It had been nearly a month since the siblings had reunited. Danny had taken to splitting his time between the Zone and the living world. He stayed with Jazz, sleeping in her extra room, or at least he was supposed to.
Most of the time the teen was sleeping on an air mattress in his sister's room. His nightmares weren't as bad when he was in her presence.
When Danny was in the Zone, he continued to train his powers and get stronger, having lost a lot of his skill and strength being locked up for so long. He was steadily putting on some muscle, but it was lean, leaving him to still look rather skinny.
He had also come across some of his old enemies while hanging in the Zone. It kind of weirded him out when none of them attacked him, in fact a lot of them were actually cordial with him.
Youngblood had even asked if Danny wanted to play with him when he had seen the teen moping on one of the floating islands one day.
A few of them are still not exactly nice to him, like Spectra and her goon Bertrand, as well as Skulker, but they left him alone for the most part.
Danny could even say he had developed a bit of a friendship with Ember, Johnny and Kitty. Shadow could still be a little shit at times, though.
All and all things were going relatively smoothly.
That is until today.
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Danny had been flying around the Zone, testing how long he could keep up his top speed, which had recently hit close to 600 mph, when everything slowed around him.
Danny, of course was unaware of this as he too had been caught in the time magic, but he was quickly released as Clockwork placed one of his medallions over the boy's head.
The teen shot forward, having to really put on the brakes when he noticed how still everything was as well as the new weight around his neck. He quickly made his way back to the Master of Time, smiling sheepishly at the old Ghost.
“Sorry,” He muttered, embarrassed.
The cyan Ghost gave an amused smile,” That is alright, Daniel. I knew what would happen when I timed you back in.”
The teen gave a grateful smile, glad the man wasn't angry with him. He was still a bit skittish, what with anger often leading to pain back in the lab. His gaze then turned curious.
“So what's up? You don't usually leave your tower unless it's something majorly important.”
The Ghost nodded.
“Yes, something has happened.”
Danny was a bit worried. Last time something like this happened, he had to fight an evil version of himself from an alternate timeline.
“Ok,” the teen dragged out the response, urging the now infant Ghost to explain.
“I was looking through the timelines early this morning, and I saw something of concern. In 2 weeks time, the AGA will find a natural portal to the Ghost Zone. Once they enter, their equipment will pick up on your Ecto-signature, and they will tear apart the Zone to get to you.”
Danny's eyes were wide in horror. His breathing began to pick up, mind racing with thoughts of what would happen, not only to him but to the lesser Ghosts in the Zone, if they came after him.
“W-what do we do,” Danny stuttered, using the techniques Jazz had shown him to keep himself from falling into a panic attack.
“I have already spoken to the observants. They believe it would be best for you to leave the Zone for the time being. They are currently after you, not only because of your unique circumstances, but also because their head wants revenge for destroying their main facility.”
“I… understand, but where am I meant to go? They know my human identity as well, and will be able to pick up my ecto-signature even in human form. I'll be a sitting duck,” The boy asked, fear in his eyes.
“Do not worry, Daniel. The Observant council does not plan on ‘selling you out’ so to speak. They have come to respect you, even if they do not like the way you came into existence. They have told me to inform you that Wulf is capable of conjuring portals to other dimensions. Should you ask him, he will send you to one that will keep you, and the rest of us safe from the AGA.”
Danny nodded thoughtfully, accepting what he was being told. But there was still something on his mind.
“What if, when they can't find me, they come for the rest of you? They may ignore you all if they have a chance at me, but I know they won't completely give up just because I'm unavailable.”
Clockwork gave a small smile, one that screamed ‘I know things that you don't’.
“Do not worry. Things will turn out as they should.”
The boy sighed, annoyed at being left in the dark again, but he decided to trust the Ancient Ghost.
“Ok, I'll trust you. When should I leave?”
“The sooner the better. It will give the Zone time to replace your Ecto-signature so that they cannot track you. I would suggest not staying here more than a week.”
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Dani, Valerie, and Jazz looked at the halfa teen as if he had grown a second head.
“What,” The boy’s sister whispered, stunned and obviously upset.
“You have to leave,” Danny's clone asked, her tone sad and worried.
“Those bastards are still after you,” the Huntress snarled, fists clenched in rage.
Danny nodded, hands shoved in his hoodie pockets so that he wouldn't fidget with his fingers.
“I need to leave by the end of next week, ideally sooner to make sure they really don't end up tracking me down.”
“No,” Jazz barked, finally snapping out of her trance,” Absolutely not. I just got you back. I'm not losing you again.”
“Jazz you won't lose me. I'll come back when there isn't an immediate threat. You're more in danger of losing me if I stay. They will find me if I don't leave.”
“Then we will save you. Now that we know that it's them we can get you back,” Jazz argued.
Danny gave her a pleading look.
“Please, don't make me go back with them,” he whispered. The teen looked so small, like a scared child.
Jazz's eyes widened, seeing the fear in her little brother's eyes. Her heart broke at the look he gave her.
Danny still has yet to go into detail about what happened in that place, but that didn't mean she hadn't heard him talking in his sleep during a nightmare. Part of her didn't want to know, knowing that it would destroy a part of her, and she needed to be as whole as possible to help him through his trauma.
The girl stared into her brother's eyes, forgetting that the other two girls had yet to give their own two cents. They held each other's gaze for what felt like hours, but could only have been a few seconds.
Finally, Jazz sighed, nodding her head.
“Ok. But you and I are going to fix up the Fenton Phones so that we can communicate through the dimensions, and if that isn't possible then I will make Wulf be our postman.”
Danny nodded, happily. A small smile was on his face.
“As much as I don't like it, this is probably the best thing to do in a situation like this,” Valerie cut in.
The Huntress didn't fully trust Clockwork, and still held a grudge from when Danny had said that the Master of Time had told the other Ghosts not to go after her friend, even if he had explained why the old Ghost had done it.
Dani wasn't upset. In fact she knew that this would be good for Danny to heal. She had done a fair amount of traveling after her powers were stabilized, and it had helped her through her trauma with Vlad.
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The week had passed quickly, what with Danny packing, tinkering, and saying his farewells. Jazz and he had managed to upgrade their old Fenton Phones, and tested them by taking the Infi-map to about 1000 years in the past. They had worked fine so they assumed that they would be able to connect as long as Danny was in a Dimension similar to their own.
Danny and Wulf had also been researching different dimensions in close proximity to them, trying to decide which one Danny would enjoy the most. It had taken them a while, but they had eventually found the right one.
“So you mean, that there are over 1000 universes and millions of timelines that connect to the Marvel comics,” Danny asked, stunned.
“That is correct Daniel,” Clockwork explained from his spot in front of his screens,” Just like there are 1000’s of timelines for this one universe. There are those in each world that have a special connection to others, and they often turn what they ‘see’ into books, comics, movies, etc. Stan Lee was one of those people. He told the stories of the Avengers, X-men, Guardians of the Galaxy, and others. Of course he was only able to see one of the many Universes. If you were to pick that one, we would send you to one of the timelines that does not directly follow the comics in order to keep things running smoothly.”
Danny thought about it for a moment before nodding.
“I can lay low there. Having other heros to protect the world may help keep my obsession in check.”
“Ĉu tien vi volas iri (is that where you want to go),” Wulf asked his friend.
“Jes, mi pensas, ke tio estas mia plej bona ŝanco resti sekura (yeah, i think that's my best chance to stay safe),” The teen confirmed.
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It was finally time. Danny faced all of his friends, both human and Ghost.
Jazz, Valerie, Dani, Clockwork, Frostbite, Pandora, Amorpho, Ember, Kitty, Johnny, Shadow, Youngblood, Lunch Lady, and the Box Ghost (along with a 2 year old Box Lunch) were all standing on a floating ledge not far from Clockworks tower. They were all there to send the boy off.
Jazz stood right beside her brother, watching him tearfully. She knew that she would be able to talk to him on the Phenton Phones, which was what they had decided to rename the devices after they had tweaked them a bit, but it was still going to be hard not having him in her apartment with her.
Who was going to comfort him after a nightmare?
The group was all saying their goodbyes to the teen, wishing him well on his adventure. Danny gave them all a genuine smile, the largest he had managed to muster since the explosion.
“I'm gonna miss you guys,” He said, arms still around Dani, who was hanging onto him like a monkey.
“We’re gonna miss you too, Babypop,” Ember smiled, still refusing to drop the nickname from when they had first met.
Danny shook his head in amusement instead of arguing like he typically would.
Dani let go of her brother-father-person as Clockwork stepped forward, followed by Wulf.
“It is time. Are you ready Daniel,” the elderly Ghost asked before turning into his middle age form.
Danny scanned the crowd, seeing many smiling faces and a few tears.
“Yeah, ready as I'll ever be,” the teen nodded, a reassuring smile on his face.
Each person and Ghost came up to hug the young Halfa. Each one gave words of advice before stepping away for the next person to have their turn.
“We'll make sure to come visit you sometime,” Johnny promised with a grin as he leaned against his bike, an arm around Kitty's waist.
Danny nodded,”I'll hold you to that.”
The teen turned to Wulf, holding his thumb up to signal the specter to open the portal. The large Wolfman howled, his claws growing as long as pencils. He raked them through the air, tearing a hole in the fabric of reality.
The other side was dark, but not in a menacing type of way.
Danny turned and gave a final wave and goodbye to his friends and a hug to his sisters, before lifting a foot and stepping into the darkness.
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The air was a bit musty and stale, but it didn't really bother Danny. It was better than the scent of blood he had gotten used to during his time with the GIW.
The teen looked around the dark space, not seeing much of anything at the moment. He let his power seep into his eyes, only allowing enough so he could see in the dark without his eyes glowing their toxic green color. Ice blue eyes scanned what looked like an abandoned subway station. Benches speckled the floor between support pillars, and small amounts of trash could be seen in small piles around the large space.
It was relatively clean, without even a single bit of graffiti or broken tiles. A few spots looked worn and cracked, but not enough to where the place was dangerous.
Danny made his way over to the tracks, finding that parts of the metal rails had been ripped out, likely the reason why the station wasn't used anymore. He assumed that when this one was damaged, they just adjusted the route to a new station and closed this one down instead of fixing it. There was also a decommissioned subway car sitting off to his right. The wheels were missing but it looked fine otherwise. Vines seemed to overtake one side of it, as well as trail up onto the platform.
He wasn't complaining though. With a bit of fixing up, this could be a great place to stay temporarily. Before he did that however, he wanted to see if there was a way out of this place.
The teen first made his way to the turnstiles that stood at the end of the entrance stairway. He quickly jumped them and made his way up. Once he reached the actual entrance for the station at ground level, the teen began to look around.
The entrance was unfortunately covered in thick metal sheets, which wouldn't allow for anyone to get past. Well anyone besides Danny. The halfa could just phase himself in and out of his new home. Danny quickly transformed, turning both invisible and intangible. He stepped through the thick metal, finding that it was dark outside.
Danny looked up past tall skyscrapers, unable to see any stars due to the pollution of the large city. He frowned slightly at that but he knew if he really wanted to see the stars he could just fly a few hours out of the city.
He was happy to note that there weren't any cameras or people in the alleyway leading to the subway station, so the boy decided to drop his powers and become visible again. Danny studied his surroundings to try and get some idea of where he was. Unfortunately the alley gave nothing away.
The teen sighed before making his way out onto a well lit city. He looked left and right, trying to decide which way would give him the most information. After a moment he decided that the area to his right looked the busiest, so he made his way in that direction first.
Danny quickly came upon rows and rows of large, brightly lit buildings. Cars passed him, honking at each other obnoxiously. Young adults also made their way down the streets in droves, talking and laughing with each other. Danny spied a billboard on one of the tall buildings, the corner of which had the time and date.
9:32 pm July 6th, 2019.
Danny blinked, slightly surprised. So he was 12 years in the future. It was August 29, 2007 back in his world.
And he was technically 16 again, since his birthday is July 14th. Or is he 28? It was pretty confusing, but understanding time was Clockwork's job, not his.
He wondered how much had changed in just over a decade, though he figured this wasn't the best example of what would happen in his world considering this one was more advanced back in the early 2000s then his world currently was.
He decided not to think much of it and look for street signs or anything that would point out what city he was in.
Danny looked around in wonder, drawing a few stares from people who could tell that he was a tourist. Some people smiled in amusement before walking off, while others sneered.
Eventually Danny came to an intersection. He went to read the street names when he was distracted by something off in the distance.
His Jaw dropped as he was finally able to comprehend what he was seeing.
A chuckle pulled the teen from his thoughts. Icy blue eyes found an older man with a cane sitting on a bench a few feet away. He wore a bowling shirt, unbuttoned enough for some gray chest hair to peek out. A gold chain hung around the man's neck, and a large black coat hung off his shoulders.
“Haven't seen Stark Tower before, have ya kid,” the man laughed, he had a thick New York Italian accent.
“Uh, no sir. I'm new to the city,” Danny replied, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck.
The man nodded, a smile still on his face.
“Ya lost,” he asked.
“Yes sir,” the teen nodded, turning to fully face the man.
“You're in the Upper East Side il cucciolo (pup).”
Danny's face screwed up slightly,” I'm not a whelp.”
The man seemed slightly surprised.
“Parli Italiano, ragazzo (you know italian, kid),” the man asked.
“Si signore. Conosco molte lingue (yes sir. i know a lot of languages).”
“I see. Well I meant to call ya a pup, not whelp,” The man explained.
Danny blushed in embarrassment. He looked away before mumbling.
“Sorry, I just know a guy who always calls me whelp and it kinda gets on my nerves.”
“No problem kid,” He chuckled,” Well anyway, now that ya know where ya are, you should have some ideas of where ya going.”
“I do… kinda. Thank you, um….” Danny trailed off, not knowing what to call the man other than ‘sir’.
“Giovanni Albano,” he supplied.
“Thank you, Signor Albano,” Danny smiled, waving to the man as he began to walk off.
“No problem,” Giovanni called out, his raspy voice drawing a few curious looks.
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Danny explored the Upper East Side for a while, before deciding to head back to his hideout. The teen got a bit lost at some point, but eventually decided to focus on his own ecto-signature in order to retrace his steps.
By midnight, the teen was setting out a sleeping bag in the abandoned subway car, and by 12:15, he was out like a light…
Only to awaken a few hours later, biting back a scream.
He knew it would be a long time before he would be able to sleep through the night without a nightmare, so he had to be extra careful not to accidentally let out a Ghostly Wail when he woke.
He had accidentally done it in his cave in the Far Frozen. It had not collapsed anything, fortunately, but it had startled many of the island's inhabitants.
He was glad none of them held it against him, but he still felt horrible about it.
Danny knew he wouldn't fall back asleep for some time, so he pulled out one of Jazz's old books, all of which she had let him keep, as well as Bearbert. He held onto the old bear as he flipped through the book, looking for his book mark.
Danny sat reading War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells until the sun rose.
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Fun Fact #10: Danny is, in fact, King of the Ghost zone in this story, but he doesn't ever wear the Crown of Fire or Ring of rage, though he does have them with him at all times so that Pariah or some other ghost cant get ahold of them. He is only King by title, and will only act as king if needed. He figures that all the ghosts were fine while Pariah was alseep, so they don't really need a king.
Fun Fact #11: Danny is able to understand and speak all human and ghost languages, as a part of being the Ghost King. He does still have to learn to read and write them though, but he is able to learn them faster then a normal person