#That's why another name for the Ghost Zone is “The Infinite Realms”

[bet-on-me-13]

Undead Galaxy

So! Within the Ghost Zone, there exists a Lair unlike any other.

To a Ghost, a Lair is supposed to be an integral part of their Existence. When a Ghost Builds their Lair, they take a part of the Ghost Zone Itself and mold it into a Realm of their own, transforming it into a reflection of their Core.

As such, a Lair usually matches the personality, and more importantly the Obsessions, of the Ghost it was created by. It is meant to be the Eternal Home of the one who built it, a place to spend the rest of their eternal unlife, and as such it needs to be able to fulfill the Ghosts Obsessions.

Think of Skulkers Lair, an Island Jungle filled to the brim with Monsters and Beasts of all sorts, ready and waiting to be hunted down and skinned. The perfect home for a ghost with an Obsession based on Hunting.

Some take this a step farther, like the Ancients (which is just another name used for Gods in the Zone), who transform their Lairs into Entirely Seperate Afterlives for others to inhabit. Hades, Osiris, the Demon Lords of the various Hells, they all took this approach.

But there is a problem. For beings like God's, who are sustained by Worship, what would happen if their world were to die? If the planet their people resided on were to be hit by an asteroid, or blown up by an Alien warlord?

A God without its worship would Fade, and as such the Afterlife they used to maintain would fall apart as well. The Millions of Souls who trusted that God to protect them in death would be left to the mercy of the Void between Afterlives. Somebody decided that they didn't like that, and stepped in.

Within the Ghost Zone exists a Galaxy.

A Galaxy where all the souls and Afterlives of worlds that have died continue to exist. Worlds that were destroyed by a cataclysmic War that resulted in both sides dying, by unstable Mining Practices destabilize the Core, by a Psychic Virus that wiped out all life on Planet leaving a baren husk.

When their populations died, and the Gods who maintained their afterlives would have faded, they were saved by another and brought into his Lair.

The Ghost King, Phantom.

He was a spirit with two simple Obsessions. The Protection of others, and the Majesty of Space.

But there was no Space in the Ghost Zone, only the Infinite void. So he made his own. He constructed a Lair of incredible size, decorating it with Stars and Planets and Supernova and Nebula. He recreated the Majesty of the Space he adored, and the invited the wandering souls of dead worlds to enjoy it with him.

He gave them planets of their own within the Unliving Galaxy. All the souls of crumpled afterlives wandering the Ghost Zone were allowed to recreate it again, to find eachother and build their communities again.

With this he could fulfill both of his Obsessions at the same time, and he would he doing his duty as their king by helping his subjects.

He saw it as an absolute win.

...

They had been trapped in this strange dimension for days now.

Nobody had any idea how they ended up there. Clark had just fallen asleep, Diana was training, Hal was on patrol. Even J'onn himself was on Moniter Duty, when the next thing he knew they were all waking up on a floating purple rock in a Lazarus green void.

Thankfully Constantine that had been dragged alongside him when J'onn when he was taken, and managed to explain that they were in some kind of void in-between the afterlives.

"The Ghost Zone" "The Unending End" "The Collective Dead", it went by many names apparently. The most famous name for it was "The Infinite Realms", named for the way the infinite souls residing there would build their own personal Realms, or Lairs, to spend eternity in.

Not even he knew how they had ended up there. Constantine was confident that they hadn't died recently (the fact they needed to use "recently" was a sad thought), so it wasn't the old fashioned way at the very least.

Still, they needed to get moving. This place was dangerous and they didn't want to stay in one place for too long.

After days of traveling across the strange void (had they even eaten since they arrived there?) Constantine finally caught a hint of something. There was a draw on them, pulling them towards a specific direction. They had been unconsciously following it for days now, and now that they knew what they were doing they soldiered on even faster. If there were answers wherever they were being drawn, they would find them.

Once it came into view, it was obvious what had been calling to them this entire time. It was massive.

Spanning across the endless horizon, they could see something that looked like a Galaxy spanning in front of them. From their position on a floating island, they could see it in all its glory. Contrasting the green they had become accustomed to, the Galaxy swirled in a variety of Bright Blues and Deep Purples, with multicolored stars shining so brightly they stood out even as far as they were from it.

It took all their breaths away, and J'onn would admit to having stood there staring for longer than he should have. It was just so starkly different than anything he had seen thus far in this dimension of greens and purples.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

In an Instant their weapons were drawn and fighting stances set, facing the person who had appeared in their midst.

He was a young man, seemingly in his early 20's, with snow white hair and Lazarus green eyes. Above his head sat a crown glowing the same color as the galaxy spanning in front of them. They all knew instantly that this man was connected to it on a deep level.

"Who are you" Asked Diana. Her thoughts were filled with theat assessments and carefulness. She thought he was strong.

"Oh, my name is Phantom." He replied, "Sorry for startling you, this is one of my favorite spots to stargaze and I forgot that normal people usually can't see me when I zone out like that."

"What is that?" Clark asked, pointing to the Galactic Structure on the horizon. He was curious. The man before they didn't act hostile, so he had decided to match his energy.

"Oh, that's my Galaxy. Like it?" He asked excitedly, "Took me ages to get it looking just right, but I'm so proud of the results."

"Do you know why we are here?" Asked Hal, his mind was swimming with worry over his Sector of space. He had been taken while patrolling it. He wanted to get back quickly.

"I didn't bring you here, if that's what you're asking." He replied evenly, "But I know who did. They wanted to see you again, but with their Realms crumbled and their people scattered, they never had the chance. Now they do, and they wanted to say hello again. Sorry about the long journey, they messed up the Summoning process and you ended up a bit farther than intended."

"Who summoned us?" Asked Constantine warily. His thoughts were full of the various demons and gods he knew inhabited these Realms. He was worried.

"Well, You, accidently got dragged along through proximity, sorry." He apologized to the magician, "But as for the rest of you? Well, you'll just have to wait and see for yourselves. Trust me, it'll be a welcome surprise."

"Can you tell us where can we find the ones who summoned us?" Asked J'onn finally. He was curious, and wary, of who had decided to pull them into this dimension. But if the man before them was being truthful, then he wanted to meet them.

"Just keep following that pulling sensation that brought you here, you'll find them." He said, "I'll stay here for a while longer though. Just want to stargaze a bit more."

They left him on the island and kept going.

As the approached the Galaxy, it dawned on them how truly massive the realm in front of them was. Hal confirmed that it wasn't as big as a real one, but even he was in awe at its size.

As they drew closer is quickly became apparent that they were being drawn in different directions. After a quick discussion they decided it was best to split up.

J'onn approached the Planet he was being drawn to, and realized very quickly that it very closely resembled his old homeworld, Mars. The Red Sands, the Rocky Terrain, the two Moons that could be seen orbiting the planet, all of it seemed tailor made to resurface memories of his destroyed home.

It took all of a second for all of it to come together in his head.

The allusions Phantom had made to his summoners missing him. The resemblance to his old Homeworld. The fact he was currently in a version of the Afterlife.

As he made the connection in his head, he felt another two connections form. Ones he had not felt in the the Centuries since he had lost them.

"Hello, J'onn."

"...M'yri'ah..." His wife.

"Hi dad."

"...K'hym..." His Daughter.

It took nearly a full minute before his mind calmed enough to send them a response. It was a Whirlwind of wild thoughts, fear of this being a trick, and above all hope that it was real.

Eventually, he finally managed a response.

"I missed you."

[on-the-clear-blue]

Original idea coming from @the-witchhunter and then added on to by many others.

Dead Man's Diner

---

Danny was tired okay? It may very well be his own damn fault but he can't keep waking up during daylight hours, while yes, he can fully be up and sitting at a desk, the likelihood of him waking up getting shouted at by his boss for sleeping on the job was astounding.

So at 19 years old, freshly jobless, Danny said Fuck it and moved away from Amity Park, Valarie was more than willing to handle the few ghosts that still came through the portal since he became the King.

You might be wondering, why isn't Danny filthy rich and rolling in it as the ghost king? Two words, the Observants.

Those flouting eye bastards had moved in and said that unless he was the king full time, he was unable to access the vaults of the Infinite Realms.

So once again, 19, freshly jobless and wanting to get out of Gotham? Danny was very lucky to have friends that love him far to much, Sam and Tucker both pitched in to move him out to where they had chosen to do collage.

*Gotham* oh Sam was in love with the place, the architecture, the people, (and maybe a certain green supervillian that was determined to make the city better) and Tucker was obsessing over being in the same city as Wayne Enterprises, trying his best to get into their internship program by his own merit rather than just hacking himself into it.

And Danny? He was loving it for a slightly different reason.

While the death rate was unfortunately high in Gotham, that also meant that the amount of passive ectoplasim generated by the deaths was massive, it was almost as rich as back in Amity Park with the portal into the ghost zone!

(Oh and the many job opportunities but Danny was a little less worried about that.)

---

Letting out a sigh, Danny scrubbed at his eyes as he leaned back into his chair, another job he had to turn down due to it being shady as all get out.

4 hours and he was getting payed 200 bucks? Major criminal vibes from that...

Taking a moment to get himself balanced, Danny leaned back and looked to the clunky laptop that Tucker had given him, it was modified to hell and back, so it still ran quickly, but it sure as he'll wasn't pretty.

Clicking on yet another job listing, Danny paused as he felt a shiver run down his spine, and a blue mist pass through his lips, blinking, he twisted around to look at the spare room of Sam's apartment, Ghosts tend not to get close enough to him to trigger the ghost sense in Gotham...

Seeing nothing, Danny turned back to his laptop only to find a piece of paper stuck to the screen with tape, freezing at first, the dark haired man sighed deeply, peeling it off he held it close as he read it.

[Help wanted at Big C's Dinner! Looking for a night cook that knows their way around a kitchen!]

There was a few more lines that Danny's eyes skimmed over, picking up the location that it was at, it even had a decent pay, but he paid more attention to the scribbled on note at the bottom of it.

[Daniel, head to this place at 12 am tonight. While the Observants said that you may not touch a single coin in your vaults, they side nothing of your properties.]

---

So Danny knows how to handle himself, he has fought many, many people and still came out half alive, but even he felt a little on edge coming down to the railroad tracts in Gotham, because apparently that was were Big C's dinner was at...which he apparently owned? Clockwork works in mysterious ways that Danny was so done trying to figure out.

Stepping up to a bit of abandoned tract, he blinked a few times at the site of Big C's.

It was a decent sized Dinning Car, with a ramp that attached itself to a proper street, it had peeling green paint and dirty white accents with charming rusted steel connecting it to the tracts, the only thing new looking on it was a bit banner stretched across it, stating the name "BIG C'S ALL DAY EVERY DAY BREAKFAST CART! OPEN 24/7!"

The windows were close off by tinted yellow blinds, but he could still see light coming through them. Stepping up the ramp Danny felt the cart under him shudder and something inside of him fluttered, and by the time he was opening the door he could feel the reason why.

The very cart was *alive*, taking a quick breath, Danny could practically taste the energy from it, there was a buzzing undercurrent of excitement that rung through the whole cart.

A little unprepared for his, Danny just smiled warily, "Uhh, hey there? Anyone around?" In response to his words the cart shuddered, the blinds dancing up and down and he could hear the squeel of the wheels.

"O-okay then, um my name is Danny Fenton...Clockwork sent me?" There was another flapingnof the blinds, and the small wooden flap that let people into the back lifted up suddenly before clacking down loudly.

Taking a steadying breath, Danny slipped through the bar and into the back.

It was surprisingly clean and orderly, the stove and fryer looked over than his parents but well maintained, the flat top was perfectly scrubbed and was already heating up.

As Danny looked around, he felt a familiar shiver run down his spine, looking around once more, Danny fell into a fighting position as he spotted the figure of a familiar foe

"Lunch Lady? Aren't you a little far from home? What did your order of fist not come in?" The bright rings of light around Danny's waist swirled into life as he went into his ghost form.

He got a thrilling grin from the older apparition, but she only crossed her arms, "While we can tumble later little King, Lord Clockwork sent me personally, said you need a bit of help learning how to cook? And ain't nobody better slinging food than me, dead or alive!"

---

Down in the dripping depths of the cave system deep under Gotham, one Bruce Wayne, still in his Batsuit sat in front of the Bat Computer, eyes glaring at a map of Gotham.

He had been tracking a strange energy pattern that made its way through Gotham, he had first thought it was some sort of layline, but the more that he tracked it the more he realized it was closer to watching a person's walking patterns, sometimes following roads, and sometimes crisscrossing through streets and alleyways.

But tonight that power signal tripled in size, off-putting energy that Bruce hadn't seen it done before, tapping the com on his ear, he spoke clearly "Nightwing, take Red Robin and investigate the coordinates I am sending the both of you, observe it, I just got a massive spike in an energy at that location."

There was silence for a moment before the com crackled and his sons responded "Got it B! Me and RR needed a little time together huh Babybird?"

There was a quiet hum from Tim, before the teen spoke "On route Batman, after this I am heading in, we have a meeting with a suspect in the morning B, Vlad Masters has been poking around Gotham."

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny couldn't really explain why he always answered this specific summoning ritual. It was like a feeling. One of warmth. Of a mug of hot cocoa in your hands and a nice weighted blanket dropped around your shoulders as a fire blazed in the hearth in front of you, keeping the chill in the rest of the room at bay.

Danny always lost himself in the sensation and found himself back in that stupid circle of protection with that same wierd guy demanding answers. But Danny didn't know anything about a "Lazarus Pit" or a "Pit Madness" let alone a cure for it. Even if he did he wasn't going to tell Red Robin anything after all the times he'd used the marriage summoning spell to get him here.

Earlier on Red had explained it was the only spell known to thier universe that could summon an entity from "The Lazarus Dimension" Which he guessed was another name for the ghost zone and Phantom was the only one to ever be summoned.

Danny couldn't help but wonder why...

After escaping Bird boy and his supernatural pop quiz (oh look, another test for him to flunk) he returns home only to discover his parents had seen him get summoned and accused him of being a ghost that replaced thier baby boy.

Naturalally the next time Red Robin had summoned Phantom he was angry. He was tired and dirty from being on the run from his parents, his worlds US government, and Vlad. Not to mention his own rogues gallery didn't exactly cut him any slack.

So Danny decided that if Red Robin wanted to abuse the power of a marriage ritual than the very least he can do is put his money where his mouth is.

Danny grinned and exited the magic circle, taking delight in Reds widening eyes before he lunged. A kiss sealed the deal, making sure Danny had a safeish place to stay.

After all, married couples in the infinite realms were obligated and even compelled to protect and care for eachother.

[demonic0angel]

EDA >:DD

Look, I just... I need more of that... Jorgu... Jorguman... Jorguamdnra?? I can't pronounce that shit— CLARK/DAN SHIP :33. Can we have a uhm, continuation <333

Don't break your wrist if you don't have any more ideas on how to continue it

-A.E. 👻

(Ayo, worry more about your thumb!! 😭)

Part 1

Superman continued to hold onto the man as they all traveled down the hallways silently. The woman, named Jazz, told him the story of what happened before he arrived.

Originally, she had ruled over the Infinite Realms, a place that was the opposite of the living realm, as queen regent, but when she gave up her position to their little brother Danny, he had been cursed alongside their little sister. Since previous rulers were forbidden from taking back the throne after being thrown off or abdicating, the crown was given to the other brother, Dan (nicknamed from Danny, which was weird).

“So now they’re children?” Superman asked for clarification, eying the two sleeping children in Jazz’s arms. They stepped over more bodies as they continued moving.

She nodded grimly. “The true crown belongs to Danny, since he is the one who acquired the crown through right of conquest. However, for the last few years, Dan has been the one taking up the role as king in order for there to be a ruler while the throne remains empty. He had been doing really good… he quit smoking, he stopped killing, he was healing…” The sad look in her eyes darkened into rage. “But the GIW ruined everything.”

“The GIW?” Superman asked, as he silently picked up a piece of debris to allow them all passage through the wrecked hallways.

“We call them the Guys in White, but their real name is the Ghost Investigation Ward, and they’re a government agency created and designed to hunt down ghosts. They’re a bunch of fanatic, genocidal hard heads who won’t rest until they nuke all ghosts and kill us all,” Jazz said, her tone venomous. “We can’t fight against them, so we’ve been largely distracting them with other targets. It seems that somehow, they found a way into the Ghost Zone to capture Danny and Ellie.”

The girl in her arms stirred and Jazz shushed her gently. “Shh, Dani, go back to sleep. It’s okay, I’m taking care of it.”

She fell back asleep and they didn’t stop moving. Superman digested the information, holding Dan closer to his chest. Said man was clinging onto him, arms wrapped around him as he remained asleep to the world.

He looked so innocent and lovely, unlike that murderous monster that Superman couldn’t understand just moments before.

But now, Superman was conflicted as he understood his motives.

“Why… Why did he relapse so badly?” Superman asked, a hand involuntarily moving from Dan’s back to stroke his long hair.

Jazz gave him a backwards glance and clarified, “Dan?”

“Yes.”

“… he didn’t come from our timeline. He’s from another world, where everyone in his family— us— died. He was possibly psychologically tortured by our godfather and then he broke down even further, enough that he asked to be split in two so he could feel better. It didn’t work. He nearly killed our godfather and then he absorbed the evil in him. It turned him insane and he destroyed everything. After he completely destroyed his world, he set sight on ours. He nearly killed me and Danny.”

Superman stared wide eyed at her. “And you forgave him?”

She turned back and smiled softly. “He’s my little brother. I’d forgive him for anything. And he’s much better now. He wasn’t well before. But he’s gotten help and he made the effort. He worked hard to be a better person, but the GIW set him back. So after we finish taking care of them, we’ll take care of him.”

Superman clutched at Dan even harder, a mixture of awe and inspiration taking over him. The movement must’ve jostled him, because Dan snuffled, rubbing his fine facial hair against Superman’s neck. Superman withheld a shudder and said determinedly, “I’ll help you.”

“Hmm. Much appreciated. Could you stop snuggling my little brother now?”

Superman blushed bright red. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” He hadn’t thought she would’ve noticed.

Jazz turned her head enough to give him a disdainful look but didn’t say anything. Danny, peeking over her shoulder, opened his eyes and glared at him. Superman flushed and loosened his grip on Dan, whose expression turned disgruntled from losing warmth as he whined.

Oh dear. How embarrassing.

[infinizero]

Danny as The Ghostly Informant TM except nobody realizes it's the same person

Danny after retiring, maybe because the portals are closed or maybe because he became Ghost Royalty or Important Ghost TM who told everyone not to come to Earth, decides to go travelling like or with Dani/Elle

Its really up to anyone whether it was reveal gone right after graduation and dude wants to find himself before doing the whole college thing or reveal gone wrong and is running away maybe in another dimension maybe in the same and Amity Park is a blind zone in any case he goes travelling

The first one he encounters is a more easygoing JL member maybe Flash maybe Wonder Woman trying to figure out how to defeat a Realms ghost so Danny, seeing them struggling, decides to help and either talks the ghost down or soups them

In both cases he opens a portal to the realms and lets them go back through.

They talk a little, Danny as Danny introduces Infinite Realms ghosts as they are trying his best to figure out if they also want to hunt down ecto-entities. The JL member would want to learn more so they exchange information details just in case something like this happens again

Around this time, a JLD member gets wind of the new Important Ghost around the area and needs to find out more about them. After scouting around a little, he finds a way to summon what seems to be a young protective spirit who seems close to the Important Ghost.

Spoiler alert: the protective spirit and Important Ghost are both Danny. All the time travel stuff are attributed to Important Ghost and the beating up other ghosts who come near a specific place to protective spirit. Bonus points if there is a misunderstanding that Important Ghost is protective spirit's parent that's why they beat up Pariah Dark

So they summon Danny as Phantom to ask questions and eventually get the ok to summon him again just in case they need to know things, with the understanding that neither will hurt each other (the JLD member also has the vague idea of asking Phantom to bring Important Ghost over to their side if another worldending thing happenes again)

Soon enough, Danny as Danny meets one of the younger JL adjacent teams (Teen Titans or Young Justice when they're babies? Maybe even Damian's team that I don't know the name of? Maybe the Outlaws?) and helps them out against one of his rogues.

If it's the same dimension, Danny sees that they are younger superheroes and/or not as connected to the government as the older ones, so he warns them about the anti ecto acts and being careful since being so close to death is very slowly making them more liminal/if they're liminal then tells them to stay away from GIW

If not the same dimension then he just gets talking to them about ecto-entities and does basically the same thing as the first JL member he met, eventually exchanging contact information

This pattern continues for a while as Batman receives reports from whichever Robin about ecto-entities being a thing and either holding a meeting because of the anti ecto acts or because there is an entire species that could destroy all of us by possessing Superman and none of you JLD thought to inform me???

At this point of time, most of the JL has met and some even asked for his help and they talk about the various things they've learned from their Informant(Danny) and because it's Danny they slowly get a full picture of everything because he talked about obsessions with one person and cores to another and so on so forth

They all eventually come to the conclusion that they should ask for more details from their Informant

Cue Danny being bombarded by text messages of all the people he's helped asking him about the Realms while being summoned as Phantom.

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #20

(#) = Notes at the end of post

(*) = Other ideas relating to the prompt

✦

To Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Jason stayed dead for about six months before he was resurrected. That left his spirit plenty of time to fully manifest in the ghost zone, but time flows a little weird in the Infinite Realms so it feels like he's been dead a lot longer.

Regardless, six months is enough time for him to make plenty of friends and enemies alike. Enough to fall head over heals for the white-haired boy named Danny who just so happens to also be his king. Enough time for Jason and Danny to finally confess their feelings for each other and form a relationship. Enough time for them to grow to adore each other down to their very cores. Enough time for Jason to become the King's consort and earn the title of Prince of the Infinite Realms.

Not enough time, however, when Jason's spirit is unwillingly dragged back to the broken husk of his body buried in a coffin six feet under. Not enough time when the sheer amount of trauma his body and mind suffered causes his memories of the afterlife to sift out like grains of sand through a colander, mindless in his continued existence and search for a man named Bruce that he only half recalls.

Not enough time for when his body is stolen and dunked into the foulist pools of ectoplasm to ever surface in the living world and he comes back with unbridled rage he only half understands. Where is he? Where was he? Why does green flood his vision? Something is missing but why can't he remember? He shouldn't be here. Why was he here?? (1)

Jason tries to navigate his way through the world he'd previously left behind and discovers what happened after his death. The Joker was still alive. Another child was running around in a traffic light costume in the dead of night. Bruce had replaced him, seeming to forget he ever existed and the consequences of training a child to be a vigilante. That just won't do. He cries. He rages. He plans.

Meanwhile, the King of the Infinite Realms is apocalyptic over the fact that his lover was ripped from his arms, their kingdom, their home. He can sense Jason's torment like echoes in a cave. Can sense when his body enters the fringes of his territory when dunked into the toxic Lazarus waters created by the previous king. How dare they taint his lover's spirit with such filth?! Danny's core rears its head, chanting, growling to protect his soulmate.

Danny is beyond unhappy and he's about to make it everyone's problem.

✦

Notes:

(1) Jason forgets everything he experienced in the afterlife with Danny and is even more confused than he previously would have been when resurrected. Memories only come back to him in bits and pieces when he comes into contact with beings of the supernatural and Danny himself or possibly when he sleeps.

(*) I believe an interesting way to show the events and progression for this prompt would be to switch back and forth between the current events of Under the Red Hood/Phantom's anger and the days they spent together in the Infinite Realms before they were literally torn away from each other. Either as standalone info or through the dreams Jason has as he sleeps but doesn't remember when he wakes.

The events of Under the Red Hood still happen, there's just the question of where he even was for the six months that he was dead added into the equation. Dead on Main tossed in there for flair, because why not? Been seeing a lot of "Jason becomes Danny's Fright Knight" fics, but I wanna see one where they're literally just a royal couple who rule the Infinite Realms with a just and fair hand.

[fascinatedscrawls]

Here, Probably

"Huh," some- many- all- the ghost that this astoundingly large mass of probabilities spawned from said, looking at him from the other side of a natural portal. "Hey Clockwork, fancy meeting you here."

'Clockwork' (one of his many names - most helpful in this instance in that it confirmed that the portal was to or perhaps from the future) tilted his head slightly, resisting the urge to blink as the usually nearly transparent probable futures condensed further from the tangled web that drew him here. He listened to the echoes, their shock-delight-cheerful-amusement and made a split second decision in a beat that stretched exactly as long as he needed.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met."

Not really. Not outside of glimpses of this or that timeline, each of them eons away.

Danny's (most of the echoes agreed on the name) eyes widened before a grin stretched across his face.

"Really?!" Curling in on himself as if to contain his excitement, Danny looked like he was a few seconds from vibrating in place. A few of his echoed probabilities confirmed it, though none of them ever made it to the Present. "Oh, wow! Does that mean I get to be the mysterious, all-knowing one this time?"

This time?

"Perhaps," Clockwork made no promises, not when mystery was more a matter of opinion or perspective.

The few disappointed probabilities vanished.

"'Perhaps' he says." Danny put on a playful mimicry before squinting at him. "Does that mean you know why we're here?"

Well, Clockwork was here because Danny's branching probabilities started overtaking this section of the Infinite Realms, likely long before this natural portal even opened. The same probabilities that were becoming sparse as their conversation continued.

Almost all of them went tight lipped on the subject of what Danny was doing in the middle of empty space some time in the far future.

"I'm afraid I don't." Clockwork said what felt like the magic words as all of them shrunk down to be replaced by another enthusiastic grin. It was interesting to see a ghost so expressive even when faced with the Ancient of Time, not many even now in the eras of myths and legends made real were so comfortable.

"It's because we're here!"

Clockwork took another look at the vast emptiness behind Danny and then down (as far as 'down' could be measured in the Realms) at a nondescript island some distance below himself.

Nothing seemed particularly important about either. No echoes, no probabilities, no glimpse of what it was or could be.

"This is where we met!" Danny explained, delighted even as he cleared up nothing.

Of course it was where they met? That just happened. Clockwork didn't say that, was truly never planning on it so even if anyone else saw the probabilities they wouldn't see it.

Somehow, Danny knew to answer it anyway.

"Yeah, I mean your first meeting, duh, but also mine." He twisted in the vacuum of space. "This is where Earth was the first time I met you outside the Zone! And that," he pointed, finger stopping just shy of the portal and the last of the probabilities bleeding into the Infinite Realms vanished as Danny continued, "is where I met you in the Zone. How cool is that?"

Clockwork wondered why that was. Why here? And how was Danny able to tell without ever crossing into the Realms to confirm the portal's location?

Danny faded a little, somehow shadowed, except it wasn't on his side. Unable to help it, Clockwork blinked as another probability made itself known all at once.

"Man, it never stops amazing me how closely Time and Space intertwine." Danny's comment was almost muffled. "Looks like I helped you find your place too, huh? Talk about returning the favor!"

The building, no, tower - his tower, grew more defined even as Clockwork acknowledged that, making it hard to see how the natural portal started to collapse.

Well, far be it for him to let a favor like that go unremarked.

"Thank you, Danny."

"Sure thin- wait! I never introduced myself! That's not fair! I'm supposed to be the mysterio-" Danny's lighthearted complaint cut off when the portal dissolved, leaving Clockwork looking down on the island that would soon be his.

"Time and Space, hm?" Clockwork gave himself a moment to think of what a future would be like, teasing and working with Danny, before setting it aside to get to work building his home. "I look forward to it."

——————————

Another Danny Phantom prompt! You guys laser focused on it, it was impressive!

Another prompt poll is live if you'd like to help me pick the next ficlet topic - I think one of those is also DP related, but it's so late rn I can't say for sure which lol

Oh, god I don't think I explained it, but Danny's side is where they meet because he's where Amity Park and Earth was when they met, but the universe has spiralled on as it is wont to do, so it's mostly void right then.

[valiantsuitcaseskellington]

Weeping Siren

Inspired by this post, but not the same thing.

Had this amazing idea I couldn't let go.

So basically, Danny's home world was destroyed, and none of his friends or family are alive or even dead with him. I'm not sure what caused thus but probably some sort of dumb GIW plot. This act also damages, but not destroy, the ghost zone/infinite realms.

Danny becomes the ghost king, sure he might have a bit of paper work, but in this story the main job of the ghost king is to keep the ghost zone working/safe, and even protect it should he have to. Because the ghost zone is damaged, he spends most of his time feelings himself through the ghost zone and fixing areas, maybe this is why the Lazarus pits exist?

Anyways, since Danny's always stressed and is grieving/will always grief his home, the ghosts always feel the sorrow of their great king, whom they all grow protective of, and who they greatly love and appreciate.

Danny takes to singing to relieve stress, help him pass the time, and even let him grief in a safe way. Despite this and the love of his people, being in the ghost zone and effectively working even when he can sleep, it all starts getting to him. So he starts performing his songs to the ghosts, telling his stories, his wishes, his love and grief, what he wishes could've happened, and what he hope WILL happen, all through his songs.

Yet he is still in the ghost zone, and so the ghost suggests he performs to the many dimensions and universes that the ghost zone is connected to, it is infinite after all.

And so he does.

From here the ghost king gains a reputation for being a great, yet sad king. A being that could destroy dimensions without trying being in perpetual grief. His stage name becomes the Weeping Siren.

It continues like this.

My idea come from a story where the JL see Constantine being excited/ecstatic for once. They ask what's up and John says the Weeping Siren is going to perform in their universe soon, and he's excited to attend.

One thing leads to another and John or Zatanna convince the other members to join, or the other way around, the JL convinces the two to take them. Either way they tell the JL time and space and everything stops for those who attend, so there are no consequences, and everyone can have a chance to join. And they want the JL beings from different dimensions and universe will most likely be attending as well.

If you want to go even crazier you can add different versions of the Justice league or those they know, like many different versions of Jason Todd attend and things like that.

I imagine it like a bar/dinner kinda vibe, with a stage that Danny steps on to. He's obviously going to be dressed androgynously, and it's hard to say if he seems more ghost or human, as his forms have long since practically merged with eachother. Sure he could shift more to one of his sides, but he accepts hes both, so he becomes both.

Danny sings songs, even the happier songs have a wisp of sorrow or longing in them.

A song I'd add is Nobody by Mitski. Idk why, but it resonates with me, and I think It'd resonate with this Danny.

This danny totally wears dresses, and i imagine he wears darker colors, more blacks with chains, as well as have glasses that look perscripting perched on his head like you would sunglasses. With a certain flower in his hair. Nods to Tucker and Sam. Yes he wears pants and combat boots popular my many world's men. He'd wear biker gloves and all in all he'd change up his outfits, wearing a multitude of different things popular of both genders. Yet the flower, the dark colors, those glasses, they always stay consistent.

[spectacled-renegade-writes]

An Early Start - Chapter 23 - Danny Phantom

Ao3: Here | Masterpost: Here

Ao3 Description: The accident that turns Danny half-ghost happens when he is four years old and leaves him trapped in the Ghost Zone. Clockwork finds him and takes him in to raise. But what happens when Clockwork sends Danny back to the human-world ten years later when a permanent portal appears?

Chapter 23:

Yet unbeknownst to Danny, but well known by Clockwork as he watched his dear ward’s life from the screen in his tower, Danny’s reputation echoed loudly across the Ghost Zone. Story after whispered story of his feats, his triumphs, his failures, his kindness. Every and all, and more, passed like a game of telephone from one ghost to another, both from those that loathed him and those that liked him, but also of those that feared him.

Once known as simply a young and weak ghost under the protection of Clockwork, Danny has since proven, more than once and again in the future, his own capabilities and independence. To most, save for a few particularly powerful or arrogant ghosts, they saw him no longer as Clockwork’s ward but instead as Danny Phantom, the strong and capable protector of Amity Park.

But, to an even lesser few, the protector of both humans and ghosts, a tightrope not even the only other halfa in existence could balance. To that even lesser few, they saw a kindhearted child who fought only out of necessity, one who would much prefer to use words and compromise rather than fists and attacks. Ghosts like Ember McLain, Johnny 13, Kitty, Sidney Poindexter and Wulf to name a few. They saw a child, wise beyond his years, striving for peace and balance, trying desperately to do the right thing at every turn, and make the world, both worlds, happy for everyone.

Clockwork knew this of Danny from the very beginning, long before ancestors of ancestors of Danny were conceived. He knew this from the moment time began. There were many, infinite in fact, timelines of things that happened to Danny and the choices he made. But, one thing has always been clear; he’s always been kindhearted from the start. Yes, there are potential timelines, potential even now, of worlds where Danny stops being so kindhearted for one reason or another, but to start? To strive in good intentions at every single potential beginning? There have been and will be very few with such a set in stone, solidified path of good natured will in every conceivable timeline.

Sometimes such whispers of the ghost boy will die down, and ghosts will move on to other topics, other news and gossip to spread from one ear to the next, but then Danny will do something, another spectacular thing, that leaves him the subject of thought amongst the many once more. Like now, as Clockwork watches from his tower, deep in the Ghost Zone, found only by a few, of three ghosts, all of which have been missing from the Infinite Realms for quite some time. They regale their tale and whisper the story of the ghost child, half human if one could believe such a thing, that saved them from years of mind control, and an eternity serving under a corrupt ringmaster. They talked of the human friends he had, how his love for those humans helped him break free of the crystal ball, how he made sure each of the ghosts were okay before they parted ways, and apologized for hurting them while he too was under the ringmaster’s spell.

The whispers of the young phantom started up once again. Two cents and speculations of why he helped the ghosts for a change. Some, the ones that loathed, and some that feared, saw it as no more than self-preservation. Others, the ones that liked, and some that fell in the middle, saw it as perfectly in character. They saw it as a boy who craved peace, striving to do just that, from both sides of the tightrope.

Every whisper, every word, spoken or thought, or even existing only in a parallel timeline, every one of them Clockwork knew.

He smiled and watched his ward with pride.

-

Danny lay on the roof of the school staring at the clouds during lunchtime. Sam was absent from school today and Tucker was currently making up a test, so Danny had a rare moment alone during such a time during the day. He closed his eyes and inhaled, breathing in the damp air that begged for rain.

The first time Danny experienced rain in the human world, despite it falling from the sky, he did not know it came from the clouds. Instead, he thought that the air was slowly turning into a state of liquid that was starting from above, working its way down. So, Danny wondered why the other humans weren’t panicking. Danny would be okay, he did not need to breathe in his ghost form, but the other humans did not have such a luxury. Instead, they pulled out contraptions that Danny has never seen before, or perhaps did not remember from his life as a child, and watched as they expanded it into a small tent of sorts, to keep the water off of them. Danny would soon learn that these contraptions were called umbrellas, and that the air was not slowly turning into liquid. He did not feel foolish when he learned this truth, but instead felt relief.

The first raindrop of the day splashed onto his forehead and he turned intangible.

The next downpour, after learning the true nature of rain, Danny laid on the roof of his human home, much the same way he is right now, and turned intangible, much the same way he is right now.

Watching the rain fall on and around him was a fascinating thing. It felt like a billion tiny meteors showering from the sky, promising a clear sky afterwards. Danny always liked stargazing after heavy rain, the stars were always brightest then.

Danny’s ghost sense went off and a presence lay beside him. “Hi, Sidney.” Danny said.

“Hi, Danny.” Sidney Poindexter replied.

The two friends lay side by side in silence as they watched the rain. Danny couldn’t help but think that it’s been a long time since just the two of them hung out. It was a nice change of pace.

“Where are your friends?” Sidney asked quietly, so as to not disturb the quiet atmosphere between them.

Danny took a moment to reply. “Sam is at home today and Tucker is making up a test.”

“Is she sick?”

Danny shook his head. “She had an appointment today and her parents let her stay home because it's at an odd time.”

Sidney hummed.

“How is the Ghost Zone?” Danny asked.

Sidney finally turned his head to look at Danny but Danny remained staring at the sky, so Sidney turned back to the sky too. “It doesn’t change much. Physically it’s the same since you left.”

“Physically?”

“There are whispers,” Sidney elaborated. “Of you.” When Danny didn’t react to this Sidney continued. “Everyone’s talking about what you did for those three ghosts from that circus. There’s a lot of debate.”

Danny momentarily pulled his eyes away from the rain to glance at Sidney. “Debate?”

Sidney nodded. “Yeah. Some ghosts are calling you a hero, but others think saving them was just fortunate collateral. Either way, you managed to break free of mind control, no easy feat, and you’ve gained a lot of respect.”

Danny snorted. “Respect?”

But Sidney only nodded. “Yes. Respect. Even from ghosts who don’t particularly like you. Like Skulker.”

“Does that mean he’ll stop hunting me for my pelt?” Danny joked.

Sidney caught on to the joke and smiled. “On the contrary, his newfound respect for you just makes you even more valuable to him. I think he wants your pelt even more.”

The two friends laughed before lapsing back into a stint of silence. It looked like the rain wouldn’t be letting up for the rest of the day. Danny knew Sam would be glad she wouldn’t have to be walking home from school today. She liked the gloomy vibe it gave off but she compared her hate of being out in the rain to that of a cat’s.

But, Danny’s little liminal space couldn’t last forever. It wasn’t much later that the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Danny stood up but Sidney stayed put. “I’ll see you later.” Danny said.

Sidney smiled at him. “See you later, pal.”

-

Some days Danny was quieter than others. Well, he was always quiet. Rather, some days he was more introspective than others. Today was one of those days.

Danny sat in the Nasty Burger with Tucker, mindlessly sipping on a milkshake while Tucker talked about the cute girl he got paired up with today in science. Tucker often talked about a cute girl from school so Danny didn’t feel too bad about tuning him out. Instead, Danny reflected on his time here in the human world. It’s been a while now and despite being an outcast by societal standards, he thought he’d done a good enough job blending in. He glanced at Tucker. Well… mostly. He’d failed in keeping his secret. At least those who knew were adjusted enough to take it in stride, and remain by his side. For that he’d be forever grateful.

Danny didn’t realize he was smiling until Tucker brought it up. He cut himself off mid-sentence and asked, “Why are you smiling? Is there something on my face?”

Danny blinked a few times, taking in what his friend said, since he hadn’t really been listening. But, he understood, and removed his hands from his cup to reply. “You’re fine. I didn’t realize I was smiling.”

Tucker narrowed his eyes though the upturn of his mouth conveyed amusement. “You weren’t listening to anything I was saying, were you?”

Danny sheepishly shook his head.

But Tucker only grabbed one of Danny’s fries and casually sat back in his seat. “So, what’s going on in the ever racing mind of Danny Fenton today?”

Danny slid the rest of his fries to Tucker and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just grateful you’re my friend.”

Tucker paused, a handful of fries halfway to his mouth. His confusion took form of a lighthearted laugh. “Well of course I’d be your friend, dude. What made you think of that?”

Danny took a slow sip of his milkshake as he contemplated his next words. “I guess… I just didn’t have a lot of friends in the Ghost Zone, and it took a long time to make those friends. I guess I just thought it would be impossible to make friends in this world.”

“Well I guess you didn’t,” Tucker said. “I mean, it was the other way around, wasn’t it? Sam and I made friends with you.”

Danny smiled when he thought about that. “You’re right.”

“I guess humans are just better at the whole making friends thing.” Tucker shrugged, finally stuffing the handful of fries in his mouth.

Yeah, Danny thought, he supposed they were.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ao3 Notes: Just so y'all know, the next chapter is going to be the finale. The chapter after that, the final chapter, will be the epilogue. I have so much to say but I'll save it all for the notes in the final chapter. :D

Thank you so, so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night! <3

[bet-on-me-13]

So, due to a villainous plot, basically the entirety of the Justice League and all affiliated Heroes are stuck on the Watchtower when it is forcibly transported to a different Universe.

My idea is that an army of different Supervillains tricked every Hero they could onto the Watchtower, before using experimental technology to transport them to another Universe.

While the JL is stuck in another Universe, the Villains take this chance to take over as much of the world as possible

Meanwhile, the JL is stuck.

All of their Teleportation tech was sabotaged and/or destroyed (not that it would have been capable of transporting them across universes either way), and any magical ways of Universal Travel strong enough to transport the Entire Watchtower would require weeks of Preparation and Set-Up.

They consider sending just a few of their Heavy Hitters back alone, since the smaller level spells could be done fairly quickly, but they also know that there is a very real possibility that there is a trap waiting on the other side. They deem it too risky to try

Eventually, Constantine pipes up, “How about asking The King of the Infinite Realms?”

Zatanna replies, “Phantom? Well it could work, but we don’t have much information on him, we don’t know if he is trustworthy”

“Who is Phantom?” asks Batman

“Phantom is the King of the Infinite Realms, basically the space between Dimensions. He is also the God of Space, so he could definitely transport the entire Watchtower across Universes.”

“The Infinite Realms are also called the Ghost Zone, because it is technically one of the Afterlives you could end up in. All Souls traverse the Realms while heading to their respective Afterlives, but some stay behind and become Ectoplasmic Entities, or Ghosts”

“Why hesitate to ask him then?”

“We don’t know if he is trustworthy. The last King was named Pariah Dark, and he took advantage of his power of traversing Universes to try and conquer all of Reality.”

Eventually, they decide to summon Phantom, and he appears in the center of the Summoning Circle. He looks majestic, and his eyes are closed.

He shifts a bit, tilts forward, and falls flat on his face while snoring.

They summoned him while he was asleep.

Eventually after Danny  wakes up, they manage to make a deal with him to send them back in return for letting him live on the watchtower for his annual vacation

[trinoxtrinox]

Talk about it, let it all out

Ectoberhaunt 2022, Side Chaos. Prompt: Despair.

Summary: Many ghosts believe that Pandora's job as the Ancient of Hope entails battles against enemies and outside forces, but they often forget that hope also comes for those who's worst enemies are themselves, and that despair can be overcome with a conversation as well.

Content Warning: Vlad here has depression, and I'm not making it subtle at all, so be warned of that, there's a bit of death mentioned as well. Also this is Phantom Planet Compliant, make with that what you will XD

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Many ghosts don’t know how she does it, or how she managed to gain such a position in the first place, but the role Pandora takes as the Ancient of Hope is one that everyone in the Infinite Realms can agree is beneficial to ghostkind as a whole. Many think her role takes shape in fighting off the different threats that the Zone faces, others believe it takes the shape of her box, and her conviction on keeping all evil inside of it contained, at the same time as she goes around collecting new evils inside it, and some even think it boils down to being the embodiment of hope in the minds of every living and dead being in existence. None of these are wrong technically, since those are all some of the assignments she does whenever she is needed the most, however that’s not the crux of her existence, that is another thing, one job she does more often than anything else, one she’s going to do right now.

“Who are you?” a lonesome figure asked, sitting on a floating rock in the infinite expanse of outer space, body thin enough that some bones could be seen behind his still pristine white suit.

“My name is Pandora, and you are but a husk of who you used to be,” she replied, floating closer to him and sitting next to him on said rock, putting all of her hands on her lap.

“*huff* Thanks for stating the obvious.” Vlad let himself lie on his back, occupying half of the ‘island’, “Have you come here just to mock me? Then mock away, not like there’s much more to do.”

“No Vlad, I haven’t come here to mock you when you’re down.”

“Then go away-” Plasmius raised an arm and began shooing away the ancient, “-I want to be alone.”

“No I won’t.”

“Fine, then let me stew in misery then.” he rolled around and curled himself, letting his back face Pandora.

“No I won’t.”

“Whatever.”

“Vlad Plasmius, I came here for another reason.”

“I don’t care.”

“I came here because you’re in dire need of my help.”

“Don’t want it.”

“You don’t have a choice in the matter, you need my help.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Why do you want to be alone so much Vlad Plasmius?” Pandora tilted her head while asking.

“To stew in my misery.” Even though it was but a whisper, the hollowness in those words could be heard very clearly.

“Why do you want to do so?” She insisted, and the only reply she got was an undistinguishable grumble from the other ghost. “Could you repeat that? I didn’t hear it.”

“‘Cause…” he once again grumbled the rest of the answer, not letting it be heard by anyone else.

“I couldn’t hear it again, would you mind repeating yourself?”

“Oh butter biscuits, because I deserve it alright!?” Vlad shouted as he sat himself and looked directly in her eyes. “I deserve this, I pushed everyone away, my only friend left me here abandoned, I ruined the only questionably positive relationship I had in my life, I ruined away the only person who could understand me, I lusted too much for a woman that clearly didn’t want anything with me, I hated everyone around me and everyone around me hated me in turn and *sniff* and *sniff*...” tear began forming in his face, he tried to wipe them, but they kept coming, and he simply chose to bury it in his hands. “And now I’m not even a halfa anymore *sniff*.”

“Come here.” Pandora said with a motherly voice, opening her arms in an invitation for a hug, and with no other prompt needed Vlad tackled her, accepting it. Pandora obviously didn’t falter, she barely felt the tackle actually, but she let herself stumble a bit regardless. “That’s right, cry it all out.”

“It’s just *sniff* why was I *sniff* so stupid! *sniff*” Plasmius buried his face in her clothes, “Why can’t I do anything right?”

A few minutes passed like that, with Vlad crying his woes out as he cursed himself for his foolishness and evildoings, until eventually he managed to dry himself out and he separated himself from Pandora, now floating catatonic by her side.

“Come with me now Vlad,” Pandora extended her hand, letting the now full ghost decide what to do for himself, “Let me help you find a new future.”

[galactictwilight]

Mirrored Consciousness AU

I have seen some sentient ghost zone content and I just want to add a sentient Mortal Realm in as well.

The way both dimensions are sentient is simple, the Infinite Realms has been sentient from the start, but the Mortal Realm only started to gain sentience after life began (a collective unconsciousness, as it were). As life grew more complex and intelligent the more aware the Mortal Realm became. A great example would be that the Infinite Realms started out as a baby, while the Mortal Realm was a zygote. (I am going to start calling the Mortal Realm, Mor, and the Infinite Realms, Infa, since I am going to get tired of writing their full names.)

A consequences of this is that both dimensions would not know of the others sentience. By the time Mor was sentient enough to be curious of the natural portals; Infa would have already lost interest to focus on the newly formed ghosts. Another problem would be that Mor and Infa are on a completely different frequency. Infa can only communicate through ectoplasm that is within it's realm. Once a ghost has left the ghost zone they are cut off from Infa till they have returned. In contrast, Mor is connected to all living things and even if a living organism were to go into the ghost zone they will still be connected to Mor. However, the high concentration of ectoplasm would interfere with the connection like a combination of TV static and choppy audio. The only time both Infa and Mor could communicate is through a portal while a living organism is standing in the middle of it without the portal collapsing on the organism.

Now, the whole concept of this AU deals with how both worlds interact with each other, so to get to the point faster I am going to go into detail under the cut.

~~~~~~~~~Base Line~~~~~~~~~~

This section is mostly going to be in a list of opposing characteristics that both dimensions have or some information that I would have a hard time putting into words/giving details about in the other sections. I may or may not add detail should I feel like I need to.

Infa is the shadow/mirror for all of Mor's alternate dimensional selves. This would mean that the DP universe is now the prime universe (think Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but instead of it being alternate timelines stacked like a pyramid on the prime one, it is alternate dimensions all linked by a mirror/buffer dimension in varying degrees with the prime dimension being the one linked to Infa's core). Every alternate version of Mor has their own realm in the ghost zone. A few good example of this would be: The Spirit World for A:TLA, The Phantom Zone for the DC universe, or The Nightmare Realm in Gravity Falls. (I might put a crossover idea section at the end)

Earth is actually the point of convergence between Infa and Mor, which is why there are so many portals that open on the planet. Sure, there are portals that open throughout the universe, but it is usually only a few portals per planet (maybe one or two more on planets with life)and two or less portals every light year in open space. And those portals don't even stay open for very long either. Also, the area where Infa and Mor converge resets when Mor's current cycle comes to an end, which prompts Infa's core to begin creating a new outer layer.

Mor has a small dislike for ectoplasm and usually tries to clean it up by creating something to either contain or destroy it. The reason for this dislike is that ectoplasm, depending on where it is within the universe, can be mildly or extremely irritating for Mor. And since Mor can't directly control ectoplasm, like it can everything else in the universe, Mor has to be a little more creative in cleaning up the annoyance. This small list will highlight some of the reasons why ectoplasm is irritating, the different places it can appear, and the methods used to clean it up:

Open Space- The area where the ectoplasm appears in feels numb with a faint tingle. The response to this is to create an ecto-ranium asteroid and hurl it into the effected area. Then the asteroid is kept there in case it happens again.

Planets/Objects Moving in Space- The ectoplasm gives off the same feeling as when it is in open space. However, the clean up method varies depending on the object. A planet with an active core just raises it's temperature until the ectoplasm evaporates from the heat. A planet with a dead core is bombarded with a shower of ecto-ranium meteors which will either burn up in entry and fumigate the planet or hit the ectoplasm directly. And an object moving in space will either be blasted into the closest star or set on a collision course with an ecto-radium asteroid.

Planets With Life- This is where ectoplasm goes from mildly annoying to extremely annoying. Because of the living organisms presence on the planet, ectoplasm feels more like pins and needles or enraged bees/fire ants paired with a ringing in your ears/nails on a chalk bored which depends on both the quantity of the ectoplasm and the amount of life on the planet. The clean up for this situation is much more complex then the usual methods of burn it with fire or to nuke it with ecto-ranium that Mor usually employs with the lifeless areas (ecto-ranium is only safe around living organism so long as it remains solid and outside the body). The removal of the ectoplasm is done on a case by case basis, but it is usually done by creating anti-ecto flora, fauna, fungi, or bacteria that will clear out the ecto-inficted area without hurting the other living organisms on the planet.

Earth- Since earth is the current nexus point for the two dimensions; the ectoplasm, rather then irritating Mor, is instead heightening Mor's connection to all life on the planet and causing Mor to focus more on Earth than the rest of the universe. However, since Mor is a little biased against ectoplasm it began to make flora, fauna, and fungi that would have a variety of affect on ectoplasm and ectoplasmic based entities. Mor has even created many vast underground areas with their own ectoplasm recycling ecosystems beneath places where a lot of portals to Infa appear (exp. The 12 Vile Vortices). This is done to contain all the ectoplasm that is leaked into those areas.

The opening of man made portals to the ghost zone had an effect on both Infa and Mor. The proto-portal had felt like a pinch to Infa while Mor got hit with what was akin to a sound that makes you cringe. When the Fenton portal was opened, Infa felt like it had just been stabbed while being shocked and Mor had to endure a quick, but horrible mixture of burning pain and ear piercing sound. They both had to endure this again when Vlad later opened his own portal and the few times the Fenton portal had to be turned on again (though, Mor only felt the burning pain twice and this was just with the Fenton portal). Each half-ghost feels different to Mor and Infa:

Vlad- To Infa, Vlad's ghost form feels wrong or diluted/impure and his human form gives Infa a distorted slimy feeling. To Mor, Vlad's presence as a ghost is really irritating, a mix of slimy, humid, and numb with an extreme pins and needles feeling. His human form, on the other hand, gives off a staticky distorted feeling. (That's why phantom planet happened. Without the earth masking Vlad's ghostly presence, Mor was assaulted with the full horror of his mere existence for the first time and tried to yeet the biggest ecto-radiun asteroid it could make on the fly at him. Unfortunately, Vlad had already left and the Disasteroid was hit by his satellite which sent it on a collision course with the Earth. That's why, at the end of phantom planet, the Disasteroid came out of nowhere and smote his ass.)

Danielle- Her ghost form would feel a bit unstable with a slight distortion and her human form has a feeling of staticky distance to Infa. To Mor, both her forms would feel like what happens when a living being is lost in the ghost zone, but the human form would come in more clearly than the other.

Danny- In human form, Danny feels like the Earth and in ghost form he feels like a natural portal to Mor. However, to Infa, Danny's human form feels like a natural portal and his ghost form feels like the outer layer of its core. (A natural portal feels like, and the best way I can describe it as is, a hand to hold, something both hot and cold, an obvious mystery, and a feeling that, no mater what, you are not alone.)

Mor and Infa have opposing universal laws. Mor starts with the ability to have structure, while Infa needs a focus to keep from becoming a typhoon where no ghosts can form or survive. When Infa was young and the only entertainment it had was looking through natural portals to watch as Mor took shape, it did what any infantile being would do, it mimicked what it saw. When quasares and black holes appeared, Infa spammed them with manic glee. As gases coalesced into stars, Infa made its own and watched in awe as they spun and collided in dazzling light shows within it's realm. And just as with the stars, once planets, asteroids, and comets began to croup up, Infa watched as it's own tumbled through the chaos that was it domain. But, when life sprung up throughout Mor's realm, Infa could not seem to keep it's own attempts at life from dying.

Every being it made was always torn apart not long after they where born and Infa's childish mind could not comprehend what it was doing wrong. For ages Infa raged and despaired at it's continued failure at mimicking life, until a living creature accidentally wandered into a natural portal. And just like all the other beings Infa created, this creature was ripped apart by the flailing energy of the dimension. This is when Infa finally understood that it's creations died, not because they where imperfect, but because Infa's very realm was not suited for their continued existence. Now understanding what it was doing wrong, Infa observed the creatures and their environments within Mor's realm more thoroughly to discover what allowed them to exist. This is when Infa finally realized a key difference it had to it's counterpart, Mor's realm is naturally much calmer then Infa's.

Where Infa's realm is naturally an ever moving and chaotic dimension. Mor's realm , in contrast, is Naturally a very still and orderly space where everything that is in motion follows a set of universal rules. So Infa, for the first time in it's existence, tried to restrain itself and slow it's chaotic energies down to a more life friendly level. After many failed attempts, Infa was successful in restraining it's chaotic energy. Finally, life began to bloom within the ghost zone, but as time went on Infa realized that it would never be able to keep the tight grip it had on it's chaotic energy forever and destruction would be brought upon it's creation should nothing be done. This is when the position of High King of All Ghosts was created to be the anchor and focus needed to stabilize Infa's realm so that it will not return to its primordial state.

There is actually a movement of souls between Infa and Mor which causes their dimensional cycles. In the beginning, before there was anything, there was two mirror dimensions of nothingness. One was filled with ectoplasmic energy and the other was filled with dark matter. One day, the thinnest point between the two dimensions broke open with a terrifying force. In a flash, dark matter and ecto-energy poured through the new opening like a broken dam. The dark matter that had come through the portal had begun to gather the ecto-energy around it with it's gravitational pull until the ectoplasmic energy was packed so tightly it solidified into a crystalline structure of epic proportions. The ecto-energy, on the other hand, was split and ripped apart as it entered the volatile portal.

When the ecto-energy exited the portal it had been broken up into four types of being: matter, antimatter, energy, and metaphysical energy. It takes a combination of dark matter and metaphysical energy to create a soul. The creation of a new soul begins in the first trimester of a pregnancy, the second trimester is when the new soul is finished being created, and the third trimester is when the soul settles withing it's body. It is only when the new being is born, that the metaphysical energy that makes up it's soul can begin to become more defined with it's own unique characteristics. A soul's physical features depend on what state it is in when someone tries to look at it, as well as the being the soul comes from. Souls are naturally invisible since half of it is made of dark matter.

Souls can only be made visible by making the metaphysical half emit light. if you make a soul visible while it is still in a vessel, it will come out as an aura that surrounds the vessel. Also, if the soul's vessel had lost a limb, there will be a transparent replica in the same colors as the aura in the same location. This is were the term phantom limb can be taken quite literal. However, should the soul be removed from it's vessel by any means that are meant to extract a soul; it's appearance and color will depend on the personal preferences of the being it was. The only characteristics that all souls share is that they will glow, are surrounded by a colored mist/corona, and whatever they appear as will have a viscus, shadowy, and/or squishy look. Psychic are beings that are naturally more in tune with their souls and can manipulate the metaphysical energy for various tasks. (Each of Mor's alternate selves has their own rules about how a soul looks. Sailor Moon, Soul Eater, and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure are a few good examples of this.)

(Danny's uncrystalized soul, for example, looked like someone made a rocket out of the universe itself and the edges would pulse and seems to drip before it would go back to form; the fire from the thrusters and the mist that surrounds it glows/sparkles a neon bluish white with a slight red inner core, what I think is Danny's favorite colors. The fact that Danny has an ice core is because his soul emulates space and what is space if not freezing cold. I also liked Hartman's old idea for a new power for Danny since it fits with the space theme, but I would call it blackout, sounds more punny to me.)

When the body of a soul dies in the mortal realm they are either pulled into the Infinite Realms or reincarnated. Reincarnation is when the soul stays in the mortal realm and finds a new body to inhabit. The sad truth is that it is one of the causes of a miscarriage or a child being stillborn can be because of a failed reincarnation. This usually occurs because the fetus the soul is trying to reincarnate into already has a soul that is too developed to merge with the old soul. This causes both the new soul and the old soul to fight for possession of the body. The reason souls travel between the two dimensions is that since souls are half dark matter and half metaphysical energy; they have the ability to go to both realms without need of a portal. It is a soul's body that ties them more strongly to Mor, but once that body has expired, most souls have a stronger tie to infa with the souls that reincarnate having more dark matter then usual.

Once the soul is within Infa's domain it will go to one of five routes in the afterlife:

R.I.P.- Souls that go to Infa's core to be put to rest. This is usually only done for Mor's souls as it is a bit rare for a soul from one of Mor's alternate selves to be powerful enough to have this be their final destination.

Crystallize- The soul's will was strong enough to pull ectoplasm to it and crystallize itself into a core. A half ghosts core is actually only a crystalized mix of ectoplasm and the soul's misty outer layer while the center is left untouched. This allows them to have a core that is much more malleable and powerful than other ghosts, but also allows them to generate their own energy so long as their human half is kept fed. Each half ghost also has different levels of crystallization for each of their cores (You can equate their cores to soft boiled eggs, Danny's core is a perfect soft boil, Vlad's core is a somewhat under cooked Soft boil, and Danielle's is a medium Soft boil).

Cleansed- The soul is very corrupt and this causes Infa to not want it near it's core. The soul is then sent to be cleansed of it's corruption, which is a very painful process carried out by the ghost master of souls.

Isekai'd- The soul gets lost in a natural portal to another realm while on it's way to Infa's core. This only happens to souls from Mor's alternate dimensional selves.

Afterlife- The soul goes to the afterlife of it's corresponding realm. This route is only for souls made by Mor's alternate selves.

The main purpose of the souls that go into Infa's core is that they are stored up energy for when Mor's cycle comes to an end. Once all life has died within the Mortal realm, Infa's core will begin to process the souls it has stored within itself. After all the souls have been harvested of all unneeded energy they are released back into the cycle of souls going into Mor's alternate selves. Infa's core will then proceed to create a new outer layer, which will cause a big bang to occur in the mortal realm. The cycle of souls go like this:

Infa causes a big bang.

Mor creates and nurtures new souls that are extremely powerful.

Infa collects those souls and stores them for later.

Mor goes to sleep and all the left over matter and energy is converted into more dark matter. (Dark matter does not begin to 'digest' unless it is both cold and dark. A big bang causes the universe to be too full of heat and light.)

Infa drains the souls it had stored and gives them to Mor's alternate selves to be reincarnated. This allows those souls the ability to recuperate the energy that they had lost. This process also takes a very long time.

Infa revitalizes both itself and Mor, thus starting the cycle anew.

Should the cycle ever be stopped, or Mor is destroyed, all of existence will be doomed as Infa's core will implode. This is because only Mor can consistently create enough new and powerful souls that are used to revitalize Infa's core and give it's alternate selves more souls. For while Mor's alternate selves can create new souls they usually do not posses the needed metaphysical energy and dark matter necessary for Infa's core to revitalize itself and create more ectoplasm. If Infa was ever forced to subsist off just Mor's alternate selves, the souls it would take would be completely consumed and each cycle would slowly take more and more souls until existence would eventually collapses.

Infa, at times, goes into a period of rest where it sleeps and puts the ghost zone into an age of low energy. When this occurs, many ghosts begin to grow hungry and hunt for food. This is also the time when ghost zone Flora will burst to life as the energy they had gathered during the age of plenty is used to propagate themselves. Many ghosts will fight and hoard away the produce that is created around this time. There is even a legend of a fruit with a taste that is so amazing a ghost would end themselves just to know it. The worst of Pariah's tyranny occurred during one of these periods and caused it to end early.

~~~~~~The Mortal Realm~~~~~~~

Mor is a passive being whose consciousness is connected to all life in the universe. Mor can also effect everything within it's domain should it have the will to do so. Mor's existence can be summed up in a seasonal cycle:

Spring- A big bang occurs and signals the start of the universe as everything begins to form. Life will start to propagate and Mor will become more aware as the beings it is connected to grow more complex and intelligent.

Summer- This is the 'season' were Mor is fully aware and active. The universe is full of life and activity.

Fall- Life will begin to die off as the universe comes to an end. Mor will begin to slowly lose consciousness as time goes on.

Winter- The universe is now empty of all life and Mor has lost consciousness. All the knowledge gathered throughout the other 'seasons' is lost and Mor is now a blank slate waiting for 'spring' to start.

Every living organism can be equated to a brain cell and so long as one is still alive Mor can retain all the knowledge that life had gained. This is also the secret to magic. Since every living organism is, essentially, apart of Mor's 'brain' those with a much stronger connection can tap into it's power and bend the area around them to their will in a limited capacity. This can also lead to a few type of magical groups:

Attuned- Beings that have a much stronger connection to Mor and can use it's power to command the world around them, even on themselves. This is the category for witches, warlocks, shapeshifters, dragons, and cryptids. There is a tier system:

Demigods- They can cast magic with little effort, but was the smallest group by far.

Vocal or Gestured Casters- They need to speak or make some kind of gesture to cast.

Focus casters- Basically harry potter wizards. They find it very difficult to cast without a magic focus like a wand or staff.

Niche Casters- These guys can't really cast without doing a ritual and devoting themselves to a higher being, some even join covens. Usually these casters stick to a themed or specific magic to focus on so that they can use the power of belief to bolster their flimsy connection to Mor. They also happen to be known for their ability's in potion making and alchemy. (The way I visualize these guy's is by thinking of some Minecraft mods like Witchery, Bewitchment, Astral Sorcery, Ars Nouveau, Eidolon, Blood Magic, and Botania.)

Belief- 'Believing is seeing' is the motto of this category. Should a large enough group believe in something it will begin to become real, but only within the area it's believers reside. This is the category of religious groups, cults, covens, traditions, and superstitions. Many mystical creatures were created by this category or influenced by a ghost encounter. Even a few separate category's have been influenced by belief. The creatures made by this category are fay, yōkai, jinn, and other creatures of myth and legend.

Compounded- This is the potion and alchemy category, as well as being the birth of science. Every living being is made from a want or desire to live and this desire allowed for a subconscious use of Mor's power for a lot of adaptations to occur over a long period of time. The attuned had an easier time identifying what a part did or contained the ingredient that they needed thanks to their connection to Mor. They then gave their potion or alchemic creation to those that did not have this advantage which strengthened it with belief.

However, once it was taught to those without a naturally strong bond to Mor, skepticism began to appear as their attempts were more likely to fail. Once religious groups began to attack the attuned into obscurity that skepticism only strengthened. Unlit finally, science was born. Science is basically using Mor's universal rules in such a way that you get your desired outcome without Mor's aide (aka universal exploits).

Residual- The category of ghosts that are truly post-human conciseness. Mor remembers every being that has ever lived and will only forget when all life in the universe is dead. As such, some memories stick around even if the being it belongs to is long dead. Given enough time, even these residual memories will fade away or a helping hand can come to expedite the process. Now, since these beings are only memories and are no longer alive, they can be exorcised or influenced by a living person with a will stronger then their existence.

The more defined a residual is, the more lifelike it can act and the longer it can exist. These beings feed off the living and engrave their existence into their memories with fear to keep themselves tethered to reality. Residuals are also bound by belief, unlike ghosts from Infa's domain. Thus, traditions or religious items that protect the holder or repel evil are useful to have should your will not be enough to exorcise it. All residuals are the same, their differences only start to appear as belief warps them into the many spectral or demonic beings humans think exist.

Ecto Contamination- Ectoplasm is less a magic and more a blight/curse upon the living that was not created for the sole purpose of ridding a planet of it or born on earth where there is a high tolerance for it. For non-earthlings it is a horrible mutagenic acidic poison that will kill you. On earth, ectoplasm is a useful reagent for witches to make a spell/curse stick and be almost permanent. Since it is only through Mor's power that magic can be used, ectoplasm acts like a sealant, using Infa's power as an invisibility cloak so low usage of Mor's power can't find the spell. This made anti-ecto plants like blood blossoms invaluably for their ability to purge ecto contamination from an afflicted being.

Earths most horrific ecto incident spanned a stretched of 500 years during the dark age, where a greedy coven of witches struck a deal with the Fright Knight and created a semi-permanent portal to the ghost zone that opens at the start and end of October. Also, every poor soul they cursed would be enslaved to become a part of the Fright Knight's army in tribute for the power he gave them. Curses like lycanthropy and vampirism were made more aggressive and infectious.

~~~~~The Infinite Realms~~~~~

Infa is a dimension of energy in which time and space can be controlled by either the will of Infa itself or one of the many ghosts that come into being. However, since Infa is the flip side of Mor, a society with a lasting effect on Mor can leave an imprint within Infa's domain. Infa is also connected to every alternate version of Mor, with the Prime version of Mor being connected to Infa's core. There is also no air within the ghost zone, instead when a being from Mor appears in Infa's atmosphere the ectoplasm creates a habitual bubble around the being after a few seconds of contact.

There are three types of ghosts:

Never-born- These ghosts are born from Infa itself and are divided by three sub-types:

Intended- The Intended are never-born that were made on purpose by Infa to either fulfill a task or be delegated a job (i.e. Clockwork managing the time stream). They are created and nourished within The Nursery until they are old enough to leave. Their caretakers and mentors are The Ancients.

Realized- The Realized, on the other hand, are never-born that are involuntarily created when Infa understands a concept or realized that a concept exist (i.e. The Observants or the Yetis of The Farfrozen).

Accumulated- The Accumulated are the never-born that take the least amount of time to form and are the easiest to find (i.e. blob ghosts). These never-born take the longest to evolve a form that is not just a blob of ectoplasm around their core.

Death-born- Ghosts that are formed when a living organism with a strong enough will or emotion dies which allows them to Crystalize their soul into a core within Infa's domain. While all ghosts have the ability to, in a sense, evolve; death-born have a higher chance than the other two types. Most Death-born start out looking like their mortal self, but as they evolve and gain power the more their obsession effects their appearance. Death-born ghosts have three sub-types:

Shadows- This type of ghost had just barely been able to crystalize their soul resulting in them literally being a shadow of their former selves. This has also made their power set to be more specialized with few variations from their main theme.

Spirits- Spirits are the closes a ghost can get to being like their living self. Most death-born of this type died believing that they had their life end too soon and wished to start right where they left off.

Shackled- Shackled are death-born ruled by their obsession. They will stop at nothing to fulfill it. They will only stop once they have either been destroyed or fulfill their goal.

The Cleaved- These are ghosts that are formed or bound by other ghosts to be their children or servants. Spawned and Fractured cleaved ghosts are very risky to do for the parents. While Chained or Embraced cleaved ghost are on opposite ends of the ethical spectrum from each other; it can ether be an ultimate sign of trust or a complete violation to the ghost it is being done to. There are Four sub-types for Cleaved ghosts:

Chained- They are ghosts that have been forcefully bound to the will of another, far more powerful, ghost. Sometimes, a powerful ghost can be tricked by a weaker one and have this done to them. This method can cause a very pronounced shift in a ghosts physical form. This bound can only be broken by one of three methods. One, the high king decrees that the bond must be broken. Two, the ghost that did the bond is destroyed or breaks it themselves. Three, the way the bond was created allows for a loophole/condition that lets it be broken by outside forces.

Embraced- The equivalent of being adopted into a family or community. Ghosts that undergo this method have a very minute change appear on their physical form. This bond can be broken by either participant since it was created in a reciprocal fashion. However, if it is not broken in a mutual agreement between both ghosts, they both will experience harm that will depending on how emotionally deep the bond is held by each participant.

Spawned- This is basically asexual reproduction. The parent ghost forms a core within their body and nurtures it till the child can sustain themselves. The children formed from this method usually look like mini versions of their parents with very subtle variations in their features. This method of reproduction is usually done by never-born.

Fractured- Two ghosts take a small piece of their core and combine the pieces in an orb made of both parents ecto-energy. The orb is then nurtured by both parents till their child forms a body. Death-born usually use this method. The features of children made with this method can be numerous, which can sometimes makes figuring out their parentage hard without asking the child or meeting their parents in person.

The High King of All Ghosts is both the ruler of all that resides within the Infinite realms and the champion/emissary of Infa itself. Becoming the High Ghost King also comes with ability's that do not require the royal regalia to be worn. The high king wears the crown of fire and the ring of rage or the symbols of unity and stability if you want to call them by their true names. Both symbols are energy constructs that bind the king to Infa's power and allows them to stabilize the dimension. The physical forms of the symbols are dictated by how the king sees their corresponding meanings and their core. When the regalia were first brought into existence their forms were dictated by what the wearer was comfortable in, for in those simple times there was no meaning to what a ruler was other than being the strongest and the steward of the realms. But as time marched forward and more death-born appeared, the meaning of what a king was grew from just being the strongest and caring for the realms, to also having status symbols and wealth.

The symbol of unity became only an object of power or triumph. Thus causing it to take on the forms of headdresses, laurel wreath, helmets, makuṭa, crowns, armor, or weapons. The symbol of stability, on the other hand, went from being seen as something to be revered to just an accessory to the symbol of unity. Which caused it to take on the forms of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, capes, charms, or belts (I am going to call them Unity and Stability since I am starting to get annoyed writing their whole names). The funny thing about that is, if anything, Unity is actually the accessory to Stability.

The way this works is simple. Unity unites the kings core with Infa's, which grants them infinite power. However, this is necessary because, without that infinite power, Stability would end them from the strain of keeping the realms from destabilizing. This is why the ring of rage was kept so close to the sarcophagus of forever sleep and the crown of fire was left on pariah's head. While the king does not need to wear the ring to keep the ghost zone stable, they do need to keep it close by. And should the king have a bad relationship with Infa, if they were to lose one or both of the symbols Infa would not summon them back to the king. The way the symbols work is:

Both symbols do not have to be worn for them to work. However, they need to be worn to get access to their more specialized ability's. Though it is highly not recommend to forgo wearing them for too long as the strain can seriously harm or end the king. Especially if the king is only near by or wearing Stability.

When both Unity and Stability are worn, the king has access to all of Infa's energy, a direct link to it's consciousness, and the ability to influence all of the ghost zone with ease.

Should the king only wear Unity, they will still be able to communicate with Infa no matter where they are, even if they are in Mor's realm.

Should the king only wear Stability, they will still be able to feel the ghost zone, but they will not be able to influence it very well. Stability will also begin to slowly put more and more of a strain on the king until either unity is worn or the king is ended. and even if Unity is close by the king will still not be getting enough power to stop the strain from building.

Should Unity be worn and Stability is close by, the king will only have access to enough of infa's power to not have to worry about being ended from the strain. However, should the king not put on stability, the ghost zone will slowly begin to decay and crumble until either Infa chooses a new king or a new outer layer of infa's core is created (which would still lead to a new king being crowned).

There is also a hierarchy to the ghost zone. The High Ghost King rules over all of the Infinite Realms, but it is to large to manage so there are Lower Ghost Kings that rule over a single realm that is connect to one of Mor's alternate selves. The High King personally rules over the all the layers of Infa's core and usually only interferes with the other realms as needed, it is kind of like the U.S. government or maybe the U.N. mixed with an absolute monarchy in a lot of ways.

There is also a distinction between what a higher and lower ghost is. A higher ghost is only referring to ghosts that are formed from the many layers around infa's core, another name for them is a core ghost. Lower ghosts are every other ghost within infa's dimension not born near it's core. Most lower and higher ghost would probably not even know about each other unless they happen to be highly influential, educated, apart of the nobility, or royalty since the ghost master of spatial rifts guards the portals between realms.

Below I am going to try and list out the governing bodies of the zone while also trying to color coordinate what group has power over another:

(Green= Rules all ghosts, Black= Ghost's only Infa can command, Blue= Personally ruled by the High King, and Red= Fall's under the jurisdiction of The Royal Egis of The Infinite Realms)

Infa- The consciousnesses of the Infinite Realms itself.

The High King of All Ghosts- The ruler of all that resides within the Infinite realms and the champion/emissary of Infa itself.

The Ancients- The first ghosts that Infa ever made. They are more connected to the dimension than any other ghost, baring the High King. They reside withing The Nursery.

The High Council of The First Realm- This governing body consists of all the core ghost rulers and Masters. This is where most of the laws are made for only the many layers around Infa's core.

Ghost Masters- They are either ghosts that are made by Infa to handle a specific task or they are ghosts that have become so proficient with a specific power and/or universal domain that they are considered uncontested in their field. Their standing and influence is linked to what they are a master of. The top ghost masters only serve the High King and Infa.

The Royal Egis of The Infinite Realms- This is a governing body and judicial system that is full of multiple departments that are meant to keep the Infinite Realms from falling into disarray. The Observant High Council is the head department of the organization and they are meant to keep watch for any disaster that could effect the realms negatively. Should such a disaster ever occur, the observants must do the following; report it to another department, contact/recruit a ghost that would be able to fix the issue, or should the situation be truly dire, they must report directly to the High King. The observants, usually, can only ask for the aid of a high profile ghost master (i.e. the masters of time, souls, or spatial rifts)by sending a formal request to the High King.

Also, in the event of a legal proceeding that leads to a royal court being called to order the High King is the judge, the Grand Dread Knight is the bailiff, the Master of Time is (for the lack of a better term) the prosecutor, and the Observants act as court clerks and reporters. (which is the only jobs the observants are to do for all legal cases done by the court system of the Infinite Realms.)

The Royal High Council of The Infinite Realms- A governing body composed of all the Lower Ghost Kings and can only be called to gather by the High Ghost King.

Ghost Realms- A single ghost realm that is connected to an alternate version of Mor.

Lower Kings of Ghosts- They are the rulers of a single ghost realm that is connected to an alternate version of Mor. The way a ruler is crowned varies from realm to realm. Their influence also ends once they are outside of their realms.

~~~~~~~Original Characters~~~~~~~

Mor

The consensuses of the Mortal Realm.

Personality: Stoic, passive, calm, wise, and very caring/loving to only those deemed as family.

Dislikes: Ectoplasm when it is anywhere, but on earth.

Likes: All life in the universe.

Loves: Infa and Danny

Hates: Anything that hurts what it loves.

Infa

The consensuses of the Infinite Realms.

Personality: Easily distracted, bubbly, somewhat neutral, determined, and very caring for those deemed family.

Dislikes: Anything that messes with the cycle of souls and being woken up from it's period of rest early.

Likes: Looking through natural portals and some of the ghost kingdoms (ex. The Farfrozen).

Loves: Mor, Danny, The Ancients, all Intended never-born, and their children.

Hates: Pariah Dark and anything that hurts what it loves.

Portcullis

The Ghost Master of Spatial Rifts

Personality: Easy going, witty, mysterious when serious, adventurous, knowledgeable of all the different realms, and understanding.

Ghost Type: Intended Never-born

Physical Appearance: male, adult, fit, light purple skin, electric blue eyes with no pupil or sclera, and black scruffy short wavy hair with a full beard.

Family Relations:

Parent: Infa,

Siblings: The Ancients and all Intended never-born

Child: Postern

Colors: Purple, dark blue, and black.

Fashion: medieval gate guard mixed with a ship captain.

Dislikes: The Observants, anyone trying to sneak past him, and Vlad.

Likes: Pith, Marrow, Clockwork, and Danny

Loves: Postern, The Ancients, and infa

Hate:

Postern

The Apprentice of Rifts

Personality: Moody, curious, awkward, takes his job seriously, self-conscious, has a hard time connecting to his peers, idolizes his uncle Sojourn, and tries to act cool, but fails.

Ghost Type: Spawned Cleaved

Physical Appearance: male, teenage, fit, light purple skin, electric blue eyes with no pupil or sclera, and black scruffy medium long wavy hair

Family Relations:

Parent: Portcullis

Family: All Intended never-born

Colors: Purple, dark blue, and black.

Fashion: Medieval Archer

Dislikes: people that make fun of him or don't take him seriously.

Likes: Clockwork, The Ancients, Infa, and Danny

Loves: His father, Marrow, and Sojourn

Hate: the observants

Fear: Pith

Pith

Ghost Master of Souls

Personality: sadistic, mischievous, easy going, playful, a bit sensitive about her work, can become consumed by her work, and quite mournful when lonely.

Ghost Type: Intended Never-born

Physical Appearance: Thin build, snow white skin, pupil-less blood red eyes, long billowing black hair, and fangs. When enraged she turns into her original form that looks like an eldritch horror.

Family Relations:

Parent: Infa,

Siblings: The Ancients and all Intended never-born

Colors: Black, White, and Red

Fashion: traditional sleeping gown with an encompassing black hooded cloak with a mantle.

Dislikes: Someone telling her how to do her job.

Likes: Postern and Portcullis

Loves: Marrow, The Ancients, infa, and messing with people.

Hate: Being alone

Marrow

The Ferrier of Souls

Personality: Sweet, perceptive, slightly sadistic, empathetic, encouraging, a scatterbrain at times, worrywart, nerdy, and very determined when he sets his mind on something.

Ghost Type: Embraced Cleaved Realized Never-born

Physical Appearance: short dark hair, light blue skin, green eyes, lithe build, and glasses.

Colors: Green, Blue, and White

Fashion: Medieval Bard

Dislikes: Those who hurt people he cares about.

Likes: Postern and Portcullis

Loves: Pith

Hate: When Pith losses sight of herself.

~~~~~Prompts & Crossovers~~~~~

Everything that I put in this section are ideas that I had about this AU or just a prompt I thought would be fun to write. I hope that I made an interesting AU and that the prompts names and synopsis give people ideas or just something to laugh about.

Pure DP prompts

Dimensional Adoption- The Fenton parents have been experimenting with the portal. They are testing to see what would happen if a ghost is trapped within it. All their experiments on blob ghosts have shown that they will begin to lose energy the longer they are trapped. They capture Phantom and, after a few not to risky experiments, use him to see what happens when a high level ghost is trapped in the portal. What they didn't know was that they had just put their traumatized son up for adoption to two dimension that are about to meet for the first time.

A Royal Call to Order- The Royal High Council of The Infinite Realms has been called to gather by order of the High King of All Ghosts for the first time since Pariah's reign. This came as a surprise to the many new or young Ghost Kings, most of whom didn't even know there was a high king or a realm outside their own. High King Phantom can already feel the oncoming headache.

The Universe Calls- Danny, before his accident, watched the stars as he dreamed of exploring the universe. Now, as a half ghost, his dreams are plagued with the universe watching him.

Meeting of The Masters- High King Phantom is taken by Clockwork to meet some of the more vital Ghost Masters and their partners.

Hollow Earth- Jack takes his family to go hunt some ghosts around the Michigan triangle. While messing around Danny discovers an enormous underground cavern filled with life that looks like it would belong in the ghost zone. (I will probably make some pic's of plants I think would be there and put them at the end of the post)

Of Heavy Crowns and Crime- High King Phantom's first Royal Court case.

To Observe The Door- A series of times the observants have bothered Clockwork after Pariah was put in the sarcophagus and they are progressively getting more annoying as they get comfortable trying to order him around.

An Age of Rot- Infa's perspective on the slow decay of it's realm after it had Pariah sealed away.

Hallowed Horrors- A coven of witches make a pact with the Fright Knight and starts a dark age of terror across Europe.

Blast From An Unknown Past- After the incident with Hotep-ra, Tucker keeps having dreams of living in Ancient Egypt and using magic. One night, filled with a morbid sense of curiosity, he tries to cast a harmless spell he remembers from his dreams. He wasn't expecting it to work.

Of Ages Past And Futures Yet To Be- Clockwork ponders on all the past cycles and what the future cycles will be, now that both dimensions have met each other. (Could be seen as a sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

The Hedge Witch- Sam is trying to learn real magic and become a true witch. (can be pared with Dimensional Adoptions and Blast From An Unknown Past. The funny thing is, Sam is the only one without real magic in the group, but that won't stop her from forcing her two magical friends into teaching her something.)

The Ancient Paradise- Danny is taken to The Nursery and meets the Ancients. (The Nursery is basically the Elsewhereness. This can also be pared with Dimensional Adoptions.)

Paranormal Pains- Jack recounts his traumatizing experience with his great grandfathers ghost and how that set him on his path to being a ghost hunter. Unknown to Jack, what he faced all those years ago was a residual of his great grandfather, not his ghost.

The Rights Worth Fighting For- High King Phantom opens diplomatic relations with the Earth's governments so that he can stop the inhumane experimentation of his citizens and have ghosts be recognized as deserving of human rights.

A New Age- Infa's perspective as they watch Phantom's ascension to the throne of High King.

Guards To The Gates of Infinity- Portcullis and his son, Postern, show Danny around their lair, which blocks the way to the rest of the realms in the ghost zone.

A Soulful Sight- Pith, the Ghost Master of Souls, teaches Danny about souls and how to handle them. Marrow, Pith's partner, Shows Danny what a living and uncrystallized soul looks like.

Is It Cheating?- Is it cheating, if the universe is literally giving you all the answers to your finals? (Could be seen as a sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

A Monument To All Their Sins- The GIW capture Danny by knocking him out with a weapon that puts him into a short coma, shorts out his powers, and traps him in ghost form. By the time Danny wakes up, the scientists are half way through experimenting on him. In his pained and delirious with fear mind, Danny calls out to Mor for help. Silence. And then, for the first time in all of it's existence, Mor took action... (Could be seen as a sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

To Lay Them To Rest- Jack and Maddie's beliefs on ghosts is challenged as they learn about residuals and how they are different from ghosts. Will they change?

Key To All The Secrets of The Universe- Somehow, it comes out that Danny can communicate with the universe. You decide if it is as Fenton or Phantom. (Could be seen as a sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

I Have The Power of God And Absurdity On My Side!- Danny is messing around with his friends and keeps asking Mor to make absurd or funny things happen. (Could be seen as a sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

The End of An Era- Mor's perspective as the age of magic came to a close on Earth.

When Time Was Young- Clockwork's childhood within The Nursery and being taken care of by the Ancients.

A Sword Forged From Fear- Before there was a Fright Knight, there was a Page. This Page lived within a ghostly kingdom nestled in the Umbral Effervescent Moor. His rise to knighthood is a story of loyalty vs. betrayal, all resting on the pommel of a sword.

The Family of Curse Breakers- The Fenton family has a rich history of being paranormal hunters and curse breakers going all the way back to the dark ages. Such a history is sure to bring a desperate and newly cursed client right to their front door.

To Be A Master- Nicolai Technus will show all the other older ghosts why his title of Ghost Master of Technology is a title to be revered!

The Old Family business- While rummaging through the attic, Jazz realizes that her mothers side of the family may not be as normal as she thought. The old family grimoires she found was proof of that.

Hush, My Child, I Bid Thee Rest- Mor and Infa converse as they lull their newly adopted child to sleep. (A sequel to Dimensional Adoptions.)

The Events of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated- (Warning! Cursed! I'm sorry!) The clone that tried to overshadow Danny didn't die. His core stayed in Danny's body and is developing into a Spawned Cleaved ghost. Frosbite didn't see him in urban jungle because his core is only visible when Danny is in his human form.

Haunting Season- High King Phantom watches as all the thought to be lifeless foliage across the ghost zone burst to life and the ectoplasm in the atmosphere loses its shine.

At The End of The Universe- Danny and Infa bid Mor a good rest just before the last living being in the universe dies.

The War- The Fenton family made many enemies among the supernatural community. Jack Fenton lived through the worst of it.

DP Crossovers

Bleach

The Original Sin- After the summit of The Royal High Council of The Infinite Realms had come to an end, it was brought to High King Phantom's attention that one of the ghost kings had not attended the mandatory gathering. Pith and Portcullis also chimed in that the realm of this particular king had been sealed not long after Pariah's tyranny had reached a fever pitch and none of the attempts to breach the seal have worked. Danny really hopes that this will just be a simple reintroduction to the wider realms and not a pandora's box of problems.

The portal to the bleach universe is at the very bottom of hell or the pit before the soul king was sealed. Pariah was the one to seal the realm away after he slew it's previous ghost king and razed all that existed there to nothing in what he deemed as a fitting punishment. The beginning of the bleach universe is the aftermath of what pariah did (This video explains a lot of bleach's creation lore and the soul king). Hollows are what happens to souls that would of become ghosts, but there was no ectoplasm to consume. Their souls imploded and the hollow left behind ravenously search for the closest thing to ectoplasm in a attempt to fill the void.

Hetalia axis powers

Spooks On You!- Halloween is just around the corner and America needs to get ready for the yearly scaring competition against England. He decides to do a fake summoning ritual and have someone dressed as a ghost jump out to scare England. What America wasn't expecting was for the fake ritual to work.

You could probably have any ghost be summoned, but I think it would be funny if it was Danny as phantom wearing the crown and ring. I mean, America is going to be freaking out either way, but England is just going to be horrified to learn that the afterlife is ruled by a teenage American superhero.

DC Universe

Phantom zoned- The justice league have been trapped in the phantom zone by the league of shadows. Not knowing whether or not rescue is coming, they make their way through the incorporeal realm hoping to find a way out like other had before. After a long time searching the find a swirling green portal...

The Phantom Zone is ruled by Aethyr, but he has been indisposed/comatose since Crisis On Infinite Earths happened.

Ben 10

Stranded- During a fight around a null void projector, Ben is blasted into the ghost zone. Trapped on a floating island with seemingly no way off and the Omnitrix malfunctioning from all the ambient ectoplasm in the atmosphere, Ben hopes rescue comes soon. Unknown to him, the longer he stays the more he changes as a spark comes to life, which may spell doom for his ability to return home.

The reason the Omnitrix is malfunctioning is because it doesn't have a defense against ecto-interference. The way I see it, mana is metaphysical energy. In the AU I made, metaphysical energy comes from broken apart ectoplasm, which means ectoplasm is overcharged mana that an Anodite would not be able to truly comprehend since they are used to connecting with a broken up version of it.

I also believe that just because an Anodite's child is not born with a spark dose not mean they can't develop a spark later in life. To me, being born with a spark just means they are naturally more connected to mana. I also believe Gwen was not born with a spark, but she had, in fact, lit her own spark by interacting with and using spells from Legerdomain. This allowed her Anodite heritage to shine through and connect with the ambient mana of the universe. To me, children of Anodites born without a spark have the ability to connect with that energy so long as they interact with it in large amounts. (an example would be, if Ben, his dad, or uncle was trapped long enough in Legerdomain they would develop a spark thanks to all the ambient mana.)

What I was mainly thinking of when I though of this crossover is that, by Ben being trapped in the ghost zone he would develop a spark thanks to all the ambient ectoplasm. The bad news is that his spark would be aliened with ectoplasm, sure mana could act as a substitute, but he would need way more mana then a regular Anodite and he would eventually need to return to the ghost zone for his own health. Heck, this would make Ben a new subspecies of Anodite and he wouldn't be a proper ghost since his soul wouldn't have crystalized into a core. The change would also effect him mentally. Where a mana aliened spark is free spirited, an ecto aliened spark tends to fixate. (I mostly just wanted a green Anodite Ben that made sense, he is green from ectoplasm! This would probably make him able to sense Ectonurites and not be effected by technologically advanced areas.)

The reason Ben isn't leaving the island is because he can't fly, sure he can float, but that don't mean he can propel himself very well. The region of the zone he is in is just a single island with nothing surrounding it in sight. The island itself is lush with plants, but there isn't any animals and the 'water' glows. Which makes Ben very disinclined to leave since he isn't sure if he'll find another island like this, so he stays until he is confident in his ability to survive off the island. This story could probably go into a body horror area if the writer has Ben notice the changes and have him be terrified since he would not know what is happening to him. For all he knows, Ben would think he is mutating and since the Omnitrix is malfunctioning he would think that the DNA protection is offline.

Monster High

A Royal Welcome- The ruler of the Ghost World invites The High King of All Ghosts to have a tour of his realm and to briefly visit the Monster World. At Monster High, Spectra's excitement at the news prompts the ghouls to also want a look at this mysterious ghostly royal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pictures~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[engineersamuel]

HAHAHAH HEEEEEE, OHH THEY DON FUCKED UP. Diana is like, one of the best people to find out about The Ghost zone, Like, An entire realm that is made of emotions, where Ghosts that Are Clearly tied to Gods live? And One of course the American Government Has issues with it. FUCKING FIC BAIT MY MANS. Diana Was Fuming, One minute she was Busting An exotic Animal Trade, the next she's chasing down A white van that's Not following the speed limits, And Of course its some sort of government Agency, Why not? Ohh Hera please Let this be just a Dumn intern. no, its never that simple, Becuase In the back of this van Is A Teenager Bleeding green blood with White floating hair trappedi n a tube with A MUZZLE on him. The Kid looks so scared for his own life. Next thing That happens is Diana is Blasted In the back by a burning Attack and Flung into the glass tube, Off to another fight with Green rayguns that Just apear from Nowhere. And their seems to be a neverending army of these White Coat men, fun. So Best option is Take the entire van with said Glowing child. Save first, questions later. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "alright, Im not going to hurt you kid, can you tell me why your in this tube? and who those men were?" DIana asked while helping the Teenager remove the muzzle. "t-thank you, U-uh, those men were The GIW... Ghost investigation ward. Guys in white, think of a Men in black Knock off." The Teenager said while softly floating above the van. "Ghost investigation ward? And their a part of the USA's government?" diana said with a sigh. "yeah... They believe that any ecto-entities are Non-sentient, and Deserve to be Eliminated. Anyone from the Infinite Realms are legaly allowed to be captured and Killed." The Now very Important teenager said. Diana Recognised the Name Infinite realms, as it was Known to the Gods as the Realms between. To attack them was to attack those who Kept The Realms in check. "Ohh Hera help me. Great. well can you tell me your name?" The Teenager Nodded and said with a little more energy, "Danny, Danny phantom, y-your planning to help me?" Diana Smiled and said, "of course, No creature or person deserves to be eliminated without due cause, and from that logo on your chest and that Suit, I know your not someone who would Force that Option." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The GIW aren’t dumb, at least not entirely. They know that despite having technical authority over any ghostly specimens, that the Justice League is probably not going to tolerate any portion of the anti-ecto acts once they find out about them.

So, before they even think about transporting Danny, they have a protocol in place to NOT pass through any cities that have an active superhero presence. In particular they avoid Metropolis, Gotham, Star City, and Coast City like the plague.

However the fatal flaw in this protocol winds up being that no one really thought to do research on where Wonder Woman is most frequently sighted.

[dp-marvel94]

Face to Face - Chapter 38

Summary: When Danny went through the ghost catcher, he expected to be cured of the ghostliness that had haunted him since the accident, not to wake up on the lab floor with his parents saying he’d been overshadowed but everything’s back to normal now. But why does Danny Fenton cry himself to sleep to then dream of flying? Why does Phantom, the ghost who was supposedly possessing Danny remember a life that wasn’t his? Most of all, why do both the human and the ghost feel that something vital is missing, in their very soul? Or: Trying to cure himself of his powers one month after the accident, Danny accidentally splits himself but neither his ghost nor his human half know that that is what they did

First -> Last -> Next

Word Count: 6,400

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

The rest of the night was almost blissfully normal. Or rather...what was quickly becoming the new normal. The family talked and planned for an upcoming trip to the Ghost Zone. They discussed how to train the Dannys’ ghost powers and ideas for inventions to peaceably study and maybe even help ghosts. During the conversation, the humans finished eating and finally put away the leftovers. And then they went back to talking. 

This went on for several hours. And…. for the first time in days, Phantom was...happy. It was something of a surprise but...having things out in the open was good. And Mom and Dad’s reaction to what he’d seen in the Infinite Realms and learned from Sidney… they had listened to him. They had believed him. They were excited and… it made the ghost feel hopeful.

The corner of ghost Danny’s mouth turned up in a smile. He turned to look at Jazz as she stood yawning. “It’s already almost 11. We should start getting ready for bed, Danny.”

Fenton glanced at the clock. “Oh you’re right.” He rubbed his eyes, as if suddenly feeling tired.

And… Phantom’s smile fell, a familiar heaviness falling over his core at the knowledge of another sleepless night.

Both boys stood and started following Jazz up to their rooms. They got to the middle of the living room and-

“Danny.” Mom called evenly. Both boys turned at their name and the woman’s eyes flickered between the two before falling on the ghost. “Phantom.” She said with a surprising lack of hesitance. “Can you hang back for a minute? Fenton, you can go up to bed.”

Suddenly, the ghost boy felt his stomach flop. He looked to Fenton, half hoping he’d insist on waiting as well but… the human gave him a comforting pat on the back. “Go ahead.” He lowered his voice to whisper. “You’ll be okay.”

Phantom nodded, accepting the comfort. He took a breath to steel himself. Despite the few words, he knew what his human half really meant. There was nothing to be nervous about; nothing in the words or tone said he was in trouble or that Mom was angry. It was ridiculous to think things could already go down hill again.

“Yeah.” The ghost boy finally spoke. He turned to his sister. “Good night Jazz. Night Fenton.” 

His counterpart smiled. “Goodnight.” His eyes flickered from Mom who was still at the table to Dad who was at the sink. “Night, Mom. Night, Dad.”

Jazz gave the same ‘good nights’ which both parents returned. Then the human teens went up the stairs.

Phantom floated to the chair beside Mom. “So…”

The woman met his eyes, wearing a slightly sad expression. “Your dad told me about how you haven’t been sleeping.”

The ghost’s shoulder rose. “Because...uhh… I don’t have to.”

“I know.” She put a hand on his arm. “I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” Concern shone in her eyes. “What have you been doing, when you’re up all night?”

The boy shrugged. “Watching TV. Listening to Music. Reading. Drawing. Just...trying to keep myself busy, I guess.”

Mom nodded. Then she asked sincerely. “Do you need anything? Or want anything? Is there anything we can do to help?”

Phantom bit his lip. For just a moment, he debated. I want to go flying, he wanted to say. He wanted to go out and see the town, his town, quiet and still and asleep. He wanted to fly high enough to see the stars above the clouds but… no, he can’t say that. He couldn’t ask for that.

The ghost shook his head. “No. I’m...I’m good.”

The woman raised a brow, frowning. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m...fine.” Phantom glanced away, uncomfortable with the piercing gaze. (Or was it the new concern that was bothering him?) His eyes flickered to the other adult who was still trying to work on the dishes, despite looking just as concerned as Mom. The ghost looked back, taking a breath. “Actually...can I...uhhh… go to the top of the Ops Center and stargaze?”

Mom’s frown deepened. “By yourself? Sweetie, that’s dangerous. You could fall off.”

Phantom gave her a skeptical look. “I mean… I guess I could fall off.” He glanced down at his luminous, floating body. “But…If I did, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

The woman followed his eyes and...she blushed, a look of realization passing over her face. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Of course, you’re right.” She sighed. “I’ll allow it. You have my permission if...your father’s okay with it too.”

The man turned to face the two at the table, smiling. “It’s alright with me, Danny-boy.”

“Really?” Ghost Danny asked, tentatively, hopefully. Both adults nodded and he smiled softly. “Thank you. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I know.” Mom said with a surprising amount of trust. She leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning. I love you, Danny.”

The boy blushed, but he didn’t move, accepting the affection. “I love you too.”

The woman stood, starting towards the stairs and Phantom floated off his seat to follow but the sound of Dad approaching stopped him. The man’s large hand appeared on his shoulder. “You know that you can wake me or your mother up if you need us, right?”

Ghost Danny looked up at him, slightly surprised by the statement. “Yeah, I know.”

“Good.” The man pulled the boy towards him, into a side hug. “Have a good night, son. Enjoy your stargazing.”

Phantom accepted the hug, returning it with one arm. “I will.”

Dad gave another nod and also started towards the steps. For a long moment, Phantom just floated there, thinking. Mom and Dad were...being a little overly affectionate. But after everything that happened...a warm feeling spread in his core. He didn’t feel like complaining. It was another reason to hope that things would get better.

Without a thought, Phantom floated off the chair. He should go upstairs to his room, to get their phone, a book, and his sketch pad before Fenton fell asleep. The ghost’s eyes flickered to the stairs. Then he looked up at the ceiling. And…. he bit his lip, debating. His bedroom actually was the room right above the kitchen. Almost on impulse, the ghost flew up. Turning intangible, he phased through the ceiling and-

Ghost Danny paused, eyes widening as he realized the sight in front of him.

“Good night, sweetie. I love you.”

Fenton was standing in his pajamas, back to Phantom. Mom stood in front of the human, a tender and loving look on her face as she kissed his cheek.

“I love you, too.” The boy replied, sincerely. “Good Night, Mom.”

The ghost boy watched, his still intangible head just poking through the floor. A complicated feeling swirled in his core. It was odd, almost eerie to see this exchange, so similar to the good night he’d just shared with Mom. There was a sense of...wrongness; that should have been him, really him getting ready to go to sleep. There shouldn’t have been two ‘good night’ exchanges. But at the same time… Phantom’s face softened. Mom said good night to both halves of him and the tenderness, the affection in the act...it was the same whether he was a ghost or a human.

A small gasp drew Phantom out of the thought. His eyes flickered up and….

He blushed. “Sorry.”

Mom had spotted him and now wore a surprised expression. The ghost boy effortlessly flew up through the floor and became solid. At the same time, Fenton turned around.

The adult shook her head, as if to banish the started look. “No. Don’t apologize.” She pinned him with an earnest look.

Phantom couldn’t help but blush again, remembering the conversation earlier that afternoon. These were his powers. He didn’t need to apologize for using them in his own house.

His human counterpart gave him a concerned look. “You good?”

“Yeah.” The ghost nodded. “Was just going to get some stuff and go stargaze on the roof.” His eyes went to the adult in the room. “Mom said it was okay.”

Fenton looked to her, eyes wide and hopeful. “Really?!” 

“Yes.” Mom answered. “But this you needs to sleep.” She half-smiled, patting his shoulder.

The human boy frowned, crossing his arms. He appeared to be pouting but Phantom knew it was partly an act. Then Fenton yawned. He wrinkled his nose, muttering. “Stupid human body.”

The woman’s expression was hard to read, maybe uncomfortable, maybe concerned, maybe amused. Either way, she didn’t reply.

Phantom flew to beside his other self, gently knocking into his shoulder. “Dude. I’d happily trade but IDK how the heck to do that. Also,” The look Phantom gave was part skeptical, part playful. “I know for a fact halfa us still has to sleep.”

The human boy grumbled something unintelligible, bumping into his ghost in response. Phantom knocked back and…

Mom laughed. She actually laughed. 

Phantom froze looking at her like a deer in headlights.

The woman rolled her eyes, good naturedly. “Bed, you.”

Fenton conceded. “Still have to brush my teeth.”

“Alright.” Mom started out the door, giving both a fond look. “I’ll see you both in the morning.”

Fenton walked down the hall, towards the bathroom. Phantom poked his head out the doorway, watching as Mom walked the other direction, knocked on Jazz’s door, and entered a few seconds later, presumably to tell her daughter good night.

Fenton returned soon after and turned off the lights. He flopped onto the bed and rolled over to face the glowing ghost. “Dude. Stargazing. Is it weird I’m a little jealous?”

Phantom shrugged. “The feeling’s mutual. I’d love to be able to sleep. Besides, you’ll probably end up dreaming about it anyway so...two for one, I guess.”

“I guess. ‘Night.” The human pulled the covers over him.

“Night.” The ghost phased up through the ceiling. He offered a smile as his other self closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to what Phantom said, Fenton did dream about stargazing. The surrounding city was surprisingly bright, with the street lights and still lit shops. But with ghostly night vision, the stars were more vibrant than ever. Human Danny marveled for a long moment before drifting away, into a strange dream about islands of ice cream and an amusement park. He returned, back to the star filled sky, this time with a far away, eerie yet beautiful song playing in his ears. It really was… incredible. Then...blackness.

Fenton blinked awake to soft sunlight on his face. His dreams...he remembered. And...the boy’s brow wrinkled. It was strange; when he was asleep, he hadn’t realized that he’d been seeing what Phantom was. But now...it was so obvious. Still he wondered...what if he did realize it, while he was asleep?. He always saw Phantom’s actions, just passively watching. But what if he tried to direct their actions?

The human boy shook his head, dislodging the thought. It didn’t really matter right now. Besides, he had to get ready for school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the whirlwind that was getting ready, and a surprisingly normal and peaceful breakfast, Fenton found himself walking into school. Phantom was of course at home. And Mom and Dad had said they’d start working on the Ghost Catcher again today, as well as on the ectofood problem and start setting aside a portion of the lab for powers training. But for now… the human Danny took a breath. Now, he needed to focus on school.

Fenton walked around a corner and there were Sam and Tucker, both getting things out of their lockers near his. 

The boy waved. “Hey guys.”

Both of his friends turned. “Hi Danny.” “Hey.”

Human Danny’s heart warmed. They both looked and sounded happy and relieved to see him. He approached his locker and started turning the combination to open it.

Sam, who’d apparently finished grabbing her things, leaned against the locker. “So how did things go with your parents yesterday?”

So right to business, it seemed. Fenton sighed. “Pretty good. Mom apologized.”

“She did?” Tucker asked, concern plain on his face.

“Yeah. She...uhh…” His voice lowered, not wanting to be overheard. “She went through the portal after Phantom. She was....she was really upset and scared, guys.” He still felt a little guilty about running off. “But ghost me found her and brought her back home. And we talked about everything and…” He trailed off, a lump in his throat.

“And?” Sam asked.

Fenton was silent for a long pause, eyes flickering down.

“Dude, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to but-” Tucker started.

“No. I do. It’s just….there was a lot.” A lot of tears and anger. Fenton had thought he wasn’t all that upset about it anymore but it still hurt. Of course, it still hurt. But at the same time….he remembered Mom kissing his goodnight last night and laughing and him and Phantom joking around with each other. The boy swallowed. “She...she said she would do better.”

His friends both still looked worried. “Do you think she will?” Tucker asked.

This was sounding very much like his conversation with Jazz last night. He gave the same answer as Phantom did then, feeling his throat constrict with emotion. “I think she wants to. If she tries, I will too but….there’s a lot.”

Fenton didn’t say very much for a while, looking down at his shoes. And neither of the other teens pressed either until…

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sam questioned.

Human Danny looked up slowly, his eyes starting to mist over. “Can we… can we go talk about this somewhere else?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three huddled behind the staircase on the first floor and Fenton talked. And the longer he talked, the more his eyes watered until he was actually crying. He sank down to the floor and Sam and Tucker sat beside him, hugging him from either side.

The conversation was much like the one he’d had with Jazz, the same pains resurfacing, the same tentative acceptance. And it still hurt. He was still hurt. Last night had been really good and the conversation with Mom and Dad, the apologies had gone surprisingly well but there was still that fear. What if things went downhill again?

“We’ll be here no matter what.” Tucker promised.

“And I get it.” Sam comforted. “It’s okay to still be scared. Just take your time, alright?”

Fenton nodded. “I will. Jazz...already talked about that. And...thanks guys.” The bell rang. “Shoot.” The boy grumbled. “We’ve got class in five minutes.” And he probably looked like shit from crying.

“Here.” Sam pulled a sleeve of tissues out of her bag. “Wiped your face.”

The boy quickly did. “Thanks Sam.”

“Come on.” Tucker stood and helped pull Fenton to his feet.

Human Danny started following his friends. “Oh. I didn’t tell you guys about what happened with Sidney.”

“At lunch?” Sam asked.

A nod. “Yeah.” Fenton tugged his bag up higher on his back as they passed a corner. His heart skipped a beat. Shit. There was Dash. He quickly looked down, avoiding even the suggestions of eye contact.

The jock noticed anyway. “Wow, Fenturd. You look like shit.” He shoved the human into the locker. “Did you and your little girlfriend have a fight?”

“Leave him alone.” Sam sneered “You don’t get to talk. Your outside and your inside both look like shit.”

Dash’s face reddened with anger. “What did you just say to me?”

“Oh just shut up.” The goth balled her fists, looking prepared to deliver a swift kick with her combat boots.

“No. What did you-”

Paulina cut the footballer off. “Come on Dash. Leave the goth freak and her loser boyfriend alone before she puts a witchy spell on you.” The cheerleader put up her nose, dragging the still glaring teen away.

Fenton breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks Sam.”

The girl scowled. “You shouldn’t have to deal with his shit.”

“Yeah. That’d be nice.” The human boy wrinkled his nose. For just a moment, he remembered similar bullies, the shadows in Sidney’s lair. It really was sad, that all those years ago, there was another teen dealing with the same thing. More than fifty years later and things hadn’t changed in that regard. With a shake of his head, Fenton pushed the thought away. “Come on. We need to go.”

The trio made it to class. And the school day was normal, strangely normal after the emotional upheaval of the past day. That was… until lunch.

“Dude… ghost food?” Tucker asked, mouth falling open.

“Yep.” Fenton nodded. He’d just started telling his friends about what he’d learned from Sidney.

Then there was a sharp tug on his mind and he wasn’t in the cafeteria anymore. He was in the lab, his gloved green-lit hands in front of him. And… his heart skipped a beat. There, across the space was his mom with an ectogun, the same one she’d shot him with, pointed towards him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just minutes earlier at home, Phantom was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

“Danny boy! Come down here!” His dad’s voice called. “I’ve gotta show you something.”

The boy sighed, floating to his feet. “Coming!”

It was kinda weird, the ghost realized as he approached the door with only slightly wary interest. Before the portal, he would have rolled his eyes, dismissing his father’s excitement or he would have found an excuse to avoid the ensuing ramble about ghosts. How things had changed, now that he intimately knew that ghosts are real.

Phantom knocked on the door of the lab before opening it. He drifted down the stairs. “Yeah, Dad? What’s up?” He asked once he was in front of the man’s bench top.

Dad looked up, grinning. “Take a look at this.” He held a plastic cup filled with something green and gelatinous. Was that…

The ghost boy wrinkled his nose. “What is that?” He thought he already knew that answer but hoped, maybe…

The adult was still smiling. “Ectoplasm! Purified ectoplasm straight from the portal. Just concentrated it this morning!”

Phantom raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“This right here! The solution to your food problem!”

“Food problem?” The ghost blanched, realizing. “Wait. I’m… I’m supposed to drink that?”

Dad’s expression fell slightly. “I know it doesn’t look that tasty. But… come on. Give it a try!”

Phantom blinked, taking in the man’s excited face for a moment. Then he reached out to take the cup. “Alright.”

“Here you go!” Dad handed the ectoplasm over.

Ghost Danny held the cup in front of him. His nose wrinkled and he hesitated.

Noticing the pause, the adult encouraged. “Just imagine it’s lime jello. It sure looks like it, doesn’t it?”

Frown deepening, Phantom gently shook the glass. He watched the contents jiggle. “Actually… yeah, it does.” His expression relaxed some as he was surprisingly comforted by the observation. With that green color and the consistency… Maybe it would taste like jello? He raised the cup, as if to toast. “Well...here goes.”

The ghost boy tipped the glass back and took a large swallow into his mouth. His nose wrinkled. Well...the texture was soft and jiggly, not quite liquid, not quite solid. Like jello but… He swallowed. “It tastes like dirt.” He struck his tongue out, really wanting something to wash the taste away.

Brief disappointment flashed across the man’s face. Then his eyes brightened, seeming to realize something. “But you can taste it.” Dad pointed out.

Phantom frowned down at the cup again. “Yeah. I guess I can but…” He handed the ectoplasm back. “It’s not something I’d wanna eat, Dad.”

The man looked sad again. “Well...it’s a start.”

“Yeah.” Phantom gave him an encouraging tap on the shoulder.

Then Mom called from across the room. “I have an idea, sweetie.” The ghost turned, just as she stood from the table where she was working with her own ectoplasm samples. “I’ll be right back.”

Ghost Danny raised a brow but didn’t ask as his mom jogged up the stairs and disappeared into the kitchen. The boy’s ears twitched at a noise. His brow furrowed, wondering.

“I wonder what she’s up to.” Dad mused.

“She’s...microwaving something?” Phantom said, confused.

“How do you figure that?”

The ghost turned at the man’s slightly mystified question. “I can hear it.” Dad just looked more confused and Phantom blushed. Oh right… “My hearing’s enhanced.”

The man blinked. Then… “Really?!” His eyes lit up.

“Yeah.” A nod. “It’s a lot better than it used to be. And uh...my eyesight too, ‘specially at night.” He slowly smiled. “The stars here look as clear as they do at Aunt Alicia’s.”

Dad looked even more excited. “Danno! That’s amazing.” 

“Oh yeah. I can see so many stars.” He held up hands up, as if motioning to the sky. “I can see the Milky Way. And...the colors are different too. Like...I can actually see them at night. The sky’s all these shades of blue and purple. And the stars...they’re not white! Like of course, they’re not. Because there’s red giants and blue dwarfs and a bunch of other types. But I can actually see that!” His aura flared, visibly brightening in his excitement. “ So they’re blue and white and yellow and orange and red and...”

Phantom trailed off as his mom came down the stairs, a tupperware container in hand. But he was still smiling.

“Wow. That’s incredible.” Dad beamed up at him from his seat. “Maddie! You need to hear what Danny was telling me!” His eyes flickered to the container. “What you got there?”

The woman approached the pair and opened the lid. “Take a look.”

“Hot dogs?” The ghost boy questioned.

Mom held up a finger, placing down the food. “Just wait.” She walked back to her work station and grabbed a needle and syringe. 

Phantom felt his core pulse, slightly nervous. “Mom?”

The woman looked up, giving him a comforting smile. “Remember yesterday? I suggested integrating ectoplasm with real world food.”

The boy nodded, still not understanding. He watched silently as Mom opened the packaging on the syringe and attached the plastic end of the needle to the end of the syringe. She twisted to remove the cap on the needle.

“Jack, honey. Can you hand me that ectoplasm?”

Dad handed over the cup. Mom dipped the end of the syringe into the ectoplasm and slowly lifted the plunger to draw up in the gelatinous substance and…

“Oh.” Phantom understood and she picked up one of the hotdogs and injected about three milliliters into the food. “Hybrid food… for the ghost-human hybrid.”

The adults both gave a chuckle. Mom continued the process with the other three hot dogs in the container. She put down the final log of meat.

The ghost stared down at the container questioningly. “So...do I just..try one?”

Mom nodded, giving him an encouraging smile. “Go for it, sweetie.”

Still unsure, Phantom picked up the first hot dog she’d injected. He held it between his thumb and pointer finger, studying. He could feel...something...where he was touching the food and…. He blinked as the object slowly started glowing green.

“Danny?” Mom asked, slightly worried.

“I’m not doing that.” He looked down. The other three hot dogs were starting to glow and….the one in his hand started to shake. The boy dropped it. “What the-”

Phantom didn’t finish speaking as growling sounds echoed from the… hot dogs? They levitated out of the box. The boy blinked and-

He yelped as something barreled into him. Being inhumanly light and without gravity pulling him down, the fast flying object slammed him into the wall. 

“Umph!” Phantom slid onto the floor.

His eyes darted to his parents. Both of them were on the floor, apparently knocked down. And… there was an aggressive yowl. The ghost looked up and...the hot dogs were flying around the lab. 

“What the hell!” Ghost Danny yelled as two of the hot dogs flew right into the cup of ectoplasm and knocked it over. Both glowed brighter and…

“Language!” Mom rebuked, pulling herself to her feet.

Then one of the hot dogs...weenies...ectoweenies flew right at her. 

“Mom!” The ghost boy rose to his feet. One of the bright ectoweenies let out a roar and barreled into him. He knocked into the wall again. “Seriously?!”

The hot dog darted at his face and- Did it have a mouth?! Phantom instinctively raised a hand and shot at it. The ectoweenie dodged. The ghost boy pulled himself to his feet again. His hand lit again and-

“Ow! It bit me!” Dad yelled. Out of the corner of his eyes, ghost Danny saw the man punch one of the hot dogs. It knocked into the table, more ectoplasm spilling on it.

Another ectoweenie came for Phantom’s head and he darted up, hitting the ceiling. He shot down at it, ignoring the crash that sounded to his right. The hot dog dodged again.

There was an electric hum and neon green light behind him. “Take that!” Mom shouted.

The ghost couldn’t focus on that. He flipped in the air, his head pointed down. Wait..was he standing on the ceiling? Another flash of green below him. Phantom lit his own hands, eyes searching. Where-

Two ectoweenies rammed into him and he fell towards the ground. His ectoenergy went off course. Phantom screamed as a green shot whizzed past him at the same time. He tumbled in the air, for just a moment registering the ectogun in Mom’s hand, the end crackling with energy. The shadow of his heart skipped a beat. He flipped again, facing away from the woman. 

There was a similar, though femine, shout, the hiss of cold energy impacting metal. Phantom landed heavily on the ground, his hands lit and held in front of him. His eyes flickered to Mom, her gun still hefted towards him. He flickered invisible for a second, eyes wide with fear. That gun...that gun…. She’d...almost shot him aga-

Mom’s expression finally registered in his mind. Her eyes were also wide with fear. She was scared as well. His core ached suddenly. Why-

His eyes flickered to the wall just above Mom’s head. It was cracked and peeling like...it had been super-cooled. Phantom banished the light in his hands, paling. “I’m...I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

At the same time. “Danny! Sweetie. Are you okay? I’m so sorry.” Mom paled, almost dropping the gun in her haste to put it down.

Neither have time to answer, too distracted. Phantom barely registered Dad shouting. Another ectoweenie darted at Mom from the side, growling and foaming at the mouth. Phantom’s eyes widened again in fear. He flew up in a blink, just as the woman was covering her face. “Mom!”

Ghost Danny’s hands wrapped around her arm and he turned intangible, pulling the woman out of the way. For just a moment, Mom’s mouth fell open in surprise but...her gaze landed on his face, not on her own insubstantial body. The surprise vanished and her expression shifted. Her eyes… her eyes rounded, relieved and grateful. Phantom smiled back.

The moment was broken a second later as Ghost Danny let go of the woman. Mom wobbly landed on her feet? Had he… been making her float as well, without realizing it?

There was another crash to the side. A shout from Dad again. And… Phantom and his mother both ducked at the same time. The group of spectral hot dogs flew over their heads. The ghost stood again, fluidly turning his back to the adult. Mom turned as well so the pair were back to back, covering each other.

Another ectoweenie flew at the ghost’s face. He shot another ectoblast. And this time, the energy connected. The neon green light enveloped the piece of food. The hot dogs fell out of the air and...something half-dollar sized and green was thrown backwards.

The growling and yipping around him finally quieted. Phantom stared. There, suspended in the air, was an oblong glob of ectoplasm. Or…. his ghost sense finally went off as tiny black eyes blinked from the...blob? The blob that had come out of the hot dogs…. The tiny ghost (?) let out a whine. It twirled in the air, eyes darting about. The blob let out a high pitched, fearful-sounding shriek. Then it turned to the portal and darted through the mist. The other two ectoweenies followed, letting out their own moans.

The three Fentons just stood there for a long moment, staring at where the animated hot dogs had fled. Finally, Phantom shook his head to knock himself out of his funk. He turned to face his dad first. “Are you okay?”

The man nodded. “I’m fine, son.” He blinked. “That was something, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Ghost Danny turned to check on the other adult. “Mom? Are you okay? I’m...I’m so sorry about almost shooting you. I...I didn’t mean to do that. I… I’m so sorry.”

The woman placed a hand on his arm, squeezing comfortingly. “Danny, sweetie. It’s okay. I know it was an accident. And I’m fine, alright? Don’t worry.” Her lips turned down. “Are you alright?” She glanced to the ectogun on the table. “I almost… I almost shot you again.”

Phantom paled slightly, looking at the gun. Then his eyes went back to the woman’s face. “Hey. It’s okay. It was an accident, right?” Something in her expression shifted as she recognized the repeated words. “So we’re good?”

“Yes. Of course.” Mom reached out and hugged him.

Phantom accepted the hug, enjoying the embrace as he felt the adrenaline dwindle away. And now that he wasn’t in fight mode, there was…. Something else. A familiar feeling at the back of his mind. 

Oh. Fenton. You were here.

His human gave a mental hum of agreement. And the ghost felt his muscles relax. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of the school cafeteria. His vision was back in the lab and Mom was still hugging him. He gave the woman one last squeeze, from him and from Fenton. And ghost Danny stepped back.

Mom stepped back as well, a smile gracing her face. Then her brow wrinkled, studying him.

Phantom blushed. “What?”

“Your eyes… they’re blue.” She reached to place a hand on his face.

The ghost blinked. “My eyes are normally blue.”

The woman slowly removed her hand, brow furrowed in confusion. Phantom finally caught the oddity of that statement.

“I mean….” He started rambling. “They are when I’m a human...and I’ve been human for most of my life so...I guess I’m used to the idea of me having blue eyes… even if they’re actually green when I’m a ghost. And… Fenton has blue eyes...and he’s me. So…” Phantom trailed off, unsure of his own words. They were technically true but… had he even been the one to actually say those words? Or had it been Fenton who was still lingering?

Mom finally spoke. “Danny. You don’t have to explain yourself.” The corner of her lip turned up. “And I think your eyes are beautiful no matter what color they are.”

Ghost Danny blushed at the compliment, looking down. Normally, he would have complained but he was just too stunned by this whole exchange…. And still a little shook by the near misses on both their parts, despite saying that it was fine.

Finally, the boy shook his head, trying to force the feelings away. "Okay. I've got to see what you're talking about."

Phantom turned around and floated to the bathroom attached to the lab. He opened the door and fixed his eyes on the mirror over the sink. He gasped. Sure enough… his eyes were blue, the same icy blue as his human half but…. He blinked. They were still glowing, bright with his normal spectral aura. 

"Woah. Look at that." The ghost breathed. 

It was so odd, to see the now familiar green eyes switched with blue. But… the corner of his lip turned up. They still felt like his eyes; even if this wasn't typical, it was still right.

Footsteps approached, one heavier and one lighter pair. Dad spoke. "Madds! You're right."

Mom gave an agreeing hum. "Do you have any idea why they're doing that, Danny?"

Phantom didn't answer right away, still smiling at his reflection. "Maybe it's a perception sharing thing." He turned his head.

"Perception sharing?" Mom asked.

" 'cause human me's seeing this too."

Both parents nodded, understanding. Then Mom raised a brow. "That happens often, doesn't it?"

The ghost shrugged. "I guess." He turned back to the mirror. "Dude, you should go back to lunch." He felt an impulse to roll his eyes - Fenton's influence definitely - which he rejected. "Yeah, yeah." His mouth muttered. "See ya later."

In the mirror, his eyes returned to green. Phantom sighed, feeling sadly lonely now. He turned back to his parents, who weren't looking at him all that oddly for once.

“Is it just you now?” Mom asked gently.

The ghost grumbled. “It’s always just me.”

The woman’s brow creased. “Just this you, then.”

That made ghost Danny’s frown deepen. “Yep. Just Phantom.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddening feeling awkward at the wording. His eyes flickered around the room. “Dang...the lab’s a mess.”

For just a moment, Mom’s expression shifted as if she wanted to say something else.

Then Dad spoke. “Those ghost hot dogs did a number, didn’t they?” He motioned to the spilled beakers and ectoplasm covered tables.

“Yeah.” Phantom frowned. “What even was that?”

Mom crossed her arms, a similar questioning look on her face. “That was very strange. The ectoplasm I injected was inert. It was purified straight from the portal but… you both saw what happened.” Her eyes flickered to the swirling green mist. “And that green… creature that flew into the portal.”

The ghost nodded, still wondering. Then… “It set off my ghost sense.” His confused expression deepened.

Dad raised a brow. “The hot dogs?”

“Yeah.” Phantom confirmed. “I felt...something when I picked up one of them. And...that little green thing that flew out...it looked like one of those blob ghosts I saw on the other side of the portal.”

“So…” A look of realization passed over the woman’s face. “It was a ghost.” 

“But...where did it come from?” The other adult asked. 

Ghost Danny shrugged, at just as much a loss as his father. He turned to his other parent, expecting her to look just as confused but…. Mom had a troubled look, which deepened when she noticed his eyes on her.

“I have an idea.” The woman finally said.

“Well?” Phantom raised a brow.

Mom swallowed. “Well...we’d thought that ghosts can form spontaneously with enough concentrated ectoplasm and strong emotions. And with our emotional imprinting idea…”

The ghost boy flinched, eyes widening with hurt; the words were an unpleasant stab to the core.

The woman noticed the reaction. “Danny, sweetie. We’re already well past that. I know who you are… and it’s not an imprint.”

Phantom relaxed, taking a breath. When had he tensed? “I know that.” And he did. He shouldn’t have even considered that she was implying that. “But still…” He crossed his arms. “Ghosts are the souls of dead people. I’m...I’m sure that’s true. Sidney’s not an imprint. He couldn’t tell I wasn’t a full ghost like him so… we can’t be that different. If I’m not a copy of my living self, then he can’t be either.”

Mom tilted her head back and forth, considering. “That is a point…”

Dad scratched his head, also thinking. Then… “There might be a lot of different ways ghosts form though. Some are like Danny and his friend. And others are imprints. Maybe there’s other ways to. It’s like….” He pointed in a sudden realization. “Living things here reproduce in a bunch of different ways. Why would ghosts be different?”

Phantom shook his head. Okay. His parents might have a point there. But... “Okay. Sure but… what’s the connection between emotional imprinting and those ectoweenies then?”

“Ectoweenies?” Dad asked. “That’s a good one.”

Ghost Danny figured the man would think so but he didn’t reply, too focused on the other adult.

Mom bit her lip. “The idea is ghosts can form from emotions imprinting on ectoplasm, any emotions not just those… associated with a death and….there’s been a lot of strong emotions in the room in the past month.”

Ghost Danny felt his stomach flop as he understood. The implication... So...blob ghosts…. Formed from the sorrow, fear, and anger he’d felt in this lab. From his parents’ grief and guilt. He didn’t...he didn’t like how that sounded. He wanted to argue that it couldn’t be the case but… “I think...they were scared.” 

Now that he thought about it, it was clear. Trying to attack the three of them, that cry of fear, fleeing through the portal. Those small, newly formed blobs had been afraid and panicking. They were cornered animals lashing out.

A look of understanding passed over the woman’s face. She nodded. “I think you might be right.”

Dad looked similarly thoughtful, all three people turning to look at the portal again. And Phantom was left to wonder about the implications. About those blobs with a strange connection to him and his family. What would happen to them, in the infinitely big Realm of the Dead? Would he see them again? And what were they, really? Was his mom right? So many questions, so many uncertainties about ghosts. Again, where exactly did he belong in this new world of ghosts? And-

“Ya know, normally you fight your dinner when it’s still alive.” Dad mused. “I never thought I’d have to fight it after it’s cooked.” The man chuckled. “Makes me hungry. I’m gonna go eat lunch. Coming Mads? Danny?”

The corner of Phantom’s mouth turned up. Leave it to his father to break the thoughtful pause with mentions of food. “Coming.” He floated upstairs after his parents.

[kimera20]

Dannymay 2021!

Also in FF and AO3

Seasons

“Come on clockwork! Let's go!” Danny said excited.

“I'm coming, Daniel. There is no need to be impatient, after all we have time” Clockwork said.

“I know, but I want to see it now” Danny whined, he was too excited to wait.

The last few weeks Clockwork had been teaching Danny about the Ghost Zone, its formation, the various cultures and languages that formed in it that no living knew of and about the strange and varied places in the Infinite Realms. Danny found these lessons interesting but too much theory tended to bore him and made him not pay attention, because of that Clockwork decided to show Danny some of those places. His original plan was to open a portal so the young halfa could go, explore the place and come back to the Clocktower, however Danny, with his tendency to ruin others plans, decided to drag Clockwork to the portal so they could both explore together.

The first time, Danny took Clockwork by surprise, a rare event, when he tackled the ghost into the just opened portal. After recovering from his surprise Clockwork decided to follow his charge lead and explored with him. He didn't mind giving his lesson in another place, besides it did give him a different perspective, it was rare for him to experience what was at the other side of his portals. The fact that him being outside of his tower annoyed the Observants as a plus.

“Come on, come on!” Danny exclaimed, floating upside down.

“Do you even know where we are going?” Clockwork asked, smirking.

“Uh… a garden?” Danny guessed, he forgot the name of the place.

“The All-seasons Garden, it's the biggest peaceful land that's closer to the Clocktower” Clockwork explained once again.

“Oh right” Danny said sheepishly, “it's like a public park right?”

“More or less. It's too far for any ghost community to want to conquer and I might have started some rumors about the place to discourage them from doing so” Clockwork said.

“What kind of rumors?” Danny asked curiously.

“The ones that made them think that if they stayed too long on that island they would be trapped in a time loop for all eternity” Clockwork smirked.

“Why would they believe that?” Danny asked.

“Mostly because in that island seasons change randomly every hour. It gives the impression that time is unstable in there” Clockwork said.

“And it isn't” Danny commented.

“Exactly, it's just a strange island but, if it makes people stay away from the places where time truly is unstable, then it's less work for me” Clockwork said.

“Ha ha ha! That's a great prank!” Danny laughed.

“One of my longests standing ones. Now we better go, it will change from summer to winter in twenty minutes and I want to show you how these unique plants react” Clockwork said while opening a portal.

[lunar-magnolia]

IT'S TIME TO GO ON A SPECULATION JOURNEY @l-tachi​

It's true we don't really know Hua Cheng's past before he fell into Xie Lian's arms as a child, but we do have some things that could help make up a little picture of his human life. I might leave out some things and take them for granted, like his transformation from simple fire ghost to savage:

*putting a read more because Long and spoilery

He was a citizen of the Imperial Capital of Xianle or lived in the vicinity of it. It's possible that he lived outside the walls, because of what Feng Xin said about knowing all the children who lived in the poorest part of the Imperial Capital. He said he had never seen little Hua (or Hong-er) around.

Because of his cursed eye that he kept covered, it's possible that his family was cast out of the city when he was born. Maybe they did live inside the city, but once little Hua came around and voice spread about his curse, they might have been kicked out.

It's also possible that only his mother loved him in the family, and the fact that she wouldn't give him up and doomed them all could have been cause of fights in the household. Thus we have little Hua lying about having parents and refusing to go back home.

It's also possible that he truly doesn't have a name. Hong Hong-er is the way his mother called him, and sounds more like a cute nickname that referred to his red eye (it means "little red"). He never gives Xie Lian a proper name, neither when he's a child nor when he was in his Wuming form. This is completely debatable tbh

However, when he meets Xie Lian again after 800 years, he does give a name that he says he prefers: San Lang. In the notes of the book it says that it indicates the third son of a household. This made me think that he probably had at least two older siblings when he was human. Which is nice, but all things considered he probably didn't have a good relationship with them.

CW: death, suicide mention

It's unclear if he jumped or just fell from the wall during the festival as a child. There's a high chance that Xie Lian is an unreliable narrator and Hua Cheng never told him why he was in such a dangerous position in the first place. It's however safe to imagine that he was going to jump, but seeing the parade he stopped himself. He was either pushed or he slipped.

I say it's kinda safe because of the infamous scene where little Hua is pleading to Xie Lian to tell him why should he continue living when he really doesn't want to. His life has been too hard on him and he wants to die. Xie Lian tells him to live for him if he can't find anything else worth living for. So yeah.

The guoshi of Xianle mentions that the kid Xie Lian had brought to the Royal Pavilion centuries ago was cursed and he probably never lived past 18-20yo. We know that up until 14 years old he was alive and well and in the army, fighting in the name of the Crown Prince. We also know that after the Land of the Tender accident he was booted from the army. At some point after the fall of Xianle, he died.

We see him protecting one of Xie Lian's temples when people wanted to burn it down. It's possible that he died doing exactly that, when he was around 18/19 years old.

In fact, Hua Cheng mentions that dying in Xie Lian's name is the greatest honor for him. And it already happened twice: when he was a human and when he sacrificed himself as Wuming.

Also another possible indicator of the age he was when he died is the age he has in his Hua Cheng form. He is described as a youth in his 20s.

After his sacrifice as Wuming, his soul still refused to leave the mortal realm and dissipate. We can imagine that after that episode mount Tong'lu opened and he went there as a fragile soul to regain his power and become at least a savage again. He knew he needed to become strong again if he wanted to protect Xie Lian, so he risked it all.

We know that while journeying towards the kiln, he gained enough power to have a "physical" form and gauge his own eye out to forge E'ming in a desperate situation. Plus, at the exact same moment, the heaven sent a heavenly calamity and he ascended as a ghost. But since Xie Lian wasn’t there and he had lots of beef with the heavenly officials, he immediately jumped down and continued on his path to become a supreme.

He stayed in the Mount Tong'lu zone for 10 years. In these ten years it's highly probable that he slew as many ghosts as he could to gain as much power as he could get. He also spent his time exploring the ruins of Wuyong and honing in his art skills in the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods.

When he entered the kiln, it's unclear if he found other powerful ghosts to fight inside it or not. In any case, once he was done and still inside, before escaping he carved the giant Crown Prince statue that we see in book 5.

After escaping the kiln, he had all the "physical" strength. But we know that he's also extremely knowledgeable, and that when he challenged the 35 heavenly officials, some were civil gods and he beat them in debates.

So it's possible that after becoming a Supreme, he started his journey to gather as much knowledge as he could. During the years he gained fame and his Crimson Rain Sought Flower title.

With his status and skill, he eventually founded Ghost City and started building his own wealth too, thanks to the Gambler's Den.

It took some time, but when he was positive he could take all the 35 heaven officials down at their own game, he went and became the infamous Hua Cheng, the Crimson Rain that sought the flower.

I think it's important to mention that the guoshi of Xianle also said that the people cursed like Hua Cheng had the worst luck. Instead, we see Hua Cheng being possibly the luckiest person on Earth. This is probably the consequence of Xie Lian changing his fate and giving up all his luck (per the cursed shackle). Among everything, in fact, guoshi said that to survive the curse, fate must be changed.

I think Xie Lian altered Hua Cheng's fate both when he was a human and held onto little Hua when everyone else told him to let him go, and when he gave up his luck just after Wuming's sacrifice. Xie Lian, in fact, says that luck will be transfered to people who lack it. And Hua Cheng, who was in the vicinity, was probably the most unlucky person present. I think he absorbed most of Xie Lian's luck, and that also impacted his fate.

Another possibility is Hua Cheng gaining luck after he forged E'ming. If his eye was the reason why his luck was so terrible, removing it and sealing into a spiritual device could have been the catalyst to his apparently infinite luck.

I think he also spent his time looking for Xie Lian, but the world is vast and he lost track of him after the Wuming arc. So he focused on improving himself to be worthy of one day approaching Xie Lian.

I guess he came to know Xie Lian's whereabouts when Xie Lian ascended for the third time. It's possible that he got word of it from Black Water, and then the rest is history.

Akdhskfhjd I might have skipped some things, please feel free to ask more questions if something is unclear or doesn't make sense. All of this is pure speculation based on the information we have from the book and it's all debatable. Still, I had fun thinking about it! Thank you so much for the prompt!!!