Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny watched the ghost portal intently, unblinking. He hadn’t been able to sleep much since his run in with his future self. Although he’d successfully put a stop to him, the intense guilt he felt whenever he remembered all the pain and suffering his alternate self had caused made it hard for him to relax. So…he didn’t. For the past few weeks, he’d spent his nights stubbornly guarding the ghost portal in an effort not to let his town down again, doubly aware that the lives of Amity Park’s citizens were in his hands.

The ghosts were all too aware that the ghost kid was in over his head. He didn’t make quips when he fought them anymore. His punches were slow, his reaction times were delayed at best. Sometimes, it really seemed like the kid had forgotten he had the ability to turn intangible. Something was clearly wrong and, although the ghosts usually hated him more than anything…they were worried. He was a brat, but he was one of their own. They had to do something before he got his other half killed.

Nocturne

That night, as Danny Phantom stood outside the doors to the ghost portal, the ghosts put their plan into action.

A dark shadow poured out of the portal, almost invisible due to the low light of the ghost lab, and crept up behind the sleep-deprived teenager.

Danny gasped as the familiar puff of air whisped out of his mouth. He tensed and looked around.

“Hey! I know somebody’s there! Come out!”

The ghost hid himself in the shadows and expelled an eerie blue mist into the room.

Danny frowned, but slowly began to blink drowsily. What was wrong with him? He rubbed his eyes, trying to keep his eyes on the ghost portal. It had clearly been activated, so where did the ghost go? He had to be alert.

 “Gotta stay awake,” he muttered. “I can do this.”

“But you’re so tired,” a soothing voice cooed. From where, though, Danny had no clue. It sounded like a really soft echo. Part of him wasn’t even sure he wasn’t imagining it. He looked around anyway, but he couldn’t see anyone there. “ All this heroism ,” it continued. “ You’ve been working so hard. You’re so tired…”

“…so tired…” He yawned. He was so tired…so...wait, where did all this mist come from? He watched as it slowly floated around him. It appeared to be circling him, slow and calm…

He zoned out, looking at it for a minute, and then shook his head. “Ugh, no, I’ve gotta...gotta...”

“ Relax ...” the ghost supplied. “It’s nice and calm here. You can relax...”

Danny’s eyelids drooped and slowly, he found his raised fists lowering. There clearly wasn’t any ghost around here. He could relax for a few minutes…

The mist was really starting to get to him now, making every limb feel heavy and sluggish. He began to sway a little.

Nocturne smirked and gently nudged the drowsy teen towards the ghost portal.

“Have a nice deep sleep, ghost boy. You’ve earned it...”

It was getting harder and harder to focus on staying awake now. All he could think about was how warm and cozy he felt.

 “…deep…sleep…” he mumbled distantly, allowing himself to be led. “…nice…deep...”

He was fast asleep before he could even feel the final push into the ghost portal.

Spectra

“AAAAUGHH!!!” He gasped and sat up in bed, sweat dripping down his face. “That…that…” He put his hands on his pounding heart. “N-no not…not again…please not again…oh god...”

“Not what again, Danny?”

“AAAAUGHH!!” This time he fell off the bed.

“Oof ouch…” He rubbed his head and looked up at the person that had spoken. “What the-SPECTRA?! What are you doing in my room?! How did you even get passed the Fenton--” He paused and looked around. “Wait. This isn’t my room.”

“That’s right !” She clapped, her tone dripping with false cheerfulness. “Good job, Danny!”

He scowled at her and stood up. “I’m GOING GHO-“ He paused and looked down at himself. “I’m… already ghost? That’s weird. I’ve never kept my ghost form up while I was unconscious before.”

“That’s because you’re in the Ghost Zone, sweetie.” She filed her nails. “You probably don’t need to exert any energy to keep the form up here. Or possibly it’s a subconscious thing, since, you know, all the ectoplasm that makes up this place would kill a human instantly.”

He frowned. “Wait, wait, wait, I’m in the GHOST ZONE?! But this place looks so…” He made a few hand gestures, trying to find the words. Finally, he landed on; “…normal.”

“Why thank you .” She smiled. “I’d like to think I have good taste. I modelled it after human architecture.”

Danny looked up at the large gold chandelier. “Somehow, this is both nothing like I thought your house would look like and also everything like I thought your house would look like.”

She smirked. “Okay, let’s get down to business, Danny.” She pointed at him. “ You have a problem, and we’re going to help fix it.”

He looked at her warily and quickly got into a fighting stance.

“Please. Relax.” She made a ‘sit down’ motion with her hands. “My offer is genuine. You haven’t been yourself lately. It’s all anyone’s talking about.”

“They…have?” He reluctantly sat down on the bed. “I don’t think I’ve been that unusual.”

“You don’t need to lie to me, Danny. Nocturn says you haven’t been sleeping because you’ve been getting those nasty nightmares.”

He winced. “Okay, that’s private . He needs to quit doing that.” He crossed his arms. “It’s none of his business. Or yours. I haven’t even talked to my friends about them, so what makes you think I’m gonna tell you ?”

“And why haven’t you talked to them, Danny?” she asked, looking concerned. “Don’t you trust them?”

“It’s not that, I just…I don’t wanna worry them. What I experienced…it was the worst experience of my life. But if they knew it haunted me as much as it did, they’d worry and ask questions and then I’d have to talk about it and relive the look on their pale, d-dead faces…” A whimper escaped his throat and he covered his face with his hands. “D-don’t make me talk about him…p-please…”

The psychologist frowned. This was worse than she’d thought. She snapped her fingers and a bright green bat landed on her arm.

“Bertrand! Bring us some tea, if you please! I have a feeling we’ll be here a while!”

The bat squeaked in confirmation and flew out of the room.

She clapped her hands again. “Alright! I know it’s painful, but let’s talk about this! It’ll help you to process what happened.”

He exhaled deeply and looked up at her again. “I’m not an idiot. I know you’re just using me to fish for young…juice…or whatever. Honestly, I’m not super clear on how misery translates to beauty, but whatever. I’m not talking to you about my nightmares. I’m going home.”

He stood up again.

“Oh, home?” She didn’t move. She had prepared for this. “You mean that place where your own parents create weapons made specifically to destroy you? The place where you can’t even eat breakfast without hearing about the best way to dissect a ghost? Don’t kid yourself, sweetie. We all know what your ‘home’ is like.”

“H-HEY! It’s not THAT bad!” He glared, his toxic green eyes burning brighter.

“You’re miserable there,” she continued. “You’re in the lion’s den, so to speak. One wrong move could have you killed completely. With the way you’re feeling right now, do you really think it’s healthy to go back there?”

His glare faltered. “They’d…they wouldn’t actually kill me. They love me. I know they’d accept me if I told them what I am.”

“You really think so?” She raised an eyebrow, and then shook her head. “They’re textbook egomaniacs, kid. They’re obsessed with proving they’re smarter and more powerful than the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. They’ll likely stop at nothing until they prove it.” She scoffed. “They’ll take one look at you and assume you’ve been replaced by a ghost! What a miserable life you must lead.”

“HEY!” he snapped.

“Sorry. Old habits die hard.” She laughed and flapped a hand dismissively. “Listen, Danny. I’m a licensed psychologist. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you, but it’s my professional opinion that you take a break from the human realm for a bit, for your own mental health. Think of it like a ghost vacation. You don’t even have to stay here if you don’t want to. We’re all concerned about you. I’m sure Ember has a spare room you can borrow.”

He blinked. “Uh…say that again? The ghosts are concerned ? How dumb do you think I am ?”

She folded her hands in her lap. “Alright, answer me this- have I attacked you since you got here? Shown any aggression at all ?”

“Well no, but…” He frowned. “…And you did just send your buddy to go get us tea...”

“ Exactly .” She placed her palms together. “We didn’t bring you here to hurt you. You’re a nuisance, but like it or not, you’re one of us.” She sighed and rolled her eyes, like the very thought disgusted her. “You never actively tried to obliterate us like the rest of humankind’s ghosthunters, although you’re plenty powerful enough to do so-“

Danny gasped shallowly, a spike of fear shooting up his spine. “I-I’m NOT! I could never-I wouldn’t !”

“Oh, ho? Struck a nerve, did I?” She floated over. “See? You’re not in the right mindset to go back to that dangerous place…” She snaked her shadowy ghost tail around him. He wanted to shove her away, tell her to respect his personal space, but oddly, her voice was really calming him down. “You’ll never be strong enough to keep everyone safe if you’re stressing yourself out, trying not to get hurt by all those awful ghost weapons…”

Slowly, Danny found himself sitting back down. “Maybe I do need a break,” he finally admitted, looking down at the fluffy rug beneath his feet. “Being at home has been really hard. I feel like…every time I see my friends’ faces, all I can think about is…is…” He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

She perked up. This was finally getting interesting. “Yes?”

He looked up at her, confusion crossing his features. “Do you actually wanna know? Like, for real ?”

“If that’s your weird way of asking if this is part of a scheme, then my answer is ‘no’,” she replied, somewhat amused.

It was then that Bertrand, in his original ghost form, returned. Spectra took her teacup, and then the shapeshifter offered one to Danny.

Danny looked at it warily but took it anyway. “No offense, dude, but I don’t trust you not to poison me.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re already in the Ghost Zone, kid. Killing you here wouldn’t achieve anything.”

“He’s right,” Spectra added helpfully, taking a sip.

Betrand scoffed. “You really don’t know anything about being a ghost, huh?”

“I knew enough to beat your jolly green ass!” Phantom snapped, blushing green.

“Yes, well, don’t get used to it, kid,” the shapeshifter sneered before heading back outside. Danny pulled a face at him as he watched him leave.

“If you guys weren’t being nice to me, I’d totally enjoy punching him.”

Spectra chuckled a little. This was a side of the ghost boy she’d never really seen before. He was pretty entertaining when he wasn’t playing superhero.

“He does have a point, though.” She unlooped her ghost tail from around him now that she was sure he wasn’t going to leave or attack her. “Think of all the things you could learn about yourself while you’re here? I’d say staying is worth considering.”

Danny frowned. “Maybe. But not for long. I’ve gotta protect Amity Park from the gho…” He paused. “Well, from all the people here.”

“Oh, that’s already been taken care of.” She took another sip of her tea. “Skulker is on ghost catching duty.”

“He…is?” His expression softened. “Wow. That’s…really cool of him.” He looked down into the teacup, and, with a resolute expression, finally drank from it. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it really was just normal tea. “If…if I tell you what’s bugging me…you gotta promise not to tell anyone, okay?” He looked at her seriously. “Not even just to get back at me. It’s not normal teen stuff. I haven’t told anyone about this.”

“Promises mean nothing here, kid.” She shrugged, smirking. “Here in the Ghost Zone, you don’t get anything for nothing. You’ve gotta bribe me if you want me to keep quiet.”

He frowned. “ Bribe you? I don’t even know what you could want .” He looked around the room, as if it would give him any ideas. Finally, his eyes landed on the gaudy chandelier again. “When I get back to my world, I could buy you something nice? Like…I don’t know, fancy earrings or something?”

Her shadowy face lit up. “Make them bejewelled and you have yourself a deal!”

Danny grinned. “Bejewelled. Got it. I don’t really know what that means, but Sam probably does. I’ll ask her.” He took another sip of the tea and closed his eyes, his smile falling. “Okay. So…here’s what happened. I went forwards in time and found out there’s an alternate timeline where all my friends and family……..die.” The hand holding the cup began trembling. “It was a horrible explosion and it apparently messed me up so bad that I made Vlad...he…” He flinched. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Point is, I tried to save everyone, I tried really, really hard. But I failed. I wasn’t good enough and it was pure dumb luck that the only person that could fix everything took pity on me and did . What if it happens again? What if He comes back? Or-or what if I try to save everyone and fail again? What if everyone dies again because I still wasn’t good enough? I’ve been trying my hardest, but what if that still isn’t enough? What if my world DIES because of M-ME?!” He sighed shakily and squeezed his eyes shut. “ I have to save the world. I have to destroy all the ghost inventions so they don’t hurt me or the other ghosts. Why is it always me that has to fix everything? Why can’t someone else fix everything for once? It’s not FAIR! No matter what I do, it feels like the world is gonna end!”

Spectra was silent for a long moment, until finally, she let out a long whistle.

“That is some emotional baggage you’ve got there!”

“…thanks.” He glared and cleared his throat.

“That’s a lot of pressure for one person. No wonder you’ve been broken into teeny tiny pieces! Wow. You’re in way over your head.”

He stared at her flatly. “…please stop smiling when you say things like that.”

She chuckled. “Danny, how set are you on saving this backwater town?”

“VERY!” He glared. “If you’re about to tell me to quit being a hero, you can FORGET it! That town is my HOME! I’m not going to just watch while a ghost takes it over! I was so off my game the first time I met you, my sister nearly died ! I bet you’d just love it if I stopped trying to-“

He trailed off and looked up at her as she placed a shadowy hand on his head.

“Simmer down, ghost kid,” she replied calmly. “I was trying to prove a point. You’ve got a classic case of superhero complex. You believe the safety of everyone around you lies entirely on your shoulders, and that, coupled with your recent trauma, is wearing you a bit thin. You’re crumbling under the pressure.”

He frowned. “But…I can’t just not save everyone. There’s no way that’s the only way. If I don’t help my world, no-one can.” He downed the rest of the tea.

She nodded confidently. “Maybe you don’t need to stop. Maybe you just need some help. Now, I’m not about to give you any ideas for defeating me , but I will suggest you speak to Vlad.”

He nearly choked on the tea.

 “ Vlad ? But he hates me!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh is that what you think? Don’t be fooled, Danny. He talks a big game, but he doesn’t have it as together as he pretends. You could say that his biggest weakness perfectly aligns with yours.”

Danny gave her a puzzled look.

She shrugged. “Anyway, that’s all we have time for today. Ember wanted to see you next.”

“Ember?! Wait- does the Ghost Zone even have a way to tell time?”

“No, but I’m bored now.” She made shooing motions with her hands. “You know where to find me if you need me. I’m gonna go get my nails done. Now shoo.”

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, he’d been teleported outside of what he assumed had been her house. He pouted. Rude . Still, she’d been oddly helpful. She was surprisingly easy to talk to when she wasn’t doing evil things, and she’d made him feel a little better about his situation. He still didn’t have a solution, but talking about it had definitely helped. He decided he’d stop by later if he was able to. First, though, he needed to find Ember. He hoped her lair would be close by.

Chapter Text

Ember

He floated around a little bit, just curious, really. It was kind of nice being able to explore the Ghost Zone without worrying too much about getting wasted. He’d always been fascinated by this place. The environment buzzed with ectoplasmic energy, and it was unclear where each purple door or portal would lead. He felt like an astronaut discovering space for the first time. Did the ghosts have their own society? Places they hung out regularly? What was ghost society even like? He knew they’d had a monarchy at some point because of his run-in with Pariah Dark, but what was that like? Maybe he’d ask Ember about that, if he ever found her. There weren’t any signs or anything here. How did the other ghosts even know where they were going?

He shuddered, cold air shooting out of his mouth.

“Who’s there?” He raised his fists, just in case they wanted trouble. His ghost sense was heightened in the Ghost Zone, but although he knew he’d sensed this ghost before, he couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly who they were.

“You’re real bad at this, dipstick,” a voice scoffed. “You have no idea where you’re goin’, do you?”

He gasped and spun around. “Ember!” He tensed instinctively, his eyes glowing brighter.

“Oh, chill out, babypop. I’m not gonna fight you.” She flipped her flaming ponytail, which had grown larger upon Danny saying her name.

He reluctantly lowered his fists, but continued to glare at her.

“Then why did you bring the mind control guitar?” he demanded.

She scoffed. “It’s not a mind control guitar. It’s an emotion control guitar.” She strummed the strings softly, the calm twinkling sound filling the air. “Music can make you feel a lotta things. My guitar just amplifies that. I brought it ‘cause I bring it everywhere with me. Spectra told ya we’re tryna help your sorry ass, right?”

Danny felt his body untense as her playing subtly calmed him down. She really was a musically gifted guitarist.

“If it’s not a mind control guitar, then how did you brainwash all those people?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

She tilted her head. Why was he so focussed on her guitar? Surely he had other things to worry about? A smirk slowly grew across her face. “You’re still mad about the love spell, aren’t you?”

His cheeks flushed bright green. “N-no! I mean…l-LOOK! That doesn’t matter! You use music to brainwash and manipulate people!”

“Yeah, well, Spectra makes people depressed for fun, but don’t tell me she didn’t give ya a free therapy session.”

Danny averted his eyes.

Ember crossed her arms. “Get over yourself, kid. Like it or not, we’re your family, and if you choose to stay that high and mighty, your stay here in the GZ is gonna be kinda unbearable for you.” She glared at him. “My music’s just good, okay? I put a lotta effort into it. It’s not my fault you’ve got bad taste.” She flew towards a purple door and stepped inside.

Danny followed, since he was lost anyway. She wasn’t playing the guitar anymore, or even looking at him. He felt kind of bad now. He hadn’t intended to insult her music, and she had a point about the ghosts trying to help him. She’d even used the word ‘family’. How weird was that? He wondered what Sam and Tucker would think about all this.

He followed her into a tunnel filled with deep purple ectoplasmic energy. She still wasn’t talking to him. He knew he shouldn’t care. She’d tried to take over the world. She’d really hurt him emotionally. She’d tried to kill him. But…she had a point. Spectra had done all that too, and she’d ended up being pretty great to him. Maybe he was being too hard on the ghosts. They’d still done bad things, but maybe…maybe morality just worked differently here. Or not. But either way, it wasn’t a good idea to make her mad. He’d still be lost if she hadn’t shown up. He watched her flaming ponytail flap behind her.

That gave him an idea. He began to hum.

She turned her head slightly. “What are you-“

“Ember, you will remember…” he sang softly. “Ember…one thing remains. Oh oh Ember…so warm and ten-deeeer. You will remember my name…”

They harmonised for the last line. “You will remember my naaaame!”

She closed her eyes as her flaming ponytail grew bigger and brighter. “Ahhh that’s the stuff! It’s been a while since I had that much power.”

Danny rubbed his neck awkwardly. “I’m sorry if I’m being a bit of a jerk. A lot’s happened lately and everyone that’s tried to kill me is trying to help me all of a sudden. It’s a lot to process.” He frowned and looked down. “How screwed do you have to be for your own enemies to take pity on you?”

The ghost girl smirked. “It’s not pity, babypop. Your ghost half formed in the same area of the GZ as the rest of us, and…” She rolled her eyes. “…it’s really annoying, but we really dig that ya don’t waste us like the humans would and honour the Christmas Truce. You’re the annoying kid brother that gets on our nerves. We don’t want you dead, but, like, we’re not against punching you either.”

Danny smiled a little. Spectra had said something similar. He had no idea the other ghosts respected him so much for not obliterating them. Though up until this point, it hadn’t really occurred to him that they would care.

“Well, you’re welcome. I don’t like to hurt people.” He paused. “Well. I like to hurt ghosts, but that’s because you guys are usually doing something awful I gotta stop. I’d never wanna waste anyone.” His expression stiffened and he glared at the lack of the floor beneath them. “I’m not like him. I don’t take any joy in death and destruction. I’ll never use my powers for something like that.”

Ember tilted her head. “Who’re ya talkin’ about? Plasmius?”

“Huh?” He blinked and looked up again. “Uh, no. No. Just…someone from my past. I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. Why’d you think I was talking about Vlad?”

“Oh, ‘cause you’re both halfas. He talks to Skulker ‘bout you a lot.”

“He…he does?” His eyes widened, and then narrowed again. “Wait, why do you know that?”

“Skulker was my boyfriend for a bit.” She rolled her eyes. “Long story. I dumped his ass.”

“Wow.” He laughed a little. “This is the last place I expected to find relationship drama.”

 She smirked. "Anyway, spill it. You've been fightin' bad, you clearly never sleep and ya haven't made a bad pun this entire conversation. What's up?"

He sighed, crossing his arms. "I really don't wanna talk about it with you. No offense."

"Then don't!" She strummed loudly on her guitar. "Sing! Expressing how you feel is what music’s really for. Let it out, baby pop. Sing whatever’s on your mind.”

“Um…okay?” He frowned, thinking for a moment. He supposed it wouldn't hurt. He’d been trying all he could to forget the events of Dan Phantom’s defeat, but…maybe Ember was right. Maybe music would help. He took a deep breath and tried to sing to the music the ghost girl had started playing.

He thought about Vlad, and what he’d been driven to do for him in that alternate timeline, and he found the words coming out naturally.

“You and I walk a fragile line,” he began softly. “I have known it all this time, but I never thought I’d live to see it break.” He looked down somberly at his hands. “It’s getting dark and it’s a-all too quiet and I can’t trust anything now. And it’s coming over you like it’s all a big mistake…” He clenched his fist, the haunting images of his dead friends and family filling his head, every detail of their charred faces more graphic than the last. “O-oh! Holding my breath! Wo-o-on’t lose you again! Something’s made your…eyes go…c-cold…” His voice cracked, his eyes glazing with unshed tears. All the feelings were coming back, full force. His grief, hopelessness, despair, complete loneliness and inability to help the people he loved when it was really mattered…  

“Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this! I thought I had you figured out! Something’s gone terribly wrong! You’re ALL I wanted!” He clasped his shaking hands together. “Come on, come on! Don’t LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! I thought I had you figured out! Can’t breathe whenever you’re gone! Can’t turn back, I’m…I’m haunted…”

Ember grinned. Okay, so the kid was clearly going through something, but damn could he sing. She slowed her playing a little. It had built up while he was singing the chorus.

He turned to her, blushing with apparent embarrassment, but she smiled at him encouragingly. He clearly had a lot of feelings to express. He owed it to himself to finish the song. And honestly? The song was pretty dope. She’d expected a lot of angry yelling and heavy metal, not…an emotional song about grief and despair. What the heck had happened to him?

Danny nodded, and after a pause, began the next part. The words were coming so easily to him, and they all rhymed. He was terrible at poetry. What was going on? Still, singing out his feelings was making him feel better, so he couldn’t complain.

“Stood there and watched you walk away…from everything we had,” he sang, thinking about the conversation he’d had with his evil future self. “But I still mean every word I said…to you.” He was not inevitable. He would never become that. He thought about Vlad again, and how he’d had to take him in after the accident. It probably hadn’t been easy for him, either. He’d probably done the best he could. “He will try to take away my pain, and he just might make me smile…” The pain…there was so much pain. Oh god there was so much fire, so much screaming…why did it have to be them? Why did Dan get to live while they didn’t? “But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead,” he spat bitterly. “Oh, oh, holding my breath…w-won't…see you again...” He swallowed hard. “Something keeps me holding…on to n-nothing…” He squeezed his eyes shut, his hands curled into tight fists. “Come on! Come ON! Don't leave me like this! I thought I had you figured out! Something's gone terribly wrong- you're all I wanted!”

Ember stared. His ghostly glow was turning green. Was he doing that on purpose?

"Come on, come on! Don't LEAVE ME like THIS! I thought I had you figured out! Can't breathe whenever you're gone- I can’t turn back…I’m haunted…” His breath hitched and his voice grew softer. Dan was stuck in a thermos. How long would he stay that way? Was he actually safe? Was anyone actually safe? How long would it be before he could finally sleep again? “I know, I know, I just know…you're not gone. No. You can't be gone. NO!” He extended his arms, suddenly feeling a kind of power buzzing within him. But he was too distraught by now to care.

 Ho. Ly. SHIT. All Ember could do was play as she watched the kid, the weak goody-two-shoes Phantom kid…let out a giant wave of sound from his mouth that obliterated the boulder they’d just floated past. The soundwaves circled around the teenager, similarly to his transformation rings. Danny was still singing, completely unaware of the chaos erupting around him.

“COME ON, COME ON, DON’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! I THOUGHT I HAD YOU FIGURED OUT! SOMETHING’S GONE TERRIBLY WRONG- WON’T FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!” He wouldn’t let Dan win again. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t give him the chance. He was powerful, but Danny had a lot more to fight for, and he would. Even if it killed him in the process. He’d keep everyone safe. No-one had to die again. “COME ON! COME ON! DON’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! I THOUGHT I HAD YOU FIGURED OUT! CAN’T BREATHE WHENEVER YOU’RE GONE! CAN’T TURN BACK-“ He sighed, his anger dissipating. His shoulders slumped. “I’m haunted.” He ran his hand through his hair and finally looked at Ember again. “You and I walk a fragile line…I have known it all this time. Never thought I’d see it break. Never thought I’d see it.” He exhaled and looked up at the ectoplasm above them. “You know what? You’re right. That did make me feel better. I…” He looked at her again and tilted her head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Her hair crackled excitedly. “I didn’t know you were a music ghost! Why didn’t ya say something?!”

He blinked. “A…a what?”

“A music ghost! You know! Music abilities! We’re definitely gettin’ you a mic because holy shit you could cause a lotta damage.”

“What?!” His eyes widened in panic and he floated back. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

She gestured to the wreckage of smashed up rocks around them.

“You seriously tellin’ me this was an accident?!”

“WHAT?” He looked around. “My…my ghostly wail did all…this?” Fear spiked up in his chest. “Oh crud, are you okay? Did I hurt you? I-I thought my ghostly wail only worked when I screamed! I didn’t know I could—” He bit his lip and looked around.

“Hey, it’s chill! We’ll get’cha a mic to focus your powers. It’ll make that badass voice of yours easier to control.” She grinned. “C’mon. I’ve gotta buddy that’ll hook ya up.” She took his arm and started dragging him along. It was much easier to do this than it normally would be, as they were currently flying. Dragging him along was as easy as pulling along a helium balloon. “Ya ever been to a night club?”

“You’re taking me t-to…” He gasped. “A ghost night club?!”

“Yup. Stay close or you’ll get lost in the middle of the rave.”

 “A RAVE?!”

She laughed at him. “Oh, Phantom, you haven’t died until you’ve been part of a Ghost Zone rave.”

Chapter Text

The Ghost Rave

Danny didn’t know what to expect when Ember led him through that mysterious green door. He hadn’t seen a lot of green ones.

“Ember…” He blinked in the pitch darkness. “You didn’t bring me here to mug me, did you? ‘cause I don’t have any money…”

“No. Shut up.” She laughed. “Shut your eyes, or you’ll miss it!”

“Miss what…?” He shut his eyes. Immediately, the room lit up with colour. Bright swirls of blue, green, purple, red, all swam above and around him, completely in sync with the music he could now hear blasting through his eardrums. He turned around in a circle to watch the colours move around him, nodding his head in time to the catchy beat. The song sounded like some kind of jazz/rock/classical hybrid and…honestly, he loved it. He’d never heard anything like it.

His ghost sense suddenly alerted him to the presence of other ghosts. A lot of other ghosts. He tensed instinctively and opened his eyes.

The colours and the music disappeared instantly. He was back to floating in that pitch-dark room.

He looked over at Ember. She had her eyes closed and she was swaying to an imaginary beat. Danny had never seen her look so peaceful. He shut his eyes again and everything once again returned.

“I’ve heard about a ‘silent disco’, but this is ridiculous…” he muttered amusedly.

“Yo! Babypop!” Ember grabbed his hand and twirled him. “Welcome to Club Spirit! What’cha think?”

He laughed, dancing along with her. “It’s SO cool! But I don’t understand! Why does it disappear?”

“Ghost raves are psychic! Duh!” She grinned. “A lot of music artists hang here, so these things are designed so the music gets beamed straight into your head! No hearing damage! It’s rad. And as a plus, you’ll have these awesome tunes in your head for weeks!” She took his hand. “C’mon! Lemme introduce you to my buddy! He’s the one workin’ the tunes!” She took his hand again and began dragging him through the room.

It was then that he realised what had been setting off his ghost sense. As he got closer to them, the partygoers became visible. He couldn’t help ‘looking’ around at all of them as Ember dragged him along. There were so many , all in different shapes, sizes and colours, every one of them looking like they were having a really good time. Some were taking shots, some were smoking, others were playing along to the music on their own instruments…the energy was so fun and happy. He even thought he spotted Box Ghost in the crowd somewhere, but he couldn’t be sure. A big smile grew on his face. He was really starting to like this place. He hoped he’d be able to come back here with Ember after the ‘pity truce’, as he called it, was over.

“Pitch! My guy!”

Ember shared an elaborate high-five with a deep blue male ghost in orange headphones. He was sat at a turntable, but he hadn’t been touching the discs. Instead, his hands had been glowing black, apparently using them to turn the discs telekinetically before Ember had approached. Maybe touching them would scratch them or something?

“Em! Long time no see, doll!” He grinned, showing a full set of gold teeth. “I wish you’d come yesterday. Some asshole sucked the power from the light show. They’re weak as hell today. I can’t charge up the transmitter.”

She frowned. “Aww, what a buzzkill. I bet it was Technus again. Want me to take a crack at it?”

“ Please . Maybe your hot beats’ll fire the baby up.”

He floated over to a large, hovering, mechanical ball-shaped device, Ember floating after him. Danny followed, both because he really had no choice, but also because he was curious what this thing was.

“Alright, let’s go!” She pulled out her guitar, turned a dial and strummed a loud chord. The violet soundwaves bounced off of the ball, but all it really achieved was making it float a little higher. She huffed. “Damn. He really did a number on this thing.”

“Yeah.” He frowned. “Man, this sucks.”

“Um…” He floated from behind Ember. “Maybe I could…try?” He waved weakly. “Hi. I’m Danny.”

Pitch tilted his head, apparently noticing him for the first time.

“Yo, who’s the squirt?”

“This here’s Danny Phantom.” The female ghost introduced, pointing a thumb in his direction. “Don’t worry, he’s cool. He’s a music ghost.”

He whistled and leaned down to look at him. “Hey, nice! What’s your instrument of choice?”

“My, uh, voice, I guess? I can destroy stuff with it.” He smiled weakly. “I had a bit of an, um…extreme jam session earlier.”

He chuckled. “What a mood. What. A. Mood. It’s cool to meet you! I’m Pitch, Pitch Cobalt. You digging the music so far?”

“Yeah!” He grinned. “It’s super good! I mean this is my first ghost rave, so I don’t know how it compares to other ghost music, but I really love it! Did you make it?”

“That I did, little man!” He smiled brightly and pulled a disc, seemingly from out of nowhere. “Here. On the house.”

He stared at it, wide eyed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, you need a memento of your first ghost rave, man!”

Ember suddenly plucked the disc out of his hand before Danny could take it.

“Yeah, no, this thing’s literally cursed,” she said flatly, snapping it in half. Black smoke immediately poured out of it. “What are ya tryna do to the kid, Cobalt?”

“Ugh, you’re no fun.” He rolled his eyes.

That’s right. Spectra had warned him that nobody in the Ghost Zone did anything for nothing. If you wanted something, you had to be prepared to bribe. He smirked.

“Hey, tell ya what- if I fix the light thing, will you hook me up with the actual CD?”

Ember raised an eyebrow and then grinned. Smart kid.

“Right! And a spectral mic!” She added, putting a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “He needs one so he doesn’t accidentally destroy shit every time he gets into a song.”

Pitch clapped his hands together eagerly. “Oh, you’re on! Here, lemme get you a good mic. You’re gonna need it if you want any hope of powering up the transmitter without destroying it.” He floated back over to his turntables and came back with a green and white striped wireless microphone. “Don’t break it,” the ghost warned. “It’s a rental until you earn it.”

“Right!” Danny grinned, tapping the top, which was solid black. “Testing…testing…” It glowed a soft green as it amplified the sound of his voice. “Woah…” He looked up at Ember. “I feel weirdly powerful. Is that normal?”

“Yup.” She smirked. “Spectral instruments balance your natural musical power between your core and your voice. It makes it easier to control.”

He blinked. “Um…English, please? Or…whatever ghosts speak.”

“It makes your voice just as strong as your other powers,” she explained with an eyeroll. “Balances ‘em. Your voice is obviously way more powerful than the rest of your powers, and that’s what makes it go so apeshit and out of control.”

“Oh! Right! Awesome!” He grinned again and held the microphone to his chest.

“So are you going to fix it or what, little man?” The DJ tapped his foot impatiently, which looked a little weird, considering he was floating.

“Yes.” He nodded seriously. “Do I have to aim anywhere specific or will just the general area of the big ball thing do?”

“General area.”

“Gotcha.” He turned to Ember again, grinning. “Wanna have another, hopefully less depressing, jam session?”

Her face lit up. “ Now you’re talkin’ my language, kid! Let’s ROCK this place!”

“YEAH!”

They both punched fists in the air before turning to their respective instruments.

“What’cha thinkin’? Rock? A chill jam? A bit of both?”

Danny bounced a little. He didn’t know why, but he felt excited. He’d never sung for anything other than the odd karaoke party or during a concert. He didn’t even realise he enjoyed it this much. But seeing Ember tuning her guitar in preparation, he couldn’t ignore how his core buzzed with excitement.

“Surprise me!”

“Got’cha.” She winked and, turning towards the mechanical orb, began to play a song, no doubt something she’d come up with on the spot.

Similarly, Danny found that ideas for lyrics were coming to his mind easily as he listened to her play. The microphone glowed in anticipation.

Clearly thrilled about this development, Pitch tapped the microphone connected to his headphones and turned to the crowd. “YO! PARTY PEOPLE! LEMME HEAR SOME NOOOOOOISE!!!”

The crowd cheered and roared. A few clapped.

“YOU’VE IN FOR A REAL TREAT!” He continued. “FAN FAVOURITE EMBER MCLAIN IS ABOUT TO THROW SOME SICK BEATS WITH NEWCOMER, DANNY PHANTOM! WE’RE ABOUT TO ROCK HARD!”

More cheers erupted.

Danny gulped. “Okay, now I kinda regret this.”

“It’ll be fine,” Ember reassured. “Just focus on the music and sing from your heart. It’s gonna sound good, it’s in your ectoplasm. Let’s just have a rockin’ time, ‘kay?”

“Okay.” He smiled widely and keeping his focus on Ember instead of the crowd, hoping watching her play would help him focus on the lyrics.

She started playing again, much louder this time. Curiously, despite the fact she was using a rock guitar, the music coming out of it was acoustic. Danny assumed she had a dial for that too. It was a chill, but upbeat rhythm, and Danny found himself coming up with lyrics for it quite easily.

“I know a girl,” he began, smirking at Ember. “Who likes to drink her coffee black, ‘cause sugar, no, she don't got time for that. Leaves her desires at the welcome mat when she walks in…”

Never one to be out-staged, Ember grinned and began singing her own verse, her voice every bit as powerful and beautiful as it always was.

“Yeah, I know a boy…who likes to keep his burner on. He's always running with no one to keep warm. It's like he's flirting with the smoke alarm. His fire's fading…”

Danny smiled a little wider as he found that they were beginning to sing in sync.

“But still we laugh, we cry, we fall, we get high! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids!

And when I, I'm feeling small you get me through it all- just like we were kids, just like we were kids again…”

The orb began to float a little higher in response to their music, but the two were having too much fun to notice. Ember picked up speed on her guitar.

“I know a girl,” Danny continued, swaying to the music . “Who's never tried to settle down. She wears her loneliness like a crown…but when she smiles all the kings will bow down, down, down!”

She smirked back at him. “And I know a boy…who's broken every vow he's made. Who's spoken every coward’s phrase…but he can listen like a rainy day and drown, it, out!”

They harmonised again. The music was loud and sincere enough now that the transmitter was starting to glow brighter.

“But still we laugh, we cry, we fall, we get high! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids! And when I, I'm feeling small you get me through it all! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again!” Danny started nodding his head to the beat, the audience forgotten for the moment. “Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again! Just like we were kids

Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again!”

Ember’s playing got softer, as did her voice, as the song began winding down from how loud it had been.

“So we laugh, we cry, we fall, we get high…just like we were kids, just like we were kids…”

“And when I, I'm feeling small you get me through it all,” Danny sang, picking up from where Ember had stopped. “Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again…”

The song picked up steam once more, the guitar and their voices getting louder, their instruments both beaming visible soundwaves at the device they were trying to power up. The device floated up even higher and the coloured swirls around them began to expand and glow brighter.

“But still we laugh, we cry, we fall, we get high! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids! And when I, I'm feeling small you get me through it all! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again!”

Ember turned a dial on her guitar and began an electric guitar solo. Danny nearly laughed at how extra she was. She was clearly really enjoying this. And honestly…he was too. As far as he was concerned, for this next few minutes, he wasn’t traumatized from something horrible, he wasn’t in the company of someone that had tried to take over the world and hurt him. He was just jamming with a friend. And it was fun.

“Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again! Just like we were kids, just like we were kids, just like we were kids again!”

The guitar began to slow back to acoustic as the song began winding down. Their singing got slower, leaving more room to hear the guitar as the song began coming to a natural end.

“Just like we were kids, just like we were kids again. Just like we were kids, just like we were kids, just like we were kids again…”

As the song trailed off, the cheers started up again, even louder than before. The orb had reached high above the crowd now, flashing all the colours of the rainbow. The swirls around them had certainly grown in size as well, illuminating the room like an aurora borealis. Danny stared, completely awed.

“… we did that…” he muttered softly.

“Yes we did.” She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He didn’t even flinch. “I’m proud of ya, Danny. That was awesome.”

His cheeks flushed. “No way, It wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome without your-wait, did you just call me Danny? Like, my actual name? ” Had she ever done that?

“Don’t let it get to your head.” She smirked. “Anyway, you were praising me. Please continue.”

He laughed. Ember was kind of great? And super fun? She was like a cool big sister. Maybe she’d take him more places if he bribed her with more jam sessions.

“You guys…WOW.” Pitch grinned. “You fixed it, and put up one hell of a show. Mad props, my guys.” He held a CD out towards Danny.

Danny frowned at it suspiciously. “How do I know this one isn’t cursed?”

“It’s not. I swear. You’ve more than earned this. The mic, too.”

The younger ghost turned to Ember, who gave him a nod. Trusting her judgement, he carefully took the CD.

“Thanks, dude. I appreciate it.”

Ember let go of Danny and straightened up. “Right, anyway, it’s been a blast, but we should get going. The kid’s got a busy day.”

“Wait, I do?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, you think I’m the only ghost that wanted to see ya? Nah. Let’s go.”

She floated a little further away and opened her eyes, so Danny reluctantly did the same. He pouted as, once again, everything around him disappeared into the pitch blackness.

“Can we come back soon?” he asked, moving to float beside her.

“Sure.” She chuckled. “I have a feelin’ Cobalt is gonna bug me to bring you back for another performance anyway. We kinda rock, dude.” She held out her fist. Danny fist-bumped it, grinning.

“So who’s next? Please, for the love of god, let it not be someone like Box Ghost or Technus. They’re super annoying, and quite honestly, I don’t have the energy.”

She tilted her head, noticing his drooped shoulders for the first time. “Oh, that’s right. Humans get tired kinda easily.” She shrugged. “Well, if you wanna crash, I can take ya back to Spectra’s, or you can hang at my place. Just make sure you sleep somewhere safe. This place can be kinda dangerous if you’re not used to it.”

His eyes immediately widened. “I-I don’t need sleep! I’m not tired. I’m fine. I slept at Spectra’s. I’m totally fine.” He waved a hand dismissively. “So who’s the next ghost that wants to see me?”

She smirked, studying him for his reaction.

“Walker.”

“W-WALKER?!”

She cackled. “Good luck, Danny! You’re gonna need it!”

Chapter Text

Walker

Danny looked around cautiously as he was led through Walker’s prison by one of the guards. Ember hadn’t even accompanied him this far, probably because she had her own sentences to avoid. He was trying to be open minded, but this really felt like a trap. Was he going to have to find a way to break out again? He hoped not. It would mean he wouldn’t be able to stick around the Ghost Zone for very much longer, and honestly, he wasn’t sure he could handle another Walker revenge plot.

The guard roughly shoved him into an unfamiliar room that contained nothing but a single desk and a few bookshelves.

“The ghost boy, boss,” he greeted with a nod.

The warden nodded and slowly turned to the teenager. “Leave us, please.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Danny gulped. Walker was staring at him pretty intensely. His criminal record was probably through the roof at this point.

“H-hey, Mr Walker, sir…” he greeted with weak enthusiasm. He floated in front of him, but with a sizable distance between them. “It’s, uh, been a while, huh?”

Walker looked him up and down, but otherwise made no move to attack or restrain him. That was a good sign, at least. Maybe this would be okay after all.

“Cut the pleasantries, boy,” the warden replied curtly, placing his hands behind his back. “I told you last time that if I saw you again, we were gonna have a problem.”

“You called for me, though!” Danny defended. “I wasn’t causing trouble, I swear! I didn’t even come to the Ghost Zone on purpose! Nocturne, he-“

“Daniel James Phantom,” he snapped.

Danny instinctively straightened up. Uh oh.

“How’d you find out my middle-“

“I am well aware of the reason you’re here, punk,” he interrupted. “But are you?”

“H-huh?”

His eyes narrowed. “This truce, all the worrying every ghost ‘round here’s been doing…it’s unnecessary. Most ghosts pity you, are concerned for you, but not me. I see you for what you really are. A pathetic child.” He stepped closer, probably to be more intimidating, and poked him roughly in the chest.

“HEY!”

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to yourself?” he drawled, his voice quiet, but ice cold. “To the people around you? Any idea at all? Or are you too wrapped up in whatever’s burdenin’ you to notice?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re-augh!“

Danny made a sound that was a mix between a yelp and a choking noise as he was lifted roughly by the front of his hazmat suit. There was no way out of this.

“L-look, if you’re still mad about the breakout, I-I…”

“Listen here, you ignorant speck of ectoplasm!” He threw him hard against the floor. “You are a human, but more importantly, you are that town’s hero. You owe it to yourself and the people you claim to protect to look after yourself.”

Danny got up and dusted himself off. A bit weird he’d say that. Ouch.

“It’s not that easy, okay?” he finally said, standing up straight in front of the warden, arms stiffly at his sides. He was shaking a little, but to his credit, he was doing a good job of keeping his voice steady. Few ghosts terrified him as much as Walker did, even after all this time. “What if the town gets attacked again and I wasn’t there to stop it because I was too busy eating or sleeping or whatever? All I care about is making sure everyone is safe. If my health has to suffer a bit to make sure that happens, then fine!” His eyes suddenly widened as a realisation dawned on him. “Oh no,” he whispered, looking down. “I’ve been in the Ghost Zone too long, what if Skulker couldn’t handle all the ghosts? What if he came back? The town’s probably in so much danger and I was wasting my time at a ghost rave!” His breath hitched.

“Danny Phantom.” Walker put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me carefully, boy.”

He looked up again, another spike of panic shooting through him. Was this the part where the guy gave him his newest jail sentence? He couldn’t be stuck in jail again! He had to get back to Amity!

To his surprise, Walker’s expression softened, though not to any emotion like kindness. His glare was just downgraded to more of a...disapproving frown. Danny didn’t know which one was worse.

“The human realm is gonna be jus’ fine without you,” he said seriously. “I sent my best guards to help the hunter. Are you really so conceited you think the world is gonna end with you gone? That no-one else can do what you do?”

Yikes. Harsh.

“N-no! But I’m usually the only one that’s trying to help everyone! If I don’t do it, then-“

“And who’s gonna help you if you kill yourself? Your safety is more important that theirs. Your wellbeing affects your ability to do your job. The humans are in more danger with you like this than they ever were when you were looking after yourself.”

Danny averted his gaze. He hated to admit it, but what the guy was saying made a lot of sense. He supposed, having a responsibility to protect others himself, Walker knew what it was like having people rely on you that much.

That didn’t mean he had to like it, though.

He crossed his arms and frowned. “Fine. I’ll…I’ll start eating again.”

“Not good enough.”

“Oh what?” He threw his arms out in front of him with an annoyed huff. “What do you want from me, man?!”

“You need rules, PUNK! Rules to follow and obey.” His expression shifted back into a sharp glare as he took a notebook and pen from seemingly nowhere and began writing. “So let’s make some.”

“Make…what? Rules?” He blinked owlishly.

“Yes.” He finally turned his back to him and began pacing up and down the room.

Danny shifted uncomfortably, feeling remarkably like he was in trouble with a figure of authority like Lancer or his dad. He supposed he kind of was. He felt his heart clench. Did his dad even notice he was gone? Probably..not.

“I know you have no respect for rules,” Walker began, pen poised over the notebook in preparation. “But we’re gonna set ya some, whether you like it or not. Everyone should have a rulebook they abide by. Nobody is above rules and order. Not even abominations of nature like yourself.”

“HEY!” He glared back. “I’m not an abomination!”

Walker ignored him. “Rule one- You will get eight hours of sleep every day. This is non-negotiable.”

“What? But I-”

“Rule two- you will eat-at minimum- two meals a day: breakfast and dinner. For your sake, I hope you have the sense to make it something health appropriate for your biological age.” He rolled his eyes.

Danny tilted his head. “How old are you? Do ghosts even keep track of how long they’ve been in the G.Z?”

“Longer than you could ever imagine, boy,” he replied dryly, writing something down in the notebook. “An’ finally, rule three- ease off on the ghost fightin’.” He said that last part like he was exasperated for some reason. “You’re obsessin’ over it and it’s makin’ you sick.”

“But I can’t NOT--”

“Ya can still keep playin’ hero if ya want, so long as you remember your limits.” He ripped out the page of rules and handed it to him. “You’re no use to anyone, not even your pitiful little humans, if ya end up killin’ yourself. Got that?”

Danny scowled, but didn’t outwardly object. It wouldn’t do any good.

Walker nodded, apparently taking his silence as a yes, and took a step back.

“Follow those rules, or I will find out and I will make you regret it, punk. Do I make myself clear?”

Danny gulped. “Intangible.”

“Excellent.” Another nod. “You may leave.”

Danny didn’t waste a single second getting out of there.

Chapter Text

Spectra and Nocturne II

Danny followed Bertrand as he lead him through Spectra’s floating mansion and into the same guest bedroom as before.

“Uh, Spectra?” he asked, almost missing her shadowy form stood by the window. “What’s up? The walking headache said you wanted to see me?”

She smirked amusedly as Bertrand made an angry noise and marched out the room.

“You could be a bit nicer to him, you know.”

“Nah, he spent the whole trip complaining about how you won’t let him kill me. The little jerk can take a few insults.” He huffed and crossed his arms. “So what’s this about? I don’t have the earrings I promised you. I haven’t had time to go back to my world yet.”

“No, you’ve been rather busy, haven’t you?” She grinned in that way that always meant misfortune for someone. “Danny. We need to have a talk.”

The teenager stiffened. He knew that phrase well.

“Look, whatever you heard, I didn’t do it!” he said quickly, his hands out in front of him like a shield. “I-it was an accident! I was singing and it just happened! I didn’t mean for that to happen, I swear! I didn’t attack her!”

She studied him for a moment and then slowly floated over to him. “How about you tell me what this is about first, hmm?”

“Nothing. It’s not about anything.” He crossed his arms. “It’s whatever. What do you wanna talk about?”

The shadow ghost sighed. Oh such sweet misery. He still had so much of it. It was a real pity that absorbing it would be so counterproductive.

“There’s your fear of being powerful again,” she mused in her sugary sweet voice. “Have you spoken to Vlad yet?”

“NO! And I WON’T!” He glared. “He doesn’t need to know anything. He’ll just use it as an excuse for another stupid ‘join me’ speech and make me feel bad about myself. Not gonna happen!”

“Alright, calm down, Danny,” she said soothingly, brushing a shadowy hand against his cheek. “Nocturne mentioned you might get like this.”

“Huh?” He frowned at her. “What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t been sleeping, have you?” she asked, though the question was more of a statement.

“What? Of course I have. Nocturne knocked me out and brought me here remember?”

“Yes. Three days ago.” She looked him seriously in the eyes. “You’ve been keeping yourself busy on purpose to distract your human half from sleeping. To avoid those nasty dreams. That’s why you’re so grumpy.” She sighed. “We brought you here to stop you from doing things like this, Danny. You can’t avoid sleep forever.”

“I can try.” He glared at the floor. “Ghosts don’t sleep, much less have nightmares. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Perhaps. But I know how you think. This fear of yours is only going to keep growing if you continue to feed it, and with that comes the nightmares.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so afraid of being strong? What are your nightmares about?”

“Nothing! I just…don’t wanna hurt people. That’s got nothing to do with the alternate timeline. I just don’t wanna be a hero that hurts people. Can we drop this already?”

“Unfortunately for you, no we can’t.” She wrapped a long arm around his shoulders. “You’re clearly tired. Why don’t you relax, hmm?”

Danny stiffened. She was so warm. God she was warm. She probably had a heat core or something.

“Spectra, you don’t understand,” he said, frowning. “These nightmares aren’t just regular nightmares. They’re like horrible flashbacks. If not re-living them means being a bit tired, then I’ll do it. My ghost side can probably go ages without sleep. Back in my world, I could go at least a week on short naps alone.”

She tilted her head. “Alright, then let’s address something else.” She clasped her hands together. “Why do you consider Fenton and Phantom to be two different people?”

“What?” He blinked.

 “You keep referring to the human realm as ‘my world’ and Phantom as ‘my ghost half’. It’s…odd.”

“Well…yeah?” Distracted, he lowered his crossed arms. “I’m only half ghost.”

“You’re also only half human,” she shot back. “The Ghost Zone may not be that familiar to you, but it’s your world too. You’re a ghost, Danny.”

He frowned thoughtfully, not realising that he was letting her lead him to the bed.

“I…guess? I’ve never really thought of it that way.”

“Of course you haven’t,” she replied, smirking. “Even with all your powers, you’re terrible at thinking things through.” She sat down on the bed. He instinctively sat down next to her. “You can only survive off of instinct for so long. It isn’t smart.”

“Hey! I’m smart! I’ve outsmarted the ghosts a ton of times!”

“And they’ve used your emotions against you a ton of times,” she shot back.

He scowled and crossed his arms. “I feel like you just enjoy insulting m- wait, when’d I sit down?” He looked around.

She chuckled. “It’s also what makes it so easy to manipulate you.” She clapped her hands together. “Okay, time for plan B. Nocturne, you can come out now.”

“N-NOCTURNE?!”

A dark shape slowly crawled out of the shadows and formed in front of the shadow ghost and half ghost. The latter immediately stood up.

“Hello again, Phantom.”

He tensed. “A-are you guys buddies or something?”

“He’s here to help,” Spectra replied, unconcerned. “You wouldn’t tell me what these nightmares are, so I thought someone that did know could help.”

“My nightmares are private! Get o-OUT of my HEAD!” He shot an ectoblast at the ghost, but he absorbed the attack like it was nothing. “Why won’t you stay OUT of my business?”

“I’m the ghost of sleep,” he replied calmly. “In avoiding sleep, you made it my business. I was hoping you would have enough sense to stop doing that whilst here, but clearly…you are as stubborn as ever. This, I cannot fix, not with all the sleep sand in the world.”

“Good! Then get away from me!” He growled, eyes glowing radiantly.

“Phantom…I am here to help, just like the rest of your foes. Spectra made that clear, did she not?”

“I don’t CARE! I don’t NEED your help!”

“But you’re so tired,” Spectra soothed, gently petting his hair.

He didn’t reply at first, too distracted by how nice that felt. Who knew Spectra of all people could be so gentle? He leaned into her for a moment, but then remembered where he was and shook his head aggressively. He couldn’t let himself relax. She wasn’t going to trick him a second time that day.

“I can’t!” He pushed her away, though not in a rough way. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” he explained, exasperated. “It’s that I can’t. Why aren’t you getting that?”

“What if I could guarantee a stop to the nightmares?” Nocturne suggested, crossing his arms. “That’s the reason you’re so against resting, is it not?”

“Yeah, but…you can’t guarantee that.”

“I have complete dominion of the dream realm,” he explained. “It is how I’m able to see the dreams of every human. Even yours. For better or for worse.” He shook his head. “Yesterday, the older hybrid had a very odd dream about vampires. He didn’t sleep much that night.”

“That’s…really creepy, dude. Please stop spying on all our dreams.”

“I don’t ask you to stop saving everyone all the time,” Nocturne replied with a huff.

“Asking a ghost to stop acting on their ghostly obsession is really insulting and overall just very bad etiquette,” Spectra explained helpfully.

“Oh.” He crossed his arms. “Wait, saving people isn’t my…my ghostly obsession. I’m not a gh-“

Spectra raised an eyebrow at him.

He sighed and turned back to the dream ghost. “Well, whatever. Just tell me how you’re planning to stop my nightmares so I never have to see you again.”

“Is that permission?”

“Sure. Whatever. Just tell me.”

“I can do better than that.” His lips curved into a smirk and, without warning, he lunged forward and overshadowed him.

“AH!” Danny flinched violently, his body glowing green, then bright purple, then green again before settling back onto purple as his body and expression finally relaxed.

“Finally,” he said, his eyes now red. “That was harder than I thought it would be.”

“He’s even stubborn to overshadow. I can’t say I’m surprised.” She shook her head, smiling amusedly. “Can you really stop his nightmares?”

“They’re tied to his trauma, so…alas, I cannot. These are not mere figments of his imagination. They’re memories. Memories he has foolishly tried to suppress for quite some time now.” He steepled his fingers together, the action looking almost unnatural when being done by the teenager. “I cannot stop his nightmares, but I can certainly distract him from them.” He shut his eyes. “Now let me see…he must have other passions besides his superhero obse-oh, hello.”

“What?” She took a step closer.

“The boy has…a second obsession. Oh, how interesting.”

“A second?” She grinned. “Oh, that’s precious. He’s so ignorant to the ways of ghost kind, he probably hasn’t even realised he has obsessions. Much less two.”

“Indeed. Of course, his main obsession is saving people, but it appears that he and I have something in common after all. He is apparently enamoured by space of all things. The feeling is incredibly strong. In his mind, I see stars, planets, constellations…all things he longed to think about but was unable to due to that traumatising event. Let’s allow him to indulge that a little, shall we?” He opened his eyes, which were now pupiless and glowing.

Spectra rubbed her hands together. This should be fun. And help him, obviously. Helping him was important. Of course it was.

Danny gasped suddenly as the ghost emerged from his body.

“H-hey! What just…” He blinked dazedly. “Why do I suddenly wanna talk about stars?”

“I reprogrammed your dreams,” Nocturne explained, stretching a little. He hadn’t overshadowed anyone in a while. It was usually beneath him. “The nightmares will not cease until you have properly processed what happened that day, but, at least now, the second half of your dreams will be full of stars.” He smiled warmly. “I had no idea you had such a fascination with space.”

“Yeah, well, there’s not a lot of time to chat in between stopping you from taking over the world. So.” He crossed his arms and glared. “And, like, how DARE you overshadow me! You didn’t even ask!”

“You gave me permission to help, so that is what I did. I am sorry you do not approve of my methods, but I believe that is less an issue with me and more an issue with you, ghost boy.”

Danny frowned. “You know what? I’m outta here. Beyond being lectured to and overshadowed, I’ve just about had enough for today.” He shook himself. He’d only been overshadowed one other time before, but he hated how it felt. The idea of someone else taking control of your body and making it do things…

He shuddered.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Nocturne replied. “Overshadowing you gave me a rather fun new trick. Would you like to see?” He raised a hand and, slowly, stars began to gather in Danny’s irises.

“AUUUGH! What are you—”

He gasped suddenly.

“…I haven’t looked at the stars in so long…” His expression relaxed.

Nocturne shook his head, chuckling a little. “Spectra, I trust you’ll ensure he rests?”

“Of course. Thanks for your help.” She waved as she watched him melt back into the shadows.

Danny, too distracted looking at all the constellations he could ‘see’, allowed her to lead him back to bed.

She sighed and shook her head, sitting down beside him for a moment.

"What are we going to do with you, Danny?" She brushed some hair from his face and her expression softened.

He'd fallen asleep already.

Chapter Text

Kitty

The next ‘morning’ (not that the Ghost Zone had any real concept of time), Danny awoke to the smell of pancakes.

“Hnuh…?” He rubbed his eyes. Was he still at Spectra’s? Where’d all the stars go? “Were…were there…even…stars?” He mumbled, running a hand down his face.

“What was that?”

“AUGH!” He sat upright. “Where…what…” He blinked a few times to focus his eyes and looked around. He was on someone’s sofa, that was the first thing he noticed. There was jazz music playing, that was the second thing. It seemed to be coming from an old fashioned radio. But what about the…oh, so there were pancakes. They were on a coffee table beside him. What did a ghost need with a coffee table? Did ghosts even drink coffee? He looked up at the ghost that had spoken. He relaxed a little when his eyes finally focussed on her.

“…Kitty.” He sighed. “I take it you’re trying to help me too? I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this weird truce.”

She smiled cheerfully. “Hey to you too! Humans sleep forever. Like wow. I got bored of waiting for you to wake up, so I, like, made you some pancakes.” She handed him a fork. “Don’t worry, they’re good. I go to all Lunch Lady’s cooking classes.”

“She has cooking classes?” he asked incredulously, picking up the plate and digging in hungrily. He hadn’t eaten in four days, after all. He shut his eyes. “Oh this is good. This is, like, better than human pancakes.”

“The secret ingredient is ectoplasm. I figured, hey, I’m feeding your human side’s sorry ass. May as well feed the cool ghost form too!” She plopped down next to him.

He frowned. “Hey! They’re both me, you know.” He swallowed a piece of pancake. “I’m…I’m just as much a ghost as I am a human.”

She smirked. “…Spectra got to ya, huh?”

“Oh definitely.”

“Analysed who you are and what you stand for so much your brain hurt?”

“Yup.”

She laughed. “She does that. I mean it helps to think about this stuff, but it’s best not to, like, stress too much about it.”

“I thought she was bad when she was making me miserable, but now she’s all…lecture-y.” He huffed. “I get everyone’s tryna help, but-“ He swallowed again. “It’s so weird. I’m not used to everyone being so…nice. Is it weird I miss the fighting?”

“Nah, the fighting’s fun. But you don’t kick a ghost child when he’s down. It’s just not a fair fight. It’s not even fun. You just end up feeling like an asshole.” She cackled. “You can go back to kicking our butts when you’re back to normal.” She pat his back.

“I don’t know if it’s gonna be that easy, but…we’ll see, I guess.” He frowned. “How’d I get here, anyway?”

“Oh, Spectra called, said something about how you needed a change of scenery or whatever. I wanted to wake you up, but she wouldn’t let me, something about you being a stupid stubborn kid.” She laughed again. “So I hauled you onto my bike and here you are!” She grinned. “Whaddaya think of my place? Awesome, right?”

“I am not stupid,” Danny huffed, looking around. “Anyway, yeah, it’s so weird to me how many ghosts have houses.”

“Spectra started it and it became a thing. It’s the cool thing now.” She shrugged. “I used to share it with Johnny, but I ended up kickin’ him out so many times that we ended up getting our own lairs. I like having my own place, though.” She suddenly sat up, her grin turning excited. “Oh, that reminds me! I decided what we’re gonna do today!”

“What?” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“How do you feel about getting your own ghost lair? Spectra suggested it after she found out what your ghost obsession was. I think it’s a super fun idea! Your own space!”

“My own…ghost lair?” He raised an eyebrow. “I’m only half ghost, though. Do I even get one of those?”

“Sure ya do! I mean, Plasmius doesn’t have one, but that’s got nothin’ to do with him being a half ghost. He’s just a dick nobody likes talking to long enough to tell him how to get one.”

“Wow.” He laughed, grinning. “That’s awesome. I’m glad I’m not the only ghost that can’t stand that guy.”

“Nah.” She waved her hand dismissively. “The pompous asshole destroyed Johnny’s bike the first time they met, just for kicks. You’re a pain in the ass, but you’d never do that.” She ruffled his hair. “We’re cool.”

He smiled a little. “Alright. I’ll get a lair, but only so I can shove it in Plasmius’ face. And to be honest, it might be kinda cool to have one.” He messed with his hair a little to get it back how he liked it. “But wait, you said she found out my ‘ghostly obsession’? What does that mean? I didn’t think I had one?”

“Oh nooooo!” Her grin grew. “You got two! A real rare thing, that is. I’d call bullshit, but Nocturne is one of the oldest ghosts in existence. He’d recognise this kind of thing right away.”

“Wait, two obsessions?”

She nodded. “They’re both pretty harmless, really. I’m not really surprised you didn’t notice them that much.”

He stared at her.

“What?”

“Aren’t…aren’t you gonna tell me what they are?”

She smirked. “I think you’d know if you really thought about ‘em. Your obsession’s supposed to be the thing-or I guess things- that drive you and make you happiest. Like, my obsession is complementary love. I can become the kind of girl anyone the guy I’m into wants me to be. I can transform myself into anyone through acting ability alone.”

“That’s…” He finally finished the pancake. “That’s not…healthy, I feel like?”

“It’s fine. I know who I am, and it guarantees I get the love of anyone I want. It’s great.” She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “I’m so good at it, I even tricked you that one time.”

His cheeks flushed. ”Next time you wanna make Johnny jealous, leave me out of it, thanks.”

She huffed. “Aww, you’re no fun. Are you sure your obsession isn’t killjoy?”

“I’m not a killjoy! I just wanna keep everyone safe!”

A smug smirk crawled its’ way onto her face. “There you have it. First obsession. You’re welcome.”

“First…huh?” He blinked. “It’s not an obsession. It’s just my job.”

“Who assigned you that job, kid?”

“Well…I did. When I fought Lunch Lady for the first time.”

“Exactly. You might use it to save your friends and family, but using it to save an entire town seems excessive to me. Most of those people don’t even like you. I should know, I was that popular girl for the day. You called my obsession unhealthy, but you’re the one, like, killing yourself for these people all the time. I’m willing to bet it’s the main reason you’re here.”

“I’m here because Nocturne kidnapped me.” He crossed his arms.

 “And yet you stayed,” she replied with a smirk, floating up from the couch. “Anyway, you ready to go? We’ve got some lair shopping to do!”

“Uh…lair shopping?”

“Yup!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “I’m excited to see what you end up with!”

---

“Kitty, I feel weird...” he whined quietly as the girl ghost pulled him through the ghostly shopping district like a helium balloon. “Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

He bumped into a ghost he only somewhat recognised, and they glared daggers at him. “WATCH IT, ghost kid!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” He held up a hand defensively. They huffed and kept moving.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just that they hate you.” She laughed. “What, did you forget? Your whole superhero thing didn’t get you a lot of friends here. Oooh look, that store has new dresses!”

“Kitty. I’m not going dress shopping with you.”

She pouted. “And this is why you have no friends here.”

He made an offended noise. “I have friends here! Me and Ember went to a ghost rave and Spectra’s been helping me a--” He paused. “Okay, maybe don’t count Spectra. I really don’t know how to feel about Spectra.”

Kitty snickered. “So what you’re saying is, your only ghost friends are me and Ember.”

He huffed. “Alright, don’t rub it in. I don’t have a popular job.” Another ghost bumped into him.

“What is with you guys? Do none of you know how to turn intangible?”

The ghost turned around to face him, and her eyes narrowed. “Well if it isn’t Danny Phantom.”

He smiled weakly. “Ah, uh, sorry, Desiree! Didn’t know it was you.”

“Clearly.” She turned to Kitty. “So it’s really true? He’s actually staying here? Does he have a death wish?”

“Well technically it was against his will, sooooo...”

“I’m still here and my ears still work,” Danny reminded them flatly. “Yes, I’m staying here. I’m not really sure why, but here I am.”

“It’s because he doesn’t have any friends,” Kitty added helpfully.

“That’s not the reason and you know it!!!”

She cackled. “It may as well be! If you had more friends you could confide in, you wouldn’t even be here.”

He considered that for a moment. She...had a point. If he felt he could talk to Sam and Tucker and Jazz about what he’d been going through since he met his evil future self, they could have helped him somehow and maybe he wouldn’t have felt so alone.

But the truth was...he never wanted to confide in them about all this. He was the only thing standing between evil and the destruction of the world most of the time, or at least, that was what they thought. If they thought that incident had screwed him up this badly, when they as humans wouldn’t have been able to do much to help, they’d be sick with worry. They’d treat him like-

He collapsed onto the cold, hard, lab floor. It felt nice against his skin, but did little to soothe the ice burning in his veins. “A...uah...” He coughed, trying to desperately to say something. Anything.

“Danny! Oh my god are you okay?!”

“OF COURSE HE’S NOT OKAY, TUCKER!”

Footsteps rushed over to him, blue and lilac eyes staring into his with concern. His friends were so pale. They were shaking so much. Sam was crying, Tucker was acting uncharacteristically stiff, like he was trying to be strong for her. They were both looking over him like they were trying to memorise what he looked like in case they would never see him again. He’d never seen them like this before.

He never wanted to see them like this again.

“It’s fine, guys, I’m fine,” he was finally able to say once the pain had simmered down a little.

His friends made matching noises of surprise and helped him up, handling him like fine china that could break into a thousand pieces if they dared to sneeze on it.

His body flickered from visibility, and he gasped. What the hell what the hell what did that portal DO to him why did everything feel so weird everything hurt so bad was this what DYING felt like-

“Woah, I think I’ve got powers!” He plastered on a grin. “That’s so cool! I wonder what else I can do?” He forced down the pain as his body flickered again.

“Um, yeah!” Tucker enthused. “You’ve got superpowers now! That’s so awesome!”

“Right!” Sam laughed shakily. “You’re okay! You’re just...different!”

“Right!” He laughed, ignoring how his throat felt like it was ripping itself apart from the inside after all that screaming. He wouldn’t be able to raise his voice for at least a week, but they didn’t need to know that. “Now let’s get out of here. This lab is giving me the creeps.”

He wondered how Vlad would have reacted if he’d been in the room when he half died. Or Spectra. Or even Ember. Would they have reacted the same way? Maybe he wouldn’t have had to hide the truth from them so much. Maybe they would have understood.

“Phantom?” Desiree pat his cheek to get his attention.

He jolted. “Y-yes?!” He nodded quickly. “Yes. Hey. What’s up.”

To her credit, the ghost looked genuinely concerned about him. “You haven’t spoken in twelve minutes. Usually I can’t wish for you to shut up.”

“Yeah, I talked about Johnny for ages and you didn’t even roll your eyes.” Kitty tilted her head.

“Sorry.” He rubbed his neck and laughed awkwardly. “I guess I was in my own world for a bit there. Kitty, if you wanna go look at the dresses, I don’t mind. I can’t promise I’ll be a lot of help, but I can keep you company, I guess.”

“Oh-Em-Gee! Really?!”

He nodded, laughing a little. “Yeah. Now let’s go before I change my mind.” He offered Desiree a small smile. “And it was, uh, good seeing you again too. I guess.”

“Thanks, Phantom. You too. I guess.” She chuckled. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

With that, she floated away, while Kitty pulled Danny in the opposite direction.

They never did get around to looking at lairs that day, but Danny did learn a lot about girls fashion.

Chapter Text

Nocturne #2

Danny frowned as he wondered a part of the Ghost Zone he didn’t recognise. It was much darker here, and a heck of a lot deeper than the places he’d been before.

Fortunately, there was something glowing just a little distance ahead of him, so he was able to use that in the same way ships relied on lighthouses. He’d been told the ghost he needed to spend time with next would be here, so that was probably where they were.

Finally, he reached the source of the light.

“Oh no way.”

 It was an observatory.

He knocked on the door, more excited than he intended to be.

“Hello? Anybody-” The door slowly creaked open.

Maybe the ghost had stepped out for a bit? He didn’t much like the idea of floating alone in the pitch blackness any longer, so he decided to just wait for the ghost inside.

As he walked around, Danny realised that this place...had a weird vibe. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

Sure, it was every bit the observatory it looked from the outside, but it felt otherworldly. Everything was illuminated by warm orange balls of energy that floated next to the walls, giving the impression of candles, and there were no chairs Danny could see. Only fluffy blankets strewn across the floor. On the back wall was a large clock. It ticked gently as the pendulum swung.

Overall, the place felt peaceful.

It was suspicious.

“Ah, welcome, young halfa,” an echoed voice greeted, emerging from the shadows like spilled water.

“NOCTURNE!” He immediately got into a fighting stance. “This is YOUR lair?!”

“Yes.” He formed in front of him. “You need not be alarmed. I am still here to help you.”

“Oh yeah, by overshadowing me and kidnapping me! Yeah! You’ve been a big help so far!”

“In the name of helping you,” he reminded him. “I truly do not understand your hostility towards me, especially compared to your other enemies. Why are you so angry, child?”

“BECAUSE YOU TOLD EVERYONE ABOUT MY NIGHTMARES!” To his annoyance, his eyes were starting to get shiny with unshed tears. “I’m supposed to be a hero! I’m supposed to let nothing bother me! But because of YOU-” He shot an energy bolt at him but it missed. “Everyone thinks I’m BROKEN!”

“You’re a teenage boy that went through more trauma than most grown adults could handle in their lifetime,” he replied calmly. “Nobody thinks you’re broken. They just know you’re too stubborn to ask for their help.” He floated over to the large telescope at the end of the room. “Come, I want to show you something.”

“NO.” He crossed his arms.

Nocturne sighed. “I did not tell anyone of the content of your dreams, ghost child.”

The boy raised an eyebrow. “...really?”

“I promise.” He gestured to the telescope again. “Now, please. It will only take a moment.”

He huffed and reluctantly floated over. “Fine, if it’ll get you off my back.” He peered into the telescope.

Immediately, his bad mood disappeared. “The Ghost Zone has stars?!” He stared in awe at the twinkling balls of energy.

“Indeed it does. Only visible from one of these telescopes, in fact,” Nocturne explained, smiling. “Aren’t they beautiful? And their positioning changes everyday. The Ghost Zone has its’ own set of constellations.”

“Woah, no way.” He grinned, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. “I didn’t know you were into this stuff!”

“How could I not be? Space is beautiful, a vast space of calm, inhabited by an endless array of planets and stars...”

“Right? I’m gonna go up there one day. I’m going to see a star in person. It’s gonna be so cool...”

Nocturne chuckled. The boy was distracted now. He could move onto phase two of why he’d asked to see him today.

Blue smoke slowly circled around Danny’s body, relaxing his limbs, but he was too excited about the stars to notice.

“...aren’t you tired? The smoke whispered. ”Running around after ghosts all day. You must be so tired...”

Wait, where’d all the stars go?

He realised, with a start, that his eyes had fallen shut. He shook his head roughly. He wouldn’t pass out in Nocturne’s presence. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. He stepped away from the telescope.

“Anyway, that was cool, but I should be going.”

He turned towards the door.

Um. Where did it go? He rubbed his eyes.

“Oh, please, stay for a while,” Nocturne insisted, his voice soft and soothing. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“Seriously, I’m fine. I think I made plans with someone else anyway, so if you could point me to the door-”

The ghost snapped his fingers, but instead of a door appearing like Danny had hoped, the entire room went completely dark. He lit up his hand with glowing ectoplasm, but somehow it had no effect on the darkness.

There was a weird, vaguely familiar smell in the air. It started to get stronger, and he realised it smelled almost exactly like the warm milk Jazz used to make for him when he was little.

“What are you up to, Nocturne?” he asked out loud, reaching out and trying to find something familiar in the darkness.

“Hello Danny.”

The halfa stiffened, and all anger in him disappeared for the moment.

He’d heard that voice before, and it sure wasn’t Nocturne.

“Dan Phantom.”

He turned towards the source of the voice, and sure enough, there his evil future self floated, with all the blood-red eyes, flaming hair and sharp fangs that he remembered.

“Dan Phantom?” The creature of his nightmares scoffed. “Is that what you’ve been calling me in your head this whole time?” He sneered. “Then again, you were never great at originality. Or anything, for that matter.”

“Sh-shut up!” He floated back, his face draining of colour. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be back. He couldn’t be. This wasn’t fair. He’d stopped him. Why was he back? This wasn’t FAIR-

“You’re just a pathetic little child. Did you really think YOU could have stopped me? You couldn’t even stop me from killing FIVE people! It’s pathetic! How are people supposed to rely on you when you can’t even-”

“I said SHUT UP!” A powerful soundwave blasted out of his mouth, but Dan just floated three inches to the left and he was able to dodge it.

“You’re a joke,” Dan said with a cold chuckle. “And you’ve fulfilled your usefulness. If you can’t save everyone, then what good are you? What reason do they have to tolerate your FREAK of an existence?”

He balled his hands into fists, trembling. “You’re...you’re wrong.”

“Face it, Danny. Without the superhero gig, you’re just a creepy little boy with creepy little powers. Nobody will EVER love you.”

“That’s NOT true and you KNOW IT!” He flew up and tossed a barrage of ectoblasts at Dan’s face, but somehow all of them missed.

“Sure, my parents may never love both sides of me! And yes! I’ll admit part of the reason I do all this is so I can show them that Phantom-“ He shook his head. “I am one of the ‘good ones’!” He unleashed a stronger ball of energy. It hit Dan directly, shrouding him in smoke. “And YES! I KNOW how screwed up that is!”

The smoke cleared. Dan was still floating in the same spot, undamaged.

“But you know WHAT, you piece of forgotten history?” He growled, eyes glowing bright green. “Even if they never DO accept that about me, I’ll be okay! I have people that CARE about me! And that’s a strength you’ll NEVER have!”

He tried for one more powerful blast of energy, but what he unleashed instead was ice. A LOT of ice. It formed around Dan, trapping him in a rock hard prison of cold.

He floated closer curiously. His evil future self appeared to be completely frozen, his mouth open as if he’d been about to say something else.

It wouldn’t hold him forever. Danny flew past him, towards the bright light he could see up ahead. It got closer and closer, brighter and brighter, until suddenly-

He gasped, sitting up. “What the-?!”

“Welcome back, Phantom,” Nocturne greeted. “How were your dreams?”

He looked around, taking in his surroundings for a moment. He was still in Nocturne’s lair.

“You tried to help again, didn’t you?” he accused, though not as angrily as he would have done before.

“Oh, yes. I truly did want to talk to you about stars, but making you face your dreams directly was my main objective, yes.”

Danny pushed the blanket off of him. “I don’t even remember feeling tired, when the heck did you...?”

“Oh, you know more than anyone that I need only a moment.” He snapped his fingers.

Danny’s eyes immediately fell closed, and he began to breathe softly, already fast asleep.

He suddenly sat up and shook his head aggressively. “HEY.”

Nocturne chuckled. “You are rather entertaining, ghost boy.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah? Well you aren’t. I don’t think I like you very much.”

“I know.” He made an amused sound and gestured to the door, which had now reappeared. “You may go. But, please, take this.”

He floated over to a bookshelf Danny hadn’t noticed until now, and presented him with a book.

Danny took it reluctantly. “If this is another trick-“

“It’s about the constellations of the ghost dimension,” he explained. “I thought you might find it interesting.”

“Oh.” Nocturne really did like stars, then. He hugged the book to his chest. “Um. Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“Also, um...” He rubbed his neck. “Listen, ‘cause I’m only going to say this once.”

Nocturne tilted his head curiously. “Yes?”

“What you did, forcing me to face my fears...I think it did help. I feel stronger, somehow.” He hesitated, and then offered the ghost a respectful bow, like he’d seen in the movies. Hugging the guy felt inappropriate somehow, and a handshake felt too serious.

The ghost’s expression softened. “I am glad I could help. Please, come back any time you have trouble sleeping. The observatory is always welcome to you.”

“Uh, maybe.” He offered him a final wave and flew through the door. After that dream, there were a few people he wanted to check in on.

Chapter Text

Vlad Plasmius

Danny had no set course today. None of the ghosts had reached out to him to hang out yet, so as far as he was concerned, today was his own. He’d slept over at Spectra’s a few hours ago, by choice, this time, so he had more energy than he usually did.

What he wanted to do was a no-brainer, and it was a wonder he hadn’t thought to do it until now.

He held his makeshift map up in front of his face, careful not to let go of it, lest it float away, and scribbled a quick sketch to represent the ghost lair he’d just flown past. The map didn’t make a lot of sense, if he was being honest, but that was only because there were a lot of blank spaces where he wasn’t sure how certain areas linked to the others.

It seemed that everyone got where they needed to go through the glowing purple doors scattered everywhere. They somehow knew where they led, but he didn’t have a clue.

That would make mapping the place harder than he’d planned, but giving up was never something he was good at.

He must have been wandering around, making notes for hours (he couldn’t be sure, as the Ghost Zone still had no concept of time) when he saw it.

It was a glowing green and purple mass of swirls, arranged in a pattern that was sickeningly familiar to him.

He approached cautiously and, just as he reached a hand out to touch it, there was a brilliant flash, and the swirls abruptly vanished.

“Oh butter nuts.”

Danny blinked quickly, trying to clear his spotty vision. He knew that voice. All too well.

“Vlad?” He reached his hands out towards the air.

“Good Afternoon, Daniel.” He made an amused noise and adjusted him so that he was actually facing him. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, well, the flash blinded me a bit, so I'm relying on my other senses until it comes back.” He touched the man’s arm. “Yup. You’re real. This place messes with your head sometimes. But you’re definitely really here.”

“Is that right?” Danny couldn’t see him, but he could hear the smile in his voice. “Well, that ‘flash’, as you call it, was my newest attempt at a ghost portal,” he explained. “It appears it was only able to withstand myself before malfunctioning. I’ll have to work on that.” He hummed. Danny could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

“But don’t you already have a working ghost portal? Why would you need...” He blinked quickly. Ah, that was better. His vision was clearing. He looked up at the man in front of him. He looked just as he remembered, blood red eyes, fangs...

He gasped sharply and flew back, straightening his posture.

“Daniel?” He tilted his head. “I know I haven’t seen you in quite a while, but the fear act is a bit of an overkill, don’t you think?”

“I-I just haven’t seen ya in a while, that’s all!” He laughed nervously. “Forgot what Plasmius looked like for a sec! No big deal!”

He thought about the last time he’d seen Vlad Masters in person. He’d been frail, sad, full of regrets. You would never guess that the proud and powerful half ghost in front of him now had the potential to be the same person.

But of course, he couldn’t put all that into words. Not in front of Vlad.

“I guess I’ve just, uh, missed you, is all,” he said stiffly, making every effort not to look at him directly.

Vlad blinked owlishly, which looked pretty funny when his eyes still looked so threatening.

“...come again?”

“Nothing.” He turned around quickly. “Let me show you back to the Fenton portal. I might be stuck here, but you don’t have to be.”

“Uh, much appreciated...” He followed him, though he was looking increasingly more concerned. “Whatever do you mean by stuck here?”

“It’s a long story.” Vlad put a hand on his shoulder, possibly in silent reassurance, but Danny stiffened and shook him off. “The ghosts noticed I’ve been stressed, so they’re making me stay here for a bit,” he continued. “They’re trying to help, in their own way.”

“But that’s ludicrous.” Vlad scoffed. “What about school? Your parents? People are hardly going to believe you dropped everything and took a ghost vacation.”

Danny laughed at the joke, and turned to look at him, but as soon as he did, he caught sight of the red eyes and fangs, and felt so much residual fear by association, that he had to turn back around again.

“Y-yep! I did say they were trying. They’re like a weird extended family from another culture.” He smiled shakily and sped up. “Anyway, uh-uhm, so, I think it’s this way...”

Vlad frowned. “Is everything alright? You’re acting...strange, my boy. Even for you.”

Danny stopped and turned to face him, plastering on a bright smile with practiced ease, though he still had trouble looking the man in the eyes. “What? Nah, I’m fine!”

My boy. One of his stupid nicknames. It was so dumb. He was such a fruitloop. Why was he so against calling him Danny? Spectra did it. Did he think he had special permissions or something? What a fruitloop.

Vlad’s stared at him. “Daniel? Are you...crying?”

“Wh-what?” He touched under his eyes.

They were wet.

“U-um, I think th-there’s something wrong with your eyes, o-old man.” He cleared his throat, trying to force it to stop shaking, even for a moment. He couldn’t lose his composure like this.

He forced himself to make eye contact. He could look him in the eyes. He could do that. It was just Vlad Masters. Annoying, evil Vlad Masters. He could handle that. He could-

Vlad’s expression softened. He floated a little closer and put his hand back on his shoulder.

“I know we do not always see eye to eye, but, my boy, if there’s anything-”

A sob erupted out of him against his will. He took a gasping breath, his lungs aching like he was drowning. His chest hurt so bad...

“Daniel, you need to calm down.” He squeezed his shoulder. “I know you don’t need to in here, but try to breathe. Deep breaths.”

Vlad sounded so uncharacteristically concerned, that Danny risked a look at him, only barely able to see him through his blurred eyes.

He took some deep breaths and squeezed his eyes shut again. He couldn’t leave him in the dark like this. But talking about this was also not...easy.

“The truth is, I’m s-scared, Vlad,” he confessed, his voice only audible because of how silent it was here. “I shouldn’t be, it’s stupid, th-the threat is gone, but...but I’m still scared...” He hiccupped, tears falling down his cheeks, whether he wanted them to or not. “He killed everyone, he k-killed-” He started to cry harder, something he’d been holding in for almost a whole month now. His tears were rapid and heavy, like the thoughts swirling about in his head. It was humiliating, but there was nothing he could do. They wouldn’t stop.

Vlad stared at him, in shock. He’d never seen the boy like this before, not once in all his years of knowing him. It wasn’t like Danny to cry like this, especially in front of someone he considered his foe. Whatever had happened to him...it had broken him.

He always thought he wanted to see Danny Phantom break. He’d be easy to manipulate into joining him that way. His despair would have made him the perfect pawn.

But, as Vlad watched the boy break down in front of him, he wasn’t thinking about manipulating him at all.

Against his every instinct, against the reputation he’d built for himself, against his very pride...what Vlad did next was a surprise, even to him.

He pulled him into a protective hug.

Danny stiffened. “Wh-what are you...?”

“I...haven’t the foggiest,” he confessed, hugging him tighter. “All I know is, it’s good that this ghost is gone, because I would personally guarantee I would make it regret it if it showed its' face again.”

“V-Vlad...” He smiled weakly, though this time it was genuine. He hesitated for a moment, and then slowly hugged him back. “I r-really have missed you, dude.”

“I’ve missed you too.” He relaxed the hug a little and offered him a small smile. “There was a town meeting yesterday, and I was somehow disappointed that you hadn’t shown up to object to everything. You know, like the last twelve times.”

A small laugh escaped Danny’s lips, despite the situation. “It’s what you get for running for mayor specifically to piss me off, old man.”

“Language, Daniel.”

“Sorry, Sir,” Danny mocked, floating out of the hug. He rubbed his eyes to rid himself of the rest of the tears.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, mostly just trying to make sure he didn’t have another round of tears coming.

“So, tell me,” Vlad suddenly spoke, before Danny had a chance to. “Who is this ghost that has you so rattled?”

He cleared his throat. He’d been expecting this question, unfortunately. “The, um, short version? Myself from an alternate future. Both our ghost forms merged and went on a...k-killing spree.” He crossed his arms. “I’ve never met something so evil in either of my lives. Pariah Dark is a freakin’ party clown compared to him.”

“...I see.” He frowned in thought. “And you say this is because our ghost forms merged?”

“Yeah. It was horrible. I think it...killed my human half too. Just for kicks.”

Vlad visibly paled, despite the blue skin. “It’s no wonder you’re a mess.”

“HEY! I’m not a MESS!” He huffed and turned his back to him. “Whatever. He’s gone. With all my powers, I wasn’t good enough to stop him, but someone else stopped him instead, so it’s whatever. It doesn’t matter. I need to just get over this already.” He resumed flying in the direction they’d been going.

“Daniel. Stop.”

“What?” He turned around, exasperated.

He floated closer. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s fine, but please don’t think so poorly of yourself.” He placed a hand on the top of Danny’s head, a subtle show of affection, but also a way to ensure Danny wouldn’t fly off while he was talking to him. “I may not know the whole story, but what I do know is you, and you’re far stronger and smarter than you give yourself credit for. If there had been a way to take on your evil future self alone, I don’t believe for even a second that you wouldn’t have found it. Strength has nothing to do with it.”

Danny stared up at him, unsure what to say. Vlad had praised him. It wasn’t just a thinly veiled insult, either!

But more importantly than that, as much as he hated to admit it...maybe Vlad had a point. They shared a name, but if he was being honest with himself, that was where the similarities between him and Dan stopped. Danny had no real way of knowing what moves Dan had intended to take until he took them. He couldn’t guarantee he’d have been able to stop him alone, even with stronger powers.

“Maybe...maybe you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever, fruitloop.” He rolled his eyes, but not unkindly. “I was able to make it out of that situation because a ghost had my back when I needed it most. Maybe...” His eyes drifted to Vlad. “Maybe I need to rely on people more, instead of trying to do everything by myself?”

He nodded approvingly and ruffled his hair. “You’re a good boy. Infuriatingly so. But your ‘only I can save the world’ mentality was always going to backfire on you eventually, good intentions or not.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He floated a little closer to him, the red eyes and fangs somehow not bothering him as much anymore. “Um...thank you, Vlad.” He lowered his head and mumbled, “You made me feel better or whatever...”

The older half ghost chuckled and ruffled his hair again. “Anytime, my boy.”

“But! Don’t get the wrong idea!” He suddenly straightened up, getting a little of his confidence back. “Don’t think this means I’ll be your evil sidekick or whatever, just because I let you hug me one time! I’m just not used to hugs that aren’t a risk to my health, okay?” He paused. “Seriously- why does Dad keep ecto-guns in his gloves? What is wrong with that guy?”

Vlad grinned. “Oh? Did you just say something bad about Jack?”

“N-no! I just...” He hesitated. “Shut up!”

“Ah, yes, a very compelling argument.”

Vlad laughed. It wasn’t one of his evil laughs, or his smug laughs. It was loud, it was happy, it was...real.

Danny decided he liked it.