#I’m on the astronaut Danny fenton tag again

[ri-afan]

Thought posed:

Danny does the college stuff and interning for stuff at Wayne Enterprises while living in Gotham, but he doesn’t catch the Bats attention because he simultaneously is both Just Normal Enough while the Bats are Slightly Out Of Step of normal long enough that things with Danny don’t catch their attention. (Gotham as a whole is a huge ‘well this might as well happen’ place and after however many years…the threshold is a bit off for weirdness. Pair that up with normal Batdrama and role-code-switching and minor things are likely going to be subconsciously overlooked if not clocked as Dangerous.)

(Does Danny know the Bats’ IDs? … He would deny it if asked. Not his circus business though. He does think it’s smart that they at least try to cover their faces, unlike when he played the hero. He meets Clark before Superman and feels like he’s on the Office or something.)

Danny moves on with the astro-stuff (whether an astronaut, an astrophysicist, or whatever else) in another city and catches the attention of another hero as Not Normal, What’s Up With That Guy?? (two parts coincidence, one part Danny’s willingness to trust for the better, one part Uncanny) and they track his history to Gotham/WE and decide to ask the Batclan if they knew anything.

They find out nothing really is wrong with Danny (…the JLD was not called or conferred with, unfortunately for all) but it does spark the reeducation refresher of the Gotham Clan for Human Weirdness (that also educated the rest in just how messed up Gotham can be).

[lexosaurus]

I hope you like long chapters! Because jesus christ guys 😆

This fic is a crossover between Danny Phantom x The Martian. You do not have to have read or watched The Martian to understand this fic. I have been trying to convince my boyfriend for an absurd amount of time to read this book and he keeps procrastinating. This man read all nineteen Ender's Game books and won't even read this little one?? I mean I like Ender's Game too but like smh come on man Mark Watney's potatoes are calling to you!

xxxx

Summary: When Astronaut Mark Watney went to Mars, he knew there was a chance he'd never come home. Now, though, he's determined to last long enough for NASA to save him because this whole dying for science thing is not as fun as it sounds.

Meanwhile, Danny Fenton is just trying to keep his identity a secret amidst a potential crisis with his powers. Seriously, what's up with that weird current under his skin? Why is he having so much trouble controlling it? And why does it feel so familiar...?

In a fit of determination (and possible stupidity), Danny goes to Mars to save Watney, only to add to both their crises when he arrives and can't get home. Will NASA save them? Will Danny have a home to return to if they do?

Chapter WC: 7452

Fic Tags: Danny Fenton & Mark Watney, Canon Divergence, Ecton AU

Chapter excerpt under the cut

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With only one more dramatic waver, the portal closed, sealing the air shut behind it.

There was a moment—the slightest portion of a second—where time seemed to stop. Where the air froze with a heavy silence, where the photographers forgot about their cameras, where Teddy hesitated beside him, and where Venkat could have sworn his heart skipped a beat in his chest. 

But then the larger yeti clad in a blue cape and skirt with gold accented jewelry stepped out, raised his ice-covered arm—or, no, were those bones under the ice? Was the ice acting like a prosthetic?—and bellowed in an accent that Venkat couldn’t quite pinpoint, "Greetings, humans of NASA! My name is Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen. I have brought with me Sleetjaw of the Far Frozen, our island’s lead medic and personal assistant to the Great One, known as Danny Phantom in your world. I would like to express my gratitude to you all for extending your hospitality as we come together to aid the Great One in his time of need."

Frostbite bowed, extending his ice arm as he did so. To his side, Sleetjaw, wearing primitive robes of gold with blue accents to contrast, followed suit.

Teddy stepped forward and bowed his head in return. "We at NASA thank you for venturing out to meet with us in our homeland." He followed Frostbite’s timing to stand back up straight, and continued, "I’m Teddy Sanders, NASA’s Chief Director and Administrator. Beside me is Venkat Kapoor, Director of the Mars Missions."

Venkat bowed as well. "It’s a pleasure to meet you," he said before rising again.

[dekalko-mania]

D&D: By wastefulreverie: Lester, Mikey, and Nathan were standing beside him. Mikey was fumbling with three jagged-sided dice while Lester and Nathan glared at each other. Realizing that he was awake, Lester broke eye contact with Nathan. Awkwardly, he put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Do you want to join our campaign?" he blurted.

Danny tilted his head skeptically, "Join your what?"

Additional Tags: Dungeons and Dragons, friendship, humor, [really enjoyed the irony in this one]

Making Something Out of Nothing: By wastefulreverie: When Ishiyama calls Danny into her office, the last thing he expected was to be offered a job.

Additional Tags: Post-reveal, Teacher! Danny, 

Tiny Little Pieces of Ours: By Bellovebug: Danny Fenton was a dreamer. A dreamer of stars, of galaxies, of spaceships and sunsets and snow. He was a dreamer of wildflowers in the forest, of messages left on the insides of folders set up to take a test, of Polaroids an unknown person has dropped on the street. He was a dreamer of the things that didn't matter, because the things that did scared him.

But dreams don't last forever. And when Danny is gone, he leaves many in his wake.

(Or, a look at Danny's death, and the lives of the people in his life afterwards.)

Additional Tags: Major Character Death, hurt Danny, grieving, Sam and Tucker Centric, [This one hurt so much, but is very beautifully written. Still hurts even now lmao]

A Play to Remember: By AppleScentedLazers: When Danny's drama class puts on a play and Fenton is cast as his own crime fighting counterpart, what's the worst that could happen? With a new villain rising and lines to learn, the people of Amity start to see that there may be more to their resident ghost boy than meets the eye.

Additional Tags: Angst, [interesting reveal concept! more in-depth A-listers]

I’m Still Here: By Cordria: Buried in the backyard, Danny's locked away in a forgotten Thermos. When it's finally found seventy years later, Danny is released and he needs to learn to deal with his new life. Can he survive what the future can throw at him?

Additional Tags: Angst [definitely nostalgic angst]

The Scrapbook: By Dragon Elexus: Fearful of Jazz's idolism of the ghost-boy, Maddie tries to protect her daughter by stealing her Phantom scrapbook. But the book sparks strange questions in Maddie's mind, and she finds herself stumbling on secrets she never knew existed. Pre-PP.

Additional Tags: Family

Exposed: By ADraconicScribe: A mysterious caller has revealed that the infamous Danny Phantom is half-human, placing a five hundred thousand dollar prize to the one who exposes Phantom's secret identity. Coupled with Vlad's disappearance, the ghost fighting, and all of the efforts to capture him, Danny and his friends must tread carefully if they are to make it out with their secrets, and their lives, intact.

Additional Tags: angst, BAMF Danny Fenton, Identity Reveal, Sam and Tucker are good friends, [I cannot stress how amazing this fic is, extremely well written, such an intense plot. Endless twists and turns, so so good.]

Maybe We’ll Find Each Other: By DP_Marvel94: Phantom, the adoptive son of Clockwork, doesn't remember his life but wishes he did. Jack Fenton, ghost hunter, lost his only son at a young age. When the portal activates, a newly half-human Phantom stumbles into Jack's lab, barely a painfully familiar blue-eyed, black haired form.

Additional Tags: Full ghost to half ghost Phantom, Ghosts think halfas are abominations, father-son relationship, but neither know they’re parent and child [very very interesting story, super cool concept!]

Katzenjammer: By DannyPhantomSG1, sapphireswimming: Danny's had enough. Of everything. But thankfully Tucker understands.

Additional Tags: Oneshot, Half Ghost Angst, Hurt/comfort, Friendship

Hope Can Be a Heavy Thing to Hold: By DP_Marvel94: " I woke up here, wherever here is, with no memories. He told me my name is Daniel James Masters. He told me I am a human-ghost hybrid, like him. He told me he is my father. But I know that’s a lie; there is no way Vlad Masters, my captor is my parent. I know I have a real home somewhere out there. I have a family and friends who love me. Too bad I can’t remember anything about them."

Additional Tags: Amnesia, child abuse, Diary/journal, poor Danny can’t remember anything 

Abigail the Tree Girl: By EchoGhost: Danny didn’t see his first ghost at 14.

Additional Tags: Haunted Amity Park, Danny has always been weird, clueless Danny

Just Fourteen: By aniura: Danny Fenton is an average high school student whose biggest worry is getting the grades needed to become an astronaut. That is, until his friend Sam convinces him to step inside his parents' broken ghost portal...Updates bi-weekly on Sundays. Covers Danny's time at Casper High before the accident and the month afterwards.

Additional Tags: Angst, origin, the accident, Danny is NOT okay, [really cool fic that fills in the gaps that weren’t delved into during the show] 

The Phantom and the Knight: By savya398: After two years Danny Fenton finally felt like he was getting this whole superhero thing under control. So of course something had to come along and ruin everything.

Additional Tags: Danny Phantom/Young Justice, DC Animated Universe, [little twist on Danny’s origins]

Six Degrees of Separation: By Miss_Nihilist: Valerie Gray was not one for doubt and regret, but that was before she fell in love — and then, promptly and without a second thought, threw it away.

She wasn't looking for them to get back together or even to automatically be friends again. But maybe, just maybe, Valerie could get a second chance at being a decent person. For Danny, for herself, and for all the mistakes she had made.

Additional Tags: Moving On, Post break-up, hurt/comfort, identity reveal

Three for the Price of One: By Marsalias: They had only meant to summon ONE ghost...

Additional Tags: cult, summoning

When the Kingdom Comes Calling: By blueh: The Ghost Zone population assumes that Phantom took the crown with dignity. What they don’t know is fifteen year old Danny Fenton just wants to graduate high school, is constantly ready to throw hands with an army of eyeballs, and absolutely will not be crowned the Ghost King without a fight.

Additional Tags: Not PP compliant, ghost king Danny Fenton, fluff and humor, reluctant king au, [so funny and so on character for a little shit like Danny oof]

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom season 2, ep 12-16 thoughts! these episodes, in comparison to the first 10 or so, felt way more laid back and low-stakes, which I appreciate sometimes. I didn't appreciate how lazy jack's halfa design was in masters of time, it made me so annoyed I redesigned it. 👎🏻 u_u

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-'picking a fight with me and my upgraded form!' 'you upgraded to a mullet?' DANNNNY. YOU CANT SAY THAT TO TECHNUS. YOUVE HAD A MULLET TWICE NOW ('fun' split danny, and evil future danny BOTH HAD THEM). I HAVE THE RECEIPTS.

-danny seeing technus hurting valerie and yelling I AM GOING TO BREAK YOU IN HALF. SAMEEEE <3

-axion labs is now a part of vladco. FUCK YOU VLAD. hes not even really IN this episode, but just thought I'd throw out a nice fuck you anyway.

-'capable of blasting a single person into space in (2) minutes!' tucker. that would kill someone. i mean yeah they might get to space, but theres NO WAY THEY WOULDNT CATCH FIRE, OR THEIR ORGANS WOULDNT LIQUIFY BECAUSE OF THE STRAIN. THEY'D PROBABLY PASS OUT BEFORE THEN, BUT. ...no, okay, I get why vlad bought this company. this is RIGHT up his alley.

-danny KNOWS VAL DIDNT DO THIS, THAT SOMEONE STOLE THE SUIT. AND SPENDING ALL NIGHT CHATTING WITH HER. <3 and val is a 9TH DEGREE BLACKBELT?? danny's mom is, too!! omg and she hunts ghosts, his parents would love her. and her fav fruit is kumquat bc its a funny word. im so with danny val is amazing. I love her and I Do Not Want To Hear It From Sam.

-I knew danny wanted to be an astronaut, but the bowling tidbit is like. yes give me more useless info abt these characters, I love tiny details that make them feel more human, and im glad hes got hobbies aside from ghost stuff, we dont really see a lot of that!!! (I mean, we knew 'fun' danny from when he split himself in half liked bowling, so obv it makes sense he LIKES it, but hes very GOOD at it. so proud of him, bowling king) val calling him neil armstrong and them teasing each other. LOVE THAT.

-technus you are my favorite grandpa for setting this up. SAM WHY ARE YOU BEING SO CREEPY BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FRIEND!!! STOP SPYING ON THEM!!! who actually cares if technus did 'set them up' together, theyre having fun and enjoy each others company!!! 'you think the universe wants you two to be together?' 'i dunno, but maybe /I/ do!' EXACTLY DANNY!!! SOO TRUE.

-and valerie being happy sam said she wants to try and be happy for them and make room at the lunch table for them. and hugging sam over it. VAL NEEDS MORE FRIENDS.

-VAL GOING AFTER TECHNUS IN HER SUIT WITH (1) MILK, AND (1) TREE BRANCH AND KEYS!!!. I LOVE YOUUUU BEST GIRL. her new suit kicks ass

-dannys like 'HEY IM AN ASTRONAUT :D' AW. ...HES IN SPACE... the fact he's actually intending to give her the ring. with SAMS NAME ON IT?? IM CRINGING DANNY NO. YOU CANT DO THAT...thank god he didnt. thank god valerie cut it off and said they can just stay friends for now. tbh, they both have a lot on their plates!! they obv both still like each other...it can be a future thing!! when she knows about phantom! youre 14 theres no need to rush. I just want her to have friends and be happy :(

-...danny struggles to do (1) pull up. SAME. but all the ghost fighting in phantom form REALLY doesnt carry over at ALL? that sucks

-sam being as fit as she is, is not just a goth. shes a goth jock.

-honey I Shrank Our Kid, One of his Enemies, and his Bully: the episode

-dash's crush on phantom is So Obvious. fitness buddies :) watching them interact always makes me laugh. also, phantom, with PANTS. 'how many costume changes you gonna go through, what is this, vegas??' DASSH DJKSFHASKDF

-MADDIE GOING AFTER THE MOUSE WITH A BROOM, WHAT THE FUCK. AAAH. JUST BUY SOME KIND OF MOUSE TRAP.

-danny likes lime and vinegar chips. which sound very good.

-'our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president!' ...poor danny LMAO

-'what's wrong with beauty pageants' oh tucker you sweet naïve child. what ISNT wrong with them. who approved this for a high school?? (I mean, yes. unfortunately child pageants exist, but...) also danny and tucker once again treating the pretty girls like objects. I need to meet the grown man who wrote this, I just want to talk...

-prince aragon's dragon form reminds me of maleficent (color scheme wise) which is always a bonus. considering the episode is called beauty marked, I feel like the sleeping beauty references are deliberate

-sam with the fake fangs. once again her accessories never miss. hate the 'not like other girls, girls who get sucked into this kind of thing are all shallow and all want to be carbon copies' bs tho.

-sam trying to be the Worst Bride, being rude as shit. DORA IS GOING TO GET KILLED. DID YOU MISS THE PART WHERE SHE SAID THE PRINCE WILL HAVE HER HEAD IF YOU ARENT THE IDEAL BRIDE. YOU /KNOW/ DANNY WILL COME SAVE YOU. JUST ACT CHILL UNTIL THEN. even if you were doing fine to get him to take off the crown, consider maybe not letting his poor sister get punished also?? sure, she could also take off the crown and has dragon powers, but did you know that for sure?? dora didnt even really realize it until you guys talked!! (or at least, she was scared to stand up to him. you had no guarantee she would...) but. good for dora. ANOTHER friendly ghost to add to the List :)

-tucker is so under appreciated in his time. if he was doing a tech-based campaign today he'd have a better shot. people in 2004 had NO IDEA how much tech would be a part of our day-to-day lives...altho. tbh if you're going to be running for student council president, maybe you should..focus on things to actually improve the school? since he's going for a tech angle, he could say like, he would be running fundraisers for the schools computers to be upgraded, etc? we've already SEEN he can be good at money-making entrepreneur type stuff!!

-oh my god wait. this episode is JUST YUGIOH?????! A REBORN PHAROH USING A TEENAGER AS A VESSEL?? YESSSSSS

-tucker using his new minion to feed him grapes and carry him. AND LOCUSTS ONTO THE BULLIES. I love how when he's possessed, he gains winged eyeliner.

-this episode is giving me big 'plankton makes everyone in bikini bottom his slaves and build monuments of him from the spongebob movie' vibes. and the pharaoh has a traitor who works for him? VERY big yugioh vibes. aknadin confirmed

-I like that danny is still completely exhausted after using ghostly wail. (still patiently waiting on him to get duplication)

-LOVE the fenton's 80s outfits. I get hes 14 and embarrassed by everything they do because theyre his parents, but. cmon, this is one objectively cool thing theyve done. love 80s fashion.

-...was vlad just standing on that streetlight waiting for danny to come out? how'd he know they'd be coming out the back? how long has he been up there???

-oh, wait, his ecto-acne has flareups? that SUCKS. danny was...well I dont want to say he was LUCKY HE HALF-DIED, but he was lucky his was pretty instant (I'm assuming that had to do with the power/scale of the portals being different?) I remember in the ep we met him, vlad made a point of saying he was stuck in a hospital for a long time, so. that really actually sucks and I feel bad. not that it excuses anything he's done...but like. it does suck.

-vlad being so sure danny wouldnt help him he made it somehow contagious to his friends to make sure he'd get help? danny is a nice boy, he wouldve helped if it was anyone else. the only reason he wouldn't have is because of the shit vlad did to him, on purpose. vlad 100% dug his own grave by being the biggest asshole, so it is very hard to feel bad for him.

-clockwork is back!!! and making danny learn lessons The Hard Way. Uhhh, okay. I kind of get Danny’s logic, that time traveling this far back would prevent vlad from becoming a halfa also, ergo no arch nemesis or ectoacne to worry about. But the fact that was basically the first solution Danny came up with to solve this problem is actually so funny. It’s so extreme

-APPRICIATION FOR THESE 80S LESBIAN BG CHARACTERS.

-vlad telling maddie in the lab (in the 80s) he has something he's wanted to tell her 'for a long time'...how long have they known each other? I assumed they met in college, since jack always calls vlad his college buddy/roommate, so jack and vlad for sure met in college, but did vlad know maddie longer? thats surprising if so. Tho we don’t know what year of college they’re in so they could mean they met as freshmen and a few years have past…speaking of maddie shes crushing the 80s look.

-vlad blames jack, but. maybe dont stick your face 2 inches from the portal??! THIS FEELS LIKE LAB SAFETY BASICS. IF SOMETHING HAS POTENTIAL TO BE DANGEROUS, DONT GET NEAR IT. WITH YOUR FACE UNPROTECTED IN ANY WAY. (altho jack didnt really give a Big Warning besides screaming BONZAI. so. also that, but cmon.) also, they need gloves, goggles, and to pull all of their hair back tbh. but fuck lab safety, I guess!

-cryyyyinnng at how lazy they were with jack's ghost form design, its just plasmius' design on jack!!! you couldve given him his own design!!

-there. I did that in about 10 minutes and its somehow less lazy than what made it into the show. embarrassing! better yet, I think the episode would've been better if maddie would've gotten the ectoacne. or maybe its just me, wanting to see her design! anyway. I'm sure people have already done redesigns of them both as halfas. I have to go look after I finish this watch through. Also mildly frustrated jacks resentment and bitterness is basically also a copy paste of vlads backstory. They’re different characters, I really don’t think jack would stew in bitterness and jealousy the same way vlad would!! I also don’t think he’d give up after one time of trying to hunt ghosts and getting laughed at. Our canon timeline says different…I dunno, I get it was for laughs, but I’m annoyed because the POTENTIAL this plot has…

-did vlad really wear a stupid cheese hat to his wedding. ok actually that kinda rules. and the cheese door knocker. the dairy-only buffet table. vlad still got rich, just on being the New Dairy King. (Assuming that means he owns a lot of dairy businesses?) ok! this actually is great. hope maddie isn't lactose intolerant!

-'no matter how hard I tried, I could never get rid of my ghost half, the half I knew Maddie could never accept' ohh, ouch, what a horrible thing to say to her HALF GHOST SON. 'YOUR MOM WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU' BASICALLY.

-maddie strapping danny to the table with a lazer pointed at him in a secret lab she keeps from vlad that she makes a point of saying is sound proof so he can scream all he wants...CHRIST. DANNYS POOR PYSCHE.

-also, not to feel bad for alternate vlad (because, he did lie to maddie saying jack blames her and never wants to see her again...) but. being married to a woman 20+ years and she immediately goes back to jack? if she didnt love vlad and feels like she had to hide shit from him, and says she wasted her best years with him, WHY MARRY HIM. it feels like leading him on!!! cannot believe im feeling bad for vlad, but. this alternate timeline vlad is significantly Less Horrible than Our Vlad. did she not think she'd get funding for her ghost stuff? (which, fair assumption since they're considered 'ghost fanatics/nuts in canon...but...) why did she think jack or vlad would be her ONLY OPTIONS? be like your sister. be single. Actually, this au could’ve been really interesting if after the accident, vlad lied to her and said jack never wanted to see her again, but she stays single. Imagine how much that would bug vlad… like, in her mind, it was never a competition it was jack or no one type situation…

-danny being like 'leave him ALONE' this jack is a HOMEWRECKER, DANNY. let them go to court and settle this at the least. ...or just throw vlad into the portal. (100% human, defenseless vlad) CHRIST, MADDIE THATS BRUTAL. THATS MURDER.

-danny seeing his mom immediately accepting him and his dad being half ghosts in this universe, if I was him this would be a great sign that his universe's maddie would also.

-*maddie voice* "clockwork will help!" *2 seconds later, with clockwork* "I will Not Help." TOUGH LOVE KING. YES LET DANNY SEE THE SODA HIMSELF AND DEVOLP BETTER OBSERVATION SKILLS.

-when clockwork ""reset time to the way it was"" just before danny "meddled"" ...did he really erase a whole alternate timeline? ...damn. because maddie and danny both called it an alternate timeline by name, it splitting when the college incident went different, so it wouldnt have really mattered if he reset it, right. like because danny's timeline is on a different stream? why didnt clockwork just. show danny a replay and not Reset That Timeline. wh...I wonder how many people that Erased From Existence. Anyway! once again stating clockwork is casually terrifying!

[going-dead]

A Bit of Space

@phantomsnfae Happy Christmas truce! I wanted to post this either on Christmas or new years but it wasn’t finished by Christmas so happy new decade! You asked for astronaut Danny so here it is! I threw in a dash of Grey Ghost for you as well!

____________________________________

“Danny you need to calm down.” Valerie chided trying to calm her boyfriend down over the phone.

Danny tapped his fingers on his leg. “I can’t calm down Val! What if I mess something up? It’s already a miracle that I got a job at NASA, but to pass the training and be selected to be part of the astronaut program? I can’t mess this up.”

Danny could hear Valerie roll her eyes. “How could you mess this up? You’ve already died once anything else should pale in comparison.”

“First off ouch. Secondly what if I can’t handle small spaces? Or freak out in zero gravity? What if I don’t know enough and I don’t get admitted, or I’m not fit enough?” He worried.

Valerie gave a small sigh. “You really are dumb aren’t you? How many times have you been trapped in your own thermos, and you can fly. You’ve been studying for ages and after six years of fighting ghosts on an almost weekly basis I don’t think you have to worry about being fit enough, maybe too fit though. You will be fine” 

Danny had to agree with that logic, but it didn’t do much to calm him down. He gave a quick goodbye and hung up the phone. He was on a lunch break at the moment and the pause between the testing and training was allowing him to start worrying again. He took a deep breath and headed back into the fray. Now that the break was over it was time for the practical portion. 

The person observing him for testing, Anne, waved him over. Standing next to her was a man Danny didn’t recognize. “Johnathan this is Daniel, Daniel this is Johnathan you two will be partnering for this next portion.”

Johnathan reached his hand out and Danny took it. “You can just call me John, I’m assuming you go by Dan?” 

Danny flinched at the name but quickly replaced it with a smile. It may have been years ago, but the memories of his alternate future self still haunted him at times. “Actually Danny is fine. Nice to meet you John.” 

Anne lead the two over to what looked like a small medical station. “Now before we begin we’re going to give you a small physical. Nothing big don’t worry just to get baselines and make sure nothing is wrong before we start.” She motioned for Danny first. 

Danny sat down in the chair provided, suddenly wondering when he last had a physical that wasn’t from a doctor who he could explain his abnormalities off  as simply the long term effect of living with ghost biologists. Because he was pretty sure, despite being a government agency, NASA wasn’t in the know about the paranormal. So thinking back it was never, he had never been to a doctor outside of Amity Park. Looked like it was time to panic again.

The doctor who Danny didn’t get the name of and wasn’t wearing a name tag, or maybe she was but Danny was too busy panicking to notice, put an automatic blood pressure cuff on his arm. She looked at the screen brows furrowed and tried again. “Hmm weird, must be acting up. No worries we’ll just do it manually.” Danny at this point was now really panicking. She took his vitals again and looked more satisfied. “Blood pressure and pulse are a bit on the lower end but that’s probably partially due to you being smaller.” 

Danny sighed internally, of course his pulse when he is on the verge of a panic attack would be a below average rate for a normal person. When she took his temperature he focused all his power on dampening his core as much as possible. Thankfully the rest of his physical, and all of John’s went smoothly. Finally it was time to start. Anne lead them to a medium sized chamber. Danny recognized it instantly, it was an invention his parents made a few years back trying to recreate a ghosts flight ability. They never were able to control the direction the floated in or stop at will effectively just making a zero gravity chamber, so they scrapped it. Apparently the word got out and NASA picked it up. 

Danny and John entered the chamber ropes wrapped around both their waists. Anne’s voice came over the intercom and let them know she was turning on the machine. Soon enough the two were floating. It was definitely different from flying, but easy enough to adapt around. It did take a decent amount of willpower to not use flight to move around, his mind convinced that he was floating willingly. Danny pushed off the walls laughing, it was fun not being in control of exactly where he would float. He looked over to John who wasn’t fairing as well as Danny. He was currently upside down flailing around trying to get to a wall. Danny braced himself against a wall and pushed off to go help the other man. 

It was over all too soon for Danny. When he left the chamber Anne looked at him impressed. “You handled that quite well, most candidates have a similar experience as John did.” She laughed. Danny smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t be able to reasonably explain how he was calm with complete weightlessness. 

When Anne started leading them to the next task John walked up to Danny. “I was fine I did not need your help.” He growled.

Danny was a bit taken aback. “Woah dude calm down, I was just trying to help. You looked like you were struggling a bit. Plus you heard Anne, most people react like you did.” John just scoffed and sped past him, bumping his shoulder as he did. Danny rolled his eyes, and here he thought he’d be done with bullies after high school. 

They arrived at a model of a rocket cabin. Anne explained that they’ll be sitting in it for a few hours to see how well they respond to both the small space and the fake simulations she’ll be running. 

“Wait how long will be in in there exactly though?” John asked looking the cabin up and down.

“Depends on how well you do.” She answered ushering them in. They strapped themselves into the seats and braced themselves for what was to come. Looking around it was definitely a bit cramped, but he could shift around so it was a million times better than being in the thermos. They ran through a few scenarios, like what take off would be like. Both men fared well. 

Anne let them out after a while with an approving hum. “Good job you two. That's all for today, I’ll see you both again tomorrow for the rest of your evaluation.” She bid them farewell. She looked down at her phone and furrowed her brow. “Actually Danny do you mind staying for a bit longer?” 

Danny nodded his head hanging back. Anne lead him back to where the doctor from earlier was. She looked up from her clipboard and smiled. “Welcome back Mr. Fenton. I was just looking at your chart and was wondering if we could double check some things?”

Danny tensed up but nodded. “Uh yeah sure, everything alright?” He asked as another doctor walked in with a cart. 

“Yes of course we just noticed a few odd things with your results. I’d feel better with a second opinion on.” She gave a smile as the new doctor came over and shone a light in his eyes. 

“Ah hey!” Danny yelled blinking his eyes rapidly. 

The new doctor at least looked a bit sorry. He gave a warning before shining the light into Danny’s eyes again. He placed a stethoscope over Danny’s chest, and also tested his reflexes. “Mr. Fenton do you happen to have any medical history we should know about? Or perhaps anything that runs in your family by chance?”

“Uh no?” Danny looked over at Anne who was now looking at his chart with wide eyes. 

The doctor looked almost disappointed in him, before the three of them sent him off. Leaving Danny feel anxious and paranoid. 

The incident was never brought up again. A while after all this started, Danny was finally in space. He had just arrived in the space station a few days earlier along with John. He had gotten acquainted with the rest of the crew and was currently eating lunch. Suddenly the space station shuddered and alarms started to blare. Danny and the other five crew members looked at each other before another shudder. 

A loud voice blared through the speakers. “HAHAHA! I TECHNUS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE SPACE STATION! FROM HERE I WILL BE ABLE TO RULE THE COSMOS!” Danny was going to scream. It had been months since he’d had to deal with a ghost at all, and now he had to deal with one not only in space but one who could take control of the life support? Not to mention in a space where he would not be able go ghost in privet. 

The lights flickered, he sighed. He at least hoped he’d get out of this without being captured and experimented on, he knew he’d be out of a job at least. He gave one last look at his cremates. “In advance, sorry. Please don’t try to kill me.” He took a calming breath and reminded himself to not re-kill Technus. “I’m going ghost!” He yelled out as two white rings bisected him, replacing clothes with a black and white hazmat suit, blue eyes with toxic green, and black hair with glowing white. 

He flew through the wall of the station out into open space. “Hey Technus! Mind giving me a bit of space for once?” Technus materialized next to him. “AH PHANTOM!” If ghosts could sweat Danny was pretty sure Technus would be. “I DID NOT EXPECT YOU TO BE HERE, UHH.” He looked at the watch on his wrist. “LOOK AT THE TIME, I HAVE TO GO… UH MAKE DINNER!” He vanished. Danny was grateful he was now powerful enough that most ghosts knew to just leave if he showed up.

Danny reluctantly flew back into the station and reverted back to a human. Giving his crew mates an uncomfortable grin.   

“Holy shit that was awesome!” 

“Woah what was that dude?” “Are you an alien?” “Of course he’s not an alien, he flew through the wall. He’s a ghost!”

They all clambered about asking him questions. Danny smiled as he answered the questions. He had a feeling his secret, job, and organs were safe with them.

[darks-ink]

Disinterred CH.14

Vlad Masters considered himself a patient man. He had, after all, waited a long 20 years before he ever acted on his plans of vengeance. He had spend the last 2 years carefully manipulating Daniel to become his son and half-ghost apprentice.

And he had waited a full week for Valerie Gray to catch her bounty.

(Tumblr hates links and I want this to appear in the tags so… for author notes/full fic summary/links to the other chapters/mirror links to AO3 and FFnet, click here)

Valerie hesitated briefly on the doorstep of FentonWorks. The day before had been her first time visiting the house, but she didn’t think it really counted. She had only been there to drop off Danielle, and she hadn’t even used the front door! Hell, she hadn’t even entered the damn house!

Finally she pressed the doorbell. A veritable explosion of noise came from the house, briefly startling Valerie. What was going on in there?

But before she could really think of anything the door swung open. The thundering footsteps she heard before stopped somewhere further in the house.

In the opening of the door stood a teenage boy. His hair was black as the night and his eyes icy blue. Just who she was looking for.

“Hey Val,” Danny greeted, stepping aside to let her in. “I hope dad didn’t startle you – he’s waiting for Jazz to arrive.”

“She’s coming over for the Summer vacation then?” she asked as she entered. Jack was lingering in the doorway to the living room, deflating a little when he saw her. Valerie tried not to feel offended.

Then the man seemed to realize that he didn’t know her, as he frowned at her.

Danny must’ve noticed too, because he promptly introduced her. “Dad, this is Valerie Gray. She’s a friend from school.”

Valerie smiled at the older man, offering him her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Fenton.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but the sound of an explosion cut him off. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen for a moment before turning back to face them. “Right, nice to meet you too. Why…” He seemed to be struggling for a polite way to ask her why she was here. Or, more likely, why she was here now.

“I asked her to come over, dad.” Danny took mercy on his dad, and on her, too. She wasn’t exactly scrambling to explain that she already knew about Dani’s presence at FentonWorks. That, in turn, likely would force her to reveal her status as the Red Huntress. And besides the obvious fact that it was a secret identity for a reason, it was no secret that Red hated Phantom. She really didn’t want Jack Fenton to unleash his protective nature on her for threatening his son. Never mind that he had done the same. She highly doubted that he would listen to such reasoning.

Danny had grabbed her arm and started guiding her towards the stairs. “We’ll be in my room. Call if you need anything,” he yelled over his shoulder at his dad.

“Right,” Jack said, blinking somewhat surprised.

And then before she knew it she was standing in Danny’s bedroom. She considered looking around for a moment, but restrained herself to a quick glance. The room was almost entirely blue, with space-themed decoration scattered around the room. Quite fitting for a boy who had expressed an interest in space and becoming an astronaut.

But for now she needed to focus on the reason why she was here in the first place. After all, yesterday Danny had promised to tell her everything. And this morning he had texted her, telling her to come over so they could talk in private. Without the risk of anybody overhearing.

“Sooo,” she finally said when she felt like the silence had lingered too long, making sure to draw out to ‘o’. “You were going to tell me the whole story?”

“Right.” Danny glanced around the room before offering her a chair. She sat down while he sank down onto his bed. “It’s… a long story. And complicated.”

“I’ve got time.” She shot him a reassuring smile, and Danny visibly relaxed. His posture eased up, muscles unclenching. Valerie had a pretty good idea of how he felt. She had gone through her fair share of awkward conversations with her dad since she had become a ghost hunter.

“Okay, so… This whole mess started some 20 years ago, when my parents were in college.” Danny leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “They were part of this ghost hunting club. The two of them… and Vlad.”

Valerie nodded to show that she was following. Danny sighed and continued speaking.

“All three of them were close, I guess. I don’t know much. None of them like to talk about it. Anyway, the three of them somehow figured out that there was an alternate dimension where ghosts resided. They built a machine trying to get there. A Portal. A small one, especially compared to the one in the basement, but a Portal nonetheless.”

“And it didn’t work?” Valerie asked, now also leaning forward, intrigued. She figured that if that Portal had worked, ghosts would’ve been known way sooner. At the very least Danny’s parents would’ve been far more prepared for them – and Vlad Masters likely wouldn’t have hidden his ghost hunting past.

“Nope. It exploded in Vlad’s face. He got a horrible case of Ecto-Acne, and…” Danny paused for a moment before sighing again. “And he became the first known half-ghost. 20 years before I got my powers.”

“Oh,” she said. That was… unexpected. But then Danny had never told her how he had become half-ghost, either. Had he gone through something similar? “But wait. If you left behind a body when you became half-ghost, why didn’t Vlad?”

“I don’t know,” Danny admitted with a shrug. “I guess it might’ve been because he didn’t instantly become half-ghost. He suffered through that whole slow Ecto-Acne thing.”

“And I’m guessing that you become a half-ghost in a similar way?” she mused.

“Uh, yeah.” He made a face. “I never told you? When my parents first tried to turn on the Fenton Portal downstairs it didn’t work. Sam and Tucker talked me into checking it out, I tripped over a cable, and accidentally turned it on.”

Yeesh, that didn’t sound pleasant. She hissed through her teeth. “While you were still inside it huh?”

“Yup.” He shrugged. “It was only like a bazillion volts of electricity and ectoplasm, no biggie. It only hurt for a few infinitely long seconds.”

Then he shifted slightly before starting to talk again, clearly eager to change the topic. “Anyway, to get back to what we were talking about. Vlad became the first halfa. Then he cut all contact with my parents, and now blames them, saying that they cut him out of their lives. On top of that he still blames my dad for the accident and wants to kill him. And he wants my mom as his wife because he has been in love with her since college.”

“Jesus.” That was… a lot. And here she was, thinking that she was overwhelmed by all of this ghost business. She had nothing on Danny! No wonder that he always seemed so tired and exhausted in school. “And he wants you as his son, right? Because you’re half-ghost too.”

Danny nodded. “He’s been badgering me since he found out, which was a few months after the Accident. I told him off, since he kept asking me to renounce my dad and all that. I mean, he straight-up told me he wanted to kill my dad, and then asked me to join him!” He hissed something under his breath, which sounded somewhat like “fruitloop”. Then he spoke again in his previous volume. “I guess when that failed he went to acquire some other pawns instead.”

A pawn like… “Like me?”

Danny said nothing, he just nodded again. The grimace on his face told her enough, though.

“Of course.” She pressed her hands against her face and groaned. “I can’t believe I fell for that! Why didn’t I question someone who send a fucking 14-year old ghost hunting equipment! Of course there was something shady going on!” The best ghost hunter he knew, her ass! The most naive, maybe.

“Valerie, it’s okay. I don’t blame you.” His voice was soft, soothing. It reminded her of how badly she could’ve hurt him. Of what she wanted to do to him.

“That doesn’t make it okay, Danny!” she snapped, dragging her hands off of her face again. “He manipulated me. He wanted me to hunt you, knowing that you were… that you are human!”

She was breathing quickly, heavily. She wasn’t just upset, she was angry. She couldn’t believe what that slime of a human being had almost made her do!

“And then he asked me to track down your clone! Which he made! Who is, without a doubt, just as human as you!” she exclaimed with a growl.

And then she stopped in her track. She suddenly remembered the girl she had brought to the Fentons just the day before. The girl who looked like she had been on the verge of collapsing, of dying.

“Oh god, Danielle. I completely forgot about her!” She started to scramble up out of her chair, half-raised before Danny spoke.

“Shh,” Danny soothed, raising his hands placatingly. “She’s fine. We managed to stabilize her.”

“Good.” Valerie slumped back into the seat with a sigh. “What’s… What’s she gonna do next?”

“Well, mom and dad are really excited about the prospect of a new daughter.” He grinned, smile widening at her incredulous expression. “So we’re going to have to sort all of that out, but… She’s gonna stay with us.”

“Good, that’s… That’s good.” Valerie let herself relax into the chair a little further. “What… are we going to do about Vlad?”

“I don’t know,” Danny admitted. “I never really figured out how to deal with him, to be honest. For now Dani is more important.”

“But he’s going to want to know why I didn’t capture her,” Valerie pressed. “What am I supposed to tell him?” A little bit of frustration slipped through in her tone. But she had gotten herself into this mess, so she wouldn’t let Danny suffer for it. Not this time.

“Well,” Danny said with a bit of smirk. “Why don’t you tell him–”

Vlad Masters considered himself a patient man. He had, after all, waited a long 20 years before he ever acted on his plans of vengeance. He had spend the last 2 years carefully manipulating Daniel to become his son and half-ghost apprentice.

And he had waited a full week for Valerie Gray to catch her bounty.

Yet no ghost huntress came. Despite her previous successes, the girl had apparently failed to capture the pathetic should-be clone. It was rather disappointing, especially since she hadn’t even bothered to let him know. That’s what he got for relying on teenagers, he supposed.

He sneered and hit the call button. He would have to ask her about her failure in person.

Soon enough the teenage huntress appeared, retracting her board and landing on the floor in front of his desk. Her helmet retracted, her face neutral for once.

“Mr. Masters,” she greeted, voice rather emotionless.

“Miss Gray,” he allowed with a slight nod of his head. “I must inquire on the status of your hunt of the little Phantom. I’m afraid that I don’t quite feel safe, knowing that she might still be out there somewhere.”

“Right.” Valerie grimaced a little, apparently displeased by her lack of success. She turned away, looking at one of his walls instead of him. “Sorry, Mr. Masters. I… I failed.”

It was rather unlike her to admit failure. No, Valerie was persistent. She didn’t give up. So why had she?

“What happened, my dear girl?” he asked, voice smooth and purring.

“I, uh. I tracked her down, but she got away.” She turned to face him again, an apologetic look on her face. Frustration laced her voice, however. “Somehow Phantom, the regular Phantom, found out. He interfered before I could catch the girl ghost and escaped with her.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what happened after that, I haven’t seen either of them since then. I haven’t been able to pick them up on the scanner, either.”

Her being unable to find them made sense. If they shifted into their human forms Valerie’s scanners would fail to pick up on them. Even if their ghostly cores stayed in human form, they were dormant. Weak enough to avoid detection.

But importantly… How did Daniel find out about Danielle’s presence in the city? It made no sense. But Valerie wouldn’t lie to him, not about this. Her anger towards Daniel’s ghost form would blind her. She wouldn’t work together with him, not to save another ghost.

“How… unfortunate,” he told her. “You might understand, dear girl, that I can’t reward you for this?”

“No,” she sighed. “I understand, Mr. Masters.”

“Well, you better get going then, my dear.” He smiled at her, his smooth politician smile. He couldn’t afford to cast her out. Who knew when she might come in handy as pawn, even if she had failed this time. “And next time, please tell me sooner.”

“Yes Mr. Masters,” she said as her hoverboard reformed again. Her expression was stern, focused. Determined. “It won’t happen again.”

No, he was sure it wouldn’t. Next time he would take care of it himself, rather than trust a teenager like little miss Gray to take care of something this important. Or maybe he would send one of his ghostly pawns. Even if his vultures or Skulker weren’t much more successful in the past, at least they informed him when they failed.

For now though, he had another teenage ghost hunter to bother. If Daniel had interfered and grabbed Danielle like Valerie suggested, he still had her hidden somewhere. But he couldn’t have disappeared, not like she had suggested. He still had his human life, his family to fool.

So what Vlad needed to do was pay the boy a little visit. A quick stop by FentonWorks to speak with him. Yes, and either the boy would admit where Danielle was on his own… or Vlad could just stick a tracker on him.

Another infallible plan, truly.

The door to FentonWorks opened, and Vlad let loose one of his few heart-felt smiles. Because standing there in front of him is the ever-beautiful Maddie. Her clothes left something to wish for, that dreadful jumpsuit that Jack forced on her, but still. She was as gorgeous as always.

“Ah, Madeline–” he started to say, but she held up her hand and cut him off.

“Vlad.” Her tone was hard. Unfriendly. “Come in.”

He had to admit… he was confused. She didn’t seem very welcoming, perhaps something was going on? But then why would she let him come in? Unless it was him that she was annoyed with, but surely not? What could he have done to have angered her?

She walked into the living room, and Vlad trailed in right after her. The sight that greeted him, however, stopped him dead in his tracks.

Maddie did continue moving, however, as she sat down on the closest edge of the sectional couch. Next to her sat Jack, his large orange bulk taking up most of the remaining couch. He immediately laid his arm around Maddie’s shoulders, in a rather possessive manner. Vlad would’ve felt more angered at the display if it weren’t for the fact that the rest of the group was distracting him.

Next to Jack sat Jasmine. Her aqua eyes were set on him, cold and cutting. She had one of her arms wrapped around the person sitting next to her. Another girl, with sky-blue eyes and black hair bound back in a ponytail. Danielle. The girl had her arms wrapped around herself, looking uncertain but hopeful. What did she have to look hopeful about? What was she even doing here, among the rest of Daniel’s family?

On the furthest end sat Daniel himself, who also had an arm wrapped around the failed clone. His gaze was hard like his mother’s, but determined. For once the boy didn’t try to intimidate him with his ‘scary eyes’. Vlad would’ve complimented him, but he was sure that the boy was only refraining because he didn’t want the rest of his family to see.

“What’s this?” he finally uttered, turning to look at his should-be wife.

“This,” Daniel said, standing up from the couch and gesturing at it, “is a message, Vlad. You’ve gone too far. And we’re not gonna stand for it any longer.”

“’We’?” he repeated, quirking an eyebrow. Surely the boy hadn’t… He wouldn’t, right? Yes, he hadn’t been fantastic at upholding his end of their truce, but Daniel had been too afraid to reveal his secret. So, surely not?

“Yes, we,” the boy reiterated. “They know, Vlad. They know everything. Everything you’ve said, everything you’ve done, and…” Daniel grinned, a cocky smile usually seen on Phantom. “Everything we are.”

“You didn’t,” he hissed, a snarl forming. Ectoplasm surged, his core thrumming to life. But he repressed it. He had no need for flashy eyes, not like Daniel. The boy was bluffing, and he didn’t need to provide unnecessary evidence. He would be playing right into Daniel’s hand.

“He did.” Vlad turned to face Maddie again, watching as she uncrossed her arms and frowned at him. “And you, Vlad Masters, are a fucked-up mess of a human being.”

He flinched back at the harsh words of his love. Surely she didn’t mean it? Perhaps Daniel had lied, had embellished his stories a little?

“Maddie–”

“No!” she snapped. “You listen to me! You mess with me, fine! You act like a pathetic little man who can’t accept ‘no’ for an answer? Fine! But you know what you don’t do?” She pushed herself off of the couch, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “You don’t mess with my children! Any of them!”

Then she leaned in even closer, teeth bared like an animal. “And you definitely don’t come here, pretending none of it ever happened!”

He flinched back another step. Maddie relaxed slightly, moving back as well. The rest of her family, including the pathetic clone, rose up as well. They grouped together, all staring down Vlad.

“Now listen here, V-Man.” Jack crossed his arms, an unusually serious look on his face. “I apologize for the accident in college, alright? And I’m sorry that we never knew how much we hurt you. It shouldn’t have happened, even if we weren’t the ones who cut the contact with you.”

“But that’s no excuse to hurt our children,” Maddie added, also crossing her arms. “To hurt us. If you had just talked to us, we would’ve apologized. Would’ve told you we were sorry. Because we are sorry about what happened to you in college.”

“Carrying a grudge like this isn’t healthy,” Jasmine contributed, speaking up for the first time since he had entered. “It’s not okay. Not for us, but definitely not for you. It’ll kill you, sooner or later.”

“But we’re willing to forgive you.” Daniel stared him down, a flicker of… hope, perhaps?… in his eyes. Vlad couldn’t quite place it, it didn’t make sense. Not in this situation. “Everybody deserves a second chance, even you.”

And then finally the little failure joined in. “But you gotta work for it. You have to apologize to everyone and correct your mistakes.”

He snarled, ectoplasm boiling up in answer to his emotions. His vision faded red, a clear sign of his eyes changing color. “The only mistake I’m correcting is you!” Pink ectoplasmic energy sparked around his hands.

The whole group, in answer, shifted into battle positions. The fists of both Daniel and Danielle lit up, coiling flares of ectoplasm, ready to be fired. The other three all pulled out various pieces of ecto-weaponry, hidden heavens know where.

“We’ve given you a choice, Vlad.” Daniel’s eyes lit up green. “Either you take it and apologize, or you get out.” The last words were growled, the threat more than clear.

Vlad took another look at the group assembled in front of him. Then he huffed, his eyes fading back to their normal blue. There was nothing to be won by fighting them. No, what he needed now was time to plan.

“Fine,” he drawled, flapping his hand in a faux casual gesture. “I will see all of you another time, then.”

And he turned around and walked off, not once looking at the people he was leaving behind.