[Space Core AU]
Danny could see it all.
Where the darkness meets the dance of light, a swirling canvas of stardust and celestial wonders—a symphony of colors, shapes, and energies unfurling across the infinite reaches of space.
Their radiant glow casting an aura that just beckoned him to join.
Cosmic tendrils weaved a labyrinth of star clusters, and stellar nurseries gave birth to new stars.
Nebulae shimmered with ethereal beauty, their wispy tendrils reaching out across the void like ghostly fingers.
Supernovae unleashed titanic explosions, scattering the remnants of dying stars across the cosmos in a dazzling fireworks display of light and energy.
Danny could almost feel it wash over his skin.
Black holes lurked in the depths of space, their gravitational pull so intense that not even light could escape their grasp.
Dark matter, the invisible scaffolding of the universe, weaves its enigmatic web throughout the galaxy.
He could hear the countless echoes, all worming their way into his being and, for a moment, pulling him closer and closer to...
""Danny!""
He fell back into his seat instantly, two arms holding him down, as Earth's gravity once again took hold of him.
Blinking rapidly, Danny shook his head, visions of stars and nebulae sliding away.
Yet not completely leaving his mind.
It took him a moment to remember where he was as he turned to Tucker and Sam.
They sat on either side of him, both having a firm grip on him with deeply concerned expressions on their faces.
They were all outside, at a table nestled in the corner of the (thankfully empty) park, and had been in the middle of eating lunch from a new cafe that Sam had wanted to try.
Or, at least, that had been the plan before he decided that gravity was just a suggestion.
"You okay, dude?" Tucker asked, a hand still holding onto him.
"I'm fine," Danny replied immediately.
But judging by the identical unimpressed looks on Sam and Tucker's faces, neither believe him in the slightest.
And rightfully so.
Though they did let go of him, trusting he wasn't about to start floating away again, they were ready to react if it happened again.
Danny sighed.
"I just got distracted for a second."
"You were floating away." Sam pointed it out, making little wiggly movements with her fingers. "Plus, your eyes were doing that weird galaxy thing again.
"That was just some dust," he lied half-halfheartedly.
She raised an unimpressed eyebrow, not buying that for a moment. "Yeah right. If we hadn't pulled you back down, you would probably already be out of the atmosphere by now."
"I would've noticed," Danny murmured, his eyes shifting to the side. "...eventually."
Sam huffed in frustration. "So not the point I was trying to make."
"They are super weird, though," Tucker agreed, then took a bite of his giant BLT sandwich. "But still cool, in the way they turn into terrifying black-holes that they look like the endless and cruel vacuum of space."
Danny stared at Tucker flatly.
"That makes me feel so much better."
"No problem!"
There was a brief silence, only for Tucker to put his sandwich back down, showing just how serious he was, and ask.
"But seriously, dude, are you alright?"
Danny looked down at the table, wanting to ignore his friends admittedly reasonable concerns, and absently twirled the straw of his ice tea.
But, eventually, he gave in.
"I already stopped by the Far Frozen to talk with Frostbite," he finally admitted. "Even ran into Clockwork, who was feeling strangely non-cryptic, and asked him about what was going on."
"So, what'd you find out?" Sam questioned, leaning forward, eager to hear what he had to say.
Danny snorted, an impish grin growing on his face. "Apparently, I don't actually have an ice core."
They both blinked in surprise.
The fact that Danny's core, practically the ghostly equivalent of a soul and a fundamental part of their being, wasn't ice this whole time and was actually something different was... a pretty big deal.
Sam asked, both curious and concerned, "So, what core do you have?"
"Frostbite called it a space core, or, as Clockwork referred to it, a piece of the Void." Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm like, 70% sure, he only called it that to be extra dramatic."
"So the ice powers were just...what? The first side effect before the weird eyes and the 'spacing' out?" Tucker joked with a grin.
Danny chuckled at the pun, while Sam groaned.
"Basically."
"Do you know what powers you are supposed to expect?" Sam asked, hoping they would catch a break this time.
"Not a clue," Danny said, shooting that hope down immediately.
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Isn't there someone in the Ghost Zone you could ask?"
"It's, like, super rare; I mean, the only other ghost I know with the same core is Nocturn," he explained with an annoyed huff.
They both winced.
Despite not currently being antagonistic with the Ghost of Dreams, Danny and Nocturn's relationship wasn't anywhere close to friendly, even by ghostly standards.
And considering most ghosts could beat each other up, possibly even dismember one another, and still be willing to hang out later, that's saying something.
Danny sighed. "Yeah, I basically had the same reaction."
"Are you sure there's no one else?" Sam pushed, looking for a solution.
"Ghost Zone's a big place and leads to a lot of others, so probably." He shrugged. "But, even if Nocturn or someone else was willing to give me advice, it wouldn't help very much."
Seeing the confusion on their faces, he continued to explain.
"Frostbite gave me a whole lecture about it, but it basically boils down to the fact that, unlike most core elements, space cores express themselves so differently that there's no real set of powers that they share."
Sam slowly nodded, understanding showing on her face.
"So, while one ghost with a space core might be able to make black-holes, another might control gravity or even create stars," she continued, a hint of wonder in her voice.
Danny nodded his head in agreement.
"Hey, for all we know, you might get the power to twinkle really, really brightly instead." Tucker snickered loudly, with Sam quickly following.
Danny dropped his head onto the table, not sharing his friend's amusement in the slightest.
The snickers soon died off, as Danny continued to mope.
"It's probably not that bad." Tucker pointed this out. "You already learned to control the ice part of your powers; you'll figure this part out eventually."
"And we'll be right there when you do," Sam added, fully believing they would find the answer eventually.
"Hopefully not too close. Frostbite mentioned a few...unexpected stabbings the first time around," Tucker muttered under his breath, wincing as Sam punched him in the shoulder.
Danny rolled his eyes.
He wished that he shared his friends confidence in his abilities, but he was nevertheless grateful for the support his two best friends were giving him.
Thankfully, the conversation soon changed subjects from his potential new powers, moving on to talk about a homework assignment for school as they finished their lunch.
Danny made sure to pay attention this time, staying focused on the here and now.
Yet, even as he grinned from the sarcastic joke Sam had made, he could still feel the pull in the background.
He could hear the symphony of celestial bodies, the stars, the nebulae, and the infinite reaches of space in the back of his mind, all calling out to him.
Just waiting for the day that he would give in to the urge, and in the moment of weakness, join them forever and always until the end of time.
