#but this is about the tragedy of the loss of Danny Fenton | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

call-me-strega · 10 months

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Dc x DP Prompt #2: He was Tragedy

I’ll start off by saying not everything that I am about to write will be canon compliant but I don’t really care about that. I also won't claim to know everything there is to know about Jason Todd but this my take on his character. And as for Danny I'm working mostly off of tidbits from the show and lore made by fans.

~~~

Jason Todd was born to an alcoholic father and raised by a drug addict mother. Both were victims of poverty in their own ways. His father turned to the drink to cope with the loss of his job and later, life as a two-bit thug supporting a family he grew to resent. His mother got caught up in addiction when she was young, watching her own mother use it to cope, and she grew dependent on it to deal with her husband's abuse. He grew up in a life of poverty and abuse.

What a tragic reality.

Daniel Fenton was born to a simple-minded father and a strong-willed mother. Both outcasts in the same way. Regardless of their inventive or scientific brilliance the two were shunned for their ardent belief in paranormal science. Two, otherwise talented individuals, the laughingstock of their community because of it. But they found love in each other and their mutual beliefs. They were utterly wrapped up in each other, their work and their desire to prove themselves . So much so, that they often forgot some of the most important people in their lives. He grew up watching his parents neglect and forget about him and his sister to pursue their obsession.

What a tragic reality.

Jason Todd watched his father beat his mother and his mother loose the fight to addiction. He learned the harsh realities of life on the streets. He knew people doomed by the cycle of poverty in a corrupt system. He learned that some people had twisted minds and devious desires. He understood the injustice of the world from a young age.

How tragic that is.

Daniel Fenton watched his otherwise in-love parents fight every Christmas and tear up their house. He learned harsh realities of his own life in his kitchen where food came back to life. He knew his sister grew up too fast to take care of him. He knew that his friends' parents didn't like leaving them in his parents' care. He understood the injustice of his situation from a young age.

How tragic that is.

Jason Todd still loved his mother and Danny Fenton still loved his parents. It was tragic that their parents cared but didn't love them the same way.

Jason Todd had a chance at a happy life but nothing was ever cut and dry. He loved his books and his new family. But he struggled in a community that didn't truly accept him. He did his best to change the world as he fought crime. But life isn’t fair, and it certainly isn’t kind. Jason Todd was 15 when he died.

It was a tragedy.

Daniel Fenton still lived a happy life but nothing was ever cut and dry. He loved the stars and his two friends. But he struggled in a community that didn't truly accept him. He did his best to change his world wishing to be popular or an astronaut. But life isn’t fair, and it certainly isn’t kind. Daniel Fenton was 14 when he died.

It was a tragedy.

Jason Todd could feel his bruised skin burn and smoke fill his pierced lungs. He died wishing for his for his father to come save him. He awoke in the dark 6 months later and crawled his way out of his grave. He gained more awareness in a pool of green. He was filled with anger and trained to be deadly.

Everyday he will know tragedy.

Danny Fenton could feel electricity dance on his burning skin as every molecule of his DNA was being overwritten. He died hoping his friends were still safe. He came to 10 minutes later with his body in a limbo and faintly realizing that he wouldn't get a grave. He gained more clarity when his eyes flashed green. He was filled with guilt and fighting to protect.

Everyday he will know tragedy.

Red Hood does somethings he regrets and others he doesn't. It gets worse before it gets better. But it's still not good. Some days he still gets mad and somethings he'll never let go of (his father's bataraang at his neck). But he moves on, reconciling with his brothers, he learns to cope and he's getting better. He takes responsibility upon himself to protect and avenges the downtrodden in the way he knows works. He tries to improve both sides

He fights to stop tragedy.

Phantom learns the hard way not to do things he'll regret. He knows it can get worse and strives to do better. But it's still hard. Some days he's resentful and somethings he wishes were better (his parents still shoot at him). But he moves on, his sister and friends teach him to cope and help him get better. He is given the responsibility to protect others and maintain balance in whatever ways he can. He tries to protect both sides.

He fights to stop tragedy.

When they meet it's not love at first sight. There is no desperate attraction or magnetic pull. There is patience and slowly growing close. There is nurtured love and hard-earned trust. There is looking into each other's eyes and understanding that, yes,

He was Tragedy.

These two find solace in having someone understand even a fraction of the tragedy they know. Their love is like a fire that burns hot and slow. It is bright and passionate and fills them with warmth. They love each other deeply and they know:

They will not let their story end in Tragedy.

#dp x dc crossover #dc x dp #dc universe #danny phantom #danny fenton #red hood #jason todd #dead on main #danny x jason #dp x dc #angst #character study #tragedy #falling in love #with someone who understands #slight ambiguity #Strega’s dc x dp prompt

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redrobin-detective · 3 years

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The late Daniel Fenton

It was shaping up to be a beautiful if chilly December day and Casper High, as always, was bustling. It was 7:49 and class was about to start. The teacher watched the last few kids stumbling in at various levels of wakefulness. He already knew who would be the ones to rush in after the bell but that was alright. Life was too short to stress about being a few minutes late to class, especially in Amity Park of all places.

He looked up to see Madison, one of his shyer students walk in before making a beeline for his desk. She was biting her lip and nervously rubbing her hand down her skirt. “Hey,” she began quietly.

“Good morning. What’s up, Mads?” He asked casually. She looked upset, he could probably put on a video for the class if she needed to talk. They really needed a permanent counselor but the constant ghost attacks ran off most of them so he’d taken up the unofficial mantle. It felt good to help his students like that, make up for past wrongs.

“Are we um, expecting any new students?” She asked, her eyes darting over to the door she’d just come through. “Any transfers, exchange students or anything like that?”

“No,” the teacher frowned. “Amity isn’t the kind of place people transfer into. Why?”

“There’s a kid in the hallway,” she mumbled. “I don’t recognize him, he’s got a backpack and everything but he’s... I don’t know he doesn’t feel right.”

“Oh you’re talking about that weird dark haired kid,” Kyle said as he entered and sat down with a slouch. But even the class slacker looked unusually tense. “Dude’s creepy, can’t put my finger on why but he definitely doesn’t belong.”

“Oh,” was all the teacher had to say. Suddenly he realized how cold the classroom had become, the uncomfortable feeling that was pressing ever so slightly down on them. “I suppose it makes sense, the ghosts have been quiet lately with the Truce and all. He probably got bored.”

“Sir?” Madison said.

“Shannon,” he said instead, looking over at the frizzy haired girl hunched over her sketchbook furiously at work. “Would you do me a favor and move to the vacant seat in the second row? Just for today.”

“What? Why?” the girl whined even as she gathered up her various arts supplies and got ready to move.

“That’s Mr. Fenton’s seat,” he said taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes in preparation for what he was about to see. Danny would come here, of course he would. This was Lancer’s old classroom and Danny had him for first period English Lit. He and Dash both did.

“Mr. Baxter? What’s going on, is it a ghost?” Malik asked from the back row while Shannon shuffled to her new temporary seat.

“Yes but you don’t need to be scared,” he said softly, evenly. “He won’t hurt you.” The bell rang but Dash didn’t start the lesson. Instead, he waited. Danny had never been on time to class the entire time Dash had known him, of course death wouldn’t change that.

“Sorry, I’m late Mr. Lancer,” Dash gripped his desk so he didn’t jump when Danny Fenton simply appeared in front of his desk instead of walking through the door like any other student. “My folks couldn’t drive me, they’re still working on their stupid ghost portal.” A quick glance over at this class showed varying levels of fear, shock and curiosity but they were Amity kids through and through. The cold, powerful energy radiating off Fenton told them it was best to play along with whatever the ghost wanted.

“Perfectly alright Mr. Fenton,” Dash said softly, searching the 14 year old’s perpetually young face. He hadn’t changed a bit since Dash last saw him their second week of freshman year. It seemed unreal seeing how the years had taken their toll on Casper’s favorite son, Dash Baxter. God had they really been that young once? “Take a seat and we’ll get started.”

Danny shrugged and walked over to the seat Shannon had just vacated. He sat just the same, one leg stretched out and the other propped up against the leg of the desk. As soon as he took off the backpack and put it around the chair, it disappeared. He didn’t say anything else, just sat as stared at Dash with piercing blue eyes like he could see right through him.

“We had been talking about the lead up to the Civil War but let’s table that for today,” Dash said, proud his voice only wavered a little. He knew other people had seen Fenton around town. Lina saw him standing outside the Nasty Burger maybe five or so years ago. Dale, who used to live near Fenton Works swore he sometimes saw someone moving through the windows of the long abandoned house. He’d always secretly dreaded the thought of seeing Danny Fenton again, afraid he’d finally get was coming to him.

“Instead, we’re going to talk about local history,” he continued, not daring to take his eyes off the undead teen. Every other living student was tense, afraid. He wished he could assure them that the ghost wouldn’t lay a hand on them. In the event Fenton decided to ditch the hero schtick, it would be Dash and Dash alone he’d come after. “Amity Park has long had rumors of being haunted dating all the way back to the 1600s. It wasn’t until the last century that scientists determined that Amity Park is located on top of a thin spot between our world and the ghost realm. Natural portals form here all the time allowing spirits to pass through.”

No one spoke and barely anyone breathed except for Danny would wasn’t breathing at all. He just sat and stared at Dash with steady, unblinking eyes.

“Jack and Maddie Fenton were the scientists who discovered the weak point in reality in Amity. They devoted their entire life to the study of ghosts and made remarkable advancements in our knowledge of ectobiology and culture, the first being,” he paused as Danny cocked his head in confusion, squinting his eyes suspiciously at Dash. “The first being their manmade portal to the ghost zone. The portal remained active for almost two decades for research purposes but was shut down following their deaths.”

“You’re not Mr. Lancer,” Danny said suddenly, his eyes shifting from baby blue to an ectoplasmic green. Marty, who was sitting to the left of Danny, swallowed a squeak of fear and squeezed his eyes shut.

“No,” Dash sighed, “Lancer died almost thirty years ago now. Best teacher I ever had, he gave me his blessing when he passed on the job to me.”

“I,” the ghost ran his hand through his hair which was starting to lose its color. Seeing Fenton looking so scared and confused made him ache. It reminded him of old times. Dash had spent most of his life making sure he helped hurt kids if only to make up for the one he’d never been able to make it up to. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s okay, Danny,” he soothed. “I know it’s a lot to take in.”

“The portal, it wasn’t working at first,” Danny justified, his aura glowing a little more. “Sam and Tuck, they were curious. They wanted to look but I told them it wasn’t allowed, Sam, Sam she dared me to go in. I put on the hazmat suit and went inside and found the on button inside. I accidentally hit it and-” he paused midsentence and looked down at his hands. They weren’t pale flesh anymore but covered in white gloves. The black was completely bleached from his hair. A few of the students gasped as they saw the strange would be student melt into Phantom, the ghostly hero who’d been protecting their town since their parents were young. “I died.”

So much time had gone by. People were born and people were buried and the truth became distorted until it was just a legend passed jokingly around cafeteria lunch tables. Amity’s youth had forgotten their town’s history until it was sitting in a desk, trying once more to be one of them.

“You did,” Dash said sadly. He remembered hearing the news of Fenton's death. An assembly had been called the morning after the accident. Lancer had cried at the podium, Manson and Foley hadn’t returned to school for a week and had never been the same again. Dash hadn’t known what to think at the time, only that the kid he’d beat up for the crime of being different would never show up to school again. Or so he’d thought. “It was a tragedy, you were mourned by a lot of people.”

“I know you, don’t I?” Danny said quietly before he sat up straighter. “Dash?”

“In the flesh,” Dash grinned shakily.

“But you’re so old,” Danny said, once more distressed. “Your hair is grey and there’s wrinkles on your face and-and you’re a teacher now?” The last line was said with incredulity, his eyes flaring again. “You used to push me down the stone steps of the school and shove me into my locker and call me names.”

“Yeah, I did,” he sighed, feeling every one of his years. He was pushing 70 but he didn’t think he’d ever stop feeling like a stupid 14 year old who took out his frustrations on the ones who didn’t deserve it. “But you were the last; I never touched another kid again. I’m married now, four kids. I’m vice principal now, teach History and coach the school’s football team. It’s,” his voice caught again, still unable to process how young and stupid Fenton looked sitting there like no time had passed at all. It made Dash feel like all his accomplishments and attempts to be better would never amount to anything so long as his last victim roamed the earth unable to find peace. “It doesn’t fix what I did back then but I make damn sure that there won’t be any bullying at Casper so long as I’m here.”

“Huh,” Danny said, slouching once more in his seat but it looked less like his earlier teenage laziness and more weary. He and Dash were the same age after all, just because only one of them got old doesn’t mean time didn’t still affect them. “You did change, a lot of things did.” Danny looked down at the desk, “how long has it been?”

“Almost 50 years,” Dash sighed. “My wife wants me to retire but I guess I always find more things to do.” He paused then decided it was now or never. “I’m sorry Danny, for hurting you back then. I wish I'd gotten to know you better.”

For just a moment, Danny was perfectly clear. Even half floating out of his chair and looking like the local celebrity, his eyes were so painfully human. A boy killed before he ever got a chance to get started. Who’s will to protect was so strong it lasted half a century. It haunted him late at night to think of the glory and power of Phantom overshadowing just how incredible Danny Fenton had been. Not that anyone had seen it at the time. Soon there wouldn’t be anyone left to remember that quiet, kind teenager and then Danny Fenton really would be dead. Kill him just as thoroughly as that portal had.

The moment was broken by a breath of cold leaking out of the ghost’s lips and, just like that, his highschool classmate was gone and Phantom was left in his stead. He looked curiously around the classroom as if he didn’t know how he’d gotten there.

“There’s a ghost, stay here and don’t leave unless the fighting gets too close. I’ll get it though, don’t worry. No kids are dying today.” Maybe it was Dash’s imagination but he thought he saw Phantom’s eyes linger on him for an extra moment, trying to place where he knew the teacher from. Dash just smiled.

“Our lives are in your hands. Good luck, Phantom,” the ghost teen saluted before fading away entirely. Dash let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, suddenly exhausted but also lighter at the same time. It wasn’t every day you got to look your mistakes in the face and apologize. “Shannon, you can move back now.”

“No, I’m okay here,” Shannon said as she flipped to a new page in her sketchbook and looked intently at the spot where Fenton had once sat. “It’s like you said, that’s Danny’s seat.”

“I had no idea, Phantom’s been around for like, ever,” Freddie mumbled, pushing up his glasses. “But he used to be just like us.” And still was, Dash thought sadly. Danny would never grow old, never go to space like he’d always dreamed or marry Manson like he’d probably intended to. He was stuck, in more ways than one for who knows how long.

“Yes, that’s why it’s important to know your history. The Civil War and my other lessons are important but we can’t forget these smaller, more intimate histories. If we lose these lessons to time then we risk repeating the same mistakes over again.” He looked his students in the eyes, holding their attention.

“So we’ll continue today with the local history. Before he was ghost butt kicking superhero, Phantom was Danny Fenton, son of the local ghost hunters and a bit of an outcast in town. The Daniel Fenton Foundation was founded about a year after his death and was-”

#danny phantom #dead danny au #if bitch fartman won't redeem dash then I guess it up to me #god can you imagine growing up and growing old only to look at your past victim in the eye and see nothing has changed for him?#i could go on and on about what other characters got up to #but this is about the tragedy of the loss of Danny Fenton #not only his life but his memory #time moves on and Fenton got lost in the mix #once Dash's generation dies then Fenton will just be a cautionary tale #a ghost story #No one will remember that their hero was one long before he got his powers #god Im fuckign sad now #eat up and enjoy your angst

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ave-aria · 4 years

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Rewind

Ectober Week 2020 Day 3: Rewind Summary: Maddie can't believe what she's seeing on the security tape. In shock, she hits rewind. Tags: Reveal fic, Blood, Angst, Implications of character death, Tragedy, Trauma, Oneshot

Rewind.

Maddie keeps her eyes on the tv screen as the figures wind their way backwards to the start of the video. She won't look away. Can't. Doesn't dare.

If she looks away, she'll have to focus on something else. The quiet, dusty lab around her. The uncleaned ecto-weapons by the door. The green blood smattered on the blade.

The hollow, empty house looming over her head…

The video hiccups a bit as she hits the start of the feed. Old VHS tapes are odd like that, buzzing out with static where the film wore thin from too many pauses and restarts. It's a sign she's hit the beginning. Maddie presses play.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

It was an old security tape, filched from the lab. Onscreen, three teenagers, her son at the lead, slip into the camera's field of view. Maddie leans closer, enraptured by the movement, even though she's seen this moment enough times to have it seared into her brain.

Maybe, if she focuses hard enough, she can learn the secret - how to rewind her own mistakes, go back to a time when none of it has happened, just like in the video.

"Whoa, check it out! This thing's huge! I can't believe your parents built this!" A pause, while the kid adjusts his glasses. "Bummer that it doesn't work though, dude."

"Damn. Was it really supposed to open a portal to the underworld?"

"It's 'The Ghost Zone,' Sam. And yeah. My parents were pretty heartbroken when it didn't work. It kinda just… fizzled out. I hope they're not too upset."

The detached, clinical angle of the shot doesn't do the moment justice. Danny'd always been such a kind boy, thoughtful and empathetic to a fault. Maddie's throat closes up a little, leaving her struggling to breathe. They had been upset. Unbearably so. Their life's work - as Danny put it - fizzled out before their very eyes. It'd been a hard loss to take, one that she and Jack might never have recovered from, had the Portal not miraculously started working on its own, days later.

God. Now she almost wishes it hadn't.

A bright flash draws her from her reverie. Maddie blinks at the screen. A camera flash. In her distraction, she's missed part of the video; Tucker's casual "Lighten up, dude,", Sam's request for a photo op, Danny grabbing a hazmat suit to pose with while she dug the device from her backpack.

"—Got it," Sam waves the printed Polaroid to air out the negative.

"Okay. I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back here any minute."

Where had they been that day, anyway? Maddie wonders. Grocery shopping? Visiting the park? Moping, as they tried anything to get their minds off of their most recent failure? If they'd been there —

If they'd been there—

"Come on, Danny," comes Sam's voice, treacherous in its fascination. "A Ghost Zone? Aren't you curious?"

Danny looks into the Portal, clutching the custom white suit made specially for him. Sam smirks, knowing. "You gotta check it out."

Maddie hits pause.

Rewind.

"You gotta check it out."

Pause. Rewind.

"You gotta check it out."

Rewind.

"—gotta check it out."

The remote feels cold and heavy, like ice in her hand. In that moment, a selfishness grips her. She could blame Sam. For all if it. Everything that happened, it all started here, and it started because—

—But she can't blame Sam, because the next moment, Danny turns back, his eyes sparkling with an adventurous spirit. It's a spark of curiosity, brimming at the thought of the unknown; a look she's all too familiar with, one she's seen often on her daughter's face, her husband's - even her own, in the mirror.

"You know what? You're right. Who knows what kind of awesome, super cool things exist on the other side of that Portal?"

That curiosity, it's a Fenton trait, not one that needs to be stoked like a fire. That spark's been burning within him, since the cradle.

"Don't go in," she whispers, as if her advice could change the course of history. Even if he could hear her, though, it would be no use. He can no more resist the call than he can resist breathing.

He pulls on the hazmat suit. Skintight, white with black edging. It's like staring at a photo-negative. Watching her son, Maddie's stomach twists.

How couldn't she see it before?

"Alright. I'm going in." He says. His first footsteps echo, loud, in the hollow of the blacked out Portal…

Maddie's breath shudders in. She grips the remote and, before she can stop herself, hits the button.

Rewind.

She watches as her son walks backwards, double-time, out of the entrance to the Portal. The panic that gripped her fades.

"Mads?" From somewhere up above, echoing down the staircase, comes her husband's voice. Maddie is glued to the video screen, and almost doesn't hear him. Regardless, she definitely can't answer. What would she even say?

"Maddie?" His heavy footsteps echo in the stairwell, trudging closer. "Are you down there?"

A hitch in the tape. Maddie presses play.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

Drawn by the sound, Jack trudges the rest of the way down the narrow staircase. She feels a slight reverberation in the floor when he reaches the landing behind her. She doesn't turn around.

"The police called back. Officer McNally said he'd file a missing persons report, and they promised to keep their eyes open. But—" she hears the way uncertainty causes his voice to die in his throat when she doesn't turn to greet him. After a long moment of silence, he draws up to her side. "What are you watching?" he asks at last.

"It kinda just… fizzled out. I hope they're not too upset."

Question. He'd asked a question. Maddie swallows and struggles to answer. "Security tapes," she chokes out.

Understanding, an incomplete kind, dawns on Jack, and vigor jumps back into his bones. "Mads, that's brilliant!" he booms. "Why didn't I think of it? He comes into the lab all the time! We can use the security tapes to see when he last—"

"I found this tape in Danny's room," she interrupts.

Again, his voice falters in confusion.

"Under the bed," she elaborates, as if that will help. And continues watching, detached.

"Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back any minute."

The flickering light of the tv fills the lab, ominous in its glow. Jack hesitates. Maybe he's picked up on the subtext by now. Maddie can picture his eyes drifting from the staticy screen to the items in front of it, scattered across the table. He reaches out fro the shoebox sitting beside the tv. Taped to its front, written in the cursive, unmistakable scrawl of their son's handwriting, is a note that reads:

'If I Never Come Home'

"Maddie, what is this." Jack's voice is uncharacteristically heavy. Looking to her for guidance. For answers.

For once, she has none to give.

"Watch," Maddie whispers, still trapped by the screen. Automatic, her fingers hit the button.

Rewind.

With no other options to grasp at, he does.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

Watches as the kids approach the Portal.

"Aren't you curious?"

Watches as their son zips up the hazmat suit.

"Alright, I'm going in."

Watches as he disappears into the empty cavity of their greatest invention.

Click.

Watches as it thrums to life, with a scream.

"Da—Danny no!" Jack yells in tandem with the two remaining teens. He lurches forward, hand outstretched, to stop the agony onscreen. "He's not - when did he -"

"It's old, Jack," Maddie whispers. "From when the Portal started working."

Jack spins to stare at her. "You mean - Danny's the one who—" he's visibly struggling with the information, the same way she did, on her first viewing. "But—he never said—"

Right, Madie thinks. He never said anything. Jack's confusion is laughable, though. Why Danny never told them—that much is painfully clear.

"Guys?" Over the yelling and the panicking and the electric cackle from the Portal, their son's terrified voice cuts through the din. "G-guys help, what's happening?!"

Tucker and Sam are black silhouettes stumbling backwards from a swirling green glow, but they freeze and scramble to right themselves, lurching forward to catch someone as he stumbles through the gate.

Phantom - Danny - emerges from the portal, falling to his knees.

"…No," Jack says. Disbelief is thick in his voice. "That can't be… no."

Maddie lifts the remote.

Rewind.

A flash of light. A curdling scream. A shock of confusion, panic, scramble.

Danny Phantom stumbles from the portal.

Jack stares for a long time. Then he reaches out, snatching the lid of the shoebox for a second look at the evidence. The note, accusatory, stares back at them.

"This is how he tells us." Jack doesn't often whisper, but it seems like he can't do anything else. Her husband looks at the empty shoebox, the screen, the VCR. "Our son is Danny Phantom, and this is how he tells us. I…" he trails off.

Maddie almost can't believe it, how easily Jack arrives at the conclusion. It took her twelve viewings for her to wrap her mind around it, and it still hasn't really sunk in. But then, that's always been Jack's strong poing - those intuitive leaps of logic. Ones every scientist both loathed and envied.

"Did it kill him?" he moves seamlessly onto the next question that tripped her. Somehow, Jack's voice is even quieter this time.

Maddie shakes her head no. If they watch the video long enough, about ten minutes in, Danny manages to change his way back to human. If their invention did kill him, it wasn't permanent. Not that time, at least.

She's too close to thinking about it.

Rewind.

"But—" she can't stop Jack from thinking, though. He barrels on, heedless of breaking the fragile grasp Maddie has on her sanity. "But if all this time — Phantom—"

A hitch in the tape.

"We've been—"

Press play.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

"—Don't tell me we've been trying to waste our own kid—"

If Maddie weren't so detached, she might laugh. Waste. God, he can't even say it.

"Trying?" she asks instead. Bitter, the word sticks to her tongue.

She's not looking at the tape now. She's looking at him. And Jack, oh, Jack, he just stares down at her, a dark horror growing in his eyes.

He whips around to look at the bloodied weapons sitting at the base of the stairs.

Exactly where they left them two days ago, after that nasty ghost fight. When they came home to find a broken house, their daughter crying at the kitchen table, and their son just - gone.

"No." Jack backs up a step. "No no no no no no no—"

A flash of light. A curdling scream—

In an instant, Jack is moving. He snatches up weapons, whatever he can find, and bolts for the staircase, vaulting his way up to ground floor. Distantly, Maddie hears the doors slam. The RV thrumming to life. The screech of tires as Jack peels out of the driveway.

In the cold wake of his departure, Maddie turns back to the tv. She should go after him, she knows. But she's not quite done watching. Jack's always been a man of action, after all, but she's the analytical one, who studies, who marvels, who gathers the facts she sees.

Phantom, onscreen, slumps against his friends while he drips ectoplasm to the floor. He stares down at his white-gloved hands, his glowing green eyes wide in shock. Maddie wonders if he knew, then, what would become of him. What his parents, who raised him, who swore to protect him, would do.

She can't face those questions. Not yet. Not yet. Instead, she lifts the remote.

And rewinds.

A good scientist, a rational scientist, never draws conclusions while she's still gathering evidence. So as long as she's still watching—

A hitch in the tape. She's at the beginning. Maddie presses play.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

As long as she keeps watching, she doesn't have to do anything with this information. All she has to do is watch.

So she watches. She rewinds. And she plays. She can't look away—

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here—"

She doesn't dare.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down h—"

All she can do is rewind—

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let y—"

And rewind—and rewind—

"Mom and Dad would kill me if—"

Until she finds evidence contrary to her theory…

"Mom and Dad would kill me—"

Or she finds Its inevitable End.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they knew I let you down here."

Rewind.

"Mom and Dad would kill me if they—"

Rewind.

"Mom—"

Rewind.

"Mom—"

Rewind.

"Mom—"

[AO3] [FFN]

#Danny Phantom #Ectober #EctoberWeek2020 #Rewind #Reveal Fic #Identity Reveal #Maddie Fenton #Jack Fenton #Character Death #sorry for the length #oneshot

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pipermasters · 5 years

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The Last Night- Phic Phight

Prompt: Full ghost Danny AU - his entire family dies in the Portal accident but he is the only one who sticks around Fenton Works to haunt the house. Eventually Sam & Tucker come in, following the rumors of a ghost haunting said house. @darknymfa

Tucker remembered the night vividly, no matter how hard he tried to forget it. The night his best friend died.

Tucker remembered the night vividly, no matter how hard he tried to forget it. The night his best friend died. Danny was video calling Tucker and Sam, ecstatic at the thought of showing them the moment his parents turned on the portal and busted a hole into the ghost dimension.

Tucker and Sam watched intensely through their screens as Danny’s parents turned the machine on, beaming.

“Guys- it worked!” Danny cheered, flipping the camera to face him. His face was a Christmas tree, alight with excitement and awe. Jazz bent to give him a sisterly kiss on the cheek, Danny pretending to gag as he hugged her. It was been a beautiful moment... until it wasn’t.

Sparks started to fly, and Danny’s face fell. Tucker could still hear Jazz’s voice, warning her little brother to stay back. The teens heard a scream and suddenly, the line was dead.

Tucker had never run faster in his life. A normal walk to Danny’s would take him 20 minutes, but that night, he made it there in 5. Fire engines and police cruisers came screeching to a halt in front of the burning building; a cop pulled Tucker away from the door, instructing him to stay back.

“Danny! He’s my friend! Let go of me- he’s still in there!”

The cops promised he’d be fine; they promised they’d get him out in time.

They lied.

It had taken hours to get the fire managed, even longer for it to be safe to send in firefighters. Tucker never stopped shouting, never stopped fighting to get past the police line.

It was 2 AM when the fire was finally extinguished. A small crowd had gathered around the building, whispering quietly amongst themselves. Tucker’s frantic cries had turned hysteric, tears streaming down his face.

He was too distressed notice Sam show up; he didn’t realize she was by his side, screaming just as loudly. Tucker didn’t see the fight slowly leaving her as they watched, helpless, as the fire consume Fenton Works.

Sam saw the final fireman exit the building. He stopped the EMT’s from going in with a sad shake of his head. It didn’t take a genius to understand what was wrong; there was no one to save.

Tucker refused to move, grief weighing him down. He kept staring at the remains of the front door, hoping and begging to see Danny crawling from the wreckage. It was daylight before his parents were finally able to coax him off the ground.

Tucker sobbed at the funeral, despondent as people mourned an empty coffin. He spoke at the service, as best he could, sharing his favorite memories with Danny. The day they had met in day care, their first reactions to having homework. Sam’s eyes were shining as he talked about how excited Danny had been for their first day of high school, which was only been a few short weeks away.

The rest of the summer was empty and depressed. Tucker rarely got out of bed, instead staying in his dark room, feeling his heart physically break.

The school board had offered to let Tucker begin school a week later than other students, to give him more time to grieve. Tucker refused. He had to experience the first day of school, not for himself, but for Danny.

Casper high was quiet and subdued. Though no one had been close to either of the Fenton kids the loss had hit the community hard. In the few short weeks they’d been gone, the people of Amity Park had come to realize just how prominent the Fenton’s had been.

Jack Fenton was no longer roaming the streets in his van, searching for ghosts. The people on his street found they missed hearing the family do their daily ghost drills.

Maddie Fenton was no longer there to be part of the PTA. The parents had to learn the hard way how hard it was to plan events without her there to take command.

Jazz Fenton was no longer able to offer tutoring. Her summer clients were forced to move on and find new students to help them study. None of them were as good as she was.

Danny Fenton was no longer there. Period. He wasn’t there running around with his friends. He wasn’t there raising his hand in science class, eyes bright with curiosity. He was no longer there to smile his bright, beautiful, sunshine smile.

The Fenton’s were no longer there, and the community felt it every day.

That first day the school held an assembly in honor of Jazz and Danny. A plaque was to be placed in the entryway of the school in their memory. Though Danny had never been a student at Casper High, most teachers knew him through Jazz; they felt it more appropriate to memorialize the siblings together. The principal introduced the school’s new grief counselor, urging everyone to feel free to meet with him. Teachers took it easy on the students, slowly integrating homework into their workload.

As the year went on, the shock of the tragedy began to wear off. The building was left as the wreck it was; it had been left to Maddie’s sister. However, since no one could contact the recluse, the city gated off the building until such a time as they were legally able to claim it.

Tucker and Sam had been granted access before it was closed, sifting through the ash in hopes of finding something, anything, of Danny’s. Tucker had found half of Danny’s model rocket, unharmed, and hung it in his room. Sam found a family portrait, charred, but intact. She kept it in a box under her bed, pulling it out every time she feared she was forgetting Danny’s smile.

Months after the accident, Fenton Works had become the designated spot for teenage shenanigans. Students would dare each other to go in, joking that the house was haunted. It angered Tucker to no end, watching his friend’s house be so disrespected.

“Just ignore it, Tuck,” Sam said as Dash ran into the cafeteria, boasting that he’d found the remains of a bra in the house the night before.

“I can’t!” Tucker snapped, glaring at Dash and his friends. “You don’t get it Sam- you only knew them for a year. I practically grew up in that house; they were like my second family! How can you be okay with this?”

“I’m not.” She stabbed her salad with more force than necessary. “Trust me, it pisses me off just as much as you.”

“You sure don’t show it.”

Sam shrugged. “I distract myself. When I hear stories like that, I just imagine what Mr. Fenton would think if he knew these kids thought he house was haunted.”

Tucker cracked a small smile- the first in a long time. “He’d be furious.”

“I know. To think all it took for this town to believe in ghosts was the death of a ghost hunter.”

Tucker chuckled, ducking his head.

“What?” Sam asked, heart lifting at the sound of laughter.

“Nothing,” Tucker tried to stifle his amusement. “Just had this funny idea of Mr. Fenton haunting the place.”

Sam dissolved into giggles. “I can totally see it!” She sat up and puffed out her chest, lowering her voice in her best impression of Jack. “Don’t believe in ghosts, do ya? Well what do ya say to this? BEWARE!”

“Dad!” Tucker said in a high pitch. “You can’t go around haunting people- it might stunt their psychological development!”

For the first time since the accident, the pair burst into pure, genuine laughter. Across the cafeteria people looked over, shocked and pleased by what they saw. It was Tucker’s laughter that truly sparked the healing of the community.

Tucker went to bed that night, still laughing at the idea of the Fenton’s haunting their old home.

The next day, the idea didn’t seem so funny.

Tucker was changing for gym in the locker room when he heard Dash swear.

“Who took my underwear?” The jock demanded.

“Why’d you take it off?” Wes, another freshman, asked in disgust.

“To shower!”

“Why do you need a shower? We haven't had class yet!”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life, Weston!” Dash yelled.

“Maybe you pissed off a Fenton the other day,” Kwan joked.

The room went silent as heads turned to Tucker. It wasn’t a secret that he didn’t like the ghost jokes, and while upperclassmen didn’t seem to care, there was an unspoken agreement among the freshmen not to make them around him. However, Tucker found himself laughing.

“You did steal a bra,” he pointed out to the delight of his classmates. “Maybe this is revenge.”

Dash scoffed, declaring he would just go commando as the boys filed into the gym. The girls were already there, gathered under a basketball hoop, snickering.

“What’s so funny?” Tucker wondered, watching as the girls looked back at Dash and laughed harder.

Wes shrugged, making his way to the front of the crowd. Hanging from the hoop was a pair of boxers, ‘Dash Baxter’ embroidered on the waist.

Laughter exploded in the gym as Dash grabbed them, running back to the locker room in embarrassment.

That was how it started. After that, there were more and more reports of strange things happening to people who went to the Fenton house. Dash continued losing his underwear in the locker room, only for them to show up in increasingly random locations. The day after Kwan snuck in to drink a beer, the water fountain exploded in his face. Then, the hauntings became stranger.

Star mentioned that Jazz must have cheated to earn such a high score on her C.A.T; she found her test prep material shredded in her locker. A substitute teacher remarked that the Fenton’s had deserved their end, messing with something as unholy as ghosts. For the rest of the day she was locked out of every door she encountered. The weirdest though, was when Mr. Lancer was handing back tests.

Tucker knew he had failed the test- he hadn’t even read the book. However, the test he was handed back had scored a 92%. As Tucker looked it over, he noticed that almost all of the answers he had put had been erased and corrected.

“It was a joke, Tucker,” Sam repeated for what must have been the tenth time in ten minutes. “I didn’t think you would take it so seriously.”

“C’mon Sam!” Tucker begged. “It makes sense!”

“They’re just pranks! Sooner or later whoever’s pulling them is gonna get bored and move on.”

“You can’t seriously believe that!”

“Yes,” Sam shut her locker. “I can.” She sighed, looking at Tucker sadly. “I understand why you want to believe it Tuck; I really do. The idea that Danny’s still here... I’d do anything to see him again.”

“What if we could?” Tucker asked, gears spinning in his head.

“Could what?”

“See Danny!”

Sam gave him a hard look. “Why do I have the feeling you aren’t talking about pictures?”

“When Danny and I were, like, 12 or something we bought an Ouija board-”

“Oh my God.”

“We were too chicken to use it, but what if-”

“You can not be serious!”

“Please Sam!” Tucker begged. “I know...I know it’s crazy. I know it won’t work. But...” He trailed off, voice cracking.

Sam stood there for a moment, watching her best friend struggle to find the words to convince her. “Fine,” she caved. “We’ll go- maybe it’ll be fun. I’ve always wanted to speak to a real ghost!”

She met Tucker at the remains of Fenton works at midnight, long after the rest of the town was asleep.

“I gotta admit,” Tucker confessed as they scaled the chain link fence. “This seemed like a much better idea in the daylight.”

“Can’t back out now,” Sam smiled. “Besides, the darkness makes it more authentic!”

The two moved to the darkest corner, settling down with the Ouija board between them.

“This is the real deal,” Sam observed as she inspected the board. “Where did you and Danny find this thing?”

“An old antique shop- the owner swore it let him talk to his dead wife.”

“The why’d he sell it?”

“Apparently she was still nagging him about fixing a leak in their basement.”

Sam chuckled. “Did Mr. Fenton know that Amity Park had a ghost specifically haunting leaky faucet?”

“Why else do you think two 12-year old’s were in an antique store?” Tucker snickered.

“The instructions say to balance the board on our knees,” Sam explained, reading the rules by the glow of her cellphone. “Don’t apply too much pressure to the planchette; just rest your fingers so it’s free to move around the board.”

The two jumped as the rubble shifted behind them, the silence of the night making the sound that much louder.

“It just occurred to me that trying to talk to spirits in the remain of a ghost lab probably isn’t the smartest choice,” Tucker laughed shakily.

“Do you still want to do this?”

“Yeah,” he responded without hesitation.

Sam finished explaining the rules, setting her phone aside and balancing the board on her knees. “Let’s do this.”

Gulping, Tucker placed two fingers on the planchette and whispered, “Hello?”

“Let’s hope the ghosts aren’t deaf,” Sam muttered.

“Hello?” Tucker said again, louder. Nothing happened.

“Anyone here?” Sam tried. “We aren’t here to hurt you- we’re just here to talk. Preferably to one of the Fenton’s’ but, whatever.”

Nothing.

The two sat there in silence, holding their breath as they waiting for the planchette to move. After a few minutes, Sam let out a heavy breath. “Tuck, I don’t think-”

“Let me try something!” Tucker interrupted. With one hand he reached into his backpack, pulling out what was left of Danny’s rocket, setting it by the board.

“This was made by my best friend,” Tucker looked up at the remains of the ceiling. “His name is Danny. Danny Fenton.” He paused. “He lived here his whole life. He grew up here. He and Jazz were measured on the same wall in the kitchen. He got so mad when she got taller! He broke his wrist jumping out of his window on a dare.”

“What are you doing?” Sam asked quietly.

“Trying to fill the place with good memories- Mr. Fenton once said ghosts are attracted to that.”

“Oh. Proceed.”

“I spent most of my childhood here too. Danny and I used to ride our tricycles around the kitchen while his mom made cookies; Snickerdoodles of course- those are Danny’s favorites. One time, when we were 5, Jazz had Racheal and Maggie over for her first sleepover and they snuck us candy when we were supposed to be in bed.” Tucker laughed. “And there was this one time, when we were 9, Danny and I decided to run away. We snuck out of the house and got as far as the park before Mr. Fenton found us on his ghost patrol. We were so scared he’d be mad but he just... he just sat us down and explained the dangers of going out at night.”

“Dangers?” Sam raised an eye brow. “What kinds of dangers?”

“Ghosts, mostly. But he also asked us why we’d run away to begin with.”

“Why had you?”

“Dash called Danny a freak- told him he didn’t belong here. And ya know, for all the crazy things Jack Fenton has said, I’m never gonna forget what he told us that night.”

“What’d he tell you?”

Tucker smiled sadly, eyes glassy. “That it didn’t matter what Dash or anyone else thought; we’re family and we’ll always belong.”

Sam grinned. “Smartest thing he’s ever said. However,” She glanced down at the board. “I don’t think he, or any other ghost is gonna say anything tonight.”

“Yeah,” he agreed dejectedly. “I guess not.”

The two said goodbye, slowly packing the board back into Tucker’s backpack.

“It’s late,” yawned Sam. “I think it’s time to go.”

“Go ahead,” Tucker leaned back on the ground, staring at the stars. “I’m just... gonna hang here for a minute.”

Sam thought about protesting but seeing the despair in his eyes made her stop. This was something he needed in order to move on. After making him promise to text her when he got home, she bid him goodnight and left.

Tucker watched the stars in silence, mind wandering through memories of him and Danny.

“5...4...3...2...1,” Tucker whispered to no one, lifting the rocket and flying it around. “Ladies and gentlemen the Red Ranger, the first rocket to be both built and piloted by the same person, has launched! How’s it looking’ up there Captain Danny? Excellent! With the speeds you’re going at you’ll be able to meet aliens on Mars and be back in time for cookies before bedtime!”

As he spoke, Tucker imagined him and Danny at 7 years old, playing in the Fenton’s backyard; Danny sitting in his cardboard rocket and Tucker with his cereal box mission control.

“Mission control, I am at Mars!” Danny announced, jumping out of the box and sneaking towards the swing set. “I can see the aliens!”

“What do they look like Captain Danny?”

Danny peered around the slide to see Jazz reading as she swung.

“Gross! They look like girls! This planet is infected with cooties!” Jazz glared at her little brother with a mischievous smile.

“Abort mission!” Tucker yelled. “I repeat, abort mission!”

“Rodger, heading back to the rocket now.” As Danny turned, Jazz jumped off the swing, chasing him. Danny squeaked when she tickled his sides.

“Mission control, help! The alien sees me!”

“Mission control can’t help you!” Jazz laughed as Tucker jumped up. “He’s back on Earth!”

Tucker sat down defeated before pulling his cardboard screens closer. “Captain Danny, go left!”

The three laughed as Jazz chased Danny around the yard, Tucker shouting directions at Danny. Danny jumped into his rocket, screaming with joy as Jazz shook it.

“The alien’s got me!”

“Alien?” Maddie Fenton asked, walking out.

“Yeah!” Danny beamed at his mother. “She followed me from Mars- she’s trying to give everyone on Earth cooties!”

“Goodness! Going to mars and fighting aliens? You must be hungry! Good thing I made some cookies!”

“COOKIES!” Tucker exclaimed, jumping up as Danny tumbled out of his rocket.

“No cookies for Jazz- she’ll get cooties all over them!” Danny demanded, sticking his tongue out.

“I think we have enough to share,” Maddie smiled, hugging her daughter as the boys ran inside. “Even aliens from Mars get hungry.”

“I can’t believe we named our first rocket ‘The Red Ranger’,” A voice said.

Tucker turned to see who was speaking, and nearly jumped out of his skin. “Danny!?”

A kid was reclining next to him, looking almost like Danny, but not quite. Black hair had gone white, pasty skin now a pale shade of green. The teen was wearing the classic black and white Hazmat suit the Fenton’s had been wearing the night of the accident, but the colors were inverted. Two glowing red eyes stared back as Tucker’s jaw hit the ground.

“Hey Tuck,” Danny said softly.

“Oh my God!” Tucker scrambled to sit up, staring at the ghost of his best friend. “I knew it! I knew you were here! Wait, how are you here? Are you real? Is this a dream? Oh my God, have I just gone crazy with grief and now I’m hallucinating-”

“Tucker, it’s me,” Danny smiled tiredly.

Tucker launched himself at Danny, hugging him as tightly as possible.

“It’s a good thing I don’t need to breath anymore,” the ghost joked.

“Sorry, sorry!” Tucker sat back, staring in awe. “You look... different. Like a-”

“Like a ghost?” Danny chuckled.

“Yeah.” He shook his head, smiling. “I can’t believe you’re here! I knew it from the moment Dash first lost his underwear!”

“Tucker-”

“That was hilarious! And my test grade? I don’t know how you knew but- wait, how did you know?”

“I’ve been... watching.” Danny confessed awkwardly.

“Watching?” Tucker moved away, suddenly angry. “Watching? You’ve been watching us this whole time and never thought about appearing? Didn’t think we might like to know you’re okay? Well, I mean, not okay okay, but okay in afterlife terms!”

“I-”

“What, were you just in my room, watching me suffer? Do you have any idea how hard this has been? Do you even care?”

“Tucker,” Danny sat up, grabbing his arm. “I didn’t show up before because I couldn’t. I didn’t have enough power yet.”

“Power?” Tucker questioned, anger slowly ebbing away.

“Yeah,” Danny grinned. “Being a ghost is kinda like being a superhero. Watch this,” his hand began to glow as he fired a glowing ball of green energy. It burst in the sky like a firework, though it made virtually no sound.

“Wow! What else can you do?”

For the next few hours the two sat together, talking and joking around as Danny showed off his new powers. They stared at the stars, recounting some of their best missions with the Red Ranger. Danny told tucker how his parents and sister were doing, describing how they too had undergone physical changes in becoming ghosts.

“Sometimes dad forgets we’re dead,” Danny snorted, “He’s still trying to hunt all these ghosts. He met this ghost- Skulker- and it’s like he found his platonic soulmate. Mom’s happy too- turns out a friend from college is also a ghost. They’ve been talking non-stop, filling each other in on life post college.”

“And Jazz?”

“A little disappointed she can’t attend Harvard. I’m trying to convince her to haunt the library- casually have a book fall off a shelf to help someone out, ya know?”

Tucker laughed. “It sounds perfect.”

For a moment, it was silent, the two perfectly content to lay on the ashy floor of a burnt down building.

“Danny?”

“Yeah Tuck?”

Tucker rolled over so he was face to face with the ghost. “Why didn’t you show up earlier? When Sam was here?”

Danny closed his eyes briefly, as if preparing himself. “She’s grieved enough as it is- no reason to load more on her.”

“More?” Danny stayed silent. “Oh... you aren’t staying, are you?”

“There’s this whole new world for me to explore Tucker- more than one! There are hundreds of thousands of doors in the Ghost Zone, and they all lead somewhere different! Different times, different places- I’m sure a few go to entirely different dimensions too!”

“So, take me with you!” Tucker smiled. “Imagine it! You and me, traveling through time and space!”

“I have,” Danny said sadly. “You have no idea how much a wish we could do that.”

“Why can’t we?”

“Humans can’t survive in the Ghost Zone,” he explained. “Everything about the environment is catered to the dead, like how Earth is for the living. You could survive, but after a while...”

“I’d die?” Tucker guessed. Danny nodded soberly. “So, how are you here? If Earth is made for the living-”

“I can’t stay for much longer. It’s kind of like being a fish out of water- I more or less absorb the atmosphere of the ghost zone. Here, there’s nothing to absorb.”

“Right,” Tucker huffed awkwardly. “I’d ask for a better explanation, but I don’t want you to waste your breath... or absorption... I guess.”

Danny laughed, laying back on the ground. “I miss the stars,” he said wistfully. “I can’t see them in the Ghost Zone.”

“You could always come back,” Tucker offered hopefully. “Every night- video games and star gazing, just like the good old days.”

“I can’t,” Danny’s voice shook. “It’s not fair to you Tucker. You have a whole life to live- I would just hold you back.”

“You wouldn’t be-”

“How do you expect to live your life if you’re constantly waiting for your friend to come back from the dead and talk to you? Time isn’t even the same in the Ghost Zone as it is here. I could come back thinking it’s only been five minutes when it’s actually been five years.”

Tucker wanted to argue but couldn’t. “I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered tearfully.

“I wish I could stay,” Danny swallowed thickly, swiping a hand over his eyes.

“How much time do you have left?”

Danny looked at his friend, a mischievous glint in his glowing eyes. “Enough to give you a flying lesson.”

“Flying-” Tucker yelped as Danny scooped him up as if he weighed nothing, slowly floating into the sky. Tucker kept his arms locked around the ghosts’ neck, screaming when Danny pretended to drop him.

“Open your eyes you wimp,” Danny teased, hovering high above the buildings. Slowly, Tucker’s eyes cracked open, taking in the sight of a sleeping Amity Park beneath him.

“Wow...” he breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, soaring over rooftops. “Beautiful.”

Tucker woke up the next morning, cold and sore, curled up on the floor of the Fenton house. His phone was blowing up with texts from Sam, demanding to know why he had never texted her. Sleepily, he apologized, explaining that he must have fallen asleep.

Depressed, he packed his rocket into his bag, convinced that the previous night was a dream. He couldn’t find the Ouija board, assuming Sam had taken it with her.

I’m meeting you at your house. She texted him. You have a lot of explaining to do.

“Tucker Foley!” She snapped as he entered his bed room. “Do you have any idea how bad you scared me? I stayed up as late as I could waiting for you to text me!”

“I’m sorry Sam. I really didn’t mean-” He froze looking past her to his bed. The Ouija board was resting on his pillow, the planchette resting over the word goodbye.

“You better have a good explanation.” Sam huffed. “What happened last night?”

“Nothing,” Tucker said, smiling at the board. “Just had a really great dream.”

#phic phight #prompts #darknymfa #Danny Phantom #fanfiction

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