#Danny is his own Host as a Halfa so he is fine

[bet-on-me-13]

Ghostly Host AU

So! Ghosts need a physical Anchor in the living world, or they are liable to fall apart and fade away if they stay for too long.

In Amity Park, this usually isn't too much of a problem. Sure most Ghosts can't stay for a week without a Host, but the ambient Ecto-Levels in Amity Park are enough that they can stay for a few days or so at a time with little worry.

This changes however, during Reign Storm.

When Pariah Dark awakens, Tens of Thousands of Ghosts use the Fenton Portal to escape the Rule of Pariah Dark, running away into the Human Realm.

If Amity Park had stayed where it was, this would have been fine. They could have stayed in the Living Realm for a few days, and maybe the Weaker ones would need to find a temporary Host, but that was fine since Amity was filled with thousands of Liminals.

Unfortunately, Pariah Darks first move was to suck Amity Park into the Ghost Zone, alongside all of the Ecto-Energy that had accumulated there.

Now left trapped in the Living Realm with no way back to the Zone, thousands of Ghosts suddenly needed Hosts or they would start dying off by the Hundreds. In a Panic, they spread out across the Planet in search of viable Hosts.

Any normal Person wouldn't do, they needed a Living Being that could actually handle their Power, or someone who matched their Soul. Preferably both. Liminals were the best since they had a durable Body and a Malleable Soul, so any Ghost could use any of them as a Host.

But outside of Amity Liminals were very rare, and finding someone who matched their Soul was time-consuming and hard. Thankfully, in recent years the population of Aliens, Metahumans, Enhanced Soldiers, and even extra durable baseline Humans had spiked across the world.

All across the planet, People suddenly found themselves stuck with a new Passenger in their Bodies.

Those new passengers thankfully weren't malicious, for the most part, but it was still annoying. The only good thing was that they now had new Powers, which neat.

They could summon the Ghosts in their Body outwardly, and then command the Ghost to use their Powers in whatever way they wanted. Only other Hosts could see another person's Ghost, which meant they looked very awkward to normal people when they fought. Generally, Hosts seemed to act more strangely after getting a Ghost, as if they lost a few of their Inhibitions.

Why did they feel the sudden need to strike a flamboyant Pose? Or over dramatically scream?

[trinoxtrinox]

A party to be remembered through the ages (part 3)

Ectoberhaunt 2022, Side Chaos. Prompt: Costume Party

Summary: Danny invites Pandora to the party as his third plus one.

Author's note: this is escaping my hands, it's out of control I swear to god there's no way for me to properly guess how long it'll be XD I say there'll be only 1 more but maybe they'll be 2 more parts? who knows? certainly not me XD

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The Acropolis of Athens was within sight, and once again Danny flew with the Specter Speeder in the direction of his objective with a plan in mind, or well, it was more of an idea in mind, Danny’s not the best when it comes to making and following plans after all.

“Ok, so I’ll just park the Speeder nearby, travel through the maze once more, maybe say hi to the gorgons and minotaurs if I see them, reach the end of it, say hi to Pandora, invite her to the party, and return to see how the guys are doing with the beginning of my costume.” Muttering to himself Danny did the first part of the plan, and put the vehicle in a safe place before exiting it, closing the doors with lock, and floating towards the entrance of the maze. Upon coming to the entrance however, Danny found himselfs with a Minotaur that simply pointed him upwards, and Danny, thinking that meant he could fly above the maze, simply followed that instruction, and found himself glad with finding out his suspicions were true for nothing happened when he skipped the whole thing and managed to reach the entrance to Pandora’s Palace.

“Pandora, are you there?” Danny asked as he waited at the umbral of her palace, not wanting to intrude by entering without permission.

“Who dares visit my abode?” Pandora’s voice could be heard reverberating from inside as her shadow was slowly being noticeable from the outside

“Uh, it’s me, Phantom.”

“Danny!” Her voice gained warmth in an instant as she rushed from within the insides of her palace to stand in front of the halfa, “oh it’s a pleasure to see you, how are you doing young man?”

“I’m fine Pandora, how’s everything going on here? Boxy’s still doing his punishments from last time?”

“Oh no, I let him go after a few months of punishment. I could only take so many turns overseeing his punishment before he became grating to my ears.”

“Yeah, I get it, Boxy can be very obnoxious and bothersome if you spend more than a few minutes with him at a time without something to distract you.”

“I blasted him each time he began to articulate the word beware, but that soon became tiring and I just gave up soon after that.”

“I swear he has an obsession with the word beware as well as boxes.”

“Well, enough about that, I’m sure you came here for more than a simple conversation. Would you like some snacks to have our conversation with?”

“Oh absolutely, your snacks are always delicious.”

“I’m so glad you think so, now come on inside, I’ll ask one of my shade servants to bring us some food while we begin our conversation. Come take a seat.” Pandora offered Danny a seat in one of the chairs made of marble chairs, decorated with lines of copper all over them giving them an intrinsic design, and the seats covered in enough yarn blankets to make one sink a little when sitting down, as shown by Danny doing exactly that as he let himself lay on top of said chair; Pandora laughing softly as she sat in her own bigger chair, maintaining her composure all the while.

“Oh shut it Pandora.” The teenager countered the laugh with a smirk of his own as he said so playfully while righting himself.

“Well, what would you like to talk about dear Phantom?”

“Well there’s this party that Johnny 13 is hosting, and he invited me.”

“Oh, does that mean that you can bring a friend with you? I suppose so since you’re telling me about it at least.”

“I can bring 3 actually, though they can only be ghosts so I couldn’t invite any of my human friends, hence-oh thanks,” Danny was interrupted by one of Pandora’s servants brought over a plate with some grapes, apples and slices of meat on top of bread slices, cheese slices and a little of ghost wine which could be considered ambrosia in it’s own right. “As I was saying, I can bring 3 ghost friends, and you’re the third one I want to invite.”

“Oh, I would love to come with you to the party Danny, when will it be? I want to clear my schedule as much as possible for the day to come.”

“Oh, it’s in a week, also it’s a costume party as well.”

“Oh really? Well, I guess I won’t be able to go as myself then,” a soft laugh left her mouth as she grabbed some of the food available and gave it a munch.

“Yeah, that would be cheating.” Another laugh left Danny’s mouth, this time more calm and honest than before when he laughed at his own hyperbolized mystery, “the theme is ‘historical figures of the Infinite Realms’, so in theory you could go as yourself, but again, that would be cheating.”

“Yes, I can certainly see how that would be considered as such, but there won’t be need for such worries, little one, I’ve certainly met my fair share of important ghosts through my long afterlife, I can think of many of them to go as.”

“That’s great then, you won’t have any problem doing that then. I’ll come when it’s time to go to the party in the Specter Speeder, though I’m not sure if you’ll be able to fit in anyways, unless you happen to have some minor shapeshifting powers?”

“Oh yes I have some of that, I can shrink myself if you need me to. I’d be a horrible guest if I couldn’t do anything about that.” And to proof her point, Pandora shrunk herself, armor and clothes included, until she was about two heads taller than Danny, “would this be enough to fit inside your vehicle?”

“Oh yeah, you can fit perfectly fine now. Though something tells me you can still make yourself smaller.”

“Of course I can, but I still have some pride in me, I can’t have me be smaller than you, now can I?”

“Well, I can’t say anything against that, I also have my own pride as well.” A smirk was present now in the faces of both ghosts, but finally Danny had to lift up and leave the place soon enough. “I have to leave now, I still have to complete my costume after all.”

“I’ll see you next week then little Phantom.”

“See ya next week Pandora.” And waving her, the halfa left the grounds of the Acropolis of Athens and got into the Specter Speeder, no finally going back home to begin working on his own costume of Clockwork for the party.

[kinglazrus]

Not Your Danny – Ch 4. Who Understands

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Word count: 3739

The memorial notebook sits open on Jazz's desk. For the twenty minutes, Jazz has sat here with her rule and pencil carefully tracing out a template for the event schedule. The hour of the event, pencilled in as one to two p.m., is broken into fifteen-minute increments which have three bullet points each. The bullet points, along with the fifteen-minute boxes, are colour coded and measured out to perfect, equal distance.

At the top of the page, the words "Memorial Schedule" are written in a loose, flowing script and dark ink. Eraser smudges behind the ink are the only indication of how much time and care Jazz put into making those letters.

Now, the blank schedule stares up at her, waiting only for Jazz to finalize the plans. The memorial itself is still three weeks out, but it is still too soon. Even though they buried Danny a fortnight ago, the memorial feels more final. Jazz doesn't want to say it, but she already knows why she feels this way.

Danny was a halfa. He was her sweet, human brother, but he was the town hero, too. There's a chance, no matter how slim, that he might still be out there as a full ghost. There has to be a chance. It doesn't matter that he died as Phantom. It doesn't matter that Sam and Tucker themselves were there to see his ghost half fizzle out, see the human body it left behind. There has to be a chance.

The funeral was for Danny Fenton, but the memorial is for Danny Phantom, for the whole city to mourn the loss of their hero. For Jazz to acknowledge that her brother, in his entirety, is gone forever.

Suddenly, looking at the notebook makes her feel nauseous. She closes it and shoves it aside. It's late enough now that she could go to bed, but she doesn't feel tired, not physically. After the fiasco at dinner, Jazz wants to shut everything out for a little bit. Pretend she lives in her own bubble where everything is fine.

How could she have forgotten? Seeing Dani's human face certainly took her by surprise, but she was not unprepared for it. Unlike their parents, Jazz didn't have trouble separating Fenton from Phantom. They were the same to her and looking at Dani's ghostly face was already close enough to seeing her little brother. Instead of the face itself, Jazz was stunned to see Dani in human form at all. At the same time, it brought her comfort. Dani and Danny, no matter how similar, are not the same. But having her here, seeing her do the things Danny used to do...

It's so easy. Having Dani fill her little brother's place on the couch when the watch TV. Having her by Jazz's side when they cook. She can't help it. It's almost like having Danny back, so soon after they lost him. And every time Dani doesn't fill that hole, it hurts in a way Jazz never expected.

She rubs her eyes and leans back in her chair. Maybe she should go to sleep after all.

—

"You want us to host... a memorial?" her mother asked. It was obvious Maddie had been crying that day, her eyes red and puffy. Perhaps not too long before Jazz came to talk to her parents.

Jazz herself had been in tears not too long ago when Sam phoned her with the idea. She nodded. "Yes. I know it's only been a few days, but this is Sam's idea and I think it's a good one. Mom, Dad..." she took a deep breath, bracing herself. "I knew. All along, I knew about Danny being Phantom. And it was so important to him. A memorial to Phantom could help you come to terms with not knowing about this side of Danny."

Maddie's hand, flat on the table, curled into a fist. "Jazz, we haven't even... the funeral is tomorrow. I've been on the phone with Alicia all day because she can't make it down in time. Chartering a plane costs too much and there isn't a flight out for weeks. I know this is important, but—"

"I think it's a good idea," Jack said. Stretching forward, he reached across the table and patted Jazz's shoulder. "But I think what you mother means is that we need time to consider it. It's hard adjusting to all this."

"I know. But promise me you really will think about it? It would mean a lot to him." Jazz waited until her father nodded. "Okay. I'll just... yeah. Think about it."

She left the kitchen in silence. That went okay. A shorter conversation than Jazz would have liked, but small steps are still steps. She needed to text Sam later and let her know the verdict, as tentative as it was. For now, she will leave her parents to think, hoping they eventually agree.

Halfway to her bedroom, a noise from Danny's room made her pause. She couldn't be certain, but it sounded like the squeak of his bed springs. Tip-toeing closer, Jazz stared at the crack under his door. A faint white light shone through.

"Danny?" Jazz whispered.

There came another creak.

Jazz's breath stopped, caught in her throat. She crept closer, pressing her hand against the door, and eased it open. In the dark of Danny's room, the figured outline in glowing light leapt from the shadows, impossible to miss. The aura, far brighter than the dim light of hall, nearly blinded Jazz, but its colour was unmistakable.

She pushed the door open. "Danny!"

The figure flinched and threw themselves into the air, twisting around to face Jazz. She slapped her hand against the switch on the wall, flooding the room with orange light. No longer blinded, she found herself now face-to-face with a Phantom. Not Danny, though, but Dani-with-an-I.

She looked horrible, her white hair caked with mud, dirt smeared along half her face. Suit wrinkled and damp.

"Oh, my God, Danielle." Jazz gasped.

"It's true?" Tears welled in Dani's eyes. "It's true? He's gone?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even think..."

That was all Dani needed to hear. She spun away and bolted, flying through the wall.

"Dani, wait!" Jazz called after her, but the young halfa was already gone. Jazz threw the window open, leaning out over the alley to a dangerous degree. Searching the sky, she tried to find and trace of Danny's clone, but everything around her was dark. Not a single glimpse of silver light to be seen.

Jazz pulled herself back inside and dropped to the floor, hands pressed over her mouth. She had forgotten, completely, that there was another person out there important to Danny, someone who wouldn't know about his death right away. In the days since Danny's death, Danielle's existence hadn't crossed Jazz's mind. It made her feel rotten. Dani had been important to Danny, but she slipped so easily from Jazz's memory.

However, through the wave of guilt, Jazz could not forget that single moment before she turned on the light. No more than a second, but still the happiest she felt in days, when she saw the aura of a Phantom and believed that her brother had not died after all.

—

The star shirt fits well, better than Dani expected it to. She drapes her hoodie across the back of Danny's desk chair before sliding in front of the mirror. It fits and it looks good. Looking herself up and down, Dani blushes. She has never thought of herself as a self-conscious person but seeing herself in something other than her regular hoodie fills her with warmth. She likes wearing something that doesn't look two times too big for her, showing off more of her form.

Although she has never said it out loud, that is part of the reason why she likes being in her ghost form so much more. The pants, the crop top, she likes them so much better than her human clothes. Until now, they were her only option, since she didn't want to cart around a backpack full of clothes, but now she has a room. She has a place to keep things, her things.

She could actually have things. The temptation to own stuff has always eluded her, but the longer she stays at Fenton Works surrounded by things that are not hers, the more she understands.

Dani rarely stays in one place for so long. Only a week and one day, but it feels so much longer. Looking at herself in the mirror, she's struck by the realization that this is home now. She has a home. Her mind still struggles to wrap around the idea, but the word does not feel so foreign anymore. After Vlad, all she wanted was freedom, and she got it. But while roaming the world was fun and exciting, it was also incredibly lonely.

She had always had Danny, though. Their relationship wasn't perfect, and they never acknowledged how they were related beyond the loose label of cousins, but she had him. And then he was gone without her even realizing.

Dani didn't know what to expect when Jazz extended her the offer of moving into Fenton Works. And, to be honest, she still doesn't know. Things are strange, and still lonely sometimes, but not bad. That has to count for something, right?

She toys with the buttons of the shirt, wondering if she could somehow tie the bottom, wear it shorter than it is. As she considers the style, her hands drop to the waist of her shorts, bright red and loose. They don't go with the shirt very well. Unfortunately for Dani, she has already been through all of Danny's clothes, and she does not like any of his pants, even if there were some smaller, older pairs that might have fit her.

There is a hint of promise, though. Dani has seen how much junk fills the Fenton garage. They are the kind of people who hold on to things until they absolutely do not need it anymore. Judging by Danny's drawers and closet, clothes get the same treatment as any other junk.

Jazz must have a few old pants lying about. A skirt sounds nice. Dani has never worn one of those, but girls always look so pretty in them.

Her door is open when Dani makes the trek down the hall. Jazz herself is slumped over at her desk, arms folded under her head.

Dani walks into the room and pokes Jazz's shoulder. "Did you sleep at your desk last night?"

Jazz wakes with a start, flinching at Dani's touch. She rubs her eyes, then the side of her face. A thick red mark overtakes her cheek where it had been laying on her arm.

"Dani?" Jazz's voice is thick with sleep. She sits up, stretching her arms and arching her back until it pops. Her neck cracks a few times as she roles her head. "What are you doing?"

"Do you have any old clothes?"

Jazz blinks. "It's rude to walk into someone's room without warning them."

"You were asleep, though. Clothes?"

Blinking a few more times, Jazz clears her eyes and looks Dani up and down. Her gaze lingers on the shirt. "That’s..."

"Found it in Danny's closet. I can't believe he actually wore something like this."

Jazz shook her head. "No, he didn't like it. Sam got it for him as a joke, because of the stars. I don't think he ever wore it."

"Really?" A smile breaks out across Dani's face. If Danny didn't wear this shirt, then technically that makes it hers. She owns something now.

"Yeah. Did nothing else of his fit? It's okay if you want to wear it. I think that would feel better than packing it all up," Jazz says. "You don't have any clothes besides the pyjamas Mom bought, right?"

Dani actually forgot that she has those. "I went through his clothes already. Didn't really like them much. Do you have a skirt?"

Jazz's eyes go wide. "A skirt?" For reasons' Dani can't fathom, Jazz says it like it is the strangest thing in a world. Dani wanting a skirt? Preposterous. "Danny never liked skirts."

There it is. "Duh, Danny was a dude."

"I know, but I mean. He wasn't comfortable in that kind of clothing before he transitioned. Your hoodie and cargo shorts aren't so different from what he used to wear, so I thought..." Jazz trails off, but her point is already made.

"Jazz, I'm comfortable being a girl. I like being a girl. Being made from his DNA doesn't make me his clone."

Jazz opens her mouth to correct Dani.

"You know what I meant." Dani wraps her arms around herself, feeling small like she did her first day here. "I don't know why I need to keep saying this, but I'm not Danny, okay?"

Jazz grimaces. "I know, Dani. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you were."

That isn't what Dani meant, but she doesn't press further. "So, about that skirt?"

—

Later that day, when Jazz asks Dani if she wants to watch a show, Dani says no.

—

"What did you do when you weren't in Amity Park?" Jack asks. The question comes out of nowhere, as they always do. In the few days since he took Dani's samples, she has seen him outside the lab far more often. Joining them at mealtimes, coming upstairs in the evening. Sometimes she hears the heavy beats of his approach moments before he pops into the room with a question on his tongue, like now.

Dani holds a moment, her gaze lingering on the models surrounding Danny's desk, before spinning in the chair to face Jack. "I travelled."

Jack, rightfully so, takes her answer as an invitation and comes further into the room. "Oh, yeah?" He sits down on the bed facing her. "Where did you go?"

"All over. I mostly stayed in the United States, at first, but there's so much stuff to see out there. The pyramids were awesome."

Just as Dani found her rhythm with Maddie and Jazz in her first days at Fenton Works, she and Jack seem to be finding what works for them. She likes the time they spend together. His questions feel genuine. Sometimes, he asks her about what being a ghost is like, what abilities she has. His eyes glow with fascination every time she answers. Dani has never seen anyone so engrossed by a single topic before.

But her favourite times are when he asks about her. What does she like? Does she have any hobbies? She gets the feeling that this is how Jack shows interest in people, by asking about themselves, and she returns the favour whenever she can.

"Have you ever been to Egypt?" Nudging the desk, Dani pushes herself back and forth on the chair, turning slowly in place. Her eyes keep catching on the models she had been examining when Jack entered.

Danny had a lot of models, all of them related to space, apparently. Planets, spaceships, little astronaut figures. Much like the posters on his wall, Dani sees no use for them, but Danny obviously liked them. He has two spaceships that look identical. One sits on his desk, safely kept behind a glass box. The other stands tall on the shelf above the desk.

"No." Jack's voice pulls Dani back to the conversation. "Mads wants to go, though. What was your favourite place that you saw?"

Dani has to pause and think about this. The pyramids are high contenders. She went to Japan for a few weeks last year and explored the natural landscape. There was so much beauty there. She has been to a lot of beautiful places, but none of them are her favourite.

"I don't know where it was. It was back when I could barely hold myself together, when I was destabilizing, remember?"

Jack nods. Dani told him that story only yesterday.

"Flying was really hard then, and it made me tired. I got lost a lot between cities if I wasn't following a highway. When I was heading back to Amity Park, I passed out once when flying." Dani hugs her knees. That was one of the scariest moments of her life, second only to melting in Vlad's lab. Before passing out, she could barely see, the sky and the ground blurring together. Her very core ached and, when the darkness started creeping in, she thought she was done fore.

"I woke up in this woman's home. She found me out in the forest and took me in. Didn't care that I was a ghost. I stayed with her for a few days. She actually... she offered to let me stay forever." Dani said no, of course. She had to get to Amity Park, to Danny, to get fixed. "She didn't even know me, but when I told her I didn't have any family beyond a cousin, she just... said I could stay. I left as soon as I could fly again. Haven't been able to find my way back."

Jack's heavy hand settles on her head. He ruffles her hair, the small act of comfort filling her with warmth. "Sorry you didn't get to take that chance, kiddo."

Dani ducks her head and rubs her eyes. There are no tears, but she needs the excuse to look away. There is a weight behind Jack's words, one Dani can feel, but not decipher. She thinks, perhaps, that Jack's words aren't entirely for her.

"So, what were you doing just now?"

Grateful for the distraction, Dani slides the chair over so Jack can see the desk. "Looking at stuff."

Her endeavour of going through of Danny's things has proved harder than she originally thought. It's so easy to get distracted by some small trinket, and she often finds herself wondering what Danny did with it, why he kept it all. Cheap toys from fast food restaurants. Paper airplanes stuck between book pages. A ball of rubber bands bigger than Dani's fist.

At first, she only wanted to look, commit these items to memory. Jazz said it took time before people put away a lost loved one's things, and even though Dani didn't understand, she would respect it. But Jazz's comment about the clothes has been lingering in her mind all day.

Despite Dani's own assurance of her personhood, was there anything she could like only because Danny did? She thought she might find the answer if she pondered long enough, but so far all its done is made her question why people collect things.

She touches the box encasing spaceship.

"That was his favourite."

Dani starts, jerking her hand away from the glass. For a moment, she forgot he was there. His face is turned toward her, but his eyes fixate on a point to her left. Dani doesn't need to turn back around to know what he's looking at.

"What is it?" she asks.

"Space Shuttle Columbia, the first of the Space Shuttle program. At least that's what Danny said it was. I can never tell the difference."

Dani looks from the Columbia to the second model on the shelf, this one smaller and lacking a protective case.

"Are you sure they aren't the same shuttle?" she asks.

Jack chuckles. "Absolutely. Danny never let it go if anyone mixed the two up."

"What's so special about this one?" Dani taps the Columbia's box.

"It was maybe the third model that he got? The first two were pretty cheap. He saved up for them himself. Took a while. I didn't even realize he had them until he mentioned wanting a third. Didn't even realize he liked space so much... I bought this for him a week later and gave it to him after school."

Dani nods along as Jack speaks, although she doesn't see the point yet. Lots of people have expensive things; that doesn't automatically make them special.

"We built it together. I wasn't interested in stars and astronomy, but Danny asked me to help him with it, so I did. I never got why it was his favourite, though. He had better ones, models he saved up for penny by penny. He made that one"—Jack nods to the model on the shelf—"with Sam and Tucker. But sometimes, I think..."

Jack falls silent.

Dani catches his reflection in the glass display case. He has one hand pressed over his eyes, the other fisted at his side. Dani has yet to see either Maddie or Jack cry since coming to Fenton Works, and she thinks that streak is about to end.

"I know we weren't the best parents. There've been times when we've... neglected our duties to focus on ghosts instead. I never thought about it before, but it couldn't have been easy on a couple of young kids. All I ever wanted was for Danny to follow the Fenton family footsteps. But space was his. And sometimes I think he liked this model the best because it was the first time I showed any interest in something he liked."

Jack shudders as he exhales.

Dani resists the urge to go invisible. This heart-to-heart stuff really isn't her thing. Their little question and answer sessions have been fun, but talking about the woman in the forest was already deep enough for Dani. Now things are getting a little too intense.

If Jack does start to cry, she might flee out of sheer awkwardness. He doesn't—thank God—but when he pulls his hand away from his face, he looks old and tired.

Dani racks her brain for something to say. "I think... maybe... he liked it the most because it showed that you loved him, not just because it was about space. Or something."

Jack meets Dani's eye through his reflection and cracks a smile. "I guess if anyone could say what Danny might think, it would be you."

The words cut through her.

"Right," Dani says, her voice empty. "Sure."

Jack nods, as if Dani has revealed some great truth to him, and turns away. His footsteps are louder as he heads for the door, more like his regular self. Dani has no doubt that Jack is leaving this room feeling brighter than before.

All Dani feels is an uncomfortable twist in her gut.

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[ladylynse]

Revision - Chapter 3 - A Danny Phantom Fanfic  [FF | AO3] 

Maddie can’t deny it any longer. If ectoplasm can become blood, there’s more to this story than she ever realized.

(Previous)

-|-

Maddie sighed. “You know there’s a difference between ecto-contamination and an actual ecto-signature.”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do. So trust me when I say Danny has an ecto-signature.”

“Jazz.” She shouldn’t need to spell this out for her. “You know Danny refuses to wear his HAZMAT suit when working with our ecto-samples—”

“Really? That’s why you think it’s just contamination?” Jazz got to her feet and gestured towards the lab. “When was the last time you saw his HAZMAT suit?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Danny’s HAZMAT suit. I can wear yours, but he’s too small for yours or Dad’s. So when was the last time you saw his?”

“It’s in the closet in the lab with the rest of them.” It was off to the side, to be sure—with Danny never taking his out and she and Jack routinely replacing theirs, it had invariably been pushed as far away as possible—but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

Jazz crossed her arms again. “Then show me.”

“Do you really think we have time for this now?”

“For me to make my point? Yeah, I do. Go look, okay? Just humour me. I’ll get dressed and meet you down there.”

Maddie smirked, eyeing Jazz’s PJs under her housecoat. “I think I’ll be back upstairs before you’re down.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Jazz said before turning and heading for the stairs.

Maddie went downstairs to the closet she’d been in just yesterday. Danny’s suit wasn’t mixed in with hers, so she started going through Jack’s side.

Only Danny’s suit wasn’t over there, either.

She checked the floor in case it had slipped off the hanger. Nothing.

The top shelf.

Nothing.

“No luck?” Jazz asked from behind her.

Maddie turned, noting her daughter’s triumphant smirk. “Did Danny throw it out and not tell us so we wouldn’t order a replacement?”

“No,” Jazz said slowly. “He still has it. You just don’t recognize it anymore.”

“Honey, please. Just be straight with me.”

“I’m trying. I just need you to believe me, and knowing Danny’s HAZMAT suit isn’t in the closet will help.”

Maddie let out a slow breath. She still did Danny’s laundry more often than he did, so if the HAZMAT suit was balled up in his room somewhere, it wasn’t just stuffed in the back of a drawer or the back of his own closet. Not that he should have it mixed in with his other clothes, given the lectures he’d been given over the years on accidental contamination and the purpose of the HAZMAT suit, but—

But if he hadn’t left it in the lab, and he hadn’t thrown it out, what had he done with it?

And what did Jazz mean, that she simply didn’t recognize it anymore?

“If it helps you see the truth,” Jazz added, “you’ve seen Danny’s HAZMAT suit a lot. And recently. Definitely this week if not yesterday.”

“I don’t know what you’re hinting at,” Maddie said, “so please just tell me. We really don’t have time for this.”

“When was the last time you saw Phantom?”

“What does Phantom have to do with any of this?”

“Everything. Now answer the question.”

Fine. She’d humour her, if only to get some answers in the end. “Two days ago. He defeated the Box Ghost before your father and I could make it to the scene.”

“And?”

And what? Phantom had had his stolen Fenton Thermos, as usual, and he….

And he was wearing the same thing they’d always seen him in.

A HAZMAT suit not unlike theirs.

Not unlike Danny’s.

You just don’t recognize it anymore.

Had Phantom stolen Danny’s HAZMAT suit? She supposed they were the same size, and he clearly had no qualms about stealing their stuff. He could have easily disguised it so they didn’t discover the truth—something which had clearly worked until Jazz had neatly laid it all out for her. Since Danny had never particularly liked wearing his HAZMAT suit, he wouldn’t have complained when Phantom had taken it.

Then again, Danny was on friendly terms with Danielle. Given Phantom’s popularity among children, Danny was very likely on friendly terms with Phantom, too. Friendly enough to help Jazz supply him with their technology, release the ghosts he caught back into the Ghost Zone, and give away his own suit. She’d assumed as much, really. Danny would do whatever he could to avoid coming on a ghost hunt with them. This shouldn’t be a surprise.

Maddie groaned. “Phantom’s wearing Danny’s HAZMAT suit.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

How was there another way to put that? And what did it even have to do with Jazz insisting that Danny had an ecto-signature? He wasn’t a ghost, and humans didn’t have ecto-signatures. It was as simple as that.

Except that girl—

Ectoplasm shouldn’t turn into blood. Ghosts shouldn’t bleed.

And her baby boy’s eyes shouldn’t change colour. Shouldn’t glow.

“Danny and Phantom,” Maddie said slowly. It was starting to make sense now. Danny’s skittishness around their weapons. His recent actions. Phantom’s protective nature. “Danny Phantom.” How could she and Jack have missed this before?

“Exactly.”

Danny wasn’t just friends with Phantom.

The similarities in their names, their statures, their voices— It wasn’t just coincidence.

And Phantom’s knowledge of their weapons wasn’t second-hand.

He knew exactly how to avoid them because he knew exactly how they worked. He knew what was coming because he’d had warning—he’d always had warning—because she and Jack had told him about their prototypes. Without ever realizing it.

“That’s why he wanted to protect her. The ghost girl.”

“Well, that’s certainly part of it. If we knew exactly who she was, we’d know the rest, but Danny’s been playing that close to his chest.” Jazz pursed her lips. “Mom. I know this is a lot to take in. I know it’s hard. And just you guys can’t blame yourselves for what happened, and you can’t blame Danny for what he’s done since. He’s been doing the best he can. He didn’t want to tell you about this—he never really told me about this; I found out on my own—and clearly, he didn’t want us to know about Danielle. But he cares about her more than he cares about protecting his secret, which tells us all we need to know.”

“He thinks she’s family.” Protectiveness. One of Phantom’s key traits. And Jack’s.

Like father, like son.

Oh, they’d been so blind.

How many of the human host’s traits did the ecto-entity embody? How much went the other way? It was what it was, whichever name Jazz wanted to give it. Changes in molecular structure, ecto-mutations…. Even if Jazz didn’t think it was long-term overshadowing because of the extent of the changes, even if she thought Danny had become some sort of halfa, the effects of the contamination were painfully clear.

And it explained a few things she and Jack had never been able to figure out.

Like how Phantom survived so well with limited contact with the Ghost Zone.

Or how Plasmius—the Wisconsin Ghost—had seemingly effortlessly made the move from Wisconsin to Amity Park.

Jazz’s expression hardened. “She might be, if she is who I’m starting to think she is.” Her voice was sharp, bitter, and she took a deliberate breath before saying, more evenly, “Did she look at all like Phantom?”

She had.

She could easily be his sister.

And Danny called her a cousin. Could that be what it felt like, to him? Back in the lab, had she faced not just Phantom’s anger but also Danny’s?

“Tucker said there was a family resemblance,” Jazz added when Maddie couldn’t find her voice to answer.

“There is,” Maddie agreed quietly. Carefully. She couldn’t deny it, and there was no point in it. Anyone looking at Danielle would see the similarities between her and Phantom.

And Danny.

Their eyes had been the same shade of green, and Danny’s…. Danny’s had glowed just as the phantom’s had when Maddie had first captured it—her—when she had tried so hard to break free.

When she had tried unsuccessfully to break free.

When she had fought with increasing desperation and uttered sweets like swears.

Her eyes had dimmed by the time she’d begun bargaining, bartering. Promising anything and everything she could for freedom.

For Maddie to stop.

How much had been lies?

I’m human, too.

It couldn’t all be truth, but…. It wasn’t all lies, either, not like she’d thought.

“Vlad knows. He knows the full story. He has to.” Jazz glanced toward the Ghost Portal. “And he sent Dad away on purpose. In the Spectre Speeder, too, to make it harder for us in case Danny is hiding in the Ghost Zone.”

“The Fenton Ghost Portal never opened.” Not while she’d been down in the lab, anyway. “The ghost…Danny…didn’t go that way.” But she’d still let Jack go to search it. Even though it was the only stable entrance, even though no ghost should be able to open something that was genetically locked—

Because she’d known that Danny could open it. Might have been able to slip back to open it.

Because she’d known that he’d been in charge, in control, using those powers, and not the ghost he’d rescued.

And there were always natural portals, and ghosts seemed to have a better grasp on where and when those turned up than she and Jack had ever been able to determine.

“He wouldn’t have to. Vlad’s got a portal, too, and Danny has friends that can create them.”

Then Jack’s search wasn’t as fruitless as she’d feared. Maybe Danny—

Wait.

“What do you mean, Vlad has a portal?”

“Mom, think about it. He never gave up ghost hunting. And Danny doesn’t need to tell me that he supplies the Red Huntress with her weapons when it’s clear that most of her stuff is knockoff FentonWorks tech or adapted from what Skulker routinely uses. Besides, where did you think she got rid of all the ghosts she caught? For that matter, where did you think Phantom got rid of all the ghosts he caught?”

“I—” She’d never thought about the Red Huntress. She’d barely thought about Phantom. “I always knew you and Danny supported Phantom. I thought that’s how he got access to our inventions.”

“Well, I guess you weren’t entirely wrong.” Jazz looked at the Fenton Ghost Portal again, still standing open and waiting for Jack’s return, and bit her lip. Then, “We should call Sam and Tucker. They know the Ghost Zone better than I do. They’ve been helping Danny map it.”

They what?

“I don’t think they’ve ever travelled without the Spectre Speeder, but if you just give them a couple of the Fenton Jet Packs, they’ll be able to make it to someone who’s an ally before Walker catches them.”

An ally?

“I don’t want to think that Dad’s in danger—the ghosts have to know there will be retaliation if any of them try something—but to say Vlad doesn’t like him is an understatement, and he’s basically got some ghosts on his payroll. He might try something. I’d feel better if Sam and Tucker were watching his back.”

“Jazz, slow down.” Vlad Masters hosted Plasmius. Her son hosted Phantom. Whether she liked the idea or not, they were halfas, contaminated on a molecular level. Vlad had never given up ghost hunting despite hosting a ghost—or maybe because of that? She really hadn’t any idea how much the human hosts could control and how much the ghosts overtook them—and, from Jazz’s not-so-subtle hints, likely knew how Danielle had become a host, too. Or been the cause of it.

But Sam and Tucker had been helping Danny—or Phantom?—map the Ghost Zone? Wasn’t it an ever-changing, ever-expanding realm that fluctuated based on happenings in their world? And they’d taken the Spectre Speeder to do it? And made friends with ghosts, to the point that Jazz could offhandedly refer to some as allies?

Or maybe not friends, per se, but more than mere acquaintances or there would be no concept of alliance. She hadn’t thought ghosts could form alliances. Not true ones, anyway. Not ones where they didn’t fully intend to betray the other party.

But she’d never thought ghosts could bleed, either.

Or even dreamed that something like a halfa could exist.

“We don’t really have time to go any slower than we are. Vlad will want to get to Danny and Danielle before we do, and you can bet that whoever he doesn’t sic on Dad will be deployed to try to find them.” Jazz blew out a breath. “I know this is hard. I know it’s a lot, but there will be time for processing later. Can you trust me to take the lead on this?”

She wanted to sit down and think, figure this out, work out where they’d gone wrong—where she’d gone wrong—and figure out how to tweak their theories.

But Jazz was right, of course.

Danny had been missing—on the run, thanks to Phantom—for over twenty-four hours now.

Time was not on their side.

“Call Sam and Tucker,” Maddie murmured. She moved to sit on the stairs to wait while Jazz pulled out her cellphone. She didn’t want to involve Danny’s friends, but from what Jazz was saying, they were already involved. They’d known about Danny—about Phantom—just as Jazz had. Unlike Jack. Unlike herself.

But Danny hadn’t told Jazz about Danielle, and he’d simply told Sam and Tucker that she was his cousin—something Maddie knew wasn’t true. Not unless the ghost had completely overtaken the girl, though she doubted the explanation was as simple as Danielle—or the ghost she hosted—being Phantom’s cousin, not with the similarities in their features. And Vlad….

Vlad had given very little indication that he knew about any of this.

If he hadn’t reacted so violently to the mere idea of being exposed to blood blossom extract, if the broken ectoplasm samples didn’t seem so contrived in hindsight….

If the Wisconsin Ghost hadn’t relocated to Amity Park when Vlad had bought his mansion.

She supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised that he was still involved in the paranormal. She’d thought he’d given it up after the accident in college. She’d thought he’d eschewed that in favour of more tangible things, and he’d certainly made something of himself. But Vlad’s science had always been sound. He’d had a talent for it, and he’d never been someone who gave up on something that came so easily to him.

But the accident.

His sickness.

The fact that he’d cut ties with them for twenty years, only to suddenly—and enthusiastically—become a part of their lives again.

It was an accident, Jazz had said. It was the accident. Don’t blame yourselves. As if they were free of blame, even though the entirety of it shouldn’t be settled on them.

Their involvement had led to Vlad’s lab accident.

And…and judging by when Phantom had turned up, judging by what Jazz had implied as much as what she’d said, their negligence had led to Danny’s lab accident.

Maddie’s eyes turned to the portal.

The Fenton Ghost Portal had been their greatest achievement. They’d been heartbroken when it hadn’t worked.

And they hadn’t questioned enough when it had.

She and Jack were—at least in part—responsible for the fact that Danny hosted Phantom. The fact that Danny was a halfa, changed or fused or whatever on a molecular level. They had done this to their own son. They had subsequently endangered his life on a near daily basis by trying to hunt Phantom down.

And he’d never told them.

He’d been afraid, no doubt, of what they’d do.

Of them dismissing him or not listening.

Of the fact that he might have been the one on their examination table. That her scalpel might have been slicing into him and not Danielle. That she might have ignored his begging instead of hers.

Maddie rested her head in her hands. When Jazz got off the phone, she asked, “Who do you think Danielle is?”

“Sam’s going to call Tucker. They’ll be over as soon as they can.”

“Jazz,” Maddie said, raising her head, “who do you think Danielle is?”

Emotions flew across Jazz’s face before it settled into a careful mask. “An experiment.”

Maddie took a steadying breath but didn’t speak or let her eyes stray from Jazz’s face.

Jazz, in turn, fidgeted and started to pace. “I thought Vlad and Danny were the only halfas,” she said, “but clearly that’s wrong. I do know that Vlad has an unhealthy obsession with Danny because of that, and I know he has no scruples whatsoever. And I know he hasn’t given up his paranormal studies, that he has a secret lab, complete with its own portal to the Ghost Zone, and enough wealth and resources to build whatever he can dream up.” She stopped and turned to face Maddie. “And I know that Vlad has an unhealthy obsession with you.”

Clearly, Danny’s discomfort in Vlad’s presence was far more than that, and Jazz’s hatred of him wasn’t remotely unwarranted.

“Danielle looks like she could be Phantom’s sister, right?”

Maddie’s stomach twisted. “She also appears to be a teenager—or nearly one—so there is absolutely no way Vlad could have gotten something from me.” They hadn’t had contact with Vlad for years. And even if she couldn’t remember every moment, even if she knew people couldn’t tell when they were being overshadowed, she’d never woken with scars or stitches that weren’t from a lab accident that she remembered.

Of course, she might not have, given a ghost’s ability to use intangibility.

The idea made her feel so violated. She wanted to scream, but the entire situation was too exhausting.

“He didn’t know about Danny until the reunion,” Jazz pointed out, and then she hesitated. “At least, I don’t think he did. Given the number of ghosts who know who Danny is—and what he is—when they meet Phantom, it’s quite possible that Vlad had heard rumours and had his suspicions. He might not have just been hoping to rekindle something with you.”

Bile rose in Maddie’s throat, and she swallowed it back down. She’d invited this man into her house. He knew she was happily married to Jack, and yet…. And yet, thinking over his words, so many of them could have another meaning. One she’d never realized. Maybe Plasmius had twisted Vlad’s crush on her? Surely this wasn’t all on Vlad, for all that her kids clearly blamed him.

But maybe they blamed him because they had Phantom and Danny’s relationship for comparison. Maybe Phantom wasn’t as horrible to Danny as she’d been assuming. Maybe…maybe Phantom’s association with Danny was the only reason he’d survived his lab accident. Maybe it had always been worse than they’d ever realized, than Danny had ever let on.

He hadn’t wanted to go to the hospital when they’d found out. He’d flatly refused her suggestion of a doctor’s checkup later. “We can go if I get worse,” he’d promised, “but we can’t exactly afford to go now. Insurance isn’t going to cover my stupidity.” He’d been right, but they’d have found a way to make it work, even if it had meant her picking up a job other than being an inventor, scientist, and stay-at-home mom for a few years.

But then his bruises and scrapes and what had looked like burn marks had faded, all faster than she’d anticipated, and she hadn’t pushed the matter.

She’d failed him.

How could Jazz expect them not to blame themselves?

And Vlad. Plasmius. Acting the way they did. (He did?) Every calculated move, knowing her ignorance of Danny’s situation, of everything….

“Vlad’s always had a fixation with Danny he hasn’t had with me, just because Danny’s a halfa. So, Danielle might not be yours,” Jazz said slowly. “At least, not in the way you’re thinking. She might be. I really, really don’t know for sure, and I wouldn’t put anything past Vlad. But I…. The science is shady, Mom. I’ve been trying to do some research, and there’s nothing concrete that I can find. But Vlad wouldn’t care. He’d try it anyway. And she might look older than she is.”

“Do you think I have another daughter? That you have the sister you’ve always wanted?”

Jazz blew out a breath. “For all intents and purposes, yes. Danny certainly seems to treat her that way. And she’s definitely not a cousin.” Silence, as if Jazz was trying to give her time to let that sink in—or give herself that time—but Maddie didn’t think any amount of time would be enough right now. She needed longer than she had. Still, she had enough time to be furious at Vlad, to be disgusted with herself, to feel for the little girl who’d never known her mother….

“But she might not just be a test tube baby, Mom, even with all the experimental science that went into accelerating her aging or making her a halfa.” Jazz was fiddling with her fingers now, staring down at them as she knotted them together and broke free. “I just…. Vlad wouldn’t want to leave her appearance up to chance. Even with the human genome mapped, I’m not sure he’d be able to pick and choose everything so precisely, not with all the genic interactions….” She broke off and looked up. “What if Vlad tried to clone Danny, but he got something wrong?”

“He got nothing wrong,” Maddie said fiercely. “You know that as well as I do.”

“That’s not what I meant. There isn’t anything wrong with Danielle. Just….”

“That part doesn’t matter.” Maddie got to her feet, her energy renewed. She had to do something. She had to fix this, or at least try, just in case it wasn’t beyond repair. If Danny hosted Phantom, fine. Danielle hosted a ghost, too, and that was also fine. That didn’t make them not family. They’d figure it out, whatever figuring it out involved. “She is who she is. What matters is finding her and helping her. Giving her the home she never had, if she can stand to live with us after what I’ve done to her.” She had no idea how she could even begin to atone for that. For any of what she’d done. “Jack will understand when we tell him.” He’d take this all better than she had. And he hadn’t done what she had, either. Even if she couldn’t have a relationship with Danielle, maybe Jack could.

If Vlad hadn’t already destroyed her trust in any father figure.

Jack was patient. He might be able to win her over. He’d certainly try.

Maddie just hoped it wasn’t too late.

“We have Phantom’s ecto-signature on file. I’ll see what I can do to recalibrate the Booo-merang, to undo whatever Vlad’s done.” She knew their invention better than he did. Showing him their blueprints hadn’t helped matters—he could easily make his own Booo-merang now, thanks to his photographic memory—but making something would slow him down. Even if Jazz’s guesses as to Danielle’s origins were wrong—or at least not entirely correct—she had no reason to think Jazz’s intel on Vlad’s connections within the Ghost Zone were incorrect. Not when Jazz knew so much more about all of this than Maddie did. Than she’d ever dreamed was possible.

She’d been blinded for too long.

She’d lived in darkness—intentional darkness—for too long.

It was beyond time to break back into the light and make things right.

“I’ll get the jet packs out for Sam and Tucker and then pack a few more things we might need for when we find Danny and Danielle.” Jazz didn’t say if, and Maddie appreciated that. When. There was so much more hope with when. “We need to be prepared for anything.”

“I know.” She hadn’t left Danielle in anything resembling a good condition, and Jazz was right: Danny wouldn’t want to be found. Especially if he thought she was hunting them down to finish what she’d started. She only hoped she could find them and explain and apologize before it was too late.

She didn’t expect forgiveness.

If it came, it would take time.

But she hoped they might give her a chance.

She hoped she hadn’t destroyed their family forever.

She didn’t want to think that she might have lost her son and the daughter she’d never known she’d had.

“I’ll work as fast as I can.” Time was slipping away from them. She’d waited too long already. She’d trusted Vlad, and he’d stalled her and sent Jack away on what might very well be a wild goose chase—or a trap. She should have trusted her kids instead. She should have trusted her gut. “I promise.”

She was going to do everything she could. For Danny. For Danielle.

For her family.

(next)

[darks-ink]

Absurdism Chapter 5

This chapter was absolutely cursed and I am glad to finally post it and never have to worry about it ever again. I have maybe an hour of sleep in me and I’m full of very exhausted hate.

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

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Chapter 5: Bitter Reunions

“So, kids…”

Jazz looked up from the dinner she was definitely not shoveling into her mouth—she might be starving but she wasn’t an animal—and up at her mom. Beside her, Danny hummed an acknowledgment.

“This weekend an old friend of ours is hosting a college reunion,” Maddie continued, having successfully grabbed the attention. “It’s all the way in Wisconsin, so we’ll be on the road for a few days.”

“Okay, and?” Danny asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. “We’re old enough to take care of ourselves for a few days.”

Maddie frowned. Disappointed? Oh, of course. She was hoping to bring them along, make it a family thing.

“Sounds interesting,” Jazz said. “We wouldn’t miss any school if we come with, right?”

Danny shot her an offended look but, well. She’d tried to do more stuff together, just recently, and he’d left her alone at the Swap Meet. By now, she was spending more time with Danny from a different universe than her own brother, and honestly? That couldn’t continue.

“No, it’s a long weekend. We will have to spend one night in the GAV— the RV, Vlad gave us permission to arrive early, so we can sleep the other two nights there.”

“And we’ll drive home in one go!” her dad cheerily added, a bright grin on his face. “Ah, I can’t wait to see Vladdie again!”

“Well, I would love spend more time together as a family! And meeting your college buddies sounds like fun, too! Right, Danny?” She turned around, offering him her biggest, teariest eyes. Just because she was usually above begging didn’t mean she didn’t know how to do it. So sue her for pulling out the big guns, this was important!

Her brother grumbled and huffed a little longer, trying to dodge her eyes, but finally caved. “Yeah, sure. Sounds… great. Can’t wait.”

Their parents didn’t hear the reluctant tone—or completely ignored it—because both shot them grateful smiles.

Now she just had to talk to Phantom to make sure he would keep an eye on Amity for her.

---

Danny stretched out, lazily, staring up at the emerging night sky. He appreciated Jazz’ help, letting him sleep in her room while she was away, but as a result he’d become practically nocturnal. Not that he was that far off, back home, but still…

At least he got to enjoy the night sky while waiting for night to pass. And there were plenty of ghosts out at night—something he already knew from experience.

A light flashed, and Danny wrenched his head towards it, surprised. His core thrummed, picking up on an increase in ectoplasm. Had Jazz shifted to her ghost form? Why?

She became visible next to him on the roof, and Danny pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“What’s up, Jazz?” Surely nothing could be wrong? He didn’t think there were any major ghosts happening right now, but, well. It wasn’t like he’d kept a close record of when he’d fought which ghost.

“Nothing much,” she assured him, shooting him a soothing smile. Clearly she’d already caught onto his instant protective paranoia. “But Mom and Dad are planning on taking us on a road trip this weekend, and…”

“And you didn’t want to assume I could keep an eye on the city? Sure, Jazz, I can handle it for you.” He shrugged easily, grinning at her. “I handled it for two years back home, I can handle it for a weekend here. What’re you guys gonna do?”

“Some college reunion,” she said, and, oh. Was that now? Good lord, and he hadn’t even done any research on Vlad. How could he have screwed that up?

Jazz narrowed her eyes at him, the gold flaring brighter. “What’s wrong with that? Is something going to happen?”

“I… don’t know,” he admitted, slowly. “Who’s hosting it? Vlad Masters?”

She nodded. “I believe so. Why?”

He considered his options. He didn’t want her involved with Vlad, with his mess, but… well, he couldn’t protect her forever. Even if he wasn’t sure if it was Vlad in this universe, better safe than sorry, right?

“He’s… In my universe, Vlad Masters is also a half-ghost.”

Jazz stilled, eyes big and surprised. “What?” she managed, after a long silence. “How— What?”

Danny laughed, a little, humorlessly. “Yeah, I know. He was part of the ghost hunting club in college, together with our parents. When they built the Proto Portal, it blew up in his face. Gave him terrible ecto-acne, and later, made him half-ghost.”

He shook his head. “But I don’t know if that’s true for this universe as well. I know there’s another half-ghost around, equivalent to him. I’ve run into a few ghosts they hired, but none of them told me if they were hired by Plasmius or not.”

“Plasmius?” Jazz repeated, cautiously. “Let me guess, that’s his ghost name? What does that even reference, plasma?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” He flapped a hand. “If Vlad is half-ghost in this universe, he’s bad news, Jazz. He’s obsessed. In my universe, he’s in love with Mom—has been since college. And he blames Dad for stealing her away, and for the accident. After he discovered I was a half-ghost, during the reunion… Well, let’s just say it wasn’t any good.”

“I… see.” Jazz seemed to contemplate all this new information for a moment, then straightened her shoulders. “Well, I’ll just be ready, then. Tell me everything you remember.”

“Are you sure?” He frowned, meeting her eyes. “Things might be different in this universe.”

“That’s fine.” She stared back, determination clear in her eyes. “I’ll keep my family safe.”

---

Jazz woke up in the middle of the night, cold pouring from her core and misting from her mouth. She groaned, but somewhere, she’d already expected it. Danny—Phantom—had told her that it had happened during his first night in Vlad’s mansion. And even if he had doubted that things would play out the same between their worlds, she had expected it.

But that also meant that Vlad Plasmius, half-ghost, had sent vicious vulture ghosts after her dad, and that really couldn’t be borne.

She let her core take over, energy pouring over her body as she shifted to her ghost form. The room around her came into sharp and clear relief—she could see in the dark as Specter. Turning herself invisible, she flew through the door, easily spotting her dad lumbering through the halls.

The vulture ghosts, hovering around him, were even more noticeable. Their glows weren’t particularly bright, but in the dark they were plenty clear.

Channeling energy into her fist, she shot off a blast of golden energy at the first. There was no point in capturing them, she just needed to scare them off.

The other two took offense, but instead of waiting for them to attack, she dove through the floor. She needed to take this fight away from her dad, especially if Plasmius was going to show up.

One of the vultures dove after her, talons reaching out towards her. She dodged it, barely, then sent a blast after it for good measure. The other came up from her side, likely hoping to catch her off-guard. Instead it caught an ecto-blast as well.

The three vultures regrouped in front of her, blocking the hallway in its entirety. They loomed over her. Then, suddenly, they glanced past her and darted away.

“Oh boy,” she whispered, turning to look behind her as well. Must be Plasmius, if the vultures fled.

In the hallways hovered another ghost, humanoid with blue skin. His eyes were blank and deep red, his black hair swept up into two—somewhat ridiculous—points. His outfit was a mix of white and crimson red, bar his black gloves and shoes. His cape flapped, stirred by a non-existent wind.

His glow was bright enough to light the direct area around him.

Phantom really hadn’t downplayed how strong Vlad Plasmius was.

The half-ghost cocked his head at her, narrowing his eyes. Then he grinned at her, revealing vampire-like fangs. “My vultures were supposed to bring the big idiot to me, but you’ll do! A little intruder, aren’t you?”

Cold crept down her spine. “I don’t want to fight.”

“No,” he said simply, still grinning. “No, you don’t.”

Magenta ectoplasm burst into existence around his hands. He fired a blast at Jazz, too quickly for her to dodge.

She slammed against the wall, grunting. “I’m serious! I don’t want to fight!”

“Should’ve thought of that before you broke in, hmm?” The grin had disappeared from Vlad’s face, but the ectoplasm hadn’t gone. He fired another blast, quickly followed by a third.

Jazz swore, dodging the first but getting hit by the latter. She rolled over the floor, hitting the wall harder than she’d hoped.

Vlad was coming closer again, the charged ecto-blasts casting sharp lights on his face. “I’m not big on trespassing little ghosts, you see,” he said, the threat clear in his voice.

“Yeah, well—” She pushed herself up onto her feet again, meeting his eyes. “I’m not just any ghost!”

And, against all common sense, she loosened her grip on her ghost core. Bright lights swam through the hallways, leaving her standing there in her pajamas. Human once more.

The other half-ghost halted in his steps, clearly startled. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then shook his head.

Without saying another word, Vlad suddenly dissolved into pink smoke.

“Oh,” she said, simply. Poked her ghost core a little, but she wasn’t picking up on any traces of ghosts anymore. He must’ve left.

She shifted back into her ghost form, coasting back to her bed. Somehow, she’d made it through the confrontation with Vlad without getting the stuffing beat out of her.

Tomorrow, she would have to confront him anyway, she knew. If she didn’t, he would come to her. Maybe she could talk to him, show him the right way?

---

“Vlad,” she said when she saw Vlad, the next day.

“Jasmine,” he greeted back, inclining his head slightly. That seemed to be the end of it, however. No attempt to reference last night, even though no one else was around.

Instead of pushing him, however, she took a bite of her food. Vlad acted uninterested, but she caught him glancing over at her, repeatedly. What, did he not realize she knew who he was? Was he trying to find the best way to approach this?

“What are you looking at?” she asked, finally, tone carefully polite. “Do I have something on my face?”

Vlad looked startled—at being addressed?—but his expression smoothed over quickly. “No, my dear, there’s nothing.”

She hummed, a note of disbelief clearly audible. Took another bite. Would he comment on his own, or was she going to have to take lead here?

Apparently so, because Vlad remained silent. Man, were all adults this dysfunctional or something?

“Would you mind not staring, then?” She took another bite, chewing quickly. “I’m not stupid, you know?”

“Ah…” He shifted, clearly uncertain but trying to cover it up and appear suave. She hadn’t been able to see how the Vlad Masters might’ve spent time with her parents, in college, but she was starting to see it now. They shared that same disastrous way of dealing with people. And an interest in ghosts, apparently. “It is nothing, Jasmine.”

“Stop calling me that,” she scoffed, turning to him instead of her food. “My name is Jazz, or Specter. And your name is Plasmius, isn’t it?”

He stiffened, clearly caught off-guard. “Excuse me?” he tried, feebly. It wasn’t very convincing.

“Oh, come on.” She shook her head, abandoning her meal. “We ran into each other last night. I shifted back to human form, you left, and now you’re pretending you weren’t that half-ghost I ran into. But I’m not an idiot, Vlad.”

Vlad grumbled, his eyes flashing red for just a brief moment, before he composed himself. Straightened his clothes, put on a whole show and everything. “Yes, clearly I underestimated your intelligence. I apologize, my dear girl. But, as you’ve likely discovered already, our kind are rare beyond words.”

Well, that much was true, at least. The only one she knew besides the two of them came from a different universe altogether.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” she allowed, mellowing herself out a little. He was aggravating, yes, but if she could get him to not be a huge ghostly villain…

He was looking at her, eyes narrowed. Like he was thinking about something, or eyeing her up. Or both, who knew?

“You are young still, Jasmine,” he finally said, and darnit. Again with the ‘Jasmine’ thing? Couldn’t he just use her name like everyone else? “Just fourteen, aren’t you? Too young to drive, and not even in college yet?”

And there were the alarm bells! Hello, what did it matter?

“So?” she bit back, not as venomously as she wanted to. “So what if I’m just fourteen?”

Vlad clicked his tongue, giving her a disappointed shake of his head. “What does it matter? You want me to let you run off all alone, stumbling through your adolescence, desperately trying to get control of your powers? Powers, by the way, that I’ve had for twenty years.”

He flashed his eyes red, meaningfully. Jazz didn’t budge. What was he trying to prove?

“I have experience, my child.” Vlad’s eyes faded back to their usual blue, and he folded his hands behind himself. Set himself back into that stoic posture he kept showing. Like he had to show off his big mature adult-ness to convince her. “I could train you, teach you everything I know. And all you’d have to do, is renounce your idiot father.”

The gaze he set upon her was expectant, heavy.

She snorted.

“Yeah, as if.” Jazz stood up from her seat, flashing her eyes at him. “I already have a teacher, and his price is far more reasonable than yours. Stay away from my family, Plasmius, and I’ll keep your secret.”

Apparently this had been the wrong thing to say, because he hissed, sharp and inhuman. His eyes went red, and this time, they didn’t fade easily.

Jazz could feel the increase of ectoplasm in her core before it became visible to her eyes. Energy sparked over Vlad’s skin, coalescing in crackling rings of energy. They managed, somehow, to simultaneously be pure black and lanced through with white lightning.

Plasmius had grabbed her before she could even seriously consider shifting as well, phasing her through several walls. She struggled in his grasp, but his black-gloved fingers were like vices. There was no getting out.

He dumped her on a hard metal floor. She took the moment of respite to investigate the area. Metal floors, walls, ceiling, tables… a lab? It made sense that Vlad had one, too, but still. Why would he take her here?

An odd sound, like metal scratching metal, drew her attention back to Vlad. She scolded herself inwardly for getting distracted so easily, looking at the other half-ghost.

“Why—” she started to say, and then the cube he’d slid over at her activated.

The metal expanded, suddenly, locking her in the now-hollow cube. Only her head remained free, and no wrenching seemed to loosen the plates again.

“You can wait here,” Vlad said, his voice flat and cold. “We’ll see how you feel about my proposal once your father is out of the way.”

Her eyes snapped back up to his face, and he looked… he looked deadly serious.

“You can’t!” she shouted at him, grasping for her core even when she knew it would be futile. “Vlad, you can’t! If you kill him— everyone will know! They’ll know, and they’ll never forgive you! Not me, not Danny, and definitely not my Mom!”

“Oh, what do you know,” he scoffed, grabbing the edge of his cape. He swept it over himself, his body dissolving into pink smoke in the same motion.

Gone. He’d left, just like that.

Now they were really in for it.

---

Energy poured from her core, down her arm, and into the palm of her hand. The ecto-blast that formed was bright, casting golden light over the steadily darkening clearing.

“I’m just— frustrated, you know?” she said as she fired the blast. The rock she was aiming for shattered on impact, debris scattering throughout the clearing.

“You did fine, Jazz.” Phantom floated up next to her, sending her a soft look. “Seriously, Vlad is a jerk. There’s nothing you can do about that, not really. I mean, I made a deal with the guy, and he didn’t bother to stick to that, either.”

She huffed out an annoyed breath. “I know… I’m just— Ugh.”

Phantom laughed, his glow flickering briefly. “Yeah, he has that effect on people.”

“I guess I just worry.” Jazz lowered her eyes, watching her boots scuff the ground. “I mean, I turned down his offer just like you did, but what if that still changes things? The reason for turning him down, and stuff?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Phantom nudged her, drawing her eyes back up to him. “We’ll handle whatever he does next, okay? Besides, the Dairy King freed you, and you fought Plasmius. Sounds like things played out pretty much the same as they did for me.”

Jazz hummed, watching Phantom’s hair drift in the wind. She’d known him for a few weeks already, yet his appearance remained unusual to her. But, then, her own ghost form was still odd to her, as well.

“Really, Jazz, don’t worry so much about it,” Phantom continued, landing on the ground next to her. “I had kind of expected it already. You can’t change every ghost’s mind, and Vlad is unusually stubborn. Besides…”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, suddenly, drawing her in closer. For a moment she considered resisting, but then she melted against his side. He was a little cooler than her actual brother, but that was just the effect of his ghost form, she knew.

“It’s not your fault that Vlad became a bad guy, okay?” Phantom told her, quietly. “You’re just fourteen, Jazz, no matter how mature you are. You can’t be responsible for the whole world—no one can. Hell, no one should be, either. Don’t put that sort of burden on your shoulders, okay?”

“Okay,” she echoed. It felt like the vice around her chest—the vice she hadn’t even realized was there—had loosened a little. “Sorry.”

Phantom scoffed. “Don’t be sorry about having emotions, Jazz. Seriously, if you ever have trouble—ghost-related or not—come talk to me. I care about you, you know?”

She felt the corners of her mouth twitch up.

“I know.”

The moment was then promptly interrupted as blue mist wafted from both of their mouths.

“Oh, come on!” Phantom grumbled, ruffling her hair as he pulled away. “Really? Now, of all moments?”

“These ghosts have no manners,” she quipped back, grinning a little. “Should we go teach them some?”

“Yeah, let’s.” He pushed himself off of the ground, and she rushed to keep up.

[fountainpenguin]

If "A Mile In My Shoes" let Timmy "scrape the surface of what it means to be a fairy," does that mean he was only half-fairy? Is Danny Phantom thus only scraping the surface of what it means to be a ghost? Are there things that ghosts have which half-ghosts don't have? What about the Wonder World people, who are just human beings contaminated by fairy dust? Are they half-fairy too?

Timmy Going Fairy (Cnt’d)

Timmy is a human boy. He made a wish to “be a fairy for a day”.

Rewiring someone’s entire biological structure is not a simple task. It’s always been my headcanon that when Timmy wishes to change shape, Cosmo and Wanda give him a fagiggly gland that, over the years, he’s become better at using. Even creating one organ and carefully placing it in a human’s body among all their other organs isn’t an easy job.

So in “A Mile In My Shoes”, Timmy did not truly become a fairy. We know male fairies give birth, but Cosmo and Wanda didn’t give him a uterus or anything. That wasn’t the point of his wish. They gave him wings. And they gave him the ability to tap into their magic. 

So in a sense, Timmy thought he had turned into a fairy, when really Cosmo and Wanda just made him look like a fairy. Rebuilding his entire body structure to make him an actual fairy would have been very dangerous and probably killed him in the process. That’s something Norm would have done if Timmy had wished to become a fairy. But Cosmo and Wanda know that Timmy wouldn’t want any wish to kill him, so they did the best they could.

This Timmy had no fairy biology. Remember, in my headcanon, fairies need both capable wings and internal pink magic in order to fly. Cosmo and Wanda didn’t give “Mile”!Timmy wings that required internal magic to fly. They gave him enormous wings that could support a lot of his body weight, and then they gave him a bit of their magic so he could float and use magic.

He was a human that looked like a fairy and temporarily had fairy powers.

Humans have always been able to use fairy wands to grant wishes. We’ve seen this several times throughout the series. As early as Season 0, with “Where’s the Wand?”, it was confirmed that if a human holds a wand and hears someone say the word “wish”, they will grant that wish unconsciously. No training required. Just. It’s as instant as a thought.

Humans have a great deal of power in their souls. That’s why Fairies enjoy tapping into this power. Fairykind with godkids have access to more powerful magic than Fairykind without godkids. This is why the war over godchildren from “Balance of Flour” is such a huge deal.

“Fairly Odd Summer” Timmy was in contact with the Abracadabrium when he died. All the power in his soul got sucked into the Abracadabrium instantly.

But Wanda said that “The heat from the lava” turned Timmy into a fairy. I imagine it was a defense mechanism. When threatened, the Abracadabrium released its power, so that Fairy magic would not be lost forever. So it did. It threw all its power into the two beings who were in direct contact with it when it hit the lava-Timmy and Foop. 

The magic flow was intense. This was plenty of magic to rewire Timmy’s entire biology, including things like having a uterus just like a male fairy. He has his own fagiggly gland, his own core, his own forehead chamber, his own everything. He became, absolutely, a fairy.

The rock that contained the power of the Abracadabrium is gone now. The magic found a new host. Two, in fact. Timmy and Foop now hold all the powers of the Abracadabrium. If one of them dies, then they too will release power to anyone or anything in direct contact with them. Like, if Timmy dies on his bed, then that power might go into his pillow or something.

I’m not sure what this means as far as the Big Wand is concerned. The Big Wand had twelve hours of energy reserves in the movie, though the source of this power was never explained. My guess is that once a day or something, Timmy will have to swing by the Big Wand in order to supply it with energy. Or someone in Fairy World will restructure the magic system so that Timmy can give power to his little wand, and all Fairy power can be drawn from his little wand. Something like that.

… I assume Fairy World loses half its power post this movie, since half of it went into Foop. People in Fairy World learn that they can’t just poof things up willy-nilly anymore. They start making cuts. They walk instead of teleporting all the time. They learn to actually sew clothes. It’s very humbling.

Or, Foop was already a magical being, as well as “a being of pure evil” who “can’t touch it” anyway, so the Abracadabrium ignored him and released all its power into Timmy alone. Dunno! I don’t treat the movie as canon, so I’m not going to try working all that out.

Danny Going Ghost (Cnt’d)

My interpretation of Danny is that he technically died when he switched on his parents’ machine. If his parents’ machine had not actually made it through to the Ghost Zone, he’d have died completely then and there.

But it did.

In the Ghost Zone, “humans are the ghosts”. In the Ghost Zone, Ghosts can reproduce, but humans can’t. In the Living Realm “Human World”, humans can reproduce, but Ghosts can’t. Humans are “dead” in the Ghost Zone. They don’t even need to breathe. They’re dead.

This is Danny .5 seconds before being electrocuted- Alive in the Human World, but “dead” in the Ghost Zone:

Basically, when Danny was halfway through the portal, the portal said, “Okay, that half of you is dead now, and the other half is alive.” The universe was in the process of flipping him over when the electricity killed him.

Both his halves died, and reverted to their respective “dead” states.

It’s okay guys he’s half-alive he’s fine

Danny then stepped out of the portal, back into the Human World- taking his Ghost half with him.

Humans in the Ghost Zone are dead. So his human self can survive in the Ghost Zone indefinitely without food, the same way a Ghost can survive in the Human World without food. But as a human in the Human World, and as a Ghost in the Ghost Zone, Danny will age / require food / etc. He’s “alive” in those worlds.

This plays into my headcanon that Danny continues aging physically, but even as an adult, he always acts more childish and reckless when he goes ghost, as Danny’s days tend to be split 95% Human World and 5% Ghost Zone. Phantom doesn’t age nearly as quickly as Danny does.

He’s just kind of stuck like this. If he’d have been my character, I would’ve given him tons of limitations as a result of this, such as “all the weaknesses of both species but very few of the strengths”, but instead we got “all the strengths of both species and one obscure weakness” which is, y’know… fine.

To answer your question, no. There is nothing a full Ghost can do that Danny can’t also do. Unless we wanted to get into politics, where we could probably take away some of his legal rights. If being a halfa wasn’t rare and if society hadn’t collapsed with Pariah, I mean.

There are more things Danny can do as a half-ghost than he could as a full.

…

It’s very fine.

Wonder World (Cnt’d)

Turbo Thunder’s society is just kinda…

… Humans contaminated with fairy dust breeding with other contaminated humans and spreading contamination until it’s like-

“Half-fairy” would be an inaccurate term. “Mutated humans” would fit them better. The Wonder Worlders are basically the fish swimming around in lakes filled with radiation, developing third eyes or weird colors or whatever.

If the people of Wonder World reach “100% contamination”, that doesn’t mean they’re going to turn into fairies. They’re not going to grow wings or anything. It just means the 100% contaminated kids’ powers are stronger than the powers of people with less than 100% fairy dust contamination.

By default, I mean. The amount of effort you put into developing your powers matters too.