SilentJudge

At once, Danny flew between the ground, feeling more than seeing his friends scrambling for their weapons as he raised his fists.

"Who are you?" He demanded, watching the other squads surround them. Tucker and Sam spun around, each pressing up against his back in a makeshift triangle.

The hum of their ghost guns echoed through the air as the knights continued their marching until they had formed a circle around the three.

I don't like this. Danny thought felt his own ecto-ray heating up in his palms. They look oddly familiar. Where have I seen those armors?

The knights all, simultaneously, dropped to one knee, surprising the three teenagers. They bowed their heads, and even the winged horses followed suit,

"Prince Phantom." The one right in front of Danny said, "We have come as your formal escort to your Father's keep. He demands your presence."

"My Dad?" Danny repeats, voiced, laced with doubt. , "My Dad sent ghosts to escort me home? Do I look stupid to you?"

"It is not your sire, Jack Fenton, I speak of," The Knight explains, voice still respectful even when staring at the ground. Danny can't see his eyes or any of the other knights, as they are hidden in the shadows of their helmets. "I speak of the Ghost King, Pariah Dark, who has chosen you are his Heir. You are summoned to complete the adoption process."

"Yeah, that's going to be a no from me." Danny deadpans, even if his insides have turned to ice. Pariah Dark was resealed, Danny personally made sure of that, so why was this guy speaking as if he was back?

"Apologies, my Prince, but you do not have a choice," declares the other, and almost as if that was a cue of some kind, the other knights rise from their knees. They descend on the trio faster than Danny was expecting.

He ducks and waves as three different fists fly to his face, reaching down to aim an uppercut at the one on his right. It lands with a clack and a sting in his knuckles as the helmets odd shape as some protection to the chin

Shaking out his hand, Danny is not prepared for the kick to his side that sends him flying.

He lands in a heap but is quick to get back to his feet as rope is lassoed around one of his wrists. He gapes at it as another knight, quickly throws on to his other arms and suddenly he's being tugged in two different directions.

Summoning his ice, Danny has it travel down the ropes towards the knights, who drop it just as the ice would have encased their hands. Freed, Danny, leaps back as a flying kick paces mere inches from his face and has to quickly raise his hands to block an ecto-ray to the chest.

"Do not harm the Prince!" The leader barks "Capture the humans, he will go willingly if we have hostages!"

Danny swings his head towards Sam and Tucker, who have been forced up against a wall, shooting desperately at the advancing knights. Their shots are being knocked away by flowing swords, and it was obvious their movements were slowing down.

Despite the many fights they have helped in a fight, neither Sam or Tucker could outlast a ghost. Their stamina was superior, and sadly, it seemed these particular ghosts also had training under their belts.

"No!" Danny moved to help but just as he turned his eyes away from the Knight Leader, a bubble of ectoplasm exploded in his face.

"I told you not to harm the Prince!" Someone roars over the sound of ringing in his ears. Hands fell on all his limbs holding him down, even if he weakly tried to shake them off. Everything is spinning, though, and his vision is blurring in and out of focus. He sees Sam fall to the ground with Tucker screaming something he can't make out before Danny is left up and dragged away.

There is a weight around his wrists and ankles, indicating he's been tied up, but Danny can barely keep his head from bobbing to the side. He had no energy to attempt to break his bonds.

He knew no more as he was thrown into a carriage, the block dots in his vision taking over completely.

Three years later, Danny is overlooking the development of a ghost colony in a far-off corner of King Pariah's empire. This colony was made entirely of former slaves whom Danny fought his adoptive father tooth and nail to free.

Pariah moods were odd. He controlled everything Danny did, but he also wanted Danny to take his own stances on how the empire should be run. The Ghost King's control had expanded to nearly all corners of the Ghost Zone, breaking and tearing apart any resistance they found.

War had broken out as ghosts from various tribes and kingdoms fought desperately to keep their freedom. Pariah saw no challenge in their attempts, crushing anyone that stood in his way.

His aim was to once again rule all over the dead, and later, once every ghost bowed to his whim, invade the living world again but this time there would be no Halfa child to stop him.

Said Halfa that was now heir of the tyrant. Everyone knew about the kidnapped Prince, as his tale was told in resistance meetings both in pity and in rage.

Prince Phantom's iconic white hair and green eyes were just as widely known as his golden collar was. It was created by King Pariah, to keep the prince in the area by an invisible fence he set up. Should Prince Phantom attempt to fly or walk out of those areas, the collar would turn into flaming chains, yanking the prince back. It wouldn't burn him, thankfully, but it would drag him roughly.

It didn't help that the collar stopped Prince Phantom from accessing his powers. It was almost like he was a full human, except he was trapped in his ghost form and in the Ghost Zone, which meant his options were far more limited than normal.

He was more of a royal hostage than an actual heir.

Even out here, while overlooking reports and listening to testimonies, Prince Phantom could not leave the tower of the newest colony. At all times there was two guards that followed him and limited his movements too.

Despite his position, the Prince did everything he could to protect the people, tales of him jumping to a servant's defense against his father, advocating for the abolishment of slavery, and even offering to serve any punishment for any ghost child. The people loved their prince, and all wanted to one day see him free as well.

Rumors had it that the leaders of the main resistance were two humans who were desperately trying to free Prince Phantom, but since everyone in the rebellion's army's identity remained secret, no one knew how true those rumors were.

Danny unrolls a scroll, sighing at the numbers. "If nothing is done about the harvest, the people will starve come winter. We need to start rationing. Take whatever you need from my own supplies before we start applying it to the people."

"My Prince, we couldn't possibly ask that of you. Already, you granted us freedom and a home. ," Started the mayor of the colony, only to stop at the sight of a large magical circle forming around the prince. Danny's eyes widened as well, feeling his collar start to glow as whatever it is attempt to yank him away.

He feels it start to crack as the magic overpowers the collar's settings. Hope flares in his heart as his guards leap to their feet. Before they can so much as come near him, the mayor throws himself at them with a roar. "Run, my Prince! I shall buy you time!"

Danny is swallowed by light before he can respond, the collar left behind to clatter against the floor. He is flung through a portal made of multiple colors, so bright and blinding he has to close his eyes and hold his hands in front of his face. He lands with a startled yelp, but his hands fling to his neck.

When all he feels is flesh, tears burn his eyes sight as he sobs. He's free. He's finally free.

"Well, this isn't what I was expecting when I offered a piece of my soul" An accented voice hums, drawing attention to a group of oddly dressed strangers. A man in a trench coat lights a cigar, the glow casting his face in a dim light as he stares down at Danny with a detached appraisal glint in his eyes. "Tell me, why did my spell bring me a child when I asked for a champion to overthrow the Ghost King?"

Danny's ice core starts to slowly freeze the room over, his breath visible as his eyes harden. "It brought me here because I am going to kill my father."

The call ended with a click, but he couldn't help but feel their goodbye needed something.

I love you.

That was it. That's what was missing. But did he dare? Could he? Was he confusing love for something it wasn't? Was Bruce even interested?

Danny places his phone on his chest, staring at the ceiling of the latest hotel he booked, wondering if Bruce is leaving for lunch with the kids. He said they were celebrating Tim's new clothesline and wished he was there to cheer the boy and his team on.

Danny is in Toykyo today, presenting his new hologram keyboards to a big company.

Of course, they were the second company allowed the selling rights. Wayne Tech was the first, and Danny kept the production and creation rights. It was one of Danny's most ingenious inventions, if he did say so himself, but the look on Bruce's face when he revealed it to him was far more exhilarating than creating the keyboard or gaining the fat paycheck.

Fenton's Ghost Touch was a set of two rings with a hologram keyboard inside. When someone needed to type, they would spin the rings and double-tab the inner lining, connecting to devices using the Bluetooth function.

A visible hologram would pop up underneath their fingers, or if they wanted (and were good enough typers), they could move their fingers in the air without it, which would still allow them to type.

Danny had chosen to release the line in black internationally with Toyko, but Wayne Tech would release an exclusive color line. The rings were of the same design, all using slick silver bands but with different colors as the activation inner rings and some elegant carvings, unlike the international releases, which were just one solid color.

Fenton's Ghost Touch would come in seven colors: blue, red, pink, green, purple, white, and yellow.

Danny had purposely designed them using each of the Wayne kids' favorite colors and sent them all a set with their corresponding colors. The morning they arrived, he got a picture of them showing off their new rings, smiling widely at the camera from Bruce.

He saved the photo as his laptop background. His phone background already had a picture of him and the Waynes at Thanksgiving. They had crowed around, holding their wreaths with Bruce and Danny in the center.

Danny had been facing the camera, beaming in pride at the kids' work. Bruce was half-turning, his gaze stuck on Danny's face with a strange, fond, soft smile, the kind he rarely saw Bruce give anyone else.

It made him hope. Oh, how he hoped, but it also scared him. What if this wasn't love? Danny has never been in love before, has never fallen to the urges that others describe, and had been so comfortable convincing his asexuality meant he would never have to be the kind of person staying up long into the night overthinking every interaction with another person.

Yet here he was, seeing Bruce in a whole new light and discovering how different everything was because of it. But at the same time, how nothing had changed. He spoke to Dani about this, but his clone-turned-sister had only shrugged.

"You raised kids with the man." She laughed. Dani wasn't like Danny, and although she was more informed than their parents, she had difficulty wrapping her head around not having those feelings. "I think it's past the point of having a crush on him. I think you should go for it. Make it official."

Danny reaches up, rubbing at his eyes. It was midnight, and he had a meeting with another with the Japanese board again at eight. He really needed to rest and be on top of his wits so that he and his lawyer could ensure the contact was in his best interest.

He clicks open his gallery on his phone instead of swiping through photos of Bruce and feeling his heart leap nearly out of his chest. He misses the man.

Since Jazz's conversation, Danny has been practically avoiding him. This is due to his being hyper-aware of himself and Bruce: the way Bruce laughed, the dip in his voice whenever the British accent he picked up from Alfred popped in, the slight facial expressions he made when confused about emotions, the shift from playful to professional in work settings, and most of all, the attention he always bestowed onto Danny.

How the world just seemed brighter whenever he was with the man.

Bruce was his sun, and Danny was nothing more than a flower seeking him out. It made the Halfa want to hide in a hole but dance around in public all at once, and he didn't know why.

He finds a video, tapping the play button before thinking further of it, and melts when the first sound he hears is Bruce's laughter. It's quickly followed by the loud noise of the Waynes' Children. It was taken at the last Wayne game night—at the time, Danny had been in England with Dani.

Tim recorded Damian standing proudly over a map covered in white trains, arms spread into a T position, and Duke screaming accusations of cheating. After Alfred banned Monopoly in the Manor, the game Ticket to Ride quickly took over as the new worst enemy creator.

Dick was in the background sobbing into his hands as Jason tried to confront him. Steph and Cass were each leaning on Bruce's two shoulders, laughing as hard as their father, and Alfred was out of frame but not out of hearing, so when he stated, "Master Dick, how could have gone in the wrong direction? It's the map of the USA, it hasn't change in years!"

"He has a concussion, Alfrie!" Jason protested hotly. "Leave him alone!"

"YOU CHEATED!" Duke raged as Damian continued his pose with the most serious expression he'd seen on the child. It made his heart swell to see Damian copying him.

Danny struck the same pose whenever he beat his sisters at a game, even at his advanced age. Once an annoying brother, always an annoying brother.

The video ends with Tim flipping the camera. His broad grin covered the whole screen as he shouted, "Love you, Dad! Miss you! Can't wait to see you!"

Danny turns to his side, feeling his heart flutter more as the word plays repeatedly in his head. A few years ago, the Wayne Kids—excluding Damian, who was polite to the point it hurt—switched from Danny to Dad when referring to him.

Bruce hadn't made a big deal about it even though they called him Dad. Would that mean the man was happy his kids saw him as a second father figure? Did it mean the man thought of him as....a husband?

Danny groans, burying his face into the cool sheets of his futon, begging his mind to stop for a few seconds so he can rest. After this deal goes through, Danny is going to face the music.

He would go to Gotham and figure out a way to tell Bruce how he felt. He just hopes he has it figured out by then. Danny has an idea, but explaining the mess in his head into words is going to be much harder than anything he's ever done.

Not to mention Phantom. That was a can of worms he hadn't ever touched in Wayne's presence. What was Bruce's stance on ghosts anyway?

Should he practice what he would say about the topic? Turning onto his back, Danny holds up his phone, clicking the screen so the lock screen image of a grinning Bruce appears.

It was from the surprise vacation Danny rented out the hut next to the ones the kids sent Bruce to. It had been taken at sunset, the soft orange and purples of the sky framing Bruce's grin and dancing on his wind-blown hair. It had been a spur-of-the-moment walk around the beach, but from Danny's perspective down below and Bruce climbing back up to his hunt, it had almost appeared like Bruce was descending from the heavens.

Danny had used every film skill he had ever heard Dani speak about to capture the beautiful sight.

It is the best picture he's ever taken.

"I love you," the words leave his mouth in surprise, even though he had meant to talk about ghosts. But when they are spoken, he ducks into ice water and realizes they are true.

He sits up, using both hands to hold the phone in front of him, hoping that somehow, in some unrealistic dream, the words will carry across the world, and Bruce will hear them. Maybe even feel them, too. "I love you, I think I do. Do you love me too?"

The screen goes dark, and Danny sighs. Ten years. Will he really risk ten years of friendship over these little feelings?

Pointdexter is floating about the room, muttering and checking a clipboard periodically. Danny had figured that he would stop hiding in his room after the third concubine was sent since he woke up. The three were outraged that Consort Danny refused them entry to the castle, claiming they were gifts for the King and not the human toy he picked up.

They left after Pointdexter restrained Danny from reaching for his ghost-hunting gear. He made it clear that as the Manager of the Hunt-Third in command but more respected by ghost nobility due to being a ghost himself- King Phantom had no need for

They left after Pointdexter restrained Danny from reaching for his ghost-hunting gear. He made it clear that King Phantom had no need for concubines as the Manager of the Hunt- Third in command but more respected by ghost nobility due to being a ghost himself.

The King was not around to formally dismiss them, which meant the the many men who were sent to Phantom as gifts could not stay in the castle. They would have to return when Phantom returned from the human world to evaluate the situation.

Sir John the Pure had been only one overjoyed to be dismissed like this. It seemed he was the youngest of the Cosmos tribe but suffered from a rare core condition. Sir John could not use any ghost powers without his core threatening to shatter in his chest.

He was a human with blue skin and stardust-dusted hair but without the added benefit of phasing through walls in the Infinite Realms. Sir John was one of the ghosts born in the Zone, making his condition more shameful.

Besides his pretty face, there wasn't much Sir John had to offer the Realms, and thus, the family was eager to marry him off if only to get some political power through him. Danny had ordered Pointdexter to create a nearby hotel for Sir John so he wouldn't have to go home to his less-than-ideal family.

He even dismissed the servants who accompanied the young ghost- they were the same age- and instead had his aid find better servants to treat the ghost right.

Danny ignored the adoring gazes the ghost threw at him when he was offered the hotel, especially with Timothy Drake watching everything. He finally understood what Pointdexer meant about the human ambassador.

He may pretend to be clueless, but a fierce intelligence burns brightly in his eyes. Drake was watching everything far too carefully to fall his act. Danny's question was how he had managed to convince him before.

Had he just been overwhelmed with the whole Consort thing or was he more aware now that he was inside the Hunt that served as an extension of himself?

"Danno!" Poindexter screams in joy upon seeing him. "You're up! Excellent! The purchase orders on the desk must be paid by nine today."

The ghost flies behind him, pushing him towards the desk even with Danny digging his feet into the carpet. "Why do all these have to be paid by nine pm?"

"Oh no, no, no." Pointdexter hums, throwing him into the chair and pressing a fountain pen in his hand in one clean motion. His smile is dead, and his eyes are soulless as the fifties ghost says, "They need to be paid by nine am."

"But, it eight thirty am right now!?" Danny gasps. The grip on his shoulder goes unbearably tight as his Haunt manager looms over him.

"You better start signing." The teen says in a way that is not quite a threat but not entirely friendly. "The second you put your signature on these forms, payments are sent out. We. Need. To. Pay."

Danny reaches for the closed form, shaking a little in fear as paper after paper is slid under his hand and pen. Every time he finished the last loop in his name, Poindexter quickly switched it out with another while speaking in a fast-paced tone to explain what he was signing.

"Payments for a festival hosted in the FarForzen. Payment for the food we consume. Payment for the clothes. Payment for the wood. Payment for anti-slavery act. Payment for soldiers harmed in the war. Payment for castle repairs. Payment for the ice sculptures. Payment to fund the apology gift baskets for the rejected concubines. Payment for MY payroll is behind. Payment for the bath salts King Phantom ordered. Payment for medical treatment in FarFrozen."

Danny's hand was starting to cramp up, and he wasn't even near the middle half of the pile. He lost himself in the paperwork, entering a near-meditational stage. Hours later, someone knocks on the wood of his door, dragging Danny from the pits he has fallen into.

It takes him a moment to get his eyes to focus on the figure in the doorway. The paperwork glows in various colors. His eyes hurt, okay?. It's Sir John carrying a tray of food and beaming at him. "Hello, Dearest Consort. I brought you some food."

"Um, why?" Danny asks after a moment. He meant why was he ghost here wearing a butler uniform when he should be at the hotel he set up for him.

"Sir John is an excellent chief," Pointdexer mutters, looking through some scrolls while flouting seven papers around him. His eyes flicker between each one in practice ease- apparently, he was a season dungeon master in life?. "I offered him a job when keeping maintenance of the Haunt grew too difficult for me on my lonesome. Our last staff walked out after their payroll was delayed so much. Not that I couldn't blame them."

Sir John scurries inside, placing the tray by Danny. Seeing someone so regal do servant work was a bit jarring, but somehow, he made the action of serving tea look like an art form. "I don't mind how long it takes for my payment to come through, Dearest Consort. To be by your side is more than enough for me."

Pointdexer shoots Danny a look before he turns his papers around and, on them, spells out the words, "He has a crush on you. Want me to fire him?"

Danny opens his mouth to speak, but once again, someone knocks on his door. It's Timothy Drake, dressed to the nines in a stylish old-timey suit. Something that was before Pointdexter time. "Hello, Consort Fenton. I was wondering if you needed help in the admissions department."

Danny stares, ignoring the way Sir John's stardust turns an angry bright red. "Why do you ask?"

"Pass the time mostly," Drake laughs, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Not much to do around the castle now that I'm a human sacrifice."

Pointdexer clears his throat pointedly "If you require entertainment, I can arrange that easily, Mr. Drake. Your offer is gracious but unnecessary."

A paper floats over to Danny from Pointdexer. On it, the word SPY glows brightly. Right, Mr. Drake was still operating under the impression Danny and Phantom were married and that the king was madly in love with him.

If there was a chance to see if the King was gearing up for war and undermining him, befriending the Consort way over his head would be the perfect way to do so.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thank you, though." Danny seconds, making sure to keep his suspicions off his face. Drake smiles, and suddenly, Danny realizes something.

Drake's smile is the same one those elites at the Wayne Gala wore. The same kind was on the three potential concubines' faces before they realized they would not be allowed entry. It was the smile of someone of high society. Not someone like Danny, who was raised firmly in the middle class. He doesn't think he would be able to fake it no matter how many years he studied to be considered upper-class

A chill runs down his spine.

How was Phantom so quickly able to blend in with them? Especially if he was only two years in the future of a world that had fallen apart?

Was King Phantom.....lying to him?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An entire plane of existence away, King Phantom sits before the tense and somewhat nervous members of the Justice League, the United Nations representatives, and the Lord of Time himself, Clockwork.

He laces his fingers under his chin, keeping his cold stare a few inches away from a glare but not quite there. His formal attire showcases his status and his position, but it's the spear, the flaming crown, and the

"Ladies and Gentlemen." He starts voicing, echoing the clacking of ice, "I want to put to rest that I will be starting a war with this planet for the attack on Consort Danny."

There was a mutter of relieved sighs through the room, only for the temperature to drop so quickly and rapidly that puffs of smoke were visible whenever someone breathed.

King Phantom's eyes were alight with rage as he spoke in a deadly calm voice, "I will instead begin the invasion of all nearby planets. Earth will keep its freedom only because my Consort has a small, insignificant attachment to this world. But make no mistake, you are all pets at the most, and everyone outgrows their pets eventually. Or outlives them. It's the only way to keep my Consort's honor intake within the Afterlife Court. I will give you one week to say goodbye, and then I will kill fifty percent of all life on this planet."

The entire room felt like they were placed in a guillotine. No one moved. No one spoke. Everyone- including the people watching at home huddled around screens- was too tight to move.

Clockworks bows his head, ashamed of what he's about to allow to happen to keep the timeline flowing correctly.

He raises his staff.

"My King, may I suggest another way to keep Consort Danny's honor?" Clockwork shifts into his elder form as the King glances at him.

"What is your suggestion?"

"Why not...."Clockwork words fade a little, aware that Phantom was growing impatient for his hesitation. It wouldn't do to ruin the king's plan, no matter how terrible dumb Clockwork thought it was. "Why not instead divorce? The Consort honor will not be a failed reflection of your inability to keep him safe as a protection spirit if he is no longer your reelection?"

The room gawked at Clockwork but no more than the King, who leaped to his feet in outrage. "You dare suggest I lose the love of my life-"

"You can simply remarry him after a week." Clockwork interprets embarrassment and wants to get through his hair-brain idea. "Earth could make up for the disrespect they showed the royal family by hosting the ceremony."

King Phantom sits back down, rubbing at his chin."That would be better than the alternative. Plus, it ensures Danny wouldn't be angry with me for killing anyone."

"Yes, as Consort Danny wisely said: Have you tried turning it off and back on again?" It took everything in Clockwork to say that sentence as seriously as possible. "This way, no blood is spilled. Consort Danny can finally have that human version of the ceremony he always wanted. You would no longer be anchored to him with the new vows, allowing you to be on Earth without straining Consort Danny's body. The list of benefits is long, Sir."

Phantom looks increasingly gleeful with every word out of his high advisor's mouth. "I can also release that homewrecker, Drake, back to the human realm!"

Clockwork bites his tongue "Yes, my King. Though again, I do not see a future, past or present, where Timothy Drake is infuated with the Consort. He just wants to protect the human race."

"Lies! Did you not see the way he was dancing at the gala?" Phantom hissed, curling his hands into tight fists, but his eyes were alight with glee. " He was practically undressing!"

"Okay." Clockwork shifts into his middle-aged form, trying very hard to keep the annoyance off his face. He doesn't think he is successful but it at least adds more to their whole facade. "The wedding, sir?"

"Oh yes! I shall devoice my husband and marry once more. People of Earth, you have one month to prepare our wedding, and I shall put...you in charge of it!" Phantom points to a very silent as the grave glaring man in a bat costume. "Just for some motivation I will now remove gravity across Earth."

He snaps his fingers, and the world panics as everyone starts flouting. It lasts only for a few seconds, but it's enough to be reminded of how mighty the Ghost King was.

Phantom gives Batman one finally mad smile. "Do not disappoint me:"

What happened to the third chair at the dinner table? It's now the main anchor for the ghost shield at the top of the house.

Where were the forks? Melted down to create the Spector-Glider jetpack, allowing any hunter on the go to fly right after the ecto-foes!

Danny learned to keep everything he wanted to be left alone in his room (Jack and Maddie had a rule not to bother the kids' safe spaces); otherwise, it would somehow become gear. His room was messy, but he knew where everything was and when he placed it there.

They vanished if he didn't.

It was odd to be so well aware of his things, but it was a fact of life he accepted growing up in the Fenton Household, like the food coming back to life. When they came to visit, his friends knew he had a strict rule of leaving everything in his room.

So, really, there was no reason for this mistake to happen. Sadly, he's gotten a bit careless since the whole Phantom thing. This is his downfall. See, it started the day Tucker brought home a cool new mobile gaming console, lending it to Danny after his parents refused to buy it for him due to his grades.

He had been excited to curl up in a ball on his bed and play the mobile version of Doom. No computer needed, connecting to the world wide web and with a ton of new updates- some even inspired by him when he went into the game last time, and some developer saw him- it was everything he wanted to spend his Friday afternoon on.

Then, a new ghost yells about wanting to be the best showgirl this town has ever seen and starts Can-caning into buildings. She was from before Amity Park was even a town or a city. She was a ghost from the late eighteen hundreds who had arrived in what would have been his hometown with the few settlers who had tricked her.

From what Sam discovered, she had been promised a stage, her name on the headliners as the best performer, and riches beyond belief. What she got instead was a bartender job where the men laughed and mocked her dreams. They wanted something pretty to serve their drinks and would not pay her for it.

She was working to be fed and to keep a roof over her head.

She was too poor to leave and had no family willing to lend a hand after her father warned her that if she ran off to chase her dreams, he would cut her off.

Danny could understand why she hated the sight of this place flourishing and booming when in life it had been her cave but he couldn't let her break it all down. The fight with her last hours then days and finally weeks before he was able to put her away in the Zone.

He had been so exhausted that it wasn't until Tucker asked for his console back that he realized he had had it for a whole month and had not gotten past the main menu.

The worst was putting it in the living room drawer on his way out for a fight. That was a week ago. Rushing home, Danny was relieved to find it still in the same place, untouched by his parent's fingers.

He was supposed to return it to Tucker the following morning, and since no one else was home, he could at least leave it on for a few hours. Not bothering to change back into Fenton, Danny floated in the air, eyes dropping but determined to enjoy this game if it killed him.

The second he powered it on, a woman's voice beeped in a familiar chilling tone.

"Ghost detected. Activating FentonTrap."

He tried to drop it, but it had a similar concept to the Fenton Thermos. His hands were stuck to the metal, and thrashing about wasn't doing anything but fling him through the air.

Before he knew it, he was sucked right into the screen. He screamed, but no one was around to listen. Just his luck. The gaming console turned into a ghost bear trap, falling the second he was sucked into.

It landed in Jazz's cardboard box of old things she had set aside to donate. She was moving out for college and felt it was good to give it away to the less fortunate.

Danny panicked inside the gaming console, floating into a box of darkness with nothing but the screen acting like a window to see out into the real world. Unlike when he entered the game, he had no control over his surroundings or the settings.

He waited a few hours, and as soon as Jazz came down from her bedroom the following morning, he tried screaming as loud as he could to get her attention. But she didn't react. Not even when he pushed his ectoplasm into the screen, holding it would do something.

The game was off. Jazz wasn't a gaming type of person, so she felt no need to turn it on when she was opening the box with tape. Danny could do nothing as she loaded it into her car and drove it to a nearby Wayne Foundation donation center. He hoped someone would pick him up and turn on the console so he could get help.

It was the very latest system. Someone had to be tempted.

But no such luck.

He was moved through hands, everyone assuming that this was only donated if it was busted. It didn't help their assumptions that the darn thing randomly beeped and cried out, "Ghost detected!". Danny tried repeatedly to get someone's attention, but he always failed and was moved between centers across the country, watching time move on without him.

Being inside the GhostTrap was a strange pain. He didn't need food or water, but he felt starved. He missed the sun on his skin, the voices of people speaking to him and not around him, and his family.

A family probably losing their minds looking for him. Danny Fenotn had vanished at fifteen years old, and the earth kept turning. He was stuck there, never aging, never moving, and always watching as years passed.

He stayed long enough for the console to become outdated, and people stopped even considering taking him home.

Eventually, Danny was pushed into the retro gaming boxes, sealed up, and moved across the states. He ended up in a pawn shop in a bigger city, placed in a glass case facing up. I was far more interested in him than the community depot the Waynes had him in.

He watched daily as various shady people entered Crime Alley's best pawn shop and traded multiple items for cash. He had stopped trying to get people's attention at this point. A little over a decade of inability to communicate did that to a person.

Danny sat back, watching people from below place cash on the counter items and wonder about them. Sometimes, they would peer down at him, getting close enough to fog up the glass, but never ask for him.

Until one day, a tiny little boy wandered in, clutching a few dollars. He said he got the money, and Hans (the pawn shop owner) didn't ask. He just counted out the bill for the tiny thing and told him what he could buy with it.

Danny was shocked to see those blue eyes sparkle with glee when they landed on his system. The boy was told that it might be busted because Hans was a good man to children, but he happily claimed he had never had a video game before, and a broken one was better than none.

The boy clutched the game tightly to his chest, slipping him into his pocket with great care, and ran home. Not that Danny could see where that home was. All he got was an eyeful of lint and a half-eaten lollipop.

It didn't stop his heart from leaping in his chest as the newfound hope he had long ago given up on bursting into flames along his rib cages. The second the boy was in his home, he washed after his mother yelled at him to bathe and eat, and he powered on Tucker's system after nearly a decade.

At once, Danny's surroundings changed into a bright light, and his powers could finally pass the screen. He rushed at it, feeling himself slipping through the traps as powering on the console seemed to be the same button as "release".

He flies out, throwing his arms wide open and laughing because, finally, after so long, he is free. He spins in circles, bathing in the feeling of air, even if it's a bit stale. He strains his eyes to listen to the city outside after everything has been so muffled, just seeing the real world.

The boy was pressed against the wall, his wide blue eyes staring up at Danny in suppressed fear. He was obviously on the poorer side, with his mattress on the floor and clothes so faded they might as well be white with a bit of color stains, but Danny didn't care.

"You set me free!" He tells the child, floating before him, "Thank you!"

The boy's mouth opens and closes- isn't it odd that he hasn't heard his name so far- before his wide blue eyes widen. "Are you a genie?"

"Hmm?" Danny wants to talk to him properly but is too busy taking everything in. He is feeling the real world again, seeing color, and feeling the walls.

No wonder his old foes kept trying to come back here. The world was a wonderful place to be in.

"You are! Like the one Aladdin found! I know my first wish. I wish my mom was sober."

Danny doesn't know who Aladdin is, but that... is a sad wish. Oddly enough, he does know how to make it come true. He had been studying under FrostBite after realizing he couldn't be an astronaut anymore and had found that his ectoplasm had a side effect of healing humans.

In theory, it should make her sober.

He considers the boy's earnest and hopeful eyes and thinks I do owe him.

"Alright, bring me to your mom. I'm Danny, by the way. Danny Phantom."

"I'm Jason!" Jason cheers, rushing to the door of his small little bedroom and grabbing Danny's hand on the way. He's practically dragging him to a small living room.

There, leaning against the wall, is a woman, her head bobbing side to side, muttering things under her breath and looking like a mess. There was a needle near her leg. This makes Danny grimace, especially with how easily Jason accepts it.

He places his hands on her face- reeling at the feeling of other humans again!- and pushes his ectoplasm into her body, removing anything he can find that shouldn't be there. He's repairing the damages done by the drugs to her body as he does so.

It might not stop her from doing more in the future, but the addiction is gone. She will no longer crave it.

When he pulls his hands off her, Jason lets out a little gasp by his side. Already, his mother looks healthy. Skin no longer shrunken, hair growing back, skin smooth and blemished free, and a rosy tint to her cheeks.

Now she's just a pretty woman nappin' against the wall with her son holding her hand, looking like he just witnessed a miracle.

Danny isn't sure how he can explain that she could just start up again and tear apart everything he fixed. It feels wrong to speak it as the boy snuggles close to her, crying silent little tears.

"I know what I want my next wish to be" Jason whispers. He looks Danny straight in the eyes when he says, "I wish you were my big brother."

And that is sad, too. But it gives him a reason to stick around and ensure she doesn't put this kid through this again. Besides, he's been missing for twelve years and hasn't changed much. He's scared to go back and has nothing to return to.

Danny shifts into his home form, making the little boy gasp again. "Do I pass as your brother?"

"Yes! You look a lot like me!" Jason beams, "Mom will be so excited to meet you!"

Oh,, he will ensure she is. After all, he needed to scare her straight. Maybe he can find a job to help her get Jason all the games he wants in the world.