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Chapter Text

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It was dropping too fast. He was so, so close! Just another push, a little more power and the tyrant would be locked away. Then his home would be back on Earth where it belonged, and the monster so terrifying that all his enemies agreed to work together would stop being a problem.

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The flashing red light wasn’t helping, and Danny grit his teeth to ignore how his hands were starting to feel numb as he continued to force the Ecto-Skeleton to push forward. Pariah’s heavy boots pushed up rocky fragments from the ground as the Ghost King resisted his relentless shove.

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His parents said this thing could kill you. He’d seen how it drained his dad, how weak he had been without the full suit. Being half ghost seemed to make it a bit safer, but he didn’t want to know if it would help him survive at zero. Sweating in his ghost form wasn’t common, but he was practically melting as it slid down his face. Just a little more.

He didn’t have a little more to give. His back burned where the connectors had lodged into his spine, pulling and looking for something he didn’t have.

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Couldn’t feel the machine anymore. Barely felt anything. Pariah was a swimming monster, impossibly large, Danny’s eyes unwilling to focus on his foe. He was going to die if he kept trying, if he didn’t eject now.
No one else could use this thing safely. There wasn’t a second chance at this.

He was really glad Sam had caught him before he left. So he’d been able to say goodbye to someone, at least.

Danny ignored how every part of him screamed to give up and try to escape, putting every last bit of himself in a final heave.

Pariah hit the back of the sarcophagus.

The Ghost King shoved the crackling, frozen machine back before the lid could be locked, before he could truly be sealed.

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Danny couldn’t do anything as he was shoved aside but mumble apologies as an awful numbness filled him. He tried. He’d done all he could. It wasn’t enough. At least he couldn’t see what was happening anymore, and he couldn’t really feel, either. Would he leave a body if he died as a ghost? He didn’t really have time to ponder the answer before that was snuffed out too.

Perhaps his unjust exile by slumber had not been entirely negative. In this time, breaching out of the Infinite Realms to reach the living world was easier, the hardest portion already completed with the ‘ghost portal’ that did not flicker out or fade. Even as cowardly subjects fled their rightful king, he continued to claim new ground. The access point belonged to him now, and so did the attached plot of land. Human subjects would be a new development, but fear would likely work on them just as well as it did ghosts.

There was also the matter of the upstart child that had rallied the cowards and had the guts to attempt to take him on. A mere infant of a ghost, one that had to rely on a machine to truly stand toe to toe with him. He was audacious. An absolute fool that nearly bested him.

Danny Phantom had thrown everything he had and came up short. Pariah could let the strange creature meet his end, limp in the armour that had devoured every spark left in his body. He would break down with no energy to maintain his form or mind, and those humans did not survive a mind with no electrical charge either.

He could intervene. Reinvigorate his core and rebuild the collapsing body with his own ectoplasm, denying him the fate he earned. The sheer cheek, the amount of bravery shown amused him. Pariah had no heir, never finding any worthy to uphold his rule if he chose to step down. The boy wasn’t perfect, but there was dedication and a fire there. A little shaping, a few adjustments and many years to grow could make a worthy successor from the fading scrap. He did not become the king of all ghosts by acting with half measures- something this child already understood. Something this child was willing to end for. If that fire was turned to more worthy goals, surely the boy could achieve as he had done in uniting the fickle Realms under his rule.

Without Phantom’s energy running through the suit he was able to shatter the glass easily, fishing the white haired boy clear of the suit. Parts of it clung to strands of ectoplasm as he tore him clear, the spine a mess of splatted green. All of it was dead ectoplasm anyway, the suit could keep it if it damn well wanted it.

The child was so small he could fit in the palm of his hand. That would make this easier. Pariah closed his eyes and hand, nearly crushing the remains as he gathered up a charge, much as he would if he meant to fire a blast. Instead he focused it on the fading ghost, a jolt of power, an offering for him to feed. It wouldn’t always work, not every ghost was enough of a fighter to claw back and rebuild.

Of course, Phantom was that kind of fighter. If he wasn’t, he would not have bothered. Pariah could feel the boy latch on to the offered energy, the salvation from his end, greedily trying to take anything that was offered. Not that he would allow the boy everything. Not for free.

You will owe your very existence to me, if I allow you to feed. The energy itself should speak to the dying creature in a way the scrambled lost soul should be able to understand. The pull lessened slightly, but did not stop. Understandable, they had been foes as he perished. Caution wasn’t overly surprising. Accept or fade into oblivion. Simple terms. The boy would feel the truth of them.

There was only one more second of hesitation before Phantom grabbed for the offered energy again, flickers of desperation, hope and fear coming from the connection. He was not ready to end yet. He wouldn’t fall here.

The boy had already fallen here, but Pariah felt no need to correct the child. That sort of thing could be discussed when he was no longer little more than a leech in his hand.

Bringing the remaining rebellion to heel was a simple matter with their leader gone, their strongest fighter lost. Most fled his wrath, but the Fright Knight would have to be dealt with. He’d caught the warrior conversing with the elder half ghost, plotting and scheming while a mere child did the heavy lifting. Perhaps he had forgotten why he was a loyal knight in his long absence. Some time trapped back in his sword with no power to have a physical form should promptly remind him why he was a mere servant instead of king. He did not even need the ring’s help to summon the sheer rage required to rebuild his skeleton legions that had fallen in battle. All he had to do was think of how weak and pitiful ghosts had become after they locked him away.

Clockwork would have much to answer for, after he had rested. The master of time may be bound to obey the king of ghosts, but he was an ancient soul who would use every trick to misinterpret orders or avoid taking actions he did not agree with. In short, he was a headache, and he did not require his services at this moment. Best to focus on the work that could be done without needing to plan every action fifty steps in advance. The humans were continuing to cower behind their barrier, but he would allow it for now. He was a little rusty after so long in stasis, after he had been separated from his objects of power long enough that parts of his body did not recall how to properly use them. He hadn’t felt the Crown of Wrath’s agonizing flames in centuries, his careful attunement to it lost. Another difficulty he would bear and overcome like all others before.

He had plenty of time to start restoring his castle, skeletal servants already at work clearing the damage from the battle as he secured the boundaries. No ghost who intruded could pretend they did not know they were not welcome. While his new heir was reforming, Pariah would prefer to not be interrupted. New staff and servants could be found when the boy wasn’t still encased in swirling ectoplasm. He half expected Phantom to snap back in mere days, but the boy was unpractised and needed guidance to rebuild his depleted resources. There were hints that he was properly reawakening, sudden probing thoughts of clarity and confusion to where he was that eventually settled back into the unfocused haze. Perhaps another week.

That suited him well enough. The more his very being was used to obeying his new father, the easier the transition should come for his mind. He expected rebellion and arguments- the drive and passion in that little body would demand it- but he would settle down in time. He had no real choice in the matter. He knew what he agreed to, deep inside. It would be written into his very being. To fight it was a losing battle. Not that he wanted to make a mindless heir. The fight, the loss and new understanding would be critical, make it easier to decide he agreed in his conscious mind as well. Once he could see how the Realms faltered and failed without his guiding hand, once he saw how deprived their land was by being so cut off from the land of the living the boy would understand why they were needed. Why the Ancients were so wrong to try and imprison him.

There was a questioning prod, asking why the swirling energy was angry and the king paused to steady himself. Rest. There was no need to draw on those powers now. Those emotions, that strength would be needed outside the walls, not within just yet. Not since he shattered that wretched box into mere fragments.

He would bide his time as the rest of the Infinite Realms remembered their king. If some parts needed to be conquered again, he would do just that. A little warm up before setting his sights on the world beyond.

He woke up.

Danny hadn’t really expected to wake up again. Not with how that numbness dragged him down, making what little he could still sense feel like a distorted dream. Had he been dreaming? If he had, the memories abandoned him as he blinked a few more times, mostly to see if he was imagining the ability to move.

Everything was still a little hazy. He’d been fighting. Losing.

Now he was in a bed that wasn’t his, alone. In his ghost form. Had someone moved him, got him somewhere safe after. After.

After he died. He’d died, hadn’t he. The white gloves on his hands made it seem to be the case. Otherwise he’d be human right now, wouldn’t he? He rubbed at his temples, trying to focus and remember what had been going on. There’d been a battle, he’d stolen the Ecto-Skeleton to do. Something. Where was here? The high ceilings and reddish walls weren’t really familiar. 

It had been important. Incredibly important. So why were his thoughts like shadows that slipped away when he tried to focus on them?

Pariah Dark.

His chest seemed to burn as his memory finally clicked into place, trying to kick free of the blankets and get back to his feet. He’d lost. What happened to his friends, his family? Amity Park? Where were they? He had to get back. The wave of nausea that rolled over him as his boots hit the floor nearly sent him down again, fingers clutching the edge of the mattress as he steadied himself. Being this weakened felt wrong, made his failure burn even more. Someone had to have dragged him out of the wreckage. Who? This wasn’t Vlad’s place.

The door looked so far away when he looked at it on trembling legs. Come on. He could fly, this was nothing. Well. He couldn’t actually fly right now. Even thinking about it made his vision blur and arms start to go slack. Okay. No powers after whatever it was that happened. He didn’t really want to think about it. Just focus on how every step took way too much effort.

Getting to the door just showed him what was a too long hallway in either direction. It was too tall and too wide, a hallway for giants. If the door hadn’t been propped open, he doubted he’d succeed in moving it. Was anyone here? Danny didn’t want to talk, not when he was in some strange place after a brutal fight. Yet the idea of trying to walk down these gargantuan halls, leaning against the walls didn’t appeal either.

What other choice did he have though? To hobble back to the bed and keep knowing nothing? No thanks. Even if part of him really, really wanted to.

He decided to go left, trying to figure out why it looked somewhat familiar. Maybe he’d seen something like it once. Danny paused to rest at the corner, tempted to just lean his head against the wall and close his eyes. If he felt this wretched and was still maintaining his ghost form…no. He didn’t need to confirm anything about that. Maybe he wasn’t dead-dead. It just made sense not to push it. Totally wasn’t just too scared to know for sure. He grit his teeth and urged himself to keep walking. Soon he would find someone who knew what was going on.

The next corner did cause him to drop to the carpeted floor, freezing up like it would do anything to keep the massive king of ghosts from spotting him. Why was he in Pariah’s Keep?! His gut churned as he stared, at a loss. Was he a prisoner? Was that why he felt so awful, this guy was doing something to him? No. That didn’t feel like the answer.

“I did not expect to see you walking around so soon. Though you are a tenacious one,” Pariah said, the hint of a smile on his lips.

Oh, he didn’t like that. He tried to shove this guy into another endless sleep, he shouldn’t be smiling at him. Trying to stand just wasn’t in him right now. “W-What do you want, Pariah?” Bluffing he could do. Barely. He sounded a little more wheezy than confident, honestly.

“Nothing. I have what I want already.” Pariah rose from his throne, crossing the room easily with long strides. “You’ll destabilize again if you refuse to rest.”

He’d never felt smaller than he did right now, a flea staring up at a mountain. What he was saying was almost as alarming. Destabilize again? As in he already had once? Why did Pariah care? A proper response refused to pop into his head, replaced with a spike of terror as the king stooped down as if to grab him.

Pariah succeeded in that, obviously. His pathetic attempt to crabwalk backwards didn’t even get him far enough to make the massive ghost take another step forward. All he could do was brace himself and hope he wasn’t crushed.

Nothing happened. His eyes opened up a crack, not knowing what to believe. Still picked up, but just being held rather gently, curled fingers more walls to keep him from falling than to squash him flat.

“Relax. There is no need to harm you, my child.”

“I’m not-” Danny choked on the sentence, unable to finish. Like he’d forgotten how his mouth worked, jaw somewhat slack instead of saying ‘your kid’. He wasn’t! That was obvious! Why couldn’t he say it? Worse, his body refused to tense up. As if being told to relax was mandatory. Like he’d been wrapped in an invisible weighted blanket and was just sinking into the comforting weight.

“Your confusion will pass. We can discuss it when you are more recovered.”

Danny could feel the movement, a gentle rocking as his eyes started to feel heavier. All of this was wrong. The all feared King of Ghosts was just carrying him around. Calling him his child.

Making some part of him content and happy to be carried by someone he considered a deadly foe.

A deadly foe that just deposited him back in the bed, chuckling as if he was some amusing kitten as he fought to sit up, to try and make his heavy eyelids more of a glare instead of his failing will. “How? How are you doing this?” He could ask that, thankfully.

Pariah’s grin only made his heart sink more. “You will learn. Perhaps you should take a better look at yourself.” The giant didn’t wait for his reaction, sweeping out of the room.

A better look? It wasn’t like there was a mirror in here. His hands and feet looked normal enough, black and white jumpsuit as always. Grabbing a bit of his hair confirmed it was the normal white too. Looking down…had been a bad idea. His logo-Sam’s logo was gone, his chest looking half torn open from his right shoulder as if by some savage claw.

That should probably hurt more than he felt. A gentle prod at the sickly green didn’t cause ectoplasm to leak out. It was more like an ugly green scab or scar. As if his skin and suit had been replaced there with this wound. To mock him? Okay, it hurt if he tried pressing too hard, but the guilt he felt at the small fragments of something that was his, something that showed who he was being apparently damaged beyond repair hurt more. It was just part of who he was as a ghost, and he lost it. He didn’t even remember how.

If he rested, maybe he’d be able to heal up, have his suit repair itself properly instead of this mess. He didn’t want to rest- but resisting wasn’t doing anything for him either. Falling back into the pillows made his spine tingle with shame, but a comforting purr in his chest banished the worst of it as he drifted off.

Chapter Text

Phantom was recovering well, despite his insistence on trying to wander around every time he awakened. That was fine, the boy should learn the layout of his new home. Judging by how he always went in different directions his memory was stable, mentally mapping as he wandered. The boy actually managed to dodge being picked up once, the persistence adorable in the face of obvious failure.

He didn’t seem to quite understand how thoroughly bound he was, often getting his words cut off as he tried to speak falsehoods, confusion clear in his bright green eyes. Instead his son focused more on the tear across his chest. It would be a helpful reminder once he started being able to access his powers again. That old identity of his, that symbol that was purely his own was gone now, destroyed. Healed over. Once he accepted his new identity, the wound would not be so ugly and tender, reinforced with what he truly was now. Whatever foolishness he indulged in before would remain in the past where it belonged.

Not everyone would be getting such a gentle correction. Pariah narrowed his eye at the glowing green sword embedded deeply in a pumpkin and wrapped in heavy spiked chains. Some of the holes drilled into the weapon were healing again, though that just made them grip the painful bindings more tightly. Part of him wanted to keep the Fright Knight in that pained state for a century or two, but the presence of another who knew what it meant to owe everything to another would be a good example for Phantom to emulate. Even if the warrior clearly had begun to slip over the years.

“Do you remember what you said when I became king?” He asked the sword, pressing down on the hilt as if meaning to try crushing it like a can.

The Fright Knight’s voice was low, an echo confined to the king’s head. “ I do .”

“Good. As I recall planning to dispose of you as a relic of past kings. Did I not tell you to never make me regret showing mercy?”

“You did, sire. ”

“What was your vow?”

“To serve the king of ghosts. Forevermore. ”

“So explain to me how abandoning your post and duty to plot with the enemy is serving the king of ghosts.” His grip tightened, a few cracks spider webbing across the hilt. To the knight’s credit, he did not scream.

“ It was not. I faltered .”

“You agree that you were treasonous scum, unworthy of your title?”

“ Yes, my king .”

“Do you beg for my mercy again?”

His mind remained silent for a longer pause than any previous question. The answer was almost a whisper, as if it hurt more than any physical damage done to the trapped ghost. “ No sire .I do not deserve it. ” The blade splintered with a sickening crack, the impressive weapon looking more like a dagger by the time the metal stopped falling away.

The Fright Knight would not be present enough to speak further. Pariah tucked the remains in a scabbard at his hip, lending the traitor just enough to hold on. A slow, painful recovery was better than he deserved, but he loathed to give up one of the few servants he still retained. Ideally reminding him of his purpose only needed to be done once, the binding doubled with the addition of an heir to protect. It was still so tempting to let the blade lie on the ground and fade. At least the shame and agony radiating from the scabbard dulled some of that impulse. The Soul Shredder might be useless as a weapon for now, but he had no need for a weapon that turned on its master.

Danny groaned, rubbing his throbbing shoulder and glaring at the massive castle gate. What good was knowing his way around in this stupid place if he couldn’t leave? Nothing else in Pariah’s Keep did much to stop him from exploring, even the massive skeletons mostly ignored him as if he belonged there. Of course the only place he actually wanted to go wasn’t going to allow him to pass. He had to get home! How badly off was everyone?

He wouldn’t have a problem if he could just turn human.

Which wasn’t proof of anything. He couldn’t use most of his powers completely yet, even hovering for more than a few minutes made him need to sit down. He just wasn’t well enough to do it yet. That’s all.

“At the door again, son? Your ambition is admirable, but you wouldn’t achieve anything in your current state.”

He wanted to tell the tyrant to stop calling him that, desperately wishing he could keep himself from giving the king his full attention. Instead the best he could manage was glancing down at the floor after meeting Pariah’s gaze.

“However, there is plenty you can do, even if you must remain at home. Come.”

This wasn’t home! Danny scowled at the massive ghost, but Pariah had not waited for a response before setting down a hall. Which was pretty normal, Danny hadn’t been able to say much of anything with his body constantly locking up when he tried to state the obvious. Not that it ever had trouble following him around, of course not. It was so glad to just make him trail along behind! Why couldn’t he freeze up when having to follow an order instead? He could probably ask those, but he wasn’t really ready to hear the answers.

The fact the Keep had its own massive library wasn’t a huge surprise. The fact Pariah actually found value in it was. He kind of figured the ghost was some war crazed demon that wouldn’t ‘waste time’ fooling around with books when he could be trying to take over the whole world. “This is yours?”

“Of course it is. How can you defeat warriors you do not understand?” Pariah said, frowning. “I am a King, not a brainless force of nature.”

“That’s not what I heard.” Danny blinked. Oh, he could say THAT, but not ‘this isn’t home? This was extra stupid, he basically just insulted Pariah to his face.

“Your education is lacking. All the more reason to start now, you’re steady enough.” He gestured to a much smaller table and chair, clearly meant for the smaller ghost instead of himself. “You can choose what interests you to start with.”

Couldn’t even get out of homework while stuck as an evil ghost king’s prisoner. Fun. The chair was tempting, at least. Instead of a hard wooden chair or a scuffed and sad plastic one it look like a comfortable leather seat. More like something he’d expect to see in Sam’s house, to the side of some of the large couches. So it was fine that he settled down in the seat and started scanning the sheet of paper. These were books? The Far Frozen, Remaining Ancients, Pandora’s Legions… he was kinda of expecting like, algebra. Not whatever these were. He definitely didn’t want to look at the ‘Cursed Weapons of The Realms’ or ‘Fallen Factions’. Was’ Kings of The Infinite Realms’ just like a whole book of Pariah being ‘the best’ or something?

“If you are overwhelmed, The Formation of Ghosts might be a good starting point for you. You have mostly lived among humans instead of ghosts, from what I understand.”

“How do you know that?” Danny was sort of used to ghosts just knowing things about him, but this guy just woke up.

Pariah laughed at the question, making Danny sink into his seat. Of course, just laugh at the prisoner.

“I helped pull you back from oblivion. Of course I know all about you, son.”

His stomach lurched. That sounded really bad. All about him? Everything? “So you know I already have-”

“Had: Pariah cuts him off, forceful and blunt. “That life has ended, and you will put it behind you.”

“I won’t!” It hurt to say that, chest burning as he forced the words out.

“You will. In time, you will move past it. All ghosts do.” It feels like an order more than anything as Pariah stares down at him. “Read what you can manage. Once you are tired, you may return to your room. The more you understand, the easier it will be for you.”

Danny curled up in his seat, trying not to shake. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t just forget about his parents, or his friends because Pariah wanted him to. The certainty in the king’s voice still scared him. All ghosts did? Just forgot being human and lived some new life? He didn’t want to be like that.

Really, he should have been more frightened of the bright green skeleton bringing a book to his table instead of thoughts in his head. Maybe he was just used to the creepy sort-of-ghosts hanging around. He didn’t want to touch it. He didn’t need to know more about ghosts. Didn’t really want to know more about them. He didn’t want to go back to that room either.

He didn’t have to do what Pariah said. He wasn’t like his dad or anything. Even thinking that made the ugly scar on his chest throb painfully, now staying curled up in pain rather than fear. It wasn’t fair. He’d been trying to do the right thing. He wanted to be with his friends again.

It was easier to let his fingers catch the edge of the thick volume and look at it more closely. What Jack and Maddie wouldn’t give to have something like this. Instead of speculating, they could know why some ghosts were wildly different from others.

Ectoplasm and emotion are bound up in a purpose. That’s what ghosts were. That’s why so often ghosts were dead things, emotion ran high near death. Ectoplasm held those emotions, even if it wasn’t part of a ghost. That’s how unliving came to be. The Infinite Realms was special, the only place ectoplasm naturally occured, the only place it could properly grow and change to make new beings or nourish lost souls.

The King of Ghosts was expected to protect the Realms because of this. To lose the realms would cause every universe, every reality to suffer. Ectoplasm helped foster emotion and feelings, to go without it would bring suffering beyond measure.

According to the book, anyway. Danny just felt uncomfortable reading it. He didn’t want some purpose, thanks. Not if it made him like the Box Ghost, ranting about cubes and squares constantly. He especially didn’t want a purpose if it made him have to be a king. The book was probably just simplifying things, or exaggerating. A ghost probably wrote it and wanted to feel important, that’s all.

Mostly he was ignoring the second about bound ghosts. Ghosts that only existed because of someone else. He wasn’t like that.

Not until-

Not at all. He wasn’t.

He didn’t want to think about what it would mean, to be completely bound to Pariah’s will. To be anything Pariah expected him to be, in return for existing. Barely more than the mindless skeletons that were all over the place.

Sleep seemed like a good idea, actually. He’d do that. Think about his parents. His real ones. Not. Not…the other one.

Chapter Text

Okay, yes he did want to leave the creepy castle. No, he didn’t want to leave it with Pariah Dark. Yet there he was, perched on the ghost king’s shoulder like one of those silly skull decorations. So he could ‘observe’ how one made ‘proper demands’ or whatever.

He really hoped no one back home saw him and got the wrong idea. Maybe he could wiggle back a bit and try hiding under his cape? Turn invisible when he could see Amity Park? He just really, really regretted mentioning that he was worried about his hometown. Of course Pariah would punish him by ‘giving him what he wanted’. Just get a front row seat to everyone he loves being threatened! Great gift, thanks giant shoulder man. Way to make him feel like the slime scraped off the bottom of a shoe.

“Humans! You have attempted to resist after surrendering twice now. You have seen you are no match for your king.” Pariah’s shout made the air tremble, even the massive ghost shield protecting the town appearing to waver. “You have two weeks to destroy your weapons and surrender peacefully. If you do not, those weapons and the ones foolish enough to cling to them will be destroyed. Be grateful for this mercy, for I will not offer it again.”

Danny felt sick and very, very small. This was his fault, for trying to win with just the other ghosts. For failing. There was no way they’d give up all their weapons! All his closest friends and family would have targets painted on their backs, and there was nothing he could do about it. At least the shield still looked strong enough, keeping the waiting skeletons out of Amity Park proper. Not that it would hold anyone back if they just attacked from under the now floating city. Were they all okay? The ghost zone wasn’t making people sick, right? It wasn’t like anyone he knew spent too much time on this side of the portal after all.

“You certainly enjoy fretting about creatures that only want to drive you away.”

Danny jerked, glancing over at the ghost’s face. Great, was he reading his mind now? He crossed his arms to try and not look as off guard as he was. “They aren’t creatures. They’re people that you just invaded for no reason.”

“You think ripping a permanent hole in the fabric of reality is no reason, son? Especially if they did it multiple times, leaving behind little aberrations.” Pariah was weird to watch, he sort of marched through the open air instead of flying- even though Danny was fairly sure he’d seen him fly without walking around before. Maybe he was just showing off to look more like he was stomping away.

Hey! “You did not just call me a little aberration.”

“Former in your case, I suppose. It was certainly a fun surprise to see a ghost in a perfect human skin, let alone two.”

“Can you not make it sound like me being a half ghost is the grossest thing in the world?” He said with a shudder, bluntly ignoring the ‘former’ comment much like how he ignored how Pariah kept calling him ‘son’

“Ectoplasm doesn’t usually need to cling to other elements to make a sapient creature. The fact you simply did not become ghosts entirely is curious. Most would. Or more accurately, would at least die.”

Danny looked away, hackles raised. What did he know! That and he really didn’t want Pariah to know about the accident. That was kinda personal. A lot personal. Pariah knowing literally everything about him felt like a hand crushing his throat. He knew a lot about the ghost fighters in Amity! Would the ghost king know all of that too now? Or did he just know the ghost stuff? “That’s still not a reason to attack people.”

“Of course it is. You may tolerate being despised and attacked regularly, but I am the King. If these people intend to invade the Infinite Realms in order to study and harm the ghosts under my rule, I will stop them.”

“It’s not like they try to go over here! My- they aren’t attacking anyone that hasn’t attacked first.”

“So you believe that your existence counts as an attack against them?”

“N-No…” Danny faltered, knowing answering this was probably a trap. It wasn’t their fault they thought he did bad stuff. As far as they knew he was like any other ghost that just showed up to cause problems in Amity Park.

“Already they have escalated to wishing you ill after you keep showing good intent. I will not allow them to escalate further.”

“So that means you get to punish the whole town? That’s totally escalating and hurting innocents.” Danny grasped for another tack, trying to keep the fear for his parents from bubbling out.

“War is always messy.”

“This isn’t a war!”

“Of course it is. A war they started ages ago.”

The heat that came with those words made Danny fidget. “Uhhh. No it isn’t? Like I didn’t even think ghosts were real for fourteen years. No one did!”

“Now why do you think that came to be, son?”

Urgh. More trick questions. “‘Cus portals don’t stay open very long? I don’t know.”

“The Infinite Realms had to change to protect itself. You can read about it if you wish.” Pariah stepped back on to the solid rock that made up the Keep’s base. “However, if you insist I will be too harsh on those creatures you are so fond of, you will need more practice.”

Danny hopped down the moment he could- he’d only been told to stay there while they ‘were not in the castle’, glancing up uncomfortably. “I’m not following.”

“To properly defend yourself. I expect you will want to go near those beasts, after all.”

“They aren’t beasts either!” His angered shout only made the massive ghost laugh.

“You’ll learn my boy. You’ll learn what they’re really like.”

“As if!” Danny refused to listen to anything else, preferring to sulk in the library. Learn what humans were like, hello? He was one! He lived with them! He knew way more than some mouldy old man that crawled out of a box.

The towering stacks of books just kept reminding him of Jazz. She was the type to get all excited about massive tomes of knowledge, the one that would find fun with all new concepts and ideas. Personally, he just wanted to find something about space. Yet there was nothing about any kind of ghost NASA for him to pour over. Sure there was stuff about ‘the flow of ectoplasm’ that apparently had some sort of system, but nothing of stars and far away planets. Apparently the Infinite Realms moved like planets did- but not all. Some anchor points never shifted or changed, a useful way to navigate. Except the lack of movement seemed to be tied to parts forcibly held in place because of windows to other worlds and times.

The Fenton Portal basically made Pariah’s Keep into one of these constant locations. A dangerous one, considering the king wanted to invade the Earth and all. Now he had a stable location and somewhere to gather forces. Great! Good to know it’s all his fault that Pariah can keep moving forward in his evil domination schemes, really helps make him feel better. Not. 

He had to find something more useful. Something that could make him stop acting weird. He shouldn’t feel safe and comforted when Pariah spoke to him, but a stupid thrumming purr in his chest kept happening. Instead of stopping as he started to recover, it was getting worse. Apparently it had something to do with his core ‘resonating’ with Pariah, whatever that meant. Beyond the fact he hated it, most of the explanations didn’t make sense. Ectoplasm was regulated and used by his core? But both could impact one another? It seemed weird. Too many vague words instead of something scientific and clear cut. His parents would explain it way better.

He’d rather read about other places in the Infinite Realms. At least those were more like learning about interesting places. Nothing useful though-since he didn’t really want to go near such places. Not if Pariah would only go near them to try and take it over. Even if apparently most of the areas had surrendered to the King of Ghosts, or his right hand the Fright Knight. For protection against his wrath, and other forces that might turn on them for giving up the fight. War stained nearly every book he looked at, inescapable even when he tried to grab at what he thought might have nothing to do with it.

He was starting to realise why all the ghosts feared the king. An absolutely inescapable force that would find you.

“Son, you’ve read enough today. Come here.”

Danny should be startled, irritated. His traitor of a core nestled in his chest instead purred like a contented cat as he looked up at the towering tyrant. At least he very, very slowly closed what he was looking at to make Pariah wait. Even if he was ‘coming’ like he was told, he could be a bit obnoxious about it. Try to defy him by being annoying. 

The problem with that plan was the fact Pariah didn’t get irritated. He just seemed amused when Danny finally slouched out of his seat to follow.

To a new place- or at least one he never spent more than a moment in. The weapons lining the walls hadn’t exactly made him want to stick around to figure out why the floor was sand instead of stone. “What, you wanted to show off your weapon collection?”

“You’re well enough to train, and I’m not sending you out without a weapon.” Pariah pulled a green blade from the scabbard at his side, plunging it roughly in the ground. “This isn’t a worthy one, but will do for practice.”

“Uhhhh. Isn’t that the Fright Knight’s sword?” Danny said, frowning at the familiar green weapon. It didn’t look exactly the same- it was shorter and the edges didn’t look nearly as sharp, but he was pretty sure that was the weapon that made Halloween very complicated.

“Ha. Even if it was, do you really think he could do anything about you using it?”

He hesitated, unsure how to feel. Like obviously Pariah kept insisting weird things, but he was pretty sure the Fright Knight wouldn’t disobey the king he served. “Well, no. I guess not.”

“Exactly. Besides, I am not in the habit of keeping sub-par weapons. If you were not here, I would have gotten rid of it anyway.”

He felt like he was missing something as he pulled the sword free, blinking at the weird surge of anger that snaked up his arm. That was new? At least, he didn’t remember anything like that from the time he sorta stole it. If he just pretended it was his mom drilling him with basic self defence it wasn’t too bad. Even if he’d rather just fight on his own. Swords felt too final? Too sharp? Left wounds he didn’t want to risk giving people, even if Skulker and other ghosts had no similar worries.

That just means you’ll let them continue to suffer.

What was that! Danny froze, looking around the room.

“You shouldn’t stop like that.” Pariah said, stopping the slow swing. “Keeping myself smaller to show you things is not easy, nor comfortable, so if you need a break simply speak up.”

“Something that wasn’t me was in my head. I think.”

“Really now? Interesting.” He paused to rub his chin, regarding the sword. “Is it trying to take some initiative to teach you, or simply being a nuisance?”

Okay so possibly evil talking sword wasn’t surprising to his- Pariah but he couldn’t really answer that. Was mocking not wanting to hurt people being ‘helpful?

I’d teach you better than he would, compressed like that. He doesn’t know the techniques a smaller ghost would rely on. He hasn’t even fought you without that ridiculous suit of yours.

“I think they’re trying to help? Maybe?” Now he just felt extra weird. Pariah kept calling the sword and ‘it’ but whoever was in his head seemed pretty knowledgeable? Or at least on some level a person, if that anger from the beginning was the sword being irritated. “Since I’m smaller, I think.”

“True, you do fight on a much smaller scale than I do. Very well.” Pariah stopped being around human size to return back to a towering giant staring down. “I will observe. If the blade gives you any trouble at all, alert me.”

He sort of wanted to ask what sort of trouble, but didn’t. That might make the sword decide to show him, or something. That, and something about the voice was sort of familiar.

You’re stronger than you look, but you need to protect your chest. Pariah’s left you weak there intentionally.

He sort of guessed that, with how it was still awful unhealed green, still uncomfortable when he pressed a gloved hand against it. Why do that though?

Simple. If you are badly hurt, you can be fed more ectoplasm. Reinforce the binding and help push qualities he does not approve of out of you. You are small, and young. There is plenty of time to shape you.

Danny swallowed, even though his mouth was dry. Those were very unpleasant thoughts. “You…want me to get hurt?”

Pariah raised an eyebrow. “Is it filling your head with nonsense?”

A cold fear lanced up Danny’s arm. “No! I was just confused because of this-” he quickly gestured to his chest with his free hand. “Since the sword was saying I should take a stance to protect it.”

It is unfortunate that I will have to watch him crush that mercy out of you. Thank you.

He kinda just covered for the sword on instinct, really. Pariah had said he was going to ‘get rid’ of it after all…which didn’t seem fair if they were trying to help. Even if he really didn’t like the kind of stuff being said in his mind.

The king nodded, eye no longer fixated on the weapon. “I hope you will not come to harm, but you are young. A weak point would allow you to keep your usual strength in the rest of your body. If you prefer, that can be changed- but you will be much weaker overall in exchange for the stability.”

That sounded…reasonable.

He lies.

Oh.

Do not tell him you know that.

Well obviously! He wasn’t that stupid! “I’m fine as is.” Since he didn’t want to find out how Pariah would ‘fix’ that either.

“You have no reason to fear. It is normal for parents to help their children grow. If you are hurt, I will be there to help you again.”

There was a comforting warmth wrapped around his ribs, even as Danny tried to ignore the feeling. That wasn’t comforting! That was terrifying! It wasn’t a normal thing. “Not that directly it isn’t.”

“It is for ghosts. How else would children so resemble their parents? After all, we cannot simply make another ghost exist. We must nurture a soul that is already here and alone.”

Well whoever looked after Youngblood sucked at their job, as far as he was concerned. “I’m not alone .”

“You are.The living do not parent the dead.”

Do not keep arguing. He wants you to. Instead try this stance. 

A foggy image of a silhouette formed in his mind’s eye to better explain what the sword meant, making Danny grit his teeth. Wasn’t just agreeing worse? Betraying the people he loved?

It will just break you faster.

Arguing with a sword felt silly, so he tried to ignore what Pariah said to just keep practising. He wasn’t just dead. It didn’t matter what he said. His parents were still his parents. That wouldn’t change! If only thinking that didn’t make him feel so cold and numb.

We cannot defy our master so directly. Focus on your swing.

Danny did, even if his mind buzzed and protested, hating the idea that he couldn’t even think the truth. That he had a ‘master’ to make him like this talking sword. The anger at his helplessness strengthened his swings, slamming blow after blow into the wooden target and ripping the sword free when it got stuck. He wasn’t helpless! He wasn’t just some pawn! He could show it, he would show it.

Enough. You’re exhausted.

Danny growled at it, fingers tightening on the hilt. What did some sword know anyway?

Too much. You should rest.

He looked at the blade again and noticed how his arms were shaking. How he was panting for breath with his shoulders starting to slouch. Only after he noticed the shaking did the wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck, knees buckling as he slid to the sandy floor. He swore he saw bits of green bone strewn in the sand among the bits of shredded target. Did he just lose control? Did the sword control him?

No. You are just an overwhelmed prince acting out in rage. You can thank your father for that.

“It seems you’re finished for the day. Here, I’ll help you to your room.” Pariah did not give Danny time to object before picking him up, but he didn’t have much fight left in him anyway.

He did feel a little bad about how the sword slipped through his fingers and was left abandoned on the ground, but a soothing vibration made it hard to focus on that. The green energy in Pariah’s hand felt good, and he was so drained. It was fine to snuggle into it and feel safe. It was filling the awful hole inside him that was just fear and discomfort all the time. He could rest, he was allowed to, and he wanted to do nothing more.

Chapter Text

Tucker knew what bad days were. He also knew that dwelling on it too much could make a bad day even worse. So he’d done his best to stay positive after Danny left. He focused on helping the Fentons and Valerie’s dad in their wild scheme to start getting electricity from the Ghost Zone as the city started to go dark. They did kinda leave the power grid by getting torn through reality after all.

If the Fentons didn’t have their home set with emergency backup power, they would have lost the protective shield very quickly. That couldn’t last forever, which is why the prototype ecto-filtrator was so important. 

He kept joking they were working around the clock for nothing, because Danny Phantom always managed to win in the end. He couldn’t give up on him.

Even when Pariah Dark returned to fling the scraps of what could only be the Ecto Skeleton through the shield, he clung to the hope that even if his friend didn’t win, that he must have gotten away. He was slippery like that!

They managed to find a way to keep the power on with everyone in town coming together. The filtrators weren’t perfect, and well a decent amount of them ended up exploding, but that didn’t matter. Everyone knew letting that shield go down would be catastrophic. The Fentons might be mad scientists, but if there was ever a time for them to shine, it was now.

Even as they managed to slowly get power back to the whole city, as things became a little more comfortable, the fear didn’t leave. Not with the green skies watching them, not when skeletons stood waiting on the edges of town ready to strike.

Danny remained missing. It was starting to feel like he wasn’t just missing. The nightmares of his friend being just as broken as the weapon he’d taken drove Tucker to work long hours. That was easier than facing his friend’s fate over and over again.

So he’d been having a lot of not super great days. That was okay! He’s still managing. He’s got his parents who don’t mind that he wants to stay in their hugs longer. He’s got Sam who sleeps as little as he does. There’s Valerie, who helps make things feel less helpless. After all, if she can figure out how to use an ectogun, most adults wouldn't have an excuse.

It’s when Pariah returns and starts making threats that the town starts to rally again. They can’t surrender to this monster who is already trying to hurt them, they need to find a way home. He’s too busy helping to teach others how to use the less dangerous equipment, or learning how to build them himself. It keeps him busy. Keeps his mind off the massive hole in his life.

When his PDA loudly alerts him that part of the ghost shield is under attack, Tucker knows it’s going to be one of the very bad days. All the more reason to force himself to smile as he quickly meets up with Sam to find the cause of the alert. Like old times! Just minus the one who had the super powers.

“I’m worried.”

“Hey, that’s my line, Sam. You’re the butt kicking one, remember?” Tucker tried to give a friendly nudge, but she dodged it.

“Tucker. I’m serious.”

“Serious and I don’t get along too great.”

Sam nodded and took a moment as they kept walking towards where the alert had indicated. “I just think I saw something bad. Back when Pariah came and told us to get rid of all the weapons.”

“Well duh, there was a giant ghost king yelling at us instead of locked back up. That was pretty bad!” Tucker didn’t look in her direction. Maybe he’d watched the footage recorded that day a few too many times. Sort of hoping he’d been seeing things. If Sam saw too? Well.

“I think I saw Danny with him.”

Oof. Just going right for it, wasn’t she. Well, that’s Sam for you. “Maybe? Like there was someone there but it was pretty small.”

“So you think it was Danny too.”

“I didn’t say that.”

Sam rolled her eyes and adjusted her wrist ray. “Well if it is him, do you think it’s like with Freakshow?”

“Well duh, it’s not like he’d ditch us to join up with a ghost king. That’d be pretty evil.” He said, trying to keep smiling. As if the whole problem with the ringmaster hadn’t been a serious one.

“It’s just. We don’t know what happened to him! That suit was going to kill anyone who used it and you know Danny. He wouldn’t run if it was his only shot.”

“Well he’s good at not dying when he should? That’s gotta count for something.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

The rest of their walk was uncomfortably silent. Neither wanted to be the one that suggested Danny didn’t survive it. Or that he might have turned on everything he knew, willingly or not. The breach in the ghost shield had been brief, but the scorched ground near the site made it clear that something had forced their way through. Not good.

“Um. The Fentons said the shield should be able to keep out most ghosts, right?”

“It’d have to be really strong to get through. Or be like Wulf and make a portal through, really.” Sam’s confirmation didn’t make him feel any better.

“Val’s probably already looking for whatever got through, should I call her? Ask where she’s covering?”

“Might as well. They’re probably hurt if they just forced their way in.”

Tucker pulled out his PDA to contact the ghost hunter, but didn’t have time to dial before something cold slammed him into the ground.

“Tucker! Sam!”

He slowly unfroze, grabbing for his jostled glasses as he tried to make sense of what happened. The cold thing still had him-

“Don’t scare us like that! I almost shot you, you idiot.”

Oh it wasn’t fur, it was white hair. Sam’s shout helped his heart calm down, at least as he did his best to get up a bit. It was Danny? He just didn’t feel quite right. He wasn’t usually this cold. “Dude if it’s you, you’re paying for any damage done to my poor baby.”

“‘Course it’s me! Who else?” Danny said, but he did let go and back away at the words, hovering instead of standing.

“Not sure if you noticed, genius, but we’re kinda surrounded by ghosts lately.”

“Err. Yeah. I guess. Sorry.” Danny said, but kept his arms crossed and close to his chest instead of rubbing at the back of his neck or doing a mock surrender.

It was weird. He didn’t like it. It felt like his friend was hiding something, and he felt like a complete jerk for thinking that. Shouldn’t he just be glad that his friend survived?

“Well stop hiding over there, dummy. We missed you!” Sam only gave Tucker a brief look before pulling Danny in a hug. She suppressed a shudder much better than he did.

“I missed you guys too! I just couldn’t get here til now.”

“You’re still hurt!”

Oh. She’d gotten close to get a better look at whatever Danny was trying to hide. So she was a bit on edge too. They could be really crappy friends together then!

“No, it’s fine. Well no, it’s not fine but I can’t really do anything about it so…” He lowered his arms to reveal an ugly green gash across his chest. It wasn’t leaking or oozing, but it didn’t look healed. It looked painful.

“You need so many bandages dude.” Well, he probably needed stitches but it didn’t look like something just stitches could close. Not something that looked so wide and angry.

“It just can’t heal more than that. Seriously, I’m fine.” He stopped suddenly, catching Sam’s hand before she could check how ‘fine’ he was by poking him. “That doesn’t mean poke me!”

“Danny, if it isn’t serious you shouldn’t be all jumpy about getting poked.”

“It’s just kinda sensitive.”

“Way to go, you managed to get yourself a big old ‘hit me here’ target in real life.” Tucker said, hoping the joke might help a little. Judging by the stares he got back, it was a bit of a dud.

Sam broke the silence. “So, where have you been? What happened?”

Danny wouldn’t look at her, apparently very interested in the dirt. “Well it’s kind of obvious, right? I tried to get Pariah back in the Sarcophagus but I. Didn’t.” He fidgeted, voice low. “I passed out and woke up like this. I swear, I tried my best! I just wasn’t strong enough. Even with the suit.”

“You passed out and that monster didn’t just waste you?” He wanted to comfort his friend, and tell him it was okay. That he’d done his best. Just, it was suspicious. If it went that way, why wasn’t he thrown back with the suit?

The way Danny tensed up at the question only made his suspicion deepen. “Yeah. He didn’t.”

“Danny, we’re your friends. Just talk to us.” Sam said, crouching so he couldn’t look away as easily. “Are you really okay?”

“Pariah, he-” he cut himself off, biting his lip. “I don’t know, everything was numb and I was scared and-”

At least both of them decided he needed a hug then, gripping his shaking shoulders. “It’s okay. You can let it out.”

Danny just leaned into the hug at first, waiting until the trembling slowed. “I think he saved my life.”

“I guess even the worst people can do something decent.” Sam’s voice didn’t betray how she looked at Tucker again, eyebrows creased even while keeping a reassuring hand on the scrawny ghost’s back. “So what after that, did he threaten you? We can help you now.”

He didn’t answer.

“We want to help you. We’re not gonna blame you for something that monster did.”

“I don’t really know what he did. I-I just keep. Listening to him.”

“Like with the staff?”

“No. I couldn't think like that. I don’t really…remember that. Not like this.” Danny trailed off to a low mumble, fingers clenching as if fearing they would pull away if he kept talking, if he let go.

“Well it’s okay if you just listen! It’s not like you’re gonna like, attack your parents or anything, right?” Tucker nudged him again, but a fresh chill made it hard to suppress a shudder.

“It hurts.”

Sam frowned, keeping a tight grip as if worried Danny would fall over. “What hurts?”

“When I try to...think about them.”

“I don’t think they’ll hold losing the Ecto Skeleton over your head, if that’s what you’re worried about?”

“No. Just when I um. Try.” Danny grit his teeth, apparently speechless. “If I say ghost hunters are my parents.”

“Uh. Well your parents are ghost hunters?”

“So Pariah did something to you that messes you up for saying totally normal things?” Sam tried another tack, instead of pointing out the obvious. “Did we see you when he yelled at Amity again?”

“You saw me?!” Danny yelped, before realising what he said and slouching.  “Yeah. You did. I didn’t want to! He just told me to and I did and I didn’t want people to see me but…”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Sam let out a sigh, biting her lip as she thought. “Well now that you’re away from him, we can figure out how to fix it, alright?”

“Maybe?”

He didn’t sound very sure about it. Maybe a distraction while they got him away from the edge of town? It was a bit of a relief to stop the hug so he could warm up a little. “Oh, Danny? Did you see a ghost trying to break through the shield? We picked one up earlier.”

“Oh. Uh. That was probably me?”

“Seriously? Danny, you can walk through them.” Sam chastised him. Instead of laughing, Danny just looked like a toddler pretending the cookie in their hand wasn’t from the jar beside them.

“Didn’t it hurt to force your way through, dude?”

“Not that much. It wasn’t that hard.”

“Danny. Why didn’t you just walk through?” Sam stopped walking, staring her friend down.

“Because I couldn’t, okay! I just can’t.”

Tucker’s stomach churned, guilt trying to crawl up his throat. Danny was being cagey, he was so cold, he was apparently dying in a fight that he lost…he didn’t like the picture these pieces were forming. “You can’t?”

“It’s just not working! I’m probably still kind of weak, it’ll work again soon!” Danny sounded more like he was talking to himself than them, fingers tight against his skull. “It has to. I’m not dead. I didn’t die. I’m still human.”

Tucker tried to reach for him, but Danny pulled away, green eyes flaring with a sort of panic.

“I swear, I’m not like him! I’m not. I’m not…”

“Danny, we’re not gonna judge you-”

He shook as if shoving away the reassurances. “I can’t be! I have to be human, okay? I’m not a ghost.”

“Okay. We know you’re not like that.” Tucker put up his hands to placate him.

“You can crash with us until we figure out what to tell your parents, alright?”

Instead of looking relieved, Danny somehow managed to tense up more. “I can’t stay.”

“Uh, yes you can? Where else would you go?”

“If I don’t go back, he’ll come looking for me. People would get hurt.”

Sam frowned. “Pariah will attack to find you. That’s what you’re saying.”

“Yes.” No argument, no explanation at all. Just a yes. Like he couldn’t even try to think of a reason.

“So? We’ll fight him! You’re safe here now.”

“You can’t! He wants to just kill everyone! I barely convinced him-”

“He’s listening to you?” Sam latched onto the slip even as Danny cringed.

“Sort of? Like he doesn’t have to, he just thinks it’s funny that I don’t want people to get hurt or something, I guess. I don’t know!”

“Dude, we want to help you, okay? You know we can’t just do what Pariah wants.”

“No! You have to. Or he’ll come and keep killing people until you do! You need to convince them to stop. Please .”

“If Pariah thinks he can send you to threaten us, he has another thing coming. We aren’t going to abandon you just because he’s making you pass on messages.” Sam shook her head, which only got the ghost boy more anxious.

“You don’t get it! I used everything I had, everything! I still lost! You can’t win this. No one can.”

Sam didn’t back down. “The Danny I know isn’t a quitter. And it’s not ‘you’. It's us. You’re on our side.”

“Maybe you’ll feel a bit better when he can’t keep doing that control thing to you.” Tucker said, hoping Sam wasn’t being too aggressive. 

“Guys, please! I mean it. I-I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” Danny’s eyes were wide and fearful, his legs having melted into a tail that kept anxiously wrapping around his middle. “A-Anyone with weapons- people like you! The people I love and care about the most, he’ll go for first! You need to get everyone to listen.”

“I didn’t want to do this Danny, but you’re not yourself right now.” Sam unhooked the Fenton Weasel from her belt, holding it mostly out of view. “We’ll figure out what he did, and help you.”

“Tucker! You get it, right? You saw those armies. You saw how every ghost ran. You gotta help me convince Sam.”

He felt sick, tricking his friend like this. He was so upset he didn’t even notice was Sam was doing for goodness sake. “Sure, yeah. We can talk about it. There’s a week before the deadline, right?”

Sam struck before Danny to respond, dragging their hapless friend into the machine even when he tried to struggle, but it compressed him down and dragged him into the holding tank like any other ghost.

“You can’t do this, please!” Danny yelled from inside, container shaking as he struggled. “I want to stay but I can’t!”

“Well now you can. Don’t worry, I’ll let you out once we’re somewhere safe.” Sam said, keeping a tight grip on the invention.

The worst thing was how Danny kept begging to be let go. Like he completely believed everything he was saying to the bottom of his heart. Tucker was seriously tempted to tell Sam to let him go when he heard the ghost start to cry, but Sam shook her head at him before he could even suggest it.

“You know he’ll be worse off near that monster.”

Obviously. Still, this was the exact opposite way he should feel about finally seeing his friend again.

Chapter Text

He was messing everything up again. All he had to do was warn them! It had been going okay, he missed them so much, they said it was okay!

Then they attacked him. Left him cramped up and begging in the Fenton Weasel like he was dangerous even as they said they were going to help him. He felt so, so stupid. For not being able to make them listen, for crying, all of it.

“Danny? You’re still okay in there?”

How could he be?! His friends were going to die while he was kept in here like an insect. A pest that was too stupid for them to listen to. “Please.”

“Tucker’s figuring out how to get you some food, hopefully you’ll feel more like yourself when you can just relax.”

She was just talking over him. The sickly green glow coming from his chest was so much worse in the tiny box, painting his prison with a constant reminder of how weak he was. He was too twisted and compressed to do much, he could barely even make it shake. At least he wasn’t conscious when he was stuck in a thermos. Even if they thought this was nicer, he could still talk. Could still hear them. He’d hear every sickening crunch and be unable to do a thing in this. What else could he even say?

A tap at the side of his prison jerked Danny out of his silent cringing. “Okay, you’re not gonna go nuts if we let you out, right Danny? We’re not trying to hurt you.”

Sam’s voice was lowered, not meant for his ears. “He hasn’t been answering for awhile. I’m really worried about him.”

“Well it’s not like it’s fun to be kept in a tiny box. We’ll just give him some time to calm down.”

Like he could calm down. They didn’t think much of him, did they. Did they not believe him? Did they think he was just some ghost that had to be treated like a live bomb? Were they right to be cautious? If only he could get in a more comfortable position so he could tuck his knees to his chest. He felt too small and too big at the same time.

They hadn’t lied though. When the machine roared again it set him free, leaving him sprawled on a dusty rug as he tried to figure out how his limbs worked again.

Tucker actually took his hand and helped him up, trying to get his friend to look at him. “We’re really sorry Danny. This is just for now, okay? We don’t like trapping you like that.”

It sounded real, but he’d have to be blind to not see the shield wrapped around the room. They’d just put him in a bigger cage. “You’re still trapping me like that.”

“Well, sort of.” Tucker admitted before gesturing at the heap of collected pillows and blankets. “This is more comfortable though, right? I even found the solar system blanket!”

Danny always liked that blanket, even if it was thin to begin with and age was starting to fray the cheap material. It still had Pluto listed as a planet, existing before it was demoted. He started to reach for it before hesitating. No, he shouldn’t be getting comfortable! That’s what Pariah did to control him, he kept falling for it.

“We just don’t want that monster hurting you again, it’s temporary.” Sam stressed temporary like that explained everything.

They didn’t leave him alone though. Instead they joined him on the rug, Sam scattering a few boxes of board games while Tucker fumbled with paper bags. He was a little confused that Tucker didn’t seem interested in flipping the TV on, maybe it didn’t work anymore.

“So it’s not as good as a Nasty Burger, but I think it’s pretty close!” He offered one of the bags to Danny, grease staining the top of the bag. “But I bet you’d take anything, you’re probably starving.”

Sam’s wrinkled up nose at least confirmed there was probably a meat based burger in there, but Danny could only stare at the offered bag once he took it. Tucker had a point. Shouldn’t he be starving? He’d been gone for a while. Pariah hadn’t really fed him anything, either. Doubt found holes in his heart and tugged at him painfully as he kept staring.

He smelled meat, grease and cheese. Fat that would drip and soak into the packaging below. He should be drooling, be thanking his friend for bringing him a meal to fill his empty stomach. Yet he didn’t.

He smelled death. Flames that drowned it out with char and smoke. No blood. Clean, prepared and served death in a bag. A note that stuck in his throat, a familiar scent. He knew what cooked human flesh smelled like because-

Danny dropped it and curled into himself, trying to hide the shudder.

“Danny? What’s wrong?” Sam was already holding one of his shoulders, trying to help ground him.

“Nothing! I. I’m just. Not very hungry.” Danny fumbled for an answer, immediately wishing he thought of a better one. He should be ravenous, saying he wasn’t was probably even more worrying to them.

“Oh, right. You were just all squished in there, of course you feel nauseous! My bad. Do you want a drink?” Tucker said as he took the bag away, sliding a water bottle over instead. “Means more for me anyway.”

Sam didn’t comment as she took her grease free bag and fished out a salad, still keeping one hand on her friend. “Just let us know if you think of something you need, okay?”

“Unless I tell you I need to leave, then you don’t want to hear it, right?” He regretted the words immediately. Man, he sounded like an asshole. Right after he had a fit over food, real nice of him.

Sam didn’t flinch. “That’s right. Now what should we play?”

“Whatever it is, I veto Mouse Trap. That game sucks.”

So he had to pick something? When was the last time he’d even looked at a board game? “Uh. Yahtzee?”

“You only pick that one because the dice have star pips.”

“What, did you want me to say Monopoly?” Danny said, grinning as both of his friends hissed in faux distress.

“Anything but that!”

“Everyone’s favourite game where you make your friends hate you by being a capitalist pig. Pass.”

The weight lifted, ever so slightly. This was normal, sort of. Just hanging out. Maybe he could just enjoy it for a bit, then they’d understand. Not that it was very easy to tell the time without the sun.

It was nice to just be with the people he missed. To not be constantly reminded of Pariah, of what happened.

Even as the dread found the base of his neck and gnawed , he fought to ignore it. Be himself. Maybe they were right? Regular Danny wouldn’t freak out from a burger.

He never did start to feel hungry. Not even when they started to yawn and sent off messages on their phones before arranging pillows to be more comfortable to rest their heads on.

He slept too, that was normal. Yet with them all bundled together in a sleepover nest of disaster he couldn’t help noticing how warm they felt, how they radiated it where he gave none. How their breathing slowed and relaxed, but never stopped. Like how his did once he stopped talking, like he forgot it was important. Tucker and Sam were noisy, warm and alive.

He was cold, still, and dead.

It wasn’t fair.

Why couldn’t he just do those things like he always had before? Why had he failed to notice? Thinking about transforming, reaching for his human half just made the empty void that had replaced his stomach feel even colder, a shard stabbing him for trying to explore it.

Pariah couldn’t be right. He just couldn’t.

If he was right about this, he could be right about other things. Which couldn’t be true.

Danny wondered if Jazz thought he was dead. What his parents thought had happened to him. Still considered missing, maybe? What he wouldn’t do to be able to tell them he was okay. He’d need to be human for that. He couldn’t go to them as a ghost. Certainly not as the ‘evil’ mayor kidnapping ghost that just stole the Ecto Skeleton.

If he couldn’t be human, were they really his parents? Would they disown him?

It hurt. The voice in his head insisted a ghost didn’t belong. A ghost belonged with other ghosts.

The way Tucker and Sam would adjust in their sleep to move away from the cold dead creature in their midst only seemed to encourage the empty feeling of loss. They would suffer because of him.

Sleep did not come easily, but he was glad to go under and escape the doubts that threatened to devour every last scrap of him.

“Yeah, we dealt with it.” Tucker was pacing as he spoke, just far enough away to make it hard to tell who was on the other end of the line. “Seriously! We’re better at this than you think.”

Danny briefly wondered if he was the problem that had been ‘dealt with’. He was pretty safely imprisoned thanks to them. It wasn’t like the shield over the town, not so large that weak spots could form.

That and he didn’t really want to try throwing himself at the shield like some sort of rabid animal with his friends right here watching him.

“Just don’t worry about it, you’ve got enough to do already.” Tucker rolled his eyes as he repeated himself. “Thanks for checking though.”

Who was he talking to anyway? Danny focused on sitting up, frowning. So he was the last one to wake. Someone had left a box of cereal nearby, apparently wanting to avoid the question. Was he hungry now? No. The box stirred nothing in him. He should be. Should he try to eat something anyway? It didn’t smell bad, after all. Maybe he just needed to eat something to remember he was in fact hungry. It was just dry cereal. It couldn’t hurt. Right? Heck, the Lunch Lady was all about food, it couldn’t just be a ghost thing making him feel weird about it. It was something else. Totally.

“Did you figure out any of what Pariah was planning when he was keeping you locked up?”

“He hasn’t exactly hidden his plans?” Danny chose to peer at the cereal more at the question, the reminder just made the anxious energy living in his stomach start bouncing around again. “Either everyone gives up or he’s going to keep ripping the town apart until you do. More of the same, I guess. Big guy with a bunch of skeletons. Kinda a problem.”

“It’s not like we’re defenceless, we-“

“Don’t tell me!” Danny cut her off, already covering his ears. “He knows way too much already.”

“Wait, what did you tell him?” She was already moving as if to hug him again, reassure him she didn’t blame him. “Did he torture you?”

Her concern just made him feel worse. Of course she thought he’d been hurt or something if he said anything. “I don’t know. He just knows things. Things I never told him.” It sounds awful. It sounds like an excuse. They’re going to hate him. “He makes me feel…weird.” He can’t tell her how. How he feels safe and happy and the stupid thrumming purr that roars in his chest that he can’t stop. He shouldn’t feel like that about someone who kidnapped him. He shouldn’t think parent and think of a ghost.

“Danny. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Sam wouldn’t let him look away. “Whatever he did to you isn’t your fault.”

“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. He’s going to know where everything is! Anything I knew!” It was his fault. He was the ghost king’s son. Instead of just dying in that fight.

“He won’t know everything, your folks have been keeping busy. It’s okay.” Tucker’s addition didn’t move the dread.

It was his fault. He knew it. Pariah knew it. He sold everyone out somehow, he could feel it. The guilt caught uncomfortably in his throat, mixing with the unwanted food that just felt like it was floating in a pointless clump. Maybe all his insides were just gross green jello now. An ectoplasmic monster pretending it was anywhere near human.

“Danny, we mean it.”

Speaking the question burned his mouth. “Even if it is my fault?”

“You’re a victim, not the cause.”

Could he believe that? Would they, once the king attacked?

“Dude, you tried to save everyone. You did the best you could. So now we’re looking after you.”

They allowed him to wrap his ghostly tail around them in a sort of hug, but the warmth was only a small comfort. A ghost trying to fit in with humans. A liar. The thoughts wouldn’t quiet.

Danny was never alone.

It was odd, that his friends could get away with staying away from home for so long. Had things changed so much since he’d fought Pariah? They used their phones fairly often, and Tucker would leave more often than Sam did, but it still felt alien.

Maybe it was normal for rules to get strange when facing the end of the world.

“Aren’t your parents worried about you being here so long?”

“Hm? Oh. They think I’m at your place right now. I spend a lot of nights over there lately. Might as well try and figure things out if I can’t sleep, right?” Tucker’s grin couldn’t hide the bags under his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, they know whatever I’m up to must be important.”

“Kinda doubt they’ll see it that way if they knew what you’re actually doing.”

“Making sure a friend gets better?”

Danny frowned. “Hiding a ghost.”

“Danny, dude. You aren’t just ‘a ghost’ to me or Sam. You wouldn’t be to my parents either, if I could tell them it was you.”

Shouldn’t he feel something like relief? Why only doubt and distrust? “Thanks Tuck.” He hated how hollow the thanks sounded. Maybe he just knew how badly people would react if people knew his friends were looking after him. If they knew they were wasting time with the ghost that failed them.

The rumble is what caught his attention. An earthquake when separated from the very earth was impossible.

That alone didn’t frighten him. It was how his limbs relaxed and the pain in his chest lessened that terrified him.

Father was coming.

Pariah was coming.

His traitorous body is thrilled as the rest of him is horrified.

Sam and Tucker had ignored every request to be let go, but he had to try again. “You need to let me go, he’s coming!”

“Then we’ll keep him away from you! We aren’t going to let you get dragged off again!”

He wouldn’t be dragged off. He’d happily go to the ghost that terrified him, the ghost that vibrated with the sound that made him feel alive. “Sam, please! I don’t want him to hurt you guys!”

“So why do we have to be okay with letting him hurt you? We’re not going to abandon you.” Tucker said, busy checking a few of the ectoguns.

“He isn’t hurting me! That’s the problem! I-I won’t be able to help…”

There was no time. They wouldn’t listen. He wanted to cringe when he saw massive fingers rip through the ceiling. He wanted to be afraid as the roof was peeled back like a tuna can. Instead there was only relief. He was being rescued. Rescued from his best friends.

Their attack did nothing to fend off the ghost. Pariah ignored them and only looked at the shield keeping him separated from his son. He chose to escalate by wielding his mace, slamming it through the lower floor with an ear splitting crunch.

Sam and Tucker might get crushed. Would be, with how quickly the ground was sagging as the shield died, weapons forgotten as they tried to keep upright. He couldn’t let them get hurt. Danny darted after both of his friends, turning intangible the moment he was able to evade the collapsing building. He only let go once he was sure they were far enough away on the street below. Maybe a bit too close to the giant that knocked the building down to start with.

“Interesting choice, to rescue your captors.”

Danny moved to sort of cover them, not wanting the ghost king to step on them. “They’re my friends!”

Pariah scowled at the two humans, looking like he’d spit on them. “Friends that ignore you and lock you up? No wonder your standards are so impossibly low. Come.”

“Danny, you don’t have to listen to him!” Sam hissed, trying to keep a hold of his wrist.

How could he possibly explain to her that he did? That his body would move, the hole he had instead of a heart would purr and he’d be gladly following like every time before.

She probably got it when he phased out of her grip to curl up on Pariah’s shoulder.

He radiated safe, calm and home. All things he longed for, the reassurance a balm for the constant fear and twisting dread in his gut. All of that would be solved, he was where he needed to be. There was one little pang of fear as he spotted Sam and Tucker from his perch, but Pariah just sent another strong vibrating reassurance of safe and he settled.

“Let our friend go!”

“Your prisoner? The one that just flew to me willingly? Fools.”

“No, you told him to come! We know you’re just controlling him!”

“I will give you this warning once. If you attempt to imprison my son again, you will be nothing but foul red smears when I am through.”

The threat was enough to pierce the calming fog, even if he couldn’t quite uncurl himself from his contented position. “No! You can’t hurt them!”

“They have been warned. Harming you again will only be them earning their fate.”

He didn’t like how grisly that fate sounded, but the worst of his terror had been smothered by the answer, so he quieted.

“Just hold on Danny! We’ll help you!”

“He isn’t your son, you creep!”

Tucker had a point there. Pariah wasn’t his dad. Danny furrowed his brow, struggling to sift through the contradictions in his emotions.

He didn’t make much progress before he yelped in fear as the king snatched up his friends in a crushing grip, making them both cry out in pain. “Tucker! Sam! Let them go!”

Pariah’s grip only tightened. “They need to learn the truth of the matter. Ask your father politely to spare them, and I will release these worms.”

He didn’t want to say that out loud. His friends were hurting and suffering because of him. It should be an easy choice, and the pulsing noise in his chest kept wanting to say it anyway. Yet he couldn’t look at them. “Please, let them go! They’re my friends, they wanted to help me.” The last bit practically wanted to leap out of his throat, was so eager to make a monster out of him. “Father, please spare them.”

The king of ghosts kept his word, releasing the two struggling teenagers back on the ground. They gasped for air, leaving them with few options as Pariah turned away. “That was their one chance, you understand.”

“Y-Yes.” Danny said, even as he hated it.

“Now to get you home. You’ve spent enough time being tormented here.”

He had nothing to argue against. Instead he stayed curled up and tried to ignore the hoarse calls behind him. He could understand if they didn’t forgive him. He just didn’t want to hear if they were already disgusted by him.

At least they’d figure out how Pariah got in easily enough, the hole he punched through the ground was hard to miss.

Chapter Text

Danny was pretty sure he’d been doing more reading now than he had in the past fourteen years. There had to be something in all these ghost books, something he could use. Anything so he didn’t embarrass himself like that again. Tucker and Sam couldn’t be thinking very good things about him now, letting them get hurt. Calling Pariah…that. He didn’t even resist, really! By not trying hard enough? Or he really was just doomed to be a traitor. There’d been no fight in him. Sure, he argued to leave his friends alone- but he didn’t act. Didn’t try to free them on his own. What kind of friend was that?

It made sense in the moment, he knew he couldn’t win in a fight. He knew Amity Park was doomed in a one on one fight with the king of ghosts. That didn’t mean he shouldn’t have tried! To at least look like he cared! He didn’t find answers. Just more questions, more ways ghosts could be complicated. Nothing useful. He didn’t want to think too much about what it meant to owe an existential debt to another ghost. Not when tome after tome stressed the importance of keeping to agreements made. When ghosts could have so little in common, keeping one’s word was a sort of cornerstone that any sapient ghost could understand and relate with. A liar, a backstabber wouldn’t go far. How could a creature made of emotion last if they couldn’t be true to their own principals? What did they exist for, if they couldn’t even do that? It didn’t help that the talking sword had basically suggested they were the same. That Pariah was more than a ‘boss’.

Other ghosts might know more, but where would he find any to talk to? Not that any would probably talk to him, since everyone hated and feared Pariah. Unless people didn’t know Pariah was calling him a son? Then maybe? He groaned, moving away from the mess of opened and set aside books. It wasn’t like he actually trusted any ghosts he did find to be any better than the ones he used to fight. It might not even be worth the effort of trying. Wait, did that count as quitting too? Urgh.

How was he going to make sure Amity was safe if he couldn’t defy Pariah? Tucker and Sam didn’t listen. They’d fight. A doomed fight. One he couldn’t help with, or save them from. Was he seriously considering going to ‘practice’ more sword fighting just to talk to a ghost sword? Yup. Since that apparently made sense in whatever the heck his life was.

“I suppose it makes sense for a tyrant’s son to only have a weapon for a friend.”

Danny spun on his heel, already raising his firsts to face whoever managed to sneak up behind him. How? That was a straight hallway he just walked through! The elderly blue ghost didn’t offer an explanation, blank red eyes watching with a stillness that unsettled Danny. “What? Who’re you?”

“Oh? Your father hasn’t even bothered to tell you about me yet? Curious. Perhaps he simply does not trust you enough for even that.”

Okay, this old fart was totally trying to insult him. After just showing up like the walls didn’t matter. Which they did! He was pretty sure mister blue and wispy tailed wasn’t human, they couldn’t do the walk through ghost walls trick. “He’s-” Danny sputtered, cursing in his head again. “Don’t call me that!” Finding words he could use was way too much trouble.

The ghost’s smile didn’t budge. “Do you prefer ‘my prince’?”

“No! You didn’t say who you are, either.”

“I will, once I know what to call you.”

Danny narrowed his eyes, somewhat tempted to try a punch after all. “I asked you first!”

“After you insisted I was not correctly addressing you. If you are not Pariah’s new little foundling, I can’t say I know who you are either.”

“It’s Danny Phantom. That’s all.”

“Nonsense. A ghost with no title would not be wandering freely in Pariah’s Keep. You are hardly ‘just’ anything.” The ghost paused to lean on the strange staff he carried, which just looked weird considering he didn’t even have legs.

“Maybe I don’t want to be anything else, okay? I gave you a name, so who the heck are you already?”

He chuckled instead of responding right away. “Wanting something to not be true does not suddenly make it false. Regardless, I am Clockwork.”

Oh come on. This guy gives him a lecture about titles and then doesn’t give his. Did all ghosts have to be super annoying? “The old and obnoxious?” He muttered, backing away a bit. He didn’t really think this Clockwork guy was going to attack him, but he was super done with having to listen to him. Danny actually planned to just turn away and just wipe his hands of the whole encounter. Except he couldn’t. His body froze completely. He couldn’t even blink or move his eyes. Wait. Was the fire sitting on the torch frozen too?

The old ghost was not frozen. He moved easily, slid close and stopped hunching over, beard seeming to wither away as he approached. Clockwork stopped only a hair’s breadth away, a newfound youth and vigour in his voice as he spoke. “The Master of Time. If you were not the young coward Pariah claimed, you would no longer exist.”

There was a pressure at his throat, something he couldn’t look to see, something he couldn’t even react to being this utterly frozen. He couldn’t even angrily shout that he wasn’t a coward, or shake in fear that apparently a ghost that just controlled time was a thing. A scary thing that wanted to mess with him.

“Perhaps you should consider what you are, Phantom. Lying to yourself will only go so far.”

Then he could breathe again, already swinging  at the empty air Clockwork used to be in. Which was really stupid, but what else could he do?! He was terrified! He just wanted that ghost to get away from him as quickly as possible. So, Danny sort of got what he wanted, with the ghost apparently gone. What was that even for? Why the threats and the mocking? What had he done to deserve that, really? Exist?

He should go practice. Just because that’s what he was going to do anyway. Mostly to push away the awful impulse to run to Pariah, to be protected from Clockwork and everything he said. To run off to him like some baby scared of the monster under his bed. Maybe at home he’d do that. Not here. Not to Pariah. Just because he wanted his parents right now didn’t mean he wanted Pariah.

Though Clockwork was much, much scarier than any bed monster. Yet just as harmless, if the ghost was implying that he couldn’t defy or hurt the ghost king either. Even if being considered the ‘same’ as Pariah was not comforting at all.

He should not be looking forward to having a ghost sword talk in his head, but it seemed way better than any of his other options right now. At least Pariah hadn’t left it lying discarded on the floor, but the sloppy hanging job of the scabbard made it look likely the sword would end up on the ground sooner rather than later.

Strange. I did not think you cared much for swordplay.

Good to know he’s apparently totally obvious to even ghost swords. “I’m not, I just needed…” Danny trailed off, wondering how dumb he looked right now. Talking at nobody, while holding a sword. That he was still pretty sure belonged to the Fright Knight, who was going to try and beat him senseless again once he found out.

A distraction. I can help with that.

“Thanks.” It was kind of weird, that he meant it? This wasn’t something he’d do on his own, wasn’t something he was even slightly interested in. Wasn’t his idea the first time, even. Right now though? Doing something physical and not thinking too much was incredibly tempting. Listening to the sword’s suggestions and just concentrating on moving helped. Made the questions and worries gnawing at his mind quiet a little. Let him pull away the guilt that was waiting every time he thought of Amity Park.

Maybe it wasn’t right, to not want to think. He just needed a break. So he swung, feigned parries and slashed until he could feel an ache start crawling up his arms.

You are improving. I could offer suggestions on how to use a blade in the air next time, if you like. You’re less fragile now.

“I guess? I’m probably not gonna make a habit out of this.” Or at least, he probably shouldn’t. He wasn’t doing anything to help fix his problems swinging a weapon he had no intention in using.

It’s up to you.

“Hey um,” Danny stopped, realising another problem he hasn’t even considered. “Sorry, do you have a name, or something? I was going to ask something and then I realised I didn’t actually know if you had one?”

You already know it. The Soul Shredder.

Oh great. So it totally WAS the same sword. Even though it wasn’t chatty the last time he stole it. “So the Fright Knight is totally going to come after me. Great.”

You fear an impossibility.

“Uh. You are the Fright Knight’s sword, aren’t you? Just kinda broken?”

In a manner of speaking. I am the blade you foolishly stole, yes.

Danny frowned, unsure what that was meant to mean. That was a yes or no question! “Did you get broken fighting the other ghosts, then?”

No. This happened after all of that ended.

That didn’t make much sense. Did the Fright Knight break his own sword for not doing enough? Not that it could be a sword’s fault if he messed up. “Do you need something to fix your blade or something? Or is it fine since you do the whole ‘send people to doom dimension’ instead of like, chopping people up.”

Why do you ask?

“Uh. Because you talk? If you were a person with big wounds, the right thing to do is help them, right?”

Considering I was so damaged for failing my duty, the ‘right thing’ would be to leave me to suffer the consequences.

Well that was just unfair. The sword didn’t seem to be able to do much beyond talk and offer suggestions. How did a sword ‘fail’ at anything if they just had to get swung by someone else? “How’s that fair? Anyway, is there a way to help fix it?”

You help by allowing me to assist you. More than that is unlikely.

“Like I don’t have a lot of better things to do. You could tell me about ghosts and stuff in return or something?” Danny tried again, unsure why the Soul Shredder apparently didn’t even want help. He’d like to be able to help someone, anyone instead of just doing whatever Pariah told him to do.

I will not recover properly if Pariah does not allow it. If he wishes for me to be  broken and weak, then that is all I can be. As I said, what you are doing is enough.

“Keeping a weapon that can just make people vanish broken for no reason is stupid.”

You should try to stop that tendency to question him. Once Pariah decides that behaviour is not acceptable, you will suffer for it. Just because you do not know the reason does not mean there isn’t one.

“I won’t let him control me.”

He already does, boy.

“No!” He couldn’t help saying it. He had to deny it, even if he knew something was obviously wrong with him. “It’s not the same, I’m still me.”

You are changed. I know you do not want to hear it, but you will suffer if you won’t stop running from it. He will let you think you are accomplishing something, think you aren’t doing what he wants and then crush you with the truth of it.

“Why bother doing that if you’re right? If he can just force me to be different, why not just do that?” It couldn’t be true, right? The sword wasn’t like him exactly.

To keep the parts of you he likes intact. Forcing you to obey completely might just have you give up. He wants a fighter. So he’ll let you break your own will to oppose him.

“You just sound like the jerk in the cloak.”

Purple?

“How did you guess?”

Clockwork may be bound to assist the throne, but is freer than us. He lost an eye and was marked, but does not owe anything to him. To him, we are simply obstructions. Try not to take anything he says personally.

“That doesn’t make him better than us!”

We will perish in order to serve Pariah. If one plans to get rid of the king, getting rid of ghosts like us only helps their goal.

Like that made it okay? Okay to threaten him, mock him, to think of him as just something to kill? “That’s not fair! We’re people too, we’re not mindless.”

I am literally a sword.

“You still count. You sound like a person that thinks and has feelings to me.”

Your generosity is nice, but uncommon. Do not expect others to treat you as more than a smaller Pariah to be crushed without mercy. Perhaps as something to torture or capture to use against your father, if you’re lucky.

The surge of alarm was hard to bite down, ignoring how his chest ached. Just another reminder he needed Pariah, had to stay near him, that he’d never be safe without him. No. That wasn’t true. He had other people, he had friends. “Then I just have to show them I’m not like that.”

You will be, eventually. I’m sorry. That, or be disposed of.

The way the sword seemed so certain wasn’t helping at all. “Is that what happened to Fright Knight?”

Essentially. You will not see him again.

“Why? For not keeping me out?”

No. They took a chance on the wrong ghost. Pariah’s response was not unexpected.

“Wait, so that means he was able to defy Pariah then, right? So I can too.”

Again, you see the results of what happened. It is not worth the attempt. It was a foolish gamble. Clockwork’s warning was just a trap.

Danny scowled at the blue ghost’s name. “So he messed with you and the Fright Night too?”

He was told the one to succeed Pariah will not be a ghost. At first it sounded like no one would ever overcome him. Of course only a ghost could replace the king of ghosts.

“So he told you something he made up then keeps trying to defeat Pariah anyway? What is with that guy?”

That’s what I thought. Until we met.

“Huh? What about me?”

You were no ghost. Not entirely. A boy that was not quite human, and not exactly a ghost. Something that would fit the prophecy.

“I don’t get how that made Fright Knight do something to annoy Pariah?” Since he sure did see the knight helping to invade Amity Park!

He discovered there was another like you. One that was not a mere child. 

“Vlad’s the worst! Also a jerk who helped him get out in the first place. Why help him ?”

If you wanted to try and usurp your king by assisting the probable ‘next’ king, one would not try to urge a child to take that battle. Of course Plasmius was consulted instead.

“Oh. Not that it really mattered, I ended up fighting him anyway.”

Losing the only other chance, yes. I realise Clockwork was simply baiting me now. He truly meant none would succeed Pariah. Perhaps he intends to rid the Infinite Realms of having a king entirely.

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but shut it without speaking. The Soul Shredder was a sword. They might not know for sure that he wasn’t just a ghost. “Why does he want an heir then? If no one is going to succeed him?”

The sword was silent, a twinging pulse making Danny’s fingers feel numb. 

“Is it something bad?”

I just…do not expect you to last long enough to take his place. Yet I try to warn you anyway.

“So what, you just believe anything Clockwork tells you? Maybe he’s just wrong!”

He sees all of time. Nor does he give information like that freely. When Clockwork speaks, only a foolish ghost doesn’t listen.

“Even when he’s clearly against you?”

Especially then. 

So much for possibly starting to feel better about this whole thing. Instead he just got a pile of new things to fear. Even the only semi decent person he’d gotten to see around here didn’t think he could do anything. “Well, I still want to try and help. Do you think Pariah would let you get fixed if I wanted you to help me if I had to go out?”

He might prefer you choose another weapon.

“I’m not really interested in another weapon. You can’t kill people.”

Not directly, true. It is not exactly painless, however.

“Pain is better if the other option is dying.” Danny paced a little, wondering if it would work. Pariah did let him go to Amity Park, even if it hadn’t gone well. He apparently thought Danny should use a weapon, so wouldn’t asking to keep using the Soul Shredder be close to what he wanted? Even if he was punishing the sword for something the Fright Knight did. “Are you okay with me asking? Or do you like staying here more?”

Sitting unused is unending pain. I have no objections. Though I remind you that if you think you are outsmarting your father, he likely wants you to think that.

“So I’ll ask. Maybe you can help me figure out a way to keep him from killing everyone.” He wasn’t going to acknowledge that warning about ‘outsmarting’, he wasn’t doing that. He was just trying to protect the people he cared about. If that happened to be something Pariah didn’t want, well that was his problem.

Chapter Text

Finding Pariah was easy. Too easy, like he just sort of knew where he was somewhere inside him. A connection he was stuck with, like the ghost king had leashed him. The lead might be long, but he knew it was there. The traitorous part of him liked that, to always know where safety and home was, so Danny tried to just ignore that impulse. All the more reason to explain why he wanted to help the Soul Shredder instead. 

The king had listened patiently, then picked the boy up to join him on the throne before speaking. “So you prefer that damaged bit of scrap metal because of its inability to be lethal. Not in spite of it.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone if I don’t have to.” Danny said, trying to tense up when he was grabbed. Yet the humming joy that lived in his scar was awake and delighted to be close to father and have his attention. He had to focus and stop thinking things like that.

“A merciful ghost. You are young, after all.” He let out a hum, as if considering the request. “I suppose it might be serviceable until you outgrow it.”

Danny frowned, unsure if he was annoyed more by the implication he would be fine with murder or being thought of as a little kid. “I’m not gonna start thinking killing people is okay.”

“Oh, you’ll learn some cannot be reasoned with. That mercy can turn into agony for you and your subjects.” He paused to deposit Danny on his shoulder to keep his hands free. “Were you ever told why the Infinite Realms are at war, son?”

“It isn’t. You’re the only one who says it is.”

“Wrong. Just because ghosts chose to hide, to run and give in does not make the war over. The humans wanted to eliminate us so badly that they pretend we do not exist.” Pariah’s fury made Danny shudder, as if he could feel the anger that wanted to pull him apart. “Thousands of harmless spirits slaughtered and called vile monsters just for existing. That world was not just for them! They took it from us, because they could. If eliminating an entire species is not an act of war, my son, what is?”

“No, seriously, people weren’t pretending! Everyone made fun of me and my sister because of…because they said ghosts existed.” Danny struggled, frustrated he could talk about Jazz but not say his parents. That didn’t even make sense! “I’ve never heard anything like that, even from ghosts! If there was some war, no one else remembers it.”

“Plenty remember. Ghosts who are too cowardly to look at the defeat in their past and pretend this is how things have always been. Those who pretend things are better when we are isolated and forgotten.”

Well, Pariah sure seemed to believe what he was saying, even if Danny sort of doubted it. How could humans fight ghosts and win? If it wasn’t for people like his parents being ‘weird’, they wouldn’t have weapons that worked at all! Besides, Pariah had been sleeping for ages, right? Anyone he was mad at was probably super dead. Or a ghost. “Soooo you’ll let me fix up the Soul Shredder a bit, then?”

“I’m loath to let you be so ill protected, but I suppose even that weapon is better than nothing at all. However, it was broken for a reason.” He paused, leaving Danny to wait uncomfortably about what sort of catch there would be. “You cannot fix it for free. Any help you give will demand a price. That way it will be less likely to try betrayal a second time.”

His stomach twisted at the demand, choosing to stare at his feet. He didn’t actually know how to help the sword to begin with, but the idea of only helping to force the sword to obey him seemed skeevy. Like, it was a sword. They couldn’t do much to ‘betray’ him anyway. Couldn’t he help just because it was the right thing to do? “Well I’ve never done anything like that before? I just want to make sure they don’t break, is all.”

“It is just a tool son. Just because it speaks does not mean you need to think of it as a ‘friend’.”

How nice of the ghost king to remind him how nasty he could be.“They seem fine to me.”

“Yet I expect it’s hiding how it already knows you.”

Huh? “No? Like I stole it, it’s pretty obvious how they know me.”

“Go ahead and ask it if  Fright Knight is a name, or a title. Then you might not be so generous with it.” Pariah’s grin only made the king look like he was mocking the boy. “I will teach you what to do. It is up to you if you actually chose to help the little traitor.”

Danny kept rubbing at his eye after the lesson, an ache refusing to leave the left side of his face. Even if he was apparently charging up energy in his hand, it kept making his eye burn. Apparently that was normal? Even if he didn’t really intend to use something like this. He’d rather heal people without dragging a favour out of them first. He still didn’t get how it was different from using ectoplasm to shoot or make a shield. Trying to find the ‘centre’ of a ghost was a weird thing to picture though. Whatever. If the talking ghost sword didn’t mind, he’d try. He’d need the help.

Pariah said he was allowed to try and convince Amity Park to stand down again. That he could decide how much ‘watching’ they would need and make the king back off, if he could convince everyone to put their weapons down and not try to fight him. He had to try. He couldn’t just watch Pariah set the whole town ablaze, empty the town entirely because he only cared about the portal, not the humans that lived there. Danny didn’t want to openly support the king, didn’t want to try and order the town around- but he didn’t have any other options here. He tried talking, and was ignored. With the Soul Shredder, he wouldn’t need to permanently hurt anyone. Scare people, probably. Just. Not really hurt anyone for real.

He hesitated near the sword, the small worry that the weapon was trying to trick him impossible to dislodge now that Pariah had said it. They sounded genuine to him? What had he meant by ‘actually’ meeting? Well. Better just ask,

Ah. So he does not oppose my assisting you.

“Are you sure you can’t read my mind? When I’m not thinking at you?” Danny asked, frowning a little. Everyone felt fifty steps ahead of him at all times, it was exhausting.

I am certain. I could tell by the changes.

“Changes?” Great. Now he’s a parrot.

You carry your father’s mark. So that you can use his skill for yourself, I assume.

Danny looked at his hands, then remembered that was really dumb. Gloves. He was always in his jumpsuit. Obviously he wouldn’t see any marks when he couldn’t see his skin. “I don’t know what you mean?”

Over your left eye. Much like Clockworks, or Pariah’s own when he still had that eye. You may want to invest in a hood if you mean to hide what you are, in the future.

He didn’t have anything to look at to check. It would explain why that eye kept itching, but left an uncomfortable weight on his lungs. He didn’t want to obviously be connected to Pariah, or that jerk or a time ghost. Yet the Soul Shredder seemed to think that mark would make it obvious to anyone. Would he really never be able to be seen as himself? “He didn’t tell me about that part.”

If it helps, you already had it. It’s just visible now.

“It doesn’t.”

My apologies.

“Yeah yeah, I know. Do you really not mind helping me? Since apparently I can’t just um. Fix those chipped edges without the whole…Pariah thing…”

I was aware, I am already bound to protect you as heir apparent. A reinforcement is not a dire requirement to allow you to loosen his punishment.

“I guess if you put it that way it seems pretty obvious.” It still didn’t feel great, but at least they didn’t seem to mind. “Do I have to do anything extra? Or can you handle actually fixing things.”

I know what to do. You don’t even need to focus too much on giving power, you aren’t exactly good at making sure your aura isn’t radiating into my hilt as it is.

“Sorry! Does that hurt you or anything?” Since when did he have an aura he had to manage anyway? Well okay, he did glow…wasn’t that just a thing ectoplasm did? It meant something?

No. You have much to learn, staying around humans so much was not very good for your education.

“Gee, thanks. I’d do better than you at dealing with humans!”

Only because you want to do more than strike fear into their hearts. Which is what you need now, isn’t it?

“It’s not to scare them! It’s just so Pariah doesn’t have an excuse to kill everyone because they’re ‘fighting’ him or whatever.”

Which you need to do, no matter the cost. In order to spare them, yes?

Danny frowned. He didn’t really want to do anything like this. There just wasn’t anything else. So the sword had a point. They’d understand once he explained, right? They wouldn’t just think he was an irredeemable monster? “Do you think it would actually work?”

Of course. They may dislike you for it. Yet they will continue to live.

“Okay. I might want some tips?”

They still had three days before Pariah Dark claimed he would attack. 

He and Sam had kept busy, as busy as they could be with their bruises and half crushed limbs. Somehow nothing was broken, but he almost swore something had cracked. Still, that was a physical hurt. They’d live, they’d get better.

What was worse was how Danny caved in seconds. How their too cold friend who kept saying he was worried about them, who acted like himself called that monster his father and willingly went with him. He claimed it wasn’t like Freakshow. That he wasn’t completely under control. Whatever that was, wasn’t his friend acting of his own free will. They had to fight back, they had to help him get away. How could they face his parents otherwise? Say their best friend was taken by a ghost and just give up?

So the town prepared. Even people who wanted nothing to do with fighting understood bowing to the ghost king would not get them home, or make things peaceful. They had shelters to hide in, more weapons than it really seemed possible to build, and the Fenton’s fury at their missing son seemed to drive them to work endlessly without rest.

It was terrifying. Still, he was sure they might have a chance. That they could save their friend and the town after he tried so hard to stop Pariah first. Now it was their turn.

Yet the ghost had lied. They had three more days, but sirens were blaring and warning of a high class ghost attacking. Maybe they should be hanging back, since they were still injured, but he couldn’t do that. Just in case Danny was around, so he could maybe catch him and get him safely out of the way. Tucker made sure the tracker was secured to his wrist and took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to.

The world was a cataclysm of green and grey, shot after shot ripping through concrete and steel. A place that should have been safe, a place the three of them had used to hide out and practice, already reinforced to make it a good place to store weapons.

The attacker had honed in on it like a guided missile and attacked with a fury that got anyone nearby scattering. Bricks crumbled and asphalt started to turn to stinking slag as the ectoplasmic blasts rained down.

He hoped they’d move it time to rescue something, anything. The explosion that could be heard across the city crushed that hope like a leaf underfoot. Anything stockpiled there would not have survived. Weapons, extra batteries and supplies, gone in an instant because of a single ghost that wouldn’t keep still.

“Tucker! They’re trying to get to every safe zone!” Sam’s distressed voice only confirmed what he didn’t want to hear.

“Why aren’t the shields up yet?”

“FentonWorks’ is up, but it isn’t going for that one even though it’s the obvious one. Val is going to try and cut them off but whatever it is is ignoring any attacks so far.”

“It’s not Pariah?”

“Too small to be him.”

He wondered if Sam was worried about the same thing he was. A small, fast attacker. No. It could be the Fright Knight, or something. He’d heard someone talking about something slashing at a lock.

Running was only tiring. The hurt twisting near his heart had nothing to do with his suspicions. The screams only strengthened his denial. Danny wouldn’t act like that. His friend wouldn’t hurt people on purpose.

Danny paused to breathe, arms trembling as the building collapsed. That took a lot out of him, and knowing he destroyed so much of his family’s work felt awful, but he couldn’t let those weapons exist. The people of Amity Park would be safer without them, so Pariah had no reason to attack, no reason to punish them as rebellious. Yet this was the easy part, the hidden storage locations, places he used. The difficult part was the next one. The one where he would have to make his loved ones understand. He wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

So he’d get Valerie to stand down first.

If you hesitate for even a moment, they will be on you.

Danny rolled his eyes as he unsheathed the sword, even as his grip tightened. He sort of doubted regular citizens would attack him immediately, but it would be true about Valerie. The yelling and scrambling should be unnerving, should upset him but he forced it down.

The shoddy door to the apartment complex tore off its hinges when he kicked it, the scream of metal and glass muffling some of the closer human terror. “I’m only here for Damon Gray. Stay out of my way and I won’t hurt you.”

Most fled, pushing and scrambling past one another, yelling things he had no interest in listening to right now.

“No! You keep back! I’m not letting you kill them after they’ve done so much for us!” Someone braced pointlessly against a stairwell door, glaring daggers at the boy. “Unlike you, ghost.”

He bit his tongue, having so much he wanted to say, but the longer he took would make this harder for everyone. He swung the Soul Shredder and tried to ignore the brief resistance as the blade cut through their side. Tried to ignore the terror in their eyes before they vanished, but the screams of those not targeted almost made him flinch.

Anyone in the way would be cut down. They wouldn’t die. They wouldn’t be seriously hurt. It was fine . He kept repeating it in his head as he swung past those who tried to block him from his goal, eyes gleaming as he finally spotted his target.

Valarie’s dad. A good person. Someone who’d recently helped him by making sure Valerie couldn’t get the Ecto Skeleton. Some repayment this was going to be.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just leave my daughter and these people alone. You don’t need to attack anyone else.” His hands were up and open, but his eyes were defiant instead of fearful. He was protecting who he cared about too. 

So they wanted the same thing, really. He grabbed the collar of his shirt before the man could rethink giving up so easily. “I won’t hurt her.”

It wasn’t a lie. He meant it. He didn’t want to hurt her. Dragging her dad into the sky with him had nothing to do with hurt. This was the only way to keep her alive.

Tucker’s throat burned as the contents of his stomach tried to escape, the grip on his gun slack at the sight of the attacked apartment. People screaming about people being vaporised in a single blow, how anyone who tried to stop the malignant ghost was simply gone. This was somewhere people lived, and the ghost didn’t care, just destroyed doors when it could just walk through them. To make a point. To scare them.

The ghost that was holding a man hostage was too high to reach, too high to see, but he could hear it. Valerie had gotten in contact the second she heard where their mysterious attacker had gone. Her home.

The voice is too painfully familiar to be anyone else.

“Put down your weapons or your father dies, Valerie.”

“Not if I-“

His grip tightened, making Damon gasp in pain. His gloved hand looks more like claws against the man’s throat,  the only upside being that he sways slightly less while being dangled in the air.

“Don’t listen to him honey, just get away-“

“Are your weapons worth his life? Will you abandon him?” The ghost talked over his captive, dead eyes fixed on the ghost hunter.

“You’re worse than a monster.”

“Pick, Valerie. Your family, or your gear.”

“Fuck you, you piece of shit.” Valerie spat, but slowly lowered her gun. The way the monster grinned only made it worse. “Look, I’m doing it. Just don’t hurt him.”

One green eye watched the weapon fall, but the ghost remained still. “Everything, Valerie. Land, drop everything, and I’ll release him.”

“You can’t trust him, just go! Keep yourself saf-“

“Stop lying to her.” Danny said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t trust this thing ! I’m not letting it hurt you dad! I’m not losing you too!”

“Valerie…”

“Hurry up, my arm is getting sore.”

“If you weren’t threatening him, my friends would shoot you until you were just slime on the floor, Phantom. You’ll pay for this.”

He raised an eyebrow, something in the sentence apparently interesting enough to get something out of the monster staring her down. Yet his voice remained flat. “I doubt it.”

Landing on the ground was a crushing, embarrassing defeat. Yet she couldn’t take the chance the ghost would drop him, attack back, or make him vanish like the other people he attacked. In any other situation, she’d fight the living slimeball. At least she had one consolation, Sam and Tucker were on their way. The second her dad was clear, they could waste the ghost or at least make the damn thing hurt. If only the weapons and gear she was dropping could be set to explode when the monster got close or something.

Not that the ghost did. He stayed far in the air, waiting with his prisoner. Apparently the creep wouldn’t even let her keep her suit, judging by the lack of movement.

“Move clear.”

Still ordering her around. While her dad’s eyes kept begging her to run instead. Like she could abandon him to this disgusting thing pretending it had feelings.

The moment she was two steps away a bolt of green slammed into her gear, quickly followed by more. Clearly it wanted her totally powerless, like making her drop everything wasn’t bad enough.

It took a lot of effort to not try and punch him when the ghost landed, grip only loosening when Damon’s feet were solidly on the ground. He actually paused as if to make sure he wouldn’t fall over before darting backwards. Watching.

“You aren’t getting a thank you.” She spat, standing as if she could actually protect her father if the ghost decided to attack again. “This won’t stop me.”

“It better. Pariah will do worse. Either you and everyone else get rid of your weapons, or I’ll do what I have to so he doesn’t kill you all.”

“Don’t you threaten me!”

“It’s not a threat!”

There was a tug on her arm, firm but gentle. Her dad. Trying to get her to move back, away from the fiend. To get back to safety with him. “I'll make sure everyone knows what sort of slime you are, Phantom.”

Phantom grimaced, but quickly got airborne before she could think about trying to give him a good clobbering anyway. “I don’t care! If they get rid of their weapons, good! Tell them what you want! That I wasn’t threatening you, that was a promise Val. I won’t let him kill you.” he kept blathering nonsense even as he crawled back into invisibility. “You or anyone else.”

He couldn’t breathe. It hurt too much. This was the right thing, the only thing. Upset was better than dead. He should know. He was like half an expert on that.

His thumbprint still worked to deactivate the FentonWorks security, easy enough to get to when you knew how deep the basement was to dive under the ground to dodge the shield.. Apparently his ghost form kept that little detail. It made things easier. His parents were running after where he already attacked, he’d have plenty of time to destroy everything in the lab.

It was noisy, messy, and made the guilt building up inside enough that he didn’t even want to be visible. They’d be crushed, but there couldn’t be anything left to rebuild with, or he’d just have to keep doing it again and again.

“Sam, something’s gotten in!”

Jazz was still here? No, he didn’t want to see her right now. He got enough, he could just run. He slipped back through the ceiling, he just needed to ruin the control panel and he could go.

“Danny?”

He froze, a bit glad he wasn’t breathing right now so he didn’t choke. Why was Jazz looking for him? He was probably assumed missing, not roaming around exploding basements.

“You disabled the security system, I know it’s probably you. What are you doing?!”

She sounded so hurt. Did she think he just died and came back as a ghost or something? At least she had her back to him, so he didn’t have to see her face.

He needed a way to get his parents gear too. Jazz had something at her belt too that had to go. It would probably work again. He shouldn’t say anything, but he couldn’t help croaking out a low, “I’m sorry, Jazz,” as he struck.

Today was hell. He didn’t have another word for it. Constant attacks, supplies ruined and weapons left smoking wrecks as the ghost struck again and again with precision. He ignored anyone who tried to stop him, or ripped through them to leave nothing behind. No one wanted to fight, not while that monster was loose and running circles around anyone really trained to fight.

The monster that dragged Damon Gray into the sky and choked him until Valerie bowed down. The monster that threatened to keep coming again and again if she dared to stand up to him, even after destroying everything she had.

The sick creature that possessed Jazz Fenton and held a sword to her throat until the Jack and Maddie were sobbing to let their baby go, that ignored them until their RV was a burning wreck and they swore not to build any new weapons. If they did, he promised they wouldn’t get Jazz back next time.

The twisted creature that was his best friend. Who did that to his own friends, his own family.

He and Sam should have done more, when they last saw him. Found a way to cure him. He had to be completely out of his mind to be like this, to do all of this. To make him absolutely terrified of someone he loved as a brother.

If he kept going as he was, he’d probably come after them next. Or worse, their families. Sam had joked that her mom could do with some scaring, but it was so obvious she was telling that joke for him, to try and make him feel safer. They just had to find Danny and stop him before that happened.

At least he was easier to track now that he couldn’t turn human. If he could still do that, if he was still human, would it have kept him from doing this?

It was out of the way, near the now wrecked warehouse they once practised in. A place with less people. Maybe he was luring them on purpose. Which is why Sam suggested they split up. To catch their once friend off guard if he was beyond help.

With the sword strapped to his back and a dark scar tearing across his eye, Danny didn’t really look like their friend. Maybe the green mess of a scar pulsing on his chest was meant to be a warning that his heart had been ripped out.

The boy blinked, and brightened once he noticed who had approached. “Tucker! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

His happy tone and loosened posture was so, so wrong. Like nothing’s happened. Is it a trick? Like he’s hoping Tucker somehow didn’t know how the ghost had been spending his day? “He?” It’s all he can force out as a question, gears in his brain all locking up at the contrast.

“You know. Him. Big guy.” He paused with a frown before clarifying. “The one that wants to attack everyone?”

Well, Jack Fenton was pretty big, too. “No, I’m fine. We just got bruised.”

“Oh thank goodness. I was really worried, he might have crushed you by doing that!” Danny looped around him quickly, as if checking to be sure.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t play along with whatever he wanted to do. Not when he could hear Val’s dad begging her to run away. “Danny. What are you doing?”

“Huh?” Danny rubbed at the back of his neck, head tilted. Normal. Like his friend.

“This. Acting like you’re you.”

“Because I’m me? Tuck, you’re not making sense here.”

What was wrong with him? How could he be this casual about everything? Did he not remember? “How could you do that to your sister? Your parents?” It was hard not to choke on the words.

The ghost flinched.

So he did know. “Are you actually Danny?”

His eyes flared at the question. Offended. Hurt. “Of course I am!”

“My friend wouldn’t do things like that. My friend isn’t some monster that terrifies people. My friend wouldn’t kill his sister to get back at ghost hunters!”

“I wouldn’t do that!””

Tucker didn’t care that he was shouting. “You did that! You threatened that!”

“I was bluffing! I wouldn’t- I couldn’t-” Danny’s voice cracked as he stared at Tucker, starting to curl his legs closer to himself. “You…you thought I would do that? Tucker, I-”

“What were you going to do if Val called your bluff Danny? What if she said no?” He wanted to believe him. He wanted his friend to still be in there, somewhere.

His stammering stopped. He blinked owlishly, stared down at his hands, then started again. “She was going to. She’s a good person, she wouldn’t risk it-”

“That isn’t what I asked, Danny.”

“Tuck-”

“What were you going to do if she didn’t cave to your threat?”

Danny winced, unable to look at him anymore. “I. I don’t know.” He kept staring at his hands until he started running them through his hair. “It’s really important! Pariah’s going to kill everyone, this keeps everyone safe! I don’t want anyone to die-”

“But you’d kill him to make everyone else give up. That’s what your threat was.”

“No!”

He’d gone past shock. All he felt was a cold emptiness now, watching what remained of his friend trying to excuse what he was doing. The ghost that couldn’t actually answer what he was going to do. .“Are you going to threaten my parents too? Hurt them?”

“I- I don’t want to. Tuck, you gotta understand! He’s going to kill you! Please. Just get rid of the weapons.”

“So if I don’t, you will. You’ll hurt my parents, who you know and care about you. Instead of helping us?”

“I- I- Please. I only had to do that because Valarie would never listen to me! Jazz, my…you know, they wouldn’t understand! You and Sam aren’t like that! You know why, I don’t have to do anything.” Danny tried again,gesturing as if that made things clearer.

Tucker let out a breath, long and slow, trying to not just start screaming in his face. “If you’re actually my friend, say it. Say what you’d do if I wanted to fight instead of letting some ghost king walk all over us.”

“If I had to protect you. If you wouldn’t understand, I’d.” Danny choked, looking at Tucker desperately. “I’d make you do it. To keep you, and your family, and everyone else alive! Not to hurt you! Please, Tuck, I’m not…I don’t want to do this!”

Tucker’s friend was dead. Just another servant to the ghost king. Maybe if they beat Pariah, he’d come to his senses. Right now though, there was a ghost. Justifying attacking his own sister. Threatening him if he didn’t give up after acting like his friend. Acting like that was the only option in the entire world.

He threw the baster at his hip at his friend, where it clattered to the floor. “Get out of here.”

“Tuck-”

“Go back to your father and leave us alone.”

“He’s-” Danny didn’t bother to keep trying, shoulders sagging as he looked at the weapon. “I’m really, really sorry.”

He wasn’t sorry enough to hesitate in destroying the discarded weapon, sword leaving it a crackling mess on the pavement. He looked like he wanted to say more, to get Tucker to stop glaring at him but didn’t get the chance as an ectoblast slammed into his spine.

“Don’t you DARE wear my friend’s face!” Sam’s furious voice came from the shot’s origin, eyes alight with a fire Tucker knew all too well. “Some monster that gives up and tortures people he cares about isn’t my friend. I don’t know what the hell you are, but you aren’t Danny!”

“Sam?’ Danny spun to look at what attacked him, but only took another shot for his trouble, this one causing him to scream out in pain.

Sam did have pretty good aim, and that scar was an easy target. It was already dripping ectoplasm from her attack, ghost boy still half stunned that he’d been struck a second time. “But I am-”

“No. You. Aren’t.” Every word was a dagger as she advanced, arms shaking from barely contained fury.

Danny’s grip on the sword tightened, the shudder that had been running through him slowing as he did. “Okay. I won’t.” He didn’t run. The shorter, narrower blade of the Soul Shredder gleamed for a moment and obscured the ghost’s face in a flash of green flame. Flat green eyes stared Sam down, the metal helmet obscuring Danny’s features. The Fright Knight’s helmet was the only warning she had before he pounced, slamming his fist into her gut.

Her fingers loosened from the pain and he ripped the weapon clear, smashing it against the ground as he pulled back and up, out of their reach. “You’ll thank me when you understand. You will. I promise.”

“Sam!” Tucker rushed to her side, ignoring their friend turned traitor to make sure she was alright from the sudden attack, trying to keep the sick down. That thing couldn’t be Danny. Not anymore. Not when he’d do this.

The only mercy was the fact he didn’t try to speak again.

Chapter Text

The pain was all consuming. Danny tried to reason it was just because he’d been shot in the chest after practically exhausting himself, that of course hitting a massive weak spot would make him feel awful. Yet he knew that pain was almost nothing compared to the words clinging to his brain.

That he’s not their friend. That he’s a monster for trying to protect them. Why did Tucker keep asking what he would do? Why did it matter if he wasn’t going to? That he was only bluffing? Even if maybe he wasn’t totally bluffing. Getting them to stop was the most important thing. Taking Jazz back to Pariah’s Keep wasn’t that big of a threat, was it? He didn’t want to bring people near the king of ghosts, but he wouldn’t actually kill his sister! How could they think he’d do that?

At least he’d been able to use the Soul Shredder to borrow a helmet for a little bit. So he couldn’t show how hurt he was. He should focus on that more, wonder why the sword offered it as an option. It was kind of a weird power for a sword. Just not now. He didn’t want to talk.

Well, he did want to talk, but not to anyone who wanted to talk to him. He was doing the right thing! He had to be. If he didn’t think Pariah would attack Amity if he didn’t come back, he’d just find a rock and stay there.

Maybe the keep really was home now. If Sam and Tucker didn’t want him around, his parents never would. The hurt didn’t stop, a constant ache even as he stumbled inside the castle. The comforting wave of safety was nice for a change. A distraction. So what if some ghost part of him was starting to like this place? Apparently he just had to get used to it, if he wasn’t going to be welcome anywhere else. Should he just sleep? Hope the pain eased enough to let him?

“You’re hurt again, little one.” Pariah’s voice quickly caught his attention, strangely quiet for the ghost. As he wasn’t the towering giant he usually was, instead on a more human scale.

“Doesn’t it hurt you to be all small like that?” Danny asked, willing to take any distraction right now. Even if it was kind of weird that the ghost king had apparently just been waiting past the entrance hall to greet him.

“Only a little. Surely not as much as you are suffering.”

Danny looked down, unsure if he should be bristling or grateful. Pariah had insisted people wouldn’t be thankful, so maybe he was gloating? It didn’t sound like it. He seemed…sad? Resigned, maybe. “I just got hit a few times.”

“I was hoping to protect you from needing to learn that truth on your own, son. Yet I know how much it hurts. How unexpected it is when those you want to help decide you only mean to do harm.” Pariah started to crouch down, arm half open as if to gesture for the boy to come closer. “Here, let me patch some of your wounds. You can tell me about the ones I cannot heal too.”

He shouldn’t. This was Pariah’s fault! If it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened! He’d be at home with his family, and his friends wouldn’t hate him and he wouldn’t be- not that he was actually dead. Yet he desperately wants a hug. He wants someone who isn’t disgusted by him to tell him it’s okay. The weird hum inside him is desperate to get close, to sing in harmony with the calming vibration the other ghost gives off. His arms look so welcoming. So much like Jack’s.

No one will know.

So he gives in, clinging to the ghost like a lifeline offered to a drowning swimmer, sniffing into his shoulder as he’s gathered up into a tight hug.

“Shh. It’s safe to let it out here, son. Feel no shame for your emotions, the castle will keep your secrets.”

He doesn’t really need the prodding, a comforting warmth almost numbing him from his previous hesitation. He was safe, comforted while his father took the worst of the pain. The song he only felt instead of heard promised him he wouldn’t be abandoned, he wouldn’t be alone no matter what thoughts boiled in his brain.  “I just wanted to help!”

“Even if they did not appreciate it, you helped me. I will not have to crush them all thanks to you, correct?”

“They can’t fight, not anymore.” He sniffed, a tangled web of guilt coming undone with Pariah’s soothing circles on his back. “You’ll leave them alone?”

“You’ve proven that you can manage it, so I’ll allow you to decide how to rule over them. As long as you are careful- I do not want to lose you. Especially not to monsters that reject the kindness you offer them.”

Relief lifted the heavy weight from his lungs. At least someone understood, at least someone still loved him, was grateful. Maybe the others would see the truth eventually too.”I will! I promise.”

“Thank you. I would not like you to learn a painful lesson about how humans always turn on us. You have suffered enough from that, I think.” He said, ruffling the boy’s white hair, the mess moved into a more sensible tangle as he continued to comfort him. “Would you like to know how I learned that awful lesson?”

Danny still didn’t think all humans would hate him, but he murmured a yes as he sunk into the love, warmth and safety he was being offered. He did want to know. Maybe it would tell him more about the king of ghosts.

“Once I thought they could be trusted to share. Ectoplasm wasn’t something difficult to obtain, it is not as if ghosts had an obvious advantage. Buildings like ours here were common enough. Not to mention the obvious fact that if we traded information and materials that bonds began to form. Allies would protect one another to shore up shortcomings. It was not perfect, of course. Yet they chose violence first.”

That didn’t really sound right to him, but he didn’t want to move or make him stop holding him, so he stayed quiet.

“They created a vile, agonising weapon. Something meant to only hurt us, something that posed no risk to humans at all. It was a war they wanted, a war that would end in eliminating us entirely.” Pariah’s voice went deep, barely holding in a snarl of contempt. “Ignoring that ectoplasm is something important and natural, something they need. Just because knowing they could destroy it would let them kill us easily.”

“I don’t know about any weapons like that?”

“Of course you wouldn’t. It fed on ectoplasm, on us. When we retreated, when the gaps between worlds were closed to the best of our ability, their vile weapon died.”

That sounded creepy. Something no one had any memory of?

“The king that ruled before my predecessor was killed in such a way. They wanted to ‘discuss peace’, ways to ‘better get along’. Their ‘gift’ was that hateful plant. A king, a ruler of all the dead cut low by a bouquet. Embarrassing and cruel, like they always were.” 

“Really?”

“Of course. The king before me just wanted to run and hide after such an insult.” He scoffed, but the tighter grip betrayed his fury. “Slaying them to retake our proper place as equals was the only real solution, the only way to get back from that crime.” Flames seemed to dance in his eye, even as the ghost looked away. “My softhearted mentor, my too kind fool of a friend slaughtered under a pretense of peace ? They wanted to accept that and flee? No. Son, if making that right, if refusing to allow a loved one to die in shame makes me a tyrant, so be it .” The heat lessened, but his grip did not. “I will act the same to protect you. No matter how soft hearted you wish to be.”

It was a relief, even as he battled with confusion. How a plant could kill what was probably a powerful ghost did not make too much sense, but the feelings that rolled off of Pariah like waves were too raw and painful to be some sort of lie. “M-My friends wouldn’t do that.”

“I hope you are right, little one. You must promise me to be cautious. To learn from the kings before you, so I do not lose you like I lost them.” Pariah was bigger now, but Danny still felt safe, even if he was lifted off the floor a little.

Part of him wanted to agree in an instant, to please him. Enough of him managed to hesitate, worried about making promises. He already just babbled some out before. “I’m pretty careful.”

“Good. Now you should rest, the damage you took was not nothing. I will help you heal, but rest will speed it along.”

Danny yawned, curling up against the much larger ghost. He didn’t need to worry or fear right now, and sleep sounded good. This could be home, for now.