#Danny’s parents might not be the best but he has Jazz and Dani and maybe even Dan

[normalisoverated666]

Dpxdc AU: Damian decides that it’s time to go collect his brother from his assignment. Danny is starting to sniff out some non-ghostly bullshit for once.

Damian knew his twin had been exiled from the age of seven, banished to travel and observe how scientists around the world engaged with Lazarus water. The only word that Damian received that his spare was still alive were the letters of lab reports and findings that were sent back to base. As the Heir, he’s pushed to be better lest he himself be exiled or simply executed. Danny becomes a fleeting thought and then once Damian arrived in Gotham, a none existent thought.

They weren’t raised to be friends or even friendly. The were not taught codependency or allotted time to bond. The could have been perfect strangers if not for their appearance and the stories of Danny’s shortcomings becoming Damian’s praise.

It’s only once Tim informs him of an intercepted letter, one sent and saved from years prior, that Damian recalls Danny enough to care. Tim prompts him to share more, especially given the coup recently committed by Deathstroke (Slade) and Talia gone into hiding with her zealots.

At family dinner that night Damian supplies: “I suppose I should be the one to bereave my twin of his assignment. His reports will certainly go unread.”

Chaos in the Batfam ensues- meanwhile across the country- Danny sneezes and finishes writing his yearly report: “No major discoveries aside from public record patents (attached), No assistance required. -Spare”. He doesn’t know why he bothers, he hasn’t received any contact from his mother or grandfather since he was 10ish and certainly hasnt thought about his twin. But, if there’s a chance (even an itty bitty one) that his reports are being read and are holding off his reassignment, he’d rather keep assassins out of Amity Park.

Little does he know that this letter is about to be intercepted by Pru, former assassin and friend of Tim Drake. He hadn’t expected his twin to suddenly arrive and tell him that his job was done. And certainly, seeing a plane filled with an uncomfortable looking ‘family’ that requested he join them and get to know Gotham and his birth father, was not on his bingo list.

Danny does his best to let them down gently- and they seem to be accepting that he’s acclimated to this weird little town and will leave him be- when Danny suddenly has to transform into Phantom in front of them to handle a rocket sent by Skulker.

They are less willing to accept his appeal to be left alone after that… Damian is trying to “bond” with him and all the others are trying to “help” in their own way.

Sam and Tucker howl with laughter at Danny’s suddenly very large family- all while secretly working with the Wayne’s to get Danny the fuck away from the Fentons before the scientists do something they can’t undo.

[mazamba]

Another Fanfic Idea

How fucked up would it have been if Danny died the second time he went into the portal?

Sam already feels like crap for accidentally wishing they'd never met (Desiree will get what's coming to her, but that's later) and now her best friend is dead without having ever remembered her.

Tucker probably won't want to see her again after that, same with Jazz and the rest of the Fentons.

Hell, the whole Fenton family would probably fall apart from this. Jazz had always resented them for prioritizing their research over their family, so she'd probably go no-contact the first chance she got... and that's assuming the Fentons aren't arrested for building the damn thing in the first place.

This is before Shades of Gray, so Val either never becomes a ghost hunter or becomes a completely different one.

Obviously, that means there's no Dani either.

A key point is that Danny is gone. No ghost or anything.

What does Sam do next?

Does she realize she did something wrong when changing the settings on the portal and step into the portal herself? Does she leave and try accessing the Ghost Zone in a completely different way in the vague hope that Danny's on the other side? Do her parents ship her off to a boarding school and she has to live with the guilt?

Also...

Does this have crossover potential? I think this might be best to just keep it on it's own, but I did get a couple Ideas.

Maybe she decides to make a deal with Mephisto? (DP x Marvel)

Or she looks for a wizard that could tap into the Ghost Zone, only to find out Danny's gone for good? (DP x DC)

[massivechildtidalwave]

Interesting prompts involving KHR in case anyone wants to use them. KHR X DP edition

This is part one there will be more. Feel free to use just tag me if possible so I can read them.

After a reveal gone wrong Jazz takes Danny and runs to Italy to escape their parents. (she took Italian for curiosity sake and it makes sense for her to go a area who’s language she could speak). Tucker and Sam help with the escape but because all of them leaving would be weird and raise questions they don’t need, are forced to wait until the end of the school year to join them.

Jazz takes the easiest job she could find that makes money because she’s not relying on her brothers best friends family money even if Sam insists, with Tucker giving school information to get through the required bits as quickly as possible. She lands on a high paying customer service job like hairdressing or

Tucker also gives them fake identification just to make sure the government can’t find them and force them back to the Fentons.

whoops! Some members of the Varia frequents the place that she works and are suspicious. (She is way to capable for the job, No CIVILIAN should be able to catch Bels knifes, do hair to perfection and still have time to coo at a cat from across the street while being completely unfazed by the KNIFE they just had to dodge. It’s just something that doesn’t happen.)

Something is clearly not right with Jazz Nightengale, they just know it! Whoever did the background check is getting fired!

Meanwhile with Jazz, she’s doing her best to be normal but she was born a Fenton and there is just a amount of insanity that is tied to that family no matter the legal connection.

Everything Danny learned came from her and I feel like she’s the kind of kid to have picked up knife tricks or random weaponry for the “experience”

Danny is healing, he’s doing online school, she has a well paying job and is going back to school to become either a psychologist or a therapist. In her mind everything is fine.

(Tucker is the kind of kid who breaks into government documents for fun with outdated technology, he could absolutely get his own handmade documents past Varia inspection, he was making them with the intention of them holding up to government scrutiny and is best friends with Sam. )

(Jazz lived in a murder house her entire life while basically parenting Danny, not only can she multitask she is also Flame Active. However I think she would instinctive hide her Flames because of how ‘unnatural powers’ have been handled in her family. I’d place her as either a Rain or a Cloud depending on how well she is mentally after escaping with Danny. This could lead to Cloud Gaurdian Jazz.)

🦋🦋🦋

For Angst or Hurt/Comfort lovers

Danny as Verde could lead to some interesting angst. Maybe Dani needed some help keeping her form and he went into science, maybe we threw himself into science after a Nasty Burger explosion to avoid becoming like Dan, or maybe he had to quickly find a way to earn money after a Reveal gone wrong and decided to use what he knew about technology from his parents to make things for selling.

Of course once he had money he could experiment a little bit. slowly making more and more things based on his interests instead of just for money. However it slowly gets darker as he makes slightly more unhinged experiments with different methods to explain them.

He wants to create a new better prosthetic out of boredom but doesn’t have any one to give him feedback, until he runs into someone attacking someone else. He saves the injured person but their arm is pretty messed up, he might have to remove it. And his prototype is an arm prosthetic so might as well get that feedback!

He remembers his parents muzzles quite well and makes a more horrible version after a nightmare as a way to help get his footing back. “If someone can get out of this, I have no reason to fear their variation of them because I could probably get out of them too! And I recently had to help someone escape an abusive ex so we already have a willing test subject!”

Just him justifying his projects as they get closer and closer to things his parents would have come up with, without noticing or acknowledging that that was what was happening.

The earth shattering revelation when he’s sitting on the ground recovering from an experiment on how to grow back to how he was before the curse, because he had no other lab rat to test it on, and slowly realizing that he’s acting like his parents.

That his fellow Arcobaleno aren’t just distrustful of him and his experiments because he is a stranger to them but that they slightly fear him.

The realization that they only come to him when desperate for an answer. Figuring out that he knows the least about the others not because he is busy but because they do not fully trust him enough to stay around him long enough to give him that information….

Verde, who used to spend countless nights protecting people so much it became an obsession before the accident and his core turned to discovery and the stars, isn’t sure how to fix this.

He gathers the Arcobaleno after making sure the cure works, sits through a meeting full of suspicion he had to talk his way through, slides the case holding the cure into the table and leaves for his labs. The labs he needs to throughly clean and bleach and sort through to make sure all his projects aren’t as bad as they were before, but at this point he had no clue what is supposed to be morally correct to him at this point.

The Arcobaleno are left confused. Verde was doing his mad scientist shit with the cure but he was acting…weird. Weirder than normal, he didn’t demand anything for the cure, nor did he stay to monitor the effects for *science* like he always did for projects like this. He was acting weird enough Skull even went to the lab they knew he was in and tried to talk to him. They were fully expecting him to get pulled into an experiment but Verde just yelled at him to go away.

He sounded panicked. What the fuck was going on with their resident scientist.

[bluerosefox]

2024 Prompt List (Part 1)

|Our Well Deserved Break (Danny decides he and a bunch of stressed out hero teens need a weekend break from...well everything.) |Supersons vs Ghost Gal (It started with Grandma’s Kent Cookies) (Jon is punished for stealing cookies and ropes in Damian to prove he’s innocent by catching the thief... Only there is a certain traveling ghost whose the thief who may or may not wanna troll them now) (read notes) |Uncle Damian Mode ACTIVATE (Twins!Damian and Danny, baby!Danielle, hints of good mom Talia. READ NOTES) (Damian is having a normal patrol... Until Danny shows up with a baby and going to hunt down a fruitloop for trying to clone him... Damian is going to be the best uncle) |Possessed Pearl’s (Danny finds a ghost needing help. Martha has a chance to get herself home to Gotham) |Ghosties and Black Bats (Hinted CassxDanny) (Danny gets a call from Dani and goes to help only to see a rather kick butt lady doing the job, and oh boy Fenton genes are in high gear) |Mystery Spouse (Dannyx???) (Danny and [Any Bat of choosing] get into a whirlwind romance and marry... they just forgot to tell their families though) |Presence Pressure (Twins!Danny and Damian) (Danny figures out how to hid himself from his adopted parents and the GIW radar, only he didnt take into account that they might pick up his twin’s corrupted ectopalsm) |Our Strengths (Danny and his family are taken by the GIW. Sam and Tucker hack and blackmail their way to save their best friend and his family) |Drake Siblings (Tim gets a call from a little Jasmine Fenton and finds out he has a half brother named Danny.) (Danny and Jazz are adopted Fenton. Danny is the son of Jack Drake and Dana Winter-Drake btw) |In Luminous Green Glow (TaliaxDanny) (Danny, CW’s apprentice, is inspecting a Pits, only to meet a blade to his neck) |Bittersweet and Sweetheart Exes (Past TaliaxBrucexDanny) (Talia and Bruce are bittersweet exes to each other but towards Danny he’s their sweetheart ex) |Family Resemblance (Daniel Wayne was kidnapped the night his and Bruce’s parents were killed. Years later Bruce gets a call from Damian about two possible poorly made clones or hidden blood children. Meanwhile Dan and Elle Fenton are calling their dad about a possible Vlad clone surviving) |The Amazing Adventures of Tim Drake and Little Baby Man Danny. AKA two feral raccoons loose on Gotham (Little Tim Drake makes a friend when stalking the Bats... and feral vibes with the baby man Danny) |One in the Same (Tim is tossed in the Pit during his RR run, and wakes his memories of being Danny Fenton/Phantom... and ponders what to do next to mess with the fruitloop Ra’s) |Fenton Coded (Tim discovers he’s not a Drake by blood... and he’s not a Wayne (like he and others suspected) but is a Fenton) (past DannyxJanet) |Ghost With Heartbeats (maybe Dead on Main?) (hinted Deaged Dani) (Jason used to have a penpal, a kid named Danny Fenton. Then he dead, came back and the thought of writing to his friend was forgotten... until he finds all the letter’s Alfred saved. Even letters Danny wrote to Jason after his death) |Invites (Hinted Dani(Ellie)xDamianxJon) (Wrath aka Ellie comes to the Watchtower to complain about a Ball being hosted in the Infinite Realms) |Kidnapped Persephone Style (JasonxDanny. Dead on Main) (Tim witness Jason being taken by a ghostly knight and tells the rest of the Batfam) |Gray and Graysons (Siblings Danny and Dick)(Dick remembers his baby brother before he had been given to the childcare system, so he isn’t ready to see him years later at the Watchtower as one of the new engineer hires) |Siblings Behavior (Ghost King Danny/Dad Danny)(the Ghost King summons the two factions of the DC verse, to talk about his two kids Wrath and Wisp) |Feral Gremlins VS Fruitloops (Deaged Danny and Tim) (Danny and Tim are deaged by their dumb Fruitloops, the two feral things meet and decide to team up and escape) |Mama Bat (Deaged Danny and Mama Cass)(Cass finds a baby in Hong Kong before being yeeted back to Gotham with baby stuff and a glowing sticky note)

[vonehrenfest]

DCxDP: Dead guys stick together

(A Batman 138 fix-it)

After Bizarro becomes King of Hell he watches the mortal world and is distraught to find that his brother/best friend/sorta father-figure has been hurt very badly and is calling out for help.

Distraught, he goes to another lord of the netherworld who he's heard has access to a portal (and subjects a bit more compatible with the act of helping someone). He asks King Phantom would he please please help him protect his brother/friend, and if he does Bizarro will owe him a favor and leave his realm alone.

When the inferno had initially breached the Ghost Zone Danny had thought he was going to have to deal with f*cking Trigon again, but as it turns out that guy's been replaced and the new guy is pretty nice. After a brief cosmic battle and a clearing of misunderstandings, Danny agrees to Bizarro’s request.

While Gotham's vigilante civil war continues on its rooftops, Jason is in a cell. He is trembling, practically catatonic again, and losing his mind. He’s seeing the flaming figure of a knight on horseback appear from the shadowy far wall of his room, like some kind of fairytale nightmare version of Batman. It takes a while for Jason to realize he’s talking. 

“... part of the treaty between the King of Ghosts and King of Demons, Jason Todd: Prince of Demons has been granted special status and is henceforth a protected and honorary citizen of the Infinite Realms.” 

Nightmare-Bruce touches his flaming sword on Jason’s shoulder and the unearthly fire instantly engulfs him. Relief washes through Jason, and it’s so strong he nearly drops asleep.

Bruce is apologetic when everything’s over and he realizes the mistakes he’s made... but nothing really changes. (It is a relief to Bruce that no one died or was permanently injured, Jason's condition resolved itself somehow, and Bruce is normal now so really everything is fixed or at least it will be fixed.)

Just like when Jason first came back from the dead, Bruce's response makes him hurt deeper than the physical torture itself. Jason is the one who died but Bruce acts like the ghost. Singleminded, possessive, stuck in time and blind to it; bound to repeat the same cycles again and again. Jason is the ghost but he's died multiple times now, and maybe that's kind of like living and maybe that means he can move on. 

Dani and Bizarro become friends, and she gets Danny's friend Tucker to somehow set up a working Wi-Fi connection in hell so they can all play games together. (He’s not going to question it. Everything about Amity Park is abnormal. They helped him and they’re good to Bizarro, that’s all that matters.) 

Jason forges a fake identity for Dani. He might ask Babs to make a better one for her if she ever needs it but he doubts that's likely. He hasn’t had a living identity for years now after all, he’s an old hand at fake identities. Dani is delighted and starts attending school soon after. 

Danny has good friends, and as far as Jason can tell plenty of reliable mentors in the ghost world. You wouldn’t think it, but Jason’s less worried about Danny in his role as a little godling than in his civilian life. He’s got too much on his plate- too much power yet not enough to actually resolve his real issues. Not enough to protect himself where he’s vulnerable. 

The “Guys in White” that Danny likes to complain about are concerning. So is the fact that Danny’s lives with mad-scientist parents who are trying to hunt down his alternate identity. So is his ever grinding cold-war with the mayor of his town… And something else too that had been niggling at the back of Jason’s mind ever since he’d first gotten to talk to these kids. 

One day Danny’s sister, Jazz asks to talk to him. He’s an adult she says. That’s true he replies. He’s capable of protecting himself and other people, she says. Well, he has the training and experience for it, he agrees. If things go wrong, would Jason let Danny or Dani stay with him- just until she becomes a legal adult? She asks. Jason’s... not the sort of person who should be taking kids in. Danny saved his life though. He won’t say no. He says of course.

Jason knew it. Everything about Amity Park is abnormal.

The town doesn’t technically exist- there are no maps that include it and even satellite imaging is corrupted where Danny describes his hometown is supposed to be. There are no references to it on the internet that couldn’t be referring to a totally different Amity Park elsewhere, and judging by the problems they occasionally had on gaming nights and the odd offhand remarks Danny and his friends sometimes made, it was looking extremely likely that all communications between Amity Park and the outside were being heavily censored. Before Jason knew it he had started a full-on investigation on the GIW, Mayor Vlad Masters, former Mayor Montez, and Axion Labs.

Hope and fear lodges itself in Danny’s chest. Jason’s an adult and he’s actually going to help.

[tealty]

(I'm so sorry this turned into an essay and I couldn't stop once I started TLDR!!) Okay its not dpxdc which first off, wild, how dare my brain branch out like this and get fixated when I have WORK to do and cannot CATER to it. Rude. Anyways, so I've been obsessed with all kinds of crossovers of DP because i think there's a lot of opportunities there but there is one I've really only seen i think a single fic about and it wasn't really actually about Danny, it was just about elements and mechanics of the universe being present in another one. So walking dead?? idk i know in the comics rick is at one point in Kentucky so if you included comic TWD locations it wouldn't be absurd that if the apocalypse occurred Danny might venture out of Illinois. Thoughts include the following:

Danny is already half-dead at the least, I don't know if this would make him immune but he has already done the 'come back' part so I would theorize that his ectoplasm probably worked similarly to the virus in that when he was electrocuted and his DNA was changed that the ectoplasm took over some of the normal functions of the body, things like keeping his brain going and replacing the parts damaged with ecto constructs so the virus which attacks the brain would attack the ecto instead and thats not really alive so... it would probably dissolve it honestly. Or eat it? Id imagine the virus could work as an emergency ecto-dejecto depending on how that works

family - I'd imagine he'd TRY at least to keep the people close to him alive, I feel like depending on how this went Amity Parker's would be resistant to the virus due to their ecto contamination but not actually having the dna structure to fully resist it. So like, they might survive a bite for a week or two instead of a day or two perhaps but it WOULD kill them.

on that note, probably would have the military immediately cull them. people who can spread the infection because they are resistant and could spread it even further faster because of that length of time? Yeah no they'd probably be bombed.

In this AU I'd imagine Danny would probably be on his own. Dani is around somewhere too I assume but I'd imagine Walkers being undead would mess with the ghost sense at least a little bit. Not the same but they'd be able to sense them and that would meddle with being able to find each other easily.

No Amity Park (cuz bombs obviously) means no ghost portal, so either a trek to Wisconsin to use Vlad's (probably not, Danny is not known for necessarily smart thinking when panicked right away, it takes him a little bit past the feral first response to get that process started) or he'd book it. Maybe that first initial rush of trying to save someone ANYONE and now he's lost in Wisconsin, the undead barely notice him and people are turning on each other so fast that Danny who frankly is a small town guy who's been fighting ghosts since he was 14 and has seen a lot of shit, is mostly just like shit lets get out of here.

Getting shot at is nothing new, but gunshots are a new experience that is both worse and better than being shot at by parents who once thought he was the enemy. Not his forte.

Probably meets up with TWD crew hmm yeah the Kentucky trip to ricks police station would still be the best option but depending on how fast he flew to get out of a mess, could have them meet up pretty damn early or really late based on what direction he goes, whether its straight east or south first.

I envision Danny being not at all normal in this, as much as the whole hiding being a ghost thing is wonderful, Danny's obsession has always been to protect, and the place and people fueling his haunt is GONE, i imagine that's damaging to a ghost? Guy probably wouldn't be able to keep from helping people if he tried. I could see him potentially saving one of the kids perhaps and then latching on from there, or seeing someone and seeing Sam, tucker or Jazz in them. Also i imagine he hasn't had to hide in Amity for a while, Danny is just odd, he's colder than normal, his eyes glint green, sometimes the world seems to warp a little around him, and occasionally he forgets to breath or it rattles oddly in his chest when it starts back up again. This guy is not human and its been a good few years since hes had to pretend otherwise.

Ricks crew is not known for being accepting of strangers and honestly i bet they wouldn't even notice him following right away. Daryl might. The kids definitely. Danny would rarely use his ghost form, too noticeable by those who are alive but when he IS in ghost form, the dead who normally wouldn't bother him anyways unless already agitated, fucking avoid him. He eats the virus after all even if hes not necessarily aware of it at first. Ectoplasm can be jealous, and halfa's are territorial, other undead in the vicinity? Ghost instincts would be stronger in his ghost form so probably would be an instinctual thing to just drop corpses like fly's and come out of it going 'wow i feel great!'

Everyone Right here right now. Stop what You’re doing and give me your thoughts. What’s on your mind? How’s it going? Yeet your funky little mind worms at me

[kinglazrus]

Not Your Danny – Ch 1. Moving Day

Phic Phight | Next | FFN | AO3

Submitted by @ecto-american: After Danny’s untimely death, his family and friends turn to Dani for comfort. She was so much like him in every single way. And she never felt more like a clone. A replacement for the “real” thing.

Summary: Maddie and Jack learn a lot of things about their son after his death: his powers, his secret life as the local hero, the truth behind his accident three years ago. And his clone who is so much like their boy. When Dani gets the offer to join their home, she thinks it's too good to be true. And she just might be right.

Word count: 2761

Two weeks after Danny dies, Danielle moves into his bedroom. It's a lacklustre affair. Dani has no belongings to bring with her, except the few trinkets stuffed in the pockets of her shorts. She only owns one pair of clothes, two of you want to be technically and count her ghost form. But that's tenuous at best when you consider the circumstances of her creation, and that her clothes were created withher, not given to her. She doesn't like to think about that too much, though.

Neither of Danny's parents are home for the occasion. Dani doesn't blame them. Her face time with Maddie and Jack Fenton over the past three years equals an hour at most—hour and a half if she really pushes it. And most of that time was with an ectogun between them. If she counts the times where she hasn't been staring down a glowing green barrel, then it's probably only five minutes, maybe less. And that only happened a few days ago.

Suffice to say, Dani and the Fentons don't have a good relationship, or a relationship of any kind. So she doesn't blame them for being out of the house when their dead son's clone, who they only recently found out about, takes over his bedroom. Although take over might be too strong of a phrase.

Dani floats next to Jazz, hovering in front of Danny's open bedroom door.

"Is it... okay?" Jazz asks.

Dani drifts inside, turning her head from side to side as she looks around. She likes the blue walls, and the open brick on the outer wall is kind of cool. The bed, covered in a purple bead spread, topped with a fluffy pillow, looks softer than anything she's ever slept on. The room is nice, if a bit messy with Danny's stuff still inside. Posters decorate the wall, some about space, others from some band called Dumpty Humpy. The shelves are stuffed full of books and model spaceships. His dirty clothes lie next to an open hamper in the corner of the room.

The sight surprises Dani more than anything.

"What are you gonna do with his stuff?" she asks. "Do people usually just," she gestures toward the room, "leave it like this?"

"What? No." Jazz shakes her head and quickly wipe her hand across her eyes. "When someone dies, their family or friends eventually pack their stuff away. Not always right away, though."

"Two weeks isn't long enough?"

Jazz's breath hitches. "Don't– don't say that. It's inconsiderate."

Dani's cheeks go hot at Jazz's admonishing tone. "Oh. Sorry." She floats further into the room, if only to escape the awkward air settling between them.

If Dani didn't know any better, she would guess that Danny had just stepped outside for a second and would be back any moment. Lowering herself to the floor, Dani settles on the carpet and walks toward the desk. A controller of some kind sits on the desk chair, its cord tangled with a headset. Dani picks the controller up and turns it over in her hand. She only vaguely recognizes the X logo in the middle of it; her travels over the past couple of years haven't exactly involved a lot of gaming. Or any.

There was a small handheld system she picked up at a garage sale once. She carried it for a few months but lost it somewhere along the way.

Dani tosses the controller onto the chair and turns back to Jazz. "So, now what?"

"Well, if you're not comfortable with Danny's things still being in here, we can get some boxes and start packing. I think we have some in the basement. If you want." Jazz tacks on the last three words with a soft voice.

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, course." It's just stuff, after all. Dani doesn't quite get it, which also means she doesn't care. If the Fentons don't want to move Danny's stuff yet, then it can stay. He was their son before he was Dani's cousin/DNA source.

"Okay. I guess I'll just... let you get settled, then. I have to work on some plans for the memorial, but Mom and Dad should be home in a couple hours. They said they wouldn't be gone long," Jazz says.

Dani nods. A few seconds of silence pass, and once it's obvious that neither of them is going to say anything more, Jazz turns and walks down the hall. Finally alone, Dani lets her ghost form fall away. The transformation rings prickle as their bright light ghosts over her skin, and when it fades, she's left in her typical shorts and hoodie. Dani rubs her arms until the prickling fades, then flops onto the bed.

Damn. It really is the softest thing she's ever lain on. And the blankets are warm. They smell like Danny, too. That's something Dani never thought she would think. She didn't even realize Danny had a smell, but it's hard to ignore now. It's not the most tangible smell. The best word Dani can find to describe it is crisp, like a cold day. She would bet her beanie that it was because of his ice powers, an ability they had never shared.

Dani shakes her head. Everything is weird enough right now. The last thing she needs to be contemplating is how Danny used to smell. It's also, like, a super creepy line of thought, yeah? Yeah.

As she stares up at the ceiling, a blur of movement catches her eye. Her gaze jumps toward it, in the corner of the bedroom closest to the door. A small brown lump clings to the ceiling. A bug, no doubt. Dani can't tell what kind, and she doesn’t care enough to find out. It's not too surprising, considering how messy Danny's room is. There's probably some old pizza hiding under his bed or something.

Dani rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. A little bug doesn't bother her, not after the places she's slept. And if the Fentons won't be home for a while, and Jazz is busy, she might as well take advantage of her new bed and the next few hours to get some shuteye. God knows she needs it.

—

Maddie feels sorry for Vlad's receptionist. She bears a striking resemblance to Maddie herself, with short auburn hair just a touch redder than Maddie's own, a curvy frame, and a sharp, pointed chin. She's even wearing blue, bless her heart. The girl is pretty, and young, and kind. Can't be too far out of high school, and hoping a job at the mayor's office will look good on her resume. Maddie hopes it pays off. The girl deserves it for putting up with Vlad daily. Working for him seems to be taking a toll on her, judging by the distressed look in her eyes when she looks up from Vlad's appointment book.

"I'm sorry, there's no appointment for you. I don't know if I can let you in," she says.

Maddie sighs. "Mr. Masters left me a message"—or several—"asking me to come in."

"I'm really sorry, but he didn't mention expecting you... oh no." The receptionist's eyes widen and she starts digging through papers on her desk. "Did I forget to write it down again? He got so upset last time."

Maddie reaches out and touches her shoulder, stopping the frantic search. "It's all right, dear. It's not your fault."

She suspected, when Vlad left numerous messages on her cellphone rather than calling the house, that something more was up. How Vlad even got her cellphone number she doesn't want to know. She will also be changing it very soon thanks to this incident.

"He's particular about his meetings," the receptionist says. "I really can't let you in."

"Just let him know I'm here, and I'll take care of the rest."

The receptionist nods. While she goes for the phone, Maddie steps away from the desk and turns back to the waiting area. It's empty besides her and the receptionist—not surprising this early on a Monday, and all the better for Maddie. She pulls her cellphone from her purse and checks the time; It's just after eight. Dani is due at Fenton Works soon, but Maddie and Jack won't be back until noon, at least. The reminder makes her wince.

Missing half of Dani's first day at home isn't ideal, but Maddie wants to get this meeting over with as fast as possible. They had other plans in the city, anyway, made before they invited Dani into their home. Better to get everything done at once.

Maddie eyes plush waiting room armchairs, wondering if there's any point in sitting down, when the receptionist calls out, "Mrs. Fenton?"

Maddie opens her mouth to answer, but her phone—still in her hand—buzzes at that moment. Jack's name stretches across the screen. "Excuse me." She steps toward the elevators on the far side of the room and turns her back to the receptionist, the closest semblance of privacy she can get, before answering her phone. "Hey, Jack. Is your meeting done already?"

"Not even close! How goes the shopping?"

"Fine so far. I forgot we didn't ask...." She tenses, feeling the receptionist's stare at her back. "We didn't ask what she might need, so I'm just grabbing the basics. Do you want me to pick something up for you? Are you waiting on the park board?"

"About that... I'm with them now, and—what day did we settle on for the memorial, again?"

Maddie shakes her head, but not out of annoyance. Jack forgetting the day hardly surprises her. He tends to forget the little details. If anything, it makes her feel grounded. The past two weeks have been a lot, to put it lightly. A lot of changes. A lot of revelations. But she can always rely on Jack to be his usual self.

"A month from today," she says.

"Thanks, baby! You're the best! See you later." The phone beeps as Jack hangs up. Maddie sighs while the corner of her lip twitches upwards. It's the closest she's come to smiling since Danny died. She holds like that for a moment, caught between the ache choking her heart and the desire for things to get better. They won't, not for a long time. She won't fool herself into thinking otherwise. But it's nice, for a moment, to pretend things might be okay.

"Leaving Jack alone with the DPR? I feel sorry for them." Vlad's slimy voice ruins the moment after the first syllable.

Maddie tenses, clutching her phone tighter, and turns to face him. "Vlad. It's bad business to ask for a meeting, then make your guest wait."

When Vlad smiles, his whitened teeth cut a bright slash across his cheeks. It's too wide, too sharp. Never reaches his eyes. Maddie remembers, long ago, when Vlad had a soft smile. He used it sparingly, doling it out to only the most deserved. She can't imagine him smiling like that now.

"Well, I don't mean to be presumptive, but when I phone a friend hoping for a visit, I expect them to stop by my house, not my work."

"Your mistake, then."

The receptionist's typing falters. Her have yet to stray from her screen, but Maddie already knows she's listening in. Vlad probably does, too.

"Natalie!" he snaps.

The receptionist jerks upright. "Yes, sir?"

Vlad rests a hand on Maddie's back and pushes her forward. She moves, if only to step out of his reach, and heads toward his office. Vlad reaches into his suit jacket as he walks. He pulls out his wallet and pinches a few random bills, tugging them out without looking. "Take a break. I'm sure you could use a coffee to perk you up."

He leans in front of Maddie to drop the bills on Natalie's desk. The contact makes Maddie grimace, and she hurries ahead into his office. When she turns, Vlad is already closing the door. The last thing Maddie sees of the waiting room is Natalie's frown as she glances at a paper cup sitting in plain view on her desk.

"Now, Maddie." Vlad turns. Rather than heading to his desk, he steps toward Maddie and touches her arm. "How are you doing?"

"You left me seven messages just so you could ask that?" Maddie brushes Vlad's hand off. In three long strides, she cuts across his office and takes one of the visitor's chairs. While the waiting room had plush armchairs, these are made of dark wood, armless, with firm leather cushions and straight backs. A deliberate choice, no doubt.

Vlad comes up beside her, his hand on the second chair. Before he can sit, Maddie swings her purse off her shoulder and drops it on the empty cushion. Vlad pauses, glances between her and the bag, but relents and takes his seat at the desk instead.

His chair sits considerably higher than Maddie's.

"I can imagine the pain you're going through right now," he says.

Maddie's fists clench. "Can you really?"

"Believe it or not, yes, I can." He pauses, giving her a chance to respond. But whatever question he wants her to ask, whatever game he wants to play, Maddie refuses to give in. She might have put up with him once, but after what he's done, he will be lucky if she willingly suffers his presence ever again after today.

She waits for Vlad to elaborate.

"I'm sure you've wondered, all this time, where Danny went whenever he disappeared for hours. Being our city's young hero explains a lot of it, yes, but to be honest, that wasn't everything." Vlad stops to take a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment. It's quite the performance. "To tell you the truth, he was often with me."

Bullshit! Maddie wants to shout, but she bites it back. Her jaw aches from how hard she clenches her teeth.

"I discovered his secret a long time ago and gave him a safe place away from home. You know, when conversation at the dinner table got to be too much." Vlad pauses again, letting his words sink in.

Maddie hates that she knows exactly what he means. All those times she and Jack discussed their inventions, their plans for when they finally captured the ghost boy. Most of what Vlad is saying might be a lie, but the truth within it cuts her deeply. "Really?"

Vlad might think himself a great actor, but he's apparently ignorant to Maddie's own deception. He nods at her questioning tone, eyes low and mouth pressed into a grim line. "I understand this is hard to hear. I did my best to make him feel safe, and we actually became close. Over the years, I came to think of him as something of a son. And his death has affected me deeply."

He stands, trailing his hand along his desk as he walks around toward Maddie. His shoulders droop, as if Danny's absence weighs on him. It really is a good performance. Peering closer, Maddie sees that he even looks pallid, and purple bags rest under his eyes. A look easily accomplished with some pale foundation and smudged eyeshadow.

"It's like a piece of me is missing without him. I'm sure you feel the same. We need each other, Maddie. To make us whole again."

Vlad reaches toward her, but she ducks away from him, slipping out of her chair. His hand falls through the empty air and he stumbles, nearly falling into the chair.

Now he's being ridiculous, Maddie thinks. She could have fallen for the makeup and the sob story if she didn't know better, but the off balance act? The distressed look in his eye when she pulls away? She's insulted that he thinks she would fall for it.

"You're right Vlad. I'm in pain. Danny is gone and it feels like he took a piece of me with him when he died. But I have my family to help me through it." She grabs her purse off the other chair and heads for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"Madeline, please—"

"Vladimir!" Her shout tears at her throat. She turns on him, blinking to fight back the burn in her eyes. He stands frozen where she left him, crumpled pathetically against her empty chair, one hand still outstretched. Maddie swallows the lump in her throat. "Enough."

She leaves without another word.

Next

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

2/2 as for Jazz I dont think her obsessions psychology--thats her passion. But making sure Dannys ok/not alone? She does constantly fret over him in canon. Maddie IS hard tho. maybe its not so much obsession as it is regret that makes her ghost, depending on if she knew about Phantom. Imagine all the regrets she had about hurting Danny before she knew, or all the things she couldnt do to help him after she did. Its a lot of guilt--it may not be happy but the existence of a ghost isnt meant to be

now i’m kinda imagining jazz just living in danny’s layer and making sure he’s okay at the end of his missions. like she’s the family he can rely on being there at the end of the day. i find it a little odd to be that close with your sibling, hell he probably gets annoyed sometimes, but at the same time, after the particularly rough days he really appreciates her. she is the most balanced and human of the ghosts probably. she definitely extends her sister instincts to include all of danny’s friends and dani, and to a lesser extent her parents. i also can see her hanging out with johnny and kitty when danny is on a mission, which is just cute friendship content.

maddie regretting being a bad mother is painful but also has an amount of logic. she’d shot her own son on multiple occasions. she was always more serious and more accurate when it came to taking phantom than jack was. jack cared taking down phantom but he cared about hunting all ghosts. he was a lot bluster and his shots almost never hit. i think even though maddie found out danny was a halfa before she died, she’d still carry that guilt to the grave.might make her similar jazz in she could become obsessed with taking care of danny and being a good mother. only she takes the care to a negative extreme. where jazz is mature and normal about it, maddie might be more dangerous and scary about it.

this could be an ongoing tragedy, a mark that dying isn’t always hunky-dory and that ghosts don’t have control of what they become when they die. Maddie isn’t a rational ghost, her personality is different, she can be dangerous and is only really calm when she has one of her kids around. the family are all kinda sad to see her like this. i think jack and dani are the main ones that look after her and she mostly stays in her lair, a perversion of their original home. they all take time spending time with her and keeping her happy. and if she goes too long without seeing danny she starts to freak out and get violent. they all do their best and the love is still there. it’s just an issue.

i don’t know how vlad would react to this version of maddie, but i doubt she’d react well to him.he’d hurt her baby boy worse then she had after all. she probably reacts violently to his presence and attacks him on sight. danny, for as sad he is about his mom losing herself, still find the incidents where she attacks vlad hilarious.

if there’s a way to get her back to the maddie she used to be, they’ll find it. they are certainly trying - Hestia

[ghostsray]

Ch10: Corruption

(first - prev - next) (ao3)

"I don't get it," Kwan said from his seat at the A-listers table. "That mayor's kid only showed up for half a week and then suddenly disappeared."

Paulina shrugged. "He was homeschooled, wasn't he? Maybe he has, like, social anxiety or something. I mean, he barely talked to anyone on those days he was here."

"Still, I wonder how he's doing," Star said. "Do you think he got in trouble for that rumor about Vlad and the Fentons?"

Dash snorted. "As if either of Fenton's parents would hook up with Masters. His kid's probably just crying at home for being such a loser."

While the A-listers talked among themselves, our trio of friends sat several tables over. Maybe it was ghost-powered enhanced senses, but Danny was able to hear their conversation over the bustle of the school cafeteria. He looked down at his tray, but he didn't feel very hungry at the moment.

Sam paused from her salad to look at him. "Still worried?"

Danny bit his lip. "It's just, I haven't seen or heard from Niel ever since..."

He didn't need to continue. He had told his friends about what happened, and they knew what he was referring to.

"Dang," Tucker said. "I mean, we all knew that Vlad sucked, but it's sad that Niel had to find out that way." He looked at Sam and asked, "You haven't heard from him, either?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Not even a text."

"You guys text?"

"Used to, apparently."

Danny shifted in his seat. "Maybe I should check in on Vlad's mansion. Niel could be in trouble."

"I doubt it," Sam said. "Vlad wouldn't hurt Niel after being so public about his so-called "adoption" of him. It would ruin his image."

Danny had to admit, that did make sense. Still...he couldn't shake how terrified Niel had seemed when he dropped by his basement with a melting Danielle in tow. Niel had disappeared into the portal after that, and Danny hadn't seen him since.

He wanted to share these thoughts with his friends, but he was stopped when a sudden cold gripped at his spine before escaping through his mouth in a puff of blue mist. The mist wasn't as easily visible to humans as it was to ghosts and half-ghosts, but Sam and Tucker had grown to recognize the stiffness in Danny's back that always accompanied his ghost sense.

"Go," Sam told him. "We'll think of a way to cover for you if you take long."

Danny nodded. He cast a quick glance over the cafeteria. As usual, nobody paid any attention to the three losers, and the ghost he sensed didn't appear to be in this room. Danny left his seat and sprinted outside.

Once in the hallway, he let his ghost sense puff out again and watched as it wisped down the hallway and around a corner. He'd gotten good at controlling his ghost sense into letting him know where the ghost was with more precision. He followed the blue mist until he stopped when the tingling in his spine grew alarming. The ghost was nearby.

He turned his head around. The hallway was empty, but the entrance to the biology lab stood next to him. Cautiously, he opened the door an inch and peeked inside, then threw it wide open when he saw the figure slumped on the floor against one wall.

"Dani?" he said, because that was whom his mind first went to when he saw the pool of ectoplasm growing from the ghost. But after a closer look, he determined that whoever it was definitely wasn't Danielle.

Then the ghost raised its molten face, and Danny inhaled sharply and said, "Niel?"

It was him, all right. The clone he had been worrying over just a few seconds ago...and seeing how he looked, Danny had a feeling that his worrying was justified.

Danny landed on his knees next to the boy and asked, "What happened?"

Niel looked terrible, both because of the whole melting thing and because he was crying. He was sniffling and blinking teary eyes as he said, "I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to trust Vlad."

"Vlad..." Danny cursed and said, "You were supposed to be his prime clone. If he saw you destabilizing and knew you were imperfect--"

Niel shook his head. "He promised he can fix me."

"What? Then why didn't you let him?"

"I--" His eyes released more tears and one of his hands turned completely into goo as he said, "I don't know."

Danny wanted to know what happened, but he figured now was not the time for questions. "It's fine. The Ecto-Dejecto worked for Dani, so it'll probably work for you, too." He hesitated and asked, "Can you stand?"

Niel tried to push himself up. His limbs wobbled before he slipped on his own ectoplasm and dropped back down. So that was a no. Danny wrapped his arm under Niel's arms, ignoring how slippery he was, and hoisted him up.

Danny knew class was about to start soon, but it seemed that he would be skipping...again. That sucked, considering how many credits he had to make up for, but Niel's problem was much more important at the moment. He was just about to go ghost and carry them both home when the whine of an ecto-gun suddenly grabbed his attention.

He turned to the door and widened his eyes before hurriedly pushing Niel behind him and greeting, "Val!"

Valerie stood in the doorway, ecto-gun in hand. She raised an eyebrow. It was pretty obvious that she could still see Niel despite Danny's weak effort to hide him. "Why are you helping a ghost?" she asked.

"Ghost? What ghost?" Danny said with a nervous chuckle. He sent Niel a glare, silently telling him, Why aren't you turning invisible?!

Too late, Valerie had already seen him. "Danny..."

Danny sighed. He raised one hand in a placating gesture and said, "Look, he's not harming anyone. He's hurt."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Valerie replied with narrowed eyes. "His ecto-level reading is off the charts."

Was it? That seemed strange, considering how weak Niel appeared, but he supposed it would make sense for him to have inherited Phantom's overpoweredness.

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be super terrified of ghosts or something?" Valerie pointed out, looking at Danny weirdly. "Or do you always run away from ghost encounters just because?

"Oh, um..." He chuckled again and rubbed his neck, trying furiously to think of a valid excuse. "Uh..." He pointed accusingly at her and shouted, "You're a ghost hunter!"

Valerie's eyes widened before she hid her gun behind her back and said with a nervous smile, "Of course not! I'm just carrying around a gun for safety. You know how often this school gets attacked by ghosts."

"Uh huh. If it was for self-defense, then why did you seek the ghost out instead of letting Phantom take care of him?"

"Phantom is a ghost, too. I don't trust him."

"So you are a ghost hunter!"

"And you're not terrified of ghosts!"

Both of them looked sheepish as they realized they had no way of backing themselves up.

They might have stood there awkwardly forever if Valerie's eyes hadn't drifted to the wall behind Danny. She cursed and exclaimed, "Great! The ghost got away!"

Danny turned around and found that Niel was gone. Additionally, there was a vaguely Niel-shaped coating of ectoplasm on the wall where he may have phased through. Danny was relieved that Niel got away from Valerie, but he really hoped he was okay.

Valerie walked until she stood in front of the wall, unobstructed by Danny's view. While she wasn't looking at him, Danny took this opportunity to run out the lab. Valerie's head whipped around as she heard him sprint.

She called out his name, but Danny was already down the hallway. He hid in the nearest broom closet he could find and transformed. Invisible, Phantom flew out the school and began searching for Niel.

Turns out that wasn't very hard. All he had to do was follow the trail of ectoplasm that led down the street. Danny's gut twisted. He really, really hoped Niel was okay.

Danny followed the trail until he stopped in front of the Nasty Burger a couple of blocks away. Niel was hiding behind a shrub in the parking lot. Danny was so relieved when he saw him that he let out a deep breath.

Niel flinched in surprise and started looking around frantically before Danny dropped his invisibility with a chuckle. "It's okay, it's just me! Jeez, I know you had to get away from Val, but you didn't have to travel this far."

Niel didn't reply. He averted his gaze from Danny and curled up, bringing his knees to his chest. Even though it was just Danny, his eyes still had that haunted look to them, and he was shivering--which didn't do much good for his melting.

Danny knew he needed to calm Niel down before he stressed himself into a puddle of goo. He gently landed next to the clone and said, "Wanna talk?"

Danny almost expected him to keep quiet, but Niel answered, "What is there to talk about other than the fact that my life utterly sucks?"

Okay, so Niel was going through some problems. He could see that. He cracked a smile and said, "Hey, join the club. My life--or half-life, at least--sucks, too."

He meant that as a joke to lift the mood, but he realized too late that it probably wasn't what Niel needed to hear. The other boy glared at him and said, "Your life sucks? You have a family who loves you, best friends, Sam probably likes you--"

"What?"

"--and you don't have a homicidal maniac for a dad!"

After that angry response, Niel buried his face into his arms and continued to sob. Okay. So Danny probably needed to approach this with gentle sympathy, and not stupid jokes.

"I mean...have you met my dad?" Dammit Danny why do you have to suck at comforting people. He really wished Jazz were here instead. She was at college, although it was Friday, so she'd probably be visiting home that day. If only she were here sooner.

Niel lifted his head long enough to glare at him, and Danny sighed and admitted, "No, you're right. Your dad is much worse than my parents." He frowned as a realization dawned on him, and he said, "Wait, I thought you hated my parents."

Whatever he said, it wasn't the right thing. Niel clenched his jaw and balled his hands (or hand and a half, considering one of them was little more than a blob of ectoplasm at this point) into fists. "I don't know! I don't..."

"Hey, dude, it's cool," Danny said quickly. He tried to rub Niel's back for comfort--that was what Jazz always did to him whenever he had a mental breakdown--but when he touched his body, he instantly recoiled as a shock went through his fingers. A static shock? Wait, but Niel was in ghost form. That didn't make sense.

Niel brushed him off and messily stood up, fist(s) by his sides. "I'm just...so sick of everything! I was supposed to be made to replace you, you know, but I get nothing from your perfect life."

Danny froze and let out a nervous chuckle. "You don't, like...actually care about replacing me, though. Right?" He stood beside him and added, "By the way, I wasn't kidding when I said my life sucked. Sure, your life may seem terrible right now, but nobody's life is perfect..."

"Shut up!" Niel shouted and thrust a hand in Danny's direction. Danny had just enough time to duck and dodge Niel's ecto-beam--wait, no, that wasn't an ecto-beam. That was...a bolt of lightning? The lightning hit the restaurant building behind Danny, and he heard several things crack and people scream. He turned around and saw that the windows had burst. Smoke was billowing out, and Danny was pretty sure that wasn't from the cooking.

Danny turned back to stare at Niel, but the boy didn't seem shocked or guilty from what he'd done. He didn't seem anything at all, actually. His eyes were distant, unseeing. His chest still heaved, which did nothing to stop his gradual liquefaction.

Oh god oh frick. Danny wanted to slap Niel in the face multiple times, but he had to save those inside the restaurant. He zoomed toward the building and peeked in through the broken glass.

Thankfully, due to the time of day--when most people were at school or working--there weren't many people inside. Those who were there were rushing out the door. They reached the outdoor safely without his help, and Danny was just about to accept that he wasn't needed when a flame grew with a roar in front of him. He stumbled back and landed on his butt before picking himself up again.

Now that he noticed it, all the lights inside the building had burst and were sending sparks across the room, many of which caught on wooden furniture and gave birth to fire. The sprinkler system must have still been broken from the last ghost fight, though he didn't know if that would have helped anyway.

The smoke blowing at him was suffocating. He covered his mouth and nose with a gloved hand and backed away. He was in ghost form; he knew he didn't need to breathe. A small part of his brain that spoke in Jazz's voice told him his suffocation was purely psychological, but that didn't make him any less reluctant to breathe the fire in.

His eyes stung. He blinked furiously as the sight before him sunk in. He was at the Nasty Burger. The Nasty Burger was on fire. He was at the Nasty Burger, and the Nasty Burger was on fire. A numb paralysis spread through his body and squeezed his chest and he still couldn't breathe. He was at the Nasty Burger, the Nasty Burger was on fire, his friends and family were dead and his older self was laughing menacingly, eyes flaring red and fangs glinting in the fire--

No. No! Danny had to physically shake his head to shove that memory away. Dan wasn't here! His alternate future self was trapped safely inside a thermos in Clockwork's lair. His friends and family were alive. The Nasty Burger still hadn't blown up. Clockwork erased that timeline!

Or did he?

Danny focused his eyes and saw Niel still standing in the same spot, still staring at the fire dazedly. His eyes were flaring red, his mouth was open slightly to reveal his fangs. His skin was blue and his cape billowed and his hair seemed to wisp at the edges like it was made of fire.

Danny told himself that Niel wasn't Dan. But how could he be sure he won't turn into him? Niel was already jealous of Danny's life; how could he be sure that the clone won't take his place then proceed to do the same decisions Danny had done in that dark timeline? How could he know that Niel won't become corrupted?

"Not him," Danny found himself mumbling. "Please. Not him."

Niel must have heard him, because he turned his head slightly toward him with a frown, like he was just beginning to wake. Another roar came from the building as the fire ate through the walls, and Niel blinked and suddenly jolted awake from his stupor. His eyes finally focused on the image before him, and they widened. Had he done that? he seemed to wonder.

"Ice," he said, then turned to Danny seriously and shouted, "Use your ice!"

Danny didn't hear him. He was having his own little breakdown when Niel placed a goopy hand on his shoulder and brought him back to the real world. Danny flinched and shoved Niel away. Niel looked hurt, but Danny didn't care. Away, he wanted to stay away from that, that ghost--

Wait. What had he said? Ice? Danny wanted to slap himself and laugh at the same time. Of course, he had ice powers now! He didn't have them when he first faced off against Dan, but he did have them now. He could put out the fire before the whole place exploded.

Oh shoot the place could explode. Danny rushed inside, through the thick smoke and fire. He summoned his ice powers to the surface and began to freeze everything in sight. He may or may not have used a little more ice than necessary, but his goal was reached; the fires were put out. Just to be extra sure, he made certain that the vat of Nasty Sauce was cool, along with any heater or chemical that could have exploded in heat, before he finally allowed himself to slump in relief and floated back outside.

As soon as he made it out, he was tackled by Niel's melting form, whose ectoplasm was splattered all over Danny as he hugged him. Danny's first instinct was to go absolutely still, but then Niel sobbed and said, "I'm sorry! I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't mean to!"

Once Danny got over his shock, he brought his hand to Niel's back. Rubbing it didn't yield great results, considering how goopy and sticky Niel's body was, so Danny just patted him gently and said, "It's okay. No one got hurt."

Niel sniffled and pulled away. Seeing him, Danny was filled with immense guilt. How could he possibly have even considered that Niel could be Dan? Dan would never feel bad about what he had done. There was no way Niel could become corrupted enough into becoming a genocidal murderer. He was too sad, and too small.

Also, he was currently turning into a puddle. Danny probably ought to do something about that. "Hey, come on. We still need to get to my parents' lab to fix you up," Danny told him.

Niel nodded wordlessly. He let Danny do his best to hold him in his dissolving form, and the half-ghost carried them both to Fentonworks, the frozen-over restaurant shrinking behind them as they left.

[radiance1]

If Danny + Vlad = Sun Core. Then what kind of core does Vlad have for Space to just turn into the Sun? Fire? Plasma (I remember seeing this somewhere)? Star (Thought honestly the Sun IS a star)? I would like to put gravity there as well as an option but ehhhh.

So, through the mention of Time Travellers, I am ASSUMING that this is a timeline where Dan is redeemed and in Danny's timeline (Still find it fun to have Dan have a whole sort identity crisis over the fact that, if his timeline was erased then is he actually just Danny's future or completely cut off from that) since his own was erased and he maybe was let out of the Thermos from Clockwork's watch because redemption and allat.

So I am further going to assume that since Vlad is not mentioned here that he is either thugging it out with the GIW or is currently in hiding. I'm choosing the former assumption, as the thought of Vlad being captured and or experimented on is very, very enticing to think about while Dan, Danny, Dani, and Jazz are out there somewhere in the world.

(Even better if Dan left Vlad behind in order to save the DDJ (I'm not typing out their names again) and Vlad is emotionally hurt by this but logically knows that it would be the correct decision to make)

(Somewhat redeemed Vlad where isn't as much of a giant fruitloop but not full way redemption and healing because, you know, Jack and Maddie dying and then being captured by the GIW)

This would also actually make sense as to why Dan is booking it to a Pit (if he knows that or not is honestly up to you) because Vlad is compromised and, by extension, that means his portal is compromised as well.

Anywho, enough about THAT.

Regarding Jack and Maddie, I want to say that they would be good parents but a bigger part of me wants to say they would be more 'Trying Fenton Parents' as in, they're not the best and they do continue to mess up BUT! They're trying their best to be better parents than they were previously. So, they're neither strictly good nor bad but trying parents.

Maybe one of their first acts was to cut their connections with the GIW, which lead to their eventual deaths via portal exploding and the GIW. Which could actually lead to a bit more hurt on Dan's end than he originally expected, to see his parents again (Well, not his parents because his timeline is gone, but a variation) and being told that, even with trying to kill them they still accept him and trying to better themselves (Something which never happened in his timeline because, you know, dead and all) only to just... die. Without even making any good progress because it was cut short is just... pretty unfair actually.

Not to mention losing parents a second time.

RIGHT ANYWYAS.

So, giant dragon flying through the sky without care for what's below. Would obviously set off the panic button for everyone who sees it and, like you said, several Time Travellers are in a panic because the world ending threat that succeeded in destroying the world is just, right there. Up in the goddamn sky.

(Perhaps even a select few are in hysterics because they thought that timeline was just gone, erased. Because it has been so that threat shouldn't even exist anymore (Though who that would be idk))

The goverment (Cough Amanda Waller) is on the Justice League's ass about this and telling them to find a way to deal with it if it became a threat. The Justice League is trying to find any information they can to piece together with the information given by Time Travellers. Several Supervillains are interested in this being of fearsome might, some scientifically, some magically, some both and some just for the raw power they can tell it holds and wants in their service.

The GIW are... less than pleased about this situation. One, because it reveals undeniable proof of ghosts existing that removes one of their few protections with the only saving grace being that it doesn't reveal the GIW's existence yet. Two, this recent stunt would undeniably draw Amanda Waller's attention and, if she does manage to piece together that ghosts do in fact, exist, she would crack down on them with an iron fist and make everything they want to do much, much harder since she can now view them as an actual threat. Three, they escaped, which was extremely obvious yes they know, but at the very least they managed to obtain one of them out of the four of them.

It was unstable, yes. But far better than the one with the core of the moon, which was the most unstable of all of them no matter how much it tried to appear anywhere differently.

And then there was the Fenton child. They were honestly split on what to consider her as. It was apparent that she wasn't a ghost, but she was by no means normal either. She could not turn into a ghost but that was traded off for transforming into a dragon and somehow, somehow she had a core. Something humans shouldn't have and even 'liminals' as the GIW took to calling both the residents of Amity Park and even some of their own number, had a core nowhere near as well developed as she possessed. Just a pale imitation of one compared to what she had and the one of a true ghost.

She was a scientific marvel! It was a shame that her parents couldn't see that, unfortunately, even though they had the titles as the best in the field that they so foolishly discarded just because their children, in case, turned out to be a ghost and, in the other, had the qualities of one despite still being distinctly human.

The GIW were a fan of weaponized and utilized incompetence but was a truly idiotic move on their part. To think of all the discoveries they could have made together if they just made the right decision.

Truly, a pity.

The largest dragon among them, apparently some variant of their son fused with his godfather-which was as fascinating as it was hard to believe on the implications alone-was not their highest priority right now. No, that was avoiding Amanda Waller's attention but even then it still wasn't.

Their highest priority subject would be to gain custody over one Jazmine Fenton. With their lowest being that unstable clone that tried to appear anything but unstable.

Prompt 300

Danny squirms and hisses, trying to dig his claws into dark scales as the clouds whistle by. “Wait- Ancients dammit- STOP!” he shrieked, cursing how tiny his own ghost form was compared to his other not-quite-future-self. Wings that could easily dwarf the entire Ops center beat through the air, fast enough to cause his eyes to sting. 

“Dan- bring me back- stop-” he wailed, despite the grip on his scruff not even loosening. Yet the larger dragon didn’t so much as twitch back towards Amity, the city disappearing into the distance like a speck. “We have to go back-” 

The GIW were- were- They had to go back! The portal was gone (exploded, broken and all of Fentonworks a smoldering mess, oh Ancients he’s gonna be sick-), no one could return to the Realms, they were all sitting ducks- 

“Jordan please-” he begged, even though he already knew that between the city, between every other ghost and them, Dan would always choose to keep them safe. But Jazz was hurt, she wasn’t waking up from where she lay limply cradled in Dan’s claws. 

There was so much blood, and he only knew she was still alive from the weak fluttering of her core, growing stronger as her heartbeat faded. She needed help, she needed doctors- he doesn’t know if she would be able to come back, not with how they were leaving the ecto-rich city behind and he didn’t want to lose her- Dan’s blank panic was swamping his own, drowning both of them in the emotion as the dragon tore through the sky. Some part of him knew they couldn’t stay in Amity anymore, but- But Jazz needed help- Danny couldn’t help the tears that dripped from his yes, pretending it was merely the clouds as they flew to places unknown to him.

If you are interested in their designs, here is a link: HERE

Heey mutual @radiance1 Dragon buddy o' mine

[ladylynse]

The Trouble with Ghosts: Part VI

A Lancer-centric Danny Phantom fanfic 

Lancer hadn’t realized how closely young Mr. Fenton’s school troubles–and the secrets he surely wasn’t telling his parents–were tied to ghosts until after that encounter with Phantom. 

<<  <  Part VI > 

Danny had never intended to actually fall asleep.

Keep his eyes closed, yes. Doze, probably. Sleep about twelve hours? Definitely not.

He wasn’t complaining, per se—he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept that long—but he wasn’t wholly happy about it, either.

Mainly because he still couldn’t do anything in ghost mode. His injuries looked considerably better, but his side was still raw and weeping, he had a pretty good goose egg on his head, and his various other scrapes and scratches and bruises were glaringly present. It kinda hurt to move, too, but that didn’t surprise him at this point. It just…worried him, a bit.

A good night’s sleep usually gave his body enough energy to heal up the small stuff completely and significantly reduce the bad stuff.

True, his injuries could be worse. By all means, they should be worse. He’d almost rather worse because then he could understand it. But not being normal (and therefore much better) or being worse (and therefore completely unaffected by his powers) meant something really weird was going on, and he could only assume it was from whatever Valerie had hit him with.

What was Vlad planning to do, snatch him when he was too weak to fight? He’d missed his best opportunity already. Unless he couldn’t find him? Or figure out how to grab him when he was with Mr. Lancer in a way that wouldn’t be suspicious?

There was a knock on the door, and Danny hastily threw the covers over his head and changed back into Phantom. He’d thought he was alone. The clock on the bedside table showed that it was past ten in the morning. Shouldn’t Lancer be at the school? It was Friday, for crying out loud!

What if he’d called Danny’s parents already and they were here? How was he going to get out of this? Staying in ghost mode was only going to buy him so much time if Lancer had—

“Phantom? Are you awake?”

Did you sleep? Danny knew that was the real question, since Mr. Lancer would be concerned over Danny’s dubious state of health whether or not Danny’s parents were with him. (He might be wondering about all the ways halfas were different from humans, too, but Danny figured his passing out in the car ride yesterday would’ve answered that question.) “Yes,” Danny called, swallowing back his fears and sitting up in bed again. Maybe Lancer was alone. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe his secret was still a secret, at least where his parents were concerned. “You can come in if you want.”

Mr. Lancer—mercifully alone—walked in with a tray containing milk and cereal. “Not exactly the best breakfast in bed, but since you can eat and drink, it might provide some sustenance and help you recover faster.”

Danny had no idea if this was the case, even for him, but he was hungry, and he didn’t have to worry that this milk had been contaminated by something in the fridge. “Thanks, Mr. Lancer,” he said quietly, taking the tray. Lancer settled at the foot of the bed, probably because there wasn’t anywhere else to sit except the floor; there was a lone chair in the room, but it was filled with books that didn’t fit into the three bookshelves already in the room. Maybe he thought that was a better place to keep them than the dresser or the bedside table, since this was supposed to be a guest room. “But shouldn’t you be at school?”

“I was able to pull a few strings,” he said, “so I can stay here and take care of you.”

Danny wondered exactly what that would entail. “Um….”

“Eat up first, even if you aren’t hungry, and then we’ll change your dressings and see how everything looks.”

Danny ate. Mr. Lancer asked a few general questions to try to strike up a conversation—how did you sleep? Are you feeling any better this morning?—before moving on to more important things. “Have you tried using any of your powers this morning?”

Danny finished the last of the juice and—on the off-chance Lancer was right and food would miraculously help—tried to turn the glass intangible so the last few drops would fall into his mouth.

Judging by Mr. Lancer’s expression, invisibility didn’t happen, either.

“Nothing,” he said, “but I’m feeling better than I was. Not as exhausted and more achy and sore than burning, stabbing pains. I’m…. I think I’m better than a normal person would be, if not as good as I should be.”

Lancer might as well know that much. Slow or not, he had to still be healing faster than a normal human. Maybe his powers weren’t entirely gone. Maybe he could do things like invisibility and intangibility, just not on the scale that he was used to. What if, in trying to turn the glass intangible, he’d only affected one side of it? What if, instead of turning his entire body invisible, he’d only managed a finger or a toe and couldn’t spread that to his clothes, let alone the rest of his body? His ectoblasts could be too weak to be seen, let alone do any damage, and he wasn’t sure he’d notice a millimetre of flight if it only lasted a split second.

It made a sick sort of sense, considering Vlad had to be behind this. He could still transform, and he wasn’t going to die from his injuries, but he couldn’t fight back or get away. And Vlad, were he so inclined to track Danny down or send Valerie to do his dirty work, would be able to capture him and strap him into some kind of machine to try to get a mid-morph sample to stabilize his clones.

(Dani’s DNA had obviously mutated somewhat from his because she wasn’t a perfect clone. Her mid-morph sample wouldn’t do Vlad any more good than his own or he’d have used it already. Vlad still needed Danny’s. Which Danny was not going to give him. Even if this was Vlad’s latest attempt to get it.)

Terrible as this truth was, it made him feel a bit better; understanding this was the first step to doing something about it, and it beat the absolute bafflement he’d felt yesterday. Jazz was right; he did function better when he got a full night’s rest. But usually the Box Ghost or—

Danny’s eyes widened. “Were there any attacks last night?” he asked, overriding whatever Mr. Lancer was saying. His ghost sense hadn’t woken him up, but—

Lancer broke off, and then his expression softened. “Nothing the Red Huntress couldn’t handle,” he said. “You aren’t the only hero in this town, Phantom. It will be able to survive a few days without you while you recover.”

Danny wondered if Sam and Tucker had also been involved in whatever had gone down last night—unless it had just been the Box Ghost again—and, if so, whether or not they’d been able to pass the full thermos off to Jazz to empty it.

Jazz.

She was still covering for him.

What had she ended up telling their parents?

If she went with kidnapped by a ghost, he probably wouldn’t fare any better than when Sam and Tucker had tried a ghost has stolen my face. That is, his parents might buy it, especially if Jazz played up him being hurt, but he was going to face major consequences once things got back to normal.

Assuming Mr. Lancer would let them go back to normal.

Danny still wasn’t convinced he was going to keep this a secret.

Lancer had moved the tray to the top of the dresser and stood expectantly at the edge of the bed. “Let’s get a look at those wounds. If we soften the bandages with water to get them off, will your ectoplasm start flowing again?”

I have no idea. “Not usually,” Danny said slowly, “but it should be okay. I think I’ve healed enough.” I hope.

It was…awkward, letting Mr. Lancer clean him up and fuss over him. Danny expected it from Jazz and, to a certain degree, from Sam, although Sam’s version tended to involve more sharp remarks and arm punching. Even Tucker was always good when it came to pointing out what Danny had done wrong from a spot safely across the room and out of view of the blood. But Lancer?

It had felt more natural in the nurse’s office, back at the school where Lancer belonged, but in his own home? Where he was perched on the counter by the bathroom sink and Lancer was standing in front of him, pulling open various drawers or cabinets to collect the few medical supplies he had? It made Danny feel like an intruder. If Lancer didn’t already know his secret, it would make him feel like a liar. As it was, he was still lying to his parents, and Lancer had to know that, had to know why, but….

“It doesn’t look as good as I’d hoped, based on what you’d said,” Lancer admitted as he taped the fresh gauze over Danny’s side. “I know you’ve been through worse, Phantom, but this must certainly be slowing you down.” There was a pause. “I suppose this gives you a better idea of how your helpers must feel when they get injured.”

Danny groaned. He had wanted to keep Sam and Tucker out of this for as long as possible, but he should have known Mr. Lancer wouldn’t steer clear of the subject for long. He’d already admitted that they knew the truth, Jazz too, but he’d only said that because he was pretty sure Lancer had already figured it out.

“I know you try to protect them, but you cannot always be there. This whole incident must surely prove that.”

“They know the risks of doing this as well as I do,” Danny said quietly, even though he knew that argument wouldn’t get him anywhere, “and they want to help. And sometimes I need the help. My best isn’t always enough when I’m alone. Even the Red Huntress knows that, and that’s why we’ve worked together before, too.” No need to throw Valerie under the bus, tempting as that distraction was. “As much as I try not to need it, sometimes I do. And we’ve saved the town by working together. You can’t deny that.”

“You can’t deny that they sometimes get hurt, either.”

No, he couldn’t. He knew that and hated it, but he couldn’t.

“We can’t put this conversation off again, Phantom. It’s too important to ignore when people are getting hurt.”

He knew that, too. Mr. Lancer wasn’t about to let this go. Unfortunately, Danny wasn’t sure how long he’d be willing to keep this a secret for that very reason. All his enemies already knew his secret, so it’s not like hiding his identity was protecting his family. It was just protecting him.

From his family.

And chances were, Lancer wouldn’t understand that. And he should be right, Danny shouldn’t have to worry, but even if his parents did accept him, even if they didn’t experiment on him, things wouldn’t necessarily be better if they knew the truth. Because the truth wasn’t pretty. The truth meant he’d nearly died because of their experiments. The truth meant they’d tried to kill him routinely since this had started. The truth was that their best friend from their college years was a creepy old psycho who was more twisted than they’d ever understand, who took experimentation to a new level entirely and who wasn’t afraid who he hurt as he strove to get ahead.

The truth meant therapy would be inevitable, once it started to settle in. Therapy Jazz wouldn’t be able to give them by herself, try though she would. Because the truth didn’t just mean the end of lies. It meant guilt. It meant pain. It meant suffering. It meant broken friendships and new horrors whenever eyes were closed. It meant severed bonds and nightmarish truths, undeniable new realities and uncomfortable unknowns.

The Fentons had never really done normal, but this would rip up the few foundations the family had.

It would tear them apart.

Something so broken couldn’t always be fixed.

And that’s what Danny feared, really. He feared the losses that would come with the truth. What he had right now wasn’t perfect, and he knew it was fragile, but he wanted to protect it. He knew what it was. He understood it. If it shattered….

“It’s not just people,” he whispered, raising his eyes to meet Lancer’s. “It would be everything. It would be too much.”

Lancer’s expression softened. “I know it can be scary to tell a secret, especially when it is not your secret alone, but secrets aren’t meant to be kept when someone is getting hurt because of them.”

He couldn’t know about Vlad. Just because he’d finally realized that Danny Phantom was Danny Fenton, he hadn’t put together Plasmius and Masters, had he? But that was more likely than him knowing about Dani.

Danny felt a bit sick to his stomach, and not just because the smell of antiseptic still stung his nostrils. He tried to swallow back the feeling. Maybe Lancer just meant how things could blow back on Sam and Tucker for keeping his secret for so long. “What about when keeping secrets means saving lives?” Not just his, not just Vlad’s, not even just Dani’s. Because if the truth came out, his parents weren’t the only ones to worry about. Valerie….

Valerie would come around. Probably. Eventually. She’d called truces with Phantom before. If anything big came up in the future, she’d probably call a truce with him again. And, well, if it came down to a fight, no one smart would count her out. Whether in hand-to-hand combat or shooting at a moving target with her ecto-tech, she was good. She had the skills to fight. Someone like Paulina? She wouldn’t.

But Paulina might still fight for Phantom, even if she found out he was just Fenton. Dash, too. And everyone else.

But the Guys in White? They wouldn’t care that Phantom was Fenton. They’d just see Phantom. See a ghost. Or an aberration. Abomination. Some kind of corruption of humanity.

His parents might not experiment on him, but the Guys in White would have no such compunctions, and his parents might not be able to protect him from them.

While the ghosts who invaded Amity Park might know enough to leave his family alone, might respect that boundary even when it wasn’t the Christmas Truce—usually, anyway. He hadn’t forgotten the stunt Johnny 13 and Kitty had pulled with Jazz, nor what Youngblood and Ember had tried to do to all the adults in town, nor anything else like that. But still. The Guys in White wouldn’t hesitate. They wouldn’t stop. They wouldn’t see people, they’d see pawns. Something to be used to manipulate him. To make him give up, turn himself in. And he would, if it really meant saving them.

And if Mr. Lancer got involved instead of just pretending he didn’t know any better, he’d be targeted, too. Danny had no illusions about that. His evil future self had picked on him, and Lancer had barely been involved back then.

Sometimes telling secrets saved people, sure.

But sometimes it doomed them.

“It’s not simple. I’ll grant you that, Phantom. But this situation isn’t as grey as you seem to think it is. If this continues as it does, someone will end up more injured than this. Hospitals can’t fix everything, especially when time isn’t on their side. Your friends are human. While their actions are admirable, they simply aren’t as resilient as you.”

Danny took a slow breath. “Even if I…. Even if I stop working with them, that won’t necessarily save them.”

Lancer finished putting the rest of his medical supplies back in the drawer by the sink and stood, offering a hand to Danny. Danny took it, and as Lancer helped him down, he replied, “No, it won’t. But it might mean they’ll be less likely to need saving, and that’s something, isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Danny muttered, trailing after Lancer as he led the way to the kitchen. “But I can’t promise they’ll stop, either.”

“I can speak with them. You can decide if you believe it’ll be simpler to do that individually or all at once.”

Danny wasn’t too keen on taking Sam on individually, but somehow that seemed better than when she’d have Tucker and Jazz as backup. “That probably won’t make a difference.”

“It would be a start,” Lancer pointed out as he filled the kettle. Setting it boiling, he added, “Take a seat, Phantom.”

Reluctantly, Danny dropped into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. There were four, but only one spot at the table was clear of books. His strategic choice was the place where those books were nearly piled to his chin.

“Look, Mr. Lancer, if I…. Say we do convince them to stop helping me. Will you at least keep this a secret then? It’s too dangerous to have everyone know. Please, you have to understand that.”

Lancer looked over at Danny. “Do you really think they will stop? Or do you think they’ll simply pretend to stop and take more foolish risks in an effort to conceal their activities from me in the future?”

Danny winced. “Point taken.”

“This is a delicate situation. Believe it or not, I do understand that. I’m just not convinced you understand it as well as you think you do.”

“Huh?”

Lancer set a single teacup on the table, the string of the teabag dangling by the handle. “The stakes aren’t trivial, Phantom. Not everyone who dies becomes a ghost like you did. Your friends won’t be stronger if they’re ever caught in the crossfire. They’ll be gone. And at that point, it would not simply be the fault of whomever fired the shot; it would be your fault and mine for letting them continue to engage in such reckless behaviour. Are you truly prepared for that?”

No. “That won’t—”

Lancer briefly closed his eyes. “Oh, for The Lovely Bones, Phantom, please don’t argue with me. It remains a very real possibility as long as this behaviour continues. Are you prepared for that?”

He couldn’t find his voice to answer.

Lancer fetched the kettle and poured hot water into his cup. Danny watched it swirl, turning a darker brown by incremental degrees. Lancer finally sat at the table, but he didn’t say anything else. He was still waiting.

Even when the teacup disappeared, Danny couldn’t bring himself to raise his eyes. “I won’t let it come to that.”

There was a loud clank of the cup hitting the saucer. “Why are you still under the illusion that you’ll have the choice when you know you can be reduced to this?”

Danny swallowed. “Because….” He couldn’t tell Lancer the truth. The truth was tied to Valerie, to Vlad. It wasn’t his truth to tell. It wasn’t his secret alone.

But Mr. Lancer might not buy a lie, now that he knew for certain how to spot it.

Danny licked his lips. “What happened yesterday. It…. It’s not something that’s exactly going to be frequent.”

“Do you know more, then, than you first thought you did?”

Danny didn’t answer.

Lancer didn’t need him to. “Very well. Then answer me this, Phantom: who are you thinking of asking to help you fight this next battle, to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?”

Danny was staring at the book in front of him now, but he couldn’t even make out its title.

“Which child are you willing to risk?”

Danny closed his eyes. Lancer’s voice was harsh, and not without good reason. “They’re not involved in this,” he insisted. “I swear, they aren’t. I’m the only one who’s going to be targeted. It doesn’t make sense to go after anyone else. I’m the only one he needs.”

“The only one who needs?”

Danny just shook his head.

“Phantom.”

Danny slowly looked up. Lancer didn’t look angry; he looked determined. And as uncompromising as he had been the time he’d forced Danny to retake that English test, which didn’t exactly bode well.

“You told me yesterday that the Red Huntress hit you with something you weren’t expecting, and now you tell me that you’re the only one he needs.” Lancer knit his fingers together and leaned forward. “So tell me: who is she working for and why does he need you?”

The silence stretched. “I can’t,” Danny finally whispered. “I just…. I can’t.”

“I will help you, Phantom, but you need to fill me in. If it comes down to me or my students, I would rather be the one put in danger. So please, tell me.”

Danny shook his head slowly. “It’s not my secret—”

“That doesn’t matter if telling me will save people by saving you.”

“It wouldn’t save people.” Danny shivered and pushed his chair back from the table. “It would condemn you.” He stood. “I’m going back to bed. I’m still tired.”

It was a lie.

They both knew it.

Lancer let him go anyway.

Next

(see more fics)

[bluerosefox]

[2023 Prompt List 1][Here] [2023 Prompt List 2][Next] [2023 Prompt List 3][Next]

|Why Ra’s Would Summon the Ghost King (Also Twins AU) [Part 1] |Danyal, Danny, Phantom [Part 2] |WIP [Part 3] |Bio!Dad Jason and Bio!Mom Jazz (With Oc!Kid or Son!Danny) |Ghost Gotham (With Bonus Ghosts Martha and Thomas) |Danny Says Clone Rights |Robin’s Haunted Halloween (Feat. Ghost King Danny and Ghostly grandparents Martha and Thomas) |Library Cryptid Danny |Twins to Trio? (Dani mistakes Damian as Danny, and Damian learns his twin might not be dead) |Twins AU BUT WITH ANGST! |Mom!Dani (Square up Superman) |Free Flying Graysons (Feat. Ghostly John and Mary Grayson) |Comes in Twos (Twins! Jason and Danny die on the same day) |Foreboding Words of Warnings (Feat. Competent Ghost King Danny) |Across My Memories (Feat. Ghost King Danny, Ghost!Prince Jason) |Consorthood Via Combat (Feat. Ghost King Danny, and Danny dating any Bat of your choosing) |Wrong Number Au (Danny sends a rant text to Tucker... Only its not Tucker) |Todd and Phantom, Mostly Ghostly Shenanigans (Danny and Jason try to get out of the GZ together and bond) |Ellie “I WILL bite you” and Danny “He’s just a baby” Fenton (Deaged Danny and caretaker (and tiny bit feral) Dani (Ellie) watch out Gotham, she’ll bite.) |Double Troubles (another Damian and Danny twin au but they wanna see how long their families notice they switch places) |Everything, including the bride. WAIT, BRIDE?! (Dead Tired pairing, Tim now regrets being a smart cookie as a kid and solving a magical puzzle box while Danny regrets beating Pariah Dark cause he got the old King’s bride now as his own) |CAT Ghost INSTINCTS (Damian brings home a... interesting new acquaintance who has some interesting... quirks) |Peek-A-Boo Champ! (Jazz and her baby being taken by a cult. Jason coming to save them. And Uncle Danny being the best at peek-a-boo) |Teeny-Tiny Kitten (Danielle ‘Ellie’ makes a wish and later gets found by a certain cat and bat) |Same As The Day I Lost You (Mix de-aged Danny, and siblings!Damian and Danny, add in some teleporting/portaling when the bats are fighting the League and you get this idea.) |Cuckoo Clocks (Clockwork sends a certain RR a sticky note during his solo run to come find Phantom and later find him) |The (Not) Normal One... (a reborn/reincarnted Danny idea where he’s the normal one in the batfam... only he’s really not.) |Dip and Kiss (Jason totally would kiss the person who ended the Joker in an Oscar worthy movie moment) |The Trouble With Time Travel Guilt (Danny starts an AITA thread due to his guilt over the future that will never be, he trauma bonds with fellow heroes and time travelers over it) |Friendships Between Realms (YJ and Danny Shenanigans Being Peek Friendship) |Misunderstandings and Miscommunications (Danny panics and runs, good Fenton parents want their son home, well meaning but not knowing the full picture best friends, on a war path Jazz and the maybe wooing of RH, and the DCverse getting caught in the middle of the chaos) |A Little Robin (Danny gets stuck in a Robin doll/plush and winds up in Gotham) |Kid's y'know? (Youngblood wants to be an astronaut this time, and Danny... Has to stop him from running amok the JL Watchtower) |Gothamites Never Really Rest (Johnny was a crime alley kid, Kitty was the daughter of a mob boss, and Jason was a kid they pseudo raised before their deaths. They meet again when Kitty and Johnny return to Gotham and find budding crime lord named Red Hood)

[thesoulspulse]

Regarding The Forgotten Connection Between Dan and Vlad...

Greetings fellow Phans! Well, if you guys couldn't tell by the title as you guys might have already guessed but this time I wanted to talk about how we often forget that Danny's evil future self, Dan, is also half VLAD. For those of you actually reading my fanfiction this will probably enter into spoiler territory but you know, I've always wondered why Dan didn't vanish that day in “The Ultimate Enemy” episode when Danny's family was saved by Clockwork. I used to think it was because Butch Hartman was planning to bring him back for a rematch which would have been totally epic but instead we got the real disaster which was “Phantom Planet.”

So, at any rate let me ask you lovely people a question. When Clockwork said "You've given everyone else in your life a second chance. Why not you?" don't you think that should include EVERYONE in Danny's life? Including a certain older halfa? Well I do, which is why I've been working on a sort of side tale of another ghosts redemption into the sequel of my other story “Ravenheart,” which is mainly inspired by the fan comics Doppleganger (by phantomtype)  and Legendary Destiny (by krossan).  

Anyways we all know that Danny got his second chance and I guess we all just assumed Vlad didn't need one because that future where his evil side corrupted Danny's ghost half never happened right? Wrong! If anything Vlad only got worse from that moment on and started stepping over the line as I pointed out in two of my other posts. For one thing, he cloned Danny and let who knows how many clones die in the process who I might add are all supposedly half human too. Meaning in an indirect way Vlad was letting a bunch of unstable half human clones die. Unless, and this is only a theory, perhaps the reason why Dani was the most stable out of all of them is because maybe she was the only one Vlad made half human while the other failure's human sides died leaving only these sad incomplete ghosts behind with no will or purpose of their own.

Vlad also threatened Jazz who as we all know is 100% human that really can't hold a candle to Sam and Tucker when it comes to ghost fighting more then half of the time if only because she hasn't known the truth about her brother that long. And in my books those are the two things were probably some of the more truly evil things Vlad has done in the show beside most of his other petty plotting. The whole “Eye For An Eye” thing was really just Danny totally asking for it, sad to say.

Moving on, we know in the alternate future Vlad was in fact trying to save Danny from his misery after losing everyone he loved. After all, with Jack and Maddie Fenton both dead, Vlad also lost his purpose. He couldn't kill Jack, and he couldn't marry Maddie, all Vlad had left was Danny. And seeing as Danny not only lost his parents, but also his only sister and two best friends, there was nothing Vlad could or desired to use a blackmail anymore. He got what he wanted, a son, but it was a bittersweet victory and though we don't know all of the details or how long Danny was living with Vlad before asking him to erase his human side and hopefully emotions from what I can see Vlad didn't feel the need to rub any of it in Danny's face. In fact, Vlad dropped everything, all of his evil plans, all of his plots against the only surviving Fenton to actually help him. So Vlad did care, just as in a way I believe he's always cared but people don't change overnight. Vlad probably still had big plans for the younger half once his human emotions holding him back were dealt with, but Vlad never expected Danny's ghost half to see him as an enemy instinctfully and try to become whole by merging with Vlad's ghost half, thereby not only “escaping” his painful memories still carried by his human half but also taking revenge on Vlad because in some way he probably blamed the man for letting his father die since he KNEW Vlad has always hated the man and WANTED him dead.

The end result became Dan, who was mostly Danny but also to some degree Vlad as well. Thanks to the claws though, his humanity was ripped out on Danny's side of things, leaving only an angry vengeful ghost behind who blamed Vlad and the rest of the world for letting his family die when he had done SO much to save them and never got so much as a thank you in return. Danny probably always felt a little resentful for how hard normal people made his life by putting so much pressure on him to always win, to always be a hero, when in the end, the moment he failed they all abandoned him. That state of mind made it all too easy for Vlad's evil side, the side that was also resentful and thought himself better then everyone else to take over and merge his thoughts and feelings with the unstable ghost half of Danny.

But, going back to what I've seen in the show before with that one device that split Danny's human and ghost half in two I think even then, Dan still had some humanity and I firmly believe he felt it when Jazz confessed that she knew all about his ghost powers. If Dan was really that evil, even when he was caught, I'm sure he could have used his brilliant Vlad-like brain to do away with Jazz first and still cause the accident killing everyone else. Instead, he left her alive and I'd like to think part of him still felt something for her like he does in Krossan's comic and didn't manage to shake off that feeling until the moment of truth when he wanted to secure his future by defeating his younger self and running down the clock. Sure the ghost knocked her out twice and even let some debris fall on his former best friends but he never actually dealt the killing blow himself. And in that future he never killed Valerie either and honestly I think its because he still had feelings for her and not because he enjoyed playing his mind games with the huntress.

Either way, going back to the whole Vlad thing, when he had a chance to stop that horrible future he helped create by killing Danny who was trapped in the future, Vlad showed him mercy. He didn't destroy Danny any more then he has ever actually gone through with killing Jack. That's why I think neither Dan or the current Vlad realize...they're not as evil as everyone thinks. It's sort of like that one quote “Evil Queens are the Princesses who were never saved.” So in this case, “Evil Villains are the civilians that the heroes never saved.” And that is why I believe both Dan and Vlad can still be saved from themselves, especially Dan since the reason he's still around, why he could still exist, is because Vlad might be the one who gives into the darkness one day when he realizes that all he really needed to do to find acceptance and love...was to stop being the villain and start being a man that Danny could actually look up to and learn from as a real uncle or father-like figure.

[eternal-watcher]

Danny looks at Superman, the man of steel, a man sometimes called a god. But right now that isn’t who he sees, right now Superman is just Clark Kal-el Kent, a man who looks totally lost and in completely over his head.

Danny sighs “let’s sit down, we have a lot to talk about.”

Clark leads him into the living room and they sit down.

“Ok, first things first I need some information to figure out what the best advice is, how old is the clone”

Clark blinks in alarm “I- uh I don’t know, around 16? Maybe 18? I don-“

“Let’s just say late teens for now” Danny cuts him off. “Their exact age isn’t important for this conversation”

Danny takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “First thing to remember when dealing with your clone is to remember that they are their own person. They may be based off of you, but they are not you”

“I know that” Clark starts but again Danny cuts him off.

“Logically yes, but there’s a difference between knowing that and truly understanding that” Danny says “It’s easy to falling into the trap of thinking clones are just duplicates of the original. But they are much more than that.” Danny smirks and creates a duplicate, “take it from someone who has both” he and the duplicate speak simultaneously.

At that Clark laughs a bit. ‘Good he’s beginning to relax’ Danny thinks.

“Look at Ellie and me for a good example, it’s a little easier to see with us due to our physical differences, but if you look at our personalities, our wants, and our interests, it’s obvious that we are different people. We are similar yes, very similar, but also distinctly different.” Danny waits a moment to make sure the information sinks in. “This independence and distinction from their template is something you need to encourage when dealing with your clone. Clones, especially those made to replace their template, often feel like they have to be just like their template even denying their own interests and whims in favor of what they feel they are expected to be”

Clark has grabbed a notepad and seems to be writing this down.

“Another important thing is to establish exactly what relationship you and your clone want to have.”

“What do you mean by that?” Clark asks.

“Well earlier you asked me how to ‘parent a clone,’ but what if your clone doesn’t want that?” Danny says “Clones and their templates can have all kinds of relationships. When Dani and I first met we called each other cousin, and that’s essentially what we saw each other as, at least at first. Relationships can change overtime, as Ellie and I got closer we started to see each other more as siblings than cousins.” Danny smiles thinking of his relationship with his clone.

“It’s also important to keep in mind that the clone-template relationship is complicated and might not fit one to one with a traditional family relationship. As I said, for the most part, Ellie and I are essentially siblings, but there are definitely a few times where I feel or act somewhat parental towards her. And that’s ok, as previously stated clone-template relationships are complicated and might incorporate aspects of several types of relationships.”

“How do you know what type of relationship is best?” Clark asks still somewhat nervous.

“You don’t, at least not at first,” Danny says with a comforting smile. “Just let them know you’re there for them as much as they need. And keep an open line of communication with them and let your relationship develop naturally. For you this is even more important as your clone is, biologically at least, at the age where he would be naturally seeking independence. It’s important for him to know that you are always there for him to fall back on.”

“Thanks Danny this was very helpful”

“You should really be thanking my sister” Danny says awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck

“Ellie?” Clark asks.

Danny laughs “No, my older sister Jazz. Without her and her enforced therapy I would have been completely lost, I never would have figured this out on my own”

When Phantom received a distress call from Superman, he did not expect to show up to the man of steel desperately asking him how to parent a clone.

[lexosaurus]

Xmas Truce 2017

This one’s for @phantomfighter724. Happy holidays!

Danny hunched over the toilet, his body cleansing itself of everything it didn't like. His breakfast, bile—it all pooled in the murky water below.

He leaned his head down against the porcelain seat. He gave a halfhearted attempt at shifting his arms to support his sweaty face before giving up. His entire body felt like lead. His brain was clouded. He was a mess.

His stomach growled and he let out a whine of frustration. "What the hell," he muttered under his breath. What the hell was happening to him?

Out of the corner of his eye his phone lit up, and for a second he wondered why it was thrown haphazardly against the corner of the wall before he recalled tossing it out of his hand in his blind panic to reach the toilet on time. He winced, and braced himself for the worst. Fortunately, after a brief inspection, he found no additional cracks in his screen other than the small one in the corner he got from one of Skulker's brilliantly-failed attempts at kidnapping him.

A new message from Valerie popped up on the screen, and despite his situation he could help but grin a little. Befriending Valerie after she discovered his secret—connecting Dani's halfa status to his a little too easily—was a long, strenuous process. At first, it even seemed impossible, if their blatant disregard for the other's existence in school was anything to go by. But pent-up teenage emotion coupled with the constant necessity of teamwork during field-work eventually lead to an explosive argument. Valerie's hurt, Danny's insecurities, both of their mistrust in each other, everything came to light. It was violent, even if no blood was shed, and they walked away having said too many things they couldn't take back. Danny thought they were through.

They were, for a time. The silence didn't let up, but something shifted. Instead of angry silence, the air around them was uncomfortable. It was awkward, weird. Danny had never felt so unsure of how to act since his first day walking into Casper High two years ago. He was fourteen, and he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do.

It was Valerie who broke the silence first, sending him a text reading, “I can’t do this anymore. Let’s meet up for coffee after my shift ends today.”

That conversation was different. They actually listened rather than spewing out the first thing they could think of through their red-tinted eyesight. And while the duo spoke with blunt honesty, they were delicate with their words. Respectful of the situation.

At some point after that, Valerie joined him on his nightly patrols. Danny wasn't sure why, but he chose not to question it. At first they wouldn't talk other than the obligatory, "Ghost of there," or "Watch out," but it was a step. A tiny step, but a step nonetheless.

After about a week of this, however, Danny thought he was going to lose his mind over the stupid tension. So he choked out the first thing he could think of, "So...the weather."

It was by far the worst conversation starter in the book, and he could have sworn he saw Valerie nearly lose her balance on her hoverboard. His own face burned green, and he ducked down a few feet under her in a brilliant attempt to hide his embarrassment. Valerie definitely noticed, but for some reason she chose to go along with it.

So they talked. Their first conversation was nothing but superficial, the kind of small-talk one would have when dragged along to a dinner-party with their parents, but it marked the beginning of a budding friendship between the duo. Eventually, those nightly patrols turned into after-school homework sessions and then just Friday night hangouts. While all of their problems didn't disappear overnight, they worked through them. As friends. And then, eventually...

Received: 11:24am

Val: Hey, how you feeling?<3

Danny shook his head, as if attempting to clear the fog, and typed back a response. 

Danny: not sure...i think it's getting worse

Val: Want me to come over?

Danny: don't bother i can handle it

Val: Ok I'm coming over.

Danny: seriously it's prob nothing bad

Val: Do you like tomato soup or chicken noodle better?

Danny: val it's a ghost thing u don't have to worry it'll probably pass soon

Val: Ok I'm bring both I'll be there in 10

Danny: ...ok

As stubborn as Danny could be, Valerie was worse. Danny wasn’t even sure why he still resisted her kindness, even if they were dating. Maybe it was his pride? Maybe he didn’t want to get her sick? Maybe he was still insecure about himself and felt less-than and unworthy of any amount of affection? Who knew, really.

Another pang of hunger swept through his body and he sighed, leaning against the wall for support. He closed his eyes and let the dizziness sweep over him. It was probably just a ghost flu, right? It had to pass soon, didn't it?

Ever since a particularly bad fight against Vortex, he's felt off. At first, he was just a little lightheaded. Ok, no big deal, he just had to drink water. Powerade. And for a time, that worked okay. Not great, but it put a band-aid over the issue for a bit.

That was, until the hunger-pains started. He woke up one day hungry. His body clenched up as if he hadn't eaten in days, despite having a large dinner the night before. He wolfed down his morning cereal, ignoring his mom's comments about his appetite, and took off for school. Instead of feeling ready to start the school day, he felt awful. His stomach still was cramped, and waves of nausea washed over him. A few days into this cycle later, his body finally gave up and he found himself hunched over a toilet halfway through first period.

Sam all but dragged him to the nurses office that day, forcing him to get a note to go home. He slept for the rest of that day—or tried his best—but whatever was wrong with him, it didn't pass. The next day he woke up, his hunger even stronger than the day before. He tried to force himself to eat something, but he couldn't. Even though his body screamed at him for anything goddamnit, his morning cereal looked...unappetizing. Gross. 

Of course, Danny hadn't gotten so much as a cold since gaining his ghostly half. Sam had a theory that the ectoplasm coursing through his blood burned off any unwanted bacteria or viruses in his body. That theory, as uneducated of a guess as it was, was more likely true than not. It would also explain the lack of infections Danny's gotten, even though his blood has been exposed to the air too many times to be healthy for a normal human.

Ah well, just another thing to add to the never ending list of everything that separated him from other humans.

That didn't mean he hasn't gotten sick, though. As rare as they were, ghostly viruses did exist in the Ghost Zone. Danny managed to contract the ghostly flu last year, which made his powers glitch as bad as the first month after the portal accident. Tucker being Tucker found it absolutely hysterical, and made sure to stock up on as much blackmail material as he could over the duration of his illness. Although that wasn't Danny's first time being an internet meme, the gif of him inexplicably falling from the sky and crashing into a tree was possibly his most embarrassing publicly documented moment to date.

A knock on the door broke Danny out of his thoughts.

“Come in,” he said weakly.

"Hey Danny," Val pushed her way in the door, a plastic shopping bag hanging off of one of her arms.

Danny struggled up in a feeble attempt to sit a bit straighter. He was vaguely aware of the distinct odor coming from the toilet beside him. He was lucky Valerie has seen him in worse conditions before.

She sat down next to him. "How you feeling?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, all false bravado flying out the window.

She quietly surveyed the scene before her. Danny's pale, sickly face beaded with sweat. Purple circles laid under his sunken-in eyes. He clutched the hem of his shirt and averted his gaze to the side.

She pursed her lips, "Danny, you look like shit."

Danny snorted. "I feel like shit."

"I can see why Jazz forced you to stay home from patrol this week."

At the mention of patrol, Danny’s eyes lit up. “How are the ghosts this week? Have you been okay on your own? Has the Box Ghost been bothering you too much? Do you need any help tonight?”

A light smile touched Valerie’s lips. Even though it was an unspoken rule not to mention Danny’s obsession outright, she still found other ways to poke fun at him for it. “Danny, you can barely stand. Chill.”

A blush crept on Danny’s cheeks, and he rolled his eyes as another wave of nausea hit him at once. Before Valerie could so much as blink, Danny had lunged at the toilet bowl, dry heaving up any molecules still left in his stomach.

A pang of worry shot through Valerie. She frowned and reached over to gently rub his back, “This is getting worse.”

“I...know...” Danny ground out between coughs.

“I know you don’t want to...but I think we should call Vlad.”

He froze.

“He might know what’s going on,” Valerie said.

“Val, no. We can’t trust him,” Danny said, his voice cold.

Valerie crossed her arms and huffed. "Come on, don’t be thick. You’re a halfa, Vlad’s a halfa. Whatever you think about him—fine. But this has been going on for over a month now and it’s only getting worse. You need help, Fenton. You need someone’s help who actually understands halfa biology. Vlad’s the man for that, whether you like it or not.”

Danny slumped his shoulders. “Okay, you have a point.”

“Thank you,” Valerie said under her breath as she took out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts till she got to Vlad’s name, and hesitated. She hadn’t contacted him in months. After the whole debacle with Dani, she kept her contact with him at a minimum. When Vlad realized she knew Danny’s secret and by default, his, he stopped contacting her altogether. Interestingly enough, packages of replacement/upgraded weapons occasionally appear at her doorstep. She knew Danny noticed when broken equipment was suddenly replaced or she got a new gun, but he was kind enough to leave it alone.

Another retch from her boyfriend beside her was all she needed to finally push down on the button. She put the phone on speaker. After only two rings, the voice of an older man appeared on the other end of the line.

“Valerie, dear. To what do I owe the pleasure? Is your equipment working fine?”

Danny tensed at Vlad’s silky tone. He opened his mouth to respond with a biting comment, but his stomach had another idea.

Worry creased Vlad’s next words. “Valerie? What’s happening? Is everything alright?”

“Fine—I’m fine, Mr. Masters,” Valerie said, her eyes not leaving Danny’s figure. “Uh, it’s Danny.”

“Daniel? What’s wrong with him?”

“We’re, um, not sure. He can’t stop throwing up. He doesn’t...Halfas can’t get human illnesses, right?”

“Right...” Vlad muttered. “Valerie, I’m presuming I’m on speaker phone?”

“Yeah,” Valerie said.

“Alright then. Daniel?” Vlad called out.

“What.” Danny said flatly.

“Can you describe your symptoms to me please?” Vlad asked.

Danny closed his eyes and said, “Uh, I can’t...I can’t hold anything down. Every time I try to eat something it comes back up. I’m really dizzy and...I guess...I mean, I’ve had these stomach pains for a few weeks now. And headaches too. I’m sure it’s nothing but Valerie—”

“This has been going on for a month and it’s not getting any better, Vlad. We’re not sure what to do.”

“I’m glad you called me,” Vlad said, his tone much more serious than a minute ago. 

“What is it?” Danny asked at the same time Valerie demanded, “Is everything going to be okay?”

There was a pause. 

“Valerie, do you mind stepping out of the room for a second?” 

Danny, despite his weak state, managed to push himself away from the toilet and grab the phone out of Valerie’s hands with inhuman speed. “What is it, fruitloop? Just spit it out.”

“Daniel, I know this may come as a shock to you but I do care about you,” Vlad said. “You know, this may not be a good conversation to have over the phone. Give me a minute. Daniel, I presume you’re in the bathroom upstairs?”

“...Yes.”

“Perfect.”

The phone line went dead and Danny slumped against the wall. He glanced over to the toilet and wrinkled his nose at the smell of his own stomach acid. With an abnormal amount of effort, he managed to flush the toilet.

“Sorry,” he glanced over to Valerie. “Sorry to drag you into this mess.”

“Danny, stop,” Valerie clipped, kissing his forehead lightly. “You’re my boyfriend and you’re ill. I’m not going to leave you to deal with this by yourself. I know you won’t let Sam or Tucker over but I’m not a pushover, okay?”

Danny rolled his eyes to counter the blush that tinted his cheeks. “Yeah, okay. I still...I know this ghost stuff can make you uncomfortable and I don’t want to ever put you in a position where you—”

“Oh my god, Fenton,” Valerie groaned. “Keep that up and this stupid bug isn’t going to be the only thing that’s gonna kill you.”

The room temperature dropped a few degrees. Danny and Valerie’s heads whipped over to the door where Vlad Masters walked through, dropping his invisibility.

"Mr. Masters!”

“Vlad.”

“Is everything alright with Danny?”

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Vlad said.

Valerie would have breathed a sigh of relief if not for the grave look on his face as he surveyed the scene. “My my, you’ve let this get worse than I thought. I’m not sure if I have enough here for you...”

“Enough of what?” Danny asked.

Vlad sighed. “Daniel, are you sure you don’t want Valerie to leave?”

Danny glared up at him. “We’re a team, Vlad.”

"I can handle whatever you throw at us,” Valerie confirmed, letting her chest swell out in pride at Danny’s affirmation. Regardless of any of her past prejudices, she loved Danny. She didn’t care whatever ghostly-illness he had, she was going to get through this with him.

“Okay, it’s...not for the faint of heart though, Little Badger,” Vlad said, closing his eyes.

Something in Danny clicked, and he felt his eyes soften. Whatever this was...it was really bothering Vlad. “It’s okay, Vlad,” he said softly. “I can handle this.”

“Alright then,” Vlad nodded. “Daniel, you know you have a ghost core. It’s responsible for regulating and replenishing ectoplasm in your body.”

“I know this,” Danny said, looking quizzically up at Vlad. “I have an ice core.”

“Right,” Vlad said. “In normal ghosts, this is enough and they can live an eternity with their cores working fine. This isn’t quite the case with halfas though.”

“What do you mean?”

“As you know, Daniel, you’re more powerful than most ghosts. But you’re not a full-ghost. Scientifically speaking, we’re anomalies. Scientific paradoxes. We shouldn’t exist, and our cores know this.”

Alarms blared through Valerie’s brain. “You mean his core is trying to kill him?”

“Not quite,” Vlad said steadily. “But his core cannot keep up with his body’s demands. Halfa cores have to regulate not just ectoplasm, but how the ectoplasm interacts with the living aspects of the human in such a way that it won’t kill you. On top of that, you frequently expelling ectoplasm in forms like powerful ghost-rays puts more pressure on your already overworked core. Your core simply doesn’t have enough energy to do what you demand of it.”

“Hence the hunger,” Danny said, his blue eyes looking down.

“Exactly.”

Valerie ran a hand through her hair. “What’s the solution?”

Vlad reached into his pockets and pulled out a few vials filled with a familiar looking green substance. “Listen to your body, Little Badger. Your body is craving ectoplasm. You need to drink it.”

Realization hit Danny like a ton of bricks. “But isn’t that...that’s...”

“Low-level ecto-puses I took from Skulker’s care last week,” Vlad confirmed. “Purified ecto-plasm. You start developing a need for this once your halfa body solidifies its core. Think of it like a ghostly-puberty, if you will.”

“No...”

“Danny,” Valerie reached out and took Danny’s hand gently. “You’re starving yourself.”

“No, Val, you don’t understand—”

“I do,” Valerie looked at him, her gaze strong. “You said earlier that you didn’t want me to be uncomfortable around the ghostly-aspects of your life. Well, I’m not. There’s no other option, Danny. You’re going to die if you don’t drink the vials. You need to do this.”

Danny shook his head. “I—I can’t.”

Valerie wrapped her hands around Danny’s shoulders and leaned in, kissing him. It was gentle, reassuring, and comforting. Danny relished her touch.

“You can do this,” Valerie said, breaking it off. “You’re strong, Danny. You can do this.”

“Okay,” Danny took the vials. 

“Little Badger,” Vlad said, meeting Danny’s eyes. “I’ve been doing this for a while now, you know. I...I can give you the vials if you want. Your moral compass is, well it’s different than mine. I know this is hard for you. It will get easier but, if you would like, you can just let me know when you need vials and I’ll give them to you.”

Danny breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Vlad. It means a lot.”

Vlad nodded, a rare kind smile dotting his lips. 

Danny’s glanced one more time at his girlfriend before slowly opening the first vial. The metallic smell of ectoplasm tickled his nose and he found himself raising the vial to his lips.

[chrisr-rufio]

Danny Phantom Live-Action Fancast and Movie Concept:

Boo Stewart as Danny Fenton aka Danny Phantom

Victoria Justice as Samantha “Sam” Manson

Leon Thomas III as Tucker Foley

Jiang Wen as Jack Fenton 

Melissa McBride as Madeline “Maddie” Fenton

Lyndsy Fonseca as Jazz Fenton

Christina Masterson as Dani Phantom

Stephen Amell as Johnny 13

Michael Wincott as Vlad Masters

Artwork “Danny Phantom 10 Years Later” by creator Butch Hartman

I follow many nerd blogs on youtube and last week a suggestion vid that caught my eye was “Danny Phantom 10 Years Later” by the show creator Butch Hartman who simply draws our childhood favorites of his on his channel. Coincidently, since the TMNT live action films by Nickelodeon came out and seemingly flopped, I instantly thought that in the cinematic field of superheroes today, that one of Nick’s all star superheroes could use a live action adaptation as well. Here’s my fancast,

Boo Stewart as Danny. I believe it was only referenced that the Fentons have Canadian background, but it’s not like there aren’t any Asians in Canada. Boo is a rising young actor with potential in acting but has a definite heroic stature. I’m simply pushing for Hollywood to give the kid a chance. Plus, representation matters.

A healthy reunion for Nickelodeon royalty in Victoria Justice and Leon Thomas III to portray the silly and daring best friends of Danny, Sam and Tucker. They would be the right cast for the alumni purposes as well for the fact that they could play the roles with ease, showing great onscreen chemistry.

If you didn’t watch Star Wars: Rogue One last year, then you can’t fully appreciate the stubborn husband vibes Jiang Wen through out as Baze Malbus. Given Butch’s realization of the pioneer ghost hunter Jack Fenton aged up, the physical appearance was already so matched up. Only to be sillier and slightly more experienced, Jiang can deliver that old gung-ho spirit with a little more badassery.

If we are going to shoot for the stars, then The Walking Dead icon, Melissa McBride is the surefire mommy in the kitchen who will mess you the f*ck up if you mess with her family, go getter that is Maddie Fenton. Maddie was always the war bound one who still had every bit of the loving mother of two teenagers. This even more hardcore depiction of her was admitted TWD inspired by Butch and so it just makes sense. Out with all the big fancy toys, Maddie’s into old testament style of ghost judgement.

Lyndsy Fonseca is no newbie to the nerd community with her time on Nikita and Agent Carter or her role in Kickass. The perfect compliment of a perfectionist big sister, Jazz Fenton has fully assumed a role in Team Phantom as the “woman in the chair.” All wired in she can be the eyes and ears for the team.

Danny Phantom had many interesting characters and villains down to even the Box Ghost. Dani Phantom, his clone counterpart by Vlad was one of the even more satisfying creations of the show being all that he was but in a female form. Butch would feel that herself not surrounded by the friends and family like Danny has, may play the line 10 years down the road where next time we see her, who knows what games she’ll be playing at. Christina Masterson may be a lesser known star, but as a Power Rangers alum, you’d believe she’d deliver as a ghost powered antihero woman on her own mission.

Stephen Amell is such a cool guy who’s down to participate in many awesome nerd activities like the WWE, American Ninja Warrior, or portraying Casey Jones in the recent TMNT film. With long hair he’s a doppelgänger to fan favorite villain Johnny 13 and with his action background we’d hope for the right amount of action between he and Danny to really set the right tone for the movie while also reminding us of the good times of the show.

Lastly, Vlad was last seen stranded on an asteroid where Butch foresaw him possibly being captured by aliens despite his awesome might. A newly rebuilt Vlad now escaped from alien captivity and hellbent on getting revenge on Danny needs a much greater fear and presence. Michael Wincott is an actor who always screams villain and has such a great voice and presence for it. Even greater in age just means greater in power, and with a more humbled look than his cartoon’s former demeanor, Wincott is exactly the guy to have the film taken more seriously and grounding it to a degree that it’s not just some typical Nickelodeon film.

Like myself, I’ve come to see that there are still plenty of Danny Phantom fans out there and should nick give up on the Ninja Turtles, Danny Phantom may be ready to be presented to cinema in the midst of superhero universes. Or maybe we’ll have another Fairly Odd Parents live action nightmare with Drake Bell. Yikes!