didn’t have to hear his parents gleefully discuss ripping apart some mindless ectoplasmic scum molecule by molecule. Right now though, he was remembering the other reason he flinched in horror when having to take his parents anywhere. Complete embarrassment. One extra downside to ghost powers: knowing you actually can just have the ground swallow you up in shame, but knowing you really, really shouldn’t. When your dad is sitting with sodas strapped to his head and waving a foam finger with your friend’s name on it, it got very tempting.

He’d almost prefer dealing with an ecto gun. “Dad, you’re actually going to pay attention, right?”

“Course I will Danny-boy! That goth friend of yours will kick that ghost right back to its own dimension, and I’ll be watching.”

The half ghost groaned, crossing his arms. “Dad.”

“And totally see if it’s actually a fight with rules. I did listen, son! It’s just good to see young people taking up ghost hunting!”

“This isn’t ghost hunting!”

“Right. Your friend is just going to clobber a ghost with a sword. For Science!”

Well he wasn’t wrong exactly, but it wasn’t helping him not regret every second of this stupid plan. “It’s more Sam’s doing the ghost a favour, and Sam’s doing me a favour by letting us watch. Sooo don’t go calling the ghost scum or anything. Please.”

“Hmmhm. I did read your notes son. You think I’d come with no weapons if I thought your observations were shoddy?” he clapped the boy on the back, who had to struggle to not fall over. “Still gotta root for your friend kiddo!”

Yes. Yes he did, actually. Yet asking his dad to maybe be a little less enthusiastic was like asking the sun to maybe be a little less bright. Pointless, and possibly amusing to anyone overhearing you. “She manages without a cheering section most of the time,” he felt the need to point out before heading down the hill to check in with Sam.

“I don’t know what I expected. Not that, that’s for sure.”

“Tell me about it. I didn’t think he’d do anything but scowl from the hill because he’s worried about a dastardly ghost. Sorry.” he rubbed the back of his neck, eyes flicking between his friend and the bright orange blight on the hillside.

“Nah. Arlas will probably get a kick out of it anyway, she likes having an audience,” Sam shrugged, fiddling with the lightweight wooden sword. “I have a few new tricks. Who knew Star of all people would like fencing?”

“Did she swear you to secrecy?”

“Bought my silence by being a pretty good practice partner,” her grin faded somewhat “Guess I’ve been buying into their ‘popular’ shtick too. She’s not that bad.”

“Then I’ll pretend you didn’t tell me. You don’t think she’ll try and talk to Dad, right? That could get ugly real quick.”

“She might. She knows to keep the whole met in the ghost zone thing quiet, but I can’t promise much else,”

“Well I can’t promise he won’t call her putrid protoplasm so we’re totally doomed.”

“Maybe we can make it sound like good natured ribbing?”

“With what ribs?” Danny smirked in spite of himself

“Oh shut up you. Go worry about not turning invisible trying to hide from your dad or something. I’ve got this.”

He nodded, backing off to head back to his expected spot. He wasn’t meant to know the ghost well, after all. He did notice the ghost showing up before anyone else, but forced himself to act oblivious.

“Oh, there’s the spook! You mentioned the heavy leg armor, these ones can’t do the leg shapeshifting thing, right?”

Danny blinked. He’d actually read and paid attention to all of it? “Yeah, that’s right. It can be pretty heavy since they don’t have to walk much with the whole flying thing, apparently.” his eyes flicked to his Dad’s face, trying to figure out how the man felt about Sam and this ghost greeting one another in friendly terms. He didn’t look angry, so maybe it was a good sign?

“First to three hits is what you said, right?”

Man this felt weird. Answering things about ghosts without constantly worrying he’d be called a ghost for it. “Sam’s pretty sure five would take too long. Either because she gets tired out, or a ghost hunter barging in.” Something he had almost done three times, but he couldn’t mention that bit.

Jack kept his eyes fixed on the two, leaning forward even as he slurped from the ridiculous soda contraption. “That’s how she wins, right son?” he pointed as Sam blocked a swing and danced backwards, forcing the knight to give chase. “She outruns em and can go for smaller openings.”

“How did yo-yeah. That’s usually how, since she can’t just fly after her…” How could he pick up on that and not his son literally falling through things for a month?

Arlas looked as if she might have caught on to Sam’s usual plan as well, backing off instead of pursuing after another failed clash. He honestly had zero idea what to do in that situation that wasn’t ‘shoot ecto blast’, but his friend seemed to have a decent idea, feigning a left swing before jabbing forward at a much greater speed.

“Ha! Lookit that, already winning!”

“You’ll distract her if you cheer louder.”

“Nah, your little friends are tough!”

He did seem to be right, the boisterous cheering when Sam had the upper hand not earning as much as a glance from the fight. Sam did shoot Danny a look at the boo his Dad made when Arlas managed to turn a block into a strike Sam couldn’t defend against in time, and he could only shrug. Hopefully the knight wasn’t too annoyed at the blatant favoritism. Or maybe she expected it, being a visitor and all.

Still, making it through the combat without having to stop his Dad from trying to capture or hurt the ghost was pretty good. Even if it was still really weird to have him just watch. He personally didn’t even need to watch the fight, watching Jack was more than enough indication on how things were going. Okay, maybe he was a bit paranoid, watching just in case he had to do some split second overshadowing. Moreso now that the ghost apparently wanted to say hello to the watching human, to his complete dismay.

“Oh, so it is a family thing! What interesting armor.” Arlas said, looking at the bright orange jumpsuit.

Jack did seem a little surprised at the possible complement, hiding it with a nod. “Always need to be prepared!”

Danny manared to peek out from behind his fingers. Dad hadn’t threatened her. That was progress. That was good! Him possibly wondering why she thought jumpsuits were a family thing was not good! Sam’s advice of remembering not to turn invisible suddenly seemed very useful.

“Still I hope it was a good show. Sir Manson is still a bit too fast for me, but I’ll figure out a way around that soon, you’ll see.”

“You could just lose the armor, you’re way better at planning than I am.” Sam pointed out, earning a laugh from the ghost.

“If I plan to work in it, I must be able to beat you in it! The extra preparation can only be a good thing. That, and I can use the same trick on the others if they get overconfident.”

“So you consider being a knight as a job? You could do something else if you got bored of the sword swinging gig?” Jack asked, hand on his chin as he watched the floating knight.

“Of course! There are plenty of things to do back home, but who wouldn’t want to help protect the Queen? It’s not like I cannot retire when I no longer wish to do it.” she paused, looking up at the sky as if searching for an example. “I suppose you do not really have proper communities of ghosts over here, just the stronger sorts or the occasional animal?”

“Nope. We just get the town attacking beasties”

“Ah, well who doesn’t? Troublemakers will be troublemakers.” she shrugged easily, apparently not considering herself a ‘beastie’.

Jack considered the answer, the loud slurping sound rather at odds with the pensive look on his face. Surely he didn’t think this ghost would make up an entire fake backstory, or be perfectly fine with losing to a human in a fair fight while being ‘mindless’. “So the Fentons are known over in your world then?”

“Well I wouldn’t say unknown. The outfits are pretty memorable! Yours more than your son’s. He is your son, I think. That’s the right term?”

Of course she had to bring up his jumpsuit. That he never wore. Because it was on his ghost form. Sam’s wince in sympathy did not help.

“See Danno, even the ghosts think you need more colour! Even Jazz’s is blue, maybe we should get you an orange one.”

“Maybe. Mine’s fine, thanks.” he managed to speak, hoping he didn’t sound too much like he’d been internally choking.

Sam took up damage control before her friend managed to be more suspicious than a wolf in a sheep pen. “Well, I’ve got stuff to do, and Arlas does too. See ya Mr. Fenton.”

The ghost did seem a little put out to not continue to chat, but took Sam’s lead, turning invisible before making her way back home.

“Not even going to try and scare anyone while she’s here huh? Interesting.” Jack commented. “Certainly a lot to think about kiddo! Our little researcher,” he ruffled Danny’s hair, earning a grunt from his son. “You think you might be able to arrange talking to some of these other ‘non-violent’ ghosts?”

“Oh. Yeah. Probably? Not right away, but sure.”

“Great! I want to see for myself if the stories line up. If they do, then we’ll need to figure out why only the blobs and animals showed up before the portal.” he got to his feet, apparently wanting to go write things down in the lab right away.

“Because they were the only ones dumb enough to leave the ghost zone without a portal to go home with.” Danny muttered “The smart ones wouldn’t risk it,”

“Right, you scrawled that on the back of your folder. Which ghost told you that again?”

In truth? Frostbite. Yet he didn’t have a way to explain that. “Phantom.”

“Well you can’t use yourself as a primary source son, that’d be considered speculation.”

Danny could only stare. Whoops.

#dannymay2020 #Danny Phantom #Jack Fenton #sam manson #my stuff #i think the burnout got me #today was hard #even tho i kinda knew what i wanted to do #so the fight is lameee #oh well #I DID IT 31 DAYS WOO #...now what am i gonna do :v

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