{
We live!!! Sorry for the (very) late update, we struggled to write this chapter because fight scenes are not our strong suit.
We do not own Danny Phantom or Percy Jackson, only this story and our original characters.
}
Danny turned towards the Nasty Burger, and he was relieved to see that everyone was still alive—they were strapped to a ticking time bomb, but they were still alive.
"Don't worry," Danny assured them, meeting the gazes of each of his family and friends. "I won't turn into that. Ever. I promise."
Then Danny noticed Mr. Lancer. Oh, yeah—he was here too, wasn't he? Danny opened his mouth to say something to the teacher—perhaps a silly quip to try and lighten the mood—but he was cut off as a rope of ectoplasm suddenly wrapped around his waist, and he was yanked backwards into the sky.
To say that Dan looked furious would be an understatement. His hair was like a miniature inferno on top of his head, and the veins in his temples looked ready to burst. He grabbed the front of Danny's suit and yanked the younger ghost forward so that they were face to face, his red eyes glowing furiously with barely restrained rage.
Danny glared right back. "What are you gonna do?" He taunted. "Waste me? What happens to you, then?"
Dan scoffed, his anger seeming to lessen just slightly as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know I can't kill you, but if a little maiming happens while we're running out the clock..." Dan smirked maliciously. "Well, I'm not opposed to having a few scars."
Danny didn't get a chance to respond before Dan punched him and sent him flying backwards. His back slammed into a light pole with a resounding CLANG, and he crumpled onto the sidewalk.
Danny groaned as he sat up and gingerly touched the back of his head. He would definitely be feeling that one tomorrow.
But then another thought came to his mind, and he hurried to slip the backpack from his shoulders.
Danny had appeared in front of his house when he finally returned to his timeline, and he'd had the idea to grab a few of his parents' inventions from the lab before he headed to the Nasty Burger. There hadn't been much lying around (most of his parents' weapons were missing, for some reason), but what he had found—the Ghost Gauntlets and the Specter Deflector—would be helpful enough. And he'd known that when it came time to fight Dan, he would need all the help he could get.
Yet with the hit his back had just taken, Danny hoped that none of the devices had been broken.
The Ghost Gauntlets had fallen out of his backpack on impact, but they looked fairly undamaged. Danny grabbed them and phased into the ground just as Dan came barreling towards him.
Underground, Danny flew forward as he pulled the Gauntlets on, and resurfaced about half a block behind Dan. The light pole where he had landed had been sliced in half and Dan was hovering over its remains, his back to Danny as he looked around. Seeing an opportunity, Danny darted towards his evil future self.
Dan started to turn around, and Danny just barely managed to clip the belt around the ghost's waist before leaping away. The Gauntlets protected Danny from the shock of the Specter Deflector, but as for Dan... Well...
Dan let out a pained, furious scream as green electricity erupted across his skin. Danny had hoped that the Deflector would be enough to fully incapacitate Dan, but it didn't seem to be doing much more than temporarily crippling him. Still, Danny took the chance and threw a punch.
Dan roared as, with great difficulty, he grabbed the belt around his waist and ripped it off. He threw the belt to the ground and looked up just as Danny's gauntlet connected with his side, the force of the blow knocking Dan backwards. He only stumbled back a couple of steps, but as he regained his footing Danny dove in and landed another hit in his gut.
That was enough to bring Dan to his knees, his arm shielding his stomach as he grunted with pain. Danny pulled his right arm back as he stepped forward, aiming for Dan's face as he struck again.
But this time, Dan retaliated. He caught Danny's fist in his hand, and his eyes flickered with annoyance as he glared at the young halfa.
"That's enough." Dan growled.
Danny tried to pull his hand away, but Dan's grip tightened, the metal of the glove beginning to cave under his fingertips. Danny pulled again, and finally managed to free his arm—a jolt of pain shooting through his wrist—just as the gauntlet crumpled in Dan's hand.
Danny stumbled back, clenching his teeth as a hot, throbbing pain shot through his wrist and hand. Sparing a quick glance at his arm, he didn't see anything obviously broken or out of place. Hopefully, it was only sprained.
The hairs on the back of Danny's neck stood on end as a sense of danger tingled in the back of his mind, and he looked up just in time to narrowly dodge the swipe of Dan's outstretched claws. Dan immediately turned on his heel and swiped at Danny again. Danny dodged once more, but this time Dan's claws nicked his side, slicing right through the fabric of his suit and drawing a few drops of green blood.
Danny winced, and glared at Dan once he was safely out of reach. "I thought you said you weren't gonna kill me!" Danny retorted as he stayed back and watched for an opening. "It sure seems like you're trying to!"
Dan, who seemed to have quickly caught onto Danny's strategy, merely smirked. "I'm not. I'm just making sure that things will turn out the way they're supposed to."
"Oh, so my family's supposed to be dead?!" Danny snapped, his voice cracking.
"What can I say?" Dan shrugged carelessly. "Fate works in mysterious ways. And things will all go back to the way they should be once they—" Dan gestured towards the sauce vats. "—are gone."
"But they're your family, too!" Danny argued.
To Danny's surprise, Dan flinched at those words. But then he growled, his eyes flashing red once more. "I don't care. Once Gaea sees what I'm willing to sacrifice, she'll take me back."
Gaea. Danny remembered what Clockwork had told him about the goddess:
"Gaea sees mortals as mere pawns, and has no qualms with using them for her needs."
"She doesn't care about you!" Danny shouted. "She's just using you as a means to an end."
"Oh, and what do you know?" Dan snarled.
"Clearly more than you!" Danny retorted. "Anyone who tells you to commit mass murder isn't a good person!"
"Good person?" Dan repeated incredulously. "You're so childish! Good and bad are just worthless labels assigned to make people feel good about what they do. But if you wanna know who's really not a good person," Dan pointed at Danny's right arm. "I'd take a good long look at your mark right there."
"What?" Danny glanced briefly at his injured right arm, where his apprentice mark lay hidden under his glove. "What are you—"
Dan lunged at him, catching Danny off guard; he had used Danny's own tactic against him and found an opening.
Danny barely managed to block Dan's fist, wincing as the impact jostled his injured wrist. Danny found himself unable to do anything more than block and dodge as Dan pummeled away at him, denying him the opportunity to find his footing or gain the upper hand.
With the entirety of his focus on Dan, Danny couldn't keep track of what was under his feet. Stepping back, Danny's ankle caught on a piece of loose concrete and he stumbled and lost his balance. Dan saw an opening in Danny's defense and grabbed him by his wounded wrist, lifting him off of his feet and into the air. Danny cried out in pain as he flailed and tried to break free. He swung at Dan with his left hand, which still had its gauntlet.
Unfortunately, Dan caught Danny's punch and pulled the gauntlet from his hand, tossing it to the side with ease. Thankfully, Danny's left hand was uninjured, but the halfa now found himself weaponless.
"Tch, did you really think those pathetic inventions could do anything to me?" Dan scoffed. "Those pitiful devices have no effect on me anymore."
Danny would have believed him, if it wasn't for the fact that—now that they were face to face—Danny could see that Dan did look a little worse for wear. The tips of his ears were slightly blackened with soot, and a faint charred smell seemed to be coming off of him. Even his breathing was slightly labored. Which meant that the Specter Deflector had worked, at least a little bit.
Danny spared a glance at the Nasty Burger. His family and friends were all still there, trapped. They looked afraid. For him. For themselves. Danny had to protect them.
Danny looked back at Dan, determination set on his face.
"I commend your tenacity, but it was all in vain," Dan continued, his voice boastful. "I have killed gods! What could you possibly do to—"
Danny swung his leg up and kicked Dan right between the legs, catching Dan off guard. His grip loosened and Danny was able to break free and land on his feet.
Danny immediately kicked forward again, but Dan caught and twisted his ankle, knocking Danny off balance and throwing him face-first into the ground.
"Fightin' dirty, huh?" Dan sounded almost proud. "Just like she taught us."
She? Was Dan talking about Gaea? Danny had never even met the goddess, let alone learned anything from her. He pushed himself to his knees with a grunt of pain, careful to keep the weight off of his injured wrist as he got to his feet.
"Gaea's never taught me anything," Danny spat.
"That's not who I'm talking about." Dan's condescending smirk grated on Danny's nerves. "Mom made sure we knew how to defend ourselves by any means necessary."
What?
Mom?
Sure, Danny had been taught some self defense by his mother, but not much. Most of his fighting skills had been learned through his many fights as Phantom. And... for some reason, Danny got the feeling that Dan wasn't talking about Maddie.
Dan strolled towards Danny at a leisurely pace, as though he had all the time in the world. Danny fell into a defensive stance once more, his hands raised and glowing with green energy. Danny fired a blast at Dan, but he dodged easily, splitting himself into two duplicates.
One of them charged forward, and Danny struggled to keep his eye on both of them as he dodged and evaded the first one's attacks. But as Danny fought to keep out of the first duplicate's grasp, he lost track of the other, and was hit from behind by an ecto-ray.
He was knocked to the ground with a shout of pain, and the duplicate he'd been fighting sneered as it dug the heel of its boot into his back, pinning him down.
The second duplicate sauntered over and merged with the first, leaving Dan standing over Danny with an unimpressed expression. He tsked disappointedly. "Pathetic. But Gaea will teach you to do better."
"I don't want her teaching!" Danny yelled as he strained under Dan's boot. "I don't want anything to do with her!"
"Aww, but don't you want to know about the voice in your head?" Dan goaded.
Danny froze. Dan knew? About the voice? Did he have it, too?
Dan continued confidently, knowing he had Danny's attention. "It sounds just like you, doesn't it? But you know those aren't your thoughts."
Danny felt like his core was going to burst out of his chest. "Wh-what are you talking about? What do you know?"
Dan grinned sharkishly as he lifted his foot off Danny's back, before immediately kicking him in the side and knocking the air from his lungs. "You'll learn. In time."
Danny scowled as he got to his feet and backed away, his hand on his aching side. Dan was messing with him; he had to be. He was just trying to get under Danny's skin.
And it was working.
"I don't believe you," Danny said, fighting to keep his voice steady. His core was writhing in his chest, reacting forcefully to Dan's words.
Dan chuckled. "It doesn't matter. When this is all over, Gaea will take you under her wing. You will remember everything. And I will have my revenge once more."
"Well, tough luck, buddy!" Danny raised his fists. "'Cause that ain't happenin'!"
Dan rolled his eyes and snorted, before pushing off the ground and rushing towards Danny, fist raised. Danny launched forward as well and met Dan halfway, catching the incoming blow with his uninjured hand. Danny stupidly tried to throw a punch with his wounded hand, and cried out again as Dan caught it and twisted his wrist painfully. They pushed against each other, both trying to knock the other off-balance.
Danny slid back a bit. He dug his boots into the ground in an attempt to stop his backwards movement, and the whole scene brought him back to his first training session with Thanatos.
Which gave him an idea.
What if he did that transformation again?
No, that's a terrible idea. Danny thought to himself as he quickly pushed the idea down. He couldn't risk it. That form wiped him out quickly, and Dan had been able to knock him out of it easily in their previous fight, leaving Danny unconscious.
He would just have to do without.
Suddenly, Dan stopped pushing, and Danny stumbled forward. Dan grabbed Danny by the forearms and swung him around before throwing him down the street, away from the Nasty Burger.
Danny skidded across the ground for several feet before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the road.
"Pathetic." Dan shook his head slowly in disgust. "Gaea will make you stronger. You only have to let these mortals die."
"No." Danny grunted, pushing himself up. His body ached all over, but he didn't let that stop him from getting to his feet once more.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Dan questioned, annoyance clear in his tone as his scowl darkened.
"I said no," Danny repeated, defiance written across his face. "I will not let my family die because of what you think should happen. And in case you've forgotten, they're your family, too. You should be trying to save them, not kill them!"
"I don't care about some mortals. They die so quickly anyway." Dan waved his hand dismissively, but Danny could tell he was getting frustrated. "A few measly mortal lives are a small price to pay for the revenge I seek. The revenge that Gaea can give me. And once I prove myself once more—"
"Why are you so dead set on getting her approval?" Danny snapped, cutting him off. "What has she ever done for you?"
"She was the only one who cared after they were all gone!" Dan bellowed, his eyes sparking wildly like firecrackers. "Do you think Thanatos really cares about us? Then where was he after they died? After I was LEFT ALONE?!"
Danny... didn't know what to say. He hadn't been expecting such an emotional outburst from Dan, and... what was he even talking about? He had met Thanatos? But... Thanatos hadn't—
"I saw him, you know!" Dan shouted, cutting off Danny's train of thought.
Danny stared at him, too stunned to respond.
"The day of the portal accident." Dan's voice was raw with barely contained emotion. He sounded... hurt. "I saw him standing there. And he took one disgusted look at me, and left. My own father didn't even want me. He... he couldn't be bothered." Dan's voice sounded brittle, like he was about to cry. He glared at Danny then, angry tears brimming in his eyes. "He did the same to her, and he'll do the same to you."
What?
His... my... father?
That... didn't make sense. Thanatos wasn't...
Danny's core felt like it was trying to burst out of his chest. He thought back to what Clockwork had told him. About past lives.
No. Thanatos couldn't be his dad, he just couldn't. That didn't make sense. Jack was his dad, and Maddie was his mom...
Right?
"Y-you're lying!" Danny spluttered. His core shuddered in disagreement—whether it was disagreeing with him or Dan, he didn't know. "Thanatos isn't—"
Danny didn't have time to dodge as Dan suddenly roared and lunged at him. Dan grabbed the front of Danny's suit and wrenched the young halfa closer. The glow of Dan's eyes reminded Danny of the photon sphere of a black hole: bright and past the point of no return.
And it was then Danny realized that Dan had changed his mind on not killing him.
Dan lifted Danny up into the air and slammed him into the ground with the force of a semi-truck. Danny couldn't breathe as the air was forced from his lungs, his ears ringing as his head spun wildly. He couldn't even brace himself as Dan slammed him into the earth again, and again, and again. Danny's head cracked against the pavement, and bright, blinding spots filled his vision, along with the taste of ectoplasm filling his mouth; he'd bitten through his tongue.
Danny lost track of how many times he was slammed into the ground before Dan finally stopped, pulled him from the crater that had formed around him, and threw him aside.
Danny slid a few feet before stopping, and he just stared at the sky. Everything was blurring together. His head was pounding. His whole body ached. Just breathing hurt, and he was certain that at least a few of his ribs were broken.
Distantly, Danny heard Dan moving closer and tried to get up, but Dan was there before Danny could do anything more than prop himself up on his elbows. Dan kicked him back down. Danny gurgled in pain; he could feel the ectoplasm running down the back of his throat.
"You really are pathetic, you know that?" Dan growled, pinning Danny to the ground by his neck. "What is dear old Dad even teaching you? How to lay down and die?"
Danny blinked through the tears in his eyes and looked over at his family. He didn't know what Dan meant by saying things would go back to normal once they were gone. What he meant by things being as they should. He didn't know what Dan meant when he said Danny would remember everything, but if it involved losing his loved ones, Danny didn't want to remember.
Danny's gaze fell back to Dan, who was also looking over at the Nasty Burger.
Dan looked... contemplative. Danny briefly wondered if Dan was regretting his choices—whatever had led him to where he was now—but he quickly dismissed that thought.
When Dan finally turned back and met Danny's eyes, Danny was surprised by the hurt that he saw.
"I just don't get it." Dan muttered. "Why did he choose you? What's so special," his grip on Danny's throat tightened, forcing a pained gasp out of him. "About you?"
With the hand around his throat, Danny couldn't get enough air to respond, but he doubted Dan was actually looking for an answer. Danny clawed weakly at Dan's hand, but his grip didn't loosen. In fact, Dan seemed to be taking great pleasure in watching Danny struggle.
"You know what?" Dan said, his voice suddenly and shockingly light and cheerful as he released his hold on Danny's throat, allowing the halfa to finally suck in a gasp of air. "It doesn't matter."
He brought his hand down to Danny's torso and rested it just below his ribcage. Danny could feel the razor sharp tips of Dan's claws, even through the semi-thick fabric of his suit.
"I'll just kill you." Dan's voice was maniacal in its singsong tone. His clawed fingers pressed painfully against Danny's stomach. "Like I did ten years ago. I'll gut you, rip out your lungs..."
Danny screamed in agony as Dan's claws punctured his flesh, digging into the soft tissue of his abdomen, right below his sternum. He grabbed Dan's hand and tried to pull it away from his torso, but Dan only dug his fingers in more, reigniting the pain of Danny's broken ribs in the process. The burning pain seared black spots into Danny's vision, but they did nothing to blur out the terrifying face hovering over him.
"I won't let you live." Dan's voice rose with each word, his rage growing with every syllable he uttered. "I won't let you have what I couldn't. You don't get to be happy. YOU don't get to be accepted. YOU DON'T GET TO—"
Dan was cut off by Danny switching tactics; he stopped trying to pull Dan's hand away and yanked his own hands back. Not expecting the change in pushback, Dan fell forward and caught himself with his free hand, his claws gouging deep into Danny's stomach with the full weight of his body.
Danny screamed again, pained tears streaming down his face, but he still pulled his fist back and clocked Dan solidly in the jaw before the older of the two could recover. Dan was knocked back, hitting the asphalt hard a few yards away.
Danny gasped in sheer agony, gritting his teeth as white spots danced across his vision from the pain of the claws ripping out of his stomach. His core felt fluttery and faint; Dan's claws had just barely missed piercing it. A wet feeling spread over Danny's stomach as ectoplasm flowed freely from the puncture wounds.
However, Danny merely clenched his jaw, rolled onto his side, and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He couldn't stay down. Dan... he still needed to beat Dan and save everyone before it was too late.
There was a wet splattering sound as the ectoplasm sloshed from Danny's gut onto the pavement, and he froze, bile rising in his throat when he saw a concerning amount of dark red blood mixed with the green ooze.
He... had never bled both before. He had never had a wound this deep before.
Danny saw movement from the corner of his eye, and when he looked up he saw Dan cradling his jaw, loose gravel crunching below him as he struggled to his feet.
Danny needed to get up.
Dan turned towards him, the blinding red glow of his eyes burning afterimages into Danny's vision.
Danny needed to get moving.
Dan started towards him, albeit slowly, his legs shaking slightly as he put one foot in front of the other.
Danny, get up.
Dan was getting closer. Only a car length or two away now.
Get up.
Danny didn't feel like he could move. His limbs felt as if they were made of lead, and his stomach hurt so badly he doubted he would be able to remain standing. He could only watch with wide eyes as Dan's pace picked up, and he stalked towards the young halfa.
A cold feeling sparked to life in the center of Danny's chest, and quickly radiated through the rest of his body, all the way to his fingers and toes. His breath left him in a puff of cool mist, and he realized that the chill seemed to be coming from the very depths of his core.
WAKE UP!
Dan chuckled, green ecto-energy pulsing around his fist as he aimed for Danny's head. The light grew brighter, more intense as an ecto-ray sparked to life in his hand...
And Danny grabbed Dan's fist.
Dan's look turned to one of surprise, and he pulled his hand back.
Or tried to, anyway. Danny didn't let go.
"What?" Dan exclaimed, pulling away again but to no avail. "What are you doing?"
Danny didn't answer him. Instead, he lifted his head and met Dan's gaze with his own solid green eyes.
Before Dan could react, green flames burst forth and washed over Danny's skin, once more leaving him in his black chiton and green sandals. Danny's grip on Dan's fist tightened, and he pulled the ghost forward as he stood up and stepped forward in one smooth movement, his other hand swinging into a sharp uppercut to Dan's jaw.
Dan crashed into the ground once more, his eyes wide with shock as he scrambled to his feet and backed away.
"What is that form?" Dan questioned angrily. "How are you doing that?"
Danny didn't answer him, and instead fell into a fighting stance.
Dan snarled and flew at Danny, his claws out. Danny sidestepped him easily and with expert precision, drove his elbow into the older ghost's back and sent him crashing to the ground.
Dan growled as he got back to his feet. "What? Just 'cause you've got some fancy new transformation, you think you can beat me?!"
Danny merely raised his hands and steadied his stance, ready for the next attack. Dan roared and launched himself at Danny again, his actions loose and uncontrolled like a wild animal.
Danny fell into an oddly familiar rhythm as he calmly—expertly—dodged and blocked all of Dan's rage-filled attacks. It felt... familiar. Almost as though he had fought this way before.
Focus.
Right. He needed to focus.
Dan threw a punch, glowing bright with ecto-energy, at Danny's head. Danny caught it easily and smirked.
:My turn.:
Danny drove his glowing fist solidly into Dan's gut, and the strength from it launched Dan backwards. Dan crashed into the earth a few yards away, and it took him a moment to pick himself up. He was looking far worse for wear than he had at the beginning of the fight. His suit was dirty and torn, and his flames flickered uncertainly as he eyed Danny warily.
"Alright," Dan wheezed. "So you're a little tougher than I thought. But... how are you doing that? What is that?"
Hmm. Danny had never thought to name this transformation before. He had his human form, he had his ghost form...
He glanced down at his outfit, with its chiton and sandals. He also briefly noticed that his wounds were strangely gone—no scratches, no puncture marks, nothing. He didn't know much about Ancient Greek stuff, but he thought back to what Thanatos had said about this transformation: "It appeared rather... Spartan."
Danny returned his gaze to Dan and rested a hand confidently over his chest, right over his core. :This is my Spartan form.: His core seemed to purr in agreement as he spoke those words. :And it is a form that you will never have.:
"No, that isn't possible." Dan growled. "You are supposed to be me!"
:I will never be you.: Danny clenched his fist as he looked coldly at Dan. :I swear it by the gods, the Fates, and on my mother's grave.:
Dan flinched at those words; he knew the significance of them. "You can't promise that! You don't have a choice. I won't let you—"
Danny cut him off with a Ghostly Wail. It felt stronger than before, like he was screaming with the voices of ten men. The sound was deafening as it tore down the street and blasted Dan off his feet, shattering windows and uprooting street signs as it went.
Black spots began to dance at the edges of Danny's vision, but he blinked them away; he needed to stay conscious just a little longer.
Dan crashed into the building at the end of the road, and the building collapsed on top of him. Danny's throat was raw as his screaming pettered off, the last of his energy finally leaving him.
With no strength left, Danny fell to his knees as the cold left him and the green flames briefly appeared, burning away his Spartan form and leaving him human once more. He cried out as all of his pain came flooding back to him, and he brought a hand to his stomach, only to find that his shirt was soaked with blood and ectoplasm. The puncture wounds were back. And the broken ribs. And—
His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed movement in the rubble at the end of the road. A gloved hand burst through the debris, and Danny's heart thudded against his ribcage as Dan clawed his way out of the wreckage of the building. He couldn't call his Spartan form back. He couldn't even summon his ghostly form. He couldn't beat Dan—
Dan stood up from the rubble, took a step forward, and... much to Danny's surprise (and immense relief) fell to the pavement. Dan's flames had been mostly put out, and he seemed to be struggling for air. He made no move to rise again.
Acting quickly, Danny got to his knees and pulled out his thermos, barely managing to pull off its lid as he stumbled over to Dan. He pointed the device at the defeated ghost and pressed the button on its side. Dan stirred once he was enveloped in the radiant blue light of the thermos, but he only cackled mirthlessly as he was sucked in, making no move to escape the beam.
"You're too late to save them!" Dan crowed. "You'll be all alone! Just... like... me."
His last words were a hiss that echoed in the sudden and eerie silence as Danny twisted the lid back onto the thermos.
Danny sighed and fell to his knees. It was finally over. He could—
A high-pitched whistling sound caught Danny's attention. He whipped his head around, towards the sound, and his eyes widened in fear.
CRAP.
In the sudden and crashing loss of adrenaline once the fight had finally ended, Danny had briefly forgotten that his family was still stuck to the sauce vat. He scrambled to his feet—every fiber of his being aching and protesting as he did so—and ran as fast as he could towards the Nasty Burger.
As he neared, he called on his ghost half, expecting the transformation rings to wash over him like they always did.
But the transformation never came. A small flash of light flickered around his waist before simply disappearing, no ghostly self in sight.
Danny's foot caught on the broken road and he crashed to the ground.
:NOOO!: Danny screamed, his voice echoing through the destroyed street.
But he could only watch as the Nasty Burger exploded, taking everything he loved with it.
He had failed. He had failed everyone. He was too late, just like Dan had said.
Danny forced his eyes shut and bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming. Screaming wouldn't bring everyone back. Nothing would bring them back.
Danny pulled at his hair as his heart and core raced in tandem. Everyone was dead because of him. Everyone was dead and he hadn't done enough to save them. It was all his fault.
I did it again, I killed her again... Mom, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—
"Daniel."
Danny's thoughts came to a screeching halt.
Clockwork?
"Daniel, open your eyes."
Danny violently shook his head, his hands pulling tighter at his hair as he began to hyperventilate. He didn't want to see the aftermath of the explosion. He didn't want to see what... what was left of them. He didn't, he didn't—
Danny flinched away from the hand that touched his shoulder. He hesitantly cracked open his eyes a bit and, sure enough, Clockwork was floating in front of him, his hand still outstretched. Danny opened his eyes the rest of the way and stared at the time ghost. Why was he here?
Clockwork lowered his hand and nodded at something behind Danny, a slight smile on his face. Danny almost didn't want to turn around (he didn't want to be reminded of his failure), but Clockwork wasn't cruel, was he? He wouldn't want Danny to look and see if... if they had been killed, right?
Danny turned around.
And saw his family, friends, and teacher floating peacefully in the air, completely unharmed—they looked as though they were sleeping.
"Y-you saved them?" Danny asked quietly in disbelief, looking back at the ghost.
Clockwork nodded.
Danny turned back to his family. "I... I don't..."
He didn't understand. He had been too late. Why...?
All at once, the last of Danny's energy and adrenaline finally left his system, leaving him feeling completely drained. Every bit of him ached or hurt in one way or another, but... not as badly as it all should have. Danny looked down at his stomach, bringing a hand to where Dan's claws had stabbed him.
Nothing. His shirt was intact, and the skin underneath it looked perfectly fine. No puncture wounds. Not even a drop of blood. He checked his wrist—no swelling, no bruising. Even his ribs, although a little tender, were no longer broken.
Danny looked up at Clockwork. The ghost hadn't said anything since Danny opened his eyes. Danny waited for him to say something now. To fill the weighing, almost unbearable silence.
But he didn't. He just watched Danny, as if waiting for him to speak first.
So he did.
"I-I... He..." The words struggled to leave his mouth. "He said... D-Dad? I don't..."
The corner of Clockwork's mouth twitched, but his face was otherwise expressionless. "Don't worry," he said calmly as he reached for the button on top of his staff. "You won't remember that."
"Mr. Fenton?"
{
And with that, The Ultimate Enemy Arc is finally over! But worry not: Dan will return. :)
And as a reward to y'all for sticking around through our very slow posting of this arc, here's a sneak peek of what happens when Danny returns to camp for the summer:
As Danny walked back towards the Big House, Annabeth turned to face Grover. "Well?" She asked quietly. "What do you think, goat boy?"
Grover shuddered, his gaze never leaving Danny's form. "Definitely an Underworld being, and definitely powerful. How did he even enter the camp?"
"Powerful?" Annabeth questioned. "Like, Nico-powerful?"
"No," Grover answered, before hesitating. "Well, I mean, he kinda smells like Nico, but..."
When his gaze met Annabeth's, she was surprised by the terror in his eyes.
"Way more powerful. Way more..." He trailed off, as if he couldn't find the words.
Annabeth felt an inkling of dread begin to grow in the pit of her stomach. "But... he is a demigod, right? Is he... Nico's brother?"
"... no, I don't think so." Grover decided, and when he spoke again his voice held a hint of disbelief. "Nico smells of the dead. That guy? He is dead."
But sadly, that'll have to wait a few more chapters. First, Danny's gotta meet up with Thanatos. After all this alternate future stuff, he's got a lot of explaining to do. And after that comes the fun of Kindred Spirits. :)</p>
<p>See y'all later!
}