"Dude, where'd you go?" Tucker asked.

"Danny, you skipped the whole  class!"

Danny shrugged. "I had a problem that I had to deal with. And I was already late, so who cares?"

Tucker watched amused as Sam pushed Danny's head to the side and snatched her school things from him.

Sam glared as Danny stuck out his tounge.

"Just because she won't let you be a man-servant, doesn't mean I'll pass up the chance." Tucker stated and threw his bags to Danny, who caught them and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, man. Whatever you say." He muttered.

"Yes!" Tucker cheered. "After this, you'll clean my room, and the attic needs sorting out. My mom needs the car washed, the house cleaned," he listed off on his fingers. "My mom also needs the shopping done: she needs baking soda, oregano, napkins, eggs, ground beef, and bleach. Go!" he smiled. Danny shook his head and shoved Tucker's bags back at him.

"No way, man! I draw the line right at that endless crypt you call an attic. The million boxes of baby pictures grew legs last time." He said.

Tucker shrugged and walked backwards. "I told you it was just my dog."

"You lost it when you were six!"

"And I found him when we cleaned the attic."

"We were twelve then!"

"You guys are really weird people..." Sam inserted. The boys both looked at her.

"Well, you're the one who said you would love to live up there." Danny shot back. Tucker nodded in agreement.

Sam sent him a smoldering look.

"Hey, his words not mine." Tucker shrugged.

__DP__ 

Danny slammed the front door and entered the living room, almost running into his father, who was carrying some random type of machinery.

"Whoa! Watch out, son!" Jack yelled happily. Danny sidestepped and made his way to the stairs. His mom appeared at the top of the stairs, clad in her blue hazmat suit. The parts of her face that were visible brightened.

"Danny! How was school?" Maddie smiled. Danny shrugged. "Good, I guess. It wasn't bad." He said. She nodded understandingly and made her way down the stairs.

"That's good, honey. Now Jazz is out, so if you need us we'll be in the lab!" Maddie said. She and Jack then turned and entered the kitchen, heading to the basement.

Danny watched them go, then shook his head. If you tell your mother that you had gotten kidnapped, you would expect her to not let you out of her sights for about a month... But it seemed that Maddie didn't care that much.

Danny headed up the stairs and went into his room. He glanced at his desk and saw that the black and green earpiece was in the same spot he left it earlier.

Danny flopped down on his blue blanketed bed, and pulled his own earpiece from his school bag. Now that he was in human form, it had turned completely white, losing the green lining.

He put it in his ear and pressed the button, Danny knew that his parents wouldn't appear in the next week unless the house caught on fire, and not even for a small thing like him talking to himself like a crazed up fruit loop.

"Yo! This thing scared me half to death!" Tucker laughed.

"Can we kill the puns for now?" Sam commented.

"Is this thing on? And that was a pun too, Sam." Jazz inputted.

"Hey guys, sorry if I scared you or whatever." Danny told them.

"Nah, man. It's cool." Tucker supplied. 

"Are you ready to tell us what went on, Danny?" Jazz asked.

"Wait, he didn't even tell you!?"

"He didn't tell me."

"No one cares about you, what about his sister?"

"Guys, I'm serious...do you want to hear or not?"

"Go on, Danny."

"Yeah dude."

"Sorry."

"Okay. It was like two in the morning, and I had just gotten to sleep....then my ghost sense went off..."

~**

Danny Fenton's eyes snapped open as blue mist poured from his mouth. He sat up, his icy blue eyes scanning the room for potential threats, but he saw none. Danny frowned and blinked, reopening his now glowing green eyes.

"Dani? Clockwork?" he questioned. The faint rhythmic sound of the pouring rain met his ears.

The time ghost chuckled and faded into visibility. "It seems that you have gotten better at sensing my arrival."  The said ghost was tall, with pale green skin and a long, jagged scar over one of  his glowing red eyes. His purple cloak illuminated the blue bedroom in an eerie light.

Danny groaned and laid back down. "I'm glad you visited, Clockwork, but I won't be happy to see you until you show up when I'm not sleeping..." he said.

Clockwork chuckled, and shifted into a young adult form. "I only come when you need my help."

"What did I need your help with, sleeping? Cause if so, then you're helping me wrong...." Danny muttered into his pillow.

"Actually Daniel, I came here for a reason. You have two choices: let me guide you into the Ghost Zone, or let the Zone itself forcefully pull you to pieces trying to get to you through a natural portal that doesn't exist..."

"What?" Danny sat up again. "You've got to be joking, because all I got from that was 'let me guide you' and 'forcefully pulled to pieces'..." he stated worriedly.

Clockwork nodded happily, as if he had not just told a poor boy that he would be ripped to shreds. Danny jumped to his feet, tossing the blankets aside.

"Well, why didn't you say so at first!" he said panicked, pulling on a black shirt and green shorts. Danny pulled on some black converse and reached for a golden medallion that Clockwork now held in his hand.

As soon as he slipped the smooth, cold ribbon around his neck, the quiet of the night grew even more silent. The loud snores of Jack Fenton slammed to a relieving halt, the soothing sound of rain faded.

Danny wiped his eyes and opened his bedroom door. "Okay then, Clocky. Lead the way."

__DP__

"So, where are we going?"  Danny asked, floating along happily. The green of the Ghost Zone swirled around him, Danny looking at home even in his human form. The zero gravity kept everything levitated, and kept the now wide awake Danny happy.

Clockwork smiled and kept moving. "We are going to the Keep."

Danny's smile slipped off his face and he retired from his relaxed position.

"The....the Keep? You mean, Pariah's Keep?" His voice faltered. Clockwork didn't answer, but kept moving. Danny did not move.

"W-why?" He stuttered. Clockwork slowed, then stopped. He sighed and turned to look into Danny's crestfallen face.

"The Ghost Zone needs you. You can't feel it?" Clockwork questioned.

"No! Tell me why we are going there." Danny said quietly.

"Feel the Zone, Daniel. I know you can." Clockwork insisted once more.

"Of course I can, it's all around me! But I am not going back there....Not again." Danny stated darkly.

Clockwork sighed deeply. Danny floated defiantly in front of him, arms crossed.

It was obvious to him that Clockwork knew something important, but just wasn't telling him.

"Tell. Me. Everything." Danny said coldly.

Clockwork put a hand to his temple and sighed again.

"The Ghost Zone is always alive with energy. That energy flows into all of the ghosts, keeping us here. It keeps us going. You've been away from the zone for too long, and now it wants you back. It was trying to forcefully apply to you all of the energy preserved for you and you alone. You are wide awake now, aren't you?"

Danny narrowed his eyes but nodded.

"That, and the Ghost Zone has always had a ruler. Since the beginning of time, there has always been one person keeping the ghosts and the zone itself under control. All the energy in the zone that can overpower any normal being, it is poured into the heir of the throne to be the next leader. All powerful, protective of their subjects, a perfect ruler. No one is controlling the Ghost Zone as of right now, so the power is going haywire. The last ruler is MIA, so to speak."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Pariah was the King. He got put to sleep, like twice. The ghosts of the kingdom decided they didn't need a ruler and never did, until he escaped and tried to take over again. I already had this history lesson before." he huffed.

Clockwork held up a hand. "You didn't let me finish. Not even last time." he frowned.

Danny put up his hands. "My bad."

Clockwork inwardly groaned. "Actually, once Pariah was put to sleep the ghosts didn't have a say at all. Pariah didn't have a heir, so he stayed king. And usually, if the current king does not have a heir, you can win the crown by defeating them in battle."

"Yeah, so?"

Clockwork almost slapped himself. He groaned again.

"Only the person who defeated the previous king may become the rightful ruler."

"Huh? Yeah, but what does that have to do with ME?"

"YOU defeated Pariah Dark, Daniel."

Danny reeled back. "What?! All I did was lock him in the freaking coffin! Some other guy did that too, before me!" he said in defense.

"But you are the only one who actually broke the lock! When the lock on the coffin is broken, the person trapped inside is lost forever." Clockwork pointed out.

"So...wait..but I didn't...why me?" Danny whispered in shock.

"It is your fate, I have foreseen it."

Danny snapped out of his reverie. This ghost irritated him to no end.
"But I don't WANT TO BE KING! Why didn't you tell me this would happen?!" He yelled, and shot off into the zone. He somehow flew faster than ever before, maybe because he was in his human form...

Why was everyone suddenly expecting so much of him?

__DP__

Danny sat on the edge of a floating pathway, dangling his feet into the green void that went on forever.

Danny couldn't tell whether he was hanging upside down, or sitting sideways, and he honestly didn't care.

Danny had tried playing dumb with Clockwork, but he just didn't want to admit that he knew. He had known since the day after he had defeated Pariah, when all types of energy started flowing into him from the zone at random points in time.

Danny sighed and pulled his black bangs from his eyes. "Always has to be me..." he muttered.

Fright Knight shimmered into existence beside him.

"Go away." Danny grumbled without looking up.

"You know I cannot, My Prince. I must escort you to the Keep." Fright Night said calmly. The suit of armor leaned down and picked up Danny, roughly tossing him over his shoulder.

Danny's anger grew quickly. He balled his hands into fists and started pounding on the armor. "Fright, Why can't you just go back and work for Vlad? I don't need your help!" he growled, pounding on the shoulder that Fright had just placed him on.

Fright ignored him. "The time ghost has asked me to escort you to your burning, as you must-"

Danny panicked. "Burning!?"

"-the purity ritual, my Prince. Those who are accepted will have the rights to-"

"I can't be near fire! I have an ice core, I'll freaking frost myself out!" Danny struggled even more, summoning the bright rings that brought forward his ghostly self. Fright responded by tightening his already vice like grip, causing Danny to grimace in pain.

"Do not worry, young Prince. You will not 'Frost yourself out', as you say. The fire harms no one, all but one with dark intentions. If you are accepted, you will assume your true form, in which you shall forever rule."

Danny's attempts at escape were futile, seeing as Fright was not fazed at all by the dents in his armor.

"No! Let me go!" Danny cried, twisting and turning in Fright's grip. Some tears formed in his blue eyes. "Listen to me! Please!"

Fright froze. Then promptly dropped him.

"I apologize, Young Prince." he said quietly. Danny sat on the floating piece of ground where he had landed, sniffling and wiping his eyes.

"Why does no one ever ask me what I want?" Danny mewled loudly. Danny's hands grasped at nothing, his white hair covering his face as his thin frame shook with sobs. "I didn't want this... I don't want to do this!"

Fright did not know what to do. His master wallowed in despair, while he stood there doing nothing to help.

And at that moment, for the first time in hundreds of years, Fright Knight remembered. His armor fell away.

The hard, onyx armor melted away, waves of darkness slipping off, the fire in his eyes died down.

The shadows slipped away, revealing pale skin and dark chocolatey hair, adorning a rapidly de-aging man.

Fright's de-aging came to a halt, showing a shirtless teen boy with purple eyes and many distributing scars, and a generally dark aura.

Fright knelt in front of the boy, his rich purple eyes searching Danny all over.

"I'm sorry..." Fright said softly. "Did I hurt you?"

"Obviously!" Danny snapped. "What do you people even want from me?! After all I've done, they just want more! I did what you wanted, right?! You just don't- I don't understand!" Danny started hyperventilating.

"I-I mean..I DIED that year. I freaking DIED! And since then, nobody has asked me- not even once..how I feel about it! Its always Are you okay? Are you alright? Can you keep fighting? No, I'm not okay. I'm not alright! I DON'T WANT to keep fighting! What more could you possibly need from me?!" Danny had a crazed look in his eyes.

"I'm DEAD. I'M DEAD, OKAY?! I'm not supposed to keep pretending that half alive is not half dead, because it is! I'm dead. I'm not dead, but I just can't ignore the fact that I AM. But you guys- you just don't listen...and I'm tired of being used by people who don't even care, the ghosts, the humans, even my stupid friends use me! And I, I help so much...all I get from it is more pain! But they-you guys- you don't even care, as long as I've saved YOU. And I-I can't pretend that I have a life- that ended so long ago." Danny forced out a strangled laugh.

"I knew that was over. The worse part is that I've been forced to watch everyone growing up, something that I'll- it'll never happen to me! I can't grow up! I can't even die right- and believe me, I've tried! So many times I've tried...

"After a while I realized- I just noticed, there was only one reason why I even exist. I only existed to half die. I died- but I didn't!" He laughed again.

"And now everyone has a tool- only to be used when they need it! You guys use me, ignore me- like it doesn't matter! What I say doesn't matter, what I don't want- you don't even care! I don't matter to any of you! I've become my name. I'm become Phantom, a phantom- seen and used, but hated and feared and ignored by everyone." The humor had long since drained away.

"I always wonder if I should tell them...I'm not a hero, I'm dead... But as soon as I pull myself together enough to tell them- they're not even listening to me! They didn't hear a word I said, because they don't care enough to. I can't pretend that everything is fine, because it's not..." Danny's tears came back full force.

Danny shook his head, "They tell m-me it's f-fine, but it's not! I-Its not....I want you t-to listen...I w-want them to l-listen to me...to j-just hear me..." he cried.

Fright sighed at the familiar words... He remembered...

"I understand now, my Prince." Fright muttered. "We are the same..."

Fright sat down and pulled the still crying Danny into his lap. It should have felt weird, but to Danny it only helped.

"I have had...this same problem before... There was once a time, and I have just remembered....YOU helped me remember...I had a younger brother, very much like you.."

Danny began to slowly let out his core, the frost coating Fright's bare chest where his head lay. The cold didn't seem to affect him, as he kept talking, a distant look in his eyes.

"He had sacrificed himself for me....it was a job that I was supposed to do...but he did not want me to leave our family unprotected..." Fright subconsciously squeezed Danny tighter, rubbing soothing circles in his back.

"But when it was my turn to give myself up, I did it willingly. It took me until the day I died to hear it... He said that he didn't want to do it, and that nobody had ever asked his opinion...but what he meant...told me that he gave up because he had to, for others. Not because he wanted to."

A couple of minutes in silence passed as the air around them steadily got colder.

'For others...', Danny thought.

"Fright, what are you saying?" Danny asked.

"What I mean young Prince, is to take a step up. You're all they have left."

And with that, Fright stood up, unceremoniously dumping Danny back on the ground.

"Hey!" Danny complained.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm still older than you, loser." Fright Knight sneered, reverting to modern teen dialogue.

Danny cracked a smile at that. "Yeah, sure. Ready to go?"

In a blur of black, Fright's armor appeared on his body. Fright's purple eyes shone through the visor, before being engulfed in red.

"Ready if you are, sir." he said mockingly.

___DP___

Danny dismissed Fright Knight at the edge of the Keep.

Clockwork stood at the entrance to the grand castle, waiting patiently. Danny walked up to him, nervously rubbing his neck.

"I'm ready, if you don't ask anything..." Danny stated glumly.

Clockwork smiled and gestured to the crumbling doors of the great hall, "I was never going to."

Danny scowled. Why did it seem like Clockwork didn't care either? "Shut it, Old Man."

Clockwork smiled harder, if it was possible, as Danny led him into the crumbling castle.

The main hall was in ruins. The once grand castle entrance had fallen greatly, the hard stone walls crumbling due to lack of power. The floors were covered in inches of dirt and dust, but a dim blue light still shone around every piece of debris. Danny stepped around a chunk of stone, avoiding stubbing his toes.

Danny moved further into the hall, until Clockwork's hand clamped down on his shoulder. Danny turned, seeing Clockwork pointing to a large pile of stone.

"There." Clockwork said.

Danny took a deep breath and pushed himself off the grimy floor, hovering a good three inches. He slowly glided toward the pile of stone, which he noticed subtly glowed with a blue light when he moved closer.

When he was less than two feet away, the pile of rocks suddenly exploded into blue flames, making Danny recoil in surprise.

The rocks had cleared away to reveal a large slab of onyx, which was crafted beautifully into a table of sorts. From where Danny stood, he could see graceful carvings of swirls and stars which oddly reflected something blue. Danny would have turned to look, if he hadn't known that there was absolutely nothing of color behind him, and he was in his ghost form, which had no blue anywhere on his monochrome hazmat. Danny reached out, wanting to see if the dark slab of stone was as smooth as it looked.

An inch before his gloved fingers made contact, the table burst into blue flames. The fire quickly flicked up Danny's arm, and he withdrew it in panic.

"WHOA!" he yelled waving his gloved hand to put out the flame that had caught in it. "Ow, ow! It hurts! It...doesn't... hurt?" he asked amazed. "But....i-it hurt before....what?"

Clockwork chuckled again and motioned at the table. "That's good. Go on, then." he said.

Danny's face molded into a look of pure sorrow, his back turned to the time ghost. "Don't rush me." he muttered, too quiet for the other to hear.

Danny sighed as he gazed at the table. If he continued...it will be worse... If he turned back...

Danny's eyes hardened into a cold demeanor. "It'll be all the same." he sighed.

"What was that?" Clockwork asked. Danny shook his head. A flash of white light, and instead of Danny Phantom, there stood Danny Fenton.

"Turning back will be no use....Maybe worse is better, yeah?" Danny said into empty air, before putting both hands onto the stone table. The blue flames rose again in an instant, and this time he did not move away.

The blue fire curled around his hands, sending a warm feeling up his arms. The soft light made his blue eyes glow brightly and sent a halo of blue around his black hair.

Danny slid his hands over the surface of the table. It was definitely as smooth as it looked...Danny sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

Danny ran his hands over the unnaturally smooth stone one last time, before pulling himself up onto the table. He stretched out his legs, sighing softly as the unfamiliar heat washed over him. He leaned back into the fire, and as soon as he did, his entire body left the table.

Danny's eyes snapped open wide in shock, before his body went completely limp, floating above the table. His wide open eyes filled with pure blackness, as if someone had poured ink into them. The flames surrounding him moved as if in slow motion, and the blue quickly gave in to the unearthly green that was Danny's ghostly aura.