#Clockwork keeps throwing Danny into the past like 'fix it'

[ghoulisheous]

Catch Danny sipping a 7-11 Big Gulp slushie at 3 in the morning wearing a t-shirt that says "Have You Heard of Our Lord and Savior, Clockwork?"

[karmavongrim]

Hero's Rise fanfic idea

Not much of an idea but an actual story about Danny's new life in the Pokémon world.

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Chapter 1

All anybody needs is a second chance

Why is the world so unfair? It wasn’t fair! All it took was just one simple mistake. A mistake that any teenager could’ve made and yet when he does it, the entire world is put in peril. A mistake that his family had to pay the ultimate price for.

These are the thoughts of an injured teen kneeling in a crater of his latest fight with the most terrifying foe he has ever met. That day had started like any other, a teen worrying about an important exam that could effect his future. He’d thought of even just winging the whole test since he never got enough time to study thanks to his secret hero duties keeping him occupied even at nighttime, if not for the test answers he had picked up from the ground that was accidentally left behind by his English teacher. If only he would’ve known that his decision to cheat would cause for the literal apocalypse to happen then he would have never even considered doing such a thing.

No, that wasn’t true, he knew that this would be the outcome yet he still did it thanks to his stupid teen impulses. The master and lord of time himself had warned him personally of this but he still didn’t listen. And now he has nothing.

The scrawny fourteen year old stares blackly at the hellish inferno that had consumed all the ones he cared about along with a fast food restaurant they had been held captive in by his evil future self. His glazed eyes turn to a silver thermos that now housed said monster. He can’t bring himself to care that his baggy t-shirt and jeans are in shreds, and covered in blood and dirt. Nothing mattered to him anymore.

In a distance the blaring sound of multiple sirens can be heard even through the sound of roaring fire around him. So lost in thoughts he’s that he didn’t notice the world around him going deathly still and quit, nor the wisp of gold air escaping past his pale split lips. Not until a familiar, deep voice gently calls out to him.

“Danny.”

Danny blinks for what feels like the first time in a good while as he’s trying to process what was said to him and by whom. He didn’t move from his spot on the ground when a blue-skinned ghost moves in front of him, his purple cloak flowing along. His form ever shifting between that of a child, an adult and an old man, never staying as one for long. Seeing the ghost he can’t stop tears from rolling down his face as he demands.

“Why didn’t you stop this Clockwork?”

When the ever age shifting ghost says nothing he becomes angry.

“You are the master of time aren’t you? Can’t you just turn back time and let me fix my mistake?”

Clockwork regards the distraught boy silently for a moment.

“I won’t nor can do that Daniel, for multitude of reasons. You also seem to have misunderstood some things regarding me. I do not rule over time, I manage it. My duty is to take care of it, not to bend it to my will and do whatever I please with it. If I were to meddle more than I already have the consequences could be catastrophic. This was the most optimal outcome.” He calmly explains. The ageless being truly wishes that it wouldn’t have come to this, but he had no other choice. He had his limits and rules in place for a reason. This of course doesn’t sit well with the boy.

“O-Optimal outcome? Optimal outcome!” He screams with his hoarse voice. Danny was absolutely livid hearing that. He lets go of the thermos shaped capture device and wobbly lifts himself up.

“You are saying all this like it’s nothing! Like we are nothing more then pieces on a game board that can be thrown away!” He screams more as he unsteadily lunges himself at the ancient ghost who does nothing to stop the weak assault.

“Why did they have to pay the price for my stupid decision? Just take me instead!” He begs but Clockwork’s unmoved, so Danny continues to throw punches, ignoring how heavy and in pain his arms feel.

“You are the master of time! Just turn back time and let me fix this!” He begs again and still only silence greets him, so he doesn’t stop.

“Please! If they are taken away from me I’ll have nothing left worth living for. If you can’t bring them back then take me as well!” Third time he begs and bargains, and again nothing.

Danny collapses on to the elder who wraps his gloved arms to keep him from falling while being careful with his clock staff. With no more rage, all that is left was absolute sorrow and misery belonging to an orphaned child.

“P-Please bring them back. Please. I-I beg you, I’ll do anything.” He tries to beg feebly one last time as he lifts his head to look into Clockwork’s solid red eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Was the resolute answer he gets that shattering any illusions of this all being just a messed up dream or a sick joke.

That’s it then, he’s lost everything and there’s nothing he can do about it. Maybe his parents were right about Danny Phantom being a monster, they weren’t that far from truth looking at the destruction that Dan had caused… It would be better for everybody if he were to just-

“Don’t.” Clockwork’s stern voice rouses him from his spiraling dark thoughts, who’s looking at him with equally stern gaze.

“Do not think that taking your own life would atone anything. You must keep on living Daniel, for your family’s sake at least if not yours. Stay alive so that their memories may live on as well with you. They would want that and you know this too deep inside.”

Even though his speech ends in softer note it still stings a lot. He’s the cause of all of this so it would be only fair that he pays the price as well. But there seemes to be no way fighting the powerful ghost of time on this, no matter how hard he tries. Danny slumps further into Clockwork’s firm embrace as if it would help him somehow to escape the cruel reality.

Clockwork would let the boy get his bearings but this isn’t the place nor time for it. He shifts his free hand to soothe the messy black mop of hair as he continues.

“Unfortunately I can’t let you stay here. The future only holds terrible things for all if you do.”

Danny squeezes his eyes shut as he grits his teeth; even if Clockwork didn’t say it outright he knows what he means. What is he suppose to do then? There’s no going back and fixing this, nor is he apparently allowed to end his own misery. The only thing he can think of is to ask the one who knows everything.

“…What should I do?”

Clockwork lifts his staff as he suggests.

“Come with me and you’ll find out.”

Danny doesn’t think too long since he has nothing else to do or place to go. If he stays then he would be just put in foster care or adoption since he’s still a minor, and would end up with Vlad one way or another. Once felt connection to this town seemed to have shatter into pieces when his loved ones perished. He has nothing left to keep him there, so at a complete loss he agrees.

“A-Alright.” He mutters and takes the offered hand.

At his consent they are both along with the thermos transported away with a single wave of a staff, never to been seen by that world ever again.

Danny only opens his eyes when the feeling of momentary weightlessness ceases and he’s gently pried off by the older ghost. He is led to a purple bed of what seem to be a guest room from lack of personal touches in it. Once he’s made comfortable Clockwork doesn’t waste time in explaining.

“Like I said before, you can’t stay here. But there’s another way. I happen to have acquaintances who would be willing to foster you, the only catch being that they live very far, far away.” Danny’s getting a sinking feeling about where this is going so he has to ask.

“How far exactly?”

Clockwork stops, seemingly to give the boy a second to prepare himself before answering.

“In another world, in another reality.” He tells him truthfully. This gets a reaction out of the teen.

“What! W-Why so far away? What about my-” He stops himself from finishing that sentence. Tears once again start to gather and fall with earnest. What about his family. They are gone for good and he wouldn’t be able to live in Amity Park without constantly being reminded of his failures. Clockwork places a firm hand on the skinny shoulder to draw his attention away from his spiraling thoughts again. He hates the soft look directed at him. He doesn’t deserve it.

“This is why you can’t stay and why I’m offering you this opportunity, to heal and give you a second change at life, to move on.”

Danny shook his head violently. No, he doesn’t deserve any of this.

“H-how can I just move on from this!? From them! There’s no way- It’s just not right!”

He doesn’t deserve help. He doesn’t want it! He can’t continue on with his life when the others lost theirs. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

“I didn’t say that you should forget about them, but to accept that this is the unfortunate reality. The pain never goes away, it merely becomes easier to deal with in due time if you let yourself heal by at least attempting to forgive yourself. What do you think your loved ones would say to you right now? Samantha, Tucker and Jasmine? Your parents? Would they want to see you in this state?”

Danny winces and glares hard at the elder. He has no business to use his family against him like that! But now that the idea’s been planted, he wasn’t able to think anything else. What would they say?

He can definitely see Jazz and Sam scolding him for being an idiot, for ever thinking that they’d blame him, that they knew what they were getting themselves into. Tucker would reassure him that he wouldn’t forget them even if he found a new meaning to his life. Hell, he would even offer some ridiculous ideas to try out in the new world, like pick up some alien girls. He liked to think that his parents would wish the best of luck and happiness, to show the world what Fentons are made of.

He let his tears fall freely. The last thing he wants to do was to dishonor the ones he loved the most. He won’t do it, he’ll make sure their memories would live on, brighter than ever. He doesn’t want to disappoint them no matter what, even if it still left a sour taste on his tongue. Was he really allowed to move on with out them?

Clockwork decides it would be a good time to leave the boy to mourn in peace, yet he can’t help but lament quietly as he floats out of the bedroom.

“Oh Daniel, you think that you still have to pay for what had happened. Those who have passed have no need for tears, you’ll only end up drowning yourself in them. I truly hope that this will help you find peace of mind someday.”

The Observants have always told him that he cares to much for the young halfa, and every time he denies them even though he knows that they are correct much to his dismay. He’s cared for the boy even before he was born. He can see all of time: past, present, and future. All of it’s endless twists and turns. And out of all of them he enjoyed Danny’s the most. The person who said that time doesn’t have favorites was a liar.

Clockwork glides through the finding halls and corridors of his clock tower till he arrives at his destination. His viewing room, filled with screens, mirrors and cogs that hold within images of old and new, as well as those yet to come to pass or never will. He moves deeper and deeper till he came to a simple silver mirror, so unassuming and hidden away from any unwanted eyes.

Lifting his staff he gently taps it’s surface. It ripples like a calm lake disturbed and white figure manifestes in it.

A white equine like creature accented with gold, radiated majesty and power. Emerald crusted ring of gold attached to its abdomen outshines any crown a king could wear. It’s red and green eyes seem to glow when it notices the time master who has contacted it. And with a mighty voice they spoke.

“Clockwork, it has been ages since we hast last spoken. How hast thou been, those Eyeballs still causing trouble for thee?”

Clockwork lets himself chuckle, trust his friend to take a stab at his ‘coworkers’ just to make him laugh. Not that he’s any better.

“Well met Arceus, my old friend. As nice as it would’ve been for me to have only called you for pleasantries, we’re here to discuss some business.”

He leans on his staff as his friend could only sigh.

“We had a feeling this was so. Thou rarely contact us for any reason other.” Arceus laments and bores a tired glare at the cloaked man who in turn shrugs rather unapologetically.

“What is’t, now that thou summon us?” He asks in almost bored tone.

“I’m calling for the old dept.”

Clockwork states simply. Or it would have sounded simple to anyone else, but Arceus stills as their eyes blow wide open before they narrow in suspicion.

“What hast thou gotten into for thou to arriveth and claim due.” They demand and watch when with a wave of a staff, a hand mirror appears on the other’s unoccupied hand. They lean in for a closer look as a visage of an adolescent boy with midnight black hair becomes visable. This was not what they had expected.

“We fail to understand what thou crave us to try, other than it most like hath to try with thy human child.” They inquire in hesitant interest. This was Clockwork they were dealing with and should never be underestimated.

“He’s a child who’s been dealt an unnecessarily cruel hand in both life and death. He just a moment ago witnessed the loss of his friend and loved ones in the hands of his ultimate enemy.” He tells this as he looks at the image.

“E’en if that is the case, why hie so far for this one single being? There are many others whom suffer the like fate as him, if not worse. Time favors none, doth it not?” Arceus keeps questioning. It doesn’t make sense since they’ve seen countless beings succumb to many fates both good, bad and horrid. What is so different about this one?

“This world holds nothing but sadness and pain for him. In another timeline things would have gone so much more differently and he would have had his happy ending, but this timeline is unfortunately not it. He will never truly recover if he stays here were everything reminds him of his ‘failure’; he’ll keep dwelling deeper in his misery till it drives him over the edge. A change of scenery is what he desperately needs, so I’m finally asking for the favor that you own me. My request is that you take this child and allow him to build a new life for himself in your world.”

They hear and see the clear care their old friend holds for the child but they needs to remind him of the weight of what he’s asking of them.

“This is no bawbling crave Clockwork.” They press.

Clockwork fiddles idle with the clock that is embedded on top of his trusty staff as he conversationally mentions.

“Just like it wasn’t a small act I committed back then for you.”

He lifts his red eyes back at them, challenging the other to try and back down. Arceus knows a losing battle when they see one, besides they do own him big time. There’s nothing else for him to do than continue onward in valiant defeat.

“What is the name of this child?” They ask as they turn back to look at their future charge. The victorious smugness emanating from the other side of the mirror nearly causes them to roll their eyes.

“His name is Daniel Fenton but goes by his moniker Danny or Phantom depending on his current form. A bright young lad when given the chance, even if his grades might have taken a plunge due to his hero work.” Clockwork informs them.

Arceus watches in keen interest as they’re shown many of the boy’s ventures through the small looking-glass. They can’t help but laugh when he realizes how Clockwork sounds like when he talks about the boy, causing said ghost to raise his brown at him.

“And hither we thought thee were suppose to be impartial to all’s… Regarding the favor, all preparations shall be done ‘i no time.” They both discreetly snorted at the pun.

“We are content to receive him whenever seen meetest.”

Clockwork’s shoulders slump ever so slightly as he gives a grateful smile, which quickly turns to his usual smirk.

“Excellent, I won’t be holding you any longer then. Besides I need to prepare young Daniel for his departure, as well as some ‘guests’ to entertain when they finally decide to arrive.” He purrs but before the call was ends Arceus gives a final warning to their old friend.

“We hope that this doth not end poorly. If it doth, thy shall bear the consequence.”

At this threat the ghost only laughs.

“No need for worry. Knowing my Daniel he will do more good then harm. But then again, I know everything.” And with that final farewell the mirror returns back to its unassuming state. Clockwork creates a duplicate of himself and sends him away while making his way back to Danny.

Arriving at the bedroom door he knocks out of courtesy on it before entering to see the poor boy lying face down on the bed. Softly floating to the bedside he tentatively begins to pet his grimy hair. Danny stirs slightly but made no move to get away or to stop the hand on his head. Instead he starts to hiccup and tries to smother his sobs on the duvet.

“I’ll never see them again.” He cries.

Clockwork continues his petting as he lets the boy release his emotions.

“They’re never coming back.” He cries more and all the elder can do at the moment was to offer comfort.

“I’m sorry.” He says as sincerely as he can. He would’ve felt regret over the whole situation if he didn’t know that this needed to happen. It still doesn’t stop his core from breaking a little when he hears him say in such a small voice.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

Lifting his hand from the dirty hair he moves to shift it away from the boy’s face to reveal pair of red puffy eyes looking at him in complete loss.

“You won’t be for long. Here, lets get you cleaned up a bit and you can go back to rest a little while longer.”

Not having energy to argue he’s helped up from the soft bed and into a Victorian style bathroom. Clockwork helps him all through out the whole process of undressing and bathing since Danny doesn’t want to do much of anything in his current state. Being gentle with all the injuries, he’s placed into a tub and washed till water comes out clean. Helping Danny up once again he ignores the grimy rags that were the boy’s old clothes laying on the floor as he moves them both back to the bedroom where a set of new identical looking garments rest on the bed along with a black and white duffel back with Phantom’s logo on it. Danny, who’s bundled up in light purple towel, shows only slight interest in the assorted items before going back to being docile dead weight. He doesn’t react much either to being once again manhandled and laid back down to rest on the soft mattress. His eyes already closing shut when he was being tucked in.

Clockwork takes a second to look at the now peaceful form slumbering away, he deems him well enough to be left alone for the time being. After shutting the lights and closing the bedroom door behind him, he leaves to continue his many tasks still left unfinished.

It takes a good while for Danny to wake up and when he does, he’s feeling completely sore and tired. He looks around to see the familiar room and tears began to fall again.

It wasn’t just a nightmare then. They were really gone forever now. His talk with Clockwork plays around in his head, about how he should keep on living. But he doesn’t think he deserves a new chance, not that he had been given any other choice. He was going to be dragged towards a “new life” kicking and screaming anyway so what’s the point in even trying to fight back. What was there to fight back for?

Rolling his head to its side he was faced with the duffel bag he vaguely remembers seeing before going to sleep. And since it has his logo on it he could only assume that it was meant for him. He rolls to his other side and tries to ignores it to best of his ability. Few moments pass as he tosses around in frustration before he lets his curiosity win.

“Whatever.” He sighs and moves to sit and drags the full bag in closer to him.

Hesitating for a second, he grips the pull tightly and opens it. He only sees a glimpse of what’s inside but it’s enough for his world to come to a complete stop again. His hands start to shake uncontrollably as he carefully, oh so carefully pushed the opening wider to see if his mind was playing tricks on him. Only when his trembling fingers caress the items revealed inside does he believe them to be real and there with him.

Inside are meticulously placed items belonging to all his lost loved ones. He reverently takes them all out and spreads them neatly in front of him.

His mom’s red goggles glisten along with his dad’s favorite fudge spoon which sit right next to a giant pair of black gloves also belonging to his dad. To the right is his sister’s well loved teddy bear nicknamed Bearbert Einstein, which thankfully hasn’t gained anymore tears. Even his little lab coat was still on. Next is Sam’s much sought-after combat boots she swore to wear when she’d grown enough to wear them properly and beside them are Tucker’s trusted PDA and signature red beret which he owned multiple of. There are even two of his own favorite items from his room; a red toy model rocket from his childhood and vintage collector’s poster of Apollo 13. All the other irrelevant items such as the Fenton thermos, wrist ray, Fenton phones, Boo-merang and Fenton rod, some extra clothes and a memory stick he left inside the bag.

He places both of his hands to his mouth as he tried fruitlessly stifle a sob. Clockwork must have gathered all of them for him, and he would be forever grateful for it.

He takes his dad’s oversized gloves and fastened them on his much smaller hands. Mom’s goggles now hanged around his neck as he situates Tucker’s beret backwards on his head, and after putting on Sam’s boots he gently lifts Mr. Bearbert to look into his one remaining little eye. Hugging the bear tightly, he curls into a ball and he manages to catch a whiff of a painfully familiar sweet scent. It still smells like Jazz’s cheap candy perfume. He no longer hold back on his cries as he’s surrounded by the only things he still has left of his shattered life.

He didn’t know how long he had cried before he felt a hand landing on his shoulder. He only looked up at the new arrival when then hand squeezed in lieu of trying to get his attention. It’s Clockwork who’s gazing down softly at him.

“I thought you might appreciate to have some mementos of them to take with you.” He explains. Danny can only nod in utmost thanks, not trusting his voice to work at the moment.

He can feel his eyes starting to moisten up again but no more tears are left for him to cry. The hand on his shoulder continues to sooth him as he gathers himself up to sit, still clutching on to his sister’s bear for support. He’s offered a napkin to dry of his now wet face.

“I suggest that you pack your bag back up; it is time to leave.” The ghost encourages him and moves to stand by the bed’s side.

“Already?” He asks and winces at how his voice comes out. Clockwork nods.

“Unfortunately. Now come, I’ll help you if you need me to.” He says and gestures at the bag. Danny didn’t want to put away the items just yet and seeing how he’s hesitating the ghost continues to reason.

“The road to you destination is a turbulent one, it will be much safer to put them away for the time being and you can always take them out afterwards.”

He thinks about it only a second before caving in; he doesn’t want to loose any more things dear to him just because of his stubbornness. Carefully, one by one he takes the precious items and puts them away to safety of his duffel before zipping it up. Clockwork opens the door and gestures for him to follow which he dutifully does along with his bag.

Their walk is silent for the most part, not that he minds too much, it leaves him time to look at all the cogs, clocks and other glowing green metallic structures that litter the place. Makes sense considering who the owner is.

It’s probably because of Clockworks own influence or because their destination was that close by that they arrived to their stop faster than he thought it would take, and to his surprise and dread the room they enter was the viewing room he and his friends had broken into. The guilt that immediately starts to twist his guts make him look down at the ground and keeping his eyes only on the end of his guider’s cloak. He’s so focused on not seeing anything on the screens and mirrors that he pumps into Clockwork when he stops them at the very end of the cluttered room. Finally daring to look up he sees in front of them on it’s lonesome, is a person sized clouded mirror with ornate frame hanging on the wall, with stone steps leading up to it.

Clockwork turns to him and speaks as he gestures it.

“This gateway will take you to your the new world which hopefully you’ll learn to love and call home one day. There are things in that world that are similar to ours, but also things that you’ve never even imagined. Don’t worry, your new caretakers will share more information with you once there.”

He places his hand on his back and guides the hesitant teen up the stairs to his uncertain future. He pauses in front of the mirror and now that he stands so close to it, he can see that the glass isn’t exactly clouded but seems to have actual moving clouds trapped on the other side of it. He thoughtfully looks at it then at Clockwork.

“Will I ever see you again?” He asks after a moment of hesitation. The elder tilts his head to the side as if thinking before smiling enigmatically.

“Only time will tell young Daniel.” He simply states which almost makes Danny snort, but his slightly better mood is snuffed out when a promising grin takes over his aging face.

“Good luck.”

With this he pushes the fumbling teen into the mirror who embraces for collision but is shocked when he passes through the glass and keeps on falling. He screams.

Clockwork watches impassively as his short time charge leaves this world and into a new one. He glances at nearby mirror to see Fenton Works blow up to smithereens, leaving nothing to the unscrupulous vultures that would have used this tragedy to their advantage. Someone must’ve forgotten to change the Ecto-Filtrator, how unfortunate.

He silently counts down till the door to his work room slams open and three very loud creatures whom have once again barged into his domain uninvited, decide to make tier unhappiness known.

“You must have thought it really funny to leave us in a time loop at your front door!”

His lips twitch minutely as he regards them dully.

“Who knows, and did you really need to take out your frustration on my poor door.”

The trio float closer, all of them wearing identical white robes and black collard cloaks decorated with gold. Their heads were nothing more then a giant eyeball with no necks. Middle one closes in and points its sharp-nailed finger at him as it narrows its one eye.

“Were not here to play games, Time Keeper. Were here because of that hybrid you seem to favor.”

He raises an eyebrow and tightens his hold on the staff. The being notices this and wisely moves back to stand with his peers. Satisfied he turnes to look back at the many screens that kept switching from view to view.

“You won’t have to worry about him. He’s long gone.” He provides, which certainly caught their interest.

“He is? For good?” Third one askes, sounding a bit too exited.

“And he won’t be a problem in the future?” Second one askes more apprehensively.

“Yes. I trust you are satisfied now.” He near spits at the unwanted company standing behind him. Dressed in fine robes they look more like noblemen than officials, which irks Clockwork to no end. So high and mighty, it made him want to defenestrate a good few of them if it weren’t for the fact that they were needed in this anarchist paradise of a dimention.

“Where did you send him anyway Clockwork?” Pries one of them. He merely shrugs in response.

“That is none of your concern since he won’t be coming back. Now, care to observe the door. And don’t let it hit you on your way out.” He motions carelessly behind him at the exit.

As they turn to leave with indignant huffs, they do not notice the mysterious smile stretching on the time ghost’s face.

[kawaiijohn]

Rewind, Rinse, Repeat Chapter 1

For Invisobang Minibang 2021

Ao3 Link

Chapters: 3 finished, 12 total Rating: T+ Warnings: Major and Minor Character Death- all temporary, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Strong Language, Mild Body Horror, Mild Injury. Other warnings listed by chapter Characters: Clockwork, Danny Fenton, Pariah Dark, Levi | Leviathan (OC), Mal (OC), Observants, Mentions of other characters Ships: Lost Time, Dark Ages, CW & OC child, CW & Levi | Leviathan (OC) Genre/Tropes: Human AU, Magic AU, Found Family, Character Origin, Hurt/Comfort, Original Magic System and Lore Additional Tags: Existentialism & Existential Angst, Memory Loss & Amnesia, Corruption, Clockwork Centric, They/Them Pronouns for Clockwork, The Fenton's A+ Parenting, Obersvant Bashing

Summary

“Clockwork can I ask you something? How did you become a ghost?”

The tale surrounding the mystery of Clockwork's existence; a world where magic is common and ghosts are not. A world where one lonely, average mage tries with all their might to save what means most to them. A world where things need to be remade into something better.

Shout out to my betas @bibliophilea and @moonlights-shadow-warrior for keeping me sane, @13thdoodle for letting me use their OC, Levi, @dailudannos and @sailor-toni for providing art for later chapters, and all the folks over at @invisobang for being awesome!!!!

Chapter One below the Cut. The rest is available on my Ao3 account because tumblr linking/posting is hella broken.

Chapter 1: An Inquiry

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you something?”

Clockwork looks over from the mirror they were watching intently.  “You already have, Daniel,” they reply, offering the other a smirk.

“Oh, ha ha.  You've never said that to me before.”  The reply is filled to the brim with sarcasm, as per usual.  Danny rolls his eyes, but a small smile gracing his lips betrays the fact he isn't annoyed in the least.  “Seriously, though.  It’s something that's been on my mind like... every day for the last two weeks!!"  He raises his hands towards the sky, flopping back in the air dramatically.  "But... it's kinda, y'know.  Personal-”  Danny trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Of course.  Clockwork finds themself smiling fondly- Danny thought he’d said something he shouldn't have- an inquiry that could make his guardian upset (as if it's even possible to upset Clockwork like that).  A question is a question, and this is a worrying habit of his that the Time Master is trying to help break, even if it's still somewhat endearing to them.

“I uh, I mean... it’s personal about- to you, not to me. That’s what I meant!!” Danny continued.

Clockwork stares at him, unblinking.  An idea (or thousands) of what he may ask flashes through their mind’s eye.  With a single, calming pulse to their Core, Clockwork pushes the involuntary slideshow of timelines aside as if they're no more than curtains.  They need to focus on the window in front of them; the here and now, not the temporal drapery.

It's a habit they are trying to overcome for Daniel’s sake.  To ensure their ward's growth, they need to stop peering into the near future as often- not discourage his asking of questions.  After all, what is a child if not but a well of endless curiosity?  Cutting Danny off is also sure to disallow the development of any trust or patience Clockwork needs to build within their young ward.  They wouldn’t receive either of those things if they assume what he wanted to ask.

It's common decency to not assume, lest it ‘make an ass out of you and me’, according to Daniel.

It is going to be a tough habit to break, but by the (other) Ancients, they're trying their best.  Their ward deserves the infinitesimal choices all other children have when asking things of their guardians, so even if they do glimpse to the future, they will not mention it to him.  Clockwork refuses and will continue to refuse to take their ward’s agency away; to not have a choice in things is a fate worse than fading.

The boy has been quiet, stuck deep within his own thoughts even after an impressive five minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds of silence (uncharacteristic of the boy, Clockwork notes).

Now that just won't do- he must have lost his train of thought.  Clockwork gestures at the ghost boy, motioning for him to continue.  It works- Danny adverting his eyes and clearing his throat, "Well, it’s just like- you know so much about me- like, how I died, the whole Ghost Zone Prince business, that entire disaster doomed timeline with Dan... I just keep thinking- no- realizing, that I barely know anything about you!!”  He throws his arms up in thinly veiled frustration.

Clockwork smirks. “You had another question, did you not?”  They place a hand along the edge of the closest Temporal Mirror, turning to face the mirror- still halfway facing Danny.  They can see his inner debate clearly written on the boy's face- the mirror reflecting as if it were an ordinary object (for now).  They turn towards it fully and watch Daniel's reaction from behind them, acting as if they aren't finding joy in their ward's hesitation.  It's always adorable when he tries not to offend Clockwork. "I may be able to work with time, but that doesn't mean I wish to float here waiting for an answer all day."

Danny blinks a few times, rolling his eyes again in response.  Clockwork is certain that if they weren’t secured to his skull by human musculature they’d fall out and roll away.  “Well, I’m sorry for trying not to be rude and like, asking outright... but since it’s you I have to always be super direct!!  Jeeze you’re frustrating sometimes!”  He floats towards his mentor, crossing his arms.

Danny often forgets Clockwork isn't easily upset over trivial things such as questions.  Most questions are about things they already know the answers to, anyways.  And the few things that they don’t know when asked, they figure out soon after.  Such is the duty of the Master of Time- to be a step ahead of everyone and everything else always.  Besides, in most timelines (68.3% of them, to round up) the question Daniel wishes to ask is along the lines of ‘What was your past like?’ Another small fraction (a little under 20%) the question is ‘How did you get so strong?’ .  And even in the remaining timelines, the question would be along the lines of ‘How do your time powers work?’

They are each things Clockwork expects Daniel to ask them at some point or other, as it were.  There isn’t really anything Daniel can ask that could be too shockin-

“Clockwork, I was wondering… how exactly did you become a ghost?”

They... did not see that coming… in any of the timelines they’d glimpsed.  Clockwork stills for only a fraction of a moment, but it’s long enough for Danny to flinch, feeling as if he’s crossed a line.  They hear more than see Daniel shrinking in on himself as they look off into nothing, buried memories waking slowly in their mind.

Clockwork is brought from their introspection by a mumbled curse.  “Shit!  I mean... uh crap??"   They just stare at Danny as they are brought back to the present.  "Never mind just... sorry for asking...  Oh man!  Did I offend you somehow?  Ancients dammit, this is what I was worried about!!”  They watch him curiously, soft whirring coming from their ward's anxious core.  “We can just forget about it if-”  Daniel’s hands wring together nervously, shoulders tense with worry and face full of guilt.

Right- facial expressions are also important for a young ghost's emotional communication and development.  Sometimes the Time Master wonders if their isolation in Long Now affected their social behavior (it did).  Their face is carefully blank most times, so they set to fix it- they offer a small grin, hand coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulder.  “It is more than fine, Daniel.  You asked if you could ask a question- which is in fact, two questions, I should note- but I gave you consent to ask it of me.”  They squeeze his shoulder to placate the worry.

“It’s about time I told you this story, as it were.  I just did not foresee it being told at this very moment."  Clockwork floats slowly, turning away from their Mirrors.  "Come along- it’s best we sit for this.  I’ll have one of your friends bring us some tea.”

Danny floats after his mentor, looking around the room the two normally use to study history of the Realms.  “So, uh… is it a long story or...?”

“Oh, it is very long, indeed.”  They fly through an ornate door and over to their favored 'chair'- a stack of comfortable cushions in violets and blues, both impossibly cool and warm at the same time.  They recall Daniel discovering the room, eyes full of wonder and posture relaxed.  Clockwork chuckles- the first time their boy had wandered in here he'd decided to take a running dive into the pile, jumping up in surprise when it was cold as ice, yet warm as fresh laundry.  The expression on their ward’s face is one of their fondest memories; a happy moment amongst all the tedium of watching time.

“It may take a while to tell this tale proper. But, it is a story that ought to be told.”  Daniel makes himself comfortable on his chair of choice- an unholy combination of 'borrowed' pillows and what appears to be a more modern gaming chair- complete with an obnoxiously bright green-black color scheme.  Clockwork has to hide another smile as Danny wiggles himself deep into the pile.  “So, Daniel- what do you know of the phrase ‘Totems of Power’?”

“I thought I was getting a story, not a pop quiz!  Unfair!!”  His disdain for schooling makes Clockwork laugh fondly before the boy continues.  “But they’re like… hmm how do I explain this?  Well, there’s the universe right?  Like every timeline and every result of every timeline all at the same time kind of ties into the main universe thingy- but there's still a main timeline, and that's kinda like... Main Street, and the other possible timelines are uh... like side streets with dead ends?  But there's other forces that like, aren't time and… uhhh...”

He hums, crossing his arms deep in thought.  Clockwork takes the time to purr-sing-hum at one of the many blobs floating in and out of their lair; Daniel had asked them to keep some around as pets and the Time Master was happy to oblige.  They were unable to deny something so beneficial to the young Prince, after all.  The one deemed ‘Mr. Pants’ by one of Daniel’s friends answers their call.  Clockwork buzzes to it a quiet request- ‘bring Daniel's favorite tea and mugs for two, please.’  The little thing chirrups and zips off through the walls- eager to serve the Lair’s owner and be (potentially) rewarded with pats (from Daniel).

The Time Master brings their undivided attention back toward a grumbling ghost boy, lost in thought.  “Daniel if you need to ask for help I’m glad to-”

Danny snaps his fingers, coming to a realization before his mentor can finish.  “I got it!!  The best way to explain it is ‘The Universe needs to run smoothly, so there’s certain forces- like Time or Space- that are upheld by a powerful entity, like a person or like… the avatar of that concept?  Yeah, something like that, but they ensure the aspect they represent is properly cared for so the universe doesn’t completely like, die.’”  Danny nods to himself.  "It's why you stepped in to stop Dan, to make sure the world didn't end like that."

“That is correct- it is my job to ensure this universe of ghosts and reality doesn't crumble prematurely.  Now, do you have a recollection of any other Totems you may have encountered?”

“Well, yeah!  We call them ‘Ancients’, though- so like… Pandora is the one for war and history, and Nocturn is for like… dreams?  The Void or something, maybe?  And then there’s old man Pariah who isn’t one, but he said there’s a Leadership Ancient somewhere, and then-”  Danny pauses, blinking at Clockwork in realization.  “Wait, you asked that for a reason, didn’t you?”

“That I did.  Becoming the Totem, or Ancient of Time is where this story starts.”  Clockwork hums, seeing Mr. Pants fly back towards the two- nearly spilling scalding tea all over the ground.  “Now then.  We have drinks.  We are sitting comfortably.  I believe it’s time I spin my tale for you.”  They take a sip, closing their eyes in bliss.

They open them once more and see Daniel sitting, eyes full of stars and eager- Eager to hear, eager to fire off a question a minute.  It makes a chuckle bubble up in their throat, to see their favorite person so excited to learn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human; average in most ways, a simple person living a simple life.  They would get up in the morning, perform their daily tasks, and go to sleep at night.  Day in, and day out- a boring, but fulfilling existence.

“However, where this story differs from what we recognize as reality, is that in this realm, humans who could control magic were the norm.  Think as if it were like one of those fantasy games you and Tucker play together- mages, healers… all of those and more were commonplace when I was alive.  Yes, humans can wield magic now, but it is nowhere near as frequent as they could in our tale.”

They pause, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt.  “Wait wait- this realm?  Like- this is a completely different reality?? And people can wield magic now???  Are you messing with me?  Like… I thought it was all just-”  The boy stops, his train of thought drifting off the tracks as it tends to now and then.

“Yes, first, this is a completely different realm from either the Mortal Plane or the Ghost Zone.  Second, Daniel- tell me... have you not noticed the magic of those you have encountered?  Blood blossoms… a reality warping gauntlet?  The existence that is ‘Freakshow’ in general should be a red flag, seeing as his talents were… strangely non-ghostly in origin.  Not to mention objects such as the Infi-map...”

“Man, I wish I could forget about Freakshow… who mind controls ghosts???  He was the worst!” Their young ward crossed his arms and grumbles.

“If you’re done sulking about your past misadventures and former foes, I was in the middle of telling a story, if I recall correctly.  One you asked I tell you…”  Clockwork simply stares, unblinking as steam wafts from their slowly cooling tea.

All is well, they knew Danny would only take approximately 4.85 seconds to snap his attention back to their story.  Clockwork sips their tea, waiting.

Danny snaps out of his thoughts only a millisecond off of Clockwork's prediction. “Sorry... it’s just super weird to think that magic actually… still exists?  Like ghosts are real and all but magic being a thing feels a bit far fetched, don’t ya think?”  He pouts, brow furrowed.

The Master of Time finally closes their eyes, removing the hood from their head.  White hair floats gracefully behind them, settling just past their shoulders.   Clockwork opens their eyes again- a serious, yet warm expression directed at their ward.  “Magic is simply defined as reality altering acts using both energy and the willpower of a sentient being, if that helps.”  Another sip.  Mr. Pants made a wonderful batch of tea, as always.  They smile wider when they notice Danny’s expression- the boy has never seen them without a hood, and they know doing this will (in 99.78% of all possible timelines) convince the boy to take what they said seriously.   ”Just as ghosts can be defined as ‘ectoplasm given form and consciousness’, forces beyond humanity and the physical realm can be explained with scientific terminology if you know where to look.”

“So like... what all did magic have to do with this ‘simple human’ version of you?  Did you ever have the power to shoot lightning??  Could I shoot lightning if I tried?  Like were you some sorta time wizard?  Is that why you’re all… timey-wimey and powerful?”  Danny wiggles his fingers with a look of confusion on his face.

Clockwork always finds their Core warming when their boy acts his age.  He's abnormally prone to shoulder the destiny of the world on himself and often forgets he's just a kid.  “You could continue asking questions one at a time, or you could allow me to tell my story.  The choice is yours, Daniel.”  They smirk, watching as Danny purses his lips, his steady flow of questions stopping short.  The best answer.  “Perfect- all is as I thought it would be.”

They close their eyes and reminisce as they continue.  “Now- to answer your last question… Yes.  You could say magic is how I came to be the Master of Time in both the Infinite Realms and the mortal plane, but there is much more to the story than that.  Other players, situations, and pure circumstances.  The universe in its infinite chances and possibilities brought myself, as well as many others to the situations they face here and now.”  Clockwork pauses, taking the moment to stare straight through Danny’s soul.  “Even yourself.”

The boy shudders, an appropriate response.  “Wait... me?  Did you… do something in the past to like… a past version of someone we know??  Can that even happen???”  Danny is already enraptured by the story, eyes twinkling as his mentor opens up about themself.  The boy is obviously thinking about everything that has happened, everything that could possibly have happened, and everything that Clockwork could possibly drop on him.

They feel Daniel cautiously tug on loose strands of time to see if he could possibly scope out what is about to be said, quickly failing to do much else beside give himself a small headache.  “Time stuff is still really confusing, Clockwork…”

“You could say that.  You could even say that trying to mess with time in the inner sanctum of Long Now is the most confusing ‘time stuff’ one could do if they were not myself.”  They grin- a Temporal Mirror appearing behind them with a thought.

“What’s the mirror for?”  Danny catches sight of himself and looks away, embarrassed that he’s been literally glowing with power after trying to do something so simple with his developing powers.  The glow is something he’s been working on suppressing recently.  After all, it would be a shame if other ghosts could see the boy powering up by aura alone.

The Master of Time smirks, bringing tea to their lips again.  “I thought it would be fun to attempt braiding my hair and doing my makeup for once.  It has been an awfully long time since I’ve done either.”

They stare at Danny who just bursts into laughter.  “Did you just use sarcasm???  Man, I didn’t know you could lighten up, Clockwork!”  The boy laughs harder, sinking deeper into his nest of pillows.  After a few minutes he was finally wiping tears from his eyes.  “But no.  Seriously… what’s the mirror for??”

“Why, what they are always for, Daniel- seeing through time and space.”  Clockwork waves their hand.  The mirrors show an image of a human with dark hair and burgundy eyes.  They have a large, hooked nose and medium brown skin- and Danny finds himself having a hard time guessing their gender.  The human sits at a desk, paused in time with the delicate gears of a clock sprawled along the desk surface, tools in hand.

Behind Clockwork, the image changes, showing the human living through an average day- images play in small spurts, never showing the whole story.  “Do you understand what’s being seen?”  The young boy nods, grabbing Mr. Pants out of the air as the blob drifts between the two.  Good, he will probably need the companionship, especially towards the end.

This isn’t the easiest story to tell, nor is it easy to listen to, but with a sip of their tea, Clockwork continues.

[the-sprog]

So since I'm very bad at remembering my ideas, I'm gonna throw this out there and hope one day I'm like "WAIT didn't I have an idea for a fic??? What was it???" And I will find it on my tumblr.

It's about Danny Phantom, obviously.

There are actually two of them in here so:

The easiest one: Jack and Maddie are not stupid. I mean they're scientists, the use the scientific method. One of the things about the scientific method is that if you do a bunch of tests, based on an hypothesis and only one of them comes out disproving it, then your hypothesis is incorrect.

Phantom has disproved basically all of their hypothesis.

So, next thing to do? Create a new one. Do new tests. They take Jazz's suggestion and try and see if the ghosts of Amity are actually conscious. Because obviously they're sentient, but are they like animals? Or are they like robots with artificial intelligence?

Or even better yet, are they like humans?

They grab Phantom's attention and ask him if he would cooperate for this test. A simple Turing test. Obviously they're still wary because of everything that happened with him, and do the test with witnesses to keep both Phantom's and their minds at ease.

He passed the test. With flying colors.

They're shocked and ask him if he knew peaceful ghosts that would be willing to take the test (because, y'know. Scientific method. Need to try over and over again). Phantom would have to explain that not all ghosts are as human-like as him (as, first of all, he's a halfa, but he doesn't say that. And second, lots of them are blobs or animal-like ghosts), but cue his parents meeting Jhonny and Kitty (cause I like the idea that they have a truce with Phantom and that going out of the zone helps them with their couple problems), as well as Shadow (example of a less human-like ghost). Then Sidney, Dora, the Fright Knight (cause king ghost Danny ftw) and Frostbite.

They all pass, more or less. Some, like Dora, the light and Sidney, where given away by their choice of word, but other than that all of them passed the test.

OK SO MORE COMPLEX ONE:

I love crossovers. I love finding ways of putting the two universes together, of making them work with each other, adapting the rules so that they apply to both. (With Danny Phantom it's also really cool to just... Make him travel the multiverse. He doesn't adhere to the rules of where he goes to, so it's always hilarious. But we're not here for that now).

One of the best ones to do this with is My Hero Academia. Whenever a show has someone with powers I end up asking myself "how should that work in the world of my hero?" And start trying to incorporate it in the lore.

So, first thing first, we're getting rid of the canon story of my hero. Completely unrelated to the show. This takes place decades in the past, when the first people where developing quirks (so if I wanted to write something with this and actually use my hero characters, I'd make it so that they where hit with a time traveling quirk or that Clockwork was somehow involved).

The Fenton's hatred for ghosts? Make it discrimination against the people who have quirks.

Danny being half-ghost? His quirk's fault. He calls it Ghost, for simplicity, it allows him to come back as a sort of ghost-like creature after he dies. Somehow, one day, he doesn't die completely so his body fixes it the only way it know how. Making him partially ghost.

Obviously that would mean that all the ghosts he fights aren't ghosts anymore. They're villains with quirks, and their powers would be based on what they can do on the show, minus the basic intangibility, invisibility and flight.

Obviously only Sam and Tucker would know he was Phantom and he had a quirk, he's also kinda the only one in town with one. People would be a little racist against quirk havers, but the kids, like in the show, come around to it. And actually start loving Phantom and thinking of him as a hero.

How do I fit Vlad in all of this? Ehm ahhhh this is the one thing I didn't think about. Very basic, but could give him a power similar to Danny, were instead of a ghost, he becomes a vampire. But his quirk is caused by an accident in college, so it's artificial.

Why does Skulker (who doesn't have a quirk. He's just a guy in a suit) hunt Danny? He has a very unique quirk.

Does Dani exist? I mean. Yeah. Cloning is not so farfetched, especially with the existence of quirks.

Clockwork can control time, he involuntary does that being a child, then an adult then an old man thing. The Observants are people without quirks that keep him in check, an organization that made a pact with him to stay young forever or something in change of idk what. No idea what Clockwork would get out of it I won't lie. Money maybe? Or somehow they found a way of keeping him there against his will?

Walker (and I'll make a seperate post about this) is an ex guy in white. Yes they still exist, but they hunt quirk havers instead of paranormal stuff. Walker was kicked out because he actually has a quirk but lied about it. He's after his own kind in the show as well. I mean, he's a stickler to the rules, but he only ever seems to care when it's ghosts that brake them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but never has he punished a human. His quirk is making semi-sentient minions. They're not copies of himself. They're like clay humans with basic forms. They all look alike and have no special characteristics.

Frostbite is just... A yeti. With cryokenisis. It's a mutation type quirk.

Same goes for Wulf, he's just a humanoid wolf that can create teleportation portals. I can't think of a reason why he would only speak Esperanto though. It could be something similar to Five from umbrella academy. He accidentally got stuck in the 1600 as a kid and managed to come back only relatively recently.

I feel like all the other ghosts have obvious powers.

Cujo can become ginormous,

Technus can control technology,

Dora and Aragon can become dragons,

Jhonny gives people bad luck and can control his shadow,

Kitty can make man disappear,

Ember can mind control using music,

Spectra can use people's negative emotions to stay young,

Bernard has shapeshifting,

Youngblood can't be seen by adults (side effect: can't grow old) and his sideckick has a variant of shapeshifting where he can only transform in animals. A definitive father figure),

Box ghost can control boxes,

Pandora can control the plagues of the world,

Desiré can make people's wishes come true,

Sidney can swap bodies with people,

Undergrowth can control plants,

Pariah Dark- I... Actually don't know...

Lunch Lady can control food,

Aaaanndddd no more come to mind.

I want to do something with this AU but I can't really think of an interesting story, other than "kids from 1A get misplaced in time and Danny has to help, discovering the existence of Clockwork and the Observants, whom he hates. So he tries to get Clockwork out of there with the other kid's help" but that's it, really.

I actually have a 3rd idea, but it basically works the same as the MHA one. Crossover with the X-Men.

Substitute quirk havers with mutants and quirks with mutations and you get the idea.

The plot would be more of a "Danny gets recruited by Xavier after the trauma of almost dying activated his mutation and goes to live at the mansion. This happens after the events of season 3, alla salted to make sense in the world of Marvel, but without Phantom planet. He makes friends there, since Sam and Tucker aren't with him and everything is fine and dandy and happy. Until it comes out that the Fentons actually contribute to the creation of the Sentinels, because they hate Phantom that much.

So Danny has to infiltrate his own family to get info on how the Sentinels work so they can destroy them, since his parents are still oblivious and they made it so that the Sentinels wouldn't attack Danny thinking that his accident just somehow make him register as a mutant on machinery" and that's it.

[ladylynse]

Chapter 4 of Forewarning [FF | AO3]

All Dipper knew was that there was something buried in some special thermos behind the shack; all Danny knew was that he had no idea how he’d gotten here. 

Inspired by this artwork by @hashtag-art

(beginning | previous)

-|-

It wasn’t an ordinary net. Danny could see that much even as he phased through it. There were different kinds of metal woven in with the other fibres, though whether that was to strengthen the net or stop some other kind of creature, Danny really didn’t know at this point. With these kids using magic and now some secret lab in a hidden basement, he really wasn’t—

Somehow, the water that Danny hadn’t even seen follow the net hit him square in the face and shocked him back to tangibility.

He wasn’t recovered enough to go intangible again by the time the first punch came.

Instinct was the only reason he evaded the second, a wicked uppercut that would’ve hurt. Danny slipped out of the crazy guy’s grasp and hovered a safe ten feet in the air, rubbing his jaw and being very thankful that he’d been in ghost mode for that punch since he was half convinced this form was more resilient. Not knowing what else might come, he stayed visible but didn’t go tangible. “Dude, what the heck?”

It hurt to talk, but that would go away soon enough. And it was worth it to get answers. Assuming the guy would give him answers.

“You think I’m ignorant enough that I don’t know what this is?” the guy shot back, as if that helped in the slightest. He was still holding a water gun—not a teensy little pistol but one built to soak people and soak them good. It looked…out of place. Especially somewhere with electronics that were probably expensive. At least, the stuff down here looked more expensive than anything else Danny had seen around here. It didn’t look new, exactly, but it still looked high tech, all sleek surfaces and bright screens. It didn’t have that same sterile feeling as his parents’ lab, but despite the hazard line chalked on the floor in front of the portal that was all too familiar, some of the equipment in here just looked alien to him.

“Um. Is there a safe way for me to answer that question?”

Danny expected something to be thrown at him for that response, but the old guy just kept him in his sights as he edged toward the computer console.

Towards the blueprints.

And whatever else was contained in that book.

Granted, letting him get closer to whatever he intended to reference probably wouldn’t be a good thing. At least, not unless Danny could convince him that he wasn’t the bad guy. His track record wasn’t great with that, but….

“Okay, look,” Danny said quickly, dropping a couple of feet but still remaining out of arm’s reach, “I swear I’m not here to harm you or steal something or anything like that, okay? Can you just…not do whatever you were going to do and instead tell me what you think this is? Since I’m pretty sure it’s not what I think this is? Because I don’t know what’s going on?”

“You won’t stop me from saving Sixer.”

Well, that didn’t help at all.

“I’m not trying to,” Danny said, which he hoped was true. Clockwork really could’ve told him more. The line between interfering and not was already blurred; a bit more smudging would’ve made Danny’s life a lot easier.

The guy squirted him with the water gun. The pressure on that thing was impressive. And annoying, since that meant it reached farther than Danny had anticipated.

Danny wiped the water from his eyes with one arm, still trying to figure out how water, of all things, was messing with his ability to go intangible. Maybe this was actually an alternate dimension and not the future, whatever Clockwork had told him. Or let him think? Danny couldn’t even remember anymore. Or maybe this place was just weird. The water didn’t sting, so it wasn’t like it was laced with blood blossom extract or something like that. Of course, that didn’t rule out it containing something else that managed to affect ghosts without causing them horrendous pain.

“I’m not whatever you think I am,” Danny said instead of puzzling over the water further, “and I’m not doing whatever you think I’m doing, because I don’t even know who or what Sixer is. I was….” Admitting the truth probably wouldn’t help him, but at this point, things weren’t going to go worse for the telling of it. “I was stuck in a thermos because a ghost of time itself wanted me to deliver a message to you.” That wasn’t quite true, but it was close enough. “If I come back down there, will you hear me out without attacking me?”

The guy’s expression didn’t change. It was still a glare, sharp eyes watching Danny’s every move. Danny dropped slowly, keeping out of easy punching range, and the guy didn’t advance, which was probably as good as Danny was going to get right now.

“Ghost of time, eh? Didn’t think the big baby was a ghost.”

Danny let his feet settle on the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. The guy hadn’t lowered the water gun, but at least getting squirted was only bothersome and not painful. “He’s not a baby all the time. I mean, it’s more kid than baby at the youngest stage anyway, and….” Danny hesitated. Clockwork had said that these guys—or at least someone in this area—had already messed with time. He had not specifically said that he’d been involved, or at least more involved than whatever involving Danny counted as. “Never mind. I don’t even know if we’re talking about the same ghost.”

The water gun didn’t waver.

The old guy still said nothing.

Danny wasn’t used to people who didn’t banter. Or monologue. Or otherwise talk to him, even if it was just to yell insults and threats.

“I already talked to the kids upstairs.” That got a reaction, a hardening of the face and tightening of the grip on the gun before a pointed relaxation. This guy was good, which meant he would also be very scary if Danny couldn’t convince him that he wasn’t trying to stop him from saving Sixer.

This would be so much easier if Danny knew what that meant.

“The message I have for all of you is, um….” Danny risked a glance towards the portal. “If you stay on this road, you’ll find yourself on a path you can’t turn away from.”

“You think I don’t already know that?”

That was not the response Danny had expected.

If they knew that, then why did he have to say it?

“I’m not going to stop, and I’m not going to let you try to stop me. I’m going to save him.”

Danny held up his hands quickly, flying back as the man lunged forward with a swinging fist. “I’m not trying to stop you, I swear!” Despite the miss, the man recovered faster than Danny expected and stood at the ready. He might be an ordinary human, but Danny got the feeling he really didn’t want this person as an enemy. “I just…. You need to know what you’re getting into.”

“I already do,” the man said softly.

Before the man schooled his features again, Danny read the guilt on his face.

“Let me help you,” Danny said.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, if the deadly stillness that settled on the man was anything to go by—which, in Danny’s experience, it was.

“You delivered your message,” the man growled. “Now get out of here.”

“Just…just…hold on a sec,” Danny said, not sure why he was trying to push this. Not sure why he was stalling. Not sure why he wasn’t leaving, even though instinct was screaming at him to get out of there while he still could. Except….

Except he couldn’t go home until he’d done something, something Clockwork figured he’d do even without telling him what to do, and Danny was realizing very quickly that he’d be more likely to survive this entire venture if he told the truth than if he didn’t.

Assuming they listened to him, anyway.

“I…. My name is Danny. Danny Phantom. Fenton. I…. There was an accident, with a portal, kinda like what you’re building, and I…. I think that’s why Clockwork picked me as the messenger boy. So it doesn’t happen to any of you guys. I think I need to help. If you’ll let me.”

“I’m not making a deal with any demon, so you don’t need to waste your time.”

“I’m not a demon. I’m a ghost. And…human.” Danny felt like a fool saying all this. It seemed so counterintuitive when he’d been so careful before, but…. But this wasn’t Amity Park, and these people weren’t exactly like his parents. His time here had made that abundantly clear, so maybe, if he tried to talk, they’d listen. Even if they didn’t, he was safer facing down the barrel of a water gun than an ecto-gun. This was still less of a risk, wasn’t it? He was in the future; he couldn’t accidentally destroy the past or throw himself into a different timeline or wake up back home and realize that the entire world knew his secret because of what he’d done.

Anything he did now might change their future, but it wouldn’t necessarily change his. Besides, for all that a part of him was sure he shouldn’t be saying all of this, telling this guy everything, especially when he hadn’t started with that, the rest of him, well….

The rest of him was ignoring the cautious part because he had a feeling that he knew what had happened.

There had been an accident.

Something had happened to Sixer.

This man blamed himself, and now he wanted to fix it. Even if it meant ripping a hole in time or reality or whatever to do it.

He didn’t intend to stop because he didn’t want to give up on Sixer.

Danny could understand that, doing whatever you could to save your friends and family. And he also knew that, sometimes, you couldn’t do that without help. If Clockwork hadn’t stepped in for him—

“Just look at me,” Danny said, as if the guy weren’t already focused on him. Talking seemed to help. To steady his nerves when he was doing something that could very well get him killed. These people had magic, had technology, had a very good awareness of what was out there—

Danny changed, letting the light wash away his ghost form and leave him as Danny Fenton.

“My friends and I have been studying my parents’ portal since my accident,” he said. “I can…. Let me help you save Sixer. Please.”

-|-

The kid looked human enough, but he obviously wasn’t, and Stan had seen a lot of things since coming to Gravity Falls.

He’d been awfully solid for a ghost. Stan’s knuckles were still a bit sore from that; he hadn’t slipped on his brass knuckles. Still, nothing broken, on either of them, which might be saying something, too. It hadn’t been a bad punch, and it had barely slowed the kid down. Heck, Stan wasn’t entirely sure it had slowed him down at all. It had just made him back off.

Granted, demons weren’t solid in this dimension, either, unless they’d been given form.

So either this kid was possessed by a demon who thought Stan was a complete idiot and assumed Stan knew nothing or there was a modicum of truth amongst what was probably still a slew of lies.

Thirty years, and Stan had spent too much of that time with only one journal, one part of the story. He’d done as much as he could with guesswork alone, but it wasn’t enough. He’d need to get his hands on all three. As it was? His journal didn’t exactly go into detail about demons.

Heck, ghosts were only a passing mention in his journal, hardly more than a promise to follow up on it later.

Stan knew he was missing information, valuable information, but without the next two journals, without the final pieces of the blueprints and last two-thirds of the story to tell him exactly what Ford hadn’t….

Well, without the missing journals, he’d just have to go with his gut.

His gut told him this kid was dangerous. Of course, the fact that the kid hadn’t been fazed by anything woven into Stan’s net ruled out a lot of what he could be, but Stan wasn’t convinced it would slow down a demon or a powerful ghost, anyway. It was designed to counter more earthly threats. Might hold the kid now. Might not. Just because the kid wasn’t glowing anymore, didn’t mean Stan was willing to risk it. Attacking again with another net and having it be just as effective wouldn’t gain him anything right now.

The anointed water wasn’t doing much, either, but if the kid thought this was all Stan had aside from his fists, then he was better off letting the kid make that mistake.

It didn’t seem to hurt him—didn’t seem to do much more than annoy him—but it had gotten him back on the ground. That counted for something. It had also forced him into a human guise. Well. Maybe not forced. Encouraged. Truthfully, that had probably only happened because the kid wanted Stan to trust him. That might be a strike against him being a demon, really. Most demons were smarter than that. They didn’t change right in front of you and expect you to believe that they were just misunderstood or whatever.

Stan wasn’t new to the con game.

This kid’s earnest awfulness at it reeked of him being more genuine than Stan would’ve expected, though.

“I know what this looks like,” the kid said, even though everything else he’d said and done pretty much proved that he didn’t. “I know you don’t think you have any reason to trust me.” That was the one thing he’d gotten right. “I really think I can help, though, if you’ll let me. And listen to me. And, uh, not shoot me.”

Stan debated giving him another squirt for that crack, but he resisted the temptation.

“I just…. I’m an example of things going wrong when people mess with stuff they don’t know enough about. Well, I mean, I guess not wrong wrong, because I survived, but I don’t want this to happen to you. Or the kids upstairs. Or the crazy teen working the checkout. I, um, definitely didn’t leave a good impression on her, either. I’ve messed up a lot. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help!”

A demon might feign ignorance. A demon might claim to be something it obviously wasn’t to try to throw him off the scent. A demon might say anything it could think of to get Stan to shake its hand, to accept its help, to make a deal. A demon might pretend to care about others.

But Stan wasn’t so sure a demon would make so many simple mistakes. So many human mistakes. Stan, certainly, wasn’t any stranger to mistakes.

And if this was a demon who just wanted to strengthen his foothold in this dimension, why not go after Wendy if he’d already run into her? Teens made stupid mistakes all the time. Stan had made more than twice his due, some of them the worst of his life. It shouldn’t have been hard to get Wendy to agree to something, especially if she didn’t know what she was agreeing to.

And every demon knew how to twist words to craft a deal in their favour, however nice it might sound to their victim.

This kid? Not displaying that skill.

“I just…. I just…. I want to go home.” The kid’s voice was quiet now, and he’d dropped his gaze to his shoes. Possibly a lie. Possibly trying to make said lie harder to detect. But also possibly genuine homesickness, longing, and loss.

Stan was no stranger to any of that, either.

“I need to do something before I can go home, and if it’s not helping you, I don’t know what it is.”

There was a ring of truth in those words—if only because it explained something Stan hadn’t been able to put his finger on before.

This kid, whoever he was, whatever he was, was being manipulated, plain and simple.

Someone, something, this ghost of time maybe, was holding him hostage here until he completed his task, even if that task was being left to his own devices long enough to, say, accidentally destroy all the work Stan had done in the last thirty years.

Or destroy the journals that had long been Stan’s only hope of getting his brother back.

But if he was a lackey and not the mastermind, then that changed things. He might’ve played at just being a messenger boy, but he wasn’t just here to deliver a message. He’d been put here to do so much more than that.

They both needed to figure out what that was, and Stan needed to figure it out first so he could stop the kid if he had to.

Stan lowered the water gun, letting its point fall toward the floor, and said, “What do you prefer, then? Danny, Phantom, or Fenton?”

The kid’s head shot up. “You believe me?” he squeaked, staring with wide blue eyes that held no hint of otherworldly green. “And, um, Danny, I guess. Phantom as a ghost, to people who don’t know my secret, but you know it now, so….” His shoulders rolled in a shrug. “I didn’t know if you’d believe me. Thank you. For trusting me.”

Stan had never said he trusted the kid, but he was fine with letting him think that for now.

“Your portal isn’t like the one my parents built,” the kid said as he walked over to it. He knocked on the frame, floated up a few feet and knocked again, and turned back to Stan with a frown on his face. “I don’t even know what this is made out of.”

His eyes were still the same clear blue, even with that little display.

“It was scavenged,” Stan said as the kid’s feet hit the floor again with a nice, solid thud that proved once again that there was weight to him. He kept poking around and asking questions, which Stan answered with one vague comment or another. If the kid noticed, he didn’t let on. Most likely, he assumed Stan didn’t know everything, and that’s why he needed to be here. To help, for whatever value of help that would turn out to be.

The kid would ramble on every once in a while, striving to fill the silence between them, and Stan was happy to let him do it. He could outlast whoever he was up against in an interrogation, so the silence didn’t bother him as much as it bothered the kid. He didn’t strike Stan as someone who was as chipper as Mabel, but the rambling certainly proved he could be as awkward as Dipper in some social situations, this one included. It wasn’t that the kid liked the sound of his own voice; he just didn’t know what to do with silence.

That suited Stan perfectly fine. It meant he found out more about this kid than was meant to be said, and that was useful. While Stan was all too aware of the old trick of playing at something, this didn’t feel like that. He’d fed enough people stories—and lived enough lies—to have a pretty good idea of when it was being done to him.

Keeping quiet meant he learned a bit about how much trouble Danny Fenton had had when he first became Danny Phantom.

Keeping quiet meant he learned more about Clockwork, this supposed Ghost of Time. The guy—ghost—pulling the strings, for reasons Stan had yet to figure out.

Keeping quiet also meant he learned that Dipper had a journal. More specifically, a journal written by some mysterious author. A journal that was, among other things, full of some questionable ideas about ghosts—according to the self-proclaimed ghost expert who was telling him this, anyway.

Dipper had found one of the journals.

One of the missing pieces.

It was likely that journal contained some more information on this kid, whether he knew it or not.

Which meant Stan needed to get his hands on that journal, and not just for the blueprints it surely held.

-|-

“Keep Dipper and Mabel busy out here,” Wendy said to Soos in a low voice. She’d caught him coming out of the woodshed and crossed the yard in quick, long strides. No lolling about today, or at least not anymore; now, she meant business. “There’s something inside the Mystery Shack, and I haven’t figured out what it is yet.”

Soos blinked, not sure why Wendy was so concerned about keeping the twins out of it, and then he remembered that Wendy hadn’t been there for half of the crazy adventures he’d been on with Dipper and Mabel. She knew about the stuff out there, of course, the stuff that no one talked about; you couldn’t work in the Shack and not have some knowledge of that. There was a lot of real mixed in with the fake, even if you squinted and pretended you didn’t see it. “They might already know about whatever it is,” he offered. “Dipper’s always looking for that sort of thing.”

“I’ve seen him handle ghosts,” Wendy said, “but this feels…. I dunno, different somehow. I don’t think this thing is just a ghost.”

“So it’s like a ghost but not?”

Wendy nodded. She had that look on her face, the one that meant she was ready to fight and wrestle something into submission—which was especially funny when her clothes were covered in a light dusting of white powder. Soos wisely decided not to comment on that; he didn’t look much better, considering his own clothes were covered in bits of dirt, dried leaves, and flakes of bark. Still, Wendy had thought this important enough to come out and talk to him rather than clean up whatever disaster had happened with the powder before Stan saw the place—or a tourist stopped by, since if they left because of the mess, Stan would talk about taking the fare out of Wendy’s pay. (He never had, but he liked to talk as if he would. Soos figured that was one way he kept Wendy from just inviting her friends over to hang out while she was working.)

“If Dipper and Mabel know,” Soos said, well aware that he was toeing a line but willing to push it for the twins’ sake, “then they can prepare themselves. In case it’s something they need to be prepared for.”

“They do not need to be sucked into every black hole of a mystery that exists in Gravity Falls,” Wendy countered. “I mean, they’re supposed to be here for a boring summer holiday. I want to pretend that exists for them, y’know? They can’t fix what’s wrong with this town.”

Soos wondered if she could feel it. The hair standing up on the back of your neck. The sensation of being watched. The feeling that the trees had ears, that nowhere was safe to talk about secrets.

There was so very much wrong with their little town, if anyone happened to look below the surface.

But if you never talked about it, nothing ever happened to you.

Probably.

Soos wasn’t wholly sure on that, but he was pretty sure nothing had ever happened to him, beyond what he’d gotten into with Dipper and Mabel. At least, Wendy had never brought up the fact that he’d just stopped talking about something crazy that had happened to him. To be fair, though, he wasn’t sure if she would. It was just something you didn’t do here.

“I think Dipper would try to run headlong into whatever it is anyway,” Soos said. “You know how he is. He’ll find out even if you don’t tell him. He might even find out faster if you don’t. He manages that sometimes.” It was almost a subject change. It might be enough of a subject change to make that feeling go away.

Wendy frowned.

Soos forged ahead before she could come up with a half-decent argument. After all, it was hard to argue safety when not knowing could easily go the wrong way, turning on you as a dagger instead of acting as a shield. “I mean, he’s got that book now. The one he’s always trying to hide, shoving behind his back when you walk unexpectedly into a room? I don’t know if he’s told you yet. I don’t think he’s told Stan. But it’s full of information on this stuff. It might include your whatever-it-is.”

“Ghost stories after marshmallows, then,” Wendy said. “Keep the twins on the wood gathering for as long as you can. Just…in the areas where you know it’s mostly safe. If you can. Until we figure out what this is. I should warn Stan first, anyway. And head into town to actually buy some marshmallows. Is he back yet? Have you seen him?”

“No, but he doesn’t believe in any of this stuff. You know that.”

“If it doesn’t look like he’s going to take it seriously, I’ll just play it off as a gimmick I thought of. If he likes it, he might give me a bonus.” She cracked an easy smile. “The internet is bound to be full of ways for us to pretend the Mystery Shack is haunted, and that’ll rake in a lot from a crowd of gullible tourists.”

“And in the meantime, we try to find something that might give us actual protection and pretend we think it’s fake?”

“Exactly.”

(see more fics | next)

[blackevermore]

x Secrets of The Lake: The Company of Misery and Pain

{ Chapter 9 }

Summary: Vladimir Masters’ family tree has always been tainted by secrets swept under the rug. From generation to generation there have been countless reasons the Masters’ family had seemed to keep private from the public. Even to this day, Vladimir was no exception. But what was one to do when a restless spirit from the settlement years finally breaks free from restraints and demands you answer for your ancestor’s crimes? Vladimir doesn’t know. However, Clockworks does.

Notes: We just having fun, rewriting some of the canon, new adventure new characters. I will apologize now for any grammar, spelling, weird sentence structuring in advance. My brain writes faster than my fingers and even when I go back through to reread it I still miss things. Sorry about that!

Word Count: 3725

P.s: I think it's best if I tell you now the flashbacks are out of order I should have said that earlier but never late than never for a long story owob

Vlad laid across the faint couch trying to recall all that had happened, the more he put everything in order the more he felt his brain about to melt. Danny took it upon himself to watch over Tayonna who was now being held captive in the guest room that had now been converted to a giant ghost trap. Vlad would have thrown her in the basement had it not been a complete mess. Honestly, he would have done a lot more had it not been for Danny playing hero, or Dani needing to be comforted. 

This day had gone to complete shit and Vlad knew as soon as he stepped back into his workspace there would be questions. And for every question would be a white lie that covered up the whole water pipe story. Grumbling a butter biscuit or a fudge muffin, Vlad rolled his head to the side and stared mindlessly into the fireplace in front of him. He could still taste the plasma in the back of his throat even though the endless teeth brushing and mouthwash. He even tried to drown it down with a drink but all that did was make it worse. That also upset his stomach even more and he made way towards the nearest bathroom to another unpleasant round. 

The mist had scared him. Vlad had never seen anything like it on Earth nor in the Ghost Zone. The way it slid off his body like heavy smoke felt unbelievably weird and made Vlad shiver. It felt almost like an essence of himself was pulling from his body and forming into a very upset vision. Vlad tried his best not to walk past mirrors when he wasn’t in a good mood. Anger was a face he had grown used to but sadness and misery were faint expressions he buried deep inside. The few times he couldn’t help but look he could only focus on how dark his blue eyes got and the way his face grew longer than it was. It was haunting to see or feel complete utter sadness, and that’s exactly what the mist looked like. ‘Like the day you got their wedding invitation’.

“She’s awake!” Dani shot through the door flying above Vlad, she still looked as if she would rather be somewhere else but the hero inside her pushed her to keep helping. Vlad secretly praised her as he slowly sat up and clenched his chest again. The shocks were long gone but he could still feel a sudden zap here and there, along with the sudden tighten and release around his human heart. He strongly hoped he would never have to do that again. It was already an awkward feeling shoving his own hand through his chest. Dani flew down to take his arm to help him up but Vlad held up a hand to stop her as he made it to his feet. He took a deep breath and took a small step, the shock made his energy a bit slow to regenerate, when he found a steady pace he followed Dani out the room and towards the bedroom hallways. 

Vlad could call himself paranoid the way he boobytrapped his homes. He himself was a ghost but yet every door was equipped with anti-ghost bars that were turned on by command that could cut off any exit. The statues that decorated the walkways all had blasters installed in either the eyes or the base. Once he and Danny found their common ground he made sure to update the system so Danny wouldn’t be a target anymore. 

But Vlad did enjoy that first week of Danny showing up and having to dance like a monkey when the signals were tripped. When he made it to the bedroom/cell he gave the system command to dismiss the bars and walked inside. Danny sat on the floor closer to the door watching Tayonna who now sat up in the corner of the bed against the wall. Her head hung low and she tried to curl into herself. However, when Vlad walked into the room her head shot up and she stared at him with pure hatred. Dani stayed outside and a few feet away from the door. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Tayonna.

Vlad only rolled his eyes and huffed before crossing his arms behind his back and clearing his throat to Danny.

“Any progress?” Vlad asked, never breaking eye contact with Tayonna. If she wished to insert her dominance in his home, he would have to show her who was really in charge.

“I wish, she just woke up and backed into the corner. But she is messing with my head a bit. I almost had a breakdown about a cookie I didn’t eat and threw away.” Danny got to his feet and stretched, hearing all of his bones crack at once. With a sudden heavy sigh, he turned to Vlad and tapped his foot. The older halfa eyed him confused and mouthed a ‘what is it?’. Danny’s face twisted to an annoyed eye roll before he caught himself and backed away a bit.

“Whoa, yeah, see she’s doing it again, I almost punched the hell out of you for breathing the wrong way.” Danny held his head and turned back towards Tayonna. The ghost was still shooting daggers at Vlad and even breathing heavily as if she was about to attack him. “Well if she can’t get to you she sure was gonna use me. Dude, you gotta fix whatever this is.”

“I’m well aware of that, Daniel, It’s not as if I asked to be in this situation in the first place.” Vlad hissed. The constant reminder that he had to fix this was starting to run him up a wall. Vlad took a moment to straighten himself out and breathe before he walked closer to Tayonna. The girl didn’t flinch or move from her spot as Vlad now stood at the edge of the large bed. He kept his hands behind his back to keep it cool and unbothered. Vlad knew he had authoritative energy that could make anyone cowardly at his feet. Tayonna would surely give in eventually and tuck her tail between her legs.

“Now, Miss Tayonna, won't you tell us all why you felt it was utterly necessary to invite yourself into my home and cause so much trouble?” Vlad tried to not sound pissed off, but every word that left his lips he threw like acid. Tayonna’s eyes grew wide then narrowed like a snake as she stayed quiet and continued their staring contest. “Or more importantly, how did you change from your ghost form to a human form.” Vlad pointed out, which seemed to catch Tayonna’s attention before she looked back towards him then away. Vlad huffed angrily and brought his arms forward to cross them.

“You think she’s one of us?” Danny called out. “I mean it would be very rare if she was. What were your ancestors getting up to?” Danny pushed off the wall he was leaning against and came up beside Vlad, he stayed somewhat behind the man hesitantly.

“I don’t believe halfas would exist during her time, she is very much a ghost that has the ability to mimic powers it seems. I figured she must have attached herself to my core and in turn, she mimics my energy. The reason why she could control my electric power so easily.” Vlad hummed, a mimicking ghost was a rather dangerous type especially if they had to latch on to you. For a moment Vlad felt his annoyance and frustration slip away as the science side of him became interested in what more Tayonna could do. With the cuffs still on her along with the anti-ghost rope she was pretty much defenseless to any poking and probing Vlad wanted to do. Those little activities would have to wait, a certain Phantom wouldn’t be too happy to know Vlad was back on his bullshit. Nor would the older halfa wish to explain to the youngest who would definitely tell the other.

“So if she’s not going to talk to either of us, what do we do?” Danny finally asked the big question Vlad had been avoiding. He had thought of just throwing her back into the Ghost Zone and making sure that secret space she came from she couldn’t get out of. Maybe even have Skulker keep an eye on her every so often to make sure she wouldn’t start screaming again or getting out. Or maybe Vlad could keep her here but somehow figure out a way to get rid of her himself. Clockwork did tell him to handle the situation. Vlad was knocked from his thoughts by the sound of paper hitting the ground. Both Danny and Vlad heard it and looked down towards their feet. A small sheet of paper laid at Vlad’s and he reached down to pick it up. He should have known who it was from before he flipped it over.

“Pieces in a puzzle with only two corners will always be bound together” - CW

“What does that mean?” Danny hovered over Vlad's shoulder causing the man to jump away from the sudden scare. Danny cracked a smile at how easy it was to make the man jump then pointed back towards the note. 

Vlad rolled the card in his fingers a bit and sighed, “Clockwork sure likes his sayings. You know that more than I, I’m just as confused.” Vlad lazily handed Danny the card and told him to keep it. Vlad was once again looking towards Tayonna to make sure she hadn’t tried anything. She still huddled up in the corner but now she looked so sad, blinking slowly and staring down as if it was a void. Vlad felt his heart slow and grow heavy as he watched her. 

There it was again, that feeling of wanting to reach out and hold her, and there it went as Vlad mentally screamed at himself to get it together. She was just using her emotional powers somehow despite having the handcuffs still on. Yet Vlad couldn’t pull himself away from her and whatever she was doing. Then Vlad saw it from the corner of his eye, the mist started to rise off his skin and droop to the floor before inching closer to the bed. Danny saw it too but didn’t say anything, all he could do was watch alongside Vlad as the mist formed an outstretched hand and reached out to Tayonna. When the hand touched her she pulled away and tried to fight it off. 

“Leave me alone, you’ve already done enough, stop touching me.” Tayonna had finally spoken and she sounded so broken. Vlad felt a sting in his heart and unknowingly he wished for the hand to go away. The hand tried to touch her again but before it could it faded away with the rest of the mist.

“Um…?” Danny started and Vlad finally pulled himself away from looking at the ghost and turned away towards the door.

“I don’t know,” Vlad couldn’t even fake a sense of understanding as he felt his heartache and his mind become foggy with a sudden sadness. He quickly covered his face when he felt tears peak in the corners of his ears. He quickly wiped them away before Danny could ask what was going on and he straightened himself up. “I think it’s best if I keep her here for the night. It’s late and the both of you have school tomorrow.” Vlad looked at Danny then at the door as he saw Dani slowly poking her head in. He hoped she didn’t see the way he wiped his face, that would be embarrassing. “Daniel, why won't you stay the night and in the morning I’ll have Jackson come and drive both of you to school.” Danny looked back towards Tayonna and felt a sudden rush of sadness. He shivered and threw up his hands to protest.

“Thanks but I would rather not be around someone who's gonna make me have a mental breakdown at 2 am. I can do that in my own time with my special playlist. I’ll just fly home.” Danny turned ghost and started to hover off the ground. Vlad nodded and was ready to dismiss the boy till he remembered Dani at the door. 

“You wouldn’t mind hosting Danielle until this is all over would you? I rather she is safe as well.” Vlad asked, feeling the father in him swell with the need to protect.

Danny turned around and cocked ahead to the side to see Dani but she ducked behind the frame, “You wanna go back home with me, short stack?”

“Don’t call me that!” Dani stuck her head through the wall and stuck her tongue out. She then took a moment to look around and take a glance at Tayonna before pulling her head back out. “Yeah, that would be nice.” Dani’s voice was low with anxiousness. Vlad let out a heavy sigh and nodded for Danny to go help Dani and hurry home. It would be best if he was alone with this problem. That was enough people in one night to be in danger.

When the kids were gone Vlad gently waved them away before closing the door and floating back up to the room Tayonna was in. He stood outside the anti-ghost bars peering in as Tayonna now laid on the bed. ‘What exactly is it that you want, Miss Tayonna?’ he thought to himself as he backed away from the door and haunted away towards his own bedroom. 

Vladan knew better than to snoop around the house like some paranoid townsmen. There was enough of that when his family travelled into the town square since they were German. It seemed like the English still had a stick up their ass when it came to others joining them. Everyone was an outsider in one way or another but yet found a way to put each other in a ranking system for security. Vladan grunted at his wandering thoughts as he walked around the cottage. Settling in a few days ago was easy but it was still beyond him why they had to be so far away. Could his father not settle closer to the others for a quicker journey? Vladan knew better than to question his father’s mind, Vladan had learned early every man has a secret that only gets revealed with due time. Luckily for him, Luther had no secrets Vladan hadn’t already heard, and vice versa.

Vladan wasn’t really a nature person as he was a man who sat by the fire and read. But something pulled him from his bed that morning and told him to go out and look around. His parents were gone and took the house servants and Luther was still sick in bed so Vladan took his chance. As he rounded the back of the house he heard someone praying. Praying? On a Tuesday? Vladan would have laughed, he wasn’t much of a religious man like everyone else, but the sheer thought of someone praying by his house nerved him. He slowed his pace and peeked around the edge of the wood and saw Tayonna. She kneeled to the ground in a patch of grass surrounded by cups and bowls. Vladan narrowed his eyes confused as to why she would be outside and what she was doing. He couldn’t help but watch her as she bowed a few times and mumbled incoherent words. This must have been a thing her people did before being brought over, that was the only thing he could think of. But as he watched her it seemed like things only got weirder. 

Tayonna stopped praying and frantically looked around herself for something. She then snapped her fingers and a basket that was placed behind her snapped open and a jar hovered out and to her hands. She then swirled her finger in the air and drops from the freshly rained grass rose to the air and formed balls. She waved for the biggest ball to fall into the bowl and she began to pour other things from the cups into the bowl. When she was finished mixing everything she placed the bowl in front of her and bowed face down into the grass. He could hear her mumbling again and then the bowl began to glow. Vladan felt his body shake in fear but also pure curiosity. He knew what he was seeing, the men at his university spoke of them like fairy tales, he even spoke of them like fairy tales. Tayonna was a witch. He hadn’t noticed he had walked out from his hiding place and walked closer to the girl until he heard her scream. Tayonna fell to her butt and tried to put space between them. She begged him not to hurt her and that’s when Vladan snapped fully out of his trance.

“I’m not going to hurt you, woman!” Vladan growled, holding out his hands to calm her so she didn’t wake Luther. Tayonna finally made it to her feet and gathered her dress, she looked between Vladan and the forest that stretched on behind them. Vladan looked then shook his head. “Don’t you dare!” He lunged and quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his body to hold her down. Tayonna was about to let out a scream which wouldn’t do any of them any good so he quickly covered her mouth. They stood there struggling with each other until Vladan brought them both to their knees.

“I’m not going to hurt you unless you give me a reason to. I will remove my hand and you will answer every question I have. Do you understand?” Vladan couldn’t explain why he was giving this servant a chance to explain herself. But he felt he needed to. Tayonna was still shaking but she calmed down just enough to shake her head slowly. Vladan removed his hand from her mouth and spun her around to face him, he never removed his hands from her arms just in case. “You are a witch and there is no denying it. Are you cursing my family, if you are I will have you dealt with.” 

“I am not cursing your family, master Vladan, I was blessing the house.” Tayonna kept her head low and chose not to fight to get her arms away from him. She didn’t want to be hit or attacked.

“Blessing?” Vladan was taken back and it showed on his face.

“Everyone has been so kind to me and I do not wish to be sold again. I wish to stay until I die and can fly back home. Please do not sell me...I won't do it again...please do not sell me.” Tayonna began to cry and Vladan pulled away from her allowing her to fall to the ground. Witches are all bad, right? All the fairy tales he was told as a child and all the legends of witches only pointed to them being evil beings that caused only trouble.

“Witches are only bad things. Witches do not pray.” Vladan said abruptly and pointed at the girl. “You are trying to deceive me with lies. Are you the reason my brother has been sick the whole time? Do not lie to me!” Vladan hadn’t meant to raise his voice but it came out so fast.

“No! I have only done things to make him better. He was sicker before I arrived and he slowly gets better the more I help.” Tayonna was telling the truth, their mother had only good things to say when it came to Luther’s health recently. Luther had even offered to go to town for their father because he ‘felt up to it’. Vladan was still skeptical but he didn’t truly sense evil coming from the girl. And since he had seen how comfortable she made his brother feel he didn’t believe she would want to kill them so quickly.

“You’ve been helping him? How?” Vladan asked, kneeling slowly to face her. Tayonna raised her head and backed away before answering him.

“His baths, I put the herbs in his bath to calm his senses and ease the pain. It’s not much but it’s enough to help him through the day.”

“Will my brother become healthy again and be able to travel back home?” Vladan had to know, he had to know if his brother will grow old as he and live a fulfilled life. That was his best friend. “Please tell me.” Vladan reached out and took hold of Tayonna’s shoulders and shook her a bit and the girl stiffened before quickly shaking her head ‘no’.

“Your brother was not meant to live this life with you. He was only supposed to be here for a while until he left. I’ve tried to convince the earth to let him stay but it seems that even he is ready.” Tayonna lowered her head again and Vladan finally let go of her and rose to his feet. A heavy silence fell over them as Vladan tried to debunk her words. Surely his brother would live long, they had promised so long ago, but the feeling Vladan got from Tayonna that she only told him the truth. “He was so happy to have you here with him, Master Vladan. He speaks so highly of you, the best brother he could ever have, a best friend.” Tayonna slowly got up wiping her face with her hand and kept space between them, there was no telling how Vladan felt towards her after this. Vladan looked up towards the small window that led to Luther’s room then back down to the ground. He clenched his fist a couple of times trying to fight back tears and sighed.

“Do my parents know you are a witch?” Vladan asked, and Tayonna quickly shook her head ‘no’.

“Does he know you are a witch?” Vladan finally asked.

Tayonna looked up at him with her bright green eyes now tinted red from crying then towards the window, “He was the one that insisted on buying me.”

[phantomphangphucker]

The Whole Ass Fic A.K.A ClockWork Is Paying At Least One Person Hush Money

Vlad’s dumbest plot yet leads to a grade A gravy bowl of a dumb reveal. Danny’s class feels left out, Wes is literally left out, and ClockWork is forcing me to not leave them out at gunpoint.

Now that y’all have voted, I present to you, the Whole Ass Fic

Danny was having a nice day, he honest to the Core was. But then a blue portal half fucking blinded him, a startled Mr. Lancer accidentally threw a whiteboard marker into his eye, and Dash finally succeeded in hitting him -in the eye of all places, ugh- with a spitball. All of this followed by a -probably not quiet- mutter of, “ClockWork end me”. In short, he had already filled his quota for ocular trauma today.

But looking to the front as a -very not cheesetastic- certain someone stops monologuing, he’s experiencing a-whole-ass-nother kind of ocular trauma.

Danny gets up from his desk and slowly walks up to the front, eyes filled with disappointment and the residual energy of his three breakfast Red Bulls, “okay, so you’re telling me-”, Danny gestures erratically to Vlad, who's tied up on the floor and in ghost form, “-that you overshadowed ClockWork-”, gesturing even more erratically at ClockWork -who’s just sitting on a desk and inspecting their nails- but Danny maintains wide-eyed eye-contact with Vlad instead of attempting down the rabbit hole of why ClockWork is still here. Glaring at floor Vlad harder, somehow, “-so you could travel to the future, to team up with your future self and bring him back here-”, Danny points both hands at the floor a bit aggressively, “-so you could tag-team pulverise a teenager-”.

While Vlad rolls his eyes, not even slightly apologetic or willing to admit that throwing fists with teens being his number one past time was arguably pathetic. Danny gestures at the future Vlad, who’s glaring bloody murder at normal timeline floor Vlad, “-but said future you instead assaulted ClockWork”, facepalming and muttering into his hand, “least I know this future you really is you, being enough up his own ass to even consider attempting to do that”, looking back to floor Vlad, “so you used ClockWork’s powers at random and just came back to this timeline?”.

Kwan adds in, “through the ceiling”.

ClockWork smirks, “he got quite lucky in that regard. Not quite luck though”, Danny sighs exasperatedly at ClockWork when they wink with a smirk. Anything involving ClockWork required a lack of luck, not a wealth of it; that, or making a collection of the stupidest decisions you’ve ever made. Considering floor Vlad’s state of looking like an extra for a truly terrible Vampire BDSM film, Danny’s going with the latter.  

Floor Vlad manages to spit out his gag, “well they somehow tossed me out of their body immediately after! I mean the audacity! And this Cheesehead-”, jerkily attempting to nod or point at the scruffy-looking future Vlad, “-gets more pissed and assaults me, ME! Instead of you”.

Future Vlad kicks him and snarls, “it’s been two years in this timeline! TWO! I stopped with the stupid fiddlediddling after six months!”, turning his head to the side and mumbling, “sure everyone close to him had to die first, but that’s a moot point”.

Dash snorts, “why would a ghost even want to assault Fentit. And wait, what? People died?”.

Danny meanwhile, throws his hands out to the side, “of course that happened!”, then gesturing towards ClockWork, “you can’t overshadow ClockWork, that’s not even possible! They literally had to have allowed you to”, actually turning to glare slightly at ClockWork, “why, I haven’t a shot-glass of pennies close to a clue”. Danny then blinks and slowly looks at the future Vlad, his words finally registering; while Danny also simultaneously massacres his last brain cell, “wait....you’re that Vlad? As in the one that technically murdered me? The one that sort of caused the near extinction of humanity and ghosts? The one that basically saw the big red ‘DO NOT PUSH, THIS IS A STUPID IDEA’ button, slammed your fist on it, and activated the apocalypse? The one that stabbed past me when I tried to fix the future? Sure I requested it, but ya still did it”.

Mr. Lancer, who had been progressively going more wide-eyed, “Crime and Punishment?!?!?! I mean, go off I guess”.

While Danny scratches his head nonchalantly, muttering more to himself, “also the one that gave me any faith in past you ever being capable of being good”.

Floor Vlad sputters, wiggling in his bindings like a worm, “how is murdering you what it takes to make you have even an ounce of faith in me?!?”, floor Vlad looks to future Vlad, “you can’t judge me, you fudge-bucket of a hypocrite”.

Danny rolls his eyes and snorts, “that’s not even pot calling kettle black, that’s a wad of chewed gum calling a fork an unchewed stick of gum, and actually expecting that insult to stick”. Danny then squints and turns to ClockWork, “wait”, pointing emphatically at future Vlad, “how does he even exist?!?!? That future was literally destroyed?!?”.

Future Vlad squints at him, looking affronted, “you mean you destroyed my existence too?!?”.

Danny turns to him and waves his hands around wildly, “THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU UNRAVEL TEN YEARS OF TIME! THOSE THINGS AND PEOPLE GO POOF!”.

ClockWork sticks up a finger, “that’s not how time works”.

Danny and both Vlads’ turn to them, both Danny and future Vlad pointing aggressively, “YOU STAY OUT OF THIS! THIS DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!”.  

Nathan mutters, “or the rest of the class apparently”.

ClockWork smirks, “pretty sure the author disagrees on that one”. Everyone squints at them but goes back to bickering. Future Vlad points a little aggressively at Danny, “you were just supposed to fix the past! Not obliterate me!”.

Danny throws his hands up, “sacrifices had to be made! That’s what good guys do!”, gesturing at floor Vlad, “plus! You’re still here! And still A CRAZED UP FRUITLOOPY DICK!”.

Floor Vlad, looking a bit insulted, “language my boy”. Danny just looks down at him and knocks one of the desks on him; some kids water bottle -who the heck uses glass water bottles? Seriously?- smashing apart all over his face.  

Future Vlad pinches his nose and gestures at floor Vlad, looking at Danny, “that’s because he hasn’t been horribly traumatised....yet”.

Floor Vlad sputters, “yet?”, before scrunching up his face and licking his cheek, “is this vodka?”.

Future Vlad glares down at him, “you don’t know suffering”, getting into floor Vlad’s face a little and shaking his finger violently, “you don’t know the meaning of the word”, while Danny mutters, “neither do you, by the way”, future Vlad keeps talking, “and you really think you can collect all these stupid cheese curd plots and not turn yourself into curdled milk?”.

Floor Vlad rolls his eyes, “says the murderer”.

Danny rolls his eyes almost in sync with floor Vlad’s eye-roll, “oh like you haven’t killed anyone”.

Mr. Lancer coughs, “um? There are other people here you know. And some of us don’t appreciate casually talking about murder at-”, glancing at his watch, “-nine a.m. in the morning”.

Floor Vlad glances at him, “no one but us and dear Maddie qualify as people”.

Danny sputters incredulously while ClockWork points at floor Vlad, “and that is not how classifications of species and words work”. No one so much as acknowledges the arguably most power-being ever this time.

Floor Vlad looks back to future Vlad, “and Daniel’s the one that messes everything up. Not me!”, glaring at Danny and muttering, “I would have had a perfectly viable clone otherwise”.

Future Vlad shakes his head and gestures aggressively, “you cloned him?!?!?!”, throwing his hands up and walking around, “this me’s insane! Wonderful!”.

Valerie snickers into her hand, “I want to get involved but...”, before gaping and sputtering incoherently to herself about Dani.

Danny snorts, “you hadn’t already figured that out when he decided to abduct and control the body of the dude who controls time itself and oversees everyone’s futures. A literal living legend and basically a god?”, shrugging and sounding nonchalant, “and yeah, technically we have a kid now. My genetics, but Vlad made her. So technically, we’re both her parents”, kicking floor Vlad, “I should sue you for child support”.

ClockWork nods, “and you would win actually”.  

Danny looks tickled green, while floor Vlad shouts dramatically, “WHAT!?!?!?”. Future Vlad is just walking in a circle throwing his hands out randomly and making faces.

Dash mutters, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but, the damn twinks life would make a great soap opera”. ClockWork smirks ever so slightly at this.

Floor Vlad screws up his face and wiggles in the bindings some before squinting at Danny, “wait a biscuit buttering second, how do you even know about the ghost from the clocktower?”, sputtering and squirming, “how do you know their name?!? Even I didn’t! And you know their powers! Daniel what in the name of Gouda?!?”.

Danny deadpans, “oh don’t you use that tone with me, mister. You’re not my father”. While ClockWork smirks, “my name was actually the first thing he said, you just conveniently ignored that for plot purposes”.

Danny just speaks right over them and gestures at ClockWork, “and of course I do! They’re my Time Daddy!”.

Everyone goes silent immediately and you could hear a pin drop. Instead, a different voice breaks the silence, “wow! Didn’t know you had another dad, son!”.

Both halfas and the ex-halfa turn slowly and look at the doorway, where one Jack Fenton is standing and munching on fudge like he’s engrossed in an intense tv show.

Danny blinks and sputters, “how long have you been there?”.

ClockWork smirks, “since almost the beginning of this fic”. Danny glances at them, “that doesn’t make sense”. ClockWork shrugs, “well the audience might appreciate knowing, and I aim to please”.

Danny speaks thick with enough sarcasm to kill a lesser being twice over, and as if to prove this point floor Vlad starts hacking like someone force-fed him nails, “oH yEaH tHiS hAs BeEn A rEeEeEaAaAaLlLlL pLeAsUrE”, before squinting, “...what audience?”.

Star slams her face into her desk, “oh my Zone, seriously?”.

While Jack pipes up, “since Danno repeated vampire Vlad’s story back to everyone with so much disbelief I really couldn’t bring myself to interrupt”, standing and practically throwing the plate of fudge -having forgotten he even had it- when he throws his hands out to the side.

Mr. Lancer sighs and speaks as the fudge slowly smears down the classroom wall, “this was not in my job description, but thanks for the reminder why I don’t moonlight as a babysitter anymore”.

Jack, sounding way too happy for this situation and oddly not looking angry or even bothered, “and I’ve never heard my boy so passionate before!”, tapping his chin and looking at the two Vlads’, “though I do have to say. What the fuck is wrong with you V-man”.

Danny grumbles, “welcome to the life of having a half-ghost, who’s three nuts short of a fruitcake, that wants to aggressively be your uncle and/or father”, before sputtering incoherently over his dad swearing.

Jack tilts his head, looking like a confused puppy, “but, I’m your dad?”, quirking an eyebrow at ClockWork, “one of your dads?”. ClockWork looks like they just got blessed by a god... a god other than themselves anyway.

While Danny stares down at the floor unsure if he should feel deep horror or boyish wonder. Muttering, “did I just result in ClockWork getting adopted into my family through arguably convoluted and highly illogical means?”.  

ClockWork makes a face that is the closest thing to insulted Danny’s actually seen on their face, “it was my belief we were already kin”.

Danny sputters and waves his hands around erratically, trying desperately to back-pedal, “what, I, er, no, I mean yes! Yes! Totally fam!”.

Valerie can’t help but let out her inner gossip rich girl mode, “ooooooooooo, someone’s in trooooouuuubbbbllllleeee”.

Floor Vlad sputters in utter disbelief, it was he that was supposed to be gaining new family members here! Not that oversized puff pastry! “This, that, THIS IS NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!”.

Future Vlad blinks at Jack, “why are you not freaking out over the ghosts?”.

Star sighs, “are they really just ignoring that none of us have been freaking out?”.

Jack shrugs, “one’s tied up and the other gave me fudge”. Floor Vlad just shrieks in frustration and disbelief. While Danny gives a dramatic thumbs up to ClockWork, even going so far as to use a little ecto-energy to make his thumb sparkle like some anime bullshit.

Future Vlad kicks floor Vlad but speaks to Jack, “well if it’s anything, I’m not a ghost or half of one”.

Multiple people mutter, “half ghosts are a thing?”, while Valerie grins like a loon.

Floor Vlad shrieking, “WHAT?!?!?!”.

Future Vlad looks down at him but points at Danny, “he ripped out and ate Plasmius”.

Mr. Lancer grimaces and has to physically restrain himself from assaulting Kwan when he actually sticks his hand up and asks, “what’d that taste like? You know, for reasons”. No one’s honestly surprised at this point, when the bickering guys’ just act like the entire class are just extras added in after the main plot was established and without the main casts knowledge.

Danny blinks and gestures wildly at his dad, “are we just ignoring the uniformed third partly?!?”.

Mr. Lancer glares, “the class has been here the entire time”.

ClockWork smirks, “Vlad’s the authors' bitch right now so...yes”.

While floor Vlad gapes at Danny, “YOU DID WHAT NOW?!?!?”.

Danny throws his hands up exaggeratedly, “NOT IN THIS TIMELINE!”. While Vlad just quietly sputters about how Daniel could and even would, apparently, eat him. Danny has to severely resist spewing out a list of vore jokes at this. While ClockWork mutters with a smirk, about how the only reasons Danny’s not doing that is because the author’s tired of their phone crashing every time they try to write them.

Future Vlad points aggressively at floor Vlad, “we were the ones who thought ripping out his humanity would be a good idea!”.

Jack adds in some side commentary, “yeah, please don’t do that to my son”.

Floor Vlad mutters at the floor, “I need some bloody scotch”, before looking up at future Vlad and shouting, “WHY WOULD I DO THAT!”.

ClockWork points at floor Vlad, “the vodka hasn’t totally evaporated off your face yet, so you’ve got options. I have no pity for you”.

Floor Vlad glares at them, “I have standards”.

Half the class saying, “you sure about that?”.

Danny and future Vlad respond to floor Vlad in unison, with matching deadpan tones and judgmental facial expressions, “because, for all accounts and purposes, you are a sociopath”.

ClockWork sticks a finger up, “this is not how psychological diagnosis works”, gesturing at the class, “for one, patient confidentiality is a basic prerequisite, not an option”.

Nathan makes a mocked delighted gasp, “did we just get acknowledged?”. While Danny and future Vlad share a look tm.

Floor Vlad sneers, “rather that over an overgrown oaf, a self-sacrificial fool, a weak old man, or whatever is up with the time ghost”.

Danny glares while future Vlad socks floor Vlad in the face for that. Danny off-handed commenting, “‘Observant puppet’ is really the only insult that applies”, looking at ClockWork, “why aren’t the eyeballs up in a tissy about this anyway?”.

ClockWork smirks, “the author has decided they no longer exist”.

Danny blinks, “what kind of power does this ‘author’ have????”.

ClockWork mutters ominously, “the ability to outrun writers' block...for now”.

Danny ignores ClockWork out of slight horror and feeling like someone’s threatening him with another? dissection fic if he doesn’t stop encouraging ClockWork to derail the plot. Turning his attention to the two Vlads’ just in time to catch Valerie getting up and smacking both Vlads’ over the head, which just turns into an all-out fistfight. Well okay, floor Vlad is just squirming in his bindings and kicking like a feral rabbit, but still.

Valerie steps back and nudges Danny with a wily smirk, “who you wanna bet on to win?”.

Danny snorts, “future Vlad, based on sheer tenacity”.

ClockWork smirks and points a finger at the ceiling, “that’s my bet”, another portal opening up and yet another Vlad falling through and landing on the two others in a heap; knocking all three out, floor Vlad finally transforming back human. Danny looks to them, “the fuck is wrong with you?”.

While Maddie’s voice mutters from the doorway, “oh my Zone, Vlad?!?!”. Standing next to her is yet another interviewer from Genius Magazine: For Women Geniuses, By Women Geniuses; who slowly lifts up her phone and snaps a photo, while patting the pocket where her recorder is.

The next day Danny inexplicably gets pelted in the face -which, coming full circle, predictably stabs him in the eye in the process- by a magazine as soon as he steps through Mr. Lancer’s classroom doorway. Danny just lets it flop onto the floor unceremoniously, due to his veins being clean out of the consciousness juice that was Red Bull and thus incapable of caring about those pesky things called reflexes.

Danny sighs down at the abused magazine while slowly and dramatically covering his right eye. Sighing even louder at the cover somehow making everyone but the Vlads’ look kinda hot and ClockWork just being a black hole with a wicked grin -how they still seemed visually attractive is beyond Danny’s comprehension. The title reading ‘[REDACTED] Ghosts, Time Travel, And Illegal Cloning. Oh My!’, with the wonderful subtitle of ‘What Happens When Science Grows Fangs!’, and the sub-subtitle of ‘See Some Scientific Sin!’.

Danny’s sure the ‘[REDACTED]’ has something to do with ClockWork and them messing with an entire companies autocorrect function, but he decidedly doesn’t want to know.

Wes kicking in the classroom door seconds later only to pelt Danny with yet another copy of the magazine and shriek, “WHY!?!?!?! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME!?!?!?!”.

Danny looks down at the magazine, which magically opened up to the page with the article when it landed, and snorts. It looked like someone had applied ‘[REDACTED]’ on the paper very liberally and with a pepper grinder. Danny then slowly turns and points at Wes with a massive shit-eating grin, “that’s what you get for being weak enough to fall victim to flu season. Sleepy sniffling sleuths earn no secrets”.

At this, the whole class laughs like they’re just a laugh track and an edited in fake audience.

END.

[auberginesdonthavelimbs]

Phanniemay Day 19: Favourite Episode

Word count: 1573

CW for mentions of suicidal thoughts and a suicide attempt

“I suppose out of respect for our past, I should let you live. But that’s not how I work.” Dan throws Valerie across the street, into a brick wall. The impact shatters her spine and cracks her skull, but doesn’t kill her. Dan walks over to inspect the damage. He rolls her over with his foot and smiles when she cries out in pain. 

Danny is writing the CAT. He takes his time with each question. Sam and Tucker look over at him a few times, brows creased. Mr. Lancer watches the entire class but pays special attention to Danny. Danny keeps his eyes down. 

Skulker unplugs the wires from his suit. He systematically bends every joint and then summons a ball of energy to his hand. He gives a thumbs up. Technus grins from the screen on his chest and yells, “Skulk-Tech 1.0 is fully operational!” 

There are five funerals - Danny’s parents share theirs. Danny attends all five and speaks at four of them. 

Valerie beams and pulls her father into a tight hug. “Oh thank you, Daddy, thank you! I promise I won’t let you down.” She pulls out of the hug and looks down at the screen, which is displaying a map with several circled areas, each with some writing next to it. Locations and details of recent attacks. “So,” she says with a more sober tone. “Where to?” 

Klaxons mix with screams in one of Amity’s underground shelters. Dan shoots randomly into the crowded halls. Then he grabs a few humans and flies out with them. He takes his time. The residents of the shelters can often hear the sounds of torture happening just above their heads, but they pretend not to. Dan comes back down for new victims every few weeks. 

Vlad is watching Danny. He is supposed to be doing math homework, but his eyes keep unfocusing, and his pencil keeps slipping from the page. Vlad frowns. “Daniel, you aren’t well,” he says. Danny doesn’t look up. “ Please talk to me. I want to help you, but I don’t know how.” 

Kitty paces back and forth in front of the door to her and Johnny’s lair. Her makeup is streaked and her hands are clenched, nails biting into the flesh of her palms. She turns abruptly when a sound comes from outside. She throws the door open and looks down. She starts to smile but then her face freezes. Her eyes flick across her lover’s shattered legs. She screams. 

Danny is silent while Mr. Lancer delivers his monologue. He looks everywhere except for the faces of his teacher and parents. Around the corner of the building, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz strain to hear while remaining unseen. Inside, the glass cover over a temperature gauge cracks.

Damon indicates several symbols on the diagram in front of him. “These are the backup generators. They kick in automatically if we lose power for any reason. As you can see, each one is isolated and well protected - there’s no way for any ghost to get to it while the ghost shield is active. But these generators are small, and won’t last more than a year. If we lose our main power source, that’s how long we’ll have to fix it or come up with something else.” 

Danny nods, and Dr. Morrison checks a box. “Do you feel worthless?” He nods again, and she checks another box. “Have you attempted to kill yourself?” He shakes his head. “Do you think you will get suicidal ideas in the future?”

Vlad lowers the knife toward the body on the table, whose eyes follow it with interest. The knife easily cuts through the skin. The body gasps, and then quickly goes silent as Vlad’s duplicate phases back out. A small wound on his abdomen oozes ectoplasm. “I think it works,” both Vlads say at once.

Dan takes a breath and opens his mouth. Waves of ecto-energy spread out in a cone, accompanied by an impossibly loud ululation. The stones in front of him vibrate then shatter, and the broken pieces are flung into the distance. The animals in the area try to flee, though a few are caught by the blast or by the debris. After a few seconds, Dan stops and catches his breath. He looks around, smiling. 

“I just want the pain to stop, that’s all.” Danny sighs heavily. “I just don’t want to feel like this anymore.” 

Dr. Ruud steps into the hall, and Valerie rises from the floor. She looks at him, her eyes wet. “He’ll live,” Dr. Ruud says, and Valerie smiles. “But we couldn’t save his arm. We had to amputate above the elbow. I’m sorry.” Valerie nods, her smile all but faded. She sits back down.

The Box Ghost puffs up his chest and yells toward the approaching figure, “Halt! You have entered the territory of the Box Ghost! I suggest you leave immediately, or I will be forced to … wait, aren’t you that half-ghost kid? What happened to your skin? And hair?” Dan doesn’t respond, he just reaches forward and grabs the Box Ghost’s hand. “Wait, what are you- aaaarrrgghh! No, no please, don’t- aaaarrrrggghh!!!”

Danny is pushing vegetables around his plate. Vlad’s plate is empty, but he doesn’t move from the table. Without looking up, Danny says, “Hey, Vlad? I was thinking … Do full ghosts still have human emotions? Like, do they feel love and sadness and stuff the way we do?”

Valerie watches the screen with dismay. Damon alternates between watching the screen and watching his daughter, and he looks equally concerned by both. “There has to be something more we can do,” she says suddenly, through gritted teeth. “We have all these weapons. We should be fighting instead of hiding.” 

Ember opens her mouth and then closes it. She sighs. She opens her mouth again, takes a breath, and then winces. Then she closes her eyes and her entire body tenses, but nothing happens. She visibly relaxes and takes a few deep breaths. She tries again, her face contorting, her hands balling into fists. Tears begin to roll down her cheeks. Finally, a quiet, pinched sound comes from her throat. She gasps and opens her eyes. She forces the sound out again, and again, until she can sustain it for several seconds.

Vlad taps his pen against the desk, staring at the page in front of him. “It’s good, but … no. It would seem like I’d named it after Daniel.” He crosses out the words Phantom Fist. The words Ghost Glove are written above, also crossed out. After a moment he writes Ghost Grip. Then he shakes his head and crosses that out, too. “Ghost … something. I’m sure there’s something there.” 

Danny is looking down at the bandages on his arms, though his eyes are unfocused. Vlad is watching from the chair in the corner of the room. “I just thought …” Danny says, his voice hoarse. He shrugs, raising his arms, then winces when the movement tugs on the IV. “I don’t want to be a human anymore. Being a ghost seems so much easier. And I figured, if I died …” Vlad’s expression doesn’t change. His eyebrows are knit together, his lips pursed. His eyes don’t seem to be focused on Danny, either.  

The Fright Knight is kneeling in front of Dan, who has a hand on his chin. “Well that’s a very pretty speech, but I’m going to need some proof of your loyalty, you understand.” The Fright Knight flinches and looks up. Dan holds out a hand to silence him. “Yes yes, I’m sure your word is your bond. If you prefer, think of it as a test of your abilities, to see whether or not you’re worthy of serving me.” The Fright Knight hesitates, then nods. “Excellent. Let’s see, now. What shall I have you do?”

Boxlunch is in her parents’ lair, sitting on the floor next to a pile of box- and food-related objects. She is sorting them into a rough grid, where the y-axis goes from less to more food-like and the x-axis goes from less to more box-like. She telekinetically lifts a salami and, after a few moments of deliberation, places it to the left of a wheel of gouda. 

Sam and Tucker mutter to each other as Danny slowly peels off the sticker holding the envelope closed. He glances at them as he pulls the packet out, and they say nothing. He reads the first page. “That’s it, then,” he says with a shaky voice. “No going back now.” 

Vlad places the mask over Danny’s face. “Deep breaths. You should feel it working in a few seconds.” Danny’s eyes start to droop. “That’s good, just relax.” When the monitor tells him that Danny is unconscious, Vlad leans down and whispers, “I’m sorry.” Then he steps back and carefully puts on the ghost gauntlets. 

“Clockwork, there is a matter of grave importance that requires your attention.” The Observant pauses expectantly, but Clockwork does not respond, nor even turn to face her. She looks at her partner, who shrugs. “The future is in peril, Clockwork.” Still no response. “There is a boy called Danny Phantom - do you know of him?”

Clockwork lets out an exasperated sigh. He rolls his eyes, the action going unseen by the Observants, and then finally turns around. 

“Of course I do,” he says. “I know everything.”

[pocketsizedsamwinchester]

The One With The Way Out

Pairing: BSM, Dean x Sister!Reader x Sam

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Pregnancy

You were just an ordinary sixteen-year-old. Then again, ordinary sixteen-year-olds don't normally hunt and kill monsters with their dad. You did the job so your younger brothers wouldn't have too. Dean was just eleven and Sam was only seven. You went to school when you could but often found yourself stuck in a motel room with your brothers or at a bar. You were sure your dad didn't know about the bars. You already had fake ID cards, most of them saying you were at least 23 or older. This trip to the bar, however, was different. Guys, of all ages, were hitting on you left right and center. One man caught your eye. He must've been five or six years older than you were, just old enough to legally drink. Even though the man was wasted, you found him to be a kind person. He was very considerate. You went home with him and you wouldn't dare tell him you were only sixteen-and a virgin. You had mind-blowing sex with the man- Robert? Or maybe his name was Danny. You couldn't quite remember. You had a lot to drink! The next morning, you grabbed your clothes and snuck out. Your father was like a cat on hot rocks. He didn't know where you were too! John could've strangled you then and there for not coming home the night before. You lied- said you fell asleep over at a friends house. You did have a friend in Atlanta. Danika and yourself met three years ago on a previous hunt.

About eight weeks later, you were in San Antonio, working a case with your dad. On a rare occasion, Dean would join you guys in order to get some practice. You were about to take out a pack of werewolves when you felt a little queasy. You shook it off. A half hour later, That same queasy feeling came back. You knew something was off. Pushing your feelings down, you continued the hunt and ganked those sons of bitches.

"Y/N!" John exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He wasn't the most subtle person in the world. He placed his wrist on your forehead, "you're not running a fever."

"Yeah, I just feel a little funny. I'll be fine, dad." You grumbled.

Before you knew it, you had your head hanging out over the side of the Impala, throwing up your stomach contents. You shrugged, said it was "the ordinary stomach bug". Once you had stopped throwing up, John drove you all back to the motel room. Your father, of course, was a little suspicious. He noted that no one else was throwing up. Dean helped your dad look for another case. They found one, more or less, in the area. It was only an hour and a half outside San Antonio. You and Sam stayed at the motel while Dean and John drove out to the case. You pulled yourself up out of bed.

"Sam do you have a couple of dollars?" You called out, looking through your wallet.

You didn't have a cent left after spending it all at your last night of drinking. Sam handed you ten bucks.

"What do you need it for?" He shrugged.

"I need to get something at the store... I'll pay you back okay?"

Sam nodded, "okay."

You walked to the nearest corner store. You looked through the aisles, palms sweaty n' hands shaky. You came upon the pregnancy tests. The thought of being pregnant made you sick. There was two in a package. The box said they're 99 percent effective! Seeing you were spending Sam's money, you got him a chocolate bar.

"Aren't you a little young?" The cashier glanced up at you then back down at the pregnancy tests.

"Yeah well, shit happens." You shrugged.

The cashier was an older woman, her hair was gray, you weren't sure how much of it there was, she had it all pinned up in a messy bun. The woman sold you the pregnancy tests anyways. You drove back to the motel and handed Sam his chocolate bar.

"What else do you have in the bag?" He pried.

"Nothing. It's not for you."

You rushed off to the washroom and took the test. Nervously, you sat on the edge of the bathtub and picked at your fingernails. You counted up to three minutes. Once the three minutes passed, you reluctantly pushed yourself up off the bathtub and walked over to the vanity. You closed your eyes as you picked the test up. Taking a deep, shaky breath, you opened your eyes. Two pink lines were staring back up at you. You wrapped it up with toilet paper and threw it in the garbage. By the time your dad got back to the motel that night, you knew there was going to be a shit storm.

"Dad? Can I talk to you outside?" You asked nervously.

"What is it, Y/N?" He grumbled, cleaning his guns.

"I said outside." You said forcefully.

Your father threw his gun down onto the table and stomped off. You followed him outside the motel room and closed the door behind you.

"Somethin's up with you, Y/N." John's voice was deep and gravelly.

"-I'm pregnant, Dad." You blurted out.

You could've sworn every ounce of colour was drained out of your father's face.

"You're what?" He muttered.

You said it again, pronouncing your words more clear.

"How could this have happened, Y/N." John clenched his fists.

"I-I never meant for this to happen, daddy. I'm scared." You started to cry.

"I can't believe this, Y/N! How could you have been so reckless!" He growled.

"Dad I'm sorry." You cried a bit harder.

John pushed past you and stormed off into the motel room. Angrily, he pulled his duffel bag up off the floor and threw it down on the bed. He dug inside of it, thrashing furiously when he couldn't get his hands on what he wanted. Shaking with anger, he basically threw some money at you.

"Dad-" You began to speak.

"Get the fuck out, Y/N. Take Sam with you and don't come back."

You didn't hesitate to grab your things and get out. Dean looked hurt. You knew your dad needed somebody around to keep him sane. You also knew that you wouldn't have enough money to take him too.

"I'll always love you, Dean. I'm sorry I can't take you." You kissed his forehead and pulled him into a hug.

"Why do you have to go, Y/N. Can't you stay here with us?" He squeaked.

"I- I can't buddy." Reluctantly, you pulled away, "bye, Dean."

You felt your dad's eyes following you until you stormed out of the motel room, Sam in tow. You slammed the door behind you, letting John know you were really gone for good. You were already on the bus when Sam asked why you two were leaving. You took a deep breath.

"I screwed up, Sammy."

"What do you mean, Y/N?"

"I got pregnant. Dad kicked me out. Maybe it would've been better for you to stay with dad. I'm a mess. My life's ruined!" You sobbed.

"But I don't want to stay with dad. I want to come with you Y/N. Please." He begged. "I can help you with the baby!"

You nodded yes, "okay. I wasn't going to bring you back anyway."

Before you knew it you were in another state. Sam's head was rested against your shoulder, he was solid asleep.

"C'mon dude." You nudged him awake.

You made do. Got a job, made enough money for a half decent apartment. Sam helped out too. He got a job delivering newspapers around the neighbourhood for side cash. You gave birth to a little girl! She was tiny, only four pounds and eleven ounces. That's what happened during a teen pregnancy, you supposed. Sam fell completely in love with her, as did you! You named her Blake Mary Winchester, in honour of your mom. You were doing better as a mom then you thought you would. Sam was also a great help! Part of you wished your dad was around to teach you. He was a great teacher when it came to hunting monsters... could he possibly be as good of a teacher when it comes to parenthood? Now here you were, three years later. A knock on your apartment door woke you up. Ever since you became a mom, it was like all your senses were heightened. Blake was sound asleep, curled into Sam. You opened the door to a familiar face.

"Dean?" You choked out.

"It's me." He winced, limping into the apartment.

Just to make sure, you did the tests.

"How'd you find me here?" You quickly pulled Dean into a hug.

"Guess I'm a better hunter than I thought I was." He chuckled, wrapping an arm around you and winced again.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" You worried. "Where's dad?"

"-I need your help."

You shook your head no. Dean was about to protest, but you shh'd him. You walked closer to the room, looked back at Dean and waved at him to follow you. You showed him, Blake and Sam.

"Who is that?"

"That's my daughter, Dean. I can't help you. I have her now. I can't risk anything happening to her."

"That's why you left." Dean sighed.

You nodded yes.

"Stay with us, Dean." You begged. "Dad can hold his own!"

"I don't know, Y/N..." Dean frowned.

You knew Dean was hurt by the fact that you just up and left years ago. And throughout those three years, you were gone, you didn't try to make contact with him.

"Dean please, Blake deserves to know her uncle Dean... you deserve the chance to get to know your niece!" You pleaded.

Dean took a deep breath, "fine."

You took care of whatever wounds Dean had. You fixed up the couch for him.

"You can stay here for the night, I can fix up something more permanent tomorrow, okay?" You pulled Dean close and you pressed a kiss against his forehead. "I missed you, doofus."

"I missed you too." He chuckled.

The next morning Blake was up at 7:30 AM like she was every morning. It was like clockwork with her!

"Who?" She pointed towards Dean.

"That is your other uncle, his name is Dean- Uncle Dean for you!" You giggled.

Blake smiled, pulling herself up onto the couch, where Dean was still asleep.

"Momma." She stopped and proceeded to ask again. "Who?"

"Uncle Dean." You laughed. "Memory of a goldfish."

You went into the kitchen and started making breakfast. As the day went on, Dean bonded with his newfound niece. Once the night came on you stopped Dean.

"Please, Dean." You begged. "It's so much safer and Blake loves you. Stay with us."

[pocketsizedsam-blog1]

The One With The Way Out

Pairing: Dean x Reader x Sam

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Pregnancy

You were just an ordinary sixteen year old. Then again, ordinary sixteen-year-old's don't normally hunt and kill monsters with their dad. You done the job so your younger brothers wouldn't have too. Dean was just eleven and Sam was only seven. You went to school when you could, but often found yourself stuck in a motel room with your brothers or at a bar. You were sure your dad didn't know about the bars. You already had fake ID cards, most of them saying you were at least 23 or older. This trip to the bar however was different. Guys, of all ages, were hitting on you left right and center. One man caught your eye. He must've been five or six years older than you were, just old enough to legally drink. Even though the man was wasted, you found him to be a kind person. He was very considerate. You went home with him and you wouldn't dare tell him you were only sixteen-and a virgin. You had mind-blowing sex with the man- Robert? Or maybe his name was Danny. You couldn't quite remember. You had a lot to drink! The next morning, you grabbed your clothes and snuck out. Your father was like a cat on hot rocks. He didn't know where you were too! John could've strangled you then and there for not coming home the night before. You lied- said you fell asleep over at a friends house. You did have a friend in Atlanta. Danika and yourself met three years ago on a previous hunt.

About eight weeks later, you were in San Antonio, working a case with your dad. On a rare occasion, Dean would join you guys in order to get some practice. You were about to take out a pack of werewolves when you felt a little queazy. You shook it off. A half hour later, That same queazy feeling came back. You knew something was off. Pushing your feelings down, you continued the hunt and ganked those sons of bitches.

"Y/N!" John exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He wasn't the most subtle person in the world. He placed his wrist on your forehead, "you're not running a fever."

"Yeah, I just feel a little funny. I'll be fine, dad." You grumbled.

Before you knew it, you had your head hanging out over the side of the impala, throwing up your stomach contents. You shrugged, said it was "the ordinary stomach bug". Once you had stopped throwing up, John drove you all back to the motel room. Your father, of course, was a little suspicious. He noted that no one else was throwing up. Dean helped your dad look for another case. They found one, more or less, in the area. It was only an hour and a half outside San Antonio. You and Sam stayed at the motel while Dean and John drove out to the case. You pulled yourself up out of bed.

"Sam do you have a couple of dollars?" You called out, looking through your wallet.

You didn't have a cent left after spending it all at your last night of drinking. Sam handed you ten bucks.

"What do you need it for?" He shrugged.

"I need to get something at the store... I'll pay you back okay?"

Sam nodded, "okay."

You walked to the nearest corner store. You looked through the isles, palms sweaty n' hands shaky. You came upon the pregnancy tests. The thought of being pregnant made you sick. There was two in a package. The box said they're 99 percent effective! Seeing you were spending Sam's money, you got him a chocolate bar.

"Aren't you a little young?" The cashier glanced up at you then back down at the pregnancy tests.

"Yeah well, shit happens." You shrugged.

The cashier was an older woman, her hair was gray, you weren't sure how much of it there was, she had it all pinned up in a messy bun. The woman sold you the pregnancy tests anyways. You drove back to the motel and handed Sam his chocolate bar.

"What else do you have in the bag?" He pried.

"Nothing. It's not for you."

You rushed off to the washroom and took the test. Nervously, you sat on the edge of the bathtub and picked at your fingernails. You counted up to three minutes. Once the three minutes passed, you reluctantly pushed yourself up off the bathtub and walked over to the vanity. You closed your eyes as you picked the test up. Taking a deep, shaky breath, you opened your eyes. Two pink lines were staring back up at your. You wrapped it up with toilet paper and threw it in the garbage. By the time your dad got back to the motel that night, you knew there was going to be a shit storm.

"Dad? Can I talk to you outside?" You asked nervously.

"What is it, Y/N?" He grumbled, cleaning his guns.

"I said outside." You said forcefully.

You father threw his gun down onto the table and stomped off. You followed him outside the motel room and closed the door behind you.

"Somethin's up with you, Y/N." John's voice was deep and gravelly.

"-I'm pregnant, Dad." You blurted out.

You could've swore every ounce of color was drained out of your father's face.

"You're what?" He muttered.

You said it again, pronouncing your words more clear.

"How could this have happened, Y/N." John clenched his fists.

"I-I never meant for this to happen, daddy. I'm scared." You started to cry.

"I can't believe this, Y/N! How could you have been so reckless!" He growled.

"Dad I'm sorry." You cried a bit harder.

John pushed past you and stormed off into the motel room. Angrily, he pulled his duffel bag up off the floor and threw it down on the bed. He dug inside of it, thrashing furiously when he couldn't get his hands on what he wanted. Shaking with anger, he basically threw some money at you.

"Dad-" You began to speak.

"Get the fuck out, Y/N. Take Sam with you and don't come back."

You didn't hesitate to grab your things and get out. Dean looked hurt. You knew your dad needed somebody around to keep him sane. You also knew that you wouldn't have enough money to take him too.

"I'll always love you, Dean. I'm sorry I can't take you." You kissed his forehead and pulled him into a hug.

"Why do you have to go, Y/N. Can't you stay here with us?" He squeaked.

"I- I can't buddy." Reluctantly, you pulled away, "bye, Dean."

You felt your dad's eyes following you until you stormed out of the motel room, Sam in tow. You slammed the door behind you, letting John know you were really gone for good. You were already on the bus when Sam asked why you two were leaving. You took a deep breath.

"I screwed up, Sammy."

"What do you mean, Y/N?"

"I got pregnant. Dad kicked me out. Maybe it would've been better for you to stay with dad. I'm a mess. My life's ruined!" You sobbed.

"But I don't want to stay with dad. I want to come with you Y/N. Please." He begged. "I can help you with the baby!"

You nodded yes, "okay. I wasn't going to bring you back anyways."

Before you knew it your were in another state. Sam's head was rested against your shoulder, he was solid asleep.

"C'mon dude." You nudged him awake.

You made do. Got a job, made enough money for a half decent apartment. Sam helped out too. He got a job delivering news papers around the neighborhood for side cash. You gave birth to a little girl! She was tiny, only four pounds and eleven ounces. That's what happened during a teen pregnancy, you supposed. Sam fell completely in love with her, as did you! You named her Blake Mary Winchester, in honor of your mom. You were doing better as a mom then you thought you would. Sam was also a great help! Part of you wished your dad was around to teach you. He was a great teacher when it came to hunting monsters... could he possibly be as good of a teacher when it comes to parenthood? Now here you were, three years later. A knock on your apartment door woke you up. Ever since you became a mom, it was like all your senses were heightened. Blake was sound asleep, curled into Sam. You opened the door to a familiar face.

"Dean?" You choked out.

"It's me." He winced, limping into the apartment.

Just to make sure, you done the tests.

"How'd you find me here?" You quickly pulled Dean into a hug.

"Guess I'm a better hunter than I thought I was." He chuckled, wrapping an arm around you and winced again.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" You worried. "Where's dad?"

"-I need your help."

You shook your head no. Dean was about to protest, but you shh'd him. You walked closer to the room, looked back at Dean and waved at him to follow you. You showed him Blake and Sam.

"Who is that?"

"That's my daughter, Dean. I can't help you. I have her now. I can't risk anything happening to her."

"That's why you left." Dean sighed.

You nodded yes.

"Stay with us, Dean." You begged. "Dad can hold his own!"

"I don't know, Y/N..." Dean frowned.

You knew Dean was hurt by the fact that you just up and left years ago. And throughout those three years you were gone, you didn't try to make contact with him.

"Dean please, Blake deserves to know her uncle Dean... you deserve the chance to get to know your niece!" You pleaded.

Dean took a deep breath, "fine."

You took care of whatever wounds Dean had. You fixed up the couch for him.

"You can stay here for the night, I can fix up something more permanent tomorrow, okay?" You pulled Dean close and you pressed a kiss against his forehead. "I missed you, doofus."

"I missed you too." He chuckled.

The next morning Blake was up at 7:30 AM, like she was every morning. It was like clockwork with her!

"Who?" She pointed towards Dean.

"That is your other uncle, his name is Dean- Uncle Dean for you!" You giggled.

Blake smiled, pulling herself up onto the couch, where Dean was still asleep.

"Momma." She stopped and proceeded to ask again. "Who?"

"Uncle Dean." You laughed. "Memory of a goldfish."

You went into the kitchen and started making breakfast. As the day went on, Dean bonded with his newfound niece. Once the night came on you stopped Dean.

"Please, Dean." You begged. "It's so much safer and Blake loves you. Stay with us."

[blackevermore]

x Secrets of The Lake: The Company of Misery and Pain

{ Chapter 8 }

Summary: Vladimir Masters’ family tree has always been tainted by secrets swept under the rug. From generation to generation there have been countless reasons the Masters’ family had seemed to keep private from the public. Even to this day, Vladimir was no exception. But what was one to do when a restless spirit from the settlement years finally breaks free from restraints and demands you answer for your ancestor’s crimes? Vladimir doesn’t know. However, Clockworks does.

Notes: We just having fun, rewriting some of the canon, new adventure new characters. I will apologize now for any grammar, spelling, weird sentence structuring in advance. My brain writes faster than my fingers and even when I go back through to reread it I still miss things. Sorry about that!

Word Count: 2681

P.s: Fighting scenes are haaaaard :)

The morning went by in a flash as the Masters household found itself being decorated head to toe by 4pm. Not many people showed up to the party luckily, many chose to just enjoy their day off which was no sweat off Vlad’s back. The less the merrier. Another reason he hosted it at his home instead of at an event center. In the back of his mind though he did enjoy getting to brag about his riches to those that did arrive. The company gathering started at 6pm which left just enough time for Vlad to tell Dani yes and no for all the antics she swore she was going to get away with.

“I feel as though I don’t have to tell you not to throw any form of ice powers at the guest. But I know you well, Danielle, so no throwing ice powers at the guest.” Vlad stood in the middle of his foyer supervising the ghost staff hanging up streamers. Dani flew around helping out where she could and rolling her eyes as her father spoke.

“I won’t” She replied before shooting off towards the living room which was converted to the winter section. “Unless they ask.”

“No!” Vlad yelled and shook his head but let her be. She was in a good mood and that’s all that mattered.

“Also I invited Danny as my plus ghost.” Dani flew back into the foyer sucking on a slushie. Vlad rose a brow and nodded, not really having anything to say that would be good. Hopefully the two wouldn’t cause too much trouble, if they did, he would just brush it off and distract his guest till it was fixed. Vlad let out a big yawn feeling the sudden tiredness starting to take over. He had missed his 12pm nap due to finishing emails and the paperwork from last night. He had been running on one cup of coffee and toast and now he could feel the crash coming. 

“You could go take a nap and I’ll finish this, you can trust me.” Dani smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

“Hmm as much as that sounds lovely I prefer to be awake.” He wasn’t going to tell Dani about the dreams, that would have just undid all the work he did to get her away from the topic of the ghost. Vlad held up a hand to excuse himself as he let out another big yawn and Dani shook her head at his stubbornness. “I’ll just have an espresso and tough it out.” Vlad walked towards the kitchen and asked one of the chefs to make him a cup. As he waited he sat at the kitchen table patiently, crossing his legs he pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was five minutes to 5pm and that left an hour for him to mentally prepare himself.

“Here you are, Sir.” The chef floated over and placed the cup on the table and Vlad nodded his thank you. Taking a sip he could feel his sense heighten back up once again. The party only lasted for two and half hours, if he could make it through the party he could spend the rest of the day however. Hopefully however wasn’t cleaning up any messes left by Dani and Danny. Vlad took in a deep breath and looked around the kitchen. The food was perfect as he expected and the dessert tower looked ever so daring. Ghost hurried in and out around him setting up stations, it oddly felt homely having so much activity around him, that was how lonely he had been for so long. 

Vlad snorted and turned to look out the giant bay windows and saw how beautiful the sun lit up the view of the garden. He had just ordered new roses and lilies to be planted along the side of the house. A very expensive statue of a woman holding a vase above her head was the centerpiece and brought it all together. Not many people knew it, and if they did they were miles away, Vlad had a keen eye for gardening and landscaping. His mother had a giant garden and when she died he took it over and always impressed his step mothers with arrangements. ‘I need more plants inside the house’ he thought and finished his cup before standing and leaving. He floated upstairs through the ceiling and into his room to ready himself with a shower and a fresh suit. Once he was dressed he stood in his mirror looking himself over and decided to leave half of his hair down for the occasion. Making his way back downstairs he noticed that tonight's entertainment was slipping through the floor talking to each other. They looked worried and some flatout had a terrified expression plastered across their faces. 

“Is there a problem?” Vlad called out to one of the groups which had two female ghosts dressed for the spring and one male ghost for the summer. They looked nervous to say anything but finally one of the girls spoke up.

“You don’t feel that?” Vlad narrowed his eyes and looked towards his sides then back to her and shook his head.

“Feel what exactly?”

“That uneasy feeling, it's everywhere in here and everyone is talking about it. Surely you’ve noticed it, dude.” The male ghost spoke in a typical Cali accent and shook in fear. Vlad tried to make sense of what they were saying but for the past few days his home had felt like his home. Nothing other than his dreams seemed out of place. And the only uneasy feeling he had was only related to what happened in the Ghost Zone. Vlad cleared his throat, not allowing the other ghost to see his face shift into worry and put on a gentle smile.

“I can assure you there is not a problem here, if there were I would have handled it by now. Now come along and get ready for the party. If there is a problem I will handle it.” The ghosts looked between each other then slowly nodded before flying away. ‘Everyone is talking about it?’ Vlad hadn’t heard anything from his two maids nor the chefs he hired on. If there was a threat his security would have alerted him and he’d wouldn’ve dealt with it by now. Or maybe the uneasy feeling was from the Ghost Zone and the ghosts he allowed in were just shaken up. He hadn’t heard from anyone that the screaming was back but that didn’t mean that Tayonna’s weird emotional side effects had worn off. Vlad had to push the thought to the side as he nearly ran into another ghost who came through the floor.

“Sorry, Sir!” It was a child ghost dressed in a pilgrim outfit, seconds later her parent were following right behind them trying to catch them. This ghost however was dressed more like an autumn spirit with falling gold and red leaves as a cape.

“I’m so sorry.” The adult ghost said with a nervous smile and Vlad stepped out of their way.

“All is well. Carry on.” He still couldn’t believe he allowed Dani to convince him to allow one ghost dressed like a pilgrim. 

As the clock ticked on slowly his employees started to arrive, he greeted them at the door and watched as their mouths dropped as they saw the theme. Some couldn’t make it through the door before asking him about the ‘effects’ he set up. As more poured in Vlad could help himself to a few more yawns, he tried his best to excuse himself when he felt them coming, but it also seemed like they were consistent. The expresso must have worn out and Vlad told himself he had to make a pit stop in the kitchen to refresh. As the last guess filed through the door, Vlad thanked whoever above the number of guests was less than last year. That meant the party wouldn’t likely drag on like years before. Straightening himself he made his rounds once again greeting and thanking everyone for coming and hoping they enjoyed themselves. A solid hour had passed as he did his rounds, engaged in conversations and lied about how much money it was to hire these magicians.

“Must have cost you no more than a penny,” one of the guests joked and Vlad only chuckled and agreed. Even if the ghost were real people he hired it wouldn’t really put a dent in his wallet. While talking he found Kate had actually arrived and she busied herself at the autumn station watching the show. Of course as her face didn’t move much she seemed very bored. He stopped at a few stations to ask if the ghost were alright and they seemed to be having more fun than the humans. A few of them showed off their powers which amazed the simple minds and Vlad felt at ease. Then his ghost senses went off and he spun to look around. He didn’t see anything or anyone and he swiftly made it to the living room. He clicked his tongue as he saw Danny had arrived, of course not coming through the front door like a normal person. Danny and Dani were putting on a snow act which earned him a lot of ‘ooo’s and ‘ahh’s and ended with them making slushies for those that asked. When they finished Danny looked up and noticed Vlad in the crowd and quickly shot over to him.

“Nice party but we have a problem, a very big problem.” Danny’s green eyes were wide and Vlad could see fear in them.

“Care to explain?” Vlad narrowed his eyes and leaned in as a few guests walked by and waved.

“Ethay ortalpay inway ouryay asementbay,” Danny pointed downward then looked over his shoulder to make sure Dani wasn’t in ear shot. Vlad’s eyes widened and he turned on his heels like they were on fire and headed towards the hallway. The party was only located in the large foyer and the two living rooms, no one was allowed to go past there which gave Vlad a great excuse of having to grab something from his downstairs office and being right back. When he made it away from everyone else he sunk through the floor and into his basement. Vlad could almost feel his core run cold when he noticed his security system completely busted up and the portal cracked open as the Ghost Zone leaked out. The basement looked completely wrecked as things were knocked over and broken on the floor. The only thing that lit up the room was the faint green glow that peaked through the crack door of the portal.

“I asked the other ghost if this happened when they arrived but most of them said they didn’t come through your portal at all.” Danny now stood behind Vlad looking over the damage. “How come you didn’t notice this?”

“Daniel, I have a job I have to keep up with, and mind you, I was unconscious for three days. I didn’t feel the need to come down here as of recently.” Vlad marched over to his equipment with anger but also with a broken heart. It took a lot of work building this and a lot of money as well. Vlad tried to touch the switches but purple static shot out from the controls. Vlad grumbled and cursed sweet treats as he tried to touch it again but small shocks licked at his fingers. Finally he had enough and used his own electric power to reshock the system causing the system screen to turn back on. Through the badly cracked glass the words 'intruder’ flashed. 

“This isn’t good,” Vlad turned towards Danny who was by the portal wiping at something on the ground. Vlad walked over and stood above him and noticed the puddles of water. “You don’t think-”

“I-I have no idea.” Vlad cut him off and before Danny could say anything else a loud scream came from upstairs causing the two to jump into action. They quickly slipped back through the floor in the hallway and hurried out to the foyer. When they did they slowed as they felt their feet become wet, the floor had become flooded with water to their ankles.

From the living room Dani flew out and looked at them with big eyes asking them what was going on. Guests started to panic as they tried to find a place to stand that didn’t have them in the water. The water was still but it seemed to get higher the longer everyone stood there. That’s when all three halfas noticed the ghost guest started to panic and frantically flew out of the house.

“Wait what’s going on?!” Danny called out as a ghost shot past him and he reached out to grab their wrist. It was one of the spring girls. 

“There is so much uneasiness here! It’s not good we have to leave!” The girl snatched her arm away from Danny and quickly flew off with her company.

“Um guys?” Dani flew closer to the others and pointed downward as the water began to ripple in large symmetrical ringlets. The guest gasped but stood frozen in their spots as they watched on. Vlad knew he had to get everyone out of here before Tayonna started to rear her head and appear. 

“Everyone I’m sorry to say there has been a terrible burst in my pipes and we must exit.” Vlad said loudly trying to get everyone’s attention and pointing towards the front door. The guest all agreed and started towards the door but when someone in the front tried the handle they couldn’t get it open.

“The door won't open, Sir!” Danny quickly set into motion flying over and trying the door himself and worried when he couldn’t open it either. The water was now reaching up to people's knees and panic started to set in as a few of the female workers started pushing and shoving others to get to the door. Danny gave a harsh ‘stand back’ and shot the door handle off then rammed it open. Vlad knew it wasn’t appropriate to think of how much that would cost to get fixed but the thought still lingered. When the door busted open the water and the guest quickly rushed out. Vlad quickly hurried out to calm everyone down with minimum questions and send them on their way.

“Well that was one hell of a party, Sir.” Kate held up her dress and continued to sip a glass of wine as she walked up behind him.

“Send out a message that tomorrow is also an off day.” Vlad rubbed the bridge of his nose and huffed.

“Right.” Kate handed him the glass and walked away. When everyone was either in their cars or already gone, Vlad strolled hastily back towards his house. Danny and Dani were already inside and he could hear the sound of Danny yelling. When he made it inside Danny was stanced and ready for attack.

“Tayonna we know you’re here, you fucked up a cool party and scared for the guests. Come out already!” Danny yelled.

“Don’t talk to me, boy. You are in the way.” A voice echoed around the room like thunder then it became solid as another puddle of water formed in the center of the floor and Tayonna rose from it. Her bright green eyes were sinister as black tears fell down her face. She stepped out of the water and both Phantoms held up their hands ready to send off ectoblasts. Tayonna was unphased and flipped out her hands to send an electric blast towards the both of them. When they dodged it and it crashed into the wall only a few feet away from Vlad. Danny tried to counter attack but was quickly caught by a tentacle from the water pulling him down. Danny blasted the tentacle to break free but couldn’t make it out of the way before an ectoblast shot him down. Dani managed to land a hit on the ghost and did a quick cheer. But the way Tayonna turned and stared deep into her eyes caused the younger Phantom to still and become breathless. Dani’s head started to flash through every bad memory she had and broke her. Within seconds Dani was shakenily falling to the floor with tears in her eyes.

“S-stop it! Stop it!” Dani yelled out gripping the sides of her head trying to shake away the thoughts and the hurtful feelings. Dani looked back up towards Tayonna then down again when she felt half of her body starting to break apart. Danny let out a yell to leave her alone but Tayonna was already making her way towards the child.

“Why do we allow them to keep hurting us?” Tayonna asked and Dani couldn’t understand her question. “He hurt you and yet you choose to stay with him.” Tayonna reached out a hand and wiped the tears from Dani’s face. Just then a hand shot out and grabbed Tayonna by the throat and threw her to the ground.

“That is enough.” Vlad commanded and stood between the two. “You may come after me but you will never harm her.” Tayonna coughed and pushed herself to sit up, her eyes narrowed as she looked between Dani and Vlad, like lighting her body shot back up and she stood.

“Is this how you protect her?” Tayonna asked but Vlad refused to answer and kept his ground. Dani was still on the ground but her body was pulling itself back together. “You hurt her and used her, but yet you love her.”

“You know nothing about us.” Vlad hissed and stuck out a hand to shield Dani.

“I know what it’s like to trust someone and have them betray you.” Tayonna brought her hand up to her chest and looked away panting a bit before her hand turned invisible and sunk into her body. She let out a painful cry as she dug her fingers into her core and Vlad felt it. He fell to his knees as he felt his core once again being attacked. It wasn’t as unbearable as before but it still took a lot out of him. Tayonna pulled her hand away from her chest and panted as she came closer and stood above him. She was about to strike him again with a blast but Danny stopped her by shoving her out the way.  When he tackled her he quickly let her go and flew back into the air and shot her with shot after shot. Tayonna let out a cry of pain as she tried to protect herself. When Danny thought he had done enough he held back his final throw to watch the smoke clear. When it did, fear set into his stomach as he felt a sudden gust of wind brush against his neck. He tried to shield himself as Tayonna placed her hand on his body and electrocuted him. The shock ran deep inside him and touched the base of his core. Every muscle in Danny’s body tightened and a cramp ran up his left leg. The only time he ever felt something like this was when Vlad managed to get ahold of him. When Tayonna removed her hand smoke rose from Danny’s body and he began to fall.

Danny fell to the ground with a hard thud. Vlad had managed to get off the ground and told Dani to go and get his guns. He had to weaken Tayonna before she not only killed Danny but also him and Dani. Dani sank through the floor and Vlad stumbled about still feeling his core pulse sporadically. She had somehow tied their cores together during their first fight and could easily weaken him. Vlad noticed though that when she did this it also hurt her. Vlad had never touched another ghost’s corem he only took the liberty of learning the basics of them. Had he known back in his crazed days that crushing them would hurt like hell he may have done it to Danny. An idea formed in his mind he knew would work but also cause him a great amount of pain. If whatever he did to his core tied back to her then it was worth doing, not only to save himself but his guest and also his house.

“Tayonna!” Vlad called out, grabbing the ghost’s attention, he brought his hand to his chest and sunk it towards his core. Tayonna knew what he was doing and quickly shot towards him to stop him. Vlad wasted no time placing his hand on his core and sending a high voltage electric shock through it. They both cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Tayonna began to cry and claw at her chest and Vlad shocked them back again. Each shock made him woozy and on the verge of passing out but he had to keep her down. With another shock he pulled his hand out of his chest and rolled to his side. He was weak and Tayonna was barely moving. He could see she was still conscious but she laid limp with only the sound of crying coming from her body.

“Vladan, please stop...Vladan, please stop.” Tayonna’s begging was broken and she had  managed to shakingly move her head and look up to him. Vlad, though hanging on barely and unable to move, brows knotted as he looked at her. The small voice in his head told him he should feel worried for her, sad even, to maybe reach out a hand and apologize. But that voice was quickly shut out by Vlad’s consciousness telling it to shut up. This ghost had caused him so much trouble, why should he feel any sympathy towards her? His name was also most certainly not Vladan! He didn’t know her and yet he wanted to pull her towards him and tell her he was sorry. As Vlad found a bit of strength he pushed himself up on his elbow, panting and groaning he sat up and moved away from her. Dani came back with two guns and quickly placed one down to take aim with the other. She shot it towards Tayonna and caught the ghost in a string with two metal balls that wrapped around her and shocked her even more. Tayonna let out her infamous wail causing the whole house to shake before passing out on the ground. 

Dani threw the gun down and ran over to Vlad first with tears in her eyes, “Dad! Are you okay?!” Vlad could barely keep his eyes open as he held his chest and breathed out.

“I’m fine,” he managed to get words out even if it was a lie. He pointed towards Danny and told the youngest Phantom to go check on him. Dani wanted to protest but Vlad insisted and she ran over to the other. Danny was beat up but he was fine, way better than Vlad, the boy groaned and sat up wincing when he turned his back. Dani quickly helped Danny up and brought him over to Vlad.

“No dying on us fruitloop, that’s so unlike you.” Danny stumbled to his knees and reached out a hand to rest on Vlad’s shoulder. The older halfa huffed and chuckled as he pushed Danny off.

“Only in your dream, little badger.” They sat on the ground for a moment trying to catch their breath before turning over and looking at the ghost now wrapped up.

“What do we do with her?” Dani asked, scared more than the others, she could still feel Tayonna’s powers through her mind. Dani hadn’t thought about any of that for years and the sudden rush of emotions really made her uneasy.

“Handcuffs, we need to place them on her and keep her here to figure this out.” Vlad coughed out, he was starting to feel his powers about to tap out and he couldn’t fight it. Dark rings formed above him and he was back in his human form. Danny seemed almost worried and ready to ask him what happened while he was out but held his tongue. The young man reached towards his side and grabbed the ghost handcuffs he always kept on him and got up. He limped over to Tayonna and clamped them on her with ease and they auto activated. Danny gasped as he saw dark rings form around her and transform her into a more human appearance. 

“Well this is a lot messier than I thought,” Danny mumbled and moved out of the way for the others to see. Vlad held his breath as he saw Tayonna as she was in his dreams. She was now human with dark skin and messy dark brown hair and her clothes even had changed colors. A pit in Vlad’s stomach sunk deeper and he felt like he was about to throw up. He pushed Dani away and turned his head as his stomach emptied itself. Instead of stomach acid and food it was all ectoplasma mixed with a bit of blood. Vlad panted heavily and tried to push himself away so he wouldn’t have to look at it. But as he did so a red mist floated off his body and a face formed through it. It was his own, sadden and staring him down like he had done the worst possible thing. Vlad didn’t have time to react as he felt his eyes grow heavy and his body fall back onto the floor.

He knew this wasn’t right, sneaking out of the cottage as his family slept, trying to make it to the trees behind the house without making a sound. He told himself over and over he shouldn’t have agreed to something so crazy especially with a servant. A servant! Of all the faces that passed him in the town square or even while he was back in Europe, he chose to follow a servant. But those beautiful haunting green eyes stole his breath away every time he stole a glance. He had cornered himself and struck up conversation with her when he could and found her exciting. She seemed far beyond the cold soils of the colonies, especially when she spoke about where she came from. 

“Africa is home of the true earth bound people, we all come from there but so many left for colder places.” Her words sound like poetry and he wondered where she learnt that. It had only been a year since he arrived and he longed to be taught by her as he would do to she. Stumbling through the line of trees he grumbled and pushed past the wild grass and broken twigs. When he finally made it past the fallen wild life he came to a clearing that stretched into a pond. The moon seemed so much closer here than it did when he left the house and it shone graciously, illuminating everything in its wake. Vladan was taken back by how beautiful nature was at night and took a moment to himself to take it all in. He lowered his eyes when he saw the person he was looking for and quickly came up behind her.

Tayonna stood by the edge of the water and looked down at her reflection. She was dressed only in her night clothes, unlike Vladan who still wore his day clothes, with a purple shawl wrapped around her. Her wild hair was out of its bonnet and rested gently just above her shoulders, wild and untamed curls stuck out in various places but it made her look even more in tune with nature. Vladan took his place beside her causing her to smile when his reflection showed up.

“I was sure you wouldn’t come,” she said and turned towards him with a warm and welcoming smile.

“I had to as I promised.” Vlad slipped his hand into hers and brought her knuckles up for him to kiss. It made her heart stop a bit and her breathing quickened. This was the first time he had ever done that.

“I’m glad,” Tayonna responded and slowly leaned in for a kiss that Vladan had already indicated. When their lips met, Tayonna jumped back in fear as he felt so cold, her eyes widened as he reached out to touch her but turned to mist and blew away.

Tayonna’s eyes shot wide as she laid on the ground still tied up and unable to break free.

“She’s awake!”

[ladylynse]

askmeanjudge replied to your post “Imagine Randy having to explain to Danny and Jake how he is going to...”

Ah man, no. I just like to hear your ideas. Not musing. XD

Well, perhaps not something to muse on on your part, but it can be on mine. *grins* 

I don’t think Randy would tell them any time soon. He’s not the sort of person to throw something like that out there and ruin a good mood. Sometimes, he’d genuinely forget about it, just because he’s having so much fun.

But then his final year would approach, and suddenly the end of all of this would feel like it’s looming. He’d know he has to say something, but he’s not sure how, or when.

There are mere months left by the time the others notice that Randy hasn’t shaken this mood and confront him about it. Something must be up, despite discretely checking with Howard and confirming that nothing major has changed for Randy at either school or home. And these guys are his friends, so Randy doesn’t want to lie; he’s spent too much of these past few years lying to people, just to keep his secret about being the Ninja, and this is one they’d find out soon enough, anyway.

Besides. He has to tell them. They need to know that one day soon he won’t be there for them.

Neither Danny nor Jake are strangers to the ideas of a mind wipe. They’ve both seen it done. They know the consequences. Danny used it to his advantage, keeping his secret and having more time to figure out a better way to tell his parents--and the other people he chooses to tell, as opposed to just being exposed. But Jake? This was how Jake lost Rose.

Jake knows exactly what it’s like to look an old friend in the face and have them not know you at all. Not remember any of the things you’ve done together. Because it’s somehow deemed better for them not to know all that, to remember living an edited version of the truth instead and carrying on as if it’s always been that way--since, as far as they know, it has been.

Rose had to forget everything for her own safety, too. And for theirs, in case retaining her memories came at a cost. (Rewriting time and reality is tricky business, and they’ve all dabbled far too much in that.) 

But Jake never gave up on her, and that paid off. She remembered, and the world didn’t end. She helped them prevent something really bad, and the Huntsclan didn’t return. Things got a lot better for both of them.

Really, can he be blamed for not believing that Randy--and everyone else--will be better if Randy just forgets everything?

He’s the one to make the rash promise that he won’t let that happen, that he won’t let Randy be mind-wiped and have everything lost. And then he heads home, because he needs to talk to Fu and Gramps and their contacts in the magical community, because there has to be something that can be done. Trixie and Spud avoiding being mind-wiped, and no one went back and demanded Jake do that to them even after it became painfully clear that they still knew everything, and no one’s questioned Rose’s knowledge, either. And if the dragons are okay with this, some old book should be.

Maybe Fu knows of a loophole, too. He’s good with those. Would just making Randy not be able to talk about being the Ninja outside of the presence of certain people be enough?

After Jake’s gone, Danny clears his throat rather awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” he says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. He knows better than to wish things were different when he doesn’t have Desiree in a thermos. 

And he knows that sometimes, you have to let people go.

He’s sure Dani will turn up some day, but he doesn’t know when. She hasn’t written or called or emailed or sent letters via Cujo or anything. But he also knows that telling too many people about her, about who and frankly what she really is, will just make things so much harder. She’s better off if people don’t know. If they just think she’s his cousin.

And with Randy, well.... Danny isn’t happy about this, but he doesn’t know how to change it. Even if he went into the Nomicon, what would arguing for Randy’s sake do? Would First Ninja even listen to him? The idea of compiling the knowledge of the previous Ninjas makes sense, and it’s helped Randy. He’s used that resource. If he has to move on, it kinda is selfish to refuse to give back and add to that resource. And it might be dangerous, if Randy knows something that could prevent a future Ninja from making a deadly mistake.

Danny’s not great at arguing logistics or anything like that. He relies on Jazz and Sam and, to a lesser extent, Tucker. And he knows Randy’s situation is different from his and Jake’s--not just in how he got his powers but in what he protects. Jake is supposed to protect all of the United States, and feasibly, any magical creature within them can call on him for aid. Danny’s taken on the role of protector of Amity Park, but most of the ghosts don’t bother him nearly as much as he used to, and his parents will still be there even if he and Valerie move on. He’s not tied there.

But the Ninja is meant to protect Norrisville. Technically, he’s meant to protect Norrisville alone. But isn’t that only because the Sorcerer used to be trapped there? With him gone, doesn’t that mean the rules have changed? Doesn’t it mean the rules could be changed?

It’s a hope that Danny clings to, but he doesn’t want to say anything yet. He doesn’t want to promise Randy that he can fix this if he can’t. He needs to look into this. If no one else, Clockwork will know. He might not tell, but he’d know, and Danny can get enough of an answer in the way that Clockwork dodges his question--or if he even decides to be around to allow Danny to ask it. (For all that he claims that he can’t interfere, he’s painfully transparent, and Danny suspects that’s deliberate. A way to get around the Observants who try to constrain Clockwork when he’s not meant to be constrained.) 

“We’ll figure something out,” Danny says instead, not even sure what Randy had mumbled before. That’s the safest answer he has to all this at the moment. They might not be able to figure out a solution. They might not be able to stop this. But they can try, and they can make plans to reintroduce themselves to Randy if they have to. Or try to make him remember--photographic evidence and video and all that--or just rebuild their friendship from scratch if they have to. It’s worth trying, even if it doesn’t work.

Besides, being the Ninja isn’t Randy’s entire identity. He’ll still have the heart of a hero even without the mask, If it has to be an end, that doesn’t mean it can’t also be a new beginning.

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