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xysidhequeen · 1 year

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The King and his Red Knight

DPxDC crossover fic

Part 1

Really sorry to everyone who suffered through the fact that I didn't know about the existence of readmore. I can't fix the thread now but the individual posts are better? Sorry I have like a very rough idea of how this site works 😭

Check the: The King and his Red Knight tag to find all the parts

"Go here, Danny. Go then, Danny. Go to a random cemetery in the middle of the night for no reason, Danny." A voice grumbled, accompanied by the sound of sneakers rhythmically tapping stone.

Danny Fenton, currently Phantom, sat on a gravestone, his white hair a beacon in the dark night. There were no stars in the sky for him to gaze upon, their light hidden behind swaths of smog and neon lights playing off the gray clouds.

Clockwork had dumped him here, with no explanation for why. Not that he ever really explained much when he sent Danny off on his tasks. He supposed he should be grateful, at least he was in the same when rather than being transported a thousand years into the past.

"Wait here King Phantom. You will understand in time." Danny mimicked his mentor's voice as he let himself float off the grave he'd been dumped on after Clockwork shoved him out of a portal. His body floated higher until he could flip around, his legs crossing. He sat upside down, his chin in his palm as he glared petulantly at the assembled gravestones surrounding him, his toxic green eyes glowing.

"So far all I've seen is a concerning amount of ecotplasm for a city without a ghost portal and some blob ghosts! How long am I supposed to wait here?" Danny asked the air, and the aforementioned blob ghosts who were hanging off his body, soaking in the ambient ecotoplasm he radiated at all times now.

Neither provided him with an answer to his question and Danny let out a frustrated groan as he lowered his still flipped body to look once more on the gravestone he'd been tasked with waiting on.

Jason Todd, the name read. The dates, too close together, made something in Danny squeeze painfully. He'd been young, barely older than Danny when he stepped into the portal. Only for this teenager there had been no ectoplasm to bind to his dying body and repair the damage of death and force him back into a semblance of life.

"Who were you and why did Clockwork send me to you?" Danny asked the gravestone, one clawed finger tracing the words before he pulled back with a sigh when the gravestone gave him no explanation. The dead didn't always speak, not even to their king.

Turning his body Danny looked over the rest of the cemetery. It was empty, as most usually were this time of night, of the living. There were a few shades wandering around, circling closer to him, drawn by his presence. No full ghosts though, but oddly enough there rarely were in cemeteries. This was where the dead came to rest. To remember, if they wanted to. Cemeteries were sacred spaces to the dead, much as a temple or a church would be for the living who were religious. Ghosts who still clung to life, to their obsessions, did not frequent cemeteries, did not dare trespass and disturb those who had already found their peace.

Danny himself was an oddity. He had never shied from cemeteries, enjoying the peace he found in them, the guarantee of safety offered. And perhaps, he mourned that he himself would never have a gravestone for the living to place their flowers and their tears at. Who would make a grave for someone who was both alive and dead? There would never be a body to bury for him. His human half would continue to live on so long as his ghost core remained and could fuel it.

Maybe that was why he found peace in cemeteries, for all his whining that Clockwork had dumped him here. Cemeteries were for the living and the dead, one of the only places both existed in harmony naturally. For someone who was as much dead as he was alive such a place held a certain degree of belonging for him.

Danny straightened out in the air, letting his body lie above the grave as he folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the covered sky. He complained and whined about this task, but he was secretly glad that Clockwork had given him something to do. Even if it was just 'hang out in a random cemetary'.

Ever since he'd graduated high-school, revealed himself to his parents and discovered how deep prejudice and hate could run, and he'd run away to the Infinite Realms for sanctuary while his friends moved forward with their lives, he'd felt unmoored. A ghost with no haunt. Bored was too light a word for the gaping emptiness he felt in his chest, for the loneliness clawing at him. Clockwork, Wulf, Pandora they could help chip at the ache inside of him but not banish it. Not now that his family, his friends, were spread so far apart and so distant from him.

Not that he resented their choices, their distance, in fact he'd fought for them to do just that, to get out of Amity Park, to go to college, to become more than overworked teen superheroes. Still he missed them, even if he could visit them whenever he wanted. It was becoming clear as time moved forward that the world they belonged to and the one he did were two different things.

Danny Fenton couldn't go to college when his parents had declared him dead. Danny Fenton didn't exist as far as the government was concerned. Danny Phantom couldn't return to Amity when those same parents were waiting to capture him and tear him apart 'molecule by molecule'. Danny Phantom couldn't go back when the GIW were crawling over the town like ants.

So neither Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom returned to Amity after that day. And he made sure they couldnt follow him when he ensured the portal that took his life to function never opened again. He didn't need the portal any longer to get in and out of the Infinite Realms, and it was safer for the ghosts, his subjects, if the temptation of the Fenton portal was gone.

The world of the living was not yet ready to accept that the dead didn't always stay dead. And Danny would keep his people safe until they were.

Danny jolted from his lazing state of reverie when a pulse of emotion rocked through him, the strength of it stealing his breath if he had any to take.

Fear/Trapped/Dark/Fear/Help/HELP pounded into him and Danny frantically flipped around, head swiveling, poisonous green eyes wide as he triedf to locate the source. The emotions, the plea for help, burned his core, his Obsession screamed at him.

Help/SomeonePlease/Dark/Trapped/CANTBREATHE/HELP another wave of messages, of emotions pushed themselves at Danny and this time underneath the onslaught he could hear a rhythmic thudding. Danny looked down, horror filling him when he realized the thudding was coming from under the ground. From the grave he'd been hovering over for an hour now.

Danny flew down, sending back a wave of I'mHere/HelpIsComing/I'mComing to the boy trapped in his own coffin, feeling the intense wave of relief and hope sent back before he dived into the earth as if it wasn't there. Danny paused for a moment when he passed the thick wooden coffin, seeing a boy in the dark with wide, panicked blue eyes and fingers tipped with shredded nails and fresh blood.

"Hey, I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" Danny told the boy, keeping his voice gentle, soft. The boy jolted, fixating on the only source of light, Danny's growing green eyes. Danny hoped his smile came off as calming instead of 'freaky AF' as Tucker liked to call it. He grabbed the boy, Jason, as carefully as he could and then let his intangibility wash over the terrified teen as he lifted them both out of the coffin.

When they emerged from the coffin and the ground Danny set the teen down, leaning him against the gravestone, his own gravestone, and pulled back a bit. The boy was gasping in air as if the fetid, polluted air was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted.

Danny tilted his head as he watched the boy ground himself. Now that the emotions were leveling out and his Obsession was purring in contentment rather than growling in a frenzy, Danny could feel something off about the boy.

Disregarding the fact that he'd just come back from the dead, of course. But that wasn't the oddest thing Danny had seen in his afterlife. No the boy felt... not like a normal, living human. Not even like an Amity Park resident, who all felt more than slightly liminal. No this boy, this Jason Todd, felt closer to liminal than even Jazz, Tucker or Sam, who were three of the most liminal humans Danny had ever been around.

Jason felt almost...like a ghost. But not. Danny could feel the tickle in his throat that proceeded his ghost sense but the tell-tale mist never emerged. It was as if Jason was...like him. But Danny couldn't sense a core either. Even halfas had cores.

"Who are you?" Jason spoke, breaking Danny from his thoughts and examination. Jason was looking at him with a mix of gratitude and suspicion. Which, fair. Danny had just pulled him from his own coffin and there were so many questions that could stem from all of this, disregarding all the weirdness that was just Danny himself.

"I'm Danny, Danny Phantom. Or just Phantom. I go by either. And you're Jason, right?" Danny asked, smiling at the teen and oops, yeah that was definitely his scary smile based on the slight flinch there. It wasn't his fault his teeth were too sharp now and his lips split a bit too wide.

"How did you know that?" Jason asked, blue eyes narrowing. Danny nodded at the gravestone the boy was leaning against with a raised brow. Jason turned and almost toppled over from the movement. Danny frowned as the boy caught himself on his gravestone. His skin was still pale, too pale, and as Danny watched Jason swayed again.

"Shit. You're fading. You didn't form a core and your body isn't stabilizing." Danny cursed, moving towards the boy who scrambled back, only to be stopped by his grave.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jason asked, hands fisting as he tried to rise only to fall back to the ground when his legs refused to hold his weight.

"Saving your life. The dead aren't supposed to come back. There's always a price to pay, a balance that is struck. Currently, as you are, if I don't get enough ectoplasm in you to form your core, you'll fade and turn into a brain-dead husk." Danny told Jason, tone stern and no nonsense as he grabbed him. Jason made an effort to break free, but it was weak, and even at full strength, he wouldn’t have been able to break Danny's hold. Few in this realm could.

If they had the time, Danny would've approached this situation in a far different manner, but this close he could hear Jason's heartbeat, a weak flutter in his chest, skipping beats as it tried to fuel a body that was past saving. Jason didn't have the time for Danny to approach this gently and kindly, to coax trust out of the teen like he would a feral cat.

Jason had minutes left before his ectoplasm starved body consumed itself trying to make a core and failed because while wherever they were had more ambient ectoplasm than most places, it was far from enough to sustain the birth of a halfa. Maybe if Jason had stayed dead for another year, he'd have naturally formed a core and risen as a proper ghost. But that wasn't what happened, somehow he'd gathered enough to fix his body of whatever wounds or illness had put him in that coffin to begin with and come back to 'life' but without a core to sustain his body he'd be dead, again, in minutes. And Danny was not about to watch while a teenager, another teenager, died.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Jason hissed as Danny pushed his arms down and laid his clawed hands on Jason's chest.

"You don't. But you don't have another choice." Danny said with a shrug. "Now are you going to let me save your life or not?" Danny asked, not moving his hands. He'd save Jason either way but this would be easier if Jason worked with him.

"Fine." Jason spat and Danny smirked as his hands began to glow a toxic green that matched his eyes.

Ectoplasm pooled out of his hands and rushed into Jason, filling him until the boy glowed bright enough to rival the neon lights of the city around them. The green light flared around him like an aura, slowly shrinking but getting impossibly brighter as the glow centralized around his chest until a small glowing ball of green, like a trapped star, blazed from his chest.

Jason gasped, back arching as Danny pulled his hands away and the light vanished under Jason's skin. For a moment Jason's blue eyes burned green and his hair flashed snow white before returning to black, with one single lock of unearthly white left above his forehead. Jason collapsed back against his grave, chest heaving. Danny watched, eyes full of a sad understanding.

"What the fuck was that?" Jason panted out.

"Welcome to the world of the half alive, half dead." Danny said with a smile. "Want to get a burger and talk about it?" He asked, standing up and dusting off his hands.

"Make it a chili dog and you've got a deal."

~~~~~

Fixed some typos added some lines

Maybe I'll continue this AU. Maybe not. This scene was in my head for days and I wanted to share

#dc x dp #Clockwork:And the new Fright Knight is born #Danny said im going to adopt kids from cemetaries now its my thing #Clockwork thought Danny needed more friends so he located the teenager closest to Dannys age and most compatible to being a halfa #Dani: Does this make him my brother or an uncle or what?#Bruce isnt getting this one back #not for awhile anyways #Danny has to teach Jason the ways of the halfa #He gets Jason ghost guns and Jason is very content with that #also with all the fighting he gets to do because thats like how ghosts say hello #Jason also takes one look at Fright Knight's sword and says: I want that gimme #Fright Knight and Skulker take to Jason very quickly and enjoy training him #Jason and Skulker shootouts range half the ghost zone and Danny is just amused #Eventually Jason asks Danny if he wants to help him prank his family and Danny is 100% on board #the red hood arrives back in Gotham with 100% less heads in a dufflebag but 1000% more chaos #Jason and Danny legit haunt the mannor for a few months and convince everyone BUT Alfred theyre conventional ghosts #Danny also adopts Tim during this time because Bruce obviously cant take care of this neglected child and Danny said bet this is mine now #danny phantom #jason todd #batfam #dp x dc #danny phantom au #phantom au #danny phantom fic #The King and his Red Knight #The King and his Red Knight AU #TKAHRK AU #Red Knight AU

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sleepy-writes-stuff · 1 year

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DP X MCU WRITING PROMPT

Okay, I guess we're doing this. This post is a result of a brief mention I made of the Avengers in this dp x dc prompt here and I can't stop thinking about it. For even more context, you might wanna start here where the reaper of heroes au started. Or not. Up to you, really.

This is completely up for grabs if anyone wants to flesh it out a bit more/continue it!

(Btw, I'm going mostly by MCU movies and only what little info I know of the comics. Sorry, not sorry.)

(#) = Notes at the end of post

(*) = building off of other ideas

✦

Reaper of Heroes

Needless to say, Danny did not realize that his responsibility as the reaper of heroes souls would extend past his dimension and into others. In hindsight, he probably should've considering that he was the ruler of the Infinite Realms, a dimension between dimensions that eventually all would join, so therefore his responsibility would be just as all encompassing. He does not realize any of this until it's literally shoved in his face in the form of half the universe from a single dimension being spirited away into the Infinite Realms almost all at once.

Quite a few heroes blip on his radar in the swirling mass of souls that were harvested way before their time was due. He looks upon the horde of souls in utter agony and despair and can feel only one thing: Anger. Danny was unequivocally pissed. With the help of Clockwork, he pinpoints the dimension the influx of souls originated from and he suits up in full battle armor and heads there immediately.

What he finds only feeds the fire of his white hot rage, so much to the point his white hair briefly flickers like a burning flame before settling back to it's usual tussled state. With permission from this dimension's personification of Death(1), he begins a hunt for the one responsible for the disruption of not only his regular reaper duties, but the balance of life and death itself. It doesn't take him long to find Thanos, he just has to follow the familiar powerful aura of the Soul stone.

What he finds is the end of the first battle against Thanos (Infinity War. Ha) where Thanos had just snapped half the universe away and all the people were still in the process of crumbling into dust/being sent to the Infinite Realms. Before Thanos can teleport away from all the carnage he'd caused or snap his fingers once again when he senses another threat approaching, Phantom disrupts the energy from the gauntlet and has him pinned to the ground by his throat away from Thor. He uses a conjured sword of ghost ice in the other hand to sever the arm that wears the infinity stones from the shoulder down. In the end, he's so close to the purple alien the green glow of his eyes turns Thanos' rapidly paling complexion a sickening shade.

"That's enough of that. Wouldn't be very sporting of you to turn tail and run from the consequences of your actions, now would it?" He practically growls.

Thanos stares up at this newcomer with a mix of confusion and fear. "Who are you? How were you able to stop me from leaving? The Infinity gauntlet is supposed to be infallible!"

"Ha! You mean this little toy of yours?" He asks derisively with a fang-barring smirk and a brief glance at the gauntlet itself. "After using it to rewrite reality a time or two, you learn a couple of things. Did you really think you were the first to have the idea to gather reality's most ancient artifacts and fashion them into a wearable device? Sorry, but somebody already won that race. The first place ribbon goes to a creepy ringmaster by the name of Freakshow."(2)

Seeing the look of shock, frustration, and offense on the alien's face, Phantom snickered and leaned back, releasing his captive's throat only to put an armored boot against his chest to keep him down on the ground. Thanos briefly struggles against it but finds it impossible to move.

"As for who I am," Phantom says, no longer smiling and with Thanos along with the few left on the battlefield's attention.

"I am Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms. Lord of the dead, undying, and neverborn. Reaper of the souls of heroes and protector of the balance between life and death. And you," Phantom's eyes narrow to slits as he grinds his armored heel into the already deep wound on Thanos' chest, causing the alien to squirm in pain. "have made me very angry. How dare you disrupt the natural order and lay waste to so many innocent lives?"

Despite the obvious pain he was in and the growing fear of facing Phantom's wrath, Thanos still seemed to have plenty of courage to speak.

"Are-" He licks his lips nervously before continuing. "Are you Death?"(3)

Dark amusement dances in Phantom's eyes as he considers how to answer. He didn't need to think on it for very long though before he gave a wide, fanged grin and spoke.

"No. I did, however, meet with her before making my way over here, just to make sure I wasn't stepping on her toes by thrashing you myself. I gotta say, she's quite the conversationalist and her humor is to die for. Funny thing is though," He watches as a spark of awe, curiosity, and hope flashed in Thanos' eyes before dealing the final blow with glee. "she didn't have anything to say about you."

He watched as the alien's face took on a look of shock that quickly morphed into a combination of denial and anger. Phantom doubled down on the pressure he'd been exerting on Thanos' chest, causing the man to cry out in agony before continuing to assault his ego.

"In fact," he said conversationally. "she barely gave it a second thought when I asked to be the one to snap your chains and rip the soul from your body." He stopped there, humming curiously as he gracefully drew the ice sword he'd previously used to sever the man's arm and lodged deep into the soil.

"I wonder though." He mused as he held the point of the sword over Thanos' throat. The alien renewed his struggle, desperation written plain across his face as his eyes traveled along the sharp blade. He locked eyes with Phantom as a slow, gleeful smile spread across the ghost king's face.

"What will she say if I bring it to her in pieces?" He said before bringing the sword down and striking true.

✦

What's this? Actual dialogue??

Well, that was unexpected. I didn't plan on Danny being so unhinged/sword-happy, but I think it kinda fits with the context of it being in response to what happened in Infinity War i.e.- the insurmountable loss of life. I really enjoyed writing this tho. Just thinking about how I portrayed Danny in this has boss music blaring through my head.

Notes:

(1) Although most of them have never actually met, the embodiments of Death from every dimension more or less treat/view each other as siblings regardless of blood relation. Phantom and Death's relationship here will be/is basically the same as Danny and Jazz, i.e.- big sister, little brother. Shovel talk anyone?

(*) Let's have all the death characters from different fandoms gather around a table and have tea/coffee together. It'll be fun.

(2) I know chronologically (marvel comics vs dp show) that this isn't true, but shhh. Let's pretend it is in this case.

(3) Can't remember if it's mentioned or not, but does Thanos still have a creepy crush/infatuation with Death in the MCU? If not, I'm changing it. It's basically what this part of the conversation between Phantom and Thanos is referring to. His gift of so many souls to death being unappreciated stings, but not as much as getting his head lopped off and his soul torn to shreds.

Danny's interaction with Death

@mynameisnotlaura

How's this for talking about it? Look what you made me do! /lh/j

#dp x mcu #dp x marvel #danny is basically death's little brother #danny gives thanos the shovel talk except the shovel is a sword and the talk involves being beheaded #danny is ghost king and has lots of other titles #danny phantom crossover #reaper of heroes au #timeline starts at marvel then moves on to dc #does that make this a marvel and dc au?#imma put it anyway #marvel crossover prompt to #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc #dp crossover #writing prompt #prompt #sleepy-writes-stuff

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pokelolmc · 4 months

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The Ultimate Enemy is a Disappointment (and How I'd Fix It) (Part 3)

Happy holidays, everyone! Welcome to part three of my analysis on The Ultimate Enemy. If you want to check out the previous parts, you can start at part 2.5 and go backwards. After this, there's only two...maybe 2.5....more to go! To make up for the long waffle on why the "Dan is a fusion" plotline doesn't work, this one's relatively shorter.

(Part 2.5), Part 3, (Part 4)

This one is about the issues with the episode's time travel. To be honest, I couldn't find much to say about it logistically because it was so vague/poorly defined. I have more to say about the time-travelling characters and their decision-making, which will be part four.

Problems with the Time Travel:

The events leading to Dan’s timeline only happen in the episode because of the very time travel used (in an attempt) to prevent them

The episode never actually shows us how Danny’s tragedy started in the alternate timeline itself, outside of Vlad’s flashback of what happened at his castle. But that was the very end of the chain of dominoes that led to Dan. However, we do get to see the alleged events leading up to that play out in the main timeline (before Clockwork saves Danny’s loved ones)—as part of the episode’s plot. The only problem is, the way it happens in the main timeline was only possible because of time travel.

(Clockwork is literally the only reason this happened)

In the main timeline, Danny’s alleged cheating—the first major event in the alternate timeline—only happened because Clockwork set it up. He wanted to give Danny a “moral test” of some sort. And it only happened, logistically, because he sent Boxed Lunch back into the past to attack Danny.

Then he sent back Skulktech, which facilitated the trio hitching a ride to his tower and getting access to the alternate future. Which facilitated Dan realising that his creation was in jeopardy and coming back into the past to cheat in Danny’s place.

The second major event, the Nasty Burger explosion, also only happened because of time travel. Arguably, in order for Danny to go to Vlad (assuming he went un-coerced/of his own choice), everyone that was there had to die. At least one survivor would’ve enough to change his fate.

If he still had Jazz, for example—they could’ve been moved into an orphanage or with Aunt Alicia or some sort of temporary care but (hopefully) still at least had each other. Sam and/or Tucker surviving would’ve given Danny social support and an external voice of reason against going to Vlad. At least one of his parents surviving…that’s a no-brainer—he doesn’t leave their care.

But in the episode, Danny’s parents and Lancer were only at the Nasty Burger because Dan time travelled back and cheated on the CAT in Danny’s place. Sam and Tucker were only there because of their own time travel (they learned of their deaths in the future, and came to the NB to warn everyone), and Jazz because of Dan’s (she came to warn everyone “Danny” was an impostor).

The episode makes these events specific consequences of time travel. There’s no indicator of whether Danny would’ve come up with cheating on the CAT/getting the answers without Clockwork’s prompting, or just given up and flunked the test in frustration (and Danny failing the test couldn’t have led to the parent-teacher meeting at the NB because the results wouldn’t have been out yet). While you could argue Sam and Tucker have reason to be at the Nasty Burger without Dan (because they hang out there regularly), Jazz doesn’t really have one…unless I guess she wanted in on the parent-teacher conference…? Why?

But even then, the newspaper article in the alternate timeline implied that Danny, his loved ones and Lancer were the only ones caught in the explosion (they died and Danny was the “sole survivor”). So that means no one else was at the Nasty Burger.

The explosion happened on a school day, in the afternoon/evening after school, with all of them having a different reason to be there and there was no one else at the restaurant? Not even any staff?

In that case, it’d have to be closed…but it was only closed in the main timeline because of the smaller explosion from the Boxed Lunch fight. And if another previous Nasty Sauce incident somehow closed it early in the alternate timeline, that means Sam and Tucker had no reason to be at the Nasty Burger for the explosion. Why go hang out when it’s closed?

I guess we just have to assume there was some other offscreen reason that they happened in the alternate timeline, with little prompting or explanation…but I still argue that if Danny cheated of his own volition in the alternate timeline, then Clockwork shouldn’t have given Danny the answers in the main one—and the "what could've been" in the alternate timeline would’ve been the better/more compelling story to tell. And Danny’s loved ones lining up for the explosion just feels…it feels like it’s busted there. Without the time travel seen in the main timeline, it just couldn’t happen the way the episode said it did. But the episode can’t be a time loop (where the time travel happened in the alternate timeline) because it would’ve been broken at the end.

Unfortunately, I don't have any real ideas on what to do about this except for my now-repeated insistence of Danny steals the answers of his own volition and gets to finish cheating. And there's probably some way to change the circumstances of the explosion/whatever kills Danny's loved ones so everyone has a reason to be there without time travel.

2. The Boo-merang shouldn’t be able to reach Danny in the alternate future because it didn’t time travel. It could even potentially risk a time paradox.

The Boo-merang takes Jazz’s message from the present-day events of the episode (main timeline) to Danny in the Ghost Zone of alternate future, without using any time travel. Instead, it simply waits the long way around. It seems clever and creative at first glance, but it doesn’t actually make sense.

The Boo-merang’s ten-year wait to reach Danny runs simultaneously to the school day, the CAT and the final fight at the Nasty Burger, which differ from the events that led to Dan’s birth. By the time the Boo-merang had only been in the Ghost Zone for a few hours, Danny’s loved ones would’ve been saved and the future it was headed to would’ve been/become non-existent. Reaching Danny’s destination in Dan’s timeline would’ve been impossible. He never would’ve gotten the letter.

How it’d affect the timeline/events of the episode if Danny didn’t get Jazz’s letter…well…it depends. All Jazz’s letter did was remind him of Vlad, so it’s still possible he could’ve figured it out on his own if given more time. Jazz’s letter not arriving would just remove the guarantee that Danny found Vlad. Assuming that he could’ve eventually thought of Vlad on his own, or found someone in the GZ to help him remove the Time Medallion, there’s still a chance he could get back to the past without Jazz’s letter, Vlad or the Ghost Gauntlets. But that leaves a problem:

Without Vlad, he never would’ve heard about Dan’s backstory. He’d have watched his loved ones die (or been sent back to the past by Dan, in the aftermath of their deaths) and been liable to follow the path to Dan’s existence (not knowing that he had to avoid going to Vlad and the fusion). However, that would’ve created the alternate future, resulting in the Boo-merang’s destination in the future existing in the main timeline, and being able to reach Danny just by waiting. Danny would’ve then found his way to Vlad, and resulted in an eventual victory over Dan (and avoiding the alternate future) as per the episode’s ending (making the Boo-merang unable to reach its destination again). This creates a time paradox.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. It was what the writers set up the Boo-merang for (outside of outing Dan to Jazz because it doesn't react to his ectosignature) and it feels like they were really trying to be clever. I feel like you'd have to give Jazz some other role in the story. Maybe Dan brought a Time Medallion back as his only way of accessing the past (stolen from Sam/Tucker, instead of canon where he seems to just open a portal to the past??) and she gets a hold of it? I don't know I'm just spitballing here.

#danny phantom #the ultimate enemy #danny fenton #dp rewrite #tue analysis #10 dp episodes with missed potential

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astatia-ghast · 3 months

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Hey, folks! I have a couple things I want to talk about today.

The King's Quest Continues

First, I want to offer a huge thank-you for the response "The King's Quest" has gotten. When I wrote this story, I didn't have the broader audience in mind; my only goal was to write something @hailsatanacab would enjoy. So when I woke up to a flood of kudos and comments the next day, I was truly taken by surprise.

And then they just kept coming. "The King's Quest" still gets a couple kudos every day, and some of the comments I've received have been just... beyond flattering. They all mean so much to me and fuel my drive to write. So really, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

As a token of my appreciation, I wanted to give you all, and particularly hailsatanacab, a little somethin'-somethin'.

I have a sequel in the works. It'll be about triple the length of "The King's Quest," and it's primary purpose will be to explore why Clockwork made the decisions he did. And I want to share the first scene with you today!

For full disclosure, I'm not 100% sure this sequel will be finished or how quickly it will be written, because I'm drawing a blank on some sections, and I have other fics I want to work on, too. But I would really like to see it finished this year. I think it would be a fun companion piece, especially since Clockwork's behavior raises so many unanswered questions in "The King's Quest."

So here's the first scene! Fair warning: this is in very early draft stage, so it won't have the polish my published fics do. But I hope you still enjoy. :)

------

Clockwork drapes a cape over Danny's shoulders. It is thick and soft and heavy, made by the yetis of the Far Frozen as a coronation gift. The outside is a sleek black fabric, and the inside is fluffy white fur.

Clockwork smooths out the wrinkles on Danny's shoulders, and then his hands just stay there. It reminds Danny of when he did the exact same thing all that time ago. The weight around his soul grows heavier.

"What do you think?"

Tears well in Danny's eyes. They are plastered to his reflection in the mirror, which is slowly being adorned with all the regal clothing and treasures that will mark him as King. His coronation is around the corner, and the whole of Clockwork's tower, usually so silent, is now bustling with ghostly allies working to prepare. They sing and laugh, but Danny shares none of their mirth.

Gently, Clockwork turns Danny around and sinks to eye level. He is handsome today; his hair, white like Danny's, has been pulled back into an elaborate array of braids. He gently brushes a strand of hair out of Danny's face.

"Remember: you just need to get through today." Clockwork's voice is low and soft, meant for Danny's ears only. "Get through today, and the Council of Ancients will take things from there. And then you can focus on your mortal life until you are ready."

Danny feels like he should say something, but he can't; he knows that the moment he speaks, those tears are going to fall. Except then, in a cruel rebellion, one tear falls anyway. Clockwork procures an embroidered handkerchief, and with remarkable softness, he wipes the tear away. Danny puts up with the first dab, but when the second one comes, he pushes Clockwork away.

Clockwork doesn't fight him; he stows the handkerchief away. He seems to be teetering on the verge of action, but he stays still, keeping his hands in his lap. Danny turns away, trying to wipe his eyes as casually as possible, even as he knows there is literally no point in pretending. Frustration grows inside him as he wills himself to stop crying, but the tears only fall more steadily.

Fuck the mirror. Fuck the cape. Fuck this coronation.

A yeti peeks his head inside the room and asks Clockwork a question about something or other. He answers his question and follows up with, "We'll be just a minute." The yeti nods, peering at Danny curiously, as Clockwork closes the door. At once, the tower is quiet again; Danny is thankful for the privacy.

A necklace settles around Danny's neck. He jumps, thinking Clockwork has soldiered on with his preparations and dropped his own coronation gift around Danny's neck, but then he notices that it's just a normal time medallion. He looks up at Clockwork in askance.

"Take all the time you need," he says. "I will be waiting right outside when you are ready."

Clockwork opens the door, revealing yetis frozen in the midst of carrying streamers and delivering food, and closes it behind him.

#Phandom Truce 2023 #The King’s Quest #Astatia Writing

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jackdaw-sprite · 1 year

Text

Funerary Rites, Chapter 3 - Walk

After a few months in which real life monopolized my time, I've managed to finally finish chapter 3 of Funerary Rites!

Danny sees where Caretaker lives! Or part of it, anyway. Oh, and he has a little bit of a crisis. I'm sure it's fine.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Words: 5723

Characters: Danny, Clockwork

Warnings: Some controlling behavior, I guess? Caretaker has a very poor understanding of some boundaries.

Read on AO3, or below:

The journey to Caretaker's home was winding and strange. Danny had seen Faerie before, of course; his periodic slips and stumbles through the veil growing up had been how he'd met Caretaker. But he'd never explored, never lingered. As a child, Danny had been paralyzed by fear at the sudden shift. As he grew older, he'd known not to wander regardless. His parents had warned him about fae. And Caretaker had, too.

Thus, the world Danny now walked was strange to him. It was also so vivid Danny felt almost like he'd stepped into a painting.The forest they were in was awash in violet shadow, its twisting trunks and underbrush touched with patches of gilded light. Here, a bough hung in stark relief, leaves a vivid green. There, berries winked from the crown of a bush. The understory and trees wove together into a sort of maze; Danny's attention would stray to the arc of a branch and follow brambles and hills deeper, deeper into the forest through natural archways and halls until the ground vanished.

It was an arresting sight, and more than once Danny would only realize he'd stopped when Caretaker nudged at his shoulder to shake him from the daze.

"We have a long way ahead, child," he murmured once. "Come. You'll not want to be caught by those who weave this place."

Finally, there was a break in the maze. A lightly trodden path slithered into view, and they turned to follow it. With the extra space and without Caretaker tending his every step, Danny walked beside him.

The path was clear of the thorns and thistles that had littered their earlier journey, but the soil of it was dark with moisture. Patches of mud swallowed it whole in places, and there Danny could see the texture of shoes and stranger things; claws and paws and hooves, and a few wheel-tracks that had left the ground intricately stamped behind them.

The same mud pulled insistently at Danny's feet, and he nearly lost a shoe to it. With a frustrated grimace he wrenched it free, only to have the other one stick fast a few steps later. This time he almost snarled pulling it free and overbalanced, tipping forward.

Caretaker caught him before he could pitch headfirst into the mud. His long fingers wrapped securely around Danny's shoulders and pulled him upright.

Danny paused, torn between wordless frustration and wanting to thank Caretaker for at least keeping him from being covered in mud and wanting to dance away from Caretaker's grip–his fingers were too long, too solid.

Wrong.

"'nks," muttered Danny, doing his best to sway away from Caretaker's creepy fingers. "Why're we using this path?"

"It is the least treacherous way out of these woods, despite its frustrations." Caretaker tipped his hood at Danny's muddy feet.

"Oh. Great."

A small, muddy, and very frustrating eternity later the violet shadow of the woodlands broke open.

Light flooded over the path to reveal meadows sparsely dotted with trees, shadows pooling ink. The grasses and flowers painting them were an impossible array of color and scent, but most importantly the path ahead was dry.

"Finally," said Danny, and Caretaker huffed a laugh.

The walking was easier from there, and Danny found himself distracted by the world around them once more.

Faerie brimmed with the wild and strange. They traveled over meadows drenched in honeyed sounds and smells. There were odd little bridges over creeks teeming with darting creatures that only pretended to be fish when Danny looked at them. Once, there was only an assortment of stones in place of a bridge and Caretaker laid three stalks of wheat at the riverside before allowing Danny to cross.

When Danny looked back, he caught a glimpse of something red vanishing beneath the water, and the stalks were gone.

Always, always Caretaker kept Danny close by. Once, they saw shapes on the road and he tugged Danny under his cloak

Danny hated it.

He hated the fear that raced through his heart and set it galloping as he heard the strange cadence of footsteps going past. He hated how slow they were, and wondered if he would hear them stop. Hear them turn and shout and begin to chase them because Danny wasn't supposed to be here. Because Danny was human.

His mouth was dry.

Caretaker's cloak was as soft on the inside as always, his tunic crisp and cool to the touch. His hand was clasped against Danny's shoulder. It was warm like comfort, like I will guide you home. For a promise, for a price.

Warm like a familiar face in a horrible situation.

Horrible like one.

Outside the shelter of the cloak Danny remembered hiding in too many times, the footsteps stopped, and a voice like sand and wind said something he couldn’t make out. Caretaker gave some kind of calm response.

Danny felt sick.

His parents had said that some fae ate humans.

Caretaker didn't. Caretaker wouldn't. A stone grew in the back of Danny's throat at the idea of it, of one turn too many in an awful day.

He swallowed it back and let his fingers brush the lip of his back pocket.

You shall not harm me, nor through inaction allow me to come to harm…

It would be fine.

It would.

In the dark of the cloak, Caretaker’s hand wound farther around Danny’s shoulder, solid like iron. He said something else, and the footsteps resumed, then faded to nothing.

When Caretaker released him, Danny surged from the cover of the cloak like he was surfacing from underwater and twisted to face him, gasping the fresh air.

“Are you alright?”

Danny’s answer stuck in his throat, too tangled to come out.

They kept walking.

Past trees bent low and knotted, past reeds and vines woven into sculpture, boulders that breathed and a thousand other strangenesses. The slip of earth beneath Danny's feet faded into a dull rhythm and a sharper ache, and he found his mind wandering despite the circumstances.

The sun ambled through the sky.

Occasionally, he could hear snatches of music on the wind, a faint ringing. A distant bell tower, maybe. Danny occupied himself for a time wondering what belltowers looked like, here.

Slowly, the brushstrokes of Faerie's landscape became at once less deliberate and more defined. Trees took less artful paths to the sky. Scrub bristled haphazardly together, and copses of trees combined to form a patchwork with grasses.

It was a transition. To what, Danny didn't know.

Eventually, they came to a tree. It was an enormous old thing, bowed and creaking with age, and its branches swallowed the path in its shade. Caretaker paused by it to run a hand over its bark, before stepping around the roots at its base onto a hidden path. Danny followed.

This new path was as knobbled as the tree, and too narrow to walk side by side; in places it was barely wide enough to show as a line in the grass. Without the space to walk beside him, Danny trailed behind Caretaker close enough to brush his cloak. They wound around hillocks and through more brush until the ancient tree was hidden from view many times over.

Caretaker stopped.

Close on his trail, Danny almost ran into him. He scuffed a few steps back to right himself and peered around Caretaker to see what had made him stop.

There was a sculpture.

It emerged from the brush surrounding it incongruous and tall; taller than Caretaker by several feet and farther across than Danny could spread his hands, but with barely any depth at all. It gleamed silver, but looked closer to lace than metal and more delicate by far than the iron bars guarding the windows of Fenton Works.

It evoked a spider's web.

Danny looked at Caretaker, who glanced in his direction before easing off a glove.

Oh, Danny thought. That's what's wrong with his fingers.

They had too many, too mobile joints.

Caretaker fluttered them for a moment, fingernails winking bronze in the evening light. Then he traced a finger over the sculpture, strumming it like a harp to a sound like falling dew.

It shivered. The webbed strands slid past one another, leaving the knots at the edges tightening and the holes at the center growing, growing until what stood before them wasn't a sculpture at all, but a doorway framed by intricate knotwork.

Caretaker gestured him through. Hesitant, Danny went.

He didn't know what he'd expected, but it wasn't this. One step through the door, two, and the world was the same one he'd seen. No sudden shifts caught Danny off guard, no sense of danger or sudden swell of chatter from the trees. No sudden silence, either.

He was just on the other side.

He turned, and there was the strangeness Danny had expected. From this side of the doorway, there was a wall of bramble framing it.

Caretaker let it weave shut behind them with a wave of his hand, and then gestured for Danny to follow. Danny did, trying not to let ice creep too far through his veins.

Caretaker had opened that door, and he'd shut it. Danny had no idea how to do either. Was he stuck on this side of the door now? Without Caretaker, could he leave?

Did it matter?

He was only going to do something for Caretaker, right? Nothing bad or that would hurt him, and less than a week.

A week. He could keep it together for a week. No matter how weird it got.

Danny stepped over a long tuft of grass.

The path was wider on this side, though not better kept. It was laid with stone, but the cracks were overgrown. Tall grasses reached out from them and drooped over the flagstones, and Danny picked his way from one to the next. While Caretaker moved with careless grace, Danny was a bit more awkward on his feet. He didn't really want to stumble and fall. It would be embarrassing. And it would give Caretaker a reason to help bring him to his feet again. With his creepy hands.

Danny shuddered.

They were a thousand times worse now that Danny knew what they were like under the gloves. Not that Caretaker had replaced the one he'd removed, no. He'd removed the other glove as well, and tucked both into his belt and now every time Danny caught sight of his hands he also caught sight of the way they bent.

Against his better judgment, Danny looked up. At the sight of him, Caretaker smiled again. It was a quick thing, and small.

Danny ignored it. It was probably just another tactic to make him feel safe.

He wasn't. He wasn't safe, didn't feel safe. He looked around, and discovered that they were in a field. It was dense with bushes, and full of grass that came up to his waist. In the distance he could see the straight lines of a building, veiled by a stand of trees. What was that? Were they going there?

"Child," said Caretaker, and rested his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Come. It's been a long journey. Don't you wish to wash yourself free of dust and grime?"

Danny shrugged off the hand, and considered. A shower did sound nice, actually. They'd been walking for hours and right now Danny was sticky with sweat. He could imagine the film of dust covering him, too. And it would be wonderful for his aching feet. Just because his parents occasionally took them on wilderness survival vacations didn't mean Danny liked hiking.

"What's the catch?" Danny asked.

"I'm offering you hospitality, as agreed."

"That doesn't mean there isn't a catch," Danny said. "What is it?"

"Why are you so eager to see ulterior motives in my kindnesses?"

"It's a kindness now?" Danny asked, pointedly.

Caretaker paused, then dropped his hand with a sigh. "The catch is thus: the human world is laden with many poisons. Especially with the destruction of the study, you will be covered with them. I have no wish for you to leave traces of poisonous dust within my home."

That…made sense.

The bathhouse was a pale building nestled on the edge of a large clearing, the path leading up to it as worn and overgrown as everything else beyond the spider’s web gate. Danny was starting to wonder if Caretaker preferred a touch of wilderness, or if wherever they were just lacked a, hah, caretaker.

The sun was low, now. It was not quite brushing the treetops, but the shadow of the forest was already creeping from the shelter of the canopy. The space between the trunks was deep and dark, but not uninviting. A faint breeze ruffled the trees and Danny's hair, and Caretaker's cloak waved gently in it.

The air was sweet.

The first of the three steps to the entryway was cracked. The smaller part of the step tilted away from the center, and a tuft of grass poked from the space it left behind. The steps, at least, were swept clean.

Danny followed Caretaker up them and into the bath house itself.

Despite the wear of the exterior, the interior was clean and in good repair; the door opened to a small room with a tile floor and wooden benches. Light fell from a pair of high windows into the space, criss-crossing the far walls in clean lines without hitting any suspended dust.

Caretaker pulled a towel from a cupboard along the wall and set it down on a bench. "The bath is through the door," he said.

Danny nodded.

After Caretaker left, Danny padded through the doorway. He'd never been in a bathhouse before–he lived in Illinois, not ancient Rome. But it seemed intuitive enough. The stone walls of the exterior were bare on the inside as well, and a wide tile walkway separated them from a large pool. Bath? Danny shrugged mentally. It didn't really matter. The water was clear and inviting, and if Caretaker wanted him to clean himself with it, he didn't expect it to do Danny any harm.

Besides, the trek had left him footsore, dusty, and more than a little sticky. Even if Caretaker hadn't been of the opinion that the human world was full of cooties or whatever, a bath would be nice.

Danny dipped a toe into the water to test and found it cool, verging on cold. Just right for tired feet. He sat at the edge with a sigh, and let them soak for a bit before he slid the rest of the way into the water with another, deeper sigh.

It did feel nice.

Danny scrubbed everywhere he could. He didn't know what the proper decontamination procedures or whatever were if you were covered in something poisonous. But he could try. If Caretaker was right and he was coated in dust poisonous to fae, it would only be right. He wouldn't want poisonous dust in his house, either. And considering he didn't know when the house had been built, maybe there was some stuff poisonous to him, too. Didn't they use lead and asbestos in buildings at some point? And it wasn’t like his parents did normal things in the basement. Who knew what was involved in tearing a hole in reality? He hoped it wasn't mercury. Or anything radioactive. Or poisonous in general.

Anyway.

A nice thorough scrubbing was hardly the worst thing under the circumstances.

Danny surfaced from rinsing his hair and looked at the door. He wondered where Caretaker had gone off to – he hadn't heard footsteps since Caretaker had left him to the bathhouse, and it was starting to feel like a long time.

He should probably finish before Caretaker came back.

The towel was in easy reach. Danny wrapped it at his waist and dripped through the doorway to the changing area.

He stopped cold in the doorway.

“What.”

His clothes were gone.

Where were his clothes?!?

The room wasn't empty.

A dark square of fabric lay under a piece of paper on one of the benches.

His piece of paper, Danny determined after studying it with unsteady hands. It hadn't been swapped out or changed. The rules they'd agreed to were still there. He set it to the side and picked up the cloth.

It slithered through his hands, unfolding into a bunch of much longer material. Some of it fell to the floor and puddled there.

It was probably clothes. Danny breathed out, feeling his pulse fall back from the verge of panic. Okay. He had clothes. They just weren't his clothes. This was fine. Well no. It wasn't fine. The whole thing was very far from fine.

But he had clothes.

…

It made sense, Danny told himself, and remembered to breathe in. If he was covered in poisonous dust, then his clothes were, too. Caretaker was probably just. Taking care of them. Making sure they weren't poisoned, or washing them. and then he'd give them back, and these clothes were just so Danny wouldn't be left without while that happened. Which was nice of him. Generous. Or something.

Weren't you supposed to tell your guest what you were doing, when you did that sort of thing? Assuming Danny believed that it was just kindness.

He didn't, really.

Danny swallowed.

His cereal bars were gone too.

…It wasn't important.

If Caretaker only gave him food with terrible strings attached he'd just go hungry.

Nor through inaction allow me to come to harm, murmured the rules in his head.

The tunic slipped through Danny’s fingers again and fell to the floor. Did hunger count as harm? Starvation would. Going hungry for multiple days probably would.

What was Caretaker allowed to do, to make sure Danny wouldn’t go hungry?

Danny realized he wasn’t breathing again.

Focus.

One problem at a time.

His clothes were gone. His cereal bars were gone. He was still only wearing a towel, but there were clothes he could wear.

He could put on the clothes. At the least, it would make him slower to die of exposure if he had to make a break for the trees.

If, Danny appended a while later, he could figure out how. He'd laid them out on the floor to get a better idea of what they were and overall they seemed…complicated. And a lot. A lot of complexity, a lot of pieces. A lot of embroidery, on some of it.

Well, he had to start somewhere. If nothing else he'd just get decent and then Caretaker could deal with the consequences of replacing all of Danny's clothes. If he wanted to give Danny a confusing mess then he should expect Danny to wear it like a confusing mess.

So there.

Mind made up, Danny reached for the most intuitive part of the ensemble: what was possibly an undershirt.

Danny took stock.

There was no mirror in the bathhouse, but he felt…not sensibly dressed. There was no sensibly dressed with whatever this was. But at least somewhat okay. If Caretaker disagreed, well. He should have left instructions.

Danny looked at the door again, almost expecting Caretaker to appear at the thought of him.

He still hadn't returned.

Danny picked at a sleeve, examining the barely-visible embroidering on it for a moment while he wavered. But he couldn't stay in the bathhouse all week. Danny tucked his paper into a reasonably secure fold and opened the door.

Caretaker was on the other side. "Ah," he said, looking down at Danny. The corners of his mouth tugged it into an almost-smile.

"What?" asked Danny, already irritated by the pointless complexity of the clothes.

“That’s an unusual way to wear those.”

“Well I would hardly know, would I?”

Caretaker cocked his head. “Of course not. I had–”

He interrupted himself by kneeling before Danny, and reaching out for the length of cloth Danny had used to tie his shirt closed. “Here," he said, and pulled it apart in a swift motion. "You need to wear it like this–" he broke off.

This was probably because Danny had frozen. His hands were fisted in his pants tightly enough to ache. Every hair on his arms had puffed out and he stood ramrod straight and stiff as a board. Like imitating wood would make this stop.

In the silence, Danny could hear the belltower tolling away in the distance again, low and soft and something else.

Caretaker withdrew his hands, watching Danny from under his hood; it was light enough still to see more than the glint of his eyes. They looked at one another for a moment, and then Caretaker gathered himself with a breath.

"I do not intend to harm you, child," he said, voice as soft as the ringing.

"I'm not–" said Danny. "I don't. Don't do that." His hands moved to the sash of their own volition and clutched at it maybe a bit too tight. He took a shuddering breath. "What did you do with my clothes?" What did you do with my food?

"They were contaminated as well."

Were. Danny swallowed, and decided that he could freak about what that meant later. Later. One thing at a time.

"Don't touch me like that," he said, and his voice wobbled a bit despite his effort to seem unaffected.

Caretaker frowned. "I was fixing your clothes."

"Yeah. Don't. Look, can you just. I don't know, show me?"

"I was also doing that."

Breathe, Danny.

"Not on me."

Caretaker's eyes flickered over Danny's face. He retracted the hand reaching for Danny and brought it instead to his neck. His frown deepened. "You fear my touch?"

"I–" yes wasn't the truth. Not quite. But no wasn't, either. "Maybe."

The bell in the distance – a clocktower? – gave one final toll, sharper than the rest before falling silent.

"You did not fear it before."

And at that, the panic and fear boiled into fury. Before he knew what he was doing Danny stepped forward, words rushing out of him like steam. "Because you hadn't threatened my parents! You said you'd kill them! You hurt them and scared me and now you've stolen my clothes. What did you even do with my food?!?" He punctuated the last with a jabbed finger.

Caretaker recoiled from it, hands curling in on themselves like dying insects. He stood and his hands vanished behind the folds of his cloak but Danny wasn't done.

"Why are you so surprised that I'm afraid of you after all that? I thought–I thought."

Danny's voice broke. He couldn't finish that sentence. The betrayal was still too thick on his tongue for that. So he fisted his hands in the cloth of his too-strange clothing and changed tacks, voice turning quieter. "Anyone would be afraid, if you showed up and nearly killed their parents and then demanded they come with you to save them." He found himself looking at Caretaker's boots and forced himself to look up again. To meet Caretaker's eyes. "Anyone would be, if the only thing keeping them safe from you was a piece of paper and you took their clothes and their food the moment their back was turned and then showed up like you hadn't done anything at all, and then you, you." Danny shook his head.

Caretaker was silent. Watchful.

"Of course I'm afraid," Danny said again, and the silence trailed between them.

Caretaker remained in the doorway for some time. But the slant of his shoulders was heavy, and he made no move to enter the bathhouse.

Eventually, Danny looked away and down at the towel he'd left piled on one of the seats. He picked it up like fiddling with it would make the situation less awkward. He began to fold it.

"I can take that," said Caretaker, and held out a hand. It was the first thing he'd said since Danny had said he was afraid of him, and his voice was soft, the movement ginger, his fingers still.

Danny tossed it to him.

"And," added Caretaker. "I can show you how to tie your sash."

"I know how to tie knots," Danny snapped.

Caretaker did not react to the venom. "Later, then. You will need to be properly dressed the day after tomorrow."

At the reminder that he was here to fulfill some purpose, Danny's stomach dropped. He'd forgotten. How had he forgotten that Caretaker wanted him for something? That he hadn't just kidnapped Danny to torment him or to dress him up.

"Why?" Danny asked.

"It will be a formal ceremony."

"A ceremony? Will there be other fae? Will they–will they know I'm human?" Danny asked.

"No," said Caretaker. A hint of amusement sneaked back into his voice. "No others. Just you and me. You do not need to worry about fooling anyone."

"Then," said Danny. "Why is how I'm dressed important? Why can't I just dress how I want? Like a t-shirt and jeans."

The amusement vanished. "You must be dressed appropriately," Caretaker snapped.

Danny's anger sputtered like a fire quenched. He drew back, feeling ice race along his skin even as the terrible expression which had crossed Caretaker's face vanished as swiftly as it appeared. Concern replaced it, and Caretaker stepped forward.

Danny stepped back.

Caretaker almost shrank in place. His shoulders fell with his head and for a moment he seemed only skin and bones and exhaustion. He hung still, silhouetted by the doorway. Behind him, the dying evening light burnished the trees and garden in copper.

"I have no desire to hurt you," he said, and Danny knew now that he was lying. "I–"

Silence choked the next word.

Caretaker blocked the door. The hand–the claw holding Danny’s towel flexed unnaturally.

The first cicadas began to scream. It was almost enough to cover the sound of the distant clocktower, ringing again.

“If you are hungry, there is food,” Caretaker offered. It was quiet. He was still playing at smallness. Like Danny hadn't seen the ugly truth of him just now.

“I’m not hungry,” Danny lied, and wondered if Caretaker would call him on it.

The cicada-song swelled.

“In that case,” Caretaker said. “I will show you to where you may sleep.”

It was a spacious room.

It was also spartan. There was a bed, a window, a wardrobe. The walls were plain and bare, the floor, cold. There was no rug. There were no paintings or pictures or tapestries on the walls, and no designs engraved on them either. When Danny opened it, the wardrobe was similarly empty. It smelled only vaguely woody and a little sharp.

Danny shut its doors and looked at Caretaker, who loomed at the entrance, the towel still an incongruous presence in his claws.

They were in a small building in the same large clearing as the bathhouse, built with the same stone and low angles, and in the back of his mind Danny wondered why they were so similar when the house he'd glimpsed through the trees was so different.

It didn't matter.

What did was the way Caretaker was lingering just outside the doorway. With his hood still up, the twilight was now deep enough to swallow the subtleties of his expressions but the slump of his shoulders remained visible.

Danny ignored it. "Is this a prison?" he asked, squinting at Caretaker.

"No," said Caretaker, voice a hoarse whisper. Had Danny still believed that he was kind, he would have believed that Caretaker was devastated. But fae were adept at lying without speaking untruths. Pretending horror or defeat would be a good way to do it.

Danny narrowed his eyes, and tried again. "Are you planning to keep me here against my will?"

Caretaker straightened. "I am not planning to violate the terms of our agreement."

That wasn't what he'd asked.

"Do you think," asked Caretaker before Danny could respond with another question, "that our agreement is unambiguously not against your will?"

Oh.

"Do not think that I have deluded myself into believing you are happy to be here, child.” Caretaker’s voice was quiet and exhausted. ”Nor that you would be here without need on your part." Soundlessly, his silhouette turned.

"Then why is it so empty?" asked Danny.

It was a moment before Caretaker responded. His hood tilted in Danny’s direction.

"Would you accept a well-appointed room? Or would you grow suspicious that the comforts of it were intended to bewitch you?"

"But there isn't even a rug."

Caretaker turned back towards Danny. "The rooms in the house are more comfortable. Would you prefer one of them?"

A choice.

The pit that had been twisting in Danny's stomach for ages gave a yank. Caretaker had suggested that Danny clean up, and then replaced his clothes.

What was the expression? Give an inch and they'll take a mile?

Was this a test?

A way to get a foot in the door, make another crack in Danny's…everything?

What was going on?

Danny swallowed. "No. I'm okay here."

The outline of Caretaker's hood bowed in a nod. There was a rustle of cloth, and Danny felt something cold and hard pressed into his hand.

"Um."

"Whisper into it if you require me. I will hear."

And with that, Caretaker was gone.

There wasn't much to do after that than crawl into bed and sleep.

Or try to.

The insect hum that had built through nightfall was thick and heavy in the air. It sat on his chest and buzzed and it seemed almost to weigh at the passage of time as well; It felt like the line of moonlight through the window hadn’t moved in hours.

Danny stared up at the ceiling and tried to concentrate on the dark shapes of the beams crossing it. Counted them, tried to count the knots he could see in the wood, traced his eyes along the shadows' edges.

Tried to drown his thoughts in the relentless insect hum from outside.

It wasn't that there was something wrong with the bed. It was soft, and the sheets were clean and cool in the summer night air. Nothing itched.

His nose did. Danny scratched it.

There was nothing wrong with the bed. There were no lumps, it didn't squeak when he shifted his weight or any of the other things that could be keeping him up. They smelled odd but not alarmingly so, like sleeping over at Tucker's house and smelling a different detergent on the sheets.

Not a friend's house.

Everything was wrong.

Danny was scared. He was scared and alone in the dark in a strange place in another world he'd never had much luck escaping by himself and someone he’d trusted had nearly killed his parents and he didn’t know how they were even doing and it was very, very hard not to imagine all the horrible things that could happen when he could only look up at the ceiling and try to distract himself from the knot in his stomach with the knots in the rafters he could barely see.

He got up.

The door was a vague shadow on the wall, and Danny considered it. Remembered his parents’ preoccupation with thresholds, remembered the way Caretaker had stayed just outside the door.

Maybe…maybe he shouldn’t open it.

The light from the full moon through the window was enough to see by, and Danny shuffled across the silvered patch of floor to look out. If he couldn't sleep, then maybe he could at least look at something more interesting than the ceiling.

The clearing was still. The trees stood sentinel around it, the space between them dark as the sky above.

He could see the overgrown maze of bushes between the buildings. It was everywhere; climbing up walls and piling on itself. He'd thought the path Caretaker had led him along was badly overgrown, but from the window he could see another path vanish entirely into a mess of probably-shrubs.

Who was supposed to take care of this? People with lots of land had gardeners, right?

Had Caretaker done something to his?

Movement caught Danny's eye and he crouched down to peer over the windowsill.

A figure wound its way among the plants with smooth movements that belied the waist deep plants. It wasn't dressed in Caretaker's dark cloak–instead it was covered in a pale cloth. It knelt and vanished behind a mess of twigs.

What was it doing? Danny rose to get a better view, and succeeded only in seeing a sliver of white and obscure movement among the bushes. Some twigs trembled, and Danny swayed to the side to look, to no avail.

After some time, it stood.

Danny froze, heart hammering. But it wasn’t enough.

Slowly, the dark of its face turned towards Danny.

It froze.

For long moments, nothing moved.

And then the figure turned away and slipped along a different path, out of sight.

Danny pulled himself away from the window, no longer sleepy in the least.

Weren't there fae you weren't supposed to look in the eye? What if this was one of them? Caretaker had agreed Danny wouldn't be harmed during the deal but what about after it? Had Danny just stumbled into a trap where he had to agree to more deals with Caretaker to keep safe from an irate fae he wouldn't even have seen if not for the deal he'd had to make to keep his parents safe?

Was that the reason for all this?

He slid down the wall, one hand over his mouth in an effort to keep quiet, half convinced that any moment the fae he’d just seen would come howling at the door.

The door– he hoped thresholds held weight here.

What was he going to do?

What did Caretaker want?

He’d never said.

How could Danny have forgotten to ask? How hadn't he pressed the question?

What would Caretaker make Danny do? What was happening the day after tomorrow that he needed to be dressed up?

What was happening tomorrow that he didn't?

The knot in his stomach sprouted into a more intricate dread and grew up his ribs, gripping at his lungs and heart.

…

Danny curled in on himself, head filling with horrors.

No matter how the night dragged on, the morning would come too soon.

#danny phantom #danny fenton dp #clockwork dp #jackdraw-spwrite #jackdaw-spwrite #funerary rites fae au

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neoyi · 9 months

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Okay, let's wrap up this damn comic live blog/media-analysis-I've-put-WAY-more-time-than-I-ever-intended-or-wanted-to-and-yet-I'm-Boo-Boo-the-freakin'-fool.

So.

Acceptance has been a reoccurring desire with Danny's character. Naturally, it started off insignificant and shallow as is wont of a fourteen-year-old who went about and did stupid, desperate things to be noticed by the popular crowd, further heightened by his "loser" status (for a variety of reasons the show doesn't say, but could be narrowed down to: weird ghost-obsessed parents, hanging around two other social outcast, etc.)

Being half-ghost added another pile of teenage angst to the list, and more so when Walker intentionally made him Amity Park's most hated ghost out of petty spite for ruining his law and order (he's a goddamn cop, what'd ya expect?) Frustrated as he was, Danny decided to resume his heroic duties in spite of people's perception of him. The city still needed someone to keep an eye on the ghostly nuisances plaguing Amity Park and persecuted or not, Danny Phantom was the only (consistently competent) one for the job.

And this mindset did carry throughout the show, all the way up to Season Three's "Forever Phantom" which marked a very lovely turning point when Danny refused to bask in the spotlight that has since been afforded to him. Constantly saving Amity Park eventually earned him the love and respect from most of the citizens; he was their hero, a mascot, a tourist attraction, and beloved public figure. And Danny never took an egotistical power trip over it. By "Forever Phantom", he has, frankly, gotten sick of everyone wanting a piece of that half-ghost pie, and opt to chill out in secrecy in his downtime. After all, his human half has become invaluable as the only time he can truly relax and not worry about some stranger taking photos of him or asking for his autograph.

Look, it's not that Danny can't have moments of dejection, but no matter how much paint coating "Phantom Planet" did - with Danny taking away his powers in order to protect his loved ones, as the plot claims - a lot of the framing also seem to imply he did it because oh nooo the Masters Blasters (a name that an out-of-touch-with-the-youth Vlad would coin to his little group) took away the spotlight and now no one appreciates and luvs him anymore.

It's such a 180 from what's built up and laid out before us. Suddenly Danny can't go without any form of appreciation even though he's long since accepted that he won't always get it and was perfectly fine with it. Saving and protecting his home was what mattered.

I was off in my original guess at the start of the comic for whatever internal conflict Danny had yet to hash out. I thought he was feeling the pressure of being a hero in a world where everyone knew who he was. How was he going to adjust to it? Obviously, the problem was that he lacked purpose and that's totally fine. What ended up happening was, again, the best solution the comic gave to a HUGE problem I had with "Phantom Planet" (surprise surprise): his secret identity goes kaput.

It made sense to expose his ghostly half to his parents by the end. All the way back in "Bitter Reunions", Danny claimed Jack and Maddie would love him no matter what he was, a prediction that proved to be true in "Reality Trip." And loved they did. And in "Phantom Planet" and beyond, they still do. This is their son, after all, and no amount of ectoplasmic coating will ever stop them from accepting him, ghost and all.

It didn't make sense to reveal his identity to the whole damn world because it counters severely with what Danny had accepted prior to all this. He didn't want attention or fame or any of that shit, they're just byproducts to his true actions as a genuinely heroic guy. He'd save the world even if everyone hated him permanently, and he has! And according to this comic, he will continue to do so.

Clockwork fixed the time stream and gave Danny a choice and the one he picks leaves his secret identity safe once again, altering it so he never revealed himself to the world. And with that redo button, the comic drove the final nail in the coffin on any prominent thing "PP" did. And I'm so damn grateful. I don't even care that it was an easy fix ala time shenanigans, it wouldn't be the first time Clockwork did it.

While it sucks Amity Park has declared Danny Phantom (and all ghosts) as public enemy #1 again as consequences to the fucked up timeline Clockwork did his best to fix (as oppose to him being a beloved figure, which I think he's more than earned), it ultimately authenticates Danny's development: he doesn't care if the greater population hates him, what he cares is protecting his home and healing those in need of it.

My only grievance with this mild retcon is that Jack and Maddie is no longer privy to Danny's secret identity and that one leaves me exhausted. I was hoping the comic would throw us a bone after "Reality Trip" burnt that bridge when Danny erased his parents memories for no goddamn reason, but now it's back to square one with these stubborn, but lovable chuckleheads. There weren't a lot of interactions between Danny and his parents post-identity revealed, and the chance to explore it seems, for the time, temporarily paused... again.

Should this comic ever get a sequel series (this thing apparently sold out on Amazon, Nickelodeon would be a fool not to greenlight another), perhaps we'll get to see some of this and more, and A Glitch in Time certainly left a couple of plot points dangling for a tantalizing continuation...

#comics #neoyi talks

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spectacled-renegade-writes · 8 months

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An Early Start - Chapter 12 - Danny Phantom

Ao3: Here | Masterpost: Here

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

Chapter 12:

Sam and Tucker were anomalies indeed. On one hand, they were very different from the other humans he’s met but on the other, they are very much alike. Part of Danny thought he should stop thinking of himself as different from them, and by that he meant humans in general. After all, he was still half-human, and he'd been a human before he became a ghost. Still, he'd spent most of his life in the Ghost Zone, as a ghost, being raised by a ghost. So, his internal struggle continued.

But Sam and Tucker, they fascinated him.

Turns out their favorite hangout was the Nasty Burger. They went there nearly every day after school.

“U-L-T-R-A R-E-C-Y-C…” Danny trailed off, his fingerspelling uncertain and his expression confused. “I don’t even know how to spell that.”

Tucker laughed, “You and me both, dude.”

“What… is it exactly?” Danny asked.

“I don’t eat anything with a face.” Sam replied proudly.

Danny nodded. Fascinating indeed.

“So,” Tucker said, eating a fry. “What kind of things do you like to do for fun?”

Danny thought about it. Explore the Ghost Zone. Learn new things about the universe from Clockwork. Hang out with his ghost friends. He realized none of these things were answers he could say. So, he shrugged. “Read, I guess. Stargaze.”

“That’s it?”

“I think those things are awesome.” Sam interjected.

“Yeah, well,” Tucker said. “I guess they’re cool and all but what about the flair? What about living?”

What about dying?

“I’m just saying,” Tucker continued. “We’ve gotta show you the ropes.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “The ropes?”

“I guess Tucker’s right.” Sam said. “You’re from out of town. We need to show you what qualifies as fun in a place as boring as this.”

Danny smiled. “Lead the way.”

So, lead they did, and the place they took him was surprising. An abandoned town house at the edge of the city. It was decrepit, covered in moss and vines, and nearly falling apart. “Tucker and I found this place a few years back,” Sam explained. She gestured to the graffiti on the walls. “And it seems like we weren’t the only ones. But, no one’s ever been here at the same time as us. We come here when we’re bored.”

Danny looked around. The Ghost Zone had a few places like this, minus the graffiti. He’s never actually seen graffiti before. Is this the human word for art? He second guessed himself, maybe he remembered less than he thought.

“Cool, right?” Tucker said as Danny ran a hand over one of the art pieces. “Graffiti was never my preferred medium but Sam’s all about it. A few of these pieces are hers. They’re all upstairs though.”

Danny turned to Sam. “Show me?” So they did. They took Danny upstairs, to a room off the left, and showed him in. The room itself obviously used to be a nursery, a broken cradle and collapsed rocking chair, and the peeling, painted ceiling showed old drawings of clouds. Now, though, the room was covered in dust, cobwebs, and tetanus. Sam directed Danny to her wall.

“My stuff’s over here. It’s mostly just spiders and death, so, you know, everything goth.”

Danny examined it. She was very talented. Despite its gloominess, its attention to detail gave way to the fact that she put a lot of heart into it. He smiled and gravitated toward the ghosts in the corner, definitely unlike any ghost he’s ever seen. Sam’s ghosts were less corporeal and more wispy, translucent even. Danny recalled his own art lessons with Clockwork. He was still very young at the time and he remembered how frustrated he got that he couldn't make his hand recreate the thing he was looking at. “Patience.” Clockwork had said. “Some talents come naturally but others, they take time and practice. Not everything in existence comes easily but that does not mean we should quit. Practice and patience blossoms our proudest creations.”

Danny only realized years later that Clockwork was teaching him two lessons that day.

“Here.” Danny turned around and saw Sam offering him a spray can. “You make something.” She encouraged.

Danny looked down at the spray can then back up at both her and Tucker. Both of them had this half encouraging, half impish expressions on their faces. His hands fumbled uncertainly as he spoke, “I’ve never use those before.”

“It’s easy,” Sam said. “You just point and spray. Just make sure you have the nozzle pointed away from you.”

Danny looked to the wall then back to his friends, and chewed the inside of his cheek. “What should I make?”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Tucker declared. “You can make whatever you want!”

So, not seeing any other reason why he shouldn’t, Danny took the spray can. Sam crossed the room and opened the windows to let out the fumes. “Wait,” she said, walking back and digging through her backpack, she pulled out a bandana and handed it to Danny. “If you’re gonna work with spray paint, you should cover your face. Here, tie this around your head.”

At first Danny thought she meant his entire head, which confused him for obvious reasons, but when he saw Sam and Tucker tying bandanas of their own around their mouths and noses, it made a lot more sense. He did as instructed, and turned to find a blank space on the wall.

A clatter sounded next to Danny and he saw Tucker had dropped a crate with other spray paint colors next to him. Danny looked at the one in his hand, it was blue. He could work with that. His friends stood back and watched the magic happen as Danny began to paint.

It was surprising at first, using the spray cans, but he quickly figured it out, and inspiration struck. Sam had painted goth things, things on her mind, so Danny did just the same. His friends watched in awe as a picture of something fantastical and otherworldly came to life before them. When Danny was done, he took a step back.

“Wow.” Tucker said.

“Yeah.” Sam agreed.

Danny painted Clockwork’s tower. The home he grew up in. The home he longed for. A day hasn’t gone by since being in the human world that he hasn’t ached to return. He missed his room. He missed the weightlessness. He missed his father, the one who raised him, taught him everything he knows. He missed Clockwork.

“That is awesome, dude!” Tucker exclaimed. “It’s like medieval meets sci-fi or something. What do you call it?”

Danny weighed the pros and cons of telling them the truth but in the end, it’s not like they’d ever know. “C-L-O-C-K-W-O-R-K-S T-O-W-E-R.”

“Clockwork’s tower?” Sam asked.

Danny shrugged.

“That hardcore, man.” Tucker approved and Sam agreed. Danny felt a sort of warmth blossom in his chest. Even if they didn’t really know, it still felt nice, in a way, for his friends to approve of his home. Sam closed the windows and they showed him more of the house.

Back downstairs, Tucker led them to a pantry. “This is my favorite feature of the house,” he said. “And here’s why.” He shone a flashlight he’d procured from his bag and shone it in the dingy little closet, onto the far wall. “Now these are trade secrets,” he warned. “So you can’t tell anybody.” Danny zipped his lips in response. Tucker moved into the pantry and pressed a hand hard onto the back wall. A moment later a soft click sounded, and Tucker removed a secret panel. Behind it was a shelf filled with snacks, CDs, a radio and a first aid kit. “Secret compartment. Found it by accident.” He smiled smugly. Sam pushed past him and grabbed a bag of chips.

“No one else has found it,” she said. “So we made it into our little emergency supply storage, and restock it often.” Sam grabbed another bag of chips and threw it to Danny. “But we mostly just use it to hide snacks when we hang out.”

Danny smiled. Being in the human world was hard but Sam and Tucker, they made it easier. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon snacking, listening to music, and chatting the day away.

When Danny came home later that evening after hanging out with Sam and Tucker, he got bombarded by his parents the moment he stepped through the threshold.

“And where were you, young man?” His mother demanded. Despite her tone of voice, she looked more frantic than angry. In fact, both of his parents looked worried. Danny didn’t understand why until Jazz appeared from the kitchen.

“Danny!” Jazz exclaimed, running toward him and hugging him tight. “Where were you? We were worried sick!” She let go but kept her hands on his shoulders. “You can’t just disappear like that.”

Ah. Disappear. Now it made sense. He’d done that ten years ago, hadn’t he? It hadn’t occurred to him that he should tell them where he was going. He never needed to tell Clockwork, Clockwork always knew he’d come home, and Danny was certain Clockwork knew where he was at all times. But Danny wasn’t with his ghost family, he was with his human one, and his human one didn’t know he’d come home. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his notebook. I’m sorry. He wrote. I didn’t know I was supposed to tell you what I was doing.

“So,” Maddie asked. “What were you doing?”

Hanging out with my new friends. Danny answered.

All three of them lit up at that, worry dissipating immediately. “Danny,” Jazz beamed. “You actually made friends!” She hugged him again and Danny felt suffocated. “I’m so proud of you!”

Danny wormed his way out of his sister’s embrace and took a step back to breathe. He loved her, as much as Clockwork, but he needed his space. Jazz seemed unaffected, she was just so happy. Danny wasn’t surprised. The past three days the last thing she said to him before splitting up for class was, “Have fun! Make some friends!” It’s his fault he hadn’t told her until now. It honestly just hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Well,” Jack said. “If you’re going to be hanging out with friends after school, we need to get you a cell phone, and teach you about ghosts!” Danny tilted his head. Jack took him by the shoulder and began to lead him to the basement. “If you’re going to be out and about, you need to learn how to protect yourself against those spectral spooks.”

“Dad!” Jazz opposed. “Danny does not need to be a part of your crazy ghost hunting ventures! He’s just a kid, not some kind of experiment, or a mentee.”

But Jack did not listen and instead took her by the shoulder as well. “Good idea, Jazz! You can both learn how to defend yourselves!” So, he led both his children to the basement, where he promptly began his ‘So, you want to be a ghost hunter’ speech. Danny and Jazz sat in chairs next to each other as Jack spoke. He introduced the Fenton Thermos, a device which captured and contained ghosts, and turned to retrieve his next weapon.

Jazz’s simmering frustration finally boiled over and she stood from her seat, and marched over to her father to give him a piece of her mind.

It was impeccable timing too because the moment she did, the ghost portal opened and two ecto-pusses exited it. Danny stared. They stared back. Jazz and Jack remained oblivious as they bickered with their backs turned. “You can’t be here,” Danny whispered, and wow. It felt so nice to speak in Ghost Speak again. He didn't mind signing, and he was fluent in it, but Ghost Speak felt more like his native language, and it was what he was most comfortable using. The ecto-pusses continued to stare. They seemed to realize they were looking at the ward of Clockwork. Danny glanced again to his sister and father, and back to them. “It’s time to go back.” The ecto-pusses gave one final glance at each other before turning to flee back into the portal. Not a moment too soon, too. The second they vanished, both Jazz and his father turned back around.

“Come on, Danny.” Jazz said, taking his hand. “Let me help you with your homework.” Danny let Jazz drag him out of the lab.

However, later that night, Danny snuck back down and stole the thermos for himself. It was only a precaution, but he knew he wouldn’t be dealing with just ghosts who would flee at the sight of “Clockwork’s ward” forever, and he’d need to use it if he couldn’t talk them down.

A ghost like that appeared the following Monday.

Danny walked in to school and met his friends by their lockers. Tucker was fuming about something and Sam seemed proud of herself. Danny zipped the book he was carrying into his backpack to free his hands before he spoke. “What’s going on?”

“Sam,” Tucker pointed an accusing finger at her. “Committed an atrocity that which mankind has never seen!”

Danny’s eyes widened and he turned to Sam. She only scoffed and said, “Oh, quit being dramatic. I only changed the lunch menu, get over it.”

“I will not,” Tucker insisted. “You took away all the meat! You can’t take away a carnivore’s meat!”

Danny’s panic quickly subsided to amusement. He still had trouble remembering to eat in the first place so what he ate didn’t really matter to him. He listened to his friends’ silly argument as he made his way to his own locker, and watched through spiteful notes passed during class, and continued to listen between classes, all the way to lunch.

As Danny held out his tray to the lunch lady, and a piece of bread with grass was dropped on it, even he had to agree with Tucker on this one. There was a lot about the human world Danny still didn’t know about but he was certain you weren’t supposed to eat grass, and judging by the looks on the other students faces, he was right. As he sat his tray down at their usual table, he looked at what was supposed to be considered food and said, “This is grass.”

“Right?!” Tucker agreed. “Grass. From the ground. Not food, Sam!”

But before Sam could argue back, Mr. Lancer appeared behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ah, Ms. Manson. The school board wanted me to personally thank you for ushering in this welcome experiment to our cafeteria.”

Tucker, on the other hand, seemed distressed. He sniffed the air and said, “Meat. Near.”

Earlier, Tucker said that meat heightened your senses, and he proved it by correctly guessing what Danny had for dinner the night before. Danny had been impressed but he still wondered if what Tucker said was true or not. Tucker’s proclamation was seeming more and more plausible by the minute when Danny saw a fretful look cross Mr. Lancer’s face as he quickly said, “No, no, the rumors about the all-steak buffet in the teacher’s lounge are completely untrue.”

Danny couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Maybe he’d sneak in and steal one for Tucker. It’d be nice to step out of the dreadful cafeteria anyway, he still wasn’t used to this place... honestly he didn’t know if he ever would be.

“Thanks again,” Mr. Lancer said as he walked off.

“Yeah, thanks for making us eat garbage, Sam.” Tucker pouted.

“It’s not garbage! It’s recyclable organic matter.”

Danny narrowed his eyes and Tucker said, “It’s garbage.”

Danny didn’t have much of an appetite anyway so he passed his plate to Sam and made to stand up to put his tray away. But he didn’t even manage to stand before two things happened at the same time. One: His ghost sense went off, and two: Dash stormed over to him yelling, “Hey, ghost boy!” In Danny’s week there, the term had become an insult he heard whispered behind his back daily. He mostly found it amusing. If only they knew. But Dash, for whatever reason, decided Danny would be his new favorite victim. Apparently there was something about Danny that didn’t sit quite right with people and Dash took offense to that. Dash held up his tray and said, “I ordered three mud pies and you know what I got? Three. Mud pies. With mud. From the ground!”

Danny really didn’t have time for this, not with a ghost around, so before Dash could grab him by the shirt, he took the mud off Dash’s tray and chucked it across the room. The rest of the cafeteria excitedly followed suit and began a food fight. Dash was hit in the process and successfully lost focus of Danny. Danny used the opportunity to sneak off to the kitchen.

When he entered, he recognized the ghost inside. Danny transformed and floated over to her. “Hello,” he said.

The ghost of the Lunch Lady turned around and stiffened when she was greeted with Clockwork’s ward. “Oh, hello there, dearie.” She said in a sickly, sweet voice. “I heard rumors that you were no longer in the Ghost Zone. I’m just here because it seems… well, somebody has changed the menu. Do you know who that might be?”

Danny wasn’t stupid. He knew about her short temper and what would happen if he told her the truth. So, he lied. “I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m sure we can work something out.”

The Lunch Lady scowled at the “Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian” cookbook in her hands. “Today is supposed to be meatloaf, but I don’t see any meatloaf.”

“You were the lunch lady at this school?”

“That’s right, dearie,” said the Lunch Lady. “And my balanced meal plan never changed, even after I passed. Now, it has changed, and I can’t stand for that. I’m sure you understand. Would you help me fix it?”

Danny chewed his lip. There was only one way this would end. He desperately tried to find the words to create a second way. So, he tried empathy. “I… I didn’t want to leave the Ghost Zone.” He said. “But, Clockwork told me I had a mission, so I had to. It’s been a big change and a lot of it is uncomfortable, but there are things that make it bearable, and make me realize things will get easier, that it’ll be okay.” He could see the lost look on the Lunch Lady’s face, her obvious confusion with such an abrupt change of subject. Danny pressed on. “So… with that being said, maybe it’ll be okay for you, too. I know the lunch menu changing is uncomfortable but… maybe it’ll be okay? Maybe you just need time.”

For a moment, nothing happened. For a moment, the Lunch Lady just blanched. Then, quick as a whip, she snarled, and her hair turned to flames. “No!” She cried. “The menu has been the same for fifty years! It will not be changed!” With a ferocity of a lunch lady scorned, she charged at Danny. “I will change it back and if you’re the only thing standing in my way, so be it! Clockwork can’t protect you here, boy!”

Danny quickly threw up a shield and thwarted her attack. “I don’t need Clockwork to protect me!" He yelled. "I can protect myself! I don’t want to fight, but I will if I must!”

The Lunch Lady let out a howl as she charged once again. Danny knew it was dangerous to fight in such a confined space, with so many humans near, so he went intangible and flew through the ceiling, the Lunch Lady following suit. Danny raced down the hall, Lunch Lady hot on his tail. He had an arsenal of attacks at the ready but he didn’t truly want to hurt her, so he hesitated which to use. He turned another corner and found himself greeted with a group of students. He quickly b-lined toward the floor and found himself in the school's basement, surrounded by none other than boxes of meat. “Can’t we talk this out?!” He yelled.

“No!” The Lunch Lady boomed. She raised her arms and meat came flying out of the boxes and began to assemble around her, creating a meat-based armor. “I control lunch! Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules! No one will stand in my way!” She threw her arms out and a flurry of meat came flying towards Danny. Danny quickly threw his hands out and the moment the meat made contact, it began to freeze, starting from point of contact and traveling up, eventually engulfing the meat monster completely.

“I’m sorry.” Danny said. The Lunch Lady was completely frozen in ice so Danny soared to his locker, grabbed the thermos, and returned within seconds. “Clockwork tasked me with protecting the humans. So, I had to fight you. I’m sorry it had to be this way.” Danny popped the lid off the thermos, pointed it at the Lunch Lady, and clicked the button. The Lunch Lady yelled as she was sucked inside and Danny winced. Being half-human didn't negate the fact that he was also her kind. As he touched down and returned back to human, he felt a sick feeling in his stomach. He held the thermos close to his chest.

Danny walked silently down the hallway, back to his locker. He wanted to puke. Saving a ghost from another ghost is one thing, like the time he saved Wulf from Skulker, but despite the fact that she wanted to cause harm, it felt wrong choosing one species over the other. What was worse is that… even though he would never bring harm to humans, in his heart he still preferred ghosts. But the moment Danny felt like he was going to cry was also the moment he felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder. He looked up to see the disappointed face of Mr. Lancer. “Mr. Fenton. My office. Now.”

Danny had no choice but to follow. The adults in this school still did not scare him as they did the others, but he was trying to follow their rules. When Danny entered the office, Sam and Tucker were there too. They stared at him in a way Danny couldn’t quite explain. He took a seat next to them upon Mr. Lancer’s request.

“Now, Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Lancer sighed, taking a seat at his desk. “I am aware you have… been through a lot, but that does not absolve you from the rules. Now, this is your first offense so I will give you a chance to explain. According to Mr. Baxter, you started the food fight in the cafeteria with your friends. Now, why would you do such a thing like that?”

Danny didn’t know what to say. He glanced to his friends but they only continued to stare back with those unreadable expressions. Well, hopefully one of them would snap out of it to translate for him. “It was the only way to get Dash away from me.” He signed. Luckily, Sam did in fact snap out of it and became his translator.

Mr. Lancer clasped his hands together on his desk and leaned back. “If another student was giving you a problem, then you should have asked for help.”

“How? I can’t speak.” Danny deadpanned. He saw the way Mr. Lancer flushed at that.

“Right, well, be that as it may, actions still have consequences. So, the three of you will stay after school and clean up the cafeteria until it’s spotless. Understood?”

His two friends groaned and Danny spoke up again, but Sam didn’t translate this time and instead said, “Danny, you don’t have to do that.”

“Come on, Sam,” said Tucker, a hint of pleading and hope in his eyes. “If that’s what the man wants to do, I say let him.”

“Will someone please tell me what is going on?” Mr. Lancer demanded. Danny looked pointedly at Sam and gestured to the teacher. Sam sighed.

“He said he’s the only one at fault. Tucker and I didn’t help start the fight. He started it on his own.”

“Noble,” Lancer hummed. “Admirable. But, according to Mr. Baxter, all three of you are at fault, so all three of you will receive detention.”

“But –“ Tucker tried to argue.

“No buts,” Mr. Lancer interrupted. “I will see all three of you after school and I will be calling your parents.”

Tucker slumped in his chair and mumbled, “Figures.”

Danny felt bad. He'd had to think on the spot but he should have thought of something better. Though, he just knew if he ran, Dash would’ve followed. He stared down at the thermos in his lap. He felt even worse now. Staying after school meant that much longer the Lunch Lady would be stuck in such a tiny space. Vaguely, he wondered what it was like in there. He didn’t want to find out. So, after being excused, and given hall passes back to class, which have started back up by now, Danny decided to take a detour. “I’ll meet you back in class.” Danny told his friends.

“Where are you going?” Tucker asked.

Danny looked down at the thermos, held in the crook of his elbow, then looked back up to his friends. “I need to stop by my locker.”

“We’ll come with you,” said Sam. “Beats going back to class just yet.”

Danny chewed his lip. He counted two times now that he thought of the wrong thing on the spot today. He never had to deal with stuff like this in the Ghost Zone. “It’s fine. It won’t even be that long.” He saw the way his friends glanced at each other. Saw the way their faces changed back to that indescribable look. It left a bad taste in his mouth. Did he do something wrong? Were they mad at him for getting them detention? Not knowing what he did to upset his friends was killing him but he didn’t have time to address it yet.

“Okay, Danny,” Sam said. “We’ll see you in class.” Danny watched as they walked away, remained rooted to the spot until they turned the corner. When they were gone, he stepped in to the nearest bathroom, made sure the coast was clear, and transformed, then proceeded to turn invisible and intangible, and fly home as quick as he could to release the Lunch Lady back into the Ghost Zone.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ao3 Notes: First extra long chapter! Fun fact: The chapters where I need to do an episode rewrite are my LEAST favorite chapters to write. Even so, I hope I still did a good job for you lovely readers. There will only be a few chapters like that but they are necessary for the plot. Once again thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night! :D

#an early start au #danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #danny phantom fanfic #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #clockwork #jazz fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #lunch lady #mute!danny fenton #disabled danny fenton #anxiety #dash baxter #mr. lancer #lost time #renegade writes

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theapprenticeofthanatos · 1 year

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TAoT: Chapter 26: Ultimate Enemy: Part 6

Danny POV:

“Hello again, Daniel,” Clockwork greeted.

Danny brought his hands to his face and let out a frustrated growl. He did not have time for this.

“Look, I’m sure what you have to say is very interesting,” Danny acknowledged, struggling to keep the irritation out of his voice as his ghostly transformation washed back over him. “But I’m in a bit of a rush right now. I need to get home before—”

“Time is frozen,” Clockwork explained coolly. “Here, as well as in your timeline. Nothing will happen until you return. So relax,” Clockwork waved his hand, and a plush armchair appeared behind Danny. “Forget your worries for a time.”

“I can’t,” Danny argued. “Please, I—”

“Really,” Clockwork’s tone left no room for argument. “I insist.”

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but Clockwork brought his hand to Danny’s chest and shoved him. Danny stumbled backwards and fell into the armchair, while Clockwork elegantly sat down on a chair across from him. With another wave of his hand, a coffee table appeared, upon which sat a teapot and two cups with saucers.

“Tea?” Clockwork offered as he poured himself a cup. “It’s an herbal blend. Good for healing and relieving stress.”

Danny stared at the ghost in disbelief. “Are you fricking serious?”

“Absolutely.” Clockwork filled the other cup and placed it in front of Danny. “This tea was common in Ancient Greece.”

“Wha…? No, that’s not—gah!” Danny threw his hands up in frustration and stood up. “I’m outta here. See ya—”

Danny took a step forward, but suddenly he was back in his seat.

What? I… didn’t sit down.

He looked up at Clockwork in bewilderment. The ghost merely sipped his drink, looking as if nothing had even happened. Danny waited a moment, but Clockwork said nothing, so he stood up again.

And was immediately back in his seat.

Clockwork spoke up then. “I quite literally have all the time in the world to wait for you to calm down and listen.”

Danny stared at him dumbfoundedly. “Wait. Are you… doing this?” Danny gestured to his armchair.

Clockwork gave a noncommittal shrug. “Am I?”

Danny glared at Clockwork as he stood up a third time, took a step towards the ghost…

And was once again back in his seat.

Danny snarled in exasperation. “Do you really think you can keep me here?”

Clockwork placed his cup back on its saucer. “Yes.” He replied flatly. “Rather easily, in fact.”

Danny folded his arms with an angry grumble and looked away. He bristled with barely restrained anger as Clockwork took another long sip of his tea before setting the cup and saucer back on the table and leaning back in his chair.

“So, Daniel,” Clockwork steepled his fingers, and his appearance made Danny feel like he was in some sort of counselor’s office. “How are you feeling? Worried? Stressed, perhaps?”

“Yes,” Danny hissed. “I am very worried that my family is going to be murdered by me!”

“Hmm.” Clockwork nodded sagely. “That is a reasonable worry to have, but fear not. Remember, time will remain frozen until you return. They will not die while you are here.”

Danny wanted to argue, but it wasn’t like there was much he could really do. His attempts to escape so far had been unsuccessful, and Clockwork didn’t seem intent on letting him leave anytime soon. So he reluctantly slouched back in his chair and glared at Clockwork.

Clockwork met Danny’s angry look with an annoyingly neutral expression. “I imagine that today has been a bit… confusing for you.”

That’s an understatement. Danny thought to himself, but he nodded silently.

“As Master of Time, I am not supposed to interfere with matters concerning the natural progression of the timelines,” Clockwork explained. “However, I do not believe it would do any harm if I were to let you rest here for a moment, and let you ask some questions.”

“I don’t have any questions,” Danny insisted. “I just need to—”

“Oh?” Clockwork cut him off, his voice light and conversational. “No questions? Well, may as well have some tea, then. It’s getting cold.”

Danny had half a mind to once again get up and try to leave, but he knew it was unlikely he’d be able to take more than a couple of steps before he ended up back in the armchair. He wasn’t a big fan of tea, but he picked up the cup and held it in his hands. It was pleasantly warm. He stared down into the amber-colored liquid, and his reflection stared back up at him.

His eyes looked… normal, but the memory of his reflection in Vlad’s computer monitor came to his mind and he grimaced.

“Actually, I may have… one question.”

Clockwork didn’t say anything—he just looked at Danny expectantly, waiting for the halfa to continue.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but faltered. He was going to sound like he was crazy. Heck, maybe he was.

After another moment of hesitation, Danny finally asked: “Is… my core having a voice… normal?”

His core squirmed uneasily in his chest at the words.

“For you, yes.” Clockwork answered. “It is normal.”

The confirmation didn’t bring Danny the relief that he thought it would. He placed a hand over his core, wincing as the action sent a dull ache through his chest where the medallion had once resided.

“So does that mean… my core is a separate being?” Danny questioned.

“No.” Came the short reply.

Danny looked up at the ghost, surprised. “But…”

Clockwork held up a hand, cutting Danny off. “Your core is you and you alone. In fact, it is your soul.”

Danny was somewhat taken aback by Clockwork’s answer. He had sort of always wondered what exactly a core was; his parents had plenty of theories, but none of them were particularly well-formed or thought out or confirmed by any sort of science. Before he had become a ghost, Danny hadn’t been sure he even believed in souls. He did now—he supposed he had to—but to actually have their existence confirmed was just… weird.

“So… my core, or soul, or whatever… is me?” Danny clarified.

Clockwork nodded.

“But… I didn’t think those thoughts,” Danny pointed out. “And the voice—”

“Is nothing to be worried about,” Clockwork finished. “Now, why did you ask about your core, Daniel?”

“… uhh, wait…” Danny said slowly. “But what about—”

“I will answer your questions in due time,” Clockwork assured him. “But for the moment, please answer mine.”

“Well… yeah,” Danny muttered begrudgingly after a long moment. “I’ve been… hearing a voice in my head. And Vlad—from the future—said that my… alternate self had started, like, going crazy and talking to himself before he… was… split in half. And I was worried that me hearing a voice meant that I was starting to become like my other self!” Danny’s voice rose as he struggled to voice the worries in his head.

Clockwork frowned thoughtfully. “Surely you have noticed some differences between you and your alternate self?”

Well, duh. Danny thought for a moment before answering; other than their rather obvious physical differences, what was different between them? “I mean, besides how different we look, I have never killed anyone.”

Danny’s core stirred and whispered uncertainly, as if it were disagreeing with him. Danny absently placed a hand over his chest again as he continued. “I would never kill anyone. And I’ve never even heard of the Oreo… orpheo-something, let alone seen or killed one.”

“Do you, perhaps, mean the Ophiotaurus?” Clockwork supplied.

“Yeah, that thing. I—I mean, my other self said that he killed it, and it gave him the power to… to kill gods.” Danny’s breath caught in his throat. “A-and he said that—that a demigod has to kill it to get that power, b-but I’m not a demigod, and—”

“Daniel,” Clockwork interrupted gently. “Breathe.”

The teacup fell from Danny’s grasp and shattered on the stone bricks as Danny closed his eyes and brought his hands to his temples, fighting to steady his rapid breathing. His core was whispering—whining almost anxiously as he took a deep breath and held it, before slowly letting it go.

No freaking out. Not right now.

… okay.

Danny took another deep breath, just to be sure he was calm, and opened his eyes. His gaze immediately landed on the broken teacup by his feet, and he winced.

“I’m… sorry about the mess,” Danny mumbled apologetically.

Clockwork held out his hand and twisted it, as if turning a doorknob. A blue light shimmered around the remnants of the teacup, and Danny watched in amazement as the pieces fitted themselves back together seamlessly. The teacup floated upwards and settled back on the table with a clink, as good as new and once again filled with steaming golden tea.

“No harm done,” Clockwork said easily. His expression was rather emotionless, but a hint of concern laced his voice as he asked, “How are you feeling, Daniel?”

Danny shrugged helplessly, his head propped up on his hands as he stared mopily at his feet. “Honestly… I’m very, very tired…”

“That is understandable. You have been through a lot recently.” There was a pause. “Daniel, may I ask you a question? In regards to what your alternate self said about the Ophiotaurus.”

“Sure,” Danny answered flatly, lifting his head to look at the ghost. “Knock yourself out.”

There was a twinkle in Clockwork’s eye and the faintest hint of a smile on his lips as he asked, “Did your alternate self ever say that the demigod had to be living?”

Danny thought for a moment, before slowly shaking his head. What was Clockwork getting at?

“Well then, perhaps a brief explanation of half-ghosts is in order.” Clockwork leaned forward in his chair.

“There are certain elements that are required for a half-ghost to come into existence. Not just any being could become such a perfectly balanced mix of life and death.” Clockwork explained. “For all the living matter within a body, there must be something… spectral, if you will, for the living matter to fuse with. For example, perhaps a portal to the Ghost Zone opened on a mortal and a lost core at the same time, and there was just the right amount of ectoplasmic energy to merge the two together into a new being. In exceptionally rare cases, perhaps the half-ghost was born naturally. Or perhaps,” there was a knowing glint to Clockwork’s eyes that unnerved Danny and sent a chill creeping down his spine and through his core. “A dying mortal had a portal form on top of them, and that mortal happened to have a past life that provided the perfect template for their current, living body to merge with the ecto-energy, creating a new being with perfect equilibrium. A being with memories both old and new, both lost and found, both forgotten… and remembered.”

Danny’s stomach flip-flopped as his core thrummed anxiously—or perhaps excitedly?—at Clockwork’s words. It was pretty obvious that the ghost was trying to hint at something, but… what? Was he hinting at how Danny had become a halfa? If so, which way had he…?

“Of course,” Clockwork continued, startling Danny out of his thoughts. “Half-ghosts of this sort are unique in the sense that they are sometimes able to remember their past lives. Oftentimes, a catalyst can help the half-ghost to remember their past. Sometimes that catalyst is something, or someone, important to them from their previous life.”

Danny had no idea what Clockwork was even talking about at this point, and he stared blankly at the ghost. The words made sense to him, but it was as if his brain was just refusing to process them at the moment. What did half-ghosts have to do with anything? Was Clockwork trying to tell Danny something about himself? About how he had become a halfa? Or what kind of halfa he was? Apparently there were different types of halfas? He was still struggling to process what had happened with his old enemies, and Demeter, and…

Danny dropped his hands from his face as he let out a tired sigh. “I’m sorry, but… I have no idea what you are trying to tell me right now. A lot has happened today and… my brain is fried.”

“That is quite alright, Daniel,” Clockwork assured him. “I did not expect you to understand it all just yet.”

“Then… why did you tell me all this now?” Danny asked bewilderedly.

“Because you will understand. In time.” Clockwork picked up the teapot and refilled his cup. “One day, you will look back on this conversation, and it will finally make sense to you.”

Danny just stared at the ghost yet again. Clockwork made no sense to him. It was like the ghost enjoyed speaking in riddles to confuse people. Danny’s gaze fell to the teacup in front of him, and he frowned. Clockwork had attacked him the first time they met (well, okay, Danny had started it), but now he was offering him tea? And chatting as if they were friends? Speaking of, Danny still had no idea what Clockwork had meant by “old friend.” One, he had never met this guy before. And two, Danny was pretty sure friends didn’t try to kill each other.

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you a question?” Danny piped up after a minute or two of silence.

“What is it, Daniel?” Clockwork replied as he placed his cup back on its saucer.

“Why did you attack me? Back when I first showed up here. I mean, I kinda started it,” Danny admitted as he glanced away awkwardly. “But you said that you were supposed to, like, destroy me or… something.”

“Because a group of ghosts called the Observants ordered me to,” Clockwork answered. “You’ll be dealing with them yourself in the future.”

“What? Why would a group of ghosts I’ve never even met order you to kill me?!” Danny shouted.

“To prevent you from becoming your alternate self,” Clockwork responded, his face settling into a faint scowl.

His answer was like a knife through Danny’s core. So… was that it, then? No matter what Danny thought or did, he was going to become… that?

Please… no… I don’t want to… his core mumbled tearfully. Danny didn’t blame it; he felt the same way.

“So I’m just going to become him no matter what I do,” Danny muttered, his throat tight as tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. “Are you going to… finish the job?” And if he was, should Danny just let him? He didn’t want to become that. He didn’t want to kill innocent people, he didn’t—

“No, I am not,” Clockwork said with a shake of his head, much to Danny’s surprise. “That would be counterintuitive to keeping the integrity of the timeline, after all.”

“ …what?” Danny sniffled as he swiped at his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean, Daniel, is that your alternate self, as he is now, was never meant to exist.” Clockwork revealed. “It was through the influences and beguilings of the goddess Gaea that your alternate self became who he is now.”

“Gae—” Danny started to repeat, but Clockwork quickly held his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence.

“I may say her name, but you cannot.” Clockwork warned. “Lest you draw unwanted attention.”

“Uhh… okay?” Danny said slowly, confused. “Why? Wait, is it ‘cause names draw attention or something?”

Clockwork nodded.

“Then… why can you say her name?” Danny countered.

“That,” Clockwork stressed. “Is a topic for another time.”

“Okay, then why did… she do that?” Danny asked instead. “Why did she… influence him? Me? … him?”

“Gaea sees mortals as mere pawns, and has no qualms with using them for her needs. Your alternate self’s life is not the only one she has disrupted. Unfortunately, I can’t really tell you much else,” Clockwork said regrettably.

“But… but you said that we have all the time in the world to talk,” Danny pointed out indignantly. “So talk!”

“I know what I said,” Clockwork stated calmly. “But there are matters that you are not yet privy to, that we cannot yet discuss.”

Danny scowled. “But—”

“The future,” Clockwork cut him off smoothly, and the warning tone of his voice sent a chill down Danny’s spine that made it clear there would be no more discussion on the matter. “Is not for you to know.”

The two ghosts sat there for a long moment, in almost deafening silence. Danny wasn’t really sure how to respond. Was Clockwork mad at him?

But that didn’t seem to be the case. Clockwork clapped his hands together, breaking the heavy silence as he gave Danny a friendly smile. “So, do you have any other questions?”

“That you can answer?” Danny snarked, albeit rather hesitantly, as he was somewhat put off by Clockwork’s sudden change in demeanor.

Clockwork gave a sympathetic shrug, but Danny could see the ghost of a smirk on his lips. “You won’t know unless you ask.”

Danny leaned back in his chair as he mulled over the information he’d received so far. The Ophiotaurus… Halfas… He didn’t have the mental energy to think about either of those right now. And then he had learned that there was a group called the Observants that wanted him dead. Neat.

“Can you tell me more about the Observants?” Danny asked hopefully.

“Not much,” Clockwork admitted. “Like I said, you’ll meet them soon enough.”

“Okay…” Danny hummed thoughtfully. “Why did you listen to them? When they told you to kill me. Why didn’t you just say no?”

“Because if I had refused, then they would’ve taken matters into their own hands,” Clockwork explained with a sigh of annoyance. “And your timeline would have been fractured from their meddling. Besides, I didn’t attack you like they wanted me to. Believe me,” Clockwork’s eyes flickered dangerously. “If I had truly wanted to get rid of you, you would never have even had a chance to react.”

Well then.

“Uhh… thank you…?” Danny said awkwardly, unsure of what he should say.

Clockwork looked a bit surprised by Danny’s response, but then he chuckled. “Of course.”

The room fell quiet for a brief moment as Danny thought of what else to ask. “Why are you doing this, anyway?” He gestured at the teapot and the teacups on the table. “Why are you helping me? I thought you said you weren’t supposed to interfere.”

“I’m not doing anything except making sure that everything plays out as it should,” Clockwork responded. “Besides, I am merely returning a favor.”

Danny stared at the ghost in confusion. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” he stated bluntly.

Clockwork chuckled again. “You will.”

Danny was still confused, and he opened his mouth to ask Clockwork what he meant, but the ghost suddenly froze. His brow furrowed, he frowned as he set down his teacup and pulled off his right glove, revealing…

“You have an apprentice?!” Danny shouted in disbelief.

Clockwork didn’t answer, his attention fully focused on the silver letters on his right forearm. His frown deepened as he ran the fingers of his left hand over the characters, obscuring them and making it so that Danny couldn’t read what they said.

“My apologies, Daniel, but I'm afraid you must leave now,” Clockwork finally said. “Something has happened with my apprentice that requires my immediate attention.”

“But…” Danny began, but he trailed off as Clockwork gave him a look that made it clear he wasn’t joking around. “Uhh, okay…?”

Danny and Clockwork stood up, and Clockwork raised his hand. A woosh came from behind Danny, and when he turned around his armchair was gone, replaced by a large blue portal.

“That will take you back to your place,” Clockwork informed him. “And your time. Amity Park, 2008.”

Danny nodded again, only half paying attention as he was still trying to catch a glimpse of Clockwork’s forearm.

“Daniel.”

Danny froze before sheepishly meeting Clockwork’s gaze. The ghost gestured to the portal, his expression… his eyes were still worried, but as he gave Danny a small, encouraging smile, Danny would say that Clockwork almost looked amused.

“Get going.”

Danny nodded once more before turning back to the portal. It was time. He had to do this. He had to fight Dan. He didn’t feel like he could do this, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.

As Danny stepped into the portal, he glanced back over his shoulder, and this time Clockwork’s hand was moved, leaving his mark uncovered and legible against his blue skin.

Φάντασμα.

Phantom.

Before Danny could even begin to question that, Clockwork caught his gaze. The ghost’s expression was one that Danny couldn’t place, but he gave the halfa a small nod.

“Good luck.”

Jazz POV:

“Uggh… my head…” Jazz groaned as she opened her eyes. The room around her was fairly small and dark, but as her blurry vision cleared she saw buckets, spray bottles, a mop, and various other cleaning supplies. Her head throbbed as she got to her feet and tried the door. It was unlocked, and opened out into one of the Casper High school hallways.

Why had she been in the janitor’s closet? How had she gotten into the janitor’s closet? The last thing she remembered was standing outside the door to Mr. Lancer’s classroom, with the Fenton Peeler in her hand, and then…

Jazz looked frantically around the closet for the Fenton Peeler. “Please, oh please don’t be… aha!” She reached down and pulled out the Fenton Peeler from where it had fallen under the shelves.

With her weapon back in hand, Jazz rushed out the door, nearly crashing into the janitor as she did so. She started down the hall with a hasty shout of “sorry!” over her shoulder as she ran back towards Mr. Lancer’s classroom.

What time was it? Were the students still taking the test? She needed to stop Evil Danny before—

The door to the classroom swung open right as Jazz was reaching for the doorknob, and she narrowly avoided bumping into Mr. Lancer.

“Oh!” The teacher looked surprised by her arrival. “Hello, Jasmine. What are you doing here so late?”

“Late?” Jazz repeated, feeling disoriented. “W-what time is it?”

Mr. Lancer frowned as he glanced at his watch. “It’s just after 4:30. The test was over hours ago. You didn’t even have class today.”

“I…” Jazz brought a hand to her aching head. Had she passed out? What had happened to her? She remembered looking through the door window and making eye contact with Evil Danny as she reached for the doorknob… His eyes had flashed red, and then… she’d woken up in the janitor’s closet. He must’ve stopped her, somehow. “I was looking for Danny,” she finally answered.

“Ahh,” the disdain in Mr. Lancer’s voice was obvious. “Mr. Fenton. Well, I regret to inform you that he’s not here. He was the first student to turn in his test, and then he was out the door, off to gallivant about the streets like a hooligan.”

Jazz’s heart sank. She had missed her chance. Evil Danny could be anywhere by now, doing who knows what. Oh, gosh, had he gone after her parents? What if—

“In fact,” Mr. Lancer tapped a stack of papers in his hand, pulling Jazz from her thoughts. “I just need to drop these papers off at the front office and then I’ll be heading over to the Nasty Burger to meet with Daniel and your parents, to discuss… Daniel’s disappointing lack of academic integrity.”

Jazz remembered Mr. Lancer mentioning that when they spoke yesterday. She had hoped to talk to Danny about it all when he got home, but… her Danny hadn’t come home.

And she had to make sure that no one else ran into the other Danny.

Thinking quickly, Jazz ripped the papers from Mr. Lancer’s hand and sprinted down the hall before he even had a chance to react. She winced as he yelled after her, “War and Peace! Miss Fenton, what are you doing?!”

Jazz glanced over her shoulder and saw Mr. Lancer running after her—well… hurrying after her; she wasn’t quite sure it could be described as running.

She paused at the end of the hallway, unsure of what she should do next—she honestly hadn’t thought this far ahead. She looked wildly around her; there were lockers, trash cans, a drinking fountain, an open window…

“Miss Fenton!”

Out of time to think, Jazz threw the papers out the window, and they scattered like confetti on the school grounds as she sprinted through the foyer and out the front doors of the school. She hoped that that would delay Mr. Lancer and buy her at least a little time to get to the Nasty Burger before him, and stop Evil Danny before it was too late. She would deal with the earful from Mr. Lancer later.

Jazz pulled her keys from her pocket as she ran across the parking lot, unlocked her car, and hopped in. She pulled out her phone as she started her car, tossing the Fenton Peeler into the passenger’s seat as she called Sam.

Sam picked up on the first ring.

“Jazz, what happened?!” the goth shouted. “We saw you at the door, but then you disappeared!”

“Yeah, what was that about?! I thought you said you were going to take care of him!” Tucker added.

Jazz watched through her rearview mirror as Mr. Lancer exited the school and walked around to the courtyard, likely to go gather his papers. “I said that I had a plan,” she corrected.

“And what happened to that plan?” Sam asked, a little calmer.

“What do you think happened?” Jazz snapped.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Jazz sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry for snapping at you two. It’s been a pretty stressful day for me.”

“Yeah, it’s been the same for us, Jazz,” Tucker sympathized. “I mean, look at who we’ve been stuck with the past couple of days.”

“So, what’s your plan now?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Jazz admitted. “But I think it would be better if we met up. Where are you guys?”

“Patrolling,” Tucker answered.

“Looking for Evil Danny,” Sam clarified.

“Where are you guys now?” Jazz put her car into gear and pulled out onto the street.

Jazz turned onto Main Street. She immediately saw Sam and Tucker waiting for her on the sidewalk, so she pulled up to the curb and waited for the two young teens to get in the car.

“Have you two seen Danny? Our Danny?” Jazz all but demanded once Sam and Tucker were both seated.

The teens only shook their heads.

“Do you have any idea where he could be?” Jazz asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.

Tucker shook his head again as Sam answered. “We haven’t seen him since we left the future.”

Jazz thought about her note, hoping against hope that it had somehow reached Danny. But even if it had, that didn’t mean that he had found a way back. Yet. “So… I guess we’re on our own for this.”

“Looks like it,” Tucker muttered dejectedly. “Besides, even if we somehow take down Evil Danny, what then? What if our Danny never comes back?”

Sam whirled on Tucker. “Do not say that. He will come back.”

“Hey, I never said he wouldn’t.” Tucker held up his hands placatingly. “I’m just saying what if—”

“Forget the what-ifs, Tuck!” Sam shouted with a glare.

Now Tucker was getting frustrated. “But what if—”

“What if you shut up?!” Sam interrupted.

“Enough!” Jazz shouted, her voice far too loud in the small, enclosed space. Silence reigned as Jazz took a deep breath before speaking again. “Look, it has been a long and stressful day for all of us, but that doesn’t mean we should be jumping down each other’s throats.”

Sam and Tucker sheepishly looked away from each other.

“Now.” Jazz settled back into her seat. “Does anyone have a plan for dealing with Evil Danny?”

It was just after 5 P.M. when Jazz, Sam, and Tucker arrived at the Nasty Burger. Sam and Tucker leapt out of the car before it even came to a stop, running towards the group standing in front of the restaurant. Jazz saw Mr. Lancer, her parents, and…

“Evil Danny,” she hissed under her breath.

Jazz turned off the car and opened the door, making sure to grab the Fenton Peeler before she got out and slammed the door shut. She activated the Fenton Peeler, and began to run as soon as its armor had finished forming around her. As she neared the group, she could hear Mr. Lancer shouting.

“South Beach Diet, people! What’s going on here?!”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on!” Jazz proclaimed, coming to a stop just feet from her parents and Evil Danny. Her parents turned to her with looks of shock, while Evil Danny looked angry.

“Jazz? What are you doing out of bed?” Maddie exclaimed.

Jazz didn’t answer her mother. Instead, she leveled the Fenton Peeler at Evil Danny’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

Evil Danny was barely even staggered by the energy blast, but the Peeler did its job. His face contorted in pain as his skin began to crack and flake, and it reminded Jazz of a snake shedding its dead skin, revealing the predator inside.

The adults in the group gasped in shock and horror as the ghost fell to its hands and knees, smoke rising from its skin as the charred remains of its disguise fell to the pavement. The two younger teens gave each other looks of grim determination as Jazz stepped forward and pointed accusingly at the specter.

“That’s not Danny!” Jazz announced triumphantly.

Jazz’s parents recovered from their shock quickly. They both pulled ecto-guns from their belts and immediately trained them on Evil Danny, who hadn’t yet made an attempt to stand up.

“Where is he?” Jack demanded angrily. “Where’s our son?!”

“What have you done with our boy?!” Maddie cried.

Evil Danny’s shoulders began to quiver, and Jazz smirked. Why had she even been worried? Her parents were two of the world’s greatest ghost hunters. With her parents standing over him, their weapons drawn, of course he would be shaking in his boots.

But then she heard it. A low, gravelly chuckle, and she realized…

No, he wasn’t shaking in fear.

He was laughing.

Evil Danny looked up at Maddie, his red eyes glowing bright and dangerous.

“I am your boy!” He hissed.

Before anyone could react, the ghost shot into the air, glaring cruelly down at them.

“What kind of parents are you, anyway?” He sneered. “The world’s leading ghost experts, and yet you couldn’t figure out your own son was half-ghost!”

Crap.

Jazz looked at her parents with wide eyes. They looked too stunned to speak. That was… an okay reaction. At least they didn’t seem upset. She and Danny would have to deal with the aftermath of that reveal later. After they—or she—took down Danny’s evil self.

“I mean, hellooo?” Evil Danny rolled his eyes. “Did you really never find it odd that all of your inventions always targeted, locked onto, or worked on me? Every. Single. One of them. Did you really never think about it? And then all the similarities… all the convenient excuses… I mean, it was so obvious, that it’s a small wonder I was even able to keep my secret identity, well,” Evil Danny chuckled. “A secret.”

“Liar!” Jack snapped, his hands and voice shaking with rage as he aimed his gun at the ghost. “Don’t move!”

“Actually,” Evil Danny countered, baring his fangs in a malevolent smile. “Nobody’s going anywhere. Not until it’s time for you to be blown everywhere.”

He raised his hand, and it flared to life with green ectoplasm. He flung his arm out in front of him, sending out a wave of ectoplasm that hit Mr. Lancer, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz’s parents, wrapping around them in thick strands that pinned their arms to their sides and sent the group flying backwards into one of the sauce vats, gluing them to its side. They began to scream and yell, but the ghost merely pointed at them, and globs of ectoplasm shot from his fingers, gagging and silencing them all almost instantly.

Evil Danny landed a few feet in front of Jazz, his back to her. Had he forgotten she was there? If so, then now was her chance to strike! Jazz pulled her arm back as she ran towards him. Aiming for the middle of his back, Jazz threw her fist forward with all of her might. And…

Her fist went straight through him.

Evil Danny cackled. Jazz felt bile rise in her throat as he turned his head completely around like an owl, and she winced at the sound of his bones cracking.

“Oh, Jazz,” Evil Danny tutted. “That was pathetic, even for you.”

The ghost turned to her, and Jazz didn’t even have time to run before her helmet was ripped off her head and her arms were pinned to her sides by the same ectoplasmic goo that bound everyone else. She screamed and quickly found herself gagged.

“Now, now, Jazz. There’s no need for that.” Evil Danny grabbed Jazz by the neck of her chestplate and slung her into the rubble of the Nasty Burger.

Jazz couldn’t even scream as she flew through the air, and she slammed into the sauce vat where the others were currently trapped. She blinked away the spots in her eyes, and began to struggle once she saw Evil Danny starting to walk towards them. But the ectoplasm around her torso held tight, and it had glued her to the searing hot metal of the sauce vat behind her. Tears filled Jazz’s eyes; this was it, wasn’t it? She had failed, and Danny wasn’t back, and now they were all going to be—

“Aww,” Evil Danny crooned, his tone mocking and cruel. “Don’t cry, everyone. You’re all giving your lives for a greater cause.”

Evil Danny turned away then and strode out into the middle of the empty street, where he raised his hands high and turned his face up towards the sky. “Do you hear me now, Gaea?!” He shouted, his voice booming through the abandoned clearing. “You said you’d never leave me! Not like my mother, not like my father… and you won’t.”

He turned back to them, a deranged look in his eyes. “I’ll burn these sacrifices for you, and then you’ll see. You’ll see that I don’t need them. You’ll see that I have what it takes. That I’m not weak. You’ll see that you need me! You’ll—”

Evil Danny’s crazed monologue was cut off by a black-and-white blur crashing into his side, sending him sprawling across the street.

Tears filled Jazz’s eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy as her little brother came to the rescue.

“Stay away from my family, maláka.” Danny—the real Danny—growled as he landed in front of the Nasty Burger.

First: Prologue

Previous: Chapter 25

Next: Chapter 27

#danny phantom #dan phantom #jazz fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #clockwork #taot #the apprentice of thanatos #lotu #legacy of the underworld #fanfiction #crossover fanfiction #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians

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hekateinhell · 2 years

Note

NSFW headcanon: Daniel walks in to Armand and Lestat in one of their hate fucks. They don't notice, until they do.

@cup-of-lixx scandalizing everyone's inboxes lmao. For the NSFW prompt thing. Armand/Lestat, implied threesome sitch at the end, rated M (dubcon but not really, rough sex, spanking, Daniel's confused af).

It's not a sight Daniel expected to see, that's for fucking sure. Then again, that could've been his motto since 1973.

He'd followed the sounds of glass breaking, Armand and Lestat's voices arguing in heated French, in accents that didn't particularly belong to this time. He usually tries to stay out of their shit—everyone knows Lestat and Armand have their spats and it’s all very unpleasant until it’s over. Regular like clockwork, predictable as a New York City snow in January. And if Lestat wanted Armand dead, he would have been a pile of ashes long ago, right? is Daniel’s usual go-to comfort thought.

All that to say—when Daniel heard Armand make the noise that he did, a long-dormant protective instinct kicked into gear (because really, who does Armand need protection from besides himself?), and he’d flung the door to the study right off its hinges before he even knew what he was doing. As if there was a shot in hell he could stop anything going down in there.

At first glance, it doesn’t look good. In fact, it looks downright horrific.

“Your maker… He’s a loud one, isn’t he, Daniel? I do apologize.” Lestat smirks at him good-naturally and winks, everything about his demeanor negating his statement as soon as he says it. His grip around Armand’s throat slacking enough for the smaller vampire to let out a broken moan as Lestat drives back into him with a motion so carelessly rough it ought to hurt, even to an immortal. The antique desk creaking from the force of every brutal thrust.

Daniel can't hear Armand's thoughts; it’s especially tortuous now because does he stay or does he go? The glassy-eyed, shell-shocked look in Armand's dark eyes as he gazed in his direction seemingly unseeing, the quiver to his bloodstained lips could just as easily be from pleasure as it could be from pain.

Lestat’s wide grey eyes never leave Daniel’s violet ones with every obscene, slick motion of his hips against Armand's pliant body. Your “boss” is fine, Danny boy. Don’t fret! The teasing lilt comes through even through the Mind Gift, but not enough to make Daniel want to budge, to leave Armand to… this.

And shamefully—shameful because he doesn’t know the exact nature of the encounter he’s walked in on—Daniel feels the hot white arousal in his body make itself evident in the most obvious of ways.

Oh, Armand's played it before for sure, but Daniel’s never seen him in this state: meek, ragged, submissive, utterly disconnected from reality.

Lestat's nostrils flare and he grins like the cat that caught the canary. His hand coming to pet Armand’s curls gently as he bends down to whisper into his ear, purely for Daniel’s benefit, for the full inflection of his words to hit home.

“You like that, don’t you, chéri? You enjoy your fledgling seeing you used like a common whore. But look at the poor dear! Look how concerned he is! Take mercy on him and let him know that you permit this.”

Roused back to life, Armand’s eyes finally focus on Daniel’s panicked, puzzled expression. A low whine emitting from the back of his throat as he groans before his angelic face smooths itself out into a warm smile. Oddly serene as Lestat deals two punishing blows to his backside in quick succession, the claps reverberating throughout the room. “It’s alright, beloved. It’s how beasts in the wild release their frustrations from time to time, you understand.”

Daniel nods, not entirely sure that he does, but he’s long since stopped trying to make sense of the complicated, incestuous relationships that make up their extended family. Armand’s head turns slightly as he reaches a hand back to grip Lestat’s forearm, and Daniel can sense the mental communication playing out between them.

Lestat pressed a reverent kiss to Armand's nape, golden hair dusting over the pale skin—much more vibrant than Daniel’s ashy blond, and a wicked contrast to Armand’s fiery auburn. He then straightens and waves Daniel over with his right hand, his left never leaving Armand’s hip, a devilish glint in his eyes.

“Your maker feels considerately wretched at having disturbed you. And I suppose it would be beneficial for him to practice being more mindful with his mouth, if you understand.”

Now that, Daniel understood perfectly well.

#armand/lestat #armand/lestat/daniel #lestat would totally fuck your girlfriend right in front of you and invite you to join 😭😭#hope you like it babe lmao thank you for blessing me with this idea <3 #lowkey having vamptember flashbacks #consider this our own kinktober idk what's happening anymore there's a lot going on we're all over the place #prompts

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sailor-toni · 1 year

Text

Who will notice me?

Danielle is feeling upset at how the world has been treating her. One day while visiting Clockwork she vents out these frustrations. Phicc Phight submission for PhantomKick

Read it on AO3, Fanfiction.net, or Wattpad

“Are there any others like me?”

“Vlad, Danny, the other Danny.”

“No, like someone who was born a halfa… like me.”

Clockwork had no response. Nothing verbal, nothing physical. He stared up at one of portals, watching humans walk past, a pair of siblings rush past, giggling and laughing. Spring sank through the portal edges giving the scene the small of nostalgia.

“A question for a question? Why would such a topic interest you?”

“Hun?” As if she was his opposite, Dani gave a large reaction. Her body moving in time with her shocked expression. “Oh, well its uh never mind. Sorry to bother you.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I don’t know,” She replied.

“Don’t apologize. If you do not know the reason then don’t deliver an empty gesture.” Clockwork was stern, not harsh but a command that left no room for argument. Dani watched as his reflection grew in age, wrinkles casting them around his face like echoes of lost time.

“I’m sorry,’ she muttered.

Regret, it lined the walls of Clockwork’s tower. Every pillar, every broken title, every clock that gave its infuriating marching order, even the threads of his own tunic was imbued with it. It was even burning her face as she said it. Why did she even come here? A straight answer from Clockwork was like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. He must do something good for Danny to be here constantly.

“You never answered my question little one.” Clock work was looking at her now. A sorrowful sea of red, like a sailor trapped under a blood moon. “Why does this topic interest you?”

“I’m just curious. That’s all. Danny7 and Vlad were both human and then they became half ghost. I know it doesn’t work the other way around but, it feels different when you never know what it’s like to be human first,” Dani said.

Another silence.

“Yes, long ago halfas like yourself used to be common around the ghost zone. But they were unlike you in a few respects.”

“Like?”

“They were born of a human mother and ghostly father,” Clockwork replied.

“What happened to them?”

“They died and became full ghost, or were killed off and prevented from become a full ghost.”

Dani could only nod at this information, letting it process through her brain.

“I thought all halfas became ghost when they died?” she asked.

“Usually, but some who die in peace can skip over that step,” said Clockwork.

“Did they all die peacefully? The ones who never became full ghost?”

“No.” Dani swore she hear all the clocks stop ticking, but that had to be her imaginations, for the moment she let go of her breathe the ticking came back in. “It is possible to kill a halfa without them become a full fledge ghost. It is a cruel, slow and painful death that requires a person to force a halfa to expend all their energy while human. It is not a process I am comfortable repeating.”

“Is that why they aren’t around anymore?”

“No.”

“Well then why?” This was getting frustrating.

“They are forbidden. The last naturally born halfa was too much for both the ghost zone and the human world. So, the ghost zone sealed off all contact with its human counterpart and prevented any ghost from falling in love with a human.” This information made Dani only more curious.

“Who was he?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“No! You can’t just say stuff like, ‘The last natural blah blah blah’ and then not tell me the rest. I need to know now,” Dani pleaded.

“You need to know?”

“Yes! I need to know!”

“Fine, but you will have to join me for dinner. I can’t spend too much time away from the rivers of time, or else it will lead itself down a very curious path.”

Dani followed Clockwork down a series of makeshift halls. Its wall and flooring not meeting correctly, leaving gaps along its seams, replacing the light from above with peaks and spots of neon green. Potted plants long dead and rotted stool tall around them, greeting them every few feet. A grim reminder of once was, or what could have been.

A room full of vines and fire floated below them. The twisted path of walls leading them down into its depths. The room had four fire places, one on each wall, placed directly in its center. A long glass table stood in the middle; Dani could see their reflection in it as they floated down. The vines from the ceiling crawled down towards the fireplace, decorating them in an interlacing web. The blue flames from the fireplace cast deep shadows through. Tea and soup, each its own ghastly color of black greeted them as they took their seats.

“It’s only squid ink,” Clockwork waved away her concern.

She tried a small nibble allowing the cold bitter mixture stained her tongue.

“Pff- I can’t believe you fell for it!” Clockwork had the face of a child now, laughing at her gagging. “This is a soup made for ghost, made from fermented flowers and boiled ectoplasm. No human nor halfa can eat this.”

“Then why did you give it to me!” Dani shoved the soup away, as if it could come alive and choke her with it’s sent.

“To see your reaction. It’s not everyday I get a dinner guest,” he said. Snapping his fingers, a small servant, whose head was covered in an egregious amount of eyeballs came and gave her a hot plate of broccoli cheddar soup. A few quick taste tests proved that it was indeed real and not another prank. Slurping up the last of his meal Clockwork spoke “As we wait for the main meal let’s continue our conversation from above. You were asking another question correct?” Dani was still eating her soup. The creamy cheese broth was filling her up faster than expected, and to not seem rude she had been shoving soup into her month as fast as she could.

“MmmmM? Mmmmmm MM! mmmmmmmMmmMMM?!”

“It can wait till-” Danny covered her mouth and forced everything down in one big gulp.

“Who was it? Who caused the end of natural born halfas? Why was the ghost zone afraid of him? What did he do? You gotta tell me!” her words came flying out of her mouth, at a mile a minute. Taking in this gibberish Clockwork closed his eyes and simply said

“Pariah Dark if you would believe it.” And Dani could, “There is a reason so many older ghost fear halfas, and go out of their way to control them, or kill them is that. Unlike ghost, halfas can grow their powers and evolve new powers. A ghost that breathe fire can only make the fire inside them stronger. While a halfa can learn to breath fire in one breathe and ice in another. Dan is a perfect example, both he and Danny have the ecto-scream ability, but Dan never developed ice powers like Danny did.”

“And that’s because Dan died before he could get those powers?” Dani asked.

“Exactly. Pariah Dark was one of the oldest halfa for his time. Living till his late sixties, using his powers to conquer lands, protect his people, and destroying any ghost from entering his domain,” Clockwork shot Dani a dry smirk. “Truly a hero king.”

“Wait… he was a good guy?” Dani gasped.

“Human Pariah was very different from the one you know now. He was still a strong stubborn mule with his own head stuck up his- but back then, he knew when it was time to back down and when it was time to fight.” Dani nodded along.

“He sounds like he was a different person entirely.”

“Almost. Looking back, you can see all the warning signs, the stress, the responsibility, and the scars gained from every thankless battle. Everything was there, but maybe nobody at the time cared to noticed,” Clockwork looked up from his tea. “But it is too late now.”

A new meal was brought in, this time it was a pasta coated in squid ink. Dani had it once before, with Vlad, the bitter memory mixing with the ink. She poked at it a few times, wondering if this too was more ghost food. The Master of time shook his head.

“Do ghost even need to eat?” She wondered.

“No but I like the taste. An old friend of mine would always say that a person taste in food matched their personalities,” Clockwork said. Dani didn’t know how true that was but took small bites of the pasta.

“So, what did Pariah Dark do that caused the end of all halfas?” she asked.

“He become the ghost king. He killed the last one and took over. He assured himself that he could control the ghost and form the ghost world into one of strict rules and customs. He sought to make his new home more human,” Clockwork took a bite of the pasta, savoring it in his mouth. “In his quest for power he lost the very thing he cherished, his humanity. Without it, he became a different person. Someone that refused to be controlled, or contained. He lashed out at anyone that would take his power away from him, until he was locked away for his crimes. A sad fate of course. Trapped in a tiny box, force to slumber as your work crumbles around you,” He took another bite of pasta. “The Observants and the Ancient Ghost did not want another Pariah to rise again. And in their efforts to combat their fears killed any such child they found until they sealed the ghost zone away from the human world, preventing the act in the first place.”

Dani, engaged by the story hadn’t touched her pasta beyond the few investigatory bites. “What about Vlad, and Danny, and me?”

Clockwork shrugged. “Most of the Ancient Ghost that locked up Pariah are gone. Moved on, destroyed, or gone mad with power themselves. The Observants are not ones to act on their own, so when Vlad became an artificial halfa they deiced to watch him instead. Then Danny came along and they sent their watch dog to control him.”

“What about me?”

“You?”

“Yes me! What about me? It’s always Danny this or Vlad that? Do they not care about me? Why doesn’t anyone care about me?”

“It is better if the Observants don’t care about you. They’re attention can lead to disastrous outcomes.”

While it might be true, it didn’t stop the disappointment.

“The Observants are also fools, who cannot see their town feet, nor can they see a great power even when it comes walking in their front door. It is a mistake they make over and over again.”

“What do you mean?” Dani asked.

“The Observants brushed off Danny until he was twisted to Dan, they have brush off my brother until he became an unstable ghost tyrant, and they will brush you off until you become an issue, but we both know you are too smart to cause that much trouble. A natural born halfa who has her whole life to decide who to become. I wonder what she will pick?” The master of time gave her warm smile. “You will do many great things Danielle, so do not let the options of a few push you down. I can already see that you will far excess the achievements of both Danny and Vlad.”

“In a good way or bad way?”

“A positive way that only a natural born halfa like you can my dear.” Clockwork young child like face seemed to glow with a genuine smile, like non she had seen on him before.

“Did they do the same to you to?”

“Once, put if you don’t take it into account, time can sneak up on even the greatest of beings.”

#Fanfiction #Danny Phantom #Dani Phantom #Clockwork #Old Phicc Phight #phicc phight #writing #fanfic #cannon compliance

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