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goodfish-bowl · 3 years

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Red

DP Side Hoes Week Saturday Prompt Valerie - Hero

I’m a bit late with this one, but I was determined to finish. I also have all the other ones finally up on my AO3 if you want to find all of them easier. ust been a bit busy the past week.

Summary: Valerie finally manages to capture Phantom after a particularly brutal fight with Skulker.

Warnings: there’s blood and gore, I did a thing, you’ve been warned

Words: 1547 (longest one)

AO3 link

Valerie had always fancied herself a hero. Not like Phantom, but a true hero who saw things as they actually were. Ghosts were destructive and cruel, maybe not always evil, but the world would be better off without them in the long run. The dead should stay dead, and she was merely helping them get there. She, Valerie, the Red Huntress, had always been a hero in her own head. But right now, holding an ecto-rifle to the back of Phantom’s head while he struggled to even remain conscious, she didn’t feel like one.

Phantom’s green ectoplasm was smeared and leaking all over both the alley and himself. The fight with Skulker had been a rough one, and Phantom could barely move, arms tightly clutched over his bleeding wounds. His aura was dim and wavered in and out, but the sheen of ectoplasm was brighter than ever, especially since he had lost much more than a person who was bleeding out reasonably could. It’s matted his hair, coagulating like blood, and healing his body so fast she could see the skin slowly creep close on some of his more minor wounds. But his ankle was broken, and some of those deeper gashes would be closed in a couple of hours, even at the rate he was healing. Phantom was weak at the moment. Skulker was currently sitting in Phantom’s stolen thermos. It was just him and her right now.

Valerie didn’t hold the same views on ghosts as the Fenton’s did. She knew ghosts could feel, some had once been human. They felt pain, or at least imagined it. If they believed they were supposed to be in pain, then they were. Ghosts were creatures of subconsciousness, based on their own former consciousness, melded together by ectoplasm. Not all of them were evil either, some, like Phantom, had good intentions, but still brought destruction with them nonetheless. Phantom thought he was a hero, or he acted like it, and never seemed to acknowledge the extent of the destruction he had brought onto Amity Park. To Valerie, it made everything so difficult. It would’ve been easier if Phantom was malicious, but he was a ghost who didn’t know better. Who was he to care about the state of the living? This was why she had to look out for the people of Amity Park and get rid of the ghosts no matter their intentions.

Valerie hadn’t earned this. Here she had the biggest threat to Amity Park, right at gunpoint and weakened where he wouldn’t be able to fight back. But she hadn’t been the one to bring him to this point, she hadn’t earned her revenge against Phantom, but her feelings were irrelevant in the grander aspect. She needed to get rid of him if she was to make Amity safe again, so she could be the hero Amity deserved.

Phantom’s breathing shuddered, whether out of fear or pain, she didn’t know. Phantom didn’t need to breathe, but he did so anyway because he believed he needed to. Valerie often wondered about this strange ghost, who looked to be her own age, “protected” Amity and all of its residents and regularly got the shit beat out of him by both her and other ghosts alike. What made him so different? Was it a territory thing? Obsession?

“Hey, Red, nice night we’re having, huh?” Phantom quipped, voice wavering.

He was scared. Scared and injured, yet he still spoke.

“It is, actually. There’s a nice breeze, the night is crisp, and I have a ghost at the end of my rifle. Nothing could make this night any sweeter,” Valerie returned.

“About that… can we do this another time? I’m a bit tired at the moment, but I promise I won’t ghost you next time.” And there was the pun. God, she hated those stupid puns.

“Sorry, Phantom. No can do. I’ve got a quota to fill tonight.”

Phantom swayed a bit, wavering where he knelt and went to look at her, but a nudge from her weapon stopped him. There was a moment of silence before either of them spoke again. Valerie was waiting, she knew she was, she just didn’t know for what. She had so many questions for Phantom, and he was in no place to refuse any of them, yet she couldn’t bring herself to say them.

“Well, if you’re going to shoot me, Red, you might as well do it soon, I would prefer it if you did. This silence is killing me.” Phantom said.

There was another moment, then “Why?”

If he had been facing her, Valerie imagined he was raising one of his eyebrows. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, Red.”

“Why are you like this? You quip and make jokes when you’ve had the shit beaten out of you, even when I’m holding a gun to your head, Phantom. You’re hated here in Amity, you know that, but yet you still come back and getting the shit beaten out of you. So, Why?”

Phantom let out a long exhale, and his shoulders sagged, he turned to face her, and she didn’t stop him this time. He had healing cuts on his face alongside green bruises. He would’ve had a black eye had he been human. He was healing fast though; he’d be able to escape if she delayed much longer. But his eyes, windows to the soul, and from the look in them, he had one. She could see guilt, pain, misery, and most of all, regret.

“Because this is all my fault. If you’re going to kill me, then do it soon, and have the Fenton’s close the portal, and most of the ghosts will leave,” he said, tone low but his eyes challenged her to do it, but Phantom looked so sad.

“How is this your fault?” It was a demand, definitely not a question. She didn’t want to make him feel better, not after what he had done to Amity, not what he had done to her. But why would Amity’s whole ghost problem be his fault?

“I’m the one who turned on the portal.”

Oh… that made sense. Nothing happened in Amity before the Fenton’s portal had powered up, it was the beginning of it all, and Phantom had been one of the first ghosts spotted.

Valerie remained quiet for a minute, contemplating, and watching Phantom deal with his own injuries, his gaze no longer meeting hers. Guilt, that’s what drives him. But it was all his fault. And now, she could fix it all. She could get revenge. She could save Amity Park. She could prove to herself that she was a hero. Valier powered up the ecto-rifle and removed the barrel from directly against Phantom’s head. She saw Phantom stiffen, preparing for his own doom.

Rage bubbled up in her gut. Of course, this was all his fault, it always had been. Phantom had a habit of ruining lives, hers included. He deserved this for what he’d done, not just to her, but all of Amity Park.

Valerie steeled herself and the rifle matched her emotions, red hot. She waited no time pulling the trigger this time. Phantom made a vain attempt to escape, launching himself into the air like a rocket, but the crimson energy blasted him in the small of his back, knocking him clean out of the air and into the brick of the alley. He didn’t get up this time.

Valerie let out a shaky breath. Of course, just when she was ready to put Phantom out of his obvious misery, he would attempt to bolt, because she had waited too long. But that rifle could dissipate low-level ghosts with one semi-clean hit and usually severely injured anything higher without armor. At nearly point-blank, Valerie was surprised it hadn’t blown straight through him, but it nearly had. The wound was already pooling ectoplasm, and a chunk of his back the size of a fist was gorged from his back, just left of his spine. He was out cold. It wouldn’t end a ghost, but a wound like that would put him down for a while, but she might as well finish her job for the night.

Valerie stood over Phantom and charged up a second shot. A bright white ring burst around Phantom’s waist, blinding her. It split across him and took with it Phantom’s glow. His colors had inversed on themselves, white hair to black, jumpsuit replaced by a quickly stained shirt that once had been white, and sickly pale skin. He was bleeding red, not green. She had no idea what happened but… it wasn’t like anything she had ever seen. Phantom had transformed into someone, someone who at least from her current view if he hadn’t been covered in his own blood and ectoplasm, would’ve been human.

Valerie nudged him gently with her boot, ecto-rifle in her hands just in case this was just another one of Phantom’s tricks. He didn’t respond, so Valerie turned him over to see his face and was staring at the boy known as Danny Fenton, who looked like he was seconds away from death.

She no longer felt anything like a hero as much as she did a murderer.

#Danny Phantom #Valerie gray #tw:blood #dp side hoes week 2021 #violent #I need clarification. Is this angst or no?#this isn't my normal angst but maybe????#goodfish writes

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flowersandskeletons526 · 3 years

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“The Harshest Future We Could Have Imagined” - Lumity Future AU Fanfic Part 2

Here’s chapter two! Luz and Amity finally get their reunion and get a short chance to catch up.

----

Luz tackled Amity in a hug.

"I missed you guys so much!" she exclaimed, laughing past the tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy I get to see you again!"

Amity hesitated, eyes wide and watery, before finally putting her arms around Luz. The human winced as Amity's nails dug into her back but didn't let go. "Tell me I'm not dreaming," she gasped, clinging to Luz. "Tell me you're here."

"I am here," Luz whispered. "I'm sorry I was gone so long."

Forcing herself to pull back, Amity beckoned to Willow and Gus. Both grinned and jumped on their friends, locking them in a tight hug. Eda, Lilith, and King followed. Luz laughed under the smothering hugs and held her family tighter. She somehow managed to keep from crying as Amity buried her face against her neck, talons still locked in her back.

"I missed you, Luz," she whispered in her ear.

"I missed you too, Ami."

They all stayed like that for longer than any could tell, until Eda released them with, "Alright, enough with the parallel arms thing."

Everyone broke apart laughing. Luz stayed close to Amity, pressing their arms together as Amity wiped at her eyes. Willow shot Luz that old knowing smile over Amity's head.

Luz grinned at everyone. "Okay, you guys have to tell me everything that's happened while I was gone," she said. Every smile in the room disappeared. She frowned. "Guys?"

Eda sighed. "Come sit down, kid. Amity, Willow, why don't you explain?"

Luz looked around with a concerned frown as Willow led her to the table. She sat beside Luz while Amity hovered behind them, tying the long part of her undercut into a messy bun. Luz watched her for a moment before Willow tapped the table to get her attention.

Only then did she notice the scar on Willow’s face. Deep and ragged, it curled down the side of her face, revealed by her much shorter hair. Glancing back at Amity, Luz noticed the scars that littered her pale skin, as well. She noticed the dark shadows and creases beneath everyone’s eyes, their cuts and bruises, the fresh blood and dirt that covered them. They were her age; logically, she knew that, but looking at them now, it seemed that far more years had passed for them than had for her. Even Gus, though still short, had grown into hardened features and haunted eyes. Luz swallowed hard and looked to Willow.

“After you left,” the witch began, “things started to get bad.”

Her voice was somber and hollow. Luz’s stomach dropped.

“Belos started recruiting more members into the Emperor’s coven, powerful magic users and foot soldiers. They stopped allowing study of different tracks and anyone caught practicing outside a coven was arrested. The multi-track at Hexside was outlawed. Using glyphs was grounds for immediate arrest.”

Luz felt for the pad of paper in her pocket and took a deep breath.

Willow went on. “Remember how Gus was digging tunnels beneath school?”

“It was just supposed to be one at first,” Gus interjected.

“Well, he finished them. There’s a massive network under there now that we used to meet in to discuss plans, mostly on keeping them away from the Owl House and Eda while they tried to fix the portal. After that speech I made during the petrification, after people found out we stole the portal back, everyone started getting angrier with the entire idea of the coven system.”

“Most people,” Amity said bitterly.

Willow sighed and reached out to squeeze her hand. “Most people. Anyway, once all that started, Belos put us in martial law and put everything under complete jurisdiction of the Emperor’s coven and their leader. Alador Blight.”

“Blight? You mean…?”

“My father.” Amity gripped her staff harshly. “And now my brother.”

“Edric?”

“What about him, Amity?” Eda asked.

“He’s Belos’ new commander. We ran into him today at the fight in town. Eda, we’re going to need to set up more security for a while and try to keep him away as long as possible. He knows too much about us.”

“So, you’re all fighting the Emperor’s coven now?” Luz asked.

“We are,” said Willow. “Belos, specifically. Eventually he started petrifying people and spouting all that Titan’s will bullshit, so we got angry, and we snuck into his castle a year ago and tried to kill him.”

“You what?”

“Willow did,” Gus said.

Willow smirked and tapped her scar. “That’s what this is from.”

“You’re kidding,” Luz murmured. “Really, Willow? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“Maybe when we were younger, Luz. A lot has changed since you left.”

“I guess so.” Luz rubbed the back of her neck. “What’s going on now?”

“War. Amity and I lead the rebellion. We’re doing our best to just take him down and destroy the coven system. We’re trying but it’s been awful.”

“Once it’s calmed down again, we should bring Luz through the Isles,” Gus suggested.

“I’m not sure if that is such a good idea,” Lilith said.

Eda shook her head. “No, she should. She’s back with us now and she needs to know what’s been happening.”

“Tomorrow we’ll go on a stealth mission through town so she can see what’s been happening,” Amity decided. She touched Willow’s shoulder. “Does that work?”

“That works.” Willow stood. Luz stood as well, seized by a sudden sense of respect for the newly realized leader in her old friend. “Gus and I have to go. We have to make sure the base is secure before heading home. All our dads are waiting for us.”

“Your dads are part of the rebellion?” Luz asked.

“My dads help with the healers and Gus’ dad circulates our messages and newsletters.”

“Wowza.”

“I’ll come with you,” Amity said.

“No, Amity, stay here,” Willow ordered gently. “We’ll be fine. We need you here.”

“Okay.”

Willow and Gus pulled Luz into a tight hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I’m sorry we couldn’t stay long right now. It’s been an awful day.”

“It looks like it,” Luz said. “I’m sorry.”

“Tomorrow we’ll take you through the new Isles,” Gus said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, guys.”

“Bye, Luz.”

Luz sank back down in her chair as Willow and Gus left, staring at her hands in her lap. “What did I do when I left?” she whispered.

“It wasn’t you, Luz,” Eda said. “This has been a long time coming. It was just bad timing. Amity, why don’t you and Luz go set up her bed with you upstairs for now?”

“Okay.”

Amity grabbed Luz’s backpack and nodded to the stairs. Luz caught Amity’s hand, making Amity blush, and followed along beside her.

Upstairs, Luz’s room - now Amity’s - hadn’t changed much. Eda’s clutter still bordered the room. The old, weathered Azura poster hung in its place on the wall, with the entire series stacked beneath it beside King’s bed. Along with the string lights hung up, multiple glowing orbs hung in the air. Sitting in the corner was a writing pad and pencil with multiple different glyphs scattered around it, including several light glyphs. A little keepsake box with an A on it sat on the windowsill.

Luz stopped in the doorway as Amity nudged her bed to the side. She grabbed another mat and sleeping bag from a chest on the side of the room as Luz looked around.

“You didn’t change much, did you?” she asked.

“Not really. I was planning on you coming back soon so I didn’t want to move anything, and when you didn’t, well…” Amity shrugged. “It made me think of you. I used to read Azura sitting with King beneath the poster.”

Luz nodded. Forcing a smile, she tried at their old joke. “Did you miss me that much, Blight?”

“Yes, actually.” Amity paused. “And it’s Clawthorne now.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s Amity Clawthorne.”

“Oh. Since when?”

“Six months after you left, I think? I got into a fight with my mother because she found out I was hanging around the Owl House. She told me she was my mother so I had to listen to her, I told her I didn’t care, and she said fine. Then I must not care that I’m a Blight, either. She threw me out, I came here, and I shaved my head the next day. Eda and Lilith agreed to let me take the Clawthorne name a little after, and that was that. I was going to look for a bird palisman too, like them, but Raja came along and changed my mind."

“Oh, geez, Amity, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I ended up better than I ever would have been if I stayed in the manor. Better than what happened with Edric, anyway.”

A hush fell over the room. Luz sighed and took Amity’s hand. Amity glanced at her.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get back here,” she murmured. “Believe it or not, the human world doesn’t have many how-to books on fixing portals.”

Amity laughed sadly. “Well, we weren’t exactly quick on our side, either. I’m just glad you’re back now.”

“Me, too.”

King scurried into the room. “Luz! Amity! I demand cuddles!”

Amity laughed and sat on her bed. King jumped into her lap, curling up as she scratched his back. Chuckling to herself, Luz sat with Amity and patted King’s head. King closed his eyes and snuggled into them.

“You two get along now?” Luz asked.

“She gave me a cupcake!” King chirped.

Luz raised an eyebrow.

“I came by with peace offerings a few weeks after you left,” Amity explained. “I wanted to make up for being an asshole before we became friends.”

“I’m glad you get along with everyone now.”

“It was touch and go for a little bit, but we got there. Eda really trusts me now, especially after everything started getting bad.”

“That’s good! I still remember the whole burning memory thing.”

Amity groaned, grinning as she went red and shook her head. “Titan, Eda did not like me back then. I was such an idiot when we were younger.”

“Only a little.”

The conversation drifted off. They smiled at each other, King sleeping between them, quiet in the fading light coming in through the window.

Luz cleared her throat. “I really like your hair, by the way.”

Amity blushed and touched the shaved part of her hair. “Really?”

“Yeah. The brown looks nice. And you look, I don’t know, happier, now, even with everything you’ve told me about.”

Amity pulled her knees to her chest. “A little. It’s mostly because you’re back.”

Without warning, Amity jumped into Luz’s arms, scaring King off her lap. Luz stuck one arm back to keep them both upright. She wrapped the other around Amity’s waist as the witch hid her face against Luz’s shoulder. Luz nuzzled against Amity, smiling as her pointed ear flicked and turned backwards, holding her tight. Amity let go of a long breath and relaxed in Luz’s embrace.

“I missed you so much,” she said. Hot tears dripped onto Luz’s shoulder. “I didn’t know if you were ever going to come back. So many years went by and we weren’t able to do anything and I didn’t think we would ever be able to fix it.”

“I know. I was scared, too.” Luz sighed and adjusted to put both her arms around Amity. She shot King a look. He nodded, taking the hint and bolting downstairs. “I only thought about you and the others when I was in the human world. God, Amity, my mom was so mad at me.”

“She thought you were at a camp, right?”

“Yeah. And when I finally told her where I really was, she thought I was crazy. She tried to send me to another camp.” Luz shuddered, thinking of the therapist’s office and all the brochures that woman showed Camila. “Well, not really a camp, but, something like it. She thought it was going to help me. I got out of it though, after a lot of talks and convincing. I’m still not sure she totally believes me, but I think she just finally, I don’t know, accepted it, I guess? I think she thought that most of my pictures were photoshopped, too.”

“Photoshopped?”

“It’s a way to edit pictures in the human world. Anyway, I showed her pictures of you and everyone else and all the weird things on the Isles, and I don’t know if she gave up or actually believed me, but she stopped trying to fix me. I think she was just glad I finally started acting normal in public, Isles aside.”

Amity pulled back, still leaning on Luz and only inches away from her face. “You told me you hated how everyone acted in the human world.”

“I did. I do. But I knew that if I started acting the way she wanted me to, I could focus on finding a way to get back to you.” Luz turned aside and cleared her throat. “Um, all of you, I mean. Get back to all of you and get back to the Isles.”

“Right.”

Amity glanced down and went red in the face. Pursing her lips, she sat back away from Luz. The human smiled sadly and pulled one knee up to her chest.

“So,” she said, “how is it being a Clawthorne?”

“It’s… fine. Eda and Lilith care about me, at least.”

“Are they still getting along?”

“They are, which is more than I can say for my own siblings.”

“Is Emira part of the rebellion?”

“She is. She usually fights with my squad, but sometimes she gets put with the old detention kids.”

“Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus?”

“Mmhm.”

“What about everyone else from school?”

“I haven’t heard anything from Skara and her friends. That little jerk from the construction track joined the Emperor’s coven, and we’ve seen him a few times on patrol, but not much. Last I heard of Boscha, she just stayed away from everything.”

“Huh. Knowing her, I would’ve expected her to join the coven.”

“She almost did. She got sick of the idea of being told what to do and dropped off the map. No one has seen her since then.”

Luz nodded. She looked outside at the purple sky, watching the stars light up like the light orbs glowing in the room above them.

“So much has changed since I left.”

Amity sighed. “It’s been hard. I won’t lie. But, we’re trying.”

“I’m glad I’m here to help now.”

“So am I.” Climbing to her feet, Amity dragged a hand down her face. “I’m going to go take a shower. You should get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow sneaking through the Isles.”

Luz laid out her sleeping bag beside Amity’s and stretched out. Staring out the window, she took a deep breath and fished out her paper and pencil. She drew a light glyph and sent it into the air besides Amity’s pink-tinged lights. She sighed and allowed herself a tiny smile, the lights dancing in her eyes. Some things didn’t change.

Amity turned after a while, dressed in torn pajamas with her hair down. Luz turned over to look at her and froze. Her heart jumped into her throat. Amity was always pretty to her when they were younger, but now it suddenly hit her how beautiful she really was. She flashed Luz a little smile and lied down beside her.

They faced each other, barely a foot apart. Luz held out a hand that Amity took. With hands clasped between them, they closed their eyes, finally at peace with the other beside them again.

****

Luz crouched behind Willow. Hexside stood before them, reduced from its former glory to a smoldering, pitted, burnt out husk. A picture of Belos’s mask with a red X through it was graffitied across the mighty tower in front. All the trees surrounding the campus were cut or burned down, leaving only stumps behind. The top of the tower and the eye inside were blasted away. Her heart sank at the sight. She clutched Willow’s hand, unable to look away from the ruined school.

Willow lowered her head a touch. “That’s Hexside,” she said quietly. “When they found out we were meeting in the tunnels and using Viney’s passages, they sent in squads and destroyed the place. They wouldn’t let anyone fix it, either, even to continue using it as a school.”

Luz grimaced. “Do I even want to see Bonesborough after this?”

“Probably not, but you should.”

Willow ushered her along.

The town looked no better. Little fires burned everywhere. Most buildings were scorched in places or had holes busted through the walls. Doors were torn off their hinges and windows were cracked and shattered. The normally busy town was deserted by its citizens, replaced by white robed soldiers and little flying creatures. The soldiers shouted at anyone wandering the streets. Some were forced back into buildings. Others were clubbed and forced into chains before being carted away.

Propagandic pictures of Belos’ proud visage were plastered on every wall, alongside wanted posters of Willow and Amity’s dangerous caricatures. Luz was reminded of Eda’s old posters displayed everywhere.

Hiding on a hill overlooking the town, the crew watched as a new patrol squad marched through the streets. Their leader stepped out in front of his soldiers and took off his mask.

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