Nightmare
Edits done by Cynatas Scribbler and Halusm,
Nightmare.
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Destiny. A force that connects us all. A path laid out before us from the day we are born, and which we walk till the day that we die. And even then it doesn't always end there. It's an obscured path, hidden from view save for the next step. A path we all must follow, one stumble at a time. And should one attempt to change their fate, take a different path, or even run away from it, than this was all part of the plan from the beginning. A plan that can change, but still leads to the same destination.
We have the freewill to choose, to make our own decisions, and to shape our own lives, as well as the world with them. But each choice has consequences. Consequences which will follow us as we travel the path of destiny. Some are good. Some are bad. And some are evil.
Destiny is a curious thing. Always there with you, but never letting up its secrets, no matter how much you try to find out about them. And when it reveals yet another ploy in its grand design, everything changes, and no one would have seen it coming. Not you, nor me.
Nor would the young boy whose life was about to change, permanently.
Just as it was planned.
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Deep in space, near the planet Saturn, a large space station floated amidst the asteroid belt surrounding the planet; a large, ghostly green asteroid floating aimlessly nearby.
The station had a robotic drone scanning the surface for samples to analyze. And after collecting a decent amount of the glowing, green rocks, it returned to the station to drop off its collection.
Flying through several corridors, and descending through several passageways, it moved deeper and deeper into the station.
Arriving at its intended destination, it placed the rocks into a chamber where a red laser field swept over the samples, computers next to it analyzing the data.
"Analysis conclusive," a holographic Maddie proclaimed. "Asteroid composed entirely of unique anti ghost element ectoranium. Weapons effect of which that can only be felt by ghosts."
"It will be most effective in making anti ghost weapons and ease Master’s takeover of the Ghost Zone." another holographic Maddie said.
"And I shall be the one to tell him the good news," the first Maddie said while pointing at herself.
"No, I shall," the second Maddie countered.
"I shall," the first responded aggressively.
"Your resolution is far too low, and your bandwidth is far too wide," the second insulted the first.
"GHAAA, why you holographic bi-" the first Maddie screamed, unable to finish her sentence as she tackled the other to the ground.
<<>><<>><<>>
A naturally formed ghost portal opened just outside the space station, and Vlad Plasmius emerged from it, laughing victoriously.
"What a glorious morning. Defeating Frostbite, and pillaging the all powerful infimap," Vlad gloated as he opened the map, making it display various doorways to who knew where. "If this keeps up I shall be ruling the galaxy by lunch," he boasted when an ectoplasmic beam shot him in the helmet, blasting off the letter V that was affixed on top of it.
"Kitchen's closed, Plasmius," Danny shouted to him over the P.A. system as he, Sam, and Tucker emerged from the same portal in the Specter Speeder. "Give us the map back!"
Tucker fired the Specter's main weapon. The two oversized blasters, one mounted on each side of the craft's bottom side, fired twin ectoplasmic beams towards Vlad, who was blasted away as the green projectiles struck home.
Danny, intending to go out there and face Vlad himself, put on his space helmet, went into the aft compartment, and closed the blast door in between him and his friends.
"Let's rock," Danny said as he braced for the explosive decompression.
"Three, two, one, hatchet!" Sam counted down, then slammed her fist on the button that would blast away the door separating Danny from the inky void of space.
Danny flew out of the ship and towards Vlad, while evading the dark red ectoplasmic shots Plasmius was shooting at him.
"I know you are a lost guy, Vlad. But no map is gonna help you find your way. You need therapy for that," Danny taunted as he shot a beam of his own ectoplasm towards him.
Vlad pulled up a shield in front of him to deflect the shot, only for it to hit a small asteroid near him. The resulting explosion took him by surprise, and flung him away into the asteroid belt.
Taking this opportunity, Danny used his ice powers to create a large snowball and threw it at him.
Vlad, who only just regained control over his uncontrolled spinning, was taken by surprise when he saw the frozen ball fly towards him. Unable to react in time, he got hit, the snow freezing him instantly in his surprised position.
Danny went intangible and reached for the map, moving clean through the ice. Taking the map from Vlad he backed away, looking at the frozen half ghost with an unimpressed look. "Seriously dude," Danny said as the Specter approached, and he boarded the craft. "Therapy," Danny finished as he leaned through the side of the Specter, taunting Vlad even further as he and his friends blasted off, returning to earth.
Vlad, enraged by Danny's insults, used his powers to break free of the ice that imprisoned him and gave pursuit, shooting away at them as he went. Most of his shots went wide and didn't hit anything, but a few hit his space station, and one bounced off of the outer hull and hit the fuel tank, setting it ablaze.
"The fusion reactor. If the flames reach it, it will explode!" Vlad said in a panic, making haste towards the station to board a lifeboat.
"Taking my map. Destroying my satellite. Mocking my mental health. It's time I finally finish off Danny Phantom, once and for all!" he said with clear animosity as he boarded his lifeboat, the station was shaking violently around him as he did so.
Vlad's ship shot off, putting as much distance between himself and the satellite as he could. Only a few seconds later the station blew up in a massive fire ball, sending a large shock wave through the asteroid belt. But, fortunately, no asteroids were blasted out of the ring surrounding the planet.
"And I know just the thing to do so." Vlad continued as if nothing had just happened.
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Danny, Sam, and Tucker were walking down the street, enjoying yet another victory against Vlad.
"Ahh, home sweet home. Nothing like good old solid Terra firma." Sam remarked.
"I thought you liked being in space, Sam. All that infinite darkness everywhere." Danny said in good humor.
"Yeah, well. I like my darkness with a little more oxygen, and a lot less asteroids," she responded with a smirk.
"Still, it's cool we were able to help out Frostbite. I'll bet he'll be glad to get his map back, " Tucker added as he held up the map which glowed a pale white blue.
"Yeah, we'll return it to him as soon as we can. But right now though, I'm with Sam. It's good to be back to where things are normal," Danny commented, only to be interrupted when his father's voice sounded over the P.A. system of their family's truck.
"Attention, Amity Park! The Fentons are on patrol. Rest assured, the streets are safe," he announced as he drove like a mad man, crashing and bumping into all sorts of things before finally smashing into a fire hydrant, coming to a stop in a geyser of water. "Eeh, city water supply A okay."
"Yep, normal," Tucker said with an unimpressed look.
Suddenly, Danny felt a cold sensation creep up on him. Starting in his gut, but moving upwards and forming a puff of cold air coming out of his mouth.
Sam, Tucker and Danny refocused their attention to a store nearby as the front was blown out, and an all too familiar silhouette could be seen in the smoke.
"Hahahaaa! Nothing like a lazy day of shopping, lattes and terrorizing the minimum wage workers. BOO." Nicolai Technus proclaimed as he turned to the terrified store clerk, making him scream out as he ran away.
"I'm going ghost!" Danny said out loud as he ran into a nearby alley, transforming into his alter-ego.
"Well look on the bright side, at least I'm not downloading them illegally," Technus said to the store manager lying at his feet as he took several DVDs and put them in his bag.
"Next register, cyberjerk," Danny shouted as he slammed Technus away, sending him, and the various pieces of technology that he was holding, flying through the wall and crashing on the street below.
Not taking kindly to such treatment, Technus immediately used his control of all things technological to fuse together a random car and the various computer components that were lying around him.
"Behold ghost creep! The perfect combination of technology, past and present. The carputer," —he indicated the large robot that he had just created.— "It will drive you, to your doom, haha," he said in a poor attempt to sound diabolical, but the cheesy line and too much emphasis on the overall wording completely ruined his intended threat.
Nonetheless, Danny flew towards the robot in an attack, only for the machine to pop its hood and propel its engine block towards Danny.
Not expecting this, the heavy machinery slammed into Danny, and he was sent flying into a nearby wall.
The carputer retracted the engine and put it back inside itself while Danny groaned and sat back up.
"Great, my first car accident, and I am not even driving yet," Danny said, trying to put some humor into the situation as he saw the robot drive away, going straight towards Sam and Tucker.
"Hey," Danny yelled at the robot before he started coughing from the smoke left behind by the machine. "Tucker! Sam!"
Tucker and Sam shouted in alarm as they saw the behemoth hurtle towards them, jumping out of the way at the last second as their fear paralyzed minds struggled to make sense of it all.
"Are you alright?" Danny asked both while helping Sam back up.
"Y-yeah, I'm alright," Sam responded.
"Me too, it will take more than that to take down all of this," Tucker replied while indicating his wholesome. "It just took us by surprise."
"Good, now stay clear, it's time to wreck this rust bucket," Danny told his friends as he flew towards the robot at high-speed.
The carputer was just making a U-turn for another attempt to attack either Danny, or his friends, when Danny went intangible and flew inside the machine.
The robot stopped in its tracks and started to claw at itself, trying to get the ghost boy out of its systems. But, as the machine continued its futile attempt to get Danny out, its movements started to slow down. A cold vapor started to rise off of its body in the warm afternoon sun, and ice started to form on its body from the inside out. Metal was creaking and cracks started to form in the weaker parts as the ice continued to push outwards. Error messages were displayed across the screens on the machine as a green glow started to show throughout the cracks in its body.
In a burst of ectoplasm and ice, the machine exploded, leaving Danny in its place as various parts of the robot were sent flying across the street.
"WHAA, you insolent brat. How dare you destroy my precious technology!" Technus yelled at Danny, while Tucker picked the Fenton Thermos out of his backpack and threw it at his friend.
Technus, who was now monologuing on about how he would control all of Earth's technology and use it to destroy Danny, failed to notice this.
Danny simply popped the cap of the thermos, and aimed it at the techno ghost.
"Man, you really don't know when to shut up," he said to Technus, seriously annoyed, having heard such rants before. Then, with a beam of energy, he sucked the techno ghost up inside the thermos and replaced the cap, sealing him in, to be released later back into the Ghost Zone.
"Nice job with that creep," Sam complimented as she approached Danny.
"Yeah, doesn't he ever get tired getting his butt kicked by you!?" Tucker half asked, half mocked as he took the thermos and put it back in his backpack.
By now a crowd had formed around Danny and his friends, cheering for Danny and his latest victory. A mother and her son approached Danny, and the child handed over his Danny Phantom doll and pen for Danny to sign. Unable to keep the large smile off of his face, he took the doll and signed it for the kid.
"Thank you," the boy said as Danny gave back the doll and he hugged it tightly. "You're my hero."
The crowd applauded and cheered for Danny as he flew off, staying low to the ground as Sam and Tucker followed him on foot. The two giving each other a smug grin as they noticed the look on Danny's face.
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Vlad stood in the library of his mansion, still angry about the insult he got from Danny as he moved to one of his many bookcases. Pulling out a fake book, he activated a hidden mechanism and opened a hidden passageway towards his lab.
Grumbling angrily to himself, he moved down the staircase that presented itself to him.
"Good day, dear," a holographic Maddie greeted as she appeared before him. "Were you successful in acquiring the infimap, oh future ruler of Earth?"
"I was, until Danny Phantom got in my way," Vlad seethed through gritted teeth. "But I know just the thing to get rid of him once and for all. Maddie, restart the cloning program. Bring Mark One out of his growing tank."
Normally Maddie, or the program that was to simulate Maddie, wouldn't hesitate to obey her master. But now several warning signals were going through her system as she accessed the files containing the information about Mark One.
"Oh, great one. You do know that Mark One was locked away for being extremely unstable. Near impossible to contain. As well as that other aspect of Mark One." she said with simulated enthusiasm.
"Yes, yes, I know. Just do it," Vlad snapped at the hologram.
"Rebooting systems. Retrieving Mark One's growth chamber," she announced, a wall sliding down as a large cylindrical tank was brought in by a robotic system; cold vapor billowing off of the tank. "Systems rebooted. Starting... Startup successful. Mark One growing chamber has been retrieved. Commencing with wake up procedure, Vlad. My brilliant and ingenious lamb chops," The hologram said as her programming dictated.
"Good," Vlad walked over to the growing chamber and wiped away some of the condensation that had formed over the glass, looking inside.
An evil grin formed on his face as he could see the occupant of the chamber beginning to stir, waking up after so long frozen in ice. "How long before it's fully awake?"
"Uncertain, cupcake. The entity is far too unstable to tell for certain. However, I estimate it to be around three hours for it to fully wake."
"Good, very good," Vlad said as he turned into his ghost alter-ego and placed his hand on the glass separating him from the being inside. "Wake up, my child. Daddy needs your help."
<<>><<>><<>>
Danny was chasing the Box Ghost who, once again, for the umpteenth time, had threatened Danny with his boxes of doom and that all should be aware of his acts of pure ghostly terror. Needless to say, Danny wasn't impressed.
So after a slight chase, just to blast the Box Ghost to get rid of some of the frustration that he brought with him, Danny used the Thermos on the Box Ghost, sealing him inside with Technus, who Danny was unable to return to the Ghost Zone because his parents were breaking down the ghost portal to upgrade it.
'This way I can catch ghosts and download songs faster.' Danny remembered his father saying when he asked why he was breaking down the portal.
Shaking his thoughts free, Danny looked around and realized he was in the same store that Technus had destroyed earlier today. The hole in the front sealed with planks and police tape, and a sign that said: Closed for renovation.
Sam and Tucker caught up with Danny shortly after he had caught the ghost. An irritated scowl could be seen on Sam's face.
"Really, Danny? Why do you always let that ghost get to you? You could have caught him from the moment that he showed up. Now we're going to be late for the movie, just because you had to chase him half-way across town."
"Relax, Sam. I'll just fly us back the-" Danny replied nonchalantly, when a puff of cold air cut him off.
Sam, Danny, and Tucker reacted immediately. Pressing their backs together and looking around the abandoned store for any sign of the ghost that was there.
"Do you see anything?" Danny asked both Sam and Tucker.
"Nothing on my side," said Sam.
"Nothing here either," Tucker replied, none of them noticing the mechanized fly that flew over their heads. The cameras for its eyes focusing on the trio, sending the live video feedback to Vlad. "Maybe it was just a fly-by," Tucker suggested.
"No, something is here. I can feel it," Danny said as he continued to scan the area.
A soft slithering sound could be heard, and the three of them snapped their heads towards a darkened corner where they believed the sound came from.
"Who’s there!? Show yourself!" Danny shouted as he took a protective stance in front of his friends.
A low rumbling sound was the only reply Danny got.
"Wait, is that growling or is it just me?" Tucker said
"I don't know, but I don't like this one bit," Danny replied, still unsure of what they were up against.
"WHAAA!" Sam yelled as she jumped away.
"What, what is it!?" Tucker and Danny asked in unison.
"S-some… thing touched my shoulder," Sam said to them as she looked around, trying to find who or whatever it was that had touched her.
"Just stay close by, it has to show itself sooner or later," Danny told them as his hands started to glow green, readying himself for an attack.
"BEHIND YOU!" Tucker yelled at his friend, who had turned around to check up on Sam, not paying attention to what was happening behind him. Because of that, he missed the entity that appeared out of thin air.
Danny turned around in an instant, ready to blast whoever was there. But, as he got a close look at the ghost that had appeared behind him, he was unable to do anything other than just stare in shock.
The ghost now before him was unlike any he had ever seen before. And that was saying something, considering the things he had dealt with.
It was twice the size of Danny, had long arms that ended in three digit claws, and didn't seem to have any legs. Instead, the creature had two intangible, ghost-like tails twisting and curling around each other.
The creature was also pale to a point, it would have put a corpse to shame. The creature also appeared to be wearing some kind of black suit, looking more like a large ink stain on the ghost’s pale skin, with a white smudge on its chest. Its hair, if that is what you could call it, appeared to be several intangible tentacle-like strands, moving around in a wind that wasn't there.
But the thing that Danny, Sam, and Tucker noticed first, and what caused their shock, was its face, or lack of it. There were no eyes to speak of, no nose or any other facial features. Except a mouth. A very large, oversized mouth that held large, sharp teeth, grinning down at the stunned trio.
"WHAA, wh-what is that thing!?" Sam yelled as she reared back as fast as she could, followed closely by Tucker and Danny.
"I-I don't know. I've never seen anything like it," Tucker said
"Neither have I, but that won’t stop me from beating up ugly over here," Danny told them as he overcame his shock and channeled energy back in his hands. "Stay behind me, I don't know what this thing is capable of, but if it is anything like it's looks, it's gonna be ugly."
"Right," both Sam and Tucker said. The two of them fell back a bit to give Danny more room.
Danny started to circle around the unknown ghost, trying him out, but making sure that his friends stayed out of the line of fire. Not that he had a hard time doing that. The ghost seemed only interested in him for some reason.
Making sure he got the drop on him, Danny fired the first shot, seeing just how tough his opponent was. But to the surprise of himself and his friends, the shot didn't seem to harm the ghost at all. In fact, it seemed to absorb the energy he had fired at it.
"What!?" Danny half yelled, unable to believe what had just happened while blasting the ghost with more shots, hoping that it would do something.
"It absorbs your energy, try something else!" Sam shouted
"Like what?" Danny asked as he flew around the ghost, still waiting for it to attack.
"Try hitting it harder, maybe you need to overload him or something," Tucker suggested, and Danny did just that.
Channeling energy in both his hands, he shot two separate beams of ectoplasm. Then he formed a large ball of ice in between his hands and threw it at the ghost, thinking that it would freeze him solid. But when the cold vapor dissipated, the ghost was still there. Unfrozen and unfazed from any of Danny's attacks.
"You've got to be kidding me. What does it take to take this guy out?" Danny questioned when the ghost started to move.
It raised its right claw and channeled energy into it, making it glow green. While in its other claw, a large ball of snow and ice formed.
Danny, too stunned by what he just saw happening, didn't react fast enough as the ghost shot the double attack at him. He got hit by the ectoplasmic shot, blasting him away, but saving him from the ball of ice, which hit the wall behind him and froze it solid.
Groaning, Danny got back up. "Did this guy just hit me with my own attacks?"
"Danny, stop using your powers against this thing!" Sam shouted.
"Then what should I do? Beat it in a beauty contest?"
"Oh will you just stop the jokes and focus. If you can't hit it with your powers, try hitting it with your fists," Sam shot back, irritated, not in the mood for more of his stupid jokes.
"Right, I can do that." Danny said as he shot off, picking up as much speed as he could in the short distance to increase the force of his punch.
Meanwhile, Tucker was hard at work on his laptop he had brought with him, using some of his custom scanning software to analyze the ghost in order to find some weakness, or other to exploit. What he found, however, made his blood run cold.
"Danny, stop! Don't hit that thing!" But it was already too late.
Danny hit the ghost with all the strength and speed that he had, delivering what would have been a bone crushing blow to the ghost, had it been human. But instead of flying back from the force and roaring out in pain as Danny expected to happen, he punched straight through the ghost. Not because he went intangible, but a clean punch straight through its chest.
Glowing ectoplasm seeped out of the holes in its body, and over Danny's arm. But instead of just flowing out of the wound, it started to move in an unnatural way. Quickly covering Danny's arm, the slime-like material began to spread across the rest of his body.
Danny began to struggle to pull himself free, feet firmly planted on the ground, but the ectoplasm held him securely in place.
Panicking, Danny went intangible. However, he soon realized this was a bad idea.
He cried out in agony as he felt something inside him, an invasive force that quickly began to drain his strength. The ectoplasm that was covering his hand started to glow even brighter as its spread quickened.
"Wha- what is happening!?" Sam asked in shock as she watched Danny struggle to free himself, clearly in pain.
"This- this thing, its molecular structure is beyond unstable. It doesn't have any powers of its own. Instead, it absorbs the powers of others and uses them against them. It’s a parasite!" Tucker explained in a hurried pace, rapidly typing on his laptop's keyboard in an effort to find a weak spot they could exploit.
Danny was struggling to free himself, despite the pain he was forced to endure. No matter how bad it was, it was still nothing compared with the pain he felt when he was hit by the ghost portal. So, gritting his teeth, he planted his feet against the ghost and pushed with all his strength.
Slowly he was able to pull his arm out of his opponent, and the glow of the ectoplasm started to diminish as he did so.
With a yell and a mighty pull he was able to free himself. But just as he pulled free, a large energy explosion occurred between the two beings.
What Danny had failed to realize, as he pulled free, the energy that had drained from him rushed back, blowing him away in a burst of green ectoplasm and ice.
He hit a nearby wall, hard,l. Slumping to the floor, slipping in and out of consciousness.
The ghost slowly turned to Danny, who was in no state to continue fighting. The ghost might not have been able to fully suck the boy dry, but it still had much of the stolen energy at it’s disposal. Energy it was now channeling into it’s hands to send a lethal projectile to finish Danny off. Just as his father wanted.
<<>><<>><<>>
Energy continued to build in its hands, the color shifting from green to ice blue sporadically, illuminating the entire store in a glow that could be seen for blocks.
Danny groaned as he struggled to get back up, his vision fading in and out of focus, the room spinning around him.
With Danny down for the count, the creature finally brought its arms to bear, preparing to unleash the super-charged energy.
"Danny, get up! You need to get out of there!" Tucker screamed.
The ghost fired the stolen energy at Danny in a large beam of freezing, ectoplasmic destruction.
"DANNY!" Sam yelled as she rushed to his aid.
Time slowed down to a crawl as adrenaline rushed through her veins. Danny was in danger, and she had to save him, somehow. Danny, who was her ally, her partner, her friend. And now, as she saw the sinister beam of energy arcing towards him, she realized he was much more.
With a push, she shoved Danny out of the way, only to find herself to be in the path of destruction.
Sam's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as she raised her arms in front of her in an attempt to shield herself, even though she knew that doing so would do nothing to protect her.
<<>><<>><<>>
Tucker could only look in horror as the events unfolded before him.
Danny laid sprawled out on the ground. Still weak, but the shove Sam gave him was enough to knock some sense into him. He opened his eyes, and focused on Sam, but soon wished he hadn’t. Danny could only watch, powerless to do anything as Sam was struck by the beam.
When it finally reached her, she let out a bloodcurdling scream that shattered the silence of the morning. The energy was both hot and cold, burning and freezing her as her body was torn apart.
Danny could see her silhouette, and he watched as it slowly dissolved into thin air.
It was an image that would haunt him forever.
It was over in mere seconds, but for Danny it lasted a lifetime. He could still hear her screams, still see her be vaporized right before him. He watched, tears forming as the last of the dust that had once been Sam slowly settled on where she had made her stand. Nothing was left but a black scorch mark on the ground.
"No!" Danny began "NONONONONO! SAM NOOOOO!" Danny yelled at the tops of his lungs as a pure white blue glow surrounded his hands. "NNNOOOOOO-"
<<>><<>><<>>
"-OOOOOO." Danny yelled as he shot up in his bed, covered in a cold sweat, panting for air as he saw his surroundings and calmed down.
Holding his head with a hand, he sat there for several long minutes, lost in thought.
After a while he got out of his bed, and made his way to the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the lights as he knew the route all too well by now. This wasn't the first time he had that nightmare, and it wouldn't be the last.
He flicked the light on in the bathroom, and was momentarily blinded by the glare as he made his way to the sink. Running a cold stream of water out of the faucet, he cupped his hands and filled them up before splashing the cold liquid in his face.
Looking up he saw himself in the mirror. Water dripping off his face, bags under his eyes and a beard starting to grow.
"Six years," Danny croaked to his reflection, his voice a lot deeper now as the twenty one year old continued to stare at himself.
"Six years," he repeated. It had been six years since the incident. Six years since Sam had died. Six years of torment where his dreams made him relive his greatest failure, and the waking world had shunted him out.
Although he was unable to remember what had happened right after Sam was killed, he could clearly remember what happened shortly after that.
<<>><<>><<>>
A huge crater now enveloped half of the block, the store and the surrounding buildings now nothing more than a pile of rubble at the bottom. Water was shooting out of ruptured pipes, quickly filling up the hole.
Tucker was lying unconscious several meters away from Danny, while Danny, now back in his human form, slowly crawled over to his friend, all the while noticing just how weak and in pain he was himself. His shocked mind had temporarily forgotten about Sam, and what had happened to her, as he forced his way to Tucker.
"Hey, there are children down there!" someone yelled as a large group of people started to gather around the crater to see what had happened.
Danny could see blurs rush towards himself and Tucker as he continued his struggle to reach his friend. He felt hands on his back as they rolled him over.
"Just calm down kid, help is on the way," one of the blurs said to him. He didn't know who, but it didn’t matter as he slipped into unconsciousness shortly after.
<<>><<>><<>>
A tall, dark cloaked figure stood on one of the buildings near the disaster zone, staring down with piercing red eyes. Next to him hovered a translucent figure, completely lost in thought as she stared at the destruction down below, as well as her own body, which consisted of nothing but spectral wisps and energy.
"Come, child," the dark figure spoke. "It's time to go."
"Bu- But my friends. I need to help them," she countered desperately, her voice hoarse.
"If that is the path before you, so be it. But this is neither the time nor place to make such a choice. This path you were on is now closed, forever. But a new way might present itself to you… Depending on which path you will chose now."
"And what choice might that be?"
"A chance to help Danny when he needs it most," a new voice answered, and Sam's eyes widened as she saw Clockwork hover behind her. "Come," he said, opening a portal to his hall of time. "We have much to discuss."
Lost and confused, Sam looked down at the crater as paramedics rushed to the site, knowing that, as she was now, she couldn't do anything. "A- alright," she stammered, moving through the hole in reality, Clockwork following behind her, nodding to the tall figure as he left.
Now standing alone, the tall being looked down at Danny, seeing his unconscious form carried into an ambulance.
"What path has Destiny laid before you, I wonder?" he mused as he tightened his grip on his scythe, before vanishing into thin air.
<<>><<>><<>>
Danny awoke at the sound of a constant beeping. It was faint at first, but it became louder and louder as he came to.
Slowly he opened his eyes, shutting them close an instant later as he was immediately blinded by the light, making him groan weakly.
"Danny!" he heard a woman say out loud.
She sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it at the moment as his mind was still trying to catch up with recent events.
He felt arms wrap around him as he was pulled into a hug. Pain shot through his body, making him grunt in response. The arms around him loosened immediately as the one the limbs belonged to reared back, not wanting to hurt him.
"Oh, my little boy. Are you alright? Please say something, honey?"
Danny opened his eyes again, and kept them open as his eyes adjusted to the light.
Slowly the face of his mother came into focus. His father and his sister, Jazz, stood off to the side.
"Mom," he croaked, his voice weak.
"Yes, honey. Mommy's here," Maddie said as she held her son's hand.
"Are you alright little brother?" Jazz asked, worried.
"I- I don't know," Danny struggled to say, his throat sore from dehydration. His mother, sensing this, poured a glass of water from the pitcher next to his bed and helped him drink.
"Don't you worry, Danny. We'll catch the ghost that did this to you and your friends," his father said, and Danny's mind jump-started, memories flooding back.
"Wait, what about Sam and Tucker?" he asked, able to talk a bit better after the water.
"Tucker is alright dear, just a few cuts and bruises. His parents are with him right now," Maddie told him.
"And Sam?" Maddie, Jack, and Jazz shared an uneasy look between each other.
"Mom!?" Danny half asked, half stated.
"I-I'm sorry dear, but we don't know. She wasn't with you when Tucker and you were found. Her parents are desperate, they've been looking all over town trying to find her. They were hoping you, or Tucker, would be able to tell them what had happened."
Danny's mind snapped back to the store, back to the floor where he had lay, helpless Looking at Sam just as she was....
"Noo, Sam," Danny said, heartbroken. He wrapped his arms around himself, tears once again beginning to form. This very moment made him realize just how much she had meant to him, and that he should have said something, anything. Now this would be impossible.
"No? Danny, what's wrong?" His mother asked, worried. Never seen her son like this. Sad, yes. But completely shaken, heartbroken, and in tears? This wasn’t like him at all.
"I-I think the reason that you can't find Sam is..." —Danny could hear Sam's scream as he saw her body slowly dissolve into thin air— "B-because there I-isn't anything le-left to find," he struggled to say before breaking down. His parents and sister all had a look of horror on their face.
<<>><<>><<>>
Danny slowly made his way through the junk lying around his crappy apartment.
He'd been living here for a couple of years now, hiding himself from the world outside.
The place was a disaster, and not just from the mess he had made. It had always been a pile of junk, but it was cheap, out of the way, and the only thing he could afford.
As he sat down on a worn out couch, he recalled the rest of what had happened after he woke up in the hospital.
He remembered going to Tucker's room, asking him what he could remember of that fateful day. But to no surprise, his friend could recall just as much as he could up until Sam's demise. And after that, nothing. Nothing but a haunted look in his eyes.
After a few days of recovery, the boys were given the all clear and were free to leave.
But on the way out, the press were hounding them for an interview, overwhelming them with questions until their parents stepped in. With Maddie threatening any that would bother her son with a swift karate kick to a place the sun doesn't shine. And Jack, who normally would be quite dense and random, was serious and protective. Intimidating any and all with his size, while forging a path through the crowd. Tucker's father, Robert, made sure his son stayed as close to him as possible; putting some distance between them and the Fentons, while also keeping the press at bay as they followed behind Jack. His wife, Mary, however, punched a rather pushy reporter in the face as he tried to get a hold of her son.
Then, of course, there were the reports. They started out as innocent as most news reports. "The investigation is still under way" or: "No official statement has been made." and: "Ghosts are reported to have been on the site." And so on. That was, until a video appeared, provided by the city’s 'good hearted' mayor, Vlad Masters.
Of course, the video was of poor quality, but it showed some of the things that have transpired in the store. Mainly, Danny Phantom shooting and blasting away, but never the other ghost, as there would be static interference in the video every time it seemed the ghost would appear. But the real kicker was the scream; Sam's pained, ear-splitting scream went worldwide over the television, shocking all who tuned in.
Sam's parents completely broke down after that. They, as well as the rest of the world, turned against Danny Phantom who, as they believed from that compelling evidence, had killed an innocent girl for no reason whatsoever. Only a very select few knew what really happened that day, but Jazz, Tucker, and Danny couldn't do anything to prove Danny Phantom's innocence. And they could only watch as Danny Phantom, the hero of Amity Park, became Danny Phantom, the terror of Amity Park.
Danny dragged a hand down his face as he sighed out loud, reaching for the only thing that had any meaning to him in this junk heap, and the only thing he actually took care of; a framed picture from him and his friends.
It was taken about a half year after Danny gained his powers. Showing the three of them happy and alive, still young and without a care in the world.
How much he wished he could go back to those days.
"I'm so sorry, Sam," he said as he looked at the picture, tears forming in his eyes. "It should have been me, would have been me if I only could have gotten up. If only I hadn’t been so weak! Then you wouldn't have had to save me. You could still be alive. How would things have turned out if none of this had happened? Would we have ended up a couple? It most certainly would have been better than my life is now."
He certainly believed this to be true. Danny had closed in on himself shortly after the incident. Only his parents, Jazz, and Tucker seemed to be able to talk to him. His grades in school had dropped until, one day, he stopped going altogether. Soon, he disappeared without a trace, and only Tucker and Jazz knew where he went.
For months Danny had searched the Ghost Zone, hoping, against all odds, that Sam had chosen to come back.
Fortunately he still had the infi-map from Frostbite.
With the ghost portal from his parents out of commission, Danny needed another way into the Ghost Zone, and the map showed him the location of the natural forming ghost portals. But as the months drew on, and no sign of Sam could be found, one day Danny finally had to admit the unthinkable. That Sam was gone, and that he wouldn’t find her, no matter how long he searched the Ghost Zone. It was after realizing this that he finally ran away.
Without an education and not of adult age, Danny had struggled to get by, taking whatever job he could get. Eventually, he found a crap job that paid just enough for him to afford his run down apartment, and to save up just the tiniest amount of money for his end goal.
The apartment he owned consisted of a living room with the bed located in it, a small bathroom with plumbing that didn't work half the time, and more holes in the roof than Swiss Cheese. It was better than the street, but just barely.
Of course things would be easier with his ghost powers, but Danny didn't use them anymore. When he first got them he was scared, confused. Then, when he learned to use them, he got confident, sometimes even a bit arrogant. And now? Sam had died protecting him while it should be the other way around. Having all those powers and still unable to do anything, Danny, as well as the rest of the world, had lost faith in Danny Phantom.
Soon enough, he stopped transforming altogether. Instead, he became the broken human, struggling to get by, and burdened with a crushing guilt.
In fact, the only reason he used his powers these days was to let out some of the ice that would build up, just so he wouldn't freeze up. But other than that, he didn't use them at all.
"I need to get out of here." Danny spoke to the picture. "There is nothing left for me here. The people hate my guts, even though I didn't do what they accuse me off. My life is a mess, and I really hate my job at that horrible fast food place. I need a fresh start, a new place to recreate myself. I'm going to move to that strange world that revealed itself to us all those years ago," Danny said as he remembered that particular incident, which, ironically, was also his doing.
The day he saved Amity Park, and accidentally opened the first of many tears leading to the world of Equestria.
Scaring a whole lot of ponies when it happened.
<<>><<>><<>>
"Now leave my town alone!" a trio of voices shouted simultaneously as Danny, and his two duplicates, stood before the prone Pariah Dark, seeing him struggle to push himself up, raising his head to meet the eyes of the human ghosts standing before him.
Danny and his duplicates raised the large fist of their Ecto-skeleton, and they delivered a bone crushing downward strike with a loud WHAM!
The ghost king's head slammed into the floor, bouncing hard and causing his hold on the city to slip momentarily, and the dark green void Amity Park found itself in faded back to the blue of their sky, before the Ghost Zone's ghastly shades of green reasserted themselves around the beleaguered city.
Pulling himself up, Pariah gave the three Dannys a death glare, before he flew up and landed on his feet, his mace tightly grasped in his grip, a glowing red surrounding the ancient weapon.
Shooting a beam of malevolent red energy at them, he managed to hit one of the Dannys, causing him to vanish in a burst of energy.
"Surrender, child. You can not possibly win," he said with an evil smile.
"I don't have to win!" Danny said defiantly, the mechanized hands of his battle armor glowing an icy blue, with twin bands of energy crossing in an X surrounded them.
Shooting at the wall in the back of the king's ancient castle, he exposed the sarcophagus hidden behind it.
"I just have to make sure that you lose!" Danny yelled defiantly, his hands smoking from the energy spent, while his remaining clone flew towards the sarcophagus, opening it.
Pariah stepped back in shock as he saw the instrument of his imprisonment, his mouth open in a silent scream.
The Danny standing next to the sarcophagus lifted his hand. Pointing a single finger at the king, he shot a tiny beam of energy at him, knocking off the Crown of Fire, depriving him of its power.
The crown flew into the waiting hands of the real Danny, who looked at it with a shadow over his eyes, a victorious smirk on his face.
"NOOOO!" Pariah yelled, and Danny threw away the crown and used his armor thrusters to shoot forwards. Hitting Pariah in the back, he pushed him towards the sarcophagus, using everything he had.
With the thrusters in overdrive, Danny shot forwards, hurling Pariah Dark into the sarcophagus while his duplicate slammed the sarcophagus shut. The two joined together again while Danny held onto the king's prison, making sure he wouldn't break free while it was putting him back into his eternal sleep.
A bright flash surrounded Danny, and twin rings of glowing blue crossing in an X surrounded him, before expanding outwards in the blink of an eye, soon surrounding the entire city of Amity Park.
Sweat poured down his face as he held onto the sarcophagus, watching with a worried expression as the suit's energy meter dwindled rapidly. Energy drawn from himself.
Pariah bellowed in rage as he struggled to break free, and Danny closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he poured the last of his strength into this final effort, hoping it was enough.
The world went dark, and Danny slid down to the floor as Vlad Plasmius inserted the key into the sarcophagus' lock, sealing the king inside.
Another burst of energy surrounded the sarcophagus as Pariah let out his last screams of defeat, and all of Amity Park finally returned to its proper place on Earth as the king's hold over the reality shift vanished. However, at the threshold between the living world and the Ghost Zone floated a single door. A door that had drifted there at random, and was caught in the transition from one reality to another.
The door, long forgotten among the literally countless numbers of floating doors found in the zone, was torn to pieces, and a massive burst of energy detonated from it as it was forcefully moved into the world of the living.
It was a wild energy, something that was powerful enough to break through the layers of reality that separated worlds. And now it was running wild as it spiraled and looped through the world, trying to reassert itself and continue its task of leading from one world to the other.
And, as Amity Park finally stabilized its existence on Earth, the wild energy also found a foothold, right in the center of the city.
A burst of light erupted from the location, and the few humans there screamed in fear as they ran away from the rippling air. A massive ripple in the fabric of reality moved over the Earth as electrical sparks shot out of the center of the forming tear in reality, and the sound of a vacuum in reverse echoed throughout the streets.
A couple of brave, or, more likely, foolish people stood there gawking, watching the air open up before them as another world revealed itself to them. A world full of panicking ponies.
<<>><<>><<>>
"Yeah, I'm going to Equestria guys. There aren't any ghosts there, and with my human side I will be able to finally get a life. Finally move on, I hope. It will be difficult, though. But anything is better than this messed up life that I have now, right?" He asked the picture, receiving no reply.
Sighing, he set the picture back. It was still early, but he wouldn't be able to sleep after that nightmare, the memory of his failure. So instead, he spent the next several hours packing up and cleaning some of the junk in his home. Luckily it wasn't much work. He didn't have many personal possessions; he couldn't afford them. The picture was the only thing worth anything to him. As for the junk lying around, most of it was made up from discarded pizza boxes.
'The box ghost would feel right at home.' Danny thought as he sifted through them, piling them up, searching for anything underneath of them that he might have forgotten about.
He had been thinking about going to Equestria for a long time now, but every time he would find some excuse not to go; always ending up thinking that, somehow, he would bring some kind of disaster to the relatively peaceful world of those ponies, seeing how disasters always seemed to follow him around. It took a long time, and many more nightmares, before he finally decided to go.
Now, several hours later, with his apartment looking just a little bit cleaner, he finished packing the few personal items that he had collected over the years into his backpack. He then gave one last look at his run-down home.
"This place is a dump," he said, repeating his words from when he started living there. "I most certainly won't miss this."
He then made himself a quick meal, consisting of some cold pizza still lying around, and some water. A quick shower followed, then he put on some mildly clean clothes. After that, he grabbed the single item that he spent months saving up his money for. The confirmation pass that would grant him passage through the closest portal, and send him on his way into this new world.
Nowadays you need these passes to go through the portals so the authorities can keep track of those going through, and weed out any potential ghosts that had overshadowed some unsuspecting victim. This was partially done by making everyone walk through a device similar to a metal detector in design. But the similarities ended with the ghost shield you would walk through, driving out any ghosts that tried to slip through by means of possession. Luckily those shields didn't work on him while he was in his human form, so he didn't have to worry about that.
When the time on his watch told him it was almost one o'clock, he readied himself to leave. He picked up his backpack, his pass to enter Equestria, and, most importantly, the picture of his friends and himself. Looking around one last time to make sure he didn't forget anything, he sighed, shook his head, and left. He had stopped paying his rent some time ago, making it possible for him to save up the last of the money needed to buy the pass. Soon the landlord would find out he wasn't there any more.
Stepping outside in the early afternoon sun, he shielded his eyes from the light. Keeping his home in the dark most of the time, and only going outside to work or get some groceries, he was unaccustomed to the light. But, after blinking a few times to get rid of the spots in his vision, he made his way over to the bus stop and waited for the next bus to take him to the city next over where the portal he had passage for was located.
Danny thought it was lucky that he still had some of his life savings left. Even after the bus ride, and other expenses to get to his fresh start, he would still have a small amount left that he could change for the local currency, and hopefully rent a motel room for a duration while he searched for work.
The bus came after a few minutes and, after paying for his ride, Danny sat as far back as he could. Keeping himself as low as possible, he settled in for the ride ahead. A small spark of hope in his heart that maybe, just maybe, things would be better there.
He just hoped his past wouldn't follow him into his new life.
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I remember that show. It kicked ass. Good story!
Take my YAYS!
Jesus man. 10k words for your first chapter?
Wow, I'm impressed. I haven't even started reading and I'm already liking it.
Okay, I actually read it... most of it. I mainly skipped over everything that was from the show. And I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with this fic. Equestria with tears in reality where all humans can go into it? Hmmm.
I'll track it, but I hope you can really entertain later on.
This is a pretty good story. I look forward to reading more. Will you be pairing Danny with anypony?
Not the best start....
but I will keep an eye on this, just to see where it goes.
2667942 It is not that simple. I have already told that Danny needed a pass to enter into Equestria, and so does anyone or pony else. They cant just go to one world and back as they see fit. It is carefully monitored, or as carefully as it can within the Danny Phantom universe, and they need a pass to traverse worlds. I will go a bit deeper in to this subject in a later chapter as Danny will go through control and enter the realm of magical, multicolored ponies. As for the many tears in reality, I thought about it as a rippling effect, or seed as I call it in the fic. The first tear that appeared in Amity Park was the seed. It caused a ripple that went around the world and slowly opened other tears to other parts of the magical realm. These tears are guarded by both sides, and you cant just walk through. I will tell more about this in future chapters. As part of the story, and Danny´s character development, we will see more and more parts of Danny´s past, and the changes that forces him to become the man he is today.
Well I cant tell much more without spoiling, but I hope that this will clarify certain details about the first chapter.
Anyhow, please continue to comment, and tell me what you like or don´t like, and how I could improve that what you don't like.
Thanks in advance.
2671078Well I know people needed passes... but Danny was living in a pretty shabby apartment. How could he afford a pass? Or did he steal it?
2671165 He did save up for several months, and stopped paying his rent for a little while, giving him the amount of money he needed to afford the pass. Also, he still had a little bit of his life savings on him. But I do get your point, I might need to make a few alterations to make things a bit more logical.
Thanks for your input.
2671179No problem. Any idea when the next chapter will be? And if it's not too much of a spoiler, about how many humans would you say actually went into Equestria?
2671225 The next chapter is still unknown for release. I just started on it about an hour or two ago, already close to 2000 words. As for how many humans. Well there was first a large flood of humans and ponies going back and forth between the two worlds. That is one of the reasons why there is a control station at every tear. The full reason behind that particular reason though, I can not say. Not yet.
I have not yet decided on a number of humans and ponies that traversed between worlds. It was a large number in the beginning, but now with more control it is reduced to a more manageable number. For now, just think of it as ponies/people going back and forth to learn about each others respectable worlds. And of course, ghosts. BEWARE. ahum.
I will cover more of this in future chapters.
2671336Kay. Well I hope you can get the next chapter out soon.
2668114 Spoilers.
2671078 the way you described mark one made me think of slender man
Might wanna capitalize Tucker o3o
Felt like ya really missed out on a good opportunity to add detail here, but it may just be me. What did the octopuses look like? Well, we all know, but weren't they mutated and humongous?
Heh, I c wat u did thar
HAH! CAT FIGHT! Believe it or not, but that actually made me laugh irl. I would like some more of this please!
Typo! "This"
Extra quotation mark D:
I think that should be a question mark at the end there.
Missing Exclamation point at the end.
Sighed o3o.
Wow, and you credited me? I.. I'm in inspiration..? Oh god ;-;.
Anyways, thanks bro. Also, you're off to a pretty great start! That ghost that killed Sam...could it have been Slenderman? Black suit, pale skin, long arms, hmm. I enjoy your writing style as well, it's brisk and fast paced, however it never(not very often) fails to describe the parts of which I actually pray for description, if that makes sense. So far, you seem to be doing a good job, kudos bro!
I'll try to get to the next chapter, but BOY are they long! If I don't get to it today, I definately will tomorrow! Onwards and upwards!
Only complaint is how fast equestria was introduced.
Was that a vague backwards Russian joke?
3112880 Hm. Well, if it isn't my fellow guardian. Seems we've crossed paths yet again.
Anywho, great fic! Though I'm surprised Naga didn't let me know about these tears in Space-Time earlier. I shall moniter this situation, then.
Is the centering of the text really necessary?
Also, I'm not sure if the rest of the story is like this, but pretty much the entire first chapter neglected the "show, don't tell" rule. Don't tell us what's going on, what a character is feeling, and why they do something. Show us by painting a vivid picture with your words - using the senses and metaphors. Imagery is an important element, and paragraphs aren't generally one sentence long. As the story is at this point, I want to skim through to the end to figure out the gist of what happened because it feels like a chore to read it all.
It's clear you've put a lot of work into this fanfic, and I don't expect you to rewrite the entire thing just because some no-name critic isn't satisfied with the quality of the writing. Just keep the "show, don't tell" rule in mind during future stories. This is a common problem with many amateur writers. Don't tell us the character screamed. Bring them out and let them to it themselves.
I would like to read an Equestrian ghost story, but at this time this story is... difficult to read.
No ghosts there? Yeah right, the land of Equestria runs on magic and Sombra was a kind of ghost.
Quick question: How does he know the name of Equestria? Has others gone there and come back to tell them? Did the door come with a nametag? Has ponies come through themselves? Will he (Danny) change into a pony? I have many questions but hopefully they will be answered soon enough. Either way, I love this.
We have the free will to choose, to make our own decisions, and to shape our own lives, as well as the world with them.
All right! So, a couple of things. First! Vlad Plasimus seems to be really obsessed with food.
Second:
Danny was chasing the Box Ghost who, once again, for the umpteenth time, had threatened Danny with his boxes of doom and that all should be aware of his acts of pure ghostly terror.
The ghost might not have been able to fully suck the boy dry, but it still had much of the stolen energy at its disposal. Energy it was now channeling into its hands to send a lethal projectile to finish Danny off.
His nightmare wasn't torment! This is torment!
The worst thing is, before Harvey turned into Two-Face, him and Batman were friends!
Sam had died protecting him while it should have been the other way around. Having all those powers and still being unable to do anything, Danny, as well as the rest of the world, had lost faith in Danny Phantom.
"There is nothing left for me here. The people hate my guts, even though I didn't do what they accuse me of.
"I don't have to win!" Danny said defiantly, the mechanized hands of his battle armor glowing an icy blue, with twin bands of energy crossing in an X surrounded them.
But instead, you would walk through a ghost shield, driving out any ghosts that tried to slip through by means of possession.
But, after blinking a few times to get rid of the spots in his vision, he made his way over to the bus stop and waited for the next bus to take him to the next city over where the portal that he had passage for was located.
And when it reveals yet another ploy in its grand design, everything changes, and no one could have seen it coming.
So after a slight chase, just to blast the Box Ghost to get rid of some of the frustration that he brought with him, Danny used the Thermos on the Box Ghost, sealing him inside with Technus, who Danny was unable to return to the ghost zone because his parents were breaking down the ghost portal to upgrade it.
"Just calm down kid, help is on the way." one of the blurs said to him. He didn't know who, but it didn’t matter as he slipped into unconsciousness.
YES. ALL OF MY YES. THE PLOT IS ORIGINAL AND NOT JUST A 'WHAT IF THIS GUY MET THESE GUYS' KIND OF STORY AND I FREAKING LOVE IT
7321272
Things like this should be said through personal messages, especially if there are more than a couple corrections.
Hey, you really nailed the Danny Phantom style of banter. Nice job.
Although the portal to Equestria thing seemed a bit rushed and awkward. And the free passage between worlds (however regulated) seems strange.