#danny is not happy and he's taking it out on the speeders

[hypewinter]

When Clockwork told Danny to round up all the speeders, he thought it would be a quick errand. But then he stuck around. He couldn't help it ok? He had never been a witness to one of CW's tongue lashings. Only the receiver. That's why he wanted to listen to Clockwork chew these speeders out for their misuse of the speed force.

It's also why he was still around when Clockwork said "In order to help you manage your speed more, King Phantom will be teaching you."

Wait.....WHAT!?

[stealingyourbones]

Hi! So I was into DP years ago, then earlier this year got into Batfam fics, then saw my first DC x DP crossover and just 💥

So now I’m on a new obsession that has me reading every one of your prompts and any stories that come from it and I just had this one flood my brain:

Presumed Alien Danny

So for [insert reason here] Danny has to flea Amity and the living world to stay in the Zone. He’s injured, and therefore forced to use the Fenton Specter Speeder, and flies it into the portal. Only, whether due to a malfunction, Clockwork, or something else, instead of the Ghost Zone, the Speeder gets spat out of a portal in the DC universe.

So, on the other side, the Watchtower gives an alert that an unknown energy is spiking nearby, and then a spaceship/pod looking thing comes flying out of a flash of green. It’s spinning out of control, and headed for a desert on Earth. A team is dispatched, I’m thinking Superman (alien), Green Lantern (alien law enforcement) and Batman (obvious. Kid bait).

So they get there within moments of the crash, find the thing totaled, Superman hears a strange, humming/thrumming accompanied by groans, and he cracks what’s left of it open to see this green-eyed, white-haired kid with very bad injuries and green blood covering what looks like it could have been some kind of space suit. He grabs the kid, gets him out, and Lantern makes a shield that contains the massive explosion that leaves the ship/pod nothing but charred bits lying scattered across the sand.

They get the clearly alien child to the watchtower for medical help, and though they heal very quickly they still need a lot of stitches, mainly because the first set melted and they had to use ones designed for metas with corrosive abilities.

Then, a day or so later, still healing but not in danger, the kid wakes up, stares wide-eyed at the people around him, and exclaims something I a strange language.

Yeah, definitely alien.

Danny wakes up, sees a bunch of weird, costumed people all around him, and tries to ask what the heck is going on. They all stare in confusion. One guys, who’s glowing green but a different shade, had a ring that starts speaking in a different language.

So, I figure, in an alternate dimension, the English language developed differently, so Danny’s English and the DCU’s English aren’t the same. Hence more Misunderstandings.

Also, if Connor is in this, it’s not until after Danny’s been found. 😎

So Danny gets introduced via the Green Guys magic translating ring, finds out they think he’s an alien, thinks he’s still in his world, where the Anti-Ecto Acts are a thing, and goes with it. They introduce him to the younger hero’s his age, and once he’s better they set him up in their base to live, since obviously he can’t stay on the watchtower or blend in. A few weeks in is enough for Danny to get confused by all the differences and look into it, and realize he’s in a new dimension. But he’s already knee-deep in this, so he just doesn’t ever mention it, and just refers to his ‘home planet’ as Amity.

Meanwhile, the alien kid, Danny, seems to be adjusting well, if a bit confused by the strangest things at times. The planet he mentioned as home was listed by the Lantern Corps as one destroyed by a black hole a few days before Danny’s pod showed up, so they avoid asking about the clearly painful and traumatizing experience. Superman, upon learning about the boys skill set, takes him under his wing.

TLDR-

Through a series of misunderstandings and coincidences Danny is premised to be an alien child by the Justice League and taken in as Superman’s apprentice/son. He does not correct this assumption, either ever or until he is outed by something/one else.

homie I am in love with this idea. Presumed Alien Danny makes me so happy.

I will like to add: The not-quite-english that Danny is speaking is akin to old English.

[bluerosefox]

Misunderstandings and Miscommunications

Back at it again with some

✨️ Shenanigans ✨️

Brain rot.

Here goes.

So Danny finally tells his parents the truth (Phantom Planet not happening in this AU) and due to his anxiety and fear takes their disbelief and horror and yelling (not mad or angry but like worried yelling) as rejecting him.

They had rejected Vlad a few weeks ago when he had been caught as Plasmius but they only rejected him because they had found out he had been trying to kill Jack in order to get to Maddie and had been hurting Danny behind their backs while also trying to get him to denounce Jack as his dad, it had nothing to do with him being part ghost.

They do love Danny and are just horrified their invention had killed their baby boy and that they had been trying to hurt him for a last few years because they didn't know he was Phantom (but the clues, oh the clues were staring at them in the face now, how blind they were to it oh.)

Due to Danny's panic he runs off into the Infinite Realms in order to hide with one of his ghost friends but.... he runs into some trouble (Skulker? Walker? idk pick any) and gets tossed in a random portal that had opened up.

And finds himself in the DC verse.

Danny accidentally falls into a huge battle as well and when he spots the heroes trying to protect the city he fell into from some huge evil villain he helps out despite his own emotions (it helps distract him from what he 'thinks' happened between him and his parents)

And once he's done helping he books it cause he need to process everything and doesn't stop when the hero he helped out called out to him, and phases out and turns invisible if the hero tries to stop him to talk. It isn't long until Danny is in a new city and finds some more people to help from villains and evil, and he starts using it to distract himself.

Basically Danny aimlessly wanders around and starts helping anyone to keep his mind off the thought of never being able to go home again.

Meanwhile his parents are PANICKING about not being to find Danny after he runs. They try calling his friends, but the moment they hear the Fenton's say they know about him being Phantom they too jump the gun and think Danny was rejected. They both yell, not letting the Fenton's say anything, and let slip Danny most likely is hiding in the Infinite Realms (aka the Zone) if hes not in Amity.

Tucker and Sam immediately hang up and call Jazz, whose at college, before the Fenton parents could and tell her what happened. And Jazz isn't happy.

Despite being so smart and willing to give their parents so many chances to change their views on Ghosts, she's not a child anymore and isn't going to let them hurt Danny (they don't want to). She starts making her way home to give her parents a piece of her mind.

But by the time she gets there, driving all night, her parents are missing and she finds a video message on the computer from Tucker explaining they had snuck into the house to go into the portal to try to find Danny only to see the Fenton parents suiting up and going into the zone with the Specter Speeder and Boo-o-rang keyed to Danny. "No doubt they're going to hunt Danny down, we're going to try to slow them down and find Danny before they do Jazz! We left an extra Boo-o-rang behind keyed on Danny's signature come help us when you get this message! Take Danny's Specter Bike I made sure the keylock is off!" (Let's pretend Tucker tinkered with the design of the Specter Speeder and made some bike versions, with Danny and funnily enough Johnny 13's help, it was fun bonding thing they all did)

Jazz is even more livid after that. Takes a few things and heads to the portal as well, hopefully to find Danny first before her parents.

By the time Jazz finds the portal that opens to the DC verse she's in Gotham, runs into Red Hood (and helps take down some gang goons but in the process her Boo-o-rang gets busted in the scuffle) and basically they talk. She asks if he's seen any runaway blue eyed black haired young teens around and Jason jokingly says "Nope but we better find him before the Big Bad Bat takes him and turns him into a Robin."

Jazz is very confused.

MEANWHILE

The Fenton parents are of course making a menace of themselves... They're driving around (which is a warning enough if Jack is behind the wheel) trying to find Danny to explain that they do love him and to come back home, and when they do find Danny he freaks out and starts booking it again (right as he actually stopped to talk enough with a hero too). The heroes of the DC verse whose meet Danny and those that heard about some young 'meta' teen whose been helping out and is very powerful, take note how scared and panicked he looked when facing the two and things get worse when they take note how... careless they are going after him (cause we know the Fenton's get a little extreme) and add the fact they look like mad scientists too (they haven't been sleeping well since Danny ran off)

So the DC heroes start assuming the worse for the young teen hero...

It gets even much WORSE when Tucker and Sam, who are hot on the Fenton's heels as well, show up and eventfully tell them what happened (or what they think happened) when they gain their trust.

Basically, a lot of miscommunication happens.

Danny thinks he needs to be on the run from his parents and is helping out in the DC verse to keep his mind off his own breaking heart from the rejection (if you wanna make it serious maybe have his actual core in danger from the rejection or something). And is nearly adopted by every hero who see's this sad ghost kid.

His parents are labeled mad scientists (kinda are) who are hunting Phantom down to end him or experiment on him but they actually DO love him and just want their son come back home. (due to being Fenton's they do kinda accidentally cause a lot of mayhem in their wake)

Tucker and Sam are trying to be amazing friends and stopping the Fenton's from hurting their best friend but much like Danny they are a bit too caught up in their emotions to realize the truth of what happened and may or may not alerted the JL and JLD why Danny is on the run in the first place. (when they had down time to find out where they were they found out about the meta protection laws and is kinda using that to get Danny help)

Jazz is in Gotham, has no way to track Danny down at the moment, is talking with Red Hood (coughAngerManagementcough) about finding her brother and saving him from her parents before they do anything to hurt him. Cue Red Hood (and maybe with the help of the Outlaws) helping Jazz go find her brother.

This can be serious but I mostly see it being silly with nothing but shenanigans and a lot of miscommunication.

[five-rivers]

First. Previous.

Clockwork hummed, mostly to Daniel, but partially to himself.  He was pleased by how the day had turned out so far.  There had been many possibilities, many branches stemming from Daniel’s choices.  Despite that, Daniel had still chosen to come here, to stay with him, to trust him with himself so completely that he had fallen asleep on Clockwork.  With a little help, yes, but the fact was there.

But there were other things to address.  

He waited a little longer, just to be sure.  Sometimes, the currents of time were such that even he had trouble navigating them.  No matter.  He didn’t especially need that for this.  

The earpiece next to the small camera chittered angrily.  The words would have been too quiet for a human to hear, and Daniel was too deeply asleep to take note of them, but Clockwork was far from human, and he was very awake.

He smiled at the artificial eye of the camera on the table.  “Hello, Dr. Fenton, Dr. Fenton.”

“What have you done to Danny?” demanded Madeline Fenton.  

“I have given him a place to rest, and prevented him from undertaking a dangerous journey on his own,” said Clockwork, calmly.  

“Let him go.”

“Yeah!  You have no right to kidnap our boy!”

“I did not kidnap him.  He came to me.”  Clockwork tilted his head.  “And I will not send him away.”

“You monster, you–!”

“I was not the one who sought to lock him away,” said Clockwork.  “Who kept him closed up in one place, against his wishes, to the point of distress.”

“We wouldn’t have to do that if it wasn’t for you,” hissed Madeline Fenton.  “If you didn’t–”

“Dr. Fenton,” interrupted Clockwork.  “Daniel is a child.  He will always be a child, because he died as one.  He is also only half human.  Treating him as a human child will do him no good.”

“And sending him to places like that will?”  snapped Madeline.  

“We’ve been making adjustments!” protested Jack at the same time.  

“You have sent him to far more dangerous places than Three Twilights,” said Clockwork.  

“Not knowingly.”

“Ah, the age-old argument of whether or not it is better for harm to be done out of ignorance or done with full cognizance.”

“We–”

“Jack, don’t engage.  Either let Danny go, or we are coming to get him.”

“You may try,” said Clockwork, “but you will not find us.  Daniel will go when he so desires, and not a moment sooner.  And speaking of time, you do not have an infinite amount.”

“Are you threatening us?”

“As you were threatening me?  No.  Merely stating a fact.  Someday, you will die, and Daniel will continue.  Will his sister then inherit the responsibility for his care?  And who shall be next, when she passes in turn?  His nieces and nephews, should they exist?  Do you think he will tolerate that?”

“What are you saying?” asked Jack, gruffly.  

“I am saying that one way or another, Daniel will someday come make his home, the place he always returns to, with me.  Whether that time comes before you die or after is up to you.  As you have seen, you will not be able to keep him locked away.”

.

“Okay,” said Danny, having watched Clockwork put the last small gear in place in the clock he was helping him repair.  “I… should probably go home.”

He didn’t want to.  Not because he was scared, or anything like that, but he knew his parents wouldn’t be happy with him - he’d purposefully left off the earpiece of his communications equipment when he woke up - and he didn’t know when he’d be let out again.  Surely, they’d patch the hole he’d gotten through this time.  

But on the other hand, he didn’t want to make them worry too much.  He knew they were only trying to keep him safe, as crazy as being stuck in the house all the time was making him.  

“Excellent timing,” said Clockwork.  “They should be arriving soon.”

Danny stared at him for a moment, not processing that statement.  “What, like in the Speeder?”

“Yes,” said Clockwork.  

“They’re coming here?”

“They are.”

“Are you– Do you– Are you going to meet them?” Danny asked.  

“I believe that would be unwise, at this juncture,” said Clockwork, removing the thin gloves he used in the workshop and replacing them with his normal thicker, more leathery pair.  “In the future, perhaps.  You should gather your things.”

“Right,” said Danny, sliding off the stool and making his way to the workshop door, “right.  Thank you for letting me visit.”

“Daniel.”

Danny paused to look over his shoulder.  “Yeah?”

“My home is yours, whenever you need it.”

Danny blushed.  “Thanks, Clockwork.”

[underforeversgrace]

healing the wounds we hid - 11

title: healing the wounds we hid

Finally, the sequel to broken trust and the wounds hidden behind! (Refresh here on AO3 or here on Tumblr)

Story Summary: Now that his father knows, Danny's life is changing for the better. Jack encourages him to let his friends and the rest of the family into his small word. Unbeknownst to Danny, Jack is secretly worried about how Maddie will react to the news upon her return to Amity - and how to confront Vlad once Jack learns his true identity. Amidst it all, an enemy lurks and plots their revenge.

Chapter 11 of 11: What We Can Do

AO3

Tumblr Chapter One

~~~~~~

“Are you three ready?” Jack called up the hallway stairs.

Sam poked her head out of Danny’s door. “We’re coming! These two lovebirds got into a video game argument!” She shouted down and Jack could vaguely hear the undignified squawks of his son and boyfriend. He chuckled, shaking his head.

He turned towards the living room instead. “Are you ready, Mads?” He asked. She nodded, studying the rug instead of looking at him. He tried to smile, but it was hard. It’d been nearly two weeks since everything with Danny and now… he didn't know how his family was supposed to recover from this.

Maddie had betrayed Jack, had tortured and nearly murdered Danny. She had stopped in time, yes, but she’d had to kill to do so. They hadn’t spoken much about that night - Tucker had wiped the footage of their break in and according to internal memos, Operative O’s death was being considered a suicide - he had chosen to remain inside after a fire alarm, the table holding Phantom had been manually overridden to free him, and then he’d died via major electrocution next to a device capable of delivering that amount of voltage.

It still made Jack feel uncomfortable, something about it just didn’t seem right, but Tucker had assured them that he had gone through every file and they all said the same thing.

Jack sighed and sat next to her on the couch, not knowing what to say.

She was the one to break the silence. “How do we recover from this?”

He placed a hand on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. “By listening, learning, and growing. Baby steps, Mads. Danny loves us.”

“Do we deserve that?” Maddie asked.

And wasn’t that the question? The one he’d been asking ever since the video but was never brave enough to voice out loud? “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “All we can do is try to.”

The sound of feet above them pulled the two from their talk, both parents slapping a smile to their faces as the kids descended the staircase, bickering about something that Jack was probably twenty years too old to understand.

“Are you guys ready?” Danny asked with a grin, pulling Tucker slightly behind him as they held hands. It was adorable to see, if Jack were honest, his son happy and smiling and doing something so banally normal as holding his boyfriend’s hand.

“We’re ready, sweetie,” Maddie answered, her own hand reaching for Jack’s. He took it, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“I can’t wait for you guys to meet Frostbite!” Danny said, leading the way from the living room and down to the lab, where the Specter Speeder already waited.

The five of them loaded in, Danny excitedly talking about all the ghosts he couldn’t wait for them to meet, hoping they ran across them on today’s expedition. The three teens kept up most of the conversation, Maddie and Jack stuck feeling like outsiders, even to each other. Jack sighed, triple checking he had loaded the anesthetic and its formula into the Speeder. They were taking it to a ghost yeti named Frostbite, who apparently had medically tended to Danny on more than one occasion, so Danny and Jack had agreed Frostbite should have some of the pain relief Jack had managed to get working with a good degree of success. A dozen pre-filled syringes, four full vials, twenty of the more experimental capsule form, and the ‘recipe’ needed to cook up more.

Their delivery confirmed and safety checks done, Jack took the pilot’s seat and plunged them into the home of the Dead.

The four humans gasped in shock as they took in the beauty of the Zone - or, the Realms, as Danny said it was called by its denizens. Jack couldn’t tear his gaze away from the world outside the windshield - the green and black of the sky, stretching endlessly in every definition, no ground in sight, beautiful swirls as ectoplasm lazily circled itself. Purple doors floated everywhere, no rooms visible, but Danny had explained that pocket dimensions existed behind them, the lairs of the ghosts, some lairs larger than a city, for the ones with sufficient power to hold a construct that large together.

Sounds that he felt more than heard seemed to brush against his skin and he shivered involuntarily as his body tried to process a feeling he didn’t have the sensory apparatus to handle.

Jack saw Maddie from the corner of his eye and he studied her while she was distracted. Amazement and wonder made her practically glow as she leaned forward in her seat, trying to look at everything all at once. 

The kids in the seat behind him seemed to be playing twenty questions, Sam and Tucker firing questions off in rapid succession, almost faster than Danny could answer.

When Danny had warned them that the name the Far Frozen was not to be taken lightly, Jack had somehow still managed to not fully grasp just how far away it was. Maddie and Jack slowly began to join in peppering Danny with questions and he grinned at them every time.

“There it is!” Danny finally said after nearly three hours of travel. The others all stared out the window, at what looked like a snowball the size of several mountains floating in the same green space as everything else they’d passed.

“And you’re positive it’s safe for us?”Jack asked, pulling on a heavy woolen coat and gloves, his hands feeling tightly constricted since he also wore his lab gloves. Danny had emphasized it was very, very frozen here.

“Positive! I even double checked with Frostbite! The Zone has a similar gas composition to Earth’s that breathing won’t be a problem, and we shouldn’t be here long enough for you to get too cold,” Danny answered, pointing to a hole in one of the glaciers, indicating that as the tunnel into the dome.

Jack nodded, adjusting his course.

Danny grinned as all of their jaws dropped once they cleared the tunnel, taking in the stunning society of ice, glittering beautifully in a sun that didn’t seem to actually exist. Danny didn’t have to show Jack where to go from here, he could easily see the eight foot tall yeti waving his arms - was one of his arms just a bone encased in ice? - in an empty space. Jack lowered them down, parking them with ease.

He was nearly giddy that the Speeder’s maiden voyage had gone so well - they’d never actually gone into the portal because they could never get a clear reading on how toxic the air was or if the pressure would crush them and now he was here. 

He was here, in the Ghost Zone, with the partner he’d spent over half his life with, trying to get here.

It was a bittersweet feeling, though, as Danny pushed open the door and bounded out, directly into the yeti’s arms and engulfed into a hug, in nothing but a short sleeve t-shirt and jeans. He was here, but at what cost? He shared a look with Maddie before they disembarked, and he could see the question burning within her, too.

Danny, after all, still flinched from her touch, still jumped when Jack got too loud. He was still touched by death and he always would be, and while he no longer outright feared them, some instincts borne of fear took longer to heal.

Still, the two parents followed after Sam and Tucker.

“Welcome, birth givers of the Great One!” The ghost said, his voice booming and echoing around them, his smile somehow bright and friendly despite the rows of sharp teeth. “Welcome, mate and companion of the Great One!” He continued, nodding first to Tucker and then Sam.

“Mate?” Tucker squeaked, a blush obvious on his cheeks as Sam cackled.

“Frostbite!” Danny whined. “We agreed you wouldn’t call me that!”

Frostbite merely grinned at Danny. “No, you asked me not to and I never answered. You, my child, have assumed I agreed.”

Jack immediately decided he liked this ghost as Danny groaned.

“Your litter mate, where is she? I do not see another person and the other four match your descriptions perfectly.”

“Sister,” Danny corrected. “My sister stayed home to study. And please, those two are my parents - not birth givers - and Sam and Tuck are either ‘Sam and Tuck’ or my friends.”

Frostbite merely laughed, clapping a heavy hand - paw? - onto Danny’s shoulder. Danny, impressively, held his ground. Jack had honestly expected him to go flying face first into snow from the force of the yeti’s friendly pat.

“Regardless, Young One,” Frostbite continued, ignoring when Danny muttered to not call him that either, “you have something for me, yes? And wish to show your… parents the medical facilities here?”

“I’ve got the medicine right here,” Jack said, holding up a large black box in his hands, “and the formula if you need to make more.”

“Marvelous,” Frostbite said, reaching out for the box, tucking it securely under one of his arms when Jack handed it over. “Come along! I believe you will find our medical facilities most suitable for your son’s as-needed care!”

Frostbite and Danny led the way, Danny shifting to Phantom so he could float over the snow, not realizing the difficulty his guests were having trudging through the deep banks.

“Frostbite,” Maddie spoke up, though her teeth chattered. “I have a question for you.”

“Of course, Great Mother. What can I help you with?”

Jack saw Maddie grimace at the term - no one here, least of all Maddie, considered her a good mother, much less a great one - but she continued. “How many times have you had to treat my son?”

“Frostbite, don’t -!” Danny began, but Frostbite glared at him and he shut up, glancing at his parents with an apologetic grin that made Jack think he was not going to like this answer.

“I must think, I do not have his medical records memorized,” Frostbite answered, tapping a single claw against his cheek as he thought. “I first met the Great One around one human year ago. In that time, he has visited at least twenty times, possibly up to thirty times. A large number it is not, but his injuries are always severe if he is ill enough to come here. I trust now that you know, you will aide him and keep him from such horrible injuries?”

“Of course,” Maddie answered as they finally entered a tunnel into a mountain, though slick metal lined the walls instead of rough rock, and her voice echoed.

“Thirty times, Danny?” Tucker murmured, worriedly staring at Danny, who just shrugged as he ran a hand through his white hair.

“Fighting ghosts isn’t all fun, you guys.”

“I’ve already been giving him medical attention at home,” Jack added. “And I’ve been teaching Tucker.”

Frostbite nodded. “I am glad to know he no longer fights on his own.”

The others continued to talk, but Jack zoned out slightly. Every now and again, it really hit him what his son was, what Jack had done to his youngest child. And now he was teaching another teenage boy how to apply proper stitching to his boyfriend, teaching him how to wield ghost weapons, all without telling his parents.

Part of Jack felt a rush of hot shame as he once again realized just how much he needed to tell the Foleys and Mansons. For the love of the Ancients - when had he picked up his son’s exclamation? - he had taught them both how to fight ghosts! He had now taken them to a different dimension. How could he, a parent, keep the dangerous things they did a secret from their parents, especially when Jack himself was the one putting them in those situations?

But this was an internal argument Jack was tired of having with himself, because he knew the answer for why he refused to tell was the same reason he felt such guilt - he was a parent. And his son would always come first to him, as selfish as it may be. Jack couldn’t risk Danny losing Sam and Tucker again and there was no way either set of parents would allow their kids to stay friends with a ghost, especially not to fight ghosts! Jack was a professional ghost hunter and he didn’t want his son involved!

And that’s not even touching on a whole other can of worms - if they knew he was Phantom, they could hold his secret over his head or immediately out him.

So, Jack would keep holding his tongue everytime the two of them did something dangerous. They were well trained - by Jack and Danny, and now Maddie - and they were well protected so long as they stayed close to Phantom.

Jack wasn’t pulled out of his turmoil until they passed through a set of stainless steel double doors, and he whistled in appreciation when he saw what lay beyond. This was, without a doubt, the most high tech and clean medical ward Jack had ever seen. He had no idea what half the things even did as Frostbite gave them the tour, pointing and explaining various devices and how they had helped or may could be used to help Danny if it was ever needed. Jack and Maddie asked question after question and Frostbite seemed thrilled to be able to discuss the technical and mechanical aspects of it all with people who could meet him at his level.

Jack noticed when the teens snuck away, Danny pulling his friends to go look at something probably significantly more interesting than the stasis tanks Frostbite was explaining the dynamics of.

“Frostbite? Can I ask you something about Danny?” Jack asked before Frostbite could launch into the next device’s properties.

“Of course, Great Father!” Frostbite boomed with a grin.

“I’ve noticed Danny is getting… well, he’s having more ghostly traits in his human side, and Phantom is changing too.”

“You’ve seen that, too?” Maddie asked.

“Do explain,” Frostbite said, tilting his head to the side in thought.

“Well, as Phantom, Danny has been getting more… his voice is changing? It sounds like static. His hands are more claw-like. And his human side… his ears are pointed and he has small fangs. I just want to make sure this is normal and he’s not in danger,” Jack said, ticking his answers off on his fingers as he spoke, Maddie nodding in agreement beside him. 

Frostbite hummed thoughtfully. “First, what you must understand is that your son is not normal, by either of our dimension’s definitions. He is one of two of a kind,” Maddie visibly flinched at that, she’d been told about Vlad, “and we do not know much about what can be expected of a hybrid. Plasmius is also a poor comparison, his fusion was less… well-taken than Daniel’s. From what I know, it took a decade for his ghost half to fully settle with his human half’s molecular makeup. In that same vein, however, referring to Plasmius’s two sides as half is not entirely correct.”

The yeti paused, looking at the two of them, waiting to see if they had any questions. When they didn’t, he pressed on. “Plasmius is more human than ghost. By my observations, he is at most a quarter ghost. The Great One, on the other hand, is truly half. He is not so much walking a tightrope between Life and Death, he is in a steep and narrow valley between the two - both sides are trying to push him into the other, with neither willing to budge.”

“So, he isn’t at risk of becoming more human or more ghost, because his body is at equilibrium?” Maddie asked.

“In a way,” Frostbite said. “He is being constantly forced into this equilibrium. If he ever falls out of balance, and is unable to restore his center, he will slowly meet an End that humans nor ghosts have a word for.”

Jack frowned. “Is his ghost side trying to overpower his human side, then?”

Frostbite gave what looked like an apologetic grin, but it was hard to tell. “These are not questions of which I can answer.”

“But -“ Maddie began, but she obediently cut herself off when Frostbite held up a paw.

“But you will soon see one who may,” Frostbite answered cryptically. “I believe we have finished our tour of the facility, regardless. Do you have any further inquiries on these things, or are you ready to go find your offspring and his compatriots?”

Realizing Frostbite would say nothing else on the matter, Jack and Maddie fell back to being scientists - asking questions and requesting if they could have their own copies of some of the smaller equipment, which he happily granted them. They began the walk back to the Speeder, Frostbite sending one of the other ghosts to fetch the kids.

The trip to the Speeder felt like it took much less time, but the three of them were happily debating the properties of ectoplasm. The kids were already there when the adults arrived, seeming to have their own happy discussion, though Sam and Tucker’s faces were wind-swept from the cold. Danny, still in ghost form, seemed supremely comfortable.

They were just about to all load up when Frostbite stopped them. “Great One, a word, if you will.”

Tucker and Sam giggled at Frostbite’s words, Danny throwing them a playful glare. Jack also added ‘Great One’ to his mental repertoire of nicknames for his son.

“What’s up, Frostbite?” Danny asked.

“Clockwork stopped by earlier today. He wishes for you to go to him as soon as you leave here.”

“Why didn’t he just show up as I was leaving?” Danny asked, scrunching up his nose in confusion. “He can see time.”

Frostbite’s answer was calm and even in that deliberate way that parents used when they didn’t want their children panicking, Jack realized. “I do not know, Great One. He merely asked me to relay the message, and to head straight for him, as he wishes to meet your allies.”

Danny, oblivious to whatever Frostbite was hiding, simply shrugged and turned to the four of them. “You all up for meeting a god?”

“Yeah, ‘cuz that’s a normal thing to be asked by your half-ghost best friend in an alternate dimension while inside a giant snow globe,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. Tucker snorted in laughter and the parents just nodded.

“Well, that wasn’t a ‘no!’” Danny said. “Anything else, Frostbite?”

Frostbite seemed to hesitate for a moment, before leaning forward and placing his paws on Danny’s shoulders. “Just remember that I am here for you, Danny Phantom. You are not of my line but you are of my kin, and all the lands of the Frozen Reaches are open to you.”

“Uh, okay? And it’s just Danny or Phantom, remember? Human half and ghost half. But, yeah, uh, you’re like family to me, too.”

Frostbite gave Danny a few more comforting pats and pulled away, though even all the fur he had couldn’t hide the sadness and the knowing etched onto his face. “Safe travels, Great One. Until we meet again.”

Danny gave Frostbite a quick hug, waved to the other yetis, and hopped into the Speeder, navigating Jack back out of the snowy lands. As soon as they were back in the Zone’s open space, Danny pointed to the left and told them it shouldn’t be longer than an hour to reach Long Now.

“So, like, is Frostbite always that weird, or?” Sam asked as Danny sat back down beside Tucker, shifting back to human and leaning against Tucker’s side, Tucker’s arm wrapping around his shoulder immediately.

“Nah, he was a little bit weirder than usual? But sometimes ghosts are just like that, y’know?”

“No, we don’t know, we haven’t met that many ghosts. Oh, speaking of, can you introduce us to Ember McClain?” Tucker asked.

Their conversation quickly fell to more amusing topics, but Jack and Maddie shared a silent but meaningful look. Frostbite hadn’t answered their questions, alluding to a mysterious someone else who could. Was that where they were going? What was happening to his son that was so big that Father Time had to be involved?

Danny had been accurate with his estimate, as they saw a grand castle appear in front of them, gears that spun against nothing floating around it. Jack was again struck by the otherworldly elegance of it all as he landed the Speeder in front of a set of double doors. Materializing out of thin air, a ghost in a purple cloak appeared in front of the doors, red eyes pupil-less with a scar scratched through one of them.

“Clockwork!” Danny said, hopping out of the Speeder and running to Clockwork, hugging him.

“It is good to see you, little one,” Clockwork said, and Jack could’ve sworn he heard the ticking of a clock in his voice. “I am pleased to meet all of you,” he continued, nodding his head politely to the others. “Come, inside, we have much to discuss.”

They followed, though Jack nearly doubled over as soon as he passed through the doors. The power here was tangible, he was suddenly winded and exhausted. The others reacted much the same way.

“Oh, yes,” Clockwork mumbled. “Humans struggle around my power, I forgot. One moment.” As quickly as it had hit him, the pressure in the air faded and he was able to draw a full breath again. “My apologies.”

“Clockwork, what was that?” Danny asked, frowning. “You don’t forget things.”

“It is one of the reasons I have requested your presence here, my child.” Clockwork answered, though Jack noticed the ghost was staring at him. “But first… Time Out.”

Jack was suddenly in another room, a heavy weight around his neck. Huh? He wondered, lifting what appeared to be a gear on a ribbon necklace. He looked around, realizing he was alone and starting to panic as Clockwork reappeared.

“They are all safe,” the ghost said soothingly. “I need to speak with you.”

It was only due to all of the stories Danny had told him about Clockwork that Jack allowed himself to relax.

“Me? Why me?” Jack asked.

Clockwork sighed, turning away from Jack and staring at a busted up Fenton Thermos on the shelf, which shook slightly.

“We have met before, though you do not know it.” Clockwork answered.

“I think I would remember you,” Jack said, raising his eyebrow.

“I was outside of Time.”

Clockwork rose his hand and a mirror appeared in front of Jack, rapidly swirling with purple mist as a scene began to play, Jack’s eyes widening as he watched.

“You?” He asked as Clockwork made Jack drop the duct tape in Danny’s room nearly two months ago, the thing that led to his finding the USB and Danny’s confession. “Why not just tell me?”

Clockwork hummed. “I am not allowed to directly interfere with Time. If I must tell you, I am interfering. This,” he gestured, “was a loophole. All I did was disturb an unimportant object. What you found after, the piece important to how Time would then flow? I could not touch.”

“You had to mess with something normal that would just so happen to lead me to that box?”

Clockwork nodded.

“Why did you wait so long?” Jack asked, taking a step forward in anger. “Why not tell me before? Why did you let me keep hurting my son?”

The ghost rapidly whirled around, red eyes narrow slits. “Why did you never try to listen? You had a thousand chances to listen. I’ve watched ten thousand Timelines where you did listen and I always hoped you’d make the choice to lead us into one of those futures.”

“What does that even mean?” Jack shouted. “You see the future!”

“I see all futures, Jack Fenton. I see all possibilities. I do not know, truly know, where Time is heading until those choices are made. I know the probabilities, of course. If eight thousand time lines show the same choices made, versus one where it isn’t? I am usually correct in following the common choice. But this does not mean I am always correct,” Clockwork explained, seeming to calm some. “No,” he murmured quietly, pressing a hand to the scar on his face, “I am not infallible.”

Jack sobered some. “So you kept waiting for me to do the right thing.”

Clockwork laughed, more sardonic than humored. “I am as old as the universe and I’ve never seen a family as indecisive as yours. Some things are constant - there has never been a Timeline where you wouldn’t love your son, for example,” Jack grinned as the ghost said that, “but there are many where you do not realize he is your child until after you’ve killed him,” and Jack’s smile was wiped away.

“Why now, then? What changed that you needed to interfere?” He asked, trying to ignore the idea that versions of him had killed Danny.

“The most probable Timeline that I could See was one I could not allow to happen.” Clockwork said, again waving his hand, and Jack flinched at what appeared to be Phantom dying painfully while surrounded by scientists in white.

“Thank you,” Jack muttered, forcing his eyes away from the screen, though he knew the image would be burned behind his eyes forever.

“I did not do it for you. I did it for my grandson. However, this is not why I wished to speak with you,” Clockwork said, the mirror disappearing. “We have a problem.”

“Is Danny okay?”

“I do not know,” Clockwork said and Jack’s anxiety spiked. “I learned recently that the Observants - a faction of ghosts who aided me in keeping the Realms safe - had managed to block my Sight. They wanted the future I stopped to happen, and now I know why.”

“I’ll help Danny however I can,” Jack said earnestly.

“Even without being able to See, I know that,” Clockwork responded with a quick smile. “However, I wished to tell you first. As I said, there has never been a Timeline where Jack Fenton does not love his son. I cannot say the same of Madeline Fenton - there were few, but they did exist in possibility.”

“Oh,” Jack said weakly.

“But I will need your help,” Clockworked continued as though Jack hadn’t spoken. “Daniel’s future is now murky to me. I am too close, I love him too much. I am Time, yet Time is impartial, and I am no longer capable of that. Do you understand?”

“I think so. You want to help but now you have bias and you can’t see the full picture clearly.”

Clockwork nodded. “Precisely. I have watched Daniel die a million times and I will not let any of them come to pass, but I can no longer alter the Time stream around him. If he dies, I cannot reverse the clock.”

“And is something about to happen where he might die? Fully die, no more human, no more ghost?”

“Correct. Change is approaching and it is too tightly entwined with Daniel now for me to stop it.”

“What’s going on?” Jack asked.

“Do you know why Frostbite’s people call him the Great One?” Clockwork answered unhelpfully.

“Uh, because he’s half ghost? I assumed?”

“Come,” Clockwork said, grabbing his wrist, “it is time to tell them.”

Jack’s stomach lurched as he was… teleported? … back to his family, the medallion no longer around his neck. The others didn’t seem to notice he had left, still looking at Clockwork and waiting for him to answer Danny’s question.

“What’s going on,” Clockwork said, floating down to be eye level with Danny, “is you are the Crown Prince of the Infinite Realms and your coronation, or your End, approaches.”

Danny paled and Jack made eye contact with Clockwork.

Oh, no…

[skarlettskwrl]

Too much of a good thing...

Jazz had finally decided enough was enough. No one had seen Danny in days. And it appears no one but heard noticed either, not their parents or his friends. She had asked Sam and Tucker, his two best friends. But they were short with her, and they told her that he could come and apologise himself. They had clearly got into a big fight, and the other two were not willing to make nice first. Jazz hasn't talked to them since.

Now Jazz was in the ghost zone. She had been flying the specter speeder for hours now. He had seemed very distressed before he went missing. The boomerang had sped up and was beeping faster; she was getting close—just a little further.

...

Danny wasn't sure how he got here or really where he was. But, he did know one thing he felt really happy and content. More importantly, he felt safe and protected. He felt safe in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Wherever he was before, he didn't want to go back. The people there were mean and vicious. They didn't appreciate him. He only wanted to help, to protect everyone. But, they didn't appreciate or care. The people here actually saw his help in protection and thanked him for it. He loved helping people. But, he's tired so very tired. He thinks he'll sleep now. He lies down on a patch of grass and drifts off to sleep.

...

The boomerang stopped as it lodged itself into an old door. It was an antique door and it was giving off really creepy vibes. Jazz looked around. There were other doors here, and they're also really super creepy. Like mega creepy. In fact, this whole area was beyond creepy. Just unsettling. Better find Danny and get out of here. The sooner, the better. She turned the stiff handle and entered.

Inside, was an entire town. In fact, it very closely resembled Amity park. There was even the FentonWorks building off in the distance. But this whole place, the colors were off. Even the atmosphere felt heavy and crushing. Jazz continued to wonder about the town. They were beings here; they appeared to be only shades. Just shuffling around. They looked at her, and it was very unsettling. Their eyes, they had a hunger to them. Jazz really didn't like this place. She needed to find Danny. This place was wrong.

Jazz finally spotted Danny; he was sleeping under an oak tree with purple bark and red leaves. Very strange. She ran over to him. She shakes him, trying to wake him. Danny stares and moans. And he slowly sits up, struggling. Danny opens his eyes; they were glazed over and not really focusing on anything. He hums, rocking a bit.

"Have you come to stay with me in the nice place?" Danny asked with a stupid smile on his face, slurring and mumbling all the while. Now Jazz was worried something was really wrong with him.

"No, Danny, I'm here to take you home." Jazz said slowly and firmly to make sure the point got across. But, Danny weakly shook his head. He started to crawl away muttering 'no' in quick succession. This place was obviously affecting him. She had to think. Then she had it. She didn't want to do it; it was kind of a low blow. But, she was running out of time. He was wasting away in here—time to poke at Danny's obsession.

"Danny, I need your help!" Jazz started. Danny immediately snaps his focus to Jazz. Good, this was working. "I have an appointment soon that could decide my future. I have to get back. But I'm lost. Can you help me find the way back to the Fenton portal?" Jazz quickly lied. But Danny, leaning in closer, had hung onto every word.

Danny struggled to his feet. And Jazz helped him cuz he was wobbly. She began steering them towards the exit. But, the shades, they started to shuffle towards them. Their hungry eyes locked on Danny. They needed to hurry up. This wasn't good. Danny started the falter.

Jazz took note of this, and stated "this place isn't safe, and was making me sick."Jazz lied once more. With renewed vigor, Danny picked up the pace, putting distance between them and the shades. They were almost at the door, almost away from this odd pocket world. They could go home. And hopefully, Danny would be better. Jazz wrenched the door open, pulling Danny through with her in tow. They had made it out.

...

On exiting the door, Danny felt really disoriented. Jazz helped him into the speeder. He slumped against his seat, needing a sit-down. He was so tired, more than tired. Actually really drained. His core felt almost empty. He was also hungry and thirsty, things he didn't normally feel in his ghost form unless he had gone too long without them. He probably shouldn't change back until he at least drank something. As he got further away from the cluster of doors, he recognized them for what they were and blanched. It was the largest cluster of predatory lairs he'd ever seen. They were vicious pocket dimensions that lured lower-level ghosts with a harmonic frequency that calls to their cores. Typically higher-level ghosts are able to resist. But if said goes to distracted from an emotionally stressful situation, they can still be lured. And distracted he was, not to mention this was a very large grouping of them. He could still hear their calls even as far as they were now. The atmosphere beyond the doors is saturated with chemicals to dull someone's inhibitions and relax them. While the dimension itself, say to ghost obsession making it want to stay, often using its environment and shades to aid the process. While the lair eats and eats away at the ghost core energy till there's nothing left and the ghost fades. That could have been him. That was almost him. He got into a fight with Sam and Tucker over them getting too involved in his ghost hunting and he was concerned for them. Tucker had poorly gotten hurt the previous day. The fighter quickly escalated, and Sam and Tucker had told him he could come to find them when he decided to appreciate them. He had been upset and decided to fly through the zone to clear his head. He had needed to blow off some steam. Then everything started to go fuzzy from there, till Jazz had found him. Were they really going to wait, not even concerned that he'd been missing for days?! If Jazz hadn't come looking. He would have died. Were they still really that angry with him? Danny felt pressure behind his eyes, and tears started the fall. He cried. Danny shakily stood up from his seat and shuffled over to Jazz. He hugged her.

"Thanks, Jazz," he mumbled into her shoulder. Jazz immediately hugged him back.

"Anytime, little brother." She smiled as they flew homeward.

~SkarlettSkwrl

[ectolemonades]

Danny introduces his parents to Clockwork. (And/or Frostbite)

Yes I'm loving this the vibe is post-reveal and happy which I feel was the implication but if not that's what we're going with

"Do you have your Fenton Thermals on?" Danny said, wringing his hands together nervously.

"Yes, sweetie. We brought the sherpa-lined hoodies too, just like you said," Maddie said.

"Okay good, I just don't want you to get too cold out here," Danny said. They'd just landed in the Far Frozen, and he was waiting anxiously for his parents to get their hoodies on so they could exit the Specter Speeder. "You remember your etiquette?"

"Danny," Jack chuckled, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "These aren't the first of your ghost friends we've met. And we've changed a lot."

"I know, I know," Danny blew his bangs out of his face. "They're just really important to me and I want this to go well."

"Things will go well," Maddie reassured. His parents both wrapped him in an awkward hug, given how much room they had in the Speeder. He tried to play it cool, like he totally didn't care that his parents were hugging him, but it made a warm and fuzzy feeling bloom in his chest that his former ghost hunter parents were hugging him in ghost form.

The three exited the speeder, immediately greeted by the friendly yetis of the Far Frozen.

"Great One!" Frostbite bellowed, coming forward and scooping Danny into an embrace. Danny laughed.

Jack and Maddie both looked tense and out of their element, waiting to be prompted for soemthing.

"It's good to see you too, Frostbite. Is Clockwork here already here?"

"I am," Clockwork floated up next to Frostbite. "These must be your parents." He gestured to where Jack and Maddie stood, taking in their surroundings.

At the mention of them, the two snapped their attention to where Frostbite, Danny, and Clockwork were.

"It's great to meet you!" Jack said, enthusiastically taking a few steps forward and holding his hand out for a shake. Maddie followed suit, and the group exchanged handshakes while Danny bobbed in the air next to them.

"We've heard a lot about how you've helped our son," Maddie said with a smile.

"Yes, Phantom here was quite the handful when he first got his ice powers," Frostbite laughed. Danny's face flushed green.

"Come on, that was ages ago, you don't have to embarrass me like that," Danny said. "Plus I have that super under control now."

"I wouldn't say you have it super under control, but definitely better," Clockwork added in.

Jack and Maddie both relaxed.

"Let me tell you about the time Danny accidentally froze his sister during training," Jack started.

"Don't forget the time he went intangible and fell through the kitchen floor when we met his boyfriend," Maddie said.

Danny covered his face with his hands and groaned, knowing he was in for a long day.

[mysterious-prophetess]

Thanks to there being something of a resurrection of the Phandom on my dash, I’d like to share an AU concept I’ve come up with.

I call it “Fenton’s Inferno.

The rest will be below the read more

Danny died mere days before the Portal accident was supposed to half-kill him.

This has set all sorts of timelines into disarray.

Maddie Fenton, reeling from her son’s death throws herself into her work double-checking everything and finding the ‘On/Off’ switch was INSIDE the portal so she made sure it was unplugged flicked it on and once they’d done more of their due diligence, the Fentons fired up the Portal.

Shortly after, they use their Specter Speeder to go into the zone and find the Ghost Zone is nothing like they’d imagined. 

As Jack is blathering about the data, Maddie’s eye is caught by strange doors in front of strange pockets. 

One in particular seems to be a door that looks uncannily like the one to their ghost zone and it’s in front of what looks like Cape Canaveral crossed with the Moon. They enter it after a moment.

There, with a sort of blue-white skin tone, white hair, and glowing green eyes floating in front of a space telescope was Danny.

“Mom? Dad!?”

His retaining of his sentience and memories was a shock.

“Is it really you, Dan-o?” Jack asked.

“In the…ectoplasm,” Danny said awkwardly.

“What is this?”

“It’s my lair! All Ghosts have them, or so my mentor says!”

“Mentor?”

“Yeah, like a ghost that guides you through being dead?”

“But you weren’t supposed to die that day,” Maddie said suddnely. And in her heart she somehow knew that to be true.

“I’m not even the youngest ghost here,” Danny said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Aren’t you mad you’re dead?” Jack asked.

“Disappointed maybe? There was so much I wanted to do but I’m ok. It wasn’t your fault,” Danny said.

“Then come back with us to the human world.”

“Can’t do that. Ghosts belong in the ghost zone,” Danny said.

“Has anyone ever tried to fix death?” Maddie asked.

“Way too many and it doesn’t end up well,” Danny said. 

He paused and floated over to a corner of the lair and came back with something.

“My…mentor ghost. He…he doesn’t think I should have died either. Take this. I have a spare.” 

It was a cog-shaped medallion with “CW” on it.

“Talk to him.”

——————— ———————

Him turned out to be a powerful entity called Clockwork.  He agrees with Maddie.

Danny should not be dead.(fully)

Danny’s premature full death has royally screwed up the timelines and mostly in negative manners.

“Though, should we bring him back? He seemed happy in that lair,” Maddie said.

“But he wasn’t. Maddie, he was only tying to make us feel better so we could move on.”

“That’s precisely what he was doing. Your son has a remarkable capacity for helping others.”

“How can we bring him back? You’re the master of all time? Can’t we time travel back to when he died?”

“Afraid not in this case. A couple of near-sighted eyes are keeping too close a watch on me to simply allow humans through.”

“Then what can we do?”

“There is a way to restore your son’s human existence, something only a human can do. Follow me.”

———————————— —————————

Clockwork leads Maddie and Jack to a part of the Ghostzone that feels both empty yet filled with…something

“This is as far as I can go. Within you’ll face many trials. Life is not cheap. To restore your son, you will need to pay a hefty price.”

“Name any price and I’ll pay it!” Jack said.

“Even your own life?”

“If that’s all it takes, you can have it!”

“Good. Keep that passion. You’re going to need it and this: good luck.”

——————————— ———————

From here the idea is Jack and Maddie have to face different trials based on their own lives, fears, and ambitions all while passing lower and lower into this strange dungeon like building.

Unfortunately for them, they’ve had a stalker: Skulker.

He reports them to Vlad who first barges into Danny’s lair to meet “the little badger”

He’s shocked that Danny’s lair is so complex when Danny’s only been a ghost for a month.

It’s my personal HC that Danny would have always been a powerful ghost and Full Ghost!Danny’s powers are celestial based and he’d, eventually, be strong enough to challenge Pariah Dark but the Observants don’t care that Vlad’s actions would cause wide-scale death and destruction in the human world by the time Full Ghost! Danny had grown powerful enough to take on the Ghost King and take his place.

As far as the observants are concerned, Clockwork merely needs to groom Danny into a good future Ghost King and keep him safe during Pariah’s rampage.

So Vlad tries schmoozing up to Danny realizing this ghost would eventually be powerful and offers him protection.

Danny declines and taps his medallion.

Vlad can’t exactly top Clockwork in power level and he knows it.

So he finds the Descent with Skulker’s help

Vlad being a halfa can, of course, enter but Skulker cannot.

But Vlad’s ghost powers are on the fritz.

So now it’s a race between the Fentons and Vlad to get to the bottom and bring Danny back.

Vlad, so he can have Maddie and Danny in his debt.

The Fentons because they love their son

——————— —————

That, so far, is all I have for this AU.

BTW the reason Jack and Maddie aren’t trying to rip ghosts apart  “Molecule by molecule” is Grief. They’re not their usual selves.

[popculturebuffet]

Danny Phantom Road To Reign Storm Reviews: Prisoners of Love or Danny Phantom Said Fuck The Police

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to my look at Danny Phantom and the episodes building up to my faviorite episode of all time, Reign Storm. This one’s a bit of a schedule change: I originally planned for the next one up to be Public Enemies but eventually realized it just didn’t feel quite right covering it while entirely skipping Walker’s first episode: Sure i’d skipped Skulker’s introduction despite him showing up twice in this arc,.. but with Skulker while he’s a great character and vital to several episodes, his first apperance really isn’t important to getting why he obsses over danny. He saw a powerful, unique ghost and wants to mount him on his wall. It’s not a bad motive, there’s a reason why Kraven the hunter is one of the most beloved spider-man villians and one of the villians i’ve seen the most expies of in animation by a wide margin and Skulker’s a great take on the concept that makes it wholly the shows own. But his history with Danny dosen’t really impact the story or cause any big changes. In contrast while Walker only has three starring episodes, his actions in his second with Public Enemies upend the status quo and utterly change things for our hero in a way that’s never undone entirely. And he does all of that BECAUSE of what happens in this episode, so it felt weird to just skip it so here we are: i’m adding an episode to the arc and doing two in august to help make up for it. 

So with that we pick up a few episodes before last time: no real story beats to get into, so join me under the cut as our hero does a jailbreak while his dad whizzes on his sister-in-law’s rhubarb. 

We open in the Fenton Lab as Danny walks in and, as he tends to do, Jack shows of his latest invention: the Specter Speeder, a flying car designed for traveling in the Ghost Zone. And for getting some nachos from the convience store at 2am when you don’t want to wake your wife for keys to the RV. It has weapons, scanning equipment and a jumbo cupholder. 

But while Jack was working on his sweet ride he forgot something important: his anniversary. Maddie TRIES to clue him in on it, but this being Jack that’s about as effective as putting Garfield on a diet and she’s soon rightfully pissed at him, saying there’s more to life than ghosts.

Now normally i’d hate this kind of plot: The “I forgot our anniversary” plot is such a fucking trite cliche, especially in shows like this that have a dumbass his more attractive and capable wife. This episode however.. makes it work shockingly well. For starters, it’s couched more in character than just banking on Jack being stupid and Maddie not being stupid. Jack has a tendency series wide to get obessed with whatever new gadget he’s made to catch ghosts and really get showy with it, so him forgetting their annviersary not out of malice or stupidity but just because he was hung up on his latest neat toy makes perfect sense. Likewise Maddie has a decent reason to be angry as while it is a cliche to forget your wedding annviersary in media it dosen’t make it any less of a dick move to, and SHE remembered it despite being as obessive about their work and ghosts in general. In fact she comes in nice, it’s only when i’ts both clear he forgot and dosen’t seem to care he forgot she gets pissed and that’s fair. It’s set up realistically as this show can manage and it works. 

We’ll get more on that in a second but first Danny accidently triggers the speeder during his parents fight and ends up in the Ghost Zone. We get our first good look at it too and it’s majestic and haunting: it has all the weird structures and shapes you’d expect but a nice touch that couldn’t of been easy to pull of is that it feels like the zone itself is alive: it’s always moving in some fashion, the parts don’t all feel like structures.. it just hs the unearthly, spooky feel you’d expect from an otherwordly realm filled with ghost. 

It’s here Danny meets our antagonist, Walker. Walker is played by James Arnold Taylor aka...

I never would’ve guessed honestly either: the guy is a fucking chamelon when it comes to voice work and is really damn talented, and the fact he can voice a mildly whiny himbo, obi wan freaking kenobi, Harry Osborn, and so much more without sounding the same most of the time is freaking amazing. Don’t get me wrong there are still awesome va’s like John DiMaggio that have maybe two versions or Kristin Schaal and Jason Mantzokus who have about one, but can use said range or single voice in a variety of ways and contexts, i’m just saying it’s just as if not more impressive to be able to be a chameleon like James. 

Walker is your standard hardass southren jailer type, and really represents most police as a whole: a stubborn, rules obessed, white faced ghoul whose willing to bend said rules to suit him and prosecute people who did nothing wrong, in this case Danny who just stumbled in. Danny wisely runs the fuck away but into more problems

Not with the plot though as this part only enhances what I was talking about:  Maddie’s leaving but not because of the argument, though that helps, but because she has to visit her sister for “the divorce” and even left a cassarole. It’s also noticable that while she’s still understandably cold to Jack during this scene she’s not yelling at him any more: she knows better than to try and escalate things and that they can finish this when she gets back. 

Hearing divorce scares the shit out of Danny thoguh who dosen’t have context for the fact that, unsuprisingly she’s not talking about divorcing jack, and is worried about his parents fighting. And this is the piece that truly pulls it all together: by putting poor Danny in the middle scared of his parents possible separation. It’s a relatable fear: while my parents divorce smacked me in the fucking face iwth how sudden it seemed, it’s just as likely for a kid’s parents to try and stay together for them and only make things worse, or to worry that some fighting means your parents might break up even when they really won’t. 

Jazz asssures Danny he dosen’t have to worry but  assumes Jack will do nothing and make it worse before it gets better. I... SO do not miss pre-my brother’s keeper jazz. I talked about this in my Bitter Reunions review, but she’s so fucking insufferable: I don’t MIND her having an ego and getting knocked down a peg by the fact she really DOSEN’T know everything, but the series did it far better once it stopped being her only character trait most of the time. 

Thankfully this one is about her having a mental breakdown from the fact she’s WRONG: Jack is in fact rushing to go see Maddie and fix this... which from experince sometimes not letting a problem breathe IS an issue.. but this one was caused by Jack not being attentive or seeming to care about maddie, so rushing to her with a thoughtful gift in a big romantic gesture is a genuinely smart move. It also helps this work: unlike a lot of sitcom husbands who’d scramble to save their ass for saving asses sake, Jack GENUINELY cares he fucked up and wants to fix it, and is willing to go to great lengths to do so, AND already had a thoguhtful gift for her planned he just forgot about it. So he didn’t forget the annviersary all together, he just forgot it was today. 

Danny decides to try and compensate by cleaning the house, leading to Jazz going to study at the library. Granted he’s vacuming on the ceeling but still he means well. He hits the lab next and finds it a wreck as you’d expect and after accidently hitting a thing with the ghost ray into the trash can, realizes he can use his rays to move stuff easily and just finger guns his way through it: it’s a fun sequence and clever too. Naturally though as you’d expect he accidently messes up and knocks a present into the ghost portal he left open because shut up and finds it was Jack’s. Oh boy. 

Danny’s still rattled the next day at school, Tucker not helping by saying if they said divorce then it’s a problem though his attempt to walk it back after realizing they DID say it is hilarious “Did they say it twice?” It’s just so delightfully half assed. He decides that after school he HAS to go in after it.

So before we get to that it’s time for the subplot of Jack and Maddie in the south which as I tend to do when the two plots of an episode don’t intersect till the end, i’m going to cover all of now: We meet Maddie’s sister for the first and sadly only time. I won’t lie it is kinda disapointing we not only never see her sister again, but that Alicia is the ONLY family of the Fentons we see. It’d be intresting to see what say Jack or Maddies parents or any other siblings or any of their kids would think of the ghost stuff.  It dosen’t help that Alicia is pretty one note: your standard bitter divorced woman who don’t need no man sterotype whose trying to convince Maddie her husband sucks. What’s telling is that despite Jack’s inesntivity she still loves him and defends him from her sister.. and shows that the ghost obession isn’t at all just jack as she attacks a sheet thinking it’s a ghost only to find jack just got caught. 

This segment is admitely the weaker part of the episode: while i’ts NOT without good stuff, including a running gag about whizzing on rubarb tha tprimarly works because rubarb is a funny word, it’s just kinda flat with Alicia again being a pretty common and annoying sterotype and the runtime being padde dwith Jack having to pee instead of talking with his wife. Just.. putting them in the south isn’t as funny as the writers thought it was is what i’m saying. Not a bad subplot, I just feel it could’ve been bettter and feels like wasted poteitial that the one time we see the Fenton’s extended family... i’ts Maddie’s sterotype of a sister in the generic backwoods complete with tabacco spitting.. though to their credit they DO combat the bad teeth stertoype by havnig one of the guys at the local corner store chastise anothe rwith them for making them look bad. It’s just weak stuff.’

So in the plot people actually care about, Danny decides to go into the unknownnnnn to find the gift, with Sam and Tucker working as mission control and Danny on headset, a setup we’d see a lot after this.

So Danny goes in and we get a better look at how awsome the place is and also find out a key characteristic when he opens a door: There’s near infinite realms here, which makes his quest daunting until Tucker, fiddling with the controls, finds out the Crusier has a “real world item” detector and uses it to help guide danny.

It’s here he finds out another key and wonderful characteristic: most of the realms are in fact the personal domains of various ghosts, where they go when he throws them back in. It’s a nice addition to the lore: it makes sense they wouldn’t just float around and it makes the ghost zone that much more dangerous: there’s no telling if he could run into one of his most dangerous eneimes where they have home field advantage. Thankfully instead he finds MY BOY The Box Ghost. Seriously I fucking love this guy, from Rob Paulsen’s doofy voice for him to his lame but endearing gimmick to his longshoreman outfit. He’s just an awesome example of the kind of c-list villian you’d scrape up from the bottom of marvel, but with the same endearing charm a lot of marvel’s c listers have.

Naturally the box present ended up in BG’s domain, but before danny can get it he’s caught off guard as some ghost cops pick Box Ghost up.. and then danny with some restraints, with Walker arresting him and taking his headset.

Danny of course isn’t pleased by this: his parents might get divorced, he’s going to jail, and he’s with a comedy character whose great to me but I can get would be a lot to put up with. THen he finds out the rest of his Rogues so far, Skulker, The Lunch Lady, Technius and Deserie are all there. The latter two don’t talk.. with Desriee I get it as her actress likely costs a decent amount , but Rob Paulsen is on the main cast so I don’t get why Techinus dosen’t.

Regardless Danny is processed with Walker generally being the smug controlling dick you’d expect and not you know, letting him simply take what’s rightfully his out despite the contraband being a problem., even making it illegal simply because it suits him. It shows who Walker REALLY is: like far too damn many real people in law informcent and the prison system he’s not in this for good reason, to keep dangerous people off the street or help the innocent.. he just wants to lock people up because he feels the Ghost Zone has no order, and someone has to impose it wether they want it or not. And the Ghost Zone HAS a natural order: each ghost has their own realm and genuinely sticks to it when their not bothering earth. If he really was a true student of order he’d of been rounding up the ghosts THERE and then imprisoning them. But he couldn’t give less of a shit about earth: all it does is give hi ma pretext to do what he’d do anyway: lock away any ghost he finds so he can have a sense of control. Just like so many corrupt assholes lock people away and use the fact they did something, even if it was an accident or a mistake, to abuse the shit out of them. I’m not sure if the commentary on prison or the police was intentional but boy does it feel fucking relevant even today and boy is it sad things have changed so little it’s still relevant.

So while this is going on Tucker decides Screw it, we need to go in after him and Sam is cautious, given how dangerous the ghost zone is.. but the prospect of Jazz wanting to go over her own personal notes convinces her right quick. The two procede to wonder around till the scanner picks up the present though we get a nice bit of them running into the dragon princess from the third episode.

Meanwhile Danny gets thrown in with his Rogues, who prepare to do what you’d expect and pummel him.. except Danny points out the obvious: He’s not the enemy here. Sure he put them back in the ghost zone.. but Walker’s the one who put them in jail. Beating up Danny won’t change that, but working with him will.. THEN they can get him next time or go to earth to get him. Skulker agrees to this, which I like: it shows while he may be an obessive hunter he’s not a moron. It’s also likely tied into said obessive nature: he could get Danny in here: but there’d be no challenge and he woudln’t get to KEEP danny’s remains to mount proudly. It’d be pointlness.

So they do indeed team up, with Skulker and Danny faking a fight so Danny can get the guards near him, then Danny takes one of their capture batoon things and uses it, and proceeds to cause a riot, an awesome sequence where our protagnists plow through these assholes and eventually escape. Danny still has to go back for the present though, and finds himself against Walker.. who easily flattens him, showing off WHY he’s been able to capture anyone and clearly intent to kill.

I kid... it is last minute but this is set up as Sam and Tucker accidently phase thorugh the prison wall> It’s also clever: the two’s arrival reveals that in the ghost zone Humans and Human objects take on ghost traits: not all the powers mind you just phasing. And while they likely can’t control it Danny’s had a month or two to practice and thus simply switches into human, grabs the present and stays intangible with it while Walker impotently grabs at him before heading out, having wrecked the prison, Walker’s sense of control and his day. Sadly though.. this is only the begning and while Walker swearing vengance isn’t NEW for a villian of the week.. how he does so will have massive effects on Danny’s life.

But first the wrap up. Danny arrives as Jack gives an earnest heartfelt speech to maddie about he am who he am but he does love her and is sorry, and in time to save his ass with the present. He also gets double allowance for this and gives teh donald duck esque reaction of “I had an allowance.

Danny thankfully also finds out the Divorce thing was not his parents getting a divorce: it’s merley his mom and the locals celebrating the 10th anniversary of his aunt’s divorce. Everyone celebrates, the present has been hollowed out by the box ghost, with Maddie and Jack naturally accepting that and we end on another whiz joke when Jazz offers Danny some rhubarb pie. Good stuff.

Final Thoughts:

Prisoners of Love is a Solid Episode> While the subplot is just okay, it’s not bad and has one or two good gags, and the emotional core is excellent. Danny’s struggle with divorce, Jack being genuinely repentant, Maddie showing she genuinely loves and is comitted ot jack> it’s all great. I do wish we could’ve gotten more with Danny’s other foes so far, they mostly focused on Skulker and Lunch Lady, but what we got was a classic all the same

Next Month on Road to Reign Storm: Walker returns and makes good on his revenge with a scheme that destroys Danny’s life as ghosts are outed to the public.

Next Time on This Blog: it’s Donald Duck’s birthday so we’re having another special!  Everybody Dance!

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[ladylynse]

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

Part 4 [FF | AO3]

(Previous)

-|-

“I tried tracking Danny’s cell,” Tucker said, “but he must’ve figured Vlad would do that and finally turned it off. Or it died. You know he never remembers to charge the thing.”

“I’ll head to Dora’s so you can stay out of the dead zone,” Sam said. “If you don’t want to challenge Skulker to see who can find Jack or Danny first, then head straight to Frostbite. That’s probably where Danny went. Dora can drop me off and pick up Poindexter and maybe Johnny 13 and Kitty if she can swing it.”

“Do you have extra Fenton Phones?” Jazz, being careful as always. Taking the lead, as she’d asked. Maddie stood back, holding the jet packs while the kids went over the plan. She’d checked everything over three times, knew these would work, but—

“Always,” chorused Danny’s best friends in unison.

They’d done this before.

They must have done this so many times before.

How could she and Jack have never noticed?

“Be mindful of the power supply on your jet packs,” Maddie said, hardly believing that she was handing them to two fourteen-year-olds and being perfectly okay with letting them go into the Ghost Zone on their own, virtually unprotected. “They should be able to draw on the ambient ecto-energy within the Ghost Zone, but you will have to stop somewhere to allow it to recharge or risk being stranded.”

“Don’t worry. We got this, Mrs. F,” promised Tucker as he shrugged on his pack. Sam was already tightening the safety straps on hers. Perhaps she hadn’t needed to tell them as much about these as they had; it might not be the first time they’d used this particular invention. “We’ll let you know if we find them. Any of them.”

“We’ll even ask Clockwork,” Sam put in. “I don’t think he’ll tell us anything, but we’ll try. Assuming we can actually find him and he’s not just pretending he’s not home again.”

Maddie didn’t know the names of half the ghosts they mentioned, let alone have any concept of where in the Ghost Zone they could be found.

She nodded anyway, pretending. Pretending to understand. Pretending to be strong. Pretending that this didn’t feel as wrong as it did, letting these kids do what she could not. Adults were supposed to protect children, and she felt like she was asking them to run into fire for her sake.

But they’d tread this path before, gone this way far more often than she, and were much wiser than her for it. She had to trust their judgement. They knew better than she did. They knew more than she did. It was as simple as that.

And if it meant protecting Jack and having a chance of finding Danny and Danielle….

“Thank you.” She wouldn’t be able to say it enough. “Good luck.”

The two flashed her grins and thumbs up, all signs of their earlier tiredness gone by now. They’d been given a mission, and they were ready for it. More than. She waved as they raced each other to the portal and dove into the Ghost Zone.

“You don’t have to pretend,” Jazz said softly. “Not with me, anyway.”

She had to. She had to, or she’d be curled up on the floor of the lab again, crying until she had no more tears. She couldn’t give up on this semblance of sanity. If she let her guard down, if she allowed herself to remember exactly what she’d done and who she’d done it to and—

Jazz walked over and hugged her, and Maddie felt her resolve crumbling.

“We’ll get through this,” Jazz reassured her, tightening her hug. “I know what I said earlier, but Dad will come back safe, and we’ll find Danny and Danielle, and then we’ll figure things out from there. This isn’t going to ruin us.”

It might have already, and she had no way of knowing.

Because she’d never listened.

Jazz waited a moment more before pulling away and stepping back. “Did you have any luck with the Booo-merang?”

“I reassembled it,” Maddie whispered, “and fed it the copy of Phantom’s ecto-signature that we had on file.” She wasn’t sure if it was perfect. The Booo-merang was more Jack’s invention than hers, and she knew he’d made tweaks that weren’t in the blueprints. She’d done what she could. If Vlad—

“We can tie a note to it,” Jazz said as she took out her hairband, “so that Danny knows it’s safe to come home even if we lose sight of it. I’ve done that before. It will get to him eventually.” She moved to the computer desk to get a pen and paper and began to write. After a few moments, she looked back up at Maddie. “You should write something, too. So Danny knows he can trust my word.”

Maddie moved slowly, finally reaching out to take the pen from her daughter with a shaking hand. She imagined accusations—accusations she deserved—and couldn’t think of the right words to say. What could she write to convey what she felt? The depth of the wrong she’d done?

I’m sorry, she wrote. It looked trite. False. I hurt you both. It was an understatement, but at least it was an acknowledgement. I want to do better. She couldn’t ask for forgiveness, not without doing anything, and even then…. Even then, she might not get it. She wasn’t sure she’d deserve it if she did. Please let me try. She could imagine an offer of help being turned back on her, Danny spitting that they didn’t need her kind of help, but…. But she’d rather that than write a plea that they come home and have him tell her this wasn’t home for him anymore and wouldn’t ever be again.

She had always thought she hunted monsters.

She hadn’t realized when she’d become one.

Jazz gently nudged her hand aside and slid the paper away, neatly folding and then securing it to the Booo-merang.

“What if he doesn’t want to come back?” Maddie asked. “What if he gets our note and ignores it?”

“He won’t ignore it forever, even if he doesn’t act on it right away.” Jazz turned the device on, and Maddie saw the light at its head begin to blink. “That’s not who Danny is.” She flashed a grin. “Are you ready?”

She wasn’t remotely ready, but there wasn’t time for her to be mentally prepared for all that this would entail. “We have no way to follow it if it goes into the Ghost Zone,” she said, “and even if we try to follow in the Fenton Ops Centre, we’ll still need to be able to keep it in sight for that.”

“Which we can. Dad added that tracking feature, remember? We’ll link it to the Booo-merang. Just like the Spectre Speeder. And if it goes into the Ghost Zone, we can put Sam or Tucker onto it.”

Maddie let out a breath. “Okay.” She couldn’t afford to argue. She didn’t know enough to argue.

Jazz drew back her arm and threw the Booo-merang. It spun, making a quick loop of the lab.

And then it made a second loop of the lab.

And a third loop.

A lazy fourth.

And then it crashed into the dissection table, skittering across it before falling to the floor.

Something was squeezing the breath from Maddie’s lungs, and she couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t do anything. She just watched as Jazz frowned and walked over to the device. She checked it over and tried tossing it again.

This time, it made two and a half loops before catching on one of their shelving units. Maddie winced as glassware shattered. Jazz fetched a broom and dustpan, sweeping up the pieces while Maddie watched in silence. As Jazz dumped the remains into the shards discard bin, Maddie summoned the strength to walk over and pick up the Booo-merang from where Jazz had placed it on the top of the workbench.

“What’s wrong with it?” Jazz asked softly when she was finished.

Maddie looked at the Booo-merang’s blinking light. “Nothing,” she whispered. “The copy of Phantom’s ecto-signature just isn’t sufficient.”

Jazz furrowed her brow and leaned closer, though Maddie knew there was nothing more to be seen. “What do you mean?”

“Ecto-signatures aren’t like fingerprints; they don’t stay the same unless some change is forced upon them. They change slightly over time naturally, to reflect the changes within each ghost.”

“But it’s always locked onto Danny. That’s never been a problem before.”

“That’s why it hasn’t been a problem. Because it could update its signature to evolve its records. Now, it’s been entirely reset, and the ecto-signature I gave it is just too different to be recognizable as the same one Danny currently has. I….” So much must have happened to cause that change, and she’d been blind to all of it. “I’m sorry. This isn’t going to work.”

Jazz huffed. “It’ll work,” she said, snatching up the Booo-merang and hugging it to her body with one protective arm. “We’ll just have to get the ecto-signature from Vlad.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Vlad. Like I said, he’s obsessed with Danny. Trust me, he’ll have a recent copy of Danny’s ecto-signature.”

“So you wanted to shoot him earlier, and now you want to work with him?”

“Oh, I still want to shoot him. Taking a blast from an ecto-gun in human form won’t do as much damage as when he’s in ghost mode, but it’ll still hurt.”

Human form. Ghost mode. It was jarring to hear Jazz talk about molecular fusion so offhandedly, to the point that she could mention it like that. She must have discovered and accepted this idea ages ago. And Danny—

“But whether I like it or not, it looks like we need him. At least until we hear from Sam and Tucker.”

Maddie took a slow breath. The idea of working with Vlad…. It didn’t sit well with her now that she knew the truth. There was too much of Plasmius in Vlad. He wasn’t the same person she’d known in college. She had to stop thinking of him as such. “I don’t think I can pretend to be ignorant of everything you’ve told me.”

“You don’t need to. Vlad would probably see through an act anyway. He won’t be happy that I’ve told you everything, but he won’t be surprised after what’s happened. He’ll take what he can get.”

Maddie frowned and glanced at her daughter. “Meaning?”

“Meaning this would still give him the opportunity to spend time with you, and that might be enough bargaining power.” Jazz hesitated. “I know that sounds bad. It is bad. I just…. I don’t know if we can afford to wait for Sam and Tucker. Vlad definitely won’t be waiting. And whatever Skulker says, he’s really not the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter. He’s not going to be a better option when it comes to asking for help. Vlad might have him looking already anyway.”

Skulker. The ghost that used a mechanical exoskeleton. She’d seen Phantom—and Danny?—take it down multiple times. It made her want to question Jazz more about all of this, about halfas, about the consequences of which she was currently aware, but there wasn’t time. She couldn’t afford to distract herself that way. Not when Danny…. Not when Danielle….

“All right. Let’s go.” She was afraid that if she didn’t commit, she’d find a way to talk herself out of going. Convince herself that they could find another way, whatever Jazz thought. The idea that Plasmius might have convinced Vlad to—

But Jazz was right. Different, albeit just as unscrupulous, options were out there to explain Danielle and her true relationship to the Fenton family. And Maddie wasn’t in a position to point fingers when it came to unscrupulous behaviour. Not after what she’d done.

You don’t understand.

She was convinced she’d never forget the cries.

I’m not just a ghost.

She didn’t deserve to forget.

I’m human, too.

She couldn’t just pretend this hadn’t happened, that she hadn’t done what she had. In order to do better, she had to remember. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into old patterns and risk repeating the same mistakes, even unintentionally. She wouldn’t be able to ease her guilt right away, but maybe, with time, with enough changes, with enough effort, she could…. She could accept what she’d done, if not forgive herself entirely. She didn’t think she’d be able to forgive herself unless the others forgave her, and they….

They had good reason not to.

She could ask for it, but she knew very well she might not receive it. That hurt, too, just thinking about it, but—

“Come on,” Jazz said, wrapping her free arm around Maddie and steering her towards the stairs, “I’ll drive. I left a note on the fudge in case Dad comes back before we do. He’ll see it there.”

-|-

Vlad had not intended to come back after a quick change of clothes, whatever he’d tried to make it sound like. Maddie realized that now. Still, it only made standing on Vlad’s stoop this early in the morning even worse.

When the door finally opened, Vlad himself was there to greet them, looking like he’d recently stepped from the shower. “Ah, Maddie, how delightful. And Jasmine. I hadn’t quite made myself presentable for—”

“You can drop the act,” Jazz said as she elbowed her way past him. “I told Mom everything.”

Vlad raised his eyebrows. “Everything about what?”

“Phantom and Plasmius,” Maddie whispered. She had to force herself to meet Vlad’s eyes, and she saw motions flicker across his face until his features settled into a careful mask. Practiced. Polite. The same one he used to wear while convincing the higher-ups at the university that they should be allowed funding and space for their projects.

“Ah.”

He didn’t say any more. He simply stepped aside and let her in.

“We need a copy of Danny’s ecto-signature,” Jazz said. “I know you have one, so don’t bother denying it.”

“Showing your hand so early?”

Jazz rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Maddie. Vlad glanced in her direction as well and then sighed. “I am doing what I can to search for Daniel. Whatever your implications, my involvement isn’t a farce.”

“Then prove it by giving us a copy of Danny’s ecto-signature. You ruined ours, so if it was purely accidental and not on purpose, what’s the harm?”

“Jazz,” Maddie said, a warning in her tone. They could only push Vlad so far. They were still asking for his help.

And she didn’t particularly want to meet Plasmius right now.

It…. She couldn’t see him. She’d thought she would, now that she knew. She’d thought there would be something behind Vlad’s eyes that she’d be able to identify, some little piece of Plasmius. Not because she doubted the truth of Jazz’s words, she didn’t; rather, she wanted to think that she could pick apart which being was more in control of Vlad, Plasmius or one of her former friends.

But all she saw was Vlad.

The same Vlad who’d stood up for her and Jack when they’d made their first group presentation on the paranormal. The same Vlad who’d stayed up late with her to pore over Jack’s last-minute changes to their blueprints. The same Vlad they’d met again at the reunion and seen so frequently since.

“Surely you know I would hardly impede your investigation when it came to finding the little badger—”

“Which is why you deliberately destroyed the Booo-merang?”

“—but I’m afraid I really don’t have a recent copy of Daniel’s ecto-signature. He, ah, deleted my files just last week.”

Jazz narrowed her eyes. “Fine,” she spat. “Say I believe that. Say you really don’t have a copy of Danny’s ecto-signature. Why ruin ours?”

“I never intended to ruin it. I merely wanted to try to obtain a copy of it for myself.”

Jazz pursed her lips and met Maddie’s eyes. Maddie knew that long-suffering look on Jazz’s face. It was the one she made when she was barely restraining herself from parroting back Danny’s words in a mocking tone, trying to convince herself that she was an adult and above such childishness. Jazz was quite mature for her age, but she was still a teenager. Even…even if she knew as much about the world—and the Ghost Zone—as she did.

“I’m sure I could be of help in other ways. If Maddie and I—”

“You’re not getting hours of alone time with my mom,” Jazz interrupted. “What about Danielle’s ecto-signature?”

“You really believe Daniel would allow me to keep that?”

Jazz’s smile was sudden and triumphant. “Then you admit it. You know who she is.”

“She’s a ghost who’s passed through this town,” countered Vlad. “Whatever you and Daniel think, I do try to protect Amity Park. Keeping tabs on ghostly activity is merely part of that.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Vlad,” Maddie said softly, “please. Even if you don’t think it’s important, anything you could tell us would be appreciated. I’d never seen that ghost before, and I know Jack would have told me if he’d had an encounter with a ghost so like Phantom.”

“My dearest Maddie, I can assure you that I harbour no ill will toward Daniel. I want to see him back with us as much as anything.” Vlad spread his hands. “I simply do not have the resources Jasmine thinks—”

“Shut it, Plasmius. We’re not buying that you’re the good guy. If you won’t give me the copy of the ecto-signature, I’ll find it myself.” Jazz turned and stalked away. Vlad, surprisingly, let her.

Or was it Plasmius who had? That’s what she’d called him, but Maddie still couldn’t—

“I’ll make tea,” Vlad said, putting his arm around Maddie and steering her towards what she knew was the kitchen. She managed not to flinch at his touch. Any other night before this, before knowing, she would have been so grateful for the support, but now— “Or coffee, if you’d prefer. We could do with something right now, I daresay. We’ll catch up with Jasmine in a few minutes. I change my security codes daily.”

“So it’s all…true,” Maddie managed. “You and Plasmius—”

“We really don’t need to talk about such things right now.”

Of course they did. How could they not? Vlad and Plasmius. Because of the proto-portal accident. It had to be. Months of hospitalization, bankrupt at the end of it, dropping out of college and—

And turning around and making millions. Billions.

Vlad had been skilled, but not—

“Please,” she repeated. “Please, just…. It’s really true? You and Plasmius? Like Danny and Phantom? And…and Danielle?”

Silence.

Vlad’s steady steps never faltered. She was desperately trying to think of a way to broach the conversation again. She didn’t want to let it go, to let it die, to let it lie between them unspoken. She couldn’t. Not after what she’d done with Danny. And….

It’s not that she felt comfortable with Vlad. After what Jazz had told her, she couldn’t, and it made her realize that she hadn’t been wholly comfortable with him before that, either. She’d wanted to think that maybe it was just her reacting to Plasmius’s presence, but since she’d realized that she couldn’t tell who was in control—

She wished Jack were here.

She wished he hadn’t gone to search the Ghost Zone alone, but she wasn’t sure there had been another choice. If it hadn’t been him, it would have been her, and he never would have let her go alone. But one of them needed to stay on this side. If Danny decided to call—

Maybe they shouldn’t have left the house.

She could have called someone to stay while she and Jazz came here. Or she should have come by herself. In case Danny phoned. He had their cell phone numbers, of course, but she wasn’t sure how many of those numbers he had memorized; she knew he knew the home phone, but if his cell phone really was dead—

“Every situation is different,” Vlad said at last. He led her into the kitchen and left her to lean against a counter while he busiest himself with preparations. There was no table to be had in here, oh no. Counters, islands, workspaces of all sorts, but nothing small and cozy, nothing intended for anyone to sit down and have a bite to eat or something to drink. This was a kitchen meant to be fully staffed, and—

It occurred to her that she had never seen Vlad’s butler.

Or a maid.

Or any staff, really.

They were always mentioned, and she knew he must have someone—he could hardly keep a place this large clean by himself on top of his mayoral duties—but it always seemed to be their day off whenever she came by.

She only ever saw Vlad.

“What…what do you mean?”

“I doubt the girl is quite like the others.”

“Her name is Danielle.”

“Yes.” His words were a whisper. “It is.” He turned around and presented her with a warm cup of— Coffee, by the look and smell of it. Black.

She took a hesitant sip.

He’d sweetened it with sugar.

He remembered how she drank her coffee, even after all these years.

“I—” Vlad paused. “Daniel and I, our circumstances aren’t quite the same.”

He was admitting it, then. She hadn’t thought he would after his earlier denials. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or terrified. A denial she could have spun into truth for herself, at least for a time. Long enough for her to find some steady ground to stand on. Long enough to make sure she wouldn’t have her feet knocked from beneath her again.

“How do you know?” If she didn’t ask, if she kept talking, she’d lose the opportunity entirely, and she knew she couldn’t afford that.

“I’ve spoken with her. The ghost girl. She’s come to me for help in the past. As I daresay you’ve realized, she’s as much girl as she is ghost.”

I’m human, too.

“And you and Plasmius—”

“I’m stable. Daniel is stable. Poor Danielle is not. Or she wasn’t, the last time I had her in my lab.”

“You still have a lab, then?”

Vlad smiled. “Oh, Maddie, I could never give it up. It reminds me too much of the treasured moments I used to spend with you.”

“And Jack,” she added pointedly, remembering Jazz’s words. Vlad has an unhealthy obsession with you.

“Yes, of course.”

The words came quickly, smoothly, but she wasn’t sure they were honest. How could she? Jazz hadn’t had the slightest bit of doubt in her voice when she’d said Vlad hated Jack. Hated. It was such a strong word. Maddie hadn’t noticed anything herself, but she’d never looked for it, either. Jack’s enthusiasm about his friendship for Vlad had always been her lens for their relationship, and Vlad had always been friendly towards her.

But recent experience had certainly taught her that there was so much she could miss—even from people close to her. If she’d never realized the truth of Danny and Phantom, she hadn’t much hope of seeing past the façade Vlad put up around her.

Maddie took another sip of the coffee, buying time to collect her scrambled thoughts. “And Plasmius doesn’t…hinder you?”

“Far from it.” Vlad flashed her a smile she could no longer call genuine. “The situation has grown on me, and I do find ways to make the best of it.”

How much was the honest truth and how much was a carefully scripted truth? Perhaps things had changed, but Vlad had rarely told direct lies in their college years, even little white ones. He’d delighted in misdirection and obfuscation. He had always been quite proud when he’d managed to convince someone of something false, telling perfect truths riddled with oft-unseen holes where he’d lied by omission. It was never in his papers, of course—he’d been far too credible for that and wouldn’t dare risk being accused of falsifying results—but he had always loved a good verbal battle, to match wits with someone he considered worthy.

She’d seen him to do it so many times.

She wondered why she hadn’t thought she could be on the receiving end of it until now.

Best to change tack, then. It was unlikely that she could catch him off his guard—he clearly knew so much more of the situation than she, and how could he not?—but she had to try. She had to know. “Why does Jazz think you have a copy of Danny’s ecto-signature?”

“She is, no doubt, aware of the tracking I do, as is Daniel.”

“So when you say Danny destroyed your files—”

“I’ll admit I don’t think it was Daniel directly; it’s far more likely to be his friend Tucker’s work.”

Vlad said he kept tabs on ghosts to help him protect Amity Park, but Phantom fought those ghosts routinely. Phantom fought Plasmius routinely. Plasmius couldn’t be helping Vlad protect Amity Park—unless Phantom simply saw him as another ghost and acted accordingly? She still didn’t understand how much influence the ecto-entity had over the human host, but it would surely be greater when the ecto-entity was in control, and—

No. She couldn’t make assumptions. She had to stop doing that. She didn’t know how much was Vlad and how much was Plasmius, just as she wasn’t sure how much was Danny and how much was Phantom. The notes she and Jack had accumulated on both ghosts were surely wrong; they had never accounted for human ties, and that would skew their results terribly. They knew nothing. She knew nothing.

Which meant she couldn’t believe everything she was told, whether from Jazz or from Vlad. Each would have their biases, just as she had hers, and what they told her would be coloured accordingly. And there was always the chance that what they knew was wrong, even if they believed it to be true, just as she and Jack had been wrong.

Except….

Vlad was a primary source, and though Jazz’s knowledge was second-hand, it would all come from Danny. She didn’t want to mistrust either of them, but what they told her didn’t always line up, and—

Maddie set her coffee down on the counter and took a steadying breath. “May I speak with Plasmius?”

Vlad spluttered, losing his composure and nearly choking on his own cup of coffee. “I beg your pardon?”

“I’d like to speak with Plasmius. Is that possible?”

“I— Yes, of course it’s possible, but—”

“Then let me speak to him. Please.”

Vlad set his cup aside in favour of closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I should have realized you were taking this awfully well. I am sorry, Maddie. I didn’t doubt Jasmine when she’d said she told you everything—she’s no reason to pretend otherwise, blatant as she’s being—but I hadn’t realized that you didn’t yet understand.”

His words chilled her. “What do you mean?”

He opened his eyes to look at her. For the briefest instant, red replaced familiar blue before it was blinked away. She started and took a step back, only to hit the counter. Vlad looked resigned as he said, “You’re already speaking with Plasmius.”

(see more fics | next)

[datawyrms]

More than Lost

Dannymay day 8: Lost (and our first intentional two parter :o)

She was never going to consider the quick glances she took before going to her own bed overprotective again. If she had just assumed Danny was in bed like he usually was, she might not have known her poor boy was missing until breakfast. The window wasn’t open, so it wasn’t as if he snuck out in some act of teenage rebellion. Whatever ghost thought it could use her children to get back at the ghost fighting couple was going to be in a whole new dimension of hurt, or her name wasn’t Maddie Fenton.

“Oh, I know! The Boooomerang! That still locks on to Danno, I can’t figure out how to fix it.” Jack suggested as soon as his wife tore down the stairs to tell the terrible news “That spook won’t know what hit them!”

“Because there won’t be anything left to know anything, right dear?”

“Exactly!”

Their worry and rage only increased as the malfunctioning tracking device looped back over their heads at the doorway instead of heading out into the city. They hadn’t imagined a ghost would be as bold as to not only kidnap their son, but to drag him into the Ghost Zone, likely completely unprotected? Yet that’s where the metal boomerang flew, zipping through the swirling green gateway with no hesitation.

They had to go quickly, or she would have put every weapon that wasn’t nailed down into the Speeder. They didn’t even have time to find the hazmat suit they had made for their son, as it wasn’t sitting untouched on the rack like they thought it would be.

It was fine, they would find Danny quickly and could take out whatever putrid protoplasm had dared to lay a hand on their family with the weapons they always had on hand.

It was a little difficult to ignore the Ghost Zone as they zipped through it, they still had a deep scientific interest in this weird world, but the fascinating patterns of ectoplasm and general structure could wait for when their boy wasn’t in peril. The only thing they had eyes for was the beeping tracker and the ghost it smacked in the back of the head.

“Ow! Great, now I’m lost and I have a headache,” Phantom complained, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and grabbing hold of the Boomerang with the other. “Sam?”

Now why would this ghost know one of Danny’s friends, or assume she was using Fenton technology? Jack urged the Speeder closer as Maddie prepared a shot. The little town fooling ghost wasn’t going to be going anywhere without returning their son.

The ghost froze on spotting the speeder when it turned around, eyes darting between it and the primed weapon, and the tracker it held.

“You’re not Sam.” the ghost gulped, pulling off a decent imitation of anxiety. “ Uh I know this looks bad but-” he was unable to finish whatever like he cooked up, needing to dodge the fired ectoblast.

“Save it, spook! We know you have our son!” Jack glared at the ghost, who seemed to roll their eyes in response.

“Uh no? Your stupid tracker hit me in the head. Where do you think I’m hiding him? My jumpsuit?” the ghost spread his arms out to emphasize how it had nothing but the Boomerang.

“Get out of my son’s body and we’ll let you leave in one piece.”

“I’m not in your son! Humans can’t just stop having legs.” Phantom insisted, legs fusing into the ghostly tail the ghost used when flying quickly. “Your tracker is just fixed on the wrong thing” his hands were still up, eyes still darting at the weapons.

“Then where is he?”

“How should I know? I don’t even know what time it is right now and I’m in the middle of nowhere!” The frustration was remarkably accurate, but Phantom had always been a very good mimic of humans and their emotions. 

Still, Maddie didn’t buy that the Boooomerang just happened to not track Danny down the one time it was important to do so. The ghost had probably messed with it, or simply had a very good grasp of illusionary powers to make the body it possessed seem like a ghost. She gave the slightest nod to Jack, who flung the Speeder forward. The ghost’s eyes widened as it tried to dart out of the way, slamming right into the ectoblast she had fired. It reeled backwards with a grunt, glaring at the both of them as it stopped being doubled over in pain.

“Seriously? Are you happy now? I’m not overshadowing your kid! Today is totally not my day.” the ghost was whining like a child, likely trying to earn sympathy for the minor damage it took.

It did have a point though. There was no way a ghost could keep their grip on a human with a blast like that. “We’re wasting time Jack, come on.” she had to force the words out. Dealing with this troublesome ghost would have been priority number one any other time, but Danny needed them right now.

“You won’t get off so easily next time!”

“You call almost running me over and shooting me in the face lightly? Geeze!” The childlike ghost continued it’s pointless sympathy campaign, but kept his eyes on them as it flew out of view. At least it had the sense to get out of their way.

Unfortunately the rest of their search ended up as fruitless as the encounter with Phantom. With no tracker to follow they simply had to head back and check the solid areas near the portal, places a human could actually stand, but didn’t find a trace of their son.

Returning to the lab felt like giving up, but they told one another it wasn’t giving up, just checking Amity made more sense than the ghost zone at this point.

Maddie’s blood ran cold when she spotted the Boooomerang back in their lab. The ghost had been stupid enough to return it, or had done so as a threat. Jack saw the implied threat as well, teeth clenching and muttering “Wish I had run him over.”

Still, it might be useful. She threw, letting go of a breath when it did not fly back into the ghost zone and instead back up the stairs.

The pained yelp from Danny’s room was almost too good to be true. The couple kept their guard up, pushing the door open gently to check if it was actually their boy, home safe and sound.

“I swear if I get hit by this stupid thing one more time today I’m going to snap it in half.” Danny was muttering, pajama clad and in his bed.

“Danny? You okay kiddo?” Jack asked, happy to rush into the room and give him a tight hug.

“I was! Need to breathe, dad!” he took a deep breath when Jack released him, a tight smile on his face.

“Where were you?” Maddie supposed she had to be the strict parent today, though she was certain it hadn’t been Danny’s fault.

“Oh, some ghost thought they could scare you, but I managed to convince them that you’d waste em if they didn’t bring me home once I stopped freaking out.”

“Way to go son! We totally would waste em!” Jack was beaming as he gave Danny a pat on the back, but the boy looked vaguely ill at the praise.

“Well it is a school night, so you should get back to sleeping.” Maddie paused to give her son a hug before leaving the room, trying to ignore the prickling of unease.

Something wasn’t right about this, and it was all a little too perfectly wrapped up. It was late, it was possible she was seeing connections that weren’t really there. Tomorrow she’d find Danny’s hazmat suit and make sure he wore it so any ecto contamination from his kidnapping wouldn’t get worse. That was why he’d felt cold, surely.

To be continued tomorrow with the Glow prompt :v

[five-rivers]

Three Twilights

Can be considered a loose sequel to Deep Sea Diver (same vibes).

Warnings: Soft body horror, Danny totally ignoring objectively horrifying things

.

.

.

“I was thinking,” started Maddie over breakfast, “we could start observations of that island that came into view last week, the blue one.”

Danny shook his head. “You’ll have to use the Speeder, then,” he said. “I’ve got an errand to run.”

There was a pause as both of Danny’s parents looked at him, confused. He didn’t blame them. Danny rarely went out as a human anymore, and certainly not for anything like errands. Looking like he was still fourteen after all this time made doing anything even remotely official difficult.

But this wasn’t a human errand. “Yeah,” said Danny. “In the Ghost Zone. I’ve got to go to Three Twilights.”

“Where?” asked Jack.

“It’s, um, a city,” said Danny. “Well, three cities, I suppose, depending on how you want to group them. One Realm. On the shores of the Celestial Sea. I’m sure I’ve put it in your files.” Probably a direct copy from his files from before he came clean to them, but still. He stirred his cereal counterclockwise, letting his ice powers chill the milk.

“Yes,” said Maddie, “but there are a lot of places in there. I’m not sure we’ve had a chance to properly look at them all, much less memorize them.”

“Okay, yeah,” said Danny. “I guess that makes sense.”

“What kind of errand are you running, Danno?”

“I’m picking something up for a friend. A book,” he clarified. “They lent it to someone there, but they need it back.”

“A book,” said Maddie. “For the Library of Tongues?”

“No, they’ve got a contract service for overdue loans.”

“Contract service?” asked Jack.

“Yeah. Moonlighting bounty hunters mostly.”

“For a library?”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” said Danny, shrugging. “They’re really serious about their work.”

“If it isn’t for them, who is it for?” asked Maddie. “The princess? Wulf?” Wulf had actually been over a few times, and his parents had… Well, saying they got along would be an overstatement, they didn’t really have anything in common beyond ripping portals in the fabric of the universe, but everyone had been civil. “The boy at the school?”

“No,” said Danny. “Wulf would just get it himself.”

“Who, then?” pressed Maddie.

Danny put a spoonful of cereal in his mouth, delaying. Maddie hadn’t eaten anything since Danny had mentioned the errand. The errand was, in fact, for Clockwork. Danny was always more than happy to do anything for Clockwork. The older ghost had saved him too many times for him to be otherwise. But Jack and Maddie were wary of Clockwork. Danny didn’t get it, but talking about it hadn’t been productive so far.

He didn’t want to lie to his parents. Not ever again.

“It’s for Clockwork,” he said.

Ah, yes, there were those suspicious looks. The ones Danny could have interpreted even without being able to almost literally taste emotions.

“I see,” said Maddie.

“Anyway,” said Danny, quickly, “if I haven’t shown you Three Twilights yet, it’s really cool. I don’t want to take the full rig, but maybe the little ectocam would be okay? The one that I can clip on.”

“Why not the normal camera with an ectofilter?” asked Jack. “That has more features, and it’s easier for us to get data from.”

“Three Twilights. It’s dark there,” said Danny. “It might work in Civila, but not so much in Naŭtika and Astronomia, and I sort of want to go down to the beach and see if I can find any star pearls, and that’s really dark, so if you want to see anything properly, it’ll have to be the sonar setup, which I’m not doing, the noises that thing makes are offensive, or the ectocam.”

“And the Fenton Phones?” asked Maddie.

“Sure,” said Danny. “But I always bring those.”

“Yes,” said Maddie, after a moment. “You do.”

“Great. It’s settled, then.”

.

Most of the journey to Three Twilights could be made by air. Or, rather, what passed for air in the Infinite Realms. But when the rocky edge of an island came into view, Danny touched down. Further in was a blue wood, and Danny walked under its inviting branches.

The atmosphere started sunny, summery. The leaves and needles of the trees were the color of a clear blue sky. But as he got deeper, the leaves were touched with sunset colors: golds, reds, oranges, purples, and pinks. They fell to the ground, crunching beneath Danny’s feet. The sunset grew longer, deeper. The leaves on the trees grew sparser, revealing patches of sky.

By the time only bare branches framed the sky, it was a dusky, dim, purple. A few lonely stars twinkled in the sky.

He passed out of the forest. The city of Civila rose above him. Windows glowed in the near dark like eyes.

Danny had changed, too. His aura had dimmed. The whites of his suit were now dark gray, and patterns swirled on its surface like camouflage, like wind-twisted clouds, like nebulae.

Shadows bled around the corners of the city buildings like ink in water. Will-o-the-wisps bobbed, casting pools of illumination in lieu of streetlamps. Ghosts walked up and down the streets, or floated only a few meters up.

The buildings glittered. Everything was dark, vibrant, colors. A sharp, sweet scent filled the air, something dark and rich beneath it.

The canals in the center of the street were filled with flashing fish. Or perhaps serpents. Or perhaps worms. Between how fast they moved and the dimness of the light, it was difficult to tell.

Danny could feel his irises contracting, shrinking down to needle-thin rings. His teeth were sharp. He matched the other ghosts around him. This was how the Civila liked it, how things were in this part of Three Twilights.

Everything in order. Everything peaceful. Everything civil.

Danny walked through the market square, and bought some charcoal-colored cherry pastries from a vendor who looked like someone’s nightmare demon with a chip of ghost ice.

Much to his parents’ protests. They didn’t care for him eating ghost food.

There were seven bridges to Naŭtika, which was built half underwater and half on boats that floated both on the water and in the air. As the dark waters of the inlet lapped at his feet, Danny felt the changes ripple across his skin. To a human, he would look pure black, except for the faintest glimmer of rim lighting and the stars of his eyes. He and the other ghosts moved silently, cutting through the waters like shadows.

To Danny’s ghostly senses, the place was alive with emotion and force, energy loud and crackling against his senses.

“We’re solely on the ectocam, now,” said Maddie. “You were right about that.”

“Mhm,” said Danny, half distracted by a whispered sea-shanty backed by a choir of not-voices and not-sound that wove together with the mastery of a hundred years of practice.

He glided up a rope net, and began to navigate the ropes to the taller ships. The very tallest, the ones that scraped the ever-darkening sky and blotted out uneven sections of stars, moored the glass-like ships that floated above. He’d need to reach them, to get to Astronomia.

“What’s that?” asked Maddie, breaking his concentration on his path.

“What’s what?” asked Danny, whisper soft, drawing some looks. He turned, slowly, on the spot, planks barely creaking under his steps. A gentle wind ruffled his hair.

“There,” said Maddie. “By the ghost that’s registering red.”

It had taken Danny a long time to learn what color on the ectocam’s artificial sensor signified what, but he had, if only to reduce the guessing when they played this game.

“Star pearls,” said Danny, eyeing the ropes of stone that glimmered brighter than his eyes currently did. They were one of the only reliable forms of light, out on the Celestial Sea, although they were valued for other things, too.

“They’re putting out a massive amount of energy,” said Maddie.

“You mentioned them before,” said Jack. “You wanted to look for some?”

“On the shore,” said Danny. “Out past Astronomia.” He wanted to find his own, rather than buy them.

Partially because they were expensive. He didn’t really want to think about how much unmelting ice he’d have to conjure up to equal one of them. They were usually bartered in exchange for… more significant things.

The ghost by the pearls beckoned him closer, clearly hoping to make a sale. Danny shook his head, broadcasting regret and admiration for his wares. Speech might be faster but, under these circumstances, it would not be polite.

When Danny left, the social rules of Three Twilights would only leave the faintest impression on his mind. But, for now, they were a heavy, but not uncomfortable weight. One he could shrug off if necessary, but which was currently useful.

“What are they?” asked Maddie, as Danny turned away.

“They happen when big enough things fall into stars,” said Danny. “They’re all the memories of what they used to be… and the imagination of what they could become, when the star dies. Well, that’s what they’re supposed to be. I don’t think anyone really knows for sure.”

“And you can just… find these? Lying around?”

“Not… not really,” said Danny, slowly drifting towards a crow’s nest. “It’s like that one national park. That one where you can collect diamonds? You never really find anything good, but you can look.”

“I see,” said Maddie. “So, you don’t expect to find one?”

“Yes and no,” said Danny. “If I don’t expect to find one, I probably won’t. Unless the sea is feeling ironic, which it usually is, apparently. I mean, it’s an ocean and the stars. And prophecy is, like, ninety percent irony, but mostly for an outside observer. Which honestly makes sense, I think. An observer, not an Observant. Those are different things.”

The kind of silence on the other side of the line was the one that emerged when Danny used too much ghost logic.

“Anyway,” he continued as he scaled the crow’s nest and started traversing the glass ropes and chains to the all-but-invisible glass ships, “no, I don’t really expect to.”

The path to Astronomia was a staircase carved from moonstone harvested in October, when the moon was full and orange-red. It burned Danny’s eyes to look at and feet to walk upon. Like many ghosts who fixated on things like astronomy, he adapted quickly and thoroughly to the spiritual dark.

This darkest twilight was built of delicate bubbles, whorls, and arches of glass, any of which could cradle a ghost, all of which could be phased through with impunity. There were no true roads here, but certain places were easier to travel through. Addresses were carved in the glass in glimmering, holographic sigils made from glass-caught starlight that humans would never be able to read, but Danny could understand with a glance. It was not silent in Astronomia, the high wind sung through the glass like the immense instrument it was, playing ethereal and eternal music that mirrored heaven.

As always, Danny was enraptured. Perhaps the stars here were not true stars, only their memory and imagination (or simulacra made from stripped ghost cores, he remembered with a shudder), but he felt so close here.

“Danny? Are you still with us?”

Danny started to reply, but realized he had forgotten, once again, that he had no mouth here.

A phantabulist played a story for a group of not-quite-children, characters made of carefully constructed light chasing each other about with vigour. Danny stopped for a while to watch the story, a parable about spiders and fish. They were common here, storytellers who plied their craft this way. The stories could be pressed into glass prisms and orbs that served as books and viewed even in other environs of the Ghost Zone.

He moved on, passing through a glass bubble full of ghosts that snatched at and stroked him as he passed by, leaving stars and dark clouds to swirl across his skin. His suit had long since smoothed over and sunk in. His skin was a thin surface, a membrane holding in liquid night. He was like smoke, like vapour, thin and easily overlooked.

The places he passed were homes, places of business, warehouses, and hotels, organized without any apparent reason. A phantabularium glowed like a struck match, snatches of story visible inside its walls. He walked by.

Eventually, he reached the palace at the city center.

The ghost who lived there was old. Older, perhaps, than Pandora. She filled the vessels of her palace in placid pools connected by crystalized threads and looping tubes. Seven round-bottom flasks, radiating outward, like the spheres of heaven. The music here was almost deafening.

This was Urania, Muse of Astronomy. Astronomia was her city, and subordinate to her will before all else.

Danny resisted the urge to kneel. He was not here as a supplicant, and they both knew it.

The lowest pool bubbled, and slowly a glass prism, a dodecahedron, floated to the top. Danny took it with careful hands and left Urania’s direct presence as quickly as possible.

Being near her was always difficult. She was the Muse of Astronomy, and she felt he did not indulge his second Obsession as much as was proper.

Indeed, she thought it should be his first.

(The starlight inside him pulsed. He was never sure how much influence Urania could exert on him when he visited Three Twilights, never sure how much the relationship between his passions shifted when he was here. He loved it here too much to stay away forever.)

Astronomia did not end all at once. Instead, as one walked farther from the palace, the delicate, clear glass was replaced by black sand. When Danny had feet again, and could feel the grains beneath them, he knew he was no longer in Astronomia, but on the Shores of Night. The Isles of the Moon were faintly visible in the distance, sea-spray framing them in silvery halos.

He felt human here. His breath moved in his lungs, and his skin rose in goosebumps, the sleeves of his t-shirt fluttering in the wind. The sea and the sky were the same, and twice as beautiful for it.

“Sorry for going silent on you there,” said Danny. “I keep forgetting I don’t have a mouth there.”

“How do you forget that?” asked Jack.

“I don’t know.” Danny shrugged, even though he knew Jack couldn’t see him. “Do you think the ectocam might be able to spot buried star pearls?”

[freshwater--mermaid]

Ersatz Ch 16: Hypnagogia

Danny sat on the bottom steps of the basement staircase, looking in on his parents as they debated over a set of schematics. They had yet to notice him since he wandered down nearly thirty minutes earlier, and the boy was counting on their continued ignorance. He just...needed to be near the portal for a while. Just a bit, just to relax his nerves. And then he would go back to his room and finish the last of his homework.

He'd already gotten in trouble earlier that day for failing to hand in a few assignments he had forgotten about. He was determined not to fall behind further, but so far that was easier said than done. He just couldn't make himself concentrate for more than a minute. He really needed to pay a visit to the Ghost Zone again.

The teen's blue eyes drifted slowly over the room, taking in the old and new sights of the lab. Ever since the portal began working, his parents' work had doubled, and old dust-coated weapons and devices were soon covered up by newer prototypes. Thankfully for him, nearly all of these weapons were untested, and therefore not used.

The Fenton parents thankfully had finished whatever tests they were running on the old ghost lady just as Danny had arrived from school. She was now once again stored in a thermos and locked away in a cabinet at the back of the room.

Growing uncomfortable, Danny's eyes went to the metallic table, bolted down in the centre of the lab. He didn't know what kind of experiments his parents were running on the elderly ghost, but his unhelpful mind was always quick to provide mental images. Danny swallowed reflexively, tearing his mind from such dark thoughts, and stood up. He didn't want to think about the lunch lady ghost. Part of him felt sad for her, but not enough to attempt to free her. She was just too dangerous, he reminded himself.

Danny walked back into the kitchen, shoulders slumped. Jack and Maddie had been working tirelessly for days now; they had to crash soon, right?

'Any night now they'll trudge upstairs and sleep for hours.' Danny thought to himself, wishing that that night would be now.

After lingering uselessly in the kitchen for several more minutes, Danny finally admitted defeat and went back up to his bedroom. He proceeded to spend most of the night glaring down at his half-finished assignments, his mind not allowing him to concentrate for long on one topic. He was not looking forward to school in the morning.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Jasmine walked down the front steps of Casper High, a bounce in her steps, not noticing the mass of bumping and pushing bodies around her, all eager to leave the school and head home. Her attention was captured entirely by the blond-haired man leaning casually against his motorcycle, parked at the side of the road.

Johnny smiled at her when her eyes found his, and she felt a warm rush wash over her face. She quickly made her way through the crowd toward him, books clutched tightly to her chest.

"Hey, Kitten." Johnny greeted, winking at the girl when she reached him. "Wanna go for a ride?"

"Sure!" Jazz agreed with a smile, willing the warmth from her cheeks. Why was she so flustered? Part of her was still confused as to why she was so enamored by this young man, but that tiny voice was always quickly quieted.

The two hopped onto the motorcycle, and were soon speeding off, a few students needing to practically dive out of the vehicle's path. Jazz didn't see this, however. Her eyes were closed, her body hugging close to Johnny's back as wind roared in her ears.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

With a frustrated noise, Danny tossed his pencil down upon the papers, further scattering them across his unmade bed. He'd made it halfway through his essay, and considered that good enough. He stood up and headed out of his room and back down into the lab.

The debate from a few hours previous had apparently been settled, and from Jack's slouched posture, Danny could safely guess that his mom had won. He walked over to her side, mindful of the heap of metal parts lying on the tile near her desk.

"Hey, Mom." Danny greeted, eyes sweeping over his mother's scribbled notes. "What're you working on?"

"Oh, just some more theories on how to get our ecto vehicle-."

"Spectre Speeder." Came the sulking interruption from Jack's side of the room.

"Right, Spectre Speeder." Maddie continued, "I'm trying to figure exactly how we're going to be able to safely filter out carbon dioxide from our oxygen supply while within the Ghost Zone."

"Oh." was all Danny could think to say in response, not fully listening as his eyes drifted over to the closed portal. "Interesting."

"You see, sweetie," Maddie began, smiling down at her work. "It's sort of like we're building a miniature spaceship. The Ghost Zone is like outer space, and if your father and I plan on being the first humans to explore it, then I need to make sure all of my calculations are perfect. We won't be in there long enough to worry about particles or moisture in our air supply building up, but we can't let the carbon dioxide levels rise too high."

Maddie was clearly enthusiastic about this, her smile bright as she glanced from her notes up to her son. She noticed that his eyes lingered over on the closed portal doors, and turned to look that way as well.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, no ghosts can get past your father and I." Maddie said, guessing that ghostly intruders were what was on Danny's mind. Recent events considered, Maddie couldn't blame her son for being afraid. Guilt still shifted about inside of her every time she recalled the incident at Vlad's home.

Internally, Danny was laughing at his mom, as mean as it made him feel. He knew for a fact that several small ghosts had been sneaking past his parents for weeks. The thought brought forth aggravation, at how easily they seemed to slip past his mom and dad without a fuss. Meanwhile, he was still too terrified of setting something off to even try sneaking into the portal while they were down there.

Danny's outward appearance didn't change, his face remaining passive as he returned his mother's smile briefly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Mom, I'm not freaked out about the Portal. I know you and Dad could waste anything that stepped a toe into this lab."

"You bet your keister we could!" Jack exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at the two of them with a grin. "No one gets past this vigil." The man pointed a thumb at himself proudly.

The sound of the front door closing loudly caused all three to look toward the stairs, Jack's face falling down into a hard expression.

"Speaking of." he said lowly, getting out of his chair and going up the stairs.

Maddie sighed quietly to herself, standing as well and stretching out, her back and shoulders popping in several spots. Danny followed her as she trailed her husband.

They could hear Jack and Jazzs' rising voices coming from upstairs, and quickly joined. Jazz stood angrily in her doorway, with Johnny just inside. Jack crossed his arms and frowned heavily down at his daughter from the hall.

"I was just showing Johnny my room, Dad." Jazz protested as Danny and Maddie joined the group in the hallway.

"Well now you can show him the front door." Jack replied. "Do you have any idea what time it is, missy? It's a school night!"

"Just lay off!" Jazz yelled up at her father, clenching her fists in anger. Before she could say more, Johnny was moving into full view, his hands held up and an easy smile set low on his face. He gazed up at Jack with half-lidded eyes.

"Hey hey, there's no problem here, man." Johnny said.

"There most certainly is a problem here, pal." Jack answered, his tone letting everyone know that his patience was approaching its end. "I'd like you to leave immediately. My daughter has school tomorrow, and she knows better than to bring strangers into our house at night."

He pointedly looked his daughter's way at this final sentence, and Jazz huffed loudly. Johnny stepped between the two, lowering his arms as he shrugged loosely.

"Just keep cool, pops-"

"I will not just keep cool." Jack replied, maintaining a level tone. "You are not welcome in my house at this hour, so I'm going to ask you again; leave."

He pointed toward the stairs with one massive hand. Johnny looked like he was going to try reasoning once again, but it was Jazz's turn to step in.

The teen grabbed Johnny by the arm and quickly made her way down into the living room with him. Danny watched from the railing as she spoke quiet words to the blond at the door, before opening it and watching him leave. She waved at him as the sound of a motorcycle revving filled the silence.

As it faded quickly, Jazz shut the door and glared up at her father, who stood at the top of the stairs.

"Happy now?" she said moodily.

"Jazz, just what's gotten into you?" Maddie said disapprovingly. "You know better than to stay out after curfew."

"And you know better than to invite strangers into your room in the middle of the night!" Jack put in.

"He's not a stranger and it's not the middle of the night!" Jazz exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"I don't know him, so that certainly makes him a stranger, young lady!" Jack responded.

Jazz groaned loudly in frustration, walking into the kitchen instead of going back toward her room.

"I can't believe you." she spoke as the other three made their way downstairs. "Way to embarrass me in front of my new friend, you guys. Now he's probably never going to come back."

Danny couldn't help but feel relieved at that thought, though he somehow doubted that this Johnny would actually stay away. He hadn't seemed at all intimidated by Jack, which was saying something about the guy's confidence. Jack was downright imposing when he was mad.

Danny had to wonder what had suddenly come over his sister. He couldn't recall a time when she behaved this way toward their parents. Even when she fought with them, it was usually over their ghost studies or him. It was weird to see her acting like a rebellious teenager.

Jazz sat at the table, scowling at her parents, who both stood facing her with twin frowns. It seemed they were equally as confused over Jazz's sudden mood. Danny quickly decided he wanted out of this little family drama and headed toward his room, intent on drowning out any further yelling with a good few hours of Doomed.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Danny stared at the cracked sidewalk beneath his feet as he and his friends made their way to Tucker's house. Danny had barely dodged detention for turning in nearly all of his class work only partially done, and so Sam had decided that they should all start doing their homework together in the afternoons like they used to.

Entering the small two-story house, the three teens walked toward Tucker's room, giving obligatory greetings to Tucker's mother, who stood in the kitchen simultaneously working on dinner and craning her neck toward the living room to watch her shows.

Despite his repeated complaints, with Tucker joining in, Danny was internally grateful to be forced into finishing his homework. His grade average was suffering enough as it was without him letting his assignments slip. Sam kept him and Tucker on task, despite her own yawns and groans of boredom, and within the first hour the three had already stormed through their Biology homework.

The sound of heavy rain beat down on the roof as the afternoon wore on, and Danny found himself unable to stay fully absorbed in his work as thunder clapped repeatedly nearby. If the storm kept up he and Sam would be spending the night, Danny mused as he tapped his foot on the carpeted floor, his finger spinning his pencil idly as he stared unseeing down at his papers.

"Danny, focus." Sam admonished from her place on Tucker's bed, bent over her History textbook.

Danny blinked his eyes rapidly, forcing his gaze to focus back down on the words of his book report. Danny couldn't care less about Pride and Prejudice, but Sam had insisted he do his report on it, and with no other book in mind, he'd accepted the topic. If he'd known how dull the story would be, he'd have just picked a book at random from the library.

Thankfully Sam wasn't without mercy, and had spent their lunch earlier that day reading passages out of the book and explaining core themes to better help Danny figure out what he wanted his report to cover. Not that it made the essay any easier to actually write...

A flash of light from outside, followed by a particularly loud bang, caused all three kids to jump slightly. Tucker whistled lowly as he looked out his window. Beyond the light curtains, a downpour could be seen washing the streets of Amity Park.

Danny felt like his limbs were falling asleep, and quickly stretched out in his seat, his back cracking as he shook his arms slightly. He felt suddenly stir-crazy, unable to sit still another moment.

Danny stood up from his chair, dropping his pencil down on top of his homework. Stretching his arms out above him once more, he began pacing back and forth in front of Tucker's bed.

The two occupants of said bed looked up at him, quietly watching him for a few moments before Tucker spoke up, a thunderstrike muffling his words.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Danny didn't answer, too distracted by the tingling in his hands. He looked down at them, worried, and shook them harder. There was no mistaking the familiar hum of ghostly energy building up in his fingers, and Danny feared that any moment a blast of ecto energy would fire out of his palms. Why couldn't he seem to quell it?

As he focused down on his hands, paying no mind to his friends' repeated questions, the feeling in his hands only grew. Danny furrowed his eyebrows, frowning hard as he continued to walk mindlessly around the small room.

He heard the sound of a mattress shifting, and then Sam was gripping his shoulders, keeping him still. Danny looked up at her confused face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I-" Danny was interrupted by several flashes of light, two roaring crashes following close after. The bedroom's ceiling light felt like it was buzzing. Danny looked up at it, wondering at the static that could be felt surrounding it, expanding out into the room as the light grew a few shades brighter.

"I...do you guys feel that?" Danny asked, looking between his two friends. Tucker now sat on the edge of his bed, legs hanging off as he and Sam traded a glance before looking back at Danny.

"Feel what?" Tucker asked, looking around himself as though he expected something horrible to be hiding in a corner.

Another flash, another clash of wind and rain as thunder rolled over the area. Tucker looked over his shoulder at the window.

"Maybe you guys should stay here for the night," he suggested. "Mom won't mind, and it doesn't look like this storm is going to go away soon."

"Yeah." Sam agreed, looking toward the window as well before her eyes resumed their worried vigil over Danny, who'd backed out of her grasp.

He stared at the floor, scuffing his shoes absently against the carpet as he inwardly focused on the low hum crawling up his arms. His fingers absently danced against the sides of his legs.

Sam sighed, once again reaching out to lay a hand on Danny, only to recoil quickly with a gasp. She held her hand against her chest, looking down at her fingers.

"What?" Danny asked, eyes focusing on his goth friend.

"You shocked me." Sam said in surprise, "More than just a little."

"Oh," Danny said, looking down at her pinkened fingertips. "I'm sorry? I don't know how I did that."

It felt as though an army of micro ants were scuttling around in his bone marrow, and Danny itched to move again. He continued shifting from foot to foot, shoes rubbing into the carpet and fingers drumming against his stomach as he held them close.

"Hey, I think I feel it now." Tucker said, removing his hat as the feeling of cobwebs settled over him.

"Yeah, me too." Sam replied, watching the small hairs on her arms rise.

"It feels kinda like touching a tv." Tucker commented, rubbing a hand over his hair in an attempt to shake the feeling off.

Lighting struck nearby, and the house nearly shook with the force of the thunder. A shrill sound coming from the living room told all three kids that an official lightning storm warning was being broadcast over the television.

"Hey kids," Tucker's mom called, "I'm calling your parents to let them know you're here, alright?"

"Thanks, Mrs Foley!" Sam replied.

The lightbulb flared suddenly, the room becoming startlingly bright for a second before, with a pop, the bulb shattered. Tucker cried out as flecks of glass rained down on his bed, the room thrown into near-darkness.

Tucker quickly stood, squinting through the shadows at the glass pieces covering his and Sams' pile of homework.

Light flooded in as the bedroom door opened, Angela looking at the three with open concern.

"Kids? What happened?" Her hand went toward the light switch automatically, and the woman quickly discovered the problem.

"The light blew." Tucker said, gesturing toward his bed, where the glass shards reflected the light like little stars.

His mother stepped into the room, arm reaching toward her son.

"Did you get any glass on you?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Tucker replied, shrugging as Angela gestured for them to follow her out of the room.

"You kids just go sit in the kitchen for now. I'll go find the broom." she said, disappearing down the hall.

Sam and Tucker sat at the table, listening to the muffled rain in silence. Danny remained standing, beginning to pace in a circle around the small kitchen, rubbing his hands together. It felt like insects were about to crawl out of his very pores, and Danny really didn't want Tucker's mother to be anywhere nearby when that happened.

"Uh, listen," he said to his friends. "I think I'll just head home, I-"

"Dude, do you see how much it's raining outside?" Tucker cocked an eyebrow, pointing a thumb toward the kitchen window.

Outside the sky was a bleak, heavy grey, with water quickly creating a shallow river in the road. Danny glanced at the sight before resuming his path around the kitchen.

"It's not that bad," he offered, shrugging one shoulder.

"Danny, be real." Sam spoke up. "Your house is too far away for you to risk walking all the way there in this storm."

Danny gave a frustrated noise at this argument, and moved to stand close to the other two, lowering his voice as he spoke.

"I can get there twice as fast if I fly, okay? I just...really don't want to be here right now."

"Why?" Sam asked lowly, glancing toward Tucker's room, where his mother could be heard muttering to herself while she searched out every speck of glass.

"Please, Danny, tell us what's wrong." she said, reaching a hand out but wisely choosing not to make contact with the dark-haired boy.

"I don't know." Danny stressed, bringing up a hand to scrape through his hair.

Both sitting teens leaned back in their chairs, eyes widening as Danny watched them.

"What?" he asked, dreading the answer. He just hoped his skin hadn't turned green again or something.

"Your hair!" Tucker whispered. "It- it sparked, or something."

"My hair sparked? Like a fire?" Danny asked, lowering his hand.

"No, like static." Sam clarified, pointing up at Danny's head.

Now that she'd mentioned it, Danny realised that the feeling of static had been building in the kitchen as well. He looked over toward the kitchen lights, feeling the small buzzing sensation coming off of them. A pit developed in his stomach. Lightning and thunder continued to war outside.

"Oh man. Guys, something weird is definitely happening here. I think...I think I'm making the lights pop." Danny said. "And I think I need to get out of here before I blow up all the lightbulbs in this house."

"Oh." was all Tucker and Sam could say after a long pause of silence.

Both friends frowned, getting lost in their own thoughts momentarily. Neither wanted to send Danny out into the storm, but they also didn't want to risk his secret, and blowing up every light in the house would definitely raise tricky questions.

"Look, we can figure something out..." Sam tried, her voice fading as she attempted to come up with a plan.

"No," Danny replied. "Look, it's really no big deal. I'll head home and hopefully find a way to deal with whatever this is."

"We can come with y-" Tucker began to say, standing up.

"No. Then we'll all be stuck walking through the storm."

The kitchen lights flared out in time with a resounding thunderclap, popping almost in unison. Like Tucker's bedroom, the kitchen was now in shadow.

"Oh no." Angela moaned as she walked into the kitchen, dustpan filled with glass in hand. "What is going on with this house?"

The woman shook her head as she began searching the kitchen for her emergency candles. Danny used this opportunity to quietly walk to the bathroom, hoping his friends wouldn't openly protest his leaving with Mrs Foley right next to them.

Once inside the bathroom, Danny closed the door behind him, leaving it unlocked. He finally stopped fighting off the hum, letting it spread from his limbs into his torso. Looking at the mirror, he watched his reflection vanish before his eyes, and quickly ascended up through both floors and out into the rain-soaked dusk.

The sunset could not be seen, clouds choking out the sky as they flooded the streets. Danny's mood only worsened as he became drenched, his clothes sticking to his frame and weighing him down as he focused on remaining unseen. He began the flight toward his home, going as fast as he dared, afraid of losing control and slamming into a building. That was definitely something he didn't want to experience again.

From his periphery, Danny saw streaks of lightning strike a tall building in the distance. An electric charge could be felt in the very air around Danny, and he hoped like hell that he wasn't about to become a lightning rod.

'Maybe flying in this storm wasn't the brightest idea.' he thought, speeding up as the OP Centre came into view.

Danny thanked whatever deities were watching out for him as he made it safely to his house. He dropped down in the narrow alley beside his home, pushing the hum back down forcefully, frowning when it refused to abate fully.

Turning visible once more, Danny ran up the steps and through the front door, trying to think up a reason for his mother when she inevitably asked why he wasn't at Tucker's.

However, the darkness and absolute silence that greeted Danny in his home stalled the boy's excuse-making process.

"Uh, hello?" Danny couldn't help but call out, dripping rain as he walked further into the living room. Neither his sister or his parents answered him, and Danny quickly made his way to his bedroom. He changed into a dry set of clothes before stepping back out into the hallway. Looking at his sister's closed bedroom door, Danny walked down toward the basement.

In the lab, all was quiet and still, and Danny might have guessed that his parents had gone to bed, if not for the weapons vault door. The Fenton parents liked to store their functioning ghost equipment inside, and had begun using said weapons more in the last few weeks than they had in years. The vault door hung open a crack, conveying to Danny all he needed to know about his parents' whereabouts.

 'Out ghost hunting, then...'

The sensation of cobwebs settling over his skin caused Danny to rub at his arms, absently pacing around in the lab.

"Come on." he groaned, wondering when this jittery energy would go away. He most definitely did not want to explode lights in his own house; or worse, explode something down in the lab.

That thought had Danny's eyes cautiously wandering over the many gadgets in the room, his gaze soon falling on the closed portal doors.

The static was completely forgotten as Danny fully absorbed the fact that his parents were away, leaving him free to pay a visit to the Ghost Zone in peace. So it was without another thought to the raging storm outside or the buzzing in his limbs that Danny rushed over to the control panel, mashing the giant button and watching the portal doors slide open.

Once inside the other dimension, Danny felt himself nearly go limp as the tension fled from his muscles. The sensation in his limbs remained, however; pent up energy longing to be released. Well, Danny was more than happy to oblige.

He lifted off the ground and flew up the stairs, fazing through his front door and out into the vast open space.

Two green dots could be seen speeding by far off in the distance, giving Danny pause as he watched them go. They were much too small to be more than amorphous blobs, like nearly every other ghost he'd encountered.

As the two specks disappeared from his sight, Danny focused on the energy built up inside him, channeling it down into his hands. It took several minutes, and felt a bit like lifting weights in gym class, but eventually Danny was able to focus all the residual energy into both of his palms.

Holding his arms out before him, Danny sent twin bolts of white-green out into the Ghost Zone. He immediately shook his hands roughly, hissing out a pained breathe from between his teeth. Maybe he'd done too good a job concentrating all that energy into two spots; the energy bursts had burned, and Danny looked down at his palms to make sure they hadn't been damaged.

Finding them unmarked, Danny stretched his limbs out, relaxing and letting himself float, enjoying the absence of the annoying buzzing underneath his skin. He was definitely relieved that it was finally gone.

'Maybe going for a while without using any of my abilities caused them to build up?' Danny considered.

Letting his thoughts drift, Danny began flying around in lazy circles, enjoying the quiet and solitude that the Ghost Zone never failed to provide him with. Well, not total solitude. After all, the Ghost Zone was also home to someone very important to him.

Smiling to himself, Danny practiced firing off ecto blasts for a while longer, making a silent promise to visit with his old body soon enough. He focused on trying to fire energy out of his hands faster, and after a while he was quite proud of his progress. It wasn't at all difficult to master, Danny discovered, once he'd taken the time to perfect this skill. He could quickly call forth the energy needed and send it bursting out of his palm in seconds.

Vlad's words of caution came back to the boy, however, reminding him that he was stronger in the Ghost Zone, and therefore basic abilities like this would be easier. This dampened Danny's mood a bit, and he longed for a way to practice in the human world, some place where he wouldn't be in danger of discovery.

'Oh well,' Danny thought, drifting back toward his home. 'Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. At least I have this place.’

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Jazz stood underneath the overhang of the Amity Theatre, looking out at the downpour with a sigh. It seemed that the rest of their date would be put on hold. She looked up at Johnny, her frown quickly lifting into a smile as his eyes met hers. Subconsciously, she pulled the red jacket tighter around herself, shivering in the cold night air.

"Sorry that we couldn't finish our date, Johnny." Jazz apologised, as though the weather was her doing.

"Think nothing of it, Kitten." Johnny reassured her, leaning against the brick wall. "We can go on plenty more dates in the future to make up for this one."

Happiness fluttered in Jazz's stomach as warmth crept over her cheeks. Another shiver wracked her frame as a gust of wind blew through, carrying more thunder and rain with it.

"Here, Kitten." Johnny said, producing a scarf from inside his own jacket. He wrapped it loosely around Jazz's neck, and the girl instantly felt several degrees warmer, not entirely due to the extra clothing.

She really was lucky, Jazz thought as she leaned into Johnny's side. She was so lucky to have a guy who loved her completely, and who understood her better than anyone ever could.

"I should be getting back home." the girl said reluctantly. She definitely wasn't looking forward to more third degree from her parents. She didn't understand why they were on her case so much recently. Perhaps their ghost nonsense was stressing them out too much.

'Well, they don't need to take that out on me.' she thought sullenly.

"Alright," Johnny replied, stepping out into the rain. "Let's go, Kitten."

He held out a hand, and Jazz took it, letting the young man lead her to his motorcycle. The cold of the rain quickly sunk through the layers of clothing, and Jazz clung tightly to Johnny's back as he sped off into the storm. Unfortunately, the teen found no warmth in Johnny's cold body, and internally worried about his health. He'd catch a cold for sure in this weather.

The wind rushing in her ears, Jazz watched the muddy shadows of buildings and cars as they passed them by. It felt almost surreal, she pondered, like a dream. The speed of the motorcycle as it weaved in between vehicles on the road gave her the sensation of falling, and Jazz clutched tighter to Johnny, closing her eyes and letting the feeling take over all thought.

[star-chlld]

This is my Christmas Truce for @nekithamajere. I hope you like it. Merry Christmas! Warning: major character death

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Danny loved the feeling of the air - free flying, the wind whipping his hair as he pushed himself to go faster and faster. That was part of why being half dead scared him so much. The Dead laid underneath the ground, suffocating in the dirt. Danny hated thinking about him being one of them. With so many people out to kill him, he needed a plan to survive.

It started with the ghosts. Danny started to take a different approach to keeping them in the Ghost Zone. He gave the Box Ghost all his extra cardboard boxes, and set up dates in the human world for the couples who wanted them. The bribery satisfied most ghosts. There was the occasional low level ghost that couldn't be contained. Sometimes the usual enemies got bored and decided to run Danny around, of course.

Next in his plan was his parents. Frankly, they needed a hobby other than shooting him. Which should’ve been easier to do, except they were really into shooting him. He took them golfing, signed them up for dance classes, and taught them how to fly a plane. Nothing really stuck. Obviously, that step needed some work.

Of course, there was one ghost who refused to listen. Vlad Masters was Danny’s complete opposite. Vlad controlled fire, Danny mastered over ice. Vlad was a villain through and through, and Danny would give his half-life to save his city. Danny could keep an eye on the Ghost Zone. He couldn’t monitor Vlad.

Which Vlad Masters was very happy about, because if Danny knew what he was working on, then he would just come and wreck it - again. The research he had gathered to make a clone was easily salvaged from the wreckage that Danny left behind. The technology was not. It took months of building the stasis pods, and thousands of dollars to buy the proper equipment to make them work. Of course, he would be working without an AI this time.

Vlad had gotten to formula perfect this time. He had the DNA, taken from a pillow from the last time Danny had slept in his mansion; the transition from ghost to human, taken from himself; and enough ecto-energy to sustain the ghost half until he was awake. Yes, the perfect formula to create the perfect son.

----------                               ----------                             -----------

Danny was “enjoying” his extra free time by catching up on homework. On the up side, he was passing his classes. On the down side, it was incredibly boring.

As he walked home, Tucker stood on one side, chatting about something. Sam stood on the other, angrily countering him. The argueing was non-stop, and it made Danny almost miss the ghosts.

Something across the street caught his eye. It looked like him. The doppelganger stared at him from a bus stop in a suit and tie, but as a truck raced past he disappeared. “Danny, you there?” Sam asked. He looked at her, stunned.

“You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, man.” Tucker chuckled at his own joke. Danny shook his head a little.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He unlocked his front door and let his friends in. “It’s just, I thought I saw myself. Like not myself, his eyes looked a little red? I don’t know forget it.” Sam and Tucker shrugged and Headed up to Danny’s room to play video games. They trusted Danny. If it was a big deal he would do something about it. So they did forget it, until the next time Danny saw the doppelganger.

It was during school this time. Danny and his friends sat alone at a lunch table. They always got one near the door, just in case they needed to run out. Danny looked up from talking to Sam and Tucker and spotted the doppelganger standing in the entrance to the cafeteria. They met eyes. Danny stood up so fast his food fell on the ground, but that didn’t matter. he needed to find out who that was, and why they looked just like him.

Danny must’ve been really unlucky, because the bell rang as he was walking towards the doppleganger. Danny pushed through the sudden crowd of people, but his look alike was gone. Danny couldn't stop thinking about it. The last time something like this had happened Vlad had been behind it. It should be impossible, because Danny destroyed his lab, but did he create another clone?

On they're way out of the school Danny voiced his worries to his friends. “Wait,” Tucker injected, “you’ve been seeing somebody who looks exactly like you?”

“Yeah! And he was in the - oof!” Danny couldn’t finish his sentence because something had thrown him across the courtyard. In front of him stood Danny Phantom. “You have everything! A family, friends. What do I get? A crazy father in an empty house!” Danny, looking very confused, stood up.

“What are you talking about? Who are you?” Danny yelled. Danny Phantom grimaced.

“Haven’t you figured it out by now?” He sneered. “I’m you.” Danny ran forward, reaching out to grab him, but his fingers only grabbed the air and Danny fell over again. The doppelganger had flown away. Ignoring the crowd of students that had gathered around, Danny stood and turned to his friends.

“I have a feeling I know who did this. We need to go talk to Vlad.”

The drive there was silent. They took the specter speeder through the Ghost Zone, the shortest way to Vlad’s mansion. When the trio came out of the portal, they immediately knew something was off. The lab was covered with scattered, half-built technology. In the middle of it all was a few computers and a pod, the same type that Vlad had used to make clones with the first time. Danny floated them through the ceiling. The house was dark and quiet.  Facing them on the other side of the floor was the clone. His eyes glowed red, lighting up his smirk. “Father isn’t home. Or was it me you were looking for?”

Sam spoke first. “You’re Danny’s clone? Are you stable?” The clone gave a sharp laugh.

“Mentally? Father says no, I’m not sure. Physically, I am the perfect son. Better than Danny ever could be.”

“So why did you try to kill me, yelling about how I have the perfect life?”

“Because you do. You see, I’m bored here. No friends, and father can hardly be considered family. So I’ve decided that it would be better if I just, how do I put this, take your life. In more ways than one.”

Danny stepped back in shock. Tucker launched himself at the clone, screaming something about not killing his best friend you sad rip off of a ghost, but the clone turned intangible and sent Tucker into the wall. Danny narrowed his eyes. Transforming into his alter-ego, he put an arm in front of Sam, trying to keep her away from the clone. She took a gun out of her belt and aimed it at him, ready to fire on command.

The standoff didn’t last long. The clone lunged forward, and both Danny and Sam fired at him at the same time. The clone growled and drew back when he didn’t turn intangible in time. His sneer turned into a grin.

The clone stood there, laughing. “You thought you could kill me with a pathetic gun?” At the last word he shot the gun out of Sam’s hand. She hissed as it burned her. He stepped forward. Sam took a step back to counter it. “Get away!” Danny yelled. His plan didn’t have a section on evil, bloodthirsty clones. He’d never fought an evil, bloodthirsty, sentinant clone. Where to start?

The clone let out a quick, barking laugh. As he walked forward, Danny pulled Sam behind even more. He blasted the clone with an ice blast, and his feet froze to the floor. Without missing a beat, Danny turned and ran.

“What about Tucker?” Sam called out as she followed him. “We can’t just leave him!”

“He’ll be okay, the clone will chase us.”

They stopped at a door, and after glancing at each other they ran inside. It was a simple guest bedroom. There was a bed, a table, and a lamp, but the rest of the room was bare. Sam locked the door behind them. “Did you see his eyes?” Danny whispered, “He probably has a fire core like Vlad. If I ice him enough, maybe it will freeze his core. Kill him.”

There was shouting down the hall. Doors banged open and slammed shut. Finally, the door handle rattled. Danny put his hands up, ready to fire. The door burst in. Ice flew across the room. Steam rose up from the clone’s skin as the ice hit it. He held his hands together, forming a green, ectoplasmic ball. Danny made a shield before the clone threw it but the clone wasn’t aiming for him. The ecto-goop hit Sam and exploded, sticking her to the wall. Danny turned and rushed over to her, pulling at the goop. “Can you move?” he asked her. Sam shook her head. She looked at him, then over his head. Her eyes widened.

“Danny, look out!” The clone smashed Danny on the side of the head with his fist. Danny stumbled and fell to his knees. The clone kicked him in the side, sending Danny sprawling on the floor. He groaned and stood up. He was now face to face with his clone.

The clone turned around. His movements were rigid as he grabbed the bedpost and blasted it point blank. It shattered, leaving a jagged piece of wood in his hand. He faced Danny again, who at this point was looking very confused. “Look, man, let’s talk.” Danny said with a nervous chuckle. The clone advanced, brandishing the wood.

“Talk?” The clone sneered. “I prefer to stab first, talk later. For your sake, I hope you get to come back as a ghost.” He stabbed Danny in the gut.

“Danny! No, you snake! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” Sam shouted.

The Clone walked out of the room, throwing a “Goodbye, Danny.” over his shoulder.

Danny doubled over, clawing at the wood, although taking it out almost hurt more that it going in. He tossed it on the floor, and he quickly followed. Sam was talking in the background. She was asking him to stay alive. He wanted to tell her that he was trying, but the words stuck in his throat. His plan didn’t cover this. He had to stay awake, for his friends. For his family.

He may have passed out, things were blurring together. Usually Danny felt cold, but now he felt hot and sticky and wet. It was the blood, he realized.  Suddenly a second voice joined in with Sam’s, and a face appeared above Danny’s. It was Vlad. “Come on, little badger, breath.” He huffed. Danny didn’t realize he wasn’t breathing. He had stopped breathing before, but it never scared him so much as now.

Vlad put pressure on Danny’s stomach, and a wave of nausea washed over him. His eyelids felt so heavy, and before he knew it Vlad was shaking him awake. “Stay awake,” Sam called out, “It’s okay. You - You’re going to be okay, Danny.” Her voice crack told him the opposite. Danny looked up at her and smiled, and then he fell asleep for the last time.

                        ----------                               ----------                             -----------

Maddie and Jack Fenton had never expected there to be so many ghosts at their son’s funeral. In fact, the ghosts, outnumbered the humans. It was hard enough believing that he was one of them, but these ghosts - they actually looked sad. They cried like they had lost a friend. It went against any of the studies that the Fenton’s had done, but then again, so did their son. Maddie looked up. An abominable snowman was approaching. “My people are greatly saddened by the great one’s - Danny’s death. We are looking to see if he has formed in the ghost zone, but it is too early to know for sure.” Maddie wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but it was obviously a kindness.

“Um- thank you. Will you keep me updated?” The ghost smiled sadly.

“For sure.” As he shuffled away, Maddie looked for her husband. She hoped he hadn’t gone off to get more alcohol. Finally she spotted Jack. He was talking to two ghosts, a woman with fire for hair (which couldn’t be safe) and a robot. Maddie quietly joined them.

“-fought with him, but he never hurt us much. Phantom actually has helped us quite a bit.” The flame-haired woman said.

“His loss impacts the Zone greatly. This makes finding a king so much more difficult..”

“”King?” Maddie questioned. The flame-haired ghost answered her question.”

“Phantom was, rightfully, our next king. We’ve never had a halfa as a king before. I don’t know what the observants will decide.”

Maddie looked over at the freshly dug grave, holding her son. She smiled sadly, feeling a swelling sense of pride. Maybe she hadn’t gotten to see him much, but he had helped people. Danny had been a hero. He had died saving lives. Her son was a king.

[five-rivers]

Glass Beetle

Based on a prompt by 2fruity4u for the Phic Phight! Might be sort of... fragmentary, in parts.

.

Danny frowned at his hand as it flickered in the evening's fading sunlight. He'd been having trouble with his invisibility lately. Nothing so obvious, for the most part, but both Sam and Tucker had noticed him 'blurring' or 'fading' around the edges this past week. He'd been able to correct himself so far, pull himself back into focus, so to speak, but, if that flicker was any sign, this was getting worse, not better.

He wondered if a new power was coming in. Sometimes his other powers acted weird when that happened. He hadn't noticed anything like that, though.

Either way, there wasn't all that much he could do about this. It wasn't as if he could just ask anyone what was wrong with his ghost powers.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. He did have a few ghostly allies. Sadly, they all lived (resided?) in lairs that took hours and hours to get to from the Fenton Portal. Lairs that also moved. He didn't really have the time to go find them.

Honestly, with all the schoolwork that had been heaped on him and his friends, he didn't have time to go do anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Including sleep. He would give a lot to just be able to go to bed now, rather than whenever he finished his math homework. His extra math homework, assigned in lieu of detention. But, no, Skulker had to show up again, this time with ghostly hunting dogs, and completely waste Danny's afternoon.

But maybe that was the real reason he was having trouble with his invisibility. Exhaustion. And embarrassment. The two seemed to go hand in hand.

Just that week... Ugh, he didn't want to think about it.

He perched in a tree in the park, resting, and, inevitably, thought about it.

He really hated the people at his school sometimes. Dash for dumping glitter all over him and calling him a fairy... as if that insult wasn't so old it was fossilized... all the other people in his class for staring at him... Mrs. Hall for calling him out for 'disturbing the class'... the inevitable interruption of said class by ghosts... the detention... and everyone staring at him and giggling behind their hands.

Not to mention the toilet paper and what Dash and his cronies had done to his locker. Carrying his waterlogged books around and trying to explain to the teachers had been... painful.

In other words, the A-list had been in a bullying mood this week. No wonder he wanted to be invisible.

He sighed and drifted out of the tree. He had his breath back, as much as he had it as a ghost, and it was time to go home and do math.

Of course, to put a cherry on top of this already horrible week, he was immediately shot. He tumbled head over heels, and instinct took over. He went invisible, hard, erasing his light even in the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum, the chill of the power washing over him. He didn't know what had hit him, after all. A lot of ghost hunters had special goggles for seeing ghosts only transparent in the visible spectrum. Ghosts could often see through invisibility.

He reoriented himself, scanning the area for his attacker, one hand on the thermos.

Valerie. Very confused Valerie, judging by how she was whipping her head back and forth, scanning the ground and the skies.

Danny didn't want to deal with her. He hid himself behind a tree and went human in order to confuse any ectosignature tracing equipment she might have. He never knew what she'd get from Vlad, the jerk, but he probably wouldn't have included anything capable of tracking a half-ghost in human form.

He let out a breath as Valerie flew away. Now it was really time to get home.

He let go of his invisibility.

The cool feeling on his skin didn't go away. He looked down. Still invisible.

He let go of his invisibility.

Still, he only saw a faint outline of his limbs, visible only to his eyes.

Oh, this was going to be bad.

.

Danny had snuck into his house while invisible before, but usually he had a choice about it. He couldn't just walk through the walls, because his parents had coated most of the ground floor with something that blocked phasing a couple months ago (and was also a truly hideous orange), and he couldn't climb through his bedroom window because they had rigged it with a special anti-ghost alarm after noticing an ectoplasm stain on his windowsill.

He decided to go around to the back door, so no one would notice the front door opening and closing on its own. From there, he'd go to the lab and use the portal. Hours of flying and missing his math homework were preferable to being stuck invisible indefinitely. If only his parents had invented something to counteract invisibility... But, no, they were too focused on making things that hurt.

Yeah, maybe he was a bit bitter about that.

Okay, the coast was clear. Good. He padded down the back hall, unwilling to go ghost to fly. The security system was set to ignore him in human form, but sometimes it still picked up his ghost.

He turned the corner into the kitchen and froze as he heard the hateful beep of the Fenton Finder. His father's head snapped up, away from his plate of (unsanctioned by his diet) fudge.

"There is a ghost ten feet in front of you."

Jack leaped from his seat, and slammed the button to activate the Fenton Anti-Creep System. Lights strobed, some of them green with ectoenergy. Danny yelped and dodged a laser, then a laser sword, then a metal-backed cutout of his dad's face.

He ran.

By the time he got out of Fentonworks (the deathtrap) he was out of breath, slightly singed, and definitely bruised. He also felt, weirdly, more invisible.

He frowned. Was he diving deeper into invisibility without realizing it? Why? Because he'd been startled?

He turned to Sam's house.

.

"Okay," said Jazz, over the speaker on Sam's phone, after he had explained his current predicament. "It sounds like a confidence problem. Just, tell yourself you want to be seen- No. You have to want to be seen."

"I do want to be seen," said Danny. "I've been over this with Sam and Tucker. I don't want to be invisible."

"You know that," said Jazz, "but do you feel it?"

"Trust me," said Danny. "I feel it. Can you not get them out of the house for a bit so I can sneak in?"

"Afraid not," said Jazz. "They've put us on lockdown until they find, well, you. Or tomorrow morning."

Danny groaned. He'd already called them to say he was staying over at Tucker's. He'd wondered at the time why they were so happy about that.

.

He hadn't managed even a flicker of visibility by midnight. Even his transformation rings, usually blindingly bright, went unseen. Stuff he picked up turned invisible, too. Anything he wore turned invisible.

Also, the constant invisibility was draining him. Ghost powers took energy, especially when he was in human form. He was exhausted.

Maybe he would spend all his energy and wake up visible. He could hope. In the meantime, he'd sleep in one of the Manson's guest rooms.

.

He did not wake up visible. He woke up just as exhausted and unable to so much as see his own outline anymore. That was new. Before, he'd always been able to see himself while invisible.

He had to ask Sam to call Jazz, because he couldn't hold and see the phone at the same time.

"It should be safe to come home, now," said Jazz. "I turned off the security system, and Mom and Dad are off chasing ectopuses near the mall."

"Oh, good," said Danny, sluggishly transforming. "I'll be there in a few."

He took the same route in as before, but, this time, only Jazz was waiting for him in the kitchen.

Since he was a younger brother, he snuck up on her and poked the back of her neck. She jumped about a foot, and glared at a bit of air several inches above his eyes.

"Danny," she said, "would it kill you to take things seriously for once?"

"It already did," said Danny. "And, honestly, you sort of walked into that one."

Jazz rolled her eyes, and pushed open the door to the lab. "Do you want me to come with you?" she asked. "We can take the Specter Speeder."

"Better not," said Danny. "I should be fine. None of my enemies are going to be able to see me, after all."

"Well," said Jazz, as they stopped in front of the portal. She looked over a foot to his left as she said, "Be safe, Danny."

"I will," he said, and launched himself into the Ghost Zone.

.

"Your sister thought you had a what?" asked Frostbite, amused. He, also, wasn't looking quite where Danny was. In fact, Danny kept having to dodge out of the larger ghost's way.

"A confidence problem," said Danny. His voice sounded weirdly quiet, even to himself, and he wondered if his voice would also be affect by whatever this was.

The large ghost suppressed a toothy smile. "While your current condition may respond to your emotional state, great one, and your powers are linked to your emotions, they are not the cause."

"Then what is?"

"You have a parasite," said Frostbite.

Danny didn't say anything for a moment, half-convinced Frostbite was joking.

"A what?" he squeaked.

"A parasite. Don't be concerned, it is relatively harmless." Frostbite paused. "For ghosts. I have never heard of a human or half-ghost getting one."

That was comforting. Not. "What kind of parasite?" asked Danny. "What does it do? I mean, other than force you to be invisible."

"Well," said Frostbite. He turned to face the dizzying array of screens and other technology embedded in the icy wall of the cave. He brought up a image that made Danny blanch.

"It's that big?" he asked, one hand kneading his stomach, as if he could thereby force the many-legged thing out.

"Yes. Actually, it's a rather small example of this species. This must be its first breeding cycle."

Danny's eye twitched. "Breeding cycle?" he asked, feeling even sicker.

"Yes," said Frostbite. "The malaperas eraro is very sensitive to light during its breeding cycle, but they are also very weak ghosts, unable to become invisible for long periods of time. So they find a host and use their host's abilities. Once the breeding cycle is complete, all of the parasites will leave the host, and symptoms will stop almost immediately."

"And how long does this take, exactly?" asked Danny, voice cracking.

"Ah, it varies, great one," said Frostbite. "From the point that the ghost is unable to become visible, no longer than a week, depending on the strength of the host ghost."

"I can't be invisible for a week!" said Danny, alarmed. "I have school! My parents will notice I'm gone! I'm already exhausted from being invisible for this long. I can't take a week of this!"

"Ah, yes. The fatigue," said Frostbite. His eyes flicked from side to side. "That is, actually, the reason for the variable time. The malaperas eraro cannot finish breeding while the host is awake. It waits for the forced invisibility to drain the host and drop them into a sort of hibernation. It takes longer for stronger ghosts to reach that point."

"Oh," said Danny. "Great."

"We will be more than happy to have you stay with us while you recover. We will provide everything you need, and keep close track of your condition. This is more of an inconvenience to most ghosts than anything else. Similar to, say, the common cold or chicken pox for humans. It is difficult to be reinfected."

That was something, at least. He didn't want to do this again. "You're sure it will be safe for me? I mean, I'm not normal. Maybe we should just... take it out?" He mimed pulling, even though Frostbite couldn't see him.

"That is a matter to consider," agreed Frostbite. "Due to your unique physiology there may be... unforeseen complications. That is another reason for you to stay here, where we can monitor you. If it becomes necessary, we can remove the parasite, but doing so is an invasive and rather dangerous procedure."

Danny briefly considered flying to Clockwork, who could probably do something about the time problem, but exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders. "Okay. Fine, I guess. Just- Could you- If it isn't too much- take a message to my sister for me?"

.

The room was cozier and warmer than the norm for the Far Frozen, in deference to Danny's smaller stature and warm-blooded human form. There were also a number of nice, safe nooks and crannies that were attractive from a ghostly perspective, and a large number of paper-wrapped items.

"What?" asked Danny, leaning back into Frosbite's fluffy fur. On the way over, they had come to a compromise regarding how not to run Danny over. It involved Danny holding onto Frostbite (teenage pride required that he refuse Frostbite's offer to carry him) and Danny had enjoyed the contact more than he wanted to admit.

"Ah, gifts from your admirers, great one. We all wish for you to recover swiftly."

"So I don't freeze everyone again and leave quickly?" joked Danny.

Frostbite chuckled. "Nothing like that. We enjoy having you here, great one. It is an honor."

Danny hummed and let Frostbite guide him to the nest-like bed.

.

Danny felt like he was sleepwalking the past couple of... whatevers. Honestly, he didn't know how long he'd been in the Far Frozen anymore. It was all sort of blurring together, and Danny found it difficult to focus on anything.

Frostbite was doing another body-scan on him today, to check where the parasite was and what it was doing. Danny wasn't enthusiastic. The table for the scanner had been built for someone much larger than him and was distinctly uncomfortable.

Right now, Danny was sitting in a chair across the room, a blanket wrapped around him, waiting for Frostbite to wave him over. It was useful, he had found, to announce where he was going to be and then stay there. People wouldn't trip over him as much, if he was where he was expected to be.

"Alright, great one," said Frostbite. "We are ready to take your scan."

"Okay," mumbled Danny. He stood up, walked halfway to the table, and then collapsed under a wave of dizziness and fatigue.

"Great one?"

Danny only managed to make a pathetic sort of mewling sound. His vision was all grey around the edges, but he could still watch Frostbite grope along the floor, searching for him, and hissed when Frostbite bumped into him a little too roughly for comfort.

After that, Frostbite picked him up, and Danny stopped forcing his eyes open.

.

He woke up cocooned in sadly invisible blankets. There were voices. Deep, rhythmic ones. He sighed and tucked his chin down against his chest. He was safe here.

.

He woke up again, hungry and grumbling. He complained until he got food and went back to sleep.

.

When was the last time he opened his eyes? It was dark.

.

"... have finished?" said the voices.

"... reconsider the surgery..."

"... preparations..."

.

Danny woke up.

He could see his nose. Huh. He'd never really noticed how visible his nose was before he'd been stuck invisible. Really. It was right there.

He went back to sleep.