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thatoctokittenclutchinganotebook · 1 year ago

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Invisobang: Portal Safety

Summary: Danny can’t stop the thoughts, the constant intrusion of thoughts saying he should be doing more. He’s endangering them.

He steps into the portal to get rid of Phantom forever. That’s the only way to protect them, the only way to get rid of these thoughts, right?

It turns out recreating the accident that half-killed you isn’t the best method to bring yourself back to life. It’s far more likely to kill you fully. The wonderful @norman-smsl-guidancecounselor and @amaxeart collaborated to create three art pieces for the fic. Check out their tumblrs or the Ao3 to see their incredible work! Ao3 link in reblog. Content warnings and chapter one after the cut.

Content Warnings:

Chapter one specifically: Obsessive thoughts, accidental death following suicidal thoughts, descriptions of corpses, burn injuries, grief and loss, major character death, unlawful arrest.

Fic as a whole: Death, obsessive thoughts, obsessive compulsive disorder, accidental death following suicidal thoughts (borderline), bodies/corpses, grief and bereavement, jail, unlawful imprisonment (including of a character of colour), panic attacks, court-ordered mental health treatment, murder, medical treatment. Chapter One - The Road to Hell is on a railway line (or in your parent's basement)

It started slowly, subtly, and at the same time it was like a punch to a gut. It started when he first defended his friends from ghosts that had come through the portal. The portal that he'd opened. It hadn't worked when his parents tried it. It had been Danny who had opened it even if it was just by accident. Back then he probably would have wanted to if he’d thought about it. He would have wanted to help cheer up his parents and help them be less disappointed that their amazing invention hadn't worked. He wasn't sure when he started to wish that he hadn't opened it. Protecting people seemed so obvious at first.

This was his home. Ghosts were coming through and attacking people because of him. He had to make a stand. He wasn't gonna let anyone else get hurt. He wasn't gonna let anyone else get hurt like he'd been. This was his home.

It wasn't like he set out to be like a superhero. At first he was just trying to hide his ghost side from his parents, and then he didn't want the ghosts to hurt anyone. He was trying to keep it secret.

He'd read superhero comics and he'd seen superhero cartoons. Now he found himself looking to them for inspiration with dealing with his problems. It didn't help as much as had hoped, but he could get some comfort that he was at least trying to do the right thing.

If you have the power to protect people, you use it. Someone had to do it, and Danny was the only one who could.

That might have been when it started. He couldn't be sure.

He fought the octopodes. He had to, right? He had powers and his friends were in danger and somehow it just happened.

Then it kept happening. He fought ghost after ghost after ghost, a never-ending conveyor belt of villains that never stopped coming for him.

He had to protect Amity. This was his home. This was his responsibility. He had powers and he should use them.

He wasn't sure when the thoughts darkened, but they were incessant, biting at him that it was all his fault for opening the portal. That the damage ghosts like Skulker did was only because they were here for him.

Danny had failed to recognise Spectra for what she was. She wasn’t the last one. He'd failed over and over.

He kept putting the people he loved in danger.

It didn’t help that people started to assume that it was his responsibility to protect them.

“Phantom will do it.”

“Danny, you have to.”

The fact that Sam had forced — even made — Danny to go into the portal a second time after her wish overwrote reality was pretty telling.

It was his responsibility to protect the town from ghosts. To make up for the fact that he’d been the one to open the portal. To make up for the fact that all of it was his fault.

His parents had spoken to him about ghosts.

“They’re driven by obsessions— twisted fantasies which they didn't manage to fulfil in life. they'll do anything to fulfil these obsessions now. There's no limits. That's one of the reasons they're so dangerous. That and the fact that they're born of malicious cruelty. They simply don't have the capacity for anything else.”

Danny knew that his parents were wrong about some, alright, most of their theories about ghosts. He himself was evidence that they didn't know it all. But something about what she said struck a chord because this wasn't exactly wrong. Well, the bit about the obsessions, not the innate cruelty.

It seemed to match up with the facts. There was the lunch lady and her reaction to the change in the school menu. There was Technus and technology. There was Skulker and his obsession with hunting the most difficult prey. Box Ghost (‘nuff said).

It took him a while to figure out that he was ghost enough to have an obsession himself.

“If all ghosts have obsessions, what’s yours?” Jazz looked concerned for him. Maybe she was worried he’d lose himself.

“Space, right?” Tucker suggested. Then he frowned. “Actually, you haven’t gone on one of your space rambles for ages.”

Danny shrugged. “Guess ghost stuff sorta took over.” He felt a pang of distress, but he almost couldn’t be bothered to react. He knew his passion for space was waning, or rather he hadn’t had time to indulge in it. It was impossible to find time between school, parents, ghosts and trying to still be a good friend to Sam and Tucker.

“Well, that sucks.” Tucker said. “Is it healthy for a ghost to ignore their obsession?”

“Space isn’t Danny’s obsession.” Sam scoffed. “That’s just something he likes. Like if you were a ghost and someone said your obsession was meat instead of technology. It wouldn’t be too far off, maybe, but technology still wins out.”

“Well, what do you think Danny’s obsession is then?” Tucker demanded.

“It’s obvious. It’s protection.” Sam spoke with absolute certainty. “Protecting everyone from the ghosts, right Danny?”

“Huh.” He said, not quite able to respond. “Maybe? It’s definitely what I spend most of my time on. But I’m still half-human, remember? I probably don’t have an obsession.”

Bitterness churned in his stomach, but he ignored it. He was good at that.

Jazz was still frowning, but she nodded. “Maybe it’s a more human obsession, rather than a ghostly one.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, but he never got an answer. A poorly timed scream and an exhale of cold air diverted his attention, and by the time he’d defeated the ghost (Technus again) the conversation about obsessions was far from everyone’s minds.

Danny didn’t know when he realised that he could no longer name all the astronauts who had been to the moon, or remember what the most recent space missions were. He didn’t have room for it in his mind anymore. At least he could still fly a space shuttle when he needed to make a getaway from the GIW.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how he needed to protect them.

He had to stop Skulker from hurting innocent people while trying to hunt him. He had to make up for opening the portal. He had to make up for not just dying properly like he should’ve when electricity and radiation and ectoplasm poured through him. It still felt like the pain should have killed him. The agony that shot through his body, burning him till he was aware of pain in every part of him. A thousand bolts of lightning and a thousand fires, all inside him. The torture of knowing this was it, not able to think through the pain that was unlike anything else. His nightmares taunted him with the fear that it would happen again, that the portal would destroy him for good.

Staying up at night watching videos on fighting instead of videos on space. Sleeping through the launch of a space shuttle that he once would have tracked eagerly with any means available. Missing a school trip to a planetarium because it wasn’t in town and he couldn’t leave the city. What if a ghost had attacked while he was gone?

“You can’t be everywhere, little brother.” Jazz had told him, kissing him on the head. “You’re doing great.”

He was? Good. That meant he had to keep doing the same thing and never, never, never stop.

Danny had control. He knew he had to prioritise saving people. Any other life, any life, was more important than his.

Saving people and keeping his secret. Those were the priorities.

The Master’s Blasters changed all that. Sure, they were funded by Vlad, but they were doing a much better job of protecting Amity Park. All Danny was doing was failing and humiliating himself. He hated that he was seen and photographed in just his underwear, not once but three times. Everyone could see his vulnerabilities, everyone could see how he looked. He was lucky, he thought bitterly, that his parents didn’t pay enough attention to realise who he was. They pored over those pictures of Phantom in a way that made Danny’s skin crawl, looking for weaknesses or identifying marks to give them clues. They wanted to see if there were any signs of how Phantom died.

There were, but they weren’t visible on the pictures. He wasn’t sure why. A natural ghostly instinct to obscure his cause of death? Bad photography? Perhaps it had even been photoshopped to hide his scars.

They weren’t that visible, not truly.

He’d been lucky. He’d come so close to blowing his secret.

Not that his parents had ever seen most of his scars. Still, they might have figured out how he died, and he never wanted to have that used against him.

He’d been lucky.

The Masters’s Blasters were far more competent. He was just a stupid kid, fumbling around and making mistakes until he finally did something right occasionally. He failed again and again and again. He was lucky the Master’s Blasters were there to protect everyone, because he clearly couldn’t. He could barely protect himself, and he didn’t even matter.

Then there was the incident with the parade balloon.

It felt like there was a ghost nearby, his skin cold and his breath catching, and he’d seen it and just reacted. He hadn’t thought. And where a ghost might have dodged or controlled their fall, the parade balloon did not. It fell, nearly hitting Sam and Tucker. It would have hit Sam and Tucker if not for the Master’s Blasters. He could have killed his best friends. He had failed. He couldn’t protect them. In fact, all his being Phantom had ever done was endanger them. Dragging them into situations like fights with Skulker or Technus, bringing the dangerous ghosts to Amity by opening the damned portal, and now by nearly killing them himself. His future self had even consciously tried to kill them. His ghost self.

He had to stop this, find a way to stop Phantom from putting everyone he loved in danger. He had to keep them safe. He never should have even tried.

All he did, all he’d ever done, was fail.

Danny’s mind was going around in circles. He couldn’t help anyone anymore, couldn’t protect them. All he did was endanger them and risk his life.

“I always knew that Phantom kid was a menace!” Jack proclaimed. “Not only did he nearly kill Sam and Tucker, but he destroyed a perfectly good parade balloon and that’s just plain un-American.”

The words repeated in Danny’s mind.

Nearly killed Sam and Tucker.

Not only did he nearly kill Sam and Tucker…

He’d nearly killed Sam and Tucker.

He’d wanted to protect them, but he wasn’t needed and all he was doing was causing problems. He nearly killed them! Sam and Tucker!

He felt a shiver through his whole body. He tried to grab hold of the feeling, like something crawling through his skin and through his blood, but he couldn’t force it down. He could barely hear the things his parents and friends were saying. Something about the Fenton Portal being back to the way it had been back at the beginning.

It did look like it had back then. He tried to push the memory away, push away the feeling of electricity burning through his veins.

He’d survived it once. All it had done was make him into a monster, a monster who couldn’t protect any one and only endangered them.

He’d nearly killed Sam and Tucker, and how many times had he endangered them and everyone else? Vlad had hurt the town because of him. Skulker had come because of him.

He failed to protect them. All he did was make things worse.

“Can we stop talking about my powers, please?” He begged, aware his voice sounded angry. “They’re causing me nothing but problems lately.” Causing everyone problems. He nearly killed Sam and Tucker. “I’m starting to think that maybe we’d be better off without ‘em.”

They would. They’d all be better off without him. Better off without Phantom. If he was just Danny, and no ghosts hunted him and hurt his friends or kidnapped people to hunt them. If he was just Danny and he didn’t have dangerous powers and he didn’t have to swallow down everything he felt because if he screamed like he wanted to, he could destroy everything

If he was just Danny, he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone. All these thoughts, all these feelings, they’d go away, right? He wouldn’t be able to protect them—but they wouldn’t need protecting. He’d be protecting them by getting rid of Phantom!

He’d nearly killed Sam and Tucker.

“This thing gave me my powers. I wonder if it could—” He couldn’t believe he was actually saying it. He’d thought so many times that he could try to rig the portal to get rid of his powers, but now it looked so much like it had before. A little pain ( a lot of pain, a devastating amount of pain ) and everyone would be safe!

He had to do it.

“Name one good reason why I should keep my powers.”

“You’re the target of hundreds of evil ghosts. Oh, wait, that’s a bad one. I’ll go back to rhyming Phantom.”

Tucker’s words just reinforced the cycling words in his head.

He was the target of evil ghosts, from Skulker to Vlad. Ghosts came here because of him. He couldn't protect anyone.

He couldn’t protect any of them.

The doorbell rang. Pulled briefly from his swirling thoughts, brain buzzing like a wasp's nest, he watched as the Master’s Blasters entered.

He watched as they shot a net at Danny’s parents. And he didn't stop them.

“Jack and Madeline Fenton, our readings indicate an ectoplasmic entity on the premises.”

“By order of the mayor, you’re both under arrest for harbouring a ghost.”

Another time, Danny might have wondered why Vlad was arresting his mom as well as his dad. He didn’t care. He was too furious.

They didn’t even know he was a ghost and they were still being arrested because of him. How could he protect them if they were in jail? If Vlad could get them arrested, if they were trapped and imprisoned?

No. Phantom was a danger and he needed to protect his family, his friends, his town, from everything that Phantom caused.

“That does it! I’m going ghost! Can’t catch ghosts anymore, almost hurt my friends—”

He transformed. It made no difference to the buzzing in his brain, even as he flew downward. He wanted to yell, wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. That would hurt everyone.

“Now my parents are arrested because of me?”

All the danger they’re in, all the danger everyone has been in, is because of me.

He powered up the portal. His skin scrawled and he couldn’t breathe—he didn’t need to breathe, why did it feel so awful—

He just had to do it. A little pain ( a lot of pain ) to protect them.

If he did this, they'd be safe. Just a few minutes. Just a few minutes, and then it would be over and he wouldn’t be endangering anyone anymore.

“Sorry, guys.” A lump in his throat, with his mind almost throbbing with the overload of thoughts, endless echoes and insistent pushes towards what he was going to do. It was a physical thing, the feeling of urgency spreading like ants swarming and through his veins and body, crawling up his arms.

He pressed the button. He pressed the button. He pressed the button on purpose.

Then it was the pain. Ancients, had he forgotten how bad it was? What could compare to this? Everything hurt—he screamed— no, he can’t scream, he can’t, he’ll kill them —he swallowed as much as he could but someone was screaming, a human scream, pain shooting through him like every wound he’d received fighting ghosts all at once. Worse.

This was worse — he was burning, and his ghost form wavered, and he was human, and he was ghost, and he was human—

Pain. Then nothing.

Danny was screaming. It was so loud, it felt like the house should come down from the power of it. The room shook, and for a second Sam’s heart was in her throat thinking he was going to use his wail, but he swallowed it back. He screamed and screamed, and it was so loud and so awful and she’d hoped she’d never hear him scream like that again—

He stopped.

He didn’t come out.

“D-Danny?” Jazz called. “Danny?”

Sam stepped towards the portal, careful not to touch anything, and nearly screamed herself.

Lying in the middle of the portal, human as could be, was...

Sam had never seen an electrocuted body before. Never seen a body before at all. Maybe he was alive, maybe he was—

A small light next to him, growing brighter, forming into a humanoid figure.

Phantom blinked at them, scars glowing, and fell out of the portal, pushing the body before him.

The body. Burnt. Not breathing.

“Oh my god.” Sam whispered. “Oh my god, oh my god, Danny!”

She leant down to the body—no, Danny. He couldn’t be fully dead, that wasn't how this was meant to work, it couldn’t have killed him, it wouldn’t have—

Danny wasn’t breathing. Phantom’s form kept changing, bits flicking and vanishing. Sparks shot from his skin and he whimpered.

Sam didn’t know if it was safe to touch Danny. Would she be shocked too? He wasn’t in the portal or touching the portal anymore. Surely any electricity would be grounded, or at least she thought so.

“Danny. Danny. Danny!” Jazz knelt down next to her. Tucker was next to Phantom.

Sam took his pulse. She bent towards his face.

He wasn’t breathing.

“Danny, how do you feel?” That was Tucker, talking to Phantom. Phantom who was separated from Danny, Danny who was a dead and burnt body on the ground.

All that came from Phantom was a groan.

“Maybe there’s some ecto-dejecto somewhere. I don’t know—”

The door to the basement opened.

“Greetings, dude. We’re here to, like, police the premises for—oh my god! Ew ew ew! Is that a body?”

“I did not sign up for dead bodies!”

“Phantom killed someone!”

“Vid, get the ghost!”

“NO!” Sam moved to stand in front of Phantom. “You can't! If you want him, you have to go through me first!” Her eyes were stinging, her cheeks felt wet and raw —

“And me. You’re not hurting him!” Jazz’s eyes burned with fury. “We won’t let you!”

“Step aside or we’ll arrest you as well! Mayor Masters doesn’t want anyone harbouring a ghost — ”

“You aren’t hurting him!” Tucker stabbed at his PDA, fingers moving rapidly. Something flashed on Download’s suit, and Tucker cursed.

“You trying to hack our stuff, nerd?”

“You’re definitely under arrest, right after we destroy that ghost.”

“No… no…” Phantom whispered, voice tight. “No.”

The Masters Blasters shot the net at Sam and Jazz. Jazz rolled out of the way, Sam dodging in the other direction —

And the net hit Phantom. Phantom whimpered again, not seeming fully aware of what was happening.

Tucker whirled to face a computer and typed at what seemed an impossible speed.

“Get him into the Zone! They can’t get him there!”

Sam tried to grab Phantom, but the net seemed to glue him to the ground.

“I can’t move him! He’s tangible, the net — ”

“There’s no getting through that net.” Download gloated. “Now get out of the way or I’ll shoot through you.”

Sam paused. She held up her hands.

“You would shoot a poor, defenceless kid? I don’t think that will help Mayor Masters in the polls, especially after he shot Danny that time. You really want him mad at you?”

They paused.

“Get him in the thermos!” She whispered.

Jazz fumbled for the thermos on the side, and pointed it at Phantom. There was a moment when nothing happened, then a shriek of pain and Phantom was gone.

“There, we got rid of the ghost for you. It’s gone. We did your job for you so you can just go! Get out!”

“You wouldn’t let us kill the ghost so you killed the ghost? Dude, that doesn’t even make sense-”

“They didn’t kill it. It’s in that thing. Besides, you can’t kill what’s already dead.” Download sneered. “Hand over the ghost or we’ll get you charged as accomplices to murder as well as harbouring the ghost.”

Sam grabbed the thermos from Jazz.

“Okay, we’ll hand him over — ”

Tucker stopped typing.

Sam whirled and tossed the thermos towards the portal, towards the button that Danny had pushed, and she hoped with all her heart that it would work —

The thermos hit the button and bounced- the green swirls of the portal came back into existence — and the thermos fell through.

Phantom was in the ghost zone.

A net wrapped around Sam. She struggled, hearing two thumps as Tucker and Jazz fell to the floor. Tucker fell against the console, managing to press buttons through the net as he did.

The portal closed. The green swirls vanished.

“He’s safe.” Tucker said in a choked voice. “Phantom is safe.”

He couldn’t say Danny. Not when he’d fallen on the floor next to Danny’s charred body.

#invisobang 2023 #danny phantom #fanfiction #dp fanfic #invisobang #fic under cut #content warnings in post #long post #my writing #tams writes #portal safety fic

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thatoctokittenclutchinganotebook · 1 year ago

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Invisobang 2023: Portal Safety Chapter Four

Chapter Four of the fic I wrote for Invisobang 2023! Danny is in the Ghost Zone now, but things are changing. He's about to receive some very disturbing news. Meanwhile, Danielle reacts to the rumours she's heard coming out of Amity.

The wonderful @norman-smsl-guidancecounselor and @amaxeart collaborated to create three art pieces for the fic. Check out their tumblrs or the Ao3 to see their incredible work! Ao3 link in reblog. Content warnings and chapter one after the cut.

The Infini-map was not Frostbite’s favourite way to travel. He preferred for the map to stay safely in the Far Frozen, but he did lend it out in cases of great need. To trusted allies.

It was one of those trusted allies who needed his help now. He sighed. The letter had not explained much.

He looked at the Infini-map and closed his eyes. Time to visit Walker’s prison.

“This is a restricted area.” The ghost who appeared was in a prison guard’s uniform, looking down his nose at Frostbite. He had to hover in mid-air to do it, as he wasn’t anywhere near as tall as the yeti.

“I’m here in my capacity as personal doctor to one of the prisoners.” Frostbite answered, trying to seem calm.

The guard sneered. “Prisoners don’t get doctors.”

“So you would break the law?” Frostbite queried. “Check your lawbooks. Find your superior. Prisoners are required to receive adequate medical care. I was contacted by one of the Advocates.”

“Rubbish. Look mate, I’ve never heard of advocates and I know what the rules are. Scram, before I arrest you for trespassing.”

Frostbite sighed. “If you wish to break the law, I’ll have to report you. Get your superior. I need to speak to Walker.”

“The only way you’re seeing Walker is from a prison cell—”

Frostbite’s temper snapped. He knew the Great One needed him, and he didn’t want to waste time with this nonsense any longer.

“Walker!” He roared. The roar was not something he often did. It shook the prison walls, and the guard toppled backwards in the air. “Walker!”

In moments, Walker was flying towards him, looking furious. Following him was a figure in a dark indigo cloak.

“What are you doing here? You’re-”

“Your guard is trying to circumvent the law and refusing to allow me access to my patient.” Frostbite said, voice sharp. “Allow me to enter. Perhaps you should make sure your guards are educated on the new laws.”

“We don’t need outsiders—”

“If you’ll excuse me.” The cloaked figure interrupted smoothly. Their face was entirely shrouded in improbable shadow. “The law does state that prisoners should receive adequate medical care, and you gave permission yourself before Frostbite arrived.”

“I did not-”

The cloaked figure spread their hands in front of them. Above the palm of her hands appeared an image. Walker and another figure, brightly dressed.

“Oh, for — fine! Medical care! Get him a personal physician for all I care!”

“Thank you for giving permission.” The other figure said, eyes glinting.

The images disappeared. Walker looked furious.

“I’ll be reviewing these alleged new laws carefully.” He spat. He turned to the guards. “Allow him access. Let him treat the newest prisoner. And if I discover that they have lied about these laws, they’ll all be prisoners here.” He grinned a little at the thought, but it didn’t get rid of the burning fury in his eyes.

“Thank you.” Frostbite said, working to keep his voice neutral. “Please, lead me to the Great One. Daniel. Phantom.” He didn’t think these people would call him “The Great One”.

The guard did not speak, merely gesturing in frustration and setting off. Frostbite followed. It did not seem worth complaining about their attitudes. The important thing was that he find the Great One.

The cell they reached was small and damp. It seemed empty at first, until Frostbite’s eyes fell upon the Fenton Thermos.

“We thought it best for him to remain in there until you arrived.” The voice almost made Frostbite jump. It was the Advocate who had been outside. He hadn’t known they were following him. “We weren’t sure if releasing him would aggravate his injuries.”

Frostbite nodded, swallowing. “Do you know anything about his condition?”

The advocate hesitated. “We have suspicions, but… it would be better to view him for yourself.” They gestured at the thermos.

Frostbite sighed.

“Great One?” He asked, then reconsidered. Chosen names were just as important as titles, and could bring comfort in these situations. “Daniel? Phantom?’

A small voice came from the thermos. “Fr-Frostbite?’

The voice was weak and pained, but Frostbite could just about recognise the voice.

It sounded eerie.

He reached for the thermos with one hand, putting his bag of medical supplies down with the other.

The ghost that appeared did not look like the Phantom he had met before. The basic shape was the same — the build, the white hair, the face— but his body was fading in and out of existence as sparks of electricity spread through him. He was shaking and transparent.

Transparency was not usually a sign of illness in a ghost, but for the Great One? It was extremely concerning.

Even more concerning was the fact that his hazmat suit was no longer his outfit. It was as if his form couldn’t choose between the Hazmat suit and something else, jeans and a shirt.

His death clothes had changed. There was a cold, sinking sensation in Frostbite’s core.

“Great One.” He said, voice solemn. “Did you die again?”

He did not expect the shock and horror from the Great One. Danny’s head whipped upwards, sparking in and out of visibility.

“No! I’m not dead-”

“I ask as your doctor.” Frostbite said quietly. “Please, Danny, let me examine you.”

“Can you help me?” His voice sounded pleading, and he wrapped his inconsistent arms around himself.

Frostbite swallowed. “I will do my best.”

He thought, however, that what Daniel wanted help with would be impossible for him to heal. Ghosts or not, no-one could bring back the dead.

Phantom said very little as he submitted to the examination. Frostbite knew how to examine a ghost, and had learnt how to examine a human.

The Great One no longer fell into the latter category.

It had been centuries since Frostbite had needed to inform someone of their death — the last being a human who had wandered into the infinite realms and become lost for so long that he left his body behind.

The advocates had left. Frostbite wasn’t sure what their role was exactly, as he’d never worked with advocates before, but he was glad Daniel would have privacy.

Perhaps if he focused on the symptoms, on helping the Great One stabilise his form, before informing him?

“You were subject to electrocution and an infusion of ectoplasm, much like the accident that changed you into a Halfa.” Frostbite said. “This has caused some damage to your ghostly form. We need to stabilise your ghost form before anything else.”

“I c-can’t just turn back into a human and be okay?”

Frostbite did not want to answer that question.

“I would not recommend it. The amount of damage could cause unpredictable effects.” Effects like his human form no longer existing.

“Oh.” Phantom shuddered, electric sparks shooting through him. “So what do I do?”

“It might take time to heal. Symptoms such as this have a strong link to emotional state. It may also be linked to a new power. Your system was.. flooded with dangerous amounts of ectoplasm.”

“Wouldn’t ectoplasm help?”

“Ectoplasm helps in certain cases. Consider a human needing a blood transplant. Giving them blood can help with some issues, but giving too much blood, or the wrong type of blood, could cause problems. We need to remove the excess ectoplasm which is contaminating your natural ectoplasm.”

“How do we do that?”

Frostbite gestured to his assistant, Ice claw. “We draw it out. Iceclaw?”

Danny watched, shaking and wincing, as Iceclaw unpacked medical equipment. Things that looked like IVs, like glowing blood bags, and blades.

“Luckily we have a sample of your natural ectoplasm from when I treated you before. We can use it to flush the other ectoplasm from your system.” Frostbite hesitated. “ I have no painkillers for you. I’m sorry,Great One. Danny.”

A throat was cleared from behind him, and Frostbite jumped. He had thought — had been sure - that the advocates had left. Danny jumped too, and Iceclaw looked equally startled.

It was the one who hadn’t given a name, who was cloaked and had no face.

“I can place him in a sleep state.” They said tonelessly. “He will be aware of nothing until the procedure is completed. It will not harm him unless you use any other form of sleep magic, which could conflict.”

Frostbite considered them. They didn’t have the light of a healer to them. “Have you done this for patients before?”

The figure nodded. “It is not often necessary for the patients that Venti takes on, but I have done it before.”

“It is your choice, Daniel. Frostbite said, turning to the boy. “You are the one undergoing the procedure.”

“Is it like Nocturne?”

“I know little of Nocturne’s particular brand of magic.” The nameless figure said. “It will be as though you have just closed your eyes for a moment and then you will wake. If you should require an extended period of unconsciousness, you will become aware that you are asleep and why, and at that point you would be able to control your dream like a lucid dream. You will not see, hear or feel the treatment. It is unlikely that the lucid dream would be necessary.”

Danny considered this for a moment, flinching as more lighting wracked his form. “I… won’t be able to stay still for the procedure otherwise.” He spat out, shaking. “I can’t not react. Yes. If Frostbite trusts you, do it.”

Frostbite nodded in assent, and the Nameless figure began to glow. Two purple dots, almost where eyes would be, began to glow from the nothingness where their face was not.

“Catch him,” they said, which was the only warning before Frostbite had to leap to catch Daniel in his arms. The boy was fast asleep, his ghost form still flickering.

“He won’t dream of what injured him?” Frostbite asked. “It would not be… ideal for him to learn what happened before he has stabilised.”

“He will not dream. I am not a healer, as you can see, but I have worked with healers before. I understand enough to know that dreamless sleep is usually less of a risk.”

The Great One’s injuries seemed straightforward but nonetheless made Frostbite’s muscles tighten. He purposefully relaxed them. He could not afford mistakes.

Iceclaw bustled around setting up the equipment while Frostbite checked Danny over. Even asleep, electricity was coursing through his form. Frostbite wished he had the more sophisticated equipment in his usual medical facility in the Far Frozen, but he was limited to what he and Iceclaw had been able to transport here.

Ideally, he would have liked to double check whether the nature of Danny’s core had changed. All he had the resources to do here was check for obvious damage. THere were no chips from Danny’s core, only a small crack. Still worrying, but it could be treated.

“Shall I start the ecto-infusion, Frostbite?” Iceclaw queried, and Frostbite saw that all the equipment was ready.

He agreed, and the procedure began.

It had taken longer than expected to treat him. The crack in his core had iced over when the ectoplasm had reached it, but the next shiver of lightning had cracked the ice. Frostbite had needed to stop the treatment and look for a way to stop the electricity.

If it was due to a traumatic experience, a small dose of diluted lethe oil (mixed with a forget-me-not infusion to counteract the more dangerous properties of the first) should put an end to it. Frostbite administered it and watched carefully. It took a while, but the electricity crackling through Danny’s body slowed and then stopped.

Good. He restarted the ectoplasm infusion. It took more than expected, but the crack iced over again and was clearly on its way to healing.

His form also stopped flickering, and Danny’s body changed. His top half remained a hazmat suit, as before. His death outfit and superhero costume in one. His bottom half was a pair of jeans. His second death outfit, or so Frostbite presumed.

He could confirm by this point that the Great One was definitely dead. A powerful ghost still, but one without a human half.

It made something inside Frostbite feel sickened, like there was something clawing at his insides. He ignored it.

Danny needed to sleep a little longer to make sure he was stable. Then Frostbite would need to tell him that he was no longer a Halfa.

Danny blinked. The room around him had changed. Things were clearer, and there was equipment that hadn’t been there a second ago. Was this…

“Is it done?” He croaked.

“It is. You’ll be pleased to hear that you are stable, for the moment.” Frostbite grinned at him.

There was a new person in the room. It wasn’t the strange figure that had put him to sleep. It was someone else, short with a pixie cut, bright clothes, light blue skin and huge wings like a butterfly’s on her back.

“Who…”

Frostbite smiled and gestured for the stranger to speak.

“‘Advocate Venti.” The figure said cheerfully. “Pleasure to meet you, Danny. Do you prefer Danny, or would you rather I called you another name?”

He frowned. “Danny is fine.” It felt a little odd, though. He wasn’t sure why.

“Thank you.” She smiled brightly as if she’d been given a gift rather than just been told which name he preferred. “I’m Venti, as I said, and I’m an Advocate and counsellor. I advocate for the rights of prisoners and am also a counsellor specialising in mental health, grief and obsession. My colleague who you met earlier is an advocate, but we work in a pair so they take on more of a legal role and I focus on your health and rights.”

“I didn’t get anything like that last time.”

“I can imagine.” Venti said sympathetically, pulling a face. “The old laws were archaic! The new laws have given us a much better way of doing things.”

“The law changed?” He was sure his face expressed his shock as his eyes widened and eyebrows raised. “How’s Walker handling that?”

Venti raised an eyebrow. “Why, he’s delighted about it. Absolutely jumping for joy.”

Danny snorted.

“Quite. He’s not pleased.”

Frostbite cleared his throat. “If we could return to the medical matters that we need to discuss?”

Venti nodded, looking a little shamefaced.

“Great One. Danny, I know it may be hard to think about what happened. You should no longer be suffering the electric shocks as I have treated that with a dilution of lethe oil and forget-me-not. There was a small crack in your core, but it healed when the ectoplasm was taken in.””

“So I’ll be okay?” Danny sounded so young. His voice cracked a little.

Frostbite hesitated before nodding. “Yes. It will take time to recover fully. You will need treatment which I believe is analogous to your world’s physical therapy. You will also need counselling to help stabilise your core further.”

“What? Why? My core was stable before.”

Frostbite swallowed. “Danny. Great One. I need to tell you something.” He looked Danny in the eyes and rested a gentle paw on one of his arms. “I’m afraid that the accident killed you. You are no longer a halfa. You are now a full ghost.” He paused, watching the shock and pain cross Danny’s face. He watched Danny’s eyes widen and his breathing quicken. Not that he needed to breathe anymore, but it could take new ghosts a while to stop doing it by habit.

“I’m not! I’ll turn back, I can—”

“Danny. Trying to turn back will only hurt you. Trust me.” He bent to be at Danny’s level. “Your outfit shows it. You were in your death outfit before when you became Phantom, turning into the clothes you died in. You now have a second death outfit.” He gestured at Danny’s clothes, and the boy looked down. His hazmat suit was still there, but only partially.

It was like the two outfits were zigzagging over his form. A hazmat suit on one arm, then a bit of a t-shirt, then a patch of hazmat suit. Legs which were odd patches of jeans and the hazmat suit, jumbled together without any kind of pattern.

“You’ll be able to control how you look eventually, at least to an extent.” Frostbite said, hoping to offer a tiny bit of reassurance.

It did not appear to be reassuring Danny. He’d frozen, and was looking at Frostbite as if he was looking at the most horrifying thing in the world. Frostbite doubted he’d even looked at Pariah Dark with such an expression.

“Great one?” Frostbite said, wary of upsetting the boy further.

“Danny.” The advocate with the butterfly wings spoke. “Danny, it will be okay. I know this is a big change, and a big shock, but you’re still here. Hold on to that. You’re here. You’re in this room with me and Frostbite.”

“I can’t be a full ghost.” Danny muttered. “My parents will kill me!”

Frostbite frowned. “They will not get the chance, Great..Danny.” This was not the time to quibble over terms like “kill”.

“I can’t be dead. I can’t. The portal was meant to take my powers away, not.. Did it split me in two again, maybe? So there’s one of me that’s Phantom and one of me that’s Danny?”

Frostbite winced. “No. Your soul has not been divided into human and ghost. You are… no longer attached to your body.” Not the best wording, but what was? He didn’t want to say to the grieving child that his body was a corpse, and judging by the injuries on Danny’s ghost form it would be a very damaged corpse.

“I’m sorry, Danny.” Venti spoke, somehow keeping calm. Perhaps it was because this was the first time she had met Danny. Her face was calm and sympathetic but no stress was showing on her face. “You were in the ghost portal, you said? If it is what half-killed you the first time, it essentially did the same again. This time you couldn’t become a half-ghost, because that was what you were. It made you a full ghost instead.” She looked sorrowful.

“I would not lie to you, Great one.” Frostbite added. He reached out a large paw to put it gently around Danny. “It is not as bad as you may think. You are still here. You exist, with the rest of us. Your friends may be able to visit through the Ghost Portal. I can send someone to look for them and let them know what has happened.”

“I…” Danny trailed off after just one word, his whole form shaking. The electricity was not shooting through him, but Frostbite knew that if he continued to get more upset he could have a relapse. Lethe Oil was not a foolproof treatment.

“Try to stay calm.” Frostbite said. “The motions of breathing may help you. Humans use breathing to stay calm. Breathe in slowly. Breathe out slowly.”

Unfortunately this did not help. Danny looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

“I can’t — I don’t need to breathe, I’m dead and I don’t need to breathe?? You — pretending to breathe won’t help, I need to breathe for real! I’m not meant to be dead!”

Small sparks of electricity appeared on his arms and vanished just as quickly. His clothes began to glow a terrible green.

That had backfired.

“Danny, please try to calm down. You could destabilise yourself again if you continue to—”

“How can you — how can I calm down? I’m dead, oh ancients I’m dead, I’m never gonna graduate or be an astronaut or go on dates I’m just gonna be an obsessed angry ghost for ever and I’ll hurt people and—”

Frostbite ignored the twinge of hurt at that. Danny was not thinking clearly.

“You will not hurt people unless you wish to, Danny. I do not hurt people. I choose my purpose to be one that helps, and you can do the same.”

Danny’s eyes darted around the room, pausing briefly on Venti and Frostbite before continuing. “I’m trapped in a prison and I should be because I can’t hurt anyone here!”

“You’re not in a prison for hurting anyone.” Venti said, voice still calm. “You’re here because Walker is set in his ways. You didn’t hurt anyone.”

“I did! That’s the whole reason I wanted to get rid of my powers, I nearly killed Sam and Tucker ad all the ghosts were attacking because of me—”

“That is not correct.” Frostbite said, a frown creasing his face. “Many of the ghosts would have attacked the human world regardless of your presence. Your being there meant they targeted you instead of mortal innocents.”

Danny’s face scrunched up, and his shoulders shook more heavily. “No, they attacked because of me. They always attacked because of me, that’s what happened, they hurt people because of me and now I’m a ghost I’ll get obsessed with fighting or something and I’ll hurt people too!”

“You’re... not obsessed with fighting, Great One.” Frostbite couldn’t say for sure what Danny was obsessed with (that was not something that most ghosts could determine on behalf of another) but he knew it was not that. “You have never picked a fight with the innocent ghosts here, or with me. You are distressed now but you are not fighting us or trying to hurt anyone.”

Danny’s face remained scrunched up, and Frostbite suddenly realised that this was how humans looked when they were trying not to cry.

“It’s okay to grieve.” Venti said softly. “It’s natural to grieve. But you haven’t hurt anyone. There’s no reason to think that you will.”

Danny’s shoulders shocked, and green tears began to fall from his eyes as he let out desperate, shuddering sobs.

It was terrible to watch. Frostbite felt something twist painfully inside him - but this, at least, was something he knew how to treat.

He drew Danny into a full hug. He was gentle, of course. Danny was not a yeti. He was the ghost of a human child, and more fragile than he seemed.

Frostbite was big enough to wrap the shaking child up in his arms without any trouble.

“Cry if you need to, Great One.” Frostbite said softly. “I will be here. You are not alone.” He paused. “It will be alright.”

Frostbite did not know how long he held Danny, ignoring the sharp prickles on his fur as sparks flew from Danny’s distressed form. When Danny’s shaking sobs finally stopped, Frostbite held him still.

“He’s asleep.” Venti said softly. “I can sense it.”

Frostbite slowly drew away, as gently and carefully as possible. He had no desire to wake Danny. Not every ghost could sleep, but some could. It was especially common in the newly dead who clung to their old habits. He lay Danny down gently.

“I’ll draw up a plan of treatment for him.” Advocate Venti said abruptly. “Do you know if he has anyone who should be informed? Ghosts who he trusts, or mortals who could support him?”

“His friends have visited the Far Frozen before.” Frostbite responded. “Sam and Tucker. They would be able to help. His clone, Danielle, as well. Sam and Tucker will be in Amity Park but I am afraid I don’t know where Danielle would be.”

Venti nodded. “His treatment has a much higher chance of success with a support system around him. If you have a way to contact them, it would be hugely beneficial. As long as you think they’ll respond well to him.”

“I would not recommend contacting his parents.” Frostbite’s lip curled in distaste. “They call themselves Ghost hunters. His friends are different. I believe they will simply be happy to see him.”

“Then I’ll speak with Walker and make sure that they have visiting permission.” She grinned. “It will be interesting to see his face when I insist upon it.”

Danielle was shaking by the time she was flying over Amity Park. It seemed odd that she was shivering. It wasn’t cold, and her ghost form didn’t usually feel it anyway. Did some ghost have the power to make her feel like this? Her stomach felt tight.

No-one was going to catch her. She told herself that. She wasn’t sure why she felt that would help. That didn’t have anything to do with the problem.

She was here to find out what had happened to Danny. The only reason Phantom could be accused of murdering Danny would be if Vlad had done something to frame him. He probably had Danny captive, or was going to try to turn his parents against him. Or both.

If he had Danny captive, Danielle had to repay what her original had done for her. She had to free him.

If Danny’s been captured you don’t stand a chance.

There you go, trying to be a pale copy of Danny again. He rescued you so now you’ll rescue him. Pathetic.

You’ll be captured too. You’ll be trapped and you’ll never see the sky again. Vlad will put you in his machine and rip you apart.

She swallowed, the thoughts making her flight jolty. She cursed at herself. She had more sense than this. She was a better flyer than this. Why was she zigzagging in the sky like an out of control kid?

Because you are a kid. A useless one who will never live up to the real person you were based on. A failed copy.

She focused on her goal. First was Fentonworks. Then she could look for Danny’s friends. She knew they were Sam and Tucker, but she had no idea where they hung out. She’d never really stuck around long enough to know.

She could try the obvious. The school maybe. That food place with the weird name.

She’d try to find Danny’s friends first hanging around with his friends because you’re not good enough to make your own and if they couldn’t help, she’d go after Vlad-

And get yourself captured like you did before?

She shook her head like she was trying to shake off the unwelcome thought.

She was going to free Danny, and prove Phantom didn’t kill him. Somehow. She’d figure that bit out later.

She was trying very hard to ignore the thoughts that kept invading her head. Ignoring them was the only way to respond to such ridiculous thoughts. She was awesome. She was Danielle Phantom.

Dani Phantom, can’t even come up with a name for herself. No, she was awesome.

She was so busy trying to tell herself she was awesome that she didn’t notice the net until it was too late.

She dodged out of the way, but she wasn’t quick enough. It caught her foot, tangling around her and then the rope attached to it pulled taught..

“Whoa!” She shrieked as she was yanked down by her foot, waving her arms like a windmill. “Whoa, stop!”

It was trapping her, it was on her. She was being pulled down. You’re going to be captured and you’ll never be free again. You’ll never be you again.

She screamed and tried desperately to manoeuvre her body so she could free her foot from the net. She was close, so close, when she was slammed against the pavement.

She let out a shout of pain and bent forward to finish freeing herself. She was in an alley. THere were walls around her. It was a dead end, and coming towards her was someone taller than her. Someone in red. It was going to be one of those Master’s blasters, those idiots Vlad had hired. He was going to capture her.

“Let me go!” She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her chest was tight and her heart pounded against it, leaving no room for her lungs to expand. “Let me go let me go let me go!” She ripped the net finally and scrambled into a standing position. She was too small. She was too vulnerable. She was trapped.

“I won’t let you take me to him!”

“Danielle?”

That wasn’t a stranger. That was someone she knew. That was someone who might be safe. Her brain buzzed with memories of a rescue and memories of a capture competing for her attention.

She wasn’t aware of collapsing to the ground until she felt the impact against the bruises she’d gotten just a moment before.

“Danielle! Did I hurt you?”

Red Huntress stepped towards Danielle, lowering her net-gun. The kid had hit the ground hard. Valerie had thought it was another trouble-making ghost taking advantage of Phantom being in hiding. SHe shoved away the thought of why Phantom was in hiding. She couldn’t think about that right now.

She frowned, her steps quickening. “Shoot, Danielle, are you okay?” She hadn’t thought Danielle would be hurt by it. Not that hurt. SHe was still part ghost but she’d collapsed on the ground after getting to her feet. SHe was shaking and looked disorientated.

“Did you hit your head?” Valerie knelt down beside Danielle. Danielle let out a pained noise, something a bit desperate. Valerie frowned.

“Danielle, can you hear me?” She looked more carefully at Danielle’s head. There was no obvious head injury. She knew that didn’t necessarily mean anything but it was a relief that there at least was no blood or obvious bruising.

“I can’t, I can’t— don’t take me, don’t—”

Danielle’s breathing was coming fast but her voice sounded tight like she couldn’t get enough air in. Hearing her breathing was reassuring to Valerie. She valued the reminder that this was a human rather than a ghost.

Oh. This was a panic attack. The realisation fell into Valerie’s head like a bolt from the blue. She hadn’t had panic attacks since just after what happened with that dog. Once the dog wasn’t a threat anymore the terrible pressure of fear had gone away. Getting her weapons and gradually getting more skilled at defending herself was another huge help. Her anxiety attacks had tapered off.

“Danielle, it’s me. Red Huntress.” Had she introduced herself to Danielle as Valerie? She knew Phantom knew but she wasn’t sure about the kid. Thinking of Phantom made something burn in her eyes. She blinked rapidly.

“Danielle, listen to my voice, alright? No one is going to take you anywhere. Tell me, uh, five things you can see.”

“I .. I.. uh… the walls?” Danielle’s voice wavered.

“Good. That’s good, Danielle. Four more things you can see.”

“Your helmet. The, the floor. The net.” She flinched as she said that one. Valerie cursed inwardly. Was it her net that had set this off? She had captured Danielle once.

“My..hands?” Danielle said. Her breathing was still coming too quickly.

“Good. You’re doing great. Four things you can hear.”

“Muh—my breathing. Your voice. My voice.” She was shaking. “There’s… a siren? I think? The wind?”

“Good. Three things you can feel.”

“The ground. It’s cold.” She paused, taking a slower breath in and then letting it out. “Bruises, I think.” Not quite what Valerie had meant but it would do. She squashed the flash of guilt inside her. It had made sense at the time. “My clothes?”

That was interesting. Valerie hadn’t been sure if ghosts felt clothes against them the same way that humans did, and this was Danielle in her ghost form.

“Two things you can smell.”

Danielle wrinkled her nose. “I think a rubbish bin? And maybe someone might have peed in this alley.” She sounded a lot more put together, her breathing coming at a more regular pace. She took a deep breath again and let it out, unclenching her fists and seeming to relax her muscles.

“Ew. But good.” Valerie smiled even though it was hidden beneath her mask. “One thing you can taste.”

“Blood. I think I bit my lip.” Danielle pulled a face. “Sorry. I don’t… really know what caused that. Is that some ghost’s power? I don’t really keep track of the people D —Phantom fights.”

Valerie bit her lip to keep from snarling at the mention of Phantom.

“I don’t know of any ghosts who can cause that.” Valerie admitted. “Danielle, have you heard of panic attacks?”

“Like…attacking someone with panic? Making them panic?”

“It’s more like your own panic attacks you.” Valerie said, trying to figure out how to explain and floundering. “When you get really anxious or scared of something and your body starts to have physical reactions. Sometimes you feel like you can’t breathe or there is pain or tightness in your chest. It varies from person to person. The exercise I led you through is one I did when,” She hesitated. She didn’t want to admit this vulnerability to a ghost, but Danielle needed to know she wasn’t the only one this had happened to. Curb that stigma before it reached her. “When I had panic attacks.”

“I—” Danielle looked like she wanted to run away again. She looked like the explanation scared her nearly as much as whatever had set the panic attack off. “I’m not —that doesn’t make sense. Why would I feel like I wasn’t breathing? Why would that make me feel worse? I probably don’t always need to breathe.”

“Panic attacks don’t always seem logical.” Valerie said gently. “They can be triggered by lots of different things. I’d guess you still have to breathe in your human form at least.”

“Maybe.” The girl seemed to curl in on herself. “So I’m just a scaredy-cat, basically.”

“Am I a scaredy-cat?” Valerie demanded.

“No, but you’re not—”

“I told you I know that exercise because I had panic attacks. Doesn’t that make me a scaredy cat too, if you think you’re one?”

“That’s not what I meant! It’s different if it’s me. I’m just a broken copy.” She spat out the last words like an angry curse.

“You’re not broken.” Valerie didn’t know what to say about the copy part. She should probably deny that too, but she wasn’t sure what Danielle meant by it.

“I am. That’s the whole reason,” she sniffed. “That’s the whole reason Vlad wanted to capture me before. He tried to kill me before that because I wasn’t a good enough copy.”

“A good enough copy… of Phantom?” The last word was spat out.

“Yeah.” Danielle’s breathing was coming more easily and she looked up at Valerie from where she was slumped against the wall. “You don’t believe that rubbish Vlad is spreading, right? I mean, you know Phantom didn’t kill anyone.” She didn’t know if Valerie knew her original’s secret. It seemed like it should be obvious to anyone, but people could be oblivious.

Valerie squeezed her eyes shut. “Someone did. Someone killed DaAnny. He was a friend of mine and the witnesses said Phantom killed him.”

“Well, they were wrong!” Danielle insisted.

“How can you know?” Valerie was tense again, transforming from someone trying to calm a scared girl into a terrifying figure herself. “You weren’t there. Neither of us were, and Phantom killed Danny.”

“That’s not even possible!” Danielle blurted out, then tried to cover it up. “What reason would Phantom even have to do that? As a ghost killing anyone is stupid, ‘cause all you’re doing is making enemies.”

Valerie halted for just a second, narrowing her eyes. SHe hadn’t thought..

“I wish it was impossible.” ShHe said, her mouth drawing together. “You know, for a while there I thought Danny was Phantom? After I met you, and you were alive and a ghost. I thought maybe Phantom was the same. That maybe he wasn’t some inhuman monster. But I was wrong.”

“Danny and I aren’t inhuman monsters!” Danielle responded hotly, hurt blossoming in her chest before Valerie’s words fully registered. Oh. Valerie used to think Danny was Phantom. She didn’t now. At least she hadn’t before Danielle had opened her big mouth, but now Valerie was staring at Danielle as if she’d said something shocking.

“I meant Phantom!” sShe said quickly. “Phantom and I aren’t inhuman monsters. And it’s not ‘cause we’re half human—” She’d done it again. “I mean, not cause I’m half-human—”

Valerie was just staring at her. Danielle swallowed, her mouth drying up.

“Are you trying to trick me?” She said, her voice colder than it had been so far. “What is all this for? This fake stumbling over your words?”

“What?” Danielle was rapidly losing her limited control over the situation. “I don’t understand. Look, I can’t stay here. I’ve got to figure out what happened to Danny, I mean Phantom, and why Danny was framed for killing Phantom. I mean why Phantom was framed for killing Danny. I bet Vlad has Danny locked up somewhere —”

Valerie shot at Danielle. Danielle yelped and turned intangible, and Valerie’s hand clenched around empty air rather than Danielle’s collar.

“What the hell?” Danielle demanded.

Valerie’s body was all sharp lines and tense angles. “You think Plasmius has Danny? Why?”

“He hates Danny! That’s the whole reason he cloned him!” Danielle blurted, then considered. “Oh fuck. Uh, he clones a lot of people?” That probably wouldn’t help. “He wanted to make a perfect son, and he’s obsessed with Danny’s mom but he wanted them to be a half ghost. So I’m a mixture?”

Valerie’s face twisted into something resembling horror. “You were cloned to be like Danny and Phantom’s kid? Danny was a teenager himself!” She paused and shook her head. “I don’t know if I want to believe that.” She sighed and her face crumpled.

“Look, Danielle, if you know anything about what happened… I just need to know the truth. I need to know how Danny died. I know you care about Phantom, but if he killed my friend I have to know.”

Danielle was silent for a moment. It sucked to leave Valerie grieving Danny and blaming Phantom. Also she was a terrible liar when she was this stressed and if Valerie was going to help her find Danny, she should probably tell her the truth. If they found Danny looking like Phantom, Valerie might be more likely to destroy him herself than save him.

“Okay. You were right before. Not about Phantom killing Danny!” She added hastily. “Danny died in his parent’s ghost portal like two years ago. But he came back. He was Phantom the whole time. Like me and like Plasmius. So I know Phantom didn’t kill Danny. He is Danny.” She swallowed. “I can’t prove it, but come on. Who do I look lke in my human form?” That hurt to say. She didn’t even look like herself, just like him. “I look like a younger, female version of Danny, right? He calls me his cousin. We’re family.” She looked away. “He’s the only family I have. If Phantom wasn’t the same person as him, if Phantom had killed him, I’d be as angry as you are. But he didn’t. They’re the same person, and all Danny has ever done with his powers is try to help people.” She knew there were reasons not everyone trusted Phantom, that there was a reason for Valerie’s grudge, but she had no clue what it was.

Valerie was silent for one long, tense moment. Danielle’s skin crawled.

“If you’re lying about this,” Valerie said, her voice cold and furious. “If you’re lying about this, I will make you regret it. I may not be willing to kill a human, but if Phantom is a ghost after all then I’ll have no qualms about destroying him.”

Danielle bristled. “Ghosts aren’t all evil, and Phantom isn’t! I’m not lying but that doesn't mean that every full ghost is evil. You only ever meet the ones that want to come here and cause trouble. There are plenty of totally peaceful ghosts.” She’d met some outside of Amity.

Some of the ones she’d met had more trouble holding their form away from the ambient ectoplasm of the ghost zone and the gradually rising levels of ambient ectoplasm in Amity, but most of them just stuck around to watch over relatives or to be closer to the world they’d once come from.

Valerie scoffed, but didn’t argue. “Fine. So what’s your plan for finding Danny?”

Danielle straightened up, taking deep breaths. “Vlad.” Valerie’s words from a few minutes before hit her. “Wait, you know Vlad is Plasmius?”

“Yeah. I saw him change.” Valerie glowered. “He tricked me into doing his dirty work. He’s tricked everyone.”

“Yeah. He tricked me too. I mean, he makes you in a lab, tells you you’re his perfect daughter, sends you to kill your original and then tries to destroy you so he can use you to create a better clone to be his son. He’s a sexist freak on top of being a manipulative asshole.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Valerie said, then let out a long slow breath. “This whole conversation has been like an emotional whirlwind. I think we both need to calm down a bit before making any plan against Plasmius. He’ll be prepared for someone to come rescue Danny. He could even be planning on using Danny as bait for you or me.”

That made Danielle nearly panic again. “I don’t care. I don’t care, I’m not letting him hurt Danny.” She could feel that the blood had run from her face though.

Valerie looked her over carefully. “You sure?”

“I’m not letting my Original get hurt by Vlad again.” She clenched her teeth. “I can’t.”

“Okay.” Valerie said. “Then we need to make plans.”

As dawn began to creep over the horizon, two exhausted teens sat on a roof with fast food packaging scattered between them.

Valerie reached for her phone. “I’ll just get in contact with—” She saw her screen, frowned, and tapped at it frantically before cursing.

“What’s happened? You forget your password?”

Valerie shook her head and held her phone towards Danielle.

“Nothing that simple. Sam, Jazz and Tucker were seen being dragged away by some kind of abominable snowman ghost.” She pursed her lips. “Probably taking advantage of what’s happened.”

“What?” Danielle stared at the phone screen. “Uh. I think Danny mentioned some yeti ghosts once, but I dunno why they’d kidnap Jazz, Sam and Tucker.”

“Knowledge? Tech?” Valerie suggested. “We’ll have to come up with a different plan. They won’t be able to get us access to the Fenton portal.”

Danielle opened her mouth, closed it, and then swore herself.

“I can get us into Vlad’s without going through the Zone.” She said, her voice wavering only a fraction. Her hands clenched into fists that pushed fingernails sharp enough to draw blood into her own palms.

Valerie looked at Danielle’s face carefully, eyes clearly darting to her hands and back to her eyes. Danielle wasn’t sure if Valerie was judging her honesty or just whether her emotional state was stable enough to handle it. She stood firm and met Valerie’s eyes.

“What’s your plan?” Valerie asked, folding her arms.

“I’ll be the distraction.” She swallowed. “Let him think he’s caught me.We’ll show him.”

Her eyes were steely and determined. Valerie nodded.

“I won’t let him keep you, Danielle. You can be a distraction, ]#but I won’t let you be a sacrifice.”

Danielle smiled a little with the relief that followed Valerie’s words.

“Then we’re doing this.”

“We are.” Note: There is wonderful art of the scene where Frostbite comforts Danny which was created by @norman-smsl-guidancecounselor and @amaxeart. You can also view it on the ao3 link, which I'll add in a reblog.

#invisobang 2023 #invisobang #danny phantom #danny phantom fic #portal safety fic #my writing #tams writes #dp fic

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