Italized mean a flashback, and there will be a shit ton and a half of them...or at least two

[Originally Posted 8/19/13]

[Revised on 5/25/19]

The Far Frozen was just as the name suggested, it was freezing and far out of the way but beautiful none the less. Vlad could see why Danny loved it so much. The natural green lighting that shone throughout the Ghost Zone was absent here. Here it was bluer and felt less like the ghost zone and more like some frozen tundra on earth if you didn't look up at the swirling vortex that surrounded everywhere in the Ghost Zone.

Frostbite stood on a small platform built for the occasion looking solemn with his head down and his clasped in front of him. Next to him stood a 7-foot statue of the Ghost boy, the Hero of the Ghost Zone, the great one, or as Vlad loved to call him, little badger. It was rather lifelike. It captured him in his familiar pose after the two white rings passed over him as he shouted his catchphrase. Around the middle of the Phantom statue was two rings that opened about a foot and showed Danny's human clothes underneath. Jazz wondered how they could catch his likeness and his determined look in ice so well, but she chalked it up to ghost powers.

The entirety of Frostbite's race and a majority of the ghosts Danny knew, whether they were friend or foe, had shown up for the… occasion. Vlad, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all stood in the front, trying to avoid looking at each other and everyone surrounding them. Even Valerie was there unbeknownst to them; she came to see if he really was dead though when she found out, she didn't feel that overwhelming satisfaction she hoped to feel, but instead, she felt like there was a hole in her chest, one that hurt to even think about.

Tucker had his arm around Sam as she tried her hardest not to cry. She refused to be the wailing girl at a funeral, but it was virtually impossible to stop them when she thought of her best friend. Jazz stood between them and Vlad; she knew that even if Danny was okay with him that his friends weren't that comfortable with him being there. He was the cause of half of Danny's problems for the first two years he had his powers. They didn't know the circumstances between Vlad's changed behavior or Danny suddenly trusting him, but they accepted it somewhat. They had trusted Danny to make the right decision. Who were they to get in between the only Halfas in the world?

Vlad stood next to them but looked like he was a thousand miles away. His hands were clasped in front of him, much like Frostbite, but they sagged and shook slightly as he tried to convince himself it wasn't his fault. That he wasn't the true reason everyone was gathered in this frozen wasteland.

Frostbite finally brought his head up and looked over the sea of faces, each one grimmer than the last. His eyes flickered briefly over the four humans, including Valarie in the back then back to the older Halfa. Frostbite knew that Vlad was there when it happened, but he and Jasmine weren't forthcoming with the information, each getting paler at the mere mention of that night or how the great one died. They merely said they all made a mistake and left it at that, going to each other for comfort.

The leader of the Far Frozen took a deep breath, preparing mentally for what he had to do. He was hoping he would never have to do this, hoping that even if he did, Phantom would have been old and ready.

"Friends, this is a rare event having a funeral for a Ghost, but the great one wasn't an ordinary Ghost." The ice armed ghost began, a morose chuckle wavering through the crowd. " He was a bridge between our worlds — someone who made a difference, even if he won't be able to see it. And look what a difference the Great One has made. Human's and Ghosts alike mourn his passing. Because we all knew he was something special, even if we hated him for it..." He paused, taking a deep shuddering breath, "or loved him for it."

"The Hero of the ghost zone wasn't someone who gave up easily and wouldn't try to hurt anyone if he could take all of the pain for himself. He was more than any of us deserved."

Vlad stiffened, gripping Jasmine tighter as the words pierced his already shattered heart. He took a gasping breath, struggling to keep his tears in. Frostbite was right; none of them deserved Daniel. Least of all him.

Vlad growled when he heard a knock on his mansion door. For crumpet's sake, it was 4 in the morning, and he wasn't in a good mood as it was. His latest plan to kill Jack failed because the bumbling idiot used the trap for a part to build a new weapon. He knew of course who had neutralized it in the first place, so it didn't hurt him. Why did Daniel have to be so irritatingly good all the time? He messed up all the time, but he always tried to protect people, and it got more annoying every time he did it.

With a pissed look, Vlad yanked the door open more than ever pissed he let his butler go home for the night. If he were still here, he wouldn't have to deal with what was on his doorstep.

And what a problem he had to deal with.

"Daniel, what a wonderful surprise." He quipped sarcastically at the frail teenager. The younger Halfa had his head down and his arms wrapped around himself as if the shield himself from what Vlad was saying. He shivered at the biting cold of the night, being he was only in his short sleeved t-shirt and his raggedy jeans he always seemed to be wearing.

They stood that way for a couple of moments, Daniel shivering and Vlad getting more irritated as the moments passed.

"Good talk, see you tomorrow," Vlad called as he rolled his eyes at the unresponsive Hero and began to close the door on him, honestly not wanting to deal with whatever this was.

Suddenly a hand shot out to stop the door from shutting on the teen. The billionaire looked down at Danny with a raised eyebrow at the sudden movement as he lifted his head and finally looked at the elder Halfa.

His eyes were pleading and were wet with unshed tears." Vlad, I need help." His voice was weak and pitiful and sounded broken as he practically begged for Vlad to do something even if he didn't understand what it was.

Vlad had never felt worried like he did at that moment.

He rushed Danny in, finally taking in the feeling of giving up Daniel gave off which only served to worry him more. The boy stood awkwardly in his main hall as if second-guessing his decision of coming here. Vlad was afraid he would fly off at any second with the way he was twitching and looking at the door.

As a safety measure, he flicked the switch for his ghost shield to ensure he learned the full truth of whatever was plaguing Daniel so much that he chose to go to arch nemesis, aka Vlad.

Vlad put a gentle hand on Daniel's back and lead him to his living room, which was just off of the main hall. When he got Daniel set down on one of his couches, he sat down in the one across from him and just stared at him.

He hadn't the foggiest why the boy would show up at his door with such a pleading look, so he would wait the child out and hope for some explanation.

"Vlad" He began with a deep breath, albeit a little shaky, "I can't do this anymore. I can't watch my parents build weapons to destroy me then destroy the weapons. I can't deal with them trying to kill me then yelling at me when I come home late because of them. I can't deal with the bad grades or the constant bullying that no one believes because the bruises heal too fast. I...I can't deal with the fact that my teachers have just given up on me to the point where they expect me not to be in class, and if I am, it's a pleasant surprise. I can't deal with fighting you and knowing you could potentially kill me at any time." He looked up from his hands to Vlad, before quickly looking back down at Vlad's shocked expression at his admission.

"I can't deal with this anymore, Vlad." He choked out, a sob trying to escape the confines of his throat, " I don't want to deal with this anymore."

Daniel looked at Vlad again before reluctantly shoving his arms out in front of himself. He stayed silent, tears gently streaming down the teen's face. The elder sent him a curious look before grabbing Daniel's wrist and pulling it closer to get a good look at whatever the child wanted him to see.

If Vlad looked hard enough, he could see faint lines of healed over scars that they could get if they attacked a specific area over and over, which Vlad only knew through meticulous testing. Something told him that wasn't the case here.

The lines were too faint to notice unless you knew what you were looking for and it finally clicked in Vlad's head what Daniel was talking about, why he was going on about not being able to take it anymore.

At Vlad's look of realization, Danny pulled his arms back and hugged them tightly around himself again, trying hard to protect himself from the outside world. "V-Vlad, I just want it to end so badly."

Before Vlad knew what he was doing, he was kneeling in front of the young Halfa with his arms wrapped tightly around him, tight enough that bruises might form in the morning regardless of their super healing. Daniel just gave another heart-wrenching sob. "Little Badger, I am so sorry. " He whispered in his ear, silently vowing to himself to never hurt the boy again, no matter the circumstance.

He would protect this child, even if it was from himself.

Vlad finally gave out a choked sob; similar to the one that Danny had given that same night they made an unspoken truce. The funeral had only just begun, and Vlad could already feel his shattered heart splintering further.

Frostbite, with some difficulty, since he knew how close the vampiric Ghost had gotten to the Great One, continued as if he hadn't heard the sob ring out over the hushed crowd, " Phantom was my student for a little while. I loved the Ghost child before he ever stepped foot in my domain; I revered him as the Savior we needed. After, I loved him more but knew he was just that, a child. A child I would die a second death for. A child who was more worried about the safety of everyone over himself. A child who should not have had to face half the things he had to, to protect all of us."

Frostbite looked over the crowd again, knowing if even half the ghosts here hunted him down and hated him, they respected the Halfa.

"There is much to say about Danny Phantom /and/ Danny Fenton, but let someone else who cared for both sides come and speak."

The Ice Ghost waved towards Vlad Masters, stepping back as he let the Halfa extract himself from the Hero's sister and try his hardest to make himself presentable.

Slowly, Vlad walked to the center stage, gazing at the large crowd gathered in the Far Frozen. He eyes briefly landed on a half-hidden Valerie, her hand covering her mouth with tears streaming down her face from her shocked eyes.

Right, she never knew, he mutedly though to himself. His gaze wandered to the ice sculpture, his protege standing in all his glory, forever silent.

He cleared his throat and straightened his bolo tie, now for the hardest part of being here.

"Daniel was more than just a vigilante for the Human world. He was... he was like a son to me. " He smiled gently at Jasmine who now leans against the Tucker boy. " He was a marvel wrapped in a tiny package. He surprised me every day with the lengths he would go to protect the people he loved. And I was truly honored to be a part of that group over the last two years."

"Many wondered why we had a truce in the first place after such animosity. I mean, the boy revealed me naked on tv before!" There was a spattering of somber chuckles through the crowd, a few remembering Vlad's rampage after that stunt.

" In all honesty, we had a truce because he was a good person. He may have kicked a few of our rumps from time to time, but he did it all in the name of his beloved home town. He did because no one else would."

"And he was loved for it."

Sam could feel the tears now streaming down her face with no sign of stopping. Tucker squeezed her shoulders, trying to comfort her, but she could barely feel it over the torrent of emotions swirling through her body.

She felt so angry, why was Vlad there but not her? Why did Danny trust that god damn fruitloop but not her? Why did he even think it was a good idea to tell his parents? Why did... Why did he have to die?

The rage left her so quickly, filed by regret and pain, causing her to give out a heart-wrenching cry that rang through the hushed crowd.

She should have been there and maybe, just maybe... they could have gone on that date.

"Danny," Sam shouted, trying to get his attention as she saw him fly down the street. She thought it was strange he wasn't actually flying when he seemed in such a hurry, but she didn't ask. "Danny!" She shouted louder, which finally got his attention. He turned towards her, looking shocked someone was calling him before he gave the biggest smile he'd given in the longest time and trotted back over to her.

"What up, Sam?" He asked with the same giddy smile on his face, sunshine shining through his entire body.

She almost laughed at his upbeat attitude, but held her tongue being this was the first time in the longest time she had seen him this happy. "What's up with me? What up with you? You're practically shining rainbows out your ass!" She decided to question instead, really curious know what could make her friend act like a hyperactive puppy.

"I'm going to finally tell them!" he exclaimed, his smile becoming infectious and making Sam crack a small one in return. "I can finally stop worrying about being hunted by own parents and keeping secrets from them. Vlad helped me realize I have nothing to fear; the worse they would do is yell at me for not telling them sooner. They're my parents, and they love me, right?" His voice wavered slightly at the end as if his previous doubts were getting to him again, but he seemed to dismiss them just as quickly, and he went back to upbeat personality.

Sam was genuinely happy; he finally was going to tell his parents. He was right, wasn't he? They loved him too much to do anything terrible. "Just make sure they don't start putting a limit on your powers now too." She joked as Danny's smile just got wider.

"As if they could stop!"

"They have anti-ghost shields, Danny. Flip that on; you're grounded, literally." She easily countered, grinning as he paused to think that one over.

"Damn, you're right. Guess I'll have to keep my nose clean."

"And get better grades."

Danny actually whined at that, " Saaaammmm! You're ruining my big day!"

"Hey! Someone in our group has to be the practical one!"

"Hey, uhm, Sam?" Danny suddenly shifted awkwardly, now seeming nervous about something. His former bounce becoming dampened slightly and his shoes becoming incredibly interesting.

Sam watched him curiously, wondering what could have brought on this sudden change in demeanor, "Yea?" She answered, albeit a little cautiously.

"Do you have anything planned tonight? After I tell them we could uh go to the movies or something. It'll probably be over quick. I mean I'm going to see them now, so by tonight we should be good and everything" He glanced up at her before looking anywhere but here, as if the nearby houses would provide his answer.

"Yea, we can grab Tuck right after too, finally hang out again, it's been what, a week?" She chuckled to herself nervously, not knowing why the movies were such a big deal.

Danny went back to looking at his shoes, "I meant just the two of us. By ourselves. WIthout anyone else. Maybe dinner afterward, too..." He trailed off, waiting for her to get it.

Oh. He wanted to-Oh. Sam blankly looked at him as if her brain stopped functioning for a second before it rebooted. "Oh." , was all she said, her mind not as reset as she would have liked.

Danny grimaced, rubbing his neck in a moved she knew he used to soothe himself, " Yea, I mean, it's alright if you have something planned already, it's incredibly last minute, or you don't have something planned, and you just don't want to go. Which I completely understand! You're this incredible badass who fights ghosts all the time armed with only a thermos! I fight them cause it's literally my fault! You don't have to, but you do! Because you're incredible! And I'm like half-dead which if we dated would make you like half a necrophiliac, which trust me, I understand if that's not your thing. It shouldn't be anyone's thing! But it is, and probably isn't yours and-

She quickly put her hands around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss if only to shut up his rambling. When they finally broke free, she let him go and smirked. "That a good enough answer?" God, she's been waiting to do that for a year. She would have done it sooner, but she didn't want to break his fragile man ego by asking him out first.

Now it was Danny's turn to look like his brain had shut down. Eventually, it started up again, and he looked at Sam as if he was looking at her for the first time. "Y-yea. That was a pretty good answer."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck again, smiling at her with a stupid and dazed grin before he realized he was going somewhere rather important and he couldn't be late. Especially know that he needed it wrapped up as quickly as possible so he could get ready for his date.

" Shit! I got to go! Pick you up at 7!" He shouted over his shoulder as he turned around, changed to his alter-ego in a bright flash, and took to the skies.

That was the last time she saw him alive.

Sam had waited all night in her living room, hoping he had just forgotten, or his parents' had perma-grounded him.

It wasn't until a red-eyed Jazz knocked on her door instead did she realize the worst possible outcome had come true.

Sam began to cry harder as she turned toward Tucker and buried herself into his shirt front. He just calmly wrapped his arm around her in a comforting fashion and held her close. He wanted to cry, but how can you when your eyes just refuse to cooperate. Plus if Danny were there, he would have made fun of him for crying, probably saying something like he'd ruin his electronics if he kept that up./p

But Danny wasn't there, and that was the problem.

Vlad gazed sadly at the mourning teen, knowing what Daniel had asked her before he showed up. The child had been gushing about it from the second he entered Vlad's home.

"I was a mentor to Daniel, or at least I tried to be after such a rocky start to our relationship. And it was less ghost fighting and more us wrestling in midair as I tried to force a clown costume on him, succesfully, I might add." He paused for the laughs that rang out, smiling again at Jasmine who gave her own wet laugh, having seen the pictures on the news about Phantom and Plasmius fighting over clowns.

While she was still crying, at least she was remembering the good times, instead of just that accursed night. Daniel was so much more than blood-soaked clothing and fear and deserved to be recognized as such. Maybe Jasmine will even finally talk after this ceremony was over.

" And when we weren't, ahem, clowning around," He heard Tucker snort, "I was helping with his school work. When the boy applied himself in school and not with ruining all my plans, he was a virtual genius. I could never understand why his teachers gave up on such a bright boy. He could have made it to the stars themselves if he wanted to. "

Vlad held a hand over where his Ghostly core resided, watching as the other ghosts in the crowd followed suit.

"Daniel deserved the stars. I only wish I could have given them to him."

With that final statement, he stepped down, moving back to his place next to Jasmine and his old friend Skulker. He opened his arms to gently take the young woman into his embrace, resting his head on hers.

Frostbite took center stage once again, his eyes misting over with unshed tears he refused to let fall. If he did then none one would be able to honor Danny, and he refused to let that happen. He gazed over the crowd again. The Ghosts had their head down in respect; a few even had their hands over their cores like Vlad had done moments earlier, a symbol at funerals for them to go safely to the world beyond theirs. It was the sign of ultimate respect and honor to the twice deceased.

Now he couldn't stop his own tears from finally making their descent into the fur that lined his face. Phantom was truly being honored in a way he should have been in life.

Jazz looked around mutedly and was surprised at the number of ghosts there. She could have sworn half the Ghosts there hated her brother and wanted to kill him, like Skulker who was standing a few feet from his friend Vlad and right next to his girlfriend Ember with his head down and hand over his core. Even Walker was there, though his head wasn't down and he started at the statue with what looked like anger as if staring at the icon would bring Danny back so he could finally make him serve his sentence in full. Eventually, he gave up on staring at the statue and put his head down, lightly mumbling about rule breakers.

It was all too much for the young adult, to see all of his enemies and friends, paying respects to him. It marked that her brother was genuinely dead and she just couldn't handle it. She leaned further into Vlad, who had become her support system and was relieved when he squeezed her tighter and held her like a father would, knowing that was what she needed. She let her tears fall silently as she squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the way Vlad's tears were wetting her hair like she was wetting his suit, and whispered mostly to herself, " How will I live without him?"

Vlad tried to act like he didn't hear the first words she spoke since that night three days ago because it hurt too much. Everything hurt. He was the one who was supposed to die. Danny was supposed to grow old with Samantha, and they would have had children because Daniel never shut up about having kids of his own one day when they got onto that topic. Danny was supposed to save people and be the Hero and fly free for the rest of his long, happy life. It wasn't supposed to go anything like this at all.

The first Ghost funeral should have been his own, and a lot less populated.

"Let Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton live forever in our cores as he passes to the realm beyond this one" Frostbite called out, signaling the end. He raised a single palm upwards, igniting it with ecto-energy and watching as all those with their own copied his movements. "To The Savior of The Ghost Zone!" With that, he unleashed his blast into the sky. Dozens upon dozens followed suit, the energy all exploding in the icy blue sky in a dazzling display of multicolor lights

There were yells through the crowd at the lights, many just yelling Danny over and over as the energy dissipated, bringing an end to the funeral of Danny Phantom.

Many of the Ghosts began flying away, making their way back to their own domains with heavy hearts, leaving the frozen wasteland to hopefully never return.

Except two, who stood over a cliff edge far above the proceedings, watching like silent sentinels.

One wore a cloak, which hid their face but didn't dispel the sound of ticking from their chest, nor it's seemingly random shape changing. Even as he kept changing sizes, his hood always stayed on his head, shielding his face from the ghosts below. Next to him, crying was a pale boy with snowy white hair and glowing green eyes. He had a white bandage wrapped around his middle, covering the gaping hole his own parents made in a moment of snap judgment.

" Phantom, you can go down there and tell them you're a ghost. They would accept you with open arms." The now child formed Ghost of time told the weeping boy next to him.

Phantom shook his head, the tears falling around him. " I'm forgetting who I am and what I used to even do. I.. I have no idea who half those people are except... I know I should be protecting those humans from some of those Ghosts. Clockwork, why can't I remember why?." Danny wiped his face of tears, wondering why he was even crying in the first place. They felt out of place like they weren't even his emotions in the first place.

Clockwork looked at his charge sadly, knowing the transformation had already begun. He had hoped that the Halfa would have been as unique in death as he was in life. But he supposed this wasn't the timeline for that. It was probably the best, anyway.

If he remembered, well, it was never good when a Ghost remembered their untimely death, especially one so young and tragic.

The ghost boy looked down at his hands and then his abdomen as he let two white rings separate from his middle and head in opposite directions as if repelled by each other. In Phantom's place stood the corpse of Danny Fenton. The ghost boy looked up at Clockwork for answers, but he just smiled morosely at him before leading him away from the funeral where he remembered no one, even those that would always remember him.

"Phantom, you are a very special ghost, but for you to stay in my tower, I need you to change back to your true form. We can't have you walking around as a dead human in the Ghost Zone."

The newly formed Ghost nodded his head and quickly changed back before being led away by his mentor. He trusted Clockwork completely. How could he not? He was the only Ghost he knew.

Revision Notes:

Alright, so the changes in this one were...sorta minor?

I wanted Vlad to talk at the funeral, basically. It was dumb I made Frostbite do all the work. Vlad has things to say, damnit.

also I extended dialogue in the two flashbacks, cause they felt unnatural and I wanted them to flow a bit better.

Next up, I work on the What Happens When You Forget, the sequel. The Good and The Bad will stay the same, cause they're only short stories based upon both works, moments I just couldn't fit in otherwise.