#danny: hmm perhaps Jazz had a point

[deadsetobsessions]

Alley Drunk!Danny pt.5

If Danny hadn’t thought about quitting and going to rehab before, he’s definitely going to do it now.

It had been one of those days. Danny had sluggishly managed to usher Jason to school- pulling himself together for their walk to the building, because he wasn’t stupid and this was still Gotham- before going home and relapsing. He knew, going into the first bottle, that he was going to regret it. But he still hadn’t felt the buzz, so he went out to get more.

“Just one. I can stop after, if I want to.”

Spoiler: he could not, actually, stop if he wanted to. Because he didn’t want to, which was the whole problem.

So, one bottle became two, two became three, three became six, and by the time the sun slipped below the horizon, Danny had a pile of bottles scattered around the couch and an intense look of self hatred set upon his brow. He was buzzed, but his stupid ghost biology refused to absorb anymore alcohol.

“Stop brooding, Danny. It’ll hurt your brain.” Jazz said, a hint of worry around her joking insult. “You’re forgetting something important.”

“Wha-?” He mumbled out back at the haze of her-hah- ghost.

The door clicked open. Danny whipped his head to wards the door, snarl on his face and ready to lunge at the intruder, when he came face to face with a scuffed up Jason.

They froze simultaneously, but before Danny could do anything, Jason’s hands tightened on the door knob. The kid’s eyes darted to the floor, where the bottles laid, and back up at Danny’s face. What he found there must not have been good, because he took a step back.

It was fear.

Danny felt his heart drop and his throat go dry. The self hatred doubled in size and weight, but he smacked it down in favor of scrambling for the words- anything- to fix the damage his stupidity and addiction caused.

“Jason.” He said, voice raspy. Had he been screaming again? Good start, good- nope. Never mind, Jason is using the door to shield himself now. Danny glanced outside and-

“Oh. I- I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.” He turned back to Jason, who eyed him warily. “I- I forgot to pick you, didn’t I.”

“…I can walk back by myself.” The hesitant but full of bravado reply made Danny’s ghostly obsession to protect rear its head.

“Still. I’m… I’m sorry, Jason.”

Jason evaluated him, noticeably eyeing his open hands and purposefully lax posture, before stepping inside. He doesn’t close the door behind him- clearly leaving it as an option just in case he needed to bolt. Danny stood up slowly. Jason watched him, and his hands. His smaller hands- Ancients, Danny was scaring a kid- curled up into fists.

“What… how did you get hurt?”

“Got mugged.”

“Are you okay? No- wait,” Danny flooded his liver and blood stream with ectoplasm, and his head instantly cleared. Ah, the agony of being coherent.

Danny subtly shook his head to clear his thoughts. Focus.

“Of course you’re not.” Danny stepped away from the incriminating bottles, slowing to a stop once more as Jason shifted backwards like he was either going to spring at Danny or bolt out the door. “Why don’t we get you patched up? And you can tell me about your day. That I missed, when I forgot to pick you up and that I’m really really sorry for.”

Danny held his breath as Jason considered it. “Are ya drunk?” Jason asked, tilting his shoulder to slide his Wonder Woman backpack down, hand clutching at the opposite strap. A good bludgeoning weapon, even if Danny would rather be electro shocked to death again before he ever hurt Jason.

“No.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, scoffing as he looked down again. Danny recognized the motion, a bolt of heavy nostalgia slamming into his chest as he remembered another red-head doing the same thing when he tried to bullshit his way out of something.

“I was buzzed but… I’m a meta. Alcohol doesn’t exactly affect me. I had to drink a lot to even get buzzed, and it’s gone now.”

“Y’er a meta?” Jason straightened, not completely losing the vigilance, but less tense.

“Yes. I’m completely sober right now, I promise.”

Jason stared at him, inhaled, and relaxed. “You better be.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Whatever.”

——

Danny placed the bandages over Jason’s cuts.

“I am so, so sorry I didn’t pick you up.”

Jason shoved at his shoulder, grumbling “I c’n do it myself.”

“I know. You don’t have to, though.”

The kid looked away for a moment before softly admitting, “I was… worried. Cuz, I thought somethin’ happened.”

Danny swallowed the lump in his throat. Jason slipped more into his alley accent the more upset he got these days, having learned some of the local accents at his new school and regularly swapping those out instead of sticking with his alley accent.

“Thank you. For worrying about me. I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.”

Point. From the mouth of babes came the painful truth, right?

“No. I’m not. But I will be. I’ll go to rehab, Jason. I don’t want to forget picking you up again.”

“Whatever.” Danny hid a smile as Jason ducked his head, looking endearingly like a grumpy duckling. Like, Jazz, when their parents made those blueberry ectoplasm pancakes she liked but thought they’d forgotten that she liked.

“And thank you, Jason, for coming back alive. I- I should have been there, but I’m so glad that you’re okay.”

“I want waffles and ice cream for dinner.”

“Yeah, we can do that.”

“Wow, you musta felt real bad if you’re letting me eat that for dinner.”

Danny grinned down at the head of black hair (with their red roots once more poking out) and ruffled Jason’s head. “I let you eat like five chili dogs in one go. This should not be surprising. But I’ll let you skip the veggies today too.”

“… No, I want the veggies too.”

Danny let out a bark of bright laughter.

Yeah, there’s no way he’s ever risking Jason looking at him like that again. The kid looked like he thought Danny would come swinging at him, despite their previous meetings where he had, perhaps and with plausible deniability, swung for Jason, but never against him.

That night, after he tucked Jason into bed, Danny signed up for rehab. As a matter of fact, Jazz’s words coming into mind, Danny also signed up for therapy. For him and Jason. Yeah.

——

Off camera, they talked about why Jason react to bottles and hands the way he does, and why he’s so scared whenever Danny slips back into his addiction. I’m just rlly too tired to write it.

——

Danny, who thought his addiction wasn’t that serious and that he could stop anytime because he stopped for Jason: I’m cured!

Also Danny: drinks as soon as Jason goes to school

Danny was one hundred percent using Jason as a crutch and when he felt like Jason was safe, he slipped back to his habits. The only reason Danny’s not dead- well, deader than he normally would be- is because ghost biology makes it so that alcohol is cycled through quicker. Like the Flash, but less fast? Anyways, he had enough to make him lose track of time and forget important things (Jason) and that’s what addiction can do to you, amongst other things.

Jason might seem calm but that’s actually a combo of his go to trauma response (fight) and his experience of 1) being on the streets and 2) living with a previous drunkard coming into play. Also, you might be like what kind of kid wants to eat veggies? And to that I answer: KIDS THAT NEVER HAD ENOUGH TO EAT. I would have killed for a veggie stir fry with a lot of chicken back as a kid lol

On a lighter note, the whole time they’re having this interaction, I kind of imagined it as two chickens just kind of dancing around each other.

[impyssadobsessions]

REVELATIONS CHPT 4

TOOK TOO LONG BUT I DID IT! Read the full version on Ao3, Excerpt at the bottom because I don't think tumblr like how long it is uwu''

“Okay, so Danny needs at least an outfit everyday. Knowing him, he'll wear same thing until it gets dirty, so at least five. New underwear, socks... Good thing he's easy to shop for. Wonder if I should get him medium or small. Hmm. He's lost a lot of weight recently I'm not so sure. Probably need to get onto him for that. I bet he's been surviving off of energy drinks and ectoplasm behind my back, again.” Jasmine muttered as she walked, mentally writing a list. “Okaayyy, but what about you?” Steph asked, as they passed the various shops in the large shopping mall. “You're the one without anything? Not that you look bad in my clothes. Purple's definitely your color.” Steph playfully winked. Jasmine puckered her lips in thought, sticking her hand out to count what she needed. “Hmmm. I'll need a few sports bras.. underwear.. socks.. Just some basic tops and pants. Its summer so I shouldn't need-hm.. But Danny's been making things chillier than usual. Perhaps a jacket. Hmm.. wonder if its been a growth phase or a traumatic response. I mean its definitely traumatic response, but is it just that-” “What about that store?!” Steph pointed to an accessories store, it was small but had a lot of different items on display. Immediately running off into it. “Cass look at this hat! I can look like Tim in the morning now!” It was a knitted cap, with cartoonish eyes with deep bags under them. She tried it on and pulled it down over her eyes. Cass silently chuckled running over to pick up another hat, that had an angry scowl on it. She put it on to pretend she was Damian. Jazz blinked, stunned for a moment from being interrupted from her thoughts. “But that's just-..” She paused as she watched the giggling girls. How long has it been since she just shopped for fun- well she supposed it was with Danny to get gifts for their parents, or new books from the store in town. But clothes shopping? No.. Well she did have an outing with her mom when she won a contest at school and had to travel to a different city to cite her speech in front of the capital. Her mom tried to get her a unicorn print dress or a teddy bear pendent. Even at the age of ten, she acted like she was too old. Her mother looked so sad, when Jasmine voiced her concerns. Jazz's lips twitched at the memory. They ended up getting her a pretty blue dress, but she still wore teddy bear earrings her mother got her that day. Reaching a hand to her ears. She needed to wear some again, maybe its already too late. Like most things...

[imekitty]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

A twist on Secret Weapons this time. Which I guess means it should take place before part two, but I’m just kind of thinking of these follow-ups as I go along. :b

—–

“There’s something you need to know, Vlad,” said Maddie. She and Jack sat across from Vlad on the sofa in the Fenton living room.

“I figured since you called me over so suddenly,” said Vlad. “Luckily, I can get here very quickly through our portals.”

Maddie glanced at Jack before continuing. “Jazz knows Danny’s a ghost hybrid. We don’t know when she found out exactly since we weren’t observing her as part of this study, but we do know now that she has revealed her knowledge of his ghost powers to him.”

“Hmm.” Vlad crossed his arms.

“This means she knows you’re a ghost hybrid, too,” said Maddie.

“Or she will soon,” said Jack. “Danny will almost certainly tell her all he knows at some point.”

Vlad stared at the floor. Jack watched his face but could not guess what he was thinking. He never was very good at figuring out how Vlad really felt about something.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Vlad thought he and Maddie were monsters for forcing their son to be the subject of this horrific experiment.

“So what do you want me to do with this information?” asked Vlad.

“We’re not sure how things are going to play out from here,” said Maddie. “All we know is that Jazz is now officially part of our observation. We just want you to be aware that she knows who you are during your interactions with Danny. And Jazz may or may not join Danny on his patrol alongside Sam and Tucker, so just don’t be shocked if you see her.”

“I really hope she doesn’t,” murmured Jack. He couldn’t bear the thought of his beautiful daughter being hurt or killed during a ghost battle.

“We can’t stop her if Danny asks her to,” said Maddie. “We can’t interfere with what happens in that regard. We have to allow Danny to make his choices. We’ll just do what we can to make sure neither of them are killed.”

“Just like you made sure Daniel wasn’t killed when he was shocked in the portal,” quipped Vlad.

Maddie glared at him. “He wasn’t killed.”

“I know. I was commending you for that.” Vlad sneered. “You two clearly love your children very much.”

Maddie snarled and rose from her seat a short distance before Jack gently placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her back down onto the couch.

“But thank you for telling me,” said Vlad. “I shall take that into consideration in my dealings with Daniel from here on.” He stood. “Before I leave, are there any new plans you want me to be part of?”

Jack could see the hard tension in Maddie’s jaw and decided to answer for her. “Nothing right now. Thanks.”

“All right. I’ll see you two later.”

Vlad headed down to the basement. Jack listened for the portal activating and shutting off before turning his attention back to Maddie, who was shaking.

“We had to do it this way,” insisted Maddie, perhaps more to herself than to Jack. “Danny was the only one whose body could sustain the ghost mutation. It had to be him. We had to do it for our research. He’s fine. This hasn’t been hurting him. We’re not hurting him. He’s fine.”

Jack patted her knee but said nothing.

———–

Down in the lab at her workstation, Maddie’s cell phone silently lit up as a call came in. She glanced at the caller ID: Vlad Masters.

“Jack, I’ll be back. Just going upstairs for a break,” said Maddie as she headed out of the lab. She waited until she shut the basement door behind her before picking up the call. “Vlad? What is it?”

“Maddie, hi. Your daughter is here.”

“Jazz? Where?”

“Here. At my mansion. In Wisconsin. She’s freshening up in the bathroom right now.”

“What? What is she doing there?”

“I have no idea. Something about Daniel hating her. She says she’s run away from home. Not sure why she came here, though. It seems like an odd choice to me.”

Maddie thought back to what she and Jack had observed between Danny and Jazz the past few days. “Jazz has been trying to help Danny fight and capture ghosts, but she hasn’t been very good at it, and Danny has been pretty irritable about it.” Maddie paused, thinking some more. “They must’ve had some sort of fight about it. Something at school, maybe.”

“Hmm. Well, she seems very upset.” Vlad also paused. “So what do you want me to do about this? Should I bring her home? Or do you want to wait and see if she has some reason for coming here? Surely Daniel has told her I can’t be trusted, so I have to admit, I am wondering if there is a hidden motive.”

“I am wondering that, too,” said Maddie. “Yes, let her stay for a while, see if there’s maybe a reason for it. See if you can get her to call me and Jack so that we can have an excuse to not go out and look for her.”

“All right. That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Danny is probably going to come looking for her at some point. Expect him to be there within the next twelve to twenty-four hours.” Maddie’s brow creased. “In fact, maybe… Maybe you should try to help him get there if you can.”

Maddie mulled over an idea, one that she had been considering for some time. This could be it. This could work.

“Maddie?” asked Vlad. “Are you still there?” 

“You said you modified the Ecto-Skeleton, right?” asked Maddie. “And you can use bloodstream nanobots to prevent the wearer from being killed?”

“Yes, that is true. But why are you bringing it up now?”

Maddie headed upstairs to get farther away from the lab. She could not chance Jack hearing anything she was about to say.

“I need you to listen very carefully, Vlad,” said Maddie in a hush, “and do exactly as I say.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Tell me what to do.”

Part 7

[datawyrms]

Not That Similar

Dannymay day 3: Reflection

“You know, this is the part where Jazz’d be all ‘maybe you should reflect on how you got here’, but with your whole creepy vampire thing you probably don’t even have one-” the younger half ghost broke off their taunt with a yelp, narrowly dodging at hot pink ectoblast. “Maybe anger management classes? Yoga? Knitting? Work with me here!” he kicked off the wall before another blast could connect, turning it into an impromptu propelled punch when Plasmius raised a shield instead of dodging, both hybrids grunting from the collision.

Vlad recovered first, quickly flying backwards to regain his preferred distance. “Must you insist on such juvenile taunts Daniel? Though I suppose being raised by that oaf of a man stunted any attempts of maturing.” 

Danny’s eyes flared at the jab at his father, “Says the fruit loop stalker! Get over it and leave my family ALONE!” He launched off three ectoblasts in quick succession, speedy but too predictable to hit the elder hybrid, who blocked them all with an exaggerated yawn. 

“You could have been so much more than this if you’d just used your head, Daniel.”

“Oh I’m already way more than you. See, I actually have people who love me. Like my mom. Who totally hates you.”

Any further additions were cut off with Plasmius’ sudden movement, throwing a blast high and grabbing Phantom by the throat when he flew low to dodge it. White gloved hands scrabbled against his black one, green eyes furious. The impulsive panic to free himself stopped him from doing something effective, like shooting Vlad point blank.

“Do not test your luck, boy. Besides, if you believe that, you would have told them your little secret by now. You had been bluffing that day after all.” he spun and flung his captive downwards, grinning at the satisfying sound of the boy’s body cracking asphalt. “Maybe you can be the one reflecting once you peel yourself off the ground, hmm?”

Danny found his feet with a groan, rolling his shoulders as he got back into the air. “Hey, I’m not the one so pathetic they couldn’t wait five seconds to kill my dad. The whole ‘oooh join me’ crud would have worked waaaaay better before attempted murder.”

The admission set Vlad off balance, taking a blast to the chest. It was painful enough to push him backwards a little, but he tried not to show any other signs it had been effective. The second blast from the ground, not originating from the other half breed did provoke a yelp from sheer surprise.

“Tough luck Plasmius! We already caught your minions!” Tucker yelled from the ground, shaking a thermos at the aerial combatants. “We got your back Danny!”

“Actually, I think the road got that but thanks Tuck!” Phantom grinned, any lost confidence returning in seconds. “So much for your ‘rob FentonWorks’ plan, huh?” he paused at the whine of something powering up. “Oooh, Sam brought the bazooka! You've lost, Plasmius. Again.”

The growl Vlad let out was almost feral, but the younger ghost was right. Short of killing Danny’s little entourage, there was no point in continuing this. It did seem like they might have missed his actual motive for distracting Danny from the FentonWorks lab, but he’d need to be in his own lab to check that.

“Being pulled into the ghost zone by a portal in your head might count as payback to all your experiments” Sam warned, tracking Vlad with the heavy silver weapon.

“Oh very well. Perhaps someday you’ll learn to win on your own merits.”

“That’s the thing Vladdie. I don’t have to.”

Danny’s pained yelp as the parting shot connected was some satisfaction as Plasmius vanished. He’d see how the boy changed his tune soon enough.

“I hate that fruit loop.” Danny grumbled, changing back to human before reuniting with his friends. 

“Word. Any hints on what he wanted the catcher for?”

“Nope. Just the usual junk. Dude needs a hobby like yesterday.”

“Knowing him, his hobby is trying to beat you up.” Sam added, grinning when the half ghost moaned.

“That totally is his hobby, isn’t it. Urgh.”

Tucker gave his friend a playful pat on the back. “He should change his name to the Fenton Ghost, give the Box Ghost a run for most accurate name.”

“I am totally using that next time.”

“If you do, Tuck’s stitching you up for giving you the idea.”

“It’d be worth it. Can you imagine the look on his face?” Danny dismissed Sam’s frown with a laugh, glancing at his home. “Guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Try not to get double grounded this time. My Doomed skills are rusting away without you.”

“Tell that to the ghosts!” his blue eyes looked pleadingly to the sky before he walked up the steps, waving as his friends continued on to their homes.

It took Danny a week to figure out that maybe they’d missed what Plasmius’ intentions had actually been. As that was when he ended up screaming at his own reflection, only managing to fend off the worried Fenton parents with a quick excuse of ‘some big cockroach ghost’ scared him.

The second look didn’t fare much better. He was totally human. Black hair, pale skin, shirt and no hazmat. One problem. Red eyes. Rapidly blinking didn’t set them back to blue either, but he would have taken green at this point. “Jazz, please tell me I’m seeing things.”

His sister had been waiting for the go ahead to ‘meddle’, pushing the bathroom door open at his question, freezing for a moment when she got a good look at him. “Afraid not little brother. Did you get hit with anything weird?”

“Not lately?” he scowled at his reflection, desperately willing the red to go away.

“Well they’re distracted, so you should probably check both looks.” Jazz prompted, noticing how Danny flinched at the suggestion. “It’d be better to make sure nothing else is acting up before you actually need your powers?”

“I hate it when you’re right.” his scowl turned to her, rubbing at his shoulder instead of actually doing anything. “Maybe I can use sunglasses?”

“Danny.” Jazz’s tone of sisterly disapproval was well practiced at this point.

“Okay okay! Sheesh!” Still he hesitated before summoning the rings that switched him between ghost and human, tense as he did so. The lack of reaction from Jazz was probably a good sign? He opened his eye a crack, not wanting to see the reflection. Green eyes looked back. “Well okay then. That’s weird.”

“Your default is weird. Maybe something in the lab is messing with your shapeshifting?” Jazz said, hand on her chin as she pondered.

“Uh, I don’t have shapeshifting powers?”

“Danny you literally do it all the time. You just only do two forms. And the ghost tail thing.” Jazz rolled her eyes.

“I do? Huh,” he changed forms again, wincing as the red eyes returned. “This sucks! Mom and Dad are gonna think I’m possessed!”

“We’ll figure something out, Sam and Tucker probably have backup sunglasses you can borrow if anything happens to these ones. Say you had an eye appointment.”

“Lame excuses are my specialty.” He gave a weak grin, slipping the offered sunglasses on. “All I need is blue skin and then I’m Plasmius’ creepy miniature reflection-” he froze. That was a joke but actually…

“It does seem like a Vlad thing to do, messing with how you look.”

“Creep just wants to harp on the ways we’re the same like that’s gonna make me not hate him.” Danny growled, cracking his knuckles.  “You wanna take the Peeler and see how it works on lonely fruitloops?”

“After school Danny. You can’t be late again.”

“I bet Sam and Tuck would skip with me-”

“Danny, it’s just a visual problem. You can wait to fix it.”

The half ghost sighed, but dropped his hands in defeat. “Well if I get caught with red eyes I am totally blaming you.”

“Deal.”

(Also to all of those leaving lovely comments/screaming in the tags I love you all and would respond to them but Tumblr is not exactly great for that. I wasn’t planning on putting these on A03 till I was done >>)

[darks-ink]

Rise Above Myself

Prompt: Danny is off to college, leaving Vlad in charge of keeping ghosts out of Amity park. Prompt by: @going-dead Word count: 3,532

[AO3][FFnet][more Phic Phight fics]

“You wanted to speak with me?”

Danny hummed an affirmative, patting the rooftop next to him. Vlad rolled his eyes, but sat down regardless. It wasn’t like anyone would see him up here, anyway. Besides, he didn’t want to drive the boy to anger any sooner than necessary.

In the years since they had first met, their relationship had become… complicated. They had surpassed the fighting, the whole ‘arch-nemesis’ thing, and had come to a truce of sorts. They were still in no way friends. Nor had he taken any sort of important role in the boy’s life, to his continuing disappointment.

But Danny would never join him. Vlad knew that, now. It was better not to fight, to be able to hold a conversation with the only person who would know what existence as a halfa was like. The only one who would be able to understand.

Besides, Vlad was no fool. He knew darn well that Danny had surpassed him in strength. And, for all the years of experience he had over the boy, he couldn’t beat the sheer combat experience Danny had, either. Even mentorship was a chance long lost – Danny seemed content with the mentors he could find for himself in the Ghost Zone.

“So, uhm.” Danny fidgeted, having finally broken the silence that had come over them. He started pulling on the edge of his glove – a nervous gesture he had taken up in his ghost form, Vlad knew. “I’m… leaving for college. This weekend.”

Vlad perked up at this. “Really? That’s excellent news, my boy!” And it was. He had long encouraged Danny to focus on his own life over Amity Park’s safety. He already sacrificed so much for this thankless city – he shouldn’t give up on college, too. To throw away his future, the remainder of his life, for people who would never appreciate what he had done for them.

“Heh, yeah.” Danny huffed out a laugh, a smile lingering afterwards. “I got my acceptance letter already – big fancy university a couple states away. Even at my current speed, it’s a few hours flying away.”

“Finally leaving the ghost hunting to the professionals then? Good for you.” Vlad noticed that Danny didn’t mention which university, or where. Still keeping secrets from him? Not surprising, but… a little disappointing.

“Something like that.” And now the smile turned a little malicious, a smirk instead. “You were part of the ghost hunting club, after all. And you study ghosts.”

“Me?” Vlad asked, incredulous. The boy was out of his mind if he thought that Vlad would take over for him. He had spend the past 4 years encouraging Danny to stop, after all.

“Well, yeah.” Danny’s posture remained loose, casual. Like he had no stake in this conversation – like he had already won the discussion. “You’re the only other half-ghost in the city. The only person who can fight the ghosts on their own terms – in the air, and without the need for technology.”

Then he leaned in closer, and added in a conspiring tone, “Unless you think you’re not up for it? I know that I’m stronger than you, but you should still outclass most ghosts that come here. And surely your incredible intellect will allow you to beat such pathetic enemies?”

Vlad sneered, baring his fangs in an automatic response. “Of course it’s not a matter of not being able to do it! But I am above such despicable, thankless work. To protect a city – a people – who would rather hate their protector than cheer him on. Please.”

“If that’s how you see it,” Danny responded with a shrug. “But just imagine what would happen if no one stopped the ghosts. You know that my parents will pick up the slack instead. Do you really trust my dad to keep Amity Park safe? To keep Mom safe?” He cocked his head at Vlad, that awful smirk still on his face. “After all, Valerie has already left for college. So has Jazz, and Sam and Tucker. It’s just my parents. And you.”

Vlad remained silent now. The boy, unfortunately, had a point. All capable ghost hunters had left the city – or would leave it soon enough. The Fentons really would be the only ones left – and as capable as Maddie was, Jack had an awful habit of getting in her way. There was… quite a risk of her getting hurt.

And while he knew he wouldn’t – couldn’t – have her, he still didn’t want anything to happen to her. Damn that boy for still knowing exactly which buttons to press.

But… perhaps he could make it manageable. Many of Danny’s enemies were humanoid – or at very least, somewhat intelligent. Surely he could get most of them to stay away by using his resources, rather than his fists? And being harsher than Danny against the ones that did come through would surely discourage them, too.

“Fine,” he finally hissed at the boy, glaring at him to drive the point home. “Fine, I will do it. But not for this accursed city – I’ll do it for Maddie.”

“Of course you will, Fruitloop,” Danny laughed back, grinning widely.

He shook his head, already making plans. If he arranged things correctly, it wouldn’t be much of a bother to take over for Danny. After all, how much time did the teen really spend on ghost hunting?

Unfortunately, as he soon discovered, Danny actually spend a lot of time hunting ghosts. Because while his most noticeable enemies tended to be the humanoid ghosts, the majority of his enemies were actually non-sentient. And while Vlad might’ve been able to sway some of the intelligent ghosts to stay away, it was the feral animals that took up so much of his time, now. They were neither strong nor threatening – to a ghost as powerful as him, at least – but they were common enough to be a bother.

A good number of Danny’s rogues gallery showed up as well. Skulker, once told that Vlad had taken over, seemed disappointed but left without resistance. Technus put up a decent fight, but could afterwards be convinced to stay in the Ghost Zone if Vlad paid him with bits of technology. He was sure that Technus would eventually assemble this into a mech before returning – which is why he only send the worst bits he could find.

One of the more notable encounters ended up being Ember, of all ghosts. She had put on quite a show – as she tended to do. When Vlad showed up instead of Danny, she had frowned at him and crossed her arms.

Before he could open his mouth to ask her to leave, she had irritably asked him, “Where’s the dipstick?”

He quickly connected the dots – and the less than stellar nickname – and answered. “Daniel has left for college. I’ve taken over for him.”

After this, she willingly left for the Portal. Vlad had felt accomplished over scaring off a ghost that Daniel usually fought – until he had heard her mutter, “Old man isn’t any fun compared to the kid.”

Really, all things considered, Vlad thought that he was doing a fairly good job. And perhaps Amity’s residents weren’t as happy about him as they had been about Daniel – surprising considering how badly they tended to think of Phantom – but that mattered little to him. Maddie was safe. Anything else was a lucky coincidence.

But of course, disaster always struck when life appears to be going well. And this case was no different.

The ghost of the days – or ghosts, this time – were known by Vlad. He had never faced off against them, but he was sure that he could handle it. The first, the weaker, was an easy catch. Bertrand, despite being a shapeshifter, was predictable.

Unfortunately, in catching the green blob first, Vlad had offered Spectra an opening.

Vlad knew how she worked, what she did. He was sure that he could deal with her. As another manipulative soul, surely she wouldn’t be able to do much to him?

But oh, he was so wrong about her. Her black wispy tail wrapped around him, sharp claws digging into his shoulders, and immediately all strength sapped from him.

“Oh, what’s this?” the specter hissed, her voice overly sweet and dripping with malicious intent. “Another little do-gooder, hmm?”

Vlad opened his mouth to answer, to retort – but the ghost dug her nails in even deeper and suddenly he just felt so tired.

“And you’re not even a real hero, are you? Just trying to impress someone who could never love you!” She laughed, but it was sharp and cutting and cold. “Just a sick old man desperate for things he will never get. Can never get!”

She shifted, angling herself so she was looking him right in the eyes. Faintly, he could see himself reflected in her empty red eyes – somehow hers looked even more soulless than his own. “And the only one who knows what you feel, who might understand, left you! And now there’s no one left to care about you, is there?”

He wanted to protest, but… she was right. Jack never cared – he was responsible for this whole thing, after all. Maddie had never reciprocated on his feelings – and she never would, now.

And Daniel… The only one like him… The boy had left him. Had dumped this miserable responsibility on him and left.

“This sickness of yours is your body talking to you, Vladdie.” The ghost leaned in even closer, her claws shifting from his shoulders and further up his body. Faintly, Vlad was aware of blood leaking down his neck – but he made no move to stop her from hurting him further.

Maybe… Maybe he did deserve this.

“You know what it’s telling you?” Her tone was conversational, honey-sweet. “It’s telling you that you should finish what you started and die!”

Her talon-like claw swung down. Vlad closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.

A whiz, like an ectoblast flying past. Hair-raising shrieking as Spectra released him, finally.

Vlad fell to the floor, looking bleary-eyed at the dark specter in front of him. Green smoke still spiraled away from her chest, where the blast must’ve landed.

Now that he was away from her constricting touch, Vlad’s mind started to clear. While Spectra had spoken the truth, she had twisted it – turned his own thoughts against him. She had only told him things he already knew – and things that simply weren’t true. Daniel hadn’t just left. Vlad himself had encouraged the boy!

And now the boy must’ve returned. As Spectra swiped away the last lingering smoke, Vlad realized this. Someone had fired at her, using green ectoplasm. That could only be a Fenton – either Danny, or one of his parents’ guns. And the parents wouldn’t have aimed for Spectra. Wouldn’t have saved him, at least.

He pushed himself upright, a retort fresh on his tongue. A tease to the boy, about how he could never stop his hero-work, no matter how much he might’ve wanted to. How he always protected everyone, no matter how bad they were.

And floating there was certainly a Phantom. Messy white hair, vibrant green eyes. Black and white jumpsuit – although this one a tad looser than the one usually seen.

“Leave him alone!” Dani snapped, green energy whirling around her clenched fists.

“Oh, and who’s this?” Spectra hummed, floating back a step or two. Her eyes were set on the clone now – she knew that Vlad was still weakened. “Another little failure who thinks she can stand up to me?”

Rather than take the words to heart, however, Dani smiled back. All teeth and no joy. “I don’t just think, lady.” She underlined the statement with a shot, a blast of superheated ectoplasm aimed straight at Spectra.

The shadowy ghost dodged, barely. “Is that so?” she purred, still eyeing up her new enemy.

Then suddenly she launched herself towards Dani. The clone wasn’t fast enough to evade her, and the two collided. Spectra pressed her into the dirt of the park, baring her teeth. “Do you really think that you can stand up to me? A little failed clone like you?”

Vlad had finally struggled himself back onto his feet, feeling his energy come back to him. But he hadn’t even recovered far enough for an ectoblast. Not yet.

An explosion of green, and Spectra was launched away. Dani pushed herself off of the ground, green energy still coiling in her aura. “Less talking and more butt-kicking!”

Spectra snarled, evading the follow-up blasts that Dani send her way. “And you really think that you can succeed where your original failed?”

She pinned the clone to a tree, leaning in close. “You really think that you can win, if more powerful ghosts, more experienced ghosts, couldn’t?”

Finally, finally, Vlad’s energy was back to a respectable level. Not one to be left out, he shot a blast of pink ectoplasm at the soul-sucking ghost. “It’s not polite to ignore your guests, Spectra,” he quipped.

She snarled, but Dani took this opportunity to blast the ghost as well. Confident that Spectra was finally pinned, Vlad used his telekinesis to draw the Thermos back to him. He had lost it earlier in the fight – although he wasn’t sure when.

The Thermos was an imitation, of course, but no less powerful for the fact.

“Goodbye,” he snarked at the ghost as he uncapped it. Dani gave her a short wave, as well. With a last shriek, Spectra was drawn into the ghost-catching device.

The fight was over.

And as little as Vlad wanted to admit it, the little clone had been an integral part of the fight. Without her contribution, Spectra would’ve killed him. And as much as he disliked her – her, and everything she stood for – he wasn’t enough of a jerk to ignore such a thing.

“I… thank you, Danielle,” he managed, finally. He could tell from her expression that she doubted the genuineness of his statement, so he added, “Without your help, she surely would’ve killed me.”

“Probably,” Dani agreed with a shrug. She looked away from him, her gaze turned downwards – she was kicking around a rock. “You were getting your butt handed to you pretty badly.”

“I– Yes, I’m afraid I was.” He frowned, confused by her blase attitude. And, now that he thought about it, her immunity to Spectra’s abilities. “Spectra’s insults have a way to… dig into one’s skin. Yet they didn’t seem to trouble you.”

Dani nodded, clearly catching on to his silent question. “Yeah, well. She didn’t say anything I haven’t heard before.” And now she looked back up again, her large green eyes locking onto his own. “After all, she didn’t say anything you haven’t said before. And your words were worse, because unlike Spectra, I actually cared about you!”

Her fists clenched, her eyes starting to look wet – but Dani was blinking away the tears before they could form. “You actually meant something to me! And yet you kicked me to the ground, like trash! Like I didn’t matter!”

He paused, taking in her emotional rant. He supposed that she had a point. He had cast her aside – she hadn’t mattered, because she wasn’t Daniel. “But then why did you save me?”

Shrugging, Dani offered him a wry smile. She swept a hand past her eyes – wiping away tears she hadn’t shed. “I’m not you,” she said. “I’m better than that. I won’t just let you die – especially if you’re trying to do the right thing for once.”

Then her smile turned a little more genuine. She added, with a joking tone, “But maybe you should leave the actual hero-work for younger ghosts, old man.”

“Maybe I should.” He looked at her, thoughtful. Sure, Danny had instructed him to keep Amity Park safe. But if he could convince Dani to take over instead… As long as Amity was safe, it would be fine, yes? “Perhaps we can come to an agreement, hm?”

The clone eyed him, now. She seemed to consider this. “What kind of agreement?”

“We can work together to protect Amity Park in Daniel’s stead,” he started to explain, folding his hands together. He was in his element now – the negotiation of tough deals. “You can take care of most of the ghosts, but we’ll work together against the stronger ones. In return for your efforts, I will pay you – both with money, and with a safe place to stay and food to eat. There is plenty of room in my mansion, after all.”

Then he quirked an eyebrow at her. “And, of course, I can offer training – guidance with your powers. Daniel never accepted – but you are not Daniel, are you?”

She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Now you’re getting it.” Then she fell quiet again as she thought over his proposal.

“Fine,” she finally said, nodding. “But the training won’t be set thing – only when I want to. All the other stuff sounds alright, but only if I get paid per ghost captured and for the amount of time it takes.”

“Very well.” He offered her his hand, and they shook on it. “Then I welcome you to Amity Park, Danielle. May it treat you better than it treated your cousin.”

He had initially seen it like hiring a professional ghost hunter. It was no different than when he had hired Valerie, after all. But that girl had been paid in equipment – this one was paid with food and a roof above her head, instead.

And it worked surprisingly well. Danielle, now that she was older and well-fed for once in her life, was a powerful ghost. She was intelligent and a quick-thinker – and had creative solutions to problems. The girl was a very capable defender – and Amity Park was glad to see a Phantom as their protector again, even if it wasn’t the same one.

Of course, Vlad had had a part in this. As mayor, he had announced the presence of the new ghostly protector of the town. Dani Phantom, he had explained, was a close relative of the Phantom that used to haunt Amity. And he assured the townspeople, that this ghost was certainly a good one. She would keep them safe.

Valerie dropping by didn’t hurt Danielle’s image, either. Her reputation as the Red Huntress was a shaky one, as the people who liked Phantom tended to distrust her, and vice-versa. But when she had announced that she was leaving Amity Park, many had mourned the loss of an excellent ghost hunter. Their only capable human protector.

So when the Red Huntress was spotted conversing with the new Phantom, people were quite curious. They were too high in the skies to overhear, but it was clear from their postures that they knew each other. They chattered on for quite a bit of time before Phantom flew off and Red lowered herself to the ground. She, too, announced that the new ghost was a good one.

The next few months passed with surprising ease. By the time Christmas rolled around, Danny returned to Amity Park to celebrate the holidays. The two of them met at the Christmas Truce party in the Ghost Zone, separating from the crowd so they could talk in private.

Vlad smirked at the boy – the young man, really. “Annoyed that I’ve found a loophole in our agreement, Daniel?” he asked, a taunting tone to his voice.

“What, do you think you somehow cheated our deal?” But Danny simply laughed, shaking his head. “No way. You did like, the complete opposite of that.”

Frowning, Vlad turned to face the boy properly. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Dude, you did all I wanted from you and more. I asked you to protect Amity Park for me, right? And not only have you done that, beyond what I asked for – you even helped Dani along the way.” He grinned at Vlad, expression brighter than Vlad had ever seen it before. “I just wanted to give you a second chance – I didn’t expect much from you except maybe the barest little bit of effort. And instead I find out that you’ve given Dani another shot, too. A roof, food, money – love.”

Vlad opened his mouth to protest this – he had only done what was necessary. Then he shut it again.

Because he hadn’t done just the necessary. He could’ve just offered Danielle money – she could’ve paid for food and a place to stay on her own. He hadn’t had to offer her his own house. But he did.

And… Danielle had grown on him. There were things about her, good things, that he had previously overlooked.

“I suppose that you’re right,” he finally grumbled.

Maybe… Maybe this whole ‘doing nice things’ thing… wasn’t as bad as he had thought.

[monotype-on-phantom]

wow your analyses are so detailed and well thought of! i enjoy reading them, especially since it's for a series that wasn't given nearly as much thought or detail when it was being produced. tbh it makes me wonder why is it that you're using your brain power and energy to deeply make sense of something that isn't really that deep or well thought of to begin with. I mean it guess its for your enjoyment and the wasted potential but.. does DP even deserve so much of your thought

Thank you! I put my best into them, and I like to think I’ve gotten better with time.

Hmm, now that’s a good point. Danny Phantom wasn’t ever that well thought out. It had a lot of great ideas and episodes, but a lot of things were never fully taken advantage of, and the show kind of stumbled around a lot. It never really figured out what it wanted to be.

But honestly, I think that’s exactly why it’s the perfect show to analyze. For starters, yeah, there’s the wasted potential. I can talk about different ideas for how things could’ve worked and what the show could’ve been. The fact that the show is flawed leaves room for a ton of interpretation and reimagination. Heck, even things like TUE, which I’ve been jokingly complaining about, has a ton of imagination and brilliant ideas that could’ve been explored more, and doing so is fun.

On top of that, discussing a flawed show with this much potential gives me the opportunity to talk about storytelling in a lot of different ways, both good and bad. In one episode I can talk about why the development was interesting and why the villain had a good setup and how great the dialogue was, and in another episode I can explain why those same things didn’t work. I can call attention to things like how Jazz was frequently brought into episodes to play smaller roles, which allowed her character to develop more gradually and keep her interesting. At the same time, I can talk about how Valerie was unfairly stuck on the shelf and why her development sadly didn’t work quite as well as a result.

There are much better shows out there. Ones that were made to be analyzed to death. Ones that have a ton of details thrown in that you might not notice on your first viewing, and there are lots of people who love digging through those shows to find everything.

The thing with those shows, though, is that they’re always going to be more straightforward than a mess like DP. In Gravity Falls, all the clues you’ll pick up lead to an actual answer. In Steven Universe, when specific animation, dialogue, or story choices are made, you know they’re deliberate and that they’re all going to lead to something. Even some of the really unlikable aspects of Lars’s character led to something amazing. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, you know there’s an end goal. The characters are on an actual mission. There’s one story being told there.

With DP, a lot of the “clues” and “story decisions” lead nowhere, and it’s hard to know sometimes whether an idea was intentional or not. There are so many ideas packed into it, but almost none of it was able to reach its full potential. Even things that did have some sort of plan behind them sometimes had to be tossed to the side.

By going through the show episode by episode like this, I can try to pick out those details that the writers themselves may have missed. I can point out opportunities, directions the show could’ve gone, and ways that good stories could’ve been improved. DP is a good show with a great show trying to get out.

That gives me so much more to talk about than a show that’s already great. It opens the path for a lot of interesting discussions, like ones I’ve already had on this blog. Different people can notice different things and think of different possibilities. There are so many different points of view, and these discussions could potentially help other writers with their own ideas, whether it be fanfiction or original stories. Heck, I know one of my followers tags a lot of my posts as “dp headcanons for my fic,” (which is super flattering btw.) People can read my ideas and build on that. A lot of the stuff I post on here came from me doing the same thing. I read an idea somewhere, and I built on that and came up with my own ideas.

So does DP deserve so much of my thought? Yeah, I think it does. Just because the original creators didn’t give it this much thought doesn’t mean I can’t, and a show like this leaves a lot more room to explore possibilities than anything much better shows give us. It allows us, the fans, to get creative with what the show presents to us. We get to dig deeper and find hidden gems that perhaps nobody else noticed before.

To me, that’s perhaps even more fun and more useful than trying to solve mysteries that really do have clear answers already.

[fountainpenguin]

Remember the Ask about what "The Fairly OddParents" would be like as a Disney movie? Well, what if "Danny Phantom" was a Disney movie? Would Paulina or Dora be the traditional Disney Princess? Would Valerie or Ember be the modern go-getting Disney Princess? Would Sam openly mock all the Disney tropes? Would Cujo be the goofy animal sidekick? Would Jack and Maddie die, as Disney parents are wont to do? Would Danny and Jazz's sibling bond save the day, à la "Frozen"? And what would Youngblood do?

Hmm….. Jack and Maddie probably wouldn’t die. They’re among the most involved parents in the cartoon world, and too much would be lost if they were removed. They’d stay as they are, but there would a big overarching plot. They’re dragging Jazz and Danny out to vacation somewhere for the summer (to a ghostly location, of course) and that’s when the adventure kicks in.

I’m thinking a movie in a “contemporary sci-fi” setting. So no princesses in the overworld, but maybe Dora would be princess of the Ghost Zone, or at least a large portion of it. Dani could be a princess too, and maybe Vlad a king? Rich guy by day, king by night, with an adopted daughter he’s trying to use but is planning to kill before she can ever attempt to take his throne.

It would be hard to wrap the entire Jazz plotline into a single movie, but she’d find about Danny’s powers within the first twenty minutes and certainly help him towards the end. Presumably she’d take a damaging blow to the shoulder or legs right before Danny has to face the Big Bad (Vlad, in this case) 

And… maybe Dani and Valerie would stay behind to protect her from a hoard of encroaching Ghosts (and stall the Ghosts from reaching Danny). Too many for Danny to wipe out quickly, so he has to make a move towards Vlad before Vlad puts his scheme into action. Which of course Vlad is in the process of doing right then.

Youngblood would have been like, the opening scene enemy that Danny was fighting (he already having his powers when the movie begun, and revealing his backstory as the movie progresses). He’d have his pirate ship and made his escape and left Danny bruised and exhausted (creating conflict when he goes home and has to avoid letting his parents and Jazz find out what he was doing). 

Halfway through the movie, Danny would see Youngblood’s ship again, and threaten him to give him, Dani, and Valeria a ride through the Ghost Zone. Most likely, Youngblood would do so, but steer them into an area where he had lots of skeleton friends whom he’d then order to attack. Danny, Dani, and Val would then part ways with Youngblood here as they take off running…

Something like that, I think. We start with Sam and Tucker supporting Danny in a fight against Youngblood (who gets away with hardly a scratch like at the start of “Pirate Radio”), then being exhausted and falling asleep while doing homework, going to school, getting into a fight with Skulker, Val shows up and the two figure out each other’s identities (or more likely, Val reluctantly agrees to work with Phantom), and Skulker drops a clue that hints at Vlad’s plan. Jazz probably witnessed the battle à la “My Brother’s Keeper”.

Danny comes home and his parents want to go on vacation, Danny convinces them to go to the place that Skulker’s clue points to, (his parents are resistant at first until Jazz jumps in and supplies information about how this place is so totally haunted and Jack agrees immediately). I guess… Tucker and Sam (and Sam’s faithful puppy Cujo) come along for goth/tech/permission to join the Fentons on a family roadtrip reasons.

During their trip, Vlad sends Dani to spy on the Danny, and she decides to test him by roughing him up. This plays out like the first half of “Fenton Menace”, but with Dani instead of Youngblood. Dani does a lot of damage to Danny, but Valerie sweeps in to help, I suppose? After the two take down Dani, she does the “I’m on your side and I want to stop my dad” thing. She reveals stuff about Vlad’s plan and they agree to help her.

Dani probably lured Valerie after her deliberately, and Valerie tailed her the entire time. During the night, while the others are camping (Valerie by herself b/c she can’t tell the Fentons she showed up a few hundred miles from Amity Park), Dani leads Danny, Val, Sam, and Tucker to a suspicious location near the campsite. Jazz, who had never followed asleep because she suspected her brother was up to something (and she suspects he’s Phantom but might not have full proof yet), tags along from a distance. This turns out to be good, because Dani led the others directly into a trap. While the room fills with water/flames/etc., Dani fights Danny and Val, taunting them that they can’t stop her AND save Tucker and Sam. She’s right, so Danny and Val save Tuck and Sam while Dani escapes.

Dani runs straight into Jazz, who blasts her with some ghost weapon. This is when Jazz reveals she knows about Danny’s ghost powers and wants to help. They try questioning Dani, but she ends up escaping, and the others go back to bed.

In the morning, Jack and Maddie explore the suspicious locations they came here to see while the others follow, searching for clues. They end up finding one and somehow determine that Vlad (who would have made an appearance at the beginning of the movie as the suspicious mayor or even as someone Danny was fighting) is going to try taking over the world from some location on the opposite side of the world. The team are wondering how they’ll get there when they hear Dani’s voice and find that Youngblood has captured her and taken her prisoner (in the process, revealing that Dani is a princess and worth a lot of ransom. Or, he thinks she’s pretty. Both, maybe.)

This is when the team exhorts a ride out of Youngblood, who opens a portal to the Ghost Zone because he can totally do that. Dani is still a prisoner who refuses to navigate, and now Y.B. is upset because he just got beaten up, but he acts like he’s helping Danny because he doesn’t want the world destroyed or whatever.

As said above, Youngblood drives pretty far through the Zone before he gets his goons to chase off Danny and his crew. They leave without Dani, but Danny realizes he’s too moral for that and goes back for her. This is the last time Youngblood’s seen in the movie, unless he appears in some celebration at the end when the world is saved.

Youngblood brought them near Dora’s kingdom, so everyone rests. Dani is still tied up and very argumentative, but she can’t escape because Val has a blaster pointed at her constantly, I guess. Dora gives everyone some food… She probably has the team complete a task for her (like helping her get rid of her cruel brother, and maybe Skulker and Technus make cameos here?) before she gives them the last information they need to stop Vlad.

Oh, I know! Dora tells them that the nearest portal is in a human high school. So, the team has to get past Poindexter, and perhaps even the Lunch Lady. Oh yeah, and the Box Ghost would have shown up earlier in the movie (maybe he and Youngblood were in the opening together, fighting over supply crates at the Amity Park dock warehouse).

They’re on the opposite side of the world now, so it’s probably night again for them (not much time has passed back with their parents, who haven’t realized they’re gone). Poindexter has been pacified, but the team still has to get to Vlad. Actually, Vlad probably shows up to check on them, frees Dani, and destroys several weapons and scatters the team. He tries to use Dani to fight the team, but this goes about as well as it does in “Kindred Spirits”, and Dani does her “You are not the boss of me!” bit.

So now Dani’s on their side. Technus and Skulker are closing in, along with some other baddies from the series. Jazz has been hurt and the others stay to defend her while Danny chases after Vlad and they have their final showdown. Vlad’s plan was either about making it easier for Ghosts to leave the Zone, or sealing it off so humans weren’t coming through it anymore, depending on what society is like during this movie (Ghost Zone tourism, anyone?)

My guess would be that Vlad was trying to hold all portals open permanently (because maybe only unreliable portals existed) and Danny stops him by sealing him in the Ghost Zone. This then stops a lot of Ghost activity and leaves he and Dani as the last ghosts in the real world…

… Or so he thinks, until some baddies who weren’t inside the Zone when it sealed arrive to remind them that their work is far from done. And although the team gulps at the daunting task ahead of them, saving humans from ghosts is what they do and what they love.

They also have a really long way to get back home since they can’t shortcut through the Zone anymore but hey, that’s what flying friends are for.