#like the house was fentonworks but due to danny it changed into the house

[regonold]

Ok hmm so idea

So danny he has a bad reveal, and instead of escaping or retreating into his core or any of tge numerous numerous other ways he has or could escape he dies on the vivisection table

Now halfa's they due to being paradoxes of living and dead have a wierd death if they are human while they die they would turn ghost and need to basically regrow their human boddy so staying spirit for a couple years (depending on age the younger the body the less time ot takes)

However when their ghostly half dies it is much different for starters if it was just a random out in the wild something somehow kills them they'd transform back to human die due to not having half a soul and immediately reform their ghost half

They way pantom is dieing tho makes a difference so danny is dieing on a vivisection table from both blood loss ectoplasm loss organ loss and numerous other things at a certin point it no lomger becomes worth it to revive a body

So phantom instead or repossimg his body and re awakening his other hlaf of a soul searches for a different anchor to safeguard hi. Whilst he regrows his body

Their a few checklists he needs to do first of course to make sure that it is most suitable and to be clear it is not phantom or danny doing it it is the base part that made him a ghost the part screaming i want to live

Theres only really two boxes that need to be checked one really by the second is an added clause due to how danny died

Does it have access to ectoplasm

Does it have defences

Now you know what has abundant assess to ectoplasm and defences the fenton works building so Danny's spirit anchors to that instead of his body

Now it you were a spirit that has just been killed over and over and over and over agian by your parents and you just took over the house literally you'd absolutely force them out right? And adf the fact that due to having a portal to the realms means the house is very much not as connected to this universe in a meaningful way anymore well I'd fucking run as well

So danny now a house with a mad scientist basement filled with his own corpse his organs detached form his own universe and bound to this house till he can find out how to regrow his body whats he to do but move around the multiverse and change shape to blend in more

Maybe he becomes known Maybe he gets bet in a card game Maybe he becomes the house of mysteries and maybe just maybe one john Constantine can actually help him finally finally get his body back

[trinoxtrinox]

Danny's guardian

Ectoberhaunt 2022, Side Chaos. Prompt: Wraith

Summary:

Wraith: The word has no certain etymology. J. R. R. Tolkien favored a link with writhe. Also compared are Scots warth and Old Norse vǫrðr (“watcher, guardian”), whence Icelandic vörður (“guard”). See also wray/bewray, from Middle English wreien. Perhaps from wrath as a wraith is a vengeful spirit.

Vǫrðr: In Norse mythology, a vǫrðr (Old Norse: [ˈwɔrðz̠], pl. varðir [ˈwɑrðez̠] or verðir [ˈwerðez̠] — "warden," "watcher" or "caretaker") is a warden spirit, believed to follow from birth to death the soul (hugr) of every person.

Concent Warning: Death, but then again, it's Danny's death that gets mentioned, does it really count?

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In the backyard of Fentonworks resided a tree, it wasn’t the tallest tree of them all, standing at 70 feet tall, with a white trunk filled and patches of light brown, no knots present in any part of it’s bark and branches twisting and going up and down, side to side, leaving all the leaves to give the tree as a whole a dome shape stretched to the top, leaves which are more often than not dark green, with some of them that haven’t fully grown yet being light green. Its roots spread deep underground, with all of them being thick as well.

This American Basswood has been in this lot for quite a while, with it being 85 years old, and despite it not being the strongest tree, it has managed to stand tall and proud all the time, no matter the weather nor the condition of the place.

From the roots of the tree rose a light, which was tinted green and barely illuminated its surroundings. From said light eventually a baby was formed, one that remained invisible all the time for the human eye. Said ghost floated away from its tree and eventually came upon a window, from which it remained a respectful distance away as it saw the baby whose appearance it was copying sleep peacefully.

“Another night safe from the dangers of that house.” the ghost spoke, smiling softly as he said so, only to frown upon thinking something else, “Or at least for now.”

He began floating away from the house and back to the tree it resided in, leaning himself against its bark as it had done plenty of nights before. “Oh if only I could spare him of his fate.”

“You know you can’t.” another voice joined him, as he felt a medallion slip onto his neck and landing softly on his small chest, said medallion occupying the totality of his torso. Beside him floated calmly a ghost with pale blue skin, purple cloak covering his face and the sound of clocks chiming from both his wrist and chest, both of which showcased a variety of watches from different time periods.

“I know Clockwork, that doesn’t mean that I have to like it,” the ghost who was faint to the sight thus far showed himself, showing that he was indeed a carbon copy of the bay in the room before, however instead of having his black hair or blue eyes, he had white hair and neon green eyes; not to mention that their skin was darker than the human counterpart, “it’s always sad to see a young human pass away, and even though he’ll survive, a part of him will still die.”

“That’s why you’re his Vǫrðr, you’ll be able to help him and protect him once the time comes.”

“In this time and age the correct word is Wraith and you know it.”

“Yes, however due to Dungeons and Dragons, your kind has gained an unfair stigma, one that I wish would have never started to begin with, but alas, it is unwise to change history and avoid those negative connotations to bleed in to begin with.”

“Anyways, have you only come here to stop me from trying to do something stupid or is there another reason?”

“Perspective as always Phantom.” At this the master of time, who now resembled an infant much like the Wraith in front of him, lowered himself until he was touching the roots with his own tail. “You know that young Daniel’s future is full of hardships, and those will make your job of protecting him difficult as well; what I came here for is to give you a warning, and something else as well that will help you once the time comes.”

At this Phantom stilled, looking straight in the only good eye Clockwork had. “... I’m listening.”

“Not so young Vǫrðr, the warning you’ll need to heed and remember is that soon this tree won’t be safe for you…” watching how the face of the young wraith paled, Clowork changed into his elder form and continued, “... the Fenton’s defenses might be lax and weak right now, but eventually by the time young Danny reaches the age of 10 the backyard will be within the range of detection of the security system.”

“B-but that’s not going to be healthy for me, being forced to be far from my tree when Danny is in his home where I won’t be able to protect him even then. How will I be able to accomplish my purpose when that happens?” a quivering voice was heard when Phantom opened his mouth, and even though he regained a semblance of control by the end of it, some tears could still be seen on the rim of his eyes.

“You’ll find a way Phantom, do remember where you come from when the time comes, and you’ll be able to keep yourself healthy alright.” Clockwork became an adult once more, and once the transformation was done he continued speaking. “What I’m giving you here is a gear that’ll be able to deactivate the house’s defenses, however do remember that it’s a one time use item, so don’t waste it.” That last part was said with such intensity that it caused Phantom to gulp and nod nervously as he received a gear with the initials CW etched inside it.

“The day Jack and Madelline Fenton finish the portal, and before it actually begins, you’ll need to be there present,” emphasized the Ancient, pointing with his staff to the Wraith, “if you want to properly protect your charge when the time comes, you’ll need to be next to him, and that gear will be the only thing that’ll allow you to get inside that house. It lasts for 24 hours, so that should let you do everything safe and sound and get used to the future.”

“Understood” replied Phantom, only to float down and phase said gear into the ground, next to the roots of his precious American Basswood. “Anything else before you leave?”

“Yes, this won’t be the last time we’ll meet Phantom, and I’m looking forward to the time where we find each other’s faces once more.”

“Thank you for your help Clockwork.”

“You’re welcome Phantom, goodbye.” And with that, the ghost left, taking with himself the medallion that was sitting on the torso of Phantom.

The years continued to fly by, and Phantom’s appearance changed alongside Danny Fenton’s, always being a carbon copy of himself with the differences in his hair, eyes and skin color. Eventually the day where the Fenton’s security system began reaching the backyard, Phantom became nervous and couldn’t think on what to do, until he recalled Clockwork's words and phased himself underground. Thankfully the defense system couldn’t detect anything underground, so he was safe there, but sadly he couldn’t defend Danny from anything that happened inside that house anymore; Phantom had no more option but to have faith that Danny had enough common sense to avoid dangerous objects and that Jazz would protect him whenever he could not.

Finally the time came though, where Jack and Maddie announced that they would turn on the ghost portal, and when they left the house dejected for their daily patrols. Jazz was outside at the time Danny invited Sam and Tucker inside, and Phantom knew that it was time; recovering the gear from its hiding place, he threw it at the house and, after waiting a few seconds, went inside in search of Danny. He eventually found him, but by then he was already donning his own hazmat suit. Phantom began floating beside him and put his own hand on top of his shoulder, and they both entered the portal together, even if only 1 of the 4 beings present really knew that. A flash of light, some molecules rearranged, and one fusion between a human and his Wraith later, and Danny Fenton-Phantom was created.

[five-rivers]

All These Scattered Gems

For Dannymay 2021 Day 4: Stars

.

“They can’t be real stars,” insisted Maddie, her voice tinny and static in Danny’s ear.

He paused, grimacing, and adjusted the frequency again. Something must have gotten knocked loose inside the Fenton Phones in the last fight he got into. “I didn’t say that was what they were,” he said, “I was just telling you what they look like. And they look like stars.”

Danny did tend to consider himself a bit of an expert when it came to whether or not something looked like a star. Astronomy was a special interest of his, after all.

(Despite the best efforts of both his parents and the doctors of the Far Frozen, efforts to decide whether or not he had a true, ghostly Obsession had been inconclusive. Danny was okay with that if he was being honest. Which he usually wasn’t.)

“Hm,” said Maddie. “That isn’t coming across very well in the video.”

“Mads, our video is half static that far from the portal.”

Maddie sighed. “Make sure you take pictures, sweetie.”

“I remember,” said Danny, who had forgotten. “The sky looks darker over there, too. It almost looks like real night. I wonder if someone did it on purpose?”

When Danny had first come clean to his parents about being half-ghost, he hadn’t really had any expectations that it would change his probable future. Which he had predicted to consist of a series of depressing, minimum wage jobs that he would keep losing due to ghost hunting.

His parents had something to say about that however, and although Danny had never really wanted to inherit Fentonworks or ghost hunting as a profession (ironic, he knew) he did like the exploration and science parts. Quite a bit, actually. And since he’d never be able to become an astronaut… Well. This was pretty good, too.

Especially since he was getting paid.

(All the extra equipment he had to bring with him to make forays into the Zone ‘experimentally useful’ was a bit of a drag, though. Literally, sometimes. The stuff was heavy.)

“Okay,” said Danny. “I’m going to get closer.”

The lights ahead of him really were starlike… but they were, as expected, much closer. The nearest of them stopped being pinpricks and started looking like tiny disks after just a few minutes of determined flight.

“Danny? Sweetie? You might want to slow down a little. Those speeds are rough on our sensors.”

Danny sighed, but complied.

.

Ghost cores were weird. Really weird. At least part of the weirdness was that, most of the time, they didn’t exist in either the Ghost Zone or ‘normal’ reality, but instead were tucked away in private self-generated pocket dimensions.

Ghost bodies were formed around the entrances to those pocket dimensions and would shift to accommodate the core that generated them, but usually didn’t actually house the core. It was a safety thing, and the reason ghosts could have their entire body destroyed only to pop up a few days later, perfectly fine.

Danny’s parents had been studying the phenomenon off and on, trying to compare it to ghostly lairs, which were also pocket dimensions. Or universes. The distinction was unclear. They’d been having trouble collecting data, however, as most ghosts would not blithely give such intimate information to ghost hunters, no matter how reformed they claimed to be.

After all, ghost cores were the equivalent of a ghost’s brain. One might even say their soul.

Danny was getting off track.

All this to say that Danny really should not have been able to physically feel his core.

He braked, ‘skidding’ to a stop.

“Danny?” said Maddie, sounding concerned. “Are you alright? Our instruments picked up a power spike…”

“I’m fine,” said Danny, pressing his fingers to his chest. Whatever he had felt was gone. “Just… a weird feeling.” He looked back up at the ‘stars.’ Some of them looked like little coins, now.

“How weird?”

“Like, I could have imagined it,” said Danny. “Timing is a bit strange, though, with that power surge. This might be a ‘Fisher Kingdom’ area.”

Some places in the Ghost Zone had such a strong feeling about how things should be that anyone or anything entering them was altered to fit. Some were generated by an actual ghost, but usually those ghosts just had very specific ideas about death and ghosts that didn’t quite mesh with the Zone at large. A few gave the impression that they had been carefully constructed and then more or less abandoned. Others didn’t seem to have any intelligence behind their existence, were random, almost natural.

Generally, the effects of Fisher Kingdoms were strictly physical, the average ghost’s core being safe in its aforementioned pocket, but even with that limitation, Fisher Kingdoms could be… difficult. Dangerous.

But they were also interesting. And Danny didn’t mind. He had the Ultimate Cheat Code when it came to dealing with Fisher Kingdoms. He could just turn human and float away. No problem. (In theory, anyway. In practice… Sometimes it was more complicated than that.)

“Alright,” said Maddie. “If you feel safe doing so, keep up your approach, but slowly. We want to monitor your vitals.”

Danny kept going, if at a greatly reduced pace.

His core pulsed again, and he stopped, hissing. This time, the sensation didn’t go away.

“Danny?”

“I’m okay,” he said. “I just…” He took a deep breath, feeling icy pressure on his lungs. “Oh, that’s weird.”

“What happened? Are you safe?”

“I think so. I think… I think this turned off my, uh, pocket dimension thing. You know, what my core goes in.” He blinked at his feet and the tips of his fingers, which were wisping away. The glow around his chest was bright and was becoming brighter. Something started beeping in his ear.

“Danny,” said Maddie, sounding alarmed. “That’s the stability alarm. Your numbers are dropping rapidly.”

Danny looked up, back at the not-stars. “I think I know what they are, now,” he said.

“What? Danny, you have to get out of there. Whatever is happening is seriously disrupting your ability to maintain your form.”

Danny brought his hand to touch the surface of his chest, which rippled as if made of water. The surface of his suit had started showing cracks. Even so, Danny was frozen in place by a thought:

Would it be so bad, to become a star?

His rings shuddered into life around him, forcibly and painfully returning him to human form. His heart stuttered at the ball of utter cold pressed against it. Every breath he took burned.

He cursed under his breath and followed his mother’s instructions, floating away from the field of false stars as quickly as he could. Despite how his core seemed to want to pull him back.

Eventually, the pull lessened.

“I guess,” said Danny, with extreme regret, “we should put that on the list of places I shouldn’t go.”

“Already there, kiddo,” said Jack.

“Come straight back,” said Maddie. “We need to give you a check, make sure there are no lasting effects.”

“Alright,” said Danny. “I’m on my way.”

Being a star… A shining beacon in the night…

It wouldn’t have been all that great, anyway, he was sure.

(He could settle for just chasing after them.)

[madametamma]

Did They See Chapter 6

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13987077/6/Did-They-See?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=t.0l9HXI9yl.usG0kEZxNt.Jcw6RMOH_goHED8TUCh0-1638812634-0-gaNycGzNCb0

Flashback to that morning...

The annoying ring of Sam's phone blared in her ears. She rolled over in bed lazily and stared bleary eyed at the digital clock on her night stand.

It read 9:32 AM.

It was a Saturday. Saturdays were made for sleeping until noon. Someone had better be either dead, or dying.

She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Sam, where's Danny?!" All sleepiness left Sam the instant she realized who's voice it was.

Maddie Fenton.

"Uh, Mrs. Fenton-"

"Is Danny with you? Are you at your house? He wasn't at home when I woke up this morning! He didn't leave a note, and his cell phone is still in his room! I don't know where he is!"

"Uh, Well-" Sam stammered, trying to think of something to say. Maddie cut her off again.

"I don't remember going to bed last night! I was going to go up stairs to check on Danny, and the next thing I knew, Jack and I were waking up in the lab this morning! Things were moved around and equipment has gone missing! These are ALL signs of being overshadowed! Now Danny's just disappeared and I think-"

"Mrs. Fenton, Danny's here and we're all fine!" Sam got out in one quick breath!

"What?"

"Yeah, we have this big project due Monday for Lancer's class, and we decided to get it all out of the way quickly Saturday morning so we could spend the rest of the day out having fun around town!" Sam lied quickly.

"Danny got here, really early! Like seven AM! We're just finishing up now! Uh, Danny's in the bathroom so he's not available to talk right now-"

"That's not normal for Danny to leave so early! Wait, you're both at your house now?"

"Yeah, but we're just about to leave! We're uh, gonna head to uh- the movies! To be first in line for…a movie we've been waiting to see for a while... Yeah!" Sam came up with the explanation on the spot. She didn't want Maddie to come over to spy on them from across the street again.

"Anyway, gotta go, bye!" The goth slammed the end call button before his friend's mother could say anything else.

Sam began to process what she had just been told. Danny's family had been overshadowed the night before and now Danny was no where to be seen. It looked like he was in trouble. She called up Tucker and the two of them formulated a plan.

They decided to sneak into Fentonworks, take the boomerang and the Specter speeder and go look for Danny.

When the two teens got there, they thought it would be difficult to sneak in without being noticed, but Mr. and Mrs Fenton were too distracted. They could hear the whole family loudly yelling at each other on the second floor.

"I went to every movie theater in town! I went into every room! I got kicked out of all of them! He wasn't in any of them!" They overheard Maddie shouting in destress.

Sneaking down to the basement and getting what they needed to find Danny was a piece of cake for Sam and Tuck.

End of flashback

By the time the three teens made it back to the Fenton portal, It was already pretty late in the day. Danny was re-bandaged, and changed out of the pajamas he was kidnapped in. The kids put everything back they way they found it. No one would be able to tell where they were all day. The half ghost phased everyone back outside so that they could properly enter through the front door and announce they were back.

Danny stood on the steps outside, feeling physically and emotionally drained. A part of him hoped beyond hope that Sam was mistaken. He just stood there sullenly for a moment.

"Danny?" Tuck said, feeling his friend's mood. Him and Sam gave the teen a sympathetic look.

Danny said nothing to them. There was nothing to say to change this situation. He transformed back into his human self and finally opened the door.

"I'm home!" He called.

An instant later, his family came bounding around the corner to see. His dad hung back a little. He stood in the doorway giving his son an unreadable look that felt cold and alienating to the boy. His sister glared at their father annoyed, more concerned with him, than with Danny. Danny could only guess about what they had all been arguing all day while he was out. His mother payed neither of them any mind and simply rushed at the boy looking frantic.

She kneeled on the floor in front of him. Her hands cupped his face as she stared intensely into his eyes. Her expression was so foreign to him. She scanned him up and down. For what, he didn't know.

"You've been gone the whole day! I woke up this morning and you weren't in the house! Where were you?!", the mother demanded.

"Mom." Jazz said. "His friends said he was with them and it's not even close to his curfew. It's fine! You act like he's never spent the day with his friends before!"

Jazz was doing the best she could to help keep Danny out of trouble. Whatever they had been talking about before he got home, his sister seemed very irritated; finally done with giving the parents the benefit of the doubt.

"Uhh, look at the time! Call you later Danny!" Sam and Tuck went back out the door, feeling like they didn't belong in the situation. Danny didn't even have the time to protest their exit before they were out the door and Maddie was going off on him in a fury.

"Why didn't you bring your phone with you?! Why didn't you tell me where you were going?! I should have been there to watch you!" Maddie insisted.

"Mom! He doesn't need to be watched 24/7! He's in high school!" Jazz yelled.

While his mother and sister were bickering back and forth, Danny turned to see his dad. He was glaring in Danny's direction, but not at him. It seemed as though he was in his own little world until it suddenly hit him that he and his son were making eye contact. The large man flinched for a moment before turning away. He practically bolted for the basement stairs.

All of Danny's fears had come back full force, striking him like a that boomerang to the head. Walker's plan? Unrelated. His parents weren't over shadowed for days. It was only for a night. They weren't acting strange because of a ghost. They still probably knew, and they still probably had their own plans for him.

While Jazz and his mother were preoccupied with arguing, Danny went upstairs to his room. He could hear their raised voices for a little while longer before the sound of doors slamming left the house in a tense silence. He anticipated that his mother would be coming up to his bedroom to continue the spying that she had been doing for the past few days now.

Danny couldn't stand it any longer. All his fears and worries came rushing back to him stronger than ever.

"They know!"

"They know!"

"I'm SURE they know!"

He thought back to the prison that Walker had made for him using his parent's inventions. His mom and dad had likely already started building it for him before the warden showed up to steal it for himself. Their tech being stolen would delay the ghost hunters but not stop them. Next time what would Danny do? Destroy their home like he did to Walker's jail? Fight them? What if the cell they build for him this time is much stronger? What if he couldn't get out?

He looked towards his closet, frozen in fear for just a moment. The longer he put this off, the longer he could still remain their son; but the time had come. He couldn't stall any longer. THIS time it was Walker, but next time the prison he would be crammed into really could be from mom and dad.

He opened the closet door and fished out the packed duffle bag. It was a little dusty. He hadn't touched it since he first packed it a week after he got his powers, but it had everything he needed inside of it.

He double checked the contents, zipped it up tight, and slung it over his shoulder. He was as ready as he would ever be. He transformed into phantom and went invisible. He needed to do this now before his mother began her watch over him for the night.

First thing's first. He go to Jazz, Sam and Tuck and tell them of his plan. His mom and dad would go to them first when they discovered he was gone, and they needed to formulate a cover story together. He also wanted to say goodbye. He knew he'd be back someday. He couldn't stay away from Amity Park for too long, but he didn't know when that day would come. It might be a week, it might be months. That part of his plan he was leaving blank for now.

Then he'd go to the Far frozen, off into the Ghost zone. Frostbite would give him a place to stay for a while, at least until he figured out his next step.

The more Danny thought about it, the more it felt real. His eyes started to sting as he suppressed the urge to cry. As of this moment, he couldn't be a Fenton anymore. As much as he always complained about his embarrassing family, he liked being apart of it.

As he phased through the walls of what was about to be his former home, he could hear his parents loudly arguing again. This was the perfect moment to go. Now, while they were preoccupied; but something tugged on the corner of his mind. Something that told him he should stay and hear this. Maybe he was just stalling again before he officially became a runaway, but he still stopped to listen.

He hesitated, only for a moment before phasing just his head into the lab, remaining invisible the whole time.

His mother looked furious as she shouted at his father. The man turned away from her, trying his best and failing at looking busy. He fiddled with some gadget on the table. A screwdriver held knuckle-whiteningly tight in his shaky hand. It missed the screw again and again. Jack clearly could not focus on anything except his barely held together emotions stewing behind his dark blue eyes.

"All I said was to leave him be for a while. You honestly think you're doing any good by hovering?" He muttered between clenched teeth, not looking at his wife.

"At least I'm doing SOMETHING! What exactly is YOUR problem?! It's like you can't stand to be in a room for FIVE minutes with him! Jazz is right! Stop being immature about this! You're acting like a child!"

"Leave me alone, Maddie!"

"No! I want to know why you're acting this way! I want to know why you're treating Danny like it's HIS fault he's the way he is!"

"IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!" Jack slammed the device in his hands down hard enough to smash it into pieces. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

The lab fell into an uncomfortable silence.

[ghostsray]

Ch7: Second Chance

(this is a day late oops. but hey, it’s also longer than the previous chapters, so that ought to make up for that, right?)

(first - prev - next)

Niel coughed and waved the last wisps of green smoke away from his face. When his vision cleared, he looked around and saw himself standing in...exactly the same spot he had been in, inside the Fentons' laboratory. Something was off, though. Danny and Ellie were gone. There didn't seem to be any trace that Ellie had melted anywhere in the lab. The table they had landed on was placed against a different wall, and instead of work-in-progress weapons, it was covered with blueprints.

Niel frowned as he tried to recall what last happened. He had made a wish, and then a ghost...a wish-granting ghost? Niel had wished something about change, but that wasn't definite enough to inform him of what that ghost might have done. Then he turned around and saw the portal--or rather, where the portal should have been.

The frame was still there, but in place of the glowing green swirls was a gaping hole. Tangles of cables slithered along the base. Niel didn't even know the portal could be closed.

He wiped away the last tears from his face and furrowed his brows. So he made a wish about changing things...a ghost granted it...and now the portal was closed. That had to be related, right?

He heard footsteps descend the stairs, and he turned around and saw Danny frozen at the bottom, staring at him with wide eyes. Before Niel could say anything, Danny rushed to the nearest shelf and grabbed an ectogun, aiming it at Niel shakily.

"You--you're a g-ghost," Danny stammered.

Niel raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah? It's me."

Danny looked confused. He didn't lower his weapon. "Ghosts--" he began, "ghosts are real?"

It was then that Niel finally noticed that something seemed different about Danny. He had less scars, less bags under his eyes, and...he was shorter? Vlad had designed his clones to be fourteen after the age he got Danny's DNA from, but by the time Niel was created, Danny was sixteen. He had always been a few inches taller than Niel due to the two extra years, but the Danny that stood before him now was the exact same height.

Blueprints, a closed portal, a younger Danny who didn't believe in ghosts...wait. Niel's stomach sank as he asked, "What year is it?"

Danny frowned, but then he said, "Oh, right. Ghosts come from different periods of time, right?"

He told him the date. It was two years ago.

Niel muttered a curse word under his breath. (It was harsher than Vlad's fake swears. The situation seemed appropriate.) He looked at Danny, who was still aiming that gun at him.

"Put that away," Niel said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Danny hesitated, but he didn't lower the gun. "My parents--"

"They told you that all ghosts are bad, right?" Danny looked surprised, but Niel rolled his eyes and continued, "You're probably thinking that I'm trying to trick you into trusting me or something."

"And you're not?"

"No! I just want to find a way back to the Ghost Zone." Maybe then, he could find that wish ghost and make her undo whatever she had done to bring him here.

"How did you even get here? The portal isn't finished yet," Danny pointed out.

"Natural portal," Niel lied. "It shut as soon as I came through. Are you sure this portal here can't work?"

Danny shook his head, then said, "My parents made it. Maybe they can find a way to--"

"No!" Niel interrupted. He did not want to deal with the famous ghost-hating Fenton couple. His exclamation startled Danny so much, the boy's finger squeezed around the trigger of his gun. A blast came out and shoved Niel onto the ground.

Danny dropped the gun in shock and covered his mouth. "I'm sorry," he said, then scrunched his face, as if wondering why he was apologizing to a ghost. Niel groaned. As he tried to push himself up, his hand screamed in pain, and he felt his ghost core pull away. Oh shit.

Danny recoiled as the rings of light spread across Niel. When Niel stood up again, fully human, Danny's jaw dropped.

"You look just like me," Danny said. "How...?"

Niel shrugged, then winced when his hand ached. Right. He'd forgotten that he broke a finger. Not to mention his burn from earlier...

"It's a long story," Niel said.

Danny must have noticed him wince, because his eyes travelled to Niel's hand. "Your fingers--"

Niel covered his injured hand. "They'll heal."

"You were just a ghost," Danny said dumbly. "And now..."

Niel shrugged again with one shoulder. "It's...a long story?"

Danny's face scrunched up, then stretched in surprise. "You asked me what date it was. And you look like me...Are you...me from the future?"

That was...a valid conclusion to jump to. "It's complicated," he answered. "Look, I just want to get to the Ghost Zone."

Danny's mouth moved wordlessly for a minute, and then he slowly slid down into a sitting position on the floor. "I think I need a moment to process this."

Niel tapped his foot impatiently. "Seriously?"

"Hey, I just found out that not only are ghosts real, but possibly time travel, too."

"You think that's bad? I'm the one who's stuck in the past, right after--" Niel clenched his jaw and swallowed. He couldn't just say 'right after I discovered that the guy who cloned me from you doesn't actually care about his kids' without delving into an explanation about the whole clone thing and why Vlad even wanted to clone Danny.

Danny looked up at Niel again and asked, "How did I become part ghost?"

"You part died, obviously."

"That doesn't make any sense. You can't be part dead."

"Yeah, well, you were. Or will be. You get what I mean." Niel shook his head and walked to where the empty portal frame stood. Something must have activated it in the future. He knew it had something to do with Danny gaining his powers, but he wasn't familiar with the details...

Danny stood up behind him. "Why don't you want Mom and Dad to help?"

"They're ghost hunters. I'm part ghost. Figure it out." His eyes traced the lines on the portal's sides. A few panels were sticking out, wires poking from beneath...

"But if you just explained things--"

For some reason, Niel felt a flare of anger in his chest, and he turned on Danny and snapped, "I'm sorry, who here is the half-ghost version of you from the future?"

He didn't know why he felt so angry at Danny, or why he was still pretending to be Danny from the future. Maybe he wanted him to hate his parents just like Niel hated Vlad. He knew that was despicable of him to wish for, but then again, he was raised by a supervillain.

Danny took a step back, watching Niel with crestfallen eyes. A heavy footstep descended on the stairs, grabbing both boys' attention. "Dann-o? Is that you?" a voice called out. It was Jack.

Danny looked back at Niel, but the other boy was gone. Truth was, Niel just turned himself invisible, but Danny didn't know that. He turned in place, trying fruitlessly to spot where Niel had went, when Jack's large form peeked into the lab. "There you are. What are you doing in the lab?"

Danny stammered and said, "Um--"

But Jack just grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's okay, son. If you were curious about ghosts, all you had to do was ask! Just don't be alone in the lab next time, all right?"

"Duly noted," Danny replied.

Niel silently moved toward the lab's exit. He glared at the back of Jack's head as he went. A part of him hoped the man would feel his stare and grow unsettled, but Jack seemed unperturbed.

He swerved past Maddie on the stairs to avoid passing through her as she went to join her husband. Then he picked up speed once he reached the top and phased through the Fenton household's front door.

He wanted to run, as far away from Fentonworks as possible, except moving his arm sent jolts of pain through his hand and he wasn't in the mood for Naruto running, so instead he sat down on the sidewalk and sighed. Welp, he was in the past, before Danny ever gained his ghost powers. That was certainly one way to allow him to "change everything".

The Fenton portal didn't work. Niel hadn't learned how to summon his own portals yet, and he doubted a natural portal would conveniently open up. He wondered if maybe the wish ghost could still be in the human world--she granted this wish, so she must have allowed herself some leverage, right? Maybe he could summon her if he said her name three times, like that musical about a ghost he pirated online once. The problem was that he didn't know what the wish ghost's name was. He was pretty sure he heard about her before, but...ugh, why did his memory have to suck?

Niel's stomach sank as he realized there was only one portal left he could use, and to get to it, he had to go to Vlad's house. At this point of time, Vlad hadn't even met Danny yet. He hadn't begun working on creating a perfect clone. How would Niel feel if he saw him? The image of Vlad's bloodred eyes and glinting fangs snarling at him as he tried to protect Ellie's melting form was still fresh in his brain.

Niel trembled, but he knew he had no choice. He stood up and began walking toward the mayor's mansion. He went a few steps before he paused as a realization hit him.

Was Vlad even mayor yet? It was two years ago. Vlad, from Niel's time, had been mayor for one year. That means he wouldn't move to Amity Park yet until next year.

Great! Not even Vlad's portal was in Amity Park. Niel wasn't sure if that dissapointed or relieved him. He would have to travel all the way to Wisconsin if he wanted to reach the Ghost Zone.

So, his options were either to travel to another state, or go back into Fentonworks and try to open the portal while no one was looking. If Danny turned half ghost from opening the portal, what would happen to Niel, since he was already half ghost? Would he become full ghost, or would the action somehow reverse his genes and make him full human? No, wait, that second option makes no sense. He'd probably just die and go full ghost.

"Danny?" someone said. He looked up and saw Danny's sister, Jazz. She was holding a book from the library and staring at him with furrowed brows. Oh, crackers, was he visible? He glanced down at himself, and sure enough, he was there. Niel mentally berated himself. Losing his invisibility just because he lost concentration? He should have trained his powers better than that.

"What did you do to your hair?" Jazz asked.

Niel unconsciously touched the shaven part of his hair and said with a shrug, "Impulse?"

Jazz frowned. "Carrying out drastic impulses isn't always healthy. It could be a sign of poor psychological health."

Niel was about to wonder why she suddenly started speaking like an encyclopedia, then he read the cover of the book she was holding. A psychology book. So she's into mental health.

"It's fine," Niel mumbled and tried to walk past her, but Jazz grabbed his hand. Unfortunately, it was his injured one, and he hissed as she closed her palm around his fingers. Jazz widened her eyes when she noticed his injuries.

"How did you--nevermind, that's not important. Why did you not heal your hand after you burnt and broke it? We do have a first aid kit."

"It'll heal."

"On its own?"

Right. Humans didn't heal as well as half-ghosts. Jazz shifted her grip onto his wrist and started pulling him inside.

"Jazz, it's fine," he insisted, but she didn't listen. She opened the front door to Danny's house and grabbed him through. His anxiety spiked, and he turned his wrist intangible to slip through her grip. Jazz turned back in surprise when her hands became empty, but at that point, it was too late--they were standing inside the Fentons' living room, and staring at them with wide eyes were the Fentons themselves, Danny included.

"Jazz, sweetie, who is that?" Maddie asked, craning her neck to get a good look at Niel.

Jazz turned around to answer, but her words died in her throat when she spotted the real Danny. "What? How--"

Maddie and Jack saw Niel, and they pulled out their guns. "It's a ghost impersonator," Jack exclaimed.

"That's ridiculous," Jazz quickly argued, but she was scowling at Niel in confusion, trying to figure out how and why he looked so similar to her brother. "Who are you?"

The Fenton couple's weapons began to whir as they powered up, but Danny jumped in front of them and shouted, "Stop! He's me from a different time!"

Maddie frowned. "Are you saying he's a time traveller?"

Jack lowered his weapon and scratched his chin. "If ghosts are real, then why not time travel?"

"Well--" Maddie hesitated. "It's possible in theory, but..."

"None of this makes any sense!" Jazz interrupted, throwing her arms up. "Ghosts? Time travel? Look-alikes? What is going on?"

Niel stepped forward, and everyone quieted down to watch him with anticipation. "Maddie and Jack are right, actually," he said, then made his eyes flash red. "I am a ghost."

Maddie gripped her gun again, but Jazz protested, "You can't be a ghost, you're alive! I felt your pulse."

"He's part ghost," Danny murmured. Everyone but Niel turned to look at him.

"Part ghost? That's impossible," Maddie scoffed, though there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Of course you would say that." Niel glared at them with his red eyes and said, "You don't care about scientific discoveries. You only care about fitting the world into your narrow theories."

Maddie frowned, obviously not liking what he was saying. Niel didn't care. He tugged on his core, and the others in the room stepped back in shock as he transformed with a flash of light.

He waited for them to raise their weapons again, or shout out ghost insults. Instead, Jack broke the silence by saying, "That was incredible!"

Niel faltered. "It...was?"

"You were just human--and then you weren't. How did you do that?"

There was no malicious tone in Jack's voice. In fact, he sounded genuinely curious. Maddie nodded in agreement, her eyes wide with wonder.

Niel glanced between them, his brows drawn together. "You're not going to shoot me? Because I'm a ghost?"

"You said we don't care about scientific discoveries," Maddie said. "I don't know where you got that idea from. Of course we're intrigued by new discoveries. Danny said you were only part ghost, and Jazz confirmed this by saying you have a pulse, which ghosts cannot have. That must mean you really are a human-ghost hybrid--something we thought was impossible, but we were wrong."

"We want to know everything," Jack said excitedly, then quickly added, "without hurting you, of course."

"Of course not," Maddie agreed. "We're not that amoral. We would never hurt a person, even if they were only part person."

Niel felt like a rug was being pulled from underneath him...until he held onto that last sentence, and his expression returned to a scowl. "So you wouldn't have cared about what happened me if I was a full ghost?"

Maddie hesitated. She and Jack exchanged a glance.

"To be fair, we've only ever heard stories about ghosts," Jack admitted, "and those stories always portrayed them as evil, so that was what we assumed them to be..."

"But if we gain proof against that, then of course we'll change our minds," Maddie completed.

"Really?" Niel said skeptically. "You won't assume the ghost is only pretending to be nice to trick humans into trusting him?" That was what he had always heard the Fentons say about Phantom on the news. The couple shifted guiltily.

Jazz watched the exchange in quiet calculation. "Hold up, so," she said to Niel, "are you or are you not from the future?"

"I am," he answered, which wasn't a lie.

"Then, something must have happened in your time to make you so bitter toward our parents. Am I right?"

Maddie and Jack were watching him apprehensively. Niel frowned. "You thought your son's ghost form is evil."

"We would never think that about Danny!" Jack exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, Danny didn't tell you about his ghost half."

"Why not?" Maddie wondered.

Niel met Danny's eyes. He knew the same thought was going through their heads. Danny glanced away and fidgeted. "Because...you hate ghosts," Danny said.

Immediately, the couple's expressions morphed into guilt. "Oh, sweetie," Maddie said. "We would never hate you if you became a ghost."

"Of course not!" Jack agreed. "Ectoplasmic or not, you'll always be our son."

Danny looked up at them hopefully. "Really?"

"Really," Maddie promised. She smiled, and Danny smiled back. Both of them were suddenly swept up by Jack's burly arms into a hug, causing Danny to laugh.

"We'll always care for our family," Jack said, then gestured for Jazz and Niel to join in.

"And we're sorry," Maddie told Niel. "Really. For anything we might have done--er, will have done in the future."

Jazz's lips quirked upward, and she joined in her family group hug. Niel did not.

He stayed rooted in his spot, watching them, while something akin to panic rose inside him.

"No!" he exclaimed, surprising the family. "No, you're supposed to hate ghosts! You're supposed to hate me!"

"Scientists can be wrong," Maddie said, startled from his outburst. "Whatever we said, we can make it up to you."

Niel trembled. This was wrong. This was all wrong--the Fentons weren't supposed to be such great parents! And yet he couldn't deny the heartwarming scene in front of him. Maddie and Jack cared for their children...

...Vlad did not.

How ironic was that? Niel had spent so much time thinking that Danny would be better off under Vlad's care than under his parents'. Now, everything was flipped. Vlad was horrible, and the Fentons--

The Fentons were gazing at him warmly, Jack's arms still outstretched in an invitation for Niel to join them in their group hug.

"Danny," Jazz said softly. "It's okay. I think they can change."

Niel didn't meet her eyes. Danny, she had called him. They all still thought he was a future version of Danny. And Niel...didn't want that to change.

Danny's family was amazing, he now realized. And they thought he was their son. They thought he was a part of them. Maybe, if he kept lying, he could be a part of their family, and then he'll never have to return to Vlad ever again.

That thought grew in his head until it was all he could think of. He was brought here on a wish, and that wish was being granted. He could be a part of a real family, and as an added bonus, Danny wouldn't have to go through his accident or fight any ghosts if they never completed the portal. Everyone would be happy. He, Danny, and--

Oh. Guilt swam in his stomach as he realized he had forgotten all about his sister--his real sister, not Jazz. If he stayed, Ellie would never had been made.

"What's the matter, dear?" Maddie asked. Niel swallowed.

"I'm..." he sighed and said, "I'm not your son."

He looked at Maddie nervously to see her reaction...and was confused to see that her expression hadn't changed from its warm smile. Then he looked at everyone else and realized she wasn't the only one--none of them had moved one millimeter.

"Um...hello?" he asked and waved in front of their faces. None of them even blinked. What the f--

"Hi," a new voice said, and Niel screamed and jumped in surprise.

He whipped around and found a smiling ghost. The ghost was blue-skinned and wore a purple cloak along with what must have been a dozen watches. As if those weren't enough to tell him the time, he also held a scepter with one more little clock on top.

As Niel watched, the ghost shifted from a young adult, to an old adult, a child, then back again. A light flicked on inside his brain.

"You're that time ghost," he said. "I've heard about you. Your name had to do with clocks or watches...um...Watchman?"

The ghost chuckled. "Close enough. It's Clockwork."

"You're supposed to be a myth."

Clockwork spread his arms and asked, "Do I seem like a myth to you?"

"I guess not," Niel admitted. "Assuming the myths are true, you either control time, or you have a deep obsession with collecting watches."

"Har har, very funny," Clockwork said. His monotone voice somehow made his words sound funnier. "You know, you're just as witty as he is," he said and pointed his clock-staff at Danny.

"I like to think im wittier," Niel said casually. Internally, he may have been freaking out. Clockwork might not be a myth, but he sure as hell was a legend. One who was talking to him.

Clockwork hummed and floated over to the Fentons, who stood still as statues--frozen in time, Niel now realized.

"They're a nice family, aren't they?" Clockwork commented. Despite how legendary the time ghost was, Niel suddenly found himself biting his tongue to stop himself from retorting. If the myths were true, then Clockwork knew all about Niel's (half)life. He knew how much emotional turmoil this revelation caused him.

"Maybe," was what Niel ended up saying.

Clockwork shifted into a child. Maybe he did it to spite Niel. "You were very hateful to the parents."

"They hate ghosts."

"But not their son."

Niel pursed his lips. He looked at the frozen Danny, being held in frozen Maddie's arms as she smiled. "I guess...maybe they deserve a second chance."

"Indeed," Clockwork hummed and returned to the Fentons. Niel found himself wishing the time ghost didn't act so aloof. He was observing the Fentons like they were an art exhibit, and Niel was a fellow tourist. "You know, you were never meant to be transported to this time," he mentioned to Niel. "Desiree--that's the name of the wish ghost, by the way--she grants wishes, but usually they're supposed to stay small. Nothing as big as changing the timeline."

Desiree. So that was her name. "What happened to her?" Niel found himself asking.

"I'm afraid she's being trialled."

"What?"

Clockwork turned away from the Fentons to look at him. His form jumped from child to old man, so his face looked more serious as he spoke. "Like I said, changing the timeline is a big deal. The Observants aren't happy with her. If this were a one-time thing, they might have let her go, but this wasn't the first time she went too far with her wishes. Time was never supposed to be a part of her arsenal."

"What...punishment do they have for her?" Niel asked. Even though he never interacted with her much, he found himself sympathizing with her.

Clockwork shrugged. "The Observants no doubt have some severe punishment in mind, but I might convince them to go soft on her. Get them to sentence her for a hundred years in jail, maybe."

"That's supposed to be soft?"

"Desiree herself is several hundreds of years old. One century isn't long when you're immortal."

"That's fair, I guess..."

Clockwork observed him with his pupil-less eyes. His form shifted again into a young adult. "I don't believe you feel sorry for her because she granted your wish, do you?" He waved at the Fentons and added, "Surely you know you can't stay here forever."

Niel knew. As soon as Clockwork appeared, he figured the time ghost was here to transport him back to his own time. Still, hearing that from him felt disappointing.

"I don't want to go back to Vlad," Niel murmured.

"You don't have to," Clockwork pointed out. "After all, your sister seems to be doing just fine on her own."

Niel wrinkled his nose. "I'm not living on the streets."

"I don't know. It might do you some good humility." Niel wondered if Clockwork was joking, and then he saw the ghost's grin. Niel frowned.

Clockwork chuckled. Then he turned serious again. "But really. You don't belong in this timeline."

"I know," Niel said dejectedly. That didn't make him feel any better.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Clockwork by his side. "You will be part of a family someday," the time ghost told him. Niel didn't believe that. But Clockwork can see the future, so maybe, just maybe, that was true.

Niel looked at the frozen family once more. "What will happen to them?"

"Their memories of their encounter with you will be erased, obviously. Their fate will progress as it has been written. Things will return to normal--as normal as it is considered for Amity Park."

"And what will happen to me?"

Clockwork gave him a knowing smile. "Telling you would be a spoiler, wouldn't it?"

Niel was quiet for a moment. Then he opened his mouth to say something, but when he blinked, Clockwork wasn't there. A few more blinks, and he realized he was no longer standing in the Fentons' living room. The smells of stale ectoplasm, batteries, and sterilizer filled the air. He was in the Fentonworks laboratory, and judging from the light seeping through the crack between the portal's closed blast doors, he was back in his own time.

"--uck!" Danny said, then stopped. "Oh. Nothing happened. Huh."

Niel turned around and saw Danny rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "I thought, since you said the word 'wish'--but nothing happened..."

Niel's vision moved away from Danny and landed on Ellie. Ellie, who was little more than a puddle. Ellie, who had been attacked by her and Niel's own father, if Vlad can even be called that.

Danny followed his eyes to Ellie. "Oh, right. Don't worry, I've got the Ecto-Dejecto right..." He turned back to Niel, but he was gone. The portal doors were open. "...here."

Niel floated aimlessly through the Ghost Zone. He couldn't stand another second inside that lab, seeing Ellie like that. But he couldn't stand the thought of returning to Vlad, either. So here he was, drifting through the Infinite Realms.

Now that he wasn't currently being pursued by Skulker, he had the time to take in the scenery. Blobs of ectoplasm floated here and there, making the world seem like an oversized lava lamp. Islands, rocks, and doors floated here and there. Occasionally, a ghost flew by in the distance.

Niel didn't feel any wonder from seeing the view. He felt empty. He felt...lost.