Better not to breathe than to breathe a lie
This is my truce gift for @five-rivers, and I had so much fun with your prompts!
I ended up using a combination of two; “A ghost friend invites Danny to participate in an important ghost culture ritual or event”, and “when Danny took Clockwork’s offer of apprenticeship, he hadn’t expected it would result in this”
Danny must grapple with responsibilities far beyond that of a normal high school senior.
Is it better to wallow in the familiar or risk it all to rise to your full potential?
Warnings: gore, cannibalism
Title is from “Broken Crown” by Mumford & Sons.
The world doesn’t know it yet, but today is the day Danny Fenton dies.
Danny himself is doing some last minute graduation prep, which mostly involves fighting as many ghosts as he can to get it out of their systems so that there will be no interruptions while his friends are walking across the stage.
“-nd the world will learn to fear this scientifically perfect shape of doom! BEWAR- ow!”
A final ectoplasm blast sends the box ghost scurrying for his afterlife, leaving Danny finally, finally alone.
He’d been brawling it out with some of the more… eager ghosts for the past few hours. He’d caught Skulker and Ember trying to sneak past the portal when he’d gone down for a midnight snack, and after much huffing and puffing the two had admitted there were a lot of ghosts who were all riled up because of Danny’s graduation later today.
“We won’t get to have fun fightin’ ya for a hot minute after today,” Ember at least has the decency to sound a little sorry, “So a few of us may have, sort of, planned to ambush you before you left tomorrow?”
“For what a better feeling than snatching victory from the jaws of defeat!” Skulker, on the other hand, had not sounded sorry in the slightest.
Danny had at least been able to persuade the gaggle of ghosts to do their fighting on the other side of the portal, lest they cause any property damage in their eagerness.
A quick internal check reveals that it is now just past quarter to seven, meaning Danny’s alarm is due to go off in fifteen minutes, and he needs to high tail it if he wants to avoid any awkward conversations with his mom.
As he's flying back towards the portal he makes a quick detour for a snack.
Seeing a flock of underdeveloped ghost blobs was a very common sight in the zone, they tended to group together in big packs to boost their chances of survival. Not that it did them much good in this case.
Normally, Danny would ‘relish in the hunt’ as Skulker would call it, but unfortunately he was in a bit of a crunch for time. So with a careless flick he deployed the Fenton thermos and scooped up about a third of the fleeing pack.
With practiced ease he brought the lid of the thermos to his mouth and hit the release switch. There’s no real taste as he slurps down the lesser ghosts, but a buzz begins in his core as it feels like the zone lights up around him.
Once the thermos has been drained dry Danny re-attaches it and continues his way to the portal.
They hadn’t gone too far for their brawl, so it’s not long before Danny is greeted with the swirling mass of green that leads back to the human realm.
He pauses at the threshold, glancing back at the endless expanse of green and purple one last time.
Soon. Soon he can come home.
____________
Danny has been apprenticed under clockwork for almost three years.
The two of them are making their rounds near the far frozen when he catches the distant flashes of green that can only mean there’s a fight happening nearby.
The two only detour enough to see who’s fighting who, and Danny is flabbergasted to see Frostbite doing his level best to tear Spectra apart as Bertrand clings to the yeti's back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Frostbite go after someone like that. And what are Spectra and Bertrand even doing this near the far frozen?”
“They’re getting agitated.” Clockwork’s older form has a much more severe frown than his two younger counterparts. “The Infinite Realms has no king on her throne, and you were the victor over her previous champion, but you have yet to claim the ring and the crown.”
“This is all because I re-sealed Pariah?” Danny gestured to the zone around him in exasperation, “ But he was already sealed for hundreds of years.”
“The Infinite Realms have not been at peace since before Pariah himself took the throne. Pariah thought he could heal her through conquest. That enforcing his rule above all would unite the ghosts and other beings that coexist here. But it simply caused more animosity and bloodshed.”
“…why do I feel like this is going to have something to do with me?”
Clockwork sighed as he rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder.
“While Pariah was no great king, he was the last chosen by the Realm, your defeat of him gives you a rightful claim to that throne.”
“But I don’t want to rule the Realms!” Danny threw his hands up, dislodging Clockwork’s hand as he began flying in agitated circles. “I’m not even eighteen yet! I graduate in eight months, I’m- I’m not even sure I want to go to college yet!”
“This is no light task I’m requesting of you Danny,” Clockwork said, “Uniting the Realms properly is going to take dozens of years, possibly even past your own time. But sometimes we are asked to do impossible things, and even if no one else can do them it does not mean we ourselves must not try.
“And even if this was something you could put off for another decade, consider this, Danny Phantom- you cannot live with a foot in each world. While you still retained your beating heart, that accident killed you, at least partially. Once a ghost core has developed it cannot be removed or transformed. To unmake it would be to unmake yourself. You are the one who sealed away Pariah Dark, and the crown grows impatient.”
Danny finally stopped his anxious floating, coming to rest in front of Clockwork.
“Can’t you… go back in time and prevent this from happening?”
Clockwork didn’t need to ask for clarification of which ‘this’ that Danny was referencing.
“The issue lies in that this is a much larger sequence of events.
“The events that led to the tragedy of Dan Phantom were done by surprisingly few people; the explosion was originally an accident, and it was only you and Plasmius alone that created Dan. And from there his actions were solely his own.
“It is also the fact that the inciting incident; Plasmius stealing the crown, happened within the Infinite Realms, within the king’s keep no less. Time does not flow steadily in the zone. To alter it would send ripples far beyond what you can conceive.”
The rest of their patrol is silent, save for the distant sound of ectoblasts.
Danny’s thoughts are a maelstrom as he fights to keep pace with his mentor. To have such a large bomb dropped on him so suddenly is sending him into a tailspin.
‘Why does this kind of stuff always come back to me!’ Danny ranted to himself, ‘I haven’t even had these powers for five years and Clockwork thinks I can rule the Infinite Realms? They're gonna try and overthrow me within the first week! And I don’t have a clue how to rule anything- I’m not even the one in charge when Tucker, Sam and I do group projects.’
They passed few ghosts on their way, but those that they did cross paths with gave a nod Danny’s way and he could see a flash of eager green in all of their eyes.
‘But, I can see what Clockwork is saying. If the Realms were already this bad off before I kicked Pariah’s ass, then it’s only going to get worse from here. And I’ve unfortunately learned that ignoring a problem like this is not going to fix it, I’m better off facing this head on rather than trying to run away and hoping this all solves itself. Besides, if Pariah was the last ghost picked by the Realms I’m terrified to think of who they’d choose this time. Vlad is already a big enough pain as is, I do not need him getting his slimy hands on the throne.’
And, as much as Danny tried to avoid thinking about it, the ghost Zone and beyond had slowly begun to be more familiar to him than the human realm. His dreams of being an astronaut and flying among the stars would always be just that, dreams. His GPA had never fully recovered from freshman year, and with his attention split so thoroughly he’d never bothered with anything beyond Honors English and Science.
Both his sister and Mr. Lancer had sat him down on separate occasions to talk about his options; he could go to one of the community colleges to help host his GPA, there were trade schools who were always looking for skilled kids, and there was no shame in going right into the work force for a few years while he tried to figure out his options.
Jazz would have been happy to have him if he wanted a break from Amity, and his parents made no hint that they were planning to kick him out any time soon.
So what did Danny really want? In truth, nothing in the human realm was calling for him, no grand plans and no great aspirations. But here in the Zone? He knew he would always be needed here.
Mentor and apprentice arrive back in the time lords keep with little flourish, and before long Danny is getting ready to head back to the human realm home.
“Ok,” Danny whispered into the silent keep, “I’ll do it. But can we at least wait until graduation for me to take the throne?”
Clockwork smiled, a small but genuine thing, “That is more than doable Danny, although I have to wonder, what do you plan on telling your friends and Family?"
Danny sent Clockwork a flat look as the ghost shifted rapidly through his three forms.
“That’s not something I’ve really had time to consider seeing as you’ve dropped all this on me in less than an hour.”
“Yes, you are quite right.” Clockwork agreed, drawing his arms wide, “Well, you will have more than enough time to consider this as we make our preparations. Now, how to tell the Observers…”
“Could we…” Danny didn’t even know why he was suggesting this, “Erase me from peoples memory? Like what I did with the gauntlet last summer?”
“Hah,” Clockwork huffed, “I believe you have put way too much faith in my abilities. Nothing I do could ever be as permanent as what the gauntlet was capable of.”
“But you can do something.”
“It is tricky. The effects would only last six months, a year at most. And there is a degree of danger and potential for damage involved that I hope would make you hesitant to reach for this extreme.”
“Damage? Like something that could tear apart the infinite realms?”
“No.” And here Clockwork looks every one of his many years, “It is very likely that repeated exposure to this kind of power could kill your friends and loved ones.”
“Oh.” Danny’s ghostly tail curled around itself in an attempt to self soothe.
“Don’t worry too much Danny, we have plenty of time to look for other solutions.”
_________
So it turns out there are no other solutions.
Danny makes it to the stadium well on time. One of the manny perks of being able to fly. He finds Sam and Tucker by Tucker’s old beat-up pickup, a sixteenth birthday gift from his parents.
“Hey man!” Tucker waves him over, “surprised you found us so quickly, where did you end up parking?”
“Way, way in the back,” Danny lied with a laugh, “I don’t want to be caught behind everyone else, especially when I still have that essay due for Colorado state tonight.”
As the three of them are walking towards the stadium Sam gives a subtle tap to Danny’s side and gestures to the collar of his dress shirt, where after being handed her compact to investigate reveals a few spots of dried ectoplasm that glint when the light hits them just right.
“I uh, had a little bit of ectoplasm from one of my parents' weapons lying around before I came.”
“This soon?” Sam takes a careful glance to make sure no one is listening too closely. “You’ve gone from only needing it once a month to once every week, I’m getting a little bit concerned-“
“It’s fine Sam,” Danny cut in before she could bring this to Tucker’s attention. “I really appreciate you both supporting me with all this weird ghost stuff happening, but Clockwork assured me that this was all natural and will even out as my core continues to stabilize."
“Only if you're sure.” Sam looks deeply into his eyes for a moment before turning to loudly complain about her heels to Tucker, drawing him into an impromptu debate on the practicality vs. appeal of high heels.
After going through all the security they’re lined up in two rows as the stadium fills around them.
Danny doesn’t have anyone here solely for him today. Jazz had apologized over a dozen times, but her new internship had her all the way in Washington with no time to make it home in time for his graduation. He’d reminded his parents on five separate occasions that today was the day, and had even texted his mom two hours ago to remind her where to park.
He’s sure in about five hours he’ll get a disjointed voice memo from his dad about how they’re so sorry but they’d been in the middle of an experiment and couldn’t afford to let this opportunity go.
He’s just glad Vlad was able to be bribed into getting caught.
It’s tedious standing through all the introductions and sitting through all the announcements and fanfare. But finally, Danny's aisle is called up to receive their diplomas.
“-Daniel James Fenton!” Mr. Lancer calls, and as Danny receives his diploma and shakes Mr. Lancer’s hand, time stops.
“Are you ready, Danny?” Danny breathes in deep one last time. Tucker is about thirty students back in line, and Sam is still a few rows back waiting for her group to be called forward.
“As I’ll ever be. Is everything good to go on your end?”
“It will be a clean sever on both your ends. Sam and Tucker will leave from this stage with only vague recollections of a boy they knew when they were in high school. Jasmine may go to sleep wracked with guilt, but in the morning it will simply be a fleeting nightmare. And your parents and Plasmius will go on none the wiser.”
“Ok. Then let’s get out of here.”
“The crown awaits.”
_________
The castle, once dark and abandoned, is filled with life as ghosts and shades loiter in the halls. Danny is honestly surprised with just how manny ghosts have shown up for his coronation.
Walker and his goons are playing hall monitor, making sure no one ‘accidentally’ wanders off into parts of the castle that aren’t ready for visitors yet.
As Danny and Clockwork make their grand entrance there is a hush in the room.
“Presenting heir apparent, Danny Phantom.” Clockwork bowed deep and gestured for Danny to do the same.
The lead Observant rose from where they were seated by the sarcophagus, eye looking at seemingly everything yet focusing on Danny at the same time.
“The Observant’s acknowledged this heir apparent, and welcome him to the inner sanctum.”
After that most of the room goes back to their conversations, with a few ghosts glancing Danny’s way as the two made their way to the sarcophagus.
Skulker gives a vaguely approving nod, still nursing a dent in his chest plating from earlier today. Spectra smiles wide from her corner with Ember and Kitty, while Jonny and Shadow are hiding from Pandora’s glare.
Fright Night is posted by the sarcophagus, and Danny is realizing that if he’s going to be spending a lot more time with the stoic knight he might get to wield his kickass sword.
Danny and Clockwork stop by the steps leading up to the sarcophagus, and the room quiets as all eyes turn towards them.
“And now, it is time.” Clockwork intoned, a phrase echoed by the surrounding ghosts, before he turned towards Danny, “Danny Phantom, do you swear before these gathered spirits that you will do all in your power to lead them to a bright tomorrow? To give all that you are over to those who need it?”
“I swear.”
“Then show us, heir apparent.”
______
“So how do we officially transfer leadership over to me? Do I just put on the crown, and bam! King Phantom?"
“If only it were that easy. You will need to be sworn in under the council of Observers and any ghost who wishes to see the new king, which also means in the weeks leading up you're probably going to have many ghosts challenging you as word of your coronation spreads.”
“Well at least that won’t change.”
“The actual coordination should be relatively simple in contrast. You only need to destroy the core of the previous king.”
“Destroy his core?”
“You shall see once we start the ceremony, all will become clear.”
________
There’s a moment when the sarcophagus opens when Danny and Pariah’s eyes meet. There is both hatred and relief in the old ghosts' gaze. For as tightly and as long as he has held his reign, at least he may now have an eternal rest.
Or maybe Danny is just projecting.
It’s easy to turn just enough of his arm human to reach inside and grab the writhing core of the old king. White rings travel back down his arm as he now forces the trapped appendage out of Pariah’s chest.
There’s an odd sucking sound as he forces his arm backwards, a small gush of ectoplasm following every tug. By the time his hand is free with its prize the entire front of the old king’s armor is drenched in ectoplasm. It runs in rivers from the hollow in the other’s chest.
Danny’s arm and front are similarly covered in gore from where he had to lean his weight against the old king’s body in order to get the right leverage.
Danny takes a moment to stare at the pulsing core in his hand, admiring the pure brightness of it, before biting down.
Ectoplasm explodes in his mouth and runs yet more rivers down his chin and front. It’s like eating a supernova, bright and overwhelming yet addictive at the same time. The first swallow is pure euphoria as he’s nearly overwhelmed by the sheer power vibrating in his limbs.
It takes only two more bites before Pariah Dark is no more, and Danny feels alive as he looks out at his friends and foes alike.
There’s a green in all their eyes after having witnessed the carnage, and like calls to like as Danny looks at each and every one of them. These ghosts are his responsibility now, and he will do everything he can to strengthen the Infinite Realms until the day he himself is struck down and the cycle continues anew.
