#Danny and co try to figure out both his and Vlad’s ghost obsessions

[little-pondhead]

“Hey, Danny.” Sam twisted her upper body as much as she could from the trio’s puppy pile on the floor. It was mid-afternoon on a Saturday, and the trio had nothing to do except comb through old occult books and internet records for more information on the supernatural. Danny was on the bottom of the pile, laying on his stomach with both a laptop and a old red journal splayed out in front of him. Sam and Tucker were piled on top of him with their own reading materials.

Sam couldn’t see his face, but she wasn’t all surprised when Danny solved this issue by simply turning his head around all the way like an owl to look back at her. Perks of being dead. He blinked. “Yeah?”

“You know how your parents have that working theory on ghosts and obsessions?” Sam asked. Tucker peeked over the edge of the laptop, interested.

Danny nodded slowly, which was odd to see when his head was backwards.

She continued, “Well we already know that some of that is true-ghosts do have obsessions but it’s not the sole reason of their existence. Right?”

“Right.”

“So would it make sense for halfas to have an obsession?”

Danny opened his mouth, then closed it as a thought occurred to him. They all thought on it for a moment.

Tucker clicked his laptop a few times. Probably pulling up their old ‘case’ files and notes for reference. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t, but maybe it’s more subdued than a full ghost’s due to their half human nature?”

“That’s a good theory.” Sam agreed. “But what if halfas are the only one with a true obsession-something that would cause them to come back to life because of it?”

“But that defeats the purpose of the ectoplasm research.” Tucker argued. “Danny was exposed to two different elements during the accident. The thing that killed him and the thing that brought him back to life. That’s what caused the halfa evolution. Besides, if a true obsession alone managed to bring someone back to life, there’s be a lot more halfas in the world.”

Sam set down her heavy occult book, dog-earring the page. (Ghost Writer won’t like that.) “Well what about Vlad?” She countered. “That fruit loop obviously has some sort of obsession going on-maybe even more that one!”

“Guys.” Danny interrupted. “I think you’re both right and wrong.” His face was still thoughtful, staring up at the ceiling that held little paper bats on string. Which, again, was a bit unsettling since his head was still turned around. “I think I do have an obsession, maybe even more than one. But it’s not because I’m part ghost.”

“Then what’s if from?” Tucker exclaimed. “What did we miss??”

Danny gave them a tiny, fanged smirk. “You forget, I have ADHD.”

[inthememetime]

Know what would be a funny AU? Amnesiac Vlad from before Bitter Reunions.

Disclaimer: yes, I know this isn't how amnesia works. This isn't real-world amnesia, it's trope amnesia.

Vlad gets hit with something like a car in public he couldn't avoid without drawing suspicion. Everyone is shocked he survived, but he's got partial amnesia.

He can remember his name, the year, and most stuff about Dalv Co, but when it comes to his personal life? Nothing. Well, the reunion is coming up (why did he plan this, anyway? Were these people his friends? Did he want to one-up them?), and unfortunately for him, a doctor breaks HIPPA laws for money so everyone knows.

The worst part, though? He's pretty sure he died in the car wreck, because he keeps walking through walls and there's a bunch of ghost vultures that call him 'boss'.

In comes Jack, Maddie, and the kids. Danny, of course, immediately picks up on the ghost thing, figures out pretty quick the dude doesn't know he's dead, and runs interference every time his parents pull out ghost weapons.

That's right. Vlad, Danny's mortal enemy, has pinged the protection obsession, so the dynamic between Danny and Vlad? Completely switched. Vlad is, ironically, the only adult he feels he can trust.

Over time, Vlad starts remembering things: not all at once, or in order, but one day he knows nothing, the next he knows he was oddly fascinated by vampires for the past few years, especially the capes. Why the capes? No clue. A week later, he's remembered how to do shields, so he teaches it to Danny. Wait a minute, he dated like 30 women who all looked like Maddie? That's a little concerning.

Then, Danny can't reach his ghost friend for a good 2 weeks because Vlad suddenly remembers dying. No, not when he took a car to the face. In the hospital, 20 years ago. And all over again, he's pissed off at Jack and Maddie, this time. He died in a portal accident (and he can acknowledge it was an accident), and 20 years later, their son dies in a portal accident.

They didn't notice either time.

Vlad comes to his 'abandon your father and come to ME' plan, but it adds abandoning Maddie and bringing his sister. And it's considerably more tempting because, by this point:

Vlad took him and Jazz away on Christmas so they could actually enjoy the holiday (both Danny & Vlad low key hate it for different reasons, so it was basically a few days of just relaxing)

Vlad has helped him learn how to deal with bullies, something his parents and teachers never cared to do

Any of Vlad's houses are way safer, and he can actually sleep there because there aren't weapons going off randomly

Vlad already knows he's a halfa, and is a halfa too- they're both learning the ropes here. And unlike his parents, he doesn't want to destroy/rip out his ghost half.

Danny and Jazz are really, honestly considering the offer. (Unlike cannon, Vlad has never tried to hurt Jazz in this). That is, until Desiree comes along, and somebody (it would be extra cruel irony if it's Vlad, Danny, or Jazz), wishes Vlad had his memories back.

Suddenly, Vlad is stuck, and his core is messing up, fighting with itself because his obsessions are now conflicting. Kill Jack and marry Maddie? Killing Jack is fine, but how's he going to keep the two teenagers safe from Maddie if he marries her? Love and care for the kids? Or control Danny, and get rid of Jazz as an unnecessary witness?

Up until now, it's been fine. But now that he remembers everything, not just parts and pieces, his past comes to bite him. It turns out Vlad, who always thought of himself before the accident and before gaining his memories as a pretty decent guy is actually pretty evil.

So what does he do? There's heartbreak any way you slice it. Does he try to pretend nothing's changed and force his old memories to the backburner? Turn his back on the changes he's made in his life? Try and release Desiree so she can take these damn memories back? Hunt down CW or anyone else powerful enough to get rid of them? Probably even debates taking a dip in the river Lethe.

Does his core just shatter at the conflict between his obsessions, truly destroying him? (If so- Danny's guilt would be...ouch)

What about Danny and Jazz? Suddenly, the only adult they ever really trusted is completely different. Tough but kind Vlad has been replaced by a cold, cruel monster right in front of their eyes. But sometimes, they can see the Vlad they know peaking through. Do they try to help him?

Are Vlad and Danny inevitably enemies, or is there a way for them to get along?

[redrobin-detective]

Wanna hear another of baby Robin’s never written DP fic AUs? So when I was a freshman in high school and on the tail end of my first DP hyperfixation, I also became obsessed with the Indiana Jones trilogy (not to date myself but this was before that awful fourth movie). I had a pretty decent outline so here’s what I remember* (IE the bare bones are same and I uh tweaked it a bit)

So! It starts in an AU world where the ghosts attacked the human world and caused society to splinter a bit. Neither side won but they kind of aggressively co-exist, humans interacting in the Zone and ghosts haunting the real world. During the invasion, Jack, Maddie and Jazz were killed by one of the powerful ghosts who led the initial uprising, Plasmius. Danny had been young (I think I said 10) and had hid, watching his family be murdered, unable to do anything. It really affects Danny and he vows to find the ghost that killed his family.

Years later, Danny is in his late teens-possibly early twenties and he is an experienced ghost archeologist (I distinctly remember this title being in my notes lmao). He spends a lot of time researching ghosts and working with them, he’s as well known in the Zone as he is in the human world. He has many ghostly allies as he primarily seeks to understand ghosts and find a way for humans and ghosts to coexist but also not so secretly hunting Plasmius. His sponsor and basically foster parent is Vlad Masters, his parents’ former partner. He’s very encouraging of Danny’s pursuits and need to find the six fingered man Plasmius and often provide information.

The first arc would vaguely follow the plot of Raiders with Danny getting a tip about Plasmius seeking to open Pariah’s sarcophagus in order to gain the power to take the human world once and for all. Danny recruits Valerie to help him stop the ghost king from being unleashed. Val had trained under his parent as a hunter and she and Danny aren’t on the best of terms given how generally passive he is with ghosts. Uh middle bits, middle bits. The sarcophagus was opened but they managed to prevent the ghost king from awakening. Danny and Val part as friends and Danny gets his first look of Plasmius before he vanishes. It spurs him onward.

The second arc followed Temple of Doom as Danny ventured deeper than he’d gone before into the Ghost Zone. He finds the girl he’d crushed on in high school, Paulina, is working as something of an indentured servant in a Zone bar. Danny rescues her along with Danielle, a quirky girl living on her own within the Zone. Danny, Paulina and Dani get trapped by a ghost cult of uh some sort. Danny is suspicious of Dani who not only looks like him but has weird knowledge of both him and ghosts. They all escape, Danny risks his life to protect Dani despite her behavior. She reveals as thanks that she’s not really human, she’s a hybrid clone made using Danny’s DNA by Plasmius to throw Danny off his trail. She flees deeper into the Ghost Zone to escape both Danny and Plasmius leaving Danny wondering how the ghost got his hands on Danny’s DNA in the first place and why.

The third arc revolves around, you guessed it, the Last Crusade. Danny can feel himself getting closer and closer to Plasmius. He’s realizing that things about the ghost aren’t adding up entirely and that he has a special interest in Danny though he can’t figure out why. Masters, sensing Danny’s frustrations, finds another ghost archeologist, Samantha Manson. Danny and her click right away and make good progress. The existence of Danielle proves there can be a middle ground between human and ghost so Danny thinks Plasmius may be in that category and he may be closer than he thinks. Suddenly Danny is nervous of the people around him and for good reason. Sam ends up being another spy to lure Danny into a trap by Plasmius. He promised her access to so much ghost knowledge if only she led the boy along. She instantly regrets it and goes to get reinforcements to save Danny. 

Danny awakens in his parents’ old home, uninjured and confused. He soon discovers that Masters and Plasmius are one in the same, a human with ghost powers created by Jack and Maddie. The ghost who killed his family, who Danny has been hunting half his life, was also the man who gave him a home afterwards. The cruel irony infuriates Danny and he confronts Vlad. He asks why he spared Danny, why the charade? Vlad killed the Fentons in a rage when he learned they were trying to make a portal to the GZ (the same portal that half killed Vlad). He turned on humanity as part of his broader revenge and planned to use the Fenton Portal as a way to mobilize an army. To his fury, he learns that the Fenton portal was DNA activated. That’s when he discovers that he accidentally left one Fenton alive and takes Danny in. Only, somewhere along the way, Vlad comes to love Danny as a son and he’s afraid that activating the portal will hurt/kill Danny. Vlad made the clones to try and find a way to activate the portal without hurting Danny, Danielle was an attempt who fled before she could be killed.

Sam shows up about then with reinforcements, human and ghostly allies Danny has acquired over the years. Vlad is split between wanting to kill Danny for his interference and just, being unable to hurt his sorta son. Plasmius is too powerful and ghosts are wearing out being in the human realm, access to the Ghost Zone would help. Danny doesn’t really think, he just activates the portal and receives a massive shock of ectoplasm to his system. Danny Fenton steps in, Danny Phantom steps out. Vlad is devastated bc he felt Danny die and, deciding the battle isn’t worth it right now, retreats. Only Danny isn’t wholly dead instead a human/ghost like Vlad.

But yeah the story would have essentially ended once Danny became half-ghost with the implication that he would confront and stop his sorta foster father and put the Zone and earth back in order. Blah Blah something about Vlad being the human/ghost to throw the worlds out of whack and Danny, with his foot in both worlds even before his powers, being the one to help the worlds coexist.

[phantomphangphucker]

Time Unveiling

Danny’s got a problem with a medallion. ClockWork, meanwhile, is busy being a startling little shit; but not too busy to help. (I’m pretty sure the background music to this would just be the Observants screaming)

Tropes used: What Have I Become and Take A Third Option

ClockWork smiles slightly to themselves as Daniel enters, promptly floating over to the Ancient time ghost and states, sounding both impressively annoyed and like the most confused creature ever, “what is this shit”.

ClockWork glances to the young halfa, who’s holding a medallion out at arms length; of course Daniel wouldn’t be confused if it was a time medallion, but it wasn’t, not that that surprised ClockWork in the slightest. ClockWork points a finger at it lazily, looking like a circle with eight arrows coming off of it and inside another circle, “that symbol’s a Chaossphere. A frozen explosion, two things or worlds slamming together to form something new in a grand display. Suits you quite nicely I’d say”.

Daniel grumbles, “you know what? Now I’m more confused. Why can I make this thing? Why did I? It won’t even go away. What kind of power even is this? You’ve got your medallion shit, so I figured you’d be at least kinda helpful. Plus”, Daniel yanks down the top of his jumpsuit revealing the very same symbol tattooed in red on his ghostly flesh, “it’s green when I’m human. Oh yeah, it’s also hurting me. The Zone is going on?”.

ClockWork chuckles, they knew Daniel had scoured his parents' books and work, tried to find anything, before coming to them. So yes, he was a bit frustrated and yes, ClockWork absolutely was bugging him a bit. “I already gave you the answer. But there is more for you to ask”.

“What does what it’s called have to do with anything? Or are you talking about the meaning thingy...”, Daniel snaps his fingers and points at ClockWork, “geez, I’m something new created from two worlds slamming into each other in some absurdist explosion”, glaring slightly, “but why’s it on me? And the pain?”.

ClockWork nods slightly, “better questions. Still the wrong ones”.

Daniel groans, “I don’t know about you, but pain tends to make thinking up questions more than slightly difficult”, but he floats after ClockWork as they head towards the wall with many time medallions hanging. ClockWork just ignores Daniel’s comment, tapping one of their time medallions as they speak, “tell me, how many ghosts do you know with medallions? What kind of ghosts are they?”.

Daniel squints at them slightly, “there’s you of course -gear-shaped obviously-, Nocturne -a star-shaped one-, Overgrowth -flower-shaped I think-, and Observants -eye-shaped in a surprise to no one I’m sure. That I know of anyway, Vortex probably has one. It’s not like other ghosts go around throwing theirs at me”, chuckling at ClockWork slightly, “you practically shoved yours in my face”.

ClockWork waves him off, “mine have more uses. It’s far safer for Nocturne to use those created helmets than medallions after all. Overgrowth’s only plants' seeds in the mortal realm. The Observants ones are just spy cameras of course”, ClockWork gives Daniel a clear ‘remember what else I asked you’ look.

Daniel looks at the medallions on the wall and shrugs a little, “you lot are all Guardians -I think the word was-“, Daniel counts off on his fingers, “time, sleep, plants, and aren’t the eyeballs ‘law’ or something?”.

ClockWork smirks, “indeed, and they’d really prefer you’d stop forgetting. Being that you are co-workers in a sense”.

“Excuse? What do you mean co-workers? Since when do I work with them?”, Daniel scratches his head a little, “well I guess I do keep order and shit. Still though”.

“Think a bit harder”, ClockWork gestures loosely to Daniel’s medallion, which he’s still holding away from himself like it will eat him, “every Guardian has a medallion”, ClockWork floats over to one of their viewing screens; while Daniel just floats, clearly thinking.

After not too long Daniel near shouts, “no, uh-huh, I don’t think so. This thing is not mine”, Daniel gestures at the medallion wildly, “it just...likes me? It’ll go home and find it’s Master or whatever. I am not doing shit with this”.

ClockWork makes their voice sound chiding, “Daniel”. They don’t think they need to go pointing out every reason why Daniel’s medallion is very much his.

Daniel slumps some and looks from his medallion to ClockWork a few times, whining a bit, “but what if I don’t want it?”.

“The universe decided it was time, that you were ready. So thus, you are. Besides, power is far greater and safer in the hands of those who do not truly seek nor want it”.

Daniel frowns and floats to be beside the time ghost, one hand curled close to his chest, the other still holding his medallion while he eyes it warily, muttering, “you’ve seen how dangerous I can be with power...”.

“And if you’d recall, your older self had no such medallion, was not a Guardian in any sense”.

Daniel eyes the medallion a little less cautiously, “huh”, after a while, “so, um, that me’s not possible anymore then?”.

ClockWork pats his head with a slight smile, though says nothing. While Daniel plays with his medallion a little, “sooooooo.... What do I do with it? The heck am I even supposed to be a Guardian of?”, groaning some and glaring at his medallion, “since I don’t have a goddamn choice”, frowning before snapping, “and why is this shit hurting me”.

“You’re human still”.

Daniel coughs a little, “did you really just give me that blunt of an answer? And so what? This thing wants me to be fully offed? Which just, like, no”.

ClockWork watches as Daniel winces and rubs his chest, as expected, his body was making it as clear as it could to him how this situation needed to play out. Daniel just stares at the floor a little horrified. ClockWork understands that Daniel really did need things spelled out for him sometimes, so they speak again, “expected really, Guardians are full ghosts with powers far beyond what even regular ghosts can handle. Your ghost half, in it’s half ghost state, simply can not handle it”, pointing at Daniel’s hand that’s wrapped around his medallion, “which is why your body won’t let you put that down. It’s hampering your power, so you don’t obliterate yourself”.

Daniel glares at it but stops trying to keep it as far away from himself as possible, though not letting it get too close, “why me? Why does this shit always have to be me? Why can’t Vlad get stuck with some bullshit for a change?”.

ClockWork chuckles, “ah the words of every Guardian ever. Though I find it quite amusing that your ‘why’ is quite apparent. As I’ve already told you, it’s all in how you came to be”.

Daniel just snaps, “Vlad’s a halfa too”.

“He faced his existence. You embraced it wholly. All of existence collected and culminated within you, making you true heir to it all”.  

Daniel sighs, “back to the chaossphere? thing. So what? Am I’m the Guardian of chaos or some shit?”.

ClockWork deadpans, “do I look like the Guardian of gears to you?”.

Daniel screws up his face and laughs a little, “point”, before sighing and staring down at his medallion, “so then what? Obviously the whole gear shape represents the clock thing with you. Is this chaos thing just calling out my hectic existence? And you’re distracting me with a mystery from the whole this is not okay thing, because I am sixteen, my existence is already a mess. And y’ know there’s the this is trying to kill me, and apparently, I have to let it thing”, Daniel ends while glaring at ClockWork slightly, who smirks.

ClockWork holds up a finger, “it is not your chaos that your medallions symbol represents, but rather think what the symbol itself represents; as I have already told you. A gear is an important part of anything that watches time, without it nothing can turn. Those that sleep do so most often under stars. Flowers are the key to pollination. And one can not truly watch without eyes to view it. So if you need to think of it in another way, what is the one thing that can’t not exist without chaos?”.

Daniel grumbles, “I’d say ‘order’ but this clearly isn’t some yin and yang shit”. ClockWork smiles to themselves over the obviousness of that and how Daniel doesn’t look to them for confirmation of his statement. While Daniel continues, “I’d also say ‘myself’, but that’s a duh and also not an answer at all. Guess closer technically, the whole two worlds slammed into on-”, Daniel cuts himself off and goes a little wide-eyed, glaring at ClockWork, “don’t you dare tell me I’m supposed to be the Guardian of both worlds”.

ClockWork smirks, “existence is the word for it. The realm of mortals and the realm of the dead, together they make all of existence. Yet they are separate things”, Daniel glares harder while ClockWork continues, “except, of course, in you. Now that won’t be the case anymore should you die, which you’ve said must happen”.

Daniel snaps, “I am not fully dying. I refuse. If I have to just carry this thing everywhere and be in pain then fine”, wincing and groaning a little, “so what am I supposed to be the Guardian of?”.

“The combination. The in-between. The Veil, Daniel. The very thing that separates your two worlds, protects and contains them. Guards them”.    

Daniel squints for a beat before laughing, “so the thing that guards existence needs a Guardian? That’s actually hilarious”, before pausing, “wait...isn’t that worse and even more than being the Guardian of existence?”.

ClockWork nods, making Daniel glare and groan loudly, but he stops as ClockWork speaks, “you’ve been doing a fine job thus far, even without the proper powers at your command”.

“Excuse?”.

ClockWork chuckles, “did you really believe your need and desire to keep peace on both sides, control who got to cross between and what they would do if you let them hang around, and fight those who opposed you; was purely because of protecting your home and loved ones? Did you ever truly deeply question why you had a protection Obsession?”.

Daniel grumbles, “if anyone else had said that to me, I’d feel like an idiot”, throwing his hands out to the side and looking up at ClockWork, “I just figured my Obsession was what it was, because ghosts kept attacking my town and I kept having to save everyone. So it just developed into one”, Daniel sighs, “guess I should have seen that coming. Nothing’s ever simple for me”, pointing at ClockWork with the hand that’s gripped around his veil medallion, “I am still not fully dying for this”.

ClockWork talks while Daniel is clearly trying to suppress another wince, “you won’t be able to hold onto that forever. Your body will resort to the only way to protect itself that it can”.

“No. I am not being a full ghost. No offence or whatever, but no. Not happening. I will cast my whole arm if I have to, wrap it in duct tape, I will eat this thing if I have to”.

“That would work, until you get decapitated, or gutted, or cut in half, or impaled in the right spot, or dissec-”.

Daniel cuts them off, “I get it, I get it!”. Running a hand through his hair and crossing his legs, coming to float slightly above the floor, “so what am I supposed to do? Cause fully dying is not an option”.

“It’s not that bad, you’re hardly the first Halfa to become a Guardian”.

Daniel waves them off, clearly what they’ve said hasn’t set in quite yet, “it’s not the same for you, were you ever even ali- wait, WHAT?!?!?!?!”.

ClockWork chuckles at the gaping Halfa before changing a viewing screen to the very far past. Showing a twenty-year-old blonde nomad with a scar over one eye, clearly they were a human. Daniel gapes more as a purple ring of light appears changing the human into a ghost much like ClockWork but far more human-looking. Daniel sputters as he watches halfa ClockWork float about some kind of temple, “ClockWork...the... fuck? You, what?”, shaking his head and looking to ClockWork, “you, you’ve been through this, went through this. You know, you understand”, looking back at the screen just catching a last glimpse of what and who ClockWork used to be, Daniel muttering, “were you okay with it? With...dying, fully dying?”.

ClockWork frowns slightly, it had been a long time since then, they hadn’t really understood their own existence back then. Of course, much the same could be said about Daniel. But Daniel’s existence wasn’t one that would ever come with the burden of knowing and seeing everything. But they had been okay with their partial and full death, there had been little reason not to be, “I was and am. But you know I am a solitary thing, as I have always been. So as such, I lost nothing to gain everything”, chuckling a little, “plus, I saw it as a higher purpose. Gift from the gods. It was a very different time back then”.

Daniel nods with a bit of a frown and fiddles with his Veil medallion, “not the same for me. I’m not okay with this. Fuck fate”.

ClockWork smirks at that, holding up a finger and floating off a little, “and you never have been one to be at the whims of fate. Never one to play by the rules, and of course, neither have I”, ClockWork keeps speaking as Daniel turns his head around and raises an eyebrow at the old-time ghost, “you see, back in the day, the Observants were much more willing to attempt at meddling with the humans. Let’s just say they annoyed one very particular human who decided to annoy them back, by punching a hole clean through the veil and stealing one of their artefacts”, ClockWork gestures at the viewing screens, “sure, maybe said portal was unstable, and maybe it collapsed on that human while they were carrying said artefacts thusly fusing them together; eternally pissing off the Observants”.

Daniel clearly can’t help but laugh, “that is a power move if I’ve ever heard one”, shaking his head and sighing, “and why do I feel like there’s some meaning behind you telling me this?”.

“Always, Daniel. After all, it is only you who has said any full death needed to occur now”.

Daniel squints at them, “you pretty heavily implied it, what with the whole living even partly can’t handle this”.

ClockWork nods, “which is the case, but you’re already fully dead”.

Daniel sputters and coughs, sounding a bit strangled, “no??? No I’m not???”.

ClockWork pokes a particular thermos enough so it audibly wobbles. Daniel gapes, speaking as he floats over and stares between ClockWork and Dan’s thermos, “are you trying to imply that I can and even should just shove this off to the psycho evil older full ghost me? Just...stuff this in the thermos with him? Have you lost your mind ClockWork?”.

ClockWork shakes their head slightly, while that would certainly piss off the Observants something fierce, not to mention confuse Dan to an impressive extreme. “Hardly, that wouldn’t work at all. You though he may be, he is not the same you. I’m sure you’ve wondered plenty why I didn’t simply stop you from becoming him, rather than wait for you to trap him”.

Danny sighs, “I though that was something about teaching me about what I could become and the whole responsibility with my power thing. Capturing him was me overcoming him, my possible evil future”.

“It served for that purpose as-well, it served for plenty of things. You know me because of it after-all”.

Daniel nods a little but glares at the thermos and crosses his arms, before wincing and lifting his arms away from his chest a little, “so what the Zone does he have to do with this? How does a different and not actually me version of what I could have been help anything?”.

ClockWork smirks and lets silence hang in the air for a beat, ensuring their words have impact, “consume him”

“What???”.

“You heard me”.

Daniel coughs, “you...you want me to eat him? That seems actively more insane. Are you sure you haven’t gone insane?”.

ClockWork holds up a finger, “drink actually, and hardly. Really, he’s you, so if you really want to look at it another way, it’s not much different from absorbing a duplicate”.

Daniel gapes at them, “that is, that is not even on the same planet- no, it’s not even in the same dimension, as being the same thing”, then looking to the floor and grumbling, “but now I’m going to think about that next time I duplicate and be deeply disturbed”. Daniel looks back up to ClockWork when they chuckle, Daniel asks sounding a little annoyed, “how does doing that to him help this shit?”.

ClockWork grins, “you can shift between half-ghost and half-human, why not shift into full ghost as well. Able to shift back of course”.

Daniel blinks, “so you’re telling me, that if I eat, drink, whatever, him. I’ll be able to just, transform into a full ghost without actually being one? That is so many kinds of absurd that I probably should have seen this coming”.

ClockWork nods in agreement, “your existence is an absurdist wonderland most of the time. Don’t fret about any preparations, you were quite expected”, ClockWork grabs the thermos and gives it a little shake, the sloshing of ectoplasm seems to reverberate; and if ClockWork shook the thermos a little meanly, well, no one would blame them.

Daniel pulls a slightly disgusted face, “oh Ancients, you’re serious, it wasn’t some kind of riddle thing”, Daniel grimaces more, “is he dead dead? Like, faded and dissolved into ectoplasmic goop?”.

“Oh he’s very much still with us, if I offed him he’d be useless”. ClockWork just chuckles while Daniel mutters about how he’s not sure if that’s better or far far worse.

Daniel takes the thermos cautiously but makes no movement to even consider doing anything with it, “do I get anything out of this? Because this is a whole ass sandwich of ‘no’ and ‘do not want’. I can deal with pain, this shit is a way harder pill to swallow”, Daniel screws up his face and wheezes a little, “Zone, unintentional joke”, sighing, “well that’s one way of my brain trying to say ‘this is okay’, which it’s not, thank you very much”.

ClockWork waves him off slightly, “you’ll come to brag about it”.

“I think the fuck not”.

ClockWork chuckles a little and smirks, “you like to pester the Observants as much as I do, you’ll shove it in their faces the first chance you get”.

Daniel mutters, “I’m not sure if I hate you or love you for how that is utterly true. Screw those damn eyeballs”, Daniel squints, “wait, why aren’t they trying to stop this? And you never answered my question? Cause again, this just all around sucks for me”.

“They don’t know. Your future evil self is outside of time and thus their sight. So to is anything too directly involving him. And such an ability-”, winking, “-would very much carry over”. Deciding to nip a worry in the butt before Daniel even voices it, “of course, since I’m your Guardian, I’ll still be able to see you just fine. As for what else you stand to gain; power obviously, true immortality, dominion, and causing generalised confusion”.

“That last one is very tempting”, looking over his veil medallion, “guess chaossphere thingy does make a lot of sense”, shaking his head and looking back to ClockWork, “what kind of power are we talking here? Because again, no. I don’t want it. Basic powers are one thing, a new blast or shields, but something major? Really op? Pass. And I would bitch about this Guardian stuff seeming like a bunch of responsibility but, apparently, I’m already doing the job”.

“You, through this particular situation, would have something of a built-in safety lock. Your Guardian powers would be bound to your full ghost form, so you would have to be in it to use them. Or really”, ClockWork gestures to their staff, “you could use a conduit in more genuine”

Daniel squints, “why do you mean ‘in more genuine’, I’m pretty sure I don’t have a staff”.

ClockWork taps the cap of the thermos lightly, “who said it had to be a staff. Do you really think the Veil Master wouldn’t have the ability to send ghosts back from whence they came?”.

Daniel winces a little and hovers his hand over his core a bit, ClockWork frowns slightly, “it’s only going to hurt you more as time passes. You are ready, your body is, Daniel. You just have to let it be. The universe makes its decisions more carefully than even I”.

Daniel grumbles, “telling me to freaking consume my evil self does not scream careful or serious even slightly”.

“I wouldn’t pick a worse off option just to amuse myself. Absurd just suits you and works for you”.

Daniel stares at them for a little bit before glancing at Dan’s thermos and back, “this won’t, like, give him some kind of influence over me will it?”.

ClockWork shakes their head firmly, “not in the slightest. But you will look similar to him, as should be expected. And while you do behave more ghostly while in this half-ghost form, it’s still hampered by being half-human. That will not be the case in your full ghost form”.

Daniel sighs and nods a little, ClockWork knows he could have put up much more of a fight about this but of course he wouldn’t. Daniel wasn’t exactly attached to ideals of normalcy, but he liked to try. Though ClockWork did get a level of joy out of really catching him off guard and slightly disturbing him. While Daniel comments, “yeah that makes sense and good. Wait a minute”, Daniel squints and eyeballs ClockWork’s staff, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use your time stuff without the staff”.

ClockWork speaks as if that question had never been asked, they’ve got to cause some mischief after all. Pointing at Dan’s thermos, “you hold everything you need now. Whether you walk away from it and keep the pain, or embrace burdens as you’ve chosen to do time and time again; is up to you”, then promptly teleporting away; though they continue to watch closely of course.

Daniel just blinks a few times before he near shouts, “are you really just gonna leave me here wondering whether you are fully dead or goddamn vored your own evil self and just use a conduit?!? ClockWork you cheeky bastard!”.

Danny looks around and grumbles, “prick”, before squinting and realising he’s being a bit of a dumbass, “right, they literally said they were okay with fully dying. I’m a dumbass”. Holding up Dan’s thermos and glaring at it a little, “I hate this. Sure, like, injecting this shit into my body would probably be way weirder”, Danny pauses and scrunches up his face, “okay who am I kidding, that’s an insanely disturbing mental image. Though at least then I wouldn’t have to know what this jerk tastes like”. Danny sighs and floats to sit down, “goddamnit, I am going to do this stupid shit, aren’t I. Why am I like this. Why do I do this to myself”, grumbling, “and why does clocky”.

Danny shouts at the air, knowing damn well ClockWork is listening/watching, “I still don’t like this! My existence is already too much bullshit and I handle power stupidly! But we both know I don’t back down from weird and burdens!”.

Danny glares down at the thermos sitting in his lap, grumbles “fuck it”, and rips off the cap. Flinching away from the opening for a beat until it is very very clear that there will not be any ghost -Dan- or beam of energy coming out. Leaning his head over the opening, and looking down at the green soupy mess, “whelp, that’s disgusting”.

Looking back to his hand and getting reminded of the pain in his core, “yup, nope, can’t be chicken shit now. Fuck you Dan, you’ve always been a hard pill to swallow”, then almost aggressively throwing back the thermoses contents straight down his gullet. Only swallowing harshly a few times as the thick acidic semi-liquid slides down; leaving a slightly warm coating in his throat as he gets up and wipes off his lips.

Coughing slightly and jerking from his core spasming, before pretty well getting face fucked by raw power and swaying a little. Which seems to be the moment ClockWork chooses to reappear, patting him on the back lightly.

ClockWork chuckles a little to themselves as Daniel glances at them with a slightly disgusted look before he curls in on himself and starts twitching. Arches of power and energy spiralling off of him, ClockWork’s just glad there’s not really anything breakable in this room. Turning their head to look out the window, watching as one massive spiking energy ripple shoots out to the far reaches of the Ghost Realm. And so it would seem, a new Guardian has risen....or is writhing on the floor.  

Daniel rolls over and glares at the ceiling before looking to ClockWork, “I would say ‘we never speak of this again’ but I damn well know we both will”.

ClockWork smiles slightly, “I doubt you could resist”, before offering a hand to Daniel and pulling him to float back upright. It’s not that he needed the help, more that it was a sign of friendship and trust, him accepting the offering.

After a bit of silence Daniel starts up a bit awkwardly, “soooo...”, Daniel Flips over his Veil medallion in his hand a few times, “what now?”. Daniel scratches at his stomach a little before pulling a slightly disgusted face and jerking his hand away, muttering, “I’m going to have no appetite for supper”.

ClockWork smirks and floats over to their viewing screens, “you could ignore this entire situation, go on with your days like this never happened, and like you don’t have new powers; until, through some unusual and very specific situations, you need said powers”.

Daniel squints at the air before turning his head to look at ClockWork, “the fact that you could be talking about my telekinesis and pyrokinesis, instead of what just happened, probably says a lot”.

“I was thinking more of your lack of needing to breath”.

Daniel blinks, “I genuinely forget about that”.

ClockWork laughs slightly before gesturing to the viewing screens, “care to lose your breath laughing over watching my favourite t.v. show”, then waving a hand at the viewing screens, changing them to show the Observants pretty well freaking out.

Daniel snickers and floats over, “oooh new episode”, before jerking and going a little cross-eyed watching two rings of light form around his feet and head before moving across him to converge on his chest. “Uh, that’s new”, and feeling his legs promptly change to a ghostly tail of their own accord.

ClockWork chuckles at Daniel functionally looking like a 5’4” Dan with pupil-less sclera green eyes and constant ghostly tail, “if you’ll recall, no Guardians have legs. Ghostly tails serve as a convenient outlet for our excessive levels of power”.

Daniel blinks, “Guardian being a title that applies to me is way too weird. I still want nothing to do with that”, then he sticks a finger in his mouth and toys with the large fangs and tongue, “this is gonna take some getting used to”.

“It’s your place in the universe, young Veil Master”.

Daniel crosses his muscular arms, “no, I’m just Phantom, or Danny Phantom, or DP, or...Ancients I actually have a lot of names”.

ClockWork smirks, “Phantom, The Master Of The Veil”. Daniel just glares at them harder, though smiling deviously a little as ClockWork adds in, “Of course, the typical laws of the Ghost Realm don’t apply to Guardians. Not that Walker won’t try”.

Daniel snickers, “I have no sympathy for that one, though I'm still not happy about this. At least powers, or whatever, don’t seem to be acting up”.

“Focus on what you can sense. I can always sense the state of time, Nocturne sees every dream, the Observants can sense any majorly broken law, OverGrowth feels everything plants do and the number of plants in any given area”.

Daniel grumbles, “I already have a ghost sense”, before blinking and facepalming, “that’s another Guardian thing I already had isn’t it?”.

ClockWork chuckles and nods slightly even if Daniel’s not looking at them, “indeed but pay closer attention, you’ll find so much more now”.

Daniel screws up his face before blinking and muttering barely above a whisper, “everyone, I can feel everyone”, shaking his head, “yeah that’s a little much, fucking Zone”.

ClockWork pats Daniel’s head as he transforms back to his half-ghost form and back full ghost a few times. Daniel watching the muscle definition on his arm change between the two forms before snorting, “somehow that’s weirder than the kinda voyeuristic everyone sense thing”, looking to ClockWork, “I’m guessing you aren’t going to just tell me all that I can do now?”. ClockWork just smirks making Daniel groan and gesture to his veil medallion, “well can you at least throw me a bone with the thing that caused all this crap?”

ClockWork chuckles, “push your energy into it and see for yourself”.

ClockWork watches as Daniel holds up the medallion by its strap and looks away from it slightly, like it might explode, while it starts glowing, a green swirling portal promptly opening up. ClockWork smirks as said portal clearly starts to suck Daniel in and he looks to ClockWork and deadpans, “oh you cheeky bastard”, before disappearing through the portal.

ClockWork smiles, Daniel being a Guardian was impressively going to stay unknown by the Ghost Realm at large for quite a long time. Just like how his Ghostly Wail was relatively unknown, it was more of a rumoured power than a confirmed one.

Danny manages not to stumble and land flat on his face back in Amity. Righting himself and changing back human, holding up his medallion, “teleportation and ghost portal creation?”, getting an idea after feeling his ghost sense go off. Danny spins around and whips the medallion straight at The Box Ghosts face, a portal forming as soon as it contacts his ecto-field.

Danny laughs to himself a little as he catches his falling medallion after the portal closed, “well I’ll be damned”, smirking and throwing his medallion at a tree and snorting as a portal appears and sucks away the tree, “that’s going to be one confused tree”.

Shaking his head and checking the time, promptly spinning on his heel and heading to meet up with his friends at the Nasty Burger.

Danny chuckles and gives a slightly cruel smirk as he slides into the booth, “so I vored Dan today”, Danny keeps talking like his two friends aren’t gapping at him, “also became a god, but that’s just a part-time thing. Pretty sure I won’t be getting paid though. Fully dead too, but not, 'cause that’s apparently a thing now. And ClockWork might be insane”.

Both Sam and Tucker sputter before saying, “what???”. Danny just smirks.

End.