#Jack or Maddie or both pov you decide

[theshadowrealmitself]

At all times I’m thinking about how Dani is different from Vlad and Danny

Like Vlad’s the ghost of a friend you lost touch with, still technically alive, still technically there, but he haunts your memory, like he can’t move on from the past (and neither can you, that’s why you never picked up the phone and called him, was it guilt? maybe, but you know either way you never would’ve reached out first)

Danny’s the ghost your kid who you don’t understand anymore, he haunts your house, drifting in and out of doorways, he looks like your kid, he sounds like your kid, but he’s,, different. changed. (more guilt, your fault again, it was your portal that keeps doing this, you know he’s only different because he went through something you’ll never experience, but you keep causing)

But Dani? you don’t know Dani, she haunts nothing, she isn’t lingering here, a bitter reminder of something that used to be nice, she’s new, and sudden, and she’s loud, and excited for life (there’s no guilt, but oddly, you still feel like you caused her in some way)

[starwrighter]

"Dad" Dan au

(Pov I haven't read Agit yet) ( I don't mind spoilers though)

I don't think we in the dpxdc fandom play with the canon information that Dark Danny is a product of Danny's ghost half fusing with with Plasmius.

Yeah, he's completely down with mass murder and is really sadistic in the episode but that's not as fun to play with in this context.

He's still merged with Vlad and I'd like to have that bleed into him a bit more than the "oh he's so evil," but him being obsessed with his own Mom like Vlad is a level of weird I'm not willing to touch with a fifty foot pole.

I say, let him have Vlad's obsession with making Danny his son. It's hilarious! Imagine being obsessed with making your past self your son! Dan had no qualms with directly trying to murder the past version of his family. But I love the idea of him first seeing his past self in all his awkward half-ghost glory an obsession kicks into gear with a fury!

Dan hating his own parents with a passion because they're uh, well... His parents. And that stops him from being his own parent! It's so stupid. Dan judging every single one their parenting decisions. All while he himself is still morally detestable.

It's great! Still can't decide if he's just stalking the family like a creep. Or he pretended to be redeemed and Danny with Jazz gaslit their parents into believing they have an older sibling ghosts his from them.

Onto the dpxdc part of this!

Now Dan is just looking for the opportunity to whisk Danny away. Jack and Maddie are interfering with his obsession without even trying to! He'll be trying to feed the kid something edible and they'll be ectoplasm samples in the fridge! Ghost hunting equipment in the open when they know it has a tendency to misfire around their son! Dan doesn't care if they really love Danny. There are harpoons pointed at his kid! Those idiots were one misstep away from accidentally killing their child a second time and Dan isn't having it!

Dan yoinks Danny and fucking books it into the ghost zone. Danny clearly wouldn't be happy with this development (betrayal or surprise you choose!) And Dan is trying his best to get Danny to co-operate. Either with specter deflectors or a deal with Desiree. But Danny's stuck with the guy.

I'm taking advantage of the fact that the Dc universe has absolutely obliterated it's multiverse making pretty much impossible for normal ghosts and humans to navigate. Dan flees with Danny to an iteration of the Dc universe and pokes around for a place to settle.

Metropolis's hero was an annoying goodie two shoes and he'd kill this "lex Luthor" the moment he heard the fucker speak. Plus, both rogues and hero's threw cars like baseballs.

Gotham was flooded with crime but their rouges were just people. Their heroes were just people. Crazy people sure, but Dan could kill them if they stepped out of line.

If only the self proclaimed hero's would stop trying to make grabs at his kid.

[little-pondhead]

The Folly of Men -

Chapter 2: #78866B

AO3 - MASTERPOST

[GENERAL TW: Swearing, lukewarm violence, lots of POV changes, and mild body horror.]

[I sacrificed Damian's POV for more time of Jazz, and everything jumps around a little, but I refuse to feel regret. Notes on the timeline are at the bottom.]

-

Two hours went by way faster than Jazz thought. Between gathering the emergency bags, counting cash, and raiding the lab, she barely managed to herd her parents out the front door on time. Luckily, the two doctors didn't put up a fight, so she still had ten minutes to lock up. Like she said, Jazz hadn't touched the portal besides locking it down. The portal's power supply had been re-routed to an emergency shield, blocking anything from getting in or out. As long as it was still on, that shield would hold.

Jazz blew a strand of hair out of her face as she sat on the front porch for a moment. The door was locked, she had everything, and her parents were waiting like scared kids for her a few feet away. All she had to do was arm the security system using the bug Tucker had sent her. It was relatively easy; she had to take off the casing to the alarm next to their doorbell and use a connector to plug her phone in. It took her a moment, admittedly. It wasn't easy to mash tiny buttons when her hands shook with adrenaline.

While she waited for the virus to load, Jazz glanced at her parents, watching them. They looked lost. A little guilty, perhaps? They both looked gaunt and had unshed tears in their eyes, looking positively miserable for all the world to see. They hadn't said a peep after she had stormed off. Not even when she came back to clamp 'Shade Shackles' onto their wrists, hissing something to them about behaving. The shackles were heavy and bulky, restricting them from their wrists to their elbows and locking their arms together.

The shackles wouldn't hold Jack for long, she knew. Not if he was actually trying to escape. But honestly, the man was probably worse off than his wife. He just kept staring into space, dissociating.

Jazz thought they deserved it. After a few more seconds of fiddling, her phone finally beeped, indicating the upload was complete. She unplugged her phone, packed the cord into one of her bags, and stood again to close the alarm casing. Shutters slammed shut over every entrance into Fentonworks. Maddie flinched at the loud noise.

"And now," Jazz muttered, picking up her bat. "We can't go back." The redhead swung like a professional, slamming her weapon into the alarm, setting it off like a loud pig. She took her anger out on the plastic, smashing the buttons and hardware to bits, sending wires flying. Even the brick beneath the alarm was chipped in many places. Well, if there was one thing her parents did right, it was make a decent bat. The creep stick didn't have a scratch when she finally stepped back.

Wiping sweat from her brow, Jazz took in her handiwork. Getting some extra aggression out of her system slightly cleared her head, and she smiled at the ruined building. The alarm was going off at max volume, and some of the floodlights her parents had installed a few years ago lit up the whole neighborhood with flashing red. If the Fentons hadn't had people’s attention before, they sure as hell did now.

"What'd you do that for?" Maddie said, horrified. Guess she was breaking her silence.

Jazz scoffed, turning to pick her bags up and sling them over one shoulder. "Because while I'd love to burn this place to the fucking ground-"

"You can't!"

"Shut up. It's not up to you, Maddie." Jazz spat. "And it's not up to me. Danny gets to decide what happens to Fentonworks. Whether you like it or not, this is his final resting place. I'm not going to rob him of closure."

Maddie snapped her mouth shut.

"Final resting place?" Jack finally returned to himself as he cried at his daughter's words. Thick tears dripped down his face. Jazz had never seen her father so distraught, not even when Vlad moved away to Europe last year. He looked heartbroken.

Jazz sneered, poking her father in the chest with her bat. "You heard me. That fucking portal, your goddamn pride and joy, is what got Danny killed in the first place. That lab is where he died in front of his friends because you two are idiots who refuse to follow any sort of rule."

"No, that's not-"

"Not what?" Jazz rounded on her mother, who shrunk back in the face of her fury. "Not right? That's not what happened? Is that what you were going to say?"

They were attracting a crowd. People were being drawn out of their houses by the alarms and shouting, staring at the two Fenton parents with mild distaste. Everyone knew their children put up with a lot, even if the doctors were well-meaning. Did they finally cross the line?

"It was hard for us too!" Maddie insisted. "All those late nights, his avoidance of us, how he looked at us! It was horrible."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU KILLED HIM!" Jazz roared. She was as red as her hair now, and the little ectoplasm that ran in her veins made the edges of her form blurry. As if she was a heat mirage. "YOU KILLED HIM, AND NOW YOU'RE KILLING HIM AGAIN BY HANDING HIM TO THE GHOST INVESTIGATION WARD!"

"Th-they just wanted to study him," Jack sobbed. "T-to avoid and prevent any ghost disease breakouts."

"BULLSHIT!" Her voice echoed down the street. It boomed unnaturally, drowning out the sound of sirens that were a few blocks away. A few neighbors were going pale as they realized the severity of the situation. "You two are doctors! You know how science works! You two built and sold weapons to them! Don't pretend to be ignorant and blame it on the fucking ghost flu."

"You disgust me," Jazz continued. She descended the steps and shoved past her parents. Maddie landed on the ground with an oof! "I hope I never have to see you two ever again." She adjusted her bags and started marching toward Nasty Burger, cutting through the crowd like she was fucking Moses. The police were a block away now. She didn't want to be there when they got to the house.

"Where are you going?" Her mother called. Pleaded, really. "We can talk this out!"

Jazz ignored her calls and walked on. When they spotted the murderous look in her eyes, everyone on the sidewalks quickly got out of her way. She had two minutes now, but the others probably wouldn't mind her tardiness. Her phone buzzed, and she snapped it open.

From: TheFuck

4:12pm yo ms evie just blasted ur rant 2 myspace and yt

4:13pm for an old lady she sure has quick fingers

4:13pm dani just showed up at nb we just waitin on u

Rather than replying, Jazz pushed the door to Nasty Burger open and beelined towards the trio's usual table. Tucker was glued to his phone while Sam and Dani mumbled, pouring over several sheets of paper. She tapped Tucker on the head, making him jump.

"I'm already here."

Tucker spun around. "Nocturn's starry underwear, Jazz!" He whined. "You could have just texted me!"

"Didn't feel like it," she shrugged, suddenly feeling very tired. The restaurant was mostly empty, so she threw her stuff into the booth beside them and slid in next to Tucker. The Fenton creep-stick was rested against the edge of the table, acting as a warning. The others had already set aside their bags and weapons in the other booth. Not a single Nasty Burger employee came over to tell them they couldn't have swords at the table, so Jazz didn't bother thinking about it.

Danielle, her free-spirited youngest sister, glanced up at her with a weary smile. She looked rough. The wind had tangled her shorter hair, and her clothes seemed horribly displaced and damp. (She'd passed through a tropical storm half an hour ago.) Dani was swaying where she sat, desperately trying to stay engaged with Sam even though exhaustion was no doubt clawing at her mind.

Jazz felt her mood soften. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that Dani was only a few years old by human and ghost standards. While Danny was also a baby ghost, he had a lot more stamina as a human to make up for it. Flying from New Zealand had taken its toll on the girl.

"Here, Danielle, switch me." Jazz stepped out of the booth, guiding her little sister to sit next to Tucker, who wouldn't mind if the girl fell asleep on his shoulder. Dani didn't protest and conked out almost immediately, soft snores being the only indication she was alive. Sam nodded her greeting and shuffled some papers Jazz's way.

"Here's everything so far," she stated. "We're doing this on paper until Tucker can set up a server."

Jazz flipped through the pages. Each one had a little tab in the corner sticking out so things wouldn't get mixed up. The pages were even color coordinated, just how she liked it. She scanned through sheets of numbers, reports on agent activity, stolen research, manufacturing contracts, and so on. Everything she saw was dated back at least a year, and Sam had taken the time to highlight the discrepancies between all the paperwork. It was the very definition of thorough.

Time for business, I guess, she thought. "To start with, how's the town?"

Tucker got right into it. He turned his PDA around to show her the screen. A tiny map of the town was displayed, with red dots pinned to random spots. "All the monoliths Danny set up are primed and ready. They'll tap into the ley lines in the area to power the ghost shield we set up. I'll set it off when we leave the city borders."

"I called Cujo and Wulf," Sam added. She had a paper version of the town map with more random spots marked in green. "They are rounding up the ghost animals, and I got Grandma Ida to scare a few more human ones into helping. Some of the A-listers are doing a sweep to drive out anyone who stays behind."

"What about the GIW equipment?"

"Dash is getting his football and baseball teams together. Wes is going to load them with a virus before they smash it all to bits."

"Teenage boys are always destructive no matter the species." Jazz remarked dryly. Sam gave her a Look, but she ignored it. Yeah, she was being hypocritical. Who cared? "How's the tracking going?"

Tucker patted the sleeping Danielle on her head. "Thanks to a little miss, I got a lock on his ecto-signature much faster this time. But his aura is big, and we'll still need to raid at least four locations before I can pinpoint him."

Jazz sighed in relief, tilting her head back. Everything was falling into place, and soon, Danny would be safe by her side.

-

Danny woke up with a knife in his chest.

He choked, breathing in the air for the first time in a while. He couldn't feel a heartbeat, but the knife was too close to his core. It was too close to his fractured core. The weapon twisted, digging itself deeper, and he screamed silently in fear. His limbs spasmed, knocking into whoever was standing over him and throwing them across the room with a thud.

Free of the pressing weight, Danny rolled to the side, dropping to the floor and scrabbling at the knife still in his chest. Fabric was tangled with his legs, making it difficult to stand. Had he been placed in a bed? He jerked the knife out, letting it clatter to the ground.

Danny keened as precious ectoplasm leaked from his chest. From his core. Flaps of skin that hadn't healed yet tore back open, ripping fresh scabs and making him lightheaded. Half-formed organs were trying to slip free of his body, and he could barely scoop them back in. His fingers felt thick, and the task seemed endless. What if his core slipped out? How would he know? Could he catch it?

Was this how Dani felt when she was melting? He briefly wondered. A sob tore its way out of his throat. God, everything hurt so much. He tried to inhale, to breathe through the panic attack, but his lungs were either shriveled from disuse or missing. He couldn't breathe. Oh god, he couldn't breathe. The fabric felt like shackles against his legs, stiffing and trapping him further as ice crept through the room. He couldn't feel his lungs, he couldn't feel his heart, he couldn't feel his core. His core was here; he knew it. Where was it? Where was his soul?

Danny curled in on himself, letting go of his skin in favor of shoving a hand into his chest, searching for his tiny core amongst all the ectoplasm and body parts. It was like trying to find a ping pong ball in a pool of Oobleck. The base of his head felt heavy, and he just wanted to cry even more than he already was.

where is it where is it where is it

His body shuddered as Danny started folding in on himself. The heavy feeling got worse. Bones slipped from his joints and pressed oddly against his skin, making it poke out in strange positions. He screwed his eyes further shut as he kept reaching past his ribs. His fingers were ice cold and sent shocks up his spine, making him spasm again. Flimsy organs were slipping past his arm; he tried not to pierce them as they landed back onto the floor with an ugly splat.

Danny kept crying, even as he felt the tips of his fingers finally brush his core. It was ice cold, colder than his skin. He could feel a deep crack in the surface, and he mourned for himself as he pulled his arm back out of his body. He wanted to scream so bad. To yell. To wail. To call for his family and friends and heal in his haunt surrounded by love.

But he didn't have any of that right now. His parents had given him away to the GIW, saying he just needed help, that he just needed to be fixed. That he needed healing. His haunt wasn't safe anymore, and Sam and Tucker had to stay behind to protect the other ghosts. Jazz wasn't even home the last time he checked. And now he was somewhere new, having a meltdown as he lost more blood than he cared to think about. He felt so goopy.

Danny's ears twitched as footsteps rushed towards his room. Was he underground? Everything was echoing. The person he'd tossed sat patiently against the far wall, probably staring at the mess he'd made. He was still whining in a high-pitched kind of way, which was his version of a ghost sob. The door burst open, making him flinch, but he was too weak to defend himself with ice. Danny could only lay there and try to pull himself back together.

-

"The boy is awake."

One of Ra's messengers bowed deeply to him, eyes cast to the floor. The papers he'd been going over were forgotten as he shoved them aside and focused on the messenger.

"I heard he was not due to wake until his organs regrew." Ra's commented lightly.

The messenger's frame tightened up a fraction. "The Demon's Thumb has returned," they intoned. "And has decided to greet the new Demon's Heir."

Ra's hummed, standing up. "I suppose I should have expected this. News does travel quite fast these days." He gestured for the messenger to lead the way, and they stood to do so. The walk from his main office to the medical wing was short as more of his retainers gathered around him. Dr. Vanessa, a thin woman with a vicious fire in her eyes, rushed to join his little circle as they passed the research hall.

"I apologize, sir." She seemed harried, if not a little ticked off. "My calculations must have been off. I-"

"It was not your fault, doctor." Ra's cut her off. "My granddaughter seems to have stopped by for a visit and wanted to pay her respects to the new heir, it seems."

"Ah." Dr. Vanessa's anger at herself vanished, and her face was carefully blank. "In that case, I shall adjust the boy's treatment plan accordingly."

They said nothing else as they approached the boy's room, admittedly at a quick pace. The bind around Ra's heart was urging him forward, to be faster and be by the boy's side when he awoke. The mere knowledge that the boy was in danger made his blood boil as his body revolted against this mind. By the heavens, he couldn't wait for this contract to be fulfilled. He hated magic so much.

Turning the final corner, a loud, keening cry assaulted everyone's ears. Dr. Vanessa flinched. A few guards pulled out their weapons, adopting a more defensive position. Ra's could barely stop himself from rushing through the group during the last few steps. He grits his teeth as another opens the door.

They were treated to the sight of a frost-covered room. The boy was on the floor, tangled in his blankets as he tried to shove unfinished organs, which was a gaping hole that led to nothing. Lazarus water was leaking from his body in copious amounts. His skin was practically translucent, and Ra's could spy his bones shifting unnaturally underneath it all, creating strange angles and planes that did not belong to a human. The boy's eyes were screwed shut, and he was crying even more Lazarus water, but Ra's would bet that his eyes were glowing that same bright green. The keening noise seemed to be coming from him, even though his mouth was shut tight.

Ra's glanced around again. A knife was on the floor next to the boy's head, covered in his blood. Mara al Ghul, his granddaughter and leader of the Demon's Fist, was sitting against the far wall with thick sheets of ice covering her from the neck down, trapping her in place. She was still wearing her mask, so Ra's couldn't see her face, but he knew she wasn't happy. Foolish girl.

Dr. Vanessa glanced at him. "May I approach the patient?" She asked. Ra's nodded his approval, and she cautiously stepped forward, trying to avoid the puddles of bodily fluids.

The doctor knelt, and she adopted a soft look to soothe the boy. "Hello, young man." Her voice dripped with honey. She reached out to tap the boy on his shoulder. "My name is Dr. Vanessa, and I'm-" She got cut off as soon as she made contact. A flash of light blinded everyone, and suddenly, Vanessa was encased with ice. She was essentially a statue now, still with a sweet look on her face.

Interesting. Ra's thought. One of his attendants moved the frozen doctor out of the way so he could walk forward, stopping right at the edge of the Lazarus water.

"Boy," he ordered. "Listen."

The boy's cry petered off at the sound of a human voice and he cracked his eyes open, staring straight at Ra's unblinkingly. He warbled something in a language that grated on everyone's minds. Ra's understood him, though, and switched tongues as easily as he would clothes.

"Boy," he repeated. His voice cracked, and Ra's could feel his granddaughter's burning questions engraved into his back. No one had heard him speak like this before. However, the boy finally opened both eyes wide, which he counted as a win. His interest was piqued. "Boy, listen to me."

The boy's mouth didn't move as he replied, "Hurts..."

"I know. But you are hurting others, and hurting yourself. Let us help."

The boy shivered. "Hurts. Can't. Pain."

"My people will not harm you," Ra's promised. The weight of the promise hung in the air like a bird, and the boy's eyes widened. Making promises in the tongue of the dead was a serious thing. "Calm yourself, and let us help you into bed. You are losing lifeblood. We cannot help if you freeze my people."

A humorless laugh was his reply. "Already dead." The boy informed him. "Almost dead again. It hurts. Please?"

Ra's motioned for the assassins to pick the boy up. He squeezed his eyes shut as hands touched his body but relaxed as one of them handed him his liver like it was a stuffed toy. The ice in the room started melting, releasing the two ladies from their bonds. The attending nurse quickly got to work collecting all the extra things that had fallen out of his body and placing them gently back inside the boy's gaping chest like he was playing Operation.

Once he was situated with all his goopy organs back in his body, the boy tried apologizing to Mara and Vanessa. "Sorry for the cold." He rasped.

Mara glanced at her grandfather, who didn't bother to translate. "I will be informing Mother Soul of this development," she said stiffly before turning and marching out of the room, two assassins at her heel. Dr. Vanessa was likewise escorted out to be taken care of.

Ra's stepped closer to the boy's bed. He didn't pay any mind to the blood, Lazarus goop, and now melting ice that stained his robes; they could be replaced. But he needed answers. He needed to figure out how to get out of this deal with the Gardener. And he needed to know how much power one child could offer him.

"Child." The boy looked lazily up at him. The effort of being awake was taking its toll. "I am Ra's al Ghul, the leader here. May I have your name?"

"Mmm." Some of the boy's bones shifted as he wiggled around, trying to relieve the weird pressure pressing against his skin. Ra's reckoned his whole skeleton might be out of place. "Call me Phantom," he eventually hummed.

Ra's knew that wasn't the boy's true name, but he'd work with it for now. He simply inclined his head in acknowledgment, watching as Phantom started nodding back off to sleep. Oh dear. He couldn't let him rest yet; Ra's needed answers.

"Do you know why you are here, Phantom?"

The boy licked his cracked lips, but still couldn't use his voice. His words were just echoing into the air like he was projecting his thoughts for everyone to hear. "No..."

"You were given to me. By a being who called themselves the Gardener. I am to take care of you."

"In exchange for what?" Phantom was struggling to stay awake. But he instantly caught onto the double meaning, which proved he had a brain somewhere.

Ra's considered his words. "Power," he said simply. "I care for you as if you were my own, and in exchange, you would be the key to granting unimaginable power and knowledge."

Phantom wrinkled his nose but seemed to accept that answer. "Undergrowth is so shady sometimes. But I'll acknowledge the deal between you two. Let me take a quick nap, and then you can let me know what you need..." He trailed off as sleep finally claimed him.

The Demon's Head wasn't pleased that the conversation was cut short, but the bind around his heart had loosened its noose, and he felt it was unavoidable. Now that his foolish granddaughter was out of the way, he would leave and return later. Phantom, while boyish in nature, seemed quite mature once he was lucid enough to talk. Perhaps Ra's wouldn't regret making him the Heir.

-

Jazz was getting antsy. It had been weeks, and they still hadn't found Danny. Raiding GIW bases with just the four of them took a toll on the group, especially since they kept losing supplies (like her beloved creep-stick, RIP). A few times, Danielle had to fly off and keep the peace in other cities, as the ghosts were finding different ways into the mortal realm now that Amity was shut off from the world. She'd taken up Danny's name as Phantom and was exhausted from flying across the country constantly. So, really, it was mostly the three of them.

Luckily, Kitty and Johnny showed up recently, and Dani got them to spread the word about Danny's disappearance and the group's country-wide manhunt. No ghosts had shown up since then.

"We're here," Tucker snapped her out of her thoughts, pulling her to an instant stop. This was one of the four bases Tucker had narrowed their search to. They'd destroyed the other three, gathering evidence and doing what was necessary to defeat the agents inside. And now they were standing in front of the final one, deep inside Yellowstone National Park. It looked like a rest stop with a bathroom, but Jazz knew that the compound was actually underground and most likely ten times the size of the shack.

Sam wrinkled her nose. "This place looks abandoned," She noticed. "At least the others had a front going on. I don't want to ride in a dirty bathroom that's really an elevator. I'd rather go back and fight those creepy clown performers from the pizza place."

"I can just phase us down." Danielle offered.

Jazz shook her head. "Nah, you need to save your energy, kiddo. Who knows how deep this one is."

Tucker crouched, fiddling with his PDA. "This spot does have a front," he told Sam. "It's a rare geocache spot. The only hint for it online that I can find is a shitty riddle that was posted, like, last week."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Uh, here. It says:

Below the keep, just six feet deep, lays a weathered path, born from wrath. A white beast rests, who troubles his guests, so find the key, and beware the banshee."

Danielle snorted. "You're right. That riddle sucks. Who wrote that? Skulker?"

Jazz smiled but considered the words seriously. "I mean, it seems pretty literal if you know the context behind it. Why not search for the cache and see if it has a key?"

"Good idea."

With that plan in mind, the four split up to scan the terrain. None of them had ever been geocaching before, but it was a popular tourist activity around Amity. It shouldn't be that hard, could it?

The answer was yes, it was. The group searched for an hour before Tucker finally gave in and sat on a log to take a break. The log promptly crumbled in half, and Tucker shouted in surprise as he landed ass-first on a hard tackle box.

"Oh, come on!" He groaned. "This log isn't even made of plastic! It's cardboard! Who makes a geocache out of cardboard?? It literally rained last night, my ass is wet now!"

Danielle giggled for the first time in weeks. Jazz ruffled her hair, earning a swat of protest, and then walked over to help Tucker to his feet. Sam swooped in to claim the first dibs on the box as soon as he was clear.

The lock was no issue for her as she simply bashed it open with a sharp rock. Sam seemed eager to find more clues and crowed triumphantly when she dug out a key card still attached to a GIW lanyard. "Fucking finally!"

"Good job, Sam." The four gathered around the tackle box. The card seemed legit, right down to the near-invisible security numbers engraved on the back. Their enhanced eyesight allowed them to spot that detail, which was a blessing when sniffing out fake leads.

Dani shot up excitedly. The fact that they were so close to finding Danny renewed the spark in her eyes. "I'll go look for the entrance!" She sped off, turning invisible to avoid any inside cameras. She found it within minutes, and returned to share the good news.

It was, indeed, in the tiny bathroom.

Sam groaned. "I need to learn to keep my mouth shut."

"I'm fine with that, honestly. You loud-mouthed mother-OW!" Tucker stumbled through the doorway to the bathroom, too slow to avoid the whack Sam had given him.

"That's 'loud-mouthed BITCH' to you," she scolded playfully.

The eldest shook her head and ignored them. The bathroom truly was tiny, and hadn't seen the loving touch of a mop in years. Spiders were making webs in the corners and Jazz was pretty sure something had been using the toilet as a litter box. It looked awful and smelled even worse. A smug look from Danielle told her that the girl had simply stopped breathing, and therefore didn't have to deal with the scent of actual bear shit.

She ignored Danielle, too. Jazz could feel her little sister's smugness radiating as they searched everywhere for the secret card scanner. Jazz couldn't stop her organs at will yet, and the twins always took full advantage of that to mess with her. They eventually figured out that the empty soap dispenser was what they were looking for, and the scanner beeped when they swiped the card. The whole room started to shake as they moved down.

Sam and Tucker stopped their petty back-and-forth as they heard the grinding of the elevator cable. "When was the last time this was used?" Tucker sounded alarmed.

"Probably when they built it." Sam grimaced at the sight of the dirty toilet water moving and pointedly moved to stare at the wall. "I want to set myself on fire right now. This is so gross."

"I'll hand you the match."

"I will douse you in gasoline, Tucker."

"Not the time, guys!" Jazz glanced at the ceiling, where she imagined the cable would connect. It squealed and screeched, but eventually, the world's worst elevator trip came to an end, and the one wall with nothing attached to it split open to reveal the pristine tunnel of a GIW facility. All four of them bolted for the hallway, and not just because they were eager to start trashing the place.

"Danny better fucking be here because I do not want to ride that thing ever again." Gasping, Sam rested her arms on her legs, breathing in stale, underground air. At least it didn't stink.

Danielle giggled again (that was twice now!!) and changed forms. "I'll go scout ahead," she informed them. Jazz bid her good luck before she faded from visibility. She wasn't too worried about the girl. Dani had her radio and knew to avoid GIW sensors as a ghost.

Tucker lay on the ground, staring into nothing while they waited. "My ass is still wet," he commented after a few moments of silence.

"No one needs to know that, Tucker."

"Too bad. I might get a rash from this. Did you know I ran out of underwear last week? I'm on my last pair, and now I'm gonna get a fucking diaper rash from them."

Sam gagged. "That's disgusting. Don't tell me this shit. I'm cursing your bloodline just for that."

"You gotta tell me these things," Jazz chided. "I would have gotten you a new set."

Tucker waved his arm in a 'whatever' motion. "Eh, honestly, it isn't that bad right now. I've done worse. Danny and I once tried to see how long we could go without showering or changing in middle school. I went two weeks before my parents hog-tied me and hosed me down in the front yard. Danny managed to go a full month before you did the same."

Realization struck Jazz and her eyes widened. "That's what that was about? Oh my god, he was yowling like a cat when I caught him, and it took three rounds of shampoo just to wash his hair! He's never forgiven me for it!"

"Sounds about right." Tucker shrugged. "I promised him a ticket to the observatory if he won, but you caught him the day of the showing, and he missed it."

"Why don't I remember this?" Sam demanded.

"It was right before y'all moved to town. It's the incident that caused the 'Fenturd' nickname."

Jazz put her head in her hands and groaned. Sometimes, she really wanted to smack her brother.

Danielle popped back into existence, making all three of them jump. Her mood had drastically changed, and she seemed really uncomfortable. "As interesting as that story is, and I definitely want to hear about it later," she said nervously. "This whole place has already been raided. There's no one here except a couple of soulless bodies. And an open portal. Someone was here before us."

All three shot up. "Lead the way," Jazz demanded. Everyone ran down the still-pristine hallway. Barely any dust had settled, and none of them smelled blood. Who had gotten here first?

They slid to a stop before a big metal door. Dani ducked through it to open it from the other side, and everyone was assaulted with the smell of rotting bodies and days-old blood as soon as it started moving. The door was literally so thick it had trapped everything inside. Including some agents, it seemed. A few bodies were pressed against the door and fell toward them when it opened. Tucker screeched and jumped back.

Sam, a true crime girlie at heart, crouched to examine the closest one. "Their fingers are worn through, almost to the bone," she noticed. "I bet if we closed the door again, we'd find scratch marks."

Dani floated above the corpses. "Yeah, it looks like something cut off all the exits and hunted them one by one."

"But what killed them?"

Sam toed a body until it flipped over. The eyes of the agent had been ripped from their skull, and frostbite warped their skin so bad she couldn't tell what their original features were. Danielle floated closer to Jazz, looking highly uncomfortable. "Danny's ecto is all over the place," she whispered. "He was definitely here."

"Right." Jazz hardened her heart. She was here to find her brother, not feel sorry for brutally mutilated government agents. "Let's get going. Stick to the battle buddy system, and keep your comms on."

They proceeded cautiously, only touching a body if it blocked their path or to find a key card. Tucker remarked that if this was a horror game, he probably would have played it, but living it was so much worse. Every single corpse had its eyes removed, and it was starting to wear on Jazz's mind. Dani mentioned their souls were gone, too.

Eventually, after some detours and backtracking, they reached the labs where Danny would have been held. Rage filled Jazz's chest as she saw ectoplasm mixed in with the bloodstains. A table had been set up to restrain a ghost with specialized handcuffs that had FENTONWORKS printed across them in bright green letters. Shattered glass was scattered across the floor and a few organs were decaying quite rapidly. A scientist was slumped across the table, a small knife still in hand. Jazz kicked the corpse.

Without Danielle telling her, she could feel it. This is where Danny had been tortured. Probably vivisected, too. Those were his organs that were rotting on the floor. His blood stains the ceiling. She was seeing red. She wanted to scream. Her baby brother had been tortured by these horrible people, and she didn't even get to kill them??

Danielle tugged on her arm, quietly bringing her back to herself. "The portal," she reminded Jazz. "It's in the next room."

"Sam, Tucker, see what you can recover from in here." Jazz gritted her teeth and let Dani guide her away from that room. "Dani's gonna show me the portal. Scream if you need us."

"Be careful!" Sam called back.

They left the room, going two doors down to what looked like a near-perfect copy of the Fenton's lab. She stiffened as she spied the portal. It wasn't set into the wall like the original but rather floated a few feet in the air in front of it. It looked like a tear in reality, similar to something Wulf could make, but on a much larger scale. She felt dwarfed by it, and dreaded to think about what could come through a portal this size.

Dani pointed out some blinking computers, the only ones still with power inside the entire compound. "They were working on a new portal," she said. "The Fentons sold their research. I'm not sure how we missed it, but they were really close to getting it figured out."

"This isn't from the GIW?" Jazz asked, gesturing to the behemoth of a disaster still swirling next to them.

"No, I don't think so," Danielle zoned out. Her eyes glowed, and she looked at things Jazz couldn't see. "This was opened from the other side. I think someone broke in, took Danny, and left after killing everyone."

"Someone from the Ghost Zone?" Jazz frowned. She bent over the computer, trying to click around for security footage. "But who do we know that is strong enough to kill everyone so physically? Vlad swore to never interact with us again, even if it was life or death. Undergrowth would have left plants behind, Nocturn doesn't like killing in the mortal realm, and Vortex can't sustain himself underground. None of the normal rogues are strong enough, either. Unless they got Desiree to help?"

"Nah, she may be a bitch, but she refuses to participate in murder of any kind. Plus, she's a neat freak. This isn't her work. It isn't Ghost Writer either; he doesn't like writing horror stories."

"What about Frostbite or Pandora?"

Dani wrinkled her nose. "Maybe? Frostbite is a pacifist who is more likely to rescue Danny without killing anyone. And the portal is too small to let Pandora through. She could've sent her warriors, though."

"It was Danny."

Jazz glanced up from the computer. Sam and Tucker were standing in the door, looking pale.

"We pulled recordings from the labs dating back two months. Danny was the one who killed everyone."

"...Pardon? It's only been a few weeks since he disappeared."

"I don't know." Tucker frantically typed away at his PDA, pulling up the downloaded footage and shoving it in Jazz's face. "But it's definitely him. I pulled their files, too. They were looking into time travel, Jazz. The day Danny showed up in their records, Operative K and Operative O were also logged in, even though they were 100% still in Amity during that time. They suddenly added on the time travel stuff a day later."

Jazz zoned out, numb to Tucker's near-hysterical rant. She just watched the tiny screen blankly as Danny was tortured over and over again but refused to give up the secrets the agents were asking for. Every time he refused, he was punished by having his organs taken away and put into jars for study. Then he'd be pumped full of pure ectoplasm, and just like Prometheus, he was back the next day with fresh organs for harvest. The dates in the recording went back weeks. Way before Danny disappeared.

Dani sobbed and looked away from the screen. Jazz couldn't even blink. The turning point in the experiments was when they brought in a little girl, a human girl, in front of Danny. The girl was about five, probably homeless or kidnapped, with pretty blonde hair done up in pigtails. Jazz noted she had been crying and had the number '27' pinned to her shirt. Danny was wary, sure it was a trick until he spotted something off-screen that they couldn't see. He jerked forward, straining to reach the girl, panic in his eyes.

But he couldn't reach her. Two scientists simply wrote down some observations before nodding in the same direction Danny was looking. Without asking a single question, the agents killed the little girl in front of Danny.

Jazz's hands shook as tears filled her eyes. Danny, her sweet baby brother, looked on in horrified shock as the cameras switched. Agents dumped the girl's body in a barrel of ectoplasm and waited patiently until a blue wisp rose from it. Then, using a Fenton peeler, they zapped the child's soul without mercy. Normally, the peeler stripped the disguise off a ghost to reveal their real form. But to a fresh soul as weak as that?

Her soul was burned into nothing.

Danny started screaming and imploded in on himself like a star.

The camera blacked out for a few moments, flickering between glimpses of her brother and blackness. She barely recognized him. His form had warped into something unrealistic. Something straight out of a movie. He was impossibly large now, barely able to walk on two legs when he stood amongst his broken restraints. His chest was a gaping cavern, and when he turned towards the camera, she could spy his tiny core exposed to the world. It was acting like a black hole, pulling at Danny's own skin and flesh like it was trying to suck him in. It was beautiful and strange in a horrible way.

He was too fast for the camera to really keep up with, but Tucker had doctored it to slow down each frame. Danny's face was splitting in two from a silent scream. His hair was flowing wildly, falling over his body, so it looked like he had a white, shaggy cloak.

His hunt never stopped. He didn't slow or hesitate to pounce on everyone he saw. His body was stained red from the gouging of people's eyes, which was the fastest way to reach a human soul. The group watched in horror as Danny leaned over his victims, opening his splitting maw even wider and devouring every soul he could, ensuring that they wouldn't even get peace in death. The churning of his core was getting worse, and at some point, he was spreading ice with every step he took. It looked like he was really struggling to stay standing by the time a few scientists were the only ones left in the compound. Jazz was afraid of what would happen if he collapsed completely. Would his core devour him?

At some point, the cameras really did die, and the screen went dark. Jazz realized she was crying, and moved to give the PDA back to Tucker.

"There's more," he shook his head. "But we didn't watch that far ahead because an outside force added it when I downloaded everything."

Like he said, the screen crackled back to life after a moment. The group realized it was from Danny's point of view. All the agents were dead, and he was stumbling through the halls in a daze, unable to keep his bigger form. He finally made it to the room they were in now, probably drawn to the familiarity of the lab layout. Before he could reach the unfinished portal, however, the freestanding one opened and out stepped a very familiar figure.

"Clockwork?" Jazz muttered, surprised.

As if hearing his name, Clockwork looked directly through Danny, straight at her. "The flow of time has been disrupted." He said softly. "I'll take our young Guardian here to a safe place. We have much to talk about, Miss Jasmine. You, too, Samantha, Tucker, and Danielle. I'll see you soon."

Then, the older ghost's focus switched back to Danny, and it was like he'd never spoken to them at all.

"Daniel," he coaxed. "It's time to go."

Danny groaned but stumbled forward and passed out in Clockwork's arms, promptly ending the video.

Silence descended over the room. Jazz could hear blood rushing through her body, and her heartbeat was pounding in her ears. She thought over what they'd found in the facility, about the state of Amity Park, her parents, and most importantly, her brother. About how he was tortured to the brink of insanity and how he still found it in his heart to love others. To protect them. To care and grieve for someone he'd never met. He must be feeling so much hurt.

Deciding on the next step was easy.

"We need to find Clockwork."

-

[I realized the timeline is kinda confusing, and I promise it'll all match up in the next chapter, but here's a chart on what it looks like right now so it's easier to understand.]

[The top one is the timeline Ra's and the rest of the DC characters are on. The middle is Jazz and the others. Danny is separate from both timelines right now because of the Time Medallion that Dan forced into his core. Right before the start of the story, which is marked in bright colors, Danny and the agents he's traveling with get involved in a time anomaly and are transported two months into the past. The agents still take him to the Yellowstone compound, but the incident makes the GIW speed-run their research on the Ghost Zone and, now, time travel. The timelines sync up again when Tucker finds the video from Clockwork. The total amount of time that has passed since the start of the story to the sync-up is about three weeks.]

[millkberry]

Hi Maddy, my question is, do you think you'll win MCCR?

well we’d have to get in in the first place 😭

honestly though, i think we’ve done really well on our application :) it’s not something i’ve spoke about much publicly but i’m just so fucking proud of my team and the video !!! i think we’ve got a lot of good traction, especially considering the fact that we’re a lot smaller in numbers than lots of the other teams. i’m just happy we got this far to begin with :D

anyway i haven’t answered your question yet, i’ve just been rambling so here you go:

i feel like our team could honestly do pretty well, but with me on the team i don’t think we have a chance of winning. i’m genuinely so bad guys - like i’m gonna fuck us over but at least it’ll be an entertaining pov!

jack (pyro) and linc are both actually really good at minecraft !! they’re great pvp guys and also really good at parkour (i’ve watched those two spend hours on one jump, they’re too stubborn to give up) i’m not sure how sina’s gameplay is, but i’m sure it’s better than mine lol. sina also knows the games super well too!!

but yeah, i genuinely think i will let the team down which is a bit sad but oh well we move. i still think we could do pretty well, i can see the others doing well in individual scoring too :)

sorry for such a long answer, i’ve decided tumblr is my place for long rambles. hope you don’t mind <3

[lexosaurus]

Going Angst Week 2021: Family/Friends

Read: [1: Birth] [2: Instinct]

Continuation of the No One Knows AU plotline.

---

Everything had changed since the accident. The biological differences were obvious. He glowed, his hair inverted, his eyes turned green, he had ectoplasm running through his veins, he was cold, he didn’t need to breathe as much in human form—the list went on. 

But the psychological ones were easily more terrifying.

And nothing scared him more than the way his friends and family were treating him as of late.

He knew that deep down he would never be able to match the way he acted when he was fully human. But that didn’t mean that his heart didn’t skip a beat every time someone shot him a worried glance, every time someone asked if he was alright, every time he caught himself doing something wrong. 

He wasn’t human anymore. He wasn’t even sure what he was now, and Vlad seemed to have too much fun emotionally torturing him to give him a straight answer.

“You up for a movie tonight?” Tucker asked, leaning across Danny’s desk. 

“Hell yeah,” Sam said. “My house?”

“Oh, you know me too well. What do you think, dude?”

Danny realized that both teens were looking to him for an answer.

He wanted to stay home. Hanging out with either of them meant there was a chance they would see him slip up, and he couldn’t have that.

“Sure.” He hoped his voice didn’t sound too pained.

“Perfect!” Tucker clasped a hand down on his shoulder.

Danny tried not to duck away.

“So we’ll go to Sam’s after dinner. I can bring snacks. Anything you want in particular?”

The thought of eating anything was nauseating. “No. I’m fine.”

“Alright, I’ll just bring the usual then.”

But Danny should have known that something was up. After all, it had been a while since they’d done a movie night. And lately, Sam and Tucker had been acting...oddly. 

Well, that was nothing new. Danny thought that as time went on, they’d forgive him for being a bit jumpier than usual and everything would go back to normal. 

Except, of course, it didn’t.

The past few weeks had been especially hard. It seemed like they constantly had something to say, but never did. The worried glances had only increased, and the silent conversations seemed to only grow.

Danny had been trying his best to act normal, act human, but it seemed like the more he tried, the worse they’d get.

So of course, in between the first movie and second, the elephant in the room finally stomped all over Danny’s metaphorical floor.

“Hey, Danny.” Sam glanced over at Tucker. A moment passed between the two before Sam nodded and turned back to Danny. “We really need to talk to you.”

Dread pooled in his stomach. He knew exactly where this was going. “I can start the next movie if you want?”

“No, Danny. Listen, can you just sit down for a second?”

His ghostly instincts were begging him to run, but his human side forced him to sit down.

“Listen, we know that...well, Jazz told us about the lab accident.”

Danny could have sworn his heart stopped beating.

“She said it was pretty serious? And she was surprised that you hadn’t told us?” Sam fidgeted with her black rings. “We didn’t say anything to you because we wanted you to be the ones to confide in us.”

“That and we didn’t want you to get upset that we were talking to Jazz about you,” Tucker interjected.

“Right, and Jazz only told us because she was worried. And honestly? We’re really worried too.”

Any oxygen left in Danny’s body was sucked out of his throat like a vacuum.

They’d found out. They knew the truth, they knew he was a freak of nature half ghost and they were going to out him, they were going to tell his parents, they’d tell the school counselor, and Danny would have no one and he’d have to run away to become Vlad’s apprentice and he’d change, he’d be corrupted, he wouldn’t make it out alive.

“I’m just wondering why you didn’t say anything?” Sam asked, her violent eyes brimming with concern.

“I…” Danny’s mouth felt like it was lined with cotton. He tried to swallow, but it was like swallowing sand. “I didn’t want you to worry is all.”

“Yeah, and we get that,” Tucker said carefully. “But, I mean, we’re your best friends. And dude, you’ve been...well…”

At Tucker’s helpless glance, Sam took over. “You just have been acting really off lately.”

“Sorry.”

“No!” Sam nearly leapt out of her seat. “Danny, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. I mean, hell, if I nearly died in a lab accident I’d be acting off too. It just, you know, it explains a lot. It must have been really terrifying.”

Danny didn’t trust himself to say anything. 

How much of his personality had shifted because of Phantom, and how much had shifted because of the accident? Were his ghostly instincts really creeping up that much into his human form? 

Would he ever be the same again?

Did they know?

“Is there anything you wanna talk about?”

“We’re all ears, dude.”

He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t say a word. Not without outing himself as Phantom, and that was bound to backfire on him in the worst way possible.

Oh god, he was acting too suspicious. He needed to save this.

“I’m good.”

There was a beat of silence.

Sam leaned forward. “Danny...I don’t mean to sound like Jazz, but bottling stuff up isn’t—”

“I’m fine!” Danny snapped. “I didn’t say anything and I’m sorry, but you know it’s not every day like you’re nearly electrocuted to death in your parents’ ghost portal.”

“Is that what happened?” Sam’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my god, Danny.”

“Holy shit,” Tucker agreed.

Danny threw his arms out. “Ta da! I survived, I’m fine. Nothing to talk about.”

“Danny, I—”

“No.” His tone was final. “Drop it, seriously.”

Another beat of silence passed, and then Sam finally sighed. “Fine, but I’m telling you as your friend that if you ever need anything, we’re here for you.”

He wished he could have trusted those words. But he knew they were nothing more than a farce.

It would have been cruel to hold onto false hope.

Still, he tried to smile. “Thanks.”

Even though he knew he hadn’t fooled anyone.

---

Maddie’s POV

Maddie watched her son from across the kitchen table, just as she’d done every night for the past several weeks. Quietly, as inconspicuous as possible, always watching.

Ever since the lab accident, he’d been….different. Jack hadn’t noticed, but to Maddie the changes were far too obvious. The dropped spoons, the flash of green behind his eyes, his limbs losing visibility without him even noticing, their ecto-inventions that always seemed to go off around him.

One day, she even saw him walk through his bedroom door.

At first, she thought it was just a simple case of possession. But there were telltale signs of possession, one’s that Jack, for all his enthusiasm, always failed to take into account.

Sure, Danny’s eyes flashed green every so often, but most of the time they were blue. Human blue.

And then there was his personality. In cases of possession, the ghost would be completely controlling the body. But in Danny’s case, he was still very obviously Danny. Still the sweet boy she always knew him to be, but he was just...different. Jumpier. Scared.

Like he knew he was living a lie.

And then, just a few weeks after Danny’s run in with the portal, a new ghost appeared. 

Of course, Maddie didn’t make the connection at first. The ghost was obviously new, and didn’t seem to have a grasp on its powers. Its fighting was laughable, its ectoblasts nearly always missed, and it seemed to constantly forget about its core powers.

Not to mention, its hair was white. Danny had black hair.

But then the ghost gave itself a name: Danny Phantom. And that was when Maddie decided to take a second look at it.

It was Danny’s height and build, its voice sounded similar to Danny’s, it seemed to know all of Danny’s classmates, it used a Fenton thermos, it wore a hazmat suit that looked eerily similar to the ones in their basement closet—not to mention that Danny’s hazmat suit had gone missing recently.

On its own, one small correlation didn’t mean anything. But when the little similarities kept piling up, then Maddie had to draw some sort of conclusion.

Just what was the conclusion though?

The Danny across the table had gone to school like any other human child, he’d eaten his meals like anyone else, he’d hung out with his human friends, he talked with his human family. On paper, he seemed normal.

Human.

But his grades were in a downwards spiral, Jazz had expressed concern about him and his friends, he’d been breaking curfew, and there were times when she’d peak into his room at night to find him gone.

He could have been just experiencing trauma from the accident. Maybe he was rebelling. There were so many explanations for his behavior that didn’t involve ghosts.

But then he’d do something ghostly or a weapon would beep around him or Phantom would fly nearby, and her red flags would be raised once again.

Maddie learned long ago to trust her red flags.

The Danny across the table took a bite of his salad, and his face immediately scrunched up.

Maddie felt sick.

He swallowed, and Maddie could see his eyes watering. “Is there something wrong with the lettuce, Mom?” 

She feigned innocence. “Hmm?”

“I don’t know,” he prodded a carrot on his plate. “Something just seems off.”

“Tastes fine to me,” Maddie said. “I just bought this lettuce today. Jazz, is yours okay?”

“Yeah,” she said.

Maddie suppressed a grin. She could always count on her “facts and research only” daughter.

“It could be the dressing? I used a new brand tonight. It’s healthier than the other stuff.” 

That, or it was the small amount of blood blossoms she’d blended into the vinaigrette. 

“Maybe.”

But it couldn’t end here. She needed to know. She was a scientist, she had to see the experiment through.

“Eat the rest of your salad, honey. I’ll buy the other brand tomorrow, okay?”

Danny carefully put another forkful of salad into his mouth. He gave a small wince, but swallowed. 

“Good boy,” she said. “I have fudge in the fridge for when you’re done.”

“Oh, fudge?” Jack exclaimed. He shoveled the rest of his salad into his mouth. With a mouth full of food, he said, “Thanks, Mads! You’re the best!”

“You’re welcome sweetie!”

Jazz made a face. “Gross, Dad.”

Jack laughed and bantered back at his daughter, but Maddie had already tuned out of the conversation. Her only focus was on Danny, whose face was now just too flushed to be healthy. Still, he forced himself to eat.

There was just no question. No doubt about it.

No matter how Maddie looked at it, this was proof enough.

Danny Fenton wasn’t human. The portal hadn’t nearly killed him, it probably did kill him. And now here he was, pretending to still be a part of the family while using Phantom to distract them from the fact that he was a ghost.

It was a truly elaborate ploy. And if Maddie was anyone else, his plans probably would have worked.

But she was Maddie Fenton. She had a PhD in ectobiology. She’d been researching ghosts for twenty years.

Dinner ended, and the children went upstairs to do homework. Although, if Maddie looked, she was sure Danny wouldn’t actually be in his room. And if she went outside, like she’d done in nights past, there was no doubt she’d see Phantom soaring through the skies.

But she knew. She knew. She knew.

She slipped a white business card out of her jacket pocket, grabbed her cell off the counter, went into her bedroom, and dialed the number. 

It rang once, then twice, then stopped. A deep voice sounded from the other line. “Maddie Fenton? I figured I’d be hearing back from you. Have you made your decision?” 

“Yes.” Her voice was mechanical, as if she’d only called about a malfunctioning weapon. “I have. I agree to the partnership.”

“Excellent. And the terms are to your liking?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. We’ll be in touch tomorrow to sign the official contract. Will your husband be involved in this, or are you working alone?”

Maddie closed her eyes. “The contract will be for my name only.”

“All right, then. We’ll talk tomorrow. You won’t regret this.” 

“I know.”

---

<previous / next>

[sapphireswimming]

11?

thanks for the fanfic day ask!

11. What’s a fanfic idea you haven’t done yet? 

I posted a screenshot of my wip file here but to dig a little deeper into some of those Danny Phantom documents, I haven’t yet done:

AU where ghosts looks like humans outside of the Ghost Zone and Jazz stumbles upon a full ghost Danny trying to hide in an alleyway one night, and convinces him to come home with her since he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. He has to survive living with the Fentons and meeting the few people Jazz regularly brings over to the house - her unlikely friend Spike, Sam and her best friend Tucker, the football players she tutors, and Valerie who is honestly just there for the tech after her father loses his job because of ghosts

Fully human Dance AU that had super fleshed fleshed notes for a multi chaptered fic (and I did actually do some art for it while I was still working at the dance studio but I’m not sure all of it got uploaded to tumblr?)

Fic where the Fentons rescue a nearly-unconscious Dani from a ghost attack, bring her home, and then she has to deal with waking up with the over-enthusiastic Fentons hovering over her when waking up because sure they’re friendly now while they think she’s human but she doesn’t trust how long this will last

15 pages of 100 word drabble wips

Fic about the ramifications of people dying in Amity Park after the Accident, and the increasing number of ghosts that people recognize coming out of the GZ

10 pages of alternating scenes about the Fenton Family relationships from Jack and Vlad’s perspective in a weird sort of Father’s (and Not Father’s) Day fic

plot bunny adapted from jeanette9a: Danny runs away when he first gets his ghost powers. He and Vlad have never met. But Vlad finds Danny lurking around in the forest around his castle. When he happens to observe the boys struggles with his powers, he decides to help Danny. But after a while it's time for the reunion. And that turned out to be a sticky situation when your step dad wants you to kill your own dad. What would you do?

French Future Fic (FFF) - 20 pages of notes for what would be my long chaptered fic. Where Danny accidentally kills Sam via friendly fire in a fight with Vlad and, devastated, runs away to another continent, refusing to contact friends or family for years as he tries to put the ghost stuff behind him. But it doesn’t work because ghosts are everywhere. And Tucker, who has never given up on trying to catch up with Danny, joined a branch of the GIW and ends up developing tech and trying to train a better generation of agents. When he finally meets up with Danny, he convinces him not only to not run again, but to come see what he makes of the new recruits. Which ends up with Danny working as an unofficial all-knowing consultant for the new team while trying to repair his relationship with Tucker and stay out of the GIW’s clutches

A few more Gray Ghost Week prompts which were going to be more in the Nerves (Ghost Hunting Camp AU) and For the Sake of the Song (1920s Superphantom crossover) universes, plus a Hunger Games AU where Valerie knows she shot Danny, she knows she did, but instead of crumpling to the ground to the sound of a cannon, he turns, locks eyes with her, and starts running her way -

58 pages of ideas that haven’t gotten expanded out enough to get their own docs yet

Move-In Security of Amity Park (or MISAP), a new city program courtesy of Mayor Foley. Outside pov, Post PP.

Belated bday fic about Valerie and her fractured relationship with the A Listers (beginning of the wip posted here)

Alex Rider crossover where they become international pen pals for a school project and wonder if they can vaguely vent about some of their respective problems to each other without spilling secrets only to realize that they may both be dealing with some truly awfully ridiculous stuff (wait so you’ve been nearly killed several times by the guy who wants to adopt you as his son?? me too???)

40 pages of more ideas for Apricity, probably including enough complete sentence-stories to post more chapters (note to self...)

14 pages of ideas for “short” things that wanted to grow longer than I had capacity for at the time, apparently

Fic where Danny is battling Spectra in Fenton form, the Fentons barge in to save him, and Spectra realizes just how much misery she could feed off of if she targets them instead to the point that they’ll only get out alive if Danny outs himself by using his powers

6k worth of notes of a 1920s Swing AU superphantom crossover of epic proportions co-created with Chynna (I don’t know what your username is these days ahaha)

Fic where Danny was being held prisoner in some abandoned ghost-proofed warehouse? And gets rescued by a teenager who has absolutely no clue what is going on but has to follow the orders of a half starved kid talking about ghosts in order to get them both out of there before it’s too late

Danny in a hospital because his ghost half is killing him and no one can figure out why

AU where Maddie worries about Jazz who sounds like she’s having full blown conversations with her dead brother when she thinks no one else is around to hear

Ambitious idea I don’t feel up to writing exploring a Danny who hates the fact that after his growth spurt he starts to look and sound like Dan. To the point that he takes down the mirror in his room and stops talking unless absolutely necessary. Sam and Tucker, of course, understand, but no one else does.

Plus some oneshots I wanted to expand into full fics (Nerves, Who I am, Introuvable, etc). And the few chaptered fics that haven’t been updated in a while because I haven’t written anything in a while whoops (Teenage Ghost Punk, Footballer’s Wife, UltraViolet)

Plus the other, you know, 50 documents of superphantom and other fandom wips that I wish I wish I wish I could write haha

[monotype-on-phantom]

Alright, it’s time to talk about a character you’ve likely all been waiting for…

Yup. Old bait breath and everyone’s favorite rich, creepy dimwit.

Vlad certainly has gotten popular over the years, and not without good reason. He’s a superb villain, and the show wouldn’t be the same without him. He’s funny, threatening, and interesting. All the things you need in a good villain. In particular, what’s always made him so interesting to me is the fact that he’s an absolutely disgusting man, but it’s hard not to sympathize with him somewhat and see how he came to be that way.

The writers really made an excellent call with this character, particularly for the character-driven show we all wanted. Instead of making the main antagonist some all powerful ghost bent on world destruction/domination like Pariah Dark, Danny’s archenemy is the one person who’s more similar to him than anyone in the show.

Until Danielle comes into being, Vlad is the only other half-ghost in the world (as far as we know), and he came into being in a way very similar to Danny. He used to be a normal college student who was friends with Jack and Maddie, but when they attempted to create their first proto-portal into the ghost zone, it literally blew up in Vlad’s face.

The circumstances following this, however, are quite different from when Danny ended up with his powers. For starters, he doesn’t come out of the accident in ghost form. Instead, he comes out with a ghostly disease, and he’s stuck in the hospital for what I believe was 7 years. He never spoke to his friends again (likely shutting down any attempts they made to reach out to him), and spent all those years stewing with regret and resentment.

There are many reasons the accident happened. Jack flipped the switch, Maddie didn’t check the calculations before testing time, and Vlad stood with his face right in front of the portal. As far as Vlad’s concerned, though, the accident was entirely Jack's fault, and as a result, he lost the life he could’ve had.

He had feelings for Maddie, but while he was hospitalized, she married Jack. (Vlad mentions that he had his powers for 20 years, and Maddie mentions that she and Jack have been married for 18. Two years. Ouch.) Now, Jack and Maddie have a happy family and are living out their dreams while Vlad is alone. His powers gave him the opportunity to steal and embezzle an enormous amount of money, which is a bit of a consolation prize, but hardly enough to take away the sting of what he lost.

From Vlad’s perspective, Jack is living a stolen life.

Maddie would’ve probably still ended up with Jack had the accident never happened. She seemed pretty smitten with him even back then, and every instance where Vlad gets a chance with her ends with her rejecting him for Jack. Since the accident did happen, though, Vlad has no way of knowing how things would’ve turned out. With all those years in the hospital followed by more years of loneliness and isolation, he’s managed to convince himself that had it not happened, Maddie would be his wife and that would be his family and his life. And he’s determined to get back what was stolen from him, no matter the cost.

It really is hard to not understand why he’s turned out like this. What he went through was unfair, and it left him miserable and alone. As far as we can see, he doesn’t have any family, and the Fentons are the only friends he’s got. Even then, the Fentons slowly each develop a hatred for him, until the only one who still cares for him is Jack, the person he hates more than anyone.

None of that can excuse his actions, though.

In his first episode, he kidnaps and traps Danny, and uses Jack’s body to terrorize people and try to turn people against him. We also know that he makes multiple attempts on Jack’s life not just in this episode, but over the course of the series. He regularly beats the hell out of Danny and threatens his loved ones in order to try and control him. In Maternal Instinct, he strips Danny of his powers and sends murderous ghosts to kill him because Maddie rejected him.

This leads to what actually is a pretty scary scene of Danny running for his life through the woods, in the middle of the night, all alone, completely powerless to defend himself.

I’m not even joking. The animation, the rarely used pov shot, Danny’s heavy breathing (expertly acted by David Kauffman), the intense music. We obviously know the main character’s not going to die here, but there really is a sense of panic. This is just a kid, and now, he’s not even a kid with ghost powers. His friends don’t know where he is or that he’s in trouble, and the only people for miles are his mom (who’s sound asleep, as far as he knows) and Vlad himself. He has to keep running for three hours until he gets his powers back, and Vlad even straight up lied to him about giving a five minute head start.

Yet, in spite of all of that, Vlad still fully believes that Danny would eventually want to come live with him. That both he and Maddie will soon come to their senses and see him as a husband and father in Jack’s place.

It’s so easy for Danny to manipulate him here, even with Vlad knowing full well Danny has every reason to hate him right now. Honestly, this is a stronger testament to Vlad’s mental state than any other moment I can think of.

Vlad has convinced himself that this family is rightfully his, and no matter what awful things he does, it’s all justified as a means to an end. And that’s what makes him so terrifying. He can beat and nearly murder innocent children, he can steal, he can kidnap people, he can perform experiments on ghosts and humans alike, and in his mind, he is still not a villain. He’s just seeking justice for what Jack clearly stole from him. He’s so deep in this belief, that he can’t seem to fully understand or accept anyone acting differently from how he wants them to.

Ironically, most of the times he gets involved lead to the Fentons growing closer instead of being torn apart. Maternal Instinct is an important bonding episode for Danny and his mom, as is The Million Dollar Ghost for him and his Dad. He’s even the primary antagonist of Secret Weapons, which has Danny and Jazz growing closer after all secrets are out between them.

So he starts making replacements.

At this point, Maddie has rejected him, Danny has rejected him, and even Jazz has rejected him. The only reason he’s allowed anywhere near the Fenton family is because Maddie doesn’t know how far he’s gone and Jack still obliviously adores him.

So he decides he’ll make artificial replacements for the Fentons that will behave the way he wants. Ones that he can have complete control over. He creates a hologram of Maddie and attempts to clone Danny (and implies that Danny will be disposed of once that experiment is complete.) He actually creates multiple clones, and tosses their lives aside because they aren’t “perfect.” He wants an exact copy that does what he wants, and the reason Maddie only gets a hologram is probably because he’s still hoping to win the original.

While Vlad doesn’t appear again in until season 3 after this, and season 3 pretty thoroughly butchers his character, it’s still worth noting that Vlad never shows any type of friendliness toward Danny after this. He’s given up on Danny, and likely on Jazz since he was never quite as interested in getting her anyway. In D-Stabilized, we see he hasn’t given up on the idea of cloning Danny, and he obviously still wants to steal Maddie. By force, if necessary.

In spite of all of this, though, he’s still the only person who can really understand what Danny’s going through as a half-ghost. He’s the only other one in existence. To top that off, Vlad is constantly playing with Danny’s mind, trying to convince him that really, the two of them are exactly the same in every way, and Danny’s just in denial.

The audience, of course, can see how different the two of them are. Danny’s actions throughout the series are mostly altruistic and selfless, while Vlad only cares about himself and is willing to hurt anyone to get what he wants. That doesn’t prevent the seeds of doubt from growing in Danny’s mind, though, and TUE likely doesn’t help matters any.

I’ll say it again, Vlad is a disgusting human being, but Danny probably wonders, how would he have turned out had he been through what Vlad had?

We could’ve had a villain who was just some big bad monster, but instead we got a very complex one who complements the hero in a lot of ways. And it’s fascinating! Unfortunately, we never get to see things go all the way because the series was cut short, but there’s so many possibilities.

Plus, he actually has some hilarious moments, so how can you not love him? He might not be a personal favorite, but I wouldn’t want the show without him.

[mendesarmy1998toronto-blog]

Beneath The Stars Part 2

When we arrived at the party, we all got out the car, the house was huge, it had a balcony hanging on the front, there were a few people on there, it had a big garden out the front, many people were out here, there was loud music coming from inside, aswell as cheers of all the people partying in there. We all walked up to the house and entered, the smell of alcohol lingering in the air, there are so many people in here, there’s a big room full of people dancing, the kitchen is full of people drinking, playing beer pong, the living room had a big circle of people in the middle of playing spin the bottle, but there was one thing that caught my eye. He was tall, he had a mop of brown, fluffy, curls, his eyes are a beautiful golden brown, his jawline is perfect, his smile was amazing,his teeth are perfect, shiny and white, he had pink, plump lips, he was wearing a grey shirt that was clinging to his toned chest, he had big biceps, he had a red cup in his large hands, there is a silver ring on his middle finger, he was, beautiful. I was pulled from my daze, when Maddie pulls on my arm, she leads me to the kitchen, “Mack, what do you want, vodka, tequila” She yells over the music, “I’ll take a coke”, i yell back, “no, you’ll take a vodka, with me, you gotta loosen up” she tells me, “fine” i glare at her. We drink for a while, but Madds wonders off and leaves me in the kitchen with a bunch of drunk people i don’t know, i get bored and decide to go outside and get some fresh air. I walk out the back to see nobody out there, there is a big porch with a table and chairs and a couple of couches, there is a huge garden full of lush, green grass, i look up to the sky and see its full of sparkling stars. I decide to go and lay on the grass and watch the sky. I lay here for a while, looking up at the stars, its so peaceful, although there is muffled music and cheers in the background, its still so beautiful. “This spot taken” i hear a soft voice ask, i look up and see the guy from earlier, “n-no” i stutter, he smiles that amazing smile, “mind if i take it” he asks, his voice is so calm and soothing, “sure” i smile, he lays himself right next to me, our arms brushing together. We lay there in silence, for awhile, just looking up at the sky above us. “So, what brings you here” he questions, “My friends, they said i need to get out and loosen up.” i laugh, “we got here and then after a bit they both wondered off” i tell him, “same” he laughed, “really” i say, “yeah, why do you act so suprised” he laughs, “i don’t know, i just, you seem so, i don’t know” i stuttered over my words, he laughs, his laugh sounds so beautiful, i could listen to it forever. “i just seem so, what” he says, smiling, “i don’t know"i laugh, “You have a cute laugh” he smiles, “thanks” i blush. Something about this boy, i couldn’t put my finger on what it was but, he was so kind, so funny, and i felt completely comfortable around him, almost like i knew him forever. “i never caught your name"he states, “i never caught yours” , i laugh, he lets out a little chuckle, “i’m Shawn” he says, “Mackenzie” i tell him “beautiful” he barely whispers, i don’t know if i were supposed to hear it, but i did, “what”,i ask, “nothing"he whispers, i look back up to the sky. We layed there for hours, talking and getting to know each other. Turns out Shawn plays the guitar, he loves to sing, he loves John Mayer, we had so much in common. We didn’t realize how long we’d been out here for, it was almost 1am. We were laying in silence for a while, i felt Shawn’s fingers brushing mine, he placed his hand over mine, he looked over to me, we both smiled, i intertwined our fingers. We both looked back up to the stars. Just then, i hear my name being called, then footsteps running towards us, “Mac-” she pauses, she looks at Shawn, then me, then our hands, “Mack, um, we need to go” she says, “wow, i never thought the day would come when i hear, you, Mackenzie Marques, say you don’t want to leave a party” she laughs, Shawn laughs aswell, i turn to him, “what are you laughing at” i laugh, “nothing” he smiled, “thought so” i laughed, “Mack, we should go” she warns, “Why” i ask, not ready to leave, “Its, uumm, Jack”, “he um, he knows your here and he wants to come find you"she explains, “i don’t care, whats he gonna do to me, he can’t hurt me with all these people around, can he” i say, i don’t know where all this confidence is coming from. Shawn sits up, “who” he said, “Jack” i reply, me and Shawn had a whole conversation about him earlier, “that dick” He whispers, i stroke his arm"its fine, honestly"i lie, I’m not fine at all, the guy who haunts my dreams is here, and he wants me, “i won’t let him hurt you” he tells me, “thank you” i say, then i hear my name being called,“Mack, there you are"Shawn stands and helps me up, he puts his arms around me, i wrap mine around his torso and hide my head in his chest, “Mack, i said i was sorry, why did you leave” Jack almost yells, i keep my face hidden in Shawn’s chest, he tightens his grip around me, “its okay” he whispers, “So ‘this’ is what you replaced me with” he laughs, i turn around, still in Shawn’s embrace, “it has nothing to do with you, what i do, or who i talk to” i hiss, he goes to grab my hand, but Shawn is quick to grab his hand, “don’t you, ever, touch her” he growls, his voice low and dark, not like the one I’d been hearing, “what are you gonna do, pretty boy” Jack challenges, Shawn goes to hit Jack, but i pull him back, “Shawn, don’t” i plead, he looks me in the eye, Jack tries to get to me again, but Shawn pushes him back, he falls to the ground with a thud,” sorry"Shawn whispers, “i told you not to fucking touch her” he yells, Jack gets up and steps towards Shawn, Jack goes to punch, but Shawn grabs his fist, “Shawn, come on” i beg, he looks over to me, sorrow in he’s eyes. Shawn’s POV: Mackenzie had told me all about what happened with Jack, although i only met her a few hours ago, i felt angry at him. I felt something i’d never felt before when i’m with her, she’s funny, she’s kind, she’s absolutely beautiful, i felt i had to protect her. Whe Jack walked out the house yelling her name, anger rushed over me, i held back, i pulled her into my embrace, but the second he tried to touch her, i couldn’t hold back, i grabbed his hand, “don’t you ever touch her” i growled at him,” what are you gonna do pretty boy"he challenged, i go to hit him, but i feel Mack pull on my arm, “Shawn, don’t” she pleads, i look to her, i think about walking away with her, but Jack tries to get her again, “sorry", i whisper to her, i push him back harshly, “i told you not to fucking touch her” i yell, he stands and steps towards me, he goes to punch, but before he makes contact, i grab his wrist,” Shawn, come on"Mackenzie begs, i look at her, i don’t want to hurt her but, i can’t let him get away with what he’s done. I look back to him, i feel a sharp pain in the side of my face, he punched me, anger floods over me, i swing at him. Thanks for reading.sorry for the shitty layout

[violetandstarlightgirl]

Spooky Scary Writing Tag

This tag was created by Emma T Fink. I found it through @jennamoreci and her YouTube video, and then I was later tagged by my friend Lacy Sheridan. So here is my response to the tag!

Each of these questions are based on spooky creatures that are popular on Halloween, themed around the writing process and on your current WIP. I’m using the paranormal story Enter the Shadows and the series it’s a part of that I’m writing with my friend @reneedenim

1. Ghost- Have you ever originally put a character/scene/theme in the book and then later taken it out?

Yes. In Enter the Shadows, Maddie and I planned on introducing Renee and Gregor as POV characters. We ultimately decides this would be too much at once for the first book, so we just thought it’d be best to save that for later, if we end up doing it at all. 

2. Bat- Most misunderstood character in your WIP?

As of right now, it’d be a character the readers haven’t read yet, and her name is Lavada. She’s one of the “villains” in the series but she is very different compared to a lot of the other antagonistic characters. She attacks only to distract or incapacitate the heroes rather than do serious harm. You’ll find her motives for following the bad guys eventually.

3. Jack-O-Lantern- What’s your most common source of inspiration to write?

RTS was actually previously what Maddie and I call “fanfiction hell”, which was an unholy crossover of a bunch of different stories that we loved with our own characters thrown in for good measure. Big inspirational sources for RTS in my opinion were The Dreaming trilogy by Queenie Chan, the Harry Potter series, and the idea of the supernatural and occult in general.

Music is also a huge source of inspiration for me. Certain songs have inspired entire scenes or revived entire concepts for me! Maddie and I have a private playlist on YouTube with songs that we feel fit beautifully with the RTS universe!

4. Zombie- Preferred form of writerly fuel? Coffee, tea, etc.

Tea! I don’t drink coffee and I like the HUGE variations that tea can come in. I prefer caffeine-free or moderate caffeine depending on the time of day. My favorite blends right now are chamomile lavender, pear spice, and rooibos chai.

5. Vampire- Cheesiest trope that made it into your novel?

Meeting seemingly by “fate”. Leala and Robin are old friends who haven’t seen each other in years. They reconnect when Leala helps Robin after he has a seizure at the start of Enter the Shadows, and from that point their relationship continues to grow.

6. Spider- What’s a character in your WIP that’s fine from afar, but you would NOT want to interact with if they ever got close?

Definitely Mahzun. Mahzun is a very attractive character from afar and can seem friendly, but up close you can see he’s a half-demon--his eyes are yellow and the pupils are slits, and he seems to constantly emit smoke. He’s also extremely manipulative and willing to put people in harm’s way to get what he wants.

7. Frankenstein’s Monster- Ever combined two characters into one/split one character into two?

Technically, Gregor is literally a character split into two. He has DID and two separate identities, his normal identity as Gregor Dupont, and an alternate identity named Edmund Brooks. You don’t meet Edmund in Enter the Shadows, but he becomes an important character later.

8. Skeleton- Best tips for adding in character baggage without info-dumping?

Dialogue! Though I still struggle a lot with info dumping. A thing I like to do is have characters express behavioral or emotional tics; a handful of characters in the RTS universe deal with varying degrees of abuse and trauma, and cope with them in different ways. 

9. Cat- What’s a polarizing writing/bookish opinion that you have?

Outlines are AMAZING and I feel so bad for not utilizing them sooner. Until we wrote out an outline for Enter the Shadows, Maddie and I were literally floundering with our ideas. It was a nightmare.

10. Demon- Most frequent writing distraction?

Social media and fantasizing about plot rather than writing it down, which is part of why I’m taking a social media hiatus after today! 

Feel free to do this if you want to, but I’d like to specifically tag @thepensword and @acadieum since I know both of them like to write and one of them has their own original stories! :D I look forward to seeing what you guys do!

[lucky13-452]

Life exploded for Maddy Montgomery when she found out she was half-Angel and was catapulted into a world of paparazzi and fervent adulation that comes with being a celebrity Angel. Now she must juggle her ordinary existence - graduation, family, friends - with the intense demands of being in the public eye as heartthrob Angel Jackson Godspeed's girlfriend. Then Maddy is offered the chance to become a Guardian. This means entering into dangerous and high stakes training, with no guarantee that she can succeed, and with a host of jealous full-blood Angels undermining her every move. More than that, it means leaving her mortal life behind - forever - and allying with the Angels at a time when their relationship with humans has never been more volatile. When an anti-Angel bombing kills dozens of innocent people, it sets into motion a chain of events that will turn the city of Angels into a city of turmoil. Maddy and Jacks must choose sides... even if that choice makes them enemies.

The Immortal City trilogy is one of my favorite series, I just love the books so much and I just fly through them. I am normally a slow reader but with this series I can't wait to see what happens next and I am so invested in the characters I can't even begin to tell you. I may fly through this book but I do pause while reading it because a stressful situation has come up, or to laugh and most of all to make a comment about what's happen in the book to no one at all, just to through what I think out there.

Angels have been pretty popular in ya for years, there are so many books with angels, each book has its own little spend to it. I haven't read that many book series that involve angels but out of the ones that I have the Immortal City trilogy is one of my favorites.

Natural Born Angel  starts off not to long after what happened in the first book, Immortal City. Maddy is dealing with everyone finding out she is an angel and Jack's own wishes for her to join the angels and become a guardian. After a tragic incident Maddy decides to become a Guardian in order to save those who can't save themselves. Natural Born Angel is all about Maddy dealing with her new life as an angel, dealing with angel politics and her changing relationship with Jacks. However with tensions high between humans and angels, Maddy is going to have to figure out her place because something dark is on the horizon and no one knows who will survive it.

Maddy is a beautiful character inside and out. She tries not to let what's going on around her change her too much. Maddy has certain beliefs and no matter how hard it might be to wants to fight for what is right. Now that her angelic powers are manifesting she has to find a way to fit into a new world, a world that isn't totally accepting of her human-half. Maddy grows so much in her confidence in this one and if she doesn't have the confidence she fakes-it to make it through. She is growing into herself and working her hardest to become a guardian and living up to her own potential. While things in Maddy's personal life is starting to thin.

Jack isn't the same angel he was in Immortal City, he has gone through a horrible experience which left him badly injured. In the beginning Jacks is in treatment to repair the damage to his wing and his recovery is going slow. Jacks is getting frustrated and things are starting to change him, he gets darker and Maddy has so much on her plate things are starting to shift between the couple.

Both characters, Maddy and Jack, surprised me in this book. While I understand Maddy's appeal to this new life and understand that of course she is changing but she also starts to lose herself a little bit. While Jacks has started to become a different person, he lets his injury turn him into a different person, I do understand what he is going through but other times Jacks was just mean for no reason.

Once again the story is told from three povs, Jacks and Maddy have their povs and I love seeing from both perspective. The way Scott has written the book with how the characters interact and how the scenes are connected I love it. However my favorite aspect is the pov from Detective Sylvester, those chapters with the Detective gives the book a whole new feeling. While the parts with Maddy and Jacks give off the ya paranormal romance feeling the parts with Sylvester reminds me of a mystery book, it's like having to genres for the price of one.

Natural Born Angel was a joy to read even with my anxiety level up high because you know something was going to go down. I have gotten more invested in the characters and the story has gotten even better with a new mystery on the way that threatens everything they know. This book had a more in-depth look at personal relationship, politics, a look at what is right and wrong. Secrets were revealed and with a shocking ending that I wish didn't happen, I am so excited to read the final book, Battle Angel. A shit-storm has hit and there is no way to avoid the storm that is coming next and I can't wait to see how this wonderful series is going to end.

Overall 5 stars