Chapter Text
Danny was ‘dead’ tired. His body was heavy and he groaned with each inch he dragged himself on the ground. His mangled and flayed flesh created a sound close to a wet and sticky mop cleaning the floor. He took a break at a broken section of the wall, and propped himself up the best he could. He could no longer feel his legs. Upon looking down, he saw it was his spectral tail instead.
He tried to will them into existence but instead only lost what little holding he had and slipped onto the floor again. Forming legs took too much out of him. Hell, doing anything took too much out of him.
The fight with Pariah Dark was unlike any he had with other ghosts, he knew it would be. It had been no more than a week since the ghosts fled from the zone to his living room. He thought they had all collectively decided to kill him. Fully. He did not expect them to ask for help. Skulker was the one to step forward, with metaphorical hat in his robotic hands, and told Danny of the situation. Skulker didn’t have to say much, them being in his living room was proof enough how greatly they feared the dark tyrant.
It was almost enough for the other ghost hunters as well. The Guys in White and Danny’s parents were the hardest to win over. It wasted them days, but after Vlad made a ‘heartfelt’ speech as mayor, neither group could refuse. Danny’s dad was particularly moved and ended up bear hugging Vlad on the stage.
Finally after fighting ghosts alone for 3 years, there was a truce. All it took was the end of the world. And the end it was. When the clock hit 3 am on April 3rd, the entirety of Amity Park was pulled into Pariah Dark’s lair, the ghost zone. There were so many cracks between worlds that it could no longer hold the mysterious town, it just needed a little extra weight. It was like hell was trying to take the town back to where it belonged.
It would be mere hours before the king’s forces would attack. Nothing else mattered that day; not sleep, not food, not even final goodbyes or last minute reveals. His parents looked him painfully in the eyes as they walked off to the strategy room, not aware that their own son would be leading the charge.
They had little time to prepare a plan, and even calling it that was generous. The ghost hunters would clear out most of the undead army, using their advantage as humans in the zone to trap them and attack from above. What once were his rogue gallery turned into generals for the other ghosts and would take out the larger monsters the humans couldn’t face on their own. This was all to clear away a path for him to Pariah’s Keep.
No teenagers were allowed to fight, and were kept under strict lock-and-key by Vlad. Even Jazz, being 19, was held back with the others. Only the Red Huntress—who everyone assumed was old enough—was able to enter the battlefield.
Vlad knew how much the fight meant to them and what they needed to do. It wasn’t just Danny and his friends, but even the A-listers and the other high school students wanted a chance to save their town. After the battle, Vlad would claim that the evil ghost Plasmius knocked him out to release and arm the children.
Before the fight, Clockwork appeared to Danny. He had to be the one and only one to defeat Pariah, otherwise, the king will come back.
Sam and Tucker were always there with him when the ghosts attacked. As Danny grew stronger, so too did the ghosts. Slowly, he started moving the fights further and further away to keep his friends from harm. Eventually, their combat support faded into moral and medical when Danny returned home beaten up.
He could tell Sam was angry about this, but she didn’t say anything as she stitched him closed. Tucker too would watch on in horror as Danny was flayed nightly. He would reassure them that for every scratch the ghosts gave to him, he gave them ten more.
The simple fact was that there wasn't much humans could do against ghosts. So, at the entrance of the Keep, he locked them out. Despite them being human, they weren’t able to enter the castle. It was as if the Ghost Zone itself bent the rules for the fight.
‘That turned out great.’
After some time, he was able to gain enough energy to float over to the sarcophagus that sealed Pariah. His hands shook as he steadied himself down to rest on the cold floor once again, his back leaning against the coffin. Even this was too much work for him, and he panted trying to get some control over his body again. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain.
Pariah had shot a giant hole through his torso, just under the ribs, and despite the abundance of ectoplasm in the air, it wasn’t closing. He held the wound with shaking hands trying to keep it all in, but he could feel it slowly leak out of him like cold tar between the gaps.
He lost too much blood and ectoplasm.
Outside he heard cheering.
Or maybe it was just his ears ringing.
Danny thinks he beat his record for longest ghostly wail.
He tried to stand up again, but it was like he was hit by a meteor. Worse maybe. He thinks he might be able to walk that off after all the hits he took from the ghosts. He laughed mirthlessly at himself. ‘That shouldn’t be funny.’
More and more blood and ectoplasm seeped out of him and covered the floor like a crude picnic blanket. Blood and ectoplasm mixed like oil and water, and made the floor look like a modern work of art exploring contrasting colors. It glowed faintly.
‘I’m really going to die.’
Somehow he knew that his time was up. Maybe he only came back as a ghost to defeat Pariah Dark, and now that it was done, the Ghost Zone wouldn’t need him anymore and just finish the process.
How much different would it really be? Danny had been dead for 3 years now, this would just make it official. Would his parents even know what happened to him? Would they blame the ghosts? Would they blame Phantom? Phantom will no longer be there and neither will Danny. Will they be able to put the two and two together? He doubted it.
He let out a shaky breath but quickly regretted it as it pulled on his insides. He was starting to go dizzy with the pain. He no longer cared what happened to him. Everyone was safe, that's all that mattered…
He heard the clanking of metal and splashes ring out in the room. It got closer and he was able to pick up voices he recognized. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, or even who was who, but they were desperate and shrill. They sounded like the kids they were.
Danny didn’t want them there, didn’t want them to see him like this. He tried to raise a hand up, to push them away, but it pulled the wrong way and he winced.
His eyes were unfocused, and he was only able to see the dark outlines of faces hovering over him. He felt claustrophobic and his insides squirmed more.
He could feel hands pulling into him, but his body weaved like smoke through their fingers. Despite what he told Tucker and Sam, staying tangible takes a lot of energy, only the more powerful ones could maintain it for so long (he didn’t want to think what that meant for him). It didn’t matter now. Everything was far away and he felt like he was floating down a river.
He could feel them still reaching through him. They left warm imprints in him where they tried to pull him up.
‘That feels nice.’
“He’s never been this bad before...” It rang out louder than the others, and he was able to tell it was Jazz. ‘She shouldn’t be here for this.’
Despite the pain, he tried once more to move away from them, but it was like a fish flopping on land. ‘None of them should be here. I don’t want-’
He didn’t want these to be their final moments with him. He didn’t want this to be what he left behind. They should remember him as he was before the fight, when he smiled playfully as he shut the door behind him to face the King alone. All that was left was a broken shell they had no hope of fixing. He closed his eyes, trying to pretend they weren’t there.
“...go away…” He pushed out with all the strength he had left. His entire self ignited in pain, but he continued, “...don’t…loo-'' He felt a warmth around his neck, and he relaxed into it.
“Why are you so stupid?” His sister called out, “You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?” more warmth blanketed him. He suddenly realized they were holding him.
“We could’ve fought with you!'' said Tucker. “You didn’t have to do this alone!” Danny didn’t have the energy to fight back. It had to be him and him alone, otherwise Pariah wouldn’t be defeated, just subdued and a problem for later like before. Danny had ended it.
“...go” Danny once again choked out.
“Like hell we’re gonna leave you!” Sam yelled “You always do this! You think just because you’re strong you can take on any threat by yourself!” She choked, “Well look at you now!” He could feel her gesture at him. “You’re so selfish…” he heard a soft splash on the ground, as if she hit it in frustration. “Why do you get to make the decision for us?” Her voice was softer now, “we promised to help you…What happened to ‘friends til the end’?” She broke down in sobs.
She was right. They all were. God he was selfish, he had always been selfish. He shouldn’t have made the choice for them—he knew they would’ve gone with him–he always knew that. They had been there since the beginning, yet he still pushed them away. He was probably trying to avoid the situation they were in now–or worse. It could have been one of them dying on the floor instead of him. If it meant they lived another day, Danny was glad he was selfish, just this once. He only wished he had more time with them.
His core buzzed as they held him. He loved them so much. He shouldn’t be saying goodbye this soon. There’s so much they didn’t do and didn’t say. They haven’t even graduated high school yet. They must have known all this, that this would be the last time that they held him. He could hear all of them sobbing.
Danny could no longer help himself as he started to cry with them. The most selfish thought flashed in his head.
‘I Don’t want to die alone!’
He could feel he was slipping fast. Their warmth was fading more and more as the seconds went by. He didn’t want his last words to be ‘go away’.
“...thank…” He muttered “...you.”
Danny couldn’t feel them anymore, but he knew they were there. He allowed himself to let everything go, he no longer had the strength to hold on anyway. He did what he was made to do.
Pariah Dark was defeated. Amity Park was safe. His friends wouldn’t die today. Everyone was going to be okay. Everyone but him, but that was enough. He could go peacefully.
His form felt fuzzy and he started to melt, then he felt nothing at all.
His core sang as if it were saying, ‘job well done’.
He couldn’t have chosen any other way to go…