The Ghost Boy (A Danny Phantom Fanfiction)

Chapter Three

A moment of silence grabbed the room like desperately gripping onto the last atoms left of a cliff. Or at least, that was until I sighed, stepped back inside and shut the door. With the ringing silence in the room, the sudden sound of a door shutting would most probably make anyone jump. Anyone but Clockwork.

I put my hands up as if to stop him, even though he wasn't speaking, or moving at all, in fact. "Okay, I'm confused now. Hang on..." I held my head in my hand. "Let me get this straight... So... I died ten years ago. Nobody ever found my body, and after a while I didn't come back, nor was I found, so my family just assumed my death. They held a funeral and are now bent on vengeance on ghosts because they thought that's how I died... By the hands of ghosts. And they've recently started building a portal to break down a barrier between Earth and the Ghost Zone." I put the same hand out in front of me, palm up and gesturing to Clockwork, looking at him expectantly.

Clockwork grinned and lowered his head in a curt nod.

My eyeline dropped and my voice became an only barely audible muttering. "Right... Because that couldn't have been explained a whole lot quicker..." I looked back at Clockwork again. "So, I understand the whole "unbalanced worlds" theory... Thing... But, once again, what do you expect me to do about it? You want me to go to Earth and pretend to be human or whatever... And what do you want me to do? Send them all back to the Ghost Zone? Fight them off? And I'm not human. How the heck am I going to fit in if I'm not human? As if the ghostly aura wasn't obvious enough, no doubt my... My parents... Will have something to detect ghosts. I mean, what's a Ghost Hunter without a ghost detector? Seems a bit pointless." I folded my arms and waited as patiently as I could for him to reply.

He observed me reverentially and spoke slowly, but surely. "Yes, I do want you to go to the human world. Yes, I do want you to try and keep the ghosts out of the human world, to try to fit in with the humans and go back to your family... Tell them that you somehow survived and found your way back to Amity Park."

"After ten years, though? You're crazy! Not to mention I can't exactly go back..." I pointed with both index fingers to my head. "Suddenly sporting white hair and glowing green eyes. There's no way they'll believe it's me. It's pointless!"

Clockwork stroked his chin in thought. "What if you looked like your human self?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Fat chance of that happening."

"Not if you are actually human."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him doubtfully. He was suggesting this impossibility purposely. I voiced my thoughts. "What are you getting at? I'm already dead. It's impossible for somebody to randomly come back to life, even by your standards."

"Not necessarily. I've been over some calculations. Apparently, in another timeline, the complete opposite of what I'm proposing happened to you. You became Half-Ghost in that timeline."

My eyebrows shot up. "Really?!"

"Yes." Clockwork said. "You aquired ghost powers from an accident involving that portal. So, I'm thinking... That perhaps you could be the first to enter the portal, and be the one to activate it."

"Ok, be the first one there... Got it. But how exactly will that work? I am still a ghost... And what if it doesn't work?"

"Ah, but it will. Of course, it will not work unless someone activates it from the inside. This is exactly what happened in the other timeline and it was you going inside it and turning it on that gave you your ghost powers. Your parents didn't perfect the blueprints and all the coordinates were sloppily set and off the allocated setting. It was a stupid mistake set by your father, but yet not. It's a long shot, but the worst thing it can do is "fry" as you say... Your body into oblivion. Best case scenario, the electric shock may restart your heart and you may become human again, only the ectoplasmic energy surrounding the portal will still be active and will infuse with your DNA, and the same thing will happen in this timeline as in the other timeline."

I grimaced again. "Uh... I think you're making sense. Although... I don't know about you, Clockwork, but I don't particularly want to fry my body into oblivion, thanks."

"It is the worst case scenario. There's a ninety-nine percent chance that that won't happen. I am the Master of Time, I know what is most likely to happen."

"Most likely?! Do you not know for sure that that's not going to happen?"

"I am not a miracle worker, Danny."

I ignored his calling me by my human name. "Uh... Is exactly that not your job description?!"

"Danny, I know you are unfavourable and disapproving of this plan, and extremely skeptical of the outcome, but please... We cannot afford not to take a chance. Please... Just trust me."

I didn't even remember my family, or my supposed friends. And yet here I was risking my whole... Well, afterlife... For them. But... For some reason, no matter how many times I had shouted; had gotten annoyed at Clockwork for his irritating vagueness, I trusted him, for not only was he the first ghost I ever met after I died, but he has helped me and has looked out for me for ten years, not to mention he was clairvoyant and all that nonsense... If he was even ninety nine percent sure I would survive this, then who was I to take a chance on my own terms? Besides, it was as he said: we could not afford not to take a chance.

I sighed as my eyelids raised and bright green was revealed once again. I sure hoped I was making the right decision... I wasn't even sure if I understood what this was all about, or what I had to do. Hopefully when I got there, things would begin to make a lot more sense...

For the sake of people I didn't even remember, but I was sure to meet again. I felt like I owed them a debt... Like it was me who had caused their pain and anguish. And if Earth crashed and burned in the tip of the balance, then wouldn't the Ghost Zone do the same?

I think both Clockwork and myself knew that couldn't happen.

"Fine, I guess... I'll do it."

A/N: YAY! Chapter Three and Danny agrees! He's gonna have to get used to the name, huh? AND HEREIN LIES THE REBIRTH OF DANNY FENTON! I hope this chapter explains a lot of things which I didn't specify before... XD
Ohmygosh, I just realised... Danny hasn't actually used his powers at all yet! (Well, apart from floating across the room to answer the door... XD) I SO NEED TO FIX THAT. XD
I hope you are looking forward to Danny going back to Earth as much as I am! Woo! XD
So ya, behold Chapter Three! Thank you so much for all of your support for this story! I can't believe we have 100+ reads! EEK! Thank you so much! You are all too awesome to put into words!
~ Marli F. xx