Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny Fenton had not considered Maddie and Jack Fenton to be his parents for a bit over a year now.

Why? Well, it wasn’t exactly a fun or wanted decision to stop thinking of them as ‘Mom and Dad’ but it was—unfortunately—easier than it should’ve been. There wasn’t exactly a specific situation or reason, but rather many reasons over a span of time that contributed to his decision. 

It started off pretty simple, growing apart.

Which was natural, he was a teenager and teenagers grew apart from their parents—but tennagers shouldn’t be afraid to get close to their parents. Which was sadly the reality of it ever since Danny gained his ghost form and powers; making him a half-ghost and a half-human hybrid known as a Halfa. After all, his parents were ghost hunters and he was a half-ghost, which made a bit of a natural barrier with his secret. However, it went a bit deeper than just that. Danny did honestly make an effort to reconnect with his parents, but they were always too focused on ghosts and their inventions. His parents were always eccentric about ghosts, but when they spent all day in the lab and talked about dissected and harming ghosts—that obviously were sentient, emotional, and beings who could feel pain and such—didn't exactly make it easy to have a nice conversation with them.

They had never been the best parents by far, forgetful and a bit oblivious at times—but that was just how they were. At least, that’s what Danny thought; but after talking to Jazz about how he felt like she was more of his mom than Maddie was, he realized just why exactly he felt that way.

Neglect. Maddie and Jack were neglectful—not purposeful by any means, but nevertheless, neglectful. Barely remembering Danny’s birthday, Jazz’s graduation, barely gave them any attention, acknowledged them unless it was something huge, or it had anything to do with ghosts.

It made Danny break away even further, and it hurt for him to do so. He loved his parents, he truly did, but they just weren’t…well, parents. It was a hard process, but he eventually did find people who treated him like a son and cared for him. 

One of those people was Clockwork, the Master of Time—who went against the Observants for the sake of Danny’s future. On Danny’s birthday last year, when Jazz was away at college and his parents were in the lab, Clockwork had stopped by; appearing in Danny’s room with a slice of cake and a single candle. It was a bit odd to see the Master of Time not just outside of his Tower—let alone outside the Ghost Zone completely—but Clockwork had snuck away from the Observants to wish Danny a happy birthday when he saw how lonely the boy looked.

That was the day Danny felt a bond with Clockwork. Not only had the Master of Time done so much for Danny, but he started acting as a dad to him. He left notebooks filled with writings to help him when he felt sad, each entry had a date on the day and time Danny needed a boost of positivity or some good advice, and that’s when he would read them. Clockwork adored the boy, and it wasn’t a hard decision for the halfa to accept him as his father figure.

The second person was rather surprising, as it was his ex-arch half-ghost enemy, Vlad Masters—or Plasmius—as he went by in ghost form.

Their father-son relationship started after Vlad had listened to Danny rant about his parents, his struggles, school, ghosts, everything.

It had happened during a particularly nasty ghost attack a few months back; Dannny had gotten injured badly near Vlad’s Amity Park Mansion, and with nowhere else to go, he collapsed on his doorstep to be brought in and cared for by the elder halfa. It was through the healing process—and hearing Danny's ranting while they waited for the large amount of pain medication to kick in as a normal amount wasn’t enough for ghost halves—that Vlad acted like the very thing he had been trying so hard to be to Danny, a father.

His love for Danny’s mother, Maddie, had disappeared the moment her name left Danny’s mouth that night. She wasn’t the woman he once knew, and it hurt, but Danny was more important. Vlad had helped Danny study for tests by stopping by weekly and taking him to a coffee shop to go over the material and get some sweets. The ghost attacks had even gradually decreased with Plasmius now assisting when he could—although, when time seemed to lag or freeze for a second or two, it wasn’t just Plasmius the ghosts began to realize was helping Phantom.

At first, Danny was torn between Vlad and Clockwork acting as his dad, he didn’t want them to fight because of it. He was worried he’d have to choose between the two ghostly parental figures, but that worry had quickly gone away during a study session at a small bakery a year ago.

“Two slices of cake, chocolate, please,” Vlad told the woman behind the counter their orders while she nodded and went to retrieve the pastries as the two halfas sat down at a small booth off in the corner of the small cafe.

“Thanks again for helping me with math, I’m not very good at inequalities,” Danny pulled out his Algebra 1 book, smiling at the elder halfa.

“No worries, Daniel, I’m glad I can help,” Vlad returned his smile, reaching for his coffee before his entire body froze with his eyes focused on something behind Danny.

Danny raised an eyebrow, “Vlad?”

With no response from the elder halfa, the teen subtly glanced behind himself, trying to spot what Vlad was looking at then he saw it.

Well, not quite an ‘it’ but rather a ‘him’ in this case.

A man around Vlad’s age wearing navy pants, a white shirt, and a pale purple suit jacket over his white button-up. He had wavy, medium length pure white hair—reaching just past his jawline—that was styled with the upper half of his hair tied into a small ponytail by a dark blue ribbon and the lower half of his hair down. His eyes were crimson brown colored with his skin tone being fair with a bit of a tan to it, and an oddly familiar scar running through one of his eyes. The man held a black cane in his hand as he talked to the barista, his hand resting on the smooth, circular-shaped golden cane topper.

“Who’s that?” Danny asked Vlad, wondering if the man was someone he knew.

“Hm? Oh, I-uh. Not sure actually, he’s…he’s just…nice looking.” Vlad turned back to his coffee quickly, trying to hide his blush.

Danny noticed it.

“Nice looking, huh?” The teen raised his eyebrow with a mischievous grin on his face, “You think he’s cute?”

“Daniel!”

“It’s just a question!”

Vlad leaned back, “Even if I did, it doesn’t matter, back to the math problem—”

“Hello, there,”

The two halfas turned to the front of their booth, the man was in front of their table, smiling softly with a glint in his eyes.

“H-hello, c-can I help you?” Vlad tried desperately to compose himself.

He failed and Danny had to stifle his laughs by sipping his hot chocolate.

“Not quite,” The man smiled, “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Clockwork, Master and Ghost of Time,”

Danny spit out his hot chocolate, “C-dubs? That’s you?”

“You and Vladimir are not the only ghosts that have a human form,” Clockwork chuckled before turning to Vlad. 

“Plasmius, correct?”

“Yes,” Vlad stared at the humanly-disguised ghost, reminding the teenage halfa of how some of the cheerleaders looked at the jocks they had crushes on.

“Daniel and I usually have dinner once a week, but he has a busy half-life and cannot attend; would you like to join me?”

Danny smirked when Vlad stuttered out an eager yes.

The two chatted briefly before Clockwork excused himself as he had to head back to the Ghost Zone.

Clockwork grinned, “I look forward to our date,”

Vlad almost choked, “So d-do I!”

Once Clockwork vanished from sight, Danny proceeded to tease Vlad throughout the entire study session.

Vlad and Clockwork (or Horace Clockwork, as he would introduce himself in human form) had grown close quickly, becoming a couple within a year and a half and eventually getting engaged and married. Danny being thrilled and unofficially adopted as their son. At least it was unofficial in the human world, the ghosts had pretty much accepted and dubbed him as Vlad and Clockwork’s son. 

All three of them, despite not a single drop of blood that matched—ectoplasmic DNA as well—were family. It was a true family, and Danny loved it. 

It wasn’t long after before Danny found himself slipping up around Vlad, calling him ‘Dad’ at times and Clockwork would occasionally adorn the name of ‘Father’ before the young teen stopped trying to correct himself in entirety and simply called them Father and Dad.

Besides, ‘Father Time’ and ‘Father’ was too good of a chance to pass up for Danny.

It was, in total, one year and two months before Danny would have to stop himself from calling his biological parents ‘Maddie and Jack’ and had to stop himself from calling Clockwork (as Horace as he’d sometimes went out with Masters rather than Plasmius) and Vlad ‘Father/Dad’ when in public.

All in all, Maddie and Jack were clueless that their son had cut the small, thin, and fraying string that was their connection—most of that being due to Danny having hidden his status of son with Vlad and ‘Horace’ Masters from Maddie and Jack.

Phantom had done the same with Plasmius and Clockwork from the Fenton ghost hunters and the rest of Amity Park as well.

Well, he at least tried to—but Maddie did always have better aim than Jack.

Chapter Text

Danny had just finished a battle with Spectra, leaving him with some leftover feelings of anger.

She had been obsessed with Danny's small yet continuous resentment forming for the two eldest Fentons, but he still managed to beat her with minimum sadness and depression. He did have a bit of anger in his system, but anger he could handle pretty well. He would just have to wait for Box Ghost to show up sooner or later, and boom ! 

Anger Management, Ghost Edition

Which would’ve been fine, except Danny’s half-life was never that easy. Especially while he was in his Phantom form.

Now that most of Amity Park recognized him as a hero and that he was protecting and helping them, they had begun to treat him with respect. He’d get the occasional glare or a shuffle away from a few people when he floated by, but nothing too terrible like it was beforehand. Some people were even incredibly friendly to him, like he wasn’t a ghost at all.

A grandmother had baked him cookies once, she said he needed to get his energy up after fighting all day. Danny had written her a thank you note and hand delivered it to her the next day after a fight with Technus. It was worth missing Algebra class and the detention to see the lady beam and hug him tightly.

A few children would draw him pictures here and there when he’d stop by the park. He had begun to come by weekly now to say hello and watch over the kids since he once stopped a creep from trying to take a little girl a few months ago. He may fight ghosts, but he wouldn’t hesitate to fight someone non-ghost if they were hurting someone else—especially if they were preying on children.

Ever since then, a lot of parents began to trust him, thanking him and even bringing him leftovers in small containers and clothing to keep him warm in winter. Despite having a cold core and the winter not bothering him as much anymore, he’d always make the small extra effort to wear a knitted hat or scarf that someone had gifted to him. 

Danny kept every picture he was given by the children in a large binder, Jazz even laminated a few for him so they’d be in good condition for a long time. A younger parent had even come up to him last week with her little girl, the mother had smiled and thanked him for his service while the little girl handed him a school assignment as a gift.

‘My Hero is…’ and below the printed title in messy handwriting was ‘Danny Phantom!’ 

The little girl had written a report about him being her hero.

Danny hugged her, and it was the first time he allowed himself to cry in front of a civilian, a smile on his face the whole time.

It made the news later that night, as someone had recorded the interaction and it went viral. Clockwork and Vlad had visited that same night and had given him their own hugs and said how proud they were of him.

For the second time that day, Danny allowed himself to cry in front of people.

With all that, it was safe to say Phantom wasn’t Public Enemy Number One anymore, but to a few people (cough cough, Maddie and Jack Fenton, cough cough), he was still the enemy. So it wasn’t a surprise that they pulled up in their RV (long after Spectra had left and the fight was over,) to try and capture him.

Gone through this routine many times before, Phantom merely sighed and turned to Jack Fenton, who seemed to be the only one there.

“Hey, Jack.” He crossed his arms, trying to keep his tone light with minimum irritation, “Mind we hurry this up? The ghost is gone, I fought it, and I haven’t done anything bad. Ok?”

Jack furrowed his brows before shouting out, “Like I’d believe you, Spook!” 

Phantom sighed, “Literally ask anyone else,” his hand waved over the little crowd of people who came to watch the local hero’s fight, “I was fighting Spectra, the therapist ghost, remember?”

Jack just scowled, ignoring it when some of the people in the crowd backed him up, even Lancer, who had been walking by at the time, was trying to convince Jack of his innocence.

It failed, as always.

Jack raised the bazooka in his arms and leveled it at Phantom, who prepared to go intangible, though he didn't even really need to with Jack’s aim.

“Can I just go?” Phantom sighed once again, pinching the crook of his nose, “Please? I’m kinda tired today, and I don’t want to fight you, Jack.”

“No can do, Spook!”

Phantom groaned, readying himself to simply fly away before he heard a familiar click .

The sound of a trigger.

Danny whirled around, but everyone and everything seemed to be in slow motion, even himself.

He faintly heard the screams of protest from the crowd, the sight of police officers on duty nearby running towards him, even some teens tried to run towards the Fentons to try and stop them. Maddie had been behind him, Jack was just the distraction, and Phantom had fallen for it. 

Maddie had pulled the blaster’s trigger. 

Phantom didn’t have enough time to get away.

Maddie shot the blaster,

He got shot,

And Phantom fell.

Time seemed to have returned to normal the moment the blast hit Danny square in the chest, crying out loudly as he immediately plummeted to the crowd. 

It hurt , like being zapped by electricity, which he hated and was more sensitive to since the portal accident that had killed him halfway.

The blaster was powered a lot more than any other weapon of Maddie and Jack’s, so Phantom fell to the ground with his energy gone and powers useless in his exhausted and pain-filled state.

The ground was hard and sent jolts of pain up his back as he landed, hearing a small pop from his left shoulder summoned a loud screech of pain from him. His vision was blurring, he blinked to try and get the tears out of the way of his sight. Tears, it hurt so bad he was in tears . Maddie had a large and sadistic grin on her face as Jack bellowed happily. He just lied on the ground, this was it. He was going to be dissected or vivisected or whatever his so-called ‘parents’ wished to do to him. 

He heard the people crying in outrage, Lancer had somehow managed to have pushed himself to the front, standing in front of the Fentons with his arms out to stop them from approaching his injured form.

Danny silently thanked his teacher with all he had.

Sam and Tucker had tried to get to him as well, but the police officers held them back, glancing at Phantom’s form in worry, telling his best friends that it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Danny knew that, he could feel the joint of his shoulder out of socket, he could feel his green blood pouring from a large gash on his chest, surrounded by the horrid smell of burnt flesh from the blast itself. Danny’s lip was bleeding, from both biting it too hard from impact and to stop himself from crying out so loudly he would accidentally activate his Ghostly Wail.

“La-Lancer?” Phantom watched as the officers took over with Maddie and Jack, his teacher approaching him and kneeling.

“It’s ok, Phantom. Help is coming,” Lancer tried to soothe him, but Phantom knew that the ambulance siren he heard and the doctors in them could do nothing.

They had no experience with his kind, they were useless to him—but Danny kept on a brave face and gave a bloody smile that probably wasn’t as reassuring as he was going for.

“Thank you…” He croaked out.

“Almost there,” The English teacher pressed a handkerchief against the gash on his stomach, trying to stop the ectoplasmic blood from pouring out too much, “Hold on just a bit longer,”

“Not gonna make it,” Danny was slurring his words, pain clouding his thoughts and judgment. He could feel his core weakening, he knew he was in bad shape. Worse than ever before.

He was dying, fully this time. He could feel it.

“Don’t say that,” Lancer frowned, “You’re gonna be alright,”

Phantom glanced up, making eye contact with Lancer, thinking of nothing but how hard the teacher tried to push him, how much he believed in him when others gave up on the teen. How hard he tried to help him despite it seeming impossible.

If he was going to die, Lancer would know just how much Danny appreciated him before he did.

“Thank you,” Phantom smiled weakly, “For everything,”

“I haven’t done anything, you're the hero.” Lancer raised an eyebrow.

“Not that…thanks for…being there. Believing in me despite it all…”

The teacher’s eyes widened, “I don’t understand,”

“Always…” Danny sighed, “Believed in me. Wish I could…try more. Be better, so you’d be proud of me…so you didn’t waste your time on me…”

“Phantom…?”

Danny rolled his head slightly, making eye contact and smiling softly, “You…were…my favorite teacher…the best…I’d ever had…thank you…”

Lancer blinked, frozen and numb to the world even when an officer put a hand on his shoulder and led him away.

The ambulance had just arrived and was rushing over to get to him when Jack Fenton managed to break free of the officers and block them while Maddie approached quickly with another ray gun in hand.

“You’ve had this town tricked, but not us,” Maddie growled, “Say goodbye, Phantom !”

She spat his name, and everyone was yelling, officers running towards her, but the trigger was pulled and once again, Danny could only watch before he closed his eyes and braced for it.

A second passed…then another…and another. Still in pain, but no more so than before, Phantom opened his eyes. He was now being held in someone’s arms, he was pressed against the person and the gun Maddie had was destroyed, disintegrated into nothing but ashes almost. 

Everything was silent, nobody moved.

Danny glanced up, “Clockwork?”

The Master of Time stood before Amity Park, in front of the Fentons with Danny cradled in one arm, his staff in the other.

His staff crackled with green electricity, glowing dangerously and sparking loudly. The Ancient ghost had a look of pure anger in his eyes, one Danny had never seen before, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

Maddie’s eyes were blown wide, “Wha-what are you?”

Clockwork growled and the staff crackled again, a few jolts of electricity sprung off in his anger, “Do. Not. Touch. My. Son!”

His voice echoed loudly and angrily with a strong undertone of static laing his words, he had a look of pure murderous intent in his eyes.

He was daring them to challenge him, to defy him—to see if anyone was willing to go against him.

“Your son ?” Maddie glared at Phantom, who subconsciously buried his head into the older ghost’s chest.

Clockwork wrapped part of his cloak around him, covering the young halfa from direct view.

“You will not hurt him anymore.” Clockwork pointed his staff directly at Maddie, “Understood?”

“Or what? What could you do? You’re just some ghost!”

The staff glowed brightly, hissing almost with the immense waves of power it gave off. Clockwork himself glowed with a pure red aura. The crowd backed up quickly, and Maddie regretted her words almost immediately.

“My name is Clockwork, and I am the Master of Time. Overseer of Timelines, Guardian of Alternate Universes, and I see the past, the present, and all futures that could and will be—I see everything !” The Ancient ghost yelled, “And I can destroy you with very little effort, you will never hurt my son again. You will never approach him again, and you will never point a weapon in his direction. Ever. Again.”

Maddie nodded and backed up. 

“Father?” Danny whimpered, “where’s Dad?”

“He’s coming, my Starlight, he’s coming,” Clockwork’s tone softened, and the crowd smiled warily at the odd but sweet sight.

“Clockwork!” A shout was heard overhead and when a figure landed, a few gasps rang out. 

While Plasmius and Phantom had been close lately, fighting together and being friendly, they didn’t think much of it. Was Plasmius who Phantom meant when he asked for—?

“Dad!” Phantom smiled softly.

Plasmius looked different, he a white button up and black slacks, his hair wasn’t spiked up but in a lower ponytail, and he had reading glasses on.

The Wisconsin Ghost. Had reading glasses on. Plasmius had reading glasses on.

The laughs covered by coughs were numerous and understandable.

“Daniel!” Plasmius took Phantom from Clockwork’s arms and hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting him, Clockwork’s hand still on Phantom’s back as it glowed slightly, the wounds on Phantom slowly beginning to heal.

Everyone could see the relief on both ghosts’ faces, Plasmius more so while Clockwork just looked happy he was alright.

“Who did this?” Plasmius growled, turning to Clockwork. 

“Plasmius, no killing.” Clockwork put his staff’s end on the ground, leaning against it slightly with only a bit of an amused expression on his face.

The way the Time Ghost said it was like a wife scolding her husband, and a few chuckles rang out.

The crowd then had a mass realization all at once, Phantom called Clockwork his Father and Plasmius his Dad, were the two older ghosts married? Was that something ghosts even did?

“No killing,” Plasmius agreed.

Clockwork raised an eyebrow, an almost humorous gesture from the many people who knew they gave that look to their partner almost daily.

“No maiming either,” the Time Ghost said.

Plasmius was quiet.

“Plasmius.”

“Hmm?” The ghost questioned innocently.

A few chuckles and laughs covered by coughs from the civilians could be heard.

“No maiming,” the ghost said firmly.

“…not even slightly?”

“Vladimir Rowan Plasmius!” Clockwork scowled.

“Ooooo!” Many teenagers and younger people in the crowd could be heard as they taunted the ghost playfully.

“Stop that! I am a grown man!” Plasmius turned to the crowd, addressing all those who were making the sounds, but it only caused more laughter in retaliation.

“They know who’s in charge,” The Time Ghost grinned.

“Clockwork?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t encourage them,” 

More chuckles. 

“I live to entertain,” the Ghost shrugged before beginning to fly away.

The last words heard were from Plasmius before they disappeared completely from sight and had caused a few more laughs, “You don’t live at all! You're a ghost !”

Chapter Text

A few days passed since Phantom was last seen, and Danny Fenton had been spending ‘bonding’ time with his godfather, Vlad (Rowan, as Danny had snickered upon finding out later) Masters. 

Six days later, Phantom did not return with no ghost attacks in sight.

However, his parents did return on day six. 

The Casper High students were visiting the local County Court for their Civics and Government unit when the two ghosts showed up.

Lancer was going on about Democracy and a Judge had allowed them to watch a case be brought upon them. The students had filed in, sitting in the empty jury box and watching as lawyers and people came up with their cases. It was pretty simple, a person would come up, present an issue and/or case, and then the Judge would give them a court date for the trial, and then they left.

A repeating cycle.

The high schoolers themselves weren’t paying attention at all, in fact, for once in all their lives, they were talking to each other.

The jocks were talking with the nerds, the vegetarians and vegans with Tucker, the goths with the cheerleaders, and so on.

They all had a conversation with a topic they all—for once—viewed as important.

“You think Phantom’s ok?” Kwan asked, “He looked pretty bad,”

“He’s gotta be! He’s a hero!” Dash insisted, but doubt was laced in his words.

Paulina whimpered, “He looked so….hurt,”

Everyone nodded.

“I can’t believe they’d do that,” Sam growled, “I knew Maddie and Jack didn’t like him, but this is way too far.”

“Yeah,” Tucker agreed, “Even Jazz and Danny, their own kids, know Phantom is a good guy!”

A small twist in wording, Danny knew Phantom was a good guy because he was Phantom and Jazz for similar reasons.

Sam and Tucker had been filled in by Clockwork and Vlad about Danny, that he was alright but tuckered out. (Clockwork said Danny insisted that he had to say that to Tucker, and the two human friends could hear Vlad and Danny laughing in the background at the passed-on message pun).

Some things never did change, and they were sure glad they didn’t.

Star sighed, “You guys ever think about Phantom’s parents? The Wisconsin Ghost and that Time Ghost?”

“Plasmius and Clockwork,” Mikey pointed out, “And, yeah. Imagine finding out your son got shot by two people in the very town he tries to protect,”

“That must be so hard,” Valerie frowned, she’d been feeling guilty for a long time. They had made peace, her and Phantom, but she felt terrible even more knowing she had once hunted someone’s child, even if it was a child of two ghosts rather than humans now.

“I guess we didn’t think about the fact that. I mean—” A girl named Clara started, “—Phantom is a kid . We see him as a ghost, but he really is a kid. He was somebody’s kid, and he died .”

Everyone was silent.

“We know he’s a ghost,” Star nodded, “But…I guess we really never thought much about the fact that he really is dead. That he died so young.”

“He showed up for the first time a year ago,” Kwan looked down, “Do…do you think he died a year ago? That he…lived here and then died?”

Nobody said anything.

“Do you think…we might have known him? I mean, he looks our age. Or at least one of us have seen him before? When he was human, when he was alive?” A goth boy named Shawn asked.

Again, silence.

“Imagine walking by a kid, a normal, happy kid our age…” Valerie put her head in her hands, “And he might’ve died the very next day, and we’d never know. We might have seen Phantom the day before he died. Or worse.”

Valerie glanced up, eyes wet with tears, “Maybe we saw him the day he did die.”

A few kids paled, some people started to sniffle, couples and friends squeezed each other’s hands.

The fact anyone they walked by that was their age could’ve been what is now Phantom, and they never knew, was both frightening and saddening.

“He always looks so happy, so alive ,” Paulina sniffled, “He always smiles and makes jokes, you’d never guess if he didn’t have ghost powers that he was… dead. ”

Kwan nodded, “He once threw a football with me in the park when my dad had to work late, I was really upset. Phantom saw me and flew down, he threw the ball around with me for a bit and made stupid jokes, they made me laugh and I forgot about my dad for a bit,”

A few kids nodded, sharing their own tales of how Phantom saved them.

In more ways than just fighting for them.

“I was really angry one day,” Valerie recalled, it had been a few months after they made peace, “and I just–I just needed to kick and punch something, y’know?”

A few people nodded, relating.

“I must’ve looked so mad because Phantom flew down and told me to go to the old warehouse on Lou Street, y’know the big abandoned one?”

Seven or eight people nodded, they either lived on the street before it or knew of it from passing by occasionally.

“I walked in and Phantom wasn’t there. But get this, a bunch of gear was. Boxing gloves, a punching bag, some mats, and a bunch of training stuff.” Valerie smiled a bit, “He left a note on a punching bag, said that he had used the place to train a few times, but he thought I’d make better use of it, and that there was a key under that mat outside. I was welcome anytime I wanted. The stuff inside was mine for use and keeping.”

Valerie looked down, “I counted over two hundred bucks worth of training equipment in there, and he gave it all to me.”

People began to smile and cheer up, they shared their own stories of Phantom helping them, or retelling some joke or pun they’d heard him say. Mikey even had a few pictures of Phantom eating french fries and sticking out his tongue at blob ghosts when he thought no one was looking.

“Is he drinking a milkshake?” A girl giggled at one of the pictures.

“Everybody loves milkshakes, I salute you, Phantom!” Tucker joined in and gave a mock salute, trying to keep the mood up while everyone laughed.

“Oh, nevermind, he’s eating carrots, gross .” Tucker stook out his tongue in disgust when the picture swiped to a new one while Sam smacked his head.

Everyone laughed.

It was ironic, almost. The ghost boy who everyone once believed was tearing Amity Park apart, was the same one who they now adored and was bringing them together as one. In that moment, there were no nerds vs jocks, or goths vs cheerleaders, or populars vs weirdos.

There were just kids laughing at dumb photos of a hero they all admired.

Not even Lancer had the heart to tell them to stay quiet, the Judge himself smiled when he recalled his own moment where Phantom cheered up his little girl when some kids were making fun of her.

If there was one person—or ghost—who could bring everyone together in the entire world, it was going to be Danny Phantom.

Chapter Text

Eventually they did have to start paying attention, so they put away the phones and watched the court.

And boy were they glad they did when they saw the court doors slam open.

Upon the doors slamming open, Plasmius walked, not even flying, into the room while wearing a black suit. Clockwork wearing a dark purple suit behind him, a pocket watch slightly poking out of his vest’s pocket. Surprisingly, Clockwork was not wearing his cloak, revealing wavy white hair reaching barely past his jawline that had the front pieces of his hair smally braided and pulled back, connected at the back of his head, pulling the hair out of his face while remaining down.

They looked determined if not a bit angry.

Plasmius held a thick file in hand when they approached the Judge, everyone clearing the way quickly for the two ghosts.

Silence.

“M-may I help you two?” The Judge, Judge Mars, asked.

“Yes,” Plasmius said calmly, “I believe you can, we’d like to bring a case forward.”

A reporter who was in the room motioned to the camera man, who trained the recording camera on the ghosts and the judge.

“And what’s the case?” Judge Mars swallowed, reminding himself that they were Phantom’s parents, and they wouldn’t hurt him.

Hopefully.

“Pressing charges and a restraining order,” Clockwork interrupted, “Against Madeline and Jack Fenton, restraining them against Daniel James Phantom.”

Everyone’s eyes blew wide, the Judge quickly composing himself.

“And the charges you wish to press?” He asked.

“Attempted murder, numerous malicious and murderous threats, unethical experimentation, failure to use proper safety procedures within dangerous equipment, easily accessed possession of highly dangerous materials and weapons within their household, possession of harmful chemicals and radioactive substances, harassment, assault, child abuse on the grounds of neglect, and more.” Plasmius handed a folder to the Judge, “The details, Your Honor,”

Judge Mars grabbed the folder and flicked through it, “You said child abuse on the grounds of neglect? Why’s that?”

Plasmius shot a glance at Clockwork, who nodded and stepped forwards, waving his hands and conjuring a misty mirror, showing an image of Danny Phantom behind an alleyway after a fight. Suddenly, white rings engulfed the hero, and flashed.

Everyone’s jaw fell open.

Danny Phantom had just turned into Danny Fenton.

“Neglect of their own children, Daniel James Fenton and Jasmine Anne Fenton, the case involves Phantom due to…well, you saw. They are the same. Danny is a halfa, a half ghost and half human hybrid. Allowing him to ‘go ghost’ or transform into Phantom, his ghost form. It also gives him ghost powers, as well as inverting his palette design as Phantom.” Plasmius explained, “Phantom is Fenton, the evidence is here and in the file as well. Danny wished to come himself to demonstrate, but he is resting by my… insistence .”

“You threatened him no dessert for a week if he got out of bed,” Clockwork chuckled.

“Like you were any better,” Plasmius shot a look, “You were ready to tie him to a chair and leave him there,”

Clockwork looked away, “No comment on the grounds of a worried father,”

“Sustained,” Judge Mars commented with a small twitch of his lip into a smile.

Plasmius rolled his eyes before regaining his composure, “Is this enough, your Honor?”

The Judge looked up, worry evident in his features, “This is all very detailed, Mr…Plasmius?”

Clockwork snorted and Plasmius nudged him, “Just Vlad is alright,”

“Alright, Vlad. The evidence is incredibly detailed and well collected, you definitely have enough to sue the Fentons. But there is one problem with the neglect charges,”

The Judge glanced at the two ghosts, “If found guilty, both Daniel and Jasmine would need legal guardians and I’m not sure how… how exactly that works with ghosts, so to speak.”

Clockwork smiled, “The Ghost Zone is the home for ghosts, but saying Danny is still half human and Jasmine is fully human, Plasmius and I have created a home here in Amity, with our own stable and safe portal to access the Ghost Zone for my job,” 

The Judge raised an eyebrow, “Your job?” 

Clockwork nodded, “I watch over the timelines, I reside in the Time Tower of Long Now usually for that, but with the new house, it would be like heading to my job to come home afterwards.”

Judge Mars nodded, “Do you have experience with the human side of Phantom? You know how to treat human needs?”

Plasmius smiled, “We do, myself especially.”

“How so?”

“Daniel is not the only halfa, your Honor. I’ve been residing in Amity for over two years now in human form, and for over twenty years in Wisconsin previously.”

The cameraman fixated the camera on Plasmius as whispers broke out.

“He’s half human?” Kwan asked, Dash was still in shock from the whole Fenton/Phantom debacle. 

“I can’t believe he’s gonna reveal himself like that,” Tucker said, “Danny I get, he only didn’t reveal himself out of fear from Maddie and Jack.”

Sam nodded.

Paulina whirled around, “You two knew ?”

“Of course we knew, Jazz did too.” Sam snapped before softening, “Tucker and I were there…”

“There for what, Ms. Manson?” Lancer butt in, his own curiosity plaguing him.

“When Danny…died. Half-way, at least. The portal turned on while he was inside. It electrocuted him. He screamed so loud…we really thought he had died. At least, fully,” Sam looked down, Tucker nodded, “It was scary, his Ghostly Wail? It almost sounds like it. Just less destructive.”

Sam and Tucker hadn’t even told Danny his Wail sounded like his scream, it terrified them to hear it. But if they told him that, he’d stop using it completely, and it had got him out of seemingly hopeless fights before.

They wouldn’t let him get hurt because of their bad memories of that scream.

“Oh…” Lancer swallowed, Phantom’s words had been echoing in his mind for days now.

“You…were…my favorite teacher…the best…I’d ever had…thank you…”

Lancer had gone home that night and just stared at the wall with a drink in hand. He had never lost a student, or so he thought. Was he that bad of a person he didn’t notice a student of his died? Phantom looked so young, had he been in his class and then died after the year ended? He didn’t remember anyone named Danny Phantom, but he could’ve chosen a new name after death.

It haunted Lancer as he mourned that night for a boy he wished he would have known more—and now finding out that it was actually Danny Fenton? The boy who he was already so worried for? That he had tried to get to open up to him before? It only broke his heart even more, half-dead or not, he had still died in some way or another.

“You are a half-ghost as well?” Judge Mars blinked, “I’ll need to see your human form for proof of your claim,”

Plasmius gave a curt nod before black rings of light appeared at his midsection and traveled up and down his body, leaving Vlad Masters in his place. Following the shocked expressions, paled faces, and the few people passed out, everyone was staring at the elder halfa.

“Mr. Masters?” Judge Mars cleared his throat, “Uh–very well. Due to this…rather odd circumstance, both you and—Clockwork, was it?”

“Yes,” Clockwork nodded, “I can attend the trial in a human appearance, if you’d like,”

“No, no. That won’t be necessary, but thank you for offering,” The Judge coughed, “Anyways, the trial of The Ghosts versus The Fentons will take place tomorrow, due to such an odd situation. And due to the evidence presented currently, you have my permission to keep Daniel James Fenton and Jasmine Anne Fenton in your full custody until the court makes the ultimate decision. Maddie and Jack Fenton are not to see nor interact with either children until the verdict is reached.”

Judge Mars banged the gavel, “This is a public case due to the affects it would have on Amity Park upon the verdict, anyone is free to attend, and multiple eyewitnesses and such will be called forward if you do decide to attend. This is all,”

The court was dismissed and everyone was free to leave.

Chapter Text

“That’s a lot of people,” Danny’s eyes blew wide at the sight of many ghosts and humans alike standing outside the courtroom, conversing with one another as well as lawyers and workers in similarity who were escorting them to their proper seats and such.

“You’ve made quite the impact on many peoples’ lives and afterlives, my Starlight,” Clockwork ruffled his hair affectionately as Danny scoured the crowd, picking out the phases he knew as he, Vlad, Clockwork, and Jazz all walked in the courtroom together, sitting on the side labeled ‘Prosecutor’ as Maddie, Jack, and their lawyer sat on the ‘Defendant' side.

Some ghosts had taken to making their appearances a bit more human in nature; or at least making themselves shorter enough to fit through the courtroom’s doors— cough cough, Pandora and Frostbite, cough cough.

Aside from that, many ghostly faces were easy to pick out of the crowd; all of them taking their seats on Danny’s side of the room and ignoring the many glares of the eldest Fentons.

Johnny 13 and Kitty, surprisingly, were the first ones to actually speak to Danny as they both approached him; Johnny looking uncomfortable in a white button up and black slacks while Kitty wore a red skirt and black button up with slight ruffles on the ends of the sleeves.

“How ya feelin’ kiddo?” Johnny rested against the back beam of the wooden bench/chairs.

“Nervous,” Danny admitted as he fiddled with the cuffs of his suit’s sleeves; everyone was dressed properly and formally for the trial.

“You’ll be alright, Danny!” Kitty assured him as she set a hand against his cheek comfortingly, “You’re a brave and strong kid, and we’re all here to support you in this,”

“And if your folks try anything,” Johnny whispered with a smirk as Shadow appeared next to Danny, who flinched briefly at the ghost’s quick and silent entrance, “Shadow will cause a distraction while Kitty and me grab ya and we’ll get outta here faster than the judge can bang his gavel,”

Shadow gave him a thumbs up

Danny laughed, “Thanks Johnny, Kitty, it feels good to know you guys are there for me,”

“Always, kiddo,” Johnny grinned as he gave him a fist bump and Kitty hugged him before the two of them went back to their seats.

“It’s so…odd to see so many ghosts here at once,” Jazz whispered to him, she was sitting besides Danny and next to Vlad, who was on the edge as Clockwork sat on the opposite edge, 

Clockwork was in his ghost form and was wearing his usual attire while Vlad wore his typical business suit plus a red tie and Jazz wore a seafoam green pantsuit.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed with his sister, “Some of these guys I barely see outside the Ghost Zone,”

Pandora, in a shrunken height, waved with one of her four hands to Danny as she took her seat next to Frostbite; even Nocturne had arrived, with two of Walker’s goons watching him cautiously.

Walker himself had simply walked past them, barely stopping as he merely patted Danny’s head and said; “You’ll do good, kid,” and then left.

Danny and Jazz both subconsciously shied away from Spectra as she walked by them with Betrand and Clockwork had to help keep Lancer steady when he was introduced to Pandora.

Ghost Writer and Danny passed a glare between the two of them, Ember and Skulker gave him words of encouragement, Technus gave him a hug and exclaimed; “I’ll protect you, Ghost Child!” Before he went to his seat, Box Ghost gave him a rubix cube for his nerves and Lunch Lady commented on how he needed to eat more meat as she made eye contact with Sam from across the room.

Sam and Tucker were seated behind Danny, and they each gave him their own supportive words and affectionate hugs and such.

Judge Mars entered and they all rose, his eyes briefly widening at the sheer amount of ghosts present before he cleared his throat and everyone went back to sitting as he deemed the trial in session.

“The case of Maddie and Jack Fenton V. Masters and the Ghost Zone is in session,” A woman off to the side spoke, “The charges are brought forward by Vladimir Rowan Masters and the ghosts of the Ghost Zone against Madeline and Jack Fenton are the following: child neglect, many occasions of child endangerment, harassment, unethical experimentation, threatening of a minor, hunting a minor, possession of dangerous radioactive material, unsafe lab regulations, and more.”

The woman glanced up with thin, square shaped glasses, “The Court is now in session,”

Judge Mars nodded his head, “Madeline and Jack Fenton, you plead on the grounds of not guilty, would you like to call a witness to the stand?”

A lawyer stood up from her seat next to Maddie, she was wearing a soft green colored business pantsuit and had her curly brown hair tied into a high ponytail, “Yes, your Honor. We wish to call Mr Vladimir Rowan Masters to the stand,”

Vlad gave a small smile towards Danny and squeezed his shoulder affectionately as he stood up and pledged to tell the truth, Clockwork pulled Danny closer to him slightly.

“He is nothing but a stubborn man,” Clockwork whispered, “As well as a businessman, he will be alright, and you will be as well,”

Danny nodded, but his palms were sweaty and he felt himself subconsciously burying himself within the soft fabric of Clockwork’s cloak.

Vlad sat in the raised chair as the lawyer, Miss Jean, paced in front of him slowly.

“Mr. Masters,” Miss Jean cleared her throat, “You went to college with the eldest two Fentons, correct?”

“That is accurate, yes,” Vlad nodded.

“Were you three close?”

“Once, yes,” Vlad nodded, “I’ll admit, resentment had taken hold after my accident with the proto-portal, although I had admittedly unfairly put all the blame on Jack for that. But I lost all desire for friendship or any relationship with either of them after Daniel and I got close,”

“Maddie states that you, on numerous occasions, would attempt to flirt and hit on her despite her being married,” Miss Jean raised an eyebrow, “Is this correct?”

“Unfortunately so, yes,”

Murmurs rippled out and Danny could feel his heartbeat quicken.

“For someone who claims to hate the Fentons, you had a loving attachment to Maddie.” Miss Jean continued on, “You’ve made attempts beforehand, is it possible that you are trying to ‘get back’ at Maddie and Jack for both rejection and your incident through their son?”

Vlad raised an eyebrow, “No, there is not,”

“You say that certainly?”

“Yes. If I may add light to the situation; ghosts run on Obsessions, the Fentons have stated that beforehand, yes?”

Miss Jean nodded, “How is this relevant?”

“Getting there,” Vlad turned to the jury, “Obsessions are formed through many things, how one died, their life beforehand, personality, and so on. All ghosts have an Obsession, the same is true for half-ghosts such as myself and Daniel. My Obsession has been unclear to many, including myself until recent years. Yes, I wanted revenge on the Fentons for a long time, I will not deny it. But my reasoning for Daniel and I’s close parental relationship has to do with my Obsession more so than that,”

“And what is your Obsession, Mr Masters?” Judge Mars inquired.

Vlad took a deep breath, “My death, half-death in a way, was not at the exact time the Proto-Portal hit me—but in the hospital long afterwards. I died alone in that hospital, I was never once visited or written to, or anything like that by anyone. I was alone and bitter and I died that way. I did not have much family, my family in Russia were not happy with my career at the time in paranormal and I was outcast. I had no friends besides the two I believed abandoned me; and they had. My Obsession formed, and it became something odd. Love, my Obsession revolved around love. I wanted a family, a friend, a partner, someone who would love me the way I would love them so that I would never have to be alone like I was. At first, Maddie is what I believed my Obsession needed. I had loved her back in college, and assumed my Obsession would be fulfilled with her by my side. It took a year, but Maddie was not the woman I loved. The woman I loved disappeared the moment she pointed a gun at her own son for simply existing.”

Vlad turned to face Miss Jean once again, “Is that all you wish to ask me?”

“Yes, thank you,” Miss Jean nodded, “If I may have Mr ‘Horace’ Clockwork as a witness?”

“You certainly may,” Clockwork rose the moment Vlad and he swapped seats so that the elder halfa could rub comforting circles on Danny’s back.

Clockwork settled himself in the chair, his spectral tail disappearing as his legs formed.

“If I may address you as Clockwork, sir,” Miss Jean cleared her throat, “How long have you known Daniel Fenton for?”

Clockwork tapped his fingers against the wood chair’s arms, “That is a difficult question, I have known Daniel for years before the boy was even born,”

Confused whispering broke out.

“Order please!” Judge Mars banged his gavel, “Can you elaborate on that, Clockwork?”

“To the best of my abilities, I will certainly try,” Clockwork nodded curtly, “I’ve previously stated my profession as Master of Time, but I’ll admit that is a rather ambiguous title. There are many Timelines in our universe alone. Simply put, I know of every alternate universe and different reality in the entire existence of ghost kind and human kind. Therefore there are many versions of Danny, different ways I’ve met him. I have been meeting versions of Daniel James Fenton for nearly thirty years now. This version of Daniel, our version, I have known personally since he was fourteen.”

“So you’ve been acquainted with our Danny personally for two years now,” Miss Jean rubbed her head as though she were getting a headache already, “You’re obviously a very powerful ghost, so if I may—”

“I am not a ghost,” Clockwork chuckled, “I am aware of Maddie and Jack’s bias against ghost kind, myself even more for this situation; so I’d like to shed some light on the fact that my species has nothing to do with anything. So I will state this now, I am not a ghost and no bias brought upon ghosts can justifiably be brought upon me,”

“If you are not a ghost,” Judge Mara raised an eyebrow, “What exactly are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I suppose the closest thing to describe myself would be an eldritch god,” Clockwork shrugged.

Wide eyes and slacked jaws adorned seemingly everyone’s faces.

Miss Jean coughed, “Ah, thank you for sharing,”

Chapter Text

Clockwork was questioned a bit longer than Vlad until he too was dismissed from the stand. Maddie and Jack had claimed that Danny’s ghost half of Phantom was an evil parasite that was causing him to do malicious and evil things in ‘ghostly nature.’ They were basically saying that they wanted permission to ‘decontaminate’ their son as he was just ‘confused and sick.’

Clockwork had to pinch Vlad to stop his eyes from going permanently red.

A few ghosts were called to the stand on Danny’s behalf and against the eldest Fenton’s, it truly surprised Danny just how much his ghostly enemies and maybe-kinda-friends seemed to actually care about him genuinely.

Others seemed to just be afraid of either Vlad/Clockwork’s backlash if they refused to help, but tomato tamato.

Nocturne was the present witness as he introduced himself briefly and began to speak; 

“I am not a friend of the boy’s by any means, but just because the boy and I do not get alone does not mean I wish the harm he fears from his parents to come true,”

Nocturne’s words were firm and genuine, it made Danny have to ask Jazz if he had heard him right.

“No, no, I heard it too,” Tucker snickered as he eavesdropped on the two siblings’ conversation.

Nocturne was still speaking, “I have seen Daniel’s nightmares, and they are saddening. His greatest fear often plagues his dreams, that being his fear of his parents’ rejection to his ghost half. He had kept his Halfa status a secret for so long due to the fear he had of his parents’ strapping him down to a lab table and vivisecting him.”

Nocturne growled at the eldest two Fentons, “Your boy’s nightmares are the single most saddening and terrible thing I have ever seen.”

He left the stand and took his seat next to Walker before the judge even dismissed him.

More ghosts and some humans went up.

“He’s a strong warrior, but he takes too much responsibility on himself. He tries so hard to do everything good because if he messes up, Maddie and Jack will pin every little inconvenience it causes on his ghost half, it’s a terrible thing for his self esteem and mental health. — Pandora.

“The scars and injuries the Great One—sorry, Danny —has shown me and told me about are not all from battles. His house is filled to the brim with weapons that are highly dangerous for him to be around. And even when they were believed to be ‘malfunctioning’ around him, they were never taken down. He is being injured in his own home!” — Frostbite.

“The boy needs to be taken care of, he’s far too skinny and exhausted looking all the time. It’s unbelievable that his parents never noticed the very exhaustion they cause! That and he needs to eat more,” — Lunch Lady.

“I always was concerned for Daniel’s wellbeing, the Fentons were always…flakey on things. Whether it was school events or basic knowledge of their own children such as what they enjoyed doing or any part of their schooling and education,” — Mr Lancer.

“The Fentons always struck me as a ‘Shoot First Ask Questions Later’ kinda people, and trust me when I say that it’s not good for anybody. Even when Phantom was seen as just Phantom and not known as Fenton, they were blind. And so we’re most of us, including me, but they took it too far.” — Valerie Gray.

“Danny’s misery was always in abundance, he was terrified of being viewed as a freak, an abomination, and nothing more than an experiment. Misery is what keeps me young and beautiful, and trust me when I say that kid was a full spa treatment!” — Spectra.

“Danny is my best friend, I’ve known him since we were toddlers. If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that the Fentons don’t deserve him.” —Tucker Foley.

“—And—!” “Miss Manson, it’s been an hour and fifty four minutes, we get it.” —Sam Manson and Judge Mars.

“I was wailing on my hero! We all made life harder for Fenton, the least we can do is try to give him the justice he gave us daily.” —Dash Baxter (Who’s surprisingly very poetic when he wants to be).

“I TOLD YOU! NOBODY EVER LISTENS TO ME! I’VE BEEN SAYING IT FOR MONTHS! DANNY FENTON, DANNY PHANTOM—IT’S NOT EVEN THAT CREATIVE!” “Mr. Weston, please focus on the case at hand and—please put away the slideshow presentation, how did you even get that in here without anyone noticing?” — Wes Weston and Judge Mars.

It went on and on and on.

It was clear who was going to win the case, and it wasn’t Maddie and Jack; anybody could see that.

Then Danny caught wind of Clockwork smirking out of the corner of his eyes.

“You have your ‘I’m about to drop a major bomb on all of you’ look on your face,” Danny raised an eyebrow.

Clockwork snorted, “I have no such thing,”

“That’s a lie and you know it, C-dubs,” Tucker chuckled and playfully dodged a smack from the Time Staff at the same time.

“Let's just say that if Madeline and Jack want a monster, I’ll be happy to show them a true one,” Clockwork’s look was pure mischief as he stood to approach the judge.

“Judge Mars,” Clockwork tapped the wood of the platform to get his attention, “There is one last ghost who would like to make a witness against the Fentons,”

Judge Mars raised an eyebrow, “Very well, being them forward,” 

Clockwork nodded as he addressed the entire Courtroom suddenly, “There is one last witness, and this ghost was what I believed to be a necessity to speak in this case. Mr and Mrs Fenton,”

Maddie and Jack had matching glares at Clockwork addressing them.

“You have viewed Phantom as a monster for so long now, I’ve decided to bring in the one ghost to show you just how wrong you are. Our Phantom is not a monster, but there is one who is as evil as you describe. One from an alternate Timeline to share just how Danny feels in your household as he is Danny himself. A bit of a warning, he is a criminal and is restrained properly; but the Future is in the clear as he won’t try anything. So without further ado, I call Dark Dan Phantom to the stand.”

The doors of the courtroom were slammed open as two of Walker’s strongest officers plus Walker himself and four Observants creating a square-like barrier around Dan entered, phase-proof cuffs on his hands and foot, as well as a collar around his neck.

The Observants were glaring at Dan as the ghost just grinned as he sat in the witness seat.

Danny’s heartbeat was quickening and his breaths became shallow as he curled into himself while Vlad held him close as he himself had wide eyes and hitched breathing.

“Sweet butter biscuits, what happened to you…” Vlad’s whispers were sorrow filled and slightly angered at whatever may have hurt Daniel in this alternate reality.

The courtroom was at a silent standstill, no one willing to speak or move first—or at all, for that matter.

“Good morning to all of you too,” Dan chuckled as his red eyes narrowed onto Jack and Maddie Fenton.

“A little family reunion, eh?” Dan leaned forward with his arms crossed on the platform in front of him, “Hello, father and mother dearest, lovely weather we’re having, hm?”

Maddie snapped first as she stood up and pointed angrily at the ghost, “You’re not my son! Clockwork’s lying!”

“Blah blah blah,” Dan mocked her with one hand imitating her speaking, “I’m Maddie Fenton and I know more about ghosts than ghosts do! Blah blah blah!”

Tucker excused himself as he found himself laughing despite his initial fear of Dark Dan’s prescance. Even Danny found his heart rate slowly relaxing—that and the fact that Clockwork wouldn’t ever do anything like this if it wasn’t necessary.

“Now, if I can speak without interruptions,” Dan sighed before he turned to the jury, “The name’s Dark Dan Phantom, but just Dan’s fine. Listen close, I’m a version of Danny from an alternate universe basically where he became depressed, ripped out his humanity, went insane, and murdered the entirety of Earth’s population.”

Silence. A few coughs rangout.

“This version of Danny, your version, is probably the best version of Danny you’re going to get. He’s helped everyone in this room at least once, he tries to do the best he can, he would lay down his half-life and half-afterlife for a complete stranger to him just because he thought it was the right thing to do. Your Danny is a hero, and if he’s a monster to you for that,”

Dan stared at Maddie and Jack unblinkingly as his eyes glowed bright blood red, “Then ask yourselves, what does that make me?—but more than that, what does that make you?”

No one answered him, they all knew what he was saying, and they knew he was right.

Maddie and Jack Fenton lost the case to absolutely no one’s surprise; Clockwork and Vlad got complete custody of both Danny and Jazz as they now lived in a (much smaller, per Clockwork, Jazz, and Danny’s insistence) mansion in Amity Park. Danny Phantom/Fenton was a hero to all and given an award and statue in the park in gratitude for his service.

Ghost attacks became almost nothing minus the occasional rogue ghost animals who’d come running through and such. Danny actually managed to become friends with most of the ghosts he once fought; only ever battling them in sparring matches. Ember taught him guitar, Technus helped him in Math and Physics, Skulker would stop by often to see both Vlad and him; usually offering sparring matches and such, Lunch Lady and Tucker got along great (when she wasn’t angry), Sidney Poindexter and Sam started an Anti-Bullying program and a Safe Place Club for students to go to when they needed someone to listen to them rant and help their mental health status. Kitty and Johnny were frequent racers with Danny once he received a motorcycle from them both for his birthday, Shadow surprisingly liked Jazz as she would pet and cuddle him like a puppy, Cujo occasionally getting jealous and joining in.

Danny was living happily. All his bullies, including Dash, apologized profusely and they became relatively good friends. Sam, Tucker, and Danny were as close as ever; maybe even closer now that they didn’t have to hide around certain subjects with the eldest two Fentons out of the picture.

Speaking of Maddie and Jack, the two Fentons were charged up to the roof with fines and were under strict guidelines. Their lab was condemned and the Ops Center on the roof was demolished for being unsafe. All their inventions (weapons) were taken away and destroyed. They had a worker from the court come by monthly to make sure they were following their guidelines. They were only to invent non-lethal or harmful weapons and they were able to have a small lab in their house with strict rules they had to follow.

Their portal was shut down and taken apart, only Vlad had a portal now.

They were not given jail time, but they were under strict lock and key. It was almost the same. They eventually moved out of Amity Park; though their reputation followed and they were stripped of any qualifications to even be near a laboratory or scientific research center.

Their house was demolished and rebuilt into a safer, proper home that was bought by a lovely young couple with a newborn baby.

Danny had never seen his old neighbor look so happy until the day the  new family moved in—and perhaps the day the Fentons were sent to trial.

With so many changes in Amity, life was better for everybody, and that was the simple truth.

The Masters family was often seen around town, restaurants, carnivals, and numerous family activities were always being partaken in.

Vlad and Clockwork (usually in human disguise) were one of the cutest couples ever seen—minus Danny and Sam, of course—and loved their kids more than anything.

All four of them;

Dante ‘Dan’ Rowan Masters, Jasmine ‘Jazz’ Anne Masters, Daniel ‘Danny’ James Masters, and Danielle ‘Ellie’ Lillian Masters.

Three halfas and a full human girl who was the group therapist, they were quite the siblings.

Dan’s human form was courtesy of CLockwork, him being taller and a bit more muscular than Danny with his black hair longer and shaggier than his as well—although it was usually shoved in a ponytail. His eyes were red, more pronounced than Clockwork's crimson-brown eyes in human disguise, but they were similar. Dan’s body and ‘age’ was now regressed into a sixteen year old (his ghost form the same but he looked much younger), Jazz remaining the eldest at eighteen, Danny at fourteen, and Ellie at twelve.

Life was perfect for everyone in Amity Park—and to think that it all began because of one fourteen-year-old boy.

One fourteen year old boy who became a hero for the simple and only reasoning being that he was able to help.

It was odd, odd just how many people walked by Danny Fenton just a month ago and thought nothing of it—and now they knew they were walking by a hero. They were absolutely baffled at how they never thought of the similarities between Phantom and Fenton.

Danny just said that he had thought he had been lucky to have lived in a town that couldn’t recognize someone when they dyed their hair and/or wore contacts.

He wasn’t wrong—but honestly, what was it with oblivious citizens and easily recognizable superheroes?

Jazz didn’t have the answer, but they all suspected that Clockwork was the reason. The Master of Time did like irony quite a bit—like a half-ghost having ghost hunter birth parents. Or a half-ghost angry at all the time he had lost ending up marrying the Ghost of Time—and so on and so on.

But if there was one thing Amity Park learned through all this besides heroes come in all shapes and sizes—

—and that it's a bad idea to build a portal to the Land of the Dead in your basement.