Hello, all! This is Zoey! Yes, I'm taking on yet another project…. but hey, this is fun. –Evil grin-

If you've been reading any of my other works, such as Remordere (Holy cow, over 300 reviews! O.O ), or Thicker than Blood, you may be in for a different ride. Yes, yes I know. Everything else I write is different to begin with. But whereas my (and ChibiSamiSala's) other works tend to be revolved around romance, this one is more based around a dark atmosphere, and the oh-so interesting affects of negative psychology. IE, mental breakdowns and the result of psychological barriers.

This story was co-written with Becky (AKA DiscordianSamba), as a raw RP file. Once again, I'm stuck with the editing. I'm thinking maybe if I'm not the one who creates the plot, I won't be forced to do that… Oh well. xD

Anyway, you can all rejoice, because this is a DxS story. It's a little morbid at first (Much like Remordere), and it may not be too clear, but it shall be DxS all the way. Joy!

But for now, there are two points you need to consider while reading:

All our main characters are juniors now, meaning Danny's had his powers for a little over two years.

The only person who knows about Danny, is Jazz.

Other than that, everything's pretty much the same. Or, at least it was until the almighty prologue came to be. Can we all say angst? GOOD!

Now it's time for the show ;D

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Prologue

Power.

Power was a fickle thing, for ghosts and humans alike. It constantly moves, changing throughout history, flipping through the pages of a book, and sometimes being the one responsible for ripping them straight from the bindings. Distribution has certainly never been it's strong point, neither was obscurity – and yet, no one could predict the flow of its path.

As little as a century's time, the scales can be tipped at cosmic proportions. Even in a controlled Democratic society, no one could be too careful… especially since human weren't the only ones that desired power.

For thousands of years, ghosts have been little more than a monarchic society, fear and respect binding the residents to one lord… Pariah Dark.

Of course, humans feared the specter as well, but a sort of ease had fallen throughout the nations of the world, all because of one ancient artifact that had been founded around the year of 200 BC. A scripture, carved in stone, with the niches of every letter glowing an ethereal green.

"No matter how powerful a king, the Ghost King shall never be able to lay a ruling fist on the world of the living."

At least, that was the rough translation. But it seemed to be plausible, since there has never once been an uprising concerning the dangerous spectral bodies, even if there were quite a few that rebel and cause terror on earth – but never anything on a national, or for that matter, global scale.

For as long as Pariah Dark ruled, the worlds of the living and dead were forever at a fragile standstill, one never able to move too far past that line of power. But then again, fate always did have a twisted sense of humor, didn't it? At least, that's what Danny believed.

Two years since the accident when he was fourteen, Danny Fenton knew he had remarkable potential as a half-ghost, easily defeating elder specters that threatened to upset the peaceful life of his city. Ghosts were always a constant threat in Amity Park, so he for one was a glad that there was finally someone to set the score straight for humans. After all, he wasn't obsession-prone, or had a temper like the others full ghosts… at least, not quite.

His hero-complex (Though he would deny he had no such thing), lead him to protect the city at all costs, while still being able to keep his identity as a ghost a secret, with the exception of his older sister, Jazz. Many times he would return home at night, battered from his patrol across the city, and she was the only one he could turn to for comfort. She would tend his wounds, lecture him about how rash he could be, but most of all she would be his confidant. And because of that, and only that, Danny hadn't fallen into a dangerous anxiety that could have taken over all sense of rational thinking and make him into yet another deadly specter with an unparalleled hate for humanity.

16-year-old Danny was sure life would always be the same. He would always protect the town, he would always be triumphant, and he would always be able to find some normalcy by living the life of a teenager. Having friends like Tucker and Sam helped with that part greatly, though he still couldn't bear to tell them he was technically half dead.

Consistency… that was what he hoped for. But those dreams were quickly shredded when he stared eye-to-eye at the largest threat he could ever imagine.

Pariah Dark was threatening to break the silent covenant the scriptures told, and wished to bring all of earth to the ghost zone… starting with Amity Park – the one city with the most concentrated spiritual energy in the entire globe. Of course, Danny rose to try and stop him…. But he never expected something like this to happen. In a burst of emotional rage, he had single-handedly brought Pariah's forces to a standstill, making his entire hometown a battlefield between the most powerful specter ever documented, and a young boy with more determination that anyone could have seen. They scarred the city and land around it during that battle… but Danny had done the unthinkable.

He had won.

In turn for his efforts, he was granted the ability to succeed Pariah Dark, gained the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire, including all the power that came with it…. As well as the burn marks of thorns along his wrists and ankles, something that apparently Pariah Dark has adorned, much to his dismay. He was the new ghost king. But the prophets could have never foreseen the counter affects it held. Since "Danny Phantom" was indeed half human as well, (Much to the surprise of Amity Park – as well as the world), his rule not only bled throughout the ghost zone, but on the world of the living as well.

Enforcers of the new Ghost King aligned the humans at every point in every nation, and within days, dread filled the minds of every person as they soon realized, they were under rule of the one ghost who killed Pariah Dark.

Danny of course slipped into denial, doing his best to force his spectral subordinates to flee from earth, but no avail. The damage had already been done… every human on earth now held an overwhelming fear of Phantom, their new king. And poor Danny Fenton tried to ignore it as best he could, and even went back to school not days after the destructive battle. He did his very best to hide his inner turmoil, and went back to being the clueless, shy junior everyone knew him as. Of course he was questioned at first as to why he started wearing black wrist cuffs, but he passed it off as Sam's fault, that maybe he was simply turning a little Goth. No one ever suspected Danny of being Phantom, even though the world was in an up rise to find the identity of their new half-ghost king.

But, with the amount of responsibility and power Danny held, it was only a matter of time before his seemingly peaceful life would come to an end….

Because power was a fickle thing.

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Chapter One

Advent

Footsteps drug down the hall from the Casper High main entrance, students gathering in the commons area off towards the center of the school. The bell for first period wasn't set to ring for another eight minutes... maybe he can take a nap until then. Trudging along, the raven-haired boy slowly made his way to a table at the corner of the commons, before he slumped down in a chair, looking positively exhausted. "Hey Tuck," He raised a hand, motioning to a dark-skinned boy of his age, playing with a PDA. "Whoa, Sam..." He blinked a few times, looking a little more awake as he spotted the Goth girl sitting beside him. "Your parents actually let you outside? They've kept you at home for five days now..."

The Goth girl laughed slightly, shaking her head. "I finally managed to convince them to let me out." She gave him a half-smile, one could almost tell from her voice that it had been from a lot of speaking on her part. "I know they probably mean well... but... there's a certain point where parents should draw the line on how much they want to protect us."

Tucker glanced up briefly from his game. "Yeah. My parents were pretty freaked too. I think everyone is."

Danny didn't say a word, his gaze shifting away from his two friends momentarily before he finally found the courage to speak again. "Hey, it's not so bad." He said with a half-hearted smile. "I mean, I'm sure once the initial shock sinks in, everything will be back to normal."

Sam arched an un-believing eyebrow. "Danny, we're now under the rule of a king. Not only that, but we're under the rule of one that's half-ghost." She shook her head, leaning back in her chair slightly. "And we've all been shown over and over what power does to ghosts." Besides him, Tucker nodded in agreement.

"Come on guys." His voice hinted at a strangled emotion, almost as if they struck arrows in his chest with their words. "I mean, sure, it seems bad now, but... there are plenty of people out there who seem confident Phantom won't do anything horrible. I mean, he did spend two years protecting this town..." He paused, catching his breath and swallowing, his gaze returning downwards again. What was he doing, sticking up for himself? There was no way he could convince any mass of people not to be afraid of the situation. Hell, he couldn't do that when he was plain old simple "Danny Phantom". "You know, forget I said anything." He added quietly.

Tucker and Sam exchanged a look with each other briefly, worriedly looking back down at the raven-haired boy. There was no denying that Danny had been acting a bit... odd ever since all of this had happened. In some ways, it wasn't all that surprising, considering that he was the son of two of the town's most prominent ghost hunters. They could only begin to imagine how the rest of the Fentons were reacting to this news...

"Danny..." Sam looked at him, her voice soft. "You know, if there's anything that you need to talk to us about, that we're here for you, right?" She asked, Tucker nodding to the side.

He laughed softly, almost as if it was painful to. It was a little late for that, not wasn't it? By now, he'd do more harm than good. "It's nothing, guys. It's just been a little hectic around my house, my parents going ballistic, mom trying to keep dad from going out and "tearing that ghost kid apart molecule by molecule". You know how it is."

Well, that and the fact that he not only had to patrol Amity Park for any wandering ghosts that disobeyed his rule to stay clear of his home town, but he also had issues in the ghost zone... most of which he's trying to forget. Like Skulker pledging his allegiance to him. Awkward situation, that was...

"Yeah, we've been to your house." Tucker grinned, slapping his friend lightly on the back. "I can only begin to imagine how much worse it is than usual. Wish you luck."

Sam nodded vigorously. "Yeah. In a way, your parents are the closest to this all. At least my parents let me have a moment's peace..." She muttered something under her breath then about it only being a moment's.

Much to the raven-haired boy's dismay, the bell for first period rang, and all the students in the commons began to slowly filter out into the halls and into classrooms. He never was able to take that 8-minute nap... god he needed some sleep. "Aw shit." He groaned, grabbing his backpack. "I never did that paper for Lancer... god, does that guy have any sense of compassion? Three days back at school..."

"Probably not, dude." Tucker shook his head. "A little thing like a ghost invasion and all of humanity being put under the rule of Phantom wouldn't stop him from giving you a failing grade."

"Mmff." He made a grunting noise that sounded none too pleased as they walked down the halls and into their English classroom - which much to his dismay, was still a little more empty than it usually was. It seemed as though every other family in Amity insisted on moving, or kept themselves locked up in their homes, like Sam's parents. As if he didn't have enough strain on his conscience. Every passing day seemed to scream that he was having the opposite influence on Amity than what he had hoped... and what he became a hero for. He would have thought two years of protecting this town would have earned at least a second thought about him becoming an evil ghostly dictator...

"Cheer up, Danny. I'm sure life could be a lot worse." Sam offered with a smile, giving her friend a light pat on his shoulder. "Chances are, Mr. Lancer will at least let you do an extra credit project to make up the points you lost later. So don't let it stress you out."

"Nahh, I won't let it get to me." He gave her a weak smile, still feeling awfully tired. "It's just like ever since Freshman year. I'm actually kind of glad there's still a sense of normalcy around here, even if it is from an overweight English teacher." True to his words, Mr. Lancer never seemed to give Amity Park's latest predicament much thought, though he made a few mandatory announcements, he's never seemed too concerned about the whole ordeal. Danny just wished he knew if it was because his bald teacher was one of the few believers in Phantom, or he just didn't want to cut any of his students any slack.

She gave him one of her rare meaningful smiles, before she turned away, entering the classroom.

Tucker grinned, eyeing Danny as she walked ahead of them, nudging him, raising his eyebrow. "So Danny, when are you going to tell Sam that you have the hots for her?" He pestered his friend, a playful look in his eyes. Oh, he knew how both of them felt about each other deep down.

The raven-haired boy blushed brightly, giving Tucker an incredulous stare. "Tuck, now's really not the time..." He mumbled, trying to cover up his embarrassment, or lack of enthusiasm. Yes, the poor boy had developed a crush on the Gothic girl ever since Freshman year, but... how could he even get close to flirting with a relationship with Sam ever since this whole upset? If he ever got too close with anyone, it would only be a matter of time before someone found out about his ghostly half. That, and if by some odd twist of events, Sam returns his feelings, he doubted he would be able to keep any kind of secret from her. And there in lies his downfall. "There's just too much going on, you know?"

Tucker simply arched an eyebrow, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't get you, Danny. You've been crushing on her since we were freshmen, and you got over that thing you had for Paulina." He shook his head. "Seriously dude, if now's not the time, then I don't think you're ever going to have any time."

His blue eyes gazed at the floor with a hint of pain and hesitance, before he took in a breath and walked into the classroom. "I know." He replied quietly, but he knew the African American would hear him above the noise in the classroom. "Right now is just... really complicated. I'm not sure you'd understand."

Tucker frowned, looking with worry at his old friend. "Danny, is there really something going on at home? I know your folks must be freaking with the whole Ghost King situation..." He paused, biting his lip. "But... there's nothing else, right? I mean..." He let his words drop, not wanting to speak them.

He turned to look at his best friend, before taking his seat at the desk at the back corner of the room. "Nothing, it's just... I guess everything that's causing me stress is just piling up one on top of another. Not doing much good for me." He inwardly bit his lip, praying to god that the perceptive boy wasn't able to connect the dots. He just had to make it through high school, then he could leave if he really needed to. But please god, not yet. "That, and I'm not getting much sleep at night with my parents making a racket. Really Tuck, you're worrying a little too much."

"Alright, settle down class!" Mr. Lancer's voice boomed over the disruptions in the junior English class, slamming his book down on his desk. "I'm going to need those papers I assigned yesterday up on my desk. If you would come up by rows, we can get that done and start with our next lesson. Everyone get out your textbooks."

He sighed. "Allright, if you say so, Danny. You know if you need a good night's sleep, you can always come to my place, right?" He offered him, as he took his own seat. Sam looked between the two, before she followed Mr. Lancer's instructions, pulling out her literature book.

"Uh... yeah. Thanks Tuck." He gave him a nervous smile, before covering up his nervous look by trying to look intense with today's lesson, flipping the pages right after he opened his book. Half the class got up to turn in their papers, but a good chunk of them didn't. Well that's a good sign. Maybe Lancer will extend the due date...

"This is atrocious, people!" The balding teacher gave his class a rather miffed expression as the ones that stood up began to slowly filter back into their seats. "Those papers were due today, and I don't want to hear the same excuse." He paused, watching the stressful looks the kids were giving him and the floor, some of them muttering under their breaths. "Nothing has changed since the ordeal with Phantom, and as long as you continue to come to school, I expect the same amount of work ethic out of you."

Sam had been one of those to turn her papers in, having ample time to do so while locked up at home. Tucker, however, had not, having come to a silent agreement with all his teachers since school had begun- he would slack off on take-home assignments, but he would always make up for it with well-done class work and tests.

Danny, on the other hand, was utterly doomed.

The supposed "Ghost King" dropped his forehead to his desk, groaning in disbelief. Somehow, being half ghost just got a lot more complicated... and it wasn't that easy to begin with. "I'm never gonna make it out of high school." He mumbled with a weary voice.

Sam gave him a soft, reassuring pat on his back, smiling at him. "How about next time we have a project, we can all go to Tucker's and work on them together?" She offered, Tucker nodding beside them. It would have to be Tucker's house that they went too, of course, since the last time Danny was over at her place, her mother nearly wound up having a heart attack when she found that, all tuckered out, the three of them had collapsed together on her oversized bed and fallen asleep.

"That's sounds nice." He gave them a tired smile. Well, at least he had solid friends that would stand by him. They all knew his house wouldn't be safe for another few weeks minimum, and frankly, Sam's parents despised him. He figured they've probably seen a few of their 'blushy moments', as Tucker dubbed them. At least Tucker's parents were somewhat normal.

English class went by relatively smoothly, and miraculously, Danny was able to stay awake through the entire lesson. Well, if he wasn't awake now, he was going to be, since next period was fitness class... yet another eccentric teacher that refuses to cut her students any slack just because Pariah Dark showed up and almost tore Amity Park off the face of the earth... though Danny admitted he took an equal share of the blame for the collateral damage. Next period, Tucker and Sam seemed to continue their worried glances towards him, obviously getting the hint that something was wrong. He would for the most part, try and smile as best he could and give them the closest thing to a valid excuse. The variety of which were definitely becoming thin. Not that dodge ball helped any... considering Dash and some of his A-list buddies refused to take time off their consistent bullying - IE, foam basketballs to the face. Had he gotten any sleep the night before, he probably would have lot that last bit of control over his sanity and would have beaten the guy black and blue with an onslaught of exercise equipment. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Er, so he hoped.

'I just have to survive the rest of the week.' He told himself. 'Then everything will be smooth sailing…'

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Wheehoo, chapter one! Wow that was hard to find a stopping point. The next spot I found would have ended up making this chapter twice as long, literally. I think six pages will suffice for now. Didn't want to bore you all to death.

Next chapter will be updated along with Remordere and Thicker than Blood. Ooh, and it's a good one. –Evil laugh- I told you this was going to be dark, and it will be. And there shall be some Dash bashing. Muahahaha!

So until next time, y'all

Zoey