Chapter Text
“Sweet new bling, Danny,” Tucker complemented as soon as he flew back into the Specter Speeder, which was waiting in the Fentons’ lab. Danny had gotten a few stares as he turned visible to fly back into Amity — did the people of Amity Park even know Phantom was the Ghost King? Probably not, actually. As soon as he was inside the speeder, Tucker started the engine and set them off into the GZ.
“Thanks, Vlad tried to challenge me for it.”
“And he didn’t win, I see,” Sam said, looking him up and down for injuries.
“Well, it was more that I told him to fuck off and then left. No big deal.” Danny shrugged.
“Well now we have to actually find the chick, which will probably be the hardest part yet,” Sam told him with a frown. “Any brilliant ideas, or helpful advice from CW for that one?”
Danny winced. “I’m pretty sure I have to put the ring on.”
“Um, dude, what ?” Tucker asked, looking flabbergasted. “I thought you were trying to put off wearing that thing for as long as possible! It makes you go insane and violent and shit!”
“Val wore it for like, a few hours and was fine!” Danny protested.
Sam gave him an unimpressed stare. “During the short time that Valerie was wearing the ring of rage, she got into like, three fights, had a suit upgrade and immediately went after you. And before you bring up Vlad, while he was wearing it, he tried to kill your dad repeatedly, tried to steal an extremely powerful and potentially fatal power-suit, and presumably helped fight a skeleton army. That thing is no joke.”
“Both of them did those things all the time anyways.”
“Not to agree with goth and vegan over here, but those are all pretty extreme versions of their normal activities.” Tucker endured Sam’s immediate retaliation via elbowing him in the ribs with a pained grimace. “Are you sure you have to?”
“Yeah…. unfortunately.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “If it’s just a more extreme version of what I’m doing anyways, how bad can it be?”
He tipped his thermos over and dropped the ring into the palm of his hand before throwing it to Tucker. “You know, just in case”. Before he could second guess himself, and even with the crown on his head Strongly Protesting, Danny slid the Ring of Rage onto his finger. It fit perfectly.
Immediately, he was bombarded with insistent mental suggestions from the ring, sort of in the same flavor and vein as intrusive thoughts. If Danny hadn’t practiced throwing off overshadowing for ages and ages , he probably wouldn’t have recognized the thoughts as being not his own. As it was, they were….. Bad.
You never punished Vlad for what he did, what he still does. Trying to steal the crown from you is treason, worthy of punishment by death anywhere in the world. Your parents tried to dissect you for years — don’t you think they should be taught a lesson? Threatening and shooting at their own child is abusive and sociopathic at best. These friends of yours, they always seem to leave you to get hurt, don’t they? Doesn’t that just seem awfully suspicious? And even now they have their weapons pointed at you, about to turn against you, wouldn’t it be better if you turned against them first?
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Danny groaned, holding his head. The thoughts — they didn’t hurt, and they made a little bit too much sense, and they were a smidge too familiar. “This is bad, this is really bad, fucking, focus .”
Find The Queen , said the crown, in the most tangible thought it had given him all day. It drowned out everything from the ring, giving Danny some space in his own mind. That’s What You Want.
“Okay. Okay.” Danny opened his eyes slowly to see the concerned expressions on Sam and Tucker’s faces. When he made eye-contact with him, they both flinched away. “I think I’m good. Is everything okay?”
“....your eyes are red,” Sam told him shakily. “That hasn’t happened for a long time, but usually it’s when you’re super out of it. Like when Freakshow was controlling you, or — or when we saw Dan.”
“Are you sure you’re good dude? You sort of freaked out after you put the ring on,” Tucker said.
Danny rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, I’m—” he winced. “Not great, but this is manageable. It’s power, and it sure fucking feels like it’s coming from me, but it’s just slightly off, so it’s more of an impending uncanny-valley sensation in all of my bones, and it feels…. Bad. I can sense where the queen is now, at least. Follow me, I’ll fly in front of the speeder.”
He phased through the front of the Specter Speeder and led upwards, towards the edges of the Ghost Zone. Danny was going as fast as he could, the crown helping him out, and Tucker was having a hard time keeping up.
“Shit dude, slow down!” Tucker called through his earpiece. Danny screamed, letting out a bright red ghostly wail, and slammed into the base of an uninhabited island to stop. His fists burned with bright red fire — not red in the way normal fire was — but a cold red. The entire thing moved forward by several meters before Danny turned around and dived into the speeder, tearing the ring off of his finger.
“I. Hate. That. Thing.” Danny panted, hands on his knees. “Ancients, I fucking hate it. It makes me so angry, I’m going to scream, fucking fuck.”
“Danny, calm down and take a breather, okay?” Sam said as softly as she could. She got down from her seat and knelt next to Danny on the floor, wrapping her arms around him gently. After Sam gave him a look, Tucker stopped the speeder and kicked the ring away before doing so as well.
“Hey man, hey, you’re okay. We’re good, yeah? We’re just going to sit here and breathe for a bit so you can get it under control, that’s what we’re going to do, kay? Cool, please chill out.”
After another few moments, Danny was able to get his breathing under control and calm down. “Sorry you guys, I don’t know what came over me. We can — we can keep going now.”
“Do you remember where to go, even without the ring on?” Sam asked, still visibly worried. “I think it would be best if you didn’t put it back on, at least for a while longer.
Finally, Danny looked back up at them, and Tucker and Sam made eye-contact and breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Danny Phantom’s eyes were ectoplasm green once again.
“I… I think I do but. But I dunno, you guys. I can’t— sorry, I can’t really…. my mind is kind of spazzing right now, I’m.” He paused to breath. “Sorry. I— can. Thinking isn’t working, really, right now. A lot of energy. Sorry to — I’m not putting the ring back on, yet. …..sorry.”
“Stop apologising dude,” Tucker scolded lightly. “We can take a break for a little while longer, if you want. There’s no hurry, we have weeks, still. You’re the one who wanted to do this entire thing today, but we don’t have to . We could even mark this spot down and come back to try again tomorrow, if you want.”
“No, no, I can get this finished today. I’m ready, we can go again.” Not letting them protest, Danny flew back out of the speeder, going onwards yet again, much more slowly this time. They made their way through the GZ, weaving between islands and going, as far as any of them could tell, in roughly the same direction as before.
After another five or ten minutes though, Danny looked around and groaned into his earpiece. “I’m coming inside,” he warned, and phased back into the Specter Speeder. “We’re fucking lost, I seriously don’t know where we’re going anymore. I’ve had enough of a break — I’m putting the ring on again.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Danny?” Sam handed him the ring hesitantly. “We really don’t have to keep on going.”
“I have to,” Danny said, gritting his teeth. “We’re at least finding her today — after that? I don’t know, but I’m not stopping yet.”
He slid the ring back on his finger and shuddered as the feeling returned — not as bad as it had been, but worse than the first time Danny had put the ring on. It was anger, wrath, rage, thrumming through his entire body, but mostly in his bones, directed at everyone and everything. So much rage that his bones itched with it, they itched like fire , made him want to tear through his own flesh and everyone else’s. Focus, focus, focus focus focusfocusfocusfocus !
The Crown of Fire obliged, since it hated the ring about as much as Danny did, if not more. The Queen , it told him helpfully, and Cassiopeia’s position pinged as if on a radar.
“Let’s go. Tell me if I’m going too fast again.” And with that, Danny sped out into the GZ, leading them forward. The ectoplasm green around them was getting steadily less bright, and they could just about detect a red glow in the distance. They continued on, Danny speeding ahead, and pausing to blast the air when Tucker told him he was going too fast. The release of energy seemed to calm him down a bit, but the rest of the crew worried over the bright red color.
It was another fifteen or so minutes at full speed before they reached the barrier, which honestly looked like a bright red ghost shield, cracked in places. Danny screamed bloody murder upon seeing it, and the cracks grew as he pulled off the longest ghostly wail he had ever managed. Slowly, smaller cracks spread through the entire wall.
His wail petered off into hoarse yelling, and Danny slammed his fist furiously into the barrier. With a crackle, it shattered .
-=-=-=-
Tucker pulled the Specter Speeder up alongside Danny and pulled him inside, taking the ring off of his finger with a grimace. Danny groaned, tried to roll over only for Tucker to be in the way, gave up, and blinked open his eyes — bright green, thank goodness, if a bit hazed over.
The barrier between the Far-Reach and the Ghost Zone dissipated into nothingness, as far as the eye could see. Which, with the lack of ectoplasmic fog all the way out here, was very far, far enough that it began to curl back around. There was a ghost curled up not very far away, with dark gray skin and pale green hair, and glowing faintly enough that it could not be healthy. Tucker pulled up along her as well, and let Sam tug her inside this time. The queen didn’t stir.
They closed the doors of the Specter Speeder and drove farther out into the Far Reach. All the lights inside were turned off, anything that might give off light on the outside too. The speeder simply flew into the abyss. Sam picked up the ring, and Tucker opened the door, and the Ring of Rage was hurled out into the Far-Reach, further than any ghost dared to explore. The door closed again, and the Specter Speeder made like it’s name and sped off towards the Clocktower.
Honestly? Good riddance.
-=-=-=-
By the time the speeder reached the citadel, Danny was awake and coherent, and Cassiopeia was at least stirring. Clockwork met them outside, his hood down around his shoulders, and let Danny greet him with a hug before gently removing the Crown of Fire from his head. Danny sagged, but let him — he had become used to the crown’s presence and power, but CW obviously needed it for something.
Indeed, Clockwork gave the crown to Cassiopeia instead, who finally made a faint noise and opened her eyes. Upon seeing Clockwork, she lurched forward and wrapped him in a hug as well.
“Hello again, dear girl,” Clockwork murmured when she pulled away. “It’s certainly good to see you again.”
“ Clockwork ,” Cassiopeia sighed. Her hand flew up to touch the Crown of Fire, almost reverently. “Pariah came, and then— how long has it been?” Her eyes finally registered Sam and Tucker, who were helping Danny stay upright. “Who — what’s going on?”
“It’s been nearly five millennia since Pariah first began his reign. It ended just over two millennia ago, and there was anarchy until about three years ago. This is my newest student, Phantom, and his friends. He broke your record for youngest monarch.”
“Lovely meeting you, your majesty.” Danny bowed respectfully.
“Oh please,” she said with a weak laugh. “None of that, King Phantom — especially since I’m clearly not queen anymore. Cassi is fine. Why am I wearing this and not you, huh?” Cassiopeia reached for the crown on her head and tried to take it off, and almost immediately fell over.
“That’s why,” Danny told her dryly. “We wanted to wake you up. You can keep it, anyways. Hope I’m also about to break the record for shortest reign.”
“Not quite — the shortest reigning monarch ruled for a total of four hours before having their crown knocked off by a rioting crowd,” Clockwork cut in.
Danny shrugged. “Well then.”
“You’re abdicating?” Cassiopeia looked shocked. “Now? To me?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess.” He brushed off his friends’ hands and drifted a little bit closer. “I never really wanted to be king, I fought and beat Pariah before I even knew challenges for the throne were a thing. You know, and I have other stuff I have to do. I’m a halfa, you see.”
“Also he has a sacrifice-y hero complex,” Sam cut in with a sigh, blunt as ever. “As soon as he heard about what happened to you, he decided he had to save you whether you still wanted to be queen or not. Now he’s just hoping you’ll take the crown so that ghosts will leave him alone.”
“Well, if you’re certain. I would have challenged you for the throne eventually, anyways, so I suppose this just saves me the trouble.” She trailed off for a moment before treating them to a grin. “Though, I certainly can’t be queen proper right now, I’m afraid. I’ll probably stay at the citadel for the next few weeks, so if you change your mind feel free to come challenge me. I’ll be sure to give you an easy win.”
“Not a chance,” Danny said, relieved.
“You got it from here, right CW?” Tucker asked, stepping forward to grab Danny before his friend literally toppled over. “Okay, great. Come on, man, we gotta get you home.”
“Oh, and— Clockwork?” Sam said, hesitant.
“Yes, Miss Manson?” Clockwork definitely knew what she was about to say, but she plowed on anyways.
“We threw the Ring of Rage into the Far-Reach. That thing sucks.”
“Fuck yes!” Cassiopeia cheered. “It really fucking does!”