Chapter Text
Danny’s leg bounced beneath the desk as he tried to focus on the lecture in front of him. Finals were over, why was Lancer even trying to make them focus? Everyone knew the final week of school was only really for make-up exams if someone was absent or if weather (or in Amity Park’s case - ghosts) caused days to be missed earlier in the year.
For Ancient’s sake - he had more important things to worry about than Pride and Prejudice! He was heading to war! A small, two person war, but still. Battle didn’t seem big enough a word for what Danny was about to face. Danny battled with Skulker and Plasmius and other ghosts on a near daily basis. Hell, Danny occasionally battled with the microwave when it became sentient from all the ectoplasm accidentally nuked in there. But this? This wasn’t a battle. This wasn’t something he lived with daily. This was the end, the final fight, the pinnacle of everything he had faced until now.
And he wasn’t ready!
Danny finally gave up on paying attention to Lancer, not that he’d been trying very hard anyway. There was no test to be taken, no homework to be done, not this late in the year, and Danny was feeling the injury from Skulker’s attack thirty minutes prior. Another injury to be sewed up by his father, he supposed.
Three more days until summer vacation, at least. Three more days until some freedom.
…and then two months until hell on earth.
~~
“What’s going on,” Clockwork said, floating down to be level with Danny, a sad expression on his ancient face, “is you are the Crown Prince of the Infinite Realms and your coronation, or your End, approaches.”
A chill went down Danny’s spine, despite being a ghost currently and impervious to the cold. He’d never seen Clockwork look this tired or this old.
“What? This is…?” Jack asked as Clockwork turned to him, nodding.
“This is the path this Timeline is leading us to.”
“Wait, back up,” Tucker interjected, his hand reaching for Danny’s. “What do you mean End? Like death?”
“This is about Danny’s battle with Pariah Dark last year, isn’t it?” Sam asked.
Danny heard the words around him but panic was strangling his ability to speak, to breathe. He didn’t even need to breathe! Fear had flooded his every sense, his entire being.
“You are a wise child, Ms. Manson,” Clockwork confirmed.
“Not a child!”
“You are all children to me.”
“Enough,” Maddie said, stepping forward. “Tell us everything.”
Clockwork and Jack shared a glance, as though they had information the others weren’t privy to - which was a normal feeling for Clockwork but with his father? It wasn’t common.
“The tale is long and not pleasant. Are you ready?”
“Tell me what’s going to happen to my son,” Maddie all but growled.
Danny looked helplessly over at Tucker, clenching his boyfriend’s hand tighter. Tucker’s arm began to wrap around Danny but he flinched at the cold and Danny quickly returned to Fenton. Tucker tried to smile at him comfortingly but even he looked terrified. Clockwork sure as hell knew how to make an impression, Danny mused as he allowed Tucker to wrap his arms around him. Danny tucked his head under Tucker’s chin, greedily stealing his warmth as Danny’s loved ones waited with bated breath for Clockwork to continue - for Clockwork to explain how Danny was going to die.
Clockwork waved his hand over one of his Looking Glasses and the entire room seemed to dim. Danny didn’t think words existed to explain what happened next, not adequately at least. There was darkness in the mirror and it crept out, its tendrils slithering out until it was all any of them knew .
“Long ago, there was Nothingness. Then came the explosion,” Clockwork explained, his voice oddly echoing as a soundless blast threw everything into color. “From this came the Dark and the Light, from this came Time and Existence. From this, I was born.”
“Wait, did you just confirm the Big Bang theory?” Danny asked, only to be resoundingly hushed from all sides. Danny knew he shouldn’t interrupt, he did, but by the Ancients, was it any surprise he didn’t want to hear the tale that ended with his death?
Clockwork continued as though Danny hadn’t spoken. “The explosion continued - it grew, morphed, evolved, it Became. Life and death, good and evil, pleasure and pain, the explosion grew form, but its power was infinite and the creatures it made were not. No matter how much it created, the explosion never stopped. Eternities passed like this.” The room-area-thing they were in showed snapshots of the creations and the destructions.
“Civilizations were born and snuffed out quicker than a blinking eye. The explosion grew tired of its constant existence, of burning out its creations whenever they would finally try to channel the power of the universe - it needed something that could contain its power. So it changed tactics. Realizing it could never share its power with the things it created, that it could not continue to exist if it wanted the beings it created to live without being burned, the explosion decided to shackle itself.”
“So… the explosion was sentient?” Maddie asked.
Clockwork nodded. “Yes. It was so much more, though. It is beyond comprehension, even to me.”
“And you were… there as all of this was happening?” Jack said.
“In a way. I was as the explosion - too great, too infinite, but Time held itself in balance. I didn’t need to share my power - the explosion took some of it, the things it created took more, and I was stable. I was not in this form, I just simply was.”
“Danny,” Tucker whispered gently, lightly tapping one of Danny’s hands.
“Sorry,” Danny muttered back, realizing ice had begun to sprout from his hand as his emotions grew. This knowledge… it felt forbidden. It felt like something humans weren’t allowed to ever truly know, only theorize. It felt wrong.
“The explosion decided to create something it had never done - a new dimension. It would chain itself in the new dimension. Tears in space would occasionally let out wisps of its energy and Creation could continue - it just would never be able to see it, never be able to live among the Life it made. An agonizing decision, but he was just so tired of burning the things he loved.”
“He?” Sam said, scrunching her nose up at the pronoun change.
“Would you prefer I use she? It doesn’t really matter - the last form I saw the explosion take was masculine but the explosion is energy and power.”
“No, ‘he’ is fine, I was just curious,” Sam shrugged, motioning for Clockwork to continue, a shadowy figure circling the Master of Time that Danny somehow knew to be the ‘form’ the explosion had taken.
“So,” Clockwork continued, “he created the Infinite Realms. He could explode forever here - but only the Dead could come. He gave me this form. And then, he made his prison - the Core of the Ghost Zone - and tasked me to find him a warden. You see, when he ripped open the new dimension, he made both unstable. Now, both would be lost if he wasn’t contained. So he sat in the center of the Realms and made another dimension - one he built around himself, rather than one sliced open and forced into.” The scene around them continued to change as Clockwork spoke, and Danny could see the damaged threads of the universe as the Core tore a new dimension open.
“That’s the Core of the Ghost Zone? The Big Bang is the Core of the Ghost Zone?” Danny asked, unsure if that was horrifying or fascinating.
“Yes. So I selected a strong warden - a powerful Dead who I made share the Core’s shackles. But the shackles held power, made that Dead even stronger. She was ignorant of the true power of the Core, and decided I’d declared her Queen, not realizing I’d bound her to the fate of all existences.” Still, the scene played out. Danny didn’t know what type of creature this Queen was - it wasn’t humanoid, was all he really knew. Two glowing rings closed around what Danny thought might be her neck and leg.
“The Ring and the Crown… they’re the shackles?” Danny realized, what little color he’d had left in his cheeks evaporating and leaving him paler than a corpse.
“But Pariah Dark was the King?” Tucker asked, knitting his eyebrows together in deep thought.
“War. He got the Crown and Ring by going to war with her, didn’t he?” Danny said, a hollow pit in his stomach.
“There were many wars and rulers between the first Queen and Pariah Dark, but yes. It’s evolution - something stronger will eventually come to be and when it dies, it may come here. But that’s how Life and Death work - eventually, your time is up,” Clockwork said as though he were discussing the weather, even as eons of war played around them, all shadowy figures and muted cries. “But that does, finally, bring us to Pariah Dark.”
“I defeated him… he’s asleep again!”
Clockwork smiled grimly as the scene around them again changed and Danny fought to keep his lunch down as he was forced to watch Pariah Dark unceremoniously hand Danny his own ass for several minutes. Tucker’s grip on Danny tightened to a nearly painful level as everyone he loved watched - in IMAX high-def surround sound - as Danny nearly died.
“Oh, Danny…” Maddie whispered, eyes wide with horror as she covered her mouth, watching Dark’s mace slam into Danny so hard it pierced the suit.
“Clockwork, I think they get the point!” Danny said, his back throbbing slightly with remembered pain. Irritation also bubbled up in him - aimed at his mother. She didn’t get to act like that when she’d done so much worse to him! It was irrational, he knew, but he was allowed to
be afraid of her
be mad at her!
“Ah, but we’re just getting to the relevant part, Daniel,” Clockwork said and Danny turned to bury his face in Tucker’s chest, unwilling to watch as past him accepted death to lock Pariah away, only for Vlad and the other ghosts to sweep in and save him at the last minute. He was grateful they couldn’t hear the thoughts he’d been having - about how dying wouldn’t be too bad, how he’d at least go out a hero even if no one ever knew it, how the fighting could finally stop.
He had been, and still was, so tired of the fighting.
“So Danno beat Dark and he’s king now?” Jack asked, wrapping an arm around Maddie’s shoulders, though seeming like it was done more to bring comfort to himself than his wife.
“No,” Maddie answered before Clockwork did. “It didn’t count as a win, did it? Because he had help?”
“It is a bit more complex than that, but yes, that is the gist of it. Daniel challenged Pariah Dark to single combat - you may not have meant too, but you did with your wording, Daniel,” Clockwork interjected when he saw Danny open his mouth to protest, “and then not only did he have assistance, but he failed to deliver an Ending blow.”
“So?” Danny asked. “I shoved him in the damn Sarcophagus! I did the same thing that was done hundreds of years ago, and none of them became king!”
“But they did not challenge him to single combat, Daniel. Dark’s prior defeat was a sneak attack and the ghosts who fought him made sure to never utter a single word that could be construed as a challenge, because they knew none among them could take Dark down single-handedly, and they wanted to avoid the limbo we now find ourselves in.”
“Limbo? That… doesn’t sound good.” Sam said.
“Because it is not. Dark’s connection to the Ring and Crown have been in limbo ever since the challenge was issued, and therefore the powers keeping the Core contained within himself are beginning to escape. Ownership of them must be rectified, or the binds will break. It took eons for the Core to craft his prison. If the binds shatter… it would be no quick matter to contain him again.”
“And how do we put ownership back to a sleeping Pariah Dark without killing me?” Danny asked, his knees weak.
“We can’t,” Clockwork answered solemnly and Danny’s legs gave out beneath him, dragging himself and Tucker to the ground. When no one spoke up, Clockwork continued. “We have three options now. You die, completely and entirely, and Pariah stays asleep. The other two options are awakening Pariah and the two of you battle until the End. Then, either Pariah wins and resumes his reign of terror or you win and take on the mantle of king.”
“He’s human! He can’t be a king to a bunch of ghosts!” Maddie shouted, tears running down her face and Danny was unsure if they were from anger or sorrow.
“He’s technically of the Dead. He can rule,” Clockwork said, though it was clear he was not fond of the idea either. “We must have a ruler or the Core will be freed and the dimensions will burn.”
“Look at him!” Maddie screamed. “Does he look dead to you?!”
Clockwork narrowed his eyes and even Danny shuddered as the Master of Time’s powers flared, the humans around them all looking pained for a moment. Clockwork pulled his power back in quickly. Danny was at a loss - he’d never seen Clockwork so emotional.
“He looked dead to you, didn’t he?” Clockwork growled and the scene around them changed once more. Danny flinched as recognized the sterile white room, recognized himself bound to a table as his mother and Operative O tortured him. The scene was frozen, not playing like the Pariah fight had been, but it still turned Danny’s stomach.
“And I was wrong,” Maddie said coldly, though regret and guilt painted her face.
Again the scene shifted and Danny didn’t even bother protesting before burying his face against Tucker’s chest, the two of them still on their knees.
“Is this…?” Jack started, staring around their lab. He was cut off by the memory Danny’s voice.
“I have to do something,” past Danny hissed, pulling on the white hazmat suit he’d grabbed from the lab’s closet. “They’ve just been looking at it too long. I bet I’ll walk right on in there and immediately see what’s wrong!”
“Clockwork, stop,” Danny begged as he heard the sound of his own footsteps change as he stepped into the portal.
“They need to understand, Daniel,” was Clockwork’s only reply.
So Danny just pressed his hands over his ears, though he still heard. Another body knelt down next to him and he peeked enough to see Sam wrapping her arms around the two boys, a worried smile on her face. He just nodded and returned to hiding against Tucker, grateful for the warmth of his friends to keep him grounded as the sound of Danny’s last words played around them. They weren’t impressive, as far as last words went, though he supposed they were painfully ironic.
“Is that an ‘on’ button?”
Then there was nothing but the sounds of screaming, the scent of sizzling skin - nothing but Danny’s death and miraculous rebirth.
Tucker and Sam just tightened their arms around him and he heard as his father also collapsed and began to sob.
It was Phantom who fell from the now working portal, his voice hoarse and broken as he cried in agony, as his molecules reworked themselves into a perversion of nature, of life and death.
“Your son is as Dead as he is alive, Madeline,” Clockwork said, just as cold as she had been earlier.
Past Phantom pushed himself to his feet, making his way to a nearby sink and vomiting ectoplasm. Danny couldn’t see him - he still refused to watch this - but he didn’t need to see to know what happened next. His Accident was forever as burned into his mind as it was into his skin. He knew that he’d looked in the mirror, seen his eyes and hair and glow and skin tone and… just, all of it.
He knew he’d realized what he was (though he still thought he was completely dead at the time), he knew he’d looked to the variety of weapons and sharp instruments that surrounded him.
“They’re gonna kill me,” were the first words of his new life and then the scene mercifully ended, though everyone besides Danny and Clockwork were crying.
Danny himself was mercifully numb. He hated remembering that, he hated his own stupidity.
“He is Dead enough to rule,” Clockwork repeated.
~~
Something heavy slammed in front of Danny and he reacted on instinct as he was pulled from his memories, throwing his fist out in the direction of the sound.
“Mr. Fenton!” Lancer yelled, hand over his mouth, covering where Danny had just punched him.
“I’m so sorry!” Danny said, freaking out. He had just punched a teacher! “I was surprised and -”
“That is quite enough, Mr. Fenton. Daydreaming in my class is one thing, assaulting a teacher is an entirely different matter. Go to the front office. Now.”
Danny ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to break down and cry. There was just too much going on, too much to handle, and he was not handling it well. So he just grabbed his bag and hurried from the room, too tired to do anything else.